Friday, October 28, 2005

I drove a big 4 wheel drive vehicle a couple of days ago because it needed to be moved. Now I've written before about my hate of 4x4's, mainly because of their drivers' attitudes, so it was an experience to actually get behind the wheel of one.

Being a small car driver (Diahatsu Charade), I, like so many others, have had to dodge massive vehicles who seem to think that sitting a metre higher gives them some strange constitutional right to commandeer the blacktop.

A high profile rugby player who backed over their 18 month old daughter last week has highlighted some of the dangers of being unable to see objects behind 4 wheel drives. Of course, such accidents occur nearly every day, but since it's a sporting celebrity, well now an accident has become a tragedy!

A supporter of such vehicles was a reporter working for the Adelaide Advertiser who pathetically tried to show that any car could back over a child, by showing photos of a toddler behind a range of different size cars. Of course any car could kill a child, but the majority which are run down are those who are backed over by impatient mothers in school zones, who are tall enough to be seen behind most vehicles but not 4x4's.

Which gets me back to my experience. Climbing into a Nissan Patrol, the view is substantial, I'm sure I could see some distance out to sea & enjoyed the scenic sights immensely. Turning the key & backing it out of the laneway however was a leap of faith. No point looking out the rear window with the spare tyre in the way, the side mirrors would have to do. Glancing from one to the other, I slowly backed out onto the road. Had anyone run through behind me between those glances, I just would not have seen them.

During the short drive, I had an overwhelming sense of power. All of a sudden I would think how easy it would be to get off the beaten track of the city streets, mount the sidewalk & put the bull-bar to good effect. Knowing that wasn't allowed made me want to crush any car in front of me over which I had a clear view. If you get up really close to the car in front, most of it disappears under the line of sight over the bonnet, so I'm sure I could fabricate an alibi of "I just didn't see them officer".

Pulling the car back into the driveway, I discovered the turning circle of the Nissan, is non existent. I mounted the kerb after misjudging the entry & without any remorse, ploughed along & got it back on track. (I think this could be the extent of most 4x4's going off road)

In this short outing, I came to the conclusion that such a form of transport is quite inappropriate for city venturing. Maneuvering & parking requires just way to much space & sure, you're up high for a birds eye view, but you really can't see anything which is in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle. Out in the bush, climbing mountains & crossing ravines they would really come into their own & heck, the wildlife expect to be run over, don't they??

For all the owners who ordered their leather interior knowing they will never be any place which doesn't have traffic lights, it comes down to their sense of power, to be the master of the road & look down on the minions.

Is that sense of power worth the increased risk to the city dwellers who have to anticipate the reckless behaviour of drivers who aren't using their equipment for its intended purpose?

After my experience, it's not for me to feel sorry for a 4 wheel drive owner who runs down a child with the excuse they couldn't see effectively, even if it was their own.

 

posted by elliott  # 12:05 pm

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

A couple of oddities which have come my way & are worth a mention.

1) I thought one was out of hand, but there are officially two Adelaide sports stores which have escalators at their entrance. Surely, those who are entering these stores have an ambition (or misled desire) to exercise! Why, therefore use mechanical means to reduce their fitness? Defeats the purpose, don't you think?

2) I was crossing North Terrace near Parliament House last week & in the crowd crossing with me was a council worker, dressed in all the flourescent garb & holding the regulation clipboard. In the travel from street corner to street corner, said council guy inspects the various yellow paint markings which have been laid out for future road works.

Along the way he also makes a couple of notes, marking the map of the intersection on the clipboard. When we get to the next corner & wait to cross, he looked a little puzzled. For the next few seconds, he alternates between inspecting the map & looking out across the intersection. Finally, he rotates the clipboard & audibly mumbles "hmmm, that might help"!!

I thought having the map unside down was an issue, until we cross the next road & me makes more markings on the map. However, at no time did he try to remove the stuff he had written while the clipboard was the wrong way up!!!

