Tuesday 1st - Thursday 31st August 2023 - Atospheric Memory @ The Powerhouse Museum, 4.30 am Car Crash # 3 (There Goes The Apartment Block's Mail Box Block AGAIN!), Full Time Studies & Totally Unemployed, "Have A Golden Gaytime in Nanimo Bar Brownie"

Tuesday 1st August 2023

How time flies another new month and it's still Winter but soon it will be Spring. another day with a top of 22 degrees C and it is a beautiful day today .

No classes today until  6 pm tonight when I have a Cyber Basics connected class online until 9 pm.

I still have quite a bit to do today.

One of the smaller red bins was missed this morning on rubbish collection day. I may have to ring the council about it although it is not my responsibility to do so. The blue and yellow bins don't get emptied until later. The guy in unit 7 next door to me took the bins back in. No one else would do it they just fill them all up letting them overfill. They even dumped chairs and containers onto the footpath moving the bins to make room for them.

I am preparing my lunch for the next 2 days ( soya chicken is on the menu)  whilst watching the morning need catching up on my blog and watching YouTube channels as well as folding my laundry I did last night which I didn't do as it was really late ( I was nice and put the guy's clothes that I dumped onto the kitchen bench back into the dryer after I finished drying mine - his clothes weren't completely dry so the remaining heat in the dryer after I emptied my clothes out of the dryer may just dry them off).

News headlines today include

We all know about the Matildas winning their match in the FIFA Women's World Cup ( if not read my last July 23 blog) and without Sam Kerr benched due to her more famous calf injury then anything else. Who they will play whilst they are now at the top of their group will be decided tonight. Chris Minns has now confirmed that the sails of the Opera House will now be lit up as a victory tribute to the Matildas ( it would have better vetter at the beginning of the World Cup - oh that's right he said he didn't want to jinx the Matildas - are you sure it wasn't due to cost cutting? How much does it cost to light up the Opera House sails per night? $100 000 wasn't it? You couldn't afford it then now you can?!)

The T3  Bankstown line has been confirmed by Chris Minns to be shut down for at least a year and replaced by buses for the Metro line conversion. Residents are not happy as it will take an estimated 2 hours to get into the Sydney CBD and other destinations around Sydney.

England won their match in the Ashes series tying against Australia &  has seen Australia retain the Ashes Cup.

Peter Bol has been exonerated from being a drug cheat as all his samples have come back negative in drug testing after his B sample came back an atypical and he was suspended from competing back in January. He is now free to compete.

81 year old Sir Paul Macartney is coming to Australia for a tour in October 23. He has not toured Australia since 1993. The tour will begin in Adelaide on October 18th  where it all started when he toured with the Beatles back in 1964 ( before I was born!)

The mystery object that washed up on a beach in WA is Indian space junk. 

The AUS$ is up again above the $0.67 m,ark against the US$.

There are more victims of crime in QLD then any other state according to alarming statistics.

Drinkers to pay nearly $25 in tax for a carton of beer thanks to an increase in alcohol taxes.

The world's  only surviving triplet pandas celebrate their 9th birthday. 

A dog named Leo has been stolen from the front of a home in Melbourne.

A sun bear in a zoo in China looks as if it is just a man in a bear suit with crowds of visitors onlooking.

Rapper Cardi B could be in trouble when a fan threw a large cup of water or some type of liquid on her and where she threw her microphone  back at them before security handled the situation.

The actor that plays PeeWee Herman dies aged 70.

The RBA has decided to hold the interest rate for a second time in a row however inflation is still too hight at around 6% the RBA would like it to drop to around 3% therefore more interest rate rises are still expected . A fall in retail spending together with the increase sale of short term ownership of properties ( property owners are selling their properties an average of 2 years after purchasing them)  due to mortgage holders not being able to keep up with repayments but with  low unemployment rates has led to the RBA's decision to hold interest rates this month ( more like Philip Lowe is trying desparately to salvage face before his employment contract as governor of the RBA  ends in September 23!)

6 dead and 75 have been injured by Russian missiles in Ukraine. 

Wednesday 2nd August 2023

It is a top of  19 degrees C today but looks a little overcast this morning.

Today is a full day of face to face classes with programming this morning and Working in IT Skills this afternoon.

News headlines today include

A woman has been hit by a car South West of Sydney near Kogarah. 

A former childcare worker has bern charged with 1600 sexual assault charges where over 90 children were affected.

The RBA may have held rates again this month keeping the cash rate at 4.1% but can't rule out more rate hikes. Mortgage holders have been warned not to be complacent and to keep on top of their mortgages whilst interest rates remain on hold whether it be making more repayments if possible or shopping around for a better rate or refinancing their mortgages. 

QLD is building housing for the Olympic village which will serve as temporary housing which easing the housing crisis temporarily until the 2032 Olympics.

Cate Campbell has written to demanding an apology to Peter Bol whose reputation has been now tarnished due to false positive drug testing results to  synthetic EPO even though he has been exonerated and his case closed. 

The Matildas now play Denmark - what a headache for Princess Mary ! and which team will she be barracking for?

Kylie is excited for her 3 month residency in Las  Vagas and a release of  new music.

Donald Trump charged  - indicted and facing jail time in relation to the Jan Capital Hill riots.

2 rail lines to growing suburbs Melton and Wyndham Vale in Melbourne have been axed by the Victorian state government.

Labor is reintroducing its signature $10 billion housing bill if blocked by the Greens and Coalition then it could trigger a double disillusion and lead to an early election. The Greens want more as it doesn't do enough for renters and wants $20 billion whereas the Coalition just flatly objects the bill.

Bali wants to fine rowdy tourists that disrespect their countries culture and rules such as vandalism and intoxication

2 super moons in August for star gazers. One last night the next one on 31st August .

Thursday 3rd August 2023 

A top of 22 degrees C today. 

Today I have another full day of face to face classes in the morning Security & Safety and in the afternoon Systems Administration. Because I still haven"t been able to get an exemption for both Cyber Basics and Security & Safety subjects so am still attending both. A waste of my time as I would rather spend my time and concentrate  on more important subjects such as Network Build Systems Administration and Programming 

The programming teacher on Wednesday mornings  has no interest in teaching us. I am sure he is a good programming teacher but he is unhappy we are turning up late to class and hence changed our start time to 10 am and only having a 30 minute lunch break instead of an hour as well as asking the class if we could do the entire programming class online instead ( why not he asked it's the same except you are attending via teams - are it's not the same some of us are having trouble just trying to install python and pycharm onto our laptops! and he would not be able to see how we are actually going in our coding) - most of us are not late but there are a few in the class that are constantly late or don't show up to classes at all and when they do spend all their time gaming or sleeping the entire class!

I forgot my lunch today so had to buy a plain unappetizing meat pie from the college canteen. I had it with tomato sauce. Ah canteen good how I do not miss it!!!! a quick toilet break and it was back to the classroom. 30 minutes is not long enough to do much!

I walked home after class and had a nanna nap. I am so tired as our classes today covered so much with assessment after assessment followed by a linked in learning course. we failed to install Virtual Box after several attempts. what's worse I questioned the teachers method of sharing her corrupted software files with us.

News headlines today include 

A man has gone on a stabbing spree in Moonee Ponds with 4 people stabbed. The man has been charged and had a string of previous offences.

ACT's chief prosecutor has found to have lied in the Bruce Lehman Britney Higgins rape case.

Chris Minns has had to sack one of his ministers due to a conflict of interest over ownership of Hunter Valley property undeclared which was alleged to have been known about back in 2014 but which Chris Minns insists he only found out a few days as go. He corruption case has been referred to ICAC for investigation.

An Uber driver was car jacked by a group of 3 young men who car jacked and attacked him taking off with his car, keys, wallet leaving him on the road  in Brisbane. He is recovering  at home from serious head injuries and Uber has offered him compensation . The Uber driver is in no hurry to return to his job on the road.

Sigourney Weaver is in Australia filming an Australian series The Lost Flowers of Alice.

Power Ball has jackpoted for tonight's draw  for $100 million and it is estimated that 1 in 2 Australians will be buying a ticket  for tonight's draw. The most and least drawn numbers have changed slightly. 

The mystery of whether the sun bear in China was real or fake continues. China insists that it is real and not a man in a bear suit and the skin folds are how sun bears keep cool.

A shooting in Washington has been found to be a false alarm after a room by room sweep a day before Trump is due to attend court there over his charges.

Panada pandas and more panda stories. 2 baby red pandas have just been born but their sex won't be known for a few weeks .

There is a 5% increase in a property boom nationally with Perth leading the way.

3 Asian elephants are coming to SA for the first time in 30 years in 2025 and the safari park is looking for funding to me and this possible.

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau has separated from his wife Sophie of 18 years and 2 children.

The cockpit and  parts of unidentifiable human remains of  the 4 military personnel that crashed in a helicopter military exercise into the sea near Hamilton Island have been found. The search continues with submersibles to depths no human diver can reach.

Urgent care teams to treat people in their own homes with the service for over 65s free . These new teams will consist of gps nurses physio etc. .

Friday 4th August 2023

Another beautiful sunny day with a top of 23 degrees C!

Today I don't have anything planned. I am catching up on things and sleep as O did not sleep very well last night. 

I am running out of groceries again. I should be setting up my laptop which is still in its box but I am too scared to in case it overheats again.

I have not heard back from JB HiFi about my other laptop the Surface one. It must be a bad issue!

I paid a bill today but still waiting for my tax return to be done by my tax agent. Maybe he wants money before lodging it. I rang him and he still has not done it yet. I think he is getting a bit slack and a bit old so I need to start looking for a new tax agent closer to where I reside. I have had my tax agent for over 30 years now ever since I was in college and started working casually and where his company was just in a tin shed in a laneway in Bondi Junction. I think he is hiding something - maybe he has ties to the gangland criminals or even that gangland member that was shot in Bondi Junction.

News headlines today include

Trump faces court and pleads not guilty before flying to New Jersey. Bail conditions are he is not allowed to approach any witnesses. Trump did make a brief statement as he left court of how it was all about the Biden party trying to derail his presidency campaign and insists that he was not involved in the January riots . He faces court again bear the end of August. Trump and his legal team are experts as deferring court dates which means it will take a very long time before he is actually arrested charged and thrown into jail. I personally believe that he may not even end up in jail due to delay after delay - he actually could won the election & be elected president and living the final years of his life or even passes away before he even actually serves any time in jail!!!!!

Lizzo hits back at 3 of her former backup dancers on bombshell  sexual harassment lawsuit. 

A female has been murdered discovered in a house at Hoppers crossing outside of Melbourne. The man is in custody under medical supervision and the woman was known to the man.

A manhunt is underway for a gangland member on the run in South Western Sydney. his sister and wife have been arrested for obstructing police from his arrest while he escaped.

Banks forecast rate cuts as early as March next year as a result of the lowest consumer spending since the last 1990s recession.

The Pope is in Portugal on a visit for World Youth Day addressing child sex abuse.

QLD is making the Meningcocal C vaccine free for young Australians rolling it out as of next year. The rising cost of living has seen parents not vaccinating their children due to the costly $100 of the vaccine 

2 people one  in NSW and one in Victoria who have both won the $100 million Powerball jackpot - that's $50 million each. The Rosebery North newsagent sold the winning ticket to a 10 member syndicate. This newsagency has sold a winning ticket 3 times. The Victorian winner has still not been found.

After over 2 decades under record company Sony, Delta Goodrem has launched new music under her own record label ATLED.

The AUS$ is still below the $0.66 mark against the US$ after dipping a few days ago.

Saturday 5th August 2023

A rather overcast day today with a top of 20 degrees C

I ended up venturing out in the late afternoon. I took my bottles to be recycled at Chatswood only to find that the convenience store was closed on Saturdays. so what was I suppose to do with my bag of empty bottles? I didn't want to carry them around with me as I needed to do a major grocery shop having almost nothing left in my refrigerator to eat. So I decided to go shopping at Macquarie Shopping Centre as I knew there was a self service bottle recycling Machine there in the carpark and I could get a voucher and redeem it for cash at Woolworths there. When I get to the Metro I find it has trackwork - the North Shore line was actually running but the Metro was not AGAIN! I swear The Metroline has more days in maintenance then it has running every year since it started running! So back I walk to where the Metroline rail replacement buses are which is quite a  way down from the back of Chatswood Station. It was a bit of a wait and the replacement buses alternate 12M only stopping at certain stops to Tallawong and the bus I need to get on a 11M stopping all stops to Tallawong. There are heaps of people waiting for the Metroline rail replacement bus.

First thing I do when I reach Macquarie Shopping Centre is get rid of my empty bottles. Done. Next stop Priceline to get some more cortisone ointment before it closes as it was quite close to closing time by the time I arrived at the shopping centre. Done - The chemists are still out of Sigmacort so I am still using an alternative brand. 

Next stop was Coles where I spent over AUS$160 on groceries . Try not to do your grocery shopping on a Saturday as 20% of the items on my grocery list were unavailable - lots of empty shelves so I needed to purchase some substitutions just for this week. 

I could have gone to Woolworths to find them but could not be bothered as I had a heavy wheel bag packed full of groceries and another almost full cloth shopping bag. 

A quick toilet stop before waiting for the next hourly  291 bus straight home. It was another 20 minute wait but as I waited a 259 bus to Chatswood pulled in and I got into that bus instead. 

Upon arriving at Chatswood which I thought the bus would arrive just next to the bus stop where I would catch home , the bus stops on the opposite side of the station at the interchange. I had intended to go straight home but since I was in Chatswood, I recharged my Opal card, stopped off at Woolworths Metro to get a few more groceries I could not get at Coles at Macquarie Centre and stopped off at Sushi World which was having a happy hour sale for a $7 takeaway boxed snack/dinner of chicken combo sushi rolls  . I had just withdrawn some cash so hopefully could get some change for laundry from my purchase as Woolworths does not give out change and I didn't want to walk all the way with my heavy loads of groceries to Coles Local at the lower ground floor of Westfield across the road.

I ate my sushi whilst waiting for the next bus home as I knew it was quite a wait and it was. I managed to just finish my snack/dinner before boarding the bus 

Home I unpack my groceries and catch up with updating my diary watch YouTube channels etc before going to bed. It was getting late by the time I went to sleep. 

