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Hybrids give the engine a hard time and are as requiring of maintenance as any ICE car is. Perhaps even more, long term. It appeals to people who want to have the best of both worlds The actual range on the Battery is very short and the vehicles are expensive. Out of warrantee I wouldn't want to OWN one.. I HAVE driven them and find them unpleasant and the fuel saving varies a lot depending whether its Hilly or higher constant speed on the flat.

This morning I was listening to music on my radio. The music was mainly orchestral and the radio is mono. The thought struck me what a wonderful device the radio's speaker is. It can reproduce the wide range of pitch and tone produced by a number if instruments playing at the same time simply by an electrical current causing a fibre cone to vibrate.

I wouldn't own a hybrid for reasons of complexity with 2 power plants, a small battery and a complex drive train, maintenance and a reliance on fossil fuels. Studies have shown most hybrid owners do not get anywhere near the claimed economy. There are a number of reasons but with plug in hybrids many owners do not plug them in so their fuel consumption from the relatively small ICE engine can be very high. For most of my EV driving the energy is free as I charge at home off my rooftop solar panels supported by my home battery plus getting free power for 3 hours a day. On a recent trip to NZ I left the car at Gold Coast airport after leaving home with 100% battery. I still had just over 50% when I got to the airport. Most of the trip was at 110kMh. I stopped at Ballina BP on the way home & put it on the fast charger for 15 minutes while I went for a comfort break & coffee. It was pouring with rain at the time & I wanted a buffer to make sure I'd get home. Cost me $9.04 for a bit over 15 kWh of charge so had plenty left when I got home.

I also use both Flight Radar 24 and Flight Aware when my wife has been away on a solo trip. This happens about 4 times a year. We have the pickup down to a fine art. I park at a large service station a couple of KMs from the airport (free). I can then find her flight on either of these apps. and see exactly where it is. This means I can get to the pickup zone at just the right time. Another purpose I use it for is following other people's flights. Recently, my son and partner spent 3 weeks in China. I tracked all of their flights, not out of concern but out of interest.

A Japanese gentleman was visiting the United States for the first time. He’d seen America on television for years and was excited to finally experience it in person. On the last day of his trip, he climbed into a taxi and asked the driver to take him to the airport. As they drove along the highway, a Honda zoomed past the cab. The man leaned toward the window, clapped his hands, and exclaimed: “Ahh! Honda — very fast! Made in Japan!” A few minutes later, a Toyota flew by. Again, he leaned out excitedly and said: “Toyota — very fast! Made in Japan!” Soon after that, a Mitsubishi sped past them. Once again, the man smiled proudly and shouted: “Mitsubishi — very fast! Made in Japan!” By now, the taxi driver was getting a little irritated… but he kept quiet and continued driving. Finally, they arrived at the airport. The driver stopped the car and said, “That’ll be $300.” The Japanese gentleman’s eyes went wide. “Three hundred dollars?! That’s very expensive!” The taxi driver smiled and replied: “Meter — very fast. Made in Japan.”

Maybe that's why Vladimir is so quiet on all this. If China can't source that oil from Iran, Russia will pick it up. Money to be made. He might also pick up some oil trade to China to replace their Venezuela imports. Last year more than half of Venezuelan exports went to China. From Vlad's perspective - lose a couple of allies, but gain a heap of money.

I am not sure why you are trying to register. It is free to use and does not require registration unless you want the paid version.

Oh, they've got a plan, alright - and it all centres around our ol' mate Donny, and the ever-increasing level of his personal financial gains - from any worldly conquests, Presidential decisions, and trade deals jockeying. I must say, I'm surprised he hasn't managed to score a deal with the U.S. military, to use Trump-branded armaments. I bet he's seen the profits of the U.S. military-industrial complex, and is itching to get his major share of them.

Fear and hate is what the crappy MSM are good at. We have a monopoly of a Murdoch controlled media HERE and that's real Bad News. Nev

The media are having a wonderful time spreading fear and anxiety, claiming that petrol will be $2.50 a litre within a couple of days. There is zero reason why petrol should go from around $1.50 on Monday to $2.50 next week, we live in a global economy with oil sourced from dozens of sources, and a small jump in the price of oil per barrel, doesn't translate to a $1 a litre increase within 10 days. It's simply motorist-gouging at its finest, and I hope it sends EV sales through the roof.

