onetrack

Just under 100% - and they're right - she'll never finish it, using that technique.

The comet will be seen again in 2029.

GON has nursed that bitterness, and fed it until it consumes him. We all have regrets, and we all wish there was many things we could change from the past, if we could. We can't, it's been and gone and done, and you just end up becoming bitter and twisted if you fail to put adverse life events in the past, behind you. You can give yourself cancer, nursing bitterness and anger.

Gee, Willie, your story is really an eye-opener. I've already decided to get the shots - just finding out that you can get repeated attacks of shingles is probably what finally convinced me (as well as all the useful advice above). I never knew it could be such a life-threatening thing.

GON - Saving the middle class from exactly what? And what defines the "middle class"? I'd have to opine a sizeable number of the deportees are "middle class".

I stopped purchasing newspapers over 20 years ago, because there was little value in them, back then. It has only gotten worse, a race to the bottom for the publication containing the most puerile, slanted, and outright incorrect "news". If wasn't for "entertainment" news, such as whatever any particular "movie star" or "influencer" is doing today, the papers would be down to 3 pages.

The amount of adverse information that is now coming from others that have worked with, or employed Erin Patterson, is quite amazing. Although she trained for and worked as an ATC, she made no social friends at the position - and was sacked after 10 mths, for lying about the hours she worked. She was knocking off early and still claiming she was on the job - but CCTV caught her in the carpark, going to her car, when she claimed she was still working. But she continued the lies and charade until she was presented with the CCTV proof. https://thenightly.com.au/australia/erin-patterson-the-pathological-lies-that-got-the-mushroom-killer-fired-from-her-air-traffic-control-job-c-19290775

So ... that's also obviously where the phrase, "We ended up in deep s***", came from? 😄

Yes, the Shingles vaccine is free to us, due to advanced age, so no major worries about cost. I just harbour this reluctance to keep getting vaccine injections for every darned thing. The Doc is also on about the 'Flu injection, too - but I haven't had the 'Flu for years and years (maybe 10, 12 or more years, can't recall when I last had it), and I'm not classed as "immunocompromised" or otherwise suffering from any ill-health or feebleness - and I believe keeping the bodys own immune system healthy is as good as any way to go. I eat well with a good varied diet, am not overweight, am still active daily, so I just don't feel like I'm at serious risk. All my blood tests come back with good results - the only thing is, it looks like I might need to have my prostate ripped out in a year or three, it's a bit enlarged, but not at a serious level yet. I can still get through the entire night without needing to urinate.

Octave, that was my understanding, too - but my Doc says I can still get Shingles, despite not having had any indications of acquiring Chickenpox. I have never had any of the "childhood" illnesses - mumps, measles, or chickenpox. I went all through my school years without contracting any of these diseases, and when I lived with my brother and his wife and three boys, in my 20's and 30's - and they all got the 3 diseases - once again, I never contracted them, even though I was living in close daily contact with them. My brother actually acquired mumps when he was about 40, and that was pretty painful for him. I did get whooping cough when I was about 5, but whooping cough is caused by a bacteria, not a virus. However, the Doc is adamant I must get the vaccine shots (2 are required), or I'm going to suffer horribly. SWMBO and I do have friends our age (well over retirement age) who have contracted Shingles, and they certainly did get very sick, and suffered greatly. But they all had Chickenpox as children. The section in your linked article about a reduction in incurring Dementia, is not exactly a substantial research result and the % is not anything to write home about. And I notice an Australian doctor cautioning about reading too much into the results from what was a small research base.

The ripples in the pond are travelling outwards - and no-one wants to talk about mushroom recipes! Personally, I hate them with a vengeance, because my gut reacts to them violently, and I will go out of my way to avoid anything with mushrooms in it. I even detest the smell of them cooking. Unfortunately, SWMBO loves them, so she has to cook them for herself. https://www.watoday.com.au/national/the-ripple-effect-why-good-food-hasn-t-published-a-mushroom-recipe-in-months-20250708-p5mdby.html

QUOTE - Re the Defenestration of Prague: "Although inflicting no serious injury on the victims...." ???? What did the Protestants do? - throw the two accused out of a ground level window?? 😕

He sleeps the sleep of the just-disturbed, earthquake-region dwellers? 😄

I'm just starting a discussion on the Shingles vaccine, because my Doc is becoming VERY insistent that I get the vaccine. However, I've never had Chickenpox in my life, and after advising him of this point, he tells me it doesn't matter whether I've had it or not - only that if I've been in contact with Chickenpox carriers, and I'm carrying the antibodies as a result, I can get Shingles. I scoffed at this, asking how was it possible that I could have the Chickenpox antibodies, but I have never had the disease? He says it is entirely possible and he could test as to whether I had the antibodies or not. So I did the blood test, and sure enough, I'm carrying the Chickenpox antibodies. He's really pressuring me on the Shingles vaccine, saying it's the most painful complaint ever - worse than a broken arm! When I replied I'd never broken a bone in my life, he rolled his eyes - but continued on his rant about how bad the complaint is, and how there's no risk with the latest Shingrix vaccine, as it doesn't use live virus material. I'm somewhat reluctant to get the vaccine as I really don't feel that I'm at any major risk of acquiring Shingles - but the Doc disagrees and says it is well worth the effort to get vaccinated. What does the forum think? - and has anyone else any personal or close relative experience, relating to Shingles and the previous (Zostavax) or the current (Shinggrix) vaccines? https://ncirs.org.au/zoster-shingles/zoster-shingles-vaccine-frequently-asked-questions-faqs#:~:text=Key points * Herpes zoster – commonly,often in a strip or band-like pattern.&text=* Shingrix is an adjuvanted recombinant varicella-zoster,(non-live) vaccine given in a 2-dose schedule.