News headlines today include

There is trackwork out to Olympic Park today causing delays to people attending the football over the weekend however to cope with the chaos shuttle buses will run every 3 minutes. Meanwhile there is trackwork AGAIN over this weekend on both Northern and North Shore lines as the government pushes ahead with their rail maintenance schedules.

The QLD  health system is under crisis as patients such as Cancer patients are waiting more then 4 weeks for test results such as scans biopsies & MRIs etc 

AA is attending the GARMA festival in the Northern Territory and has addressed an audience of family and friends and used his address to promote the Voice and the Yes Campaign and why people should vote for the Yes campaign in the referendum for which a date has still not been announced for but forecasted to be between October and December 2023.

WA Heritage laws to be scraped.

A man has died from life threatening injuries  after being shot in Melbourne South Yarra overnight. police believe he was linked to gangland crime members.

A people have died in mv crashes in Cherrybrook and Ingleburn.

A private jet company is offering flights from QLD to Taylor Swift.concerts in Sydney and Melbourne for $1700. The flight holds 50.people which could be value for money considering a commercial flight is around $700 .

Ticket sales to the Women's FIFA World Cup has hit $1.5 million!

Trump has been charged a second time in 24 hours as he attends a wedding reception in New Jersey where he used his presence to promote his presidential election campaign. 

Livestock exported to Indonesia has been found to be infected with the highly contagious Lumpy skin disease. It is unlikely the disease has reached Australia and the disease does not affect humans just livestock cause fever lumpy skin loss of appetite and lesions.

China has lifted it's 80% barley tariff  - could this mean the trade wars between Australia and China are beginning to soften? as well as the relationship between Australia and China? Not quite as there are still several other tariffs such as wine lobsters and some abattoirs imposed on Australian exports to China. 

Sunday 6th August 2023

A very cool 17 degrees C today. It rained very lightly last night and rained a little heavier overnight. Today is a grey overcast day.

I do not plan to venture out today but just continue with life admin stuff. 

Now that I have paid most of my bills and lodged my tax return yesterday as well as updated my Workforce Australia mutual obligations online, I can now get on with other stuff.

Still no bill from Telstra but they do owe me a credit of $160  for overcharging me for 13 months. They have increased their lowest casual plan I was on to $62 per month - I could change to another telecommunication service provider who have much better offers but one has really unreliable service (Vodafone - I can say this because I was with them for quite a long time after being unhappy with Telstra but changed back to Telstra after the service kept dropping off Everytime it rained and there was no coverage in quite a few areas I traveled to) and the other ( Optus - I can say this because it is public news that they had a cyber attack on their customer database and I don't want to join another company that has poor cyber security after the Medibank Private/AHM one)  has a cyber security problem. 

Tomorrow I have a morning Network Build class from 9.30 am - 12.30 pm followed by my fortnightly appointment at APM Chatswood at 2 pm. I will need all that time to get to Chatswood as there are never any buses from across the road from Tafe to Chatswood. No time for lunch. I also need to continue with my grocery shopping and do a few other things - probably laundry batch number 2. 

News headlines today include

A 29 year old man has died in QLD shot by police at his home. It is the 11th police shooting in QLD and it is unsure what caused police to shoot the aggravated man.

AA is not delaying the referendum of The Voice ( not to be confused with the reality tv show The Voice which premieres tonight on Channel 7 with it's blind auditions) despite pressures from opposition to do so. still no date of the referendum has been announced. It is revealed that more people will vote no then yes and that younger voters aged 18 - 34  are likely to vote yes whereas older Australian voters 35 - 65 +  are likely to vote no.

A fire is raging on Russell Island near Brisbane which has destroyed one home and spreading damaging neighboring homes. It is feared children were in the burnt out homes. Fire and Rescue have rushed to the area. 6 have died including 5 children. The fire is being investigated as to whether it was suspiciously lit. One woman remains in hospital and another released. The father was also taken to hospital. 

The Matildas have arrived in Sydney for tomorrow night's game against Denmark. It has been revealed Sam Kerr will be playing in the match however it is unsure if she will be benched until the second half of the game. 

Victorian Labor MP Will Fowles for Ringwood  has resigned over an assault . He can either leave politics altogether which will result in another by-election or run as an independent. It is apparently not the first time he has displayed inappropriate behaviours.

Former cricketer and Pakistanian PM has been arrested and nailed for 3 years for selling state gifts.

4 people have been rescued from a rift at North Curl Curl this afternoon/evening and have had to be winched and airlifted out of the ocean. 

A 5.6 magnitude earth quake shook a small town south of Perth .

3 people have died after consuming poisonous mushrooms  in country Victoria. a 48 year old woman who attend the lunch was questioned but released. A 4 man remains in a serious condition in hospital.

Monday 7th August 2023

A cooler day today with another overcast morning with a top of 18 degrees C. 

I was looking at all the ski resorts around Australia last night and all of them had very little skiable areas left. It is only August and still Winter and the ski season does not end until early October 2023 yet this year if you he haven't been to the snow yet it may be too late unless there is a really big cold snap on August.

There were 12 in my class that started and we were the overflow class group B - or as I call it the reject class. Group A is in the newer building and I bet they don't get the dusty allergy triggering room we are in as well as the severe glare of the sun which means we have to keep all the blinds down and lights out most of the time and the blaring music constantly from the canteen below that is so loud you just can't concentrate.  Today only 5 of us ( including myself) showed up. I feel like not showing up to a few classes as they are so boring and cover stuff I have already done in my previous course. I have not been granted an exemption for some subjects as my form was rejected - what can I do I don't have a computer at the moment - I do buy I don't want to crash it again.That would be 4 laptops I crashed in less then 3 weeks. 

Today was mainly a maths class converting decimal to binary and binary back to decimal and also converting decimal to binary to hexadecimal and back to binary. Done this before but rusty. I love my maths but would rather study algebra rather then algorithms.

Out class finished at 12.30 pm but our teacher looked as if he would keep teaching if he could. 

I had an appointment today at 2 pm at APM but the buses to Chatswood are so infrequent it is quicker for me to walk home have a quick break as and dump my bag that I don't need before heading to Chatswood. I only had about 30 minutes bc before my as appointment not enough time to have a proper sit down  lunch  so I had a tuna and cucumber hand roll. I purchased it from Hero Sushi at Westfield Chatswood. It wasn't the best and for $4.50 it was quite expensive as most handrolls elsewhere cost around $3.  I could have a proper lunch after my appointment which ended up being a juice and 2 spinach rolls from Vina Be bakery. I kept the 3rd for a snack later.

I walked across the road to my appointment on the 2nd floor. I was early so had to wait. I advised my consultant how my payment is on hold again as I have not met my points obligations which I have for the period end 27th July and also for 27th August 2023. again my consultant said she was unable to access her computer system. I have lost count how many times now that she has had problems accessing her computer everytime  I turn up at my appointment. She said she will have a look when she can get in.

After my appointment I did a shop at a green grocer for mainly different types of citrus . Instead of buying bottles of juice I have decided to try and juice my own.I intend to juice navel blood and some other varieties of oranges as well as a tangerine and maybe lime and passion fruit. 

Next it was onto Aldi ( I have not been in an Aldi for so long as I don't like their fruit which tends to go off very quickly and I find most of their groceries are the same price and often more expensive then Coles and Woolworths) and Coles and Chemist Warehouse before heading home. I got some laundry money from Coles but not quite enough. Can't remember if I stopped off at Woolworths Metro today. 

It was a long wait again for a bus home. I was going to return my single glass bottle to be recycled on the way but ended up not doing so as I could see there would be a wait to do so with recycling bins going into and coming out of the store and a man with large bag loads of cans and bottles to be recycled.

As soon as I arrive home I took my rubbish out - to my surprise someone had actually taken the bins out for collection day tomorrow! 

Next was unpack my groceries and put one load of laundry into the washing machine. The other load can wait. The guy living in unit 3 as Lee ways kee PO s his door open and sometimes even the f to ont door open. There is as bar fridge and chest of draws in the hall way probably his and the stuff in the kitchen is probably also all his stuff. He seems to have taken over the common areas as if it was his. 

I always wash my clothes on hot cycle and twice before drying for 80 minutes. someone did not clean the lint out again in the dryer! oh how I hate that as I always do after I finish drying my clothes. 

I was hoping to make it back in time for The Cook up and to watch the World Cup. No problem I managed to watch both and do my laundry as well. 

At 7 pm I watched the Cook Up and in between did my laundry and the World Cup was later tonight starting at 8 pm .

I watched it until the end and took my dried Lee laundry back up to the as partner. Bed quite lol ate around 11 pm. I think I also caught up on some YouTube watching and blogging .

End of another day. I can sleep in tomorrow.

News headlines today include

The Matildas must win tonight's game against Denmark or be out of the Women's World Cup.. Meanwhile a new mural has been revealed at Bondi beach depicting a few of the members of the Matildas team . Artist Danielle Weber took 12 days to complete it . They did it scoring 2 goals in the first half before Sam Kerr was call on to play in the second half . Poor Denmark didn't stand a chance of winning - congrats to Australia's Matildas again! The Opera House was finally lit up in green and gold  tonight before the game started.

The Barbie movie has made $1billion in the 3 weeks it has premiered at the cinemas. With this there has been an increase in airplay of the new Barbie songs as well as the original "I'm A Barbie Girl" song by Acqua.

Rebel Wilson rushed to hospital after a stunt accident which resulted in her needing stitches.

Tomorrow will be 1 year since Olivia Newton John passed away. It only seems like yesterday that she did but this is probably due to her delayed memorial service which only occurred earlier this year.

No women allowed in a barber in Adelaide? An owner of a barber shop has applied for an exemption to the equal opportunity regulations.

Melbourne Disneyland? All attempts to lure an offer have been unsuccessful

There is a push to abolish the annual bank holiday which was today as criticism surfaces that this holiday is laziness and inappropriate for the present time with pressures of inflation, the rising cost of living and high interest rates . The original bank holiday was to reward workers in the banking finance and insurance industries a day off for working long hours however NSW is the only state that has retained the bank holiday. 

Paul McCartney has extended his Australian tour adding one more show due to popular demand.

Tuesday 8th August 2023

A top of 18 degrees C is forecasted today. it has turned out to be a beautiful sunny day outside. 

I don't think I will be venturing out today as I have class tonight and need to prepare for the next 2 days of classes. 

News headlines today include

Well if you missed it last night, the Matildas won against Denmark 2 goals to zero with Sam Kerr returning to the field in the second half of the match and with what looked like an awkward fall but she is fine. So Australia has made it through to the quarter finals but the question is can they go further and who they will play on Saturday will be determined by France verses Morocco. Meanwhile who did Aussie Princess Mary barrack for?  - she was seen with the Danish flag on her face!

More scam calls and text messages are being blocked every day and there have been 1 billion of the hem blocked in just the last year yet scammers are getting smarter and more are getting through. Does more need to be done to stop them? 

Melbourne residents either slept though or were woken by shaking and rumbling as if they were experiencing another earth quake but an earth quake it was not but a meteorite of some sort which could have been a comet or space junk zooming past and crashing lighting up the night sky. 

A world record for Susie O'Neill in her swimming comeback .Nick named My Adam Butterfly - she  still has it!

25 police have been allocated to investigate the Russell Island property fire that killed a father and his 5. children 

An international police raid ( involving Federal police Australian police and even NZ Police & ATO ) on bikie gangs has resulted in 159 arrests and confiscation of 43 fire arms

Sandra Bullock's partner has  died of motor neuron disease. No one knew he had the disease.

The former daughter in law Erin Patterson of the 4 people in Victoria that were poisoned by a lunch meal of mushrooms prepared by her, is being investigated by police as to whether the poisoning was accidental or deliberate. 3 of the 4  people died and the 4th person a church pastor in  is in a critical condition in hospital  needing a liver transplant. He children who were also at the lunch had a different meal and she also did not have the mushroom meal.

Wednesday 9th August 2023

A top of 20 degrees C today with partly cloudy skies.

Today was a full day of face to face classes with programming in the morning and Working in IT in the afternoon. We had a full day of programming classes today and no working in iT class because we were so behind the other programming class Group A. Yep I was right about being in Group B the reject class. Our programming teacher last week changed our starting time to 10 am on Wednesdays  instead of 9.3o am with a half hour only lunch break instead of a 1 hour lunch break but still finishing at 4.30 pm as he was complaining everyone was turning up late. We weren't' , he was turning up late everyone was on time this morning even early with most of us waiting outside the locked classroom by 9.30 am. Students were just not turning up to classes - at one stage only half of the Group B class showed up. 

What did I learn today a lot but I think it was so compressed and concentrated it was all too much for some of us and the rest well they would rather be playing games on the Tafe desktops during classes then listening and doing the actual activities in programming . I know at least 3 of the male students are constantly playing games - I swear that the first thing the student sitting behind me does as soon as he can get into the computer classroom is log into his Discord account and hit the gaming chat rooms and continues to do so for the entire class  but the programing teacher is now onto him. It's always the quiet ones that are the non conforming students. I don't even think they should be in this course - they are far too young & smart. 

One Note, One Driver Teams etc etc It's all so Microsoft Centric. Oh how I hate Microsoft. You all know how I crashed 4 brand new laptops within the first not even first 2 weeks of my course well laptop # 4 I was too scared to set it up until today in class I did so keeping an eye on the shut down process and any sign of overheating and so far so good but if anything happens it happens on the second day of usage.. So I charged up my new GF P laptop and set it up but when it came to change default browsers despite the instructions online on almost every website to ho to settings in the Microsoft  Start Menu and find Apps then search for the Google Chrome  browsers then set set to default there is no sign of any other browser when you search so the only way on Windows 11 to kick Microsoft Edge off as the default be browser on your  new Windows device is to use Microsoft Edge and install Google Chrome then set as the default browser. Oh how I hate Windows!!!!!

