Saturday, July 16, 2011

End of Financial Year Report

For the first time in over a decade I am completely up to date in all of my dealings with everyone. Even the tax department!

I don't owe anybody a cent, I have no unpaid bills, no unfiled tax returns.

I've even paid the ATO all the money I DIDN'T owe them but they wanted anyway as tax on money I didn't even earn but hadn't bothered to fill in their bloody forms to say I hadn't earned it. They say I SHOULD get some of that back (and we're talking $12,450 that I had to pay over the last 12 months so it's not insignificant) but I'm not holding my breath. I'm sure they'll find a way to keep all of it because they seem to love to screw me over.

By my reckoning, the ATO owes me about $8000 back from the above plus 3 tax returns totalling about $2500 = $10,500. A boy can dream.

What's the bet I get nothing? I'm putting the odds at about even.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Sick clothing for kids dressed to kill

AN Australian company is selling baby clothes featuring Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden and Ivan Milat.
The range of garments, in sizes from 000 rompers for three-month-old babies to T-shirts for children up to 12, has sparked international outrage.
The Ivan Milat baby romper has a picture of his face and the slogan: "Australians Just Love Backpackers"...

Link to article & comments

Grumpy of Norwood Posted at 3:43 PM June 11, 2011
If I saw a baby wearing a Charles Manson T-shirt it would undoubtedly be the funniest thing I had seen that day. Seriously, the kids don't know who these serial killers or, worse still, politicians are. The images are meaningless without knowledge of the background story. It isn't corrupting them. It only means something to an adult viewing it and if those adults are offended then it only shows how thin skinned they are.
Comment 49 of 55

Friday, April 01, 2011

Smoking

I'm 50 and have been smoking since I was 15.

I love smoking. I love thinking that my body cannot regain full consciousness until I've had several cigarettes and a coffee in the morning. I love cigarettes with coffee. I love cigarettes with whisky, wine... or any other alcohol. I love gathering with other smokers to chat and gossip when everyone else is stupidly working at their desk. I particularly love it when ex-smokers at work are having such a stressful day that they ask me for a smoke. I love that a lot.

I hate smoke. The smell of it disgusts me. I hate ashtrays, nasty smelly ugly things. I hate walking into my house and having to open all the doors and windows to get rid of the smell. I hate that all the white painted walls in my house are now a streaky, unattractive buff colour. I hate that there is so much tax added to cigarettes that it's almost unaffordable. Almost. I hate that I keep having to redefine what I consider to be "affordable". I hate feeling anxious when I'm down to my last few and having to decide what I can go without in order to get another packet. I hate that I can no longer smoke where I like - in pubs, restaurants, workplaces and, here in Australia, apparently, soon, in pretty much any public area at all even if it's outdoors. I really hate people who complain about smoking too. A lot.

I had a heart attack at 45. I'm still smoking 5 years later. Although this sounds like a stupid thing to do I am perfectly capable of justifying this with the argument: It took 30 years of smoking to block one artery, that artery has been unblocked now with a stent, my other arteries have all been checked and are fine. If it takes another 30 years to block another artery I'll be 75 and that doesn't matter because, being a smoker, I'll be dead from cancer before I get to 75 anyway.

See? Makes perfect sense.