My logical perspective

Been a while. I think I'm posting to myself though because I can't find my blog online. Still, a way to get things off my chest without winging in the ears of friends.

TBC, :-)

That's coming from a shareholder.

Thank goodness I'm flying Air Pacific to Fiji on Monday. Yeah, I know. They do some weird stuff because of the regime in charge. Not the people's fault though.

There has been lots of discussion in the Sydney papers about the NRL around the new Commission and the next TV rights deal.

I like the idea of a commission but I fail to see how it will truly affect the way the NRL is run today.  Sure, it takes out some of the current warring factions - QRL, ARL, NRL, other state bodies - and commercial companies like News Ltd who perhaps hold too much sway in decision making, but I don't see how it will alter the game as a whole...other than to allow more clubs to be privatised, like the Knights

Associated with these articles is discussion and the presumption that the next TV rights deal due next year will rake in $1billion+.  Foxtel is the only subscriber TV service so why would they pay that money?  They have no competitor for pay TV.  Channel Nine don't need to buy pay TV out to get free to air access as there is legislation that free to air must get first dibs on sport and only Channel 10 appear to want to challenge Nine for the free to air rights.  Channel 7 appear to have decided to drop it for AFL.  The ABC and SBS can't compete due to small pockets.

I just don't see Foxtel, Nine or Ten offering anywhere near $1billion.  I can't see it getting over half of that.  If there is no auction there is nothing to push the price up and without TV the NRL won't exist.  The TV channels have the upper hand.

Channel Nine not showing games live after buying rights is an issue but not for the viewers.  I'm more than happy for Nine to edit out the dead time in a game.

I was visiting an Aunt and Uncle the other day.  The conversation turned to my uncle giving his son a lift to work.  Dennis (his son) lives 150m if that from a bus stop that goes to a main train station and 300m from a bus stop that does express service to the city (where he needed to go) in the morning.  Turns out he'd convinced my uncle that he needed a pre-paid ticket to get the bus.  Poppy-cock!  Only at major stations and in the city.  Perhaps on the express, but he wanted to go to the train station anyway.

Then it became apparent that my uncle's granddaughter was getting lifts to college because she didn't want to walk from Central to Broadway - 300m!  She was scared she might get accosted by some weirdo she hasn't ever seen yet...in broad daylight  And my uncle was agreeing to it.  Soft touch!

That's why Sydneysiders don't use the bus.  Nothing to do with poor service, lack of buses, dirty buses, poor routing.  They are being pampered by relatives to taxi them around.  Don't get me started on taxis.  They are the worst drivers on the road.  I'll deal with that anotehr time.

I don't know what you all think about that out there but I think it is lazy, hysterical and crazy.  I spoke my mind (nothing unusual about that) and would be surprised if my uncle gave any more lifts when a good bus or train service was close by.  I'd also be surprised if my cousins and their kids were talking to me for a while.  :-)

I love the bus system around these parts.  I think it is fantastic.  I don't know why Sydneysiders are always whinging about it.  And the train system is great too.  If a train is 2mins late, then think of it as the next one is 5mins early.  What's 2mins these days anyway?  I agree there should be more train lines put in such as down the M2 for the Norwesties and from Epping to Parramatta and perhaps on to Campbelltown for the westies who work in the westies, not the city, but what is there already is excellent.

Okay.  Declaration first.  I'm a Telstra shareholder.  But this isn't about Telstra.  It's about investing for the future. 

Australia stands to benefit from a fast broadband network.  We are a country that sells mostly primary produce but produces little else.  We invent some amazing things but are often so far from a potential market the ideas get sold off to another country or researchers move to get funding.  We are remote from the rest of the world so going to markets around the globe to advertise a product or garner investment in development is very expensive.  Our farmers have relied on radio reports for long range weather forecasts to make educated guesses when to plant.  Students rely on books in a library.  Lots of business in country is done face to face so we burn lots of fossil fuels.

What if we could advertise on the World Wide Web and reach several billion prospective customers at the touch of a button, from the comfort of the best country on the planet, access soil and weather reports instantly, communicate with other researchers around the world via video from our labs or homes, conduct management meetings between cities face to face via video conference, the list goes on.

A fast, stable internet will open Australian businesses up to the world, provide education research tools to researchers and school kids, bring more technology to our farmers to better judge when to plant or harvest and to miners where to drill. 

Yes, the cost to implement the NBN will be more than other countries.  Why?  Because we have 20million people spread across 7.6 million square kms.  There are wide open spaces between towns and farms.  Today, a report was published coparing the cost of the NBN to the network in Korea.  Not a fair comparison.  Korea is 73 million people spread over 173,000 square kms.  An apples for apples comparison might be Russia or Canada having a similar population density.  Not the USA as it has a population density 15 times Australia's.

We built the Sydney Harbour Bridge to take 8 lanes of traffic and two lines of trains when there were almost no cars.  The NBN is a similar investment in our future.  It's great to see some politicians do something for the long term good of the nation rather than short term to get re-elected.  It's becoming tedious to see the Federal Opposition opposing things for the sake of opposing things.  The Coalition spent 11 years in government letting our infrastructure run down.  The present government is building new infrastructure and investing in the future.  Maybe I'll write about levies another time.

Get on board Australia!

From the time I first saw this advertisement I knew it wasn't what it was purported to be.

For the first couple of months, every update explained why the price of at least one fruit or vegetable was going up.  Now, every second or third day the news is bad while others preach of new varieties of a fruit or vegetable, like it shoulod be.  For example:

Broccoli is now in season.  Look for firm green foliage and stiff stalks.  Unfortunately, due to heavy frost, tomatoes from the Riverina have been ruined so the price of tomatoes will remain firm for a few more weeks until the Armidale crops ripen.

Never mind that they have 2 years worth in the freezer.  Pass on the price NOW!

Another big corporation (just like electricity) finding any excuse to put up prices.

A topic dear to my heart.

I live near a beach (not the one in the photo but close) and swim a lot, almost daily.  I like my budgie smugglers.  They are more comfortable when swimming than shorts.  I don't see a problem with them, on me or others just like I don't oibject to women wearing bikinis.  I have no problem with Tony Abbott wearing them at the beach, regardless of whethe rthe media chooses to photograph him wearing them or not.  Budgies are an Australian icon.  If you dislike budgies or think they should be banned, you are being un-Australian!

I do however agree that they should only be visible at the beach or in a swimming centre.  They should not be worn without shorts commuting to those appropriate locations, including from your car, public transport (God forbid people wearing them on the bus or train!) or house to the beach or swimming centre.  Wearing a T-shirt over them does not excuse this if the budgies are visible.

I do object to men showing off their undies above their shorts or trousers.  That is plain crude and ugly!

First blog so a recent topic to try out.

What's with the Iron Cove Bridge extension. 

I work at Concord.  I travel over the ICB 3 times a week.  My trip time between Balmain and the Gladesville Bridge just tripled.  The road goes from 3 lanes to a bus lane plus two lanes over the new bridge to two lanes of which buses stop to drop off and pick up in the left lane so it is really 1 lane for cars.  3 lanes to 1 lane.  That works!

There must be 60% of the number of cars going to the CBD going west.  Remember the ones going west?