In Australia, there are lawyers, and then there are lawyers. There are actually two levels of lawyers. There are the lower, basic lawyers, called lawyers. Then there are more senior lawyers, called barristers.
Barristers are very expensive, and are granted the title by the bar.
When one becomes a barrister, they are referred to as "Master". If I were a barrister, then I would be referred to as Master Larson in the court.
My friend Loretta works for a law firm. She told me that there is a very nice Barrister in town that used to work for her brother's firm named Mr. Bates.
Honest to God. That is not a joke. I'll let you figure out the rest of it. I've love to be on the jury in a case he represents. I would be on the floor laughing.
Thursday, July 15, 2004
Friday, July 09, 2004
Police Rant
I wanna rant about the police here. If you all back in the US think that Australia is a peaceful and fair land, you are wrong. The police here are terrible. No better than the criminals in my opionion.
My problem with them is that they are worthless at best, and corrupt at worst.
Within a week of getting here, I was on the train and this local started talking to me. He discovered that I had just moved here from the US. He gave me some advice. He told me that if I ever get involved with the police, then expect a "phone book massage". He told me the best way to survive this is to roll back and forth so the phone books do not hit the same part of your body twice if it can be helped. It distrubutes the blows across your body.
For those who don't know, a "phone book massage" is a beating where they use a phone book as the weapon. When you use a phone book, it doesn't leave the tell-tale bruises and wounds that can be used as evidence of the beating.
Secondly, I was told by locals when I got here to never leave anything in a car. They said someone will break the window and steal it.
Lets just start with burglery. Perth has the highest burlary rate in Australia. It is much worse than in the US. You can't leave your home unlock, even when you are home. You can't leave anything of value in your car. It will get stolen.
This one really boils my blood. You never see police patrols in the neigborhoods. You never see the police just driving around checking things out, looking for people that don't belong there.
Perth is a big city of suburbs. Most people live in houses. So during the day, most neighborhoods are empty as people go to work. It makes great pickings for home burglers. They can drive around all day and not get harassed.
The police never respond to burgleries any more. They just sit on their asses, hand you a report to fill out, and tell you file an insurance claim.
I know this because about 60 percent of the people I work with have had their homes burglerized at least once. Only said the police bothered to come out.
There are many reasons for this sorry state of affairs.
First, the whole state only has one PD. Seriously. That is how they do it here. There is the Western Australian Police Department. They do all law enforcement for an area the size of the western US from the Missispi River to the Pacific Ocean.
The closed all the smaller local police stations years ago in a move to consolidate services. There are only 3 or regional super stations in Perth.
Now the problem with having only one PD, is that they have no accountability. They are charge of policing themselves. This leads to one hell of a lot of corruption. As a citizen, you don't get to vote on the chief. In fact, you can't go down to the cheifs office and pound your fist on the desk and demand that they put a stop to the brazen theives.
Officers that don't cooperate may find themselves assigned to a beat literally out of the middle of nowhere, thousands of miles from there home.
I've been trying to figure out why the insurance industry has not demanded that the police get off their asses and find out where all these stolen items are getting fenced. When I received quotes on my home burglary insurnace it all became clear. They charge a fortune, $80 a month in my case. They simply pass the costs onto the public.
A few weeks ago I was helping Loretta prepare her rental property for a new tenent. It is a house in a medium neighborhood. We had the front door open and we where in the kitchen painting. Suddenly she screamed. There was a teenage (about 19) Aborignal man standing in the middle of the living room looking around. He had just walked in like he owned the place. He was suprised to see he was caught and claimed he was looking for a glass of water. That was pure BS of course. He walked by the hose outside to get in. It was a cold day, about 6 in the evening. There is a corner store at the end of the block you can see.
I followed him outside. He walked over to this car full of other young male Aborginals, who then slowly drove off cruising the neighborhood looking for homes to break into.
Loretta told me that this is common, especially in the summer when people open their doors to get a breeze. It even happened in her house a few times. Burglers just walk or drive down the street. When they see a door open, or just a screen door, then walk in and grab what ever they find.
Part of this problem, IMHO, are the gun control laws in this country. If the burglers knew that they would have a good chance of getting their heads blown off, then they might think twice before walking into someone's home uninvited.
Basically, only the criminals get the carry weapons, and they do. And the public just has to take it. The cops get to carry sidearms. But they are too busy protecting the speed trap cameras from outraged citizens to bother to respond to calls of criminals breaking into a home.
Now here is the icing on the cake are far as I am concerned. What the police have decided to do about this problem is launch a PR campaign. Yup. They are spending valuable tax dollars on posters and TV ads. There are two campaigns. One targeted to the burglers. The other targeted to the victims.
Lets start with the victims ads. They have a serious of public service announcement style spots where a friendly officer goes how how to keep from being a victim. In one particlar ad, she talks about how you should always leave your glove box and ash tray open so theives can see there is nothing valuable inside. She advises that you never lock anything of value inside your car, even for a minute.
Others talk about how to lock your home up tight, even when at home. How to put locks on screen doors, don't have open windows on the street.
These ads made me so mad that I wanted to kick the TV. So what they are saying is that we the public should live in parinoid fear and turn our homes into little jails. Bullshit. How about this? How about the police spend their energy busting these criminals? How about getting off your asses and finding about where all this stolen loot is being fenced? How busting heads of the criminals you know to get answers? How about patrolling my streets when I am away at work? Grrrr. Do your damn job.
The other ad campaign is targeted to crimanals. It features a slick TV ad that looks like a plug for CSI. Fancy graphics show DNA being analyzed in a darked high-tech lab by white-coated technicions. I deep menacing voice claims "You leave part of yourself behind at every burglery. You leave some DNA. We will use this DNA to find you and throw you in prison!".
Ooooooh. I bet they are so scared. Hey bozo police... News Flash! Did you realize that you actually have to bother to show up and investigate a break-in to gather the DNA evidence? Since as far as I know you guys do nothing put rubber stamp theft reports for insurance claims at the central office, how are you going to bust people with fancy DNA anaylysis?
So there you go. Stupid solutions for serious problems. It gets worse.
Next topic. Corruption. This is out of control all over Australia. I don't know any Aussies that trust the police. There are stories every day about how cops here and there are found aiding criminals, stealing, killing, and so on.
In particular, there are two cases here in Perth that illustrate how bad it is. First, there is the case the the Perth Mint Swindle. Back in the mid 80's, someone, or some group, stole some gold from the Perth Mint.
The police blamed it three brothers, the Micklebergs. The three brothers were convicted on very flimsy evidence and thrown in prison for a very long time.
In the last couple of years, one of the detectives on the case decided to come clean. It turns out that he and some other detectives had fabricated all the evidence. They had beaten the Mickleberg boys at remote police stations. When they still refused to confess, they simply made the confessions up.
Last week, after 20 years, the bothers finally had their convictions reversed. There is a good book about all of this. It is called "The Mickleberg Stitch".
The other case concerns the other detective involved in fabricating the Mickleberg evidence. He was a senior detective named Don Hancock. After he took early retirement, he bought a bar out near Kalgoolie.
A few years ago some bikers (Hell's Angel types) got into a row in his bar. He threw them out. It apparently was no big deal... just the usual weekend brawl between drunk bikies. The bikers went over their camp site outside of town and sat around the campfire drinking beer.
A shot rang out the only house nearby. On the bikers was shot through the skull from a high-powered rifle.
The evidence was clear as a bell to everyone involved. The only house nearby belonged to Don Hancock. The path of the bullet came from the house. He had rifles, being ex-law enforcement and all. He had a grudge against the bikers he had thrown out of his bar.
But, the police did nothing. They refused in investigate. When forced, they somehow could not come up with anything. They said the muder was a complete mystery to them.
After a number of years of stonewalling it became apparent to the bikers that nothing was going to be done. So they took things into their own hands and blew Don Hancock up with a car bomb. Don and a friend went to the horse races for an afternoon of betting and drinking. When they got back into their car, it exploded, killing them both instantly. Someone had placed a bomb under the car while they were inside.
Of course the police were all over this. They eventually got some low ranking biker to admit to it. They had him somewhere for three weeks getting info out of him. It saw his photo after the confession. To me, he looked like he had been tortured. He looked like those American POW's you saw having to apolgize on TV in Vietnam.
After Don Hancock was murdered, his partner detective, Tony Louwinski, decided to come clean out the Micklebergs. He claims he waited so long because he was afraid of Hancock.
It turns out Hancock was as dirty and mean as they came. It doesn't seem to me that the police are at all suprised that he got what was coming to him. To me it illustrates how bad the corruption is.
There is more. The police investigate themselves. They comission reports to, get this, the police. So, there are no checks on their activities.
Recently, the boyfriend of a friend of mine got into a scrap with the police. He was on a party riverboat when two of the patrons got too rowdy and started breaking things. The captain called the police. When the boat docked, the two rowdy guys took off on foot. Then the police showed up and arrested my friend's buyfriend.
He protested telling them they had the wrong guy. The captain even told the police that the two guys had left and they had the wrong guy. The police didn't care. They eventually let him go, but they decided to charge him with a felony, resisting arrest.
There were two cops there. A guy and a woman. The woman cop tired to tell the guy cop that he had the wrong guy, but he wouldn't listen.
Her boyfriend is a law student, and nice guy. He was very ticked off. So he pleaded not guilty and demanded a trial. The prosecuter tried to offer him a deal on a lesser charge. He refused.
In June his trial came up. He showed up with his friends who had been on the boat as witnesses. He also got the captain there. He suponed the female officer, but she refused to show up. The guy officer lied like a rug under oath. The boyfriend and the other witnesses could not believe some of the outright lies he was telling.
He was sure the female officer refused to show up for the trial because she would have to perjure herself under cross examination. Either that, or get blacklisted and posted out in the middle of the desert.
He was aquitted. Fortunately for him, the judge could smell bullshit when he heard it. Good thing too because if he had lost, he would not be able to get licensed to practive law when he graduates because of a felony on his record.
My problem with them is that they are worthless at best, and corrupt at worst.
Within a week of getting here, I was on the train and this local started talking to me. He discovered that I had just moved here from the US. He gave me some advice. He told me that if I ever get involved with the police, then expect a "phone book massage". He told me the best way to survive this is to roll back and forth so the phone books do not hit the same part of your body twice if it can be helped. It distrubutes the blows across your body.
For those who don't know, a "phone book massage" is a beating where they use a phone book as the weapon. When you use a phone book, it doesn't leave the tell-tale bruises and wounds that can be used as evidence of the beating.
Secondly, I was told by locals when I got here to never leave anything in a car. They said someone will break the window and steal it.
Lets just start with burglery. Perth has the highest burlary rate in Australia. It is much worse than in the US. You can't leave your home unlock, even when you are home. You can't leave anything of value in your car. It will get stolen.
This one really boils my blood. You never see police patrols in the neigborhoods. You never see the police just driving around checking things out, looking for people that don't belong there.
Perth is a big city of suburbs. Most people live in houses. So during the day, most neighborhoods are empty as people go to work. It makes great pickings for home burglers. They can drive around all day and not get harassed.
The police never respond to burgleries any more. They just sit on their asses, hand you a report to fill out, and tell you file an insurance claim.
