In the shadow of viruses (2)

Week ago I reported HERE a dirty and  messy place very close to the school and a response I received from the local council (City of Yarra).
The response was quite positive - they assured me that they  "... will continue to clean and check it on regular basis".

Today, another Thursday, I hurried to the school to pick up my grandchildren and by the way to see the outcome of "cleaning... on regular basis".

Here is the update...

Well, how to say it?
Exactly same items were there on 18 Feb 2020. Including this particular loaf of bread.
Apparently my, old fashioned camera, missed all signs of regular cleaning.

Next report in a week time.

The Cockroach

The Cockroach by Ian McEwan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It started quite witty, but I had a worry.
The inspiration to this book, F. Kafka's Metamorphosis, was quite uninspiring for me.
Unfortunately, after some 20 pages, my worries were confirmed.
In my opinion this book is more a political pamphlet than a book.
Author so much enjoyed sarcasm, that he forgot about any substance to his story

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In the shadow of viruses

Every Thursday we pick up grandchildren from school.
2 weeks ago we noticed such a picturesque scene...

This is a car park owned/administered by a number of companies.
This place is just 20 m from the entrance to Collingwood College.

I was sure, that all this stuff  must have been brought here last night so, surely, it will be cleaned in few hours.

So I was quite astonished when I saw the same picture week later.

I wrote a report to City of Yarra Council with a copy to Collingwood College.
Next day I got a call from the school principal. He told me that he reports this problem regularly to authorities.
I got also a confirmation from City of Yarra, that they received my report.

Then, yesterday (5/3/20),  I saw ...

Actually this parking spot neighbours a shock absorber workshop. Maybe it is a part of the treatment?

After returning home I found a response from City of Yarra.

Here is a significant quote:

"...Council is aware that people have been sleeping rough at this site and we have been working closely with our local homelessness outreach service to engage with people at the site.

Whilst we have no current plans to move on any of the people at the site, we will continue to clean and check it on a regular basis.

 As the photos you have provided show a fair amount of food scraps present, we will aim to organise another clean of the site in the coming days..."

I highlighted most essential part - clean and check on regular basis.

I can assure you that the food in the trolley stays there from at least 18 Feb 2020.

Gold fever

At the beginning of January, as for last 3 years, we visited Ballarat for an annual music festival - Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields - LOOK

We had few very busy days there and returned home convinced, that music is much more valuable than gold. Still, when the musical emotions mellowed, we felt some longing for Ballarat and its gold plated climate.
This time we decided to have some exciting company - our 4 grandchildren.

Few days accommodation for 6 people. Not so simple.
Luckily our son did some preliminary search aon Airbnb and here we were, in a backyard of a seasoned gold digger...

Then we looked the other way... no, it was a backyard of enchanted house.

Each fireplace guarded by mice

Old record player and a selections of proper music: Beatles, Elvis and Co.

Amby testing phone, Felix setting an old clock.

Girls testing their bed

Note: next to the bed there were some carefully selected books, such as - How to kill your husband (and other handy household hints) - MORE.

Below - bedroom for boys.

Bedroom for grandparents

Boxes of fancy dresses

Strategically placed carafes with port, sherry...

But next day the magic was put to the background, time for GOLD.

We were not discouraged by a poor weather and a muddy road

Actually mud and muddy waters were our element. This and other parts of our story are here:

Still Gracie managed to colour a candle...

... and Matilda to get arrested.

Luckily smaller kids were taken in custody by responsible people.

Meeting family from far away.

 My father died in 1944, I was 2.5 years old then

We lived in a medium size town - Kielce - some 180 km away from Warsaw where most of my parents family lived.

Among them 3 brothers of my father - Stanisław, Jerzy and Ziemowit.
Ziemowit was in good contact with us, usually he invited me, sometimes with my mother, for Easter or Christmas celebrations.
It was also Ziemowit who organised a summer holidays for me in 1954 in Sopot a popular sea resort.
There I met for the first time wider family of my father - uncles Józef, Władysław, Szymon, Antoni.

Most memorable was Joseph (top row, right).
He was just on a short visit to Poland, his place of residence was Johannesburg in South Africa.

Few years later I met his son Joseph with wife Ginette and newly born son - Joseph again.
They lived at that time in France. Few years later they moved to Brasil.

At the end of 1979 I visited France. 
At that time I worked for Polish airlines LOT, which cooperated with Air France and the latter invited me to visit their computer centre in French Riviera. 
There I visited Joseph Snr in Antibes and at the same time Joseph was there. Full of energy, he took us to some presentation of minerals exploration in Brasil.

In 1981 I got a job contract in Kuwait University Computer Centre...

My family (wife Sylvia, children Ania and Michał) were there with me...

At the end of 1982 serious political disturbances shook Poland, we decided to move to Australia.
We landed there in February 1983 - details HERE.

