Wednesday 03 August 2022

After a slightly longer absence from the blog than anticipated I am back.  

As some of you may already be aware my return from tropical FNQ was somewhat delayed.  No, I was not bitten by a tsetse fly, attacked by a crocodile, laid low by malaria, stung by a stinger, envenomated by a taipan, disembowelled by a cassowary  or even laid low by dengue fever, no it was the common covid virus that struck me down.

On my third day in Cairns I awoke with a very sore throat and said to myself "self, this doesn't seem right".  I administered a RAT which tested negative but as I wasn't feeling too flash I decided I would forgo the formal dinner that I was supposed to be attending that evening.

The next day I tested positive to covid and into isolation I went.  So, I spent the next seven days in isolation with Flashy and Lady P showing consideration for my tender state and attending to my every need.  Flashy made a big pot of chicken soup which I am sure hastened my recovery.  I also think that the limes in my V & T, being high in vitamin C, also helped me recover.

I think that I may have got a fairly mild dose of the bug as I really only had the sore throat, a cough, some congestion and a bit of general tiredness.  I didn't have the severe headaches and body aches and pains that some have complained of.  Maybe four vaccine doses also helped a bit.

Thanks to Flashy and Lady P for their care and concern for my wellbeing.

Now a bit of credit where credit is due.  I had to rebook my return flight with Virgin which cost me $500 (as no cheap return fares were available) and I had to pay extra parking fees at Tullamarine due to my car being there longer than planned.  All up my delayed return had cost me over $600.  

Now the good news, my ANZ credit card has automatic domestic travel insurance attached.  I lodged a claim for the additional travel costs with the Allianz on Monday afternoon, that evening I received a response saying that my claim had been accepted and the funds would be transferred withing two working days and lo and behold the money has hit my bank account today.

Well done to the ANZ and Allianz.

It is good to be back to Victorian state politics, it is the turn of the Liberal party to be caught up in some sort of alleged rort.  I am still not sure of the detail of what is alleged.  It appears that the leader of the opposition Matthew Guy's chief of staff (COS) had sent an email to a wealthy businessman (WB) suggesting that the WB pay the COS $100,000 over 12 months to be paid to the COS's private marketing business.  It is suggested that the WB may have been a donor to the Liberal party in the past but he is currently denying any knowledge of the current scheme.

It is not clear at the moment whether this was an allegedly an attempted rort to get around the rules relating to the declaration of donations to political parties or the means by which the COS was allegedly trying to line his own pockets.

The Labor state government have reported this alleged rort to every authority they can think of, including IBAC, Vicpol, AFP, AEC, the state ombudsman, the Boy Scouts and probably the Salvation Army.

This will knock the wind out of the opposition's sails given they were going to attack the government on a failure to act with integrity and responsibility in the upcoming state election.  

Every time the opposition attack the government over the red shirts scandal, branch stacking, union relationships, hotel quarantine and every other dodgy deal they have done this latest dealing will get thrown straight back at them.

Never dull.

As I well know covid is still with us and as you can see from the following table it is still very active in many countries.

I haven't done any interpretation of these numbers but Japan seems to be reporting some high numbers, 3rd or 4th wave maybe.

Tue 2 Aug - Confirmed Daily Cases & 7 Day Average

COUNTRYVARCASES7d Av
Japan 139,609202,823
USA 141,005124,840
South Korea 111,70083,668
Germany 102,69868,610
Italy 19,52053,623
Turkey 052,203
France 80,06246,570
Australia 37,44341,078
New Zealand 7,4218,390
Worldwide 829,671996,425

The daily deaths figures below also provide food for thought.  

Tue 2 Aug - Confirmed Daily Deaths & 7 Day Average

COUNTRYVARDEATHS7d Av
USA 559439
Brazil 201225
UK 0176
Italy 121175
Germany 171112
Japan 94108
Australia 9294
France 19688
New Zealand 6115
Worldwide 2,1492,380

Generally the Australian and Victorian figures haven't changed much since my last blog three weeks ago, people are still getting crook, going to hospital and either getting better or dying, same ol, same ol.

I will have a better look at the figures for next week.


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