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[darkelf9]

Aternoon all,

Well it has cooled off in Melbourne town plus we got some rain. The temp's will slowly get warmer by Monday but is has been chilly the last few days.

The brickies working next door must have frozen their butts off the last few days, since they start before 7 am. Who needs an alarm clock when you have tradies and trucks waking you up before 7 am every day. The brick wall has gone up so just waiting for the remainder of the fence to be closed off. Actually with the new brick garage wall I'll end up with more privacy down that side of the house boundary.

I wonder if the US tradition of pardoning the Turkey now takes on a different meaning. Lots of commentary on the resurgence of IS due to Rump's decision. The US military on the ground must be so pissed off given the effort it took to stabilize that part of Syria not to mention the millions of US dollars spent to do that. Rump will do anything to switch focus on his personal circumstances. Is it a coincidence that this is happening just as impeachment proceedings are ramping up? Politicians playing with peoples lives once again and wasting tax payer dollars.

Was surprised to get info from the utility companies regarding lower costs of energy plans. Usually you would be suspicious of this so I did some research and discovered that yep I will lose something but overall it would be cheaper to switch. Not saving a lot when you spread it out over 12 months, but it would pay for a bottle of 21 yr old single malt scotch which isn't too bad. The real question with these new utility plans is how much will the plans increase after the 2 yr plan finishes? Might have to go thru this every two years which would be a pain. Other things in life to do. What should happen is that the price reduction should be automatic rather the customer having to continually review new utility plans. These companies make increases at will without asking customers so why should we need to initiate the decision to get a price reduction?

The fire that wiped out so many homes in Rappville NSW is tragic and it could of been deliberately lit. Those that did it should have to face those people that lost everything.

The women's cricket team were just too powerful for the opposition. They continue to show the men's team the way.

Hope the weekend is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well Mr Potato Head vs Poo Bear. Wonder what Tigger will think, oh wait Tigger was hunted down and his penis was ground up for Chinese medicine. And I thought Tigger was Poo's friend. Just goes to show power is all consuming.

So Rump's green light to Turkey is now turning to red after the decision has got shit on his shoe. Quite easy to make decisions if they don't impact you, unless they do in which case saving your own arse is the main priority. Meanwhile people are dead and dying. So much for a distraction from impeachment.

Did my second medical test yesterday. Didn't cost as much as was originally quoted. Actually got something back on Medicare, funny though the upfront cost was more. Anyway they didn't have the machine that goes "Ping" but it made all sorts of other noises. Was given ear plugs and had to be strapped in. My shoulders yet again were an issue. The test didn't last long though. Only had to stay still for half an hour this time. Did get a cup of coffee afterwards but it was lukewarm. Don't ask a medical person to make you a cup of coffee, it's never hot.

Decided I would treat myself to a pub lunch which I don't normally do these days. Even tried their version of a banana split but it wasn't quite right. The best banana split I had was in London at the Hard Rock Café. It was so big people were taking pictures of it. Might have to make one myself and show the current generation what one actually looks like.

Melbourne town is in for some rain over the next few days, which is ok since I don't need to go anywhere. The tradies next door might not be too happy though. One more medical test to go next week then I'm done hopefully for the rest of the year.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[missswannie]

Afternoon all,

Well Mr Potato Head vs Poo Bear. Wonder what Tigger will think, oh wait Tigger was hunted down and his penis was ground up for Chinese medicine. And I thought Tigger was Poo's friend. Just goes to show power is all consuming.

So Rump's green light to Turkey is now turning to red after the decision has got shit on his shoe. Quite easy to make decisions if they don't impact you, unless they do in which case saving your own arse is the main priority. Meanwhile people are dead and dying. So much for a distraction from impeachment.

Did my second medical test yesterday. Didn't cost as much as was originally quoted. Actually got something back on Medicare, funny though the upfront cost was more. Anyway they didn't have the machine that goes "Ping" but it made all sorts of other noises. Was given ear plugs and had to be strapped in. My shoulders yet again were an issue. The test didn't last long though. Only had to stay still for half an hour this time. Did get a cup of coffee afterwards but it was lukewarm. Don't ask a medical person to make you a cup of coffee, it's never hot.

Decided I would treat myself to a pub lunch which I don't normally do these days. Even tried their version of a banana split but it wasn't quite right. The best banana split I had was in London at the Hard Rock Café. It was so big people were taking pictures of it. Might have to make one myself and show the current generation what one actually looks like.

Melbourne town is in for some rain over the next few days, which is ok since I don't need to go anywhere. The tradies next door might not be too happy though. One more medical test to go next week then I'm done hopefully for the rest of the year.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

Hmmm, am in London this week and staying just around the corner from the Hard Rock. Might have to pop in for split now that you have put it in my head.

