Having made an arrangement to install an amplifier for our internet system we realised that the time was inconvenient

So we phoned Telstra to change the appointment. They offered us the same appointment date that we had just had to cancel. So we had to explain that it was impossible and so our phone call took 45 minutes of being misdirected all over the place.

But now we have an appointment in eight days’ time. The problem with Telstra is that they don’t have any efficient communications between departments within their huge organisation so the left hand does not know what the left hand is doing LOL.

For a communication company, that could present a bit of an embarrassment. Not so for Telstra who are very proud of their service. They even ask if there’s anything else they can help you with while you are seething at the time you have wasted on the phone.

Would you let Telstra help you with anything else given a choice?

Apparently, the TV broadcast of AFI awards night was edited to cut out “The Black Balloon” incident. Jimmy Jack who co-wrote the winner of six AFI awards, told film critic, Jim Schembri f—you.

Why?

Because Schembri had been writing that Aussie films are box office failures because they are irrelevant to their audiences.

Well, isn’t that what I have been saying for the past year in this blog? It really is a case of the Emperor has no clothes and I hope more people will challenge those film elites who want to shove dreary films down our throats and then blame us for not wanting to see them.

Surely the point is not about getting awards but getting bums on seats!

Yesterday, a Telstra technician finally turned up to our home to repair the internet problems. He said that the cables were loose and replaced them. He told us that it probably would not get rid of out troubles but it was worth trying. Then he said that we need an amplifier for our internet to work properly because we have more than one Foxtel box.

We have been left with internet supply that comes and goes, so I can’t even write whenever I feel like it. Very frustrating.

Today we phoned Telstra to ask for a technician to install an amplifier. We were told it would be done in FIVE days’ time. That is such a long time to wait for service! And the amplifier would cost us $330.

Yep, THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY DOLLARS!

When we related our past bad experiences with Telstra and Foxtel, the man on the phoned said that the amplifier would be “no charge”.

Those of you who are familiar with this blog may remember how a couple of months ago one Foxtel technician removed our cable connections to our apartment and gave them to someone else . We spent hours trying to work out why we had no internet and no Foxtel. When another technician was called he showed us that our cables had been removed by a thieving and lazy technician who could not be bothered looking for the proper cables for our neighbour’s home and so decided to steal ours.

And this is the company that wants to provide broadband to all of Australia. God help us if the government lets us down.

Last week’s tragic terrorist attacks would definitely have been averted had “Ultimate Force” been called in. I’ve just discovered this thrilling British Television series about a fictional SAS group.

As a fan of the quiz show, “Eggheads” I switched on the TV a little early and got sucked in to watching “Ultimate Force”. It’s exciting and depends on everything going to plan. Computers and phones never let the team of men and women down. (They evidently don’t have Telstra as their communication supplier.)

The plots are well developed as long as you are happy to go along with the improbable actions. It’s a fine ensemble piece with some personal angst and romance thrown in—a sort of “the Bill” on speed, actually.

I wonder if the SAS is anything like that super efficient team in this BBC production. There’s lots of shooting and running around but somehow it all seems to make sense. Which is a worry to me because I don’t usually like action/drama, especially with machine guns and macho bravery from both sexes.

Couldn’t help but wish that Ultimate Force had been called in when the two hotels, the coffee lounge, the railway station and the Chabad House were attacked so viciously by Muslims in Mumbai. But life is full of “if only”…

Tomorrow night is the premier award night for the Australian film industry. Not many people will be watching its broadcast on TV because not many people go to Aussie movies. Why is that? Continue reading →

I have no idea how long my internet connection will last this time so I have to write as quickly as possible. You see, I am one of the unfortunates who have an ISP account with Telstra. In Australia, Telstra is one of the most reviled companies. It is virtually a monopoly and is the ultimate example of the danger of monopolies.

My internet service is sporadic and you can imagine how frustrating that is. Yesterday we complained to Telstra via a call centre in the Philippines. This poor guy is getting paid a pittance; he can’t speak or understand English very well and has informed us that a Telstra technician will come in four days’ time, or so we think…

So here we are at the mercy of a huge company which is now trying to blackmail the government into giving them a free ride in a new tender to supply broadband to the rest of Australia (as if).

If Telstra’s past reputation is any indicator, the service will cost a fortune, be unreliable, and have no interest in its customers. Since it is now outsourcing anything it can, as my conversation with the guy in the Philippines proves, it doesn’t even do much for our economy.

My computer man tells me that he ditched Telstra years ago and has had no problems since then. He also pays a lot less for his internet service. Unfortunately, we have tied ourselves up in a contract combined with cable and telephone provision, so we are stuck, for the moment.

Who knows when I will be able to write a prolonged blog? We have a third world service and it’s because Telstra was given too much free rein in the past.

I wish that our prime minister would have the guts to tell Sol Trujillo (head honcho of Telstra) and his mob to get lost.

Readers of this blog know very well by now, that through no fault of my own I have to return many faulty items to the place of purchase. While I am at those shopping malls, I have observed two social trends. Continue reading →

I woke up this morning to the news that all the Jewish hostages at the Chabad House in Mumbai had been murdered by Muslim terrorists.

No doubt there will be Muslims crawling out of the woodwork to claim that Islam is a religion of peace. We have heard it all before. But nobody in the civilised world believes this.

Just look around you at most of the trouble spots in the world and you will see Muslims involved.

Whenever I feel sad, my consolation is that at least I am not a Muslim.

When Marlon Brando roared onto the silver screen on his motor bike in 1953 he became the eponymous sex symbol of the fifties. “The Wild One” sparked the craze for motor bike riding and the unbridled passion that bikers have represented since then.

When you compare the erotic leather jackets, the boots, tattoos, headscarves and beards of bikers with the rather effete yellow and lavender lycra pants of bicycle riders and their extremely sexless bunch of bananas headgear, well, the wild ones win hands down.

So it is with great disappointment that today, according to a study from Japan, we learn that 70% of motor bike riders are having erectile problems because of the vibrations of the engine on which they sit. Some of these sorry sex symbols even suffer from incontinence. Apparently, the motor bike seats are too pointy and this design failure inhibits the production of certain hormones that macho men require.

I guess we will all look at Hell’s Angels in a different way from now on as we shake our heads and mutter “Poor dear.”

Come to think of it, Brando’s voice was a little high. Almost as high as that of jockeys. Don’t they get bounced around as well? And how about those strapping council workers with their jackhammers? It must make their teeth chatter something terrible.