TTIM: Things That Irk Me

[jw1739]

I recently got around to tidying up some minor items arising from the death of my wife two years ago. FMD what a carry-on to cancel her two Myki cards and claim a refund of the balance remaining on each card. 25 minutes on the 'phone to PTV. We have to make this sort of stuff quick and simple.

[jw1739]

TTIM...I reckon "communication companies" such as Telstra, iiNet, Vodaphone etc. should be doing a hell of a lot more to identify and block scam emails, telephone calls, and texts to smartphones. The latter started only a few weeks ago but are coming in on a daily basis now.

[NewConvert]

23 hours ago, jw1739 said:

TTIM...I reckon "communication companies" such as Telstra, iiNet, Vodaphone etc. should be doing a hell of a lot more to identify and block scam emails, telephone calls, and texts to smartphones. The latter started only a few weeks ago but are coming in on a daily basis now.

I called Telstra last night because there was a persistent scam caller to mum's phone and this was unnerving her. I was shocked that Telstra can no longer block calls on the NBN whereas in the old analogue system they could. WTF?????

[Shahanga]

1. That I support the rabble that is the Gold Coast Suns

2. That I am exposed to media that accurately reports what the club does.

[jw1739]

TTIM...Incomprehensible recorded speaker announcements on Metro trains. Does anyone actually check these things? There was one today on the Sandy line that went for a minute or so, repeated several times, and I could not understand a word that was said.

[kingofhearts]

TTIM: Having a bad nights sleep.

I don't know how parents with young children operate constantly on 2-3 hour sleep.Not even to mention constantly getting their sleeping pattern interrupted by waking up during the night to deal with crying and upset children.

If I don't get a good nights sleep of 7-8 hours, it's equivalent for me anyway, to being hungover.I'm pretty much utterly useless lol.

Edited November 17, 2021 by kingofhearts

[jw1739]

2 hours ago, kingofhearts said:

TTIM: Having a bad nights sleep.

I don't know how parents with young children operate constantly on 2-3 hour sleep.Not even to mention constantly getting their sleeping pattern interrupted by waking up during the night to deal with crying and upset children.

If I don't get a good nights sleep of 7-8 hours, it's equivalent for me anyway, to being hungover.I'm pretty much utterly useless lol.

It sometimes breaks apart a marriage.

[jw1739]

TTIM: Melbourne's traffic. We have to address this or we're going to reach gridlock in places soon. We're going to have to get parked cars off roads, introduce left turn on red when safe to do so, get proper bus-stop lay-bys, remove minor intersections, and other initiatives too. Why must schools all have almost the same start and finish times when they could easily be staggered? Round my way there are major traffic snarls 8.30-9.30, 3.00-4.00 from school traffic alone. 

[jw1739]

TTIM: Absence of convenient and comprehensive recycling facilities in Melbourne. I'm currently downsizing and there's a lot of "stuff" that I can't take with me. Far, far too much is going to go to landfill because there is nowhere to recycle or re-use it. 

[jw1739]

TTIM: VicRoads sends me a licence renewal notice and includes a leaflet on organ and tissue donation. Are they trying to tell me something?

[jw1739]

TTIM: I'm no racist but I reckon it should be a requirement that Australian businesses should be required to maintain Australian call centres. AGL I am looking at you. I am sick to death of having to deal with "call centres" based on the sub-continent - people working from their homes because I can hear the children in the background - and having to have every sentence repeated at least twice before I can understand what is being said or asked.

[jw1739]

TTIM...The whole Novak Djokovic thing. Why do we bother with this shithead? Don't tell me that any panel of "medical experts" could be set up by Tennis Australia to assess applications without the applications revealing something about the subject of the assessment. They didn't know, or there was no indication as to whether it was a player or the guy who washed the hand towels? That just doesn't make sense.

[NewConvert]

10 hours ago, jw1739 said:

TTIM...The whole Novak Djokovic thing. Why do we bother with this shithead? Don't tell me that any panel of "medical experts" could be set up by Tennis Australia to assess applications without the applications revealing something about the subject of the assessment. They didn't know, or there was no indication as to whether it was a player or the guy who washed the hand towels? That just doesn't make sense.

My understanding was that the panel was setup by Border Patrol or Immigration, that is the federal government. In any case this morning's news was that no one bothered to check the Serbian paperwork. Which says it all really.

