I’m still in the market for a new hot water system and I can’t quite decide which is the best option based on the cost of replacement. It’s such an expensive piece of kit that I don’t want to make the wrong decision. Yesterday I sent off several emails and have had a few responses which have been helpful. I decided to give Origin Energy another email because they are my electricity supplier and they do offer a payment plan and I thought well this might be a good option for the wallet. Now I did contact them before and got nowhere but I went to a different area which is for home products. They offer a replacement service on hot water systems and so I thought I’ll send them an email.

Once again I have wasted my time. I happened to enquire about a heat pump and the email came back saying we don’t do heat pumps, well that’s fair enough, but they did not elaborate on what they could offer. And so I asked do you do Solar units? The email got returned in a heartbeat saying that they do not do solar and that I would need to call them to enquire about their products. What fucking products!!

What is the point of having an enquiry email contact when you get told to call them anyway. I explained to them that I was overseas and that I cannot call the 1300 number from outside Australia which I need to use to get to talk to someone. You must give them your details to organise a quote…………I gave them my account number but that does not seem to be sufficient. Over the years I have worked in a retail capacity and you know, if I did not have exactly what the customer was looking for then I would supply them with an option, you know try to solve the problem from a different angle. At the end of the day give them some information. Today no one seems to give a rats arse. Answer the question as quick as possible and then my KPI’s will look marvelous. Don’t give a fuck about offering anything remotely resembling customer service. It’s like trying to get blood out of a stone. No one seems to think for themselves anymore, the capacity for ones own thought seems to have been a thing of the past.

I guess at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter, Trumps in power and will no doubt start world war 3, or Global warming will kill us all or maybe a deadly plague will come along. Or maybe the rot has well and truly set in with the levels of common sense dropping to an all time low. Of course this is what we get for not living by the laws of the jungle. By now most would have died out or would be well on their way to extinction and the world would be a better place for it. For years we have lowered the bar if someone can’t understand, we make things easier and easier and so pure thought is no longer necessary. Society has tried to raise the bar and allow the less fortunate to take an easier path, but instead society has been dragged down, back towards the swamp where we all first emerged from. The balance is shifting and the inept in society are starting to shift the balance and I’m not sure how long we will be able to hang on to ward off these crazy stupid bastards.

I’ve been reading the Hitch HIkers Guide to the Galaxy and you know it seems to make a lot more sense to me than reality itself or is it a glimpse of the future? We all know the answer is 42 but what was the question. The question of course is “What is 6 times 9?” We have so many people in our world just like the Golgafrinchans that were sent off in the B ark to save them from the great disaster about to befall their planet. They also crash landed on the earth just at the beginning of time and contaminated the earth for ever, planting the seeds of stupidity for generations to come. And for some reason the Golgafrinchans seem to be able to breed quicker, I wonder why? And they still do to this day. This allows them to populate more and more of the planet and so we all have a finite time before the shit really hits the fan.

But after talking to Origin Energy I feel that this defining moment in time is a lot closer than I had ever imagined and I can only hope that the Great Green Arkleseizure will take pity on us and at least make it quick.

I returned to Australia to have a mole checked by my skin doctor and to my relief everything was ok with it and so as one of my Chinese friends remarked. ”what a waste of money then” Well yes and no I guess. I was able to get checked by my GP and have my blood checked and his advice was to “stay in China” because it seems to agree with me.  I was able to catch up with family and friends and I got to drive a car for two weeks, which to be honest was the best thing. To have the freedom of movement once more to go where I want when I want is something I have been able to since I was 17.

My first car was a Red Mark III Cortina, 1300cc with cross ply’s on it and so it screamed at you when you went round every corner and to be honest they were lethal. As soon as I could I changed to radials which felt a whole lot safer. The next thing I did was to add fur to the interior of the old Ford. Dashboard and door trims were covered in fake fur. I remember trying to buy glue, which I was going to use to fix it to the door trims, but I had to get a note from my mum to say we were not going to sniff it. At that time glue sniffing was rife and so if a young chap like me wanted to buy glue I got the third degree. I thought that the fur enhanced the old Ford and it made it a lot warmer in the winter and the ladies seemed to like it……………

On the 8^th January I celebrated 41 years of driving and so I was fair chuffed to be able to hire a car to get reacquainted with the driving experience, because I haven’t driven a car for about 12 months. The small Hyundai I30 had a 6 speed triptronic gearbox which was very responsive and so you could have quite a bit of fun with it when driving on the twisty roads. It has two pedals and I have two feet and so it was perfect. I always left foot brake when I drive an auto and I find it far more effective and practical to drive this way, although I get told that it’s illegal to drive using two feet but I’m not sure how anyone is supposed to catch you doing it. The only complaint about the car is that it is front wheel drive which really detracts from a good all round driving experience.

