Alcopops are dead hurruh!

So the alcopops tax got rejected in the senate last week.  I'm so happy that one of the stupid things the government has tried to brought in has actually been stopped.  There really seemed to be little evidence that the alcopops tax was doing anything to curb binge drinking, but it was providing a nice revenue stream for the government.

So I could rant on this at length, and I might just do that in a later post, but I just wanted to jot something down before i forget.

Was watching late line the other day after the senate rejected the tax, and Julia Gillard was on to spin how awful this was.  She made the point:  (read whole transcript here http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2008/s2520098.htm )

"What the Liberal Party has voted for in the Senate today is to return $300 million to the distillers"

This is a blurring of the point i feel.  The senate refused to pass the tax because it didn't do what it set out to do, which was curb binge drinking.  So the tax they have been collecting up till now has been illegally collected, and so yes it should be returned.  The government should not get to keep it!  Just because they don't like the distillers, it doesn't give them a right to tax them illegally.

Brisbane's 3 Public Transport methods

So in sunny Brisbane we have three different mediums (is that the word?) which are integrated into our public transport system. Bus, Rail, and Citycat (there are ferries, which are a poor mans citycat ).

So they all have their uses, but one interesting thing I find is how their ticketing acquisition structure differentiates.

Bus - buy ticket from driver WHEN you get on
Train - buy ticket from vendor/machine BEFORE you get on
Citycat - buy ticket from vendor/mahine AFTER you get on

Which is better? Let's discuss buses vs trains for a bit, as this is what I have most exposure to.

You are running late for a train, you see it pulling into the station as you run to catch it. But you don't have a ticket. Do you jump on train without a ticket and risk a fine, or buy a ticket but accept you will miss that train, possibly waiting half an hour for another? But you run to a bus stop just as the bus is arriving! hurruh you made it. you jump on and get a chance to fish some cash out and buy a ticket.

So now we are on our form of transport we carry on. However the pro/con is now reversed. At each train stop, there is a specific stop time, usually under a minute where people can get on/off the train, and we continue on. All very uniform, no delays.

As each bus stops, you get everyone fishing their cash out, trying to find change, ask the driver what ticket they need, and you can end up with lengthy unpredictable delays at each stop.

Now look at the city cat. With the city cat, there is only a small delay at each port allowing people on and off the citycat, no requirement to have a ticket for this part. One on the cat (and after it has perhaps taken off and you are en route along with all other passengers), you can purchase your ticket.

Citycat is obviously superior! Why can't we use this on other forms of transport?

When visiting Melbourne, the Tram system there is run like the Citycat. The driver is seperate and only responsible for driving the tram, each tram has a ticket machine on board so you can buy a ticket. Would be great to have something similar on trains, though with the overcrowding we have I guess that's almost impossible to use in rush hour.

An interesting thing we saw in Japan with buses was that you pay for your ticket when you get OFF the bus. Gives a bit more leeway, as once on the bus you can sit down and work out how much you should pay. Gives people a chance to organize themselves more than when they get on (when running late for a train, you can't stop and pull out your cash in preparation easily)

I broke my ear

So the xmas rush is over, but it feels like i've spent most of the last few weeks under the weather.

Had some friends over for drinks a few weeks back, had a great time, but later in the night we decided we'd had enough beer and that gin and tonics would be the go.  I have a couple of kick scooters (like the skateboards with a stick for steering) so though it would be a good idea to ride down to the local bevan (7 11).

Now I live at the top of a hill and ride down it on my scooter on the wy to the train station each day I go to work.  Sit on the brake at the back to control speed, keep an eye on whats coming up, and everything's peachy.

After a few drinks however, going down in the dark seemed feasible.  So of course couldn't see much of what was on the road.  And also decided to let rip with the speed.  Surely worst that happens if i have to slam the break on at the bottom of the hill. Even knew where a soft patch of grass was at the bottom lest slowing down doesn't work and I need to bail.

Turns out, after picking up a bit of speed, the speed wobbles take over and bam!  Scooter went one way, I rolled the other. Landed on knees and left hand and rolled left, bang my shoulder, and finally my head.  Heard a bit of a bang or pop noise and the hearing in that ear went all muffled.

Got back up, found my glasses, and we made our way onto bevan and back.  Hearing didn't seem to be getting any better so rang 13 health to tell them my symptons.  They said probably not anything to worry about, but suggested I call out the after hours doc to check me out.

So rang that number, and they sent a doctor out, took about half an hour.  Checked I didn't have concussion, stuck a light in my ear and gave me the all clear.  Just to get it checked if it got worse or pained up.

So go to work the next day, and find out that chewing causes massive pain and clicking in my jaw near ear.  Got bad toward end of arvo, so bailed out (GF picked me up) and went and sat at dr's waiting for a chance to see one (no appointments available).  Only had to wait about 5 mins and got called in.  Same deal, shine light in ear, nothing to see.  Suggested I go for a CT scan.

So the next day I go to Wesley and get a CT scan.  Was kinda cool, though the waiting for results kinda sucked. They told me it would be an hour to hour and a half wait.  Ended up being two and a half hours.  Went back to doctor with results.

They had a little note there saying suspected frature around temple bone or something, because of evidence of air bubble, but no visible fracture lines.  Doctor couldn't see it and said give it a week and get  second opinion from ear nose and throat doc.

Since then pain has gone away, but hearing hasn't improved.  Constantly feels like there is water in my ear , but with consistency of air.  Same muffled feeling.

So now it's next week, but I have the flu.  Which has screwed up my ears nose and throat so doesn't seem much point seemed anyone about my ear at present.  I really hope it repairs because I'm a bit of an audiophile and while I can deal with it in the short term, the thought of never again hearing a song or movie in balance as it was originally intended frustrates me to no end.