 

[darkelf9]

Hmmm, am in London this week and staying just around the corner from the Hard Rock. Might have to pop in for split now that you have put it in my head.

Hopefully it hasn't changed but that was a long time ago so given the recent state of the world economies the portion size might have got smaller.

So I guess you get the up close and personal stuff happening with Brexit. Seems the Irish are happier with the latest talks. Boris might actually pull this off.

Stay safe.

 

[darkelf9]

Just passing thru,

Just got off the phone with my internet and phone provider since they have changed my plan. Will cost me slightly more under the new internet plan but I saved on other parts of the bundle. So overall it will be cheaper. Even discovered that I get free mobile calls to anywhere in Aussie land which is a bonus given that one of my friends decided to get rid of their landline as part of a house reno. Was blown away at how little it also cost to phone OS plus I get a pensioner discount somehow.

Seems all the service providers are changing plans but as usual the details can catch you out. The only Aussie voice I heard was the pre-recorded terms and conditions bit.

The wind hasn't let up since yesterday afternoon. The chippies working on the house next door even had to stop work on the second storey for a few hours due the heavy rain and high winds. Not the type of weather you want to up a ladder manipulating house frames. However time is money so they were still at it till nearly 8pm.

Everything is quiet today so no early wakeup with nail guns and hammering plus the swearing when someone hurts themselves. Not to mention the crap taste in music. Even had a sleep in till mid morning.

The NSW racing industry is in damage mode. Now blaming the ABC. Seems people have been getting around the rules in NSW by sending their horses to Qld to be slaughtered. Kinda like the scandal of sending stuff from NSW waste disposal yards to Qld get around the laws in NSW.

Hope your weekend is good for you.

 

[missswannie]

Just passing thru,

Just got off the phone with my internet and phone provider since they have changed my plane. Will cost me slightly more under the new internet plan but I saved on other parts of the bundle. So overall it will be cheaper. Even discovered that I get free mobile calls to anywhere in Aussie land which is a bonus given that one of my friends decided to get rid of their landline as part of a house reno. Was blown away at how little it also cost to phone OS plus I get a pensioner discount somehow.

Seems all the service providers are changing plans but as usual the details can catch you out. The only Aussie voice I heard was the pre-recorded terms and conditions bit.

The wind hasn't let up since yesterday afternoon. The chippies working on the house next door even had to stop work on the second storey for a few hours due the heavy rain and high winds. Not the type of weather you want to up a ladder manipulating house frames. However time is money so they were still at it till nearly 8pm.

Everything is quiet today so no early wakeup with nail guns and hammering plus the swearing when someone hurts themselves. Not to mention the crap taste in music. Even had a sleep in till mid morning.

The NSW racing industry is in damage mode. Now blaming the ABC. Seems people have been getting around the rules in NSW by sending their horses to Qld to be slaughtered. Kinda like the scandal of sending stuff from NSW waste disposal yards to Qld get around the laws in NSW.

Hope your weekend is good for you.

Always give your number a call from a telstra phone or mobile after changing. The other providers tend to update the database but for some reason Telstra is a little reluctant to. Had an age and a day trying to work out why people were not calling but then discovered that they were getting a this number is disconnected message instead of going through. The only good thing was it caused the spam callers to adjust their database thinking it was a dead number, so they were clearly coming through via a Telstra interface.

Qantas has one flight completed from their Sunrise research flights. Airbus so far the only one to have a plane ready for it. I got off the London-Perth direct flight on Saturday in not bad shape, but that's the pointy end. That way seems to be ok, as it's a day-night-day flight. The other way is 18 hours of night. It is a time saver, yes, but the back of the bus seems like a horror show. I still think the one stop or more is the better way, as you can stretch your legs, have a shower etc.

We have one theme park with water slides over here that has decided to ban g-strings and Brazilian cut bikinis. Now if you took a walk along the beach here and did a mental calculation of the average you might find they are on the wrong side of at least the brazillian cut average. I can see the $100 sales of conservative swimsuits in the store there being their big profit item of the summer. I loved the guys who went down there and wore flouro budgie smugglers in a skimpy bum cut that met the charted coverage requirements. Well done fellas, solidarity with the ladies.

 

[darkelf9]

Always give your number a call from a telstra phone or mobile after changing. The other providers tend to update the database but for some reason Telstra is a little reluctant to. Had an age and a day trying to work out why people were not calling but then discovered that they were getting a this number is disconnected message instead of going through. The only good thing was it caused the spam callers to adjust their database thinking it was a dead number, so they were clearly coming through via a Telstra interface.

