12-07-2018, 06:21 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-11-2018, 09:01 PM by P7_TOM.
Edit Reason: Grammar boy - less haste etc.......
)
Beers with TOM.
Late afternoon, warm, gentle breeze, the nearby Hibiscus tree almost in full flower with a mob of Lorikeets enjoying the nectar; every door and window of the stable open, cricket on the radio while I tidy up the many joints made for the rocking cradle – there is a new keg in the fridge; all quiet. The dogs (as always) picked up the first hints that we had a visitor, two sets of ears tracking the approach; together they amble over to the doors, tails wagging, then they sit, like stone idols, not a sound. A full two minutes later TOM ambles across the yard; dogs go ballistic and I turn off the radio, find a couple of clean glasses and start to pull off the first pints. He has his talking face on. Comfy chair, dogs parked between, the top inch off the Ale; then, “are we pissing into the wind?” ‘Tis rhetorical – we both know the answer, talked it over a dozen times. I have found it is better to wait for the rest and light an illicit cigar to provide time while thoughts are marshalled, this is serious.
“Bloody Senate committee’s; seen this”:-
P2 – “Which brings me to the following 2008 SMH article on the infamous, shelf-wared and Iron Ring obfuscated, Senate Inquiry into the administration of CASA”.
As it happens – I had; and, the one from the previous decade which ran along similar lines and the one from a decade before that. This nation has spent the budget of a not so small nation and the time it takes newly born children to have their own children, faffing* about with these very subjects. This endless pooh-fight began when many of today’s pilots were flying a Mum powered stroller. There is a very clearly defined path through the history of aviation leading to the current cross roads where we are, once again, doomed by history, to repeat. The road makers are ahead of us, beating out the inevitable track back towards the starting place. It is the stuff of nightmare and yet we all keep plodding along the preordained track.
P2 – “Quite obviously the committee were unimpressed with the ASA evidence provided yesterday because I note that today in the Senate Senator Sterle had a proposed inquiry motion agreed to”: etc.
“We keep falling for it” growls TOM – “every bloody time; even Sterle is dancing around the shit pile, screaming for someone else to clear it away; and, the same clean up crew is sent in again, to move the mess to one side, only to leave it festering, while the Senate committee wafts by without befouling their expensive boots, it’s ridiculous ”.
I had to agree. TOM got up and pulled us both a new Ale in the silence that followed.
What can you say? Even when a committee get serious, like with Pel-Air or Lockhart River, kick up a dust cloud, issue recommendations and generally make a lot of noise; what happens? SDA is not the correct answer. What history shows is, that without exception, any Senate committee or even Royal Commission edicts are carefully wrapped up in pony-pooh, sprinkled in faery dust and shelved by those who gain more knowledge on how to beat the committee and gather even more confidence in their ability to politely, but positively tell the committee to bugger off. We agreed the committees are made up of rank amateurs, with NFI, even less understanding or real experience of just how unholy the mess is. 'Expert' panels are only very carefully selected, by only the right people.
TOM and I both agreed that despite the appearance of yet again going to get something done; nothing will change until the government grows a set and begin to tackle the core issues. Those that have been reoccurring and will continue to do so until they are eliminated. This committee has been offered an opportunity to do exactly that; and guess what? That’s right, they soft cocked it - once gain. Pitiful.
Aye, have your roaring and growling sessions; then, pick up your hat and feel good about a half a job done poorly. Don’t forget the pay cheque and perks as you walk away, feeling good to write your memoirs. Oh, and forget about a dying industry, you did your best – didn’t you?
“No matter” says TOM – “come along boy, I’ll help you put the tools away, then we shall see if that new keg can withstand a serious challenge”. “At least one job will get done, finished properly, tools away, bench tidy this night”. And, as men who can make and keep a promise - that’s exactly what we did.
Toot (dusty) Toot.
*Faffing ? It may have been imitative of the sound of gusty wind, or it may be a variation on maffle, a more widely distributed dialect term in Scotland and England that means to stutter or stammer, or to waste time and procrastinate; this might be from the old Dutch regional word maffelen, meaning to move the jaws.
