willedoo

I found some old photos and this one here is a phone camera copy of the original printed photo. I don't remember the format but it was the square photo type. My memory seems to be telling me it was an instamatic camera. The original photo was taken in 1984 just north of Lake Eyre and shows a Cat D7G dozer ploughing explosive redcord into the ground. It would plough in 2x strands together and the top two rolls of cord are spare, so that when the bottom two rolls run out, the top two are used. The cord was ploughed in 100 metre strips the depth of the ripper and then a 50 metre gap, then another 100 metre strip etc.. It required an offsider to walk along behind the machine (that's him in the pilot's seat having a play). His job was fairly basic: at the start of every 100 metre plough, he would stand on the tail of the cord protruding from the cord feeding pipe welded to the ripper. Once the ripper was at depth the weight of the soil would hold the cords in place so he could stop standing on them. Fairly simple - if the rolls are spinning around, the cord is successfully feeding into the ground. At the 50 metre mark the machine would stop and lift the ripper which would pull the cords out of the ground. The offsider would place a stick crossways on the ground so that when the ripper dug in again, there was a loop of redcord protruding from the ground and held up in place by the stick. That was the mid point at which the preloader would later attach the detonators. At the end of the 100 metre plough, the offsider would cut the cords with a pair of secateurs. A very technical job with the main requirements being don't lose the secateurs and always have plenty of sticks. I don't remember how many 100 metre sections they would blow at the same time. It was used on 2D prospects and they haven't used the cord for that purpose since the early to mid 1980's as vibrators are the standard source of energy for a long time now. There was also a green cord, much thicker and twice the bang. If my memory is right they used to call it geoflex.

I'm a member of the Dolphins NRL club and every year they post out a box of promotional merchandise to members. It has the usual stuff like fridge magnets, key rings, stickers and always includes a club cap, the ones you see fans wearing at the football games. Club colours are red (the club is based at Redcliffe) therefore the cap is red. I don't go to matches in person so the only time I wear the Dolphins cap is when I'm yelling loudly at the television. Last year's cap was a two tone colour and in the style of a baseball cap and is very wearable. The 2024 cap is all red, in the shape of an American trucker style cap, identical in shape and colour to the MAGA caps. I refuse to wear it but I'm not the only one. When you see televised home matches where there's lots of Dolphins fans, very few are wearing 2024 caps; most are still wearing last year's caps. We look silly enough wearing any club cap without it resembling a Trump cap.

Kamala Harris doesn't seem to be intimidated by Trump. Before the debate the two had never met and later both were at the 9/11 commemoration. There is video where someone tapped her on the arm to get her to turn around and shake Trump's hand; no doubt at Trump's request. I didn't notice it the original video but someone did a zoomed in version where you could see the handshake. Trump grabbed her hand and pulled it toward him in a purposefully intimidating way but Kamala just yanked his orange hand back toward her then turned back around and ignored the idiot. He was trying to be his usual smart arse self and she made a clown of him. He doesn't want to debate her again so it might be the last time they cross paths.

This is what he really did on 9/11 - bragging about now having the tallest building in Manhattan.

Trump talking about his 7-Eleven experience:

If she was wearing bib and brace overalls I'd believe that.

She's got good vertical spacing on her bar chords; you need long skinny fingers for that. Very handy for some of those weird jazz chords.

The Harris campaign received 47 million in donations in the first 24 hours after the debate. Meanwhile Trump has posted on his Lies Social platform that he won't be participating in a third debate. Apparently the 47 million in donations came from 600,000 individuals.

This is my favourite part of the debate where Kamala Harris refers to Trump as "this.......former President" from about 1m23sec onward. It shows she can mix a bit of humour with her debating skills.

