Monday 1st - Tuesday 30th November 2021 Officially My Blog's 6th Anniverary & 29 000+ Readers Reached!, Chatswood's Christmas Tree, Circular Quay to Parramatta Rivercat, Circular Quay to Watsons Bay Supercat & Green/Gold Ferry, Rememberance Day, IGA Locali x 2, Melbourne Cup Winnings, My Birthday, Tamon Sushi, Myer AGM, Vegan Cheese Taste Test, Cadbury Caramilk Flake, KFC Popcorn Chicken.....My Unemployment Continues..

Monday 1st November 2021 Week 84 Of Total Unemployment

Week 4 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 15 of phase 2 of NSW reopening after 80% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

It's a beautiful day ( uh oh forcast low - mid 20 degrees C & partially cloudy today) and I wake up at 5 am . I prepare my vegetables to be roasted later today. I have so much to remember to do today. Return bottles, recycle ink cartridge,  post parcel off to JJ Time at post office in time for Christmas, get change for laundry, make a bet for The Melbourne Cup tomorrow (Incentivise is the favourite horse for The Melbourne Cup unless it is scraped beforehand from the race), finish letters of complaint to Myer, try and get to Circular Quay to see the creepy giant Squid Game doll before it is dismantled today, do the rest of my grocery shopping ( don't forget to shop around for a rapid antigen testing kit) and pick up my free bag of Cobs S & P pop corn and take the bins out tonight. 

News headlines for today include :

NSW had 135 COVID cases and 4 deaths today. The number of COVID cases are still falling!

3rd booster shots are available from today in NSW & WA

Rapid antigen COVID testing kits become available in supermarkets  from today

The first international flights from Singapore and the USA touched down in Sydney this morning reopening up Australia to the rest of the world again for the first time in almost 2 years. Reopening international borders means returning Austraians that are fully vaccinated don't have to quarantine anymore and fully vaccinated Australians are now free to travel overseas without seeking an exemption from the government ( travellers returning home not travellers travelling overeas for holidays remember my comment on one way tickets and great for anyone wanting to leave Australia permanently) .

Regional travel around NSW is also allowed as of today for the fully vaccinated. Victoria has already reopened regional travel around their state so travel is now open between all of NSW and VIC. Meanwhile Queensland did not meet their vaccination target therefore it is in doubt when and whether they will be reopening their state's border to NSW and VIC residents before Christmas. So if you are fully vaccinated you are free to travel overseas but can't travel domestically around Australia.  Does not make any sense.  NT WA TAS and SA have not made many comments about their border restrictions. 

The French President Macron accuses the Australian PM Morrison for lying about the cancellation of the submarine contract. Morrison of course denies it. What did I say in my previous blog? Macron verses Morrison an anonym for " Morons".

I've made myself leave home to head for Circular Quay before 11 am today as I have quite a few things to do today. So glad I left early as it took me a while to get to Circular Quay - I thought I would walk but took a detour through one of the many underground interconnecting shopping centres. I got lost somewhere in I think one of the older shopping areas underground which I have not been to before - I was trying to find a post office and was sure there was one near The Hunter Connection. I followed the Australia Post signs through all the tunnels and escalators and found my way to Australia Post but it was not a post office - it was a parcel letter collection and  PO Box hub! I had found the GPO not a post office! So that's what a Poste Restante is. I knew what it meant but never seen a proper one. OK back up onto street level I walk and walk towards The Overseas Passenger Terminal located on the opposite side of The Opera House at Circular Quay. I wasn't the only one playing the Squire Game Red Light Green Light where a giant creepy doll with a rotating head has been installed over the Halloween weekend - heaps of others turned up to queue and play as well. There were the masked workers in the coloured jumpsuits with a square circle or triangle present as well for selfie opportunities and yes there was 1 discrete security guard present  - unvaccinated? No one was really checking as long as you scanned the QR code and checked in and out. I didn't because I watched from a distance behind the barricade. There wasn't that much to see close up and I could see it from where I was. ( I have upload a video onto my YouTube channel) . Last chance to see it today. It will be gone when it gets dark tonight. Photo below

Let the Squid Games begin!

I am so allergic, my eyes won't stop watering my nose is running I'm really itchy and have a slight tickle in my throat which is not sore but irritated - the purple Jacarandas are out everywhere shedding their purple flowers everywhere. It's spring and I'm really suffering. ( Jackarandas in Australia ( and other native Australian flowering plants) are the equivalent to cherry blossoms in Japan - tourists flock to see them when they are in bloom in Spring).

Instead of walking back to Circular Quay Station and catching a train back to Townhall I took the light rail as I don't get to travel on this mode of public transport much. ( the slowest form of public transport in NSW) 

Jacarandas everywhere!

Still having a problem checking out on the Service NSW app - transiting through Woolworth Townhall to get to Townhall Station only took me less then a minute and it won't allow me to  check out as my phone time is not in sync with their time.

Waiting for the next train back to Chatswood to the post office before doing a few other things. On the train my allergies are not as bad now. A mask can only help so much outdoors with my allergies.

Back in Chatswood - first stop the post office done. Next Stop recharge my Opal card at the machine. The older man in front of me was having trouble with his recharge so I had to help him. Only 1 contactless machine, the other one is an insert card for payment one. Opal card recharge done. Next onto returning my bottles  to an over the counter return and earn depot. There was an Asian couple before me that had bags and bags of disgusting cans and bottles that leaked everywhere and stank! I wish they would rinse all their bottles and cans out before returning them! So I had to wait just to return 3 clean bottles done! Finally it's on to do some grocery shopping at Coles Local in Westfield ( I can't be bothered walking to the larger one at the other end of Chatswood and have to limit what I purchase as I only have 1 shopping bag with me!) Done but I forgot to get some change for laundry and ask about the rapid antigen testing kits. I also forgot about going to the TAB to make a bet on the Melbourne Cup tomorrow. I want to bet today so I don't have to tomorrow.

After my shop at Coles I had to walk back to Chatswood Station and to the bus stop anyway so stopped at the Westpac ATM to withdraw $20 and then walked to the TAB near the station to place a manual bet on 4 horses for tomorrow's  Melbourne Cup. I only had 3 horses picked out but wanted to bet on a 4th one so I picked: 

 # 2  INCENTIVISE

# 4 VERRY ELLEEGANT

#13 CARIF

and remembered that my late mum's lucky number was 8 added the 4th horse

#8 OCEAN BILLY to complete the 4 horses with a Win or Place of $0.50 on each horse - gee big spend -  a total bet of $4 on this year's Melbourne Cup. Well I hardly ever win and besides The Melbourne Cup may be a annual public holiday in Victoria and  known as  "The Race That Stops The Nation" but not this year , it was The Golden Eagle out at the recently revamped Rose Hill Racecourse in Sydney's Western suburbs that stole the limelight this year! The Melbourne Cup is still on this year but due to Melbourne and the rest of Victoria just coming out of lockdown, it doesn't have as much of the glitz and glamour it has had in previous years. 

Whilst at the TAB I killed 2 birds with 1 stone and got change for the laundry of  $16 in a combination of $1 and $2 coins.

I have another 2 product reviews. As readers probably know I'm lactose intolerant but I still eat certain cheeses mainly hard cheeses  and cheeses that are non lactose as well as mascapone and goat cheese as these cheeses don't affect me. I will not drink cow's milk of any sort, eat cream of any sort or soft creamy cheeses of any sort especially ones with a double whammy like blue cheeses,  Brie or Camembert for example as they contain mould strains which I am very allergic to. I can drink Yakault (lite) and can eat yoghart as these  dairy prodcts have live cultures in them which are good for the gut and immune system.  I don't know how vegans managed to live without cheese before plant based cheeses were invented and became readily available in supermarkets. So I spent a bit of time looking at all the vegan plant based cheeses at Coles. They are awfully expensive and I kept thinking what if I don't like it? I didn't want to waste $5 on a small block of vegan plant based cheese when that $5 would buy me a larger block of non lactose cheese so I decided to try a small vegan plant based Bio Cheese Cheddar cheese and brown rice crackers snack pack for $3.50 . So what did I think of it? It does not taste like real cheese although the texture is ok. What's with the orange colour? Cheese is naturally white or slightly yellow - we don't live in the US! It had a slight coconut oil flavour. I could tell it was not real cheese. No not for me I rate it a 5/10 when I  bit into a slice of it , it felt like I was biting into a block of butter  or copha ( a block of solid white vegetable shortening used to make white christmas or chocolate crackles - similar to Splits or Crisco)   ie solid block of white fat. Not a product I will buy again. Photo below

So onto my second product review and another product I have not tried before. Cadbury Caramilk Flake. This was the messiest chocolate bar to eat. Just as well it's a limited edition chocolate "bar". A chocolate bar it certainly is not. It's a chocolate log. If you are a fan of the chocolate flake this is just the caramilk version. If you like caramilk then just buy the normal caramilk block - it's the same thing except in block form and much easier to eat. So what did I think of the Caramilk flake? I don't think I would buy it again ( unless I was using it as a quick fix to decorate the top of a cake and don't have time to melt temper solidify and shave chocolate flakes) but it's nice. As mentioned in my previous blogs I am a dark chocolate lover and not a fan of white chocolate. This is just white chocolate mixed with caramel. A little sweet for me - a little like dulce de leche except in a more subtle lighter milky creamer form but it's not fudge, it's caramel milk or white chocolate) . When I took my first bite into the Caramilk flake it reminded me of something - something I grew up eating - then it came to me, it was almost exactly like a Milky Bar! Remember those and the commercials with the Milky Bar kid? Yep it taste almost identical to the milky bars I grew up with which were white in colour however Nestle has fiddle with the original recipe over the years and it probably does not taste the same with hybrids such as Nestle Milky Bar Gold looking very similar to Cadbury Caramilk. Even the caramel colour looks very similar however because I haven't tasted it, I'll have to get my hands on some if I can find it to purchase taste and review before I can compare them.  Photo below. Rating 7/10 very messy to eat so buy the Caramilk bar it's all the same and probably better value for money! Well it should be. 

I have to admit I was a bit hungry so stopped off at KFC at Chatswood Station and purchased a $3.95 popcorn chicken snack pack. Value for money although not good for you - this is one snack that seems not to have suffered from the effects of inflation - they really jam this medium sized dome lidded drink cup full. So full when you take the lid off everything falls out of it so I had to be careful opening it up. This snack pack years ago was only $2.95 however the packs were smaller. 

Home, I wash my hands, bleach my mask washed and hang up to dry before unpacking my groceries and having a early dinner of kale cucumber and mango salad I made to go with my KFC popcorn Chicken snack pack - well half of it anyway. 

Ah so this is where the posh IGA Locale is hidden. It looked dead when I was passing by. Must find it again and pay it a visit next time I am in the city. 

This is IGA's attempt at creating the equivalent to the Coles Local in Westfield Chatswood. Even their name " Locali by IGA " is a copycat. This was also a place of interest I had planned to visit before NSW went into lockdown #2. There is at least one difference between Coles Local and IGA Locale and that is "location location location".  Coles Local is easier to find as it is in a Westfield Shopping Centre and I only found this IGA Locale by coincidence and the question is will I be able to find it again? 

Lost in the countless underground Wynyard Station  interconnected tunnels and shopping centres leading to the GPO in the Hunter Connection - so that's why it's called "The Hunter Connection" - it's a rabbit warren down there - must spend a day down there - it reminds me of Vancouver's older underground skytrain stations such as  Granville and Burrard even Waterfront Stations where each has countless underground tunnels also leading to shopping centres.

I also go downstairs to take my rubbish out to the red bin and put all the bins out for garbage collection tomorrow morning. Someone has jammed the cardboard boxes into the red and blue bins. I did not put the yellow bin out as there was nothing in it. I also took my Halloween Trick or Treat sign and left over Tropical Pineapple Freddos  I had attached to the front of my mailbox off. It looked as if nobody took any but when I counted the leftover Freddo there were only 6 left. Just as well I didn't buy the strawbery flavoured pack as well. More chocolate for me ( although I don't really like the Pineapple Milk Chocolate Freddos - save it for my next dessert I make perhaps ).

I watched The Chase The News The Cook Up but only watched 8 Out of 10 Does Countdown before falling asleep. I was hoping to watch HYBPA but was fast asleep before it started.

Tuesday 2nd November 2021

Week 4 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 16 of phase 2 of NSW reopening after 80% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

Melbourne Cup Day!

The temperature in Melbourne for all those ( a fully vaccinated crowd of 10000 -  the largest gathering since last August and where normal Melbourne Cup crowds are at 100000 + capacity annually -  mainly made up of members and connections to the racers with only a certain number from the general public allocated with detailed COVID planning of spaces in place )  attending the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Reacecourse is forcast to be sunny and 30 degrees C , a contrast in Sydney with a top of 25 degrees C forecasted. 

There have been scratching of horses from today's Melbourne Cup race at 3 pm already . # 20 Future Score has been scratched from the race so far this morning after a failed vet check I believe.

I wake around 6 am this morning to an overcast morning and it sounded a little wet outside. Did it rain lightly overnight?  If it did it is now dryer outside as traffic whizzes by heavily without the wet swishing sounds. Yes it did rain and it is still wet outside on the road. It was still raining lightly outside after I woke - my windows may not be wet but my window sill is really wet outside. 

I wake to what I forgot to do yesterday yet again! It's the 2nd time, I forgot to pick up my free packet of Cobs S & V popcorn from Coles whilst I was there shopping despite having it on my shopping to do list I had written up prior to venturing out and having a reminder on my calender on my phone. If I venture out later this afternoon I will pick one up. 

There were 173 COVID cases in NSW today and 4 deaths. An increase in cases from yesterday. Interesting notes no cases were acquired from overseas and 2  cases excluded pending further investigation (no details given).

The first Qantas  flight out of Sydney via  Darwin ( NT)  temporarily instead of WA due to their international border closures to London after almost 2 years has taken off - a 17 + hour ( 19 hours total from Sydney)  flight ( probably one way as there is no travel bubble between Australia and the UK yet) . Borders in WA are unlikely to reopen to international travel until next year  Travellers are eager to flight out to the UK but good luck if they want to return at this stage as there are still  stranded Australians overseas trying to return home! 

Will travel international ever be the same? No according to a CNN journalist who has been travelling constantly overseas and since last August has had to endure over 52 + pre departure  and post  arrival COVID tests! He still has one more to do before being allowed to returning home. The diffculty is every country has different requirements and certificates in some countries are like bus tickets a piece of paper rather then a digital passport. There is no international standard vaccination or PCR test result digital passport. You don't want to turn up at an airport and be denied boarding a flight! Travel has become much more expensive and timely with every COVID test costing anything over $150 per test 72 hours prior to departure and arriving at the airport 4+ hours prior to departures instead of usual 2 hours. The jounalist even described how some border security at airports counted down every hour he got his pre departure COVID test to ensure it was within the 72 hours in contrast to countries who weren't really concerned about his vaccination status and COVID test results after he flashed his vaccination passport and test results to airport border security so when you arrive at any country's airports you don't know what to expect as rules regulations restrictions policies etc change every day at this stage of international travel. 

On the 21st November there will be a travel bubble between Singapore and Australia. Great it  will make it much easier for Australians and Singaporeans but if you want to travel elsewhere you will have to wait.

Lier, lier your pants are on fire - there was a very frosty meeting again between Macron and Morrison all over the cancelled submarine contract. So what really happened  between them? Did Scott Morrison cancel the contract without letting Emanuel Macron know??? Secret text messages between them - Did Scott Morrison mislead Macron over the mutal subs deal???

Politics is a dirty word - after 10 days of investigations,  4 days of interviews,  2 with Gladys and including interviews with ex Wagga Wagga MP and her secret lover McGuire - with even Dominic Perrottet current NSW premiere being interviewed by ICAC, it's over - not the alleged corruption investigation but just the interview grillings. It will be months before the investigation is over. Did she secure and obtain funding for Wagga Wagga Hospital legally? It is claimed that the funding according to the then NSW treasurer now NSW premier was already included in the budget.

What's wrong with the Queen is a mystery as she was spotted driving around and has spoken via a video conference looking well, normal.

The sun is coming out now. Looks like a nice day! today. The red bins just got emptied at 8.15 am - the garbos are early today!!! I waited until 11.00 am or so before taking all the bins back in as the Blue bin does not get emptied until much later and I didn't want to go out twice to bring the bins back in. Just as well as it has been pretty windy outside for most of today . No venturing out today.

Major news announcement today the 1st December date where everyone had the same freedoms has been delayed until at least 15th December 21 for the unvaccinated. For the fully vaccinated the date has been fast tracked for 8th November 21. The NSW premier himself made this announcement this morning as he now wants 95% double vaccination before everyone can have the same freedoms instead of the 90% rate as originally planned . There was also the pressure for everyone to get booster shots.( There is something very suspect here and I think the government has made a mistake and hence trying to cover up whatever tbis mistake they have made is by pushing as many NSW residents as possible to get fully vaccinated and even triple vaccinated and it has nothing to do with decreasing the amount of COVID cases , it's spread and the number of deaths or the severity of COVID leading to a spike in hospitalisation and putting pressure on the hospital system and  ICUs - it is a fact that you can still contract COVID and spread it and end up in hospital even die from COVID if you are double vaccinated)

I sent a text to a team member who is unvaccinated and is also on leave about how I guess I won't be going back to work at Myer on 1st December 2021 anymore. 

She rang me back and we had a really long conversation about being stood down due to this double vaccination mandate. Myer Warringah is a mess apparently and if they are, they only have whoever initiated this double vacvination mandate to blame. The store manager is taking leave to have surgery apparently, the assistant store manager does not want to get vaccinated but was pressured into getting vaccinated due to this situation so has had her first vaccination. Another fully vaccinated manager is not talking to another manager who does not want to get vaccinated. The customer service manager has been pretty quiet probably because she may not be coping  as there is no one being hired to move the stock  building up on the dock which the operations won't touch because he believes it's not his job and the team leader of Homewares is upto her neck trying to train a whole team of new casuals without much success. Goodness knows if the dock manager ended up getting her second vaccination ( she was probably pressured into getting it as soon as she could) and I've found out there is a new group chat set up for all the unvaccinated Myer employees of Warringah who are all just having a great time during their period of being stood down! What if my theories or other Accredited Medical Professionals  tbeories are correct? What if all the unvaccinated Myer staff member remain unvaccinated and don't contract COVID at all? I actually suspect I have had COVID way before COVID actually was identified as COVID - I mean all my symptoms were the same and I was so sick many years ago I did not respond to any medication and  instead got worse not better when finally after I think 6 weeks I was over whatever I had. I didn't die. What if I have the antibodies already and am naturally immuned to COVID? The team member I spoke to today thinks she has had COVID as well  with mild to no symptoms and she is more anti vaccination then I am. 