I know this because about 60 percent of the people I work with have had their homes burglerized at least once. Only said the police bothered to come out.
There are many reasons for this sorry state of affairs.
First, the whole state only has one PD. Seriously. That is how they do it here. There is the Western Australian Police Department. They do all law enforcement for an area the size of the western US from the Missispi River to the Pacific Ocean.
The closed all the smaller local police stations years ago in a move to consolidate services. There are only 3 or regional super stations in Perth.
Now the problem with having only one PD, is that they have no accountability. They are charge of policing themselves. This leads to one hell of a lot of corruption. As a citizen, you don't get to vote on the chief. In fact, you can't go down to the cheifs office and pound your fist on the desk and demand that they put a stop to the brazen theives.
Officers that don't cooperate may find themselves assigned to a beat literally out of the middle of nowhere, thousands of miles from there home.
I've been trying to figure out why the insurance industry has not demanded that the police get off their asses and find out where all these stolen items are getting fenced. When I received quotes on my home burglary insurnace it all became clear. They charge a fortune, $80 a month in my case. They simply pass the costs onto the public.
A few weeks ago I was helping Loretta prepare her rental property for a new tenent. It is a house in a medium neighborhood. We had the front door open and we where in the kitchen painting. Suddenly she screamed. There was a teenage (about 19) Aborignal man standing in the middle of the living room looking around. He had just walked in like he owned the place. He was suprised to see he was caught and claimed he was looking for a glass of water. That was pure BS of course. He walked by the hose outside to get in. It was a cold day, about 6 in the evening. There is a corner store at the end of the block you can see.
I followed him outside. He walked over to this car full of other young male Aborginals, who then slowly drove off cruising the neighborhood looking for homes to break into.
Loretta told me that this is common, especially in the summer when people open their doors to get a breeze. It even happened in her house a few times. Burglers just walk or drive down the street. When they see a door open, or just a screen door, then walk in and grab what ever they find.
Part of this problem, IMHO, are the gun control laws in this country. If the burglers knew that they would have a good chance of getting their heads blown off, then they might think twice before walking into someone's home uninvited.
Basically, only the criminals get the carry weapons, and they do. And the public just has to take it. The cops get to carry sidearms. But they are too busy protecting the speed trap cameras from outraged citizens to bother to respond to calls of criminals breaking into a home.
Now here is the icing on the cake are far as I am concerned. What the police have decided to do about this problem is launch a PR campaign. Yup. They are spending valuable tax dollars on posters and TV ads. There are two campaigns. One targeted to the burglers. The other targeted to the victims.
Lets start with the victims ads. They have a serious of public service announcement style spots where a friendly officer goes how how to keep from being a victim. In one particlar ad, she talks about how you should always leave your glove box and ash tray open so theives can see there is nothing valuable inside. She advises that you never lock anything of value inside your car, even for a minute.
Others talk about how to lock your home up tight, even when at home. How to put locks on screen doors, don't have open windows on the street.
These ads made me so mad that I wanted to kick the TV. So what they are saying is that we the public should live in parinoid fear and turn our homes into little jails. Bullshit. How about this? How about the police spend their energy busting these criminals? How about getting off your asses and finding about where all this stolen loot is being fenced? How busting heads of the criminals you know to get answers? How about patrolling my streets when I am away at work? Grrrr. Do your damn job.
The other ad campaign is targeted to crimanals. It features a slick TV ad that looks like a plug for CSI. Fancy graphics show DNA being analyzed in a darked high-tech lab by white-coated technicions. I deep menacing voice claims "You leave part of yourself behind at every burglery. You leave some DNA. We will use this DNA to find you and throw you in prison!".
Ooooooh. I bet they are so scared. Hey bozo police... News Flash! Did you realize that you actually have to bother to show up and investigate a break-in to gather the DNA evidence? Since as far as I know you guys do nothing put rubber stamp theft reports for insurance claims at the central office, how are you going to bust people with fancy DNA anaylysis?
So there you go. Stupid solutions for serious problems. It gets worse.
Next topic. Corruption. This is out of control all over Australia. I don't know any Aussies that trust the police. There are stories every day about how cops here and there are found aiding criminals, stealing, killing, and so on.
In particular, there are two cases here in Perth that illustrate how bad it is. First, there is the case the the Perth Mint Swindle. Back in the mid 80's, someone, or some group, stole some gold from the Perth Mint.
The police blamed it three brothers, the Micklebergs. The three brothers were convicted on very flimsy evidence and thrown in prison for a very long time.
In the last couple of years, one of the detectives on the case decided to come clean. It turns out that he and some other detectives had fabricated all the evidence. They had beaten the Mickleberg boys at remote police stations. When they still refused to confess, they simply made the confessions up.
Last week, after 20 years, the bothers finally had their convictions reversed. There is a good book about all of this. It is called "The Mickleberg Stitch".
The other case concerns the other detective involved in fabricating the Mickleberg evidence. He was a senior detective named Don Hancock. After he took early retirement, he bought a bar out near Kalgoolie.
A few years ago some bikers (Hell's Angel types) got into a row in his bar. He threw them out. It apparently was no big deal... just the usual weekend brawl between drunk bikies. The bikers went over their camp site outside of town and sat around the campfire drinking beer.
A shot rang out the only house nearby. On the bikers was shot through the skull from a high-powered rifle.
The evidence was clear as a bell to everyone involved. The only house nearby belonged to Don Hancock. The path of the bullet came from the house. He had rifles, being ex-law enforcement and all. He had a grudge against the bikers he had thrown out of his bar.
But, the police did nothing. They refused in investigate. When forced, they somehow could not come up with anything. They said the muder was a complete mystery to them.
After a number of years of stonewalling it became apparent to the bikers that nothing was going to be done. So they took things into their own hands and blew Don Hancock up with a car bomb. Don and a friend went to the horse races for an afternoon of betting and drinking. When they got back into their car, it exploded, killing them both instantly. Someone had placed a bomb under the car while they were inside.
Of course the police were all over this. They eventually got some low ranking biker to admit to it. They had him somewhere for three weeks getting info out of him. It saw his photo after the confession. To me, he looked like he had been tortured. He looked like those American POW's you saw having to apolgize on TV in Vietnam.
After Don Hancock was murdered, his partner detective, Tony Louwinski, decided to come clean out the Micklebergs. He claims he waited so long because he was afraid of Hancock.
It turns out Hancock was as dirty and mean as they came. It doesn't seem to me that the police are at all suprised that he got what was coming to him. To me it illustrates how bad the corruption is.
There is more. The police investigate themselves. They comission reports to, get this, the police. So, there are no checks on their activities.
Recently, the boyfriend of a friend of mine got into a scrap with the police. He was on a party riverboat when two of the patrons got too rowdy and started breaking things. The captain called the police. When the boat docked, the two rowdy guys took off on foot. Then the police showed up and arrested my friend's buyfriend.
He protested telling them they had the wrong guy. The captain even told the police that the two guys had left and they had the wrong guy. The police didn't care. They eventually let him go, but they decided to charge him with a felony, resisting arrest.
There were two cops there. A guy and a woman. The woman cop tired to tell the guy cop that he had the wrong guy, but he wouldn't listen.
Her boyfriend is a law student, and nice guy. He was very ticked off. So he pleaded not guilty and demanded a trial. The prosecuter tried to offer him a deal on a lesser charge. He refused.
In June his trial came up. He showed up with his friends who had been on the boat as witnesses. He also got the captain there. He suponed the female officer, but she refused to show up. The guy officer lied like a rug under oath. The boyfriend and the other witnesses could not believe some of the outright lies he was telling.
He was sure the female officer refused to show up for the trial because she would have to perjure herself under cross examination. Either that, or get blacklisted and posted out in the middle of the desert.
He was aquitted. Fortunately for him, the judge could smell bullshit when he heard it. Good thing too because if he had lost, he would not be able to get licensed to practive law when he graduates because of a felony on his record.
Police get demoted
The detectives who were involved in the brawl with the American university students were demoted back to beat police. They may be fired. The police union is of course claiming that this is all a bunch of nothing.
They are wrong. These detectives used their police power for personal revenge matters. They abused their authority.
The police where holding one of the American students in jail and trying to charge him with assaulting an officer and all sorts of crap. He was the one that managed to get a clean punch in and knock out the front teeth of one of the detectives.
However, the prosecutors refused to file charges claiming that everyone was at fault for the brawl and no blame could be laid on one person. The student flew home to the States. I don't blame him. The cops will be looking for him and trying to make his life hell.
They are wrong. These detectives used their police power for personal revenge matters. They abused their authority.
The police where holding one of the American students in jail and trying to charge him with assaulting an officer and all sorts of crap. He was the one that managed to get a clean punch in and knock out the front teeth of one of the detectives.
However, the prosecutors refused to file charges claiming that everyone was at fault for the brawl and no blame could be laid on one person. The student flew home to the States. I don't blame him. The cops will be looking for him and trying to make his life hell.
Crazies
We have a receptionist here at IBM. Actually, two part time ones. They sit by themselves on the first floor dealing with a million things. It is thankless job. Most quite after a few months.
They have a panic button they can hit if they need help. It triggers a flashing light up in the sales floor where most people work. When the light goes off, most people jump and check on lobby. It only takes a few steps to get where you can peer down the atrium to see what is going on.
Most often, it is a false alarm. Usually a new receptionist hits the button by mistake. However, no alarm is ignored. We always check. It wouldn't take but a few seconds to round up some big guys should there be the need.
I often talk to them. They are very nice, and I think a tad lonely for something other than people demanding this or that.
One of the receptionist told me about an incident from last year, I think. This guy walked in and told her that he had invented DOS back in the mid 1960's and he was here to collect his royalties. She just laughed, until she realized he was dead serious. He started getting belligerent and demanding his money. She had to call the police on him.
It turns out he was an inmate at the local loony-bin, Greylands Hospital, who was out on a day pass.
They have a panic button they can hit if they need help. It triggers a flashing light up in the sales floor where most people work. When the light goes off, most people jump and check on lobby. It only takes a few steps to get where you can peer down the atrium to see what is going on.
Most often, it is a false alarm. Usually a new receptionist hits the button by mistake. However, no alarm is ignored. We always check. It wouldn't take but a few seconds to round up some big guys should there be the need.
I often talk to them. They are very nice, and I think a tad lonely for something other than people demanding this or that.
One of the receptionist told me about an incident from last year, I think. This guy walked in and told her that he had invented DOS back in the mid 1960's and he was here to collect his royalties. She just laughed, until she realized he was dead serious. He started getting belligerent and demanding his money. She had to call the police on him.
It turns out he was an inmate at the local loony-bin, Greylands Hospital, who was out on a day pass.
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
The Venus Transverse of the Sun
Yesterday I got to witness Venus crossing the Sun. Here in Australia we got a pretty good view of it.
It started around 2 in the afternoon and went on until sunset. However, it has been raining and cloudy here all week. Around 2:30 the clouds broke and we got to see the sun for the first time all day.
On of the guys at work brought bincolulars. So we set them up on the window facing the sun. We projected the image onto a wall.
There it was, clear as day. We had the sun projected about 3 feet diameter on a partition wall. There in the lower right hand corner was a small pea sized dot moving slowing left to to right across the bottom of the Sun.