So, if the North Terrace/King William Street intersection gets dug up & put back down resembling something other than a major city intersection, we'll all know why!

 

posted by elliott  # 9:01 am

Monday, October 24, 2005

5 pointy awards & a dry hump for the Hoff.

I'd say that's a top night for the Higgster!

 

posted by elliott  # 4:04 pm

Saturday, October 22, 2005

There's definitely some strange stuff going on in the world at the moment. Wars, politics, weather, religion, it's all obscure & a touch out of control.

However, even when things are totally messed up, some things are worth laughing at. I refer of course to Australia averting the bird flu crisis after euthanising pigeons from Canada found to be carrying bird flu antibodies. It's a looming disaster which has the potential to kill millions world wide, so I think it's very prudent to be taking such precautions.

I heard a report earlier this week, which detailed the results of the Spanish flu. When it struck in 1918, only a minority of people who caught it ended up dying. However, the word "minority" still meant 30-40 million individuals! Considering the growth in worldwide population since, a similar outbreak could be horrific!

However, when I first heard the story of the Canadian pigeons, the threat of death wasn't foremost in my mind. Moreso was the fact that Australia is importing pigeons!!

What the hell do we need more pigeons for??! & if we do, what's so good about Canadian ones?

If the Government want to drop by & collect some of the feral birds from my backyard, they are quite welcome!

The authorities have since said that live bird imports will not cease in the face of the bird flu discovery. This means to me that we are probably importing pigeons from countries other than Canada as well!!

If anyone can explain all this to me, feel free to comment!

 

posted by elliott  # 10:02 pm

Sunday, October 16, 2005

By the look of it, we should have had a storm this morning. These clouds ventured down from the hills looking all ominous with white billowing peaks & a sinister dark underbelly, but all for nothing!

I’m very disappointed! You can’t tease someone with lightning & thunder & not deliver dammit!

 

posted by elliott  # 3:50 pm

Saturday, October 15, 2005

The Masters Games are being held in our fair town & pretty much anywhere you go an event is being held. They can be effectively described as the Olympics for those who have passed the age of being eligible for the Olympics. That's not to say the games are for "athletic old farts", because anyone over 30 can enter (does that by definition make me a master?!?).

Anyway, I decided to have lunch on the banks of the Torrens yesterday & ended up watching a bit of dragon boat racing!

Not that you can tell from these (blurry mobile phone) photos, but there were a few hundred people watching the races & the teams weren't holding back in celebrating their win. Mind you, any sport in which one team member gets to bang a big drum, is cool in my book.

Had there not been any festivities, it would have still been a great day to sit by the river as I find myself doing a bit more often these days.

Getting out of the office really does help to make the day go quicker & fresh air has to be good for something. However, I had an ulterior motive in this instance & it involved the body odour of someone temporarily working downstairs in the hotel. Body odour so bad in fact that it permeated all the offices & out into the public areas.

Eventually, someone had to get up the courage to & confront the situation, but not before a bunch of managers had some military style, high level talks, on how to approach the matter!

 

posted by elliott  # 8:38 pm

Thursday, October 13, 2005

A few weeks ago the following solar-light structures were installed on the surrounds of the Festival Theatre. They look rather funky & although obscure, don't look out of place. At night they light up with a purple glow but I'm yet to witness it. (I don't exactly walk around such places at night!)

Anyway, I will be avoiding these lights in the future as up close they get a bit disturbing...... they talk!

Yep, get up close & they sense someone nearby & start discussing their existence. It's in a young girl's voice & is quite frankly disturbing. In fact, any inanimate objects which talk are simply bad ideas.

I know of some other bits of artwork have had sound-tracks & they normally don't last very long. For a while, there were even some bus stops around town which let you know what was going on!

It is amusing however, to see what happens whenever someone triggers a sensor. They normally side step quickly & proceed to look around as though they've done something wrong & scurry away. The object then talks to itself for a while before calming down to wait for it's next victim.

