Floral Family and Friends Friday

Fiona Uncategorized

(Image Credit: BK)

I had originally considered a different theme for this evening’s Friday thread, but in view of BK’s mum’s woes and Puffy’s brilliant idea about flowers from The Pub, I thought it would make a kinder, gentler thread to give accolades to family and friends.

Doubly so, because today me mum moved into her new residence, and on her bedside table there was a sign saying “Welcome” and a lovely bouquet (they have flowers all round the place, from large, formal displays to delicate orchids).

(Image Credit: Potted White Orchids)

So, go for it, Pubsters – and remember, the bar and kitchen are open, the juke box is ready to be revved up, so chillax and enjoy the evening.

(Image Credit: Unona)

185 thoughts on “Floral Family and Friends Friday”

  1. Thoughts on entitlements and rorts, the cost of Brownies little Gelong trip would have trained 4 Mini-Lit reading tutors and enabled 40 students in primary school who were having difficulty getting going with reading, to actually become life-long readers.
    Who benefits?

  2. I had a lovely time fiddling with the Fairfax poll charts and what I saw reinforced what I already knew. There is one thing the journalists writing about polls refuse to tell us –

    Liberal voters want Tony Abbott as leader. Labor voters want Bill Shorten.

    Liberal voters prefer Albo as Labor leader, Labor voters prefer Turnbull as Liberal leader.

    That should tell you a lot, especially when you look at the Green preferences.

    The MSM push to get rid of Shorten comes from journalists who have an agenda. That agenda does not support a Labor win come the next election. The social media whinging about wanting Albo to lead Labor comes from the Greens and their supporters. The Greens have an agenda too, and it does not include supporting a Labor leader.

  5. Joe Hockey wins the ‘Which MP can spend the most on a taxpayer-funded family jaunt’ contest.

    Treasurer Joe Hockey ‘spent almost $15,000 of taxpayers money on flying his family to Perth in 2013’ – after Christopher Pyne flew his family to Sydney and Tony Burke holidayed in Uluru
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3190394/Treasurer-Joe-Hockey-spent-15-000-taxpayers-money-flying-family-Perth-2013-Christopher-Pyne-Tony-Burke-jetted-families-country.html

  7. The NSW TAFE business – this is an issue close to me, No 1 son works at the local TAFE.

    The restructure has been dragging on for two years at least, and is affecting more than the students. I hear a lot about the goings on with staff. Last year the IT department here, No 1 son’s domain, underwent a long and tedious restructure. It is still coming to a conclusion. Staff were told their jobs were up for grabs, anyone who wanted to stay had to re-apply for their own position, if it was still going to exist, and for any other positions they thought might suit them. Also included in that was a sneaky shift in job status, sometimes involving a demotion to a lower pay grade for a job someone had been doing for years. Those not wanting to go through that could opt for voluntary redundancy, but that decision had to be made by a certain date. Leave it too long and you would have no job and no redundancy payout.

    The managers doing the restructure thought their work was brilliant, they skipped around the place telling everyone how great things would be after the change,not noticing the air of gloom and doom hanging over the department, not noticing that staff were no longer interested in doing their best work. Clients noticed though, the state school teachers and TAFE teachers in the region who depend on this department.

    My son’s first reaction was ‘Bugger them, I’m out’ but he decided the pay was a reason to stay on. He applied for the one position he wanted, won it and is now finally settling into it. Most of this year has been spent in confusion because no-one could take up new positions until management had finished with interviews and whatever. They took far too long. The money they wasted on that process is a whole other story for another time.

    Now it’s the turn of the admin department. Last week a lot of the staff there were told they will no longer have a job. Just like that.

    In a country town this is quite a blow. There are few, if any, similar jobs available.

    Meanwhile I keep getting people knocking on my door offering ‘government-funded’ tertiary courses. There was one yesterday, the bribe was a free laptop. These bloodsucking, so-called ‘education’ companies offer Mickey Mouse courses that will see people end up with substantial debts and worthless qualifications, but hey, they will have that free lap-top. This is the direction Abbott and Baird are forcing on those who cannot afford the current fees at TAFE. You can work out the agenda here, we saw the same thing happening in Victoria under Napthine. Get rid of TAFE completely, eventually, and have the private companies take their place, Private companies run by Liberal Party donors, perhaps, or overseas owned companies that will avoid paying tax on their earnings here. It will be a huge disaster, unless we get rid of the Abbott and Baird governments before they can do too much damage.