Here's a test: concentrate really, really hard on this clip and see if you can guess what gauge strings she's using.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/315557416917?_skw=Medieval++Helmet&itmmeta=01J7JXD9GZ5F5FZD6AZQ4BKDYB&hash=item4978b00fd5:g:2zAAAOSwPAVmVhx-&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKlrF%2B62eY91%2FTEPhqKnffGrLtmo9xfF%2Bfx3MdJuYvTcfdYce6cYgnkXzL5RJvmp2xgDp0YFW%2Bsq7hvwAfLqGCCwNx4TISbPAhLk8qr9ek6jWnj5dgMruNdttQVFcKFWWZ3C6xFKnvU7r9BH%2FJABG6kXhulXLspBkJv3lrHl5T3cZldn3CBWrlOd3dPGb7He5%2FQKOOAN%2BfWEI%2BX2cHjuZvH9kVgGDVTRxvYC4GGp7p7SuUdArfHB1DMWrCZ9Wlby%2Fk6dePAsOMt%2BCWjPqZyjIL%2B1UIpRJgyZGA09dkPBDFLPng%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR9CYtd28ZA

My mum had a hat like that.

Good one.

The tech help people rang back tonight and said the NBN is ok and that the router is most likely faulty. I told them the story of how the NBN technician suggested I buy a new router after they replaced all the NBN gear a week and a half ago and announced that their end was working. And how I bought a new router and couldn't get it to configure to communicate with the NBN box, then contacted the manufacturer who said I needed the server to configure it with the right credentials. A week ago I rang the tech help people and this dill flatly refused to walk me through the setup process with the new router, saying it was the NBN at fault. To cut a long story short, the service person tonight agreed to do what they refused to do a week ago, and walked me through the configurations. She had to have a couple of attempts due to her missing a checkbox but in the end it worked and it's all up and running ok so far. She said they would give me a month's credit added to the previous compensation they agreed to pay, so I've got two months refunded, a free router and one month in credit. I tried to tell the clown I conversed with last week that the NBN technician had cleared their side of things, so my logic told me the obvious next step was to eliminate the router as a problem. I was right all along and this could have been fixed a week ago if I'd encountered a server's support technician with half a brain. Next step is to see how it goes and compare it to the mobile data option until the end of the month and see which one to stick with. The phone option is still looking good.

This bloke is using the shifting spanner the wrong way round (4.30 minutes onward). I've always found it's more stable if the solid jaw takes the bulk of the strain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfmNfwKnr5g

On the subject of NBN/internet outages, they are still running around in circles creating 'tickets'. I told them today their tickets are not fixing the connection. I had a win; I asked them for a refund of two months internet plan fees and to compensate me for the router I bought on the recommendation of the NBN technician, which didn't fix the problem. They're refunding me $170 (70 for the router, 100 for the two months fees). I told them I'd give them another week to fix it, if not I'll ditch the NBN and the retail server. In reality, I'll wait till that refund is in the bank before cutting ties. Meanwhile, the mobile phone data to the laptop via mobile hotspot is going gangbusters. There's only two speed plans available on fixed wireless through the NBN/retail server combo. To get an average download speed of 14Mbps, the clowns want $80 per month, or $60 per month for 9Mbps speed. Using my phone data at the moment, I'm getting up to 25Mbps speed, all the bandwidth I need, unlimited rollover, and unlimited phone calls here and in 20 other countries for $49. I'll see what happens next week but I can't see much incentive to stay with the NBN even if they fix the service.

After looking at new phone prices, I can understand pickpockets going for them. $3,000 for a phone seems crazy to someone like me with basic phone requirements.