[malloy]

2 hours ago, NewConvert said:

My understanding was that the panel was setup by Border Patrol or Immigration, that is the federal government. In any case this morning's news was that no one bothered to check the Serbian paperwork. Which says it all really.

My understanding was panel was setup by TA/Vic govt. Vic govt gave exemption on basis of panel. Initial approval does not seem to have anything to do with border force/feds.

[kingofhearts]

If only he was an AFL player or someone who worked in the horse racing industry, that would mean that he's immune to covid and allowed to do whatever he wants.

Tennis: bad

 

Football: good

Our government is a joke 

 

[jw1739]

38 minutes ago, malloy said:

My understanding was panel was setup by TA/Vic govt. Vic govt gave exemption on basis of panel. Initial approval does not seem to have anything to do with border force/feds.

There were/are two panels. One set up by Tennis Australia, the second by VicGov. How either could be described as "independent" is beyond me. We also have the statement from TA that so much information was removed from the documentation (presumably redacted) that each of the applicants for exemption could not be identified. I can't see how any application could be assessed on such a basis. What medical condition is the basis for the application? Certified by whom, when and where? Etc. etc. It's a total farce.

Anyway...https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-06/novak-djokovic-visa-rejected-in-melbourne-australian-open/100740812

Edited January 6, 2022 by jw1739

[NewConvert]

Its been a big day for TA and The Joker. What a shambles.

[jw1739]

It's very simple really. A visa entitles you to stay in Australia. Additional to that are entry requirements, one of which is that you show a certificate of full vaccination using an approved vaccine, or an exemption from that requirement on medical grounds. The ABF has determined that a letter from Tennis Australia is not as such a valid exemption on medical grounds. In fact he should not have been allowed on his flight into the country in the first place.

And why is he being picked on - that's if he is (which he isn't, because people are refused entry all the time) - well, that's the "arsehole" factor. He may be the world's best tennis player, but he is an arsehole at the same time. And he ruffled Morrison's feathers. He's our version of "hostage diplomacy."

And he loves the publicity.

[jw1739]

Well, that didn't work out too well, did it? The DHA and ABF couldn't have made more mistakes if they had tried.

I was appalled to learn of the treatment of those poor sods detained in the Park Hotel. They can't even open a window to their rooms. That treatment is nothing short of an atrocity.

My hope is that the Novax case will draw more attention to the DHA and its treatment of people applying for visas, although sadly I doubt that it will.

Edited January 10, 2022 by jw1739

[jw1739]

Actually his name is "Nov-irk."

I can't stand the fellow, but really, could Australia have given a worse performance over his entry (or non-entry) if we had tried? Either he met the entry requirements or he did not. Given that he boarded his flight just before the regulation was changed, and landed after the change took effect, surely our DHA and the ABF should have been prepared for a number of arrivals to have the same issue as Djokovic? As for "questioning" him for something like 7 hours and then putting him in detention - was he really going to abscond and disappear into the outback?

I'm not surprised that the court ruled that his treatment was "unfair."

We have made ourselves look like fucking idiots over this, and the delay over deciding whether the Minister will use his power to cancel the visa is making us look stupid all over again. It's a simple yes or no.

TTIM...VicRoads renewing my Driver Licence...but putting the old expiry date on the renewed licence...and now having to issue a second one with the correct date. 20 minutes of my life wasted on the phone.

[NewConvert]

18 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Actually his name is "Nov-irk."

I can't stand the fellow, but really, could Australia have given a worse performance over his entry (or non-entry) if we had tried? Either he met the entry requirements or he did not. Given that he boarded his flight just before the regulation was changed, and landed after the change took effect, surely our DHA and the ABF should have been prepared for a number of arrivals to have the same issue as Djokovic? As for "questioning" him for something like 7 hours and then putting him in detention - was he really going to abscond and disappear into the outback?

I'm not surprised that the court ruled that his treatment was "unfair."

We have made ourselves look like fucking idiots over this, and the delay over deciding whether the Minister will use his power to cancel the visa is making us look stupid all over again. It's a simple yes or no.

TTIM...VicRoads renewing my Driver Licence...but putting the old expiry date on the renewed licence...and now having to issue a second one with the correct date. 20 minutes of my life wasted on the phone.

I have a gnawing feeling that the issue is systemic. Peter Dutton left a shambles of an organisation.

[kingofhearts]

Novak officially gone.

Australia has fallen.

 

[jw1739]

I believe that Serbia has just declared war....