Qantas has one flight completed from their Sunrise research flights. Airbus so far the only one to have a plane ready for it. I got off the London-Perth direct flight on Saturday in not bad shape, but that's the pointy end. That way seems to be ok, as it's a day-night-day flight. The other way is 18 hours of night. It is a time saver, yes, but the back of the bus seems like a horror show. I still think the one stop or more is the better way, as you can stretch your legs, have a shower etc.

We have one theme park with water slides over here that has decided to ban g-strings and Brazilian cut bikinis. Now if you took a walk along the beach here and did a mental calculation of the average you might find they are on the wrong side of at least the brazillian cut average. I can see the $100 sales of conservative swimsuits in the store there being their big profit item of the summer. I loved the guys who went down there and wore flouro budgie smugglers in a skimpy bum cut that met the charted coverage requirements. Well done fellas, solidarity with the ladies.

I've found it's better to call your internet and phone provider than just change your plan online. I used to review plans online, but discovered that I was missing out on other bargains that are only available if you call. As with my latest call, I've ended up with overall a cheaper plan than what is offered online due to my customer loyalty.

I haven't been on a long haul OS flight this century. I've been OS but only to localities close to us. I mean flying to NZ is like flying to Perth. Seriously considering travelling business class if I go to UK/Europe or US/Canada again. Makes those long flights more bearable. Still don't get any sleep but the seats are more comfortable and the food has more choice. The only way I would consider a non-stop flight is if you had a lounge option without the first class price tag. Besides the toll it would take on flight crew and passengers being cooped up for so long.

No where near proper beach weather in Melbourne. Will get the odd warm day for the rest of Spring but nothing consistent so no need to worry about swimwear just yet. Actually in places like Brazil and Cuba body shape doesn't matter so you wear whatever you want. Seems more a western obsession with body image. The ban is probably on the safety side. Don't want people complaining their arse cheeks got scorched going down a water slide.

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Well Melbourne town will get a few days of Summer type temps over the next couple of days. Will see how high those temps will actually get. Good days to wash those heavy winter things. I'll be in the garden hacking stuff since it's green bin week.

Speaking of bins. Seems we are going back to separating glass from paper and metal. Had that system in the 90's. I still have the plastic tub we used to use for papers. The annoying part was that you had to tie up magazines and cardboard separately but then it all got hauled away in the same truck. Easy to blame the consumer when there is no plan to deal with the recycling materials. The stuff is still going to landfill, just don't tell the young kids. It would be like telling them Santa doesn't exist.

Have to laugh at the financial ads that quote the small print..."past performance is not a guarantee of future performance". Which is such a croc of shit considering everything is based on past performance. If you apply for a new job you are judged on your past performance, even performance reviews are based on past performance. Buying into the housing market is based on past performance even your medical treatment is based on past performance. It's yet another excuse used by the financial sector to take no responsibility for their financial advise. The fee is the only motivation. So their fees should be based on their past performance in offering financial advise. If you make a loss, then they make a loss. Call it an incentive to make their clients the focus.

No more medical tests for me for hopefully the rest of the year. Got the all clear from the latest test yesterday so won't need to do that one again for another 3-4 yrs. Good thing I have the money to spend on all these medical tests. Still annoyed that some places charge a fee to use the credit card. Seriously! That's just the banks being greedy. There shouldn't be any fees for credit cards if paying for medical treatment.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you. Will have to get some beer in now that the warmer weather is on it's way. Might have to make a trip to Dan Murphy's to do some research

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Well it's Summery temps here in Melbourne town for a couple of days. Made another trip to Bunnings and saw more people there cause the sun was out. Now that the fence is complete I need to repair the soil along that boundary. Still have a trench in various areas along that fence line. So it was off to Bunnings to get some mulch, even got some new garden tools. Also went to the local shopping centre but couldn't find one of the latest video games I wanted. It only came out on Friday last week and was already sold out everywhere.

Was funny to see Rump talking about the cowardice of that IS leader considering Rump got his daddy to make up a medical condition so he couldn't be drafted.

Of what I saw on Q&A, a lot of anger directed at the govt for not having a water policy for all concerned and for favouring irrigators. Quite obvious Barnaby did fuck all as special envoy for water. Can't have a water policy when the LNP not only disregarded reports from the auditors, but actually sacked the auditors cause they were finding flaws in the monitoring system and that some irrigators were ripping off the system. This was when Barnaby was Deputy Leader of the LNP. A govt with no policy on water and no policy on climate change. Thank goodness I didn't vote for these arseholes, I can sleep well at night.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

A rather warm night here in Melbourne town. Warm enough to have the fan on most of the night and another warm day in the 30's again today. Cool change happening overnight but that will probably be delayed till later on Saturday morning if last Summer is anything to go by. Wet weekend on the forecast which will not impress those going to the Derby on Saturday. Lots of rain forecast and thunderstorms, so expect lots of wet people roaming around Flemington.

