Wickepin, Western Australia / Toilet

Wickepin, Western Australia

category: toilet

S 32 46.879 E 117 29.975

visited in June 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 7.5 out of 10

You may have been wondering, Why is this blog called PissWeakly? Well, you see, it's like this... The original idea was, to review toilets. Public toilets. Or, even better, publicly accessible toilets. What a piss weak idea, I was told :-( What a great name, I thought :-) But what would a toilet review include, I wondered?

So far, PissWeakly has reviewed books, some gadgets, more books, a movie, even more books. But what will go in a PissWeakly review of a toilet? As yet -- I don't really know. Stay tuned, watch this space, sooner or later -- we will both know.

Here, at last, is the first, PissWeakly review of a public toilet:

Public toilet, in Wickepin, Western Australia

Exterior (7): These toilets are -- quite clearly -- quite new. Is this a convenient (rofl) use of the "royalties for regions" money? If so -- well done -- money well spent! The toilet block is neat, new, still unsullied by age, nothing particularly adventurous... It's just, a toilet block, although the deep verandah is a good investment for hot or wet weather. Time will tell whether the surrounding grass becomes lawn... or weeds.

Location (8): This toilet is by the main road, in the centre of the small town of Wickepin. Playground on the far side and shops across the road. More interesting, is the history... The second photo is taken from the verandah of the restored house of Albert Facey, author of A Fortunate Life. Starting near the house there is a simple but interesting walk, past various points of local historical interest.

Cleanliness (8): There are already some signs of general wear and tear but the toilets are well cleaned. In the toilet stall, some paper had been left lying on the floor; judging by the overall standard, that paper will have been removed by the next day. There was some water on the floor, possibly from cleaning -- a sign that the builder may not have correctly sloped the floor. Everything else was spotless.

Facilities (7): Stall, urinal, bench, basin, mirror... power point and timed electric light. Even more important -- toilet paper and paper towels.

Did you notice the solar hot water system on the roof? A good sign -- though I did not even notice if there was hot water to the hand basin. I also did not think to test any of the facilities except for the ones that I actually used (which did work).

And a final weakness in this review: For reasons which you may guess, I only checked out the men's facilities...

So there you have it, the first PissWeakly toilet review.

There will -- I hope -- be more... Eventually.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Sword of Shannara / Terry Brooks

The Sword of Shannara

category: fantasy, author:

Terry Brooks

book 1 of Shannara
published by Orbit, original copyright 1977, read in Jun 2010
(and before, years earlier)

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10

First, an admission: I read this book years ago and, from memory, I would have rated it as a five. I think that I just didn't like the characters... they are not heroic. But...

This time round, I enjoyed Sword a lot more. Sure, the characters are reluctant to be heroes. They hold back, have doubts, get frozen with fear... Yet they continue, and grow. On this second reading -- the author begins with realistic characters and allows them to develop into heroes. Which, I guess, makes for a very good book!

This is Brooks' first published book. It's good but not great. The plot flows well and there are no obvious gaps (as long as you remember that this book is a "fantasy"!). In the style of a fantasy epic, there are plenty of major characters and several major plot threads. Brooks manages to keep the threads under control.

He also manages to sustain our interest in all of the main characters; they are each unique enough -- and well enough described -- to keep separate in my mind. As we flick from character to character, I have no trouble remembering who they are and what they are supposed to be doing.

Some of the shifts in story are too obviously cliff-hangers. Quite often, a character will think, "Oh no! We're all gonna diiiiieee..." ... and will be left there, for many pages. Unsubtle! No worries, this is, after all, Brooks' first novel.

One interesting departure from the epic fantasy standard: the chief villain is actually defeated! The standard approach is to kill a henchman in the first novel, a sub-villain in the second and the chief villain in the third (often, though, with no definite dead body). In Sword, the villain definitely dies. Glancing at further titles, Brooks seems to introduce new villains in each novel -- a very praiseworthy effort!

And finally, two notes: This is "Book 1 of Shannara". It's the first book written. First King of Shannara was written later but is a prequel. Perhaps it should be "book 1"? Or perhaps not...

Note 2: A far more recent Brooks book is The Gypsy Morph. In my opinion, Sword is a better book than Morph. In Sword, Brooks uses "I'm not going to tell you," as a device to build pseudo-suspense. Okay, so does every author... By the time he wrote Morph, it seems that "I'm not going to tell you," and "I don't know what I'll do until I have to do it," are the only devices in use.

Read Morph because it completes a link between two sets of books. Read Sword for enjoyment.

===

20sep20: And I read it again. With much the same opinion as in the above review. Except:

Good grief! it's a direct steal from Lord of the Rings!

