Country Clips

Good Friday at my in-laws' farm in Blyth, South Australia:

The old tank had about 10 cms of concrete in its base, the remains of which ended up on the trailer (see above), and the new tank had to be carefully manouevred over my father-in-law's native shrubs (see below); for this we employed the leading-edge technolgy of old tyres, old cushions and dusty carpet squares.

Fairest-and-Best for the day went to fifty-five-year-old Ian Roberts, for his tireless efforts on the sledge-hammer and pole-driver-thingie; Coach's Award to Jeremy Kells, for his valiant and consistent work; and Most Improved (aka come-back-next-year-for-another-crack) to yours truly.

Wheelie Bin or an MGB?

Our green sulo bin has a large crack in its side, so my wife went searching on our Local Council (LC) website to find out what to do. After searching for a while, she discovered that our wheelie / green sulo is known as a Mobile Garbage Bin (MGB).

Once she'd found this out, she sent the following email to our LC:

To: waste.enquiry@vincent.wa.gov.au
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 6:37 PM
Subject: Damaged Mobile Garbage Bin (MGB)

Hello

Our wheelie bin this week has somehow received a Very Large Crack (VLC).

We'd like to request a new MGB please. Can you please advise what happens from here?

Thanks

The moral? Watch out for VLCs on your MGBs.

One for the DINKs

A friend sent me the following quote the other day, which, as someone who is still fairly newly married (you're still a rookie for the first fifteen years, aren't you?), I found provocative:

“Those questions [about freedoms and rights and the relationship of husband and wife], then as now, existed only for those who see nothing in marriage but the pleasure married people may derive from one another – who see only the first beginnings of a marriage and not its whole significance, the family."

It's from Tolstoy's War and Peace, written in the 1860s; unsure what page. Thanks Bert :).