The roof tilers are finishing off their work on the house build next door. New guttering in place but no down pipes so expecting a few waterfalls. Will see how that plays out given how close to the property boundary the build is. Still having ongoing issues with the various trades coming on site. Latest issue is one tiler carelessly throwing tiles from the roof with debris landing on my property. Confronted one of them to see if they would own up and they didn't so had a chat with the dude in charge of the build and they just lied to him so I mentioned what I saw. Upshot was an apology and quick roof inspection to show me no debris had damaged my roof. Basic reaction from any tradie crew is to lie until they are confronted with the truth, then they own up. You just have to expect people to lie to protect their fellow workers. Not much honesty in those situations. And no it can't be logged under normal human nature. It's just the way the world is these days. Lie first unless the truth comes out.

So the Uluru climb is closed. One good thing is that people can't piss on that Aboriginal icon anymore. If people were pissing on the Opera House there would have been outrage.

Melbourne Cup long weekend coming up. Well it's not an official long weekend but most people take the Monday off. Looks like the weather for the Cup will be fine and on the cool side or at least cooler than the last few days. Normally get this type of weather towards the end of Nov, then again these days there is nothing normal about our weather. The info of the past can't be used as a comparison to determine what is normal weather for any season these days. We have to get used to new weather patterns given our govt doesn't have a plan for climate change.

Hope your weekend goes well. If you're coming to Melbourne on the weekend, bring a boat or just stay in the pub.

 

[missswannie]

Afternoon all,

A rather warm night here in Melbourne town. Warm enough to have the fan on most of the night and another warm day in the 30's again today. Cool change happening overnight but that will probably be delayed till later on Saturday morning if last Summer is anything to go by. Wet weekend on the forecast which will not impress those going to the Derby on Saturday. Lots of rain forecast and thunderstorms, so expect lots of wet people roaming around Flemington.

The roof tilers are finishing off their work on the house build next door. New guttering in place but no down pipes so expecting a few waterfalls. Will see how that plays out given how close to the property boundary the build is. Still having ongoing issues with the various trades coming on site. Latest issue is one tiler carelessly throwing tiles from the roof with debris landing on my property. Confronted one of them to see if they would own up and they didn't so had a chat with the dude in charge of the build and they just lied to him so I mentioned what I saw. Upshot was an apology and quick roof inspection to show me no debris had damaged my roof. Basic reaction from any tradie crew is to lie until they are confronted with the truth, then they own up. You just have to expect people to lie to protect their fellow workers. Not much honesty in those situations. And no it can't be logged under normal human nature. It's just the way the world is these days. Lie first unless the truth comes out.

So the Uluru climb is closed. One good thing is that people can't piss on that Aboriginal icon anymore. If people were pissing on the Opera House there would have been outrage.

Melbourne Cup long weekend coming up. Well it's not an official long weekend but most people take the Monday off. Looks like the weather for the Cup will be fine and on the cool side or at least cooler than the last few days. Normally get this type of weather towards the end of Nov, then again these days there is nothing normal about our weather. The info of the past can't be used as a comparison to determine what is normal weather for any season these days. We have to get used to new weather patterns given our govt doesn't have a plan for climate change.

Hope your weekend goes well. If you're coming to Melbourne on the weekend, bring a boat or just stay in the pub.

If it is anything like the front that continues coming through the west since wednesday, a boat and a hard hat for the hail might be necessary. Turns out that although we have an Indian Ocean Dipolar again (rain for India, dry for Australian north) it is being complicated by the Southern Ocean being a few degrees colder than normal.
Uluru is closed, but the climbers can change to the largest monocline, Mt Augustus, which the local mob assure us is climbable as they don't have any issue with it. It is still a bit of a drive to get there, like Uluru was in the past.

 

[darkelf9]

If it is anything like the front that continues coming through the west since wednesday, a boat and a hard hat for the hail might be necessary. Turns out that although we have an Indian Ocean Dipolar again (rain for India, dry for Australian north) it is being complicated by the Southern Ocean being a few degrees colder than normal.
Uluru is closed, but the climbers can change to the largest monocline, Mt Augustus, which the local mob assure us is climbable as they don't have any issue with it. It is still a bit of a drive to get there, like Uluru was in the past.

Has finally cooled down here in Melbourne town two warm nights in a row requiring a fan running all night. The rain started early this morning which was supposed to start last night so the house is still warm. Can't open the front door to cool the place down quicker cause of the rain. Trying other options.

