Sleepless Nights

Author: Veronica

  • The state of the Midland Highway

    A lot has been said about the state of the Midland Highway and the recent roadworks at Constitution Hill. What I haven’t seen however, have been pictures of the giant mess that has been left behind by the contracted workers.

    We drove down the Midland Highway yesterday, like we do most days of the week. Only this time, I had my camera at the ready and I took photos of the mess.

    (Sorry about the quality of some of them, they were taken from a moving car.)

    Now for my Mainland and International readers, the Midland Highway is the main highway connecting the north and south of the state together. There have been a lot of deaths on the road this year and the politicians are wondering why? This is why.

    ***

    The shiny patches you can see here collect black ice in the winter. This is the start of the brand new piece of road put in in the last few months.

    Midlands Highway 001

    Something to keep firmly in mind as you drive down Constitution Hill.

    Midlands Highway 002

    On the left hand side, you can see a strip of road that is newer than the rest. This particular piece was replaced 4 times by my count and that is only what I saw being done. Every time it rained, the side of the road washed away.

    Midlands Highway 006

    A closer look at the patching that’s been done along the left hand side. The patching has been done with the ‘slick and smooth’ bitumen, making driving on this particular patch in the rain/ice a nightmare.

    Midlands Highway 007

    More patches. Remember, this is BRAND NEW road you’re looking at.

    Midlands Highway 012

    The intersection. This bit has been done and redone and then done again. It’s still patchy.

    Midlands Highway 016

    The change to extremely smooth bitumen happens on the worst possible part of the road. This corner collects black ice in winter and some days, it never defrosts entirely. A few years back, four student nurses were killed here in this exact spot. If I’d been using a wide angle lens, you probably would have been able to see the flowers placed by their family in this photo, just ahead of the truck.

    Midlands Highway 018

    Yet more patches. These ones are falling apart already.

    Midlands Highway 020

    It doesn’t take long for the patches to fall apart. You can see this happening here.

    Midlands Highway 025

    Midlands Highway 026

    Midlands Highway 033

    The intersection at Bagdad is a mess of patches. In the rain, the water sits on the road here and you have to guess at where your lines sit.

    Midlands Highway 039

    I took some more photos as we were coming home. These next few are taken while heading North along the Midland Highway.

    Brand new road? Does it look like it?

    Midlands Highway 057

    Near Kempton, the road degenerates into a mess of potholes, which the Council fixes by turning into lumps instead.

    Midlands Highway 060

    Midlands Highway 067

    Just past Kempton here.

    Midlands Highway 079

    ***

    You can’t deny that our Highway is a total mess, yet our Politicians keep doing just that. It’s not safe to drive on in good weather and when it rains or is icy, the road is positively deadly.

    A lot of people have been complaining about the Midland Highway. This is why.

  • Australian Women

    All Australian women should read this post and think about it.

    That is all from me right now.

  • The Wedding

    The wedding went very well, even though Nathan’s poor brother looked as white as a ghost waiting for his bride to arrive. When she did, she looked beautiful and 45 minutes later (with bored children running riot in our pew, but that’s all over and done with now) they were pronounced husband and wife and we all cheered.

    The cake was a huge success, with the bride declaring she wasn’t sure she wanted to share it. I know there was a fair bit left over afterwards and according to an email first thing this morning, she was planning on having cake for breakfast. I call that a success.

    I’ve gotten permission to share photos here, so I’m pleased.

    Congratulations Adam and Charlene! Nathan and I wish you every happiness!

    At the Altar

    Wedding Party

    Kissing the bride afterwards

    The cake!

    My men.

  • Gluten Free Pizza from Dominos – but it may contain traces of gluten.

    So, Domino’s Pizza Australia is doing a range of gluten free pizzas now.

    Which is great, it truly is. I was over the moon when I heard, knowing that some days, I would just really like to be able to buy a pizza, without all the hassle of making my own bases.

    I did a quick search, to see if it really was true, or if it was a rumour and no, definitely truth.

    Inevitably I wondered at the price of gluten free bases and so clicked over to the Domino’s website to check out the pricing on gluten free bases.

