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It's Raining Freebies
22/05/2009 11:50 pmIt's been a big week in Izzieland. All sorts of strange things have been happening
On Monday Izzie answers the phone and is asked about a survey on spirituality and health. Had vague vague memories of filling in such a thing. Confirmed that the serpent had indeed participated. Nearly fell off the perch after that. She was ringing to say that Izzie was one of the lucky ones randomly selected to win a shopping voucher worth fifty silver sickles and needed names and addresses to send the loot
Had such a fit of the giggles. You'd next be expecting a request for a processing fee in order to obtain the goodies or bank account details to transfer the deposit
It just seemed so obviously dodgy on the surface. But the Izzie had in fact done this survey conducted by a student doing a Masters in the psychology department of University of Western Australia and there was a handful of shopping vouchers as incentives
So an unsolicited phone called that looked like spam and smelled like spam but was most definitely kosher - Who would have ever thought it possible?
Sure enough, the very next day a notice arrived in the postbox to say that there was some registered post waiting to be picked up at the local post office. It was the $50 shopping voucher mentioned in the previous day's phone call - well actually a smart card of sorts - like a credit card but loaded with $50 value. One big advantage over vouchers is that you don't need to spend it all at once.
Then there was an email advising Izzie that the big fat green water tank would be delivered on Tuesday. That in a more indirect way is also a sort of freebie.
In an attempt to keep the wheels of the economy turning, the present federal government decided to go tossing around cheques for $900 to taxpayers to spend and stimulate the economy. Not everyone got them. By some strange twisted logic, if you earned up to $80,000 in the 2007/08 financial year you got the whole $900 but if you earned less than $11,000 you got nothing at all. Most peculiar indeed in that those folks are precisely the ones who need it the most and who are most likely to spend it all.
What is really scary is that the government is actually borrowing money to throw it around in such a silly manner. People are doing the strangest things with it. Apparently as well as the made in China plastic pumpkins, the tatooists are doing a roaring trade and one young thing stopped on the street was going to spend his on 'high class ladies'
Izzie figures - just because the government is tossing taxpayers money around in such a silly fashion instead of spending it on infrastructure and capital investments, does not mean that the Izzie has to waste it too
So this was the perfect excuse to finally get that rainwater tank onto the shopping list
Getting the tank delivered to the door gobbled up the best part of $800. But a tank just sitting there is no use at all. It was an extra $450 to get it connected to the downpipes with all the complicated bits and pieces required to divert the first rains and keep leaves, rats and mozzies out of the tank.
So that got all fixed up on Thursday. The first serious rains for the year came while the plumber was connecting the tank. It just poured and poured and poured. There's puddles everywhere.
Then there's a story in the paper that shocked the socks off this serpent. The genetically modified yellowcake munching mob that are the state government have apparently announced in their recent budget that they will be introducing a gross feed in tariff rate of $0.60 per kilowatt of electricity for solar panels. The strings attached are that you have to buy your electricity at the higher Greenpower rates and only get the 60 cents as long as it takes to pay off your panels.
Oh happy day. As soon as this gets passed and the Greens will hardly block it in the Senate, the Izzie will be getting $750 per year from the electric co. That will wipe the sneer off Uncle Vernon's face who ever since the visit of Dearest Dudley last November, never misses a chance to moan about what a waste of money they are.
And just when it seemed we had a year's worth of goodies in one week, then even more magical and mysterious things arrived in the owlery. But that's a subject for another day when we can do it justice
On Monday Izzie answers the phone and is asked about a survey on spirituality and health. Had vague vague memories of filling in such a thing. Confirmed that the serpent had indeed participated. Nearly fell off the perch after that. She was ringing to say that Izzie was one of the lucky ones randomly selected to win a shopping voucher worth fifty silver sickles and needed names and addresses to send the loot
Had such a fit of the giggles. You'd next be expecting a request for a processing fee in order to obtain the goodies or bank account details to transfer the deposit
It just seemed so obviously dodgy on the surface. But the Izzie had in fact done this survey conducted by a student doing a Masters in the psychology department of University of Western Australia and there was a handful of shopping vouchers as incentives
So an unsolicited phone called that looked like spam and smelled like spam but was most definitely kosher - Who would have ever thought it possible?
Sure enough, the very next day a notice arrived in the postbox to say that there was some registered post waiting to be picked up at the local post office. It was the $50 shopping voucher mentioned in the previous day's phone call - well actually a smart card of sorts - like a credit card but loaded with $50 value. One big advantage over vouchers is that you don't need to spend it all at once.
Then there was an email advising Izzie that the big fat green water tank would be delivered on Tuesday. That in a more indirect way is also a sort of freebie.
In an attempt to keep the wheels of the economy turning, the present federal government decided to go tossing around cheques for $900 to taxpayers to spend and stimulate the economy. Not everyone got them. By some strange twisted logic, if you earned up to $80,000 in the 2007/08 financial year you got the whole $900 but if you earned less than $11,000 you got nothing at all. Most peculiar indeed in that those folks are precisely the ones who need it the most and who are most likely to spend it all.
What is really scary is that the government is actually borrowing money to throw it around in such a silly manner. People are doing the strangest things with it. Apparently as well as the made in China plastic pumpkins, the tatooists are doing a roaring trade and one young thing stopped on the street was going to spend his on 'high class ladies'
Izzie figures - just because the government is tossing taxpayers money around in such a silly fashion instead of spending it on infrastructure and capital investments, does not mean that the Izzie has to waste it too
So this was the perfect excuse to finally get that rainwater tank onto the shopping list
Getting the tank delivered to the door gobbled up the best part of $800. But a tank just sitting there is no use at all. It was an extra $450 to get it connected to the downpipes with all the complicated bits and pieces required to divert the first rains and keep leaves, rats and mozzies out of the tank.
So that got all fixed up on Thursday. The first serious rains for the year came while the plumber was connecting the tank. It just poured and poured and poured. There's puddles everywhere.
Then there's a story in the paper that shocked the socks off this serpent. The genetically modified yellowcake munching mob that are the state government have apparently announced in their recent budget that they will be introducing a gross feed in tariff rate of $0.60 per kilowatt of electricity for solar panels. The strings attached are that you have to buy your electricity at the higher Greenpower rates and only get the 60 cents as long as it takes to pay off your panels.
Oh happy day. As soon as this gets passed and the Greens will hardly block it in the Senate, the Izzie will be getting $750 per year from the electric co. That will wipe the sneer off Uncle Vernon's face who ever since the visit of Dearest Dudley last November, never misses a chance to moan about what a waste of money they are.
And just when it seemed we had a year's worth of goodies in one week, then even more magical and mysterious things arrived in the owlery. But that's a subject for another day when we can do it justice