Well if it's harder to get to then most people won't bother, certainly not the OS tourists unless the road access it upgraded. Only those wanting to rough it might go there. Then again there are other Aboriginal icons whitefellas can continue to piss on. The next major fight at least here in Victoria will be the Grampians National Park. This time between climbers and the traditional owners, although the Parks people are on the side of the traditional owners. So will see how that plays out. No doubt the LNP will won't to stick their noses in cause Vic has a Labor govt.

I've had Uluru and Darwin on my list of places to visit but only in the Winter time. Been to every other major centre at least once. I only go to Sydney now to visit friends and not as a tourist.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Just passing thru.

Got my reports back of the tests I did earlier in Oct. Got the all clear so no follow up treatment required which I'm happy about. Had my fill of medical tests for a long time. One more blood test and specialist appt to go next month and a visit to the dentist next month, but I get chocolate after that one so not so bad.

Needed some new jeans so after the specialist appt went to a new shopping area not far from the appt. Took a bit of work to find the place since it isn't well sign posted. Actually missed it the first time around which meant then I was dealing with 5pm traffic. But in the end I got a good deal on the jeans and also discovered that I had gone down two sizes which surprised me. So was happy about that. Very hard to find just normal jeans these days. Everything is either skinny or stretch which is fucking annoying.

Hope the weekend is good for you. Will be raining here for the entire weekend so it's indoor activities. Too warm to do house work so video games it is.

 

[Rollinbones]

still kicking... This whole back to work after nine years of mister mumming it has been exceptionally healthy for me. I've lost about ten kilos, my job is thoroughly involving and my ptsd has settled as a result of the intellectual activity.

I am exhausted though. In a good way.

And it's nice to have some money again. Just no time to spend it.

Stay groovy people.

 

[darkelf9]

still kicking... This whole back to work after nine years of mister mumming it has been exceptionally healthy for me. I've lost about ten kilos, my job is thoroughly involving and my ptsd has settled as a result of the intellectual activity.

I am exhausted though. In a good way.

And it's nice to have some money again. Just no time to spend it.

Stay groovy people.

Hey Rollin,

Good to hear things are getting better. I've lost a lot weight as well since earlier in the year but mainly due to the new medication as a side effect.

 

[darkelf9]

Afternoon all,

Just been looking at the catastrophic fires thru NSW and Qld and also some fires in WA. Can't believe the govt is saying we shouldn't talk about climate change, just build more dams. How many more hints do they need to take action? Also the LNP is talking about what is the cost of taking action on climate change. Really? Well just turn on the TV and see the cost of not doing anything.

The LNP finally admitted that they did try to con people into voting for them by printing those "how to vote" banners and flyers in the same colours as the AEC. Everything about that seat is dodgy, from the "how to vote cards" to the member herself. And we talk about corruption in politics in other countries.

Funny how Barnaby hasn't been quizzed about his decision to relocate that group of scientists to Armidale considering not only is the internet lousy but now the town is running out of water. Another outstanding govt decision from another govt fuckup. The smart country run by dumb people.

Had the results from all the medical tests last month and got the all clear. Lots of work to do outside the house plus the clean up and remediation work from the new fence. Still have a trench along various parts of the fence so need to fill those in and level the ground off. No shortage of stuff to do depending on the weather. Lots of wind coming thru Melbourne town at the moment apart from a brief down pour of rain early in the morning haven't seen anything thus far.

Hoping to have a quiet time for the rest of the month. Playing the new video game at the moment which is going well. Reminds me of a few other open world games.

Well the week of racing is over here in Melbourne town. Lots of wet women roaming around Flemington racecourse on Oaks Day. Possibly damp women. Could be worse, could of said "moist" women

In fact it rained on most of the major racing days so anyone going to the races that week would of got rained on.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you. Hope all those in danger of the fires burning in various areas of the country manage to get to safety. Not worth losing your life over a house.

 

[missswannie]

Afternoon all,

Just been looking at the catastrophic fires thru NSW and Qld and also some fires in WA. Can't believe the govt is saying we shouldn't talk about climate change, just build more dams. How many more hints do they need to take action? Also the LNP is talking about what is the cost of taking action on climate change. Really? Well just turn on the TV and see the cost of not doing anything.

The LNP finally admitted that they did try to con people into voting for them by printing those "how to vote" banners and flyers in the same colours as the AEC. Everything about that seat is dodgy, from the "how to vote cards" to the member herself. And we talk about corruption in politics in other countries.

Funny how Barnaby hasn't been quizzed about his decision to relocate that group of scientists to Armidale considering not only is the internet lousy but now the town is running out of water. Another outstanding govt decision from another govt fuckup. The smart country run by dumb people.