I am still working on my complaint against Myer in regards to their double vaccination mandate.( re one I start quite a few days ago).

After just talking about how we will miss the scan count because we can't work. We get a message via the Whats App Team Group Chat advising it has been cancelled - of course it is they are too busy hiring and training newbies! ( and trying not to sink in the mess that was created)

3 pm and the Melbourne Cup is run, I watch it on Racing.com on tv . So who won ? I think I won a whole $2 ( that will go towards my change for the laundry!) ! I knew #4 VERRY ELLEEGANT would place or win # 4 my birthday that's why I chose it!  Congratulations to 2021 Melbourne Cup Winners :

First Place

#4 VERRY ELLEEGANT

Second Place 

#2 INCENTIVISE

Third Place 

#3 SPANISH MISSION

Fourth Place 

# 22 FLOATING ARTIST ( I don't think you actually get anything for coming in 4th place in the Melbourne Cup!)

More news The Inner West Light Rail from Central to Dulwich Hill is shutting down for at least a month due to cracks in all it's rolling stock. It was reported that it is not a major safety issue  just precaution and inspection/investigations into the cracks but the shut down of the light rail service will force commuters onto bus services. Just another major public transport disaster in NSW. Think back to the new fleet of dodgey ferries that  don't quite meet Australian safety standards that are replacing the yellow and green ferries, the Korean train carriages that didn't quite fit the narrow train lines to the Blue Mountains as well as the problems with the Metro train line just to name a few.

Not much on tv tonight so watched the normal program and went to sleep soon after 8 Out of 10 Does Countdown.  

Wednesday 3rd November 2021

Week 4 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 17 of phase 2 of NSW reopening after 80% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

Another beautiful day today this morning although it is forcast to be a mostly sunny day which means it may become overcast in the afternoon again. Yep by 10 am the weather outside has turned wild with gale force winds but no rain yet. A downpour is due for the rest of this week into the weekend later today. Oh great it will mean a day indoors for my birthday tomorrow!☹

Breaking non COVID news The little 4 year old girl that went missing assumed abducted has been found in a locked house by police in Canarvon after 3 weeks of searching. At 1 am this morning 19 days since she went missing,  policed found her in a room in a locked house and asked her what her name was. Nobody gave up on finding her and there was a nationwide search for her. She is alive and well but now the police have to work out the what how when where and who she was abducted and question the 36 year old local man the police have in custody. The question remains as to whether this was a targeted abduction. 

Booster shots are still being pushed as well as the push for anyone still unvaccinated to be vaccinated if they can ( no mention of those that can't again probably because the NSW government assumes this is zero). The NSW government believes that there is only 2 -3 % of residents that are anti vaccination and believes that by delaying any freedoms for the unvaccinated will be an incentive for the unvaccinated to get vaccinated.  It sounded more like the government was just desparate to reach that 95% double vaccination target over more then anything else - pleading with everyone to get vaccinated  as the double vaccination rate has slowed down almost completely with around an 88.7% double vaccination rate reached. Is the government trying to save face and trying to defend the bragging rights to the world they once had previously before it went pear shaped where the Australian government thought they had beaten COVID when the rest of the world were still fighting it only to have COVID return more resistant then previously and struggling to fight it off  whilst the rest of the world have learned to live with COVID ?

I'll make it clear to the NSW government I won't be pushed to get vaccinated and by doing what they are doing it's not an incentive in anyway for me to get vaccinated any sooner! And they can pay my fine for not voting because I can't  now because I am unvaccinated and still won't be vaccinated by 4th December 21 - their fault for delaying freedoms for everyone equally regardless of vaccination status and delaying freedoms for the unvaccinated until 15th December 2021

COVID news and almost all other news abandoned - there is only one news story on the news all morning today and that is little 4 year old Cleo found safe and well after 19 days missing. The investigation continues how ever to find out what happened to Cleo during those 19 days and  find out more about the motive behind her kidnapping.

I received a text message from the same team member that I spoke to previously asking if I saw the mcomms on recording of vaccination status. I had not but had a quick look at it. Why are Myer requiring this now? Everyone currently working at Myer are double vaccinated, anyone one still unvaccinated or partially vaccinated was stood down 3 weeks ago without notice and not allowed to work . Has Myer changed it's double vaccination mandate in the 3 weeks I was stood down? I don't understand, if this is the case then my case to Fair Work is even stronger against them. I hope they are not allowing partially or unvaccinated managers and staff to return to work - if I find out that they are I will be furious and this will make my case against Myer I had sent to Fair Work even stronger!

Here is the mcomms received from Myer and I will be highlighting ( by bolding) some points in it that I consider a breach of privacy, unfair and/or questionable.

21NOV023

   Make Favourite

COVID-19 Update #618 - NSW Team Member Vaccination Status

M-Comms COVID-19 Update #576 - NSW Store Re-opening and COVID-19 Update #578 - NSW Store Re-opening - Regional Store Update provided team members with information about the vaccination restrictions in New South Wales. Yesterday the New South Wales Government announced that these restrictions will be extended until 15th December 2021 or until the state reaches 95% of the adult population fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Myer will continue to apply the same requirements for customers visiting and shopping instore. All reasonable measures will be taken to ensure only vaccinated customers enter our stores. 

 

To assist in rostering and in preparation for peak, please update WSS by COB Friday 5th November 2021 with your vaccination status. You can continue to update your vaccination status as it changes. Details on how to update are below. 

 

The provision of vaccination information will be used to confirm your eligibility to work and/or access the worksite. Information captured will be used and accessible by authorised personnel with direct responsibility for managing, validating and administering your eligibility to work and/or employee record, and if required by law. Information will only be retained for the period necessary to validate your employment eligibility. 

Evidence of your vaccination status will be requested (if not already provided). In the instance where your vaccination status is not recorded in WSS and/or evidence of your vaccination status cannot be provided, you will not be rostered to work. This will not constitute as stand down and you will be required to take leave.

 

This information is being shared to assist you to make an informed decision about vaccination, if you haven’t already. 

 

HOW TO UPDATE WSS

Please complete by COB Friday 5th November 2021

I spent most of today trying to complete my letter of complaint to Fair Work and fell asleep really late after watching the late news. 

- Requirement by 5th November 21- unreasonable mcomms only just received on 3rd November 21. and no idea what the below means. Not the date the mcomms was posted that's for sure.

"21NOV023"

- the mcomms applies to customers it does not apply to employees.

"Myer will continue to apply the same requirements for customers visiting and shopping instore. All reasonable measures will be taken to ensure only vaccinated customers enter our stores."

- it reviously mentions that vaccination status is used for planning rostering but I don't understand the below. If they have read the information on Fair Work in regards to the vaccination of employees, there is no information of having to provide  and record evidence of vaccination status and  if it is not provided that an employee will not be rostered on to work. Stand down applies to me but leave doesn't as a casual. Is this even legal as Myer has not allowed anyone who is unvaccinated partially vacvinated or with appointments to work unless they are fully vaccinated so asking employees for all the additional information on the who what when why how of their vaccination status is unnecessary. I have already provided my vaccination status to Myer, I'm not doing it again. I actually changed my vaccination date but not my status to "throw a spanner in Myer's works"

"The provision of vaccination information will be used to confirm your eligibility to work and/or access the worksite. Information captured will be used and accessible by authorised personnel with direct responsibility for managing, validating and administering your eligibility to work and/or employee record, and if required by law. Information will only be retained for the period necessary to validate your employment eligibility. 

Evidence of your vaccination status will be requested (if not already provided). In the instance where your vaccination status is not recorded in WSS and/or evidence of your vaccination status cannot be provided, you will not be rostered to work. This will not constitute as stand down and you will be required to take leave."

Finally the below statement on mcomms is a little bizarre and possibly a subliminal pressure for as many unvaccinated and partially vaccinated  Myer employees to get double vaccinated as soon as possible as Myer is short staffed due to their double vaccinated mandate ( what comes around goes around) without notice resulting in probably I estimate a third of their employees still not fully vaccinated therefore stood down immediately and unable to work until they are fully vaccinated. Information being shared ? To whom? I thought this informationbis private? How is the information helping me to make an informed decision about vaccination ? I don't need any information to help me make an informed decision about vaccination, I already made an informed decision about my vaccination and it stsnds, I'm not changing it just for Myer and does Myer not know that vaccinations can't be pushed forward to meet Myer's demands. If you haven't already. Already what? I interpret this as Myer again pressuring Myer employees to get doibl e vaccinated.

"This information is being shared to assist you to make an informed decision about vaccination, if you haven’t already. "

 

If anything Myer has made me remain unvaccinated!

Thursday 4th November 2021

Week 4 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 18 of phase 2 of NSW reopening after 80% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

It's a beautiful day after a day of wild winds yesterday. Forecast a top of 25 degrees C today with possible showere in the afternoon. I've been up since 5 am.

The is a Facebook ( sorry Meta) outage yet again this morning with problem accessing messenger and Instagram. I had no problems as I didn't log out of Facebook but did have problems when I logged out and in again. 

The value of the $AUS after rising to above US 74  cents has been gradually falling  to just below 74 cents.

My birthday = free stuff?! ( maybe not as much this year due to COVID) No set plans for today yet except attending the Myer AGM today ( which is smack bang in the middle of the day with no free lunch again as it is a virtual meeting - imagine if it was actually a live meeting this year, I'd be stuffing my face with as much food as I could there - forget about attending for the AGM! Only joking , I don't behave like that unless my schedule is so tight when I arrive in Melbourne I do ensure I at least grab a bite to eat and a cup of tea maybe s biscuit after the AGM before going to my next event) .

Free stuff # 1.  I almost forgot Cobs Salt & Vinegar Popcorn individual packets from Coles. I almost forgot about picking up these! Have not tried this flavour in their range so hopefully will review in a later blog. I love their cheddar cheese and would eat it by the truck load if I could but started off many years ago with their sweet and salty pop corn and have tried their lightly salted but I don't like heavily buttered or salted pop corn just plain or cheddar 

Yes I drew this & some other pieces of artwork on my Samsung Note

Myer AGM @ 11 am with registrations starting at 10.30 am ( hopefully with no technical glitches - I had glitches again invalid log in for questions submitted online) - I wonder what types of questions shareholders are going to bombard whoever is left on the board of Myer with this year? Oh how I miss attending the live shareholder meetings and near punch ups. Will they vote for or against the re election of them ? Will they vote for or against the adoption of the remuneration report? Will they vote for or against conditional spill resolution? I like how Myer has provided a "How To Vote" at the bottom of their "Please vote every vote counts" email received. I have not noticed one sent before. Well you can all guess how I voted!

I had no problem registering for the Myer AGM but I did have a problem logging a question so had to ring the dedicated help line number. It took a while for the operator to answer and resolve  my problem. Just as well I registered online at 10.30 am.

Same format introduction from the Chairperson followed by a blurb from the CEO followed by the business of the AGM ie voting etc etc ending with question time which is the most interesting section of the AGM.

3a New Myer board member up for re election  Ari Mervis - looks like he will be re elected - sounds like from listening to his background he is known as " the beverage man". ( later accused by a shareholder during question time of lacking retail experience - the shareholder who dug up any sort he could find on him sitting on previous companys boards another shareholder accused him of a conflict of intetest being a supplier of Myer before beco.ing a Myer board member ) Preliminary  votes for 60% +

3 b Previous Myer board member Jacquie Naylor retiring and seeking re election  - sounds like she will be re elected - sounds like she is " the under garments woman" from listening to her background. Preliminary votes for 60% +

3c  Ditto above Dave Whittle sounds like he will be re elected as well and is the "IT guy" from listening to his background. Preliminary votes 60% +

But "It's not over until the fat lady sings" as they say! Votes still be submitted however very slim chance any of the Myer board members not be re elected.

$840000 to Mr King performance rights. 63% voted for this. What! apparently it's all in one with him being the CEO of Myer. 

Conditional spill resolution -  against spill meeting. Well this was not the result that I expected. 62.50% voted against. 

The most common questions  and the first question  from shareholders was Why were dividends not paid? This was covered previously in the chsirperson's opening speech although not quite clear - what does the word prudent mean? I am sure I know what it means but what did Myer mean when they were saying they were being prudent? Ummmm!?

Board representation & expansion of online business were the other 2 most common questions asked by shareholders.

Premier ( Solomon Lew) has no intention to takeover Myer share holders were advised. Interesting. 

The Myer board members and  CEO are really receiving a grilling during shareholders question time. Eventhough it is not live, it's like the ICAC interviews with Mr Maguire and Gladys! Forget dirt being dug up on politicians to disgrace or deface them, shareholders are digging up any sort they can find on board members seeking re election!

Some really interesting questions by shareholders and a shareholder even asked if a full  archived transcript of today's AGM could be made available to all shareholders . Totally agree I want a copy of all the questions asked and their answers!

Oh dear shareholders are actually trying to dig up any sort they can find on any of the board members now asking if they had any dealings with Premier Investments or Solomon Lee - no was the answer from them. Good try for trying to dig up any dirt though!

Final phone question was in regards to recruitment of a new permanent chairperson. Joanne whoever she is the current chairperson and looks like she is staying ( unless shareholders decide to vote against her re election. 

Yes thank you Tim for chairing the question time. Great job. 

1.15 pm Conclusion of Myer AGM - I look forward to attending next year's Myer AGM in Melbourne Live ( just for the free food 😉)

I will probably have a burrito for lunch ( a KFC substitute is tempting but not very healthy).

I am unsure if my blog can reach this next milestone but I would like to reach 29000 readers by my birthday. Do you think it can be reached? I also forgot to mention another milstone on the 14th November 2015  I published my very first blog on this site so it's my blog's 6 year anniversary this year.

News today other then Finding Cleo Smith which is still dominating news headlines is the deadline for all NSW teachers to be double vaccinated is next Tuesday. If they aren't  vaccinated by then they will not be able to work or enter school grounds and will have to find alternative employment. Currently 97% of all teachers are vaccinated ( not mentioned fully or partially  or both). This is just one of  few industries that the NSW government has mandated vaccinations of all frontline workers. There are talks of intetest rates rising next year and tax cuts for people. Income tax cuts implemented to boost Aussie spending.

First b'day wish received by text around 9 am this morning. I guess I should have a shower and do what I have to do today.

I venture out to Chatswood, it's raining and has been most of today whilst I was inside watching the Myer AGM and doing my laundry. First stop was to the post box then to the TAB where I cashed in my Melbourne Cup ticket and won a whole $10.25! That's ok for a $4 bet on 4 horses @ 50 cents each win or place. Gambling is not my strong point. Next is onto Coles to see if I can pick up the free packet of Cobs S & P. Then maybe a mini burramundi burrito fro G y G. The Thursday & Friday markets are on again along Chatswood Mall. Not tonight.

I went to be smaller Coles Local in Westfield and they did not have any Cobs S & V popcorn so I decided to walk to Chatswood Chase and spend $9.50  of my $10.25 winnings at my second favourite sushi place Tamon  dir a snack of grilled salmon suShi and a teriyaki tofu hand roll. The 75 cents left over from my winnings will go towards my next batch of change for  laundry. My mask is put straight back on as soon as I finish eating. Photos below

Dinner!

Next stop Coles to see if there is any Cobs S & V Popcorn packs and maybe get some other essential groceries I've run out of. Maybe some Bread Yakault non lactose cheese maple syrup dish washing liquid  blueberries . Will have a little nosey around. 

Found the Cobs S & V popcorn packet. Some blueberries bread a bottle of mineral water and some other things. Yakault - what's with the shortage of yakault? I'm having to drink the normal ones as the lite is unavailable everywhere! It's not like the theory behind tonic water which contained quinine an original possible cure for COVID. Yakault will not cure COVID or will it? Nah it contains probiotics good gut bacteria - COVID is a virus completely different beast.

I wasn't addicted to these after just one mini snack pack as I was with the cheddar flavoured ones. They are ok but I can see why I am not addicted to them. They are just meh. I don't hate them but don't love them either. I rate them 7/10. 

Home , I take my laundry out of the dryer, wash my hands and bleach my mask before hanging it out to dry and unpack my groceries. No need for dinner as I have already had it. I missed the news and the Cook Up but made it home in time for 8 Out of 10 Does Countdown. There is nothing much on tv on Thursday night do I might have to go back to the Food channel or watch YouTube channels. 

There were 308 COVID cases in NSW today 1 acquired overseas and 2 excluded following further investigation ( I still haven't figured out what this actually means) and 4 deaths again these people were either elderly had other medical conditions were from the SW or western suburbs of Sydney in an aged care facility or in hospital. Only found this information on Twitter as the website for NSW Health is always 2 days behind. 

It's almost midnight and I can't sleep. It's still raining outside  and the traffic is very loud swishing past. I haven't been feeling the best scratching  . I think this vaccination mandate situation is causing me a lot of stress and stress is not good. Stress is a trigger  of my allergies and eczema  as well as weather and several other things. 

I finally fall asleep and wake just after 6 am.

Friday 5th November 2021

Week 4 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 19 of phase 2 of NSW reopening after 80% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

It rained throughout the night continuously and it is still raining today as forecasted. October/November Rain in Sydney is a real thing when most of the year's rain falls in usually a few weeks then it's a extreme dry hot bushfire riddle Summer

COVID news headlined include: 

There is a surplus of Pfizer vaccines which are about to expire so the booster shot program has now been pushed forward so they aren't wasted. Some people are questioning why there are some regions of Australia where there isn't enough vaccine and whilst others have excess and why aren't they being redistributed to regions that need them.

Australia ( not NSW) has now reached 80% double vaccination. As of midnight last night there is now well and truely lifting of restrictions with travel between NSW and Victoria ( for the fully vaccinated only) as NSW and VIC fulky opens their borders. You can still travel between NSW and VIC if you are unvaccinated  however there are restrictions and for essential travel only. Still restrictions with travelling to all other states.  NSW has now reached a 89.05 % double vaccination rate.

There is also a push to roll out vaccines for kids under 12 as soon as there is TGA approval.

The UK is the first country to approve the " COVID pill", given to people as soon as tgey test positive to COVID How ever is is emphasized that it is not a substitute for vaccinations.

Non COVID news include :

ABBA has released a new album.

It's not nice outside very windy and overcast. At least it has stopped raining for a bit but looks as if it will rain again later today. The wind is howling. 

There were 249 COVID cases & 3 deaths in NSW today. 

The Inner West Light Rail system will be decommissioned for at least  18 months due to cracks in all the trams. The $200 million infrastructure could be shelved. 

