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Cats

 

When I was working, at age 15, I bought a .22 rifle.  Almost everybody owned a rifle in those days; only a .22 calibre but it could still kill you. 

One day mum said to me, “Rossi there’s a cat under the house that’s going to have kittens, can you get rid of it”.  Of course that was right up my alley.  I thought the loud bang would only be heard by the neighbours so I only used a .22 short, not the full power of a .22 long.  Then I had to entice the cat to come out so I put a saucer of milk on the ground and said “here, puss puss puss” and out came the cat to within about six inches of the muzzle of the rifle. 

I pulled the trigger…  There weren’t any comments from the neighbours so I thought if I did it once I could do it again.  Every night there were dozens of cats; spitting, meowing and caterwauling everywhere.  You could go out the back door and shine a torch and you would see 15 to 20 cats sitting on the back fence. 

I would lean the rifle up against the side of the doorway, shine the torch along the top of the sights of the rifle right between the eyes of a cat and squeeze the trigger.  I very rarely missed.  Within the next couple of weeks I killed and buried quite a lot. 

One of the neighbours in the next street was missing her prize Manx Persian cat; it didn’t take her long to find out what had happened to it. Just about everybody knew what was going on, so she summonsed me.  There was a big write-up right on the front page of the Daily Telegraph – the headlines:

 
Cat Killer bought to Book. 

The reign of the Merrylands cat killer ended this week when Mrs Melinda Black summonsed Ross Smith, a 15 year old youth for shooting her prize Manx Persian cat.

The lad confessed to the crime. 

 

I have a very good long term memory but I probably couldn’t tell you what happened yesterday.  A big sergeant of police came around to see me.  Feeling a bit sorry for me he advised me to go around and apologise to the old lady which I did; and she withdrew the summons.

So it was when I was a boy.

 

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Travel

Canada and the United States - Part2

 

 

In Part1, in July 2023, Wendy and I travelled north from Los Angeles to Seattle, Washington, and then Vancouver, in Canada, from where we made our way east to Montreal.

In Part2, in August 2023, we flew from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, down to Miami, Florida, then Ubered to Fort Lauderdale, where we joined a western Caribbean cruise.

At the end of the cruise, we flew all the way back up to Boston.

From Boston we hired another car to drive, down the coast, to New York.

After New York we flew to Salt Lake City, Nevada, then on to Los Angeles, California, before returning to Sydney.

Read more: Canada and the United States - Part2

Fiction, Recollections & News

The Coronation

Last Time

 

 

When George VI died unexpectedly in February 1952, I was just 6 years old, so the impact of his death on me, despite my parents' laments for a good wartime leader and their sitting up to listen to his funeral on the radio, was not great.

At Thornleigh Primary School school assemblies I was aware that there was a change because the National Anthem changed and we now sang God Save The Queen.

Usually, we would just sing the first verse, accompanied by older children playing recorders, but on special occasions we would sing the third verse too. Yet for some mysterious reason, never the second.

The Coronation was a big deal in Australia, as well as in Britain and the other Dominions (Canada, South Africa and New Zealand) and there was a lot of 'bling': china; tea towels; spoons; and so on. The media went mad.

Read more: The Coronation

Opinions and Philosophy

A modern fairytale - in a Parallel Universe

 

I've dusted off this little satirical parable that I wrote in response to the The Garnaut Climate Change Review (2008).  It's not entirely fair but then satire never is.

 


 

 

In a parallel universe, in 1920† Sidney, the place where Sydney is in ours, had need of a harbour crossing.

An engineer, Dr Roadfield, was engaged to look at the practicalities; including the geology and geography and required property resumptions, in the context of contemporary technical options. 

After considering the options he reported that most advanced countries solve the harbour crossing problem with a bridge.  He proposed that they make the decision to have a bridge; call for tenders for an engineering design; raise the finance; and build it.  We'll call it the 'Sidney Harbour Bridge' he said; then less modestly: 'and the new crossing will be called the Roadfield Highway'. 

Read more: A modern fairytale - in a Parallel Universe

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