I’m going to China at the end of the year and , well this year has been major when it comes to catastrophes within China. The latest being the huge glacial deluge that flattened much of the valley and has killed possibly thousands, although if you look at Chinese official media they say that the official death toll is only 7 and that is 24 hours after the event, whereas Nepal had stated at the same time at least 546 person had died with many still missing.

There are so many other catastrophic events that have hit China this year and almost none of them have been shared or shown on the main news outlets. There have been many dam collapses and whole villages have been washed away and again the government have said that only 30 people or so have been killed or missing.

This particular event has too many foreigners within the death toll for them to cover anything up. On state media there, the aftermath of this event has hardly been shown, well apart from the footage of the rescuers in there new suits heading onto planes and looking prepared. Why they cover up the truth of this tragedy is only a question they can answer, however there are a few suggestions that it was China that is responsible for this whole catastrophe due to the drilling, excavation and the building of a hydro electric dam up stream.

Either way, it has been a hell of a year so far within China and also many other parts of the world as the El Nino creates havoc. I’m hoping to visit the Three Gorges Dam on this trip and there are also rumours about that circulating online about its imminent demise, I just hope that it doesn’t and especially when I manage to go there to see it in person.

I was talking with Rod the other day, he is one of the other drivers at the yard. Like myself we have both held our bus licences and driving licences for a very long time, I got mine back in 1978.

When I first began I learned to drive using a crash gearbox, very different to cars of that time. If you don’t understand then look it up. Back then I was told by the older guys that we didn’t know how lucky we were, because back in their day it was all crash boxes and how easy it was to break your wrist if you screwed up the gear change.

I only had to drive the Bristol Double Decker to get my licence and then most of the buses after that were auto or semi-automatic. Although, we did have a couple of old coaches that all had crash boxes and no power steering and they were a challenge if we were short of buses. Oh and then we got a Volvo B10M 6 speed manual for motorway express work, now that went like shit of a shovel.

You learn many skills learning to drive in a manual that can be easily applied to the driving of a modern vehicle, of course that all changes when you talk about electric vehicles.

In todays world we want everything now and we want it to be easy and we want it to be digital, when in fact some things should stay analogue. Learning to drive a car should be analogue and then if you want you go digital or automatic. If you do not understand the concept of gears and how to change them and use them in everyday driving then you are a hazard on the roads. Here in Australia, I may have mentioned this before, most of the drivers don’t do bends very well and instead of going through a bend they drive around it, and if you don’t understand what I mean then you drive round it. If you only learn to drive using the stop and go pedals then you are not going to be as good as you could be if you had learned in a manual and that is why when I approach a bend I usually leave the car behind in my wake. and why is that? well I use the gears, even in an automatic. Of course you can use the brakes but then you change the attitude of the car and it’s more difficult to brake and steer rapidly at the same time.

In Australia they always promote speeding as the biggest killer on the roads, but I think it’s because too many people learned to drive with only the stop and go pedals and never really gained the skills to drive that wee bit faster through the bends. But catching speeding drivers is good for the revenue for the government, so it’s easier to neglect the real reasons for the many disasters each day.

And now the next generation of folk are already learning to drive in Electric cars with all the nanny controls onboard that make constant noises, a glorified mobile phone and the market will soon be dominated by China, which of course is a country where no one can really drive, but they do like their gimmicks.

Electric cars have an insane amount of power, which will lead to more deaths because they can get to speed quicker than an ICE car and I’ve seen it a few times my self where the driver is struggling to cope with the acceleration. are they going to ban young people from driving these?

There are a few safety features in cars that do improve the experience and protect the occupants in the event of an accident, such as Airbage, Abs and traction control and even cruise control, but not this adaptive kind.

For people who are enthusiastic about cars and enjoy the whole driving experience, then there is virtually nothing mass produced these days to satisfy their hunger, not unless you have deep pockets.

You also need to be an electronics expert these days to work on them. And just think about how long it takes for your phone to stop using certain apps because the operating system is old, this is what you have to look forward to with your car of the future. So enjoy your new toy before it becomes a very expensive paper weight.

