Leaderboard

Back on the road Peter! Let me know if you'd like to go for a ride sometime. One of my favourites is to Richmond via Grasstree Hill then back via Tea Tree and Brighton.

I got a fright tonight when I dropped one of my favourite lanterns (in the top four) onto the verandah floor from well above waist height. One of those times when you're not game to look down and see the damage. Luckily it's a strong, well built lantern and survived without a scratch. An el cheapo Chinese one I have would have been busted up badly in a fall like that due to it's paper thin constrction. The dropped lantern is a Sunlight brand cold blast lantern made in Indonesia. It's a large size, basically styled on a Dietz No.80, so a bit of weight to fall from that height with a full tank of kero. I think there's a couple of reasons it's such good quality, one is that the company's main business is making 44 gallon drums and the same gauge steel is used in the lanterns. They are also very well built and a factor in that is that I think they're mainly produced for the domestic market in Indonesia which requires a sturdy, useable product. A lot of contempory Chinese lanterns on the other hand, are made especially for the junk export market and are of low quality. The older lanterns made in China and Hong Kong were fairly good quality. I have a very old Hong Kong made Globe brand (aka The World Light Factory) hot blast lantern and it's of good quality. Of all the lanterns I have, a mix of hot blast and cold blast lanterns including brands from the USA, Germany, India and the UK, in my opinion the best of them all is the old humble Australian made Lanora hot blast lantern. They're not flash, but solid as a rock, burn beautifully and function mechanically way better than any of the others. I have two of them, the attached photo shows the yellow one burning away on the verandah. The Lanoras were circa 1940's/1950's, very common lantern and widely used by the military, railways and government as well as household use.

His new avatar:

There's a rise of far-right populist parties everywhere. Reform in UK. AfD in Germany. Fidesz in Hungary. National Rally in France. The MAGAfication of the GOP in the US. PHONey here in Australia. If you want reasons, how long have you got? Growing inequality. Billionaires profiteering while simultaneously disenfranchising workers. Overpopulation, destruction of the natural world while those same billionaires resist any limitations on resource extraction. Journalism hollowed out by concentration of media ownership to the same billionaires and their mates who own the fossil fuel and tech industries. Loss of traditional industies to automation, robotics and AI, and the necessary transition of energy systems. Difficult and existential questions which require actual thought, wisdom and cooperative planning, at a time when our attention span is the shortest it's ever been. Into this complicated reality, populist parties provide simplistic answers and attract followers who like simple answers. Climate change isn't real so let's drill, baby, drill. Everything will be ok if we send all the immigrants back to where they came from. It's all the fault of the Somalis/Muslims/Jews/Pakistanis/pick your group. Cut taxes while simultaneously increasing services. Sound familiar? If you really think that Pauline is a deep thinking, compassionate and forward-looking leader, then by all means vote for her. Personally I think she's an opportunistic, racist rabble-rouser who appeals to the worst bits of human nature, so her party will always be last on my ballot.

Apparently these buzzwords are used to express power in interpersonal relationships. If a person is on a lower rung in the ladder than the person using the buzzwords, then the one on the higher rung is exerting power over the other. These words are also used to exclude outsiders from inner circles. These words are the trade jargon of the administrative classes. The one I hate is "on my watch". I could see it being used by John F Kennedy and the elder George Bush who both served in the Navy in WWII, but its use by people with no navy service grates on my nerves.

Corporate buzzwords and phrases. It was things like "bringing them along for the journey".. The latest is aligned.. as in "lets all get aligned".. These things are repeat ad nauseum... I am not sure people even know what they mean. P155es me off.

They made a documentary about that... It's called "Terminator"

Our deep south sounds positively balmy compared to your riding environment. Last year I folded to sensible behaviour and sold my bike. No sensible 70 year old would be so silly as to have a motorbike! I finally gave in to my pining for a ride. Collected a little 250, (a lighter thing to pick up if it falls over). A pleasant enough 8 degree day. It's heated grips worked all the way home. Of course as soon as I hit the highway the clouds closed in and the previously nice winding roads had me nervous because I was still getting used to handling this light responsive bike, on wet roads. Home in one piece. Nice hot shower, hot cuppa and happy. For future adventures, I will include a weather forecast in my flight plan.

This image gives an idea of the airflow direction. Not visible from the outside is the plenium, described here as the air gap, which is an empty compartment above the fuel tank, and receives the air circulating down through the side tubes. The air from the tubes via the plenium to the burner is force fed air, very critical to how they burn. Without that system they'd just be a glorified candle like the wall mount type lamps that are called a dead flame lantern as they don't have any forced air, just drawing it in from the grate at the base of the burner.

