Here we are at another Friday and it is the day for my thoughts and this week I am thinking about catalogues, why well because last week I found some in the letter box. Haven’t had that since March 2020 and how I have missed them.

Yes I check out catalogues online but for me it isn’t the same as looking through hard copies with a pen to circle anything of interest.

I like looking through supermarket catalogues and department stores such as Big W, Target or Kmart. I even don’t mind looking through Spotlight or Chemist Warehouse catalogues.

Sometimes I will see something in a catalogue and will then search Ebay for a similar item that is cheaper.

Do you like catalogues?

Are you receiving paper catalogues or do you just have online versions?

Well here we are at another Thursday and another post about working life in the 1890’s.

The first union to win an eight-hour day in Australia was the Operative Stonemasons Society of New South Wales in September 1855. this isolated victory was not long lasting and did not spread throughout the colony. Sydney plasterers gained an eight-hour day in 1861, but many others in the building trade were not so lucky.

It was around April 1856 members of the Victorian builders trade negotiated an eight-hour working day on the 21 April, however, one contractor who was in charge of the building Parliament House in Victoria refused to comply with the new rule.

Because of this building unionists led by James Galloway and James Stephens, marched through Melbourne to Parliament to lodge their protest and call on other workmen who didn’t have an eight-hour working day to strike.

The craft unionists declared 21 April a holiday for themselves and their families, ending the day at the Common Gardens an amusement park near the city.

So the 1856 victory in Victoria was commemorated for the next 90 years by having the 21 April a public holiday known as eight-hour day. This evolved into Labour Day and over years changed in to the second Monday in March when the autumn weather is better. Western Australia and Tasmania also celebrate the day in March. In New South Wales and South Australia the holiday falls in October and Queensland it is in May.

The winning of the eight-hour day heartened many other workers to join unions. Such victories were hard-won and the majority of workers laboured long hours in their various workplaces.

Around the 1870’s due to the goldrush there was much investment in factories and such in Victoria, this created many jobs but little attention was paid to the working conditions such as lighting and ventilation. There was some large factories and liberal-philanthropic organisations supported the Factory Acts especially to regulate workplaces for women and children.

However, most factory workers a group which included increasing numbers of women, found their major support for better workplaces was in unions.

Well here we are at another Wednesday and that means it is time for 5 Aussie slang terms and here they are

Dole Bludger: Somebody on “Centrelink” a government payment who really doesn’t need to be.

Jackaroo: A male trainee station manger or station hand

Jillaroo: A female trainee station manager or station hand

Station: A big farm or grazing property

Longneck: A 750ml bottle of beer

Lippy: Lipstick

Good morning all, well it is Tuesday and that means it is creature day and this weeks creature is the Gerenuk, heard of it, no, me either but it is my book of freaky creatures so here it is.

This giraffe-necked gazelle has muscular hind legs that allow it to stand upright. By using it’s front legs to bend branches downwards, it can nibble leaves up to 2.5m (8ft 2in) off the ground.

It also has oversized rabbit-like ears, which are always listening for approaching predators as well as other gerenuks. The antelope use several sounds to communicate: a buzzing when alarmed, a whistle when annoyed and a loud bleat when in extreme danger.

They can go a whole year without drinking water, getting all its moisture from its herbivorous diet of shoots, leaves, herbs, flowers and fruit.

The males are around 31-52kgs(68-115lb) and the females around 28-45kgs(62-99lb). The height for males is 90-105cm (35-41in) and females are 80-100cm (31-39in). They live for around 8 years in the wild and 13 years in captivity.

Matters not in the Constitution

Some of the central features of Australia’s system of government (described as parliamentary, cabinet or responsible government and also called a Westminster-style system) are not set down in the Constitution but are based on custom and convention. These include the position of Prime Minister and the group of senior Ministers called the Cabinet, who make major policy and administrative decisions and in effect govern the country.

