It’s a Saturday arvo, I’ve quite a few scotches under my belt and ive only been to one of many social occaisions lined up for this weekend. Good times:-)
Certain things have been happening at work as of late, and one way or another next year is going to prove quite interesting and there will be a lot of change.
I can feel it too… Next year is going to be a big one! Adam agrees and feels the same. Maybe it’s the stars, or something else. One way or another, life will change dramatically.
*** BEGIN POLITICAL RANT ***
This one has really got me inflamed. The NSW State Government has GOT to go. A decade of pure incompetence, and just when one premier gets replaced by another we think isn’t so bad, he turns out to be even worse.
So the latest is that CityRail fares are increasing AGAIN, an average of 7.5%. This is AFTER many previous price increases, AFTER a horrendously failed attempt to “simplify” fares by introducing an e-ticketing system, and AFTER investigations of rampant corruption and wastage of money by RailCorp. And Premier Spin-Doctor Nathan Rees has the hide to mention that it was a “good win” for the commuters.
All of these price increases have been approved by iPART, a supposed independent body. Considering the corruption rampant elsewhere in the NSW Government, I have a lot of trouble trying to believe that. Looking at the report (published here), the reason that they have approved the expenditure is that they predict a blowout in costs due to the ageing of the rail fleet, and be able to make a profit of 7%.
CityRail costs $2.7 billion a year to run, $2 billion of that is funded by the State Government. WHAT A JOKE! I’ve known quite a few “insiders” at RailCorp, the level of incompetence and bloating inside the organisation is beyond funny. I’ve heard of one department being cut from 250 jobs down to 20, and the workers that remained had less to do. I’ve also heard (unconfirmed) that there are no less than 70 “senior managers” reporting directly to the CEO. Snouts in the trough, anyone?
What would be ultimate is to fire the lot of them, and rehire only those essentially needed. But wait, the government can’t do that. Political suicide. So, instead, privatise it. Let the market make it efficient, and if many heads roll, well that’s what needs to happen. Blame the evil corporations. The rest of Sydney will be dancing. Let’s hope that if the Liberals get in, that will be the first thing they do.
Speaking of the Liberals, thank f**ing God I have not heard so much of a few disgrunted peeps out of them lately. The worst thing they did in the last election was carry on with that pathetic campaign they did, and let their Kool-Aid drinking Religious Right out of their cages. They had the election handed to them on a silver platter, and they lost it.
If there’s any state Libs listening, here tip for the upcoming election… DON’T SAY ANYTHING. Just sit there smugly and say “I told you so”, and nothing else! You’ll win by a landslide.
*** END POLITICAL RANT ***
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Hi All !
Well, the competition is over. The last two days have been extremely wet and unflyable, preceded by two excellent soaring days. Thursday was a very strong day, 7-10kt thermals, minimal wind, with a 200km speed task that unfortunately is not so good for my lil’ ol’ bird. She is good on weak days but cannot keep up with the modern aircraft on strong days. However, I drove her as hard as she would go, getting a personal best and leaving me 4th overall at the end of the competition. Needless to say I’m stoked, I managed to achieve my three goals that I set out to achieve, namely:
a) Don’t break the aeroplane
b) Make it back to the airfield at the end of each day
c) Have fun
Tonight is final night, there will be some serious drinking involved. This will be my last Junior Nationals, as I now become too old to compete! So tonight will definitely be my swan song, I’ve been informed that I am not to leave under my own power. It’s also fancy dress, I’m sure there will be some very interesting photos come tomorrow….
Hope everyone else is well!
Gussy
Good evening all!
Sorry for the sparse updates, I’m down in Benalla at the moment, and the entire town has been without internets for the past few days.
So for those who don’t know why on earth I’m in a central Victorian country town, I’m here competing in the Australian Junior Nationals Gliding Championships with the sailplane I bought not long ago. She may be the oldest ship in the fleet, but the last two days I’ve flown her as best I could, getting me 7th place today and an astonishing 2nd place yesterday, leaving me at 5th after 2 days. I tell ya what though, I’m very very tired about now! I landed today after a gruelling three hour task, and said to myself “damn I’m fangin’ for a beer, root and a smoke about now” (I really do start talking like a bogan when I’m gliding a lot). Within ten minutes I had two of those three covered. As for the other, I think it’s gunna be a long week!!
