Monday 2pm, our mobile phones became possessed by the evil spirits of demented bureaucrats. A nationwide test of some newfangled alert system was being trialled. With no actions on our part and the contraption in locked mode, an eerie voice began communicating a warning test message. We were working on placing rocks in gabion cages. Sandra’s phone sat next to mine, safely out of harms way. A solid plastic bucket protecting both chunks of complicated electronics from accident. Due to inherent delay with the two devices, the announcement had this sort of weird echo effect. Positively unnatural. Last I checked, the things are not meant to talk of their own accord, but clearly they can.
The other strange occurrence was that the display on our devices declared that we were having a: ‘Presidential Alert’. Like WTF? It’s not lost on me that the political party forming the present federal government held a national referendum way back in 1999 on the issue of becoming a republic. Voting in Australia is compulsory at risk of a fine. The national vote of all adults failed. You’d imagine that the question was settled. But given the title of the message, the sensitive person wonders if their political ambitions were never quite put aside.
Full disclosure, I didn’t vote in favour of the republic. I know, awful isn’t it? I didn’t like the model presented to the public was such that the politicians chose the President. Seemed like a job for the boys scenario to me, and the rest of the population. Anyway, who can forget that the Queen’s representative sacked the same political party from federal government in 1975? They probably got their just desserts. But clearly memories of past hurt remain with that lot. ‘Maintain your rage and enthusiasm’ (as that same party used to say). Truthfully, I’m now an older fella and have likewise been sacked unfairly, but you don’t see me hanging onto such strong emotions. To be a fine and upstanding gentleman, one must move on with their life. The old timers suggested that living one’s most excellent life, is the best revenge. The pollies probably feel impotent!
Oh yeah, the new ‘Presidential Alert’ thing, well, it was quite the surprise. I’d of course read about it in the news, and was expecting general weirdness. That was delivered. Fun fact: it turns out that the authorities can pin point individual’s locations on this continent (if they’re near to a mobile phone tower) to within around 160m / 530ft. A very impressive effort. I’m not sure why this next thought popped into my head, but the astute person realises from the observation, that if they’re up to any sort of mischief, don’t take phones along.
Fortunately, this is not a worry for me. What does bother me about this unexpected turn of events is the possibility that I’ll get disturbed sleep due to a random audible government warning at some future time. Imagine this, I’ve worked hard all day. Gone to bed feeling satisfied with the results. Deeply asleep. Bam! 6AM (never been my friend):This is a government warning that bird flu is present in your immediate area. You must evacuate now! Let’s just say that I’d not be amused.
Brings to mind the awful troubles I had with the first rooster purchased many long years ago. Not only did he attack Sandra, but it had the temerity to turn on me. Outrageous! And to make matters worse, he’d crow all night long. Totally my fault due to the rat incursions, but I’d been unaware of that at the time. Alas, the male bird had an attitude problem, and I delivered an attitude adjustment. Unwise to mess with my sleep.
I don’t really like mobile smart phones, and this new added functionality just annoys me. I could easily make do with a dumb flip phone for calls and text messages, but way back in early 2020, the government told me in no uncertain terms, that if I want to keep earning an income in my professional capacity… No point fighting City Hall, is there? They have more resources anyway, so we purchased two smart phones. A couple of years ago the same folks upgraded the software, so we had to purchase new phones because they could only run old software. The devices both worked perfectly well, what a waste. I know what a rat looks like.
I’d prefer if the choice as to what technologies this household burdens itself with, remained ours, but sometimes that isn’t an option. A mate of mine pays cash where ever he goes, even if it is not a possibility. Turns out, it usually is. He’s something of an inspiration to us all. Over the years I’ve observed his technique, which could impolitely be described as: ‘Old duffer’, which amuses me greatly for he’s sharp as.
At home, we’ve been putting this new hidden knowledge to good use, but often that involves lying. I’m uncomfortable about that, and it is not within the range of our natural wiring. However, it is worth noting that bullies energies are always best diverted. Confrontation is their natural playing field, and winning against them is a most unlikely outcome. A person is at a disadvantage from the first blow, and such folks are unlikely to take kindly to a truthful observation, like: your systems suck! Always will they double down.