I’ve been using a Xiaomi watch for the last couple of years, I bought it in China on my last trip and I really like it. It’s simple to use and had the functions that I needed and wanted. However, it was not designed to work outside China…..it was still able to tell the time etc, but when it came to the GPS and tracking functions it struggled to produce accurate readings.

Now I’m not a gym junkie, although I do like going for walks and riding the bike and keeping track of it all and so I got myself a new watch.

I had planned to buy another Xiaomi, but the Global version which would make everything work OK. A new Xiaomi watch is around $300, which is a bit more expensive than the Chinese one.

In the meantime I got an email telling me about my Qantas Frequent Flyer balance and I went to see where I could travel to and low and behold, 130,000 points is almost useless these days unless you travel within Australia, which I don’t want to.

Years ago that would have got me a one way business class seat to the UK and now it might get you to the end of the runway. I then saw an advert for a Garmin 965 Forerunner watch and it cost 99,000 points and I took the plunge and bought it. I’ve had all these points for a couple of years and they are just sitting there….

The difference between the Xiaomi and Garmin is vast. It’s quite the learning curve. After three days I managed to set an alarm, work the timer and have a vague understanding of what the buttons do. In the app I switched off all the marathon and gym stuff app apart from steps, hiking and road bike.

There are all the bodily function monitors, it can even tell me how much nap time I take, there might even be a flatulence monitor . It’s obviously going to take quite a bit of time to work out all the things it can do, but now it can tell the time, record my bike ride that I did with so much detail. There are even maps on the phone.

So now I have a new toy to play with and part of me thinks that this kind of thing is wasted on me and I might still buy that other Xiaomi watch yet. I think there might be a few others that this would be more useful for.

I think winter will have disappeared in another week. Yesterday morning was around 8C, but by noon it was 24C. Very pleasant time of the year, however it’s an ominous warning as to what summer has in store for us.

Sitting outside reading my book and hosing the Noisy Miner birds was definitely the highlight of my weekend. They really are a pain in the arse, especially now as they have one young that is always screaming for food.

A couple of years ago I began to chase them from the garden and the deck with the garden hose and it was very effective and so for the past few days I’ve begun to hose them again, and it’s really good fun 😁

I’m still feeding the Butcher birds and the Magpies and because they don’t finish what I’ve put out, then the Miner birds fly into try to take it and then I give them a blast with the hose. Also, the Grevillea and Bottle Brush are flowering and this too attracts the Miner birds and every time they fly in I give them a blast. It’s like shooting fish in a barrel. Now, some folk will be thinking that I’m a cruel bastard for doing this but I’m not. These birds are a pain in the arse, highly territorial and they scare everything else away and so all I’m doing is standing up for the other poor unfortunates.

I managed a short run on the bike too, only around 20 km or so, however this was my first time out in month. Last week I had a road trip and the week before I could not have been arsed.

Well we’re in the eighth month, the horses have had their big birthday party and I’m closer to my holiday. I’ve changed my flight and so now I’ll fly in and out of Hong Kong. When I arrive from Brisbane I’ll get the train via Kowloon to Shantou, which is actually quicker than flying there. And I much prefer this option. The less flying the better.

Another short week, got Wednesday off and I’ll spend it at home catching up on the many things that I keep putting off, well that is the plan at the moment 😁 Come Wednesday all that could change 🤔

I turned 66 this week, and if I was in the UK I would be able to retire……. mind you I might have been skint. Not sure what I would have done if I had stayed in Scotland. The good thing is that I can still apply for the British
pension because I worked there for more than 10 years, which is the minimum requirement to receive it.

I’ll send off the application tomorrow by post and if all goes to plan then I should get some cash by Christmas……Nice!

In Australia the retirement age is 67, of course you can stop work before that if you have the funds, however I have been on a Sabbatical for most of my time here and I don’t have the cash. So, one more year of driving the bus and hopefully fitting in a few overseas trips before I can put my feet up. Mind you I think I’ll still do a couple of days a week because I still like driving the old bus, just not every day

It’s winter currently, however it’s not really cold. One night it got down to 6C and then the next night it was back up to 17C due to the cloud cover. Winter is not really winter as I knew it as a kid and so I like to go down to Armidale for a few days to experience a more winter landscape. This year it’s been very pleasant, lovely blue skies, very little wind, which does make a hell of a difference.

