A Green Goodbye
12/06/2012 09:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaThe Izzie has been a busy serpent. The big event aside from the wonderful graveyard tour two weeks ago was the last minute attempt to gate crash a certain sold out political event
In the bad old days before the green lightses used to think “There’s no point in asking because the answer will be no” And it turned out to be true more often than not. Without even realizing, the expectation of rejection emits an irresistible aura that invites the very thing it seeks to avoid. Restating this belief to see the silver lining of the expected cloud was not simply a matter of spin but something else. The new position became “There’s no harm in asking because even if the answer is no we are no worse off than before."
By the time the serpent found out from a flyer about the Bob Browne farewell tour and visited the booking site it was already sold out. There was a possibility of tickets - double bookings and such if ringing on Tuesday. But first seen that particular email at 8pm and had no money on the mobile anyway. Would just have to take a chance and drop into the Greens HQ after work on Wednesday. Still no luck.
The event was scheduled from 6pm Friday evening for nibblies and drinks and His Bobness would take the stage around 7pm
Decided to drop by and take a chance anyway since the bus to the Lair goes right past the venue. And it was rainy stormy weather so it was quite likely some folks got stuck in traffic jams
So slinked into the city for the afternoon doing the usual coffee crawls and such. Around 5pm found a most interesting little cafe attached to a rather arty book shop. While not having loos, they did have the newspapers and proper dine in coffees for $3 which is unheard of these days. But best of all was the cozy book shop feel and the fact it is quite near to the bus station.
No point in wasting such a cute and cozy place on reading newspapers. It was time to shuffle the decks and got on with preparing the ingredients for August’s alphabet soup.
It was getting very tempting to lurk a long long time. But got to thinking that this cafe would be still here next week and the Bob Browne evening would not. But going to BB did have one major drawback. Assuming there was some spots left, it would cost a princely 35 silver sickles leaving Izzie with 30 to last till Wednesday afternoon as the goblins are so kindly using the Monday public holiday over east as an excuse to pay us a day late
But in the end solved the dilemma with some sage advice from an old friend. When you cannot choose between two or more options think about how you will feel about your decision a week from now, a month from now, a year from now and ten years from now. For most things this does not matter but on the rare occasion when it does, this has proved to be a most potent and reliable test. (It is amazing what stupid and risky things people will do to save five minutes which will be long forgotten if anything goes wrong - ie the minute you save may be your last)
So would resist the temptation to linger in the cafe or return to the lair for an early evening snooze and would at least make an attempt to go to the event instead of spending the next few weeks wondering what wonderful evening the Izzie missed.
Due to assorted storms and delayed buses did not get there until ten minutes to seven. Had missed out on the munchies but by then the organizers were quite sure that a certain number of those who had prebooked would not be turning up. So the serpent forked out thirty five silver sickles and slinked inside.
It was astonishing to see just how many folks had turned out to this big goodbye especially as this hall was located in one of the leafy but very conservative suburbs.
There was a guest speaker before the main event and lots of pictures from the last forty years of green politics. It was especially scary to see the size of the trees that the Tasmanian government wanted to reduce to wood chips knowing that the same sort of ‘cut it down, dig it up and ship it out’ mentality operates in this state on steroids.
Bob Browne had started life as a medical doctor but got involved in politics when the Tasmanian government wanted to build some enormous dam which would result in the disappearance of quite a lot of old forests.
He was one of the few politicians here in Oz who did not brown nose to George W Bush or any of the assorted mainland Chinese leaders.
The event official concluded around 8.30pm and included the usual rallying of the troops and requests for donations and assistance to the Green party.
It wasn’t really worth $35 but no regrets for going. It would have been much worse to miss out and be left wondering. It was a bit like Peter Cundall’s grand goodbye tour we guess. And he also said the same thing. Just because he is leaving the Greens as leader and senator does not mean he will not be doing lots of stuff. Peter Cundall is 80 something and still managing to get himself arrested on anti logging protests.