    Only to find this when I moused over the gluten free base selection.

    Gluten Free Base* Although all due care is taken with your order, your meal may contain traces of gluten. Please note your pizza topping selection may not be gluten free.

    I was struck dumb, before starting to swear and curse just a little.

    What use is a gluten free pizza, if it isn’t actually gluten free? I am not taking objection to the possibility of some of the topping choices not being gluten free. I know to avoid those. However, there are 13 toppings advertised as being GF choices.

    And if it were just the toppings that were not gluten free, wouldn’t it only mention toppings? Not this line about ‘Although all due care is taken…’

    So, Dear Domino’s,

    Did you know in Australia, to declare something GLUTEN FREE, it needs to actually be, GLUTEN FREE?

    It is illegal in Australia, to call something gluten free, if there is a chance it may contain traces of gluten. ILLEGAL.

    False advertising all around and I am fuming.

    Now, if I hadn’t researched, if I’d just gone down to the local pizza shop and bought a pizza that is declared GLUTEN FREE and endorsed by the Coeliac Society of Australia, then there is a good possibility that your pizza would have made my little girl very ill.

    When she has gluten, it damages her intestines. She gets stomach pain and diarrhoea. Her behaviour deteriorates and she can’t control her moods or her body properly. She can’t absorb any nutrients from her gluten free diet and she loses weight, all because of a little bit of gluten.

    It takes her gut THREE WEEKS to heal. Three weeks of a very sick little girl, all because something that should have been gluten free was contaminated with trace amounts of gluten.

    It’s not good enough Domino’s, not good enough at all.

    And to the Coeliac Society of Australia, I think your research was flawed and for you to be endorsing a product that isn’t actually gluten free disappoints me.

    Edited to add:

    I have spoken to the Coeliacs Society of Australia and they want to make it very clear that they are only endorsing the BASES of Domino’s gluten free pizza’s. The bases are made elsewhere and are certified gluten free.

    Forgive me for thinking this, but when you say gluten free pizza, I imagine a base with tomato and toppings and cheese on top. Not just a baked base. Yes, the base might be gluten free when it leaves the factory, but it doesn’t stay that way if it is then contaminated with gluten while in the Domino’s store. And Dominos even says itself that they have 13 different gluten free toppings – so why aren’t they endorsed too? Oh wait, that’s right, because they can’t guarantee the gluten free status of them.

    I am so so angry.

    **

    Edited to add – I left this in the comments, but thought it would probably be better up here.

    The Laws –

    16 Claims in relation to gluten content of food
    (1) Claims in relation to the gluten content of food are prohibited unless expressly
    permitted by this Code.

    (2) A claim to the effect that a food is gluten free must not be made in relation to a food
    unless the food contains –
    (a) no detectable gluten; and
    (b) no –
    (i) oats or their products; or
    (ii) cereals containing gluten that have been malted, or their products.

    From here – http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/_srcfiles/ACF2A90.pdf Page 15 of the PDF file. From Food Standards Australia and New Zealand

    ***

    I am unsticking this post, not because Domino’s has addressed my concerns (form letter – not good enough) but because the tone of the comments is getting nasty and I’m not quite prepared to deal with much more personal nastiness. That said, comments will remain open and I will continue discussions with Domino’s, The ACCC and Food Standards Australia in regards to the illegal labelling.

  • Top 50 Australian Women Bloggers

    I know this has been done before, but…

    There are plenty of Australian Women Bloggers out there in the blogosphere and what better way to bring everyone together than a list?

    Technorati has recently undergone a huge makover, meaning that rankings have changed as well as Authority. In order to do this list, I used Technorati and Alexa ranks to work out who sits where.

    Formula: 3X Australian Alexa + Technorati Rank + Global Alexa\5 =

    If you think I’ve made a terrible mistake, please, email me and give me your URL and site name. I may have missed you.

    In order to be included, you need to have both a valid Technorati Authority and Rank as well as an Australian Alexa ranking.

    I’m thinking about updating this every 3 months, what do you think?

    [table id=1 /]