Anzac Day 2008

ANZAC which stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

The legend of the ANZACS was formed in the pre dawn hours of 25th April 1915 and each year we come together at the breaking of the dawn on the 25th of April to honor those that gave their time, their determination and in many cases their lives so that we might enjoy the lives we now lead.

We gather to remember those who left our shores and those who never came back.

They fought for our freedom and in doing so they gave us the ultimate gift.

The term ANZAC refers not only to the solders of the 3rd Australian Brigade who landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey but to all Australians and New Zealanders who have served their country in all the conflicts over the years.

If your not from Australia and don’t really know what the history and the meaning and the significance of ANZAC is why not take the time to find out. Google is a good a place as any to start.

To all past and present members of the ADF Thankyou

I’m going to finish with a verse which always makes me stop and think wherever I am when I hear it.

Lest We Forget
“They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them.
Lest we forget.”

Comments disabled oops!

My apologies to anyone who has tried to post a comment here in the past week or so. It appears when I made a change in the settings of my blog I also disabled comments, that wasn’t my intention. So anyway comments have been re-enabled.

Feel free to comment away.

ANZAC Day Dawn Service - Transperth Services

For those of you attending the Anzac day Dawn service in Kings Park this year there are extra bus and train services running to get you there. Here is the email I received from Transperth.

ANZAC Day Dawn Service

Friday 25 April 2008

Transperth is proud to provide a number of special bus and train services so you can pay your respects and remember our fallen service men and women on ANZAC Day.

Event & ticketing information

In recognition of the great sacrifice made by the men and women of our armed forces, all veterans, serving and returned service personnel wearing service uniforms, campaign ribbons or medals can travel FREE on ANZAC Day.

Seniors will be able to access Transperth’s normal free travel entitlements with their Seniors SmartRider Card, which is valid on all Public Holidays (including ANZAC Day).

Trains

To ANZAC Day Dawn Services

The following special train services will operate:

Station	Departing	Arriving at Perth
Armadale (All Stops)	4.40am	5.19am
Clarkson (All Stops)	4.50am	5.22am
Fremantle (L Pattern*)	4.56am	5.23am
Mandurah (All Stops except Esplanade)	4.30am	5.20am
Midland (All Stops)	4.55am	5.20am

*Train services will bypass Loch and Grant Street Stations. Maxi Taxi services will shuttle passengers between Loch Street and Karakatta Station and Grant Street and Swanbourne Station.

From Perth

Train services on all lines operating on a Sunday/Public Holiday timetable.

Buses

Timetabled bus services will operate across the Transperth network on a Sunday/Public Holiday timetable.

In addition to this, Transperth will provide the following special services:

ANZAC Day Dawn Services

Perth Train Station to Kings Park: Route 600

FREE special shuttle 600 will operate for the Dawn Service, connecting with special event trains arriving at Perth and Perth Underground Stations and operating to Kings Park via St Georges Tce, and at stopping Stand T (west of Pier St). Services depart between 5.20am–5.30am from a stand outside Perth Train Station on Wellington St.

Vietnam Memorial to War Memorial: Route 603

FREE special shuttle 603 will operate between the Vietnam Memorial to the State War Memorial from 4.45am until the conclusion of the main service, operating every 5 mins, except during the Dawn Service. A return service to the Vietnam Memorial will operate after the Dawn Service until approximately 7.30am.

After the Dawn Service, buses will depart for Perth Station as required from 6.45am–7.15am from the car park behind Frasers Restaurant, Kings Park.

For further information regarding these ANZAC Day services, call the Transperth InfoLine on 13 62 13 (TTY: 9428 1999, TIS: 13 14 50).

Regards,
TravelEasy Administration

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to attend the dawn service and with extra buses and trains running and the PPRT cabs working as well there really is no excuse not to be there.

