A Pause for some Philosophy

Sunday morning and I was reading the papers over a cuppa coffee. Two headlines shared the front page.

One, which made up 80% of the page, consisted of a photograph and a line (enticing one to read more inside) about Tiger Woods' indiscretions. The fact that such rubbish should be on the front page shows you how low we've sunk as a society - and that neatly segues to the second headline, a bottom-of-the-page "banner", which was about the national weekend crackdown by the various police forces on anti-social behaviour associated with drinking.

I looked at this page - the Sunday edition of the Canberra Times - and said to myself "No wonder there's a bloody problem - we've got our priorities arse-about-face".
What has happened to us when the newspaper from Australia's capital city puts the rutting habits of a sporting personality above (literally) a major social problem?

There is a very simple solution to binge-drinking and the anti-social behaviour that is associated with drinking.
All that our elected representatives need do is modify the licensing laws:

• Ban the sale of alcohol at supermarkets and similar retail outlets. Limit it to hotels and clubs and restrict the "take-it-away" trading to licensed bottle-shops attached (physically as well as by license) to hotels or clubs.
• Limit the trading hours of pubs 'n' clubs to 10 AM - 10 PM Sundays through Thursdays and 10 AM - 1 AM Fridays and Saturdays.
• Completely and utterly ignore the screaming that will result from clubs, pubs and those bleeding hearts who proclaim that freedom of choice and civil liberties will be blown away.
• HAVE THE GUTS TO STICK WITH IT!

The solution is staring us in the face and is amplified by today's Sunday Times (Canberra).
When Tiger Woods' "plight" takes centre stage and pushes all else out of the spotlight, we have a real problem.

The bike gets new pipes!

(Both photos, Sony DSC-F717. Click to enlarge)

Remember my Honda CM400A?
Well, it was necessary for me to replace the exhaust collector which sits underneath the engine and into which each exhaust header feeds, with the mufflers connected to the output end.
The outlets had rusted over time and the previous owner had used muffler putty as a temporary repair.

I had a used replacement collector (provided as a spare when I bought the 'bike), in good condition, but I thought I'd veer away from stock-standard and apply a little customising.

My age lends itself to memories of Triumph Bonneville's and Norton Commando's and BSA Lightning's when they were new, so I did a bit of a search on the 'net and found a place here in Australia that was selling a repro set of Dunstall "reverse cone" exhaust pipes.

A little over AUS$220 and a week later I took delivery of a beautiful pair of replica Dunstall's and, in the space of a Saturday afternoon, had the old set off and the new one's fitted and bolted up.

Now, when the 'bike is fired up, not only does it look a bit British, it definitely sounds like a Trumpy.

For anyone who might think that the originality has been sacrificed, never fear.
I have kept the original mufflers and have the replacement collector box, so if the CM400A is ever sold, it will be done so with these original items.

In the meantime, although I can't afford a Commando or Bonneville, I can at least sound like one!

Summer has arrived...........

(All photos - Sony DSC-F717. Click for full-size images)

............with a vengeance, too.
We had some record temperatures during November. Spring? No way - it was full-on summer!

 

It was a year ago that we decided to redesign the front yard due to water restrictions and the continuation of the dry weather. The grass (or weeds, more to the point) just had to go.
So in November 2008 we started on the project, finishing the job by Australia Day 2009.

The grass was poisoned and then after it had died we spread what seemed like three million cubic metres of forest mulch to a depth of at least 100mm over the entire area.
A brick pathway was laid from the front border to the side walkway along the northern wall of the house and it joined up with the existing paved area at the front under the English Elm.

Over the past year - and particularly over the past two months - Shirley has been busy planting a variety of hardy shrubs and ground covers through the area. She has also added some lovely blue pots as features.

So the result is a front garden that appears to be doing very well under these drier conditions.

It will be interesting to see how it fares through to the end of this summer.