Privacy Policy  |  Editorial Policy  |  Join the Association  |  List of Members  |  Contact us  |  Index  |  Links  |  Print this page

Out in the shed with Ted

Ted McEvoy.

Pensions.

More than 340,000 veterans and war widows recently received a pension increase. From the 20^th September, pensions were increased by 2.2% which, Mr Ian Campbell, the secretary of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, said, “will help to support the living standards of veterans and their families now and into the future”.

Yeah!!!

The rates are:

Click HERE for the latest DVA fact sheet which outlines the full list of pension rates.

Cancer from Mobile Phones.

Robert Park, a real live physicist, was being interviewed early in November on that old topic that is always trotted out on slow news days, that of “Mobile Phones cause cancer”. He said “Perhaps I have over-estimated the knowledge of reporters. The physics has been clear since Einstein was awarded the 1920 Nobel Prize in Physics that all known cancer agents create mutant strands of DNA.  Photons with wavelengths longer than ultraviolet (which begins at the blue end of the visible spectrum) can’t create mutant strands of DNA, and hence do not lead to cancer. Cell phone radiation, therefore, cannot cause brain cancer.”

Won’t stop those garbage shows Today Tonight and/or A Current Affair though, they’ll continue to flog it……..

Beatles.

If you were a Beatles fan and most of us who were around in the 60’s were, then this site is for you. Someone has gone to a lot of trouble and compiled all their songs and put them all together in the one big list. Just scroll down the list to find the song you want to hear, then click the link.

You can listen to the lot of them HERE

Music video site

This is also an excellent music site, click HERE then click on the words (haven’t a clue what they mean) – but it’s good fun.

Car Problems??

Having car problems, have we got the stuff for you, see HERE.

Despatches from your Da Nang correspondent………

The only other time I have been in Viet Nam in the month of October was during my Government sponsored junket of 1968.

In those times peace, happiness and good will to all men (and women) was in very short supply. For most of us ex-military Vietnam Veterans’, all we wanted to do was to survive, get out of the place in one piece and return to Australia.

Therefore, for me, it was a very pleasant surprise to discover that the 20^th of October is a very special day in the Vietnamese calendar in that it is “Womens’ Day”. The Vietnamese also celebrate International Womens’ Day which is held on 8^th March each year but it does not share the same significance as the 20^th October.

On this special day, the country recognizes the important contribution which all women have made to the progress of this beautiful country.

On many corners and along the main roads of all cities and villages you will see numerous flower-sellers displaying their floral creations which are purchased by the people passing by on their bicycles, motorbikes and even some of foot which are to be presented to an important lady in their life with the words “Chuc mung ngay phu nu Viet Nam” which means “Happy Viet Nam Womens’ Day” (I knew that – tb).

When I suggested to some Vietnamese friends that I thought every day should be Womens’ Day, the ladies eagerly agreed with me but the men gave me a polite smile as to say “Yeah – whatever”.

As in many cultures, it’s the man, the husband or the father who thinks he is the boss cocky in the hen house but, in fact, it’s the woman, the wife or the mother who rules the roost. Us blokes are slow learners!!!!

Flowers are a very important part of the Vietnamese culture and are used in many ceremonies such as births, marriages, funerals, Tet (the Vietnamese New Year), etc. The variety of the species and the colours are a feast for the eyes. In every market in Viet Nam you will see many flower-sellers with a huge variety of arrangements on display at incredibly cheap prices.

The Magnificent DaLat Palace hotel – which overlooks the town.

The city of Đà Lat is situated in the central highlands of Viet Nam and is perched 1,500 meters (5,000ft) above sea level. With its year-round cool weather, Đà Lạt cultivates many temperate vegetables and flowers products for supply to all of Viet Nam. The Da Lat strawberries are a delight to die for – sweet, plump and with deep red flesh throughout the fruit.

The Đà Lat roses are an especially beautiful flower and come in all sorts of colours and shades, such as red, pink, velvet and yellow. Đà Lat brides love to decorate their weddings with the local white roses.

Some other of the many flower species cultivated in Đà Lat include Hydrangea, Gerbras, Peach Blossom, Orchids, Mimosa, Flame Tree, Gladiola and Pansies.

