Mobile phones

What is it with people and their mobile phones and their inability to switch them off?

I was at the theatre on Saturday. It was the last night in the Canberra Playhouse’s run of Halpern & Johnson starring Garry McDonald and Henri Szeps. McDonald and Szeps may be better known for their parts in the long running TV series ‘Mother and Son’. Halfway through this magical performance someone’s phone went off. I didn’t hear it, perhaps because the phone was set to a quiet mode, but I was dismayed to hear some idiot in the audience answering it and begin a conversation on their phone, in competition to the actors on stage. I was stunned. I’ve seen people at the movies sending text messages and continually switching their phones on and off and on and off to check stuff. But I’ve never experienced it at a live performance.

Don’t people know how annoying this is? Surely you know how much light comes from the screen of your phone. You’ve seen people using their phones as a torch when they arrive late at the movies. If you have to do that, then fine, but switch the damn thing off when you get to your seat.

I’ve got an old Nokia and it has a very dim screen but I’ve seen others using the same model at the cinema and they are still very bright in a darkened theatre. Then there are newer model bigger and brighter iPod, iPhone, iPad. Leave your iNuisance at home or in your pocket. It’s annoying to see these things blazing out in a darkened theatre. I’ve actually seem people scrolling through internet web pages while at the movies. It’s selfish and dumb.

I’ve seen some people trying to subdue the light emitted by tilting their phone. All you are doing is aiming the light into someone else’s eyes. Some people cup their hand over the screen presumably as a courtesy to others. Nice idea, but it doesn’t work. It just means that they have to fiddle with it for longer because you can’t see what they are doing.

Why don’t you just switch it off? Are you waiting for a call from a hospital about your sick relative? What are you doing in the theatre; if you were so concerned you should be by their sick bed. Are you waiting for information on a business deal? If so you should be in your office and not somewhere annoying the hell out of others.

I have to wonder why people bought tickets for the show if they find it preferable to play with their phones. If you aren’t enjoying it then walk out and visit your friends. They might enjoy your company rather than you trying to text them from the theatre. Everyone sitting nearby will appreciate your departure.

I’ve often felt like grabbing their phones and sliding them toward the exit door. That could be a hint. I’ve often thought of snatching them from their hands and crushing them under the heel of my shoe. Someone might do it one day. It makes me feel good just thinking about it.

Anyway, on Saturday at the Playhouse, I initially thought a dispute or fight had erupted somewhere. Heads turned to see what was going on. I had a look around myself but couldn’t see anyone. Then of course it became clear that this was a one sided conversation as they nattered into their phone. Selfish twit. The two actors on stage looked distracted, but continued. And still this one sided conversation continued. It ended after about a minute with, “...I’ll call you back.” This distraction lasted only for a minute and despite the performance continuing, my attention left the actors. I lost the thread of the performance. I expect others in the audience were similarly distracted. The distraction plays on your mind long after the distraction ceases. I guess I settled into the play after about three, four or five minutes, but that’s a long time.

Come on folks. Switch them off and give the rest of the audience a fair go.

Batemans Bay

The coast is about 150km from Canberra, and Batemans Bay is the closest coastal town. Since arriving in Canberra, trips to the beach were infrequent because of the distance.

It’s a great drive to the coast, but the seaside is rather more than just a short trip across town as would be the case for most people living in Australian capital cities. There are rewards though. The extra time it takes to get to the coast is compensated by the fabulous drive in getting there. There is some beautiful scenery along the way. The journey is broken by the two small towns of Bungendore and Braidwood, and there are enough curves and hills to turn the trip into fun. Actually, these small towns make good rest spots or destinations in their own right. There's plenty of interest in Bungendore and the Bakery at Braidwood must attract hundreds of customers; I'm one of their regulars.

The Kings Highway is the route to the coast, which turns out to be about a two-hour trip for me. This is a section of the road a few kms east of Braidwood. Despite the wintery weather these trees are not dead and will transform this section of the highway into a beautiful avenue when spring arrives.This highway is sometimes reported in the press in relation to the number of motor vehicle collisions many of which are fatal. There are a few passing lanes on the highway, but obviously too few to make the road as safe as it could be. I wonder that the poor reputation of the Kings Highway may be due to the few reckless drivers who use the road as a race track. Some motorists can’t resist passing on blind corners or where visibility is poor, rather than waiting for a passing lane. These idiots put everyone’s lives at risk.

As a young man I recall a road safety campaign which promoted the slogan “speed kills” which caused me and my friends some amusement. We had the view that speed doesn’t kill, but it is speed without skill that kills. If you have good driving skills then driving at speed is perfectly safe. We were interested in motor sport as casual observers, and drove faster than we should have, but we could handle a car on various road conditions and speeds. You get to know your limitations, the capability of your car, and you get to know the road. If you keep within your limits you will likely be fine. But on this highway I still see some darn stupid behaviour.

If you must exceed the speed limit please have a care for other people on the road. If you have to overtake everyone and anyone ahead of you give a thought to road safety. Not everyone thinks like you. Not everyone has the same reaction times or the same driving skills or experiences as you.

Anyway, having settled in our Canberra property we inevitably had a look around regions beyond the ACT. Our explorations led us to the coast. From time to time we had a look at a few properties. The allhomes website is fabulous for checking out what’s available and where. There always seem to be a lot of property open houses at the coast. One thing led to the other and we purchased our second property there.

I guess the attraction of the coast just crept up on me. We had spent some pleasant times at Depot Beach, which is a little to the north of Batemans Bay. I’d never heard of Depot Beach. With a name like that it conjured up industry, pollution, or some sort of dump. Wrong! Depot Beach is a beautiful location. The quiet beach side drive has a wonderful outlook across a bay to a tree covered promontory of a national park.

I was introduced to Depot Beach when I spent some time helping a work colleague do some maintenance work on her beach side property. I did a spot of painting in return for a free stay at the beach house. A nice cheap holiday.

This is the view from the house. You could forget the problems of life in a place like this. Just let your mind drift. The beach was only a short walk from here, and with Depot Beach being a bit out of the way there were never too many people on the beach, which was nice. This house had a fabulous view of the ocean. At times was good just to listen to the thunder of the waves breaking on the shore. I think this experience may have enhanced the appeal of the coast for me, because at that time buying a coastal property was the last thing on my mind. I was just happy to be there. Here's a nice little web site that might persuade you as to the merits of Depot Beach. And I must give the house a plug too.

The following photo is also of Depot Beach. You can often expect this amount of people on the beach. Isn't it great? It was also at this beach that I lost my specs. I was wearing them in the water when a larger than expected wave caught me off guard. I know it was not a wise move to wear spectacles when swimming, but it can be useful to actually be able to see where you are going, even at the beach. Normally, I've been careful enough not to let them come to any harm. Perhaps it was a freak wave. I looked away and a wave wiped them from my face. I immediately dived for the bottom to see if I could locate them, but with the seaweed and the turmoil of the swell they were gone. I scanned the beach the next day walking up and down, but they were nowhere to be seen. I wonder where they'll end up.

The following will tell of my experience in buying a second property, the finances, the hassles, and of becoming a land lord.

The house we purchased was very basic. It has a set up which allows half the house to be rented whilst leaving the other half completely separate as a home away from home seaside retreat. The property is a comfortable walk to the beach, which is a treat I would never have believed possible.

Settlement took place about a year ago. If my experiences can help others avoid problems then that would be great. I’ll try and keep things mostly in chronological order, but if I get a few things out of sequence you’ll probably still get the gist of it, and hopefully make some use of my experiences.