Moral dilemma

This is the content of an email Paul received - which you may have seen before - but it has an 'aussie take' on it at the end !!!

You are driving down the road in your car on a wild, stormy night, when you pass by a bus stop and you see three people waiting for the bus:

  1. An old lady who looks as if she is about to die.

  2. An old friend who once saved your life.

  3. The perfect partner you have been dreaming about and haven't seen for years.

Which one would you choose to offer a ride to, knowing that there could only be one passenger in your car? Think before you continue reading.


This is a moral/ethical dilemma that was once actually used as part of a job application.  You could pick up the old lady, because she is going to die, and thus you should save her first.  Or you could take the old friend because he once saved your life, and this would be the perfect chance to pay him back. However, you may never be able to find your perfect mate again.

YOU WON'T BELIEVE THIS.....................

The candidate who was hired (out of 200 applicants) had no trouble coming up with his answer. He simply answered: 'I would give the car keys to my old friend and let him take the lady to the hospital.  I would stay behind and wait for the bus with the partner of my dreams.'

Sometimes, we gain more if we are able to give up our stubborn thought limitations.

Never forget to 'Think Outside of the Box.'

AUSTRALIAN ANSWER...........

 The correct answer is to run the old lady over and put her out of her misery because Gillard's* medicare** won't now pay for her hospital visit anyway, have sex with the perfect partner on the  bonnet of the car, then drive off with the old friend for a few beers!

Don't you just love happy endings!

Key

* ie, Julia Gillard - Aussie Prime Minister 

** Medicare - Aussie Health System 

Swans a'skatin !

This morning the frost was spectacular - looking like snow on the bridge of the marina ... 

White marina ...

Swans walking on water - and what a bizarre noise they make when they do !

 

 

 

 

Had a walk with the dogs in Stone - couple of the locks looking a bit frosted up!

 

Water is like a frosty mirror ... 

Even ice INSIDE the boat this morning !
That must be why I had 4 animals INSIDE the bed with me this morning :)



Yesterday we had a boaters' afternoon tea again at the marina - it is such a great opportunity to meet other folks and have a laugh !  Afterwards Elly from Parisien Star handed me a 'gift' which was a beautiful veggie lasagne that she and Mick had made for me - I have to say it was the best lasagne I have ever tasted in my life ... so I tracked down the recipe from Elly and Mick's blog ...

Yum Yum - thank you, Elly and Mick !

Nearly There

12 days to go and I will have served my sentence down under!

Its all a bit surreal, I find myself looking at the blogs and dreaming of being over there just like it was during our planning stage, that dreaming went on for years!

This time I know exactly what I am up for and can't wait!

Once again the boat has behaved itself impeccably for Elaine whilst I have been away (touch wood) I actually don't think it is luck, I put it down to a very well built boat that has been maintained properly over the 4 years of her life.

Not sure when we will be back in Oz, but I am guessing it will be quite a few years.

As I said previously, can't wait to get HOME!!

 

Triumph X75 Hurricane

Nothing to do with narrowboats, but who cares, I am pretty sure a lot of narrowboat folk are also into bikes. Well today a mate of mine brought his Triumph X75 Hurricane in for a show and tell! 

What a machine, totally original one of 1015 built in 1972-73 and 250 miles on the clock!

He has spent a fair bit of time getting it running right as it has been stored for the last 38 years! 

It looked and sounded awesome

Valued at $35,000 !!

Chainsaw Advice

Having been a city slicker living in the sunshine and by the beach for the last 30 odd years there really hasn't been a need to have and use a chainsaw.

Now we are living more of a Grizzly Adams lifestyle I thought it about time we had better start decimating the English countryside and burning wood.

Any advice on what chainsaw to buy plus any other gear needed to split wood  etc would be most appreciated

Jaffa has only 8 to go

... lives that is !  He definitely used up one of them this morning - here is the story ...

This morning I was feeling really cold in bed so reached for my phone to see what time it was - it was 5.30am so I decided I could put the heating on for a bit!  (I always think it is too noisy to put it on too early - it's probably not but there you are !)