More Public Transport Frustrations

So Brisbane has this great idea, night buses! On a Saturday night, they run buses along key routes for standard bus fares, so you can get home for the cost of a bus ride instead of a cab ride.

So we were out at the regatta in Toowong tonight, till about 2ish, and decided to wander back to the RE in the more central part of Toowong as it was more likely to have a Cab line up.

Get the the RE, and we notice the bus sign, which is at the cab rank, is showing that a bus will be coming in 10 minutes!  Well buses are certainly cheaper than cabs, so why not wait to catch the bus a couple of stops?  It's a Night bus, 464.

After a while, the display updates.  Seems our bus is delays. but we can wait a bit longer.

So we wait and wait, a few cabs pull up to see if we want a ride, but move on when they realise we are not waiting for them.

After sitting here waiting for 20minutes, another bus appears on the display, this one is due at 2:44pm.  So even if this one doesn't show, it's nice to know there's another one half an hour away.  Hopefully we don't need it.

So at around 2:20, the display turns off for the now very late bus, and only the 2:44 is left up there. Not happy.

Suddenly, at about 2:25, we see a bus coming around the corner! yay!

We jump about and wave to hail the bus.... but it just keeps going.... all the lights on the bus are on, and we can see there are only 4 or 5 people on it.  But no stopping, it just keep going.

So now we are really furious and realise we need a cab.  But of course it's now 30 minutes after the pub has shut so no cabs are coming, they're all headed back to the city.  Finally after 8 minutes a cab takes pity and turns around to pick us up.

Furiouser and Furiouser now, we get back and get on the phone to complain to translink, who have  a 24 hour complain/contact line.

We get told that night buses only do pick ups in the city, then the rest of the route is only drop offs.  I can sort of see that makes sense, but then why do they have the timetable on at the bus stop?! They say, oh, that's so people know when the bus will be dropping people off.  Pah! That is so rubbish.  I occassionally catch buses from the Cultural center in the city, which is an end of line stop for a lot of buses.  These buses DO NOT show up on the display for arriving buses.  So thanks to their inconsistent logic, we wasted half an hour waiting at a stop.  Thanks brisbane transport.  thank you indeed.

Brisbane public transport is frustrating!

So needed to get from Toowong to the City on Saturday.  On a Saturday trains run every half hour and are pretty reliable, but had just missed one and was supposed to get to the city by 2pm.  Next train wasn't till 1:56pm and would take 15minutes, so a bus seemed a better option.

Buses run fairly frequently, and there are a number of different buses, but they all get you to the city on fairly standard routes.

Firstly, the display board was out, so weren't sure when an actual bus was going to arrive.  Looked at the schedule though and there were 2 due pretty soon.  So about 5 minutes later a 444 bus pulls up, which we jump on.

The bus then sits at that stop for a minute!  While we're sitting there, another bus overtakes us.  Gah!

We finally take off, and get to the stop near the wesley hospital.  I hate this area, because it seems like EVERY time I get a bus, it stops here and they change drivers, which seems to take anywhere from 1 - 5 minutes, but never with any indication.

Yup that's right, we stopped there. Sigh.  So waiting there, and another bus pulls up behind us, i was hopeful that this was the changeover bus.  Nope, it pulls away. damn i could have gotten on that bus instead!  So no indication about when we will be leaving, we just sit and wait on the packed bus.  It's 5 minutes before a driver arrives who gets on our bus, tinkers about as they do, before finally getting us going again.  In this time I count 3 other buses that pass us.

Would be so nice if they could just tell us which buses are the ones worth getting on, I would have happily waited for one that wasn't going to stop at a bus stop for 5 minutes where i'd forced to watch other buses I could be on pass me.

Reverse Dictionary?

So writing my last post, I wanted to put some useful labels on it.  Became rather distraught upon realising: I didn't know a word which meant "the name of the seemingly epic epiphany one has when under the influence of alcohol".  I can look up a word in the dictionary and see what it means, but there doesn't appear to be an easy way to describe something and find a word for it.

Anyway, my searches on google didn't find it.  I'm stuck thinking up a decent word to sum it all up to, which i would really like as it would make a great tag for a number of posts to come.

Storage/Delivery service for a night out

So went out drinking last night and came up with those amazing ideas you have when drinking.  I'm sure I had a lot more than I can remember, but figured those I can remember should be written down for future generations to appreciate.

So because we decided to go into town, ended up leaving my bag and some alcohol we had behind at mates place.  Now sitting here this morning realising that I now need to go back and get my stuff.  What could make this easier?  Let's examine:

Night after drinking, feel a little bleh, not keen on riding on trains to reclaim 'luggage'

The reason it's there is that I couldn't feasibly take it out last night.  Once seperated, very difficult to get it back.

So I thought, wouldn't it be great if there was some kind of extra baggage service offered.  Some 24 service running that would act as storage/delivery.  So I go to the valley, and I put all my stuff in a box that I get the key/combination for, similar to safety deposit box i guess.

So now the next day is here, I call the service, and they have scheduled drop offs to a location of my choosing.  Pay a CC fee up front to get them to bring it out to you (in addition to storage fee) and you open box and sign out contents, give them back box.  If you are some dodgy who manages to call for someone else's box, you won't be able to open it and you have payed for their trouble up front.  So we have sort of a delivery service like UPS, you sign out your stuff.

Now because Sunday morning would involve a large number of deliveries, they could bulk dispatch.  They would have cheaper deliveries, maybe once a day, but you could pay extra if you desperately needed something now.  The idea is it would be cheaper than a cab fare and less bother than public transport and more legal than trying to drive somewhere while still under the influence.  The deliveries would be in daylight hours as well, so would be a normal hours kind of service, safer and cheaper.

As a bonus they could bring you some breakfast... i'm craving it right now.