It started around 2 in the afternoon and went on until sunset. However, it has been raining and cloudy here all week. Around 2:30 the clouds broke and we got to see the sun for the first time all day.
On of the guys at work brought bincolulars. So we set them up on the window facing the sun. We projected the image onto a wall.
There it was, clear as day. We had the sun projected about 3 feet diameter on a partition wall. There in the lower right hand corner was a small pea sized dot moving slowing left to to right across the bottom of the Sun.
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Aussie Slang
Some recent Aussie slang I've learned.
Chook: Chicken
Mud Map: General Directions. Comes from drawing a rought map in the mud with a stick.
Chook: Chicken
Mud Map: General Directions. Comes from drawing a rought map in the mud with a stick.
Monday, June 07, 2004
Spirited Away
This weekend I rented a film called "Spirited Away". It is a Japanese animated film distributed by Disney. It was fantastic. The imagination that went into creating the characters was amazing. The art work was beautiful. I watched it twice and enjoyed it just as much the second time.
Here is the IMDB Profile of the film.
If you want a film that won't waste two hours of your life, watch this one. You won't regret it at all.
Here is the IMDB Profile of the film.
If you want a film that won't waste two hours of your life, watch this one. You won't regret it at all.
Monday, May 31, 2004
Police target American students for abuse
In Fremantle, down the road from me, is The University of Notre Dame, a small private Catholic university. It is affiliated with the larger Notre Dame Univ. in Indiana. The two schools have a student exchange program where a group of American NDU students study in Fremantle for 6 months, and a group of Aussie NDU students study in Indiana for 6 months.
The American students are normally housed at a dorm in the old part of Fremantle near the campus.
The police in this state are well known for being above the law, corrupt, incompetent, and untouchable. This weekend they got drunk and decided to target the American NDU students. Here is a copy of the story from the paper.
Claims that nine off-duty police officers taunted and humiliated American university students from Perth's University of Notre Dame about the US involvement in Iraq are being investigated by West Australian police.
The incident occurred last Tuesday in Fremantle, when drunken police officers, seven from WA and two from NSW, forced the students to kneel on the ground at their dormitory at Notre Dame University.
It is one of several being investigated by police after a wild night in the port city.
It is believed the abuse of the US students erupted after a fight at a nightclub. During that incident, one of the WA officers was allegedly assaulted by one of the students and had a tooth knocked out. Enraged, some of the drunken officers tracked the American down to the university.
It was there that several American students, including some who had nothing to do with the clash, were made to kneel on the ground. It is believed the taunting included comments such as "Yankees go home", "What are you doing in our country" and "What are you doing in Iraq".
The university's acting vice-chancellor, Professor Peter Dallimore, said he would not comment because a student had been charged with assault and the matter was under investigation.
WA Police Minister Michelle Roberts said she was appalled at the allegations.
==============================================================
US consulate to examine WA police harassment claim
The American consulate will hold its own investigation into claims 10 off-duty police officers in the port town of Fremantle harassed a group of American students.
This comes as WA police launch their own investigation into the incident, with allegations the officers started fighting with the students after drinking heavily at a local hotel.
The investigation involves about eight officers from the Fremantle Tactical Investigation Group as well as two from the eastern states.
It is alleged that after the fight, students were chased back to their dormitory at the Notre Dame University in Fremantle before being forced onto their knees and taunted about America's involvement in Iraq.
One student was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, and appeared in court yesterday.
WA Police Minister Michelle Roberts says she is concerned the allegations involve people from the United States.
"One would hope that no-one in the community would operate in a racially, prejudice way against people from another country," she said.
The police union says the accusations are grossly incorrect and the whole matter has been blown out of proportion.
========================================
Police 'targeted US students' in drunken fight
The Western Australia Police Service is facing embarrassment with a number of officers under investigation for drunken and unruly behaviour.
It is alleged about 10 Fremantle officers targeted American students during a drinking session.
It is alleged the officers from the Fremantle Tactical Investigation Group were off duty and drinking at two of the city's bars on Tuesday when they became involved in an altercation with United States Notre Dame University students.
A police service media relations spokesman says the officers then went to the students' dormitory and charged one of them with assault occasioning bodily harm.
The student appeared in court yesterday.
Police say they are taking the allegations of the officer's drunken and unruly behaviour very seriously and have been conducting interviews since Wednesday.
'Out of proportion'
The Police Union says the allegations have been blown out of proportion.
Police Union president Mike Dean says he has spoken to the officers involved in the alleged incident and believes the accusations are grossly incorrect.
"The reality... is if our people have done the wrong this they'll certainly be brought to account for it but the preliminary facts as I understand it are that it's not that serious," he said.
"It's been blown out of proportion."
Western Australia's Police Minister, Michelle Roberts, says she is appalled by the allegations as police should behave while on or off duty.
Opposition police spokesman Matt Birney says he hopes the investigation will not become a drawn out affair.
"I would expect a full thorough and transparent investigation into this matter and I would expect those findings to be made public within a relatively short period of time," he said.
Mr Birney says Western Australians will want to see the results of the investigation.
The American students are normally housed at a dorm in the old part of Fremantle near the campus.
The police in this state are well known for being above the law, corrupt, incompetent, and untouchable. This weekend they got drunk and decided to target the American NDU students. Here is a copy of the story from the paper.
Claims that nine off-duty police officers taunted and humiliated American university students from Perth's University of Notre Dame about the US involvement in Iraq are being investigated by West Australian police.
The incident occurred last Tuesday in Fremantle, when drunken police officers, seven from WA and two from NSW, forced the students to kneel on the ground at their dormitory at Notre Dame University.
It is one of several being investigated by police after a wild night in the port city.
It is believed the abuse of the US students erupted after a fight at a nightclub. During that incident, one of the WA officers was allegedly assaulted by one of the students and had a tooth knocked out. Enraged, some of the drunken officers tracked the American down to the university.
It was there that several American students, including some who had nothing to do with the clash, were made to kneel on the ground. It is believed the taunting included comments such as "Yankees go home", "What are you doing in our country" and "What are you doing in Iraq".
The university's acting vice-chancellor, Professor Peter Dallimore, said he would not comment because a student had been charged with assault and the matter was under investigation.
WA Police Minister Michelle Roberts said she was appalled at the allegations.
==============================================================
US consulate to examine WA police harassment claim
The American consulate will hold its own investigation into claims 10 off-duty police officers in the port town of Fremantle harassed a group of American students.
This comes as WA police launch their own investigation into the incident, with allegations the officers started fighting with the students after drinking heavily at a local hotel.
The investigation involves about eight officers from the Fremantle Tactical Investigation Group as well as two from the eastern states.
It is alleged that after the fight, students were chased back to their dormitory at the Notre Dame University in Fremantle before being forced onto their knees and taunted about America's involvement in Iraq.
One student was charged with assault occasioning bodily harm, and appeared in court yesterday.
WA Police Minister Michelle Roberts says she is concerned the allegations involve people from the United States.
"One would hope that no-one in the community would operate in a racially, prejudice way against people from another country," she said.
The police union says the accusations are grossly incorrect and the whole matter has been blown out of proportion.
========================================
Police 'targeted US students' in drunken fight
The Western Australia Police Service is facing embarrassment with a number of officers under investigation for drunken and unruly behaviour.
It is alleged about 10 Fremantle officers targeted American students during a drinking session.
It is alleged the officers from the Fremantle Tactical Investigation Group were off duty and drinking at two of the city's bars on Tuesday when they became involved in an altercation with United States Notre Dame University students.
A police service media relations spokesman says the officers then went to the students' dormitory and charged one of them with assault occasioning bodily harm.
The student appeared in court yesterday.
Police say they are taking the allegations of the officer's drunken and unruly behaviour very seriously and have been conducting interviews since Wednesday.
'Out of proportion'
The Police Union says the allegations have been blown out of proportion.
Police Union president Mike Dean says he has spoken to the officers involved in the alleged incident and believes the accusations are grossly incorrect.
"The reality... is if our people have done the wrong this they'll certainly be brought to account for it but the preliminary facts as I understand it are that it's not that serious," he said.
"It's been blown out of proportion."
Western Australia's Police Minister, Michelle Roberts, says she is appalled by the allegations as police should behave while on or off duty.
Opposition police spokesman Matt Birney says he hopes the investigation will not become a drawn out affair.
"I would expect a full thorough and transparent investigation into this matter and I would expect those findings to be made public within a relatively short period of time," he said.
Mr Birney says Western Australians will want to see the results of the investigation.
Wednesday, May 26, 2004
More on the layoffs
The two South Africans came in today. Fred, who sits next to me gave me the run down. It turns out Charles was not on the hit list. So he is safe for now.
Instead, it was a guy who sits next to Charles. A big guy from Sydney. No one thought much of him anyhow.
Richard was so angry he was spitting nails. I am very surprised that they even let him in the building. Fred is angry too. He wishes they had given him, or the group, a warning, or at least a month's notice.
Well. Welcome to the wonderful world of contracting. You are disposable. That is why we make more than a normal employee.
Richard said he wants to have a drink with me Friday afternoon. I don't know if I really want to go get drunk with a sad and angry man. What is the point? Charles would go. I'm not Charles.
I suppose that I should buy the man a round a drinks. After all, he has a family to support.
And I heard a rumor there were going to be more cuts next month. That is only a week away. I guess I won't be making any long term plans for a while.
Instead, it was a guy who sits next to Charles. A big guy from Sydney. No one thought much of him anyhow.
Richard was so angry he was spitting nails. I am very surprised that they even let him in the building. Fred is angry too. He wishes they had given him, or the group, a warning, or at least a month's notice.
Well. Welcome to the wonderful world of contracting. You are disposable. That is why we make more than a normal employee.
Richard said he wants to have a drink with me Friday afternoon. I don't know if I really want to go get drunk with a sad and angry man. What is the point? Charles would go. I'm not Charles.
I suppose that I should buy the man a round a drinks. After all, he has a family to support.
And I heard a rumor there were going to be more cuts next month. That is only a week away. I guess I won't be making any long term plans for a while.
Monday massacre
Wow. I went home sick Monday afternoon and missed an all-hands staff meeting at work. I came in Tuesday and Sean the salesman pulled me into his office.
"I heard Charles was shot yesterday.", he told me.
"What?!? Shot? What are you talking about?"
"Charles... He was one of the people shot in yesterday's massacre."
I had visions of an attack in the Philippines where terrorist attacked a small village. Why did I not hear about this on the news? Is he alive? Was he killed?
"What massacre?", I asked.
"Yesterday. Here at IBM. I heard they laid off a bunch of contractors because they needed to cut the budget. The exchange rate between AUD$ and USD$ forced them to do it."
Oh. Now I understood. Sean tends to use the work "shot" when he means "laid off" or "redundancy".
He went on to explain that Charles, the two South Africans I work with (Richard & Fred), the Canadian Gail, and a couple of others whom I don't know are gone. He isn't sure exactly.
I went to my desk and sat down. Fred sits in the cubicle next to me. Sure enough, he was not there. His desk is unusually clean. It is hard to tell if he is there or not. I swear I saw Richard on Monday, but he is not here today.