Additional Hours - Anzac Day

Additional times:
Start: Thursday 24th April 13:00
Finish: Friday 25th April 09:00
Reason: Anzac Day
Location: N/A

Going Carbon Neutral - continued

Thanks to Will for his comment on my previous post about going carbon neutral. After looking at the UK site again I realise not only is the price not affordable it is utterly ridiculous. After all the vehicle in question a 4cyl Toyota Tarago retails for pretty much the same price they claim it would cost me to offset my carbon emissions for just 1 year!!!

After checking out the site mentioned by Will in his comment it appears that I can offset my carbon footprint for just $218 per year. It’s not the $197 he claims but it is still a HUGE difference from the joke of the previous site. Making it much more affordable for the average Joe.

Going Carbon Neutral

I was interested to find out what it would cost to offset the carbon debt generated by running my cab for a year. After all we keep being told to be “Green” and to live a more carbon neutral lifestyle. Well the results were incredible to say the least.

Working on the figures of 85,000km’s a year and using 11ltrs/p 100km’s in petrol it works out to 1840.22 tonnes off CO2. I used the calculator @ MyCarbonDebt.com

That works out to $46,413 AUD It’s a UK site so you will need to covert it to your currency @ XE.com

Seeing that figure begs the question. How is it possible for anyone business or private to offset their carbon footprint? I’m only running my cab part time and it’s almost 50 thousand dollars.  Imagine the cost for a bus company or an entire taxi fleet.

Additional Hours - Eagles v Dockers Derby

Additional times:
Start: Sat 5th April 12:00
Finish: Sun 6th April 06:00
Reason: Derby - Eagles v Dockers
Location: Subiaco Oval

what goes in your wallet?

I had my wallet stolen from the cab about 3 weeks ago.Since then I have gone through all the crap of canceling cards and ordering new ones. Everywhere you go it’s the same. Your card will be sent out to you in 2weeks or 3 weeks depending on the place your at. In the mean time what are you supposed to do for ID? If I hadn’t reported the theft to the Police my replacement licence would have cost me $28 because I had it was free.

But it’s not just the inconvenience which gets to you, it’s the smaller things. Like now I have a new wallet but it’s not really MY wallet. It’s not the same as my old one and even though it’s a good quality leather one (I always buy quality wallets as barring theft they last for years and years so why not spend a bit more and get a nice one?) it’s still 3 quarters empty.

It’s easy to say we know what we have in our purses or wallets ie: drivers lic, medicare card, EFTPOS card, credit cards, libary card, video shop card, private health (HBF etc) but what about all the other bits of paper and business cards that we pick up and can’t bear to part with either for sentimental reasons or just maybe we will need it even though we haven’t for the past 12 months but as soon as we take it out we almost certainly will. It’s these little things that make the wallet or purse ours, give it that personal feeling.

That’s what is missing with my new wallet. Familiarity you might call it. Maybe it’s different for women as they have so many different handbags and clutch bags etc but for a guy in most cases you have just the one wallet and it’s always with you, my previous wallet lasted 5 years including being run over by the cab before I retired it.

Share you thoughts, experiences in the comments below

William st realignment

I was sitting at the intersection of William st and St Georges Tce in the City this morning when I noticed just how far in from the curb the traffic light is there. In recent months following the finishing of the Perth to Mandurah rail line, William st has been realigned with at least 1 lane being reclaimed as footpath. The thing is while the lane has been paved over the traffic light hasn’t been moved. For that matter they could do with repainting the lines from Wellington st right through to the ‘Terrace. Approaching the Murray st lights the right lane looks like it’s going to end before jinking left then right.

I wonder if they are going to leave it like that or if they will finally get around to shifting it to a more appropriate position.

Sea Change

I was having a look at real estate on the net and I came across an ad for Toodyay Taxis. Seems they are the only 2 cabs in the area so you have the monopoly for the surrounding area.

Compared to city prices it’s a steal so if your looking for a change of pace/scenery take a look.

Toodyay Taxis