Cholesterol levels are only a guide. Some people with high levels never have a problem and others with low levels can still get blockages. When I had the stroke caused by an almost blocked carotid artery, my total cholesterol was 5.5, so it was still within target levels. Regardless of that, I had an 85% blockage in the right artery and still have 40% in the left. They were and are cholesterol/plaque blockages and not calcium buildups. Even if a GP didn't want to order a carotid artery ultrasound under bulk billing, it's not that expensive and gives good peace of mind if you can get a referral as a paying patient. If there's any build up of plaque the images will show a fairly accurate image of it. The specialists get concerned when a blockage reaches 70%. That's the level at which they recommend surgery. After my experience, I think an ultrasound of both carotid arteries is a good idea even for unsymptomatic people past a certain age. There's a lot of blood pressure pushing past plaque buildups in carotid arteries and if they are unstable and a piece breaks off, it can be in the brain in a flash. I was just lucky the piece lodged in the retinal artery and not a major brain blood vessel. Blockages can be fatty cholesterol plaque, calcium or a mixture of both. The calcium/plaque mix is the most unstable as the two materials don't bond very well. They also sent me for a calcium score test for the coronary arteries. It wasn't available under bulk billing so with the medicare refund I was out of pocket about $70. According to that, my calcium deposits were half that of average for my age, so good news. I still don't think that tells if you have plaque deposits in the carotid arteries, maybe a stress test is the one for that. The thing I learned is that a good cholesterol reading doesn't necessarily mean that you don't have a growth building up in the artery. Scans and tests is the only way to know that. Weird things can happen with cholesterol deposits. The one I still have in the left carotid artery is fairly typical - 50mm long extending vertically to block 40% of artery diameter. it's a reasonable distance inside the inner carotid artery and is long and low making it stable. They have said it is unlikely to ever be a problem. The bad one they cut out was just inside the doorway of the inner carotid artery where it branches off the outer artery. It was only 12mm wide but extended up almost to the top of the artery. Right at the V where the two arteries divide it was like having a door almost shut and would have been copping a heap of vortex forces from the blood pressure. The constant battering it was copping broke a small piece off it which caused a blockage in the retinal artery further up the line. It was an unusual growth to appear in someone with good cholesterol levels.

I'm not sure if they do it by cookies or IP address. I'd say browser cookies because having a dynamic IP address, I get a new address every session. Regardless of IP address, the cookies stay in the browser unless deleted.

It's a good example of DEI in the workplace. Sky not only provides jobs for mentally disabled people, they go straight to the top of the recruitment list.

I usually carry mine in the right side trouser pocket. I mainly only need to be careful with it in that location if I'm rolling around on the ground or slithering under a vehicle so I don't crack the screen. Top pocket is no good for me. With the side pocket, a long phone tends to get up a ratchet effect with movement. While I'm working a long phone it's like an invisible winch is working it out of the pocket. The Galaxy S10e I have is only 140mm long so short enough to stay in the pocket. It's only drawback is that it's not 5G capable, only 4GLTE. Most phones now are around 160mm to 165mm long.

A bearded soccer ball who thinks he's only being kicked by left feet.

Having said that about HDL levels, the level of HDL still adds to total cholesterol which has to be under a certain limit. If the overall level is too high, lowering the bad LDL would be the plan. Having HDL high enough to cause a problem in the total figure if LDL was low would be unusual. It would be hard to get it that high through diet. Eskimos might do it.

HDL is the good one. If there's a problem with it, it would be because it's too low. I don't think they have an upper limit for HDL, the more the better. That's where stuff like olive oil and Omega 3 come into the picture - it raises HDL levels. From what I understand, the HDL works in transporting excess LDL back to the liver for excretion.

They say diet only accounts for about 20%-30% of blood cholesterol, the rest being made in the liver. I've heard of vegetarians who have to take statins because their livers produce too much. I'm sort of in that category, not a vegetarian but a pescatarian and eat almost no food containing cholesterol but still have to take statins to keep total cholesterol under 4. Because I've had arterial disease I'm in the same target category for cholesterol as Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders and diabetics. For others the target is 5.6. I don't like being on statins because of the side effects but don't have a lot of choice due to a flaky liver that makes too much and has trouble excreting excess cholesterol. Statins are a last resort treatment if things like diet and exercise don't do the job. I think the olive oil and fish oil helps.