If you have never visited this beautiful country in peacetime, I would strongly suggest you do so and soon!! The people are polite, very friendly and hospitable.

With the current Australian dollar being so strong, the exchange rate into the local currency, the Dong, has never been better. As an example, when visiting the local market in Da Nang, I purchased 1Kg each of mango, rambutan and mangostein at a total cost of $5.

The popular Larry's bar,

part of the DaLat hotel

The current exchange rate is around the 19,000 dong for an Australian dollar (recently I got 20,000 Dong to the Ozzie dollar). A stubby of beer, depending on the brand and where you drink it, costs between 10,000 – 30,000 dong or between 50 cents and $1:50 – for those interested in that filthy habit…….

With prices like these, the more you eat and drink, the more you save. And no, 33 is no longer available, it's now called 3 3 3 (ba-ba-ba) as 3+3+3=9 and 9 is a lucky number for the Vietnamese - it's a damn good drop and the new brew's alcoholic content is a bit more constant that it used to be.

What a great country!!!!!!

Pilot wanted.

If you’re an ex-driver of the RAAF’s aeroplanes, but, now as a mister you’re sick of the straight and level stuff that civvy aeroplane owners insist their conveyances must be flown and you feel for a bit of excitement, well, we just might have the job for you.

Provided you don’t mind a bit of travel, it’s not a lot of travel really, just over to Kenya, and you’ve still got your bone-dome, orange flying suit and leather gloves, then this is possibly exactly what you’ve been waiting for – the chance to be the first to fly the “Kenyan Cruncher”, a hot little two seater that’s sure to make the aviation industry sit up and take note.

Is this you?? – if so, click HERE    (It's a big file and will take a little while to download, possibly best to download it [click save] and look at it later)

The Emergency Bra.

Now this is a subject that I know a lot about that. I’ve been interested in these ‘devices’ since I was about 15, and the older I get, the more interested in them I seem to get. After all, they have a very useful and important job to do, tirelessly providing support and enhancement day after day and might I say providing a good fist of it. Well, someone has taken the standard version and after careful study has decided there was another use for this essentially feminine item of attire.

They have come up with the Emergency Bra!!!

In case of an emergency, like an A-bomb attack, or something similar, the Emergency Bra transforms from a supportive garment into two respiratory face masks at the snap of a catch. Caught in a disaster? You'd better hope your friend is wearing the Emergency Bra. Simply rip the garment off her, separate the cups, and bung them on -- one cup for you and one for your friend and you can both breathe easily. 

Ukrainian born scientist, Dr. Elena Bodnar, won an Ignoble Award for the invention last year, an annual tribute to scientific research that on the surface seems goofy but is often surprisingly practical. And now Bodnar has brought the eBra to the public; purchase one online for just $29.95, and you can get yours HERE. 

"The goal of any emergency respiratory device is to achieve tight fixation and full coverage. Luckily, the wonderful design of the bra is already in the shape of a face mask and so with the addition of a few design features, the Emergency Bra enhances the efficiency of minimizing contaminated bypass air flow," explains the eBra website. 

It sounds silly, but Bodnar, a Ukraine native who now lives in Chicago, started her medical career studying the effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster. If people had had cheap, readily available gas masks in the first hours after the disaster, she said, they may have avoided breathing in Iodine-131, which causes radiation sickness.

The bra-turned-gas masks could have also been useful during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and for women caught outside during the dust storms that recently enveloped Sydney, she said (don’t forget the chance of being stuck in the middle of an A-bomb blast either).

"You have to be prepared all the time, at any place, at any moment, and practically every woman wears a bra," she said. Her patented devices also look pretty, no different from a conventional bra, she added.

So girls, whenever there is an emergency in the making, all you have to do is whip off the old bra, separate the important bits, put one on, give the other to a passer-by, and Voila.

We’ll be having trials next week at the WACA– blokes, ring now to book your seat!!!!!

Eat your fruit and veggies.

Remember when you were a kid and your mum was always at you to eat up your vegs otherwise you hair wouldn’t curl, or you couldn’t see in the dark, or you’d get pimples, or worst of all, you wouldn’t get any desert. Well it seems mum was right after all as it has been proven that fruit and veggies (and fish) really are beneficial to you. Here’s what you should eat, and what the benefits are:

We’ll be asking questions later!!!

