RB> When I lived in Sydney for 6 months in' 76 - '77 (on returning
 RB> from 2 yr stint amongst all the crime in America ), We were up
 RB> on the 3rd floor of a 7 story Block in Neutral Bay. If I looked
 RB> out the kitchen window I could see straight into the lounge of
 RB> the people below (Used to often watch them making love on the
 RB> lounge).

  Cheaper than X-rated videos...

 RB> Well these two both worked for Quantas and were often both away
 RB> at the same time. One day I looked out to see the place empty.

 RB> The removalists instructions were to strip the place bare and
 RB> take it to an unused house and stack it all on the front lawn.(
 RB> as no one would be there, and the so called new owners didn't
 RB> have any keys yet -- at least they were honest enough to tell
 RB> the truth) No doubt the lawn was bare the next morning.

  (chuckle)

  The stuff in my house is so old they'd never recover the removalist
fees. The TV is 22 years old, the VCR is a Korean thing 3-years old,
and the radios are older than god. Even the computer is only worth
$1,000 and that's assuming a burglar can work out how to get it out
of the bench. I know I sure as hell can't!

  I am fighting a major crime wave at present. Some bastard keeps
stealing my hose fitting! He broke the first one so I replaced it, and
then a month later he stole the new one so I replaced it ($1.68 at
Jewel on special) and assumed that he'd stop now that he had one...
but now he's stolen the third one! What the hell does he want with
*two* plastic hose fittings?

  Is there a weird religious rite that uses Neta plastic - something
like sacrificing black cockerels at midnight? If this keeps up, the
bloody plastic hose fitting is going to become a major expense. I
wonder if I could just insure the plastic hose fitting?

 BL>> I actually feel happier betting on my own ability than on the
 BL>> other bastard being able to pay me when *he's* in the wrong.

 RB> I bought an Alfa Romeo While I was in Sydney then and had it
 RB> (in one piece ) right up to 7 am on the morning of Feb 11th
 RB> 1989.

... [chomp]

 RB> I was coming down the Gilles Hiway on the way from Atherton to
 RB> Cairns...perfect day...sun was shining... came around a very
 RB> tight right angle corner at about 30mph and into a cloud of
 RB> fog...two feet visibility, Couldn't see the bonnet, let alone
 RB> the 300 foot drop Down one side or the 50 billion tones of dirt
 RB> & rock that I hit head on.

  I did that in smoke once. A farmer was burning off, I drove into
the dip, and suddenly... which way did the road go? I was lucky I
guessed right. It's amazing how much you rely on your eyes, and how
lousy your memory is in a situation like that. You are left with an
"impression" that the road sort-of goes left.

 RB> I had just filled the car with 70litres of juice and it was now
 RB> pouring out all over my feet.

  Concentrated your mind wonderfully, did it?

 RB> No insurance and could not claim 3rd party because I could not
 RB> say that David Drummond was coming towards me on his Honda 50
 RB> and shone his lights in my eyes. I was on my lonesome, Still
 RB> am, as far as insurance companies are concerned. Didn't believe
 RB> in them then, and don't now.

  Yair... life's a gamble anyway, but when you choose not to insure
you end up insuring yourself. The risk is still there. Even full 
comprehensive insurance would not pay enough to cover that sort of
horrendous event. Money would help, but the main thing is in you
yourself... there is not much point in being a rich vegetable; you
have to pull yourself out, yourself. I sincerely hope I never have
to put myself to that test, because I am not sure how I would come
out.

 RB> Instant Career change but I still think that I came out ahead.
 RB> I was told by the Cops & Ambulance that had it been a (this
 RB> years model anything) that I would be DEAD. ( anything that
 RB> looked like chrome on that car , was actually 1 or 2mm
 RB> Stainless steel, it was bloody Solid)

  Actually, I am amazed that modern cars work so well. Driving into a
cliff at 100K is a bit extreme, but I saw a pair of cars totalled at
the STOP sign on the corner last week (she drove through at full speed
without stopping), and no one was hurt! The Falcon ended up two-feet 
narrower, and the entire front was missing from the Camry, and not 
even any blood. Incredible.

 RB> Because I did not die, I am able to bore you with writing this
 RB> (no matter how slow)

  I read quickly, so you can bore me quite fast .

 RB> Because I took the windscreen out with my forehead, I talk
 RB> Crap.

  I wish I had a good excuse like that.

 RB> Because I did not get insurance, I have to use the Fidonet for
 RB> entertainment.

  Insurance companies aren't very entertaining anyway.

 RB> Because I use fidonet to hone my communication non-skills, I
 RB> have myself thinking that if you all read this crap (test
 RB> Audience), then maybe I have a chance writing a book, and that
 RB> the profit can go towards paying for more pills and my new
 RB> wheelchair.

  There's nothing wrong with your writing, Russell. You connect very
well. Write a book by all means, it's fun, but I hope you have better
luck than me selling it. There's a skill in writing you can only learn
by doing it, but IMO storytellers are born not made, and you could be
the one.  

 RB> Nah, with the words and communication skills I've learnt in here
 RB> ....fat chance...

  You're right that there's no money writing books in Australia unless
you are *good* and the only way to find that out is to do it. Have you
read any of Robert Barratt's books? He's terrible! His first book
"wouldn't be dead for quids" is bad literature but he's a genius at
telling a story and he's sold a million or something. He's the one
that gives me hope yet... 

Regards,
Bob

___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
@EOT:

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