I can't sleep and it's 10 pm which I'm not surprised as I did absolutely nothing today except cook eat fold and put my lsundry away  watch tv and YouTube videos . It was a really windy and not so nice day today today so I did not venture out. At least it is dry tonight. Tomorrow I am unsure if I want to go out. Maybe a ferry ride somewhere? 

I received an email from the NSW Electorial Commission  as follows 

"Reminder - Expression of interest now open - Local Council Elections 2021

Dear applicant,

Thank you for your application to work at the election, this is currently being looked at and you should hear from your local Returning Officer soon.

 

We still need more people to apply to work at the local council elections on Saturday 4 December 2021.

 

Please let your family and friends know that work is available by forwarding them this email.

 

We encourage everyone to apply as soon as possible.

 

Roles are being offered now and will continue to be offered until 30 November 2021.

 

The link to register your Expression of Interest is below: **********************

 

Please do not reply to this email.

Kind Regards,

Staffing Team

NSW Electoral Commission"

Why am I receiving this email? I can't work at the election because the date for the unvaccinated has been pushed back to 15th December now which means I now can't vote let alone work and I thought positions were filling up fast. Obviously I was not being told the truth at the time I received the call from the North Sydney electoral office - due to the delays in Australia Post's postal services I don't think they would have received my letters of complaint yet. 

Saturday 6th November 2021

Week 4 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 20 of phase 2 of NSW reopening after 80% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

I don't know what's going on but my blog has gone back to normal and is no longer in HTML anymore . However I have lost my entries for today that I wrote about.

The sun is out but it is forecast to rain over the weekend.

I didn't sleep very well last night waking up multiple times therefore slept in until almost 10 am this morning. 

We all got a text message from the customer service manager via the What's App group chat requesting all team members new and old to update their vaccination status  by Friday the 5th November now extended until Monday 8th November ( which is unreasonable as this mcomm was not received until Wed 3rd night) and to complete 3 training courses online by 12th November  21.( also a little unreasonable as I can't work and am on unpaid leave). I updated mine with NVAX eventhough I do have vaccination dates booked. It does not matter when I get vacvinated now as the date for freedoms for the unvaccinated has been moved back to 15th December 2021 which was originally 2st December 2021. I had trouble getting into WSS ( and it seems others are having trouble from text messages) but I eventually was able to log in and it still required you to enter a date of vaccination even if you select NVAX so I just entered 15th December 2021. Done.

It's lunch time and I don't feel like doing anything again. I had a bit of breakfast but nothing else. I think I've just given up on life. Every job I've applied for I have received a rejection letter for so I give up. 

NSW has now reached 93.8 % single vaccination and 89.4% double vaccination.

There were 270 COVID cases in NSW today. Cases are rising again. I can't find the number of deaths again but according to the ABC  news there were 5 deaths. Channel 7 says there were only 3 deaths and on the website it said 271 COVID cases so which source is right? 

Pfizer is seeking approval for their COVID antiviral drug. They are the second pharmaceutical company to do so after trials show a 89% efficacy rate in treating COVID cases in those that are unvaccinated. Higher then the first COVID antivural drug by Merck Sharp which has just been approved to be used in the UK. However government's still urging vaccination still the prefered method in fighting COVID. 

Other non COVID news today

Missing swimmer due to shark attack at a beach in WA.

A shooting in Devonport Tasmania leaving 2 dead a woman in hospital and 2 children at home whilst it happened.

Thousands of Victorians take to the streets to protest against a state wide vaccine mandate and climate change. A 5 hour protest to end vaccine mandate laws. They want Dam Andrews the VIC premier sacked.

Speaking of protests over in  Glasglow Greta Thunberg has addressed protestors outside the COP26 conference on climate change that COP26 was a failure. This was part of her speech which will become famous if it hasn't yet where she described the UN climate change summit as a "two-week long celebration of business as usual and blah, blah, blah" to "maintain business as usual" and "create loopholes to benefit themselves".

She is mot wrong there all politicians do a lot of "blah, blah, blah" ing!

Channel 7 News mistakingly putting an image of a man that was not actually the man police have  in custody that kidnapped little Cleo Smith.  He is taking legal action over the mistake  and had nothing to do with the kidnapping as he was at the hospital with his sick baby.

Has Australia gone mad!

 

I just got another scam text message. These are so annoying! The amount of times I have had to look up random phone numbers is countless. To all my readers  beware of scam numbers look them up before you remind to them,  see what others have reported on them,  delete their messages and block their numbers!

Nothing on TV again so went to sleep but woke up again several times during the night.

Sunday  6th November 2021

Week 4 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 21 of phase 2 of NSW reopening after 80% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only. ( final day of phase 2) 

End of another week of stand down for me but still no freedoms for the unvaccinated and me. But for all those fully vaccinated almost full freedoms eve - as of midnight tonight the fully vacvinated will be able to let loose to do an.ost whatever they like. 

Queensland has 9 active COVID cases but has run the first mass community event  since the cIVID panoramic  began -  the Bridge To Brisbane Run today ( QLD's equivalent to the Blackmores Running Festival Bridge Run & Family Fun run in Sydney which due to lockdown # 2 did not go ahead live again in 2021 instead turned virtual for the 2nd year ). It will be interesting to see if there is a spike in cases as a result of it as QLD has a much lower vaccination rate then NSW and VIC. 

A 25 year old has won the 1 million dollar competition incentive for getting vaccinated that was launched back in October 21. How ironic a mainland Chinese woman won the competition  and plans to use the money for a family reunion bringing her family over from mainland China when borders reopen internationally.

There were 244 COVID cases in NSW and 1 death overnight. Victoris still has 1173 new COVID cases. First dose vaccinations in NSW have stalled at 93.9 % and double vaccination rates have reached 89.7% ( I thought it was reported yesterday that the 90% rate had been reached - again where are these figures coming from?)

There is a Free beer Wednesday to celebrate the new freedoms as of Monday 8th November 2021.

It is Freedom 2.0 Phase 3 eve but only for the fully vaccinated. NSW will be almost back to normal with only a few restrictions still in place for the fully vaccinated. The unvaccinated will still be restricted  ie can't work can't shop can't travel can't do any group sports or visit an indoor pool or gym or visit friends etc until 15th December 21. Do I care no but the consequences of this delay can be seen especially the labour shortages in certain industries such as hospitality. Even Myer is suffering as a result- I am not surprised that a text message from the customer service manager via What's App group chat was received this morning as follows :

"Good morning just a reminder that I need everyone to watch make it count Christmas m cast.  We at the moment have the lowest customer score in the store.  Can everyone please share a tip on service so we can torn this around. Thankyou for the effort everyone has put in for the last week.  We can do better I believe we all can change this. If you have any questions please feel free to ask H**** J****or myself at any time. 😁😁😁😁"

Of course they have the lowest customer service score.They  lost almost their entire Homewares and Electical Departments' team before their double vaccination mandate! They hired a whole new team of casuals too late and they were not trained up enough in time for reopening. Nothing I can do about it. Myer Warringah Mall also lost a few managers and other experienced team members in other departments due to the double vaccination mandate . So I am not surprised! They have probably gone back to they way they were before I started there a year ago - stand behind the counter as a robot and reverted to the " there is no one here to serve me" again. So much for their "customer last ( oops I meant first)  plan" which i still don't understand. The team leader is now going around asking team members for it was of "Improving Customer Service" - I have one Don't be a robot!

Melbourne has been smashed with hail rain and storms with flooding in areas of Melbourne and Victoria. Rain has not hit Sydney yet but forcast for later this afternoon and it looks like it will rain as the sun has not come out at all this morning and it is very dark and overcast outside.

I woke up around 6 am this morning and watched the news, YouTube and make some comments before updating my blog. 

More tragic news headlines today. 

8 deaths as a result of a stampede at a music festival  in Huston featuring rapper Travis Scott and it is thought drugs may have  caused the cardiac arrests that caused the stampede. 

Twin girls have died in a house fire west of Byron Bay and it is thought a candle may have been left burning as the cause of the fire. 

The missing swimmer attacked by a shark was a 57 year old man and the search is still on for the body.

Whilst the man responsible for kidnapping little Cleo Smith may have been transported to Perth  and placed in a maximum security  prison isolated, all the police involved in little Cleo Smith's search will be honoured at a reception for their efforts in  Perth by WA's premier.  

1 pm and it's raining. I hear thunder and lightening but it could be just the cars going over some planks on the main highway.

So disappointing. It's raining and there is teamwork but I was lucky the next 144 bus to St Leonards Station connect with a train replacement bus to Wynyard. When I arrived at Wynyard  I was  trying to find the tunnel to the IGA Locali but could not find it and the regulators down to the IGA Locali were blocked off so I asked a train officer at Wynyard and he was looking for the same thing as he forgot to bring his lunch with him today . He said maybe I had to cross the road and entre through The Hunter Connection so I walked up to the escalator and exited onto George Street crossed the road in the rain only to find that it was closed. I tried to call the IGA Locali but no one answered. I guess it was closed today but nobody bothered to update their website which said it was open until 7 pm today. So I walked all the way back to Wynyard and told the train officer and he said it was closed - everything was closed except Maccas. He had a coffee in his hand probably all he could find around Wynyard Station. I headed back to Clarence Street to find the train replacement bus stop - you walk through tbis tunnel and up a flight of stairs onto street level to get to the bus stop. Everytime I have to take a bus from this bus stop , it reminds me of catching a Jetstar , ex Tiger Aiways or even a Virgin flight at the domestic airport before walking across the tarmac to board the plane. So I was lucky again and the first train replacement bus was an express direct from Wynyard to Chatswood.  it was still raining and I could hear the thunder in the distance getting closer but no lightening yet. I board the bus and as soon as I arrive at Chatswood Station the walk to the other end of Chatswood to The Chase where the larger Coles supermarket is and did a medium shop from my list. What's with the Yakault? the shelves are now completely empty! Is there a shortage of the Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota ? ( probiotic good gut bacteria for  the lay man). A health but helps with immunity. It does not cure COVID but I think there maybe a transport issue hence the shortage. IGA will probably have some. 

Rain Rain More Rain

Track work on the North Shore line. Workers in the rain on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Takoyaki ( Japanese octapus balls)

After I finished my shopping at Coles I needed to repack my groceries ( always!) as it is so poorly done. Then I have a snack from Master Rolls of 2 octapus ball skewers. Pretty ordinary Master Rolls is not a favourite sushi place of mine and Tamon did not have any. There was no mayo bento flakes BBQ sauce or seaweed flakes that usually is included with it. Very disappointed rating 5/10.  I also don't know what's going on with the KFC, can they not find staff? It's been closed for so long. It's usually really busy - maybe they are not opening on Sundays as there is one near the station which is always busy!

I almost forgot to review another product which I purchased from Coles but threw the wrapper away. It was on sale 2 for $4.50 . It was the frozen Four N Twenty plant based pie and plant based sausage roll. 8/10 . Not bad at all for a company known over the decades for their meat pies. I had a sausage roll for one meal and the pie the following day for another meal. It was a bit bland but nothing a bit of tomato sauce or bbq sauce couldn't fix. I wouldn't eat them too often as I could tell it was not meat but the gravy or sauce base it was in is always a bit suspect in pies . Woryh giving a try. i think I preferred the sausage roll version!

Plant based pie - definitely needed sauce !

Walk back to the station, bus home, wash my hands, beach my mask and hang up and unpack my groceries.

I watched some tv - spotlight on ABBA and border security before going to bed. I was really itchy. It has been raining a lot and my skin was at one of  it's worst days last night again. It continued to rain throughout the night and I woke up again around 11 pm.  I tried to fall asleep again and ended up sleeping in until 6.30 am the following morning.

Monday  8th November 2021 Week 85 Of Total Unemployment 

Week 5 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 1 of phase 3A of NSW reopening after 90% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only. ( the vaccination rate has not actually reached the 90% double vaccination rate by today as forcasted - it has stalled at 89.8% today. Notes on the NSW Health website again the rate recorded is different it only states 89.4% - still questioning  figures reported on different sites - no wonder their site is 2 days behind dated 6th November ). There was 93.9% first dose vaccination reached ( the rate has stalled) 

I just got a COVID alert sent to my phone but no details and I am having trouble finding details. After finding the list of cases and locations, none were locations and dates of where I had visited. The system is getting more and more difficult to use.  It used to be so easy to use and find location and cases.

Not much interesting news today - first day of more freedoms for NSW for the fully vaccinated, the push is on for 3rd booster shots for anyone who had their 2nd dose of vaccine 6 months or more ago which would be mainly fronline workers in  aged care facilities and hospitals for example with pfizer being the prefered vaccine ( problem Pfizer is the only booster vaccine available in Australia so you have to mix and match vaccines if you had the Moderna (N/A as only very new in Australia) or Astra Zenica and estimated 1.7 million Australians will be due for boosters by Christmas. The vaccine still has not been approved for under 12 year olds but vaccination preparations are underway in schools to vaccinate  5 - 12 year olds, the HSC starts tomorrow and all exam students are required to wear a mask during their exams in order to protect the exam supervisors  who are mainly elderly. First load of travellers from Singapore due to arrive today. Aside from protests in Melbourne recently, there were protectors in Coolongatta. 

Non COVID news The search for the 57 year old shark attack man has been suspended. There police have found a lead for missing elderly couple missing since 2020 where a suspect vehile has been found. Wild weather for most of Australia forcasted for the rest of this week which started last night. There has been great debate/discussion as to whether QLD should adopt daylight savings so it can be aligned with the timezones of the other states of the Eastern coast of Australia. 

Today I did absolutely nothing - correction i didn't get anything done. The things I am constantly flighting in life - not just my severe  allergies and eczema.  It did not actually rain as forecasted today and the sun is trying so hard to stay out but at almost 5 pm , the grey clouds are looking and it seems almost certain to rain again tonight. I have to admit my skin isn't as itchy today but that could be from the steroidal cream I put on it. 

So today was spent waiting for 30 minutes each phone call to each organisation  to try and unsuspend  my Centrelink payments which were put on hold by The Salvation Army Employment Plus Chatswood office because I did not agree to my 20 job searches a month job plan from my old job plan of 4 jobs per month and for misding an appointment which I had notified them about I would not be able to attend due to being at work. Then there was the procedure to switch to another Centrelink approved employment service provider whilst at the same time looking for work and applying for jobs whilst on hold with them.  I did not finish calling around until 3 pm. The new Centrelink approved employment service provider was booked in to call me back at 2 pm today and they did not so i chased them by ring them and they said they could not find my consultant so will email them to get them to call me back. Now 5 pm I still have not heard from them and I looked on the switch providers on the Jobactive website and they ate not even on the list. I chose them ( APM) because they are a smaller organisation so thought at least I could get through to them faster - no it seems all approved Centrelink employment service providers are the same and they are constantly changing probably looking their contracts with Centreli no due to poor service. I had other choices such as MAX employment . I did not choose them for a reason I have used them before and they were pretty bad!

What else did I do today? I filled in an online form to lodge a postal vote. I had emailed my request previously but it was not a formal request as I had to actually fill out a request form and post it or request it online so I ran to find out if and how  I could register for an ivote nold no can do until 22nd November 21. Too lkate and too hard. So I opted for a postal vote online at least the papers will get to my address. I asked if I was registered as a silent voter and they advised me that I was not registered as one asnd if I wanted to be a silent voter I had to ring the AEC to do so. Pain in the was to vote and voting for all local state and federal elections are compulsory.

When I was looking for work online I came access reviews written by current and former employees of companies on SEEK which give indications of what it is like to work for certain companies.  What do you think I came across? Pages of reviews from current and former Myer employees which confirmed everything I've experienced working at Myer and what other team members think about working at Myer that they have told me about. Myer really does have a people and cultures problem. Scaving comments about middle and top managements'  abuse of their powers and the toxic culture of Myer. I'm wondering if the Myer board members and the CEO Mr King is aware of this or where they even  care about them. How I want to tell Me King to stop pushing individual performance metrics of team members and concentrate on Myer's own performance metrics ( very much lack of them) .

 

5.20 pm and I don't think APM is going to call me back. It looks like my payment has been unsuspected online but my job plan has reverted to an old one with 4 job searches per month and no job search requirements. So it should . I am doing the right thing looking for at least 4 jobs per month as per mutal obligations, reporting all my fortnightly income/ hours worked and continuing to  do so throughout the COVID pandemic which is the correct procedure, I've continued to contact the employment service provider  if I can't attend an interview including notifying them of being unvaccinated hence unable to attend in person. I've done everything correctly so I should not be penalised . I didn't even apply for their additional economic disaster payments because I didn't need it. 

I need to take my rubbish and the small red bin out. All the other bins are empty. Done.

I missed a call from APM whilst I was in the bathroom. Could not wait any longer after 5 pm they still  had not rung back - when you have to ho you have to go. I also had a shower and washed my dishes. I rang them back and now my payments should be reinstated and a new job plan where I need to do 10 job searches a month is ready for me to sign. It's better then 20 job searches a month! This will be reviewed again in December when hopefully I return to work and it is posdible I won't need to do any job searches. I had to explain my  work situation and why i had to change Centrelink employment service providers. 

I missed the news because of the phone back  only managing to catch the weather forecast rain possible  ( mid 20s degrees C  - contrast to last night's colder temperatures) but caught The Cook up and 8 Out of 10 does Countdown and HYBPA. 

There were 187 COVID cases in NSW with no cases acquired  overeas but 16 cases excluded pending further investigations ( still don't know what this means)  and  7 deaths today. Again there is a pattern - a mix of male and female with all except for 1  person who was in their 30's who had no other medical conditions, the rest were in their 60s 70s and 80s. A mix of fully  vaccinated part vaccinated and unvaccinated. They were from  Albury, SW Sydney,  inner city,  SE Sydney and they contracted COVID in a hospital or at an aaged care facility. Some had other medical conditions. There were  2 that were in an aged care facility that have had a previous COVID outbreak. 

I fell asleep after watching HYBPA but woke up again around 1 am the next morning from the sound of loudly talking construction workers moving barriers down the main highway but went back to sleep and slept in until almost 9 am the following morning!

Tuesday 9th December 2021

Week 5 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 2 of phase 3A of NSW reopening after 90% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

It's still overcast this morning. It rained overnight and it was a little cold as well. 

I missed the news this morning so will have to catch up later.

I have so much to do today again.

I have to bring the bin back in and have some breakfast before tackling bills and continuing to search for jobs. I'm doing this more to satisfy Centrelink requirements but am still looking for my ultimate dream job which is not easy at my age. The older you get the more difficult it is to find employment and no job is forever. 

I made myself go downstairs and bring the red bin back in. Done by 10 am.

