Archive for » September, 2008 «

WA State Election 2008

It’s 2008, you would think that WA State Elections would be a bit more mature. I know that when it comes to election time, all the deep dark dirty secrets are dug up to shame their respective parties, but why does it seem like this time around the WA state election seem somewhat like 5 year old children name calling and hair pulling?

I find it pretty disappointing to see our political parties using the media to take below-the-belt shots at each other, and I’m not surprised to hear others voice my thoughts. I suspect the media must be having a field day though, this has to be one of the more entertaining lead-ups to elections.

Labor says:

barnett-nuclear-too-risky.gif
Colin Barnett is a risk to your future
He will privatise our hospitals, schools and essential services.

Colin Barnett and the Liberals are so divided that they contradict each other on basic policy. They are out of touch with ordinary people; they have no policies for our future.

Alan Carpenter and his new team are addressing the important issues for our future, like climate change, looking after families and building essential infrastructure.

Alan Carpenter knows that some people are doing it tough, so he has policies to help ordinary people share in the boom.

I especially love how they try to associate Colin Barnett with all those negatives like the radioactive sign, stamp of disapproval etc. Props to the Labor party for having a website set up for that, I couldn’t find one with the Liberals name bashing the Labor party… not that I searched very hard.

Come Saturday I’m still not 100% sure who I’ll be voting for….
I must admit, the fact that the Liberals had to pull Barnett from retiring because of sleazy Buswell doesn’t help matters (yes I know, I got sucked into all the media hype!). And anyway, I figure Labor might be the better alternative because they’re the known enemy, someone predictable and (hopefully) won’t do any crazy stunts with our state.

Anyway guys, Don’t forget to vote on Saturday (tomorrow)!

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By the way, when I was in Beijing for the 2007 election, we went to the Beijing Australian Embassy to vote. And we were a bit shocked to find the Chinese staff stationed at the entry gates didn’t speak English!! What kind of embassy is that?! After a bit of broken Chinese, sign language, and saying “Vote” multiple times in various tones, they let us through.

BUT once you actually get through those gates, the Aussie staff there are really nice and helpful… And speak English! Oh, and the other Aussies we bumped into inside there were pretty hot too, or maybe that was because of my serious lack of Aussie angmor’s to look at?

Eitherway, it was nice to see the Australian Embassy so close by to Sunlitun (Bar street) and it was pretty interesting to find Rosie O’Gradys just across the road (not to mention the many many bars, clubs and restaurants in the area!). I can just imagine the Friday night drinks happening every single night! I bet even Mr Rudd couldn’t resist =P

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TPG mobile

I’m running on empty now, my mobile phone only has enough credit for 2 sms’s because I’ve been waiting since last Tuesday (26th) for TPG to send me my mobile sim card! Don’t expect any calls or sms from me, I’m saving those last two sms’s for emergencies like when I get jumped at Curtin (Did you hear about yet ANOTHER attack?).So a warning to you guys, if TPG say that your sim has been sent out and to expect it in 5 working days… they mean 7 days. And even if they say it’s been sent out on a 1 day courier when you tell them you STILL haven’t received it on the 7th day, don’t expect it by the next day.

Personally, I think it’s more of an East vs West problem. Maybe TPG sends the sim’s going West a day later than usual, and maybe Australia Post purposely takes longer delivering East to West… even the express mail? …..

gGrRRr! I just want my mobile to function without any fear of running out of credit! I want to be able to call ’000′ instead of just throwing the mobile at potential attackers!

TPG $19.99 Mobile Cap Saver Plan with $300 worth of included calls, text and data – tpg.com.au

Sounds too good to be true?
sigh. Just give me my SIM damnit!

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-Edit 6th September 2008-

I still haven’t received the sim from TPG!!!! The TPG Mobile Cap Plan really is too good to be true…. They keep giving me the typical: “Oh, just wait another day or so” response! Bleh…

It’s quite hard not to get annoyed at the TPG Customer Service staff because:

  1. For some odd reason, the connection is a bit fuzzy.
  2. They keep giving me answers which tell me they’re following systems and processes which don’t work!
  3. I can’t call/sms anyone
  4. Staff don’t placate or give me a bit of TLC
  5. I’ve been put on HOLD much too long to actually believe the automated reassurance BS given, they should just let me listen to some radio!!
  6. They tell me that they’ll contact me but don’t! >=(

I was told again to give it until Monday…. *sigh* I suspect that Australia Post messed up and the mobile sim was delivered to the wrong address. And unfortunately for me, TPG are too stingy to send out another SIM *cry*

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-Edit 19th September 2008-

I FINALLY received my TPG sim 3 weeks 1 day after they first sent it out and confirmed payment! It took 2 weeks for them to confirm that I wasn’t going to get my sim and 3 working days for it to arrive after the second send.

