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If you have solar, smart meters are essential as standard meters are unable to deal with feed in tariffs. I am a VPP (virtual power plant) & buy sell electricity on the wholesale market. My monthly average buy price at the moment is 18.3 cents/kWh & my average FIT is 20.3c/kWh. I have a 18.64kWh battery & sell power to the grid usually from 5pm to 7pm when the price is high. This is all managed by my system provider as the spot price is checked every 5 minutes and my system is told what to do. It even curtails my solar production when the battery is full and the spot FIT goes negative so I do not pay for exporting to the grid.

In my prime.... Zero debt. Low body fat percentage. Fluid balance perfect. Nutrition excellent. Cholestorol low. Mental health balanced. Zero alcohol, excellent hydration. This was my peak. I was eight years old.

I have just passed 50,000km in my 2023 MG4 Essence 64. Maintenance so far nil except new windscreen after it was hit with a stone. Faults, drivers window stopped working & electric motor under tray bulging. Both fixed under warranty. Service, one at 40,000 km. Just required checks to all components & new pollen filter. Tyres still have 10-15,000 km tread left. Cost to run about $150.00 spent at fast chargers when on long trips. At home charged from solar exclusively from a 32 Amp charger purchased at the same time as the car. That cost $530.00 but energy cost zero. I reckon I have saved between $8-10,000.00 over an equivalent petrol vehicle.

That is her problem. She is a Trump Yes woman, though everyone who works for him has to be that or they are fired. Getting out before that happens is pretty rare. Anyone with a conscience wouldn't work for the orange man but her salary would have been better than she would ever get anywhere else I imagine, plus of course being in the limelight is something very attractive to some people.

She was/is exceptionally good at her job of defending the indefensible and attacking the press. You have to admire her talent and confidence. She's only 28.

I kind of agree but only where the holder of such views influences others with them. If it's just your average idiot on a forum, no. If it's an influencer with 10,000 followers, yes.

Random....

Money spent by the government on overseas aid is not a handout, it's a hand up. It typically goes to health, education and development in poorer countries as well as direct food aid in times of famine. As for people who send some of their money back to their families to help them out, it's their money. They earned it, they work here, pay taxes and also support our economy so they are doing their bit for this country as well. Saying that foreign aid recipients expect a handout as their human right and acquire a distorted sense of their own value and worth because they benefit from the aid is nonsense in my opinion. Trump got rid of USAID, which cost the US a relative pittance in cash but a huge amount in international goodwill. People in recipient countries died as a result. Was that a good outcome? in any case, Australia only ranks 25th out of 32 donor nations measured as a proportion of each country's national income, so you can hardly say that we are an overly generous nation.