I sent an email back to a company requesting if I could attend an online interview sometime. I requested to attend one next Monday as there are a few things I may have to do this week. It gives me time to do a bit of research on the  company as well. 

Breakfast was lentil ravioli with some blended pumpkin and sage soup I had made. The 2 went so well together. I accidently threw the packaging out for the lentil ravioli before reviewing it. I rate it a 9/10. It was pretty good for a Coles brand refrigerated product ( not frozen) . I will definitely be buying that again. I was tossing and turning for so long as to whether to try it or purchase the other run of the mill Coles brand pastas available such as the spinach and feta or veal or beef or chicken or kids ravioli or tortellini again, which were larger packets at the same price of $4. I am so glad I chose the lentil ravioli. I even ate some on It's own without any of the pumpkin soup.

There was another appointment with APM pop up in my emails and calender on the Jobactive website as I was agreeing to the job plan online for 1.15 pm today. So I was waiting for it and I received a scam phone call around 11.30 am this morning but no one called me by 1.30 pm. I yhink this employment service provider is going to be the opposite to the other one.

News today include:

The prime minister has unveiled a new electric vehicle plan where a $178 million will be spent on electric charging stations and hydrogen refueling stations  to encourge the use of more electric vehicles However there is backlash with the plan as there are no incentives to encourage people to purchase them as they are very expensive to purchase.

There are new developments in the kidnapped 4 year old's case in WA. Police have returned to the house where she was found and are trying to work out if the man who kidnapped her worked alone or had an accomplice.  There is evidence that there was a female who visited the house to brush the little girls hair.

There was yet another fatal motor vehicle crash in Melbourne were the motor vehicle crashed into road workers were one worker died  and another worker injured before the driver of the motor vehicle fled bleeding . There is now a search for the fugitive.  I think there has been one major motor vehicle crash almost every few days since last week. What is going on?

More COVID news rapid antigen testing used in schools where students test themselves several times a week and isolate for a shorter period of time if testing positive or come into close contact with a case. Main complaint of HSC students is having to wear a mask during exams which is a fair call because exams are stressful enough for being upto 3 hours long and it will be getting hotter so it will be even more irritating for students along with all the strict protocols of social distancing and monitoring eg temperature checks and possible rapid testing before and after exams and tracking where they have been or are going before and after exams. It is so unfair for HSC students this year after enduring so much time home schooling in isolation away from their friends and delayed HSC exams. Today was the first day of the HSC - English with social distancing sanitizing masks ( those wearing glasses fogging up) , special considerations and even a  school shut down for deep cleaning due to a positive COVID cases.

Ruby League has a no jab no play mandate but there are  quite a few players that are unvaccinated.

Obama former president of USA addresses the nation on climate change. 

Big Bird has ruffled a few feathers urging kids to get vaccinated. Government propaganda for 5 year olds? That is the question that divides the nation - only in the US . Apparently Big Bird has been used to urge kids to get vaccinated before  to get the measles vaccination. Is Big Bird getting kick backs from the US Government? Hard to believe Big Bird is a eternal 6 year old fake giant yellow bird! He tells kids that his wing hurts a bit after vacvination? He's a fake bird he doesn't have any feelings! Big Bird has now been called a communist.

The 90% double vaccination rate has still not been reached in NSW, it is sitting on 89.9%. Single vaccination rates has reached 95%? The percentages are still questionable as they keep changing from source to source. This is because of the addition of the 12 - 18 year old group added in at a later date just as the 18 - 24 year old age group was added previously . It will change again if another group 5 - 12 year olds are added in as well. 

The sun is out for now and it's 3 pm. Where has the time gone?

It's offical NSW has now reached the 90% double vacination rate! There were 222 COVID cases in NSW  & a total 9 deaths today ( including some from an aged care facility which had a previous outbreak).

There is still a shortage of staff in hospitality and personal services such as hairdressers. There are wage incentives to attract workers however it is the customers that will pay with higher prices in order to cover these costs of attracting workers. Solution stop mandating the double vaccination! You can't complain about the shortage of staff if you won't lift the double vaccination as a condition of employment!

Half price public transport for Inner West residents on the Light Rail replacement buses as the entire light rail system on the Central to Dulwich Hill L1 line is shut down for at least the next 18 months due to cracks found in the system. Can the NSW government fix it? No they can't! 

Click Frenzy is about to start. Who cares. I don't need anything. Actually i was texting an ex team member ticket girl and she didn't know it was on again so she had a look and so did I!

Flybuys points will be earned from purchases at Bunnings and Officeworks in time for Christmas. Officers used to earn you fly buys points decades ago but was discontinued. About time they sign on again!

Qantas A380 returns home after it was ground in a LAX hanger due to COVID  lockdown.  And I thought it was stored out in the desert somewhere in the US in a giant plane graveyard along with all the other grounded planes rusting away and gathering cobwebs! The plane will probably have a safety check and used as a re-  training aircraft before taking to the skys again. Pilots and crew will be retrained. Gradually building the fleet back to 10 to meet demands of return to travel overseas. Some will replace 747 planes although 787s are preferred as they are more economical.  

After texting ex team member ticket girl about tips for my interview via Google meeting next week ( she advised me that she put a jacket on but wore her trackie dacks underneath for her video call interview 😉)  , having a look at what bargains there were during click frenzy which started at 7 pm tonight, checking Myer Metrics where I didn't even see I had accumulated a total of $156 worth of Myer reward vouchers to use ( all from my customer service feed back scores ( which I told ex team member ticket girl that I could buy 78 bottles of Koala ( Olivia Newton John Foundation charity)  water from Myer with - It's a joke as that's all I ever buy with my Myer reward vouchers I earn) , watching The Chase, the news, The cook up, 8 Out of 10 Does  Countdown and whatever else was on ( not much on a Tuesday night)  as well as watching  YouTube channels and commenting. I fell asleep

 but again woke up around 2 am before going back to sleep and waking up st 7 am the following morning.

Wednesday 10th November 2021

Week 5 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 3 of phase 3A of NSW reopening after 90% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

It rained during the night and it's still wet outside this morning. New headlines still forecast wild weather across Australia and across  Central Australia and  East coast of Australia causing flooding.

There were 217 COVID cases in NSW and  3 deaths today. Again the number of COVID cases varies depending on which source you read. It said 216 COVID cases instead of 217 previously on a news report. 

NSW has hit 90% ( 90.1% to be exact)  double vaccination rate but still has not hit 95% ( 94% to be exact) first vaccination rate yet. The  next target is reaching 95% double vaccination rate before freedoms will be allowed for the unvaccinated but the question is can NSW reach 100% double vacvination rate . I say definitely NO! With anti vaxers , true science, medical exemptions and more importantly every pharmaceutical company and his dog developing and releasing new antiviral drugs claiming to effectively treat COVID with the latest antiviral drug just released from Astra Zenica . Not everyone is going to want to be vaccinated - it's all down to risks - the risks of vaccination verses the risk of contracting COVID verses building up natural immunity verses treatments. People who are real scientists will take the safest option.

A Californian couple that underwent IVF treatment are taking legal action against the fertility clinic for being given the wrong baby they gave birth to and raised for the first months of it's life. The couple received their biological child back but had to explain to their 7 year old how her sister was not her real sister. Around 1 year old the couple and the stranger involved in the mistake agreed to swap their babies on NYE 2019. The father had doubts about the baby being biologically  his as he could not recognise the baby because it had a darker complexion and hair therefore decided to get a DNA test and it turned out that the baby's DNA was neither his or his wife's DNA. 

Sydney's most wanted fugitive ( a millionaire bad restaurant owner drug lord ) found  and arrested on the Gold Coast . He had cut his electronic tracking device off weeks ago in October and fled. Someone tried ro smuggle him across the NSW QLD border but he was caught at a check point hiding in the back of a shipping container with his Mercedes by police. he is being held in a prison cell in Brisbane awaiting extradition back to NSW.  police has unveiled his around the world escape to meet up with other drug lord syndicates planning to smuggle more drugs into Australia.

Victorian protesters were out yet again  protesting against mandatory vacvination laws .Organisers  sending textsvia encrypted messaging app. 

It's free beer Wednesday for the double vaccinated today. Who cares not an incentive for me to get vaccinated - I hate beer.

Is Scott Morrison out and about in an early election campaign? Yesterday he was out and about making dumpling noodles gnocchi  and getting a haircut. He has also pledged 5 million dollars towards greener technology ( his low emissions scheme). ( $5 million? $1 million? $500 million? unsure as the amount varied from one news report to another)

It's been  15 years since Steve Irwin's death - hard to believe it has been tbis long ago since he was killed by a stingray's barb.

3 weeks ago a QLD town was hit by a freak hail storm with hail stones measuring upto 16 cm in size before beginning to melt. They were not as big as the current record held by the 20 cm hail stones of the USA  but researchers have collected samples that residents have kept in their freezers to create 3D models and study the structures of them in order to study weather patterns, how these hail stones formed and  better prepare for future hail storms.

By noon today it is really dark and wet outside.  it is pouring with rain. I am glad that I am not working or have anywhere to go but tomorrow I  do and hope it is not pouring with rain.

6 pm and it's still raining.  Strong winds and Thunder storms forcasted for tomorrow and Friday in Sydney. 

With nothing much to do today for once except updating things, I watched the food channel most of today and made myself a warming pho from scratch. I made a master stock from  a long list of aromatics in some hot water   - Chinese five spice, star anise, fresh chopped shallots, garlic paste, ground ginger, sesame oil, soya sauce, vegetable stock cubes, fried shallots, fresh chopped corriander, chilli flakes, maple syrup, mirin, bbq sauce, fennel seeds, salt, freshly ground pepper , juniper berries, some pitted whole kalamata  olives and I hope I haven't left off any ingredients . I let these aromatics  infuse for a few hours on high in my slow cooker with half a chicken poaching in it. After a few hours when my chicken was cooked through I removed it , strained the masterstock before returning the strained masterstock back into my slow cooker to continue simmering on low adding udon noodles to it to cook. In a large noodle bowl I placed the deboned and chopped up  poached chicken  and added some mixed green leaves and chopped up  fresh shallots. When the udon was ready, I added them to my large noodle bowl along with the strained master stock which was really nice and hot. The result below. Perfect for a miserable dark wet colder day like today.

The mixed greens and poached chicken is at the bottom of my pho.

I got some disappointing news. So watched my usual week day tv programs with the addition of Michael Palin's North Korea before finally going to sleep after 11 pm. Still awful outside although it has stopped raining.

Thursday 11th November 2021

REMEMBRANCE DAY " Lest we Forget" 

I didn' get to see the sails of the Opera House lit up early tbis morning for Remembrance  Day so decided to visit the Cenotaph at martin Place today.

Rememberance Day 2021 was an  overcast rainy day setting the mood

The Cenotaph at Martin Place where wreaths are placed every Anzac Day and Remembrance  Day. There is something very  special about this memorial. Difficult to believe that this memorial has been vandalised on several ocassions in the past. It is quite disrespectful really. 

Week 5 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 4 of phase 3A of NSW reopening after 90% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

Before I write about anything else today, I want to thank all my readers again for reading my blog over the not quite 6 years I've been writing it. I thought I wasn't going to reach my target by the 6th anniversary of my blog on 14th November 2021 but when I woke this morning , my blog has now been read by over 29 000 people around the world! So thank you and I hope you continue to read my blog ( until it crashes!) There is a secret page on my blog which I am working on  ( 15 entries now completed) to bring across my blogs from Simple Site & a blog that is incomplete as it was a test blog which reviews an event I went to. This event was so badly organised ,  I decided to abandon it at the time. There were still 717 readers  of this blog before I decommissioned it. I hope readers will be able to find them and I apologise for the photos as they failed to transfer over half the time therefore I used a poor quick fix work around of screen shots.

So it's still awful  weather outside and newheadlines has warned Sydney  residents to "brace themselves for more wild weather ". Dubbed a "rain bomb" storms and wild wind are expected today. There are flood warning still. A top of 21 degrees C - that's quite cool for Spring but it means that it will be super hot and super dry after the November rain is over.

I am determined to venture out today. 

It's remembrance day where everyone pauses for 1 minutes silence observed at the 11th hour to remember fallen veterans. Poppies have lit up the sails of the Opera House today.

"Remembrance Day was first observed in 1919 throughout the British Commonwealth. It was originally called “Armistice Day” to commemorate armistice agreement that ended the First World War on Monday, November 11, 1918, at 11 a.m.—on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month."

AFL COVID chaos - players have been asked to get the jab or quit. There is one Calton AFL  player that is refusing to get vaccinated and he has been given an ultimatum until 6th December to get vaccinated or not be allowed to play. If by may next year he remains still unvaccinated his contract will be torn up but the AFL does not want to do this. 

I received an email from Simple Site which was where my original blog was advising they are deleting all free blogs. Basically it's use it or lose it. I did not continue to pay for my blog after using all of my free 15 pages as there was no scalability back then. There did not seem to be anyway of transferring my free blog site  over to a paid domain website. ( I hope this makes sense) so I abandon it. My blog is also very difficult to find via Google therefore to preserve my blog I am currently doing a manual transfer by copy and paste.  I am  having a few technical problems where images can be copied but not pasting into blogger therefore my work around is screen shots of photos in Simple Site  before pasting them. This means the photos will be of very poor quality  but at least I was able to save them from being deleted. I have 15 pages to transfer over and only a month to do so before they are deleted permanently from Simple Site.  I wonder if Way Back Machine can save my Simple Site  blogs? Transfer is now complete however I am unsure if anyone can see them. Hopefully this link works until simple Site deletes it.

dulcineayee.simplesite.com

Meghan Markle is in the news again. Reports claim that she knew about her text messages were going to be leaked before they were, even asking for advice of how she should word them saying "Should I put Daddy?" to pull at heart strings if these text messages were leaked.

Bob Carr  former premier of NSW is pushing for people who refuse to get vaccinated  to be stripped of their public Medicare  benefits. He won't be very popular if this law is passed . Medicare is the government health care system that provides Australian residents access to some health services for free or low lost. Mr Carr believes  that the unvaccinated should be treated like those who smoke for example where private medical insurance or other insurances charge those that smoke higher premiums  as their health is more at risk of illnesses and disease due to their smoking then those that don't. It's a why should I pay for someonelse's health choices arguement? Discrimination!

Happy 30th Birthday MCA!

Celebrations started  at 10 am this morning. I was going to attend the Welcome ceremony but have decided not to as it is not the nicest day and I had some things to do. I am also unvaccinated therefore may not be able to bypass staff  checking vaccination passports after scanning the QR code to get in. I am going to  wait and go to see the Dough Aitkin exhibition ( it is free entry today as part of MCA's 30th birthday celebrations until 9 pm tonight  to see it)  after 15th December 21 and use my Dine & Discover voucher.

There were 261 COVID cases and 1 death in NSW today.

I'm so confused. I emailed IGA Wynyard which I thought was the IGA Locali - It's not, It's actually down the road on George Street  or is it? The opening hours were the same for both stores but they only applied to the George Street store not the Wynyard one. The Wynyard one does not open on Sundays but it doesn't say that on the website and so I assumed it was all one store going from underground upto street level. The photos all look as if it's one store. 

OK I've figured it out now. It is indeed 2 separate IGA Locali  within walking distance of each other. Both are part of the Romeo Group of IGAs

Is this art? This was displayed inside a vacant store on George  Street for lease

Is this street art at The Rocks ? Or just leftover from Halloween?

My first stop wasn't the IGA Locali though, it was Circular Quay to see what was going on at the MCA's 30th Birthday. When I arrived ( I took the light rail because I was lazy and also because it was sprinkling with rain). Nothing much was hapoening outside- maybe I missed the Welcome ceremony and because it was wet maybe the Artplay was moved indoors. The entrance was on George Street therefore this was the exit side. I took a few photos before walking upto to the George Street  entrance to the MCA. Could I sneak in without having to show proof of vaccination? No not this time as there was a musum officer  standing inside the entrance personally checking everyone's proof of vaccination. It did not seem very busy but you never know until you get inside the museum and going upto the 3rd floor to the Dough Aitkin  exhibition. Oh well I'll just have to wait until 15th December  2021 to see it. 

What's wrong with this Sydney tram? It's promoting a Melbourne attraction ( the NGV) before promoting Sydney's  own attractions and  NSW tourist destinations. They don't reciprocate this on their trams! Their trams never say "only in Sydney"  promoting the MCA!

Next stop was to walk back to Wynyard to the IGA Locali. It was indeed open today. So what did I think of it? Typical Romeo's IGA but with a posh new look. It would be equivalent to the ranking system of woolworths and coles supermarkets. These IGA Locali would be A grade or premium supermarkets.  There were 2 entrances to the IGA Locali at Wynyard - one to their eatery inside to one side of the IGA Locali ( unsure what to call it as it was a cross between a small restaurant, bar and cafe) and one to the "supermarket". There was just one rather narrow exit in a corner and it was a row or 2 of  self checkouts and a row of manned checkout counters with just 1 checkout operator. It was almost a ghost town at this Wynyard IGA Locali . Upon checking in which I noticed not everyone was doing today ( there were some people that just walked past me into stores without scanning the QR codes and checking in whilst I was doing so), my first impression was ok it's really nice and neat with nothing out of place and no empty shelves - a little too neat with narrower aisles, aisle after aisle of floor to ceiling shelves of products and very clean. The front of the supermarket were displays of fresh fruit immaculately displayed as if it was a background prop for a movie rather then produce for sale. It makes you feel that you should not take a piece of fruit from any of the displays in case the rest of them tumble. 

Then there was a wide variety of the beautifully  boxed and wraped imported Italian panettone on display along with other Italian sweets with a batch of teddy bears amongst them in these beautifully printed Italian shopping bags. So cute! Then there was all the signage. The IGA Locali  is organised into sections ( a little too organised) and a sign above each section is not in English but in Italian. What is IGA trying to do? I'm a bit confused. Is this the layout of a real Italian supermarket complete with a licensed ( I assume) eatery inside?

Flowers out the front entrance of the store more like a mini florist and very similar to the Safeway supermarkets in Vancouver however in a posher more compact way. 

