onetrack

The Gardners are the Rolls Royce of truck engines. Built by craftsmen who initialled the components they made. No-one scraps a Gardner if they have any nous. Rolls Royce made diesel engines for trucks and industrial use, too, but the Gardners were a better engine.

I use a nut splitter, they're a really handy device. The angled ones are the best.

Yes, the poor old dog gets blamed for everything. But when a dog farts, it leaves any human farts for dead.

Willie, if the fuse blew, the circuit has been overloaded. You don't mention the style of fuse (there are several). I'm speaking about the old glass fuses, now. If the fuse fell apart, or the ends fell off, I would put that down to age. However, the ends don't normally fall off, because they're held by the clips, they usually fall off when you pull them out. You can get intermittent electrical faults that are a PIA. A little patch of bare wire touching metal occasionally. A wire being occasionally crushed between other parts that move. It can be a real pain to track down a lot of the time. Look for areas where movement takes place, where things can be hit (taillights are often hit by road debris), or where moisture has crept in.

I'm confused on the "dual citizenship" angle. I was born here, so I'm an Australian citizen. But I got a British passport some years ago (about 15) because both my parents were British and I was entitled to a British passport. I got it when travelling on the basis it would make travelling around the EU on the Schengen Agreement easier. I never used it, my Australian passport got me everywhere with no problems. However, SWMBO and I got caught out with a US$80 entry fee to Turkey upon arrival, no-one mentioned it prior. We had to scrape around our belongings to find the necessary US dollars, and it was dead lucky we had it on hand. At this point, my British passport is long expired and I see little benefit in renewing it - but perhaps it might save me some money if I ever venture back to the U.K.?

The Liberals have virtually ceased to exist as a party in W.A. They could hold a cabinet meeting in a disabled toilet.

I always keep control of any fart. To do otherwise is dangerous, and can be embarrassing.

Citric acid is my regular go-to product for rust removal. I make up baths of 3%-5% citric acid and dump the rusty item in it and leave it for a few days, then pull it out and pressure-wash it. If it's needed, I put the item back in again for a few more days, then pressure-wash it again. Then I spray with a 10% solution of Ranex (phosphoric acid) in a spray bottle to prevent flash rusting. Citric acid is safe, doesn't affect base metal or copper, zinc or aluminium, and it cleans iron/steel items up beautifully. But the bath must be covered and kept cool, sunlight rapidly degrades the acid.

I don't have a problem with people at the pointy end of the actual hard yakka, getting good money for what they do. But the current figures show, that executive renumeration levels - and in particular, CEO renumeration levels, have been rocketing ahead in leaps and bounds, well above the gradual gains the workers negotiate. https://www.governanceinstitute.com.au/news_media/large-pay-rises-for-c-suite-executives-reveal-impacts-of-inflation-and-labour-market-pressures/

I use a 50-50 mix of diesel and ATF for breaking up corrosion in rusted cylinder bores - it seems to work pretty well, especially if left for a few days. ATF contains strong detergents that dissolve varnish and gummy deposits that will glaze up automatic transmission clutch plates, and gum up valves and spools in transmissions, causing erratic operation - and diesel is well known as an excellent penetrant and lubricant.

The developer who is charging ahead with the Trump Tower has been bankrupt previously - twice. So I guess he's in good company with a U.S. President who has sent six of his business ventures bankrupt. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-24/trump-tower-developer-went-bankrupt-twice/106379446

Have they developed a version of WD-40 for electric mowers yet? 😄

Strong winds, accompanied by rapid barometric pressure changes, also blow water from one side of lakes, reservoirs, bays and harbours, to the other side. They're called "seiches". The water can really pile up. There are sieches on the Great Lakes, and on all salt lakes here.

That "private beach club" bit is going to go down well with the Gold Coast beaches users. Trump obviously thinks he can fence off an Australian beach to stop "outside" beach walkers from walking past his Tower, as they can in the U.S. I've got news for him, unless the authorities change Australian land title laws in a big way, it's not going to happen. Plus, I can just see that setup of a Trump Tower right on a GC beach looking pretty sad after one of those massive GC storms that sweeps in from the SE. His Tower will end up in the ocean.

It'll be a BIG BEAUTIFUL GOLDEN-CLAD TRUMP TOWER! - you just wait and see! It'll be clad in all that stuff that gave the GOLD COAST its name!! 😄