Yes they do, and very loud. Not as loud as the butcher bird's but close. They wake you up at night. For years I thought the sound was some weird bird up in the roof ridge cap until I did some googling and found out it was the geckos. I originally thought they were the native gecko, dubious dtella. but with more googling and some close up inspection I'm fairly sure they're one of the introduced Asian species. They moved in here when I built the place in 1996 so are probably into the fifth generation by now.

I think the light output is a bit like our refrigeration expectations nowadays. When we lived without electricity he light from one of these would have beaten a candle by tons, better than a campfire. Imagine people having to live without electricity, having a coolgardie safe only no to keep their food, and maybe an underground cellar. hey Willie, do your geckos make audible sounds. We ha geckos all over a villa in the Maldives that called to each other all night. Never heard lizards making any thing other than hisses when threatened.

Well said Jerry. Firstly I'm breaking my golden rule here. I had a lengthy break from the forum and set a rule for coming back on a regular basis that I would avoid the politics section, so this is a relapse. I think it's a turbulent time in politics for a lot of the reasons mentioned by you in the above post. It's a good way to analyze the issue, otherwise it just turns into an us against them mudslinging match. Devotees of the major parties often like to think those on the fringe should come into their fold because it's the only way to provide stable government. Here's the catch - a lot of those people only have one small part in the power structure, and that's their vote every three (or four in some states) years. A lot of them use that vote to send a message to the majors, and let's face it, without a reality check, complacency will rule. While it's a sound two party system where we have this eternal your turn, my turn setup, performance of governments and major oppositions will always be pedestrian. A lot of the disgruntled people don't want to reward that. I don't think the shift to the right is a blip, and it certainly won't be halted by simply denigrating those people. At the moment here in Australia, Labor has a declining primary vote in the polls, but with the number of seats held, should be right for a while without having to go to a Labor/Green coalition. The immediate problem is for the conservatives with their primary votes bleeding to minor parties, mainly ON. There's a possibility if voter disillusionment with the major parties is not addressed, we'll see a shift to more European style government where it's rare for parties to form government without cobbling together a coalition of parties. Be prepared for the possibility that might be the new normal in Australia in the not too distant future. Liberal/National/One Nation coalition or a Labor/Green coalition with a few independants thrown in here and there.

Edit: [Poor comment from a moderator. Cut it out. You set a bad example. The subject needs to be delved into a bit deeper. Nev] Nev, as an example of the point I'm trying to make, the above quote has been edited to normal text. Yes, I know you do it for emphasis, but your posts don't need emphasis. They are short enough to be clearly understood without caps. The fact is they are less understandable with the cap emphasis you put in the posts, and can visually look like a rant. Have a good look at the two versions above and try to imagine them through the eyes of others; it's not hard to see which one looks more polite. You don't need a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

This coulda gone in the trump thread, but I laughed. Maybe there is hope? Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, questioned Attorney General Pam Bondi in an oversight hearing Wednesday

Unbelievable! America failed to win gold for shooting, at the Olympics! (Well, it wasn't held in a school)

Even though they can't spell, it's true. One Nation is a protest party. They have no workable policies and no chance of successfully governing, in the catastrophic event that a majority of voters lost their minds and voted them in. If you want a government that hates the environment, loves guns and bibles and is paid for by (and works for) billionaires, move to the USA.

Had a doctor's appointment yesterday. 55 minute wait beyond appointment time. He gave me a referral to a mob to check out my loss of balance and very bad hearing. The place was called Dizzyology. I called to make an appointment. Got a recording saying "Our reception operates 9 to 5:30 Monday to Friday." then nothing. As It was only 3 pm, I rang again, got the same. Twice more, the same. I thought, I'll go down there, because I have difficulty hearing on the phone, even with plug in ear phones. Looked at my watch, it was flat (rechargable). Plugged it in to recharge. Opened the front door, the dog shot past my leg and across the street. Rounded him up and got under way. School leaving time, Mum's taxis everywhere, plus 2 buses in a narrow street. Driving in the left lane, a line of cars stopped to turn left. Eventually got into the right lane, a line of cars stopped to turn right. Twenty metres from just about every set of lights, they turn amber. Finally got there at 4 o'clock. It was 12 km. Walked into the place, a room with 6 chairs, no reception counter. A table with a sign "Have a seat, someone will be out at your appointment time." I was there to make an appointment. Took a seat and waited. The walls were frosted glass with about 18" clear at the bottom. I could see a man's legs moving around a treatment table, and voices like he was talking to a patient. I waited....and waited. After about an hour and 20 minutes I saw the hydraulic thing under the treatment table lowering it so the patient could get off. The door opened and the man came out followed by the patient, whom he directed to the toilet. He said, "I'm sorry, we don't have a receptionist. I'll be with you when I finish this appointment, It may be about half an hour." The patient returned, and they went into another consulting room. After about 10 minutes, they came out, the patient left and the man took my referral letter, went into an office and organised the appointment for March 20. He explained that there were only clinicians at this location, the receptionist worked from home because only people with an appointment went to that location. So, after well over an hour and a half wating I finally left just after 6 pm. I wasn't driving all that way and leaving without the appointment. I got to explain the back story to my problem, and learned more about cochlear implants, which he thinks I have a good chance of qualifying for. Guess today's date.

