Shane Warne

What is going on with Shane Warne?

I can't imagine why anyone would spend money on hair transplants.

In fact, I can't even understand why anyone would spend money on hairdressers.

What a shocking waste.

The Voice

If anyone needs to book a John Farnham tribute show, please do so at entertain oz.

Michael Castle has an amazing voice and according to the website: "A Tribute to John Farnham - when you can't get the real deal, try second best".

Quoting Michael: "While it's great to be paid for what we do, the most important thing is to keep Farnham's reputation for quality and professionality at it's highest standard. That way we keep him proud and his fans."

I can't wait until he comes to Hobart.

Cheap car parking

As some people may be aware, there are a couple of council car parks in Hobart that let you have the first hour's parking for free.

There are a few semi-frugal people out there that move their car every hour so that they don't have to pay to park all day.

I don't think they have really factored in all the extra costs for the savings involved. I tried this approach for a month and only saved $2 (which isn't too bad I suppose). As my office is a seven minute walk from the car park and it took four minutes to move the car, it meant I was only at work 42 minutes every hour. Fortunately no one seemed to notice.

What I have worked out in the meantime is how the ticket dispensers work. This ensures I can park the car at 9:30am and then, when I leave work at 4:36pm I just need to stand next to the ticket dispenser and jump up and down while holding a rubbish bin. This triggers the ticket, so when I leave it looks like I have only been parked for 10 minutes.

Bargain.

Happy Birthday to Me

Yes. As of Saturday I was another year older. Another year of superannuation accumulating.

The wife was kind enough to get me Season 3 of McLeod's Daughters as a present. A great season - someone gets married, someone gets killed, someone goes missing and a long lost sister / cousin turns up to stay.

Unfortunately the wife got me the DVD set and we only have a video player (Beta!).

I will have to visit an acquaintance with a DVD player and watch the whole season in one night. Should be a great time.

Mother's Day

Unfortunately the wife wasn't too happy with her Mother's Day present. Although the kids gave her the present, I was the one who had to pay for it. And I really did buy a present this time.

It was a can of Mr Sheen and a duster. And to make things easier for her, I sketched out a floor plan of the house showing which areas needed particular attention.

As it was Mother's Day I wasn't expecting her to start dusting straight away - not until the afternoon anyway.

So far she hasn't started.

Frugality of words

Bear with me on this one as it takes a bit of reading.

The following is a disclaimer on the back of an Aurora Energy (local energy retailer) document:

Information published in this activity booklet does not represent the policies of Aurora Energy Pty Ltd ("Aurora") or Kidsafe (Tasmanian Division). The information is not intended to be advice and is general information only.

Whilst every endeavour is made to ensure the information contained in this activity booklet is accurate and up to day, Aurora/Kidsafe assumes no responsibility in relation to accuracy of the information or the consequences of any person relying upon any information. Much of the information is provided to Aurora/Kidsafe by third parties. Aurora/Kidsafe makes no claim as to the accuracy of any information provided by third parties, or in respect of information contained in the links provided to internet sites or the information on those sites.

The information in this activity booklet is not adapted to any particular person's circumstances and therefore cannot be relied upon to be of assistance in any particular case. Unless specific provisions of legislation are quoted, Aurora/Kidsafe does not make statements of law in relation to any matter. If you wish to know the law you should either go to the relevant legislation or obtain advice from a qualified professional such as a solicitor.

The document that this disclaimer appears is a children's colouring in book. As to getting advice from a solicitor, perhaps that could be useful if someone else borrowed your book and went over the lines with their blue pencil.

No wonder my power bill is so high.

Federal budget

I was very disappointed with the Federal budget last night. Spend, spend, spend appeared to be the approach. Not what I like to see.

Having said that, I think there should have been more work items made tax deductible. With the new colour laser printer we have at work it is very simple to print extremely realistic tax invoices.

Generosity

At the Tax Office, showing generosity to colleagues is suspicious behaviour and may be a sign that you are up to no good.

If there is one thing my work colleagues have never accused me of, it is uncharacteristic generosity. Although I have been known to go halves with someone if they see me filling my pockets with paper clips from the stationery cupboard.

Thanks to whoever at work left their copy of the Financial Review sitting around. It made an interesting change to the Mercury.

Vine ripened tomatoes

Another way to save money at the supermarket - vine ripened tomatoes are even more overpriced than normal tomatoes. The solution to this is to remove the vine bits so they no longer look like vine ripened tomatoes. You save $3 a kilogram and as an extra bonus don't have to pay for the weight of the vines.

Coffee

With Mother's Day not far away the wife has been dropping hints that she would like a coffee maker as a present.

Unfortunately one was advertised in a recent catalogue and she saw it.

I told her that I rang up the manufacturer and that the coffee machine will not work with Caterers Blend instant coffee so we can't get it.

Maybe she will settle for a new coffee cup. There are quite a few sitting around in the office kitchen.