Archive for August, 2004

I am a member, unfortunately, of HBF. Whilst I believe in public health, it is hard to be a sick person and not have insurance, so I pay the bare minimum I have to to get coverage.

So, during my attempts to update some account information, I went to the HBF website, which had this article on its front page. The gist of it is:

“The 30% rebate is the Federal Government’s contribution towards the cost of your health insurance. Put simply, for every $100 in premium you should pay, the Government pays $30. This means that rather than $100, you only have to pay $70.
Without the rebate, many Australians would not be able to afford private health insurance and this would almost certainly increase demand and the burden on the public health system…

So, next time you hear someone talking about reducing or abolishing the rebate, remind them that it is your rebate they’re talking about. As a taxpaying Australian who is responsibly taking care of your health needs, you deserve it.

To register your support visit the Save Your 30% Rebate site at: http://www.ahia.org.au/savetherebate.htm“

So, guess what I did. I went to the website to register my disgust, but not in a way that they would expect. The form asked me the usual details, and also if I would be interested in writing to members of Parliament, or give interviews to press and radio. I couldn’t help myself. In the comments section I wrote the following:

“I, like the majority of Australians, are only in Health Insurance because our healthcare system has been eroded, and we are in a position where we need surgery.

Private Health Insurance, and particularly the public money spent on private insurance, further erodes the health system by diverting funds that are needed by our public hospitals.

The insurance industry is profiting from the erosion of public health, and your attempts to claim you ‘represent’ the people by scaring their hip pockets into action (as you have done here)is extremely cynical.

What our taxpayers need to do is stop the diversion of funds away from public healthcare, and instead demand that our money goes into our hospitals and encourages bulk billing. I note the irony of you using the word “taxpayer” in your arguments – after all, doesn;t that imply that they are paying TWICE for a 30% rebate on health insurance that doesn;t pay the full amounts anyway?

I resent the assumption that as a member of HBF I would support the rebate, or take action based on my fear of losing the rebate. We are in health insurance because the Howard government came up with this crappy system, whereby anyone who needs care needs to pay for it.

I would be more than happy to express this to any member of Parliament, radio station or newspaper and would be quite happy to engage in a thorough debate of this issue.

(Sorry, but you’re asking for it by having a link on the HBF main page…)”

I hit submit. I’ll be interested to see what their response is.

In the spirit of the vacuum cleaner salesman blog, in no less than two weeks I have encountered another slightly less obnoxious, but still utterly perplexing shop assistant… that seems completely unaware of the impact they have on people.

I am going to take a risk, as I am about to “out” myself. Confess my “sins” and hope for forgiveness from the society that simultaneously creates and treats eating disorders, produces packages that say “low fat and low carb”, and have fast food joints (that, by and large are responsible for our expanding arses) that sell salad. But, I am sure you will forgive me of my my mortal sin, after all, a person is more than what they look like, right?

Wrong.

I am fat. There. I am out. That wasn’t so bad. Argh!

But seriously. Like 60% of the planet I do not put on a pair of teeny Levis with confidence. I do not bear my midriff, and I do NOT wear mini skirts. I look more like Humphrey B Bear than Jessica Rabbit. And if you ever caught me in the Catwoman suit, you would recoil at the horror before you, thus rendering useless the need for any martial arts ability. But hey, for the most part I am ok with it. I am fairly healthy, save for a few “inborn” illnesses that I can’t help. And I try to exercise at least one a month or so (it counts as once a month when you consider the 1 month a year where I get the surge of energy and decide to exercise 4 times a week. After 3 weeks I have done my once-monthly exercise for a year! W00t!). OK, I am exaggerating, but still…

I am also diabetic and have PCOS, which means I have particular dietary needs and have a tremendous difficulty losing weight. However, I have managed to feel better by managing my diet. This involves, by and large, very little sugar and more protein. I tend to gravitate towards the Atkins-style diet because it helps me to manage my blood sugar without going insane from hunger. So there you go.

Part of the Atkins regimen, as the working-class medical journals (ie New Weekly & Woman’s Day) have no doubt told you, is a healthy breakfast consisting of protein and less than 10g of carbs, and enough fat to limit the insulin response. That can take the form of bacon and eggs, an omelette, or scrambled eggs if you are so inclined. Problem is, I often have trouble finding time for breakfast, which means I usually skip it or worse (Maccas).