On some matters the Constitution sets down temporary arrangements ‘until Parliament otherwise provides’. The Parliament does this by passing legislation. For example, the first national elections were held under state laws. Later elections were conducted under the provisions of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1902. Another example is the number of Senators and Members, which may be changed by an Act of Parliament as long as the specific conditions set by the Constitution are met.

Unlike the constitutions of some other countries, the Australian Constitution does not contain a list of the rights of citizens (a ‘bill of rights’).

How can the Constitution be changed?

The Parliament can change ordinary laws by passing amending laws, but it can only initiate proposals for changes to the Constitution. The approval of the people of Australia is necessary for any change to the Constitution, just as the approval of the people of Australia was a step in the process of creating the Constitution in the first place. The Constitution itself sets out the way in which it can be changed.

What are the 5 constitutional rights in Australia?

The Constitution includes the right to vote, the right to trial by jury for certain offences, some protection of freedom of religion, an implied right to freedom of political communication, and the right to be paid a fair price if the government compulsorily acquires your property.

Yes we have constitutional right but no Bill of Rights.

A very warm start to the day, going to be another hot I suspect, I am wearing shorts this morning. I have both sliding doors open for the nice breeze by 10am it was very warm and by midday I wanted to turn the air con on but waited to 1pm to make Tim happy.

Tim is having a bad afternoon going to the toilet often. I am concerned about him.

In for another warm to hot day, although not very warm when I got up still I am wearing shorts.

I asked Tasha if she could take me to the podiatrist on Wednesday as I don’t think Tim will be able to sit around waiting in the car for me at this time.

Tim off to the doctors yet again, then I think he has to go into work.

It has been another hot day.

Tim and Tasha went down the road to get a few things from Coles, so I asked if it was Sam’s early day, Tim said no but he was wrong so no one was there to meet him which would be embarrassing to Sam as he had to ring Papa to go get him.

Slept in till 5.24am it was daylight when I got up,suppose to be another hot day.

Well it is only 8.25am and already 24 degrees with a hot wind. Tasha just asked to borrow the car to go get our scripts I told her Tim has a CT Scan at 11am so don’t take to long. Picked up the scripts but there were 6 or 7 medications to get and she came home with only 2 she is pissed as am I. I did tell her how many to pick up but still you go ask for scrips in the name of Meadows and they will give you all there in that name but no they didn’t check and just gave her part of the order.

Damn it has been a hot day, top of 32 degrees.

Another hot day on the way at 7am I am already sweating.

Tasha drove me to the podiatrist all went well she said I may have a condition called Raynaud’s disease and to speak to the neurologist about them. This new podiatrist seems nice enough she did tell me I need to wear shoes and not cheap shoes but good orthopaedic shoes. We will see.

Sam’s school rang he didn’t take his medication this morning as he said it had a funny taste and when thinking about it I agree my drink had a funny taste after I added ice to it and had to tip it out and rinse the cup before refilling. Tasha said the cup may have just needed a good rinse out as I don’t do that as often as I should.

Skyler’s Birthday

Much cooler this morning and only suppose to be around the mid 20’s today over the low 30’s of the last few days.

At 6.40am the internet started dropping out very frustrating. I ended up having to reboot the computer to get things working again.

At around 10.15 Sue called in just to say hi as she was passing through.

Had to print a few things for Sandy she has to fill in and submit forms about changes in her household, as in having two more children in her care.

BEEN MARRIED 39 YEARS TODAY

Woke early at 4.30am got up at 4.45am, found a clip Tim had sent about a local shooting in the street Jess use to live in only a few houses from where she was. Scary shit.

Also had a message telling me that Sam had no night meds, that’s his mum responsibility.

It started to rain around the time I was getting ready to take Sam up so I rang Tasha but she wasn’t able to help, so I had to wake Tim to go with Sam. Then it stopped raining.

Kelli and her kids called in for a visit it was wonderful seeing them.

