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I've figured out some positives. Life is good. We've had twenty seven inches of rain so far this year and the country is looking great. It's finally stopped raining and the beautiful clear and cool weather is here. I have a debt free roof over my head, lots of food, a motor car that works, I can walk, talk, breathe, hear and see and have plenty of fun stuff to do. The first photo is the front yard, the second is the back yard, and the third photo is my best mate outside the kitchen window trying to shame me into giving him some dog biscuits. I've known him since he was born, so he's known me his entire life. There's nowhere I'd rather be.

It's a beautiful day. I'm going for a ride shortly. Thinking Bothwell way.

I'm doing a lot of thinking about the Hereafter. I go to a cupboard and think, "What am I here after?"

I didn't think that JerryA said 'its better'. Sure. But not just USofA. It's a first step toward starting to address the sorry state of affairs in all our various democracies. All the world should be cleaning up their (our) own back yatd. More importantly for us, along with rising the ire of the voters, it brings the whole issue of corruption into the public awareness. Politicians must be aware of the groundswell of discontent. The polls have been showing it for years. We are tired of turning a blind eye to corruption whilst hoping for crumbs of integrity. It should be seen by the political parties as a big warning that the voters want a better deal - one where the wellbeing of the public is served better than the corrupting moneyed minorities (such as tax avoiding business entities)

Jerry, you're spending a lot of time defending the indefensible. Saying that it's better to have a massive amount of corrupt behaviour because it's transparently visible rather than a small amount of hidden corruption (which usually comes out anyway) doesn't seem logical to me.

For a while now, finding the Money for essentials when living on the OA Pension is a big challenge and the Boss and I have a few Medical challenges. She had open Heart surgery about 8 years ago and I have a very thorough Neuro person who is always Making me do tests and imaging. Yesterday we were in Bayside St Kilda and a low flying formation Led by a DC3 flew above and out over the Bay at about 1500 feet with magnificent noises coming from it's radial Motors. That Plane would be well over 80 Years old and Pt Phillip Bay was like a Millpond. Other Places in the World are Being bombed daily by R soles. Nev

Wille, you have just described my worst fears. Although I am not alone, that path of losses and degraded quality of life is my worst dread of all. And not just for myself. I feel badly for my wife having to go through that on her own if I lose my marbles. But for now, we take each day - one at a time - and find something positive to offset the gripes - of - the - day. Last night we went out to the local historic theatre (run by volunteers fighting the boredom of ageing). Watched an engaging but forgotten old movie. Today is the first sunny day for weeks. And I have good reason to get out of bed; It's my turn to put croissants in the oven for breakfast.

The scary part about getting older is seeing the younger set going ga-ga over some historic, vintage footage, from ancient times, about 50 or 60 years ago - then you look at it, and realise you were there as an adult, and everything is very familiar! I can also recall when middle nephew (about 10) came home from school and asked his Mum (SIL) if she had any old photos for a school project. When his Mum said, "How old?", he replied, "Oh, from about 60 years ago, when you were little!" His Mum was 30 at the time! 😄

I'm writing a book. It's all about things I should do. It's called 'Oughtobiography'

It's interesting that Trump and the MAGA mob have just lost an important gubnertorial election in Iowa to a Democrat by the name of Zach Lahn. Lahn defeated the Republican incumbent, Trump-backed Randy Feenstra. Despite Iowa being a big support zone for Trump, with the State being a huge farming State - Lahn won on multiple angles associated with health issues that the State is grappling with. Des Moines water is so polluted with nitrate run-off into water aquifers, they have had to install special filtration equipment. Cancer rates are skyrocketing in Iowa, and a lot of Iowan people (including farmers) believe high levels of pesticide and herbicide use is to blame for both problems. Trump is trying to ensure Monsanto can't be sued, and has watered down EPA laws and controls. The Iowans see it differently, they want Monsanto held to account, and EPA laws and regulations kept in place. Lahn campaigned on the MAHA ticket - Make America Healthy Again, a vocal group who claim that Americans suffer from an epidemic of chronic illnesses, driven by ultra-processed foods, environmental toxins, over-medicalisation, and corporate corruption within the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. MAHA is championed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Lahn also campaigned on reducing major corporate ownership and control of farmland. This is an interesting turn of events, a Red State turning against Trumps corporate-loving policies.

