Sunday Morning

I have uploaded seventeen video minutes of personal thoughts regarding The Big Bang to the bluebobb YouTube channel, broken down into two parts. It can't possibly cover my complete philosophical position which encompasses thoughts on vision and the nature of the human senses. The English language creates ambiguities of expression that are difficult to surmount.

I had a meeting with my business mentor which went well. I explained the difficulties I am experiencing with computer and VOIP equipment and have ordered a replacement computer for the one that Acer Computers have assigned an Estimated Repair Time of "sometime in the future" and which is documented as being in the queue for future service at this time (assumed to be sometime next century). It could well be that the business ends up with two similar computers - one of which may be returned to the supplier under the terms of the Trade Practices Act.

I have NEIS forms to take me into December.

I am anticipating that the replacement computer should be in my hands by Tuesday or Wednesday.

On Wednesday I have a consultation with the "P" doc which will be fairly routine. In the evening I will probably attend David Marr's discussion at the Art Gallery of New South Wales (close to the Domain).

The following week I have an appointment for an ultrasound. I am reminded that given my condition I should remain free from both physical and mental stress and I attempt to reach this state of personal nirvana.

Bill (see previous posting) told of his battles with the "Big C" which is something that my late brother would understand.

I attended an NIA course on business strategy a week ago which encompassed the balanced scorecard approach where strategy depends on balancing competencies with resources. If one has the resources but not the competencies in any field of endeavour then that endeavour is less likely to succeed. Likewise if one has the competencies but lacks the resources in any field of endeavour then that endeavour is less likely to succeed. The analysis of the balanced scorecard approach can be as fine grained as suits the circumstances.

I attended an Australian Computer Society "Small to Medium Enterprise" SIG where "Linked In" was discussed. I noted that ziki is a link into Google and have listed my business with ziki but have not taken advantage of their direct link into Google (which costs money) at the present time. I am booked into to an NIA course on being an "accidental company secretary" which (as the Director of a company) I am by default.

I note that an employment agency representing people from the Philippines has opened in a shop that has been unoccupied for several years in the shopping centre immediately opposite my residence. They have a website which only lists addresses in the Phlilippines. I can only speculate what they are doing in Werrington.

That's about it.

I'm taking it easy. A "zen" attitude abounds !

Email and Letter from Bill (Hooker) etc

As previously noted in this blog I found two olde business cards from my former Reader's Digest boss and "good bloke" Bill Hooker while turfing out some old stuff.  I sent a letter to his home address (rather than the Express Bookkeeping - Windsor Franchise).  Bill replied this morning with an email and a Word attachment letter which I have printed.  It seems that despite the fact there is an Express Bookkeeping - Windsor franchise website he doesn't work there and it is his belief that they keep it going merely to make it appear larger than it actually is.

Bill notes that he off to China presumably for a holiday.  He replied on his business organisation's letterhead.

I'm doing two days training at the National Institute of Accountants Tuesday and Wednesday with additional attendances at the NIA Parramatta Discussion Group on Tuesday evening and the Australian Computer Society Business Intelligence Special Interest Group on Wednesday evening making it a long two days.

I am expecting a call from the Acer computer maintenance people regarding the failed wireless connection on their Acer machine noted by the service technician who did some on-site warranty service to the (business) machine on Wednesday.  I understand it will be the same technician.  It should be noted that all business data and programs were lost due to a failure of the machine on Saturday morning and finally diagnosed as a hardware fault.  I have backups of nearly all the important data but it takes time after initialising the machine to "factory condition" given that Windows goes through it's complete cycle of updates - such as Internet Explorer 7 and Windows XP Service Pack 3.

I have had a few (more) problems with VOIP and have sent a letter of complaint the Managing Director of Freshtel regarding their appalling customer service with regards to the Linksys/Sipura SPA3102 device.  I believe the service Freshtel offers is good so will hang in with them.  The device is marked by Linksys as "to be installed by the customer" and "configured by the Service Provider".  I paid for it to be configured but it wasn't done correctly (to put it mildly).  Engin (a rival company) sell the device locked and configured but they also offer a "Bring your own" device which can include the SPA3102 and configuration instructions are provided to the customer via email.  Following displays of complete ignorance by Freshtel support staff I invoked the "factory reset" configuration for the device and it is now an unlocked SPA3102 device suitable for any VOIP provider including Freshtel or Engin or those who support the device.

I have two SPA3102 devices.  I called Trevor yesterday evening on the one that works and configured myself - despite having paid Freshtel to do so which they did ignoring the fact that this is Australia and NOT Japan !

posted to blog via email Monday 22nd. September 2008

Saturday morning

I have received an MYOB upgrade disk (the latest release of MYOB - Version 18 for Premier which is the version I am using as an MYOB partner). I rang MYOB two days ago to determine the problems I may experience in migrating from their ODBC 7 Driver to their new ODBC 8 driver as MYOB ODBC forms the basis of the business formed with the help of NEIS.

I also rang the Australian Tax Office to determine the GST status of prepaid mobile phone vouchers. It seems there is considerable variation of how this is dealt with by various providers - for example with Vodafone it's possible to claim a GST credit if you pay by credit card but not if you purchase a voucher. Vouchers issued by "3" do not show a GST component. According to the ATO this means the supply is a "GST free" supply despite the fact I believed that GST free supplies only apply to food and some financial items.

I cleared out some drawers this morning and discovered a Business Card from my old boss (Finance Manager) at the Digest and note that his franchise Express Bookkeeping - Windsor is still in operation.

This is partly a reminder to myself to contact Bill as we haven't been in touch for several years.

Sunday evening

Not a great deal to report. I have a new decal from the National Institute of Accountants who have apologised for the muddle in getting my business listed in their "Find an Accountant" section. I spent some time on the phone to their IT guy in Melbourne regarding what was meant by various emails that kept bouncing around. It's all sorted out now.