A powerful magician leads a group of elves, dwarves and men  to destroy a dark lord. Of the group, only one can wield the item which will destroy the baddie. There's even a Gollum lookalike. A final trek across a bare and desolate land, a city under siege, only the destruction of the dark lord saves the city.

Differences? Elves are short, dwarves don't like dark, enclosed spaces. A thief joins the group and thieves were introduced in D&D games. Unless you count the Conan stories. But not in LotR.

So the story is a direct steal -- but the author says that his book is an attempt to place LotR in a different world. Which he has done. Quite well.

My 2010 score is seven, Well worth reading. Today I would rate it six, Read to pass the time. Given the author's stated intent, I am happy to leave the rating at seven.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Who let the blogs out? / Biz Stone

Who let the blogs out?

category: commentary, author:

Biz Stone

original copyright 2004, read in May 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

What can I say about this book? Nothing much... I only skimmed a few sections.

Not that it was bad (as far as I read). But it was dated. And a bit too gung ho name dropping I-know-all-ish for me. Still, PissWeakly is opinion. There is no promise of fact and no guarantee of relevance. So let's start with what little I can remember:

Read it as a history of blogs up to 2004. Biz Stone is founder and co-founder of various blog sites and systems -- and of Twitter. So he was there and involved. He knows what was happening and he may have written some of the truth. In a very glib fashion.

It's a readable book, especially if you want to learn about the history of blogs and blogging.

One thing that does come through -- in my skimming -- is the commercialisation of the web. There are stories of growing readership, rapid take-up -- and making money. The book is an indication of the direction of mainstream blogging.

"The modern blog evolved from the online diary, where people would keep a running account of their personal lives." That's from the Wikipedia article on blogs. That's what I remember, of the first blogs.

I was browsing blogs... many years ago... when I came across a real, online diary. A teenage boy in small-town America was documenting his life, including family and town events. It was fascinating! The blog -- as an online, public diary -- gave a glimpse of a small slice of real life.

What is a blog today? It's a means of making money.

Okay, perhaps there are still people out there who write an online diary. Perhaps I am prejudiced, because I have recently read several articles related to Google ads earning money for blogs. Perhaps there are still people who blog for pleasure.

Google adwords support lead me to a site -- a blog -- which provided top tips for earning money from your blog...

The blog author began his blogging career by providing tips on photography -- but realised that people reading tips on photography would already own a camera. So he started another blog -- reviewing photographic devices. If there is a new camera (for example) about to be released -- he will write a review. Even if he knows nothing, he will write a review. And he will provide a link to Amazon, where readers can pre-order that camera -- and the blog author will get a commission.

There is no special interest in photography, no hope to improve the knowledge of readers, no desire to share information -- just an over-riding urge to make money. No original thought required -- just enough words to wrap around a link to a potential commission.

Did you happen to find this post by a search on "photography"? Or even on "Pentax K100"? Surprise me: follow the link, buy the camera, earn me a commission. Oh yes, I do own a Pentax K100. And, in my opinion -- it's a very good camera. So there.

The PissWeakly Ethos

I write for fun. I write about books that I have read because I wanted to read that book. I hope that someone out there enjoys -- or at least reads -- what I write. It would be nice to make money. But I do not post articles solely to make money. It's all my opinions and I try to keep my opinions honest. If I don't like a book -- I will say so... and still provide a link to Amazon. After all, whether I like it or not, you may still want to buy it.

Enough ranting (I have a separate blog for that).

If you want to read a book about the origins of the blogging business, read Who let the blogs out? It's not a bad book and it's very easy to read. I just found that I was not particularly interested in the topic.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Garmin Oregon 550 / GPS

Garmin Oregon 550

category: handheld GPS, by:

Garmin

we bought a new GPS unit, in June 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10

We bought a new GPS -- global positioning system -- unit, to replace our aging Garmin eTrex. This is what we wanted... with the most important at the top of the list:

• Essential: a GPS to allow us to do "paperless geocaching". Our old eTrex does not support paperless geocaching.
  
• Essential: A GPS unit to guide us on "GPS walks". See, for example, Walk GPS. The eTrex is adequate for this.
  
• Nice to have: Street navigation -- largely to support our geocaching. We could use street navigation to drive as close as possible to a geocache.
  
• Nice to have: Guidance (minor roads, contours, etc) on 4WD treks would be useful.
  

First impressions of the Oregon

Terrific!

Let me qualify that: The device itself is terrific. The software is quite good but takes a while to understand. The user manuals are absolutely awful...