I’m sure that’s true. It’s the same here. Most people live their lives day to day without necessarily paying much attention to politics or the state of the world in general. However, the fact is that everyone is affected by the economy, the judicial and health systems, global supply chain disruptions, taxes, and the quality of the nation’s leadership. It’s the ordinary people who suffer the most when those systems don’t work for them and there’s a lot of that going on in the US these days. The wealthy are doing fine. Trump’s manipulated stock portfolio is looking pretty healthy, he can afford his increasingly frequent medical checkups, enjoy his special tax relief status and not worry about the cost of jet fuel for his weekly golf outings. Most Americans are just trying to make ends meet and get through another day.

Hmm.. (Added bold) How am I defending it, exactly? I am putting other points of view as I see them. Regardless of how bad Chump is, there are others doing it under a pretence they are working for the people. I merely gave examples. But I think people are getting sick of being taken advantage of.. Have they got it worse under Chump? Yes, of course. But do they care? I would argue for an increasing number, no, because they probably feel that they are already at the stage that they can only get their head above water for the odd gasp of air, so they don't care if it gets worse. It isn't only economic; it is cultural as well - perceived or real - that they are being left behind socially as well. More and more middle classes have less and less... is the feeling. In my case (of course, UK), my heating bill has quadrupled in 6 years... quadrupled. What about Australia's gas scam, where the Australia institute report that the Japanese government make more from Aussie gas than the Australian government - money that could be used for better education, health, lower energy costs, and the like. Yet, what does Albo (and the libs before) do about it? Nothing while the industry lobby pays a good whack of money to party coffers for the odd lunch. Chump campaigned on doing much of what he has done. People knew, or ought to have known most of what was coming. We all did. His Doge, his tariffs, his cosying to Putin in deference to Ukraine, etc.. ICE and undocumented immigrant deportations; the wall, ignoring the constitution; They were openly committed to during the election campaign, despite him distancing himself from project 2025 at the end of the election but never what he was going to do. On the other hand, I recall in these fora a disagreement about the utility of secrecy of the NACC, and it wasn't long before the conduct of the NACC proved my position - that Labor should have enacted - as they enthusiastically promised prior to the election - public hearings and a transparent NACC. When they got into power, what happened? Secret hearings. It may be small in the scheme of things, but a) it is not isolated; and b) it is seen as them protecting their mates from misconduct. That leaves a foul taste as does all other coverups and stealth operation, especially if you voted for them in good faith of keeping what should be fairly simple election promises. People are now sick of it... Chump is a product of that - a protest vote - people probably knew they were not going to be better off; for many they are not worse off or if they are, it makes no material difference. So, may as well stick it to the establishment. Do you think Farage, or Hanson, or the other European ultra right would start becoming successful if they weren't/ We often forget there is a silent majority, and now they are starting to no longer remain silent. Their motivation may be valid if the actions aren't. If you are not as angry about what your government is doing as you are about Chump, I would argue a) you don't really know what is going on in your back yard; b) you don't care; or c) your dislike is so profound of Chump (for which there is nothing wrong with such a dislike - mine is very profound), that you're not taking that big an interest in your backyard. I agree, other countries don't proactively air much Aussie news in the MSM; but today, it is very easy to find reliable news and facts today in any country that doesn't black out its internet.

The Govts definitely have to crack down on this "Middle Eastern crime gang" activity. It's just a daily occurrence now, to have major shoot-ups and gun murders in SW Sydney. Add to that, they steal and burn luxury vehicles daily - costing us all mega-dollars in increased premiums. If someone steals a car, carries out a major crime, and then burns it, they should get 10 years minimum, and be made to pay the value of the vehicle, plus compensation to the owner for his loss and costs of inconvenience. And the owner often has to carry the cost of increased insurance premiums, because his car was stolen. Car security is a joke today, they can steal any keyless car with code generators that are easily acquired from overseas sellers. Plus, where's the savage penalties for unlicenced firearms (often handguns), used by crims? There's no penalties for additional crimes, the police hit them with one charge, and let the rest drop, because any other sentence would be served concurrently. The sentences should be cumulative, take the bastards out of society for multiple years, even decades, because they have no interest in living in a safe, law-abiding society, so they have forfeited any chance to live in a safe, law-abiding society.