I walked my Gail's desk. Her pictures are gone. She had a calendar of kittens on her desk. It is not there. Richard's stuff is still on his desk, but something isn't right. He stuff is scattered about as if he left in a hurry.
So I guess it is true. I feel like I am walking through a crime scene.
Charles' desk is the same. But he is in the Philippines. He may not even be aware that he has been laid off, if he has been. If true, then that means his visa sponsorship is withdrawn, which means he looses his visa and must leave Australia.
Which means that I just lost my new tenant for downstairs. He just moved in two weeks ago! Won't that be a rude surprise when he flies back to Perth and is refused entry.
I will confirm all of these facts in tomorrow's staff meeting. If true about Charles, then I need to somehow let him know. He might as well just stay there in the Philippines. I know that he doesn't want to go back to the US and deal with his ex-wife there.
This really has to hurt. I feel terrible for Richard and Fred. They were great guys, both with families to support. Both had moved over here from South Africa for this job. I know Richard had been out of work for 2 years before this. This has to be devastating to them.
I wonder if they are wondering why I was not laid off versus them. After all, I am single, no kids, and would return to the US where there is more opportunity than in South Africa. I suppose they are angry with me.
Canadian Gail is a great woman. Her boyfriend Tom works here too. He is still here, so he has not been laid off. They just build that expensive new house in Scarbough Beach. I think she will land on her feet and get a job with our ex-manager at the other company across town.
Her visa was expiring next month and she was in the process of trying to get it renewed. That is going to make it hard now that her sponsor dropped her. I hope she gets renewed. Otherwise, back to Vancouver. Tom will probably have to leave to and go home with her.
I wonder why I was spared?
"I heard Charles was shot yesterday.", he told me.
"What?!? Shot? What are you talking about?"
"Charles... He was one of the people shot in yesterday's massacre."
I had visions of an attack in the Philippines where terrorist attacked a small village. Why did I not hear about this on the news? Is he alive? Was he killed?
"What massacre?", I asked.
"Yesterday. Here at IBM. I heard they laid off a bunch of contractors because they needed to cut the budget. The exchange rate between AUD$ and USD$ forced them to do it."
Oh. Now I understood. Sean tends to use the work "shot" when he means "laid off" or "redundancy".
He went on to explain that Charles, the two South Africans I work with (Richard & Fred), the Canadian Gail, and a couple of others whom I don't know are gone. He isn't sure exactly.
I went to my desk and sat down. Fred sits in the cubicle next to me. Sure enough, he was not there. His desk is unusually clean. It is hard to tell if he is there or not. I swear I saw Richard on Monday, but he is not here today.
I walked my Gail's desk. Her pictures are gone. She had a calendar of kittens on her desk. It is not there. Richard's stuff is still on his desk, but something isn't right. He stuff is scattered about as if he left in a hurry.
So I guess it is true. I feel like I am walking through a crime scene.
Charles' desk is the same. But he is in the Philippines. He may not even be aware that he has been laid off, if he has been. If true, then that means his visa sponsorship is withdrawn, which means he looses his visa and must leave Australia.
Which means that I just lost my new tenant for downstairs. He just moved in two weeks ago! Won't that be a rude surprise when he flies back to Perth and is refused entry.
I will confirm all of these facts in tomorrow's staff meeting. If true about Charles, then I need to somehow let him know. He might as well just stay there in the Philippines. I know that he doesn't want to go back to the US and deal with his ex-wife there.
This really has to hurt. I feel terrible for Richard and Fred. They were great guys, both with families to support. Both had moved over here from South Africa for this job. I know Richard had been out of work for 2 years before this. This has to be devastating to them.
I wonder if they are wondering why I was not laid off versus them. After all, I am single, no kids, and would return to the US where there is more opportunity than in South Africa. I suppose they are angry with me.
Canadian Gail is a great woman. Her boyfriend Tom works here too. He is still here, so he has not been laid off. They just build that expensive new house in Scarbough Beach. I think she will land on her feet and get a job with our ex-manager at the other company across town.
Her visa was expiring next month and she was in the process of trying to get it renewed. That is going to make it hard now that her sponsor dropped her. I hope she gets renewed. Otherwise, back to Vancouver. Tom will probably have to leave to and go home with her.
I wonder why I was spared?
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
More post office weirdness
Some other odd things about the postal service here in Oz.
(1) There is no Saturday service. Nor are the post offices open on Saturday.
(2) There are no stamp vending machines anywhere. You have to buy your stamps from a human being, which sucks. I have discovered that I can buy stamps from a newsagent, but they hide them behind the counter and don't advertise it.
(3) They have different stamps for domestic versus international mail. And god help you if you use the wrong one as I found out once. I put the correct amount of postage on a card going to the US and tried to mail it. They fined me 30 cents for using domestic stamps. It doesn't make any sense. The expense of printing different types of stamps and then tracking their usage must far exceed whatever the hell the benefit is to them.
I suspect that it is a revenue enhancement scheme.
(4) The post office is also the place you go to pay your utility and telephone bills, recharge your cell phone and calling cards, pay taxes, stock up on office supplies, and all kinds of non-postal services.
You would think that it would create a long line. It does, but it moves fast. You don't wait very long.
When I think of all the time I waste standing in line at the Santa Barbara post office at lunch simply to mail a package. And all they do in the US is postal matters. A line the same size in Santa Barbara would take 30-45 minutes to get to the head will take 10 minutes here.
So it makes one wonder, why do they move at a snail's pace in SB? What is taking so damn long? How hard is it to mail a package?
(5) Something else weird. If you mail a letter overseas that has only a card in it, you can send it cheaper by writing "card only" on the envelope. I have no idea why. How do they know you didn't slip in a little note or photo? Would that void the discount?
(6) I have noticed that when I send mail TO to US, it has always gotten there within a couple of weeks. However, mail sent to me FROM the US has 70-80 percent chance of getting to me. I know of a few pieces of mail that have never arrived. The amount of time varies from 2 to 6 weeks. I suspect they get lost or stolen in the US system.
(7) The post office here does not pick you mail at your home mail box. You have to take it to a letter box or to the post office.
(8) I've been warned that it is not a good idea to put your mail into a letter box. Trish told me that teenagers, as a prank, like to pour soft drinks, varnish, matches, and other destructive material into the sidewalk letter boxes.
(1) There is no Saturday service. Nor are the post offices open on Saturday.
(2) There are no stamp vending machines anywhere. You have to buy your stamps from a human being, which sucks. I have discovered that I can buy stamps from a newsagent, but they hide them behind the counter and don't advertise it.
(3) They have different stamps for domestic versus international mail. And god help you if you use the wrong one as I found out once. I put the correct amount of postage on a card going to the US and tried to mail it. They fined me 30 cents for using domestic stamps. It doesn't make any sense. The expense of printing different types of stamps and then tracking their usage must far exceed whatever the hell the benefit is to them.
I suspect that it is a revenue enhancement scheme.
(4) The post office is also the place you go to pay your utility and telephone bills, recharge your cell phone and calling cards, pay taxes, stock up on office supplies, and all kinds of non-postal services.
You would think that it would create a long line. It does, but it moves fast. You don't wait very long.
When I think of all the time I waste standing in line at the Santa Barbara post office at lunch simply to mail a package. And all they do in the US is postal matters. A line the same size in Santa Barbara would take 30-45 minutes to get to the head will take 10 minutes here.
So it makes one wonder, why do they move at a snail's pace in SB? What is taking so damn long? How hard is it to mail a package?
(5) Something else weird. If you mail a letter overseas that has only a card in it, you can send it cheaper by writing "card only" on the envelope. I have no idea why. How do they know you didn't slip in a little note or photo? Would that void the discount?
(6) I have noticed that when I send mail TO to US, it has always gotten there within a couple of weeks. However, mail sent to me FROM the US has 70-80 percent chance of getting to me. I know of a few pieces of mail that have never arrived. The amount of time varies from 2 to 6 weeks. I suspect they get lost or stolen in the US system.
(7) The post office here does not pick you mail at your home mail box. You have to take it to a letter box or to the post office.
(8) I've been warned that it is not a good idea to put your mail into a letter box. Trish told me that teenagers, as a prank, like to pour soft drinks, varnish, matches, and other destructive material into the sidewalk letter boxes.
How to piss off the post office
Strange thing here at the Australian post office. When you go in, you can not talk on your mobile phone. It has the magical effect of shutting down their sales terminals.
I made the mistake of receiving a call when I was buying some postage. My phone shut down the terminals. The clerk was mad and started pointing to the "No Mobile Phones" sign (which I had not noticed). She starting bitching about how her computer now needed to be reset.
I can't believe that in this day and age when everyone has a mobile phone that the Aussie Post has computers that can be crippled by a simple phone call. They should raise hell with the vendor that sold them that system.
I made the mistake of receiving a call when I was buying some postage. My phone shut down the terminals. The clerk was mad and started pointing to the "No Mobile Phones" sign (which I had not noticed). She starting bitching about how her computer now needed to be reset.
I can't believe that in this day and age when everyone has a mobile phone that the Aussie Post has computers that can be crippled by a simple phone call. They should raise hell with the vendor that sold them that system.
Friday, May 21, 2004
The Iranian
Funny thing happened this afternoon. I went to my photoshop to pick up some photos. The lady who owns it was in. She is always very nice. I don't think that I've been in there for over a year. She remembered me.
She looks and sounds Iranian to me. I asked her if she was Persian. She looked startled, like she had seen a ghost. She said "Yes, I am as a matter of fact."
She looked at me in amazement for a minute, then asked "How did you know?". She seemed very concerned.
"Your eyes. Your accent.", I told her. "My ex-wife used to work for an Iranian. You look and sound like his wife."
She said that no one in Australia has ever pegged for a Persian. She said that she often gets mistaken for an Arab. Some people ask her is she is from Lebanon, or Italy. Never Iran.
I explained that there are lots of Iranins in southern California, the largest population outside of Iran I believe. So I learned over the years to tell the difference.
She was curious about me. She was studying me intently. "What about you?", she asked. "I can't place you. You aren't Persian, but you could be."
I told her what I was. She was dumbfounded. "Are you really an American?", she asked. "I'm very good with accents. I can always tell an American. But your accent... I can't place it. Are you sure you are an American?"
"Yes. I'm sure. Born and raised."
Asked her what she thought my accent was, since it didn't seem American to her.
"I don't know. Honest. I can't figure it out. You have no accent what so ever."
How strange. Most Aussies either tell me that (a) I have a thick American accent, or (b) I have an Irish accent. It must be the broad vowels that throws them.
I'm not sure what to make of this. I was wondering if she would tell me if I sound Aussie. I don't think that I'll ever be able to pick up the Aussie accent. I'm guess I'm too old now.
She looks and sounds Iranian to me. I asked her if she was Persian. She looked startled, like she had seen a ghost. She said "Yes, I am as a matter of fact."
She looked at me in amazement for a minute, then asked "How did you know?". She seemed very concerned.
"Your eyes. Your accent.", I told her. "My ex-wife used to work for an Iranian. You look and sound like his wife."
She said that no one in Australia has ever pegged for a Persian. She said that she often gets mistaken for an Arab. Some people ask her is she is from Lebanon, or Italy. Never Iran.