Well Armidale did not disappoint, it was cold and crisp and virtually no wind. It was absolutely perfect. It was good to catch up with Stuart and Catherine and have a chat, some good booze and good food. Mind you I did have one hell of a sore head the day after I arrived. Possibly jet lag from the drive, wine and the single malt.

I enjoyed the drive and it was great to stretch me olde Ford’s legs and eat lots of food that I would not normally have. Stopping at a cafe in a small country town and ordering a bacon and egg roll with coffee was marvelous.

Looking forward to the next jaunt into the wilderness….

This sunburnt country, a country of extremes,

A country of fresh air and big mountain streams,

A country where the animals are unique and some might just kill you,

There are Crocodiles in the rivers and sharks in the ocean

That’s enough to set the adrenalin in motion,

There are snakes and spiders and lizards too,

Really big Kangaroos that look so cute, but could break your legs in two.

So yes, it can be dangerous but you have to understand

That the most dangerous creature here is the walking talking man

A country that looks like it’s on the up

But not is all as it seems

Frustrated for years by the amount of indecision,

The country has no direction, the country is in stagnation

Problems exist but there is no inclination to fix.

The government is not equipped the government is retarded,

Christ, they don’t even know if they are foreigner or a local, or should that be a yokel

The country is run by parasites that have the junkets and the limos

But to pay for all this, to make them so bold, they rape the land and rip out your innards.

Sell it to Adani or the Chinese to fill the coffers,  

Kick the farmers off the land to dig mighty holes,

And contaminate the aquifer for a few dollars more,

Destroy the Barrier Reef for a few litres of gas

And then sell it to others while they shaft the locals in the arse,

They have created a society where the debt is out of control,

Along with obesity, domestic violence and public opinion polls

So, sell your soul to the devil and buy that 4-wheel drive,

Cause you need to drive it to the school and the shopping centre just to survive,

This country had so much promise, its position unique,

To learn from the mistakes of others and not get caught in the bleak,

But instead blinded by arrogance or stupidity or both,

The country has been run into the ground by those that love it the most.

The GFC was viral and brutal but Australia survived quite well,

They had won the lottery because of all the minerals that it could sell,

Instead of saving for a rainy day or building for the people,

It was pissed up against the wall and left the country in the foetal,

Personal debt is staggering and one bump could cause a fall,

The dominoes are lined up and ready for one and all,

Waiting to topple after the first little quake

And if it does then what will it do, no worries….and so what will it take

A baby bonus buys a new TV and $1000 to all,

I would have preferred a high-speed rail or maybe better roads to haul,

Maybe investment in solar or better houses to stay cool,

But quick satisfaction and gratification of the masses,

Knee jerk policies by a bunch of school yard politicians,

A kindergarten government with its heads in the sand,

Squabbling over he said she said what a sorry looking band.

The government is useless and has been for many years,

Bring back Keating I say he used to break a few knees.

There’s no foresight, no forward thinking there is only greed,

As long as I get re-elected of course, we will succeed.

Corruption is on the agenda from the bottom to the top,

But who gets caught, no one of note so this needs to stop,

They have too much money to beat the system and it’s the poor that take the hit.

Farmers are struggling not only with the mother earth but also with the bureaucratic shit,

It’s all for one and all for me, cut down the trees and destroy fertile land,

 I’ll make more money that way and life will be grand

The barrier reefs a wonder of nature is dying before our eyes

Mining companies and greed and because we believe their lies.

A multicultural masterpiece so tolerant and diverse,

But scratch below the surface and you will see it’s in reverse,

The white folk are feeling marginalised and picking on the migrant,

The plebs and the dross so common in any society,

Are joining the Hanson wagons,

But nothing will change, only the weather

Greed is still too strong and the pollies just blether,

The rains will come and the rains will go,

The floods will return and the destruction will flow,

The fires will burn and the earth will be renewed.

But you know, as long as we have cricket or football and sport,

They couldn’t give a rats about anything of import.

