Delays due to the previous post of Lambie's sister site with movie discussions.
I am going to start where I finished off last time.
Now, on the outlook, this is a pretty funny sign, I am sure you will agree.
What makes it funnier is that it tells you to call someone... without giving a phone number. You may say that it is an old sign, which is true, and that the number has faded off. I have closely inspected this sign, and it appears as if there never was any number on the sign to begin with. This sign has just recently been taken down after spending apparently 10+ years up at the centre (like most of the other signs). How they ever expected others to call them without giving a phone number is beyond me... but it seems like par for the course here.
And, speaking of golf terminology, they have two golf courses here and are putting another one in. Actually, that's a lie. They have two and 2/18ths of a golf course.
"Huh? How does that work?" I'm glad you asked.
They have two proper golf courses... and part of one that makes up two holes of the "Nullabor Links", where the idea is to play a few holes of golf at several different towns along the way to make up the 18 holes.
This is the picture of the course at the bottom end of Boulder:
And here is a picture of the higher class course at the top end of Kal:
The following is not directly Kal related, but more a stab at the hospital-bureaucracy-gone-mad. In the time I have been in Kal (four and a half months), there have been THREE new WA Health managerial type positions/departments created. That brings the system up to roughly a metric bus load of Managerial positions, of which only three, maybe four, are directly related to health. The rest of it is trying to run the hospitals like a business.
Here's a hint on how to save money, ailing health system: Stop creating new bureaucratic positions so you don't have to spend more on redeveloping people, paying additional managers (and so additional manager salaries) and creating inane announcements about the wonderful new positions you have opened up.
I refer to you to Parkinson's Law and the Coefficient of Inefficiency. Here, the more people employed in a bureaucratic position the less work gets done. Anyone who is vaguely interested should take also a look at this short study in pdf format. Highly amusing.
Speaking of business, I present to you an image of the Kalgoorlie Business Development Centre, as opened in 2003.
Actually, that's the thing here: A lot of businesses, primarily retail shops and cafes, come and go. Since I have been here, there have been at least five stores put up "Store for Sale" signs and/or gone out of business and/or been redeveloped. Speaking to one of the locals, this appears to be the norm. It is apparently not unusual for a business here to last only a few months before having to pack up.
Kalgoorlie is full of history and the main street is interesting.
More Fun with Skimpies:
- There was one in the Palace that appeared to have had a boob-job... but one of them was pointing in a noticeably different direction to the other. Either that or she is unfortunate enough to have naturally decent, but directionally uninhibited, breasts.
- Several Skimpies work at several different bars. Stay around long enough, especially if they stay around long enough, and you can get to know them reasonably well. One of the locums here figured out who was more likely to get him a glass of whiskey without much/any soda water (they have the same No shots/bombs rule as Newcastle, so you have to have a mixer).
- In what is probably my crowning achievement in Kal so far, I got yelled at by a skimpy... without intentionally being rude or dirty.
A group of us, two guys and two girls and myself, were yelled at by a skimpy at the Palace... Quite an achievement, considering the dodginess of the regular patrons. See, she came around asking for tips as is customary in such a bar. Being that it was getting towards the end of our night out, we had numerous near-biff situations when attempting to play pool there and we were about to leave, we declined.
“You guys realise that this is a skimpy bar, right? A bar where we don't wear much and get our tops off?”
“Yeah, but we are heading out now.”
“God, why the hell did you come here then???” *storms off*
*table left stunned and asking if that just happened*
To be fair to the Skimpy, this night was particularly dodgy in terms of patronage. Even more seedy than normal and more geared to erupt in to violence, and I would put a fiver on more than one skimpy having been somewhat manhandled without consent earlier that evening. To be fair to us, would you give money to someone who abuses you? Also, most Skimpies do not bother trying to collect tips from people that are obviously not there for the Skimpies or will just smile and leave you alone if they try and you decline politely.
Absolutely Hilarious.
And now for the promised WIN in Kalgoorlie.
We have an Indoor Beach Volleyball centre here. The walls are tight but flexible nets that the ball is allowed to bounce off (as long as it does not touch the roof netting). There are four courts next to each other, so you can watch the other teams play whilst waiting for the restart. It is insanely fun.
The following is an image of one of the newsagencies/corner stores:
The following are the better parts of the sign above the store:
"Small Goods, Big Goods, Good Goods, No Bad Goods"
"Cut Rate Neurosurgery (conditions apply)"
"Open from Horribly Early until Terribly Late"
"Stationary" (not actually sure if that was an error in spelling, as it is supposed to be "Stationery"... I'd like to think that they were trying to be smart even if they weren't... largely because next to "Stationary" there is "Mobiles")
"FREE Insults at proprietor's decision"
"Buried Treasure Maps"
"EXIT Instructions - for deserving cases"
If you are ever here, you MUST visit the Super Pit.
Pictures do not do the grand hole justice.
They have semi-regularly scheduled blasts and times of any scheduled blasts for the day are posted in the Tourist Information centre of Kal. The Super Pit is freakin' huge. As if it was some child's ultimate dream, you can see what are actually really massive trucks look like Tonka toys in a giant dirt pit. You could sit there for hours if you wanted.
I, of course, have done no such thing...
The people I was with at the time forced me to go after half an hour, under threat of leaving me and making me walk home.
And they are going to make it BIGGER and possibly eventually take over Boulder. I have yet to do a proper tour, but I will do so sometime and let you all know how it goes.
For Size comparison...
When it gets shut down eventually, we should totally fill it with water and go SCUBA diving in it and/or turn it in to a giant waterslide. Totally worth transporting all of that water in there. Failing that, make some sort of Grand Kal Rally, where failing to take a corner results in launching yourself to the bottom of the pit.
Other wins, not related to Kal, include How I Met Your Mother, Arrested Development and Chocolate whenever I want it.
Hope you are all having Fun :)