Which leads me, in a convoluted way, to my latest idiot shopkeeper experience.
Because I tend to skip breakfast and know this is bad, I thought I would start exploring the idea of a protein shake that I can take in the car on my way to work in the morning. So, I walk into the health food shop in the Galleria and start to eye off the Max’s Shake.

All of a sudden a woman came up to me and asked if she could help me. Actually, the sentence was more like “what are you after?”. I told her that I was looking for protein shakes and that I knew what I was after. She then commenced to peruse through every shake. And, before I knew it or could even respond, she had made a list of presumptions about me:

1. I was after meal replacement shake. This is partially true, but I planned on adding a dollop of cream to it! haha! It was more about the way she said it.

2. That I wanted to lose weight with it. It would be nice, but again, the way she said was really presumptuous, like I was some idiot infomercial-believing type that a shake would help me. I couldn’t help but snap back at her “diabetes management, actually”. She ignored me and continued, offering me some “Thermal” tablets that will speed up my metabolism and help me lose weight. THen, highly offended and quite annoyed, I informed her that I am having heart surgery next month to cure a trachycardia (which is where my heart races over 200bpm causing blackouts). I asked her “do you think that taking something taht speeds up my heart would be a good idea?”

Of course, she didn’t answer. I said “I know what I am after, I’ll just look myself thanks”. She then went off rambling something about low carb diets under her breath…

Protein powders cost about $75. But I didn’t buy any. I figured I could just get up 15 minutes earlier and eat breakfast. If I have to go through that just for a shake, I am sure I could endure 15 minutes less sleep.

Let me just share a little bit of stupidity on my part. Normally I am pretty good at troubleshooting computer problems; I generally know the differnece between a RAM problem and a CPU problem, or a software problem. However, I have to say that, despite my usual godliness, I too have my flaws – and that is my occasional inability to see the things are obvious…

So, I had computer problems for the last few days. I had googled, I had mucked around, I had even clean installed Windows… and it was STILL driving me nuts. So, eventually I surrender to the folks at Whirlpool for help. Here is my post:

“Hi Folks,

After 3 days of Googling, new mouse & keyboard, switching from PS/2 to USB AND a complete format and reinstall of XP, I am now desperately searching for any other ideas on my problem.

About 3 days ago My optical mouse started becoming “jittery” – in that it would hang intermittently, freeze up on occasion, and be generally annoying. The old mouse was about 2 years old so I figured I’d go and buy a nice new cordless number, with a keyboard. Plugged it in, still jittery. Stumped.

Thought it might be a virus. Ran 2 different Virus scanners (AVG and NOD32), and Adaware. Nothing.

Thought it might be a problem with the PS/2 plug. Switched it to USB. Still a pain. Stumped.

Tried a Windows Update. New Nvidia drivers rooted my system. Stumped.

Clean install of WIndows XP. Still jittery and, yes, I am stumped. I have googled to my heart’s content and I can’t think of anything else.

The only thing different is the DVD burner I bought 3 weeks ago, but that has been working fine.

Any ideas? My hardware is as follows (due for an upgrade but I was hoping to hold out a few more months):

ECS K7S5A
Athlon XP 1800+
768MB RAM
64MB GeForce4 MX440
60GB Seagate
LG DVD burner
Liteon CD Burner
Netcomm modem.

Any help would be very much appreciated. “

Then, I get two replies. One suggested that it was a mainboard problem (which I had suggested). the other said this:

Hmmm…. have you tried it on a different surface?

I put a piece of paper under my mouse. Voila. My visit to idiot city now complete, I then recoil and marvel at my own stupidity… and then think how great it is now that I have a wireless keyboard and mouse AND a clean install of windows…

Feel free to throw rocks at my head.

Poms want Aussies to talk proper

I can’t help but wonder why the English are so strict on letting us uncultured lot into the country… when we have whole suburbs dedicated to Poms in Australia… hmmm…

Maybe we could reciprocate and test how people pronounce “film” as part of our immigration tests.