Also Tim gave a a new Bluetooth speaker to use at night or whenever I like. He also gave me a cover for my recliner both gifts I like a lot

Another cool if not cold day lays ahead but it is Saturday so no school and I have no idea if Kathy and the girls are coming over well she properly has only Summer as Sydney will be with her dad.

Had to have the heater on for an hour this morning it was that cold and the cold gave me a headache and earache.

Tim had an appointment with the optometrist and is getting new glasses, however, after the appointment while watching TV he changed glasses and said the ones he put on were fine. I don’t know what he is going to do.

Kathy didn’t turn up.

Friday is here and it is the last day of term 3 for New South Wales schools, we have two weeks of no school, so during the holidays we will have our granddaughters here on each Wednesday. We don’t have the girls very often because Kathy feels we don’t interact with them enough, instead letting them entertain themselves on the tablet or phone, that is just the way we are.

Being Friday this is a post about my thoughts and as usual I have no bloody idea what my thoughts are.

Ok I have been thinking why is the weather all over the place two days ago I had the air con going now it is nearly cold enough for the heater again. We also have some light rain this morning making me wonder if I should go up with Sam or not. I had to wake Tim to take Sam up as Tasha said she had diarrhoea and couldn’t do it, I hate having to ask someone else to do it. After Tim took Sam up the sun started to come out and it stopped raining, naturally…

Yesterday morning while I was waiting for Sam to show up, I go up and wait before Sam who is usually brushing his teeth and I park in the drive way but out of the way of cars, anyway the damn garbage truck arrive and the driver decided to reverse it down the driveway. I had to move damn fast or I would have been hit and that would not be good, getting run over by a garbage truck is never good. Naturally I did get out of the way, I like to park the scooter in a position so I can see when Sam’s driver turns into our street, this allows me to have time to ring Sam if he isn’t already up waiting with me.

Kathy has had me looking for her childhood immunisation records which I do not believe I have she needs them for work and records older then 2007 are not online or held by Medicare. I have Jessica’s records but I am pretty sure I don’t have either Kathy’s or Natasha’s.

It was Skylar’s 3^rd birthday yesterday, Sandy told me Doc’s which is Department of Community Services now use to be Department of Children and before that was called something Welfare. Anyway they dropped of a heap of presents for Skylar as well as a cake so Sandy didn’t have to buy anything. At this stage Sandy doesn’t know how long she will have them she has said she will take them till they are 18 if needed but nothing has been settled yet.

Ok today’s post is just a bit of this and a bit of that

Hello everyone, here is a bit more about working life in the 1890’s.

By around the 1830’s there were those in England who had started to question the harsh working conditions in 1824 the right to form a trade unions but of course the government and employers resisted the concept. In 1834 six Dorsetshire farm labourers known as the “Tolpuddle Martyrs” were transported to New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land for “swearing illegal oaths”. They formed a Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers to guard against reduce wages. The Martyrs never returned to England.

Another group called the Chartists who were active during the 1830-1840’s called for a workers charter so that conditions such as pay, number of working hours and workplaces would be improved. The also wanted Parliamentary representation, demanding payment of members of parliament to enable working people to stand for election. Payment for members was finally introduced in between the 1880-1890’s.

It was during the 1840’s the Australian colonies experienced their first economic depression and work was scarce. As is usual in such times workers are less likely to demand better conditions or pay just wanting to have some kind of work on almost any terms.

The discovery of gold in New South Wales and Victoria during the 1850’s changed the balance of employee-employer relations. This time saw many town workers downing their tools and heading for the goldfields. This meant workers were in better bargaining position to demand shorter working hours.

It was around this time that the push for an eight hour working day had begun. Dr Thomas Embling a Victorian medical practitioner and parliamentarian is credited with the saying “Eight hours labour, eight hours recreation and eight hours rest”. In the British working class folklore the concept was credited to King Alfred the Great and was widely accepted goal by British Unionist in the early 19^th century. In societies where most workers toiled from dawn to dusk, from Monday to Saturday night talk about a Utopian concept.

