Toll Roads

I hadn't check my emails for a few days. Oh, so many emails, who can be bothered wading through that lot. (I currently have 750 unread emails)

Anyway, my toll statement came up and it said, A Friendly Reminder...

Of what, I thought?

So, I open the email and it says they it was a follow up reminder that my account was overdrawn?

Overdrawn, I thought? Can't be.

I hadn't topped up my toll account since 2020, I was kind of proud of it. I don't use toll roads, just out of principal. The govt should fund roads out of our taxes, and roads should be free for everyone. I believe that wholeheartedly.

I knew that I only had a few dollars of balance on my account. 

I knew that I did use a toll road at the beginning of the year, when Sam directed me to the video conversion woman's house. I should have looked at the directions first, before we left, because, as you know, Sam doesn't drive and consequently, he isn't so good with directions without GPS telling him.

Anyway, it was only one toll reader, I was pretty sure at the time I had enough balance to cover it. But, you know, maybe I had misjudged and got it wrong.

20 something dollars overdrawn? What, I think? I wonder if this is a scam email? Well, it could be?

I go to my account. I would always go to my account. I would never work off an unsolicited email.

My account says -$21.80, or something like that. Last day, or so in Feb and 01st March. I look up my journal which has times, more often than not, and, um, ashamedly, er, predictably, I was at home on the couch.

There is a number, so I call it.

The AI voice assistant can't work out what my enquiry is, we try multiple times and then it puts me through to a person. 

The person doesn't have much more success.

"There is an entry on my account, actually two that weren't me."

"Weren't you, I am sorry?"

"There are two entries on my account when somebody else must have been driving."

"Somebody else was driving your car."

"No, I have been charged... oh, what? Somebody else was driving my car?" I leant my car to David. He drove it to Yea. The charge was on Eastlink. "Oh, sorry, I have just worked it out. Somebody else was driving my car."

"Somebody else was driving you car," he repeated.

"Yes. Sorry to bother you."

"It is okay?"

"Yes, it is okay."

David ran up $22 of tolls in my car, actually a bit more than that as I did have some kind of balance, I reckon it was about $5. At least he filled the car back up with petrol. My car is always full of petrol, as I don't drive all that much so it is easy to keep it full.

Actually, I have two cars, neither of which I drive very much, both of which are usually full of petrol.

I always go and fill them up when petrol is cheap

I don't care about the tolls David ran up, as such, I care about any tolls someone is paying to a toll company for something that should be free for everyone.

My message to govt is, stop creating a two tier society, in this case people who can afford tolls, and people who can't.

I think it is govt job to make society more equal, not less equal.

Oh yes, but your taxes will go up, Christian. I don't mind paying more tax for a fairer society. The people who can afford it pay a bit more, and the people who can't pay a bit less.

I hate those people who say, You should see how much tax I pay.

My response is always, Well you must earn a lot of money then.

Sad face

I didn't get a payrise, of a bonus this year, first time. Really, I thought. Do you think I was a bit miffed? I was?

I'm thinking my nonappearance in the office was perhaps behind it. 

It crossed my mind to resign, I kept thinking all morning, I should just do it and get it over and done with.

But then, half way through the day, The Big Poo called me up especially to apologise for the lack of payrise and bonus. He just wanted to reiterate that he appreciated me and he was very pleased with my work, and what I do. (Yeah, but not enough)

He put in payrises and bonuses for me but 'they' knocked them back, whoever they are going up against the CFO of the Southern Hemisphere, so you have to wonder.

He said he should have fought harder for me and he was sorry.

He said he'd make sure I get looked after next year.

Really?

Next year?

Then i did some snooping and it seems that I was one of the very few who got knocked back, so make of that what you will.

Do you think evil HR is behind this, as I embarrass (their stupid arses) them on a weekly basis?

Or do you think it is our evil American overlords? Think The Good Wife?

Anyway, fuck them. It means I no longer have anything to lose? (I guess)

Public holiday and day off. There should be more of them, we just don’t get nearly enough.

It was a glorious morning, promising to be 30 degrees.

We washed the bulldogs, because of the beautiful day.

We walked them to the middle eastern bakery to dry them and get lunch, who says boys can’t multi-task.

Sam got Chalie lunch too, who was still in bed when we left midday. When we got back, Charlie, who is notoriously fussy about what food he eats, pretty much turned his nose up at it. He ate it, kind of reluctantly. We were watching him and he struggled. Afterwards he said he thought it tasted funny. No thank you for getting it for him. 

Sam still cooks his meals for him.

The food was great. Charlie just has immature taste buds. He usually smothers everything in chilli sauce.

Then it got hotter in the afternoon and we lay on the couches in front of the fan doing screens. Sam looks at Tik Tok. I’m still updating my blog.

