Crap Government, Crappier Opposition

Hasn't the Labour Party shown its true colours. I seem to remember strong denials from the Labour spin doctors, and even Clark herself, about a possible cushy number with the UN. Now? Clark's in New York for a job interview - a cushy position with the UN. Not only did she run the country into the ground in her 9 years as PM, but she certainly managed to feather her nest for her retirement, didn't she.

And now her sycophant 2IC is leaving politics. Building a house in the Bay of Plenty. Nice for some. Glad our tax dollars have set him up well.

And the political leftovers, Phil Goff and the only other Labour MP to be heard lately, Clayton Cosgrove, are showing themselves to be truly ignorant and out of touch indeed. Goff is criticising the national government for stuff now that is so clearly the detritus of their pathetic attempt at leadership over the last 9 years.

I used to like Phil Goff. Not now. He has taken over the contempt Clark and Cullen had for regular Kiwis. Does he think we are so stupid that we've already forgotten that it was them that got us into a lot of the crap New Zealand is in now? I know some of it is global, but what did they do to protect us from what a lot of New Zealanders KNEW was coming?

They just make themselves look pathetic when they criticise the present government for stuff they got us into. But I'm sure his retirement is secure. His property is secure. His job will continue, probably with a pay rise. His family will have food, and the power bill will be paid.

Why should he give a shit about any of us?

Mumsy must be so proud

Ever wondered what spoilt little white kids get up to on the weekends? On your tax dollars? Isn't it great to see what the future looks like?

What is truly disturbing is that this lovely little flower will probably see this photo in the newspaper and be proud of it. Think it's cool. Her mates will praise her.

I wonder who she is? Remember that Chinese woman, or maybe she was Japanese, who was mercilessly hounded by photo-vigilantes and paparazzi because she had committed some social faux pas? I can't even remember what it was, but she was followed and photographed and humiliated for . . well, at least a week.

Anyway, I think it would be great if this little angel became the poster girl for everything that's wrong in the world. Find her. Identify her. Out her. Blitz her Facebook page. Hound her. Humiliate her. SHAME her. And then send her a bill for every cent of our tax money she's drank and then puked.

And then go after her mates.

I'm no expert, but . . .

. . . I'm getting a bit sick of some of these companies pleading hard times. Fisher and Paykel is just the latest, but a very clear example of the current environment, a la GM and the big three (or is it five?) flying in their corporate jets to talk to George W about a handout.

It seems to me that these companies (is DB going to be next ?) are not sacking hard-working employees to stay afloat. They are out-sourcing and down-sizing so that the profits can remain level. And so that the executives can maintain their current salaries (or there abouts).

Jeez life must be tough for John Bongard. His 7.5% salary cut will still leave him with something like a cool million a year. He's overseen massive job cuts at his company. Those minimum wage (or not much more I'm sure) jobs were outsourced to slave labour in Thailand and Mexico where they probably pay the workers 8 cents per hour, and he's sanctimoniously offering to drop his salary by the price of a new Mercedes. Damn! He might just have to drive last years model.

And he's gone cap in hand to the New Zealand taxpayer (so to speak) for a hand-out. He wants MY tax dollars so he can keep his wife in Gucci shoes and his mistresses in pretty lingerie.

So this year they're only going to make 30 million profit. I'm sure the ripple effect is going to mean little old mums and dads relying on their F&P dividend are going to have to turn the heater down this winter, but that's better than being one of the now unemployed F&P factory workers who won't have any heat at all.

I'd be willing to bet Bongard has a lovely palatial house somewhere on Paratai Drive. Maybe his ex-employees could front up there for soup and accommodation in the gardener's quarters.

Technology

So, I bought a new computer. I don't know why I bothered. Technology is so far behind human evolution, it's sad. I think with as many geeks squirrelled away in musty cubicles, technology, especially computers, should be way ahead of where it is.