The flight cost me $145, business class to the UK on Cathy Pacific, mind you it was a one-way ticket and I did use around 125,000 Flyer Points. Brisbane to Hong Kong and then Heathrow and no idea where I was going to end up. Well for the first month at least I had plans, but after that…

I stayed in London for a few days before picking up my hire car which I had for a month and then I’d see where the wind took me.

Ken and Linda have always been kind enough to let me stay at their place and this time Ken was on a Sabbatical and it was good to just chill for a while and spend some time together catching up on old times and wondering where the wind will blow us both. This continued until September or so and then I caught a one-way flight to China via Thailand. It was only after I arrived that things went to shit for a while. A friend, who shall remain nameless for now, promised me a teaching job and told me that they needed help setting up the new training centre. Weeks before leaving Glasgow I had wandered around book shops trying to find suitable material to take with me, I had a teacher friend accompany me too and this all turned out to be a complete and utter waste of time.

As I was going off to my bed that evening, in the dreadful accommodation that had been organised for me, it took all my willpower to not go completely ballistic. There was no school, nothing was in place, there was no need for me to be here yet, I could have still been travelling and ticking off a few more places on that every increasing bucket list. I was so angry that I just had to stay away from my friend and just about everyone else, mind you the latter was quite easy because I didn’t know anyone here yet.

After about 4 months and after my first visa run, things began to get better. I had picked up some work from Patrick, who ran a training centre and had given me work, managed to get me new accommodation and my life began to get better. Once more I was in a clean comfortable place and not some shitty old apartment.

Patrick had a finger in every pie it seemed and knew many people in Suzhou, I was at the centre of this universe for a time and it was great. I became a minor celebrity and no matter where I went, I seemed to be known. For a city of 11 million people, I just could not understand how and why. I was invited to many functions, day trips and all I really had to do in return was a bit of PR for Patrick or whoever else was organising an event. As a foreigner living in Suzhou, life was good.

I met Amy, she ran a travel agency and knew many foreigners. She would often set up an excursion and invite a bunch of us to give feedback on the proposed new adventure and in return we got a great day out. Amy was very influential as well and she had many extravagant day trip and I was also invited to a State Banquet one evening with a doctor friend from India. Life was mental and I had become a social butterfly.

The first two years my accommodation was always on a fragile status, I flitted from place to place and so it was magic when I returned in 2018 to meet Sissi. I booked one of her apartments for a few days after returning from my winter trip in Europe and Thailand. She was wanting to set up a more upmarket house in Suzhou centre and so I took one of the rooms. It was a four-bedroom apartment, she rented out the other two rooms to help pay the rent and for the most part it worked out, however every so often there would be a complete and utter cunt would come to stay and upset the ambience of the place. I did not enjoy this one bit and began to crave for solitude once more. I was caught between a rock and a hard place again and compromises were made, but it allowed me to have a fairly good lifestyle on a budget. Every 3 months I had to do a visa run and so I was able to explore many places. I went to Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Italy, UK, Singapore, Malaysia, Burma and many parts of China when I returned.

In January 2020 I returned form my visa run, I’d gone to Singapore and Thailand this time and I retuned to Suzhou on the 8^th January 2020. A week later we were in lockdown due to the Covid outbreak. The next 3 months were fairly intense. Suzhou turned into a ghost town. Sissi would not go outside because that’s what the government had told everyone. I went out every day and went to the park as usual in the morning and enjoyed the peace and quiet, I had finally got my solitude. Everywhere you went there was a QR code to be scanned and you worried each time it was scanned because if it turned any other colour than green then you might get dragged away. I had many confrontations on returning to the gated community I lived in when trumped up over zealous nutters tried to demand to see my passport or tried to refuse me entry. It got very heated in the first week of the lockdown until a friendly policeman told them to back off.

I left China on the 15^th March 2020; it took a long time to find a flight that I could afford. I paid $1000 for a one-way flight and I did see some flights to Brisbane for close to $20,000 which was just obscene.

So now its July 2026 and it all seems like a dream and not a nightmare. It was an experience of a lifetime and I cannot imagine not having done it. I can still remember sitting outside having a bit of lunch in December 2015 and wondering where I could go with the Qantas points, I had and then I found this one-way flight for $145 and thought I have to have that and so I booked it and thought no further than that. I would go home for a holiday and then get a flight back at some point. Four years later I returned and I often wonder where I would be now if Covid had not come along and upset the apple cart.