I just wonder if anyone has ever stopped to listen to what it's all about? If you do, let me know, because I'll be taking a wide birth around them & admiring from afar.

 

posted by elliott  # 9:15 pm

Saturday, October 08, 2005

I’ve had the cold which has been doing the rounds for the last week or so. Nothing major, just a slightly sore throat & a niggly cough.

Thursday morning, I woke a touch seedy & went to work as normal. It happened to be the last day for a colleague, so we went to lunch & indulged in a couple of glasses of red wine. The alcohol worked a treat, curing all cold symptoms & giving me that nice fuzzy feeling.

Once the alcohol started to wear off however, the symptoms came back tenfold & I have never felt so out of control of my head in my life. I still had the ability to know what was going on & I remember it all, but I had to fight from collapsing as my body wanted to shut down. I t took a couple of hours to start to regain some capability & when I finally made it home, I slept for the following twelve hours.

I took Friday off from work still feeling quite dizzy & only tonight am I feeling decent again!

Thankfully, with the Super Cheap Auto 1000 from Bathurst this weekend, I’m able to sit back & recover whilst fulfilling my rev-head requirements!

 

posted by elliott  # 11:28 pm

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

I had a dream last night that McDonalds now not only sold burgers but also performed barber style haircuts. I was waiting my turn when I woke up!

 

posted by elliott  # 4:11 pm

Eclipse mints in the little metal tin are the coolest new product. Good packaging, good taste & good value. The only problem I can find is they rattle persistently in your pocket.

 

posted by elliott  # 4:11 pm

We had the CIA in the hotel the other day. (Yes, the real CIA!!). I shall blog separately about this.

 

posted by elliott  # 4:11 pm

In an effort to bring the fuel companies down single-handedly, I've been driving as economically as possible. Since day one, my car has returned 6.7 litres per 100 kms. For the last couple of weeks, I've been driving smoothly, short-shifting & driving in a higher gear. I've now realised, all I've done was annoy other road users by not gunning it at traffic lights & generally driving like a Nanna. I saved no fuel in this experiment!

 

posted by elliott  # 4:11 pm

I've decided that the only way to stop terrorists is to ban people from carrying back-packs. If you can't carry it in your pockets or a purse, it ain't worth carrying. Think of all the extra space on the buses!!

 

posted by elliott  # 4:10 pm

I had no idea the United State's President always had someone carrying a Nuclear Football until I watched 24. I'm happy television can still teach me stuff, but I'm not happy that a complete knob head has a playbook of world destruction only a few feet away!

 

posted by elliott  # 4:10 pm

I was going to post a couple more of the "I work with Monkeys" series, but had a moment of clarity about being fired. I'll post them when I leave voluntarily or involuntarily... whichever comes first.

 

posted by elliott  # 4:08 pm

I went to a pub on Sunday & ended up sitting in the sun for a couple of hours. I could feel my skin heating up & just knew I would be burnt to a crisp. To my complete surprise, it didn’t even generate a tan! I’m still as white as every other office dweller. Just once, I wouldn’t mind a touch of colour instead of being white or blistered red.

 

posted by elliott  # 4:08 pm

Saturday, October 01, 2005

toobs 

Does anybody remember "Tasty Toobs" from Smith's Snackfood Company, the saucy snack of cheezels like size which were ridiculously addictive?!?

I hadn't seen them for years & had lost all hope.

Until now, that is!

Burger Man from Real McCoy is the same product in a different form. Sample bags were given away in a supermarket shopping promotion a few weeks ago & had they not been included, I would never have found the long lost taste again.

The best part about them is they resemble the shape on the pack, so they are real burger men!!

Unfortunately, finding them for sale is not easy (because I don’t think they’re selling too well), but you can find them hiding in some discount stores (Go-Lo, The Reject Shop, etc).

Just how popular were the original Toobs? Well, popular enough for someone to start up an online petition which has a couple of hundred signatures!!

 

posted by elliott  # 7:51 pm

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  elliotte@senet.com.au

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