There are little walk in cool  ( more like cold rooms) rooms within the IGA  not seen in normal IGAs.  The one that stood out at the Wynyard IGA  Locali was near the entrance at the side of the fresh fruit section. This was a large "refrigerator " with double glass sliding doors where inside permanently displayed all the vegetables. I was curious when I saw this and wondered why all the fresh vegetables were stored in a large refrigerated room when all fresh fruit was stored and displayed normally outside of it at room temperature. I needed some spinach and mixed greens and the only way I was going to access them was to go into this large refrigerator which no one else had dared to enter. There was a large sign on the double glass doors to slide open and looking in through the slightly frosty glass windows I thought - it can't be that bad inside can it? I could hear the constant rather noisy whirling and blowing of the refridgerator fans ( there were at least 4 inside 2 on each side of the large refrigerated room)  from outside even with the double sliding doors shut. So I braved it and slide open the only door that would open. I walked in tried to pick up the first punnet of green leaves I could see then abruptly put it back practically running and pushing the sliding door open to get out ASAP.  I could not wait to get out of it. It was so unbearable in there. It wasn't because of the cold  as readers know I love natural cyrotherapy  but it was because I felt trapped in there as soon as the door closed completely behind me and there is no option to keep it a jarred just a little . It was an awful feeling being trapped in a cold room with a set of double doors shut tight behind you but worse of all was the constant loud  blowing and whirling of the refrigeration fans around you while you tried to shop. Unbearable. The force from them is likened to skiing down an indoor ski slope too close to a set of snow gun spewing out artificially made snow with force! I'm not exagerating it's an epic fail in supermarket layout design from the Romeo's IGA Group. I'm never going to go in there again unless it is removed or modified. If you spent long enough in there you could risk going deaf, freezing ( maybe not to death) or having an attack of some sort mentally or physically. It's a safety hazard I think. what if someone collapsed in there and could not get out quick enough? panic attack , heat attack, hypothermia etc You would not be able to hear someone calling out for assistance inside and it is a little hidden from the entrance so no one would notice immediately that you were inside.

Entrance to the Wynyard Station IGA locali - scanning we code & checking in on the Service NSW app

Price comparison $4 for a standard packet of Tim Tams- you can find the same for $2 on sale at Woolworths or Coles but at the moment they are $3 at Woolworths and $4 at Coles  however they have a special on at the moment of 2 for $6

This was the large refrigerated vegetables room. I am on the outside of the sliding doors looking in. Note the frosty condensation on the glass windows and the large refrigerstor fans above

The large soya sauce fish lamp sitying on the sushi bar kitchen bench located right at the back of this IGA.

Typical IGA layout row after row of floor to ceiling shelves filled with products with  narrow aisles.  

Entrance to the eatery to the side of the IGA Locali supermarket.

The mini florist located slightly away from the entrance of this IGA's Locali's entrance. A little different to the larger IGA Locali on George Street 

The other thing I thought strange was there was a sushi bar kitchen  at the back of it. Again confusion . OK everyone likes sushi but It's hidden at the back and then there was the eatery at one of the sides of the IGA  and the other grab and go hot food sandwiches pastries etc etc It's as if IGA Locali has an identity problem can't decide what their niche or target market is so is trying to offer as ma my  products as possible  to customers. Think of the rent they are paying for their location. Ladt time I eked  oast it and looked in but did not go inside it wasn't busy and this time I actually walked in it wasn't busy. Maybe It's too new and people don't knoiw about it yet but I'm unsure if this IGA Locali will last the distance and particularly if there is a larger  IGA Locali just up the road (which I will talk about as i also visited it later in my blog).

So I spent quite a bit of time exploring this IGA Locali at Wynyard.  Did I actually buy anything you may be asking? Yes I did but very selectively as most of the grocery items I needed to buy on my shopping list were far more expensive here then at my local Aldi Coles ( even Coles Local) or Woolworths ( even Metro). So what did I find? and what did I end up buying? 

Well I was a little disappointed that they did not stock the individually papes wrapped rolls of toilet paper the normal Romeos IGA at St Leonards Station stocks and only stocks the run of the mill paper individually wraped rolls of toilet paper Coles regularly stocks at a higher price. 

I needed some wholemeal bread but the bread didn't exact excite me here however I found my favourite brand of bread where a life of it usually cost $7 or more. Today there were different loaves of this brand of bread along with their bags of bagels on special for $2.50 - $3. I didn't see anything wrong with them and their best before date wasn't even up so I had to buy either a the or wholemeal sour dough loaf or a bag of bagels. The bagels were quite large. I settled on a bag of Here's seeded bagels as these can be frozen if I can't eat them all by the BBD on the tag. 

To go with the bagels and to glaze cakes with I wanted some jam but not just any jam from any old supermarket. I love a particular brand of fig jam from France and what do you know this IGA  Locali did not stock this French brand at all. Disappointing - maybe the IGA Locali is not so posh after all. They stocked IXL jams so passe, I grew up spreading this brand of jam on my bread as a kid in the 70's and 80's and other niche brand jams some of which I had not heard of before however not in pure fig but a fig mixed with some other fruit. Most of the jams were run of the mill orange or strawberry with some with odd combinations like coconut and goodness knows what. I think there was even a cocao mix jam. So I found an equivalent burnt fig jam at a reasonable price which was made by Beerenberg. It's probably available at one of the Coles or Woolworths but I didn't want to risk not being able to get it there. They probably stock the main stream flavours in the range. That's probably the niche of IGAs they stock products Coles or Woolworths don't usually stock so as I mentioned be selective of what you buy at the IGAs.  I usually shop at Aldi first for all the basics followed by Coles because it is usually near a Coles  rather then a Woolworths and they are usually cheaper then Woolworths for a lot of the mainstream things  followed by Woolworths for certain brands and products and then finally IGA for specialty items unavailable at any of the other 3 supermarkets. I also purchased a bottle Impressed green juice whichwoolworths does stock but is difficult to find as it is not a regular brand they stock. I also purchaed a bottle of sparkling mineral water  because it was on special and not much more expensive then Coles or Woolworths.  Then I purchased a large box  of  Vermont medium hot Japanese curry paste blocks. I usually buy the smaller box of S&B Japanese medium hot curry in the green coloured box from Coles or Woolworths  which is already expensive but I think this 12 serve box is more value for money - I hope it tastes just as good as the S & B brand. It sounds more am Americanized then the S & B brand and has a ton more ingredients in it but It's still made in Japan. It has added apple and honey ouuuu it makes it sound so much posher! One final grocery item a.mini jar of 333 little pickles. I always have trouble finding a small jar of whole smaller pickles at any supermarket and they tend to be rather expensive so this was a little bit more expensive but just what I need. I head to the check out to pay for my basket of grocery items selected. There is only 1 checkout operator who seemed a little bored - of course he was there was one there. He made a mistake putting my groceries into an it a plastic bag without asking me if I needed one so had to empty it out and repack them into my own shopping bag. I have a Romeo s IGA card which is accepted at the IGA Local is. I almost scanned the wrong IGA card as I use the Stocard app and have scanned all my loyalty cards onto it so I don't have 2 separate sets one for Australia and another for Overseas . The old Marketplace IGA card is right next to my Romeo's IGA card.

Onto my next destination to find the larger IGA Locali on George Street.  Along the way I stopped off to look at the Cenotaph at Martin Place which was covered in wreaths laid earlier in the morning for Remembrance Day. I also looked out for the Giant Christmas tree. There wasn't one at Martin Place this year. So I went searching for any Street Christmas Decorations. All pretty boring this year at Circular Quay I spotted a few street lights around The Rocks and in  First Fleet Park that were converted to white street lamps and there was a Gadigal sign in the p ark but it was not Christmas. Then there are the flowers in planter boxes around Sydney 's CBD  but they're  not Christmas. There was a rather lame Christmas tree outside Customs House in the forecourt in circular Quay and there were a few extravagant decorations on the outside of , in the entrances of  and inside the flyers of upmarket buildings and retail establishments such as the street level  buildings at 388 George Street  and the Paspaley Pearls store in Martin Place. Most disappointing Christmas tree this year however was inside the QVB building where there was no giant multi floor Christmas tree dripping in crystals  instead it was replaced by a blink and you will miss it "tree" in the photo below positioned where the Giant Christmas tree normally stands every year . This may not be all due to COVID but due to the recent partial sale of the QVB building to Hong Kong REIT which now owns a 50% stake of  the uconic Sydney shopping centre building. Foreign ownership strikes again where even Australia's history is not even Australian anymore.

What the? No giant multi floor Christmas tree dripping in crystals this year? What's this "Where there is light, there is life" tree. People come to the QVB  to see the Christmas tree and take photos of it, now the only thing people are taking photos of is the QVB's multi coloured stain glass dome meters above whilst leaning against this  tree's display case as a support. This tree display is just in peoples' way! Why is it even roped off ?

Some of the lame Christmas decorations around Circular Quay this year - street lights turned into fake golden street lamps

The random Radical sign in First Fleet Park - pretty to look at but what was it for?

The rather small and boring Christmas tree outside Customs House in the forecourt

Galleria always tries hard with their year round displays in their forecourt but no hum another boring bunch of Christmas baubles 

The Paspaley Pearls building in Martin Place - you can't miss it - you probably would if it didn't have any christmas decorations like these giant stars attached outside to it's windows facing the main street or it's huge garland of lit up golden fairy lights hung up around the entrance to the store framing it to match it's yellow banners on either side and golden door frames to attract visitors to it making it a lity5le less boring.

388 George Street - now this is more like it. Sparkling new golden Christmas decorations in the entrances and foyers to a brand new set of buildings located on what used to be the old American Express Building. Simply luxe and beautiful to look at. The Christmas decorations are getting less boring around the city but it still lacks a giant Christmas tree ( and an outdoor ice skating rink!)

I keep walking up George Street instead of taking the light rail towards Town Hall after my visit to the IGA Locali in Wynyard.  It's not exactly the best day and it did rain lightly on and off but I would not have spotted the weird  and wonderful things around the city if I didn't walk. It was not all about spotting Christmas decorations  and giant Christmas trees. There was s hole in the wall patisserie  or bakery someone told me about in a Lane way somewhere near Angle Place and I finally found it. I was disappointed when I got there as there was not much left as it was in the afternoon just a chocolate tart,  a layered chocolate mousse cake and some other chocolate cake - nothing else and there was a guy taking his time ordering his cakes so I could not get a closer look so I left and walked onto my next destination to find and visit the larger IGA  Locali at 388 George Street.  After being unimpressed with the other IGA Locali  at Wynyard I was hoping this one was better. It took me a while to find it as again it was underground - follow the signs and down a set of esculators.  Wait a minute wasn't this where the dodgey old Coles Express supermarket used to be? I remember going shopping at this  Coles  Express and hating it -  it was almost in the same location ( when the old AMEX building was here and there was a narrow set of esculators leading down to a very dodgey laid out Coles Express - dark cramped and not so clean). So what did I think of this larger it a Locali? Same stuff but larger  a few nice touches to decide, no noisy walk in refrifgerator to access the  vegetables. An extra walk in small cheese room in the centre, a larger eatery and more places to sit and eat . I didn't spend much time in therr or buy any thing. Maybe next time. No bread on special probably because the other lag does not open on Sundays and if the bread has a BBD on a Sunday, they need to sell it before Sunday unlike this IGA Locali which is open 7 days a week. still a ghost town though. No staff no customers. I rate the Wynyard IGA Locali 6/10 and this one the same. Only buy what you can't get elsewhere or desparate for groceries and are time poor. It's all about  somewhere to eat for lunch and convenience  - location location location. It really is a posh version of a regular IGA. Signage in Italian does not make your shopping experience any faster. I'm starting to wonder if Coles is eying a takeover of Romeo's IGAs or if they are secretly one and the same. This is a second  supermarket site that was a former Coles Supermarket now an IGA. 

Carne e Pollo - Let me guess Fish and Chicken or is that Seafood & Poutry? 

A small enclosed cheese room in the midfle of this IGA Locali - I'd be more likely to enter this room without exiting in a hurry. 

Follow the signs leading to a set of escalators and stairs underground  

Look a nice Christmas tree near the entrance complete with fake presents around it galore!

The mini florist at the front of the supermarket

Panettone galore here!

No large refrigerator housing vegetables at this IGA Locali - fruit & veg cart like displays instead

Surgelati - let me guess Italian for frozen desserts ? Ice creams? Ice blocks? Gelati? Wrong Frozen Food. Really? Tv dinners?  pizza? potaos? peas? fruit? vegetables? pies? sausage rolls? pasties? pastry? etc 

My last destination before heading home on the train from Townhall and bus from St Leonards, is a quick shop at Woolworths Townhall for more basic essential groceries on  my shopping list . I failed to get even half of the items on my shopping list. To be continued over the weekend.

Home I wash my hands, bleach and wash  my mask before hanging it up to dry , unpack my groceries before having a snack (fruit and the remainder of my calamari rings I had purchased  from my favourite snack shop The Little Fish Shoppe Townhall.  I haven't been there for ages and was going to try the new spicy chicken from Maccas when I got to St Leonards Station but had been craving calamari rings so could not wait for Maccas.)

It's Thursday night so not much on tv , I watch the usual after arriving home the news or what I catch of it, The Cook Up and 8 Out of 10 Does Countdown. There maybe nothing interesting on tv the moment but there  are a few interesting documentaries on SBS  coming up in November.

It was wild weather last night. It rained all night So tired I fell asleep after watching

Friday 12th November 2021

Week 5 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 5 of phase 3A of NSW reopening after 90% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

There were 286 COVID cases in NSW overnight and ? deaths

I wake to a very wet horrible day this morning at 5.30 am and to so much news. It's still raining with the loud swish of cars along the main highway

Australia's most wanted fugitive Mustafa Balouch the  drug lord that cut off his tracking device and who police found out was planing to flee to Thailand to avoid a life sentence in prison for cocaine  procession , is now on his way back to NSW where he will be appear in court before transported to Silver Water goal (I believe it was initially reported) before finally being transferred to Goulburn. It was also initially reported that he was caught hidding in the shipping container when policed knocked on it he knocked back ( how stupid was that) and that when he was taken into cusody police had to transport him the scenic route way back into NSW due to border restrictions and him being unvaccinated.

The investigation continues for the motives behind Chloe Smith the 4 year old kidnapped  and found in WA.  Police have collected all the evidence from the kidnapper' s residence bagging and categorizing it all before boarding up the duplex home. The kidnapper had an obsession with dolls and had a large collection of them according to an initial report and it was thought he kidnapped Chloe Smith possibly because he wanted to keep her as a real life doll. still no further word about whether there was another female involved in the kidnapping who may have looked after the little girl to keep her fed and clean which is the condition she was found in. There was also news that the neighbour living in the duplex has moved out as he knew there will be backlash and wanted to avoid it now that the property address and kidnapping has been made public and will be a target. The neighbour also made a comment how he was unaware of what was going on where he was living as the accused kept to himself and didn't cause  any trouble.

The wild weather continues around Australia today. Flooding and wind damage is a major problem in QlD, NSW  and VIC with power outages, rising waterways, trees down, roofs blown off buildings and regions isolated due to roads cut off etc. The worst is yet to come.

BHP mandates vaccination mandate in Hunter valley NSW and is the latest company to do so. There are at least 50 workers have been stood down for not being vaccinated.

Private health insurance such as HCF Bupa NIB HBF Bupa Medibank Private have been prevented from charging higher premiums to the unvaccinated due to government regulations.

Australia is almost at 90% first dose vaccination rate making it one of the highest vaccinated countries in the world. This figure is difficult to give given the known amount of people I know and reported to have bern stood down due to  being unvaccinated or partially vaccinated and unemployment rates rising to above 5% and job vacancy rates at a high because there is a shortage of labour. This umemployment figure is definitely  incorrect and is actually 3 months behind ( lockdown figures not current figures , amazing how NSW and VIC  lockdowns hugely affect the overall unemployment figures). The unemployment figure is forecast to fall back to 4% around this time next year. Says who? I don't think umenployment figures will fall back down to 4% next year as the government has not taken into consideration competition for jobs with the return of foreign  working holiday makers,  skilled workers and new immigrants as Australia reopens their borders to the rest of the world. Makes you wonder how what where why when the government gets their figures from! Figures not just relating to COVID just don't make sense. "Lockdowns cost jobs" - you don't say treasurer  Josh Frydenberg!?

Today tv radio stage celebrity Bert Newton will be finally farewelled in a state funeral in Melbourne this morning. 

COP26 summit is in its final 24 hours after a long 2 week of international talks. Australia

Last white statesman of South Africa  dies. He shares a Nobel Prize with Nelson Mandela  for ending apartheid. 

There has been a vast increase in parcel delivery theft. In the past 2 months 9.2 million people have bought something online. In NSW  there was an increase of 42% of online shopping. As Christmas approaches thieves are targeting anything left outside therefore it was recommended people request deliveries to be left somewhere out of  sight from the public. This will increase the sale and installation of remote home security systems! Good job American comedian ( known as ) Arj Barker for your my place My air advertisement!

The Australian dollar continues to fall against the US  dollar now below 73 cents. A few weeks ago it was above 75 cents!

Fortnightly income reporting to Centrelink due today ( I almost forgot to do so)  completed adding my 1 days wages for working 6.75 hours on Sunday 10th October back payment onto my reporting today. I only just swapped Centrelink employment service providers so my mutual obligations and new job plan on Jobactive have been cleared and reset  after I agreed to new job plan from APM.  I still don't have any job search requirements yet which is good as I am still searching for work. My suspension of Centrelink payments during my stand down has been lifted which means if I am not earning income I can still continue to get JobSeeker payments until I am able to go back to work hopefully after December 15th. I am hoping this employment service provider is not like the previous one and so far they are the opposite. I am chasing them instead of them chasing me. I did miss one appointment that popped up as they did not ring me again. I can only chase them So much. I have a 3rd appointment on 30th November 21 at 4 pm with them. They know I can't attend in person as I am still unvaccinated.

I spotted the stinky guy that used to live downstairs again. He always ensures he crosses the main highway ( J walking across the median strip that divides the 2 directions of traffic)  directly opposite this apartment block before walking on and if he is on this side of the highway ensures he stops outside it or looters around for at least 10 minutes before walking off. just strange behaviour - maybe he misses  living here. I wonder if he could not afford to live here anymore or whether he was asked to leave? Whatever the reason I'm sure he is harmless but unemployed due to a mental illness. I don't think I should call him the creepy guy but he did stink so stinky guy would be more accurate.

It's been quite nice outside since 3 pm this afternoon. No rain and the sun is out so the sky is still blue outside and the sun us still out. it is still light at 6 pm outside although there are grey clouds starting to appear now. It isn't even windy. I wonder if it will be a clear weekend this weekend. After 7 pm It's still light and clear outside. Still np sign of rain.

