Category: Daily Life

Much of the world watches with horror and condemnation as the Russian President’s forces pour into neighbouring Ukraine, in a bloody mission of punitive conquest. The bombs are taking out civilians as well as key installations. Over a million Ukrainians have fled the country, whilst thousands of young foreign workers and expatriates return to defend their homeland, using whatever weapons they can get their hands on. The justification for Russia’s military operation seems a flimsy pretext for naked aggression. If so concerned about the plight of pro-Russian Ukrainians along the eastern border, why not seek a diplomatic solution? Instead the Russian President has responded with a thousand-fold the bullying behaviour of which he accused the Ukrainian government.

Some are saying Ukraine is just the start and that the conflict will go beyond its borders, drawing in the NATO forces to develop into World War Three. I have difficulty believing this, I don’t think this is what the Russian President wants having reminded the world of Russia’s nuclear capabilities. I think that if the Russian campaign is successful, it is more likely to install a new pro-Russian government in Ukraine along the lines of neighbouring Belarus. In any case I don’t imagine that peace will be restored easily for the Ukrainian people.

At home in Australia we have joined other countries in issuing economic sanctions against Russia. The COVID-19 pandemic continues, with thousands of new cases daily (including the Prime Minister Scott Morrison) however the Omicron strain and high vaccination rates mean that our hospital systems are not being overwhelmed, and public health restrictions are gradually lifting. Western Australia is finally relaxing its border controls after being closed to the world for two years. Along the east coast of Australia we have been inundated with rain over the last week, which has caused terrible flooding around Queensland’s South-East and the Northern Rivers of New South Wales. Further storms are forecast which is hampering recovery efforts by the various “mud army” volunteer units, and exacerbating the effects of panic buying in the food stores.

War, pestilence, the hint of famine. At times it seems as if we have fallen into a deep apocalyptic nightmare however I know we are simply living through some historic events that will be taught in our schools someday.

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash

It’s happening a lot quicker than I thought it would, but it looks like I’ll be the new owner of a Mazda CX-30 Hybrid SUV by the end of the month, having scored a pleasingly good trade-in deal for my 2018 Mazda 3. We both thought I’d be waiting months for a new car.

I had been considering a Toyota hybrid vehicle. I like Toyota’s hybrid petrol / electric system, the car runs on battery and petrol. The battery charges while you drive and the petrol engine kicks in only when you need it, it’s a smart system and very low on fuel. But after test driving the Toyota Yaris Cross yesterday, the road experience (for me) compared poorly to Mazda. I realised I wasn’t ready to sacrifice driving pleasure and comfort for my ideals.

Hubby got me onto Mazda years ago and I’ve had many years of great driving out of my Mazda 3 vehicles. I started looking at Mazda’s electric / hybrid MX-30 last year and yesterday discovered they had extended hybrid tech to Mazda 3 and CX-30. Unfortunately Mazda’s hybrid offering is quite different to Toyota’s. Battery power is generated from deceleration / braking energy and is used only to run auxiliary systems such as the air conditioner. So it is possibly contributing to greater fuel economy, although the savings seem quite marginal. However it was pointed out that I expect to do far less driving for the foreseeable future, and will be spending far less on fuel anyway. It made a good argument, and after test driving a new CX-30 I had pretty much abandoned the thought of a Toyota.

The CX-30 is a small SUV, a slightly different shape to my Mazda 3 hatch, a bit shorter and taller with more cabin space. It will fit Jo’s wheelchair with no trouble, and is only 3cm higher off the ground – it shouldn’t be a problem for Jo to climb in and out of. It is a beautiful car to drive, so it’s my hope that Mazda improves its hybrid offerings over the next couple of years, in time for my next trade. I opted for the Sonic Silver colour, with tinted windows, bonnet / head lamp protectors, and car mats were thrown in with a cash discount. Nice salesman Jay at Ipswich Mazda.

https://www.carexpert.com.au/mazda/cx-30/2022-g20e-evolve-m-hyb-vision-fwd-056bb574

Since recently leaving a position where I was managing the company finances I’ve started paying more attention to my own personal finances and the need to track and reduce my spending. Jo is ahead of me in this and I’ve borrowed a couple of books from her on the subject.

I’ve also started exploring personal finance apps, I was looking for something similar to Xero, the accounting platform I am familiar with. I was surprised to discover so many attractive looking apps available. The common features are ability to link to bank accounts (or manually import transactions), categorise transactions, and produce personal budgets. Many are free and have extra features / capacity available on paid plans. I’m currently trialling Pocketsmith on a free plan.

• Pocketsmith – NZ developed app
• Pocketbook – AU developed
• Business Insider roundup of similar apps

Photo by micheile dot com on Unsplash

Time off between Christmas and New Year has been relaxing and we’ve caught up on a couple of movies on both small and big screen.

Matrix Resurrection was released cinematically on Boxing Day. It follows on from the original story 60 years on, with Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss reprising their roles as Neo and Trinity, still relatively young due to having been ‘resurrected’ and reinserted into the Matrix by new architect program the Analyst. Much has changed in both worlds but the skies are still scorched and the struggle remains between human and machine. As a follow on this movie could hardly be as groundbreaking as the original movie, but there were some enjoyable developments and thought provoking commentary on our modern interaction with technology and social media.

Final Cut is a movie with Robyn Williams set in a time not too far in the future where the technology exists for a chip to record every moment of a person’s life once inserted into their body. This is for the sole purpose of creating a post-death memorial tribute of that person’s life for their grieving family. The effect of the chip makes a normal authentic life impossible and there is a resistance movement who protest at every memorial. Robyn Williams plays the part of a ‘cutter’ Alan, who has the job of sifting through the lifetime of footage to create a suitable tribute, editing out the unpalatable parts and adhering to a ‘cutter’s code’. One of the primary tenets of the code is that a cutter does not have a chip themself (since they are privy to personal footage of others). Things get interesting when Alan finds out that unbeknownst to him his parents had a chip inserted when he was a child.

Shanghai is a movie set in WW2 China, just before Japan and America enter the conflict. John Cusack plays a spy who is trying to solve the murder of a friend, seemingly around wartime machinations which play into Japanese ambitions to annex strategic posts in China.