I explained that there are lots of Iranins in southern California, the largest population outside of Iran I believe. So I learned over the years to tell the difference.
She was curious about me. She was studying me intently. "What about you?", she asked. "I can't place you. You aren't Persian, but you could be."
I told her what I was. She was dumbfounded. "Are you really an American?", she asked. "I'm very good with accents. I can always tell an American. But your accent... I can't place it. Are you sure you are an American?"
"Yes. I'm sure. Born and raised."
Asked her what she thought my accent was, since it didn't seem American to her.
"I don't know. Honest. I can't figure it out. You have no accent what so ever."
How strange. Most Aussies either tell me that (a) I have a thick American accent, or (b) I have an Irish accent. It must be the broad vowels that throws them.
I'm not sure what to make of this. I was wondering if she would tell me if I sound Aussie. I don't think that I'll ever be able to pick up the Aussie accent. I'm guess I'm too old now.
Charles unfinished business
One of my co-workers altered me to a fax sitting on Charles' desk. He said it was personal and looked important, so I picked it up.
It was from his landlord of the apartment he and Bing vacated last weekend. It turns out that they didn't finish the job. The place is a mess. The are missing a remote control. There is still stuff there.
I have no way of getting hold of Charles or Bing. So I guess I will have to deal with it as I see fit.
I hired Dawn to clean the place this weekend and I will charge Charles for the expense.
How irresponsible to take off and leave so much undone.
It was from his landlord of the apartment he and Bing vacated last weekend. It turns out that they didn't finish the job. The place is a mess. The are missing a remote control. There is still stuff there.
I have no way of getting hold of Charles or Bing. So I guess I will have to deal with it as I see fit.
I hired Dawn to clean the place this weekend and I will charge Charles for the expense.
How irresponsible to take off and leave so much undone.
Italian Jokes
I saw some good Italian jokes recently.
A bus stops and two Italian men get on. They seat themselves, and engage in animated conversation. The lady sitting behind them ignores their conversation at first, but her attention is galvanized when she hears one of the men say the following:
"Emma come first. Den I come. Two asses, they come together. I come again. Two asses, they come together again. I come again and pee twice. Then I come once-a-more."
"You foul-mouthed swine!" retorted the lady indignantly. "In this country we don't talk about our sex lives in public."
"Hey, coola down lady." said the man. "Imma just tella my friend howa to spella Mississippi."
Q: Why do Italian men where gold chains around their necks?
A: So they know where to stop shaving.
Q: Why do Italian men wear moustaches?
A: To remind them of their mothers.
A bus stops and two Italian men get on. They seat themselves, and engage in animated conversation. The lady sitting behind them ignores their conversation at first, but her attention is galvanized when she hears one of the men say the following:
"Emma come first. Den I come. Two asses, they come together. I come again. Two asses, they come together again. I come again and pee twice. Then I come once-a-more."
"You foul-mouthed swine!" retorted the lady indignantly. "In this country we don't talk about our sex lives in public."
"Hey, coola down lady." said the man. "Imma just tella my friend howa to spella Mississippi."
Q: Why do Italian men where gold chains around their necks?
A: So they know where to stop shaving.
Q: Why do Italian men wear moustaches?
A: To remind them of their mothers.
New cyclist improvements on the highway
Last week the roads department installed some new features on the West Coast Highway for cyclist. At major intersections they installed a small bike lane and laid down a new grip material.
The grip material is designed to prevent sliding by increasing traction. It is red and goes for about 3 meters or so from the intersection into the lane.
It is an interesting concept. They claim that tests on the east coast proved successful.
Now this is what has me baffled. No one rides their bikes ON the highway. Running parallel to the highway along the beach is a bike path. I take the bike path. Why would I want bike on the highway with speeding cars and trucks?
So all that new fancy traction mat bike lane stuff will be unused except for the occasional crazy cyclist who gets out on the highway.
The grip material is designed to prevent sliding by increasing traction. It is red and goes for about 3 meters or so from the intersection into the lane.
It is an interesting concept. They claim that tests on the east coast proved successful.
Now this is what has me baffled. No one rides their bikes ON the highway. Running parallel to the highway along the beach is a bike path. I take the bike path. Why would I want bike on the highway with speeding cars and trucks?
So all that new fancy traction mat bike lane stuff will be unused except for the occasional crazy cyclist who gets out on the highway.
Hamburgers
I finally found a place in Perth that makes a decent hamburger. After 2.5 years of suffering. It is a little hole in wall in the middle of a suburb on a road that I have never been on. It is called Bilbey's.
I plan to go there at least once a month now.
I plan to go there at least once a month now.
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Charles is off to the Phillipines
Charles took off for the Phillipines today. He is scheduled to be back in 3 weeks. But he told me, and others, that he will probablly not be returning. I think he plans to stay there for good. Who knows. I have no way to contact him. He left me his ATM card and PIN in order to take the cash out to pay rent. I checked the account today. There is only $10 in it. So I will check again this weekend to see if somone deposited some funds.
Bing went with him.
I saw them for a minute last night. He and bing showed up at the house in Bing's husband's Jag. She crashed her car that night before. She looks pretty shaken up. So does Charles. I read him the riot act today. He voluntered to move out. He apoligized to Dawn and she said that he can stay. But he is not allowed to drink in my house again. If he wants to drink, then take it some place else. I don't need this shit in my home.
Bing went with him.
I saw them for a minute last night. He and bing showed up at the house in Bing's husband's Jag. She crashed her car that night before. She looks pretty shaken up. So does Charles. I read him the riot act today. He voluntered to move out. He apoligized to Dawn and she said that he can stay. But he is not allowed to drink in my house again. If he wants to drink, then take it some place else. I don't need this shit in my home.
Monday, May 17, 2004
Weekend of wine and roses... not!
Man. What a crappy weekend! Charles moved in Saturday morning. I went over and helped him with the big items. We got all done around noon. Then I headed over the Loretta's rental property to help her work on getting that property in shape to rent.
I got home around 9 on Saturday night. Charles was upstairs sharing a bottle of wine with Dawn. Bing was at work. Dawn and Charles were enjoying themselves. I joined them in a glass. Charles kept drinking more and more.
Around 10 or so Dawn headed off to bed. She was not feeling well. She said that white wine didn't agree with her very much. I also decided to get some sleep since I wanted to get a lot of work done on Sunday.
Charles was pretty drunk by this time. He took some bottles of wine and my Country Western CD's downstairs. Around midnight I was awoken with the sound of his stereo blasting. I went downstairs. Charles was blitzed out of his mind. I told him to turn it down.
The rest of the night descend into a drunken hell. He kept sucking down more and more wine, and kept getting wierder and more dangerous. He would stumble upstairs and follow me around. He kept attacking me and trying to get me into a fight. I ended up with a bleeding lip once when he caught me with a left hook on the head when I wasn't paying attention. I ended up giving him some good kicks, but he was oblivious to pain.
At one point he broke into my bedroom to force me to wake up to talk. I left him in there and went to the sofa. I heard him stumbling around in my room, then I heard this crash outside. He had wandered out onto my little balcony and fell off into the patio below. I don't know how he survive it. He was blind drunk outside raging and staggering around.
Eventually he collapsed and I tried to go to sleep. Then Dawn came running into my room and woke me up. She was in a panic. She said that Charles had come into her room without in clothes on and had crawled into her bed. I knew the he was in no condition for reasoning, or even a beating from me. Nothing would register. So told Dawn to sleep in my room and I stayed up guarding my door. I could hear Charles thrashing around in Dawns room. Who knows why.
When I woke up around 10 Charles was gone. We don't know where he went. Poor Dawn was terrorfied. I went out and bought a lock for her door so she could lock herself in a night.
Later that afternoon Charles came home. I had planned on kicking his teeth in and kicking him out. He had crossed the line as far as I am concerned. It is one thing to attack me. I can handle myself and I can defend myself. It is another to invade the privacy of my housemate. Dawn is just a 25 year old student who wants a safe place to live. She doesn't need this. I don't need this. The first night he is here he gets drunk and ruins everything.
Well. He staggered in around 4 so drunk that he was literally blind. He said that he could not see and had lost his vision. Bing was with him. I could tell that she was very angry. I was angry too. Here he was still blind drunk 12 hours later.
Again. He was in condition to listen to reason, or anything. All I could do was hope he fell asleep. He was in an ugly mood and was yelling at Bing and anyone else who would listen.
Dawn's sisters were visiting her upstairs. She heard Charles come in downstairs drunk. So she and her sisters fled somewhere. I don't blame them. I told Bing that she has to stay with him despite the fact that she hated him and wanted to kill him. I told her that I do not want Charles going upstairs. I do not want him talking to Dawn. I told Bing that if she left, Charles would wander upstairs to "talk" to Dawn, or who knows what. I would not let that happen.
After a while this guy Dawn is dating, Tom, showed up to rent a video and spend the evening with her. Between Tom and Bing I felt it was safe enough to go get some dinner and see a film myself. Charles was quiet. I assumed that he had passed out.
I got home around 10:30. Tom was still there. Bing was gone. Charles was passed out cold downstairs. Dawn told me that Bing had called to let her know that she had a car accident. She had driven into a tree and totaled her nice car. Bing was ok but was in the hospital under observation. Bing's boyfriend was passed out drunk downstairs oblivious to all the damage he had caused.
It is now Monday morning. Bing called me around 7 to let me know that she was going to be ok. She was home and had spent the night in the hospital. I went downstairs and Charles was no where to be found.
I just went to work. Charles is here acting as nothing happened. He walked over to my desk and told me that stupid Bing crashed her car but that it was repairable. I think that he has no idea what he did.
Friggin amazing. I am so angry that I am spitting nails. I don't need this crap. Dawn doesn't need this crap. No one does. Why does he feel it is ok to inflict hell on everyone around him?
Well. I guess I need to ponder my options.
I got home around 9 on Saturday night. Charles was upstairs sharing a bottle of wine with Dawn. Bing was at work. Dawn and Charles were enjoying themselves. I joined them in a glass. Charles kept drinking more and more.
Around 10 or so Dawn headed off to bed. She was not feeling well. She said that white wine didn't agree with her very much. I also decided to get some sleep since I wanted to get a lot of work done on Sunday.
Charles was pretty drunk by this time. He took some bottles of wine and my Country Western CD's downstairs. Around midnight I was awoken with the sound of his stereo blasting. I went downstairs. Charles was blitzed out of his mind. I told him to turn it down.
The rest of the night descend into a drunken hell. He kept sucking down more and more wine, and kept getting wierder and more dangerous. He would stumble upstairs and follow me around. He kept attacking me and trying to get me into a fight. I ended up with a bleeding lip once when he caught me with a left hook on the head when I wasn't paying attention. I ended up giving him some good kicks, but he was oblivious to pain.
At one point he broke into my bedroom to force me to wake up to talk. I left him in there and went to the sofa. I heard him stumbling around in my room, then I heard this crash outside. He had wandered out onto my little balcony and fell off into the patio below. I don't know how he survive it. He was blind drunk outside raging and staggering around.
