FRIENDSHIP

On Friday I will be attending the funeral of a very good friend. It is at times like this that you look back and realise just how valuable and rewarding a true strong friendship can be.

BUSHFIRES

Five days now of bushfires. 208 homes burnt down and another 150+ damaged. Here in Blackheath we are still in danger. There is a massive fire only a few ks away. Heavy smoke and fire fighting helicopters everywhere.  Emergency bag packed, house prepared as much as possible and ready to go if the order is given. It is times like this that you really value the things around you. Your possessions and your family and friends.

BUSHFIRE SITUATION IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

The latest count is over 200 homes lost. Most at Springwood and Winmalee. 7 at Mount Victoria which is just about 5 to 6 ks from us. It is very smoky here at the moment.
we have prepared our yard and house as much as possible and are getting the car packed in case we have to evacuate in a hurry.

BUSHFIRES IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

Yesterday Thursday the 17th of Oct was a very scary day up here in the mountains. The temp was around 26c the wind gusting at 90k per hour then the fires started.
It would appear that around 100 or more homes have been burnt down and many more damaged. Thankfully so far no loss of life has been reported. There are still fires burning but today is much calmer with temps this morning around 3c and no wind.
Where I am the fires only came within about 4k so we were in no real immediate danger.
More later.

THE ROBOT

I write sci-fi short stories and some of them are published on Narrator Magazine.
My latest story THE ROBOT can be accessed for free.
http://www.narratorsss.com/2013/10/the-robot-john-ross.html
So read and leave a comment.
Thanks.

THE GREAT WESTERN HIGHWAY THROUGH THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

The upgrading of the Great Western Highway through the Blue Mountains is progressing slowly.
As most people are aware this highway runs parallel to the railway line for most of the way and both emerge on the other side of the mountains at Lithgow. The daily sight of hundreds of heavy trucks roaring through the supposedly quiet villages in the mountains is not only annoying and noisy it is also dangerous. SURELY a better way would be for the freight carried on these trucks to be placed on rail and offloaded onto trucks at an interchange near Lithgow.
The upgrade of the highway currently only extends as far as Katoomba. there does not appear to be any concrete plans or timetable for the section from Katoomba through Medlow Bath, Blackheath and Mt Victoria and onto Lithgow. How much longer are we going to see hundreds of trucks daily toiling through the main shopping centre of Blackheath with the result noise and pollution.

THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

From an Australian point of view it is hard to understand what is currently going on in the US.
We cannot see what the objection could possibly be to a scheme that provides affordable health insurance to millions of citizens who currently have none. Surely this is a good thing.
We also do not understand how the government can get into a situation where services are shut down because the peoples wages cannot be paid.
Americans you call yourselves the greatest country in the world yet you want to deny universal health cover to your poorer citizens and then put your own economy at great risk to fight it.
Your level of crime, gun ownership and resultant massacres, the level of poverty and homelessness and your strange habit of voting for everything including people in your legal and law enforcement areas cause most Australians, whilst also considering yourselves a great ally and friend, to be rather bemused.

SPRING IN THE BLUE MOUNTAINS

When I read and see of all the horrors that us humans are committing against each other then look at the beauty that nature and God has surrounded us with I ask...WHY?