Just as an aside before the Jaffa story - when I picked up my phone (which had been plugged in and charging during the night) it came back into signal and it started beeping like billy-o with loads of messages !  Oops - Paul had been worrying about me because he couldn't get in touch with me - so I was severely reprimanded very early in the morning :(

Anyway - I got up and put on the heating on but on the way back to bed I noticed the the fire was 'still a going concern' ie, still had hot coals in it ... so I decided to go an get some more coal from the cratch to load the fire up again - which I did!  The next thing, I heard an almighty wailing from OUTSIDE the boat - a horrible, strangled, gargled sort of cat wailing!  So I rushed out - unzipping the cratch covers to get out - still hearing the wailing but couldn't see where it was coming from, so rushed back in to get the torch.  By the time I got out again, the wailing had stopped and I started to have a horrible feeling ... then, all of a sudden, Jaffa appeared at the side of me on the pontoon - ABSOLUTELY SOAKED !  Last night was very, very icy and there was even ice in the water this morning.  I rushed him back in the boat and dried him off - he was icy cold so had obviously taken a dip!

The mysteries of the whole ordeal are...
a) how did he get out there ?
b) why did he go out there (he never goes out there !) ?
c) how did he fall in ??? slipped on the ice
d) how did he get out again ?!

I think his Guardian Angels were watching over him, for sure !  I got him warmed up again eventually (next to me in the bed) - it took him about an hour to stop shivering totally and he has stayed in the bed with his warmish hot water bottle all day - poor little boy!  Here are some pics of him sleeping in the bed...




...mind you, I had to disturb him this afternoon so that I could change the sheets - he didn't like that at all !

After all that ordeal I took the dogs out and popped down to Aldi to take advantage of their ski gear day - managing to get Paul and I some snow boots - yay!

Yesterday was the Stone Farmers' Markets, so  I popped down with the dogs - I bought them two bones which they are loving ...

Bombo guarding his new posession !

Sammy looking like a rabid rat !

I also bought myself some140 denier fleecy-lined, opaque, thermal tights - wow, who would have thought you could buy such things!!  They will do the job, for sure !

While I was in the car park in Stone I saw a lovely robin but by the time I got my camera out he had gone but I sat and watched all the birds in the holly anyway - they were loving it - and I saw this little fella gobbling down holly berries for ages !  He's got one in his beak in this pic ...


I took this pic on the way back in yesterday - my little phone camera didn't really do the scene justice but it was still lovely to see the swans frolicking on the hill ...


Just thought I would add this pic in because it is so cute - this is how I found Sam this morning - upside down (as usual) but sucking his back paw!


Also I have been taking more pics of the moon - just wonderful ...
 

 

 Tonight I am keeping the cratch door firmly closed!!!

First Day of Summer!

Well it is in Australia! And what a start, it is very, very hot, it is now late afternoon and it has cooled a bit down to 36, in the western parts of Sydney it is in the 40s!

I went on the motorbike down to Manly to get a hair cut, it was a tad warm wearing a leather jacket and gloves etc.

This brings me to my favourite subject, crap Aussie drivers!  I am staying at a place called Mona Vale, which is about 17ks to Manly.  The drive takes about 20 minutes ... during that time I passed 3 accidents...all in a 60 kph zone;  if you had one of those dash cams that capture accidents you would wear it out after a month!  Hence the reason for wearing all the gear when riding a motorbike.

I also went Christmas shopping ... I was looking for a present for Elaine.  I succeeded rather well I think, she will love the skimpy little bikini I have bought her - should be perfect for when we go down to Cornwall in February!

I got back to my penthouse pad just after lunch and went straight down the beach....magic, cooled me down a treat.

Tonight it is out with friends to a Thai restaurant, looking forward to that :-)

Only 3 week 'till I leave Sydney and head back to the UK.  I am really looking forward to it, the last trip over there was last March and of course it was the start of the big adventure ... it is fair to say that we we were  in a state of trepidation, what with having left good jobs, sold our house and all the furnishings sold our vehicles, plus the worry of whether the animals survive the flight and, of course, would we like the life on the canals?

This time its easy, I'm going home!