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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 admit that at first I thought that Donold was just using theatrical BS to wind up the dumb redneck voters. It was all just an act, to get the top job. How wrong I was. I didn't believe that anybody could be that dumb, foolish, shallow, narcisstic and sociopathic, and yet survive to such an age without somebody topping him. And I mean, before he ran for president the first time. But here we are. Not only that, but he gathered together so many like minded people to protect and enable his corruption without any thought or consideration for the wellbeing of the people.

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.

Obama and Biden weren't openly and transparently corrupt. They didn't put morons in charge of the armed forces, the FBI, the education system, the health system, etc. They didn't do everything they could to wreck the world's longest lived modern democracy for personal gain and to satisfy a bloated ego. They didn't do everything they could to stop the fight against climate change. They didn't rip up international agreements like the Iran deal just because they had a petty dislike of the previous president. They didn't shut down news organisations and use stand over tactics like thugs when facts were aired that they didn't like. But hey, if all that means absolutely nothing to your friends, I guess they have the president they deserve.

They're awful things; two things I don't miss about out there are corrugations and flies. The worst corrugations I've ever encountered were on the Kintore road after you turn off the Tanami road. From the turnoff it's about 375 klm to Kintore and about 200 klm of that was really bad corrugations with no let up hour after hour. It was the sheer distance of the corrugated section that made it so bad. We had a couple of casualties - one of the towed dongas had some suspension come apart so we had to take the wheel off and chain the axle up. The worst bit was late in the afternoon when a fuel tanker on the back of a body truck split a seam. We off loaded as much fuel as we could into trucks, machines and Toyotas but had to leave the tanker truck there overnight. Moving it would have ruptured it more and been a major fuel spill. With the level lowered, the pressure behind the leak wasn't as bad but it still lost a lot onto the road which the local council wasn't happy about. We borrowed a heap of 44's from a local station and a couple of the blokes came back with the float and a hand pump and offloaded fuel into the drums. They were going all night and into the next day to get all the fuel, about three trips they did. We found the best trucks to handle that rough country were the W series Kenworths. The cabs held up much better than Macks and other makes. You could buy some really good second hand road train rated W series trucks at fairly cheap prices. For the people selling them, they were no longer viable or economical for highway work, but they were still good for many years of desert bashing.

I was reading an article about "Libyan desert glass" today, and how the scientists are totally perplexed on how it formed. It is primarily silicon, but it contains microscopic zircon crystals - and it has been fused at temperatures unlike anything ever found on Earth - even in molten magma. The general opinion is that it formed in a meteorite burst over Libya in antiquity - but the scientists still say that doesn't fully explain the intricate atomic patterns found inside the glass. More recent scientific studies say the Libyan desert glass was formed via a massive asteroid impact. But the problem with that line of investigation is - there is no impact crater anywhere near the Libyan desert, capable of supporting that story. The experts claim the crater is depply buried under the desert sands and needs more investigative work to find it. In the article, they showed the Winged Scarab Pendant found in King Tut's tomb. It contains Libyan Desert Glass amongst the inlaid gemstones. Now, just looking at the close up of the pendant, I'm blown away by the skills, the complexity and the workmanship in this pendant. The experts say the ancient Egyptians were a race of primitive idol-worshippers who somehow managed some impressive building feats such as the Pyramids, using primitive transport methods. They had no electricity, no high-tech steels, only wood-fired furnaces, no modern grinding equipment, and supposedly just primitive hand tools. I call BS on those suppositions - these people were an advanced race with skills and equipment equalling modern techniques. It takes over 1000°C to melt gold, and intricate, high-tech tools to work it - to cut gemstones - and it takes artisans of exceptional skill to cut and shape those stones and fabricate the precious metals into shape. Take a close look at this pendant, you can expand the photo substantially to see the detail. https://egypt-museum.com/winged-scarab-pendant-of-tutankhamun/

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

Ever wonder how come corrugations form on an unsealed road? Here's a video which explains it. The video is a bit slow to start so advance to 6:30 to miss the fluff.

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.

Well, my rebate arrived in my bank account. Spent already, of course.

What do you mean "at least there is transparency?" Like on Truth Social? Anyone who spills their Guts gets get SHAFTED. , Businesses are Ruined. Trump wants to Make the USA Great Again. He's NOT doing THAT is He? He's a CROOK. Only looking After himself and his Mates. and drunk with Power. The People Have No idea how to get rid of Him. Nev

Most of his appointees are pretty short on intelligence. And morals, ethics and character

New research also shows that they were making complex copper alloys, deliberately adding trace elements to adjust the properties such as strength and hardness.

Talking about perceptions, my perception is that the federal government is the worst we have had in my lifetime. And that includes Whitlam, who I had voted for. Each of us has our perception based on what we see and read; we draw our own conclusions based on experience. I don't mind people having an opposite perception, it just means that I disagree with them. I don't have to shout at them or be rude.

I'm trying not to fall into the habit with Google of just reading the top section only which is the AI response to the question. The reason being it can be quite misleading. Like Wikiedia, it's not gospel and is all about the source reference. I Googled a question yesterday and the two answers AI came up with were just posts harvested from a Facebook group. What AI was saying was just what some bloke on a FB group said about the subject. It might well have been true, but not a reliable reference source in my opinion. Wikipedia can have the same issues. Sometimes the reference, if the reader bothers to check it, can be just a newspaper article and a journalists opinion only and not established fact.

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.

And there's the rub for the government. Increasingly less and less people think they are providing wise governance. What's behind the swing to One Nation is that a lot of people are increasingly feeling like the government and opposition have failed badly and they've had enough and want a circuit breaker. It's like a mild form of anarchy; tear down the house and start again type of mood.

Telling fibs again? https://www.onenation.org.au/issues

That watchdog report revealed that more than half of the publicly identified donors coincidentally got big contracts....... Sixteen of those 27 donors have watched their federal enforcement actions get dropped, scaled back, or suspended...... At the very least, I'd say 'suspicious coincidence'. But nobody is looking closely anyway.

"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.

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.

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.

And how many proven Ukrainian submersibles could we buy with whatever cash was left after that? What war plan scenario showed that a couple of big outdated subs would win, against any believable agressor?

I ran into a bloke years ago, back in the 70's and he was doing interstate work with an F-700 with the five speed box. He jokingly said he only had to change gears three times between Melbourne and Brisbane. The only Macks I've driven were the old B model and a V8 R model. I can't remember what transmission the V8 had but it had some legs. Good torque as well. The old B model was a bogie drive with the 55 mph diff. It was more like driving a tractor than a truck.

I read a book once about trucking. It said corrugations and bull dust only appeared with pneumatic tyres. When trucks had solids, up to the 1920s, it wasn’t a problem.

How is it transparent when People are "cowed" into keeping silent? Legal firms are put out of business, if they take him on. (challenge Him). Nev

You only have to be an enthusiastic supporter of Trump to get a Job.. What a disaster in the Making. Nev