    A lot of us tried to make TAFE an issue for the NSW election, but few seemed to care. Fools.

  9. Finally read all the links from yesterday. The most common meme in all of them was the ‘gov’ was stabilising and on the way back in the polls, before choppergate. It’s not quite how I remember it, but I have to say what I read and what I see seem to be two different things.

  10. Mammoth remains that could be around 20,000 years old have been discovered at a building site in central Switzerland, a local official said on Friday.

    What will people find in 20 000 years?

  11. More on HoJo’s ‘family reunion’ in Perth.

    The multi-millionaire Hockeys were too tight to pay for the third child to travel – under the rules at the time Joe was entitled to only three return business class flights for family members – so they left the third child behind – with the nanny, one hopes – rather than fork out themselves for an extra air fare. Tighter than a fish’s arse when it comes to their own money, spending like a crazed Roman emperor when it comes to our money.

    Some ‘reunion’. Joe stayed in Sydney while his wife and two of the kids spent a couple of days in Perth, before Joe joined them.
    http://m.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/treasurer-joe-hockeys-14k-family-travel-expenses-as-kids-fly-business-class-to-perth-in-school-holidays/story-fni0cx12-1227475681052

    I have no problem with politicians taking their family members with them on official trips, or with the allowance of ‘family reunion’ trips at our expense. I understand the job involves a lot of time away from the family. But when you get multi-millionaires rorting the system to the extent they refuse to pay fares out of their own pocket it really gets me growling. FFS! Melissa Babbage could have booked and paid for every business class seat on the damn plane, to Perth and back, and not even noticed the cost.

    When you get down to the truth it seems we paid for a nice little holiday in Perth for Melissa and two of her kids, Joe dolled it up as ‘official business; so the HoJos didn’t have to pay for it.

    Joe did a quick presser in Perth to justify the trip and had a quick chat to Colin Barnett while he was in the neighbourhood.
    http://m.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/treasurer-joe-hockeys-14k-family-travel-expenses-as-kids-fly-business-class-to-perth-in-school-holidays/story-fni0cx12-1227475681052

    http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/western-australia/joe-hockey-cant-commit-coalition-to-budget-surplus/story-fnhocxo3-1226625878736

    All this money spent on jetting around the country for meetings – what’s wrong with Skype?

  12. Geez!…a bloke’s as sick as a dog w/ the flu and the OH . comes on with the list of complaints and starts to sink the Blunstones in!…
    ‘Go away!..go away!”..I pleaded…”I’m a sick man…I’ve got man-flu”.

    I tell you what, I reckon this retched flu-virus was released into the community by the LNP. to help cut down the number of pensioners to save a few dollars….the bastards!

  13. It’s probably a virulent strain developed from a microcosm of Broomhilda’s spit!..that person’s vile-bile would be toxic enough to wipe out a whole division on any battle-front!

  21. I am sick of hearing about ‘The Pub Test.’ Our country is supposed to be run from Parliament, not by a mob of boozy, poker machine playing knobheads sculling back schooners between watching the replay of the third race at the Dapto dogs.

    Family travel was introduced to MP’s workplace contracts partly to allow them time with their family and to give the family a sweetener so they do not pressure their MP dad/mum to take that lucrative job in the private sector. It also reminds MPs they have a family and maybe not to play hide the salami with a colleague in the stores room.

  23. I personally think that these MPs are really pampered. There are many families who are separated for months or even a full year due to jobs in a foreign country. The conditions of some workers are often appalling.

    I’m against all that overindulgence which makes these MPs even greedier and greedier. It should stop.

  25. Today Abbott said politicians should look to the business community to gauge what is acceptable when it comes to work-related expenses. That won’t help, it will just make things worse.

    http://www.afr.com/news/politics/national/tony-abbott-says-politicians-should-have-same-expense-standards-as-business-20150808-giutwm

    While I’m on expenses, this lot of whingers want a bigger trough. They can’t have been much good at being MPs, I don’t recall any of the Labor ones and remember John Moore only because he was involved in so many scandals.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/politician-entitlements-former-mps-high-court-bid-to-boost-allowances-20150807-giuc21.html

  34. *ahem*

    Sorry everyone.

    Having done the NEW THREAD thinggy I then deactivated comments on the new rather than the old friend, and trotted off for a quick dinner.

    Now fixed.

    Silly moi.

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