SWMBO is good at booking us into shows such as rock tribute bands or classical guitarists (she loves classical guitar), so we get out and about, and dress up and socialise. It's very necessary to keep up a social life as you age, or you just become an old stay-at-home grump. That's the reason I have my block in the wheatbelt, and all my restoration projects and shed-building plans and construction. I get out into the country around 3 times a week, that in itself is invigorating. I get a change of pace, and I get mental stimulation repairing equipment, buying (and selling) parts and components, and I get to meet new people in that country town regularly. My wheatbelt block neighbour is a fencer, and has an excavator, tip truck and a Dingo, and he's always coming in looking for a BS session, help with something, or even giving me surplus fencing materials and steel he doesn't need. He can't weld for sh**, so he always gets me to do little welding jobs for him. Life is good. We're off to see the Lightscape show in Kings Park soon, we went last year, but it was July 17th, and it was absolutely pouring with rain! You can't pick your day, you get tickets for a set day and time, and that's it - you take your chances with the weather. The lightscape show last year was absolutely spectacular. I took a swag of photos, then lost them when my Motorola phone crapped itself completely. https://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=LSPTOURS26&utm_source=ovation&utm_medium=pmax&utm_campaign=LSPTOURS26&utm_content=conversion&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23841141822&gbraid=0AAAAADpZSCT_kspIAeL1Pye-3H_K2rlTo&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrZTRBhDSARIsAHidYfcriQwFvXDUHdq0eIP10u5K_mfUlQsVSlUoudQ4XtUW5aLccL7Dou4aAr1oEALw_wcB

We see a lot of normal cars and bikes with historic rego. Yeah, it makes me feel old. Worse still my bike, a model which I recall lusting after back when first seen in showrooms, is now on historic rego, same as it's owner. Not 'collectable' like OME's though. I cannot understand the logic behind spending maybe $20k and a thousand hours 'restoring' an old car that was never desirable even when new. But it seems many do. Nostalgia is an expensive thing to keep in the garage.

You know you are old when you see the first model Commodore or an XD Falcon with historic plates.

It's been a long, long time since I could wake up on saturday morning and wonder idly, 'I wonder what I'll do today?'.

I think this about cars. I had a 1927 Chev in 1977 and it was ancient. I felt very brave when I drove it from Ballarat to Broken Hill and back for a rally. Equivalent now would be a 1976 Kingswood, which would still suit me as a daily driver.

The big problem with corrugations is that sometimes you have no choice but to put up with them if you want to get where you have to go. Depending on the vehicle, sometimes it's better to travel a bit faster rather than real slow, or as Nev pointed out, drive on the other side where the wave shape is more in your favour. Which ever way you tackle it, eventually some part of the vehicle will complain.

Isn't that where your wife writes it for you?

Maybe I'm just a cynic, but.... The very first task that AI should complete successfully is to redesign itself to use far less electricity and no water. If it can't solve that problem, why should we trust it to do anything else?

Did that include the $57.45 worth of stock in the stores?

This is the satirical headline story from the Bell Tower Times - Perths equivalent of The Onion. The bloke may not be familiar to East Coasters - but he's John Hughes, W.A.'s longest-lived car dealer, and a legend in W.A. He turned 90 last December, and still runs personalised TV ads and asks car buyers to call him personally, and regularly states, he's "W.A.'s most trusted car dealer". He's also Alan Bonds BIL. Yes, THAT Alan Bond. But John Hughes has managed to evade any of the Alan Bond taint, in his business dealings.

