The Real Football

Introducing phase three of my blog fascination: The Real Football. It's where I plan to "keep it real" about what is happening across all football codes, not just what I consider to be the best code. No prizes for guessing which one it is.

To start it off I have copied some of the footy related content from Hammer Time just to get me started so I can continue to muck around with the layout. A definite red and white theme is trying to come out while being easy to read and having everything where it should is also an aim.

Basically just another reason for me to talk about footy.

Your Car Might Be Red…..

…… but it’s not an Ambulance

It’s always interesting when arriving at a hospital to see whether you can park anywhere, let alone in the ambulance and patient transport zones. Some people choose to claim selective blindness by the looks of it. Parking at hospitals is crazy at the best of times. When it’s raining and there’s only so much shelter it gets even more fun.

Westmead is probably the worst, at the University Clinic entrance. The clinic is a very busy place and the car park is usually full by 9am. This makes it difficult for us as we wait for a line of cars to drop off their passengers and then search for parking further a field.

The mentality is that their relative is the only person needing to be picked up/dropped off from the hospital at that point in time.

But whose fault is it for the all too frequent chaotic scenes? Is it anybody’s?

It’s hard to really knock the mentality of people picking up their relatives as we all care for our family. As a result it can be hard to show empathy to others in the same situation.

Is it the hospitals responsibility to provide excess parking? I’m not sure about this as you would be continuously building more parking at a time when the govts are trying to take cars off the road by building Tways around Sydney such as the one running alongside the hospital at Westmead. That being said, if they built more parking they wouldn’t have to wait long to get their money back.

I would like to see more parking ‘sharks’ around, moving people on and making sure the thoroughfare remains clear and that people park where they should. The downside to this is that the sharks are usually pretty heartless and would have no issue dishing out a fine to Ms overworked-single-mum-bringing-in-her-nanna-for-podiatry-appointment if she were to park illegally.

The powers that be could probably reorganise things so that the public can have their set down/pick up zone and the patient transport vans can still have their dedicated zones marked clearly so that the public know what they are. A bit more shelter wouldn’t go astray either.

New Aldi Opening Soon

As I am on the road every day I have been watching with great interest the development of the new Aldi store at South Wentworthville on the Great Western Highway. Only in the last couple of weeks has it become obvious that it will be an Aldi, although us locals have known since they started laying foundations.

Since it’s inception I have been an Aldi sceptic. That was before I had to buy my own groceries. Now I will probably be more accepting of their philosophy.

I never could get why a supermarket would advertise it’s cheap junk rather than it’s food. In catalogues you may see advertised their prices for fresh produce but then everything else is cheap electrical equipment, furniture, whitegoods, or in the latest catalogue it was snow clothing. I know of at least one person who loves Aldi particularly for these added extras, it’s as if the cheap food was the bonus instead of the other way around.

I visited one the other day at Quakers Hill. I couldn’t explore too much as I was on the job. It was obvious why their prices were so low, no name brands with no fixtures and in bulk.

Aldi at South Wentworthville officially opens Thursday 28th June, no doubting that I will be there.

Not Properly Looking

Now that I’ve bought a place I always find it interesting to hear people whinge about the price of houses these days. It is so hard for a young person or young couple to afford to buy a house they say. A newly married man rang up talkback radio last week saying how he can’t find anything lower than $400,000.

But does he want to buy a house or an address?

This person probably needs to drop his standards a little, not too much. If he’s after the posh address then he needs to get off his high horse and take a dose of reality. The reality is that there are plenty of 2 bedroom units around Blacktown, Parramatta and everywhere in between for around $250,000. Some of these are brand new. There’s also a fair few 3/4-bedroom houses on decent blocks of land for about $375,000. Or go in between and get a 2/3/4 townhouse or villa from $250,000. Especially around Wentworthville.

People who want an address will no doubt struggle to find something decent for less than $500,000. So I recommend that this man grab hold of his $400,000 house as it’s probably as low as he will find.

USA News With Added Funny

For those of us who have may have a slight interest in what’s happening on the other side of the world but find reports from CNN too dull and boring then rest easy, there is an alternative. One that will make you laugh at the same time as informing you of the hard-hitting issues in the USA.

Cable Television has produced two satirical current affairs shows that are bound to inform, educate and split your sides in hysterics. Originally there was The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (pic top right). This was followed closely by its successful spin off The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert (pronounced: Coal – bear Rep – pore) (pic bottom right).

The news is real and correct. The people interviewed are real. The reporters may be fake though, you be the judge. Both hosts offer something different to the viewers. They are very different which is why they run successfully back-to-back in America and on the Comedy Channel here in Australia.

If you are like me and have no idea about what’s going on in the USA then I highly recommend you give these chaps a go and tune into the Comedy Channel (on Foxtel Digital) most weeknights for your dosage.