Start was difficult, we felt quite lonely being so far from family, friends, familiar places.
So it was an unbelievable surprize when in winter (means June or July) 1983 we were visited in our rented small flat by Joseph and Ginette.
They visited us in our small, rented flat..

Then invited for dinner in the city, it was cold winter night...

A year passed, we moved from a small flat to own house and another surprize - we were visited by Joseph's and Ginette's daughter - Nuka,,,

Few years later we were visited by the youngest of Joseph's children - Paul with his wife Kimberley and their first child. Unfortunately I cannot support this with any photos.

Many years passed, we settled well enough and I found a new passion - cross country skiing.
It got so serious that in January 1994 I went to Europe to participate in ski marathons.
What a surprize it was when I got a message from Joseph that he and Ginette are travelling to Poland and on their way they could visit me in Italian Predazzo where I was to prepeaing for ski marathon Marcialonga.

And 2 years later they visited me again in Potresina, Switzerland, where I came for Engadin Ski Marathon...

This time Joseph and Ginette stayed in Pontresina all day...

... and they were so nice that they gave mi lift to Zurich where I was to board the flight back to Australia.

Ginette was so nice that she drove the car all way to Zurich while Joseph told me a story of his work in Brasil, beginning with landing somewhere in the middle of nowhere and his encounter with local explorers who were digging around feeling there is something valuable in the ground, but not knowing what.
Amazing story.

Next meeting was again related to a ski race, this time it was Bieg Piastów in Poland...

Australian flag in on the fifth pole from the left.
I am the first Pole on the left.

After Poland I met Sylvia in Frankfurt and we both visited Joseph and Ginette in their hospitable home in St Jeannet.
There we felt really like members of a family.
Ginette took Sylvia for shopping...

Joseph introduced me to local goats...

We were treated with great hospitality and most delicious food.
Joseph introduced me to his Petanque friends, we played bridge in the evenings.

Most memorable time, which will stay with us forever.

Cilka's Journey

Cilka's Journey by Heather Morris
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This review refers only to Cilka's Journey. I reviewed Tattooist of Auschwitz separately.
I found 2 aspects of this book.
One, how much fiction it is?
It is known that the Tattooist of Auschwitz raised same issues. Auschwitz Museum commented: "...resulted in creating a distorted version of Auschwitz. This is dangerous and disrespectful to history...". Source: LINK .
It looks, that the case of Cilka's Journey is even more controversial. A stepson of Cilka called the book "lurid and tittillating" LINK.
Reading the Acknowledgments section did not diminish my doubts. Most of thanks is directed to the personnel of the publishing company, few acknowledgments refer to general sources of information about Soviet gulags, even less to survivors or people who met Cilka.
Second aspect: how good is the story?
Initial chapters do not make it clear on what basis Soviet authorities sentenced Cilka to 15 years in gulag. There is a mention, that they screened each Auschwitz survivor ( 6,000 of them?).
In Vorkuta gulag Cilka is being blackmailed to do some favors to her inmates, otherwise some dark facts from her past in Auschwitz will be revealed.
At some stage, the story gets the balance, it turns to relation of numerous cases when Cilka made big sacrifices to help people around her. An obvious conclusion is, that she does it to erase her guilt.
On one hand I was quite touched by this part of the book. On the other, I got a feeling, that the author is just inventing a long sequence of events to demonstrate how noble and honest Cilka was. In my opinion it would have been better if she followed the advice of Cilka's stepson and admitted the the book is 99% fiction.

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The Shepherd's Hut

The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Started this book with very positive attitude.
Beginning was OK, very convincing language and internal dialogue of a young boy (Jaxie) without any education, family ties or social skills. And so I progressed some 50 pages when a question came: is there any story?
So far there was none.
I accepted it and continued, concentrating on author's skill in a very credible presenting the way of reasoning of the main character. Characteristic features were: absolute ego-centrism, lots of self-pity, considering murder as the best solution in all doubtful situations.
And avoiding any facts.
Then another character arrives. First reaction, obvious - kill. Somehow it is avoided, but temptation returns at any suspicion of unloyalty.
The other character brings additional theme - sins of Catholic Church. (view spoiler)[ It does not look like Jaxie ever had contact with Catholic, or any other, church, but his immediate reaction is: kill. He does not kill, but considers that it justifies treating the other person with contempt and suspicion. As could be expected we never learn what were the reasons for other person's life in exile. (hide spoiler)]
Then, out of sudden, there is some action. Unexpected finding. (view spoiler)[ Hard to believe that two man whose main concern was to be met by strangers, lived for weeks in the close vicinity of a facility buzzing with life . (hide spoiler)]
Finally, what a relief, happy end - 3 people killed and the main character, free of any fears, speeds towards happy life forever.
Unbelievable.
While reading I did not feel any connection to this book, still, after completion, a strong distaste remained.



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