Had the results from all the medical tests last month and got the all clear. Lots of work to do outside the house plus the clean up and remediation work from the new fence. Still have a trench along various parts of the fence so need to fill those in and level the ground off. No shortage of stuff to do depending on the weather. Lots of wind coming thru Melbourne town at the moment apart from a brief down pour of rain early in the morning haven't seen anything thus far.

Hoping to have a quiet time for the rest of the month. Playing the new video game at the moment which is going well. Reminds me of a few other open world games.

Well the week of racing is over here in Melbourne town. Lots of wet women roaming around Flemington racecourse on Oaks Day. Possibly damp women. Could be worse, could of said "moist" women

In fact it rained on most of the major racing days so anyone going to the races that week would of got rained on.

Hope the rest of the week is good for you. Hope all those in danger of the fires burning in various areas of the country manage to get to safety. Not worth losing your life over a house.

It's sad. With the Indian Ocean Dipolar at over +3, there won't be many cyclones of the north west to drag rain through the interior and into NSW and Vic this summer. Might get a couple of extra fronts pop up from the south as the Southern Ocean is still -2C below its usual for this point. It might all come down to Coral Sea cyclones for the east.
Good old Aus is certainly running out of steam rapidly. The hope was that India was going to sign RCEP and open up to Australian dairy and farm goods, but they cited that as one of the reasons not to. Probably good in a way as we would have just exported raw materials and not processed it into consumable products, so perhaps now we have to invest in processing. That might save us from food price inflation above the drought, but given that there is no retail spending and no wage increases for most, inflation is probably not what we need at present. Iron Ore prices working their way back down again is going to have to be made up somewhere else.
The sad thing about bushfires is that they do the job that backburning and prescribed burnoffs should do and clear the scrub out from time to time. Easy to write that from a position not directly affected at present of course. Fuel loads will always be the danger waiting in our climates.

 

[scumbag]

The sad thing about bushfires is that they do the job that backburning and prescribed burnoffs should do and clear the scrub out from time to time. Easy to write that from a position not directly affected at present of course. Fuel loads will always be the danger waiting in our climates.

This is a long read from an RFS volunteer who debunks the theory on buildup and what has caused it as he responds to someone spouting the Liberal line. Worth the time it takes to read.

"Bruce Walker... “Hi everyone, my name is bruce walker, you might remember me from ABC TV yesterday, i'm one of the survivors of the wytaliba fires of last friday 8th november 2019.

responding to this well informed fuckwit here - Anthony G

so mate - first up, i've been an RFS volunteer for close to 20 years, and am part of the highly regarded Wytaliba RFS - one of the most respected and hardened crews on the northern tablelands and beyond. our crew number over 50 and include decorated vets of ash wednesday and many other national distaster catastrophic level fires.

regarding hazzard reduction. let me fill you in.

for my time here, we used to do managed hazzard reduction whenever it was viable in winter.

however - sadly, the moment gina and rupert went halves and purchased the LNP wholesale, we saw a MASSIVE increase in wholesale industrial logging across the nation.

tell me, anthony - do you garden? do you use MULCH?

compare a mulched garden to a non-mulched garden. you'll see a near instant difference. if you're not schooled on how soil works, try standing all day in the sun with no hat on. what happens?

that's right, anthony. your head gets fucking hot.

that's what's happened to the planet. now. as anyone who's dabbled in, you know... physics, will spell out better than i can - an increase of just one degree is quite significant.

another neato thing physics talks about is the water cycle, anthony.

you see, part of the water cycle is this cool thing called "transpiration"

it's part 4 of this essential way in which trees send up moisture to meet clouds, creating low pressure troughs which draw rainfall inland.

in fact, it's physically impossible to get rain on the lee side of a mountain, without trees doing this very thing. impossible. ask the residents of the atacama desert in chile - who haven't had rain for one THOUSAND years. why? no fucking trees, anthony.

so anyway, back to the greens enacting a ban on burnoffs - that time we elected them to majority government and they had the final say.

when was that again, anthony? i'll wait.

nah. lets move on, since we ALL know this was never a thing . ever.

so anyway - here in wytaliba, we used to have an incredibly green lush valley - right up until industrial loggers finally broke in to compartments to our north. right about this time, there was a near instant and significant drop to our vital streamflow.

this happened again after each and every highland logging operation - and with LNP slashing and burning every national park in sight, well... you know, lets' not go there. climate change is a hoax, right?

so wholesale burn quotas came in with LNP too. this... well.. i just want to pause here and say "wow" because this did indeed make us say wow.

in recent years, we've seen hazzard reduction burns take place completely surrounding our once green, lush valley. so much so, that after the last july burn - of an area once supplying most of our water - well... 27 years of no burn had left a healthy and regenerating semi-arid rainforest. now it's simply arid nothing.

