I’ve been on the trains a few times recently. The numbers seem to be increasing, first with school students, and since the holidays began, with school holiday travel (families and teenagers in groups).
Masks are supposed to be worn, but in recent days, I’d estimate that nearly half of all passengers aren’t bothering.
Months ago, S was kindly given a gift card. Certainly a nice thought.
But she had difficulty spending it! Somehow, having made several trips to the store, she could never find anything she wanted.
It was only after a final, concerted effort, with great determination to spend, that she finally “managed” to spend most of the credit.
Strange, when you “have” to spend money, it’s sometimes hard to do so!
Until now, most of us haven’t had to put our hand into our pocket for financial advice. Essentially, it’s been paid for from trailing commissions. However, this has all changed, in the interests of “transparency”. So it wasn’t a surprise when at the most recent “catch up” with a financial advisor, the subject of fees was raised.
This was the first time that I’d met the advisor concerned, he being the latest in a series of different individuals I’d met at the organisation I’ve dealt with over the years. Some of what he said was valid, but he certainly wasn’t up to the standard of at least one of his predecessors (who was very good), and on one aspect, he was unclear (to give him the benefit of the doubt) or otherwise just wrong.
But it was the proposal for an annual fee that concerned me most. The figure mentioned seemed very high indeed for the limited services I need (an annual review and occasional advice if there are changes to the rules). I gave it 24 hours, then sent him an email to the effect that the fee deal on offer didn’t seem to align with my requirements.
I accept that in this era of “regulatory overload”, advisors are tightly constrained in what they can offer, and so perhaps my hope for an “economy offer” was unrealistic. I’ve had a number of “financial plans” prepared over the years, and frankly, in most cases they involve shoe-horning my affairs into some sort of template.
The time may come, I suppose, when I will have to pay for advice but my thinking for the time being is that I can leave things in the “set and forget” mode at least for now. I’m sure that it won’t be difficult to find an advisor if an when I need one. I already have a couple of names!
It was sad to learn of the death of Prince Philip.
It’s been mentioned that he served at the Battle of Cape Matapan, in March 1941. He was one of the last surviving people to have served in the Second World War in that battle.
The battle actually occurred some distance away from Cape Matapan, out in the Mediterranean, but it’s interesting that the name is noted in this way. I’m at present reading Patrick Leigh Fermor’s book Mani, in which he describes his travels around that part of Greece in the 1950s. I’ll deal with the book in more detail in a future post. Fermor rounded Cape Matapan in a small boat and actually swam there in a cave that Greek legends claimed was the home of Hades, the god of the dead.
Prince Philip was awarded an MID (“mention in despatches”) for his actions in that battle. These awards often reflect the work of a “team”, which is, I suppose, the way the world works.
The text message I received was obviously a scam, but I was intrigued at the new (to me) “angle”: ring a number provided by “them”! No doubt, by self-identifying yourself as gullible, they would extract your bank account or credit card information.
I didn’t try to ring the number given (identified here as a scam), but given the “0” at the beginning, I doubt if it would work from a Australian phone.
I knew that there were websites allowing you to track planes in the air and giving details of their location and flight. I hadn’t thought about shipping, but prompted by some of the images relating to the blockage of the Suez Canal, I went hunting – and, yes, there’s at least one website that gives the location of ships at sea.
I spent a few minutes exploring the free version of the site. Vessels are classified by colour. I identified tankers (red), cargo vessels (green), fishing vessels (orange), pleasure craft (pink/purple), passenger vessels, including ferries on Sydney Harbour(!) (blue), tugs and special craft (light blue), warships (grey) and high-speed craft (yellow). In many cases, it gives the name of the vessel and specifies its destination, but in other cases it merely states the type (thus allowing me to work out what the colours designated). Thus, the name of cargo vessels is often given, but many pleasure craft are just identified generically. I assume that all this has to do with the type of transponder with which the vessel is fitted. And presumably many pleasure craft don’t leave the transponder on when moored, so presumably they don’t appear.
There’s a great deal more on the site, and even more on the paid version. I find it very interesting that, with a few clicks, anyone can get a glimpse into modern navigation tools. Fascinating – and time wasting!
It was great to hear the news that a “travel bubble” to New Zealand is opening up – although it comes with all sorts of warnings that there’s no guarantee that restrictions won’t again be imposed at short notice.
Be that as it may, the news certainly got me thinking about some possible travel. I can’t say that New Zealand would be top of my list for overseas destinations, but if it’s all that’s available, and since we’re supposed to have a credit with Air New Zealand, this might be an opportunity to use the credit (since a refund doesn’t seem likely to happen any time soon, if ever).
One catch is that I can’t see the credit on the Air New Zealand site, presumably because it’s controlled by the travel agent who booked the original flights for us. I suppose I’ll just have to book any travel through her.
There have also long been reports of international travel to places such as Fiji. But a lot of things have happened since that report, and any such bubble might still be some way off. It’s been pointed out to me that Fiji lacks the health infrastructure to deal with a Covid outbreak, so would be probably be cautious about allowing international travel even if only to tightly controlled areas.
To me, Carla Zampatti was just the name on a nearby shop, close to other “high end” retailers, although we’ve all learnt more about her over the past few days. To hear the manner of her unfortunate death was a little unnerving and tragic.
But to fall while attending the premiere of La Traviata at the Opera House is definitely doing it in style! But I’m not sure that Quentin Bryce’s comment that “She’s never put a foot wrong” was the best choice of words.
The hard waste collection was scheduled for the Thursday before the Easter break. And, yes, there was a collection truck out and doing the rounds. But they appeared to miss several piles. I’m not sure whether these were oversights, or whether the route the truck was following was more erratic than it first appeared. And none of the piles of green rubbish were collected.
We rang the Council. The response was, see what happens on Tuesday. So – the whole of Easter, piles of rubbish up and down the street. And then? We shall see what eventuates!
Easter Greetings.
Musings and Mutterings 