News headlines today include

A twist to the mushroom poisoning story. The ex husband of the woman who cooked the lunch has been revealed almost died last year from consuming poisonous mushrooms ending up in hospital for several months and several gut operations after being placed in an induced coma. a dehydrator found in a tip is being tested and investigated

The Matildas will play France on Saturday in Brisbane after they won against Morocco 4 - 0.

A worker has been dismissed after their employer tracked their hours and found that they were not working from home when they were suppose to.

A 13 year old has topple a Volkswagen onto its side after a police pursuit . The teen remains in custody and  his 2 passengers are on the run.

Popular venue Dracula's in Broadbeach had to be evacuated due to a fire that started in the garbage area.

Controversial singer Siinead O Connor has been farewelled by thousands including Bob Geldof in her home town in Ireland .

A new vaccine developed may see the end to MS and some cancers.

A portrait of Noni Hazelhurst has won The People's Choice Award at The Archbalds.

Customers are fuming as they struggle to survive with the rising cost of living  whilst The Commonwealth Bank makes a $10.2  billion profit and  the CEO even head of HR are given large bonuses on top of their salaries.

A man has been found in a pond at the prestigious The Lakes Golf Course which has hosted quite a few past major tournaments. The body was found by maintenance staff and it is estimated that the body may have been in the pond for a few days 

Prince William and Princess Kate will take on the role paying tribute to the late Queens passing  a year ago whilst King Charles has a quite day off to reflect on the first anniversary of his mother's passing . with the family retreating to Balmoral, Harry and Meghan were reportedly not invited  to spend time at Balmoral despite Harry being a stones throw away in Europe hosting the Invictus Games. 

The AUS$ is still at an all time low against the US$ still hovering around the $0.65 mark

Thursday 10th August 2023

Another beautiful day today with a top of. 24    degrees C! It was pretty gusty in the afternoon though as I could see from inside the computer classroom.

Privacy & Security class in the morning from 9.30 am - 12.30 pm a 30 minute lunch break and a Systems Admin class in the afternoon from 1 pm - 4 pm instead of finishing at 4.30 pm. I don't even bother packing my lunch now just fruit and snacks as well as a bottle of hot water and a bottle of cold water. I usually just have a quick toilet break and stay in the co.puter classroom like some if my other classmates. You can't do much in a 30 minute lunch break. 

Today I checked and received an email message to check my Mygov account and it notified me that my tax return is now it's final stages of being processed. Great it usually takes around 10 - 14 days to finalize. I hope my tax agent has taken my payment . No receipt yet. My tax agent has been a little slack this year maybe he is getting too old and I have had to chase him. He also did not respond to my questions on tax offsets. I didn't think I was entitled to any this year especially the low income tax offset as this was scraped for the 2022 2023 FY .  

The second message I received was from JB HiFi Westfield Chatswood that my Surface 2 Go laptop has been returned from repairs. I asked what was wrong with it. There were no notes again , it was just replaced with s 3rd replacement laptop  of the same model. This can't keep happening as I am studying IT and need a laptop. My classmate looked up the laptop and it had a 2 star review. I had no tome today research and purchased whatever I could find at the time that cost me $1000 almost. Still under warranty I asked if I could swap it for an alternative model or get a refund. JB HiFi was not willing to do so due to warranty and replacements I have had. My classmate says that I should really be asking for my money back. 

I was going to bus it to Chatswood to get some laundry money pick up my laptop and do a few other things but after class I was so tired I fell asleep missing The Cook Up at 7 pm . I woke up later and watch the encore episode at 10.30 pm but had trouble fall back asleep so had a midnight snack which may have helped as well as watch a few YouTube channels.  

News headlines today include

Another twist in the Melbourne mushroom poisoning investigation. The woman who hosted the lunch says she purchased the mushrooms from a local shop. The sole survivor is still in hospital in a bad way waiting for a liver transplant.

Maui and Big Island in Hawaii is on fire with 6 deaths and residents either trapped or running into the ocean to escape the intense flames hopefully rescued and taken to safer regions. No electricity but more importantly no communications including cell phones and calls to  911  as all forms of communication lines  were destroyed by the intense wild fires fanned by winds in a hurricane. The fires caught residents by surprise  due to the dry conditions. Burn victims have been flown to the main island.

Grand Turismo The True Story a movie about how a teenage gamer became a real professional racing driver premieres today.

A 13 year old crossing the road on his way to school he as been involved in a hit and run and is facing surgery in hospital.

The opposition is trying to block the cheaper medicines bill where pharmacies will be allowed to dispense double the period worth of prescriptions to patients.

Gina Rhinhart has support the Commonwealth Games but not financially. ( of course she wouldn't support it financially - remember when she pulled her financial support in the form of sponsorship  from was it Netball? Why is this even newsworthy I ask?!)

A woman has tried to kill her ex husband by trying to run him over with her car. He is in hospital so pital in a serious condition whilst she has been arrested. If charged she could be spending quite a few years in jail. 

a man has been shot dead by FBI after a threat to kill US president Biden.

Wendy's plans to open 200 stores around Australia by 2034!I don't think so! Square burger patties are just a gimmick Wendy's like Maccas is still a fast food chain serving junk food. 

The 20 month war between the NRL and RLAP is almost over with a new agreement so rugby league players will hopefully remove the tape over their logos on their jerseys and speak to media again. 

The return of Sam Kerr off the bench to the Matildas team will mean one team member will have to be dumped for her return however it is still unknown whether Sam Kerr will be playing in the game against Denmark on Saturday.

Friday 11th August 2023

Another beautiful Winters day today with a top of 20 degrees C. sunshine all day. I have no plans today but have no classes today yay!

Today I did absolutely nothing except cook a Japanese curry and watch YouTube videos catch up on my blog sort my dirty laundry out and other bits and pieces that need to be done. 

I did not sleep very well last night. 

News headlines today include

Weight loss drug Wegovy may be a drug to prevent heart attacks and strokes. people on the drug have shown to have a 20 % reduction in the chance of having a heart attack or stroke. Further studies are needed.

Tomorrow night it is the quarter finals where Australia verses France. If the Matildas win it will be the furthest Australia has made it in a World Cup ie onto the semi finals round. The question is who will be scraped from the Matildas team now that Sam Kerr is back to play from injury or is she?

A tobacconist has been burnt down in a suspected arsonist attack in Hoppers Crossing in Nelbournes West. Food safety inspectors have attended the Woolworths there as grocery items may have to be disposed of  as a result of the fire .

Chris Hemsworth turns 40 today. Happy Birthday Thor!

Jessica Mauboy releases new music "Give You Love" with a collab with Jason Derulo fellow The Voice guest coach.

Most of the fires are now under control or confined on Maui and the national airline Hawaiian Airlines has up the frequency of their flights and slashed prices down to around $40 a flight in order to get tourist and residents out. Families were separated during the fire and trying to return to search for and or reunite with missing family members only to be  stopped by authorities blocking off roads to the disaster zone due to safety concerns. The initial confirmed number of 6 deaths has now grown to 36 with possibly more unconfirmed - missing or injured .

Phillip Lowe outgoing RBA governor will receive a final grilling by Parliament today before his exit. Politicians to know will there be another interest rate hike and will Australia plunge into a recession and what was the reasoning behind raising interest rates 12 times in the past year. Lowe.   Claims the worse is over with inflation decreasing and cost of living not increasing as much however more interest rates are still to come.. 

Virgin Galactic has had its first successful  space tourist launch carrying 3 private passengers. The "space ship" Galactic 02 took off from Spaceport New Mexico with an 80 year old former Olympian canoeist from 1972 Munich Olympics with Parkinsons disease and a mother ( who won her ticket from a charity fund raiser) and daughter duo on board .

It is QLD's  EKKA ( Show)  opening weekend .

A woman and her baby were found deceased in a house in Rockhampton. The bodies may have been there for 3 days. The husband eventually turned himself in confessing he killed them even though there was no history of domestic violence. 

It has been confirmed that the NRL will launch it's season next year with South Sydney,  Manly,  Roosters and Brisbane Broncos in Las Vegas in 2024 to play 2 games.

An 18 year old has been pulled out of a car that caught on fire after crashing by a bystander and taken to hospital with cuts and bruises lucky to escape serious injury.

Lizzo is under more fire as more employees report alleged sexual harassment and body shaming.

Saturday 12th August 2023

National Science Week & Opening Day of Atmospheric Memory St The Powerhouse Museum

A top of 21 degrees C today but partly cloudy. 

Today I had to venture out to Chatswood to get some laundry money more cortisone ointment and groceries as well as pick up my 3rd Surface laptop from JB HiFi in repairs. I could not return my bottles for recycling as the convenience store is closed on Saturdays.

First stop was JB HI FI on the top floor of Westfield Chatswood. Next stop was Ok Priceline close by on the floor below to restock on a spare tube of cortisone ointment. On the same floor I visited the Telstra store to try and find out why I still haven't received an electronic monthly bill but no one was serving so I left. I am unsure what's going on but all their prepaid vouchers have been taken off the stores at Coles and replaced with Belong data only prepaid vouchers. Belong does use the Telstra services and have good data deals. The other thing I noticed is there are no prepaid phones at all at the Telstra store.

Onto Coles for groceries and to select a prepaid voucher for my spare phone which I am using as a mobile hotspot to set up my Surface laptop. Groceries partially done change for  laundry  done and after a very long look at prepaid mobile phone vouchers just went with a $10 Optus prepaid voucher with only 5 Gb of data.Nit the best choice but Zi didn't:t want to get a Belong high data usage voucher in case it failed with a minimum value of $35 not did I want to get another Vodafone $2 sim only prepaid voucher as the other ones I tried failed .

I was rushing to get as many groceries and toiletries I could and that were available as I wanted to get home in time to watch the Matildas kick off.

last stop was a loaf of rye bread from my favourite bakery Vina for $4.50. I chose the largest loaf as they were all the same price. Done.

Another long wait for a bus home with my 2 full bags of groceries and laptop ( I didn't buy as much as I wanted due to weight and capacity limitations) 

Once home it was unpack my groceries and turn on the TV to watch the Matildas take on France in the quarter finals game. I did not get home until around 5.30 pm so missed the kick off at 5 pm  and pre match ceremony from 4 pm. Luckily the score was Australia 0 France 0 by the time I started watching. This remained a zero goal game by half time and continued throughout the entire second half of the game. It was nail biting to watch but for some reason I fell asleep somewhere near the start of the overtime penalty shoot out and woke up with Australia tied with France in the penalty shoot out with 6 goals each before seeing France miss a goal and Cort nee Vine kick and score the final 7th goal resulting in Australia's Matildas win the penalty shoot out over France and advancing to the semi finals waiting to see if they play England or Columbia on Wednesday - the furthest Australia has ever advanced to in a Women's World Cup. 

I went to sleep early and did not wash my dishes or do my laundry as I had planned to. I didn't even set up my Surface laptop but I did install my prepaid Optus mobile sim card which I had a lot of trouble with. Somehow I don't think any new mobile devices like dual or competing software apps or service providers being installed into their devices. If this sim card is actually working it does not like my existing communal wifi that exists where I live and is really slow. I also cannot activate my prepaid sim unless all my personal details are entered and match up with my ID. why does Optus need so much of my personal details? I gave up and went to sleep. I will try again tomorrow 

News headlines today include

Exercise Malabar a ceremonial war games exercise involving the quad countries Australia US India and Japan has been held for the first time in Australia. an important war exercise to demonstrate peace - peace in the region not necessarily getting ready for war.

Trump is back in the NB ews again indicted a 5th time ( I think so many indictments I 've lost count) - this time at the equivalent of state level. Yep we need a flowchart .

Petrol prices are at an all time high and is expected to remain at the $2 0per litre mark.

It has been confirmed that 59 people have died and thousands still missing in the Maui fires which continue to burn eventhough an estimated 80% of the fires have been contained. Residents have now starting to be allowed back into the disaster zone many going back to absolutely nothing. A curfew has been put in place between 10 pm and 6 am to prevent looting and for safety.

It is the opening day of the EKKA  show in Brisbane.

All eyes are on the Australia verses France Women's FiFA World Cup game tonight starting at 4 pm in Brisbane. If Sam Kerr will play if she is fit to play for the 90 minutes.

A mother has been found guilty of a million dollar crypto shopping spree. 

Sunday 13th August 2023

A rather overcast 17 degrees C morning today with  showers likely.

The annual 14 km City 2 Surf is on this morning . I wonder how many people have entered it this year as it no longer has a major fancy sponsor and very expensive entry fee unless you purchased the very first early bird entry last year. I didn't even know it was on today until I checked and late entry I think cost well over $100! Of course I am not running it again as I retired many years ago after completing 25 of them as well as I think another 3 or so equivalent City 2 Seas in Melbourne before that race was cancelled permanently. I am saving my effort for the  former Blackmore's Running Festival in September ( the equivalent 10 km bridge run late entry still costs $95 but I entered earlier - still didn't make the first early bird entry fee price though) . There are still apparently 80000 participants this year in the City2Surf  despite last night's Matildas game and other AFL and NRL football matches .

Today I did not venture out instead I made a batch of marinated chicken wings and ate them all. I set up my Surface To Go laptop # 3 - it is so slow but it could be the dodgey Optus prepaid and Telstra postpaid network  connection. I am still unconvinced about the laptop as it is heating up really badly. I washed my dishes and played around with my shitbit which is really playing up. I just charged it yesterday and this morning it was at 39%. whereas previously I charged it and it only lasted a maximum of 2 days before needing to be recharged.

I watched the news and then the food channel most of today as well as ate whatever I could find in the fridge which is starting to look a little empty again!

So many news headlines today! News is dominated by: 

What a nail biting game last night in the quarter finals with Australia against France with no goals scored during the 90 minute match  and going into a penalty overtime shoot out of 7 - 6 , The Matildas now play England who lost against Columbia in the semi finals on Wednesday night at 8 pm .  Congratulations and way to go Mackenzie Arnold  as goalie and to Cortnee Vine ( who all eyes were on) who kicked the final 7th goal in the penalty shootout that resulted in Australia's win against France! Meanwhile AFL fans were not happy as live stream cut off before the end of the Matildas and fans were forced if they could to watch the live stream on their mobile devices.