The Qld Government subsidised fuel prices to gain votes. Nev

I stand corrected. Toyota lost ground considerably in China, its second largest market after the US for 3 years but had a slight 0.2% increase in 2025. Hybrids are less popular in China mainly due to government incentives for BEVs.

I use the free version for a quick check to see what's making the noise overhead. Most of teh heavies are heading to China and Korea. It is a funny route. A straight line from Sydney to just southeast of my place, then a bit of a right hand turn to pass over the top of me at 30,000 ft. I like to use he program to see what the odd flights are. A lot of RFDS transport flights.

I suspect that hybrids will win out. Both my kids have them. My son's big ute is a hybrid with a 1.5 litre petrol generator engine. I think the claimed fuel consumption is about 2 litres/100km. The ability to recharge the battery 'on-the-go' seems to me to be the big advantage of hybrids

10/10 overcast this morning (Saturday). The cloudbase is too high to produce rain. 45% humidity at 26C. Wind calm with the occasion puff.

I remember my Dad saying that if fuel ever got to 50c a litre, he'd sell the car and buy a horse. He didn't, of course, but shows what it used to cost. Mind you, I was probably about 10 then so that would be in 1982. House prices (and wages) were a lot less than 1/4 of today's, so fuel hasn't risen in price as much as other things.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/909950401830263

When most company stations, BP, Shell, etc., or 7 Eleven were at $2.19 or $2.29 per litre, I filled up at a small independent station at $1.79 per litre. While all pumps were busy, there were no queues. As one car pulled out, another pulled in. With the small number of km's I do, that full tank should do me for about 3 weeks.

Yeah seen reports , l know there's many and any can say whichever which way you thinks playing out . But they've said this is all actually playing into Bunker dweller Putes hands and he'll be getting good money for his oil again. Sooo, he'll be able to keep financing the war. Great ! Personally, l reckon This is all gonna turn into the biggest Trump shyt show yet.

And Trump has announced India can buy Russian oil without any sanction because arab supplies are limited. Its just getting more clear what Trump values.

I tapped the history icon on the screen menu, entered the date and time (4 March, 17:20Z) and it replayed the flights around that time. If you tap on the aircraft symbol on the map it brings up all the aircraft details. One flight left Perth and headed to Singapore and passed the incoming aircraft which I assume was the one you heard.

FlightAware allows you to search for past flights for free

If you close the ad I think it takes you to the subscription page. I suspect this is what is happening. The free version is sponsored by an ad. Here is how I use this app Untitled 549.mp4

This is from the website. It doesn't like an Adblocker for the free version, but it is free. The 7 day trial is for the paid versions which makes sense..

Time will tell as far as Khark Island goes. There's always the possibility they're hoping to get the job done while preserving Khark Island's infrastructure. If they had air superiority, it would be a simple matter of obliterating it with B-52s and cheap iron bombs, but no sign of that yet. Just as an edit: what the general said about Khark Island seemed to neglect the fact the US Navy could probably stop any Iranian tankers getting through the straits, so that would have the same economic effect I would think.

Last night I was listening to a retired US general speaking about the suicidal plan the Kurds over the border in Iraq have of launching a ground invasion of Iran. The general gave the obvious reasons why boots on the ground would be a disaster in Iran - sheer size, terrain, logistics and so on. He seems to think the better option would be to take out Khark Island in the northern gulf, where he said 80 to 90% of Iranian oil is exported from., and by doing so, starve them of funds. China gets around 12 or 13% of their oil from Iran, but that oil makes up 87% of Iran's oil sales.

At risk of thread drift, (getting back to the WARs), allow me to introduce my hero (sadly, deceased).... Col David Hackworth. Korean War & Viet Nam war. His book "About Face" is my go - to war book. Relevance? Simply this, "Has anything changed over the last 90 years when it comes to Americano arrogance and warmongering? I see the same sort of background happening now WRT Iran, as Col Hackworth observed during Viet Nam's war. Have they learned nothing? No exit plan. No "Mission Accomplished" target. No concrete mission plan. Lots of USA military might, but no follow up plan. PS I need to track down my copy of his book, leant it many times returened n-1 times

Definitely free with no need to register or pay. You can upgrade to the paid version for more features but I have never thought it necessary. I used to do a bit of aircraft photography near Melbourne airport. Radar 24 is great to see what is coming in. For following a specific aircraft there is another app called Flight Aware also free.

I use the free version which I've had on my phone for years.

I would have had a lot more hair on my head and better teeth the last time I paid $1.60.