It is a very easy day, lovely.

Charlie's Boyfriend

There is a packet of seasoned crumbles on our kitchen bench. I just naturally imagine it strawberry and white chocolate crumble, although I don’t take much notice of it. I briefly contemplate what cereal I could have to use them, but let it go almost as quickly as I thought of it

Sam gets up. He looks at the packet, of course.

“Do you think Charlie’s girlfriend…”

“Or boyfriend…”

“Or boyfriend gave him this?”

“I hope so.”

“You hope he was given this?”

“I hope he has a boyfriend.”

“Really?”

“Oh, it would be so adorable if he had a boyfriend.”

“Do you think so.”

“It would be gorgeous.”

“Really?”

“Oh yes,” I say. “Grandma might shit her pants…”

Sam laughed.

“All her boys she sends to Australia turn out to be gay.”

Sam just looked at me.

“But she’d get used to it?”

“It is roast garlic seasoned.”

“Oh, I just naturally imagine it to be a sweet topping.”

“You would,”

“Just like Charlie could be?”

“What?”

“Sweet top man.”

“I see,” said Sam. “It is Indonesian savoury crumble.”

“Oh, I was thinking sweet pie...”

“Do you think he is seeing someone from a restaurant.”

“Maybe he is screwing the owner’s son?”

“You are incorrigible.”

“Oh, it would be lovely to see him with a strapping boyfriend.”

“Or girlfriend.”

“Holding hands with a lovely boy he perhaps met at the gym.”

“A girl from uni?”

“He’s finished uni,” I say. “Maybe he has been seeing this guy since he finished uni, too nervous to tell us.”

“Why would he be too nervous to tell us.”

“Oh, you know, everyone has a coming out story which is difficult for everyone in varying degrees.”

“You think.”

“Yes, of course, everyone has to do it at their own pace.”

“You have thought about this a lot?”

“No, I am just winging it as I tell you now.”

“You’ve got Charlie deep into a serious gay relationship and you are just making this up now?”

“Yeah, sure. I guess it comes easily.”

“Does the boyfriend have a name?”

“I’m working on that.”

Sam laughs.

“I’ll let you know what I come up with.”

Sunny Saturday

It's a gorgeous day, the sun shines.

We did nothing until lunch time when we walked to Carlton to eat Taiwanese food.

Mark calls me while I was waiting for the food to be bought out. He'd been back in hospital for a day, or so, some unspecified infection that they (the doctors) may, or may not have got under control after numerous blood tests and a MRI.

There was a woman eating next to us with a small dog in a pram. During her meal, she took the dog out and posed it on her seat with her food and took photos.

We ate Taiwanese fried chicken. I had chicken on it's own, having sweet corn soup before, and sweet tofu after. The texture of the sweet tofu was off this week, it was kind of curdled, rather than silky and smooth. Sam had fried chicken with all the side dishes.

We meet a lesbian couple in the Carlton Gardens on our walk back with a brindle coloured greyhound. They were nice.

I leave Sam and the dogs to walk home on their own, right at the end of our walk, and I go and do tattslotto before I head home, in a desperate bid not to go back to work next week. I did OzLotto, which I never normally do, after going to the doctor a few weeks ago, and I won most of my money back, so I put the same numbers on again last week, when I won the exact cost of the ticket, so I took that as a sign to play again this week.

I get milk and bananas as well. Kind of staples, everyone should have milk and bananas. Brun and I share a banana sitting on the kitchen floor when I get back.

The sun continues to shine.

We lie on the couches for the rest of the afternoon.

Break in Usual Transmission

Third day off in a row, well, two and a half, okay two and three quarters. How many hours sick leave am I going to apply for? Hmmm?

The sun has been shining down these last few days.

Sam has been too busy working to make any demands on my time.

I've been busy generating AI images for all my old blog posts. Wasting my time adding images for two, and three, year old, and older, blog posts that probably no one is ever going to look at? Quite possibly. But, it is my latest fun thing to do. But it is time consuming, and I'm not getting any writing done.

I'll look at them, and like them.

Am I re-writing history a bit? Yeah, sure, a bit, but this ain't Shakespeare, let's face it. It's just drivel that once dribbled out of my mouth. Nyr!

Anyway, I can't think of much to write today when I am back three years in history sniffing around.

So, hang about, I guess I'll be done soon.

Conservative Right Wing Politicians

* not exact model, picture used for illustrative purposes only 

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, conservative got minister - shadow minister, I'm forgetting like the conservatives forget, they are not in power - charged taxpayers to fly husband to CPAC where she railed against government spending.

The Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price charged taxpayers $2,500 to fly her husband to the CPAC conservative conference in Brisbane last year, where she made a speech calling to cut government spending and implored attendees not to desert the Coalition.