Ahhh, a 3.1 'quake is just a gentle bed-rocking, OME! - not a real earthquake! 😄

The Doctor who dealt with her after the meal, reckons he picked up very quickly, that she was "evil". She lied straight-out to him, after he asked her where she got the mushrooms, and she replied "Woolworths". All the evidence pointed to the fact that she picked the death cap mushrooms from Loch. The photo of the death cap mushroom on the scales she owned, and the fact that all the phone tracking pointed to her being in the location of Loch. And the fact she was within metres of the people she had poisoned in the hospital, and made no attempt to see them, or ask about their condition, was what finalised the Doctors opinion of her. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-08/chris-webster-erin-patterson-mushroom-murder-trial/105508638

American elections are all about gathering up the biggest number of well-heeled contributors to your party and massaging their egos with lots of promises. While Musk has the worlds biggest personal fortune, whether he can garner the money support from backers, that Trump has, remains to be seen.

Once you go out a Russian window, you're definitely out of a job!

Was it really only "the other night", OME? The earthquake records say that the only decent earthquake in recent times in your neck of the woods, was a 5.3 magnitude 'quake at Nyngan on May 23, 2025. https://earthquaketrack.com/p/australia/new-south-wales/recent

I bought a Thesaurus today - but when I got home, I found all the pages were blank!! I just didn't have the words to express how angry I was!!

There are thousands of earthquake-recording stations, all over the world. There are 150 stations in Australia and over 500 world-wide. They record in near real-time and the earthquake-watchers know about earthquakes within a few seconds of them occurring. This is all tied in with Tsunami warnings, because early warnings of Tsunamis are vital to reduce losses. https://www.ga.gov.au/education/natural-hazards/earthquake

I spent most of my business career paying interest rates at levels between 8% and 23% (the bad days of 1981-1983) - and I even got stung for a 30% interest rate on a hire purchase contract, during 1981. The deal was essentially illegal, but Esanda got away with it. What happened was, I purchased a used motor grader off a bloke in Albany, W.A. who had recently financed it through Esanda at 23% on a HP contract. This bloke decided the grader was too big for him, and wanted to get out of it. I had a medium-size older grader that he agreed to take as a trade-in, for the bigger, newer grader, that I needed. Often, when I acquired another machine off another contractor, I could arrange to simply take over the finance contract from the finance house involved. I had good relationships with nearly all the major equipment financiers, so it wasn't hard to do. However, when I asked Esanda if I could take over the grader owners contract, they agreed - but then, they promptly turned around and said, "Oh, hang on, things have changed as regards interest rates, we will have to write up a new contract for the deal - and the interest rate is now 30%!" I was furious, because it was a simple deal to just transfer the contract, as had been done many times before - but no-o-o, Esanda got greedy. I had no choice but to pay the asking rate, as all HP interest rates from all the financiers had rocketed accordingly, in previous months. A few years later, Esanda was taken to court by a farmer over a similar stunt they had pulled on him. This farmer had purchased a harvester on seasonal payments. In that case, the HP payments are made in one amount, directly after each harvest, over 3 or 4 years, generally. But this farmer had encountered a particularly bad drought year, and didn't have the funds that year to make that after-harvest payment - so he asked Esanda for a years deferment on the HP contract. In essence, the HP contract was merely extended for a year, and all the remaining payments under the original contract were made a year behind schedule, with normally, an additional agreed interest amount added for the delay in the contract payments. But after the farmer asked for the extension, Esanda lobbed a big money grab on the farmer, claiming that the delay in payment meant a new contract had to be drawn up - at much higher interest rates! So ... the farmer paid the new contract out, under the new agreed time frame, and vastly increased interest rate - but, then he took Esanda to court, claiming he'd been shafted with the whole deal - which he had been, of course. The judge agreed, stating there was no way that Esanda could draw up another contract for the same machine, at a vastly-inflated interest rate - because the contract extension was merely just that - an extension of an existing contract. Esanda had to repay the extra monies to the farmer - and in addition, they were forced to go back through their books and dig up all the other HP contract holders that they'd shafted in a similar manner. In my case, I lost out, because the grader deal was regarded as a new contract, thanks to the machine changing hands. But in the past, Esanda accepted the changeover as merely a continuation of the former contract by the initial purchaser. The finance houses always try to write the rules to suit their own ends.

See the body of evidence used to convict Erin Patterson ... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-08/erin-patterson-murder-guilty-verdict-trial-evidence/105504308

Ooooh, Musk's money, financing the America Party, is perhaps going to outclass Trumps MAGA money? It's going to become known as the Battle of the Big Monies! 😄

You just don't want to have your money tied up in a coal-mining company, though! 😞 https://www.miningweekly.com/article/dartbrook-coal-mine-enters-administration-2025-07-08 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-07/griffin-coal-mine-debt-bluewaters-power/105492506 Just for once, Steve Thomas, the W.A. Liberal opposition Energy Minister, is spot on with his assessment.