They used to employ Nuts each side with Tapers, but it's better to Have More metal to press into The spline thing has been used for years now with No problems. Later Harley bottom ends are used for a lot of performance Specials. High interference Press fits cause distortion in what you are pressing into and you end up with unsolvable run out issues. Nev

"someone" Mentioned to Trump that "we" might have to Borrow and funnel the money but he thought they said Burrow and tunnel.. Nev

Well according to the defence chiefs, 3 second hand subs were the original preference as they would be delivered sooner. Why do we need 3 nuclear powered submarines anyway. The navy is spending $1.7 billion on a fleet of our own designed Ghost Sharks. They are designed to do almost everything that manned submarines can do at very low cost as well as low operating cost and we can have heaps of them. They won't say how many but there are apparently dozens being built. Aukus is costing at least $368 billion. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/sep/10/ghost-shark-submarine-drone-australian-navy-explainer

I think that may be a better outcome than sticking with it. Short term cost to save a lot more in the long term.

It is Mrs Octave's birthday so we are spending a couple of nights in this shabby place. Yes we are going to drink wine in the enormous bath.

Do they? Screen tech has been used for many years now in critical areas such as aviation. As I intend to buy an EV next year, I have spent a long time researching. I can't really find any evidence of screens failing. I have seen evidence of faults that tend to be fixed by a system restart. Other common faults are the failure of the 12-volt battery. Manufacturers tend to supply crappy 12-volt batteries to save money. A lot of EV owners upgrade. The good news is you can easily jump-start an EV if the battery fails. I don't really agree that EVs are still at an early stage of development. Whilst the number of EVs in Australia is still low, sales in May were 20% of new car sales and if you include hybrids, almost 50% of the new car market. In countries such as Norway, where 32% of the fleet is pure EV and 98% of new sales are pure EV. If these cars are unreliable, you would expect this to show. I am not sure what bugs you mean; however, even new models of IC vehicles have problems. There is no reason you should buy an EV. For me, though, I am not conservative. I want to sample new things. There is nothing I love more than while visiting my son in NZ and having the full and free use of his Tesla. Whilst I have no wish to buy a Tesla (fvcken Elon), I would have to say that it is the easiest car I have ever driven. This is very helpful when driving on roads I am less familiar with. I'm not sure I have even interacted with the screen whatsoever, other than for GPS. It does have a great rear view for lane changing. This does not mean staring at it, but when changing lanes, you can see it as you check the passenger side external mirror. I have always enjoyed change and adapting to the new. I bought my first computer quite early on, as well as digital photography, etc.

Abbot, who Lost his Blue ribbon seat to an Independent. His new job is NOT supposed to Involve Policy Making, but that doesn't stop the Mad Monk getting straight into It. He's also on Rupert's Payroll and RUPEE's show supports Hanson.. What about thinking of the REAL liberal supporters. A top WOMAN figure in the Canberra scene has Just resigned, saying the Party is TOO TOXIC to remain in.. The Party of RG Menzies may well be finished. Nev

Which I don't really understand. I'd be interested to know which policies in particular people are having a problem with. From my perspective they could do better in a few areas, but overall they're doing a good job.

None are built in the USA. BMW would never stoop so low. They do however make the X series AWD cars there. The biggest baddest cruiser the R 1800 flat twin is proudly Berlin built.they are about to release a R2000, yep a two litre twin. Also a new version of the six cylinder K1600 as a wild 1800 cc. The biggest selling large bike model in the world is the mighty GS range, now the R1300GS, expensive yes, but sales envied by Harley and Ducati Adventure bikes. Some of the new small 450 models are built now in China and India using their designs and machines. This makes them as cheap as the competition. Some of the smallish parallel twins were Austrian built. As fast road machines, tourers, adventure and racing BMW have been the top of the market for the last 20 years. Now they are tackling the small Learner approved -lams market and will sell a motza. My current beasty is a 2005 K1200R motorsport, the new hyperbike that year with a mere 167hp, 138 nm and only 214kg. The fastest acceleration for a Bike on the planet, 2.8 seconds to 100, limited by Aero to 280km/h. The Japanese absolutely lost their minds when a shaft driven bike slaughtered their hyperbikes. Then BMW made a six version to take Goldwing sales for those who wanted actual very high speed touring. Then the S1000R came out and slayed the race tracks. Modern R and K shaft driven bikes have none for the rise and fall of the shaft of old generations. Handling and brakes are world class, even a tourer will scare a sports bike rider.