despite this burn and 3 more last year, we got the following result - fires flared up in this dry mulchless wasteland and burned for 6 weeks, destroying 2 more former rainforest areas, leaving them also tinder dry and unable to transpire - hasn't actually rained a drop since then. weird. almost like cause and effect took place.

clouds pass over, for sure. they get rain on the tablelands even - but - as physics reminds us, when air drops, it warms, expands, and rather than raining, sucks even more moisture from trees and soil.

oh well.

i mean, this is normal for australia, isn't it? watching 200 or more year old trees slowly wither and die right in front of you. that's normal. happens all the time. rivers dry up too, even though ours is home to platypi - who aren't known for travelling much - and hasn't dried up in probably 100,000 years minimum.

until last summer, and it's been bone dry since august.

this has never happened in my entire 25 or so years here. no local elders remember such a thing. wow.

now, we all know about the bees nest and kingsgate fires and the hundreds more around the state. my crew and many other heroic RFS volunteers have been fighting them for months on end.

yet another backburn actually got lit up about a month ago, on our south side, just half an hour before high southerly winds were due. the responsible paid agency, then ran out of paid hours, packed up and left it to spot onto our property and threaten 80 homes.

we're like the mujahideen of firefighting though, so we got it after about 10 days nonstop hectic battle.

this... brings us up to date, andrew. we've got bare, blacked out dust for 50km in all directions. right up to the actual eaves of half the homes here.

which is why, friday's hellstorm caught all of us by surprise, andrew.

a mushroom cloud went up at 3pm, 20 or so km away. within 30 minutes, high winds turned that into a 20km long front - strangely, this front was on ground burnt black as recently as 3 weeks ago - crown fires too, since every tree was literally a giant matchstick with dead leaves and nothing else.

this then switched to 80km/h southerlies and rained hell on 3500 acres of already blacked out ground.

well... you can't say we didn't prep or do hazzard reduction redneck style, can you andrew? or can you?

curiously, within 1 hour we'd lost 20 homes, a school, a fireshed, and a contrete fucking bridge - meaning only 2 outside units even got in to help.

falling trees in the hundreds blocked the old grafton road, so no one could even help neighbours.

by dawn, of 80 homes in our community, 52 were lost, 2 dead (one a sex party voter, the other aplotical - this one is for you, barnaby fucking joyce) we had many injured, thousands of local animals died, and.. it' looks like a warzone here. which it did almost before, except we had homes.

so, Anthony and ALL you fucking armchair experts out there, tell me. how again, was this the greens fault?

thanks. looking forward to your well thought out response.

bruce walker, wytaliba RFS member and survivor. ” Bruce Deliversrants Walker"

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

So the bushfires keep raging even though they have reduced in severity and it seems once again the govt is not listening to those with the knowledge both whitefella and blackfella because of course in the doctrine in the LNP climate change is not real just need to pray for rain so lets all get on our knees and god will provide.

As for managing the land well we have a wealth of knowledge going back over 60,000 years yet we refuse to use it. Doesn't make sense. European methods don't work in this country and has only lead to the degradation of the land. As for cows well I've travelled a bit and I've seen cows up mountains and in forests. You want to burnout the soils, well just keep clearing trees. We also replant trees too close together, not my words but from people who work in the industry.

Had to laugh at the latest info for those city dwelling 4 wheel drive cult members. Now their diesel cars are failing cause they aren't being used the way they are designed to be used. Lots of these city folk only buy a 4 wheel drive because of the safety sell job, but only used to do school pickups and shopping. They can't park for fuck also at shopping centres, same as those reverse parking numbnuts. Given all modern cars come with rear cameras there is no reason to reverse park. Never had one of those gadgets on my cars and I've never had an issue backing out of a car park spot or even my driveway. Then again you can't make up for poor driving skills with technology. Just like you can't make people spell better by total reliance on a spell and grammar checker.

Basically if you only occasionally go for a drive outside the city limits you don't need a diesel 4 wheel drive. Our roads are rather good compared to a lot of other countries. I've driven all the way up the east coast of the country and down the inner highways in a just a normal car. My next car will be a hybrid until the govt gets their shit together and invest in infrastructure for elec vehicles which is fine for city dwellers. Given most of the population live in the cities, then there is no reason why we can't make that shift. Just need the will.

Have to wait till the weekends to do further work along the fence line cause of the tradies working along that area. I don't need the potential of stuff falling on my head. Latest thing is the rather large box guttering system being installed which I haven't seen on other new homes built in the area. Also been doing my brickie impression. The final result probably don't look pretty but it's effective. Only noticeable if you look closely. Warmer weather coming next week so more work time outside. Waiting for some consistent warmer days before the painting tasks start. The latest video game is going well. Worth another play thru once I get to the end.

