Howdy dear globular availees...("globular"?-Ed)...yeah, from all over the globe...(I think you mean 'global'-Ed)...ummm...(yeah, "globular" means like 'moist lumps of stuff', ya' know? like ummm, 'he found globular chunks of oily gunk in the drain', yeah?-Ed)...well, okay, but you don't know, maybe 'moist lumps of stuff' accurately describes some availees...(oh super, way to win friends and influence people-Ed)...well I mean obviously not the dear availee actually reading this right now...(no?-Ed)...no, they're obviously a person of great intellect, a discerning consumer of high-brow socio-political discourse with impeccable personal hygiene...(riiight-Ed)...and I won't have you putting them down like that...(me??!! you're the one calling them "globular"-Ed)...ignore him dear availees in Egypt, Germany, Ukraine, and South Africa and everywhere else...there's been yet another major development in the whole Mt Gambier Farcical Aquatic Recreation Centre debasco (debacle meets fiasco), so I'm gunna' shunt it yet again, but only until tomorrow, promise...(strewth mate, what is it now?-Ed)...oh, nothing much, just Council admitting that there's issues with design and increased costs, etc...(oh, so only minor stuff like the design and cost?-Ed)...your facetious frenzy of scything sarcasm is both noted and appreciated...('ta-Ed)...what are mates for...
Just a very quick point to be made about these ever more numerous 'under-payments' of hospitality workers...(do you mean this stuff about Masterchef's George Calombaris ripping-off his workers to the tune of $8million?-Ed)...indeed, and he ain't Robinson Crusoe either, Neil Perry is also in the same frame, being sued by a former employee and potentially owing more than George to 100s of employees...(nice-Ed)...and George is gettin' a well-earned bollocking, with people calling for him to be sacked from Masterchef...(well in breaking news, he's been dumped as 'the face' of a major West Australian Tourism campaign-Ed)...thoroughly deserved...(and oops, now it's being reported that all 3 Masterchef judges will "not return" next season-Ed)...really, is it related to this payment stuff...(dunno', possibly, officially it's about "failed pay negotiations", but doesn't say specifically that this other stuff ain't part of it-Ed)...fascinating...don't watch it myself, can't stand the pretentious carry-on, etc, but this is apparently one of Australia's top-rating programs, so it's a huge surprise to see all 3 'stars' go at once...(yeah, it's also a confronting insight into how many employers treat people in the hospitality industry, and unfortunately in many other industries as well-Ed)...indeed, not all employers and/or industries, but certainly many...(mmm, but what is the 'quick point' you wanted to make?-Ed)...ah yes...
I've heard some 'restauranteurs' effectively excusing this culture of under-payment by complaining about and/or blaming the complexity of the Penalty Rates system...(oh yeah, so these are apparently inevitable accidents, not malicious greed?-Ed)...allegedly...(well I've gotta' coupla things to say about that-Ed)..thought you might, fire away...(well, 1) the widely reported mistreatment of workers, the threats, bullying, and/or harassment, etc, that stuff ain't no 'accident'-Ed)...excellent point...(but even more damning, in my humble opinion, is that these payment errors never seem to fall in the favour of the workers-Ed)...oh Ed, I do so love your work, said it before, sometimes you don't so much hit the nail fair on the head, as drive it clean through the plank...(your praise is appreciated, but again, I think it's just another case of us doin' what we do best, namely, pointin' out the bleedin' obvious-Ed)...and sometimes that's exactly what's needed, sometimes it's the most obvious that remains obscure until revealed, then bathes all about in a blaze of the purest truth, reality...(fair enough-Ed)...and now this...
Praisin' Myself Up Bigtime:...because just earlier this arvo', whilst returning home from the gym and shopping, I noticed that a home down in the next street, Buronga Ave, was in danger of being inundated...(so you left the house today then?-Ed)...well yes, I try to every day, even if it's just gym and shopping and home, or even just one of those then home, whatevs, that's not what I was on about here...(well I get it that the whole Agoraphobia/Depression stuff can be incredibly debilitating, but I'm not sure that you get to 'big-up' ya'self just for leaving the house-Ed)...well actually, some days that is exactly a small victory in-and-of-itself, but I was referring to the 'inundation' bit...("inundation"?-Ed)...yeah, a sudden influx of something, usually overwhelming, and usually referring to water and the threat of flooding, etc...(ah, you mean like when the Census Website crashed because it was 'inundated' by an overwhelming number of submissions?-Ed)...a perfect example Ed, but in this situation we're goin' old school with a good ol' biblical reference of actual liquid overload...(phew, all this learnin' 'bout words and stuff, I find it all quite draining-Ed)...indeed, but unfortunately the water wasn't...(whaaa?-Ed)...draining, the water wasn't draining...(oh nice one man-Ed)...cheers...
The clearly blocked drain...("clearly blocked", really? how can a drain be 'clear' but also 'blocked'?-Ed)...well now you're just being pedantic...the obviously blocked drain, meant that all the water running to that lowest point in the street was backing-up onto the road and over the gutter and into someone's front yard and was just starting to lap against their home...I stopped to knock and let them know, but there was no answer...I came home, rang the State Emergency Service, and started to make a coffee, etc, when I just had the dis-ease that there was something more I should do perhaps...(well mate, how much more could you do?-Ed)...well, I could do what I did, the exact same thing I've done several times in this street over recent years when the gutters have been blocked with bark and shizzle and water's running down my neighbour's driveway, etc...(and that is?-Ed)...I grabbed my trusty ol' yard broom, travel-mugged my coffee, and drove back down there...and good thing I did...due to the ongoing deluge, the gutter's were running hard and deep, and the water on the road had reached a 'critical mass' such that the incoming water was gettin' diverted straight onto the house's front yard...(strewth! what happened next?-Ed)...this...