More next week.

Hello everyone, here is a bit more about working life in the 1890’s.

By around the 1830’s there were those in England who had started to question the harsh working conditions in 1824 the right to form a trade unions but of course the government and employers resisted the concept. In 1834 six Dorsetshire farm labourers known as the “Tolpuddle Martyrs” were transported to New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land for “swearing illegal oaths”. They formed a Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers to guard against reduce wages. The Martyrs never returned to England.

Another group called the Chartists who were active during the 1830-1840’s called for a workers charter so that conditions such as pay, number of working hours and workplaces would be improved. The also wanted Parliamentary representation, demanding payment of members of parliament to enable working people to stand for election. Payment for members was finally introduced in between the 1880-1890’s.

It was during the 1840’s the Australian colonies experienced their first economic depression and work was scarce. As is usual in such times workers are less likely to demand better conditions or pay just wanting to have some kind of work on almost any terms.

The discovery of gold in New South Wales and Victoria during the 1850’s changed the balance of employee-employer relations. This time saw many town workers downing their tools and heading for the goldfields. This meant workers were in better bargaining position to demand shorter working hours.

It was around this time that the push for an eight hour working day had begun. Dr Thomas Embling a Victorian medical practitioner and parliamentarian is credited with the saying “Eight hours labour, eight hours recreation and eight hours rest”. In the British working class folklore the concept was credited to King Alfred the Great and was widely accepted goal by British Unionist in the early 19^th century. In societies where most workers toiled from dawn to dusk, from Monday to Saturday night talk about a Utopian concept.

More next week.

Hello everyone, you may have noticed that there was no post yesterday due to my computer having a hissy fit from 8.15am till 10am when it started working again as it should but by then I couldn’t be bothered doing anything.

So here are this week’s Aussie slang words.

Gabba: Wooloongabba, Brisbane cricket ground

Give it a burl: Try it or have a go

Going off: Busy with lot’s of people.

A party that’s lot’s of fun

Hooroo: Goodbye

Jumbuck: Sheep

A while back someone asked about our constitution, so I have looked it up and now I will tell you a little about it.

This will be a two part post, don’t want to bore you with a post that is a bit long.

So what is the Australian Constitution?

The Australian Constitution is the founding document of our nation and pre-eminent source of law in the country. The Constitution sets down the powers of each of our three branches of governance – the Parliament, the Executive and the Courts.

A national constitution is a set of rules for governing a country. Such rules may be based on tradition or may be written down in the form of a law or a number of laws. In some countries laws forming the constitution are ordinary laws which can be changed just like any other law, but in most countries the laws forming the constitution have a special status.

The constitution of Australia has a special status-it cannot be changed in the same way as other laws can be changed and it is a supreme law, that is, it overrides other laws.

So how was the Australian Constitution created?

Before 1901 the present Australian States were separate colonies of the then British Empire. When the colonies decided to join together in a federation, representatives from each colony were elected to attend meetings (called constitutional conventions) to draw up a constitution for the new nation. The draft constitution was later approved by a vote of the people in referendums held in each colony.

The new Australian nation was established on 1 January 1901 following the passing of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act by the United Kingdom Parliament. The purpose of the Act was to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia.

So what does the constitution do?

Australia is a federation of states which each have their own constitution, government and laws. The Australian Constitution originated as an agreement under which the former colonies came together as states in a federation. In brief, the Constitution establishes the form of the federal government (that is, the Commonwealth, national or central government) and sets out the basis for relations between the Commonwealth and the states.

What does the constitution cover?

Well it covers the following but I am not going into detail that would bore everyone.

The legislative or law-making power of the Commonwealth

The composition of the Senate

Frequency of elections

The composition of the House of Representatives.

Frequency of elections.

The matters on which the Commonwealth can make laws.

Just to give you an idea of what it is about.