Eventually he collapsed and I tried to go to sleep. Then Dawn came running into my room and woke me up. She was in a panic. She said that Charles had come into her room without in clothes on and had crawled into her bed. I knew the he was in no condition for reasoning, or even a beating from me. Nothing would register. So told Dawn to sleep in my room and I stayed up guarding my door. I could hear Charles thrashing around in Dawns room. Who knows why.
When I woke up around 10 Charles was gone. We don't know where he went. Poor Dawn was terrorfied. I went out and bought a lock for her door so she could lock herself in a night.
Later that afternoon Charles came home. I had planned on kicking his teeth in and kicking him out. He had crossed the line as far as I am concerned. It is one thing to attack me. I can handle myself and I can defend myself. It is another to invade the privacy of my housemate. Dawn is just a 25 year old student who wants a safe place to live. She doesn't need this. I don't need this. The first night he is here he gets drunk and ruins everything.
Well. He staggered in around 4 so drunk that he was literally blind. He said that he could not see and had lost his vision. Bing was with him. I could tell that she was very angry. I was angry too. Here he was still blind drunk 12 hours later.
Again. He was in condition to listen to reason, or anything. All I could do was hope he fell asleep. He was in an ugly mood and was yelling at Bing and anyone else who would listen.
Dawn's sisters were visiting her upstairs. She heard Charles come in downstairs drunk. So she and her sisters fled somewhere. I don't blame them. I told Bing that she has to stay with him despite the fact that she hated him and wanted to kill him. I told her that I do not want Charles going upstairs. I do not want him talking to Dawn. I told Bing that if she left, Charles would wander upstairs to "talk" to Dawn, or who knows what. I would not let that happen.
After a while this guy Dawn is dating, Tom, showed up to rent a video and spend the evening with her. Between Tom and Bing I felt it was safe enough to go get some dinner and see a film myself. Charles was quiet. I assumed that he had passed out.
I got home around 10:30. Tom was still there. Bing was gone. Charles was passed out cold downstairs. Dawn told me that Bing had called to let her know that she had a car accident. She had driven into a tree and totaled her nice car. Bing was ok but was in the hospital under observation. Bing's boyfriend was passed out drunk downstairs oblivious to all the damage he had caused.
It is now Monday morning. Bing called me around 7 to let me know that she was going to be ok. She was home and had spent the night in the hospital. I went downstairs and Charles was no where to be found.
I just went to work. Charles is here acting as nothing happened. He walked over to my desk and told me that stupid Bing crashed her car but that it was repairable. I think that he has no idea what he did.
Friggin amazing. I am so angry that I am spitting nails. I don't need this crap. Dawn doesn't need this crap. No one does. Why does he feel it is ok to inflict hell on everyone around him?
Well. I guess I need to ponder my options.
Friday, May 14, 2004
Where have I been the last 2 years?
Well. I stopped posting to my web site after Christmas 2001, shorly after I moved to Perth. The reasons I have not done this are multiple.
(1) My hard drive was wiped out by something after Xmas 2001. It took me almost a month to recover the critical missing data. I still run into corrupted data.
(2) Spending that much time fixing problems just to get back to where I started burned me out on the computer. The last thing I wanted to do when I got home was spend time on the PC.
(3) There really hasn't been much super exciting going on.
Recently I noticed that Google has a much improved free blogger service. It is faster and easier to use than update my web site. So I decided to convert. This way it will be easier to toss updates on line as the mood hits me.
To summarise what has been going on. In June 2002 I rented a beach house in Cottesloe and moved in. I've lived there ever since. It is an asesome little place and I am very happy there. I has 4 bedrooms and 2 baths, on 2 floors. I rent out some of the other rooms to help me pay the rent.
I've had an interesting parade of sub-renters in my house over the last couple of years. I write more about them later.
I'm still working at IBM. Doing the same thing. Nothing exciting to report there. My visa was renewed. I can now work here until late 2008.
After two years I finally broke down an bought a car. It is a 1994 Ford Laser, which is really just a rebadged Mazda 323 station wagon. It is old, but in good shape for the age and I got it for a good price.
I've been back to the US twice. More about those trips later.
Elena came out in April 2002 and her and I took a trip to Singapore and Malaysia. She came out for 2 months in 2003 and we went down south to Margeret River. This year she came out for 3 months and we went up to Broome.
I'll write more about those trips when I can.
Everything is good. I've made some good friends here and I really enjoy my life.
Again. Sorry about the info gap. I was just seriously burned out.
Cheers!
Ron
(1) My hard drive was wiped out by something after Xmas 2001. It took me almost a month to recover the critical missing data. I still run into corrupted data.
(2) Spending that much time fixing problems just to get back to where I started burned me out on the computer. The last thing I wanted to do when I got home was spend time on the PC.
(3) There really hasn't been much super exciting going on.
Recently I noticed that Google has a much improved free blogger service. It is faster and easier to use than update my web site. So I decided to convert. This way it will be easier to toss updates on line as the mood hits me.
To summarise what has been going on. In June 2002 I rented a beach house in Cottesloe and moved in. I've lived there ever since. It is an asesome little place and I am very happy there. I has 4 bedrooms and 2 baths, on 2 floors. I rent out some of the other rooms to help me pay the rent.
I've had an interesting parade of sub-renters in my house over the last couple of years. I write more about them later.
I'm still working at IBM. Doing the same thing. Nothing exciting to report there. My visa was renewed. I can now work here until late 2008.
After two years I finally broke down an bought a car. It is a 1994 Ford Laser, which is really just a rebadged Mazda 323 station wagon. It is old, but in good shape for the age and I got it for a good price.
I've been back to the US twice. More about those trips later.
Elena came out in April 2002 and her and I took a trip to Singapore and Malaysia. She came out for 2 months in 2003 and we went down south to Margeret River. This year she came out for 3 months and we went up to Broome.
I'll write more about those trips when I can.
Everything is good. I've made some good friends here and I really enjoy my life.
Again. Sorry about the info gap. I was just seriously burned out.
Cheers!
Ron
Singapore
Last night Jeni begged me to join her for dinner with some local friends of her mother's. They are people that her mother either went to college with, or worked with. I can't remember.
She told me that they are really old. They wanted to take her out for Indian food before she left back to the US. She was really stressing about this. She told me that she has met this people two times before for dinner. Each time she invited a friend of her's to join her and each time they stood her up.
She also said that they can be rather boring and like to be in bed by 8 or 9.
Well... I was hungry. But I didn't feel like paying money for dinner. She assured me that they were buying, so I agreed. But on the condition that I could take my car so that I don't get stuck with them in the middle of nowhere.
They arrived on time and we all drove down to the old part of Fremantle to an Indian restaurant in the old fire station. The upstairs was converted to a youth hostel, and the downstairs is this restaurant. They even have the old firepole still up (you can't use it). The food was awesome and Jeni's friends eat there often enough to know a good thing.
Jeni was right. They were old. In their late 70's to some eighties if I had to guess. They were two married couples. But they were certainly not boring. On the contrary, I had an excellent time and was sorry that I had to go home later.
One couple were English, but moved to Perth 20 years ago. His name is Robin and he works as the vice-Dean of the University or Notre Dame here in Fremantle. It is a small private university affiliated with the big ND in Indiana. He also works as the comptroller for a small oil industry firm.
They were fascinating. He was born and raised in British controlled India, which explains his odd accent. He went to college in the US and in the UK. He and his wife used to live in Singapore for before moving to upstate New York to work at Cornell University for a few years. After Cornell they moved to Perth.
They really enjoyed living in New York, except for the winter cold finally drove them away. I don't blame them. After living on the equator in Singapore for years, getting used to the extreme weather in the US can be a shock.
They loved Singapore. They were there before it became the overcrowded metropolis it is now. She claimed that she can not even recognize the island anymore.
Robin had a lot to say about Singapore's history over the last 50 years. We discussed the lack of personal liberty of Singapore, and what it was like when they lived there. They claim that Singapore has opened up a lot in the last 5-10 years. Their friends back there now can say things in public that you could even think about saying in the past.
In the mid 70's after Saigon fell, there was civil war in Malaysia and Indonesia. Communists and non-communist's fought for control of SEA. Indonesia started grabbing neighboring islands by force. Singapore was staunchly conservative and anti-communist. In order to keep it that way they became a tightly controlled police state. Sort of an iron fist in a velvet glove. They tolerated no dissent or leftist sympathy.
He said that in the mid 70's Singapore had signed security treaties with the UK and Australia. Singapore was scared that it was going to be attacked and swallowed up by Indonesia or Malaysia.
That big brother attitude was never really abandoned. That is why Singapore is the way it is today.
She told me that they are really old. They wanted to take her out for Indian food before she left back to the US. She was really stressing about this. She told me that she has met this people two times before for dinner. Each time she invited a friend of her's to join her and each time they stood her up.
She also said that they can be rather boring and like to be in bed by 8 or 9.
Well... I was hungry. But I didn't feel like paying money for dinner. She assured me that they were buying, so I agreed. But on the condition that I could take my car so that I don't get stuck with them in the middle of nowhere.
They arrived on time and we all drove down to the old part of Fremantle to an Indian restaurant in the old fire station. The upstairs was converted to a youth hostel, and the downstairs is this restaurant. They even have the old firepole still up (you can't use it). The food was awesome and Jeni's friends eat there often enough to know a good thing.
Jeni was right. They were old. In their late 70's to some eighties if I had to guess. They were two married couples. But they were certainly not boring. On the contrary, I had an excellent time and was sorry that I had to go home later.
One couple were English, but moved to Perth 20 years ago. His name is Robin and he works as the vice-Dean of the University or Notre Dame here in Fremantle. It is a small private university affiliated with the big ND in Indiana. He also works as the comptroller for a small oil industry firm.
They were fascinating. He was born and raised in British controlled India, which explains his odd accent. He went to college in the US and in the UK. He and his wife used to live in Singapore for before moving to upstate New York to work at Cornell University for a few years. After Cornell they moved to Perth.
They really enjoyed living in New York, except for the winter cold finally drove them away. I don't blame them. After living on the equator in Singapore for years, getting used to the extreme weather in the US can be a shock.
They loved Singapore. They were there before it became the overcrowded metropolis it is now. She claimed that she can not even recognize the island anymore.
Robin had a lot to say about Singapore's history over the last 50 years. We discussed the lack of personal liberty of Singapore, and what it was like when they lived there. They claim that Singapore has opened up a lot in the last 5-10 years. Their friends back there now can say things in public that you could even think about saying in the past.
In the mid 70's after Saigon fell, there was civil war in Malaysia and Indonesia. Communists and non-communist's fought for control of SEA. Indonesia started grabbing neighboring islands by force. Singapore was staunchly conservative and anti-communist. In order to keep it that way they became a tightly controlled police state. Sort of an iron fist in a velvet glove. They tolerated no dissent or leftist sympathy.
He said that in the mid 70's Singapore had signed security treaties with the UK and Australia. Singapore was scared that it was going to be attacked and swallowed up by Indonesia or Malaysia.
That big brother attitude was never really abandoned. That is why Singapore is the way it is today.
Winter is here!
Wow. It got down to 3c last night. That is close to freezing. We had to turn on the heater for the first time all year this morning.