It all depends on how much money you've got, what your dream is, and how much determination you've got, to achieve that dream. One of the most amazing restorations I've seen is a split window Kombi, salvaged from the Higginsville Pumping station - where the entire front of it had been cut off, the body stood on its front, a huge chunk cut out of the side of it, and then it was used as a dunny!! But a bloke set his heart on having a fully restored split window Kombi, and he recovered every part of that "dunny Kombi" and restored it to superb driving condition!! It reportedly cost him $100,000! Why anyone would do this, to end up driving a gutless old pile of VW crap, is beyond me! But that's just my opinion! This is the Kombi when it was used as a dunny, I can't find photos of it when restored, I did see them on Instagram, but can't find them now.

I am getting through my copy of Peter’s book, nice to have a break from fiction for a bit. Some real interesting stuff in there. the amount of golden ounces pulled out of that ground is staggering. £3 an ounce might have been a fortune then, but t the ridiculous prices seen lately the numbers are staggering.

Driest start to the year since 2009 in Melbourne with some gauges not recording 1 mm since mid November.

It wasn't actually sold, it was a 99 yr lease. A pretty cunning way of getting around FIRB examination. But an undesirable deal, regardless, and basically a bloody outright stupid deal.

OK, you two. We know that you each sit on the otehr side of the fence. We accept that. What is not acceptable is personal attacks. Please play the ball and not the man.

Intuitively yes, But airflow around bike engines is complex and sometimes Oil from the seat area ends up well forward. The front Cylinder on a Vee twin works the Hardest and usually has the Bluer Pipe. Any idea Why? I like V twins , There's a LOT right about them for a Bike AND a small Plane.Nev

Incidentally It Makes 82 HP with those heads (from 1,000cc) which are flowed and have a changed (reduced) included angle on the Valves and SMALLER exhaust Valves. The original Valves are Bigger than Optimum in the IRON head. This gives an increase of torque of up to 42% with no cam changes and no More Revs needed and the Ignition advance reduced by 8 degrees. The Oil temp is also significantly reduced because of the Alloy Heads and the flatter top ARIAS forged Pistons have Less area to absorb Heat.. It's all XR 750Tracker technology. The after market heads and different Manifold and rockers head bolts Pistons Pushrods and covers were Very expensive and they only made 400 sets. The Later alloy Motor can be Modified to equal these performance figures and the Buell Motor is there already. 100 HP/1200 cc with a much stronger bottom end and Lighter clutch. Nev

in this space.. on the same page... circle back... low-hanging fruit... bring to the table... brain dump... get buy-in... game changer... take it off-line... reinvent the wheel... onboarding... in my wheelhouse... top down... putting out fires... There are heaps of them and they're all irritating.

Crikey it's HOT 34° Tomorrow, 40° next Sunday.

On the grain season side in W.A., the farming community has just produced the biggest-ever grain crop to come out of W.A. It was truly a bumper season - 27.35M tonnes of grains in total, surpassing the former record-breaking 25M tonnes in 2022. That's 4 out of the last 5 years that have been bumper grain seasons for W.A. farmers. The taxman will be rubbing his hands! Surprisingly to me, barley was the biggest crop winner this season just gone. A far bigger area cropped to barley than normal, and high yields for the 2025/26 season, made barley the standout for this years grains. https://www.giwa.org.au/wa-crop-reports/2025-season/giwa-crop-report-february-2026/

Thy will, be done. On earth as it is in heaven. By then A.I. will be so logical that it will remove the plague of humans and bring lasting peace to Earth. So, it would indeed work very well.

You can change your display name, not that I've heard of it being done, or what impact it will have on your previous posts. Click on your avatar at the top of the left margin. From the dropdown menu, select Account Settings. The first item is Display Name. Click on the Change button. Enter and save your new Display Name.

