Apropos of nothing

Ok...this has absolutely nothing to do with CCO or Vipers, but I need to express a pet peeve. I went to the mall yesterday for a little retail therapy and to use a gift card I’d gotten for Christmas. I thought, “perhaps a new bag” ...hmmm. Well it drives me completely nuts that there are so many designers that put their names and their initials on everything. And then, they have the audacity to charge a fortune for it! Shouldn’t they be paying ME for the free advertising they get when I wear that purse? After all, I’ll become a walking billboard. How does everyone feel about this?...am I crazy To think this is a little convoluted? Next thing we know Etsy will have us putting Etsy tags on everything...at our own expense. It’s become pervasive. What do you all think? And thanks for letting me rant 

It’s annoying and perverse for all the reasons you’ve mentioned. But sadly we’re in an era of ‘designer madness’ which I’m sure some people think is an indication, at least in their own minds, of their status in life. And they seem to be happy to pay for it.

I'm exactly like Marianne; I refuse to pay anyone to wear their name. I've got a name.

It reminds me of when I went shopping for a new pair of glasses a few years ago and when I told the sales clerk that I do not wear other people's name on my clothes, apparels, and certainly not on my face, she had to go to the storeroom to get me a box of the glass frames that didn't sell. They were kept in a old shoe box, and that's where I found my new pair of glasses.

@SophiaTakesFive Right? And congratulations for being a nonconformist! Good taste and style don’t come from wearing a designer label. They come with the confidence to design a style all your own.

Apropos of... Well, I really don’t know. A few things I think when you consider the number of players involved here in Australia.

I’ve had a really bad week or two lately. Every little thing that we need to pass on to others to complete has been totally messed up. Fixing it all has involved lots of time, effort and travel. When fuel is at nearly $1.80 per litre ($8.10 per gallon) and time is a precious commodity, is it any wonder I get really peeved (read - really pissed off). What is wrong with people in business, be it the chemist, communication between health professionals, the post office, the local garage, our stationery shop, online suppliers, and so the list goes on. Then we’ve had to deal with the frustrating and total incompetence and lack of care (responsibility) of government bureaucrats. Some are 20 years old and ‘think’ they know better. God help us, they don’t even know what their job description and role in their job is. As opposed to them there is also the bully. The ‘aged bureaucrat’ who absolutely ‘knows’ best despite the fact that our enquiries indicate to the contrary. Later of course we are contacted by someone else who says, “No, it’s all done wrong. You need to do it again and make another appointment.” I explain what has transpired and then... “can I make that appointment with the original person I saw please.” Answer... “No, under the circumstances I don’t think that would be a good idea. Rest assured though, he will be counselled.” Yeah, whatever!!

On top of that we’re experiencing many outages with our NBN (National Broadbands Network). It’s all brand new and supposed to be state of the art fibre to the node. But from there into our homes and businesses we are all relying on old decaying copper. What a bottleneck! This was the ill advised and single minded brainchild (despite good advice from countries much further advanced than us in this area) of a former ‘look at me. Look at me” egotistical Prime Minister, Malcolm ‘The Dud’ Turnbull, who was eventually sacked by his own party. But, we’re now stuck with it and it’s terrible inadequacies. What an indictment when we can say 5G is superior to high tech land based fibre. The outages have cost me so much time these past 5 days. It’s way beyond just frustrating - and we pay for it, outages or not!.

It’s true, some developing countries with far less the wealth and technical expertise of Australia are so far advanced that it makes us look like a third world country in comparison. But why are they so advanced?  Because their culture is such that they think and act forward on behalf of future generations of their children, that’s  why? They don’t have a self interested and ‘goggled view’ like our so called leaders have here, that doesn’t allow them to see past the next election, or the protection of themselves in the heights of the rarefied air they occupy.

Rant over. But my God I’m sick of being in some of the moods I’ve been in lately. Moody is just not me. I never go there myself and I don’t like other people and their gross ineptness pushing me there either. I’m so fed up. And God I wish some numbnuts here downunder would realise the power of their vote and use it to send a message to both the majors here. But no, they keep on doing the same old dead brained thing, hoping for different results. Some people are stupid beyond all reason. I'm sure the greater percentage of our population were constipated up to their stupid eyeballs and in the toilet or something when God handed brains out. I get a lot more sense out of my three precious dogs who are all much more intelligent. Did I say rant over? I did, okay then .

Bye bye for now. I hope you are all healthy and happy 

I slept for 14 hours. It’s a new day, hot but glorious nonetheless. It’s green, fresh and clean looking after the rain.

The internet is back. My mojo is back. Onwards and upwards 

melina, your gas price is shocking! ouch! remember, my closest friend is in nsw and she agrees with you about the internet and the elected idiots. she has a tattoo of the aussie flag that she sometimes fears showing. it's on her ankle, because somebody might not like it. knowing that when she drove 2 hour one way trips to that hospital while her friend's daughter was in coma, with the price of gas is just flooring, plus the lodging over the holidays they stayed down there when they thought the girl might wake... and she's on a pension so i don't know how on earth she is managing either.  she has told me about the internet cockup for a while now, how you get a discount because somebody blew it badly... 

i hope things improve. i hope you get all the rains you need to put out the fires and save the critters and the farmers. i hope the people wake up and do the right thing soon. and i hope we all survive the world situation this year. good luck! hugs.

ps. nonconformists, unite!

It is all so draining sometimes Sill, and you know all about that. I do not like people who ‘steal’ time.

Interestingly I don’t see myself as a non-conformist. It’s those in power that I hang that label on because they refuse to confirm with consensus of the people. You see, it doesn’t bother them because we only really have two players (because of the way people vote) and they don’t really mind taking turns at the helm, if they have to. The lurks and perks are not ‘deal breakers’ whether they be in government or opposition. Oh dear they are grubs. They really are and they wonder why they list so close to the bottom now of trusted and respected professions. Used car salesman and prostitutes (God bless their little hearts) rate well above politicians these days. It wasn’t always like this.

Many talk of revolution here in Australia. I don’t think I’ll see it in my lifetime but I’m 100% sure my children will. Politicians simply won’t do as they pledge, they pander to minorities in the interests of political correctness, and particularly with Muslims, and they keep dipping into our pockets deeper and deeper to plug up the black holes they create. Bureaucrats are worse. Their tenure is for life and once ensconced within the comfort zone of no responsibility that government creates for them, they milk the public purse, in terms of productivity, just as much as politicians do in terms of their lurks and perks and ‘after service’ gratuities provided by a ‘gold card’ and superannuation benefits not available to anyone else. They have the hide to call bureaucrats public servants!!

It’s all obscene in the extreme.

melina, i think it's the same world over, unfortunately. the bottom will fall out eventually. we have to hang in there.