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When I left school, I joined the Commercial Bank of Australia Limited (CBAL) in 1961. I worked for them till 1986 when they merged with the Bank of NSW to form Westpac. I continued working for Westpac until 1991, when banks started rationalising staff and introducing computers in branches. Obviously they did not require two lots of staff, as duplicated branches and departments were merged, so many staff were retrenched. I had been working in a suburban processing centre which was closed, and I was let go. But I still had 2 Westpac credit cards. The other night, after 11 pm., I got a text from Westpac questioning a debit to one of the cards from Optus Prepaid of about $50. I have no business with Optus Prepaid, and certainly had not used my credit card recently. I replied to the text that I did not recognise the transaction. Next morning I got a phone call from Westpac, to clarify details. The transaction was stopped, the card was cancelled, and a replacement card was isssued. Both my cards normally have zero balances or small credit balances no more than $10. I generally use them at parking stations where debit cards are not accepted, and the occasional online purchase. I have not cancelled them as I would never get another card, and it's handy to have recourse to some credit in case of emergency. I have been retired for 16 years and my superannuation has been fully drawn and spent.

I've just been listening to the wireless on the ABC channel and they've been talking about high tech household stuff. Stoves that cost thousands of dollars and self clean at 500 degrees celsius. People using their smart phones to turn on the air con while they're driving home. One bloke can unlock and open his gate from anywhere in the country using his phone. Robot mowers and vacuums, the list goes on. With all this smart technology about, I must be in the dumb category. I still don't have a sealed driveway or running hot water.

Yes that makes sense and I don’t have an issue with it. I was surprised because I had to declare my full superannuation balance as part of my application but their issue was that I wasn’t drawing it as a pension and my part time income alone was not enough. Making occasional withdrawals from super didn’t count as income.

It sounds like there has been a recent regulatory change or that there as been some case that has made a decision that has the banks scrambling. Modern systems have a lot of cross referencing to work out anomalies and match data as they try and remove the human element to it. We are implementing a system that assesses such anomalies and can accept a certain tolerance of differences between identification documents or will refer to a staff member for review. If a staff member can't make the leap, they have probably been instructed by an overly zealous risk manager not to accept any differences. This comes down to risk appetite.. We have an appetite that two people with almost identical identification documents where everything else checks out except placement of letters of a name (but they are in the correct sequence) has a 99.9% probability of not happening. Same DoB, address history, contact details, etc. It's going to be very unlikely that a space interspersed in one doc means it is a different perspon - especially with recognised surname prefixes, etc. Re the credit card thing, it is the banks duty to ensure that, when you apply for new credit that you can afford it (they also should be doing periodical reviews on your existing revolving credit - of which a credit card is a revolving credit line). They are on the hook for your debts and if, after you going broke, the client can prove that they could not have afforded it and they disclosed all relevant information, the bank gets a fine to boot (over here, anyway)

They've given up on me, although they do send me paper statements every month even though I told them more than a year ago to stop and help save the planet.

Driver's licence is enough if it matches the name on your application form. I have two middle names which I put on the Bankwest application but my driver's licence only shows one, so they wouldn't accept it even though the post office verified that my photo licence was me. I had to make another trip to the post office with my passport as ID.

Does that mean that if you don't have a passport, you can't open a bank account? I have a photo licence, Medicare card and penrion card. Would that be enough?

NAB are a funny mob. My bank offloaded their credit card service to NAB so my card is with NAB now. If the balance is zero you get emails from them trying to talk you into booking up overseas holidays. Then if you spend even a small amount like four hundred dollars you suddenly get emails asking if you need help to pay it off and offering financial councilling. Weirdos.

I had trouble opening a savings account with Bankwest recently for the similar reasons - a minor discrepancy between my driver's licence and passport. They are very pedantic, although I don't begrudge that. They have statutory requirements to comply with so they have to be careful. I also applied for a credit card and was surprised to get knocked back. They refused to tell me why, but I eventually worked it out. The problem is that just working part-time and not having set up a superannuation pension at this stage they weren't satisfied that I could afford to make the required repayments if my card was fully maxxed out. They assume that any other cards you admit to having are also fully maxed out. I've had Westpac and NAB credit cards for many years, so on paper I had a large debt as far as they were concerned and they weren't prepared to give me more credit.

From Westpac's point of view that Extra space could be of concern. They have to be dead sure in everybody's interest, including yours. Nev

I banked with Westpac for a short while. Moved to Bank of Melbourne.. who were then taken over by Westpac. It wasn;t long before their crap was imposed on BoM. Left Australia shortly after anyway, so didn't matter in the end.. Returned with Bendigo Bank who seemed much better.. and had most services retail clients and SMEs would need. Sure many others have recommendations - depends on your needs. But, unless you need access to capital markets or wholesale financing, the Big 4 historically are not the best.

In a swimming pool, the P is silent.

I have spent a couple of hours on the phone over four calls with the Westpac bank as they are trying to re-confirm my customer identity. I have banked with them for thirty years at least. I sent them a copy of my driver's licence and, when that was unacceptable, my passport. They say I am not McCarthy but I am Mc Carthy. The space is on my driver's licence and my passport, has always been there and had never caused a problem before. So, I sent them my birth certificate. They say that it is not necessarily me because, although it shows my father's name in full, it only gives my two Christian names, so my surname could be anything. At that point I lost my cool and now may be looking for a new bank.

