May, 2005:

The knee jerk reaction by many to the Schappelle Corby verdict and sentencing is mind boggling.

Thousands of people, who were not in court to weigh up all the evidence, have decided that justice has not been done. (Based on the evidence presented in the media I don’t believe that Schappelle is guilty either, but I recognise that that’s just my opinion based on limited details.)

I hope that a good appeal is launched and that Schappelle will be aquitted or at least returned to Australia but I think that whatever is done needs to follow correct process. There are dozens of other Australians in prisons around the world who have been charged with drug offences. I hope that justice is done in their situations as well.

To many people, the way to hit back at what they see as an unfair verdict is to punish Indonesia. They want money back that was given to help the victims of the tsunami. They want to take food from the mouths of suffering families who had nothing to do with that verdict. They refuse to buy anything that is produced in Indonesia. They are cancelling holidays to Bali and other Indonesian holiday spots. They want to punish the enitre country for what they see as a failing with the judiciary.

This seems to me to be a dangerous precendent.

I only hope that other countries don’t follow this pattern. If they do, there are dozens of countries that will be looking to punish Australia for unfairly locking up their citizens in detention centres.

What was that about removing the log from your eye before removing the speck from your brother’s?

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Here in Western Australia we have a new phone number for the police. If you need to contact the constabulary for a non-urgent incident, you call 131 444.

Cycling home last night I had cause to try the new number. Not far from home I noticed a guy damaging some council property. When he saw me riding past he very quickly started to walk off but I thought I should report the incident.

I pulled over, got out the mobile phone and called 131 444.

I was amazed at how quickly the phone was answered and the lady who took the details was very pleasant. The whole call was so well handled I feel like going out and committing a crime just so that I can call the number again to report myself.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

I think that often the quickest way to gain a new respect for the job that other people do is to try it yourself.

The rubber seal on the back of our toilet has been leaking for a little while. In the last couple of days it started to spray water. It’s on the cistern side of the aparatus so it’s only clean water but still not an ideal situation.

After dinner last night I decided it was time to tackle the problem. I had a replacement seal and so in I went. I disconnected all the relevant bits and then spent some time wrestling with the loo to get it all back together. The rubber seal must fit very, very tightly to do its job which presents problems all its own.

I finally got everything back together, tested the job and everything is now just fine.

I ended up with two things. Satisfaction for a job well done, and a new respect for plumbers who have to deal with this kind of thing everyday.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

The footy tipping season started off horrendously for me. I only managed 3 correct picks in week one. I hoped to do better the following week only to get 3 out of a possible 8 again.

It’s just a friendly workplace tipping competition ….. but no one likes to lose.

Today I was greeted at work with the news that I am currently on top of the tipping ladder. Only by one point but I’m there.

Being less than half way through the season I only hope that I haven’t peaked too early.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

How much TV do you watch on video? We taped a few programmes on Saturday night and sat in front of the TV last night to catch up on them.

No problem there but it all starts to get strange when you tape something and don’t get to watch it for a few weeks. It’s kind of like a bit of time travel.

There have been a number of times that we’ve sat down in the evening to see an older show on video. I then get the urge the following day to ask people at work, “Hey did you see that show on TV last night.” Thankfully I resist the urge because I can pretty much guarantee they didn’t see it last night. They might have seen it three weeks ago but probably not last night.

Posted by Rodney Olsen