You do seem to have range anxiety and that is normal for most people entering the full BEV sphere. When you have 48% of battery capacity left there is absolutely no need for concern. You can stop at any supercharger & just take as much as you need to get to your destination. I was getting low when coming back from Noosa to home near Yamba. Distance was about 100km & range 95km. I could have slowed down & made it but I stopped at a Tesla Supercharger & got 5 or 6 minutes at 130-140kW which was easily enough to get home at 110kmh & then some to run around town the next day. The last 20% of battery capacity takes almost as long as from 10% to 80% & it is considered bad form by most of us EV drivers to charge beyond 80% especially if someone is waiting. Planning long trips is something we all do as the charging infrastructure is still in its infancy. Back in the early 1900s there weren't many petrol stations & initially you had to buy it in cans from a Chemist. EV public charging is getting better all the time. Range anxiety no longer exists in China as they have the infrastructure in place already. I often plan a stop after about 2-3 hours driving and at a fast charger (50-80 kW) at a shopping centre. These are much cheaper than a Supercharger but slower. I then have a bite to eat, use the toilet etc & when I get back after 20 minutes to 1/2 an hour or so the car is back up to about 80% & I carry on. In my old ICE car I did the same but usually did not need to fill up if I left home with a full tank. I still had to fill up at my destination anyway. A lot of hotels & motels have "Destination Chargers". These are slow chargers like the wall charger I have at home. Some have type 2 cables but some don't so having your own is handy. You can charge the car over night and often it is free. The 3 pin charger that comes with the car is called a Granny charger & in Australia is limited to 8 amps. The maximum size portable chargers are 15 Amps & have a 15 amp plug. You can get a 32 Amp socket installed by your electrician but is will require a 6mm supply cable & you will need a 32 amp 7.4 kW charger. It is better to install a 7.4kW wall charger as it has all sorts of functions allowing you to choose to charge from solar or at off peak etc. My MG 4 is now 3 years old & has a maximum of 140 kW charging capacity. At a 350 kW charger I get at least 120 kW up to about 80% full. The problem generally doesn't lie with the car but with the grid supply to the supercharger. Most don't have a supply anywhere near as big as the cars capacity to charge and have a relatively small storage capacity which will be used quite quickly especially if there are several chargers & they are all being used at once. Note in China they now have 1.5 megawatt chargers for use with EVs having 1000 volt architecture. These can charge the EV from 10% to 80% in 5 minutes. The whole issue with having various apps & cards is a pain. Why they can't just all accept a credit card is ridiculous. I do have an RFID card for a couple of charging outfits & that is simple but it still charges to my credit card anyway. The best one is a company here called Evie & once the car is registered with the company I just plug in & it charges without any other requirements. When finished my credit card is charged & I get a notification & receipt on my phone. Way simpler than getting petrol. With no engine noise and effortless power & full torque from zero rpm your stress levels are definitely lower on a long trip. The RWD on the MG & 50/50 weight distribution provides superb handling & booting it out of a corner is magic. No other hot ICE car can compare. I am sure the Beamer is the same, most likely better. I hate driving the wifes ICE car and especially hate going in to a stinky petrol station.

Chinese startup Windrose was only founded in 2022 and planned to compete with the Tesla Semi but like most other Chines EV technologies has already surpassed Tesla. Their latest Generation 2 offering has a 700km range fully loaded & the next Gen 3 model will have a 1000 km range due out in 2028. They have their HQ in Antwerp & plan to sell worldwide. https://www.windrose.ai/ In China though heavy Electric trucks have just surpassed Diesel in sales. There are over 500,000 heavy electric trucks on Chinese roads already.

Takes a grubby type to destroy the only worldly possessions of people with nothing.

Trump goes to his doctor and takes off his hat to reveal a huge toad on the top of his head. “When did you notice that?” asked the doctor. And the toad answers: “It began as a boil on my ass.”

Nowadays I am forced to use the only tool that reduces that pain. It's called a debit card.

Purtting the intent aside, are those particular words racist? Just on the wording alone, I'd call them nationalistic as only the country was mentioned, not the person's race or religion. As an example, if an anglo saxon descent Australian person told a Pom of anglo saxon descent to piss off back to England, is that rascist even tough both parties are of the same race. Intent can differ, but the wording is the same in both cases. I always thought rascism was bias against someone because of their race, not nationality. If you are white and told two South Africans to piss off back to South Africa and one is black and one is white, is it racism in both cases, only in one case or in none?

Maybe not only an EV issue.....

People who worry that Covid Vaccine might change their genetic make-up, should welcome that possibility.

Righto... All those profiting by stopping action on climate policy and fossil fuels including bankers please make a orderly queue to the right.. Just close your eyes and go through the door to your reward.. Those on the left can enjoy the view of the cliff diving.

The major parties have had 125 years to get it right. In all that time you'd think they would have learned that democracy means more than just having an election every three years and then treating the electorate with contempt. They're simply not the kind of people we want governing us anymore, they've had their day, their psyches are no longer fit for purpose.

I think you'll find they get their information from their bank account and what is left in them after the bills are paid.. or their crumbling health services, etc. Murdich makes it easy ti fund someone to blame and someone to use to punish the incumbents. Look over here.. a PM who finally gets it and with really tiny tweaks, the protest party, Reform and his mates are imploding in the polls

My son just turned up this morning to show off a Royal Enfield Himalayan with just over 1,000k on the clock that he got for a great price from a guy who had to sell it for health reasons. Kitted out with panniers and other extras so he's very happy. I don't know much about bikes, but it looks great.