How to email:

Being an ex-radtech, I’m an expert on these things, and being an airy, I’m a big expert, I’m also a damn handsome brute so pay attention…

When you receive an email and you wish to forward it onto someone else, you should never disclose the email address from whense it came.

Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the people that got the message before you, namely their e-mail address.

As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus and his computer can send that virus to every e-mail address that has come across his computer.

Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hope that you will go to the site and he will make five cents. 

How do you stop it? Most of us know how to do it, but a lot don’t. So, here’s what you should do.

There are two easy steps:

          1       When you forward an e-mail DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message. That's right, DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second.

          2       Whenever you send an e-mail don't use the "To:" or "Cc:" columns for adding e-mail address. Always use the "BCC:" (blind carbon copy) column for listing the e-mail addresses. This way the people that you send to only see their own e-mail address.

If you don't see your "BCC:" option click on where it says To:" and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose BCC and that's it ... it's that easy.

So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses! 

Divorce.

This is so incredibly well put together. I can hardly believe it's a young person, a student no less!!!!!

Whenever he runs and whatever he runs for -  I'll vote for him...  See HERE

Rigby.

Paul Rigby was a Melbourne boy, born in 1925 and grew up in Sandringham, a bay suburb. After leaving school, he studied art while working as a commercial artist. During World War II, he served in North Africa and Europe with the Royal Australian Air Force and after hostilities ceased, he returned to Melbourne, completed his studies in commercial art and took on a teaching job.

In 1949, he decided to go to Europe but only got as far as Perth before the money ran out. He took a job in commercial art and was soon illustrating for the Daily News and Western Mail. In 1952, he became the first editorial cartoonist on the Daily News.

He usually drew a small boy and a dog somewhere in his detailed cartoons and it became a game with the readers to find them.

He died in Busselton, WA. on the 15th November, 2006.

Many years ago, he visited the RAAF base at Butterworth and being an old RAAF bloke himself, was easily persuaded to draw a cartoon of the activities on the base, as he saw it.

You can see it HERE

Unfortunately, we've lost the caption that went with the cartoon - if you've got it please send it in so can complete it.

I’ve just been on a “once in a lifetime” holiday, I tell you what, never again!!

Bad day.

Sometimes it just isn’t your day – no matter how hard you try, nothing seems to go quite right. Take this bloke who is demonstrating a ‘fail safe’ motor bike as an example.

It is fitted with all the latest gadgetry that is supposed to keep him safe and sound, but the poor bloke has obviously never heard of Mr Murphy – see HERE

Pakistan.

Read THIS – then make up your own mind, some will agree with it, others won’t. We’re lucky, we can have differing points of view in this country.

IUD's in Afghanistan

Our young Army blokes in Afghanistan have to face a hidden enemy every day. The Taliban have come to the realisation that they do not have the equipment to face the coalition forces with normal means so they have elected to use Improvised Explosive Devices (IUD's), roadside and/or suicide bombs.

Although these devices are frightening and anyone using the country's roads must always expect the worse, they do have one major flaw. They are a very expensive way to make war and don't have a significant impact on the combat power of the coalition's troops. Only a few of them hurt anyone.

BUT!!!!!  I'm glad I don't have to face them, have a look a this.

Privacy Problems.

The Defence Forces Welfare Association (DFWA) recently wrote to the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Warren Snowden, concerning the practice of releasing an ex-serviceman, servicewoman’s medical records. As it stands, records can be released 30 years after they had been created, during what is called the “Open Access Period”. There are plans to reduce this period from 30 years to 20 years, over a 10 year period, commencing on the 1st January, 2011.

This concerns all servicemen and women. National Archives will in all probability release ALL of your service records – enlistment, annual reports, medical records, postings and other service history 20 years after they were created. You will not be told that your records are released, but the privacy of the person requesting YOUR records will be observed.

It seems YOUR right to privacy is ignored.

Currently, the National Archives grants unrestricted access to a member’s records to anyone after the current 30 year period, provided the requesting party pays the relevant fee. This new procedure will mean that a member could have his/her records released to the public domain while he/she is still alive.

You can read the letter HERE

Blessed are those who are cracked,

for they are the ones who let in the light!

OK, I'll be going to my room now!!

Back     Go to page:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20     Forward