Good Morning Monday, 4th November 2024

Good morning to you all on this momentous Monday.

Quite cool and overcast today temperature only in the low 20s and rain forecast for this evening.

A bit like the Spanish Inquisition I remembered there are four things happening tomorrow, The Melbourne Cup (the race that stops a nation), Guy Fawkes Night (not really celebrated here), the American Election AND I get to look after my youngest son’s dog for a couple of weeks while he goes to the NT.

To be fair the yank election is mostly on Wednesday for us so we wake up to the results coming in.

I have just returned from my least favourite pastime, my check up at the Dentist, he took lots of pictures, did the usual clean and fluoride treatment but every minute was hell. At least I don’t have to go back until June.

On the bright side it was my coffee and cake meeting this morning but I had to rush away for my dental appointment.

According to the radar the rain is already on its way so it looks like a wet arvo.

Hope you have a better Monday than a visit to the Dentist.

Take care…

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Good morning!
Cloudy & dull but dry

My flat is now fairly tidy, and I’m trying to keep it that way, so pottering & a bit of cleaning this morning

A local community centre has started regular craft sessions on Monday afternoons but I haven’t been there yet as I’ve been ill, and I plan on going there today for the first time.
I’ve been to a couple of other places and their craft sessions are mostly knitting, felt work, and painting, which are all well & good, but they don’t really interest me, I’m looking for something tougher, for want of a better expression

I’ve seen photographs of today’s place, and they do things like wood carving, stick making, and probably other activities as well
So I’ll take a few bits & pieces & finished items of my hobbies - knife making & leatherwork - to show what I do, and see how I get on.

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Morning all – another dull and overcast day

My relatives are sending me pictures of their Christmas decorations – it’s not even December! Is that normal in Australia or is it just my weird family?

My neighbour called in yesterday and we discovered my doorbell wasn’t working! A little while later I saw him by my front door taking the bell apart, he replaced the battery and it is now working (all without being asked!).

More loud fireworks last night – hoping there will be a respite tonight before tomorrow night’s explosions!

I was due to meet up with a friend today but she has cancelled due to being unwell – bit of a disappointment as we always have a great time so apart from some grocery shopping not much planned for the day

Take care – have a lovely day everyone

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I don’t know about weird, we always waited until 1st December to put up decorations but Christmas decorations are in the shops already.

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Good morning - Home again after being admitted as an emergency in the back of an ambulance to A&E last Tuesday evening. Kidney in trouble. Nephrostomy fitted the day after admission and good now good enough to be at home. Feeling really washed out though. Onwards and upwards.

Have a good day :slight_smile:

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Jobs for today include installing a new router. Those nice people from BT have just delivered me (through Royal Mail) several boxes of electronic stuff, heaven knows what’s in them all.

So I will be able to post on here a lot quicker and more efficiently than previously (about the only thing I use the internet for) or…I might be absent from the forum for a while until I can sort it out… :017:
I have an appointment later with the audiologist, It’s not all good, I can’t possibly wear the hearing enhancement devices all the time as he suggested, and apart from hearing the telly better and understanding what people are saying, I’ve fount very little benefit elsewhere.
Considering I spend a large proportion of my time alone, either walking, running or inventing stuff in the workshop, there doesn’t seem much point in wearing the devices all the time. And my hearing is quite adequate when nobody is talking to, or at me… :094:

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Good morning, from Florida, Friends of the Forum!

@Mart, good grief! I am so terribly sorry you had to go to the emergency room, but relieved that it was an effective “fix”. I hope it works like a charm. I know it’s taxing to go through such an ordeal.

After moping about over the time change, I faced the music that it it will be dark by five. That means that sunset runs are out, so I was up at five to squeeze one in. It was pure pleasure with no one on the trail, enabling me to detach at the brain stem. 'm finally settling down with a cup of chai before heading into town, like Bruce, for the excitement of a dental checkup - which I love, especially the Prophy Jet that is half pressure washer and half sand blaster. I’d install one here at the house, if I could.