Hundreds of houses were destroyed in the Maui fire and the death toll has risen to 80  and  an estimated  1000 people are still missing as residents are beginning to be allowed restricted access to the disaster zone. The cost of rebuilding this region is $5.5 billion. 

A girocopter crash has occurred in North of NSW injuring one man with leg and facial injuries and killing one man. It is not clear what caused the crash. 

There has been an urgent recall on a  pork product sold at Coles and Woolworths due to allergens.

Rental reform is on the topics at a Parliamentary sitting again. The Greens want rent freezes and more rights for renters. However RBA's outgoing governor Philip Lowe warns and argues that rent freezes is not the right strategy but building more housing to easy the housing crisis is.

The Eiffel Tower was evacuated from visitors due to a bomb threat when a man climbed up it .

An ambulance has been hijacked in the US and taken on a 30 minute police pursuit.

Monday 14th August 2023

A top of 17 degrees C today with showers. It is very overcast today. It rained overnight but has managed to remain relatively dry today. I speak to soon it was a damp afternoon - wet but not pouring with rain.

Today I only have class in the morning at Tafe - Network Build 9.30 am - 12.30 pm. We are a bit behind the other group again because wee are repeating what we learnt last week due to 2 classmates not showing up to class and having difficulty grasping the decimal to binary and binary to decimal conversions. They missed out on the hexadecimal conversions. We did however progress to play with packet tracer which can be fun once we learn a little bit more about networking computer systems. I started doing the assessments and it asked whether a VPN was a type of network. I Googled it and one website seems to think it is however I am unconvinced and think it is only a virtual intermediary. I asked my Network Build teacher and he said he doesn't like the Tafe assessments as some of the answers are incorrect and that he would not include that as an option to the question. 

My Surface laptop has not heated up or not shut down today but it doesn't start playing up until the 2nd IT class. 

I walk home again after class and make myself a lunch of a chicken cheese and spinach toast accompanied by a hot cup of tea. 

I don't want to venture out again but I urgently need more laundry money my opal card needs recharging and I need to return my bottles for recycling.

I wonder if anyone will take the bins out tonight for rubbish collection day tomorrow?

News headlines today include

A Sydney airport emergency has occurred blocking a runway where Mayasian Airlines MH122 plane bound for KL has been grounded from about 1.40 pm forced to turn around due to an unruly passenger. Passengers have said that this passenger with no luggage was was acting erratically saying that he was a slave of alla . Passengers were grounded for hours before being requested by police to disembark snd  returned through airport security. The erratic man is now in custody however it is unsure if passengers will make it to KL tonight as they had to leave all their travel documents and passports on board the plane. Children were on board. The man in his 40s has been charged with chaos caused by pretending to carry a bomb in his backpack and disruptive behavior towards passengers and staff.

A woman was carjacked by a prison escapee from Long Bay Jail  forcing her to drive him around Sydney for 20 minutes in Little Bay before he was back in police custody.

If the Matilda win the final there will be a public holiday  Chris Minns has announced There were 2 buses today taking half the squad to a training session ( who didn't play France)  and the other half to recovery session. There are plans for a ticket tape parade and a public holiday if the Matildas win the finals on Sunday 30th August 2023. The question is : Is this going too far? Wednesday

Mark Latham has been dumped by Pauline Hanson as the leader of the One Nation Party  but will remain a member of the One Nations Party. 

66 year old Lin Chan dodged bullets fired into her home at Fairfield Heights which was meant to be targeted at a man in his 20s walking by related to drug gangs.

Showers and a cooler top of 16 degrees C today was reached with 5 cm of snow falling in Thredbo for what has been a lack luster ski season. 

Qantas has thrown their support for the Yes Vote but the question is whether corporate should butt out of political decisions. They are not the only organisation who have put forward their support towards the Yes Vote.

The mystery investigation continues with the poisonous mushroom case. 

There is a push for an inner West Metro in Camperdown which is much needed for tertiary students and hospital staff and patients

A fatal stabbing at a day spa in Melbourne

Rumour is that Meghan Markle may be returning to acting in a revival to Suits

Bruce Luhrmann is seeking  $6 million in compensation 

The death toll has risen to 93 in Maui as the road back into the disaster region opens up then closes again without notice as residents try to return to see what's left of their homes and businesses and searching for loved ones.

A pop up park under the Anzac Bridge will be opening up.

There is a drug shortage with antibiotics deparately running low in supply.

Weather will improve mid week it is forecasted.A too of 17 degrees C is forecasted for th tomorrow . 

Tuesday 15th August 2023

Another beautiful but cooler day today. No classes face to face today but a connected class at 6 pm tonight on cyber basics. 

Oh look someone last night really late did take the bins out for rubbish collection day this morning and took them back in too. 

This morning I installed Python and Pycharm onto my Surface 2 Go. So far so good although Pycharm failed to install on the first attempt due to a network failure error message appearing so I installed it a second time with success and deleted the uninstalled version . It took forever but at least no problems shutting down or starting up my Surface to Go #3 laptop so far. I am keeping an eye on overheating and problems with recharging  Battery life is down to just above  50% after not even 2 full days usage. Whether this is normal or not I am unsure.

I had breakfast watched the news caught up with blogging and watching YouTube channels - an interesting video on what subnet masking is -can't beat the video I watched a few days ago on Learn Python in 5 mins though which beats the video I partly watched on learn Python in an hour! Oh so that"s why knowing conversions to binary is important - NOT! I'm not sitting my Cisco networking exams anytime soon!

Do my readers  like it when I write about ICT topics? I have no idea. Tell me in the comments.

It's 10 am and that's early for me. I am recharging all my technology at the moment. One device down 2 to go!

I also got my tax refund today but my tax agent has been slack and still hasn't charged me for lodging it.

I ventured out today to return my bottles for recycling, get some change for laundry which I have not had time to finish, went shopping for a laptop back pack which I did not end up buying and do another large grocery shop although I could not find some items on my list or carry them home as my 2 bags were full and heavy . I also went to K mart and purchased a few things . 

It was a very lo g wait for a bus home and I just made it home in time for my Cyber Basics Connected Class online via teams at 6 pm. No time to eat or do laundry just quickly unpack my groceries into the fridge and switch on my Surface to go laptop to ensure it  was still working . It is such a boring subject. No assessments or activities tonight so I was listening in on the class the entire time as I was completing the second assessment for the su hext to get ahead and watching The Cook Up followed by Adam & Poh On The Road all simultaneously. Assessment finished but I don't know how much of both Foid Channel shows I actually caught as I was on the teams chat as well whilst listening but not watching the videos of the class - at this time of the evening there is I can only do so much multitasking!

I did not get to bed until after 10 pm .Totally exhausted! 

News headlines today include

A group of 4 Australian surfers are missing on a boat of 7 passengers travelling to Ache due to poor weather conditions ( storms). 3 out of 4 missing have been found by fisherman. One still missing. The 4th surfer has now been found.

Tomorrow the Matildas will play England and more live sites are opening up around Australia. The continued argument over a public holiday if the Matildas win the final continues as small businesses may lose out if a public holiday goes ahead- should there be more funding towards sports in particular women in sports instead?

International and in particular a recruitment drive for experienced NZ police personnel to relocate to QLD with a cash incentive has attracted a number of seriously interested applicants however the police for e has to guarantee continued employment in Australia after the relocation cash incentive ends.

Trump charges imminent - yep he's back in the news again - how can he be the forerunner of the Republican party presidential election if he has 4 different charges against him?

The CBA predicts an interest rate drop(s) as retail spending figures are at their lowest.

The mystery of the universe is literally written in the stars where a telescope has picked up an image that looks like a question mark

Michael Buble makes a surprise appearance at a Foo Fighters concert singing Just haven't met you yet.

Wednesday 16th August 2023

It's 7.30 am and I am so tired.  A top of 17 degrees C today and it is a little overcast. The sun is trying hard to peep out and I am trying hard to wake up! 

I have class today all day but we don"t start until 10 am thank goodness! Half an hour extra makes a lot of difference.

I arrive at 9.40 am this morning and I forgot to tell everyone what was on the door of our computer classroom on Monday morning. Firstly there were a group of students standing outside it that are not in my classes and have never seen before.Do we have new students? I asked a classmate . There was a sign on the door written on a piece of A4 paper that read "Cyber Support class 9.30 am - 12.30 pm". Are we not in this classroom I asked? I didn't get a notification of any changes did you? I asked a classmate. She had not. Then we checked the date on the sign and in the corner it had 10th August. So the students were at the wrong classroom and we were at the right one. 

We must be so behind in our programming class compared with the other class because the teacher has added an extra support class on Monday afternoons. We are not even having proper regular lunch breaks and classmates are still turning up late despite starting at 10 am  rather then the original scheduled start time of 9.30 am. We are suppose to have 2 classes on Wednesdays but we are not even studying the other subject instead the entire day on Wednesdays is spent on programming! Too much time is wasted by the teacher who starts off too slow for the first few hours and speeds up and tries to cram as much as he can the rest of the day. That's just poor time management.

I was so tired by the time I walked home

News headlines today include 

August 16th is INXS Day 46 years since the bands first gig in 1977.

Tonight the Matildas face off against England in the semi finals of the FIFA Womens World Cup. If Australia's Matildas win they will face off against Spain ( who won 2 - 1 against Sweden) in the finals. 80 000 fans are expected tonight at the actual stadium game. All eyes are on Sam Kerr's calf ( nit the bad one either) which was seen iced.Disappointed but proud is how the Matildas were described after losing the semi final game against England tonight with an 8 pm kick off  - England 3 Australia 1 with Sam Kerr scoring the only goal for Australia. England now plays Spain in the final and for a bronze Australia plays Sweden in Brisbane on Saturday. With the pressure now off for the Matildas they can now enjoy playing against Sweden where whether the Matildas win or lose it no longer matters. All that matters is how much the Matildas has elevated not just women's soccer but women's sports. A domino effect brining gender equality in sports, role models to young future sporting stars and  a boost to tourism and the economy. 

The saga into the investigation of the Victorian mushroom poisoning case continues with the paramedic reporting to police  the last conversion he had with the victims when he attended to them .

Matt Shervington and James Tobin may have been at the EKKA over the weekend but Matt Damon Chris Hemsworth and their families have been spotted at the EKKA recently. AA was also there having a strawberry ice cream cone. 50000 people are expected to pass through the gates today as it is a public holiday in parts of QLD on Peoples Day.

Meanwhile rental rights housing crisis and where there should be a public holiday if the Matildas win the final are all discussion topics at the Parliamentary sitting. 2 state premiers have already rejected the public holiday idea.

Donald Trump is still in the news again. Who cares - there is far more important news to report around the world.

Teddy Swims performs his hit Don't Stop Believing in Australia which is very appropriate for tonight's soccer game - Go Matildas which which almost all of Australia will be watching on the tv apparently  if not at any of the live sites eg Tumberlong  Park Darling Harbour  or at the game itself in Sydney.

The mother that had a fall looking for a bathroom in Thailand suffering a brain injury which insurance would not cover due to her being intoxicated at the time of the fall and where a Go Fund Me page was set up,  has passed away overnight. 

Goodwin has been accused of using drugs and gambling. His lawyer who also represented Britney Higgins will be defending his denial of having any behavioural issues.

A NFL star's brother has been infiltrated by police arrested and charged by police for trafficking drugs across states into the NSW border .

2 IT glitches have left hospitals in SA resort back to pen and paper unable to access patients digital medical records. It was not a cyber attack. 

Thursday 17th August 2023

A top of 20 degrees with partly cloudy skies.

Another full day of face to face classed. Oh how I hate the morning class. It is just so boring and I really should be exempt from this class and Cyber Basics.

Today was the worse day of face to face classes. In the morning we had Security and Privacy and in the afternoon we had Systems Admin. In both classes the teacher was constantly coughing and spent most of her time out of the classroom or leaving us to do assessments and projects without much instruction or putting short videos on for us to watch which were very difficult to see due to the lighting and white board. We actually finished earlier as the teacher was feeling tired.  No wonder she only wants us to have a 30 minute lunch break and finish earlier. 

I walked home again today. I am going to walk home whenever I can just to get some sunshine and exercise. I think the walk is longer on the opposite side of the road to where I reside as there is a wider more windy footpath. 

Home a cup of hot tea as it is quite cold outside. A few sandwiches and fruit I put my black load of laundry into the washing machine leaving the other empty as I am unsure if I have enough change for the laundry. as soon as I do do someone else decides to put their laundry into the other washing machine and I suspect it is the same resident that left their clothes in the dryer for hours after it finished drying and that Zi tossed out and put back in after I finished drying mine.

I took my rubbish out and catching up on anything I can as I would like to get other things done tomorrow.

Laundry washed and dried it is quite late. I was trying to complete one of  my programming  assessment as I waited for my laundry to dry. 

So tired I went straight to sleep.

News headlines today include

Well  the Matildas didn't win the semi finals but there was still plenty of celebrating The question still remains. will Alanna Kennedy recover enough from illness to play on Saturday's match for bronze against Sweden in Brisbane? Rebel Wilson was seen in amongst the crowds at a live site cheering the Matildas on .Meanwhile 100 000 commuters were stranded last night at Ashfield due to vandalism of a signal box causing delays of trains for upto 2 hours with those already on a train only delayed half an hour. commuters were advised to find alternative transport home with many scrambling for an alternative rather  expensive ride share home. Trains are luckily all back as normal this morning during peak hour.Rowdy crowds have set off at least 6 flares at Federation Square's live site causing chaos. The live site has now been aced for Saturday's match and those involved in setting off the flares have been linked to a previous rowdy crowd incident which turned violent at a football match.

The founder's son of Hillsong church cult is about to front court over sexual abuse claims within the church. He was found not guilty for not dobbing in to police information in relation to his father's sex abuse. He advised the court that the he was following the request of the victims family not to make this information public.

There are at least 2 protest groups in Brisbane one from the CFMEU and the other climate protesters ahead of the ALP National Conference . A warning has been announced to avoid this area which will cause traffic chaos. The climate protestors will form a huge  human clock to highlight that the clock is ticking for climate change and the CFMEU are highlighting housing crisis and an end to silicotoisis.