Hope your weekend goes well. Also hope all those impacted by the fires manage to get to safer areas. The fact that some were started by people with intent to cause damage and those which caused deaths is nothing short of manslaughter.

 

[warrior queen]

Not sure we are really doing any favours to the environment with hybrid/electric vehicles....

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/...isis-scientists-warn?utm_campaign=sharebutton

 

[Ladybird]

Hi peoples
I haven’t posted here in a long long time but it’s great to see the thread still alive.
Be happy

 

[darkelf9]

Morning all,

Well the year of replacement continues at my place. Have been waiting for the fluro in the kitchen to die for over 12 months, so finally replaced it and put the ladder away then the starter failed so back out with the ladder again, so annoying. Can't remember the last time I replaced the starter on that light. Luckily had a spare in my box of tricks so no dash to Bunnings needed. Still need to go to Bunnings for more mulch as I'm filling in a trench created when the new fence was installed. Also due to the build next door as my land is higher. I've been creative in raising the ground back to level. Still more work to be done on that task.

Spent the weekend hacking and trimming that Qld grass in the backyard. It's lovely and lush and stays green all year round but doesn't need much heat and rain to go nuts. Even the mower is useless when that grass gets out of hand. So parts of the body are a little achey.

Then spent a few hours yesterday filling up the green bin with the tidy up of tree branches that I had to cut down to make way for the new fence. More work to do on that task as well as other tasks outside now that the weather is turning warmer. Speaking of which it's going to be very hot in Melbourne town over the next couple of days. Will have to drag out the portable cooler. Took out the fans the other week when we had those couple of days in the 30's last month, then put them back so have to bring them out again.

So the govt's plan for the economy is to keep old people in work longer cause they don't want to pay the pension, meanwhile they are holding onto their surplus. I keep hearing on TV that people who retired on a Super pension don't pay tax, well that is crap as I'm still paying tax and so is a fellow workmate who retired last year. Very few retired people have a comfortable pension. Others might be living in a home worth $1Mil but bear in mind those are mostly people who have been living in their homes for 40-50yrs so they aren't cash rich. To suggest that they should sell up and move to an unfamiliar neighbourhood is rubbish considering the people who would buy their homes are developers not young home buyers. More retired people have made claims for a part Centrelink pension because they were relying on their investments in term deposits to top up their rather small pensions. These people will never be able to get a job since if you're in your 50's nobody is going to hire you unless you have specialist skills. So nobody is going to hire people who retired and are now in their 70's or 80's.

The tax cuts went nowhere due to people holding on to that money which is quite right given the times of uncertainty. You want people to spend money, quite simple, give them job security and fair wages. I'm sure most of the people would be quite happy with the 11% pay rise the pollies got the other year.

Well Cory is leaving politics and the Libs get their Senate seat back. I'm sure Cory will not be missed. Wonder if the Libs will do a whip around for his going away present?

Hope the rest of the week is good for you and that the weather events doesn't see anyone put in harm.

 

[Gelista]

42 degrees today. Will be about 60 degrees inside my workplace. Happy days!

 

[darkelf9]

Not sure we are really doing any favours to the environment with hybrid/electric vehicles....

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/...isis-scientists-warn?utm_campaign=sharebutton

Spoken like a true rev-head

However the current car batteries have issues as well. Given we have metal plates in an acid bath sloshing around in your car. And yes our current recycling is poor given we keep shipping it OS so there is no proper industry into recycling. My local council recently decided that any electrical appliance with a cord can't be put in the rubbish bin which is fine but where is the option to recycle those items? Can't imagine women will be rocking up to a recycling place with their vibes when the recharge battery fails. All batteries fail eventually but we don't have a proper battery recycling system. Even trying to find a place that recycles batteries in your neighbourhood is difficult if not impossible. Even Battery World doesn't have a proper recycling system.

 

[missswannie]

Stand by on battery recycling in Victoria. I happen to know the young bloke who has spent the past three years getting it through State govt and then the councils. Its German tech, but will all be done in Victoria. It's on the radar to see how invest-able it will be, but a few handfuls of Series A funding to make sure dibs are there.

If you are on twitter, try having a look at a UK operation called Electric Classic Cars (@elecclassiccars). They convert sports and classic cars using Tesla drive trains. I could see an operation here which rips out the petrol engines and loads up with a fully electric system, or a petrol generator engine with electric drive train as a more suitable option for distances. Mazda is bringing out a new rotary engine, but it will mostly be used as a compact generator engine for electric power trains, a la Akio Toyota's well announced viewpoint of ICE not being phased out entirely until 2050-2060. All very well having all electric but if you have to join the line for a recharge and a half charge is 2 hours, those long journeys might be in days every 180-200km.