I’ve activated my account and waiting for confirmation of my number to be ported… it’s been 48hrs. I think I’ll have to call them again on Monday to confirm whether my account has been activated. It was awfully nice not to have to speak to TPG Customer Service reps for a week.

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-Edit 25th September 2008-

Was told that my number will be ported by Monday, Tuesday the latest. I didn’t have time to call TPG on Tuesday and got home too late from work to call on Wednesday.
Number hasn’t been ported, sim is inactive.

My brother’s TPG arrived in 3 days AND he’s already activated it. How happy do I feel?… You can only guess…

TPG were nice enough to call today, just as I arrived home from work (good timing!), to tell me that the number wasn’t ported because the DOB I provided is wrong (bad news!). And this is the point where my happy positive energy from work started draining.

  1. Called Optus to work out what’s the problem, they tell me that I wasn’t the person who activated the Optus sim that I’ve been using since I’ve had a mobile, so I can’t be told anything
  2. I deduct that it might be under Dad’s name and tell dad to call Optus
  3. I called TPG back and they transfer me to some other department, they put me on hold and the proceeded to HANG UP on me
  4. I call TPG back and they transfer me again, only for me to be put on HOLD to be transfered AGAIN……… AND THEY HANG UP AGAIN!
    • At the same time, Dad calls me back to tell me that he doesn’t have access to it either. He suggested my sister.
  5. I call my sister up and tell her to call Optus.
  6. Optus calls my mobile (the very same one we’re trying to verify), they tell me again that it’s not me or my mum.
  7. So it’s not me, not mum, dad or my sister. We get my brother to call.
  8. The TPG guy calls me up again to tell me the other DOB I gave him was wrong and when I tell him my dilemma he gives me another number to call
  9. Another call to Optus finally tells me the sim is under my Dad’s name… How the hell did he not get it the first time? I don’t know
    • At the same time bro tells calls back to confirm the fact…

2.5hrs later I’m back in square one, waiting for my sim to be activated….

How do I feel? Completely drained and hating how systematized our world is…

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-Edit 28th September 2008-

Finally I can use my phone!~ The first day I wasn’t able to send or receive sms or mms so it was a bit inconvenient, but a girl from TPG called me up to inform me that my sim hasn’t been activated because of the wrong DOB… which was incorrect information obviously. But I was glad they called because I was then able to get my mobile working properly without having to call them up and go through the whole process again!

So to wrap it all up, I guess I would say that TPG is crap when it comes to re-issuing a sim but their technical support is pretty efficient if you can actually get through to them.

Mid Sems

It’s drawing closer and closer to that time of year again, only this time it’s going to be the last of it all!! yAy! Mid semesters have arrived and it’s made me itchy to put my energy into everything that isn’t studying! I’m completely over exams and assignments after 6 very interesting years, but I’m still glad I decided to go back after Dental Hygiene.

full moonMy newest distraction to the growing list is planning my HOLIDAY for 2009! After much consideration, I’ve ruled out China and USA, deciding instead to save and spend more time checking out the East coast of Australia! I can’t believe it’s been almost 20years since I’ve been living here in Perth and I still haven’t gone over east… a little sad really.

The fact that my friends have spontaneously decided on flying out to visit Eggy in Beijing leaving poor little me behind because I have stupid classes. But I think if I truly wanted to go, it’s pretty easy for me to get there because I would only really be missing one week of classes in which there are no assessments due. Alas, that’s not likely happening…

Talk of their mini road trip to Xi’an through to Shanghai really makes me want to go back! I didn’t even get the chance to see all the famous sites which most tourists visit =(

So anyway, their trip sparked my need to plan something when I’m over in Sydney next year. I mean, a girl has to have something to look forward to right? Once final exams are over, I’ll probably be throwing myself into work and too busy to plan anything until the last minute.

I’ll definitely be going to Sydney and Melbourne, there’s plans to go to Brisbane and go to Sea World and Movie World etc. Since it’s going to be winter, I think I’ll save the beaches and snorkeling for another trip. I’m tempted to go check out the Blue Mountains, but after having a year of winter… I’m reluctant to freeze my ass off again. Will have to see who wants to go and who wants to do what, I’m just going to rummage through all the available options to put on the table =)

Okay, wish me luck in my studying!