This is me.

[Joe Mama]

There was an article about me in The Age today, on Page 6 and written by Martin Flanagan and although the link to it doesn't seem to work, I know that this will

http://www.theage.com.au/features/index.html

Look under the heading "Here, cows like old-time music", it says all you need to know about me, and i'm pleased that Martin did such a great job.

 

[Lethal]

Ill just paste what I said on the Regional board here.



Good article. I've been on a few farms recently and know how tough you guys are doing it.
Wayde, even if you get some substantial rain soon, how much longer would it take for things to turn around?
Good luck. I hope things do turn around for you. And everyone else on the land for that matter.

 

[Joe Mama]

Originally posted by Lethal
Ill just paste what I said on the Regional board here.



Good article. I've been on a few farms recently and know how tough you guys are doing it.
Wayde, even if you get some substantial rain soon, how much longer would it take for things to turn around?
Good luck. I hope things do turn around for you. And everyone else on the land for that matter.

Thank you Lethal, as far as the rain goes, even though most meteorological sources say that this drought will break this Autumn, most Dairy Farmers, Orchardists and Tomato Growers seem to think otherwise.

In reply to your question, it would take around 3 weeks after a substancial dump of rain for pasture growth to be at its optimal level, and that's why I hope that it breaks in the next month of so because we get severe frosts here in winter, which stymies plant growth, so i'm hoping that we get this rain soon whilst the climate's still pleasant, but as each day passes, more more dire my situation gets.

 

[Richmondfan#1]

Great read, you sound like a great ocker guy Wayde. Good on ya mate.

 

[lioness]

Thanks for posting that Wayde, it was a great read. I've never lived on a farm or anything but did spend a big part of my life in the country and well, let's just hope things get a little better soon. And good luck to you and your family you sound like real nice people.

 

[Katthawk]

Good story, Martin Flanagan has always been one of my favourite writers.

Keep telling us how things are going. Us city folks can never have too much information.

 

[red+black]

good one mate

 

[carn_the_nmfc]

On ya Wayde.

 

[skilts]

You must be stoked Wayde. Great article by an excellent journo. Articles like this one restore some faith in the profession. What a pity Flanagan is in such a small minority of quality writers for newspapers.

That autism thingy is a bitch. Mate of mine had it and it took them about twenty years to diagnose. You may have heard of him, Lindsay Weekes. He now works with Autism Victoria. One of the most startlingly intelligent people I've ever met. Seemingly this is not uncommon for people with the condition, even though some drongos assert that the people with autism are dumb. I love that saying which seems to encapsulate autism so well, "Oops, wrong planet."

Your family sounds like they have the innate ability to overcome any setbacks, but even you lot must be having your patience tested. You can be sure of one thing, we here in the city, especially posters on BF are thinking of you.

Rain, you bastard!

Shakes fist at sky.

 

[Mooster7]

Got Milk?

 

[sandeano]

That was a great read Wayde. Best of luck to you and everyone else in the caper, currently doing it tough.

Yep, Flanagan is one of the great writers. He makes note of your economical use of the word 'sad'. Flanagan has always had the ability to convey so darn much in as few words as possible and never resorts to melodramatics or hyperbole. He respects the subject and the reader.

Top article.

I work with a number of people with varying degrees of autism. From being fastidious with folding up their underwear to needing to touh a certain chair as they pass through a room, the condition manifests itself in a number of ways. Perhaps the only constant is their dislike of being touched or maintaining eye contact. Now granted, all of those I work with also suffer from intellectual disabilites of some sort yet anyone who immediately equates autism with stupidity has no idea about the condition.

 

[Joe Mama]

I hear what you're saying sandeano, I know that quite a few people in Murchison thought I was a bit clueless until the Tennis Club hosted a trivia night a few months ago, where I won by the length of the straight, I showed them HAHA!.

But, back to the farm, and my feelings about the Rural Finace Corporation (who's head office is on Collins St, go figure ), cannot be expressed without being deleted by the moderator,

Before I start my rant, my dad applied for an interest subsidy as part of the State Government's drought package, we've already recieved our $20,000 grant (which was processed in Shepparton, so they know how bad it is up here), which we spent on feed for our animals, so our confidence was high when we applied for this (even though it was going to be processed in Melbourne),

A few months later, we (finally) got word from the RFC saying that we've been denied an interest subsidy (which the bank was sweating on because they were prepared to loan us $40,000 for the sole purpose of buying scarse feed), because we took out our life savings, in order to buy feed (which hundreds, possibly thousands of families have done in order to fight another day), the bloke who rang us up, (who to his credit was polite throughout), and because we've done this, they think that we're covered enough to survive for the next year (there not going to be a next year if some middle class mollycoddled fcukwit, sitting in in his Collins St Ivory tower, screws a family such as ours to the wall, by using lame reasons such as gambling with our own chips to save our own arse, in order to keep himself in his cushy little job, where he can get the satisfaction of sending a bunch of inbred hicks broke).

Well sorry fellas, that money's already gone, and the stupid thing about this is that if we just put out the begging bowl without putting any of our own capital, we would've got this assistance as well, the more I think about it the more you try to help yourself, the more arseholes such as the RFC want to kick you in the arse.

And how in the hell can we qualify for the $20,000 grant but not qualify for the interest subsidy, using virtually the same criteria ?.

When I told our bank manager about this (who's been brilliant throughout this time) and the local rep. from the RFC, they were shocked, they thought that if we couldn't qualify for this, than virually no-one would.

And what ****es me off is that they think that we've got nothing better to do than to fill out bloody forms so we can keep a bunch of useless beaurocrats in a job.

So, as with most things, it's the luck of the draw, and we're going re-apply for this again, and it's getting to the extent that if we don't get this, we may as well go on the dole and be a more permanent drain on the economy, rather than a group that keeps 6-8 other people in a job through inter-linked industries.

I'm sure that everyone of you has a tale about having to deal with beaurocrats, that's just as frustrating as ours, and I know that we're not unique in this case.

My rant is over, and now i've got to have a bex and a good lie down.

 

[Joe Mama]

I forgot to add this, the bank has loaned us $20,000 and will give an extra $20,000 when we hopefully get this interest subsidy.

And, it's no debt that sending dairy farmers in the Goulburnn Valley broke, it's huge expenses in operating costs, the worsening drought, plus a 30% reduction in milk prices due to dumping by the USA and the EU, all adding up to a big problem heaped on us when we're already in a weak situation.

I hope that clears it up a little bit, and I don't want to sound like i'm whinging but it really upsets me that the fate of thousands of families and entire towns and industries are dependant on a bunch of ill infomed, ignorant office workers in Melbourne's CBD.

 

[evade28]

my cousin has autism (omg i am starting to sound like someone else here) but anyway, yer it annoys me too that ppl think theyre dumb just bcos of that. more like they can concentrate easier on certain things hence why a lot of them are very smart.