Up to now, I’ve been a bit quiet on contentious issues…its been more of..what we’ve been up to, that sort of thing…events have caught up with me/us eh. Covid threw a huge spanner in the works of an orderly retirement..few trips here and there, together with the ability to head off to..wherever we want to at almost a moments notice. Passports at the ready, just in case we decide to go That far.
Well.
Looks as though an orderly retirement is getting back on the cards again..albeit a tad slower than yours truly and Herself would prefer.
Spring cleaning is in full tilt, in the full ahead gear. A kid/new addition on the other side of the world has distracted us..nicely, I hasten to add. For the other side of the world, read the Top End..Northern Territory, with a future move on the cards for them..a few destinations have been mentioned, some easier to get to than the Gulf of Carpentaria, others not so. We also serve who stand and wait…
Contentious issues…a certain election truly on the other side of the world has well and truly gained the spotlight.

Hawks and..

..Doves!

Complete with lots of truly horrendous what-if headlines. Certain el presidente would much prefer to be president for life…might be a bit hard to organise in the country he currently resides in eh. After all, a certain Russian is giving it his best shot. Chinese seem to have a system whereby the man is..elected?..their version of it, anyway, and he Stays. Until events conspire otherwise. Sort of like here in the Land Down Under, only here, every four years or so, the ruling el presidente goes cap in hand to those of us who couldnt escape the process, and threatens/cajoles/promises/…must be more appropriate words to go there..and asks for an official extension/stay of execution..thats getting booted out from the lodge, btw! Aaand, once we’re in the system, we get fined if we don’t put our mark on a ballot paper Here and There. Certain percentage of us put..messages, deface the voting slip, graffiti comes to mind, all to end up being marked as Informal. They have been marked off as having attended, been handed a voting slip, and directed in the general direction of booths, suitably shielded from curious onlookers, whereby we…do what we do. Supposedly marking a box next to a Somebodies name, or more, depending! Theres above the line voting, and below the line voting…first past the post, Preferential Voting and Proportional Representation type voting…probably a few others…. I do like the preference system…or was it the Proportional Representation type. Anyway, You vote the person(s) in you like, and vote out those you dont. Certain council election in WA..few years ago now..yours truly looked up the rules, and found that the candidate with the highest total got put down the bottom of the list, and those with the lowest total got put up the top. Ie, the highest number ones got you there, but only if your greatest rival got heaps of 5s or 6s.
There, though, one vote per person wasn’t the rule. If you had different properties/titles, you got a vote per property… aunt Cissy had lots and lots of votes, didn’t she. At the count, Father Bill had lots of no 1 votes, and another Scott had lots and lots of 5s and 6s… Congrats, Father Bill!
Our elections just held..only 33000 voters per seat… bit different Over There. To count all the votes in a timely manner, they have installed all manner of machines. we are talking millions of votes..the scale is amazing.
So, at this time, Joe looks as though he’ll get up, and Don is fighting a rearguard action, trying to hang in there. Of course, everyone has already voted…but (!) in some places, there are invalid votes, whereby you get contacted, and asked to submit a proper vote. My goodness me! We’d be in trouble here, eh. Your special piece of artwork is summarily rejected, not even featured on Channel 9, and you’re directed to Do The Right Thing.
Stay tuned!