Could not help but think that it was exactly two years ago Izzie attended one of the Community Cabinet events. That particular traveling road show was free and featured Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard along with most of the other members of the cabinet. No one in the audience at the time could have guessed that within two weeks the deputy would have deposed the then Prime Minister
It is most unusual indeed for a politician to depart gracefully on their own terms and to remain and admired and respected person. None of the mob at the cabinet road show could make such a claim either then or now
Certainly not the puffed up little poppinjay that is our present excuse for a state premier. Emperor more like it. There’s a march on in the city tomorrow to protest against the mosquito infested swamp that will be plonked right in the middle of the city. But it starts at lunch time so the Izzie will still be at work. One of Colin’s own ministers has just thrown in the towel in order to launch his career in federal politics. Maybe he knows something we don’t and has seen the writing on the wall. The last premier got dumped for being an arrogant git so here’s hoping this one meets the same fate. Pity his legacy is so much worse. Trashing heritage parklands and areas of cultural and environmental significance just to please his mates in the mining and property development business and letting Monsanto and their minions acquire a 19% interest in the tax payer funded grain and agricultural research organization.
He has also snatched one of Izzie’s most sacred sites and turned it into some grand palace for himself and his minions. But the house on the hill is a story for another day. He’ll be eying up the National Trust owned astronomy tower next door if we don’t get him out next March.
Yesss. It truly is the wild west in this bit of Oz.
In the bad old days before the green lightses used to think “There’s no point in asking because the answer will be no” And it turned out to be true more often than not. Without even realizing, the expectation of rejection emits an irresistible aura that invites the very thing it seeks to avoid. Restating this belief to see the silver lining of the expected cloud was not simply a matter of spin but something else. The new position became “There’s no harm in asking because even if the answer is no we are no worse off than before."
By the time the serpent found out from a flyer about the Bob Browne farewell tour and visited the booking site it was already sold out. There was a possibility of tickets - double bookings and such if ringing on Tuesday. But first seen that particular email at 8pm and had no money on the mobile anyway. Would just have to take a chance and drop into the Greens HQ after work on Wednesday. Still no luck.
The event was scheduled from 6pm Friday evening for nibblies and drinks and His Bobness would take the stage around 7pm
Decided to drop by and take a chance anyway since the bus to the Lair goes right past the venue. And it was rainy stormy weather so it was quite likely some folks got stuck in traffic jams
So slinked into the city for the afternoon doing the usual coffee crawls and such. Around 5pm found a most interesting little cafe attached to a rather arty book shop. While not having loos, they did have the newspapers and proper dine in coffees for $3 which is unheard of these days. But best of all was the cozy book shop feel and the fact it is quite near to the bus station.
No point in wasting such a cute and cozy place on reading newspapers. It was time to shuffle the decks and got on with preparing the ingredients for August’s alphabet soup.
It was getting very tempting to lurk a long long time. But got to thinking that this cafe would be still here next week and the Bob Browne evening would not. But going to BB did have one major drawback. Assuming there was some spots left, it would cost a princely 35 silver sickles leaving Izzie with 30 to last till Wednesday afternoon as the goblins are so kindly using the Monday public holiday over east as an excuse to pay us a day late
But in the end solved the dilemma with some sage advice from an old friend. When you cannot choose between two or more options think about how you will feel about your decision a week from now, a month from now, a year from now and ten years from now. For most things this does not matter but on the rare occasion when it does, this has proved to be a most potent and reliable test. (It is amazing what stupid and risky things people will do to save five minutes which will be long forgotten if anything goes wrong - ie the minute you save may be your last)
So would resist the temptation to linger in the cafe or return to the lair for an early evening snooze and would at least make an attempt to go to the event instead of spending the next few weeks wondering what wonderful evening the Izzie missed.
Due to assorted storms and delayed buses did not get there until ten minutes to seven. Had missed out on the munchies but by then the organizers were quite sure that a certain number of those who had prebooked would not be turning up. So the serpent forked out thirty five silver sickles and slinked inside.
It was astonishing to see just how many folks had turned out to this big goodbye especially as this hall was located in one of the leafy but very conservative suburbs.
There was a guest speaker before the main event and lots of pictures from the last forty years of green politics. It was especially scary to see the size of the trees that the Tasmanian government wanted to reduce to wood chips knowing that the same sort of ‘cut it down, dig it up and ship it out’ mentality operates in this state on steroids.
Bob Browne had started life as a medical doctor but got involved in politics when the Tasmanian government wanted to build some enormous dam which would result in the disappearance of quite a lot of old forests.