I have changed my Nokia N95 from a Vodafone prepaid SIM to a 3 (Hutchison Communications) prepaid SIM porting the Vodafone number to the 3 SIM card. This is to keep three phones ( used for different purposes) with very similar numbers.

I have turned off the 3G capabilities of the Nokia E65 phones but have left the 3G capabilities on the Nokia N95.. The "3" Network won't accept people who don't have an unlocked 3G (not NextG) capable handset. The difference between 3G and NextG used by Telstra appears to be the frequency on which it operates. In a nutshell 3G is for cities and NextG is for the the bush and farmers who have had the CDMA network turned off. 3G and NextG appear to be a form of CDMA anyway.

Although the 3 network stressed I only needed one form of identification their on-line verification process insisted on 3 including a driver's licence, a passport (I don't have a current one) and a Medicare number. They also insisted on an applicants previous address which I had forgotten given that it's over 10 years that I lived there. I eventually found it in some olde olde correspondence between myself and various persons in the legal profession.

On Tuesday I am attending an all day session at the National Institute of Accountants regarding "Rolling Forecasts" and later in the month some advanced Excel modeling. I have also enrolled in an October session which includes strategic management.

I thank Trevor for observations regarding religious tolerance.

Testing via gmail (NIA link)

 Testing NIA link.  It should open in a new window.

   National Institute of Accountants

 "Find an Accountant" (postcode 2747)

 Bob

goodnight

Monday evening..

The end of another day. I completed a NEIS form which took me until 1 pm and was then advised by the National Institute of Accountants that they have finally listed my business on the "Find an Accountant" section of the National Institute of Accountants website.

This is being posted with Thunderbird email client (free) which is easy to set up for GMail. Simply enter your GMail address in the new account section and it automatically sets up the inbound and outbound servers which use non standard ports.

I have purchased three bags of lollies for three bucks !

I looked at the clock and thought it was tomorrow morning. It isn't tomorrow morning. It's this evening. Tomorrow will bring tomorrow morning.

I wonder if the URL above works.

Bob

Sunday Morning

I spoke to Trevor yesterday evening. This was with a new Panasonic
DECT phone attached to a Linksys ATA device which is now configured
correctly.

This being a Sunday I intend to "take it easy".

I am now subscribed to Reader's Digest magazine and received the
first copy on Friday afternoon. This is at their cheap price and I
should receive a free "designer" quartz watch for being an excellent
company and indeed a chance (marked as significant) to win close to
half a million dollars in prizes.

I have decided to forgo the free golden cordless mouse, the
subscription to "everything you need to know about computers in
monthly installments - only $22 plus postage and handling" and have
decided against entering the "win a trip to Florida draw".

I have to tick a box to say if I would like my Sweepstake prize
cheque as a cheque (check in the US) or have it deposited directly to
my bank account and whether or not I would appreciate a special
ceremony to mark the occasion of my big win.

This is being posted to blogspot via email.

two BLOGS

I have created a second BLOG for issues relating to censorship in Australia. This blog is reserved for personal items rather than censorship related items. A link relating to the nocensorshipaus blog has been flagged in this personal blog.

Not everyone wishes to read about censorship (and that includes me as I hate it !

Welcome back to Bob Bain's Blog. Livejournal have decided to inflict advertising on me - so in the interests of keeping the world up to date I am posting to this (currently) ad free Blog.

It's turned cool today.

I spent today revising statistics in preperation for some "serious" study in the realm of "Security and Portfolio Analysis".

Tomorrow is another day.

Heard this morning not far from my place of Employment. "All I need is $11. Can anyone help please ?". Nobody rushed to provide funding for whatever project was in the offing.

I envisage the extra $1 was for the Liberal Government's GST.

Today at lunchtime someone noticed me standing admiring the wares in a telephone shop and mumbled "You must be Six Foot One". This reminded me a bit of asking for a large pot of tea in Hong Kong many years ago and believing the answer "No Yu Pee" was the name of the proprietor. At least the gentleman concerned should have expressed his estimation of my height in centimeters, but not even I can do that without consulting my Australian passport.

On Friday I get paid for not working as part of my contract. It's "company binge day" and nobody works on "company binge day". I'm told I can turn up early and be part of the binge or stay home and get paid anyway.

Many years ago I recall the Government of the United Kingdom legislating against "glop" (sticky mess) and "stopple" (blockage) in ball point pens.

I am posting this at my place of employment where I have encountered pens with substantial amounts of "glop" which glops everywhere from my shirt sleeves to the desk.

It's time I believe for the Australian government to outlaw "glop".

Yesterday I purchased a Telstra telephone which is vastly superior to the telephone (non mobile - non cellular) that I have connected to the phone line downstairs and which some people, seemingly of Asian origin and who seemingly speak another language call from time to time. ( I have an unlisted number ).

Anyway this new phone was constructed soundly but I must protest at the trouble simple feeble minded and elderly users such as myself have with such devices. It told me to remove the screws at the base (documented in the manual) and then "Remove the Battery Cover". However it didn't tell me HOW to remove the battery cover or where it was located. After various impersonations of a thief attempting to blast his way into a safe I managed with a screwdriver to bust a sprong and lo and behold there was what appeared to be a place where one could insert batteries. I damaged my fingers and the battery cover in the process. Fortunately the base when screwed back on covers my attempts to follow the undocumented procedure of "remove the battery cover" and I've decided not to sue Telstra (on this occasion).

It's an A50 phone with a handsfree speakerphone and purrs loudly if I hit the appropriate button.

Yesterday I created a BLOG

Today I created a BLOG (or so I believe)