Take this new laptop. It's pretty nice. Thousand bucks, so it's not top of the line, but it works, which, i suppose was a good start. Then of course, because I don't have a PhD in computer geekery, I had to spend an hour on the phone to Xtra (who were very helpful, I must say, given their obviously limited resources) @configuring@ the broadband. And did you notice the @ symbol instead of the " symbol? That's because while my new laptop is very pretty and by and large works very fast and very well, the Shift 2 button, which on every other computer in the Western world is the @ symbol, is in fact the " symbol. Despite there being a @ picture above the 2. And when I push the Shift " button, I get a @. WTF?

Technology. Jeez.

So after my hour phone call with "Mark" from Manila (probably) and another 20 minute call to Xtra to learn that I had to reset the modem, I went to bed frustrated as hell. I had already spent 18 hours the night before waiting for the battery to fully charge before I could touch the machine. So another night passed with very little progress on the new computer.

Then the real fun begins. Transferring stuff and loading software. Good grief. Doesn't that sound pathetic. Transfer files - Word documents, pictures, favourites, email contacts and files. I'm not even going to think about the music. I'll just have to hope my MP3 player doesn't die, which given the state of technology, it probably will at some point. Soon.

Load the software for Digital Recorder, Mobile modem, Office 2003 because the demo 2007 on this machine will self-destruct after 25 opens, then I'll be liable for who knows how many more hundreds of dollars to upgrade. Then, probably the most important of my little gadgets, my PDA. Won't load. Not compatible with Vista. You're kidding me! What? OMG!

So Jackie gets all pro-active and gets a good deal on a new PDA. Software won't load and is probably not compatible with Vista.

This is exactly the reason I wanted a new laptop with XP on it, but of course there aren't many of them around any more. Fucking Bill Gates and his monopoly!

So now I am PDA-less - well, okay I have to sync my PDA with the home desktop and transfer with a flashdrive the files I'll be editing on the PDA. Small hassle I guess, but a hassle nonetheless. Until I can spring for a better new PDA, no doubt more several hundreds of dollars.

And I still can't fix the @ " mix-up on my keyboard. Oh, and the hash button is a £ sign and I cant find the hash button anywhere. So I hope in the next few years of using this computer I don't need the hash symbol.

Why can't computers be like the ones on Star Trek?

You sit down in front of it, tell it what to do, and it does it. "Computer, load everything from that computer onto this one, only make it better." And it's done a millisecond later. i guess in these antiquated times I would settle for having to plug a cord between the two computers, but even that's antiquated. How many cords do we need? Power cable, in two sections, with that big box thing that heats up; USB cables for Africa; sync and power cables for the PDA which is now useless; ethernet cable for modem (even though it's "wireless"), more power cables for each device and probably a few more USB cables (printer, camera, MP3 player).

Flashdrives are now like floppy disks were, and then CDs. They lay around and you never know whats on them because at least floppys and DCs had spaces on them to write what's on them.

Why in the 21st Century are things so antiquated?

And don't get me started on the Internet. It's just as antiquated and cumbersome as the technology it demands to use it. Is it pretty much used only for games and porn now? Oh, and blogging of course.

I don't know whay I bother.

What is it about Marian Keyes?

You know how you just adore some people? I don't normally gravitate towards "celebrities". I think being a "fan" is actually a little bit pathetic. It's okay to enjoy someone's music and even buy their CD, or to enjoy watching some actorr more than others, but to graduate to full "fan" status always struck me as a bit juvenile. I adore Geri Halliwell, but mostly I think it's because she used to be a gorgeous voluptuous red-head. But I think I also appreciated that she seemed more "real" than the others Spice Girls. And I don't care what anybody says, she's by far been the most successful in her own right of all the Spicies.

Anyway, I think there's something similar about Marian Keyes. Apart from the fact that she's an incredibly talented writer (envy), she just seems to be a bit "real". She's open about her difficult past, she's self-deprecating, which can be adorable when done in the right way. She's little and cute, and of course there's the whole Irish thing.

I think I have Irish in my past lives. Something about the Irish accent that touches my soul. That and the Southern Belle persona (but that's another blog).