Jenni flys back to the US tonight. I am going to take Jenni and whoever else wants to come along down to Fremantle tonight for fish-n-chips as a good bye dinner.
I get my room and my house back. I am so glad. Dawn is glad too. The upstairs is just a little too small for 3 people. I had given my room to Jeni because she was uncomfortable sleeping on the air mattress in the living room. Plus she was living out of a backpack, so stuff was all over the place.
Things should get back to normal soon. I seems Dawn and I are more into the routne that we know. Things seem so chaotic when there is a 3rd person sharing our space.
Jenni flys back to the US tonight. I am going to take Jenni and whoever else wants to come along down to Fremantle tonight for fish-n-chips as a good bye dinner.
I get my room and my house back. I am so glad. Dawn is glad too. The upstairs is just a little too small for 3 people. I had given my room to Jeni because she was uncomfortable sleeping on the air mattress in the living room. Plus she was living out of a backpack, so stuff was all over the place.
Things should get back to normal soon. I seems Dawn and I are more into the routne that we know. Things seem so chaotic when there is a 3rd person sharing our space.
Saturday, April 24, 2004
Claire is remarried
Claire called me this week. She wanted some advise on how to deal with a property issue.
It is odd. I've been thinking a lot about her lately. I miss her terribly and would love to have her visit to see my new home and life.
She told me that she married Tom back in Feb 2004. She gave in and just married him.
I feel bad for her. She had her chance to make something with her life. To travel. To learn. She is sober, has money, wisdom, and no ties. Now she is tied to a jelous maniac that won't even let her have friends.
It is sad. I feel bad for her. I had really hoped for more for her. I guess it is not to be, unless I showed up at her door and took her away.
I suppose that is within the realm of possibility. It might work. It probablly won't. I know it would just be a matter of time before she starts asking me what I've done for the last 3 years. None of my friends and family would understand or forgive me.
I should just leave well enough alone.
It is odd. I've been thinking a lot about her lately. I miss her terribly and would love to have her visit to see my new home and life.
She told me that she married Tom back in Feb 2004. She gave in and just married him.
I feel bad for her. She had her chance to make something with her life. To travel. To learn. She is sober, has money, wisdom, and no ties. Now she is tied to a jelous maniac that won't even let her have friends.
It is sad. I feel bad for her. I had really hoped for more for her. I guess it is not to be, unless I showed up at her door and took her away.
I suppose that is within the realm of possibility. It might work. It probablly won't. I know it would just be a matter of time before she starts asking me what I've done for the last 3 years. None of my friends and family would understand or forgive me.
I should just leave well enough alone.
Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Elena flew home
Elena flew home to Las Vegas last night. I was sad to see her go. I really liked having her here. I hope she enjoyed her stay. I know that I drive her nuts sometimes, but I hope the good outweighs the bad.
Sunday, April 11, 2004
A Korean Easter 2004
Today is Easter Sunday. I had promised to take Elena to Easter service at a church. She was raised Pentacostle, so I tried to find a Pentacostle church with an Easter service.
I can't believe how difficult it is to find the right kind of church. The phone book doesn't list churches by demoninations. There where no churches with the word "Pentacostle" in their names.
So I turned to the Internet. I found a web site for the Australian Pentacostle Church. It turns out that there are various "flavors" of this church, some very different than others. The bottom line was that the only two Perth area churches listed in their directory were way, way far away to the north of town.
I finally though I found nearby in Fremantle. I called the number and the pastor answered. He told me that I was welcome to come the Easter service, but we would have to stand outside. It turns out his church is very small, about 7 people, and that there is no room to stand or sit. I guess his church must be the garden shed or something.
Finally after more digging I found a larger, established church that would do in South Perth. They had a 9am service.
This morning we woke up late. Elena was simply not ready in time. It was partly my fault. I did not wake he up early enough. She was very upset and started crying. She really was looking forward to getting dressed up and going to Easter service.
So I had to scramble to find an alternate. I found one in Victoria Park that had a service at 11am. I called them up and got a recording verifying the time. Aweseome! I told Elena that we are going to another church and she was happy.
We found it, and got there in time. However, there was one little problem. It was a Korean church. The service was conducted in Korean. We were the only white people and non-Koreans in there.
The service was just starting when we arrived. Elena and I decided to stick it out. She said that she recognized many of the hymns and other things from her Russian Pentacostle church she grew up in, so we could get by.
The congragation was shocked to see us in there. They kept stealing glances at us. A woman was assinged to us as a translator. She was very nice and would tell us in English part of what the priests were saying.
The service was very lound and very intense. Even though I could not understand a word that was said or written, I got the gist of it.
After the service many of the older congragation gathered around us to ask us questions. Where were we from? Why were we there? They insisted that we join them for a Korean lunch in the church's hall.
Elena was not comfortable with the idea, but decided to go along and eat a couple of bites.
When we got in there, Elena ran in to a problem. Elena had dressed up very nice and looked awesome. But being a beautiful blond model, with a nice summer dress and large breasts, she attracted a lot of attention. We stood out like sore thumbs.
The teenage son of one the congregation couldn't control himself. He was perhaps 19 or so, and you could tell that he wasn't quite all there mentally. I think he was mildly retarded. He was mesmorized by Elena. He kept staring at us during the service, I thought because he was upset that we had invaded "his" church. It turns out not to be be so. He just wanted to look at Elena and didn't have the brains to be discrete about it.
So he comes running over and presses himself against Elena. He starts to run his fingers through her hair and staring at her eyes. I saw this and came over to run interference. I wedged myself between him and Elena and placed Elena near the wall so he could not run around to the other side.
He was not happy about that. Is was obious he was determined to have her. I didn't dare look down at pants. I'd probablly get upset at what I would find going on.
His mother noticed his behaviour and came over to scold him in Korean. He paid her no attention, his eyes fixed on Elena like a wolf. He tried to make some small talk with me.
He asked me where I was from. I told him California. This seemed to deeply impress him for a minute, and be backed off.
I looked over at Elena. I could tell she was nervous and did not like all the attention. The older men were shooting lusty glances at her, and women were huddled in groups wispering to each other and shooting dagger with eyes towards Elena. I could tell that they were not happy with the attention their men were paying to Elena.
So I made up a lie. I told our hosts that Elena and I had a reservation at 1pm for Easter Lunch with some friends at a restaurant down the street. I told them that I didn't realize that it was so late and that we had to get going. Elena picked up on the lie and ran with it. We hustled out of there with the pastor and the translator streaming after us into the parking lot.
The begged us to reconsider and stay. The asked us to return for future services. "Yea. Yea. Will will do that". Anything to get going.
So we went to one of our favorite restaurants and have a awesome lunch. This will be an Easter that Elena will never forget. I'm sure the same can be said of some of the congregation.
I can't believe how difficult it is to find the right kind of church. The phone book doesn't list churches by demoninations. There where no churches with the word "Pentacostle" in their names.
So I turned to the Internet. I found a web site for the Australian Pentacostle Church. It turns out that there are various "flavors" of this church, some very different than others. The bottom line was that the only two Perth area churches listed in their directory were way, way far away to the north of town.
I finally though I found nearby in Fremantle. I called the number and the pastor answered. He told me that I was welcome to come the Easter service, but we would have to stand outside. It turns out his church is very small, about 7 people, and that there is no room to stand or sit. I guess his church must be the garden shed or something.
Finally after more digging I found a larger, established church that would do in South Perth. They had a 9am service.
This morning we woke up late. Elena was simply not ready in time. It was partly my fault. I did not wake he up early enough. She was very upset and started crying. She really was looking forward to getting dressed up and going to Easter service.
So I had to scramble to find an alternate. I found one in Victoria Park that had a service at 11am. I called them up and got a recording verifying the time. Aweseome! I told Elena that we are going to another church and she was happy.
We found it, and got there in time. However, there was one little problem. It was a Korean church. The service was conducted in Korean. We were the only white people and non-Koreans in there.
The service was just starting when we arrived. Elena and I decided to stick it out. She said that she recognized many of the hymns and other things from her Russian Pentacostle church she grew up in, so we could get by.
The congragation was shocked to see us in there. They kept stealing glances at us. A woman was assinged to us as a translator. She was very nice and would tell us in English part of what the priests were saying.
The service was very lound and very intense. Even though I could not understand a word that was said or written, I got the gist of it.
After the service many of the older congragation gathered around us to ask us questions. Where were we from? Why were we there? They insisted that we join them for a Korean lunch in the church's hall.
Elena was not comfortable with the idea, but decided to go along and eat a couple of bites.
When we got in there, Elena ran in to a problem. Elena had dressed up very nice and looked awesome. But being a beautiful blond model, with a nice summer dress and large breasts, she attracted a lot of attention. We stood out like sore thumbs.
The teenage son of one the congregation couldn't control himself. He was perhaps 19 or so, and you could tell that he wasn't quite all there mentally. I think he was mildly retarded. He was mesmorized by Elena. He kept staring at us during the service, I thought because he was upset that we had invaded "his" church. It turns out not to be be so. He just wanted to look at Elena and didn't have the brains to be discrete about it.
So he comes running over and presses himself against Elena. He starts to run his fingers through her hair and staring at her eyes. I saw this and came over to run interference. I wedged myself between him and Elena and placed Elena near the wall so he could not run around to the other side.
He was not happy about that. Is was obious he was determined to have her. I didn't dare look down at pants. I'd probablly get upset at what I would find going on.
His mother noticed his behaviour and came over to scold him in Korean. He paid her no attention, his eyes fixed on Elena like a wolf. He tried to make some small talk with me.
He asked me where I was from. I told him California. This seemed to deeply impress him for a minute, and be backed off.
I looked over at Elena. I could tell she was nervous and did not like all the attention. The older men were shooting lusty glances at her, and women were huddled in groups wispering to each other and shooting dagger with eyes towards Elena. I could tell that they were not happy with the attention their men were paying to Elena.
So I made up a lie. I told our hosts that Elena and I had a reservation at 1pm for Easter Lunch with some friends at a restaurant down the street. I told them that I didn't realize that it was so late and that we had to get going. Elena picked up on the lie and ran with it. We hustled out of there with the pastor and the translator streaming after us into the parking lot.
The begged us to reconsider and stay. The asked us to return for future services. "Yea. Yea. Will will do that". Anything to get going.
So we went to one of our favorite restaurants and have a awesome lunch. This will be an Easter that Elena will never forget. I'm sure the same can be said of some of the congregation.
Tuesday, April 06, 2004
I'm back... report on Cable Beach
We flew back today. We had an awesome time in Broome. I'm very tan and very relaxed. It was a needed break.
Thursday, April 01, 2004
Cable Beach Resort in Broome
Elena and I flew up to Broome today for a short vacation. We are staying at the Cable Beach Club Resort on the world famous Cable Beach.
The resort is very nice and very luxurious. I'm leaving the phone, laptop, and clocks at home.
The resort is very nice and very luxurious. I'm leaving the phone, laptop, and clocks at home.
Sunday, February 08, 2004
I'm no longer an illegal!
I got word that my visa was approved. That means that I'm legal again. Yea! And the visa clocks starts all over again. I'm now good until the end of 2008.
But the bad news is that they ruled that I have to post an immigration bond. The bond is equal to the amount of money it would cost to fly me back to my country of orgin, in my case Los Angeles.
