| We all wondered why Bernard hadn't posted his MSQ tips in the past months something he'd only missed a couple of times in the 5 years it has been running and in his own words he'd forgot. Bern at 68 years of age was still working full time with the ANZ bank card security division. In the week following his last post of tips on the MSQ he collapsed at work and was rushed to Melbourne's Alfred Hospital. He spent several weeks in there recovering from fluid on the lungs. His future prognosis was not good as scans of his lungs showed the dreaded black spots for stage 4 cancer and he had several clogged arteries. He was well enough to go back home but had the task of moving out as settlement was due on Possum Lodge which he had sold 3 months earlier so the timing of his illness was not great. He had arranged to move next door as the owners were overseas for 6 months whilst he looked around. He had also just entered into buying a share of a horse about to arrive from the UK "Rockabill" with Australian Bloodstock. The weekend he moved next door the Saturday morning he couldn't get out of bed and again was taken to hospital in Ballarat. Here he was given 24 - 48 hours to live something Bernard already knew and had accepted his fate not sad as he said he had enjoyed a wonderful life according to his friend Paul who saw him on the Sunday night 8 hours before his passing. Bernard asked Paul to spread his ashes at Flemington, Caulfield and the Ballarat Dog track. At Bern's funeral in his eulogy by his only son Ben, he told how Bern was adopted at a young age from an orphanage by the Duffy's. His wife Maxine died from cancer at an early stage and Bern brought up his son by himself. He travelled around Victoria and Southern NSW managing retail furniture stores "Pattersons". When Pattersons went in hard times Bern bought in and they were renamed Duffy - Pattersons only to eventually go under. Then Bern moved onto Safeway Supermarkets and Ben told the story of Bernard chasing down an indigenous (aboriginal) shop lifter only for the story to make the local news that night to make out Bern and Safeway were the villains. Safeway management got word of it and Bern was shown the door. His next move was to buy Possum Lodge in Ballan work for ANZ and hobby train greyhounds where his story ends. Now to borrow a bit of Ron's work a sort of Ode to Bernard's G-Data experience. A BIT OF A DUFFER No. 1 OUR BERNARD JOHN I first got to know Bernard through the talk section here on G-data in 2012 when I first joined and started to post. A thread started in the talk section Ex Battery Hens by Yvonne Herrington a renowned Greyhound photographer from Ireland asking for people to adopt caged chooks to give them the taste of life as a free ranger. The thread soon got taken over by us Aussie larrikins with nothing to do with chooks but talking bullshit with each other and what have you been up too lately and the thread is still going strong today. Bernard was a regular contributor but one feels his posts were more of a serious nature and sometimes they were off the beaten track ie: hard to understand. In the early days Bern was training "La Porsche" AKA "Bart the Brindle" so he would keep us up to date with Bart's every move. It was through Bart I got to meet Bern personally when he raced him at my local track Sandown Park. We first met in March 2013 in the outside bar one Sunday arvo as Bart was racing there as Bern liked to suck on the odd B&H or two. I did jokingly say they'll be the death of you one day Bernard. We caught up several more times over the years at Sandown and The Meadows when Bern had a dog running or was assisting his good mate Wayne with the Why Not dogs. We can never forget when Bern was having trouble with Bart jumping from the boxes and he went out a bought a starting box to train him up at the lodge, it didn't fix the problem so Bern quickly re advertised it and sold it at a profit. Bernard loved flogging stuff through his ebay store Duffy's Bazzar just old cd's, dvd's and comics, I know I troweled through it one day basically old junk he'd collected when he said I could choose anything for winning one of his AFL footy comps on here. Bern was never one to be politically correct ie: his dealing with indigenous shop lifters in that his much talked about White Citreon Berlingo Van had painted on the side Possum Lodge Greyhound training Complex. Wouldn't the anti's have loved that slogan it looked as if Bern was harvesting Possums to train his dogs, thank god Bern blew the motor up on the Western Highway as it could of been targeted during the dog crisis. It's with this same van he lost his licence for accumulating too many speeding points where he vented his anger with the system on here. He had to relinquish the training duties of Bart for 3 months. Then one night watching the Vaal South Africa horse races on the big screen at Sandown upstairs on the couches Bern comes out with "gee that little Sambo just slaughtered that horse" I nearly just about brought back up the swig of beer I had just taken. One night on those very couches Bern tried chatting up the leggy blonde "Kirstan" who parades the Melbourne Cup every year, she's well under half Bern's age. The Thread Brenard's Gee Gees kept us all entertained first with him calling Anthony Cummings on Clinkings chances then the pair at Olivers Psychedelic Furs and Unshackled. All horses ventured to be no good but not to be out done Bern had one more fling to high five on the Members lawn at Flemington with his latest foray "Rockabill" which he'll sadly have to watch from above. One thing about Bernard was he was forever changing his mind . I was always changing his CofA logo on here. I think I did it five times and ended up giving up and told him no more. Who can forgot that blasted Squirrel period and the Top Cat era he went through and his YouTube links he repeated time and time again, that bloody Chicken song, Ferris Buller's "Somebody" and Sienfeld's "The Mother was a Mudder". In signing off I had a look at Dali's inspired work brought on by Bernard when he came on here looking for ideas for a new BBQ area out back of Possum Lodge he wanted built. I just knew he wanted me to come on and present him with something in a colorful way he roped me in twice because he loved the concept I'd come up with. The 2 Ballan Chronicles reprinted follow: No 1. Bern wanted a Harry Bellafonte inspired seen, seeming Harry was from New York and not the Carribean I chose a New York alley way and it just happened to be his Top Cat stage Bern was going through:
EXTERNAL LINK
No 2. Bernard now wanted ideas on a horse stable theme I was the only sucker to reply:
EXTERNAL LINK Farewell Bern great knowing you on a weekend where your beloved Tigers saluted again with the Premiership in 2019. Macwollie or as you used to call me Macwoolie.
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