Recently this nifty deflection strategy was trialled with the formidable banksters. That lot are natural bureaucrats and so have rules and procedures when in their jungle. The other day Sandra was waiting patiently in line to speak with a customer service representative. Instead of serving customers needs, another helpful staff member was forcing people to install a mobile phone application, thus serving the banksters needs. I don’t want that. Sandra watched whilst an 80+ year old lady further ahead in line was harassed into handing over her phone. When Sandra’s turn came up, she pulled ditzy face number two, which conveys a general sense of utter confusion, and then said: “Oh. Sorry, I don’t have my phone with me.” Let’s just say that the older lady took note of the clever response, and gave my lady a look which suggested: “You’re f#$king good!”
I’m not overly worried about all this sort of technological nonsense, mostly because economics combined with energy and resource depletion will eventually sort it all out. But in the meantime, like a prize fighter facing the reigning champ in a one sided bout, we just have to learn to duck and weave.
Thursday we had a day off work. It was lovely, with a visit to the nearby Trentham falls. With all the rain of late, the river was rocking.
Not too far from there is a delightful old pub in the middle of an otherwise agricultural landscape. Lunch was a super yummy cheese burger, with an Angus beef patty in a dark rye bun. This mostly vegetarian business is awesome, and when I occasionally do consume meat, why settle for rubbish which may allegedly have horse meat or rat hair in it?
Earlier in the week, in between paid work, we brought a few loads of rocks back up the hill and placed them in the open steel rock gabion cages. Two of them are rapidly filling up.
Some rough back of the envelope calculations suggest that we have to add another ten cages to the long wall before it is complete. Alas Peak Rocks is real, and we don’t have nearly enough to finish the job. However, the recent forest clean up work has proven that exploration activities, can produce a minor up-tick in rock supply. We’ll slowly get there, just not this year!
Speaking of the news media, it is full of dire predictions regarding the developing super El Niño. I have no idea what to expect, but I’m aware that the Indian and Southern Oceans have a greater impact on the summer climate at this location, than does the Pacific. Still, it makes for an exciting headline. Ironically, all this software tech bro waste stuff contributes heaps to warming the oceans and altering the composition of gases in the atmosphere. Dare to reconsider!
Conditions have been almost perfect for burn offs and general property clean ups, but the number of fires in the area has been rather dismal of late.
We’re not daunted, and continued with the forest clean up work this week. The first priority was dislodging an upside down tree stump which had been smooshed up against a reasonably tall young-ish tree. There was a nearby depression in the ground, so presumably the loggers had removed the stump from there.
The job was done in an hour, and I dug away all of the clay by hand using a mattock. The soil was then shovelled into the nearby hole, and other than the mark on the side of the large tree, and some disturbed looking orangey clay, you’d never know what an unsightly mess it was.
The stump was cut up into smaller chunks so that it could be moved downhill to where it was burnt off. Cutting dirty timber with a chainsaw quickly blunts the chain, and requires a person to be handy at maintaining and re-sharpening the thing.
It’s a pleasure on a cold winters day to warm oneself next to a bonfire. One side of your body is hot, whilst the other cold, and it feels deeply natural. The dogs will run around whilst all that work is going on, but when they’re tired, they too will camp themselves near to the flames.
The clean up work continued. In the above image of the fire, you can get an idea of how much forest litter there is laying around underneath the trees. In a forest fire, it’s those smaller woody materials which will provide the serious energy that kills everything. Best to clear an area of the stuff, and give the big old trees the best chance for survival in those worst case scenario conditions.
Speaking of big and old trees, the area where we were cleaning up has some of the largest trees on the property. They’re positively enormous.
I don’t know why the loggers didn’t harvest the tree on the left hand side of the above photo. It’s bigger than most and looks intact.
The camera lens can’t show the top, and the diameter of the trunk is almost as wide as my outstretched arms from one hand to the other! You can still see scars from the 1983 bushfire. Very impressive and worthy of protecting for the future. Those two trees may yet live for another couple of hundred years.
The lemon trees are producing a huge quantity of winter fruit. Lemon is the only preserving process where we use the freezer. The fruit is diced, then pressed for it’s juice which gets stored in glass jars and frozen for later use. It’s handy stuff in the kitchen.
Onto the flowers:
The temperature outside now at about 10am is 6’C (43’F). So far for this year there has been 757.0mm (29.8 inches) which is up from last weeks total of 741.2mm (29.2 inches)
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