Day 88 S.D.G.M Day 3
Thursday, May 6, 2010 at 04:50AM Major Drama!.... My wheelchair broke! Now if you are out somewhere & your shoe breaks, you snap a shoelace, or get a hole in your sock..... you can just kick it off & keep on going! The other day I bounced down a large step & I heard a “Clicking” noise, but I forgot to check it. Today I was sitting on my bike & looked across to my wheelchair to see that it had cracked right across the frame on BOTH sides!.... What the!
I came back into the van and said to Ness “We might have to head home” she asked why & I explained my predicament. I made a phone call to the maintenance department & they said that they had no one on site that could weld aluminium and the nearest would be in Kalgoorlie! He actually came into the van saying ‘We have a crisis...we have to go home!!’ I of course immediately think something has happened back home with the boys, family or friends...then he tells me his wheelchair is falling apart. Must say was a little relieved that it wasn’t life or death...but then I realised (after thinking about it) it was a pretty big dilemma.
I rang the guy that we are working with at the next site & asked him if he had anyone that could weld it but he also said his guys couldn’t (What is the story with this Brad? You are a Boily.... I can weld aluminium why can’t these guys do it?)
Anyway we had a call back from the maintenance manager & he said that he had found a guy that was willing to give it a go. Now I can understand that the alloy on my chair is very thin & light weight, & if they use too much power it would just blow right through it.... So I was a bit worried that they might even make it worse!
They disappeared with the frame to my chair for 15 minutes and I was sitting in the car just thinking about what I would do if they could not fix it, there is no way that it would have lasted until I got home & I do not have a spare one with me! And getting back to what I said at the start it is not like breaking a shoe.... if I don’t have my chair I don’t go anywhere!
Luckily the guys managed to tack a few dobs of weld on the cracks, it is a pretty dodgy job but it will hold till I get home...... I think Ness was more relieved than me as she would be carrying me everywhere if I could not get it fixed! As if....
The guys in the maintenance department did a brilliant job!! Very relieved...
Hey my comments on Rudds super tax stirred a few of you up! But keep in mind this is my opinion only!
Just a couple more points to think of though, for those of you who support his tax ideas that have superannuation...... I can guarantee you that your super fund has shares in these mining companies & already you have seen the value of these shares drop! Why would you support something that will decrease your super fund?
I’m not sure if any of you are interested in shares, but just to give you an idea BHP shares have fallen approx $7 since the announcement of this tax, there are approximately 3.35 Billion BHP shares, so that equates to a loss of nearly $23.5 Billion dollars wiped from the market!..... Australians own 65% of the shares in BHP so that equals $15.2 Billion!.... so us Aussies have had $15.2 Billion wiped from our super funds!..... Good one Kev!
(Info obtained from a newsletter sent by DG)
And I know a lot of you are swayed by Kev’s promise of new hospitals & roads & parks & stuff that he will use the money for! But this is what running a government is all about! Finding the money to do these things without taking from the rich to pay the poor!
I know I sound very capitalistic & I would have to admit that I am, I believe that if you really want to make money then you have the right to work hard, invest, take some risks & reap the rewards, but don’t expect someone else to do it for you!
I also have to admit that I am a BHP shareholder & have done well out of the company! So don’t take my money Kev!...... (can’t wait to see what you guys say to this one!)
Some of you also mentioned that “WE” deserve to benefit & not just the communities that these mining companies operate in & around..... Well WE DO BENEFIT! By investing in these companies & sharing in their profits.... either directly or via our super funds!
And also the infrastructure they support in mining towns, sure it attracts employees & their families, but a lot of these communities have been around for many years before the mines were! So the mining companies have just made some of these places much better & more Liveable!
I sound like I am barracking for Mining!..... I’m not, im just telling you what I have seen over many years of travelling to these places & what Ness has seen on our recent travels!
But I am against Kev Taxing the profits on mining companies. Did he say he was going to do it on banks? They have been ripping us off for years!
Ok, I’m getting off my soapbox now!
Hey a big special hello to Vanessa M, she rang Ness today & has had a hectic few weeks. Stay smiling VM, VW really enjoyed your call today.
Dan rang me last night, the phone rang & Ness answered it & had a chat to him, she then passed him over to me & he said he just rang to have a chat!..... That is so cool, when your kids ring you just to have a chat..... But then I realised it was 8pm WA time which meant it was 10PM Vic time..... on a school night!...... Get to bed Dangaz!
Have to go to work..... Hey Rob, the sessions on this site only go for 30 minutes!.... but I still get paid the same...... Coooooool. So now you can say I work even less!
Love from me & from her....XXX
Reader Comments (5)
lol, good onya Jimbo, work as little as possible and get paid as much as you can, no issues with that, just keep taking care of Ness and we're all good!
btw....if you had the same philosophy for your chair when packing as Ness did with her shoes, there wouldn't have been any drama today, that wife of yours is pretty practical, she's more than prepared for a broken heal!
:)
glad someone was able to fix your chair.
Question for today - you are an avid technology user, and your mobile is never far from you, except maybe when you're on the computer. If you could not use these (like last week) how insecure do you feel?
I rarely use a mobile and get on the Net once or twice a week, yet yesterday from 2 pm till very very late we had no network available in Menindee. So no Internet, no mobile and (for us) no telephone as our landline is a radio phone. I nearly made everyone sit down and stay seated to avoid 'accidents' as we had no way to contact an ambulance, fire brigade or police. I felt really nervous.
Do you worry about things going wrong (eg breaking your chair) and not being able to contact anyone?
Wish my super fund was doing as well as yours - I look at it as my old age icecream fund :) Can I ask what fall out you have seen when mining companies move out of the communities they support ....have heard its not pretty...or is that just rural urban myth?
Glad your wheel chair got sorted ....like Robs comments on taking Ness's approach to shoes... funny
Why the hell would you go away without a spare set of wheels forrest gump?
What happens to all the land that is no longer viable to mine - do they plant trees to regenerate the land or do they just move on and leave a big gaping hole in Australia that is unsightly and worth nothing?
what happens to the small towns that are built around these mines, when the mines go to pot - do they become ghost towns?
Please,please please give me some good answers to these questions - or you just may find your favorite sister (and Sandy W) chained to a big mining machine in WA
PS: dont forget Sunday!