Sometime in life you will come across a sign in some respect and you should take heed and think to yourself, maybe I should just do that and Just get oot there!

If you watch the TV or wander through YouTube you will hear all kinds of reports on the current state of affairs within China. There are two channels that talk about all the negative social dilemmas, including the many factory fires that seem to be happening every week and the reason given is due to unpaid wages and the strange thing is that you very rarely see this information on any other news outlet.

There are also the many reports on the natural disasters that plague China along with the flooding that usually accompanies them. It seems that there are two main reasons for the flooding and they are as follows. Unofficial release of water from dams and the other is that much of the drainage systems are fake, they look real enough but on closer inspection it’s quite obvious that the pipes lead nowhere, which is similar to some of the fire hydrants that you get in high rise apartments.

I’m going to China at the end of the year and so I am always keeping an eye on things and depending what channel I am watching changes my mood. At times I’m thinking, “What the hell am I doing going back there?” and then I realise that I really like China and there are many more places to investigate. There is so much bullshit online and there are many that exaggerate just because it gets them more views. I’ve been to some of the less salubrious streets in China and so I can spot bullshit when I see it. mind you China does have many problems with unemployment and I have first hand testament as to how difficult it is to find a job. I’ve seen first hand the poor neighbourhoods in large cities, including Suzhou where I lived and Suzhou is one of the richest in the country. You don’t have to wander too far from the CBD with the glass and concrete to come across squaler and the lifestyles that accompany.

On the way to the wet market in Shi Qian Jie, and about a twenty minute walk from the SIP zone you will also find young women in tiny, tiny rooms with only a bed and a sink. I would estimate the room to be about 4m x 3m and it has only a small window which was very rarely open. In fact I only got a glimpse of the interiors on a few occasions. When I used to stroll through this shortcut and meet one of these young ladies I used to always say hello to them, I would never entertain a liason with them even although I got a few invites. Just be aware, prostitution is illegal in China and if you are a foreigner you would be in a lot of trouble if caught and you would also be leaving yourself open to exploitation.

When I was living with Sissi, she was run off her feet making money and she did make money. She was running 3 Airbnb houses . She was a risk taker and almost almost it paid off for her each time. Now she cannot find work and when she does they want her to work for peanuts. She has many skills. Her English is good and she is adaptable to new situations and yet even finding a job such as a sales assistant is almost impossible.

A couple of months ago she started with a Japanese company in sales and she was offered 6000 RMB per month and this was for working 6 days a week. On the second week they told her that they will only pay her 3000 RMB and so she left because it was just not worth it after travel expenses.

She jumped on a train to a different province a couple of hours away to start as a housekeeper in a hotel. Sissi has worked in the hospitality industry many times and knows it well, she has high standards. After being there for two days they outlined the job. They were looking for a 24 hour concierge and the payment for this? 3000RMB. Sissi is now over 40 years old and she will just give up, well according to Chinese society that is. They want young people that they can exploit. All over China this is a big problem. Wages have dropped or wages are going unpaid and of course those with money are doing everything to keep it.

However when you watch the mainstream there still seems to be massive infrastructure projects taking place and the future looks rosy. The future is bright, robots will be the new norm and when you see one of the robots is quite lame. They give the impression that they are all autonomous, however all of the time there is a guy in the crowd with a remote control. Ah, smoke and mirrors, I guess their bullshit is even better than Trump’s.

It was only at the last minute I realised that the school holidays were for three weeks instead of two, oh happy days.

The first week off is dedicated to personal maintainance, such as the dentist, optician, skin clinic to check for skin cancers and finally my GP, where I will ask about the shingles vaccination and get my annual blood test. I even put the car in for a quick check on the fuel tank and it seems like the fuel pump seal has perished and that is what’s causing the fuel smell and more importantly the leak if I fill the tank to capacity. The car is 28 years old you know and so I’m not really surprised. I’ll book the car in for a weeks time and get that done. The old credit card has had a major workout this passed week. Apart from the other things I’ve mentioned, I have also had the car registration and insurance, tis an expensive time of the year.