New pimp isn't exactly sure how much that is, or when it is due. They are thinking that I need to post a $3000 AUD bond. Of course no one is going to pay me so much as a cent of interest on that money. Nor is there any guarantee of when and if I will get it back.
I've convinced them that I can fly one-way from Perth to LAX for $1400AUD (off peak rate). So as long as I can document that price, the immigration dept will accept that as my bond.
I don't have an extra $1400 laying around. So my pimp has agreed to let me pay this over 9 months. They are going to take a couple of hundred dollars out of each pay check and apply it towards the bond.
My take home pay is now a little less than I used to get. Plus, the extra bite for the bond is take out. Thinks could be worse. At least I have a job and contract. Sure beats being stuck at LAX with no money, no car, no home, no job, and no place to go.
But the bad news is that they ruled that I have to post an immigration bond. The bond is equal to the amount of money it would cost to fly me back to my country of orgin, in my case Los Angeles.
New pimp isn't exactly sure how much that is, or when it is due. They are thinking that I need to post a $3000 AUD bond. Of course no one is going to pay me so much as a cent of interest on that money. Nor is there any guarantee of when and if I will get it back.
I've convinced them that I can fly one-way from Perth to LAX for $1400AUD (off peak rate). So as long as I can document that price, the immigration dept will accept that as my bond.
I don't have an extra $1400 laying around. So my pimp has agreed to let me pay this over 9 months. They are going to take a couple of hundred dollars out of each pay check and apply it towards the bond.
My take home pay is now a little less than I used to get. Plus, the extra bite for the bond is take out. Thinks could be worse. At least I have a job and contract. Sure beats being stuck at LAX with no money, no car, no home, no job, and no place to go.
Friday, February 06, 2004
Bought a car today
I bought a car today. It is a used 1994 Ford Laser station wagon. It is really a Mazda 323 that Ford rebadged. Automatic, no AC, tiny 1.6 liter 4 banger motor.
I got a good deal on it. It is clean, only 130k kilometers on the clock. Paid $6000 AUD for it.
Now Elena and I have some wheels to have fun it. It should make like so much easier for us.
My favorite part... it is paid for. No car payments. Yea!
I got a good deal on it. It is clean, only 130k kilometers on the clock. Paid $6000 AUD for it.
Now Elena and I have some wheels to have fun it. It should make like so much easier for us.
My favorite part... it is paid for. No car payments. Yea!
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
Spine surgery
Today I went to the hospital for the surgery. My doctor is going to be injecting cortizone into my lower spine. He has to give me a lumbar injection into the spine.
I have to be out cold for this since I can not move during the procedure. He uses an x-ray to guide his needle inside the spine.
All went well. I was home by dinner time. I can't walk, but I'll be fine tomorrow.
I have to be out cold for this since I can not move during the procedure. He uses an x-ray to guide his needle inside the spine.
All went well. I was home by dinner time. I can't walk, but I'll be fine tomorrow.
Saturday, January 31, 2004
I'm an illegal alien!
My current visa expires today, January 31, 2004. My application for the new one is floating around somewhere within the Immigration Departments vast system. At least I have proof that they have my application.
So technically, I will be here illegally tomorrow. If I am caught, then they will ban me from returning for years. They could also criminally prosecute me.
My visa agency in Sydney assure me that the immigration department has assured them that they are not going to go after people like me who are (a) trying to redo their visas to comply with the new rules, and (b) have their application in the system. However, they will not give put this claim in writing.
That makes me nervous. The enforcement arm of their agency may not be aware of this verbal promise. All they know is that my visa has expired and they have no record of my leaving the country. They know were I live and were I work. It is easy picking for them.
So I've taken precautions. I spoke to my friend Louise who is a lawyer. I asked her if it is ok for me to call her if I get arrested. She said that is fine, so I've written her number on my arm. I gave her a list of people to contact for me should this happen, such as my boss, my pimp, and my housemates.
I knew that if I was picked up, they would take me to their holding jail out by the airport. I figured it would take them a couple of days to deport me, so I might have a chance to make one call. I don't expect that they will be nice enough to let me use a telephone. But I have my calling card memorized, so I can get a call out should I get my hands on a working telephone.
To complicate matter, the visa specialist in Sydney have my passport. So if I am picked up and shipped out, I won't even have a passport to travel with. How in the hell am I going to get back into the US... or anywhere?
There isn't much more I can except lay low. People tell me that I'm being a worry wart and the law isn't interested in people like me. They are more worried about illegal asians and arabs.
Still. If I'm on a computer, they have to hold me if they catch me.
So technically, I will be here illegally tomorrow. If I am caught, then they will ban me from returning for years. They could also criminally prosecute me.
My visa agency in Sydney assure me that the immigration department has assured them that they are not going to go after people like me who are (a) trying to redo their visas to comply with the new rules, and (b) have their application in the system. However, they will not give put this claim in writing.
That makes me nervous. The enforcement arm of their agency may not be aware of this verbal promise. All they know is that my visa has expired and they have no record of my leaving the country. They know were I live and were I work. It is easy picking for them.
So I've taken precautions. I spoke to my friend Louise who is a lawyer. I asked her if it is ok for me to call her if I get arrested. She said that is fine, so I've written her number on my arm. I gave her a list of people to contact for me should this happen, such as my boss, my pimp, and my housemates.
I knew that if I was picked up, they would take me to their holding jail out by the airport. I figured it would take them a couple of days to deport me, so I might have a chance to make one call. I don't expect that they will be nice enough to let me use a telephone. But I have my calling card memorized, so I can get a call out should I get my hands on a working telephone.
To complicate matter, the visa specialist in Sydney have my passport. So if I am picked up and shipped out, I won't even have a passport to travel with. How in the hell am I going to get back into the US... or anywhere?
There isn't much more I can except lay low. People tell me that I'm being a worry wart and the law isn't interested in people like me. They are more worried about illegal asians and arabs.
Still. If I'm on a computer, they have to hold me if they catch me.
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Major visa and pimp changes
The Aussie immigration office has changed all the rules regarding 457 visa holders like myself. A 457 visa is a long term (4 years) work visa.
They decided that 457 holders can no longer be managed by one agency. Until now, I had two pimps working for me (not by choice). It is a bit complicated.
IBM uses a small number of established personell/headhunter companies to find them qualified contracters. The firm runs the ads, screens applicants, etc. IBM pays the firm and the firm pays the contractor's salary (the contractors invoice, technically).
The firm take a cut of the money. They pay the contractor X bucks an hour, and the firm charges X+Y bucks to IBM. The firm gets to keep the Y.
Now for 457 visa holders, it is a little more complicated. In order to maximize the tax benefits for being a long term overseas contractor, they farm out to specialized firms that understand this niche business. There are only a small number of them in Australia. Even though that also get a cut of my pay, the tax benefits to me pays it and gives me a little more in my pocket.
So, the agency hired by IBM then hires this 457 specialty agency to hire me, the overseas contractor. IBM pays the first agency, whom I call big pimp, X+Y dollars an hour. Big pimp then pays the specialty agency (whom I call Little Pimp), X dollars per hour and they in turn pay me X-Z dollars per hour after takinh their cut.
However, the tax benefits they get me cut my taxible income so that the taxes I have to pay are less that their cut, giving me a profit.
Technically, little pimp is my visa sponsor. They are responsible for me. I work for them. They pay my salary.
Confusing, eh? The Australian Immigration office thought so too. It turns out that some small agencies where abusing this structure to get Indian and Pakastani "programmers" into Autralia, then not getting them work but charging them handsome fees for this. They would then become illegal immigrants, which was fine with them. At least they got inside Australia.
So they changed the rules. In January 2004 they ruled that there can only be one agency between the employer and the contractor. I had to fire little pimp and get big pimp to take over as my sponsor.
That was not as easy as it sounds. Since little pimp was my visa sponsor, they have to give up my sponsorship. What this means is that I have start all over again and re-apply for permission to move to Australia to work. Given the political climate, the rules had changed since I was first granted a visa back in late 2001.
In addition, I had to find a pimp that would both sponsor me and give me some, if not all of the tax benefits I enjoyed under the old arrangement. Easier said than done.
So I shopped around. There are about 4 agencies in Perth that can do this. I interviewed with all of them. I finally settled on a small outfit called Icon Recruiting. Nice guys. I felt comfortable and I liked their terms.
Next hurtle was to get a new visa. My current visa was valid until December 2005. The immigration office cancelled all 457 visa effective Jan 31, 2004. That meant that unless I got renewed, I was going to loose my visa.
I hired the same firm in Syndey that got me my last visa to help me again. They do all the prep work and are really worth the fee.
They decided that 457 holders can no longer be managed by one agency. Until now, I had two pimps working for me (not by choice). It is a bit complicated.
IBM uses a small number of established personell/headhunter companies to find them qualified contracters. The firm runs the ads, screens applicants, etc. IBM pays the firm and the firm pays the contractor's salary (the contractors invoice, technically).
The firm take a cut of the money. They pay the contractor X bucks an hour, and the firm charges X+Y bucks to IBM. The firm gets to keep the Y.
Now for 457 visa holders, it is a little more complicated. In order to maximize the tax benefits for being a long term overseas contractor, they farm out to specialized firms that understand this niche business. There are only a small number of them in Australia. Even though that also get a cut of my pay, the tax benefits to me pays it and gives me a little more in my pocket.
So, the agency hired by IBM then hires this 457 specialty agency to hire me, the overseas contractor. IBM pays the first agency, whom I call big pimp, X+Y dollars an hour. Big pimp then pays the specialty agency (whom I call Little Pimp), X dollars per hour and they in turn pay me X-Z dollars per hour after takinh their cut.
However, the tax benefits they get me cut my taxible income so that the taxes I have to pay are less that their cut, giving me a profit.
Technically, little pimp is my visa sponsor. They are responsible for me. I work for them. They pay my salary.
Confusing, eh? The Australian Immigration office thought so too. It turns out that some small agencies where abusing this structure to get Indian and Pakastani "programmers" into Autralia, then not getting them work but charging them handsome fees for this. They would then become illegal immigrants, which was fine with them. At least they got inside Australia.
So they changed the rules. In January 2004 they ruled that there can only be one agency between the employer and the contractor. I had to fire little pimp and get big pimp to take over as my sponsor.
That was not as easy as it sounds. Since little pimp was my visa sponsor, they have to give up my sponsorship. What this means is that I have start all over again and re-apply for permission to move to Australia to work. Given the political climate, the rules had changed since I was first granted a visa back in late 2001.
In addition, I had to find a pimp that would both sponsor me and give me some, if not all of the tax benefits I enjoyed under the old arrangement. Easier said than done.
So I shopped around. There are about 4 agencies in Perth that can do this. I interviewed with all of them. I finally settled on a small outfit called Icon Recruiting. Nice guys. I felt comfortable and I liked their terms.
Next hurtle was to get a new visa. My current visa was valid until December 2005. The immigration office cancelled all 457 visa effective Jan 31, 2004. That meant that unless I got renewed, I was going to loose my visa.
I hired the same firm in Syndey that got me my last visa to help me again. They do all the prep work and are really worth the fee.
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