Jerry, if I read the first post correctly, you said you paid 1500 for this bike. Given the ongoing electrical problems, if you can get 1200 for it, that would seem to be an excellent option.

This image isn't mine but it is taken from a better angle. Also, when a motorcyle is cornering, the rider holds the front wheel a bit away from the direction of the turn. That is counter intuitive, but the artist seems to have captured that.

One winter's evening we found an straggly cat at our door. 
She was a sorry sight indeed. 
Starving and dirty, she smelled terribly and all her fur all matted in lumps. 
We felt so sorry for her so we put her in a carrier and took 
her to the vet. 
 We didn't know what to call her so we named her 'Pussycat.'

 The vet decided to keep her for a day or so. 
He said he would let us know 
when we could come and get her.

 My husband (the complainer) said, 
'OK, but don't forget to wash her, she stinks.' 
He reminded the vet that it was his WIFE (me) that wanted the dirty cat, not him.

 My husband and my Vet have never seen eye to eye. The vet calls my husband 
'El-Cheap-O', and my husband calls the vet 'El-Charge-O'.
 
They love to hate each other and constantly 'snipe' at one another, with my 
husband getting in the last word on this particular occasion.
 
 The next day my husband had an appointment with his doctor, 
who is located in the same building, next door to the vet.

 The MD's waiting room and office was full of people waiting to see the 
doctor. 
A side door opened and the vet leaned in - he had obviously
seen my husband arrive.

 He looked straight at my husband and in a loud voice said,

'Your wife's pussy doesn't stink any more. We washed and shaved it, and
now she smells like a rose. Oh, and, by the way, I think she's pregnant.
 God only knows who the father is!' Then he closed the door.


An amazing statue dedicated to Australian motorcyclist Kenny Blake. Located in Strathalbyn, South Australia. "Surely it is one of the most amazing and continuous tributes to a mate ever known. They come from afar to cheer this bloke, a motorcycling legend who won 11 Australian motorcycling titles. Some say he would have been at least the equal to Australia’s more recent champions Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Casey Stoner had he not been forced to race on a shoe-string budget."

Did they think you just had a happy end to your car trip? Lucky you!

Seems the Globemaster was accompanied by a C130 - probably carring the catering truck. Just in case.

Just got a call from the shop. Apparently the connectors on the loom side of the regulator were knackered (though I thought I checked them... so when I pick up the bike I will see what I missed).. And also, the new regulator itself is a dud. So they are taking a video of it so I can use as evidence to get my £ back... The company that supplied me the regulator should be OK with it though, as the shop is replacing it with one from the same company I purchased from and they have good reputation. Regulator won't arrive until tomorrow and I will not be able t collect until Thursday afternoon... So to London by train this time.

I bet they call it 'Almond Milk', because nobody can say "Nut Juice" with a straight face.

I think I'm drawn to yoga....

Companies who make profits in Australia often have overseas shareholders. I reckon if you compare remittances to the money going overseas to those shareholders, it'd be a drop in the bucket.

Crotchless panties are the most impractical and useless piece of lingerie ever made. Lingerie is meant to tease, hide and hint at what is behind. But these do the exact opposite. They just frame your bits in superfluous material that still has to be removed. Or, if left on, it just gets in the way. Besides, they offer no support at all for your testicles.

If you aid people where they are, there will be less needing to escape to Here.. Nev

I don't think our system of preferential voting is the fault. The fault with modern elections is the contributions made to Parties by organisations. Dose an organisation have a franchise to vote? Is an organisation a person? We are coming to the conclusion that donations to political parties by organisations are bribes - a rose by any other name.

Media being what it is, there is also a possibility that the parents may not have first heard anything from an official source. I did hear (unofficially) that the parents were likely present at the search. A sad outcome on all fronts. My heart goes out to all involved.