I texted a team member about the response I received about my complaints from the Fair Work Ombudsmen who disappointingly didn't think I had a case agasinst Myer and they completely ignored my complaint in response to the no notice given for a  vaccination mandate instead advised me about my other case against The nSw Electoral comisdion and how The  Electorial Comission is not covered under their organisation and also advising me that my casual to permanent request at myer is ineligible because I am a casual - I don't understand why write the employment requirement  in regards to casual to permanent request on their website if It's not "valid".  I give up. It's all too hard. I am constantly having to work harder then anyone else and fighting harder for my rights then anyone else. I'm sick of being treated as a second class citizen. Sick of  no matter how hard I try I never get anywhere. I'm right about what I wrote about  being born on the 4th means - in Chinese it means death and bad luck and I have experienced this my entire life. No exceptions. Everything I do I have been unsucessful in my entire life, even if I am sucessful I'm always runner up, second best or second choice. Any awards or nominations I receive are the ones I don't care about and mean nothing to me. I have no friends in Sydney left. My close or good friends have passed away. My closest and favourite family members have all passed away. Any friends I still have are all overseas and I've lost count of how many jobs I've been made redundant from. Now I've had 2 disappointing responses  for things in 2 days.  What's next? Permanent unemployment?

I did not venture out today although the weather cleared up later  in the afternoon. 

Watched the usual tv shows YouTube channel and texted unvaxed team member and ex team member ticket girl. 

End of another day. sleep. Boring. 

Saturday 13th November 2021

I believe it's McHappy Day today where $2 for evey big mac purchased goes towards the Ronald McDonald House for sick kids.

Week 5 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 6 of phase 3A of NSW reopening after 90% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

There were 256 COVID cases in NSW overnight and ? deaths Nope the number of cases reported tbis morning was correct - the total  number of COVID cases in NSW however there was 250 locally acquired COVID cases in NSW and for the first day in months no deaths as COVID cases in VIC continue to climb. Daily COVID  cases reported will change as of Monday 15th November 21 where the number of daily COVID cases will no longer be broken down in locally and overseas acquired cases due to quarantine free travel within the state. 

There will no longer be cases at venues reported instead an alert will be sent via the service nsw app if you had been to a venue around the same time as a positive COVID person. ( I got one the other day which didn't tell me much and when I looked on the list of venues which had COVID positive cases I was nowhere near any of them). This was the only alert I  since the beginning of the pandemic. 

Vaccination rates in NSW have stalled with a 94.1% over 16 single vaccination rate reached and 90.8% over 16 double vaccination rate reached. The SMH reported that :

"About 57,000 people in NSW did not come back for a second COVID-19 vaccine, prompting health authorities to stress it is not too late to complete the course."

I wonder why people are not returning for their second vaccine. One theory reported  was that the construction workers were only required to have one vaccination before they could work  unlike Myer who didn't even give a chance for any employee to get their first vaccination let  alone allow employees to work after receiving their first vaccination. Even Coles is no longer mandating double vaccination returning to their vacvination recommendation to all it's employees instead.

It's a beautiful day outside  today with no rain forecast but it will be windy and I can see it outside already. 

It's AGM season  and when an overseas company has gone quite since Feb 2021 and has not announced an AGM for 2021 or maintenance fees due it's not a good sign! I followed up today as the Facebook group has disappeared as well.

News today is all about how unsuccessful COP26  climate summit was dragging on for over 2 weeks due to world leaders not agreeing over a fossil fuel phase out . Now in overtime, the summit is continuing into the weekend. What's this about people bringing sleeping bags because they are determined to reach an agreement to end the simmit. Scott Morrison is still in trouble over it. Ah and  there is an election coming up.

Water restrictions may be faced in QLD as rainfall was not sufficent enough to fill it's dams, flooding in NSW  and power outages in VIC.  Snow  is even forcasted in some Southern Alpine regions. It is freezing in ViC and Tasmania isn't fairing much better. Snow in Australia in November - oh dear. We do get snow near the top of Mt Kosiosko in December January but not usually in November and not at such low attitudes in Mt Hotham and Falls Creek The rain is finally drifting off shore on the eastern coast of Australia but a cold snap is still forecast for next week. 

Food costs spike due to the pandemic due to labour shortages, freight problems, border closures  and  increased operating costs due to COVID safe procedure implementation. Question is : Is this only a temporary spike in food prices? 

Tax cuts to aid economic recovery are on the cards again if the government wins the next election. 

Tensions between the Belarus ( non EU member)  and Poland border continues as the borders are being tightly patrolled to stop refugees crossing over into Poland. 

Jamaica has a new bob sled team for the Beijing 2022 Winer Olympics Cool running 2? It's been so long since the original Jamaican bob sled team qualified for the Winter Olympics ( 33 years on). The Australian connection Dr Jo Brown a QLD  physiotherapist currently in Whistler Canada  ( which has one of the fastest bob sled tracks) who  will be meeting and working with the new Jamaican bob sled  team to help them qualify for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. 

Children may still have to wait over a year to receive the COVID  vaccine. Australia are waiting until studies in countries overseas to show it is safe for kids to get the vaccine before it is approved for use on kids in Australia. 

Palm oil has been linked to cancer - I'm not surprised. We already  know some oils processed and unprocessed are not good for  our health. 

Brittney Spears conservatorship is in the spotlight again - her battle to clear the final stages of her father's conservatorship. She is in court again and if she wins her kegal battle she will be finally free of her conservatorship. It's offical after almost 14 years Brittney is finally free of her conservatorship - "Free Britney"  fans are cheering! $80 million wow that's a load of money! The #freebritney is now known as #freedbritney. Britney thanked her fans and seems so greatful. Ah the power of the #! ( except for the Trump  movement)

Sex in The city reunion finally airing as a 10 part series  premiering on 6th December 21.

Paris Hilton finally  gets married. How old is she now? In her 40's??? She has been engaged a few time previously. A 3 day event with 4 dress changes and loads of celebrities attending including Kim Kardashian and Nicole Riche

After a shower and washing my dishes, I ventured out after 1 pm today. it was a little overcast but no rain. I took my rubbish to the red bin then took the bus to Chatswood.  first stop was to return my bottles  then deposit my ink cartridge for recycling. onto Aldi then Coles  but I did not go to Woolworths to complete my shopping for the last few grocery items on my shopping list. Not everything was available again and due to weight I had to put 3 large heavy items back as my 2 reusable shopping bags were full and one quite heavy. 

Onto my next stop an ATM  to withdraw some cash for the laundry. Today is McHappy Day where $2 from every Big Mac sold goes towards Ronald McDonald House for sick kids. At almost $7 a big mac , they are quite expensive - I remember decades ago when a big mac was hardly $4 - talk about inflation and the decreasing % of proceeds from the sale of each big mac  being donated towards charity. I don't like big macs and haven't had one for decades. I decided to purchase one intending to give it to a homeless person hence making a double donation but there were none near by. So I purchased one and asked for that awful processed plastic orange cheese to be left off it as I am allergic to it for my dinner. I handed over a $20 note and asked if o could have tge change in $2 and $1 coins so I had some change for my laundry. I put the odd coins from my change that wasn't $1 or $2 coins into the McDonald's  donation bucks whilst waiting for my cheeseless big mac. 

Time to take a toilet break on route to the bus stop. I hate these toilets closest to where I am. These toilets are disgusting but tbis time. This time the toilets were worse tgen then normally are. For a start there is a sign on the door indicating that the entrance door to the female toilets must be left open due to COVID  however the door was named half shut and could not be opened so I had to squeeze myself and my bags of shopping into the toilets. Then I had to find a toilet cubicle that was half clean unfortunately the one I chose had no toilet paper at all in it. there were other people in both toilet cubicles on either side but I didn't want to yell out to either strange if they could pass me some toilet paper so what do I do? I just happened to have purchased a single top up roll of  toilet paper and a box of tissues  luckily so i unwrapped my roll of toilet paper and used it. Moral of the story always travel with a packet of tissues with you at least! 

Home on the bus. Arrive home wash my hands and place my mask in a sink of water. I take my big mac out and before eating it take a look at it. Good the plastic orange cheese has been removed but it is tiny. this is not what a big mac looked like the last time I ate one ( decades ago). At least it tasted very similar with a little too much sauce. The meat patties like not only smaller but thinner but the lettuce is the same - limp. Was there pickles in it? probably. then I looked inside the box and it had a QR code for donations and information about how for every big mac sold  $2 will go towards Ronald McDonald Houses. is this automatic when you purchase a big mac or do you have to scan the QR code inside your big mac box to activate this $2 donation? I had sauce all over the inside of my big mac box ( and all over my fingers whilst eating  my big mac) that I did not scan the QR code and just threw the box away in my rubbish bin. Rating of a big mac 3/10. Still don't like them, but I don't like to waste food. It was edible but if I had a choice of participating product that my $2 was being donated from , it would be probably a grilled chicken burger no cheese with slaw or a breakfast sausage and egg no cheese muffin  with tomato and lettuce or a fillet fish burger no cheese with tomato and lettuce. I o my have maccas when I don't have time to eat anything or if nothing is open near work. mainly breakfast and even then I never order a normal item a maccas always a grill order. That plastic orange cheese I am definitely allergic to not keen on their special sauces either although not allergic to them as far as I know.

Cute packaging but the big mac is half the size and 3 times as expensive as it was when I was growing up  - inflation - great for your waistline but bad for the hip pocket. Unsure about proceed towards charity though. If a big mac used to cost $4  and $2 for each big mac went towards a donation that's 50% but now if a big mac cost around $7 and $2 of each big mac goes towards a donation that only approximately 28% . Does inflation affect donations towards charity over time in the form of shrinkage as well?

Dinner finished ( It's not all I had by the way I also had some fruit and a few other bits of food). I unpacked my grocerries whilst watching the foid channel and some YouTube videos before catching the end of the news which i missed because it was almost 7 pm before I realised that i missed the nightly news.

I had to caught up on my blog whilst watching the foid channel  and it was time to asleep as there was nothing on being a Saturday night. It did get a bit cooler during the night.

Sunday 14th November 2021

Thanks again  to all my readers around the world for continuing to read my blog. I am now way past the 29 000 readers target I was aiming towards. 👍❤

📅 Today is offically my blog's 6th birthday! 🎈🎉🎂

Week 5 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 7 of phase 3A of NSW reopening after 90% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

The end of yet another week of Freedom Day 2.0 phase 3A of new re opening after 90% double vacvination reached for the double vaccinated only.

I slept in until about 8 am this morning because I turned my phone off overnight. No 5 am or 6 am wake up this morning. 

It's wild and wooly down in Victoria  - storms leading to flooding, wind,  rain and even snow in some regions. It's their coldest day in Spring. They are freezing. Meanwhile in NSW we also have a flood warning in Western Sydney regional areas and Sydney has a wind warning. Over in Western Australia the state experienced an earthquake somewhere  in the Pilbara measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale. Tasmania will have snow down to 200 m. The spring weather in the South Eastern States in Australia has been and still is crazy! Where I am it's sunny and calm at the moment at 8.30 am this morning - who knows what the afternoon will be like!

QLD  is set to open it's borders once they hit their vaccination target with strict COVID entry rules including quarantine - what? was that not until early to mid Jan 2022? oh that's reopening  for Overseas travel. Local interstate travel is at 70% double vaccination borders don't fully open unti on 18th December 2021 or 80% target.

There is a new advertisement as a last push for people to get vaccinated. Vaccine hesitation has definitely increased  - this advertisement does not motivate me one bit to bring forward my vaccination. In fact maybe I should not get vaccinated. After what has happened to me with work I have absolutely no motivation to get vaccinated  at all et alone bring it forward especially with the question hanging over my head  of what happens if I get a reaction from the vaccine and can't work when I can go back to work?From my research my  income protection doesn't cover it as it is not over 30 days  of being unable to work, TPD  will take too long legally to receive compensation if I even qualify for it  and  why should I have to dig into my superannuation for someone else's  negligence as well as be penalised having to do so?  Myer doesn't pay me to take days off to get vaccinated nor does it pay me any leave as I am still a casual and forget about workers compensation it's not related to work or is it due to their double vaccine mandate? Very likely not as I can't even get a straight answer from Fairwork in regards to my case against Myer's  unfair double vaccination mandate without notice and stand down and my casual to permanent conversion request after working for them for a year. So I'm not fighting any organisation anymore I give up. I'm not even going to ask if I am eligible for the  COVID disaster payment ( which I never applied for eventhough I was eligible to) for being unable to work if I get a reaction to the vaccine from Centrelink - I believe it will end very soon if it has not already. You can apply for it if you are stood down or terminated from your job due to COVID but it does not mention anything about not being able to work due to a reaction to getting the vaccine due to a company's vaccination mandate . Reactions to vaccines can last anything from one day to weeks and may not be immediate ( any work collegues I've asked that have been double vaccinated have informed me that their reactions were not immediate and lasted upto a week with a slight delay ie not within the 1st 15 minutes after vaccination) .

Oh dear why isn't the Australian ambassador to the climate summit speaking to media or answering their questions ? The climate summit has finally wraps up lead by the US  with world  leaders agreeing to an emission target. I have not written about this in detail as it has been such a messy  newsheadline and I'm sure it's major news in most countries. Why was Australia not co operating? Although they have now agreed to comittments .Is there still conflict or pressure between the PM MPs and political parties in disagreement? India and China watered down their commitments from phasing out coal emissions to reducing them. At least it's a staring point for some countries although not the outcome that was expected from the COP26 climate  summit. Yep Greta Thunberg was correct  in calling the world leaders' COP26  climate summit as " blah, blah, blah!"

Space X launches another satellite into space. Here are their exact details on their website:

"On Saturday, November 13 at 7:19 a.m. EST, Falcon 9 launched 53 Starlink satellites to orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. This was the ninth launch and landing of this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously launched Crew Demo-2, ANASIS-11, CRS-21, Transporter-1, and now five Starlink missions."

There were a total of 196 COVID cases in NSW today, 195 new cases in NSW and 1 acquired interstate and 1 death a man in his 80s from the Blue Mts who had other medical conditions and died at nepean hospital. He was double vaccinated   an linked to the outbreak at at Springwood Hospital where he acquired the infection. 94.2% of of first vaccinations and  91% of double vaccinations were reached in NSW. 

I didn't do much today just  laundry wash and dry in the afternoon and I made a tuna and salmon dip in case I get peckish in between meals.

I watched the news and went to bed after watching the news and Spotlight on the Prince Andrew late Jeffrey Epstein scandal. 

Monday 15th November 2021 Week 86 Of total Unemployment

Week 6 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 8 of phase 3A of NSW reopening after 90% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

It was looking rather cloudy and grey last night but it did not rain and if it did overnight it was insignificant. Today is forecast to be clear but slightly windy. 19 degrees C forcasted. There is a watch and wait for slowly rising flood waters and sand bagging as well as a possible evacuation alert in Central Western NSW regions around Forbes and the Lachlan River is 9.1 m currently and rising to above 10 m when the town will have to evacuate. Perisher ski resort in NSW had a dusting of snow due to this snap cold front.  Meanwhile Victoria shivered overnight with snow quite heavy  falls in Mt Buller  and temperatures dropping to -2 degrees C and poor Tasmania  snow was down to 200 m. This cold snap is making it's way off shore so it should gradually warm up this week. 

I slept in until after 6 am this morning , it was colder last night. 

Newsheadlines today include

Australia wins the T20 World Cricket for the 1st time.

Another health scare  for the Queen. The Queen is disappointed she had to pull out of Remembrance Day celebrations due to a sprained back. 

There are 15 unvaccinated AFL  stars that may have to give up their football careers due to a vacination mandate by the AFL. This vaccination mandate has already claimed one victim, a 30 year old Carlton AFL star who has already made the decision to walk away from  his AFL career rather then  getting vaccinated. Good on him I say. Scott Morrison is claiming all over social media that there isn't a vaccination mandate in Australia- he is lying, if there isn't one everyone around Australia would be able to go about their daily lives as normal pre COVID instead we are still in some sort  of lockdown, still can't travel freely around Australia  without restrictions or even work or even vote in person without being fulky vaccinated! If  the double vaccination rste keeps shifting from 70% to 80% to 90% to 95% and now even 100% before full freedoms are allowed - that's not freedom of choice that's dictatorship  and communism and definite a government double vaccination mandate. This is what happened at Myer Warringah after the first lock down and they had to beg Myer  HO to hire a whole new team of staff as everyone left and it happened again after this lockdown with a vaccination mandate adding to the shortage of staff.

The great resignation continues. Job hopping, labour shortages , more job vacancies  etc if your employer has not treated you well during the pandemic - It's "see ya later not!" by employees.

What the? Has the world gone mad? The Nativity scene has had a bit of a makeover this year with the 3 wise men each carrying  cards with QR  codes on them instead of carrying gold frankincense  and myrrh. Why? Because they need their QR codes to check in and check out to see baby Jesus and their vaccination passport to travel to see him. What I'm more concerned with was the 3 wise men were very close to Mary and Joseph ( their vaccination status  unknown)  and baby Jesus  ( who won't be vaccinated)  hence not practising social distancing and even worse none of them were wearing masks! Come on guys at least have a mask mnandate whilst visting baby Jesus - I forgot he's Jesus he has immunity from God against COVID  - wait on makes no sense COVID didn't exist when Jesus was born! This is just wrong. ( my apologies to any religious readers if they are offended but it was a real news story  , I don't celebrate Christmas as I am religionless ) 

8.30 am and It's nice outside. I should get up and get ready . Shower and dishes done. After months of applying for jobs and either being rejected or not hearing back from employers, I finally managed to get 1 interview via video call today. I did not really mention this in my blog and may have just mentionedabout getting a few tips from ex team member ticket girl about what to do as she had a video interview for the job she is currently working at. Jacket on top &  trackkie daks on the bottom as nobody is going to notice. I put a dress on and some foundation on as I look so ugly in front of a sense ( seriously I honestly look really ugly!). My interview was at 12 noon and I had my tablet all ready to go but had trouble dialing in - there was visuals but the audio  refused to work ( I checked that it was turned on and yes it was) so I had to hang up and use my phone hoping it worked. OK it worked both Audi and visual both worked. The interview lasted 37 minutes ( 45 minutes was scheduled) . It was a great interview but I stuffed it up completely. It was my very first formal 2 way video conference using Google  ( previous one was for my volunteering a while back using Jitsi which wasn't as clear) .  I booked myself for one of their last interviews ( deliberately)  and  won't know anything until next week. I don't think I will be sucessful in gaining this job and wasn't that interested in it but applied for it to meet my mutual obligations.  Well It's over now I can get onto doing other things. 

I forgot to blog that I applied for 2 more jobs yesterday online. I'll just keep applying for jobs. This is what I do most of the time if I don't have anything on. 

After my interview, I decided I had to go out. I have been wanting to go on a Rivercat from Circular Quay out to Parramatta  for a while now so today it was a nice clear day so why not. 