I spent many hours, sweating over PC and GPS, working my way through the basics. Some of it was absolutely dead simple -- once I figured out what to do. Perhaps it's the really simple stuff which is not adequately explained? Worse yet, you need to use several systems -- as well as the GPS. And, often, there are many alternatives -- with no explanation of which is best.

The Garmin manuals are awful. But most of the problems are not due to Garmin.

The essentials of paperless geocaching require the extraction of geocache data from the geocaching website, via the PC, to the GPS. Instructions on the geocaching website are weak, not helped by the requirement to be all things to all users. The Garmin instructions would benefit from an explanation of the essential approach to GPS files. In between -- are dozens of alternate pieces of software.

On the Garmin website, at least one set of instructions does not work as written -- on the steps which use Google Earth. The instructions are for overlaying a personal map on the GPS map -- not an essential for what we do. Everything else on the GPS (that I have tried so far) works fine -- once the initial understanding has been gained.

We have taken the GPS out for some paperless geocaching. It worked brilliantly! We learnt that street maps and street navigation would be really useful. We learnt how easily we -- the GPS users -- can forget some simple yet essential steps. Next outing will be even better:-)

Our first impressions are, that the Oregon is brilliant and that it does all that we hoped -- and it will do even more. Technically, it picks up satellite signals far quicker than the eTrex. It picks up signals where the eTrex could not. And the software offers features -- and ease of use -- that are way ahead of the eTrex.

Satisfied? You bet! Still learning? Definitely.

But how much does it cost?

You buy a GPS... but there are always extras. Here is what we bought, or are about to buy. With costs -- but note the explanation that follows the costs.

In my opinion -- the list provides an almost complete set of gear for effective paperless caching. You can skip the last item and you may want to add a TOPO map for your area (rrp $229 for my area). Apart from that, I suggest that you also carry a pen or pencil -- and a pocket-sized notebook, just in case:-)

Garmin code	item + comment	rrp in AUD
	Garmin Oregon 550 ... the GPS unit	$649
010-10850-20	hard carrying case ... intended use is for travelling, if the GPS travels in a suitcase	$45
010-10851-11	vehicle power cable ... saves GPS battery power while using the GPS in a car	$39
010-11-31-00	marine/cart mount ... for permanent fixing in our 4WD; the standard "car mount" uses a less secure suction cup	$39
	four spare NiMH rechargeable batteries ... for those days when there is just no mains power	$30
	8GB SanDisk MicroSD card ... to store the extra City Navigator maps (wrong! see *note*)	$50
010-11388-00	City Navigator maps on CD ... plus postage ... will need to be loaded onto the MicroSD card (wrong! see *note*); the CD version comes with extra route planning software for the PC	$195 $15
010-10997-02	premium heart rate monitor ... well, why not...	$89
	Total cost	$1,151

Explanation of costs:

All the costs are rrp (recommended retail price) in AUD (Australian dollars), direct from the Garmin website -- as at June 2010. Check the site to see if the rrp's have changed.

Various shops and websites offered various prices. We went with the "local" shop where our loyalty card gets us a 10% discount on rrp, for every purchase.

*note* (July 2010)

As I understood it -- and this is my own faulty assumption -- I thought that the CD version of the maps would be loaded onto a MicroSD card. As it turned out, the City Navigator maps simply loaded "somewhere" onto the inbuilt storage. How certain am I of this? Well...

One day, I collected a trojan virus from an internet site. I cleared the virus from my PC -- but it has copied onto the Garmin MicroSD card. Windows Explorer struggled to read the card, I gave up waiting and removed the card from the Garmin. The Garmin -- and its maps -- still run fine.

Since then I have found just one possibly useful use for a MicroSD card -- I could store my taken-by-the-GPS photos there. Meanwhile, I have decided that the GPS is fine for a single "locating" photo but I prefer to use a "real" camera for the "real" photos. That's just my preference.

I still have plenty of available photo space on "fixed" GPS storage. The MicroSD card is locked away, possibly forever. As it turns out, I should not have bought it.

So subtract $50 from the total cost to get a good GPS setup for geocaching.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Tin Drum / Gunter Grass

The Tin Drum

category: fiction / fantasy / "magic realism", author:
book 1 of Danzig Trilogy

Gunter Grass

translated by Ralph Manheim
published by Everyman's Library, original copyright 1959, read in May 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 5 out of 10

A couple of weeks ago I was discussing my PissWeakly rating system with a friend. "What do you do," he asked, "If public opinion is that the book is 'good' -- but you don't like it?" "No worries," I replied. "The rating is Agamedes' opinion. I rate it as I like it."

Here is a good test of the system...

