Monday - Friday, March 11 - 15 2013 (diary)

If there is one thing I find even more boring than counting my strokes while swimming laps in an Olympic pool it is doing my daily exercise walk with nothing to think about.
So I decided to invest in a small pocket radio and all of a sudden my walking exercise has become something to look forward to.
It no longer matters whether I walk along an interesting route or on a boring straight road. With my new OXX Pocket radio my mind is occupied and elsewhere. The radio can receive DAB+ Digital signals as well as FM radio and the sound through the JAY headset is superb.

The lead from the headset to the radio functions as the aerial receiving the radio signal which I find rather cute.
So these days I am quite happy to walk four circuits around our mango farm while listening to the National News, interviews, Jazz music etc.   (I am not and have never been an iPod type of person.)
Another step towards a more healthy lifestyle I have taken recently is drinking (lightly sparkling) spring water made more interesting by adding some squeezed natural lemon juice. This is replacing the large quantities of squash soft drinks I was consuming previously.
The GP has just told me that my blood pressure is great (120 over 80), and my annual blood tests, which are being analyzed right now, will hopefully also confirm my reasonably good health.

Saturday - Wednesday, March 16 - 20 2013 (diary)

It is my son Jeroen's birthday this week, so Happy Birthday Jeroen. I hope you have a very good and happy year ahead of you.

Weatherwise we have had some consistent evening rain storms with the usual amount of lightning and thunder. One lightning strike must have been on or very close to our mango farm as the enormous thunder clap came within only a fraction of a second after the lightning strike (sound travels at around 400 metres or 440 yards per second). Total rainfall on the farm so far this month is 175 mm.

September 14, the date set for the upcoming Federal election in Australia, can't come soon enough. The present incompetent Labour Government limps on from one disaster policy to another, and in the process is doing untold harm to the country.
The Government's claim of creating jobs (for various workers union members ?) is a rather hollow statement and belies the consistently anti-business rules and regulations (against both small and large companies) it has been churning out since the very first day they came into office.
The opinion polls show a potential landslide victory for the (conservative) coalition. But will the average voting Jo Bloh on September 14 have enough common sense to realise what has been going on these passed 5 years ? I very much hope so.

With its recent spate of reported gang rape occurrences, India is losing an enormous amount of credibility as an emerging modern democratic country. Even tourists are no longer safe in India, which will undoubtedly result in a significant decrease in their tourism industry.

But there was also a sign of hope in the world this week.
The new Pope Francis appears to be a very different proposition to the usual Popes the Roman Catholic church has selected over the past decades (if not centuries).
I am an atheist and not in favour of any religion. But the humble and decidedly anti-materialistic attitude of this new Pope is highly encouraging. Pope Francis may prove to be the man the world badly needs just now : a high profile role model for the whole world to observe, be inspired by, and take moral guidance from.