I took the bus to Lang Park and walked down to the ferry wharf at Circular Quay.  The ferries to Parramatta are not very frequent  and can only run at high tide and you will see why when I post some photos and possibly a video on my YouTube channel. The Rivercats travel at a snail's pace once it reaches Rydalmere and I'm not exaggerating.  The one way Rivercat ride took a total  of 1 hour and 23 mins  - yes one way! I did not get off at Parramatta wharf but stayed on the Rivercat straight back to Circular . It's a great way to explore  beyond Sydney Harbour . The Rivercat travels under countless bridges, open rough waters that were extremely windy today ( I sat outside) at quite rapid speed until it reaches Parramatta River  surrounded by mangroves where the River  becomes narrower well as shallower hence Rivercats have to proceed with caution. It's quite relaxing as you spot wildlife and remnants of old buildings and structures as you travel along the Parramatta River. There are many wharf stops along the route to get off at and explore. some wharf stops are just residential. 

Stopping sequence Circular Quay  Parramatta Rivercat route : 

Circular Quay

Home to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera house,  royal Botanic Gardens, The Rocks &  MCA 

Barangaroo

Home to the new but scandal riddled Crown Casino ( above)  and Barangaroo Reserve  

(below) 

Cockatoo Island

Home to various events although there is nothing on at the island at the moment & amping/glamping facilities ( refer the little green tents in background on the island above) with other accommodation options on the island for a short stay getaway. 

Drummoyne

After passing under The Sydney HarbourBridge, this is bridge  # 2 Gladesville Bridge the Rivercat passes under along the route. There are so many bridges along the route  old and new - single and double .

Huntley Point

Unsure what there is actually to see at Huntley Point except bushland. There was a group of school students that boarded  the rivercat here so maybe it a school service wharf. Yep specifically for Riverside Girls High School 

Chiswick

Abbortsford

Cabarita

This is a day trip I am saving for another nice day that is not so windy and for when the  barge is actually running. The actual wharf itself is quite unique. The wharf itself  is quite a long walk  from the mainland foreshore in an L shaped configuration . There is a connecting boardwalk to get out to the actual ferry wharf. ( shown above in the background) The Rivercat has to back up into the wharf before  dropping off and  picking up passengers travelling towards Parramatta. I always thought the name Cabarita sounds like the  type of  Italian bread  Ciabatta 😃

There is an old barge ( can you see the ramp in the background above? I didn't get to photograph the actual barge as it was docked on the other side of the Parramatta River) that carries MV from one side of the River to the other somewhere between  these 2 Wharf  stops though I have not seen it in operation. There were MV parked waiting near it and on it. it looks like a very small barge that only holds a few MV at a time. yep It's called The Putney Punt or Mortlake Ferry which only operates during peak hours during weekdays and on weekends continuously between certain times. Putney Punt sound better the Northlake ferry as a ferry it's definitely not! Must put this on my next adventure list.

Kissing Point

Another bridge ahead and the Rivercat  travels under. I have no idea what this bridge is called.

Meadowbank

Under yet another bridge

Sydney Olympic Park

Under another bridge

Rydalmere

Under another bridge , the Parramatta River starts to narrow just before Rydalmere wharf.

Parramatta

Beyond this physical water barrier across the Parramatta River, the Parramatta River is too narrow to allow a Rivercat ferry through therefore Parramatta wharf is wherr the Rivercat terminates and heads back to Circular Quay - you can't get lost as a tourist unless you hop off to explore Parramatta city or it's foreshores on foot on the opposite side. There is a bus from the wharf to Parramatta train station which will take you back to the city or you can walk 12 minutes  ( I have not actually done this route as there is a load of construction around Parramatta and there are detours and pedestrian block offs everywhere , I have taken a bus from the wharf to close to Parramatta Station though. (Unsure if the free Parramatta shuttle service is still running around Parramatta city or from the wharf though due to COVID )

Last Bridge the Rivercat passes under  ahead before reaching Parramatta Wharf is the Gasworks Bridge

I stayed on the ferry at Parramatta wharf where the Rivercat terminates as it can't go any further and has to do a U turn on the parramatta River and head back to Circular Quay. I can see why people catch a bus or train to and from work at Parramatta as the Rivercat is too infrequent as a mode public transport and takes far too long and is dependant on the level of The Parramatta River. There is only room for 1 Rivercat at a time on the Parramatta River near Parramatta Wharf and Rivercat services can be cancelled at low tides. Great relaxing day trip for tourists and loads of tome to explore the city of Parramatta and all the stops between it and Circular Quay so pack a lunch or a picnic and explore! I rate this ferry ride a solid  8/10.

Back on the light rail at Circular Quay to Wynyard and back to St Leonards on the train. Another grocery shop at Romeos IGA at St Leonards Station as I needed some more change for the laundry.  I was disappointed at what was available in terms of items on my shopping list but I managed to get some calendar rings some chicken drumsticks on special  some mixed green leaves a packet of museli bars who h were not the best  some seaweed snacks rice crackers and a mini panettone  for $3.99. I am going to rate the below mini panettone a 3/10. Why? because it was really dry, it lacked the citrus flavouring and bits of fruit which was not evenly distributed throughout the mini panettone . probably the worst one I have tasted. it had a whopping big hole through the middle of it from a large air bubble that had formed whilst baking and I just could not get it out of the wax baking paper casing - usually they just rip off  or  peel away , this one would not rip at all and the only way you could get the panettone out in one piece was to get a pair of scissors  and carefully cut down one side of the wax baking paper casing and carefully lift the mini  panettone out. I could not be bothered so ripped pieces of it out until I could flip the casing inside out to get the rest of the mini panettone out as the casing was quite deep and was a giant muffin casing except elongated. photos below

I took a  bit off the top and found this big hole that went almost all the way  through the middle of the panettone. No this is not a dounut!

lack of fruit very dry and the outer casing would not tear off at all.

I arrived home too late and missed the news and the Cook Up but was able to catch 8 Out of 10 Does Countdown  ( these are all repeat episodes but I'm catching up on any that I haven't seen before Sean lock passed away earlier  this year) and  the final episode of Have You been paying Attention for 2021  where Sam Pang radio host, comedian and ex one time correspondent for Eurovision,  actually won the quiz tonight against the other team members fellow comedian and radio host Ed Kavalee, comdedian and actress Celia  Pacquola, comedian author and actress Kitty Flanagan ( who I never got to meet before she became famous  but was on the same talent agency's (RGM ) payroll that I processed decades ago along with Cate Blancett and Russel Crowe I believe all before they became famous big  celebrities) and Marty Sheargold (I think) ; before falling asleep.

I had put my laundry back into the dryer as it was not 100% dry but left it in there overnight as I was tired.

There were 165 COVID cases in NSW today and ? deaths - 2 cases have been excluded following further investigation - I still don't understand what this means - everytime this is mentioned in figures are these false positives or unconfirmed? Whatever the reasons there seems to be quite of lot of these cases under further investigation with no details or explanations of what these mean. If the government thinks PCR tests are so accurate then what are they hidding ? 

Tuesday 16th November 2021

Week 6 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 9 of phase 3A of NSW reopening after 90% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

It may have been windy yesterday but it was a little cold overnight. it is still a little windy outside this morning but a nice day with the sun out. A top of 21 degrees C today is forecasted.

I woke up around 7.30 am this morning as I did not sleep very well last night before going back to sleep.

I missed most of this morning's news as I went downstairs to take my laundry out of the drier and take the red bin back in ( the garbos were a little early again this morning so I went downstairs a second time at around 8.30 am soon after taking my dried and folded laundry back uptairs to the studio).

Breakfast was 2 tuna and salmon salad sandwiches . 

A family has become stranded in the Simpson Desert for the 4th day cut off by floods.  They were caught up in the bad weather after leaving Birdsville. They were travelling around Australia but are in good spirits  with  rescue services unable to reach them but doing food drops and even getting 2 teddies  to the family.  The family have  2 toddlers . Hopefully they will be able to continue their travels around Australia soon. 

The case of William Tyrrell's  disappearance back in September 2014 has been reopened with new information regarding his foster parents under investigation .They have continued an extended search over the next few weeks  for his body in bushland and an AVO has been taken out against his foster parents from information obtained in regards to child abuse.

QLD is reopening it's borders to residents stranded in interstate hot spots eg NSW and VIC  with strict COVID conditions ( more strict then travelling overseas). An estimated 14000 QLD residents stranded interstate have applied for permits to return to QLD however residents have decided to wait until the 80% double vaccination rate in QLD  is reached which is forcasted in a week or 2 when residents will be able to travel freely without quarantine restrictions.   QLD  is currently at 70% double vaccination.The conditions are double vaccination and negative COVID test followed by 14 day quarantine. However you can only home quarantine if your residence has adequate natural ventilation, if not you will need to hotel quarantine and you can only fly back not foot or MV border crossing allowed.  The other condition transport from airport to your place of residency has to be in a private MV- no uber taxi or public transport allowed. 

There were key changes to the pandemic bill being passed in VIC  and protestors have been camping overnight for the past few days outside parliament House.

Studies show that drinking 4 cups of tea and coffee a day could lower dementia and other diseases with drinking both having the best affect.

Taylor Swift releases new music with a new music video . I think it's called "I bet you think about me" .  another relationship song by Taylor Swift.

Ghislaine Maxwell is finally going to court. Currently jury selection is taking place and continues tomorrow.

This Sunday is Adele's One Night Only performance and interview in the rose garden with Oprah.

A mother is carrying her daughter's child at 54 years old  via IVF due to her daughter not being able to carry and give birth to children due to being born without a uterus.

There were 212 COVID cases in NSW today and 2 deaths both men elderly one in their 70s and the other in their 80s. one from Albury and one from SW Sydney. One from an aged care facility with a previous outbreak and the other in hospital  both had other health conditions and one was partially vaccinated whilst the other was fully vaccinated. 

There is still a pattern of COVID related deaths - age ie elderly, location  from a previous hotspot region and acquired in a hospital possibly with a porevious outbreak  or an aged care facility linked to a previous outbreak , other health conditions and vaccination status were partially or fully vaccinated .

I did absolutely nothing today except upload photos onto my blog which took up most of my day as well as folding and putting away my laundry and watching tv and YouTube andf cooking and eating.

It's 6 pm and the traffic is extremely heavy towards Chatswood with a constant queue of bumper to bumper mvs but towards Sydney however it's intermittent. Is there a breakdown or accident somwhere? 

That's a catchy Federal election campaign phrase by the finance minister  " The Lier From The Shire" I assume he is referring to the PM?

50% of residents in Forbes will not be evacuating their homes despite the SES door knocking requesting residents to evacuate. They will evacuate when the water level reached the front of their houses which is a concern to the SES as they will have to door knock again during the night if the water level in the Lkachlan River does rise above a certain level expected..More rain is forecasted in Northern regions and with a chance of shower  Sydney winds eased but temperatures may reach 30 degrees C by the weekend.

Wednesday 17th November 2021

Week 6 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 10 of phase 3A of NSW reopening after 90% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

I woke around 7 am this morning to an overcast day but the sun is trying hard to come out by 11 am. Unsure if I am going out today.

I just forwarded my cv via email to another job vacancy via another response I received from my Gumtree advertisement. Hopefully not another scam. Location a little too far away and industry maybe unsuitable. I also notified the company that I am unvaccinated so they are well aware of it.

News headlines today include : 

There's a bear in there - well an unwelcome one helping himself in the U.S. at a local Seven Eleven. He was eventually chased out by rubber bullets by wildlife officers after ignoring the shop keeper' s demands yelling to it to Get OUT. I wonder what the bear was looking for - honey or porridge? Maybe just helping himself to the slushy machine - who can't resist a cold icy brightly coloured highly sweetened and artifically flavoured beverage conveniently located close to the entrance on a hot day?!

The William Tyrell investigation continuesafter 7 years  still focused on his foster grandparents and investigators think he may have fallen off a balcony and are therefore searching for any signs of blood around the property if not his body. Police have siezed a car that once belonged to his foster grandparents in Sydney.

The NSW  premier has delayed passing controversial  pandemic bill giving more pandemic powers to the state governments unlike the VIC governmen has done ( where residents are still camped outside and protesting against amendments to VIC pandemic  laws passed)  until next March. When is the next election again? Will this be before or after the next Federal or State elections - time is everything ! Talk about dictatorship! Australia is well and truely no longer young and free. Forget about human rights - Australia might as well let China invade and take over. 

Charles and Camilla  visit Jordan, their first royal overeas tour in 2 years,  due to COVID. 

The flood emergency continues in Forbes as waters continue to rise and low saying properties are inundated with water.

The family of 4 stuck in the Simpson Desert is finally rescued. Bad news was they had to abandon their campervan bogged down in the desert completely when they were rescued. I hope th kept the 2 teddies given to them. 

There was problem with Google cloud this morning with a major outage affecting Instagram Snap Chat Pokemon Go and even Spotify. Goes to show how technology can affect billions of users across multiple social media applications. The networking problem has since been fixed.

A possible drug has been developed to reverse the effect of Alzheimer's disease.

Google is investing in Australia to make  it one of the tech centres of the world. 

There were 231 COVID  cases in NSW today and zero deaths. It seems the COVID figures have gone back to not being announced until 11 am daily although there is no longer a daily NSW announcement by the NSW premier and hasn't been for a while now. The daily 11 am  news is now the way of obtaining COVID figures or you can look on the  NSW Health website that is 2 days old at times. No vaccination rate updates - maybe because the rates have stalled. 

The $AUS is still dropping against the $US and is now below 73 cents! Soon it will be worth nothing at the rate  it is falling. It could end up on par or worth  less then 1 Myer share!

I watched my usual tv programs this afternoon the Chase the news The Cook Up and 8 Out Of 10 Does Countdown however a new documentary started on SBS tonight at 8.30 pm Could you Survive On The Breadline ? I was eagarly waiting for this documentary to start. It was really insightful since I am receiving Centrelink's fortnightly JobSeeker welfare payments at the moment. If I wasn't working as a casual when I can  or had forced savings from a refund from my tax return together with my long service leave that I was paid out for before being made redundant from my previous employer,  I certainly could not afford to live solely on JobSeeker payments and I am exceptional at budgeting being a retired bookkeeper. I am lucky I don't have any  addictions like smoking or drinking however I do have medical expenses  mainly perception drugs that are not covered under private medical insurance or Medicare but are partially subsidised under the pharmaceutical scheme but only if purchased in bulk for my skin and allergies ( there is nothing I can do about them as they are hereditary conditions  just try to control them ) . The most expensive cost of living is accommodation followed by food then transport then phone. Rent and electricity subsidies  don't even cover my weekly rent therefore if you get the full fortnightly rental subsidy on top of your full fortnightly JobSeeker payment  ( without any tax deducted) , you are still digging into at least half of your JobSeeker fortnightly payment to cover the balance of that week's rent plus the full rent of the following week before you can even deduct any other costs of living. Food is an ever increasing cost of living and I am constantly shopping between all supermarkets constantly on the lookout for the cheapest grocery items. Next is public transport costs. I have been walking back and forth with my groceries  to the closet shopping centre when I can rather then taking the bus or train to a larger shopping precinct to save on public transport costs. During COVID  it was great as I didn't have to work during lockdowns so saved on public transport getting to and from work and there was not much open therefore I saved on the little luxuries that I would have now and then  like going to a dance class , dining out ( hardly ever)  or going to a  movie even shopping for non essentials was ceased. Great job Julie Goodwin and  Jenny Leong for showing people what it's really like to live in social housing and on welfare. Let's see how they go actually living on welfare themselves  on their own without any contacts or resources handed to them. 

9.30 pm I am still up catching up on my blog. 10.30 pm Time to sleep.

Thursday 18th November 2021

Week 6 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 11 of phase 3A of NSW reopening after 90% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

It's 10 am and It's absolutely beautiful outside - It's going to be really hot today!

Christmas job rush due to international border closures there is a labour shortage in hospitality due to these jobs usually filled by backpackers and international students on visa. QLD is  offerring holiday incentives  to encourage interstate  residents from NSW and VIC to fill hoispitalty and tourism positions before the holiday season starts. Yesterday there was a news segment on how a water theme park in Western Sydney was offerring a cash bonus prize for new employees in order to attract applicants to fill fill positions out there.

There may be a delay in the passing of the pandemic bill in Vic due to one MP refusing to agree to it being passed. Legitimate protectors are still present outside VIC's Parliament House after others who were extreme right protestors had gallows and an inflatable of Dan Andrews yesterday as well as more violent protestors encouraging people how to make and use molotov cocktails and were maybe not there to protest against the passing of the pandemic bill but to stir up violence for  their own agender.

This news headline continues to dominate daily news. The investigation is continuing in regards to the misding body of William Tyrell where it is thought the little boy may have fallen off a balcony and his body moved to another area. His foster grandmother is under investigation and is suspected to have been involved in his disappearance as another charge has been laid against her from another foster child. Interesting that the focus is now on a photo of William showed he had no shoes on when he had his spider man costume on .

Meghan Markle has appeared and interviewed on Ellen for the first time since her famous Oprah interview. Her brother Thomas Markle Jr was recently on Big Brother VIP  - ah the controversial  letter to his sister on air.

A former labor MP has been charged over fake immigration visas.

Legal action against Alex Baldwin's accidental shooting  of cast members due to lack of safety procedures on the site of his film Rust continues. 

Actress Tori Spelling  sure didn't inherit her looks from her mother Candy Spelling a Broadway  producer, remember the famous comment by someone how Tori was described as having a head like a horse ? She looks more like her late father Aaron Spelling even after she had plastic surgery  on her facial features. Candy was interviewed and asked how she was going to spend Christmas this year - Aren't the Spellings Jewish?

The queen is back working  on her role duties.  She gave her blessing to Charles and Camilla's royal tour  who are now on their way to Egypt after their visit to Jordan where they touched the holy water.

Brittney Spears wants to have a baby now that she is free from her father's conservatorship. She maybe appearing on Oprah.

The Abbottsford  Chillawack Fraser Valley  regions of metropolitan Vancouver is battling flooding and mud/landslides cutting off a vital link between Vancouver and  Central BC via Highway 1. Sumas Prairie once a lake is drained by pumps which could fail due to the large amount of rain causing it  to overfill and  flood the surrounding rural areas.  Residents have been advised to evacuate and I thought we were having flooding concerns in regions West of Sydney! What's wrong with the extreme weather patterns around the world?

There were 262 COVID cases in NSW today and 3 deaths. 

So where to this afternoon? Well it's Thursday night shopping and I did not venture out until 2 pm. Not wanting to waste such a beautiful day I decided to take a 27 minute ferry ride  from Circular Quay wharf 2 to Watsons Bay via Rose Bay  after much research.  I grew up in the Eastern suburbs yet have never been to a lot of the landmarks around Watson's Bay - I practically lived down the road from  The Gap yet have never been there! Today i may not make it there but will try at lesst to walk along the main beach area of Watsons Bay.