World Aquatics threatens Swimming Australia expulsion due to the way the organization is run. 

Rumours are circulating that Britney Spears devices partner after just 14 months of marriage. They had a massive argument. The allegation is that Britney cheated on her partner Sam is it? Yep and now he threatens to reveal all her dark secrets to the world!

Bruce Springsteen has cancelled his tour due to illness although no details have been released but fans to hold onto their tickets for rescheduled tour dates.

There has been a Blindside movie storyline controversy. In the movie based on the story of a homeless teenager adopted by a couple and becomes a football player, in real life that homeless teenager has found out that he was never actually adopted by his "parents" but placed under a long term conservatorship. He is now seeking compensation from his conservators for millions of dollars which he also claims he did not actually receive and questions whether his "adoptive parents" ever loved him or were just using him as a cash cow.

Unemployment has risen 0.2% making the unemployment rate now at 3.7 % still low but an estimated 36000 people are now unemployed. Wages have risen and retail spending has slowed therefore these indicators will affect the decision the RBA will make as to whether to hold raise or cut interest rates.

Meanwhile the AUS$ against the US$ has fallen to $0.64. The dollar is still falling and is now just above the $0.64 mark. 

Harrison Ford now has a snake named after him . He had had 2 other species named after him previously.

Friday 18th August 2033

A top of 20 degrees today with rain forecasted.

I was going to venture out today but feeling tired I am staying home and just sleeping eating and watching TV. I almost forgot to submit my Centrelink fortnightly income reporting as the last submission was late due to my payment being on hold again.

I just baked a "brownie" . I have been meaning to try one of the Greens Golden Gaytime range of boxed dessert mixes - I think it is available in cup cakes, brownies , cake and mousse in the dessert range. I waited quite a while to actually decide and purchase the Golden Gaytime Brownie box mix for a few reasons 1. These branded boxed premixed desserts are always  quite expensive so I waited until this was on special at Coles before purchasing it 2. I don't use boxed dessert mixes  and 99% of the time make all my desserts from scratch except if I need a quick cake mix either in vanilla or chocolate flavour but never butter cake flavoured for a birthday cake and in these instances only purchase the $1 - $2 packet cake mixes from Coles or Woolworths as they are very basic  don't contain unnecessary additives and almost fool proof - as readers know from my very early blogs I have almost no success with packet or boxed dessert mixes especially shake and make bottled pancake mixes! I stuff up everytime! 

So at the moment it has finished baking but still hot. Again I think I overbaked it and it is not looking like a brownie but more like a risen cake despite following the instructions on the back of the box exactly as instructed. However I wanted to modify it anyway and add custard to it . I thought I had some custard powder but nope so had to make some vanilla custard from scratch. Done. I pour it over the brownie to moisten it and do a second bake in the oven. It smells so delicious I just hope I fixed my boo boo. I had plans in my head to make the Golden Gaytime Brownie into a "Have a Golden Gaytime In Nanimo" Bar Brownie. which is making a Nanimo bar from scratch ( pre boxed Nanimo bar mixes obviously are unavailable in Australia but are in Canada as they are a Canadian dessert just as the Golden Gaytime is an Australian dessert) . The 2 desserts go well together. By the way I have not made a Nanimo Bar from packet before but got professional chefs to make it up for me and it was not good! I have made it from scratch myself before and it is so nice because it's real vanilla custard not whatever the packet stuff was - I believe a layer of pure butter and sugar mixed together which was worse then eating a caramel slice . So the second bake is done and I cool the cake slightly whilst I prepare the Nanimo Bar's chocolate layer. I am lazy and don't want to melt the dark chocolate buttons so just pour the unmelted dark chocolate buttons into a snaplock bag which has a mixture of coconut powder crushed shredded wheat biscuits a pinch of salt and LSA in it .The Nanimo Bar recipe is suppose to use crushed nuts and desiccated coconut but don't like desiccated coconut ( which some people call decimated or desecrated coconut) and I did not have any crushed nuts so used LSA ( that LSA not LSD which stands for Linseed Soy and Almond) . I sprinkled the mixture over the top of the brownie and put back into the oven for a third bake. I can't wait for it to cool down.I took it out and cut a slice and ate it - yum! The combination is good and that pinch of flaked salt make all the difference  and it could have done with a little more salt. It is one of those desserts which will be better the next day from the fridge. 

This is the top of my "Have A Golden Gaytime In Nanimo" Bar Brownie. It's not the prettiest brownie but it tasted so good. It's like a crumble texture on top. In the fridge it will taste even better with age.

News headlines today include

Respected talk show host of  4 - 5 decades who interviewed thousands of celebrities Michael Parkinson has died from a short illness aged 88. Tributes continue to flow in. 

As an estimated 10 million +  people tuned in to watch the Matildas lay England, the men's soccer team is now planning to place a bid in for the 2034 FIFA Men's World Cup. The Matildas play Sweden on Saturday for bronze in Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium so it's not over until the day lady sings! Followed by the final between England & Spain . Meanwhile trolls have targeted Matilda team members over the loss in the semi final. There are also questions over why the British royals are not sending over members of the royal family to represent and  support their country as they play in the final of the Women's FIFA World Cup when Spain's Queen will be attending the match to represent her country.

10 000 AUKUS union jobs were offered as an apeasement to the Union in Brisbane as the ALP conference continues. More protestors were present. 

The search for the missing driver of the boat that was taking the 4 missing now found Australians to Ache has been scaled down fye to poor weather conditions.

Parents are scrambling to find a new school for their children as 4 Catholic schools in Victoria are closing at the end of term 4.

Bundaberg (Qld) followed by Rockhampton (Qld) and then Brisbane (Qld)  are considered the top 3 rudest cities in Australia. The top 3 most polite cities are the Sunshine Coast (Qld) Hobart (Tas) Melton (Vic)

Due to overseas conflict and a weak AUS$ furl prices are expected to stay above the $2 per litre mark.

Today marks 50 years since the withdrawal of troops from the Vietnam War. Memorial celebrations will be on to mark the anniversary around Australia.

The largest airshow takes place over 3 days on the Gold Coast.

A middle aged man tried to murder his wife after their relationship broke down. He blamed it on his wife's career as a police officer. 

Saturday 19th August 2023

A nice top of  19 degrees C today . A top of 22 degrees C tomorrow but sunny.

It's Matildas last game for the bronze in tonight's final match against Sweden at 6 pm tonight in Brisbane. 

I could be wrong it there is something strange going on with my tax agent and I hope it's just age related and not related to drugs or the gangland shooting in Bondi Junction earlier this year. Yes my tax agent that I have had since my early 20s is based in the main drag of Bondi Junction but I have always suspected that he might be a little dodgey - not with his tax agent business or lodging returns but possible in his side hustles. I mean he did grow his business from a rather dodgey run down what looked as if it was about to cave in tin shed in one of the side alleys of Bondi Junction ( now a gentrified laneway) to a more modest rented office. But after the incident with a rather intoxicated or spaced out accountant he once hired named Bruno who he had to fire and stories about his dealings with high profile " celebrity" friends where lending them a "fiver" or "tener" when he bumped into them in his neighborhood was not uncommon probably to gamble drink smoke or snort away . Then there was his multi million dollar property in the middle of nowhere he is building and when he showed me the photos of I'm not talking about the typical multi million dollar properties in the local Double Bay or Vaucluse snooty neighborhood you see when you walk cycle or drive around - no his property was the type of property a drug lord or gangland godfather would own ( I can't confirm that he is a drug lord or a gangland godfather as I have absolutely no evidence yet that he is) . Then there was the discussion of what happens when he retires and succession planning. I asked him if his kids were going to take over his tax agent business and he told me not likely as his son is not the mathematical financial type and was "living the Byron Bay lifestyle!" What that was suppose to mean is upto individual interpretation! So when my tax agent does retire and sells his business what happens to my annual tax return lodgement? Will I stay with the new tax agent who takes over or will I have to find a new tax agent?

After I emailed my tax return to my tax agent I had to do a huge grocery shop . I decided to go to Macquarie Shopping Centre catching the Metro. The usual stops Kmart Coles Aldi Woolworths ( ZI think I only had time to shop at 2 of these)  etc with a very late snack stop below. 

The above was my Saturday night once a week treat from Ali Baba in the food court at Macquarie Shopping Centre.  A lamb kabab with tabouli. There was hardly any lamb left. I really wanted a lamb kabab tonight. It tasted ok especially the lamb but the tabouli didn't look as good and cost extra. I had tahini sauce on it but should have asked for hummus.  The most annoying thing about eating it was the wax lined foiled wrapping paper- it may have stopped leakage but stuck to the kabab so badly you had to keep peeling it away every time you needed to take a bite. It was then placed in a heavier foiled lined bag. I rate it a 7/10

I missed most of the Matildas verses Sweden match and had to live stream it on my way back to Chatswood. The Chatswood RSL had a big screen and it was full of patrons seated watching the game. The score was 2 - 0 by the time I stood outside the doors and peeped into them to watch the match on the big screen. I see the bus arrive and have to leave. As soon as I arrive home I unpack my groceries and  I turn my tv on and continue watching falling asleep again but know there was no way Australia could win the match against Sweden. I woke to find 2 0 Sweden won Matildas lost. oh well As Australia is still so very proud of the Matildas for how far they came as the host country as well.

Congrats Sweden and  Great Job Matildas ! It"s been a long 4 weeks and felt like the Sydney 2000 Olympics over again but now that the FiFA Women's World Cup is over what do we watch now???

News headlines today include

An entire town of 20 000 in Canada's Yellowknife has been asked to evacuate as wild fires become out of control. The only road out has been kept open for the evacuation. Even if the fires do not reach the town those that remain risk dying from the smoke. Wildfires in Canada have been the worst this Summer ( a warning of what the Australian Summer bushfire season will be like to come). The fires have now reached Kelowna a town not far from Vancouver in BC. Meanwhile a bush fire continues to burn on the Gold Coast in QLD.

English Lioness fans are annoyed as to why William (who is the president of the Football Association ) is not travelling down to Australia for the final of the FIFA Women's World Cup  England verses Spain game on Sunday when the Queen of Spain will be present to support her country.

Not a good night for the Matildas they lost the bronze match against Sweden 2 - 0. As Sweden remained and were presented with their bronze medal the Matildas left the venue disappointed at their loss - defeated. Australians although disappointed at the loss are proud of what the Matildas have achieved - making it further then before progressing to the quarter finals for the first time, lifting the profile not just in womens scoccer but other womens sports and sports in general especially for kids ( even little boys are even  doning the Matilda's soccer jerseys not knowing any different)  and encouraging gender equality as well as increasing and promoting tourism in Australia. It was an intense match with Sam Kerr clutching her leg after a fall which could have seen her stretchered away off the field  bit she continued to play the entire game and a bulging eye socket on Caitlin Foord was dismissed and bandaged up before she returned to the field to continue playing. Well no bronze medals for the Matilda as  Sweden wins 2 - 0 but 4th best womens soccer team in the world is nothing to be dismissed. Meanwhile Is Tony Gustavsson leaving the Matildas as the Americans are poaching the Matilda's coach to their national team? 

About a third of mortgage holders refinancing their home loans have been rejected by their banks.

AA announces a $200 million dollar boost to fund women's sports not equal to men's sports funding but a start. No details yet however it is planned to go to broadcasting rights , new facilities and infrastructures , new equipment etc. 

Trump is back in the news again he has until  when ? to hand himself in? His new court date is when March next year ie 2024 ? Who cares - how can he run for the presidential election if he ends up in jail? or even have so many charges and court dates? He thinks he can. I can just see him win the presidential election then on the same day police come and take him away and lock him up in jail.

Dolly Parton has sung Let It Be with Paul Macartney. Meanwhile just like Margot Robbie and her Barbie movie Taylor Swift has smashed her earnings record for her tour.

A mother whose son has been involved in a scooter accident in Bali and fighting for his life in hospital has been denied treatment unless medical fees were paid upfront. He had been on holidays for 2 months but found out his travel insurance did not cover him. His mother has set up a go fund me page to bring her son back to Australia for treatment.

A NSYNC reunion ? Justin Timberlake who? The founding member of NSYNC. Remember "BYE BYE BYE!"

A UK nurse has been found guilty of murdering 7 babies by injecting them with substances such as insulin or milk. 

NSW has a public transport problem not just with rail issues such as vandalism of signal boxes leading to rain delays and cancellations as well as constant track work shutting down rail lines and forcing commuters into rail replacement buses but also ghost bus services where buses on timetables either just show up or do not show up at all when they are scheduled on an app leaving computers stranded or delayed. Meanwhile a shortage of bus drivers has seen a  trainee bus driver had to be shown a bus route by a school boy. I'm sorry to say but this incident is not new, growing up I had to give bus drivers on a number of  Eastern suburb bus routes directions.

AFTRS ( Australia Film Television Radio School)  turns 50 years old. 

Mark McGowan former WA premier has taken up a position with a mining company. Initially he was rumoured to be taking up a position with BHP but has joined Mineral Resources Ltd as strategic adviser. 

A Chinese company has created very eerie looking robots with AI which mimick facial expression and look extremely human. 

Dan Andrews premier of VIC and his treasurer have addressed the.nation of the explanation to the reasoning behind why he decided to cancel the 2026 Commonwealth Games and how much tax payers will have to pay to compensate the Victorian state government to repay the Commonwealth Organizing Committee for the last minute cancellation as they scramble to find a new host country not helped by Alberta Canada pulling out of the bid for the 2030 .$380 million will be repaid. for the cancellation of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games after much legal advice. Details of the repayment compensation will not be disclosed but the matter is now closed with no further legal appeals or actions and not a cent more to be paid on the agreed amount. Andrews can now concentrate on funding to building more housing to ease the housing crisis in the state.

US President Joe Biden has met with Japanese and South Korean leaders to form an alliance to keep their region safe from North Korean and Chinese invasion.

Members of the 7 News team have been nominated for the Kennedy Awards.

Sunday 20th August 2023

Another beautiful day today. I spent the day doing nothing except a few assessments watching TV catching up on my blog and watching YouTube channels on Python. Tonight it is the FIFA Women's World Cup Finals in Sydney out at Olympic Park  with England playing Spain. 