Being able to get that fancy gadget and HEAR is the most important thing. Nev

This was the head office of the Commercial Bank of Australia Ltd. It is where I attended my recruiting interview in 1961. I got hired, and after 6 months in a suburban branch, I was transferred there to a department on the 2nd floor. I worked in that office for about 6 months before being transferred back to suburban branches. 50 odd years later, long after the bank no longer existed, (it had become part of Westpac), I worked for another company that moved into the building, and that is where I retired from in 2010. https://www.facebook.com/reel/2888786451478072

So does your car. Perhaps you should stop driving it.

--- FAMINE --- I feel that there are multiple food chain problems unfolding at present. Since they unfold in slow motion, the media seem to ignore it. 1. The Iranian (don't call it a) war is reducing available fertiliser and fuel. 2. The Ukraine invasion is causing a shortage of grain. 3. The changing weather cycles (don't call it climate change) are making for less predictable cropping (except for West Aust recent big crops). 4. The biggest El Nino event in centuries may mess up the american harvests. And maybe ours, too. 5. Australia has lost 70% of it's bird species. Biodiversity is vital to food chains. 6. The veroa mite (pestilence, anyone?) is damaging every food that needs pollinators. 7. The H5n1 bird flu has reached our shores. Among other things it has potential to interrupt Australia's most popular protein source - chooks. There must be other things that are being ignored. Am I being too paranoid?

My boss died. I went to his funeral. I kneeled down beside the coffin and whispered, "Guess who's thinking outside the box now?"

The BS in the ME has been the biggest shot in the arm for EV ever, No one wants to be Hung out to dry by people who hate each other's guts intensely and show no concern for how the rest of the World copes with the shortage. We don't import sun wind and tides and hydro.. It comes free and doesn't pollute and no country can block it unless it's a river from someplace, that gets Dammed and used up upstream.

Do you mean a out standing Comedian? I know, No prize for second place....... I'll get my hat.

Creating a questionnaire in order to get the correct sort of information it aims to get is a very difficult thing. Questions have to be carefully worded so that they cannot be misinterpreted. That is one of the problems of the written word. How many time here amongst ourselves has someone posted what appears to be a very clear comment or statment and it has been taken the wrong way by someone? That is the cause of most of the arguments here, or the missing of jokes.

A guy hears a noise outside at his shed. He looks out the window and sees a burglar trying to break into the shed. He quickly calls 000 and explains the situation. The operator says "Sorry sir, we have no resources to send." The guy looks out again, and says, "You have to come. He's stealing my mower." The operator again says," I told you sir, we have no resources to send." Then the guy says, "Oh, don't worry about it, I just shot the twat. He's dead on the lawn.' Within five minutes, there were two helicopters, six police cars and fourteen police swarming around his house. There was no body on the lawn. The police said, "Sir, you lied to us. You didn't shoot anyone." The guy said, "You started it by saying you had no resources."

I know the feeling. Arthritis in the knees means normal knee propulsion to get up off the ground is long gone. I end up like a beetle on my back, then have to roll over on all fours and get up that way.

That's absolute rubbish. The ABC is far less biased than any other news service in Australia. It's widely recognised that Sky News or whatever they call themselves now are among the most biased. So surely Hanson refused entry to them too? The reason Hanson doesn't want the ABC around is because they ask difficult questions. Guess what? That's their job. They do it to all sides of politics. And as a politician, if you haven't got answers to difficult questions, then what are you doing there? As a reporter said this morning, it's dangerous for democracy when politicians exclude segments of the media from their announcements. Look how many criminal investigations leading to charges have been initiated by investigative journalism, especially by the ABC. Without proper media scrutiny, corruption flourishes.

I am humbled to be graced by the presence of so many Grande Masters! I bow to your superior grandiosity

OME, give Jerry his keyboard back.

Speak for yourself. The other senator is just as much an Australian as Hanson and has a right to her opinion. While her comment was a bit bolshie, that's because she's a Greens senator and probably nothing to do with her country of origin. And if you think about her words they are 100% correct, and also stand up for the original Australians. Pauline responded in your classical racist manner and deserves to lose. Maybe she should give up HER well paid position, her overseas holidays, clothes, plane and food all paid for by a billionaire buying influence, and piss off back to Ipswich.