I arrived at Circular Quay about 10 minutes before the next ferry to Watsons Bay and I had not had lunch so decided to buy a snack in case I got hungry on the ferry eventhough it is only a 27 minute ferry ride. I found a hole in the wall kiosk that sold coffee and pies that has been at Circular Quay for ages but is always closed when I am there. Today it was open or was it? There was no one I could see manning the kiosk and a confusing sign which I thought read the kiosk was closed for today. It was late in the afternoon and most of the takeaway kiosks around Circular Quay are still temporarily closed including the pharmacy and one convenientce store. I am surprised that the liquor store is open there with almost normal opening hours. Is that more important then a pharmacy being open? Anyway I asked if the hole in the wall kiosk was still open and a lady pops out advising me that it was. I wanted a pie and there were quite a few on display in what I thought  was a heated pie display  so asked for a chicken and mushroom one only to be told that she only had  meat or bacon cheese and meat pies left. I decided on a cheese bacon and meat pie as it would do as it was just for a snack in case I got hungry on the ferry ride. She said that I might get hungry and asked where I was going. I said to Watson's Bay and that it's only a 27 minute ferry ride. After talking her about how I grew up in the Eastern suburbs but nevee  spent time at Watsons Bay , I find out that she grew up in the Eastern suburbs and went to the now defunct Vaucluse High School  (now a very exclusive and expensive private aged care facility!). She asked me where I went to school and I said Kambala ( you will see where I went to school from the video of this ferry ride I uploaded with its million dollar waterfront views from the hills - up along the City To Surf's  "Heartbreak Hill" Rose Bay) - not to be mistaken for the towering grey monasatic convent buildings of  Kincoppal next door which is also an exclusive private but Catholic girls' school.

So what did I think of the meat cheese and bacon pie?Either I was hungry or it was a good pie. I think it was just a good pie as I have had pies from this kiosk many years ago and they were pretty good from what I remember although the owners and suppliers may have changed over time - I rate it an 8/10  ( I didn't even ask how muvh the pie was I just tapped and goed) just right for a snack on the ferry and loved the subtle crispy cheese and bacon bits on top of the pie not heavily layered inside the  pie.  I usually  rate a pie by several criteria. 1. Can I eat it without it's filling  going all over me once I take my first bite out of it? 👍 a pie's filling should be solid enough not to run out of a pie - some pies have too much runny gravy used to cut costs to pad out a pie which can burn you if the pie is too hot, the pie filling should stay put within the pie's pastry as you eat it. 2.  Was the pie the right temperature to handle and eat it? 👍 a pie should not be so cold that you could get food poisoning from it but not so hot that the structural integrity of it is compromised - so hot that once you bite into it you burn your mouth or drop the pie as it is too hot to hold in your hands. Och it has happoened to me many times! 3. Did it have real  or could I identify real chunks of meat or chicken or vegetables inside the pie?👍 any pie filling where you cannot identify what you are eating  or is full of mince and/or gravy that is not natural in colour is not a good pie ( growing up we had Big Ben pies Four N Twenty pies Chiko rolls and jumbo deep fried Dim Sims that were twice the size they were suppose to be which were notoriously known to contain mystery meat padded out with cabbage and/or green globules of  fat which we used to call shot and if we saw any to immediately toss the pie into the rubbish bin! yuk!) I love pies with plenty of chicken vegetables and meat chunks in it, It helps to keep a pie's structural integrity and makes it easier to eat on the go  and the more natural it is the better it is for you. 4. Was the pastry not to thick or too thin?👍 I am not a fan of thick pastry especially if it is really oily and ends up soaking the brown papoer bag the pieis in - usually puff pastry. I prefer a shortcrust pastry which is thiner but not so short it crumbles and can't hold the filling of the pie in it. Droopy pies are not good pies. If the pie is too heavy or splits apart on the first bite it's not a good pie. an acvident waiting to happen. 5. Was the pie dripping in fat or oil so much it was soaking the paper bag it was in? 👍Most pies do this but some less then others. 6. What the pie taste like and point of difference. 👍 most pie fillings taste great however if pie makers start to go too wacky with their fkavour combinations and ingedients, the pies fail to sell. Jumbo used to sell pizza pies and spaghetti bolognese pies - I was not a fan of them. Bourke Street Bakery d g weird flavour combination pies such as chicken and sweet potato -again I was not a fan. My favourite pies were the creamy chicken and vegetable or chicken and mushroom or chicken and leek pies from the old French Vietnamese bakery on Darling St  Balmain. 

This was a good pie not too heavy, was unique in flavour, held together on first bite, I could identify the chunks of meat in it, the pastry was thin and not too crumbly and short crust, the paper bag it came in was not dripping in oil after a few minutes, it was not stone cold or burning hot to handle and it was eay to pick up and eat without it collapsing.Only thing was it was a little on the small for a standard pie ( I could be wrong).

It may have only been a 27 minute ferry ride via Rose Bay wharf but I arrived at Watsons Bay at 3.45 pm thinking I had plenty of time to walk around only to find out that the very last ferry back to Circular Quay was at 4.15 pm! Miss this and you have to take the bus up the road all the way back to the city and I didn't want that as it takes FOREVER via every suburb possible ie the scenic route!

I took a few photos and took a little walk around Watsons Bay before hoping on a Supercat ( there isn't anything super about it, it's similar to the Rivercat, a smaller single level ferry which might travel a little faster but with an annoying outdoir seating area at the front of the ferry with obscured views out of dirty windows because these ferries are so low set) back to Circular Quay arriving back at 4.45 pm. photos below.

Apologies It's really late and I'm still uploading my video onto YouTube. Done.  I'm falling asleep so will finish this blog tomorrow.

Alighting the Supercat ferry at Circular Quay 

Very dodgey photos taken from the low set outdoor seating on the single level  Supercat ferry through dirty windows.

Waiting to board the traditional multi level green nd gold ferry bound for Watsons Bay via Rose Bay

The views from the upper decks outside seating on the multi level green and yellow ferries offer unobstructed panoramic views of Sydney Harbour unlike the Supercat ferries.

The city skyline so far away in the background yet so close to Rose By & Watson's Bay

Rose Bay home to private schools Kincoppal &  Kambala ( spot them in the background above), Catalina Restaurant, now defunct Imperial Peking Afloat Restaurant and nearby suburb of Point Piper historically regarded as Australia most expensive suburb and home to the owner of Hungry Jack's ( he bought the Burger King franchise to Sydney)

I am unsure which ferry routes I haven't been on yet - more research needed. Might try to revisit  this one and the one to Parramatta on the weekend ( if I can wake up much earlier!)

Arriving at St Leonards Station I do more grocery shopping at Romeo's IGA  ( I had trouble scanning my loyaty card there again)  but only for things I've totally run out of. Home took a while as the 144 bus was not very regular despite it being peak hour. I wash my hands and my mask and unpack my groceries. I catch the remaining segment of the new, watch The Cook Up followed by 8 Out of 10 Does Countdown  before finally watching the first episode of A Girl's Guide To Hunting Fishing & Wild Cooking- great show located in Tasmania it is a female version of River Cottage ( Australia) and The Gourmet Farmer.

It is forcast for rain over the weekend with a top of 28 degrees C tomorrow and posdible rain.

6 pm and It's become really windy.

Friday 19th November 2021

Week 6 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 12 of phase 3A of NSW reopening after 90% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

It's not the best morning outside today, dark and overcast but it's not windy at 6 am  ( yes I'm up early today) , It's actually really calm.  By 8.30 am there's a very slight breeze but it's still overcast and dark. It's raining again! The road is quite wet as MV swish by so it's not just a sprinkle. I take my rubbish out before 9.30 am to get it out of the way. 

News headlines include: 

A huge waterfall has appeared from the recent heavy rain gushing over, across and down the otherside of a main road at "Waterfall Way"  Dorrigo on the NSW central coast. Passing cars have manged to safely dodge this raging torrent ( possible  land/mudslid) driving across it .

The debate continues about states having more control of pandemic laws. No wonder Victorians hate Dan Andrews, he sounds like a dictator - Hitler even . There is a clash between Sco Mo who is not in favour of a vaccination mandate ( election ploy?)  and Dan Andrews who does,  reminding Australians of the "strollout" (refer online dictionary of new COVID slang and words created) .Victoria must be the worst state to live in. Last night Victoria had the majority of their COVID restrictions ( boasting more restrictions lifted then in NSW including the ditching of masks except in high risk locations and venues) finally lifted BUT only for the double vaccinated ( after a few weeks of a loophole where retail shopping and services were an all welcome) Unvaccinated will only be able to do essential shopping again. COVID news recently has been all about VIC. 

There was some NSW COVID related  news today where QR codes maybe scrapped towards the Christmas period with only voluntary check in required for lower risk locations or venues. Higher risk locations and venues such as gyms and pubs will continue to have mandatory QR code check in ( makes sense however no mention of the continuation of  mandatory proof of double vaccination required). Will that mean no more proof of double vaccination is required  to be shown as QR codes are no longer required to be scanned to check in at lower risk locations or venues?

The William Tyrrell investigation continues where a former police investigator on the case is under investigation and special equipment has been bought in to scan a concrete slab laid over the garage floor after the little boy's disappearance. So far nothing has been found at his foster grandparents property where he disappeared and police are still searching the surrounding areas around the property with high tech equipment bought in that can pick up any  traces of blood even after years.

Tonight from around 8 pm there will be a lunar eclipse that should be visible on the East coast of Australia. Time you can see it depends on your location. For Sydney it is 8 pm but recommended you are out observing it earlier. you have about a 30 - 40  minute window to see it.

Meghan Markle has sat down with Ellen ( her neighbour and friend apparently)  speaking about her children and their Halloween costumes. She also mention how Lilibet is teething, how she and Harry when they were dating snuk out with their friend and cousin  in Halloween costumes to a party and nobody knew who they were. She looked quite relaxed unlike her Oprah interview , it was her first interview since then. Her last with Ellen probably as the show will be defunct soon ( in it's final season). Topics in the interview were different though and not related to the royal family but her family and of course spruiked her " "Bench" book as well as participating in a prank eating chilli and drinking milk.

 

After Charles' previous joke in response to how his mother's health is at 95 and trying to be funny about how it' heard enough at his age at 73 , Charles and Camilla continue their royal tour of Egypt visiting Cairo  and the pyramids - something Camilla had not seen before. Charles was there to pass on the baton to the host city of the next Climate Summit. 

Why do I wake up at 3 am? Yep I have been wondering why I do that all the time. It's quite normal apparently due to our sleep patterns. 

First glimpe of the new  Sydney Airport West of Sydney is due to open in 2026. 

50000 high school graduation students are expected to attend schoolies week on the Gold Coast after it was given the go ahead today. Unfortunately it is only open to QLD residents not to NSW or VIC students.

NSW had 216 COVID cases  & 3 deaths today.

Watched the news, The Cook Up  & 8 Out of 10 Does Count before going downstairs and outside to  try and observe the Lunar  Eclipse. Disappointed I could not even see the moon at all - probably covered in clouds. Tried to go online to see live footage around the world but gave up as it is just not the same.

 

Saturday 20th November 2021

 

Week 6 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 13 of phase 3A of NSW reopening after 90% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

It's an awful day forcasted for today with more rain forecasted. It is dark & overcast this morning at 7.35 am.

News today includes:

There is growing  concern over as missing Chinese tennis player who made accusations of sexual assault by a Chinese government official with an alleged forced social media statement released  by her advising that she is actually ok and at home resting. No one is going to believe that this statement was actually freely written by her given China's history of human rights law abuses. Given the tennis player's high profile in the sport, she can't just disappear.

More sporting scandal, just over 2 weeks out until the major cricket event the Ashes, Tim Paine resigns from his Australian test cricket captaincy due to sexting scandal dating back to 2017 where he was cleared of  ( or was it ?). The rush is on by Cricket Australia to find a suitable replacement. This is the second cricket scandal resulting in the loss of a cricket captain. Last one was sandpapergate where the former captaincy is not under considerations to be reinstated. 

The US President had to undergo a colonoscopy and due to US presidential continuity, the first coloured female vice president was "sworn in" temporarily as the acting US president for a full 75 minutes or so. Controversy however that she was actually the acting president came to light as she was never allowed to enter the oval office to perform her duties  instead working from her office has resulted in discussion and debate as to whether she was actually was the first coloured female to be US president.

The Lunar Eclipse  was seen all over the Australia and the world - well I didn't see it from where I was!

Next Tuesday SA will reopen it's  borders to stranded residents in NSW and VIC as long as they are not from hotspot regions.

Sunday  21st November 2021

 

Week 6 Of "Freedom Day" ie Freedom Day 2.0 

Day 14 of phase 3A of NSW reopening after 90% double vaccination reached for double vaccinated only.

End of another week of phase 3A for the fully vaccinated. There has been no further news on NSW lifting of restrictions. The vaccination rates have stalled and protests continue.

End of another week of unemployment due to being stood down. 

I went to order something online yesterday on the Myer website as I received not just 1 but 3 text reminders one after the other on the same day that my balance of $16.02 I have left on one of my $20 reward vouchers earned from achieving 2000 points worth  of customer service feedback scores expires in 24 hours. So I had to spend it. I could never be bothered to shop online as the Myer website is so difficult to use.  This time even more difficult to use as a message automatically pops up to say unvaccinated customers can't even pickup their click & collect. What the f*** is Myer doing , unvaccinated can shop online but not pick up their purchases! Where and when was this a policy? The unvaccinated were allowed to freely  shop in store at Myer for the past 2 weeks in Victoria due to a loophole in the lifting of their restrictions now closed and you were always previously allowed to pick up your click and collect so what changed? There is no mandate to say unvaccinated customers can't click and collect in Nsw or Victoria, they  just can't shop in store. Myer is losing sales from doing this no wonder their share price is going down the tube. So I asked a work collegue who is working because she is double vaccinated if this was correct. Yep there are security guards at doors and if you are unvaccinated you can't go in not even to pick up your click and collect. Since when did this happen? My work collegue offered to pick it up for me but I said it was too late I did a click and collect @ the  Bondi store for when I go out there next time. I sware I will give Myer a customer feedback score of 0/10 if I get the opportunity to. I hate Myer so much I wish I never invested my money on their shares - I can't sell them, I can't write them off against any other shares - they are my only investment that is making me a loss and  are not paying any dividends ( for years) and pulling my investment portfolio down. They are worthless. Just checked their share price and they have plunged  down to 50 cents ( even the rapper 50 cent is worth more then this today!) I'm at my wits end -  I'm a shareholder yet am not earning any return on my investment instead making a loss with still no dividends paid after years, I'm an employee who has been stood down therefore cannot work resulting in loss of income  and now I am a customer who can purchase things online however can only click but not collect. Ridiculous!

It rained all night and is still very wet dark and overcast this morning at 9 am. I woke up at 4 am but went back  to sleep until 7.30 am. It was actually cold at times through the night. Today it is raining and 19 degrees C. it rained most of today and into the night, there was even a very brief  windy storm before going back to just rain.

News today include: 

The Northern Territory  has gone into hard lockdown due to a number of COVID cases detected. 

There were mationwide protests in Qld NSW and VIC continue accross the weekend protesting against the vaccine mandates , pandemic laws being passed  and blaming Scott Morrison  the PM. Thousands turned out to protest. There was even a conflicting group of protesters in Melbourne who were pro vaxers but anti fascists. It goes to show that COVID  is not just a pandemic that results in serious illness and death but spreads and mutates into other serious social, economic, psychological illnesses as well where vaccination mandates leading to standiwnds and termination of employment, protests and social ununrest , lockdowns leading to standowns,  unemployment and domestic violence  and reliance on welfare payment , Government control and abuse of power leading to conflict between Federal/State and State governments wanting more power over Federal government's and control over  residents of Australia and the list of examples goes on and on. A reminder we live in a democratic country where we have freedom of speech,  at the moment it feels like we live in a dictatorship - is Australia heading for civil war? The USA may have avoid WWIII against China and HK may claim they are not China but Australia is sure acting like they are part of China ( that's if all it's assets are not owned and controlled  by hem already!). Good on protestors for defending the right to the freedom of speech.

A child has died from COVID. The youngest victim.

A fire has broken out in Melbourne where 4 people are missing. 4 out of 5 of the children were killed from this fire in Warrabee. How the fire started is still being investigated.

I was going to venture out as I need some more groceries - yes I eat a lot but mainly good food - dark chocolate, green tea,  sparkling mineral water,  green juice, Manuka honey, raw nuts unsalted, yakault or plain Greek yoghart wholemeal or rye bread, non lactose and mascapone cheeses,  berries and whatever other fresh fruit I can get,  chicken duck turkey slmon barramundi ling and calamari, basil dill corriander shallot mixed green leaves spinach, any vegetables I can get,  tofu, maple syrup, dried figs and other dried fruits, corn chips, rice crackers with seaweed, Australian made  udon noodles  - very little junk food,  red or processed meats , white or refined sugars, white bread, lollies, cakes  or packet mix cakes ( unless make them from scratch my self).

I abandoned everything including my laundry and ventured out to Aldi Coles and Woolworths Metro  really late in the afternoon not returning home until 8 pm and catching the last segment of Adele's One Night Only concert on Channel 7  and her Oprah interview in the rose garden. She has such an amazing voice.

caught up with some YouTube and the Food chanbel repeats before going to sleep. after 10 pm. H a of of today was again wasted on the phone to Myer trying to figure out how to pick up my click and  collect  - it was not good enough not being able to ring ring Myer Bondi and Westfield not even being able to contact them as they don't have a listed number for them.  it's not good enough asking me if I could get a relative or friend to pick up  my online order for me as I don't have anyone to ( well I do but not at  the store I wanted to pic it up from) and it certainly  isn't good enough to  have it delivered out to me as it is breakable and I've seen enough broken deliveries returned by cudtomers instore to expoerience it mysrlf particularly if it's fragile Christmas ornaments. Many phone calls and escalating my complaint to the manager, who finally managed to contacted Myer Bondi - I can ask for it to be bought out to me .I don't understand how Myer does not allow for contactless click and collect when Target and DJs allow it.

Rain is forcast for the rest of the week - there goes all my plans. 

I forgot to mention the Christmas decorations at Chatswood  concourse this year - Willoughby Council must have had a Christmas budget surplus this year. photo below

So pretty! it's nice to see it's not just a lame Christmas tree this year at The Concourse!

Day shot not as nice

There were 176 COVID cases in NSW and 2 deaths