Over the past 10 years the old bike market has changed greatly. The most sought after bikes for actual use and still able to handle daily duties and modern traffic are the big euro bikes. The BMW twins and K series fours are popping everywhere with full restorations, original recomissioned and retro modded. They are highly prized, easy to work on and suit today's heavy policing regime. Plus parts are available new from factory.

That was great. I went past New Norfolk as far as Gretna, fantastic road. Almost tempted to keep going. I was going to go through to Elderslie then back to the highway, but the cross road was gravel so I turned around and came back the same way. Very enjoyable.

My first job out of high school was as a car detailer at a country Ford dealership when the XK Falcon was first released. Left after about 3 months to join the bank.

I drove this way on my recent trip to Myrtleford, and I would say there is definitely some hyperbole here. I did not see cars with broken axles or tyres lined up on the side of the road. There were probably more potholes than the last time I drove this way; however, I think we probably encountered 6 or 8 potholes, mostly on the edge of the road. We are quite aware of potholes because we use Waze, which is a phone GPS that includes hazards like potholes, cars stopped on the shoulder and other hazards (dead animals on the road). Every pothole we came across, we had 500 meters warning and a countdown. We always report hazards to Waze. Very useful.

My scarey random thought for today.... I just realised that 1972 and 2026 are as far apart as 1972 and 1918....... Pause for mind boggle.

Just found out that Lorraine Bayley (Grace Sullivan) passed away on 28 February 2026 aged 89.

"Jerry built" has a couple of possible sources. From an 1856 use in Liverpool, "built hastily of shoddy materials," from jerry "bad, defective". Thr jerry could also be a corruption of "jury" as used in the term "jury mast", a temporary mast put up in place of one that has been broken or carried away." and the earliest citation given is from 1616, with the spelling lury mast. It is wrong to associate "jerry built" with anything German, unless the thing was built by a post-war German refugee working for a shonky house builder.

The Later versions Have More Interference on the fit and Pass a Higher load test. Factory ONLY assembly.. Nev

High speed stall on Jets they describe similarly. It's like a shudder. I've experienced it. The road surface has been subject to Compaction. by oscillating Impact forces reaching a Harmonic. As Drivers seek better surfaces the Ridges spread out on the New Path. It appears to Be directional to a Point. IF you drive on the wrong side of the road the effect seems Less. I've Known People to tear the shock absorber Mount Points off the Chassis. I've wrecked 2 rear shock absorbers south of Winton. Nev

Our local Reject Shop was recently renovated to match photos of Dollarama stores, changing aisles from transverse to longitudinal. It still carries the old name but is ready to be updated.

Don't tell Jerry that!

Farley seems like a reasonable sort of individual with a realistic outlook, that is less hardline than Paulines approach. I'm surprised he's thrown his hat in with ON. Perhaps he'll be the sure hand on the tiller of ON and bring some stability to the Party. Or perhaps he won't last long, and there'll be a falling out, and he'll be booted from ON.

Visited the ASC when they were building the last one and refurbishing the Collins. The guide was saying they decided they wanted them to go faster so they put a heap of fairng on them.

I've estimated there won't be much ratbiking happening until later in the year. There's a lot of shed renovations to finish before that happens, but in the meantime a bit of parts sorting and sourcing is still happening. On the shed/workshop renovation side there's still a fair bit to do. Some steel diagonal braces need to be relocated for better workbench fitment. A couple of windows need to be finished off and a couple more timber wall purlins swapped out for steel. Where one diagonal brace set is to be removed, an existing timber wall frame in that quarter section will be converted to a bracing wall with rods and bracing ply, double braced and insulated. Then a six metre long wall section leading to another shed room will be walled in for bench and shelving space. The steps leading into the other room will be removed and alternate entry to that room sorted. That gets the walls done, so then it's on to positioning existing work benches and building a couple of new ones. After that, the shelving set up. That's all the hard part. The easier, fun part will be filling those shelves and sorting out tools and bits and pieces and setting up the workship equipment. The goal is for everything to have a fixed home instead of the mayhem the shed is now. I'll also lash out and get a sparky to run permanent wiring, lights and power points. I'm over plugging leads in and out all the time. This is a bucket list goal to get the workshop set up the way it's supposed to be. It's been a cluttered half workshop/half storage area for the last eighteen years or so since I built it, and it's been hard to do any major work in it due to all the junk in there which now has to go.