Next:

Australia is becoming really fat, and the amount of exposed flesh that you see in summer time is really alarming. To add to this already frightening experience is the dreaded tattoo. So many people seem compelled to cover their bodies is a mass of tattoos randomly placed. They all seem to go to the same tattoo artist because they all look similar. I only saw a few original looking pieces of art that seemed interesting and unique. I saw a few on the shoulders of women of what looked like a dead child. RIP….. stencilled onto their back for the world to see. I know someone that got this done many years ago when her son got killed and I can kind of understand that she wants her son to be with her every where she goes, but I think that this type of tattoo is hideous. As time goes on and the body gets fatter and older that once perfect tattoo comes to look like a melted Salvador Dali sketch in the dreadful standard cheap blue ink colour that seems to get used for the majority of designs. I wonder what compels folk to get tattoos, it’s like losing your virginity I guess……….you don’t really care who it is but you know you have to do it so that you can truthfully say………..’Yes I am not a virgin”

In my local shopping centre the fat folk are everywhere and not just a wee bit overweight but absolutely huge. They waddle about the place looking for ways to feed their already bulging bodies. The huge queue at the donut shop, the unhealthy looking fast food outlets selling a heart attack in a plastic tub. The only healthy looking option is the sushi bar and there is no one there. When you look into the shopping trolleys you descend into a world that I am not familiar with. Large bottles of soft drink, processed foods, chocolate, crisps, biscuits and sometimes you will see a lonely vegetable or piece of fruit struggling to be on its own. The American culture is spreading across the world slowly killing its inhabitants in a very cruel way. They upsize you and give you more value for money by giving you more fat in a cup, more fat on a plate, more sugar to feed your already bulging thighs and if there is just enough left they will throw in diabetes for free. That should be the new slogan…….Get your free diabetes here.

There were many “Back to school” sales on because the school holidays were coming to an end. I read in the local paper that many of the school clothes shops were having a lot of special orders because the kids were so fat. Gone are the days of XXL now we are up to 9XL and there were also some stores reporting that they had ordered trousers as big as 59in or 150cm in the waist. I’m only 32cm and so these kids are fuckin’ huge. The fat parents are allowing their kids to follow in their footsteps and so they will get their free diabetes quicker which I guess is a bonus. It seems to me that many western societies seem to following this trend. America is King of course and I really don’t understand why so many follow this ideology. I want quality not quantity, whereas this American fast food epidemic promotes quantity over quality. You don’t have to look far to see this, look at any McDonalds or Starbucks.

I’m not ready to return to Australia and I’m not sure I ever will be. Yes there are many positives of course, the weather, the environment, it’s less crowded and in some ways more ordered than China but at the moment I feel that it is boring and has nothing to offer me. I’ve stepped off the merry go round and I just don’t want to get back on it. Having spent 3 weeks there and watching the news, seeing the politicians argue like 5 year olds, news reports about lost dogs and of course and don’t forget the sport.

I enjoy China for the culture and the challenge of trying to speak the local language. I also like being detached from society just enough that I can enjoy a peaceful life. However money is always an issue and this is what will no doubt make me return to Australia at some point. I have my house there and I need to implement my retirement plan which is to win the lotto because I certainly don’t have enough in superannuation to see me through.

But there is also an air of negativity that I don’t want to be part of. It might sound strange to many folk but to me it seems that there is more positive energy in China and I would rather be in that domain. That’s possibly because I can’t understand the TV and I can’t read the papers and I as I said once before “Ignorance is Bliss at times “I heard many complaints when I was back from all walks of life, some are valid and some are just pathetic. Many don’t know how lucky they have it and they really need to get out more and that includes many of the politicians running the country.

And so I think that I will return to another island first and that was the one I was born on. I will need to return to the UK in February next year to apply for my visa for China if I so wish and at this stage I wish.

I was waiting at Booval train station so that I could go into the airport and pick up the hire car. I was sitting on the bench in the shade and beside me were a young Asian mother with her children and another mother and daughter from local stock. The locals were not rich folk and looked like they were doing it tough. An old guy came onto the platform and headed our way. He was shuffling and looking a little bit disorientated, he was wearing old baggy clothes which were clean but old. He came towards us and headed straight to the locals and asked them for money, he said he needed to make a phone call. They gave him some money and he about turned and shuffled back down the platform.

The train came and I got on, which was a relief because it was beginning to get hot outside and so it was good to be in the air-conditioning. About 20 minutes into the journey the old man came shuffling through the carriage looking for his next mark. He passed me again and headed to another local that seemed to be doing it tough. He never approached; let’s say the more affluent looking in the carriage. He gave him some spiel and then politely produced a few coins and gave them to the old man. The old man thanked him and continued down the carriage until he saw the mother and daughter he had fleeced on the platform and quickly about faced and headed back my way. Oops nearly got caught………..

I got off at Central Station to get my connecting train to the airport. As I was waiting there, guess what here is the old man again on the opposite platform once again looking for his next mark and he homes in on some young girls sitting there. They off course feel sorry for him and give him money. I saw him approach one more middle aged woman before my train came. He sat down beside here and then after about 30 seconds starts his spiel and before you know it she is digging into her purse and giving him the cash. I guess there are many ways to make a quid but this has got to be a pretty low way indeed. This is his job, he prays on the kindness of others and he is very smart at picking his mark. This is a new form of begging which he has mastered very well.