In DEBT, the B is silent. In KNIFE, the K is silent. In MARRIAGE, the HUSBAND is silent.

Bristol Hercules sleeve valve. don't know if he has finished it.

I only Mentioned Epsteins demise. Nev

Notable names connected to Epstein who have died since his 2019 arrest. What the record actually says about each. Some are suspicious. Some are tragic. Some are just old men dying. These names do not help survivors nor prove any conspiracy. Jeffrey Epstein, August 10, 2019. Found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. The New York City medical examiner ruled it suicide, and federal investigations backed that up. The Attorney General Bill Barr called the jail’s handling of him a perfect storm of screw-ups. Broken cameras, sleeping guards, a man taken off suicide watch weeks after being found injured in his cell. Few believe it was suicide. Jean-Luc Brunel, February 19, 2022. French modelling agent, longtime Epstein associate, accused of procuring girls and young women for him. Arrested at Charles de Gaulle Airport in December 2020. Found dead in his Paris jail cell before trial, ruled a suicide. Denied all charges until the end. Mark Middleton, May 7, 2022. Former special adviser in the Bill Clinton White House who signed Epstein in for a number of his 17 White House visits and reportedly flew on Epstein’s jet. Found dead on a ranch in Arkansas. The local sheriff ruled it a suicide. His family said he had depression, and they went to court to keep scene photos sealed after conspiracy theorists harassed family. PolitiFact rated the murder claims false. The scene details were strange enough to keep the internet busy for years. Steven Hoffenberg, August 2022. Convicted Ponzi schemer, onetime would-be owner of the New York Post, and Epstein’s early mentor at Towers Financial in the late 1980s. Hoffenberg always claimed Epstein was the real architect of that scheme, though Epstein was never charged. Found dead at 77 in his Connecticut apartment during a welfare check requested on behalf of a woman who identified herself as an Epstein survivor. His former lawyer said he hadn’t been taking care of himself. Carolyn Andriano, May 2023. Testified at Ghislaine Maxwell’s 2021 trial as “Carolyn,” telling the jury she was 14 when she was first brought to Epstein’s Palm Beach house. She died at 36 of an overdose. Her testimony helped put Maxwell away. Bill Richardson, September 2023. Former New Mexico governor and UN ambassador, named by Virginia Giuffre in a deposition as one of the men she was directed to have sex with, an allegation he flatly denied. Died in his sleep at 75. No serious person thinks there’s anything suspicious about it. Virginia Giuffre, April 25, 2025. The most famous and most fearless of Epstein’s survivors, the woman whose lawsuit cost Prince Andrew his titles and his public life. Died by suicide at her farm in Western Australia at 41. Her family said the weight of the abuse she suffered became unbearable. If you want to understand what the Epstein network did to people, start with her, not with the powerful men in the flight logs. Daniel Siad, July 2026. French modelling scout whose name appears roughly 2,000 times in the DOJ files, one of Epstein’s most loyal suppliers of young women for over a decade. His emails to Epstein are as grim as anything in the archive, and Epstein’s replies were often a single word asking the girl’s age. At least five women accused Siad of rape and trafficking, which he denied, and Paris prosecutors had him under active investigation, including wiretaps. Found dead in his kitchen outside Paris at 69. His lawyer says heart attack. An autopsy was ordered. He was the second Epstein recruiter in France to die before any trial. Simon Andriesz, suicided last month. The whistleblower who raised allegations about Lutnick & Epstein. Age 57. That’s nine. Count the convictions that came out of it all? One: Ghislaine Maxwell, serving 20 years. Every other powerful person in this saga has either died, denied, settled or testified “voluntarily” in a closed-door session that ends with a press release about no evidence of wrongdoing. So everybody assumes the worst There’s no evidence anybody on this list was murdered.

They're handy people in a workshop. Al Hackel built most of the motor himself but I think he might have got somebody else to grind the cams. Allan Millyard delves fairly deep into it; he even makes his own carburettors at times.

Kickstarting Al Hackel's 1700cc Wright thumper:

I've often thought of doing something with the R-670 jug that I have. It's in good condition with the valves, rocker gear and rocker covers. I just wish I had two of them, it would make a great three litre v-twin. A nice pot with a lot of character. I've also got a couple of Cyclone 9 pots but they're huge and ugly, much like the Millyard P & W's, so they'll remain as paperweights. Just for a laugh I lined the R-670 pot up in the M-63 Ural frame the other day and it took up most of the available engine space, no room at all for a bottom end.

And not to forget Allan Millyard's five litre Pratt and Whitney v-twin. Also American Al Hackel's custom chopper with a single pot from a Wright R975.

My Post relates to a couple of Posts back . Putin is KGB. He wants to return Russia to it's Glory days . USSR. ( 3 days it will take and they will throw Roses) It certainly hasn't worked out that way and NOW who could trust him? Nev

Epstein made a Lot of Money. Just HOW is the question. It's why He had Rich and Notable people around him. It's most likely the reason He was Murdered. HE DID NOT Suicide .Nev

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