It's not just heavy trucks, anything with wheels will do it. You see corrugations on a lot of tracks that mainly only have Toyotas traversing them.

Random history borrowed from another thread..... 25 years ago today, a big clash of the superpowers - the “Hainan Island Incident”, which is described in a book “Pacific”, by Simon Winchester. Hainan Island incident - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org U.S. intelligence gathering plane operating in the South China Sea, whose air and water China considers its territory, the U.S. not so much. Chinese jet, flown by Lt. Cdr. Wang Wei -who had intercepted US planes before, getting close enough to display his email address on a paper sign through the cockpit- gets a bit too close this time and collides with the U.S. plane. Wang’s plane is heavily damaged, goes out of control, he ejects, parachute malfunctions, he disappears into the sea. The U.S. plane, with 23 aboard, heavily damaged but still flying, makes an emergency landing without Chinese permission (none of their distress calls had been responded to by the Chinese) at a sensitive military base on large Hainan Island (which is a long time target of US spying) on the SE coast of China, surrounded by armed troops upon arrival, who force their way into the plane. (Plane was later retuned to the U.S. , dismantled in wooden boxes, on a Russian cargo plane.) What was going through their minds…. “For the next 26 minutes, the crew of the EP-3 [US plane, after it was stabilized following a big rapid descent after the collision] performed an emergency plan which included destroying sensitive items aboard the aircraft, such as electronic equipment related to intelligence-gathering, documents and data. Part of this plan involved pouring freshly brewed coffee into disk drives and motherboards and using an axe from the plane's survival kit to destroy hard drives.[15] The crew had not been formally trained on how to destroy sensitive documents and equipment, and so improvised. As a result of the destruction, the plane's interior was later described as resembling "the aftermath of a frat party".[12] The air crew was interrogated and held for over a week, diplomatic crisis, etc etc. Among other things China learned from the plane in its possession —although the crew destroyed a lot of info and spying equipment aboard - including after landing while Chinese troops banged on the windows and shouted at them with bullhorns to come out— China learned that the U.S. could track its submarines via signals intelligence. The end was a letter, or letters, “the two sorries”, issued that allowed each country to save face. 25 years ago today (Bush’s first foreign policy crisis.) Could’ve been a lot worse. Let’s avoid this kinda stuff in future, shall we? Air and sea patrols have continued since then, but US crafts have learned to be much more careful since. Imagine if this incident had occurred while Trumpster was *resident…

Couldn't hear the people next to me at the Shed speaking, due to the racket of rain on the perspex skylights.

I bought 3 pairs of Dunlop steel-toe workboots in the mid-1990's, because they were going out cheap. I didn't need them immediately, but I thought I'd "stock up" for when I did need them. I never even got to wear them. Within about 18 mths, the rubberised soles had turned into a gooey globby mess, that just fell off the uppers. So I ended up with a set of 3 perfect leather uppers with no soles. I kept those new uppers for ages, thinking I might be able to organise new soles of some type for them. No bootmaker would even look at them, so the uppers laid around my workshop for years, until I was evicted from it, ahead of workshop demolition, in early 2024. So they went in the bin, in the huge cleanup associated with the move out of the workshop. What a bloody waste. I know now, why they were going out cheap. Dunlop carried out some disastrous product moves in that era, and it still dogs them today. No Dunlop tyre I have ever bought, or acquired, has reached its full life without carcass separation, or just blowing out. I just disposed of the last of 4 Dunlops I acquired on 4 wheels I bought to fit my Hilux about 3 years ago. They were almost new when I acquired them. One separated within about 3 mths, another separated about 6 mths later, and the third separated about 6 mths after that. They just went completely out of round, developing huge carcass distortion. The last one nearly wore out, but the tread started coming off on the inside, and that scared me a bit, because it was on a front wheel. So I ditched it for a new Bridgestone A/T697 Dueler. I haven't actually bought any new Dunlops for about 40 years, I refuse to buy them. But I keep "inheriting" the darn things when they come on vehicles or wheels that I buy. They are total rubbish.