I am both humoured and disturbed by this article :)

There is only one reason that anyone ever refers to me as “ma’am”. And, when they do, I have to fight the temptation to push them over, step on their neck and say “what the hell are you talking about — MA’AM?! I am only twenty six!”. Instead, I instantly shoot at them a look of sheer contempt and they lose me from the get go… I am no longer interested in anything they have to say. Because, my friends, the only time anyone ever calls me ma’am is when they are trying to sell me something I don’t need at an inflated price. And this is where my story needs context, for I want you to feel my pain. “What pain?” you ask. I’ll tell you… it’s the insufferable pain of purchasing a vacuum cleaner. Never again.

I managed to catch myself some gastro-loving last week. That was a bittersweet experience to say the least. On one hand I was throwing up like Courtney Love; on the other I had the day off work. So, despite my raging belly and massive headache, I thought that, feeling a little bit better (and only a little bit), I would do what any sensible person would do: I would brave a trip to the shop to buy a new vacuum. You see, my illness provides important background information – perhaps it provides an explanation as to why I found the experience so utterly horrible…read and decide for yourselves I guess!

I walked into Godfrey’s, mistakenly thinking that $200 cash would be enough to buy me a vacuum cleaner. After all, they just suck, right? That’s all they do. They have a hose and a motor and they suck the dirt off the carpet. But alas, I was clearly deluded. I was approached by a guy with a painted on smile and a very thick accent, who proceeded to 1) call me ma’am, 2) ask me if he could help me and 3) tell me that, out of 50 vacuums, there was only one model that was under $200 (and that was $199), but I was wasting my time with that crappy model… and thus, it begins.

Before I go any further I have to admit my own contribution to this experience, because I was stupid enough to ask him about the payment plan that they have on offer, whereby they deduct the cost of a vacuum in 6 monthly installments from my Credit Card. I thought to myself that if this deal was acceptable that it might be worth exploring a wet/dry vac, paying a little bit more and having a slightly better quality machine. So yes, I egged on an eager salesman and deserve everything I got. However, it wouldn’t be a funny story if it was all my fault. Besides, its my blog and I will write whatever the hell I want. Painty-face is welcome to write his own version on HIS blog.

Anyway, after having stupidly asked about the payment plan, painty-face asked me “So, what would you be willing to pay?”.

“Probably about $600.”

“Well, let’s look at this vacuum here.”

Oh good, I thought to myself, this looks like a good machine for $600. He then proceeded to go into every stupid detail about the vacuum. And folks, there are only so many “Ooohs” and “Aaaahs” you can feign with a vacuum cleaner salesman before it sounds utterly ridiculous. And it is hard to be genuinely impressed by a vacuum cleaner. With this in mind, picture my face as he pulls out the cord, exclaims that this cord is “the longest cord ever in a vacuum cleaner”. I wanted to kill him. Bearing in mind my foggy head, rolling stomach and general disinterest in all things housework, I was quite insulted that he would think I was THAT stupid and uninteresting that I would CARE about the stupid vacuum cleaner cord.

So, at this point, after hearing about filters, cords and 360 degree swivel, I finally ask him if I can buy it, just to shut him the hell up.

He pulls out a calculator, touches his nose, and says “what was it you said you can afford again?”

“I didn’t say what I could afford, I said what I was willing to pay. That was $600.”

“OK, so [typing on calculator] this vacuum retails for $1495. I can give it to you for $1395.”

“No thanks.”

“But you said you could afford it.”

“No I didn’t.”

“Then what can you afford?”

“I can afford to pay plenty, but I am willing to pay $600.”

At which point, I was so offended that he thought I was some stupid bogan housewife that would go into hock over a vacuum cleaner… and that he had wasted my time. I felt sick, I was feigning interest in the machine just to get the hell out of there, only to have him dupe me. I was spitting mad.

He continued trying to talk up the vacuum cleaner, convincing me to sign. I then said I would get back to them this afternoon, and took a business card. Paintey-face then said “alright, $1295.”

I couldn’t believe it. What an arsehole.

I walked out, muttering that I needed to “discuss it with my husband” like a good little housewife should, went across the road to Kmart, picked up a Kambrook vacuum cleaner with, funnily enough, filters and 360 degree swivel for $158. Kmart underpay their staff and it is often difficult to find a sales rep. Most of the time I woudl criticise this sort of things, but this was one day where I thanked Buddha for Department stores. At least they don’t call me ma’am. They just leave me be.