I need to prepare for tomorrow's face to face class. I don't think I will be going to the optional programming support class in the afternoon this week as I have a phone meeting with APM st 2 pm and I need to phone my tax agent again to pay for my tax return lodged ( my 3rd attempt to pay) . Done.

News headlines today include 

A chairlift accident at Thredbo has Injured 3 teenagers where 2 were helicoptered Canberra hospital and the other to Cooma Health Services. The incident occurred when the chairlift twisted off its cable from strong gusts of wind causing the passengers to fall to the snow below ( I hope there was a good coverage of snow below and not bare rocks!). Worksafe Australia is investigating the accident as this is not the first time it has happened a similar accident happened in 2019 on Gun Barrel chairlift. 

Several tornados have swept through the US causing widespread damage.

A missile strike has occurred on a theatre in  Northern Ukraine killing  and injuring several including children. A 6 year old girl was confirmed dead from the strike.

3 houses have been destroyed in Brisbane when a house in  Hawthorn quickly spread to neighbouring houses. A nan on fire was dragged from a burning house and hose down with water by a neighbour .

It has been revealed that the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games in Victoria by Dan Andrew cost way more then the $380 million dollars repaid to the games authorities and could be as much as $600 million - money wasted that could and/or would  have been used to upgrade or improve and build new sporting facilities or support sports or sporting events in general .

Prince William has apologized appearing online with his daughter Princess Charlotte for not being present at the England verses Spain finals match of Womens FIFA World Cup in Sydney where the Spanish Queen Letizia  and her daughter Sophia have just touched down last night to be present at to support their country. They travelled 17 000 kms just to attend the event.

Bradley Cooper is celebrating his sobriety for 19 years. 

The Matildas are being celebrated in Brisbane this morning  for coming 4th in the Woman FiFA World Cup. the premier of QLD & the mayor will all be there to celebrate how the Matildas inpired the entire nation and they will be presented with the keys to the city of Brisbane.

$140 billion will have to found by the federal government in the next 4 years to fund projects such as the NDIS, defence, housing , etc.

Today was the last day of the EKKA in Brisbane 

As AA  continues to promote the waining Yes Vote at the ALP conference the No Vote party come out to rally led by Michaela Cash in WA where support for the No Vote is strong..

Sydney's forecasted top for tomorrow is a top of 21 degrees C with sun and light winds.

Health insurance is about to rise again - great more rises in the cost of living.

Andrew O' Keef in jail again over new charged..

A news broadcast had to be stopped in Columbus due to an earthquake and the studio roof collapsing.after shaking live on air.

Utah's Salt Lake City has  a toxic dust problem unless they can reduce the amount of water consumed or put water back into the Salt Lake to stop it from drying out and shrinking causing the winds to blow the toxic dust  into the city's residential areas. Drying out of Salt Lake has left a layer of sediment concentrated with toxic chemicals and heavy metals such as mercury arsenic  known to be poisonous and  carcinogenic . The melting snow from it's previous Winter snow falls has helped the Salt Lake temporarily but a more permanent solution to save the Salt Lake is urgently needed.

Monday 22nd August 2023

There is something really dodgey about my tax agent. How can he run a business without proper payment procedures. I rang his office and some random guy answered the phone who put me through to reception where a rather inexperienced guy answers the phone. I explained that I was phoning to make a payment to my tax agent. I had to ask if I had the right company  as it did not sound like I did. I have the receptionist the tax invoice number and they asked me for my name. surely being an established tax agent with a number of  certified accountants they would have a computerized accounting system where they just type in the invoice number and match it up with the client name. 

News headlines today include

Spain wins the grand final of the FIFA Women's World Cup against England  1 - 0

Hurricane Hillary makes landfall over Mexico towards California where residents are sandbagging. at the same time residents suffered a 5.5 magnitude earthquake as floods ravaged other areas of  California

The 66 year old man with burns to 80 %. of his body, pulled from a burning house in Brisbane that destroyed 2 other houses and  doused with water by neighbours, has died overnight in hospital.

Long range strike missile purchases with $1.6 billion by the Australian Government has again angered China who thinks they are targeted . every country has the right to defend their country if war or other events occur and the purchase is not targeted just at China.

A new blood test developed in Melbourne may save unnecessary ovarian cancer surgery.

One QLD MP's ( Katter) possible solution to the growing youth reoffending  crime is to send offenders to the out be ack where they will be given an education and reformed. A bit like America's sending naughty kids away to military boarding school.

Russians first unmanned mission to the moon in over 40 years has failed.

The population of Australia is estimated to reach 40 million by around 2062. Tax cuts, housing crisis rising costs of living energy fuel etc etc How and where will the government find funding to sustain this population growth? an increase in GST has been ruled out.

Harry Smith the hero of Long Tan has died aged 90 yesterday as the 50 anniversary of troops withdrawing from Vietnam was celebrated.

NSW Ambulance reaches gender parity as 50% of their staff are now female.

The cost of seeing a doctor is worsening as the fight to save balk billing continues.

Just as an accident at Thredbo involving chair lifts occurred, Passengers on the ski tube were stuck due to an air pump failure. No injuries occurred.

Passengers are not likely to see the new fleet of intercity trains rolled out until late next year. Zonly one train has appeared on the Newcastle line which was suppose to have been in 

Straight after Spain won the final of the Women's FIFA World Cup against England. The Spanish captain was given the news that her father had passed away. Meanwhile Catlin Foord appeared in an interview today sans bandage with a rather bad black eye . It looked pretty bad.

The 3G network is being switched off so old phones TV baby monitors and any devices that are using the 3 G network will no longer work. Vodafone will be the first telecommunications service provider to switch off their 3G network in December 2023.

Tomorrow will be a top of 24 degrees C - yes a warm Spring day although it may be a little overcast however this warm day will be short lived with temperatures dropping again and showers later this week.

A man entered and vandalized the AMA building in St Leonards smashing GH lass with a hammer.

Tuesday 23rd August 2023

A rather warm 24 degree C day today although there is a chance of showers this evening. No face to face classes today except I do have a connected class from 6 pm - 9 pm tonight.

The bins are full and nobody put them out last night again for rubbish collection day this morning . 

Someone decided to put them out early this morning. Not ideal as they risk missing the collection time especially when day light savings starts. 

I apologize to my readers if I have quite a few unfinished blogs. I seem to never have enough time to get things done and have not been feeling well.

Today I didn't have time to catch the bus to Chatswood so did a 2 full shopping bags worth of groceries and toiletries. First stop Priceline for some corestone ointment next stop Bakers Delight  for some wholemeal bread sliced thick and 2 feta and spinach danishes for the next 2 days breakfast. Onto Chemist warehouse to get some more toiletries with a snack on the way of a spinach quiche from a small old style French Vietnamese bakery.  Next I was going to Coles but instead tried my shopping luck at Aldi - I don't like Aldi and don't know how they can  win so many customer satisfaction awards  - they are not that cheap and I hate how you hardly have ant time to pack your groceries into your shopping bags and the card usage surcharge.  I gave them another go anyway as I could not be bothered to go to Coles.

I just made a bus home as I was too weighed down to walk all the way uphill home. Again I just made it in time home to join the Cyber Basics class via Teams connected class starting at 6 pm. It was boring a repetition of so many subjects. It went right to 9 pm tonight but I left the Teams Connected Class just before as I wasn't feeling well. I had planned to do some more Programming practise and another assessment but wasn't well enough to. 

Went straight to sleep afterwards. I did not sleep very well.

News headlines today include

As electricity prices continue to increase, NSW has followed in Victoria's footsteps to ban gas appliances being installed into all new homes.

Justin Timberlake returns to a new movie

A phone was seen being thrown out the window on CC TV in Liverpool in SW Sydney which matched the location of the woman found dead in her apartment months ago. The phone has never been found and police are asking anyone who knows anything about the phone or it's whereabouts to come forward.

A family in Western Sydney are lucky to escape a home invasion in Kellyville.A mother and her 3 children have been left traumatized .  2 men  were injured one under police guard in Westmead hospital , both with arm injuries. police think that this maybe another incident of domestic violence.

A lawyer to the others involved in the Jeffrey Epstein case has revealed that Prince Andrew escaped being further interrogated by the FBI about his involvement and friendship with Mr Epstein due to his royal connections 

2 teenagers are on the run and 2 other teenagers who were passengers were left in a car with serious injuries after the car sped through the street of Epping in Victoria crashing into another mv which was badly destroyed but where luckily the driver in his 30s managed to escape unharmed. The 2 injured teenager passengers are in hospital and will be interviewed by police once they have recovered enough from their injuries.

A man who is a tradie is missing in QLD after he spoke to a member of his family ( his son and posting a selfie) before disappearing and his mobile and ute found. Police have not ruled out homicide.

Magpie swooping season has started early this year.

Fire ants may have crossed the 5 km containment line in Queensland possibly crossing the border  into NSW. Fire ants cause widespread destruction to the ecosystem and native wildlife.Milions of dollars have been spent over the years to try and eradicate them. Fire ants can be carried to different destinations via transport therefore more caution is needed in the form of inspections 

Employees will soon have a law baning bosses from contacting their employees outside of work hours. Australia is not the first country to have such a law.

Rhianna welcomes her second child it's name is yet to be revealed although she could have had the baby a week or more ago before the announcement.

A QLD doctor's clinic is offering patients a Netflix like subscription medical service where patients who are members pay $1.50 per visit to see a GP or $45 per month and given priority treatment and other services. Concerns over this trial were raised that patients would be paying for a continuous monthly service that may not need or use and this trial subscription model would not benefit for eg the elderly.

 A 65 year old has sustained serious injuries after trying to cross a road.  before a hit and run.A driver.in his 80's left the accident scene before being chased before he returned to the accident scene and is being questioned by police.

Biden has arrived in Maui to visit survivors and survey the damage the fires caused.

Prince Charles has arrived in Scotland and welcomed by residents. He is there on holidays for his 3 month Summer vacation in Balmoral to continue his late mother's annual tradition .

The is a class action by customers against Qantas for not being transparent about giving refunds to customers whose flights were cancelled due to COVID and instead given flight credits with conditions attached which customers were unable to redeem easily or by their expiry dates.

The class action alleged Qantas "enjoyed significant financial benefits" from holding onto customer payments including interest and reduced borrowing costs. 

Qantas rejected these class action claims made by customers and says most customers have.been given refunds.

Wednesday 23rd August 2023

A full day of face to Face classes today with Programming in the morning and Working in IT Skills in the afternoon. 

I walked home again after class. The mention of possibly moving to a more suitable computer classroom pops up as a discussion again . Tomorrow's teach will be more then happy as this occurred as she is so allergic to the classroom.Most of the time she is coughing and spends more time out of the class room then in it teaching .

News headlines today include

It was cold and wet today. Light showers and a top of 19 degrees today

A cable car carrying 6 children and 2 adults on their way to school became stuck the equivalent of the height of Sydney's Centrepoint Tower in Northern  Pakistan when a cable snapped leaving the door of the car open . It was a long rescue where one child was rescued by air and the remainder by land. 

It's been 12 months since John Farnham was diagnosed with moth cancer, he has spoken for the first time and is cancer free spoken celebrating with a pizza.

One of the girls from school bus crash in Victoria who lost her arm has recovered and is back at school. She and victims of the bus crash  have attended trauma camp and were able to get back into a bus.

A freight train has crashed into a tanker at a level crossing near Picton. Nobody was injured however it delayed passenger trains for hours on the Southern line.

One Nation is in  trouble over funding rort claims . Pauline Hansen wants Latham and Roberts gone from the party.

There is speculation that Oct 14th will be the date announced by AA for The Voice. The Referendum date will  be announced in SA by AA.

Drew Barrymore was doing a live interview when a security scare saw a man comes onto stage to get close to her. Barrymore was rushed away.

Victims of youth crime in QLD  have taken their case to parliament fed up with not enough  being done to stop youth reoffenders.

Two 13 year olds have been charged for causing the inferno of the heritage building in Surry Hills causing nearby residents to be evacuated.

Thursday 24th August 2023

It's after 4 am I estimate and I am woken by a bang and what I thought was a driver moaning in pain from an impact. I run to the window and see in the dark a car crashed and balancing on top of a pile of bricks - Not again! Crash # 3 but this time it was pretty bad . The entire mail box block in front of the apartment block in the car park has been wiped out again. 

I turn the light on and try to find my phone which for some reason I did not keep next to my bed last night. I could not find it and when I did I grabbed my keys and put on a pair of leggings and a puffer jacket ( it was cold) and ran downstairs to see if the passenger was OK.

By the time I arrived the resident in unit 3 downstairs was already outside and on the call to 000. Where was the driver? Apparently he had done a runner - really? No way !The car was a write off and abandoned but a neighbour went and found him. The driver returned to his car and looked fine. It was quite a wait until the police arrived then the fire brigade and finally the tow truck. No ambulance. Meanwhile there were very strong  petrol fumes and petrol was leaking onto the carpark surface. I was worried that the car may explode. The resident from unit 3 said the fire brigade will probably hose it down and hopefully the chain smoker in the apartment block does not light up a cigarette!

The resident from unit 3 spoke to the police as he rang them and the driver was interviewed as to how it happened. He was not intoxicated it was just a freak accident where his car spun out of control and hit the mail box block  avoiding the tree outside . Details were exchanged and given to the resident of unit 3  to be forwarded onto the landlord who did not answer his phone when police tried to contact him for insurance purposes. A 3rd resident from unit 4 joined us and she didn't hear the accident as much as she could smell it  We left the scene just before 6 am when the tow truck removed the car and there was going to be a lot of noise. 

