rgmwa

My mother only learned to drive in her early forties. Got her licence but never had a lot of confidence and only drove a few times. She died at 94 with a current licence and flawless driving record.

Interesting article: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/09/opinion/putin-ukraine-war.html

Liz Chaney has just released an ad criticising Trump and saying again that he's unfit to be president. I wonder if she's thinking about running next year. She's shown that she is level headed and has principles that she's prepared to stand behind. That would probably get her a good deal of support from a lot of moderate Republicans who don't like Trump, swing voters, and even from a sizeable number of Democrats who think Joe Biden is too old. Maybe even Mitch McConnell would get behind her - at least if he thought she could win, because that's his only yardstick for deciding who to support.

During the war, Churchill had the Bank of England’s gold reserves secretly sent to Canada (Operation Fish) because he was worried the Germans would get it.

Apparently they've taken out about 60 million ounces of gold from the Superpit. If my calculations are right, that's a cube of gold measuring about 4.45m on each side. I wonder how much dirt they dug out in the process.

Just to be clear, I don’t have dementia nor would I want to make light of it in any way, although I realise on re-reading it that my comment may have given that impression. It’s a terrible affliction. My mother had it in her last years and I know how distressing it is.

Sadly, I don't think I'm eligible for early onset anymore.

There’s a Ukrainian Association in WA and one Vic. Probably more in other States. Maybe contact them. No doubt they will be involved in sending aid to Ukraine.

It was the A-10 training I'd heard about.

It will be interesting to see whether Biden and NATO eventually decide to give the Ukrainians F16's if Russia escalates their war in the country. Aren't some Ukrainian pilots already being trained on them, or did I imagine hearing that a while ago?

And so, on such consequential matters as the NRL hangs the colonial future of 1,000 years of British history .

I landed at Coober Pedy a few years ago and after securing the plane walked over to the deserted terminal, and phoned for a taxi after looking up the number on my phone. After waiting a very long time with no sign of any taxi, I rang again and got through to the driver. He said he was at the airport but I said I couldn’t see him, so I asked ‘which airport?’. He said ‘Ceduna’. Turns out there is no taxi service in Coober Pedy.

They're probably looking for Ukrainians. Would make more sense to look for Russians.

Bit hard on the charities when the donors are using them to dispose of their rubbish.

Churchill was probably quite pleased when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour.

He's the smart one. The others are working.

I've been to Coober Pedy and seen pictures of Mars. They won't have to spend much on the set.

I thought the Queen did a good job but now that she’s gone this would be a good time for Australia to move on with some form of republic that requires minimal change to the system of government that we have now.

Kings do a nice line in 4WD roof racks and awnings too. Too many kings around these days. Time for a Republic.

We have a king now?

Likewise. They picked the day before and the day after, but missed me. As it turned out the war ended before I would have been posted.

On their backs under your car?

Yes, I missed that. Round post footings are the norm.

Rigid square and round footings of the same area will produce the same average bearing pressure although the deeper subsurface pressure distribution will be different for each. Square footings are almost always used simply because they are easier to form up and reinforce than round ones. The corners of a square footing are not prone to breaking off because the maximum bending stresses are in the centre of the footing.There are situations where a round footing is more appropriate, such as the foundation for a major airport control tower, water storage, wind turbine or power station chimney, but typical building footings are square or rectangular because those shapes are more practical.

He couldn’t have been a real engineer. A proper engineer would never say a beam is too big.