ALL of that Coast is rather nice. Nev

In addition to kerosene lanterns, we had a kerosene fridge. It was my job when I was in high school to keep the kerosene tank filled up.

In this ABC article, election analyst William Bowe has produced this graphic based on averages of polling. It shows voting at the last federal election compared to averaged voter intention now. One Nation is up 20% which is made up of a 5% loss to Labor, 10% loss to the coalition and 5% to those listed as others. The only one that hasn't moved is the Greens steady at 12%. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-15/story-lab-one-nation-polling/106322978

There used to be LOTs of them in Cairns, mostly upside down on the ceiling. Nev

Talking of betting on sports, online bookies are making it difficult for country jockey clubs to keep operating. With the ability to place bets using an app while at the racetrack, less money is going through the TAB, whose profits are fed back into country racing. That means less mon allocated to country clubs so prize money is less while the costs of operating meetings continues to rise.

I used to think the tubes running down each side were just part of the framework until I found out they are critical to the way the lanterns work. A bit like intake manifolds, but act as structural integrity as well. I usually burn one or two at night on the verandah. It provides a nice soft light and keeps the geckos happy hoovering up the moths attracted to the light. Another benifit is the nostalgic smell of burning kero; it reminds me of growing up with the kero heater. The kero heater was a stinky old thing and didn't throw out a lot of heat. I can't remember what year we got mains power on and would have changed to an electric heater. Before the mains power we had a 32 volt generator run by a single cylinder Southern Cross diesel. The battery bank was stuffed so as soon as you cut the motor to go to bed, all the lights went off. I've still got that generator but unfortunately not the engine.

My childhood involved Tilly lanterns for camping, which I think must have been like that Aladdin.

Yeah, but he'd not be allowed to compete while suffering football in mouth disease

It is a direct reflection of their intelligence.

PHON has NOT got ONE Lower House Seat OR any Policies other that RACIST hate ( which changes according to the Occasion) and Bagging Labor She's Funded By Gina Reinhart who is worth 37 Billion and some of that Assistance ? will (and is ) coming under scrutiny. All the People rushing to Her are Malcontents and mostly Nats who have a complex situation in ARE in Queensland where there is ONLY a SINGLE Party. Hansens Popularity is Highest in Qld. HER approval rating is Only Based on Polling of a relatively small number of People. Murdoch is Pushing her but the Main damage is caused by the Behaviour of the NP to their Partner. in the Unholy alliance, called the Coalition whose Main Purpose, Particularly Lately was to Keep Labor Out. The NP more supports Coal and GAS interests than that OF Farmers and say NO to anything Labor proposed. The NP don't actually represent a LOT of people but a fair bit of area and they are rusted on voters. When Election time Come s scrutiny of what Policies are In Place& How they are likely to work Might Bring some reality into the equation and see How the DIVERSE views of the NEW additions to Pauline's Party will share the Power and Pecking order. STABILITY. Can't see it happening. Nev

Willie, the Australian gold price has been over AU$7,000 for quite some time. The price was above US$5,000 for the whole of the last week in January, and again for the last week.

That's ok Nev, enjoy your junk free retirement. I haven't quite got to that stage yet; achieved the retirement part but still haven't cured the junk addiction.

I would assign those to a labor supporter. So what's the point?

Are you talking about the foreign investment review board? More a rubber stamp. Who would have allowed the Darwin port to be sold to foreign interests at all, let alone China?

Has Trump ever paid what he owes? You have to wonder why anyone would take on a job for him. How does he keep lawyers working for him?

I have no desire to watch "Melania, The Movie". BUT... I am most curious about E. Jean Carroll. Want to hear the story of the woman who took on Trump? The one who beat him in court. Twice. https://askejeanfilm.com/ The thrilling adventurous life of beloved advice columnist and journalist E. Jean Carroll, the only woman to beat Trump in court. Twice. "Ask E. JEAN" is the story of E. Jean Carroll’s life, from her early days as Miss Cheerleader USA to her rise as a journalist, author, and advice columnist. Carroll broke barriers as the first female editor at Esquire, Playboy, and Outside, helping to redefine women’s roles in media with her sharp wit and fearless voice. In recent years, she stirred public discourse by standing up to power, becoming the only woman to beat Donald Trump twice in court.... But I don't think she gas managed to make gropenfuhrer to actually pay her the court ordered compensation.

Did you know that artists are not paid a fee for performing at the Superbowl halftime show? The NFL picks up the bill for staging the show but does not pay the artists a fee. The exposure of being on such a show is considered sufficient compensation.

Doesn't that just 'roll off the tongue!'

He is a cunning linguist.