The Tin Drum is, I suspect, a classic. You know, a book that everyone has heard of but no-one has read. There is also an expectation that a classic has survived because -- in general literary opinion -- it is "a good book". Perhaps the inside cover blurb explains why this book is a classic:

THE TIN DRUM presents Hitler's rise and fall through the eyes of the dwarfish narrator whose magic powers become symbolic of the dark forces dominating the German nation in that period."

Oh, so that's what it's about!

And there I was, thinking that Drum was about a weird little kid who became a weird little adult, without going through the standard phase of "growing up". The book is written by Oskar -- the weird kid -- as an adult. He tells of his birth, growing older, deciding(!) to not grow any larger. He's anti-social, extremely self-centred and very bad with relationships. When he refers to his current life -- as an adult, living in a lunatic asylum -- he is still anti-social, extremely self-centred and very bad with relationships.

Oskar does claim to suffer from guilt, from two incidents. He suffers guilt for killing his mother, though as I understand it, he didn't. He feels guilt for allowing his (Oskar's) self-centred demands to cause his father to be killed; he did. Oskar could have saved his father from death; he didn't. Oskar is an all-round nasty person who causes grief to everyone around him.

If that is "symbolic of the dark forces..." then it does not make for an enjoyable book.

If Oskar is indeed "symbolic of the dark forces" -- then perhaps the symbolism needs to be explained more clearly.

The Tin Drum is a book for readers who like to relive the past. For people who like to read a new view of incidents with which they are already familiar. I did read about Danzig -- where the story is set -- in Wikipedia. Which did make some sense of what was happening as a backdrop to Oskar's own story. But so what?!

The book just goes on and on... and on... and on... with mean-spirited and petty actions by a nasty person. If you're interested in the characters of peasants and shop-keepers of pre-WWII Danzig -- read this book. Actually -- I did find that quite interesting. But it was spoilt by the pointless nastiness of the narrator. And -- I must admit -- I have no great interest in events in Danzig, during Hitler's rise and fall.

Back to "Agamedes' opinion"

I originally rated this at "6: read to pass the time". Then I remembered how hard it was to read this book! So, no, do not pick up The Tin Drum with the idea of a passing a few hours with a readable book. It was readable enough at first, then just clagged up my mind. Too much of the same, too little of interest.

I managed to read as far as page 278 -- almost exactly half way -- before I gave up. "My wife said, "Are you just skipping to the end, to see what happens?" No... It's worse than that.

I read half the book, then stopped. And I have no interest whatsoever, in finding out how it ends... There is no character, no plot, no idea which is worth following. The book is a series of incidents leading forward -- but to no place that I am interested in reaching.

And finally: Did you notice that the narrator has "magic powers"? The blurb says so and it's true. Which makes it difficult for me to categorise.

Grass is, apparently, "an early advocate of 'magic realism'". Does that mean that this book is a really boring fantasy? I don't have a category for "historic fiction", just "fiction". This book is a bit more than just "fiction". So I categorise Drum as both fiction and fantasy. Just don't confuse this book with escapist fantasy...

This book is a classic. Read it, if you are interested in deep and dark symbolism. If you believe that you would rather enjoy reading an historic classic -- read any book by Dickens. If you would like to enjoy a book about a dwarf and translated from German -- try The Dwarves. Read Drum only if you are interested in a complex and long-winded...

Ah, forget it.

And for goodness sake, Stop humming Little Drummer Boy -- it has nothing at all to do with this book!

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

The Vicomte in the Kitchen: Brown Snaps

Brown Snaps aka Ginger Nuts

category: recipe, from The Vicomte in the Kitchen, a cookbook by:

Vicomte de Mauduit

published by James Clarke & Co, original copyright 1933

Agamedes' opinion: 7 out of 10... simple & tasty

This cookbook is one of my favourites. Recipes with simple -- obscure -- directions. For meals which, quite often, I have never heard of. Some... I can't even imagine what the finished meal should look like!

Brown snaps, though... are ginger nuts. I know what the packet version looks like. I have successfully cooked the Vicomte's brown snaps. Here's what you need:

• 1 1/2 lb flour, 1/2 lb butter, 3/4 lb treacle, 3/4 lb sugar, 1 oz cinnamon, 1 1/2 teaspoonfuls ground ginger.

Some of the world has now converted to metric... I tried to do the conversions in my head. Then I realised, I only want to make a small number of these biscuits.

Did I mention, brown snaps are biscuits?

First, though, I spread butter over a baking tray and turned the oven on. 180 degrees C, fan forced.