[n i k o]

Ttim: Leagues under the one banner. Women, men youth. Ffs now when they post fixtures I need to look at who the sponsor is to know what the hell I'm trying to watch. Bullshit equality and inclusiveness politics making something worse rather than better. 

[jw1739]

5 hours ago, n i k o said:

Ttim: Leagues under the one banner. Women, men youth. Ffs now when they post fixtures I need to look at who the sponsor is to know what the hell I'm trying to watch. Bullshit equality and inclusiveness politics making something worse rather than better. 

Hear, hear! 

[malloy]

6 hours ago, n i k o said:

Ttim: Leagues under the one banner. Women, men youth. Ffs now when they post fixtures I need to look at who the sponsor is to know what the hell I'm trying to watch. Bullshit equality and inclusiveness politics making something worse rather than better. 

Its ok being under "one banner", but its ridiculous the way they have done it. Could easily have just called them all A-league [Mens/Womens/Youth], as we know the move was to try and have the mens n womens league on the same level instead of the mens being held up as being above the womens game (even though the two are worlds apart).

[n i k o]

1 hour ago, malloy said:

Its ok being under "one banner", but its ridiculous the way they have done it. Could easily have just called them all A-league [Mens/Womens/Youth], as we know the move was to try and have the mens n womens league on the same level instead of the mens being held up as being above the womens game (even though the two are worlds apart).

I'm not saying this toward you but that's the most ridiculous thing I've heard. So saying the word women instantly makes it lower? And to think this makes it more level is crazy. 

[jw1739]

The way I read the irk was not the use of "A-League Men" and "A-League Women," but the way matches are referred to in some articles, headlines and tweets without saying which league. This can mislead the reader (as has happened to me).

But of course, changing the name from "W-League" to "A-League Women" makes not a jot of difference whatsoever to the attributes of the football played or the players involved. IMO it's just window-dressing and correctness gone mad. 

I guess next to go must be "Matildas" and "Socceroos." Mind you, both of those are awful IMO. Perhaps we can have a competition for a new "gender-neutral" name?

Edited January 22, 2022 by jw1739

[malloy]

20 hours ago, n i k o said:

I'm not saying this toward you but that's the most ridiculous thing I've heard. So saying the word women instantly makes it lower? And to think this makes it more level is crazy. 

Its not saying the word women. Its calling one league the "A-league" and the other the "W-League", somewhat implying that the W-league is below the A-league on the basis that the men's league was not required to identify it as being men's, but the women's league was.

I am not suggesting the change makes it equal in anyway, but rather suggesting it was done to reduce the likelihood of a PR issue... all it takes is someone with a bit of clout to take issue with the sexism (perceived or real) of the former naming of the leagues.

[jw1739]

Sexism is defined as: “Any act, gesture, visual representation, spoken or written words, practice, or behaviour based upon the idea that a person or a group of persons is inferior because of their sex, which occurs in the public or private sphere, whether online or offline.” 

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/sexism-definition-council-of-europe-equality/

I think it's a very dubious interpretation of that definition to suggest that the absence of the word "men" in the name of a football competition implies that that competition is superior to one that includes in its name the word "women."

[malloy]

15 hours ago, jw1739 said:

Sexism is defined as: “Any act, gesture, visual representation, spoken or written words, practice, or behaviour based upon the idea that a person or a group of persons is inferior because of their sex, which occurs in the public or private sphere, whether online or offline.” 

https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/sexism-definition-council-of-europe-equality/

I think it's a very dubious interpretation of that definition to suggest that the absence of the word "men" in the name of a football competition implies that that competition is superior to one that includes in its name the word "women."

Facts, definitions etc. are irrelevant. People form a view then build up what ever evidence they can to support their view (and ignore anything contradictory).

As I was trying to allude to above, there are those who would view the naming of A-League and W-League as being sexist and further evidence of the patriarchy (also please note the use of "percieved" in my post above, the definition of sexism is irrelevent in that something does not need to be sexist, rather people just need to believe it is - even if that belief is ill-conceived). If you have one person with a bit of clout who forms the view that the former naming was sexist (could be as simple as an off the cuff comment by say a Sam Kerr or someone of her ilk), then the leagues are caught in a potentially shitty PR position, that could have been avoided, especially given how much people like to jump on the bandwagon.

Edit: anyway my point being I believe part of the rebrand was to avoid such an issue, in which case the rebrand could have been done a bit simpler so we dont need to remember who sponsors who to work out which league they are talking about.