Late afternoon, warm, gentle breeze, the nearby Hibiscus tree almost in full flower with a mob of Lorikeets enjoying the nectar; every door and window of the stable open, cricket on the radio while I tidy up the many joints made for the rocking cradle – there is a new keg in the fridge; all quiet. The dogs (as always) picked up the first hints that we had a visitor, two sets of ears tracking the approach; together they amble over to the doors, tails wagging, then they sit, like stone idols, not a sound. A full two minutes later TOM ambles across the yard; dogs go ballistic and I turn off the radio, find a couple of clean glasses and start to pull off the first pints. He has his talking face on. Comfy chair, dogs parked between, the top inch off the Ale; then, “are we pissing into the wind?” ‘Tis rhetorical – we both know the answer, talked it over a dozen times. I have found it is better to wait for the rest and light an illicit cigar to provide time while thoughts are marshalled, this is serious.
“Bloody Senate committee’s; seen this”:-
P2 – “Which brings me to the following 2008 SMH article on the infamous, shelf-wared and Iron Ring obfuscated, Senate Inquiry into the administration of CASA”.
As it happens – I had; and, the one from the previous decade which ran along similar lines and the one from a decade before that. This nation has spent the budget of a not so small nation and the time it takes newly born children to have their own children, faffing* about with these very subjects. This endless pooh-fight began when many of today’s pilots were flying a Mum powered stroller. There is a very clearly defined path through the history of aviation leading to the current cross roads where we are, once again, doomed by history, to repeat. The road makers are ahead of us, beating out the inevitable track back towards the starting place. It is the stuff of nightmare and yet we all keep plodding along the preordained track.
P2 – “Quite obviously the committee were unimpressed with the ASA evidence provided yesterday because I note that today in the Senate Senator Sterle had a proposed inquiry motion agreed to”: etc.
“We keep falling for it” growls TOM – “every bloody time; even Sterle is dancing around the shit pile, screaming for someone else to clear it away; and, the same clean up crew is sent in again, to move the mess to one side, only to leave it festering, while the Senate committee wafts by without befouling their expensive boots, it’s ridiculous ”.
I had to agree. TOM got up and pulled us both a new Ale in the silence that followed.
What can you say? Even when a committee get serious, like with Pel-Air or Lockhart River, kick up a dust cloud, issue recommendations and generally make a lot of noise; what happens? SDA is not the correct answer. What history shows is, that without exception, any Senate committee or even Royal Commission edicts are carefully wrapped up in pony-pooh, sprinkled in faery dust and shelved by those who gain more knowledge on how to beat the committee and gather even more confidence in their ability to politely, but positively tell the committee to bugger off. We agreed the committees are made up of rank amateurs, with NFI, even less understanding or real experience of just how unholy the mess is. 'Expert' panels are only very carefully selected, by only the right people.
TOM and I both agreed that despite the appearance of yet again going to get something done; nothing will change until the government grows a set and begin to tackle the core issues. Those that have been reoccurring and will continue to do so until they are eliminated. This committee has been offered an opportunity to do exactly that; and guess what? That’s right, they soft cocked it - once gain. Pitiful.
Aye, have your roaring and growling sessions; then, pick up your hat and feel good about a half a job done poorly. Don’t forget the pay cheque and perks as you walk away, feeling good to write your memoirs. Oh, and forget about a dying industry, you did your best – didn’t you?
“No matter” says TOM – “come along boy, I’ll help you put the tools away, then we shall see if that new keg can withstand a serious challenge”. “At least one job will get done, finished properly, tools away, bench tidy this night”. And, as men who can make and keep a promise - that’s exactly what we did.
Toot (dusty) Toot.
*Faffing ? It may have been imitative of the sound of gusty wind, or it may be a variation on maffle, a more widely distributed dialect term in Scotland and England that means to stutter or stammer, or to waste time and procrastinate; this might be from the old Dutch regional word maffelen, meaning to move the jaws.