Oh and I bought a new BBQ and my computer shit itself, that was another grand oot the door. No food for me this week 😣

Finally there has been a hint of winter, all this week the heating is on when I get up, however it’s only been about 7C outside which of course is not really that cold. Ten years ago we were having nice crisp frosts in the park behind the house, but not these days.

Today was “Build the BBQ day”, this is where I’ll find out if the review I read will be true. A woman had written that it took 2 1/2 hours to build it and she felt that was just not acceptable, why was it so difficult for her husband to build?

Yes, it took me closer to 2 1/2 hours to build my BBQ too, however I listened to the Division Bell and then Meddle while putting it together. It was very straightforward to put together and I did follow the instructions, maybe that’s why. Every so often the Butcher birds would come to watch my progress or maybe they were just looking for food.

I think I have to season the plates first before I cook any steak on it, and at the moment I canny be bothered, but I will use the side burner in the next couple of days to see how that goes. I think it looks rather good and I’m hoping that it will last as long or maybe even longer than the last one.

I have very vivid memories of me sitting in the kitchen when I was a kid eating breakfast, possibly Frosties, and the transistor radio would be tuned to the BBC. If I remember correctly, there was sometimes a bit of an argument as to what station we should listen to. Mum was more Engelbart Humperdinck and we were more radio one, which played the latest and greatest pop songs of the 60’s and 70’s.

In September 1971, the Old Grey Whistle Test began on BBC2, this was a new kind of music program which would often highlight only one or two bands instead of playing all the music of the day.

The running order included:
Theme music: Area Code 615 – “Stone Fox Chase”
Lesley Duncan performing:
Sing Children Sing
America
Riverside
Children
Studio rehearsal footage from America performing:
Riverside
Children
Film clips featuring:
Alice Cooper – Hallowed Be My Name
Jimi Hendrix – Wild Thing (from Monterey)
Bob Dylan – Maggie’s Farm
Clyde McPhatter – You’ll Be There �
TheTVDB +1
The first song ever performed on the programme was “Sing Children Sing” by Lesley Duncan, making her the first artist to appear on OGWT.

Bob joined the OGWT in 1972 and was called “Whispering Bob” because of his very quiet and nervous delivery as host. He has been a pillar of the music industry since.

Due to the time difference between the UK and Australia, I was able to listen to “Bob Harris Sunday” on a Sunday morning instead of having to wait up until midnight. His eclectic music taste introduced many of us to new and amazing music and then he would play a blast from the past to bring us back to our roots.

He hosted “Sounds of the 70’s” in 1970, however I don’t recall listening to him on radio back then, I was introduced to Bob on the “Old Grey Whistle Test” For many years “Sounds of the 70’s” was hosted by Johnnie Walker, and I was never a fan. He was a long time staple of the BBC and the industry and I listened to him here at night time, but I was never really a fan, however I love the music from the 70’s. I personally think Johnnie Walker stayed on way to long, he was ill with cancer and praise to him for battling on, but the play list each week was becoming predictable and stale. There is only so much Status Quo you can listen to.

Bob returned to the show in November 2024 and it was such a breathe of fresh air, he was far more skilled and his music was fantastic. Yes he played some of the staple songs but they were few and far between, instead he once again introduced many of us to the vast array of music that was the 70’s. His stories and anecdotes are second to none. He is 80 years old and he lived through the best years that music has had to offer and he has been gracious and consistent and always able to blow your mind. He is part of the DNA, the fabric of music.

https://www.instagram.com/whisperingbob

Bob stepped away from the Sounds of the 70’s in March this year due to ill health. He has been battling cancer for sometime, although you would never know it. He said that if he could not give 100% to each program he did, then it was unfair on the listeners. Such a sad day, the world is not the same without Bob Harris on your radio. He recently turned 80, although he certainly doesn’t act like it. He is currently resting at home getting over the latest regime of treatment and I’m sure everyone that knows him or just heard him on the radio like me, wishes him all the best and we hope that maybe he might just return to the mike once in a while to let the world hear his dulcet tones.

Sounds of the 70’s with Bob Harris