Mayor4Unley

You have to feel sorry for the women. They do like to shop and snap up the bargains and buy nice things. Now we find that quite often they’re being conned and paying what’s called a Pink Tax; it’s really an inflated price for an item specifically targeted at females. Take the case of under-arm deodorant. There really is no reason why women can’t use a product labelled for Men. Deodorant is just deodorant. But they don’t and instead buy a very similar product labelled for Women. Quite often the inflated price difference is huge. Women using Men’s deodorant could always add a spray or dab of perfume to change the scent of the deodorant. This price difference is the Pink Tax. Here's a link for more information

Is it really going to become the world of robots? Probably, to some degree. Hopefully humans will still have an important role – like creating the robots and testing their resilience. Technology has come a long way. Check out this video of the latest batch of robots. Click here to watch the video

A friend is having a problem with a private parking firm at a shopping centre. It is claimed that he overstayed the free 2 hours parking and was sent an expiation fee. He didn't pay it and was then sent an additional late payment fee. It seems (according to my friend) that the parking firm has no legal right to issue and collect expiation fees. He's not going to pay. That's his choice. Anyway, he asked me for advice. I said that it might be time to send the spider (and a cheque for $3 as a sign of good faith). Here is the link to the spider that I sent him. It's an interesting email exchange, not dissimilar to my friend's situation. Enjoy. Click on this link to get the spider tale

The pundits have it that eBooks are everywhere and they will replace paper based books – you know the ones that are nice to hold, bound in cardboard or leather, the ones that are easy to read and cause less eye strain – the type of books that you can dog ear for easy reference. Yes, eBooks are available and they have their place. But, certainly not as a big bold glossy book on the coffee table. When people visit their local library they expect to find in the main, traditional books and electronic media eg. CDs, DVDs – something to hold and touch. What the eBook pundits have not realised is that despite the availability of personal mobile devices (that can read an eBook) there is not a rich availability of titles. It comes down to licensing complications and the publishers have no intention of letting go and loosening the reins. It’s a long story … I spent an hour with a librarian the other day and was staggered by the difficulty of libraries to economically stock a wide ...

When my kids were growing up, we spent a lot of time at Goodwood Community Centre and the nearby Goodwood Library and Toy Library. It's a friendly environment with a host of activities catering for the young, the very young and those a bit older. I remember the regular Saturday mornings I spent at GoodyGym. We then went over to the Toy Library and loaded the car with toys to keep the kids busy over the coming week. Last night I attended a public forum hosted by Unley Council in the Goodwood Community Centre. Local traders and residents were briefed on the upcoming project to underground power lines on Goodwood Road (for ~ 400m) and rip up and replace the footpaths and install enhanced streetscape treatment to vitalise the Goodwood shopping precinct. It will look fantastic. Whilst there I picked up some brochures that advertised events, classes and services in the local cultural hub (of the Library and Community Centre). It also provided information about activities at the other ...

They're big and black and in brine and soaking. Over the weekend I visited a mate's farm and picked a bucket of big black olives. Beat the rain by a day. Picked just in time. They're not as big as last year due to the long period without rain in Adelaide. In 3-4 weeks they'll be in jars in a dark cupboard. Here's the recipe: Pick the olives. Your choice of green or black. I prefer big black Kalamata. Wash in the sink. Discard any olives that are dried or damaged. Place a few bay leaves in large jars. Add olives to the jars. Make a brine mixture using 4 tbsp of salt to 1.1 litres of cold water. Fill to near top of jar. Place a food rated plastic bag over the top, tie in place with string, make a well in the plastic and fill with water - this keeps the olives immersed in the brine and stops air contact. Leave for 6 days. After 6 days, rinse olives in fresh water in the sink. Wash well. Repeat the above process. After 18 days (3 washes) bite into an o...

It's Easter Sunday and time to start eating the chocolate bilby, bunny and eggs. Enjoy, but don't feed chocolate to your dog and other pets. It may kill them. Click on this link for more information

Easter is a special celebration. For some it is more spiritual. For all (I suspect) it means giving, receiving and eating chocolate. The downside is the calories we pile on. Here are some sad statistics. One Cadbury Mini Easter Egg (3.3g) is 16 calories, so ten of these are 160 calories. Below is a chart of activities showing how long it takes to burn off 10 mini Easter Eggs. Activity                                        Men*            Women** Running (15 km/hr)                      7.5 minutes  10 minutes Cycling (less than 16.1 km/hr)     30 minutes   40 minutes Walking (4.82 km/hr)                   37 minutes   47 minutes *   Based on an average male, 175.6 cm and 85.9 kg ** Based on an average fe...

I blogged earlier about the approaching prune/slash of street trees across Unley. This will be performed by SA Power Networks (SAPN) in accordance with legislation to minimise the risk of fire starting due to tree branches contacting the low and high voltage wires. They are meant to do this every 3 years. It is now 5 years since the last prune and consequently the effect will be more evident. Councils can do nothing to prevent the prune. However, Unley Council will provide arborists who will guide the pruning teams in difficult situations. In some cases, when a tree is deemed to to be irreparably damaged (by heavy pruning) the tree will be immediately removed. There will be a lot of concern and anger expressed by residents. Council can do nothing to reduce the pruning. Absolutely nothing! Please direct concern to your local MP eg. Steph Key and David Pisoni. (To be fair, they too can do nothing as the pruning is governed by legislation and regulation.) Below are 2 maps showing ...

Fantastic news about Australia Post providing low cost flights on their freight planes. When available, there will be seats in the cargo section. It is envisaged that there will be 6 seats available per flight. There is consideration to removing a toilet and providing space for an extra 6, standing room only. Straps will be provided - like on the bus. The cost will be $35 for a 65kg person to any airport in Australia. Excess weight will be charged at $1 per kg. The scheme is to be called AirMale/Airfemale. Jetstar, Virgin and Tiger Airways are all believed to be bidding for the partnership. Here's a link to the story