I had taken photos and forwarded them onto the property management company in an email as soon as I returned to my unit. I later found out that the resident in unit 3 had also forwarded the details and photos to the landlord ( who was quick to come the next day to start on repairs to the mail box block yet again! ,- he must be so used to it by now). This is why I moved the bins to the other side I told the resident in unit 3. While we're were outside I told the residents of unit 3 and 4 how this was the 3rf time this has happened and how the long term resident in unit 1B also passed away in a freak accident.  We got to know each other this morning and it was the first real time I actually got to know who some of the other residents were. I am sure this was all caught on either the resident in  unit 7 's private camera attached to his window or the building CCTV cameras. This building is monitored by cameras as there are stories I wasn't even aware of where a past resident was stabbed inside the common area of the apartment block hence there is an unwritten rule of no sharp objects to be stored in the kitchen/laundry area downstairs and how the resident in unit 3 said he thought he heard one of the young girls residing in one of the units upstairs try to sneak her boyfriend into her apartment by him climbing up from the back court yard onto the roof which may explain the broken outdoor chairs dumped  illegally out the front of the apartment block recently on the footpath. I also told the resident of unit 3 how I suspect that there is at least one hacker living in the apartment block although they could be a gamer and how the resident of unit ,7 told me that the motel next door is not actually a motel but a retreat to house recently released prisoners - yes criminals. The resident of unit 3 was unsurprised that this was not just a rumor as there are some dodgey residents around along the main road. 

I was so tired and needed sleep so sent a message via teams chat ( unsure how to do this but figured it out and hope she got it)   to my teacher to advise her that I will not be attending the face to face  morning class if Security & Privacy  but will.be attending the afternoon class if Systems Administration . I hate the morning class and thought the afternoon class was more important but regret attending as we did absolutely nothing again except read and read and read whilst the teacher again coughed and spent most of the time outside of the computer classroom. She just taught for about 40 minutes max. It's a 3 hour class and by Thursdays everyone is dead tired. 

I walked home again after class.  It turned out that the resident in unit 3 also went back to sleep but did not wake up until noon missing his lunch date with his friend. 

That's how tired we were after the car crash was cleared up.

I did manage to do some more assessments and catch up on the Fortinet N 1 certificate the class did in the morning class My classmate did not turn up to class as well for the whole day messaging the teacher that she was sick - not sick it was planned the previous day.

sleep earlier tonight.

News headlines today include

It is rumoured that 3 main celebrities have left entertainment manager Scooter Baun ( Wasn't that Taylor Swift's ex manager ?) including Justin Bieber, Adriana Grande &  Demi Lovato.It was alleged that the manager was more interested in promoting himself then promoting his clients.

Lizzo has hit back at the legal action her backup dancers are taking against her. The allegation is Lizzo made her backup dancers attend a strip club where Lizzo says they were enjoying when they were not.

A grim fire season warning  for most of Australia this summer with a warning hazard burning for QLD is too late as there is an increased bush fire threat in Spring.

8 Republicans will appear in a TV first Republican candidates debate where Donald Trump will not be appearing at.

New drone vision has shown just how perilous the cable car was hanging in Northern Pakistan was for the 6 children and 2 teachers. It took 15 hours to rescue them.

Qantas makes a profit of $1.74 billion in profit a turn around from almost going into administration post COVID . Qantas will be rewarding shareholders and members but unions say this is dirty money - money made from sacked employees , flight credits issued to customers instead of refunds during and after COVID  for cancelled flights and overpriced flights. 

Hundreds of anxious  parents using surrogates in order to start a family and who went overseas to a surrogacy clinic in Crete Greece have been left in limbo where they have not been able to even access their day(s) old  babies due to a raid by police on the clinic arresting staff closing the centre down and taking custody of any babies. The clinic has been accused of crimes such as human trafficking forcing immigrants into become surrogates , using sperm and eggs from strangers and fertilizing them instead of the parents eggs and sperm and illegal adoptions. DFAT  is assisting parents to try and reunite them with their babies to bring them back to Australia. Police in Greece are demanding DNA testing to prove babies actually belong to parents before releasing them to their parents.

Thousands loose their jobs at Crown Casino in Barangaroo due to an amalgamation of 2 gaming floors into a single one. Approximately 90 employees will be made redundant however

A homeless camp in Dee Why is again being demolished by the council to move anti social campers out with social workers and police involved to rehouse them in social housing  This is the second time the camp has been demolished. Drunkenness, drug overdoses, and other antisocial behaviour like rock throwing at residents and locals have resulted in this second  homeless camp demolition.

A new flyover in the Western Sydney - the M7 will be affected with a major connectionto the new Western Sydney Airport tand a will save 200 000 drivers 13 minutes drive over these new fly overs. The project will cost over $1 billion .

India is the first to land successfully on the moons arctic circle.  In 1966 Russia landed on the moon followed by the USA  in 1969 and China  in 2013 now India in 2023.

Tomorrow it will be a top of 22 degrees C and sunny.

There is track work over the weekend again on the Northern line AGAIN with track work across several other lines around Sydney. There will be rail replacement buses. 

The Australian Electoral Commission has amended the way a ballot paper will be counted as ballot for the referendum.  YES NO  ✔ ❌, the amendment has been said to be bias towards a yes vote.

Putin is being blamed for a Russian air strike which that killed the Wagner leader.

Friday 25th August 2023

No classes today thank goodness as I was up last night catching up on what I missed yesterday morning or at least trying to. 

Time to catch up again. No venturing out today.

I caught up on some more assessments and also completed the N1 certificate of Fortinet Training course that I missed completing in Thursday mornings class. ( didn't quite finish the final module last night) - certificate downloaded valid for 2 years ( not that I will need it) 

News headlines today include

History in the making in Georgia Atlanta Donald Trump turns himself in to the County Jail where he will be processed - finger printed and a mug shot taken as well as posting bail of US$200 000 with strict conditions of who he can speak to and what he can say - the first time a former president has had a mugshot taken. A cattlecade of security followed him on his journey.  Trump does not seem to be concerned instead using this mug shot as an opportunity to further his presidential campaign. He again insists in public  "I did nothing wrong"

Miley Cyrus has released new music.

What does Priscilla Presley think of the new biopic about her life with Elvis ? She talks about her life with Elvis and the secrets she kept in an interview.

The contraversey of the main character in the real story behind the movie of The Blindside continues.

AA and NSW Premier Chris Minns attend the official event of channels 7' s new headquaters.

The dream of owning a new home is decreasing where an increasing amount of Australians will  never be able to own their own home and will be life long renters.

Lucy Letby the UK nurse who murdered 7 premature babies was arrested and charged a week ago for murder and will spent the rest of her life in jail with no bail. She was caught out when notes she left of how she was evil were found also stating how she will never marry and never have children.

Could Trans Tasman  NZ become part of Australia as another state? The retiring NZ  MP wants to become state of Australia  -  what a merger?!

Commonwealth Bank has been asked to pay back to employees 10 minute denied tea breaks amounting to $3 million.

Saturday 26th August 2023

Happy International Dog Day !

What a beautiful day today but there is track work again over the weekend and this morning there is a Network Build Support class  from 9.30 am - 12.30 pm which I would like to attend as this is my weakest subject in my course. Skipped as there wasno one else present at the support session. I thought it was meant to be a support session for network build. So what happened?

I will continue with what I have to do today. 

I had made myself breakfast this morning of 2 fillets of oven baked Murray cod . A punnet of raspberries a cup of tea some drinking yoghart wholemealbread and saltbush cheese and some juice.

I need to do my laundry go shopping wash my dishes  and take out my rubbish.

A top of 20 degrees C today with possible showers. 

I did not end up venturing out again today. 

I watch an episode of The Thunderbirds - I have not watched this since the 1970s . I don't think many of my reader would know who The Thunderbirds were. I believe the series was produced even before my time when the first man landed on the moon. Watching it , it was very futuristic and not all of the technology in it has even become reality eg the smart watch with video conferencing calls ( not many smart watches have cameras on them yet to enable this only voice calls) . We are getting there though especially with sonic travel and space tourism. Nothing as changed in terms of spies and sabotage though. But my first question that came to my mind watching the Thunderbirds again was who does Jeff Tracey remind me of ? Elon Musk? Richard Brandson? or perhaps Jeff Bezos? What about the other characters? What about the organization 'International Rescue"?

Washed dishes and laundry one batch only and done really late. 

I had to defrost my freezer which was freezing up out of control. Done. Unit 3 resident's advice worked and I kept the temperature control on 2 where he had his around 3 ( these are the new black fridges we had replacing the old white ones which were faulty). I had to do laundry as I used all my towels to soak up all the excess water from the defrosting of the freezer.

This was my day . Sleep late.

News headlines today include 

A 13 year old has stabbed a security guard in a food court of a Westfield shopping centre on the Gold Coast seriously injuring him after he told a group of rowdy teenagers to leave when they started throwing objects. He is on a critical condition with stabwounds in the abdomen. Meanwhile the Queensland premier has been pressured to step down and resign ( apparently she can't be terminated from her position)  after a second breach of human rights for pushing and passing last minute laws to tackle the out of control youth crime in QLD by threating youth offenders as young as 10 years old as as adult criminals locking them up in adult detention facilities without considering their needs which are different to adults offenders. There is great debate over how youth crime should be dealt with and that locking them up in adult detention facilities is not the solution.  Finding out the source of why youth turn to crime and finding solutions to problems such as support and counseling are more effective solutions.

A horror car crash in Sydney's South on Grand Parade Monterey has occurred late last night where 2 boys aged 9 and 10 who died were the nephews of the  driver who is in hospital in a serious condition. The driver's  9 year old daughter is also in hospital but escaped with minor injuries. The car crashed into a tree and thedriver was bloodand urine tested for drug & alcohol intoxication.  it was alledged that the driver was street racing.

A surfer is in hospital after being bitten  by a shark on the mid North coast of NSW near Port Macquarie.  A local off duty doctor attended to his injuries until am ambulance arrived. He has lost one leg and there is a race to save his other leg. Somehow he managed to swim back to shore.

Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez have both released new music along with others like Adriana Grande and Rita Ora.

Sunday  27th August 2023

Another nice day today but I still haven't ventured out yet. a top of around 20 degrees C again today. The last few days of Winter.

I ventured out to Chatswood for a grocery shop nut did not get home until after 7.30 pm therefore it was too late to do laundry.

My usual stops Chemist warehouse and then to the larger Coles for the majority of my grocery and toiletry shop. There was was quick stop at a Japanese shop for a solid diffuser which cost a rather expensive $9 - this shows how low our dollar is against other currencies. A cash withdrawal from an ATM unplanned but this was due to my favourite bread shop's efpos machine being down and they were only taking cash. I got them to hold my loaf of bread and  2 sausage rolls. ( my weekly treat). So many groceries I just managed to fit them all into my 2 shopping bags - very heavy I had to catch the bus just one stop to the station after walking as far as I could.

Home unpack my groceries and sleep as I have class tomorrow. Again it took forever for a bus to arrive and due to all buses used for rail replacement buses there was even a merger of bus stops to make space for them over the weekend.

News headlines today include ( mostly covered)

The driver of the other car involved in the crash at Monterey that killed a 9 and 10 year old and seriously injured the driver (who has been charged)  and his 9 year old daughter who escaped almost uninjured , is still on the run. A street race is still being blamed for the fatal crash 

Trump's mug shot is being used on T shirts and mugs to raise even more funds and further promote his presidential campaign. T shirts are selling for around the equivalent of AUS$80 .

The future of air travel although still a few years away lirs in NASA 's testing of a supersonic aircraft flying at the speed of sound . If successful transatlantic commercial flights in the fire between for example Australia and the UK could take as short as 2 hours.

The  QLD premier is on a 2 week European holiday just like SM was on when there was interpstty conflict pushing for her resignation. Her successor is already on "standby ".

Daniel Richardo will miss the Dutch Grand Prix due to breaking his hand  to avoid a crash with fellow Australian Formula One team member Oscar Piastri during a practice round where both crashed.

Monday 28th August 2023

Today is partly sunny with a top of around 21 degrees C as the last days of Winter approaches

This mornings face to face Network Build class was heavy! It was all maths based - using binary to figure out the type of IP address - and I don't mean home addresses - network host or broadcast . 

After class I walked home and hardly had time to sit down when pesky Telstra rings again in regards to my complaint- I wish they would not call me and just fix my billing problem - in fact I wish they would just fix the problem. It's been 1 year and 3 months now and the overcharge on my bill still has not been fixed. I asked for another $20  in credit this time as I am still being overcharged $10 per month for a service I requested to cancel 1 year and 3 months ago .Again   I made the Telstra officer  send me an email to confirm my overcharge has been corrected as the last time I spoke to a Telstra officer in July and asked for an email if confirmation , the confirmation email was sent to me reluctantly but no action was actually taken. I am being really tough with Telstra as they have not credited me correctly nor corrected the overcharge on my monthly bills despite chasing them on countless occasions. 

Enough of my complaint to Telstra let's move on to something more exciting. I had been meaning to see this exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum since it opened earlier this month for the Science Week Festival  however my current ICT studies and my fortnightly appointments at APM were  taking up my time so because this morning's Network Build class was so Math heavy I decided to give my brain a rest and take the bus and  train and light rail to see Atmospheric Memory by artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer at The Powerhouse Museum. I was lucky it was not too busy being a Monday so could purchase tickets upon arrival. I spent between 3 pm and 5 pm there.  Tickets are $25 for an adult but I almost forgot that now I am still a full time student studying at Tafe, maybe I can now get concession prices for purchases so I asked and they did accept student cards and I ended up only paying $15 to see the exhibition. Before I start writing about Atmospheric Memory and rating it I would like to mention that just outside of the Powerhouse Museum on the Goodsline ( where I previously went to see Flight) there is another interactive experience on called Kaleidoscope.  It is not open on Mondays and Tuesdays and is only on until early to mid September  2023. Whether I decide to see it or not I am unfussed as I have been to a few similar  interactive experiences in the past. ( photo below) .It doesn't even look anything like the promotional images online. 

The Powerhouse Museum at Ultimo has now become a mish mash of exhibitions. It's been a long time since I last visited it. Entry is currently free and probably has been for a while. Gone is the rather large reception desk that once sat fixed at the entrance to the museum with several staff manning it. Now a single security guard stands inside the entrance acting as the information officer of the museum as well. I ask him where the Atmospheric Memory exhibition is and directs me to the left through the arch. There is a very small reception desk inside manned by 2 staff members acting as ticket sellers as well as prepurchase ticket scanners. I am still unconvinced as to whether The Powerhouse Museum is actually the most appropriate venue to hold the exhibition - surely the MCA , Cartiageworks , the new North Building of the Art Gallery of NSW even the Museum of Sydney would have been more appropriate venues to hold this exhibition. I drained entire battery on my phone taking photos and videos of the exhibition but it was worth it. I rate it 8.5/10 and recommend people see it. It has seen a steady all day stream of visitors but I suspect it could get quite busy over the weekends and towards the end of the exhibition. Go during a weekday when it is quieter if you can. 