Water was already several inches deep across the yard, inches deep up against the corner of the house, and now lapping onto the front porch...another inch or two and water was going to start goin' over the small step and under the front door...(oh no!-Ed)...water was also running across the drive, through the side-fence and into the backyard...there was nothing I could do to stop or divert the mini-torrent, and the SES weren't there yet, so I started sweeping water from the porch sideways across the driveway...despite my sweeping, the water crept across the porch and up to the house proper, another inch and it was going under the door...(oh my goodness! the drama!-Ed)...then the rain backed-off a fraction, and it seemed that I was actually stopping any further encroachment, and soon my sweeping was rewarded by a minor retreat of the water, albeit only by a foot or so...(yay-Ed)...I went to the car, took a coupla' photos, and therefore fortunately happened to have my phone in hand when the SES called me, they were at the wrong address in an adjacent street...they soon arrived and started sand-bagging and I think they rang the Mt Gambier City Council or whoevs about the drain...I was wet and cold, so I left, and came home to a fresh coffee and hot shower...(well done sir-Ed)...cheers...
And I ain't just writing about this because it will undoubtedly royally piss-off my 'critics', particularly those associated with MGCC...(that's just a cheery cherry on the soggy cake that someone left out in the rain?-Ed)...exactly, and didn't even occur to me initially, although it did cross my mind mid-sweep, but no, I just want to give a big soggy shout-out to the sort of society I wanna' be part of...(you mean one where a drippy hippy can, by simply involving themselves, can potentially prevent some poor prick comin' home to soddin' sodden carpets and gourd knows what else sortta' costly mini-catastrophe?-Ed)...exactly, hopefully, hopefully the SES managed to sort it out...and that right there's the broader point I'm making here, namely, that I could simply just ring someone and they showed-up in the pissing rain to help...(absolutely, king-size kudos to the SES brigades and all the other similar peeps, often volunteers, who routinely go out into this sortta' tumultuous tempest to help others-Ed)...absolutely, kudos one and all...I'm particularly grateful to those in the Country Fire Service and their ilk, 'cos I've done some very limited fire-fighting stuff with the SA Parks people at Cleland Reserve...(do you realise that that was nearly 30 years ago now?-Ed)...I know, anyhoos, it was only small controlled burn-offs, but it was still mildly terrifying...cheers to you one and all...
And today's sweepy episode follows-on from yesterday late arvo' when I happened to be on Bay Rd, as was a black calf of reasonable size...(look out!-Ed)...indeed, only a calf but it was more than big enough to do major damage, even if it was in the 60kph zone right near the Italia Club...some dude was already stopped on the side of the road, Southbound, with his hazard flashers going, and I stopped on my side, City-bound, and put my flashers on...several other cars stopped to help, and one of them helped the dude shut the calf in someone's backyard, whom the dude happened to know and had called, etc, etc...now, a coupla' knuckleheads just drove through at 60kph, which is a really dangerous and stupid thing to do on a very dark arvo with heavy rain with several cars stopped there with lights flashing, clearly something is amiss, etc, but the point here is that most slowed right down, several pulled-over to help, etc, etc, and the calf was coralled without incident...(yeeha!-Ed)...and here again, it's not about me, I'm referencing this as an example of what simple things people can and often will do to help others...(cheers to y'all-Ed)...absolutely, and that's the society that I wanna' believe in, that I wanna' believe that we can be, that I do see us as being capable of...
And I've done this very quick and predominantly positive post for exactly that reason...it's not just for my own Mental Health, it's because even I recognise and acknowledge that we here at TMGI tend to spend a goodly amount of our time and energy railing against corruption and inequality and delving into necessarily unpleasant territory, so it's nice for me personally to be able to do some nice stuff for others, relatively anonymously and without reward, etc, but it's even better for all concerned, including you's dear availees, when we can all take a few brief minutes to ponder the positiveness of relatively simple gestures and share in that...having said that, unfortunately it ain't gunna' last...(well, the occasional digression is perfectly appropriate, and indeed quite healthy, but there's shenanigans afoot and someone needs to put the literal boot in-Ed)...and that someone is us...(spot on-Ed)...hence...
Tomorrow: What The FARC Really Means For Mt Gambier
As I said earlier, even just today The Border Watch is front-paging MGCC's latest 'issues' with the Farcical Aquatic Recreation Centre...(here we go dear Ratepayers-Ed)...indeed, and it's just the latest 'issues' following on from all of the other shenanigans that have taken us unwittingly to here...it's a litany of lies, deceits and cynical manipulations based on false premises and fraudulent accounting...(can I do the joke about 'so what's the problem because that's playing to MGCC's well-defined strengths'?', can I do that joke?-Ed)...yep, it's the joke that just keeps on giving, but is unfortunately mired in a fathomless quagmire of truths...tomorrow dear availees...
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...cheers and laters...
No comments:
Post a Comment