Edited January 24, 2022 by malloy

[jw1739]

41 minutes ago, malloy said:

Facts, definitions etc. are irrelevant. People form a view then build up what ever evidence they can to support their view (and ignore anything contradictory).

As I was trying to allude to above, there are those who would view the naming of A-League and W-League as being sexist and further evidence of the patriarchy (also please note the use of "percieved" in my post above, the definition of sexism is irrelevent in that something does not need to be sexist, rather people just need to believe it is - even if that belief is ill-conceived). If you have one person with a bit of clout who forms the view that the former naming was sexist (could be as simple as an off the cuff comment by say a Sam Kerr or someone of her ilk), then the leagues are caught in a potentially shitty PR position, that could have been avoided, especially given how much people like to jump on the bandwagon.

Edit: anyway my point being I believe part of the rebrand was to avoid such an issue, in which case the rebrand could have been done a bit simpler so we dont need to remember who sponsors who to work out which league they are talking about.

The amusing thing for me is that although the "Liberty" in "Liberty A-League" is a financial group, it is also a trademark/brand name in lingerie...

[n i k o]

21 hours ago, malloy said:

Its not saying the word women. Its calling one league the "A-league" and the other the "W-League", somewhat implying that the W-league is below the A-league on the basis that the men's league was not required to identify it as being men's, but the women's league was.

I am not suggesting the change makes it equal in anyway, but rather suggesting it was done to reduce the likelihood of a PR issue... all it takes is someone with a bit of clout to take issue with the sexism (perceived or real) of the former naming of the leagues.

Ah ok understand. Well this supposed implication is based on one's own personal biases. My view of the women's league is the same now as before. But someone inclined to perceive sexism in every instance will be inclined to see a problem in this. 

As jw alluded to naming it aleague men and aleague women would resolve the issue. But then they would need to pander to people who don't define themselves in those two groups either. 

[jw1739]

3 minutes ago, n i k o said:

As jw alluded to naming it aleague men and aleague women would resolve the issue. But then they would need to pander to people who don't define themselves in those two groups either. 

Yes, you come down to the old conundrum - by adopting the approach that you must put some sort of identifier on everything, are you increasing inclusiveness or decreasing it? The adage "If you keep putting a label on yourself, don't be surprised if others start using it" applies.

[kingofhearts]

I think the worst thing about all of this is that their is much bigger issues with the local leagues (tv viewers, stability of clubs, profit margins, pricing of tickets/memberships ext) and out of all of these issues the FFA decide to invest all their time and money into something that let's be honest, is quite trivial in the grand scheme of things.

Has this changing of the brand and putting everyone under the same banner lead to a greater growth in the game? Or is this the best way of the league making it look like they're doing something (promoting 'equality') when in all reality they're doing nothing?

TTIM: the annual Australia Day "change the date" debate

I'm over this coming up every year, can we either:

1) change the day and everyone's happy

2)keep it on the day and everybody accepts that even though a terrible thing happened in the past on this day, we can change the future of this date and what it means.

Thanks.

[jw1739]

34 minutes ago, kingofhearts said:

I think the worst thing about all of this is that their is much bigger issues with the local leagues (tv viewers, stability of clubs, profit margins, pricing of tickets/memberships ext) and out of all of these issues the FFA decide to invest all their time and money into something that let's be honest, is quite trivial in the grand scheme of things.

Has this changing of the brand and putting everyone under the same banner lead to a greater growth in the game? Or is this the best way of the league making it look like they're doing something (promoting 'equality') when in all reality they're doing nothing?

TTIM: the annual Australia Day "change the date" debate

I'm over this coming up every year, can we either:

1) change the day and everyone's happy

2)keep it on the day and everybody accepts that even though a terrible thing happened in the past on this day, we can change the future of this date and what it means.

Thanks.

@kingofhearts Couldn't agree more on both points.

[jw1739]

On Australia Day:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-26/australia-day-how-do-we-define-national-identity-dangerous/100780122

[jw1739]

FMD, I know that call centres are a general irk for me, but for organisations to be still using COVID as an excuse for long wait times after two years of pandemic is not fucking good enough.

[jw1739]

TTIM...NBN Co. - what a dinosaur organisation. Moving house when your internet comes via the NBN is a bloody nightmare. This is 2022, not 1922. Internet is a basic service, just like gas, water and electricity. Waiting days for "activation" is not acceptable. When the move is over I'm going wireless as soon as I can.

[jw1739]

How can Australia Post justify senior staff bonuses when the service is half of what it used to be?