I have just uploaded a series of over 10 videos onto my YouTube channel ( all Tuesday morning - ie  hours just completing uploaded at noon)  therefore won't go into detail of what the exhibition is about.  I will just copy and paste all my descriptions from my videos here. ( I do have a heap of photos as well) 

1. This was suppose to be a demonstration of AI within a series of booths - it didn't work very well if that was what it was suppose to do. Let's stick to Chat GPT, Bard & Bing . You will see what I mean when you watch my video on my YouTube channel. It was actually quite difficult to record this video and this was the very first interactive of the exhibition after watching a short introductory video of the exhibition. 

Don't ask me what these items were but one looked like a magnifier of some sortand the other a light bulb of some sort transmitting  spinning beams of light - sorry I did notread much of the signage due to my time restriction there.

My videos uploaded of Atmospheric Memories are in reverse order. This is the first main room you enter after the first interactive voice activated installation. This Art & Science exhibition covered a broad range if subjects from AI to privacy and security to sustainability to medical advances and other innovations such as gas detection devices used in mining but it all starts in the dark foyer with a display on mathematician Charles Babbage and the invention of the first computer. "From Logarithms to Algorithms where science meets art"  this is how I would summarise artist   Rafael Lozano-Hemmer 's immersive and interactive  Atmospheric Memory.

This was called The Last Breathe I believe. My videos uploaded of Atmospheric Memories are in reverse order. This is the first main room you enter after the first interactive voice activated installation.

This was not for everyone to watch (projection of  the talking human larynx)

This was my other favourite room of the exhibition. It's really dark inside until visitors walk in . Movement sets off hundreds of lights suspended above along the entire ceiling of the room that follow you around. with the sound of loudly chirping birds. Visitors were walking and running up and down this dark room to set off the lights and sound with their movement but I decided to go one step further and spin around and around ad many times as I could until I became dizzy and had to take a seat along the sides of the room.

In this video I felt as if I had stepped into a matrix or a computer's "brain" until the surprise at the end.

This was the slightly creepy section of the exhibition. The section I was trying to run away from. You know when there are CCTV surveillance cameras around watching your every move well in this same room there were cctv security surveillance cameras following random visitors around and targeting them as they moved around before projecting them onto the floor and walls of the room in large format. Reminds me of the Border Security series on tv. visitors Yes - Criminals who knows?!

This had to be my equal favourite part of this art snd science exhibition - think of all the concepts technology and music behind it. Again my voice was not strong enough to activate this interactive water feature so I waited for this projection to  continue . Everything in this room was now moving floor to ceiling. I felt as if the room was moving as the entire room was covered in monochromatic projections of letters and as music played the interactive voice activated displayed moved with them. . I could have stayed in this room for hours but was restricted to my arrival at the museum just after 3 pm and  the Museum's closing time of 5 pm.

I could not get this interactive display to work using just my voice so waited until the projections came on to observe it's syncronised movements. I absolutely loved the music in this art and science exhibition unfortunately I didn't pay attention to who the composer was.

I forgot to mention that the video in Atmospheric Memory @ The Powerhouse Museum Part 1 and this video were taken from the viewing deck above. I lived this projection of words disappearing off pages.

This was the highlight of the this art & science exhibition. The optical illusions projections filled the entire room floor to ceiling and in some instances made it feel as if the entire room was moving.

Before leaving the Atmospheric Memory exhibition, I leave my message on an A4 piece of brown paper using the coloured textas and markers .I write the following before taping it to the walls of other messages left by visitors:

AFTER leaving the Powerhouse Museum,  I decided to stop off at Market City Shopping Centre to do a bit of shopping and ended up only finding a pair of pale blue grey suede Vans. I love my Vans and have 2 pairs of original suede & canvas valcanised ones in a 2 time blue and another in a dark navy colour. The 2 toned blue ones I original bought for $20 and the dark navy ones for around $40 I think but the 2 toned blue pair are so worn ( to the point of splitting) and dirty it is time to purchase another pair. I am keeping the dark navy pair unworn as it is so difficult to find a dark suede pair of Vans in any style in my size - today was no different and the only pair I could find was a pair of suede pro Vans in a size 5 in pale grey blue for $80. This will have to do oh how I hate shoe shopping! 

It was way past 5 pm by the time I walked all the way back up to Town Hall . I was going to catch the light rail but ditched that idea as it was too slow and my balance on my Opal card was getting low and I needed to recharge it somewhere. I did a shop at Woolworths Town Hall but forgot the tissues which I am running out of and Coles did not have any left on my last shop on Sunday. I knew that it would be quite late by the time I finished my shop recharged my Opal card and waited for a bus home so purchased a $14 salmon sushi box from Woolworths to take home for dinner.

As soon as I arrived home I unpacked my groceries and ate my sushi - too much processed take away food for me this week. I need to eat more healthy food for the rest of this week.

Sleep after watch The Cook Up Come Done With Me 8 Out of 20 Does Countdown and a few other YouTube channels.

News headlines today include

A US military exercise off the coast of Darwin has resulted in a Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft crash .It was carrying 23 military personnel where 3 have died and 5 are injured and in a serious condition . It is unsure why and how the crash happened.

Pressure continues for the QLD premier currently on holidays to resign over youth in watch houses fiasco.

Charlie Puth is coming to Australia for a tour.

The RBA has been accused of spending thousands of dollars on food and alcohol partying whilst announcing interest rate hikes and as Australians struggle with the rising cost of living.

AA is in WA inspecting mining sites ( RIO  TINO) and promoting the Yes Vote stating the Yes Vote is not dead in WA. He is expected to announce the referendum date in SA.

Another brawl in the Northern Beaches in Sydney resulting in another stabbing.

The royals are holidaying at Balmoral attending a church service .Meanwhile Meghan Markle has been quite for quite a while now but rumours have it that she is relaunching herself . Meanwhile Meghan Markle's mum has rubbed shoulders with the Kardashians at a charity event

Photos have emerged having a long lunch at a pub on the eve of the decision and announcement of the cancellation of the Commonwealth Games.

Melbourne taxi loophole closed - what? 

Fog in Melbourne has caused delays at the airport with one international flight diverted to Sydney.

The international space station now has 11 crew members as there is a arrival and change over of crew that have been there since March.

Tuesday 29th August 2023

Another beautiful top of 22 degrees C today as Spring approaches and allergy season increases.

Another catch up day today but unsure if I will venture out today although I have to as I did not get time yesterday to do everything I had to do. 

Tonight I have Cyber Basics class connect again 6 pm - 9 pm. 

Noon and I just finished uploading all my videos of Atmospheric Memory onto my YouTube channel. Now I just have to catch up on my blog .

News headlines today include

A helicopter on an emergency medical rescue has spun out of control and crashed into an apartment block killing 2 in Florida in the  US. The paramedic and a woman in the apartment block died. but 2 managed to walk away from the crash unharmed. 2 more on the ground were injured and in hospital.

Margot Robbie has been spotted on holidays in Greece with her husband.

Elton John is still standing after a fall and is in hospital

A massive 6.9  earthquake rocks Bali which does not seem to have caused any damage.

A suspicious car fire spreads to shops North of Melbourne 

A overnight vigil has been held in Darwin for the US Marines killed in the Osprey crash.The 3 victims have now been identified and named 

A UK airport has been put into mayhem and 500 flights cancelled due to an air traffic control failure. 

There are calls for QLD MP Don Brown to be sacked for saying the QLD "youth crisis is a media beat up "

There is a continued push to tax Airbnb property owners a fee of over $300 and limit them to only allow them 180 days rental per year in order to solve the housing crisis in Victoria by getting more residents into more long term rental accomodations. The debate remains as to whether this move will affect tourism to Victoria and or how and if it will help the housing crisis in Victoria.

Alan Joyce outgoing CEO of Qantas ( he finishes his term in Nov 23)  received a grilling from the Senate. Record profits , high airfares despite this, unused credits not refunded to customers which are about to expire from the COVID period , Qtar airlines increase in routes to Australia to increase competition and even his salary over his 15 years in the top position as CEO at Qantas were all subjects of discussion and his grilling by the Senate.

Tom Tate appears before the Senate to push for the Gold Coast as a viable Commonwealth Games venue for 2026 after Victoria cancelled.

Teachers in SA strike over pay and conditions.

Dolly Parton rejects a royal invitation to have tea with them.

Footy finals tickets go on sale today - I assume it is AFL not NRL ( oops sorry have not been paying attention to either since Womens soccer took over).

There are calls for the Spanish Soccer ( football) boss to resign after an unconsented kiss by him with one of the Spanish women's soccer team members back in Spain after the team won the grand final of the FIFA Women's World Cup in Sydney. 

Wednesday 30th August 2023

A top of 25 degrees C and storms possible as the storm season has arrived early this year with hail storms already hitting QLD and where a shopping centre roof collapsed in Gympie yesterday. The SE coast will be affected.

By the mid afternoon thunder and lightening storms ravaged NSW . It continued to rain at times heavily into the night with thunder and lightening strikes constantly. There was hail in some Sydney suburbs .Today we spent almost all day in face to face classes doing Programming and only spent the last 30 minutes doing Working In IT Skills.

I didn"t walk home after class today as it was raining and I had a laptop in my bag and there was still a lot of thunder and lightening. I didn't even wait for a us home across the road nor go to Chatswood as I had planned to as it takes too long for a bus to arrive. I didn't want to wait for a bus in the rain for so long so I caught the bus to St Leonard's stopped off at the IGA to get some tissues and some change for the laundry but nothing else as I only had a small shopping bag with me. It was really cold so I also purchased a beef curry and rice from one of the fast food outlets at St Leonard'sbefore xeossing the road and waiting for a bus home hoping I don't get stuck in heavy rain or struck by thunder and lightening.

Home to a hot cup of tea my curry and some blue berries.

Sleep early after watch the news The Cook Up and Come Dine With Me.

The inflation rate has decreased to 4.6%! However the AUS$ againstthe US$ remains very low around the $0.64 mark making imports very expensive but exports cheap ( I hope this is correct ie going on an overseas holiday to North America much more expensive ). Interest rates are predicted to remain on hold for Seotember due to this . Food prices are predicted to drop due to supermarket food price wars however energy & fuel prices continue to rise along with other services.

A lightening strike actually struck an apartment setting it's roof on fire. No one was hurt and the fire in the roif was extinguished by the fire brigade . There was a power outage in Hornsby due to these storms.

AA is set to announce the date for The Voice Referendum in SA today. In  the SA suburb of Elizabeth AA confirmed the Referendum date for The Voice will be Oct 14th 2023 . Meanwhile politicians and those holding office get a pay rise next month of 4% determined by an independent organization where politicians have no say in as Australians struggle with the rising cost of living which is considered poor timing. Peter Dutton gets an increase of how much ????!!!

Police are working with mushroom specialists from the Botanic Gardens to identify the type of mushroom that was eaten that killed 3 and put 1 in hospital in a life threatening condition.

In Port Lincoln a algae bloom has turned the water a illuminated glow of blue

Jockey Damien Oliver has announced his retirement at the end of this year.

Time is running out for customers to cash in their credits from COVID affected Qantas flights . Expiry is December 31st this year. Meanwhile airfares remain high.

Harry Styles is now dating a Canadian actress

Parental leave bungle has led to waiting more then 3 months for payments to be received from Service Australia.

Another arson attack this time in Moonee Ponds Victoria.Is this second one related to the first one previously with similarities.

The 3 bodies of the US Marines that died in the military exercise off the coast of Darwin have been bought back to Darwin before being returned to the US.

The mayor of the GC  is still pushing and determined to hold the Commonwealth Games 

A traffic warden taken to hospital has died and a 27 year old arrested for speeding causing the accident even though poor weather was present.

Thursday 31st August 2023

A top of  19 degrees today slightly cooler  for the last day of Winter but it was dry today after the storms yesterday.

Today is the very last day of Winter. I had planned to venture out to go late night shopping but could not be bothered - I just wasted my JB HiFi $50 voucher which expired today.Oh well.

The other things I needed to do can wait. 

Today was again a face to face day of classes starting at 9.30 am and finishing at 4 pm. I was late this morning and went home in the afternoon not intending to return back to class for the last hour of class during a break around 2.30 pm when I discovered I had left my computer on recharge and feared it could overheat again and catch on fire. I didn't want to destroy a 4th computer! I told my classmates during the break - one who thought that I just wanted to escape as Thursday classes particularly the morning class is not the class favourite  and we tend to not attend. I made it back for the last hour of the class because the teacherwas back from break late as well. She again coughed her way through the classes and spent most of her time outside of class again. 

News headlines today include

Last chance to see the blue moon tonight which appeared last night after the clouds cleared up.

Threats of power blackouts in NSW this Summer due to power plant closures and no alternative energy sources.

Concerns for 81 year old US senator Mitch McConnell's health again as he froze at a news conference for quite some time for a second time.

Qantas has appeared in court and fined  for selling 8000 tickets to customers when the flights had been known to have been cancelled prior .Qantas is also under for for blocking more flights by Qtar Airways to Australia to reduce competition so ticket rices could remain higher.

2 people that died from the mushroom poisoning lunch were farewelled at a funeral today. 

Students are finding ways like sneaking in vapes that look like highlights into school. Vapes can still be purchased without prescriptions no questions asked from stores.

Harry claims the memories of the death of his mother were triggered by his service in Afghanistan and that he received no support or help for his mental health from the palace. Today is the 26th anniversary of his mother's ( Diana)  death. Harry will be briefly in the UK before travelling to Germany for the Invictus Games. His relationship with his father and brother is still frosty and he will not be meeting with them before his trip to Germany.

Hurricane Idalia has ravaged Florida in the US.