Friday Five Time

By spikesgirl58...

Memorial Day is almost here (at least in the US) and it’s the unofficial start to the summer season

1. Do you have any big plans for the summer/winter (depending upon your hemisphere)?
We've just had 6 months of rain, humidity, flooding, rising damp & mould. Hoping for a dry Winter...

2. Have you ever been or are you a fan of camping?
I don't know that I'm a 'fan' as such, though I've camped a lot over the years & do enjoy it

3. Did you ever go to a sleep-away camp in the summer when you were a kid?
For the first 4 years of high school, we were sent on 8-10 day Outward Bound camps, which involved hiking, abseiling, caving, river rapid riding & extremely basic camping. Sometimes in Summer, once during a bitterly cold Winter. A friend of mine went on the first one, lasted 4 days & walked to a not-so-nearby farm to phone his parents to get him the hell out of there... He never had to go on another one!!

4. What is going to be the high point of the fast-approaching season?
I love the cold. you can always put on another layer of clothing, or a blanket. In Australia's Summers there are times when you'd tear your own skin off if it meant you could cool down more...

5. What is your favorite way to beat the heat/ be warm and toasty?
Beat the heat: Standing in my local Dan Murphy's cold room. Be warm & toasty: Blanket, cat, L-SP, heater & big-screen TV

Meet The New Boss...

Well, we've changed government in Australia... Out with the Liberal/National Coalition, in with the Labor Party. Expect a lot of spiteful hand-wringing from loudmouth bigoted right-wing media figures who can't see a future that doesn't look like the 1950s...

Neither of the major parties performed very well in the primary vote, only getting about 1/3 each, with the rest going to a variety of minor parties & independents, which will make the next Parliament an interesting prospect. The election seems to have been more a collection of local referendums than a decisive shift in National policy. At a time when things in the South Pacific region are getting a little fraught with tensions over China & its extended reach, we've apparently decided as a Nation that things in our own individual back yards need more attention than our neighbourhood. Not that there was much evidence that either the departing Liberal government, or the incoming Labor one have much of a competent handle on foreign policy & trade anyway...

This is the underlying problem with Australian politics at the moment. The election & its result have shown that we don't have much faith in either of the 2 'preferred' parties to be any better than each other - the Liberals have been elitist, sexist, climate change sceptics with no regard for how the increasing costs of living are affecting younger people (& some of us older ones too!!)... The Labor Party have been none of those things, but haven't really said what their overall vision for the Country is either. There has been a complete lack of substance, commitment & leadership throughout the whole campaign. In the end, the Liberals weren't so much defeated by Labor as by their own hubris...

Fortunately, I suppose, we're a pretty stable country & society, so while there will be the usual grumbling from the usual quarters, we'll all just knuckle down & get on with things as best we can, domestically-speaking. It's how we'll confront & deal with the bigger, global picture that has me a little worried...

On a more satisfactory note, the objectionable Liberal candidate for my electorate lost her bid... & both Craig Kelly & George Christensen look to be gone from our political landscape. So there was some political climate change for the better, at least!!