I put a mixing bowl on the electronic scales and reset the display to zero. Added enough flour to look about right, for the quantity of biscuits I was after. Added a fraction more, up to 180 grams... Other ingredients would go in, in proportion to the flour. So:

• One and a half pounds of flour. That's three half pounds... Call that, "3" of flour. Plain flour or self-raising? I think it was plain, the label has fallen off our container. I had weighed out 180 grams.
  
• "1" of butter. That is, if flour is 3, butter is just 1, or one third the weight. 60 grams. Straight from the fridge, so I softened it in the microwave.
  
• Three quarters of a pound is half of one and a half pounds. "1.5" of treacle -- 90 grams -- surprisingly heavy for its volume. By the way, if you think that treacle is just like golden syrup -- you'll get a nasty surprise if you lick up the excess treacle!
  
• 3/4 lb sugar. "1.5", 90 grams of sugar. White sugar? Some ginger nut recipes use syrup and brown sugar -- which would probably average out to the same flavour as treacle and white sugar.
  
• 1 oz -- one ounce -- cinnamon? My proportion method failed, I added a scoop, plus a bit...
  
• ... and the same rough quantity, more or less, of ground ginger. All very inexact.
  

Cooking involves some science -- and a lot of art. If the quantities are wrong -- adjust for the next time!

I put everything in the one bowl -- and mixed.

After a while, I mixed by hand. So much more effective!

The instructions from the Vicomte read, "Bake lightly, and take out of the oven while still soft." That's it, that's all. No mix instructions, no shaping, no temperature, no time. Typical of the Vicomte!

I rolled up balls of biscuit mix, perhaps the size of a walnut. Possible lesson from another recipe: put the mix in the fridge to cool, before shaping into biscuits. I'll try that, next time. I may also try to make the biscuit mix balls into a more standard size...

Roll, flatten, place on greased tray. Roll, flatten, place. Roll, flatten... you get the idea...

Our oven has a light which is permanently on. I could see the biscuits. They did seem to be cooking.

After about twelve minutes -- after taking in some washing and picking some fruit -- I decided that the biscuits were cooked. Took them out, tasted, decided -- cooked.

A nice simple recipe. Quick and easy (if you already have the treacle and other ingredients!). The biscuits are nice. And I think they could be even nicer, with a bit of practice.

A successful recipe from The Vicomte in the Kitchen

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

Warlord: The Hammer / SM Stirling & David Drake

Warlord: The Hammer

category: science fiction / military, author:

SM Stirling & David Drake

book 2 of The General
published by Baen, original copyright 1992, read in May 2010

Agamedes' opinion: 6 out of 10

The Hammer is the second book of the five-book General series. Why is the heading above, Warlord: The Hammer? Because the first two books of General are published in one volume. And if you'd like me to explain that all again... see Warlord: The Forge.

In Hammer, Drake & Stirling continue the bloodthirsty, death and glory battles by tough fighting, hard drinking & hard wenching soldiers with loyalty and heroism bursting out of their bulging biceps. Does that sound a bit negative? Well -- I enjoyed this book but perhaps I should have waited a few months longer before reading.

How many dead bodies can you handle in a month? This book is absolutely drenched in blood and guts. Strangely enough, the good guys barely get scratched... In this book, the hero's battle tactics are unbelievably successful.

I guess that, where book one had the hero learning to win battles, book two has him get so popular that he could become political leader by acclamation. The first book's Pyrrhic victory demonstrated tactical skills but lost a lot of popular support... well, his supporters in the army are mostly killed. In the second book the hero, Raj, keeps his army largely intact... which gives him a good, solid... live... "voter base". So, okay, unbelievable but plotworthy.

In The Hammer we are also given a clearer picture of the long term goals of Raj and his computer mentor. Having a long-term view -- plus support from a computer which predicts the probable outcome of choices -- also provides a different view of the hero's choices...

Traditionally, a hero makes choices based on his objectives and his ethical stance. You know: good guy sacrifices self for greater good (or for the girl), tough guy is willing to sacrifice others, anti-hero acts for himself... and the reader can follow the choices but may or may not support them. Well, Raj is a good guy with a long-term view -- and a computer giving the odds. Whatever choices Raj makes, he "knows" the outcome. Or, at least, he knows the outcome of the alternatives.

So we, the readers, have an explanation of his reasoning. We know why Raj chooses certain actions. We can see what would happen if he chose another option. And we have no excuse for wondering why he made his choices... Which can be a bit boring, really.

The Hammer is non-stop military action, loads of blood and guts, some humour. That characters are ridiculously loyal -- or obviously disloyal. Bigger battles but less doubt of the outcome...

An enjoyable book -- I will definitely look for the follow-on books -- but perhaps I will wait a while. There's a limit to how much of this over the top military heroism I can take...

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.