As Victoria rushes to stem the tide of COVID, other Australian states look on, both sympathetic and protective of their own safety. Borders are closing. The Queenslanders (with the whole of New South Wales between them and Victoria) even suspect Victorians of smuggling themselves across the border on freight trucks. Maybe it's true but it … Continue reading Politics, Heroes and Victims
P came into the kitchen today, clearly with something on his mind. Turns out there was a 4Corners episode about the government's decision not to bail out Virgin but how they quietly have bailed out Rex airlines instead. Turns out the CEO of Rex airlines is an ex leader of the National Party. No conflict … Continue reading Rex vs Virgin
Right now, this pandemic (it seems to me) is heading into Phase 2. If you live where I do, it feels like a memory already but I tend to tell myself that we're just on holiday. We're simply in the eye of the storm. Even just a few hundred kilometres south, Melbourne is calling … Continue reading On COVID
We started with fires and then muddy mires, then a lockdown of worldwide trade Then Scomo's spat with China, well that's nothing minor when your economy needs First Aid. And now... what the blazes? So many malaises! It's that incorrigible school house pot. Most of the nation in enforced isolation but it seems the … Continue reading Living in 2020
I am fascinated by the dispute between Australia and China. China doesn't want the origins of COVID19 investigated by foreign nations. They are flexing their (not insignificant) economic muscles and threatening tariffs on some Australian goods. Australia doesn't need extra threats to its economy right now. But even I, who tries very hard not to … Continue reading A little dabble with Winnie
My mood is like a lung - the in and out of it. Some days it's all like nails down a blackboard - screeching and impossible. It's the sheer amount of work to be done. Cooking, schooling, cleaning, chickens, garden, shopping... it rolls on and on, ignoring the arms of the clock. Imagine if I … Continue reading The Essential Ingredient
I am not a sailor. I get seasick pretty easily and am quite terrified of big weather on land, let alone at sea. But I have heard that one threat to the sea-faring sailor, is the existence of submerged shipping containers, floating invisibly beneath the waves. Imagine the shock of running into one! The thing … Continue reading Submerged Containers
Last night, I sent a British friend a message wishing her Happy Mother's Day, just in case they celebrate Mother's Day the same day we do (they don't). Anyway, she sent me an article about Anna Jarvis... the woman who created Mother's Day. It was an interesting read. None of Anna's descendants celebrate Mother's Day … Continue reading Mother’s Day
The last ten days have been tough - trying to figure out this home schooling thing. And I must admit that I have blamed a lot of my angst on poor communication on the part of the teachers. As a parent with two children, I am having very different experiences with the two class levels. One … Continue reading The School Scenario
I learned today that there is a group of economists around who question the "cost" of the suppression method. How will we (as a nation) pay back the massive debt the government is currently incurring by trying to keep the economy afloat while having so much of the country shut down? It's a fair question. … Continue reading The thing I don’t get…