As @Bruce mentioned, the topic of the day is the elections tomorrow, thankfully when going out into the world, people are going about their day. I have the flag ready to unfurl to celebrate the process, my fellow citizens, and the blissful end of political advertisements :sunglasses:. My only complaint about Election Day is that I believe our voters should have the day off.

I’ll be wrestling the dogs into the shower later for “dog factory” since my son will be over later. It’s a like an assembly line, I wash, one of the kids towels the dog off, and the next one finishes the drying process with the hair dryer. It’s literally wash, rinse, repeat! It is not the chaos it was when we had five, but the " The Kids" or younger dogs act like bucking broncos through the whole thing. Somehow the house and I always end up more drenched than anyone :rofl:.

Christmas decorations, @Sheila? They are out in the stores here, but thankfully not adorning anyone’s homes yet. It’s all I can do to toss decorations up a couple of weeks beforehand and sling a few gifts under the tree in time for New Year’s! Once again, your neighbors have come to your rescue - good folk!

It finally rained in the night, so I don’t have to swap the gardening out for xeriscaping, but I shouldn’t smart off too much, because - incredibly - there is a late-season storm brewing in the gulf. Someone remind the hurricane designer that this is November.

Good luck today @OFG, hopefully you can sort out those hearing aids.

Alright, responsibility begs.

Have a good day!

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One of the good things about Australian elections is that they are always on a Saturday so most people have the day off anyway however the trend is for pre-poll voting, I had to queue last time I pre polled! They don’t even bother to ask any more why you are pre-polling it has become so common.

@mart sorry to hear that you have been unwell again.

@OldGreyFox enjoy your packages! Doesn’t everyone enjoy receiving packages, I know I do no matter the contents.

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The problem with Saturdays is that people have so many recreational plans that I am not sure they would prioritize voting. Give citizens a weekday off with proof of pre-voting or voting seems like an even better incentive.

I prefer voting by mail, except that I hand deliver my ballot to make sure it gets there. No lines.

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Or make voting compulsory as it is here, its a civic duty, then everybody has a say and no one complains about the result, you get the government you deserve and there is always the democracy sausage outside the booth - an essential feature at every election

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Sorry I must have missed your post Mart, I was alarmed to hear about your recent experience, hope you’re home and getting plenty of rest now. Life has a habit of throwing us a curved ball when we least expect it…You’re a fighter though Mart. All the best mate…
:+1

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Genuinely interested. What’s the consequence of not voting, Bruce?

Do they offer veggie democracy dogs too? :grin:

There is a fine which varies from state to state but you have to be pretty dumb to end up paying a fine. The turnout is usually about 98%, politics is rarely talked about here except at election time but voting is taken very seriously.

Wash yer mouth out! :wink:

Sorry @Surfermom I just looked it up, the turnout at the last federal election was 92% not as high I I remembered.

Also our elections are preferential not “first past the post” so every candidate is numbered in the order you like them. To win, a candidate must get 50% of the cast votes plus one vote

So much for the protection of minority rights :crazy_face:.

Your turnout is respectfully high! Votes are still being counted, but appears that there was a record turnout across demographics for this election. Compulsory voting is considered to be inconsistent with the 1st Amendment.

Good stuff comparing the nuances of governments. The Constitiution was framed intentionally to be a living document, so I lean into ever evaluating.

Good stuff.

I was thinking exactly the same thing Surfer. It appears that people are not as free in Australia as they think they are with fines imposed for failure to vote and also weren’t there fines for not having the covid jab? I understand people were actually attacked by the police in Melbourne for refusing to have the vaccine. Sounds like it’s turning into a bit of police state…

You must find life hell in the UK having to obey incursions on your freedom such as speed limits, paying rates or jury duty. Voting is just a civic duty, you turn up get your name crossed off the roll and are given a ballot paper(s) , what you actually do with it after that is entirely up to you - draw a cock and balls if you like but the government you get is the government you deserve.

You could argue that the British are less free because you live in a plutocracy, only get to elect your government every five years (whereas we can change ours every three years) and don’t have an English Parliament.

As for Covid, health is a state responsibility so what happens in Melbourne doesn’t happen in NSW or SA

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Just an observation from a long way away Bruce…
:nerd_face:

It is not a police state but it is a nanny state.