He was one of the few politicians here in Oz who did not brown nose to George W Bush or any of the assorted mainland Chinese leaders.
The event official concluded around 8.30pm and included the usual rallying of the troops and requests for donations and assistance to the Green party.
It wasn’t really worth $35 but no regrets for going. It would have been much worse to miss out and be left wondering. It was a bit like Peter Cundall’s grand goodbye tour we guess. And he also said the same thing. Just because he is leaving the Greens as leader and senator does not mean he will not be doing lots of stuff. Peter Cundall is 80 something and still managing to get himself arrested on anti logging protests.
Could not help but think that it was exactly two years ago Izzie attended one of the Community Cabinet events. That particular traveling road show was free and featured Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard along with most of the other members of the cabinet. No one in the audience at the time could have guessed that within two weeks the deputy would have deposed the then Prime Minister
It is most unusual indeed for a politician to depart gracefully on their own terms and to remain and admired and respected person. None of the mob at the cabinet road show could make such a claim either then or now
Certainly not the puffed up little poppinjay that is our present excuse for a state premier. Emperor more like it. There’s a march on in the city tomorrow to protest against the mosquito infested swamp that will be plonked right in the middle of the city. But it starts at lunch time so the Izzie will still be at work. One of Colin’s own ministers has just thrown in the towel in order to launch his career in federal politics. Maybe he knows something we don’t and has seen the writing on the wall. The last premier got dumped for being an arrogant git so here’s hoping this one meets the same fate. Pity his legacy is so much worse. Trashing heritage parklands and areas of cultural and environmental significance just to please his mates in the mining and property development business and letting Monsanto and their minions acquire a 19% interest in the tax payer funded grain and agricultural research organization.
He has also snatched one of Izzie’s most sacred sites and turned it into some grand palace for himself and his minions. But the house on the hill is a story for another day. He’ll be eying up the National Trust owned astronomy tower next door if we don’t get him out next March.
Yesss. It truly is the wild west in this bit of Oz.
no subject
Date: 2012-06-12 06:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-06-13 02:00 pm (UTC)Of course you are only guessing about what will be important in ten years time but there are other reasons that make such a process useful. Two come to mind. The bosses at the day job are very fond of making us work short staffed. First thing is to have half a brain and ask whose problem this is - ours or theirs. If we make it ours then we risk doing very silly things like rushing and taking shortcuts and increasing the risk of accidents. There are mechanical gadgets that can be used for lifting heavy people or objects but they take time to set up and you need two people. You can play safe or take a shortcut to save five minutes - a bit like going over the road speed limit to get to your destination faster. If things go to plan you save five minutes. If they don't you could hurt yourself or some one else, end up in court or even get killed. Those five minutes you thought you were going to save won't be looking so good then. And that is where thinking about the possible long term consequences can be most useful indeed
Or in our own case. Was saving up to have a $20,000 deposit for a house and would have got all the stash saved by June 1998. Then it was time to start looking. But before that planned time now and again some interesting looking place would be open for inspection. The asking price was $115,000 but the Izzie could only comfortably afford $112,000. It's normal to haggle and sort of meet half way but then there is also the possibility that the other buyer the real estate agent has on the books is real and not just the usual figment of their imagination. So the question was whether or not to stick to the 112 or pay the 115 that was being asked. While 3,000 silver sickles was a lot of money back in 1998, with a perspective of ten years it was rather insignificant. As the house had scored 9 on the list of 10 must have things (a list made several years before ever seeing it) figured it was a price worth paying. It is possible that the sellers may have come down to 112 and the Izzie would have had the house and the 3,000 extra. But decided the gamble was not worth it
Anything else affordable would have been much further away from the day job and would have needed to keep a car as a means of getting there. Running a car would cost at least 8 hours or work a week.
Three or four years later, house prices started to go completely crazy in Dursleyville and now to buy the very same house would require two middle class incomes. Slacking off by working only 30 hours a week would certainly be out of the question.
Now of course, if you hate the place you live in, buying a house would be a scary decision condemning you to a seeming eternity in the hell of the mortgage treadmill with no escape in sight ;)
But sometimes having no commitments is a commitment in itself.