Flight Radar 24 is free to use. There is a paid version but I use the free version.

Pretty much all of the legacy auto manufacturers are declining. Stellantis is a basket case. Toyota has had its head in the sand for years thinking electric vehicles will disappear. They still have good sales in the West but are down worldwide considerably. Why is this happening? Unless you have been underground for the past few years it is obvious. Electric vehicles are taking over. Tesla made them mainstream but not for the average car buyer due to cost and the fossil fuel industry promoting misinformation. The rise of Chinese car manufacture is the main reason. The world wide forecast increase in EV sales in 2025 was 21%, the same was in 2024.. The year ended with sales passing 25%. The December numbers in Australia were 38% up on the previous year surpassing expectations. EV sales now make up over 13% of car sales in Australia. China has now passed Japan as the largest supplier of cars to Australia. We are though one of the slowest EV converts in the Western world. Other reasons include range increases, very little maintenance, long warranties and most of all lower cost as basic small Chinese made EVs have reached price parity with ICE equivalents. EV market share in the UK reached 23% by the end of 2025 with the rest of Europe 19.3%. The Nordic countries are way ahead with Noway (97%) & Denmark (70%) Sweden a bit lower at over 40% but 60% including hybrids. Trump land has gone the other way as you might expect with a 1% decline overall other than in California, Washington & Colorado. Trump won't allow Chinese EVs in & GM, Ford & the US part of Stellantis are losing ground and bleeding capital by producing mediocre EVs. If it wasn't for Tesla the US market would be stuffed. Musk has done a good job of helping this occur.

Oh! And I thought he was talking about tyres. (I did cotton on eventually)

It lasts for a paternity.

Aren't you getting some NOW? 1900. Nev

I've received my latest power bill and it's the first time in four or five years I've had to pay anything. I think all the government subsidies have run out except for the state government pension discount of about $90. With all the cost of living subsidies, my balance was always in the black for a few years there, but price increases have whittled the balance down so I'm now in the red by about $180. It was good while it lasted, but now back to the real world.

Stellantis' loss is purely and simply, shocking management, right from the top. Poor quality products, overpriced, constant poor assembly and poor manufacturing complaints from customers being ignored, a CEO who rewarded himself with a disgusting US$39M pay package, while his company was hiding massive problems and heading for a cliff. Not to mention massively overpriced spare parts, and after-sales service that treated Stellantis customers like they were dog shit on salesmans shoes. Remember the local Jeep owner who publically destroyed his new Jeep "lemon" that had mutliple faults that Jeep/Chrysler wouldn't fix under warranty? Jeep Grand Cherokee sales went from 16,582 annually in 2014, to just 645 in 2024! Not exactly a stunning sales record! And every one of Stellantis' 14 automotive products has the same problems! Senior management in this company needs to be sent back to Business School, to learn how to manufacture products that are relatively fault free, that people want, that are competitively priced, and where the customers get treated like the valuable clients they are! - not treated like they're just a nuisance!

On brighter news, review of the new electric Honda WN7 bike. https://www.visordown.com/reviews/2026-honda-wn7-first-ride-ride-review

That's right. The International law system is a toothless tiger. The ICC, the UN, all useless.

Sometimes I think I'd like to be off grid, but with the amount of mains power I use it's still the cheapest option by far. When I got the power on in 1994, it only cost me $5,000. The power company will run the power free of charge a maximum of 30 metres into the property (owner supplies the pole). From there I have 100 metres overhead which was $2,000, and from there about 250 metres of underground cable which was $3,000. With the three phases, that's four 35mm underground cables, so I'd hate to guess what the cost would be these days. If it was all overhead I probably could have got away with single phase, but over that distance it's good to share the load over two phases. It didn't cost much extra for the third phase cable so I got it put in for a couple of reasons. At the time I thought it was good to have in case I ever decided to run any three phase equipment, and even though I'll probably never use it for that purpose, the fourth underground cable is good insurance in case one of the two I use is ever knocked out by lightning or some other reason. Half the underground section runs up the centre of the driveway, so wiring in the unused fourth cable is a cheap fix if I lose a cable. Touch wood it hasn't happened but when the old underground copper phone line was in use, I had to get Telstra out a few times to replace phone cable from lightning strikes. It hits trees and travels down the roots to zap the cable.

Define "some". A few drops at teh edge of a storm cell, but nothing to even trickle from the gutters.