onetrack

Paint the town red.

"I see trees of green, red roses too..."

It was more likely the increased speed of trucks with pneumatic tyres that created the corrugations, not the move from solids to pneumatics. Pneumatic tyres on trucks started to appear in 1920 and by about 1925, virtually all trucks were on pneumatics, only the big heavy haul low loaders still used solid wheels and they only travelled at low speeds. People forget about the early low motoring speeds and the low speed limits. In the 1920's to even after WW2, the speed limit for "heavy" trucks in Australia was 15mph (25kmh). "Heavy" was 3 tons or more. Truckies fought for higher speed limits and were often fined for driving "at dangerous speed" - like 25mph (40kmh). During WW2, military convoys ran at 30mph (50kmh) maximum speed to save on tyre wear and preserve road surfaces. Trucks were geared to be flat out at low speeds. Ford V8's were the fastest trucks around, they could do 40-45mph, but that was well over official truck speed limits. WW2 trucks were all geared to about 35 mph maximum speed. The big Military Federals and Reos were flat out at 28mph, they had 10:1 diff ratios for heavy haulage. Bedfords were happiest at about 30mph, they start to scream their guts out at 35mph, and if you could get them to 40mph, that was their absolute limit. Roads were simply poor in the pre-WW2 era and it took a while after WW2 for roads to be upgraded. The 1950's saw a lot of road improvements, widening and sealing. When the first post-war Kenworths and Macks arrived here in the late 1950's, they could do 100kmh (62mph) - but the official maximum truck speed limit was still only 80kmh. So you risked serious fines for doing more than 80kmh. When I bought my first Mack F-700 (cabover) in 1975, the Mack did over 100kmh, but the truck speed limit was still 80kmh. It took until about 1978 to raise the truck speed limit to 100kmh, and that was only after a lot of arguments against raising it. And when you see this (video below), you start to understand that a lot of roads and drivers are still not up to their trucks capabilities. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18cqZRTEaz/

That looks like a nice spot, Octave. I trust you have an enjoyable stay.

So, I wonder how they would've performed walking on hot ground during Summer? Bitumen can get up to 70°C in Summer, and ordinary rocky clayey ground generally isn't far behind, temperature-wise.

So, essentially, Marles and his mates went to Washington to buy several new Holden Calais, but the Americans convinced them they'd be better off taking 3 knackered Captivas to fill in, while they wait 30 years for the Calais' to be built? Sounds like the deal of the century to me - for the U.S. They're probably still clinking champagne glasses over unloading three well-used Virginia subs onto a pile of hicks and suckers from Down Under, that are going to need huge levels of maintenance in the near future - that we'll have to pay for, and which can only be done by U.S. shipyards, seeing as they contain secret-squirrel power plant technology?

I bought 3 pairs of Dunlop steel-toe workboots in the mid-1990's, because they were going out cheap. I didn't need them immediately, but I thought I'd "stock up" for when I did need them. I never even got to wear them. Within about 18 mths, the rubberised soles had turned into a gooey globby mess, that just fell off the uppers. So I ended up with a set of 3 perfect leather uppers with no soles. I kept those new uppers for ages, thinking I might be able to organise new soles of some type for them. No bootmaker would even look at them, so the uppers laid around my workshop for years, until I was evicted from it, ahead of workshop demolition, in early 2024. So they went in the bin, in the huge cleanup associated with the move out of the workshop. What a bloody waste. I know now, why they were going out cheap. Dunlop carried out some disastrous product moves in that era, and it still dogs them today. No Dunlop tyre I have ever bought, or acquired, has reached its full life without carcass separation, or just blowing out. I just disposed of the last of 4 Dunlops I acquired on 4 wheels I bought to fit my Hilux about 3 years ago. They were almost new when I acquired them. One separated within about 3 mths, another separated about 6 mths later, and the third separated about 6 mths after that. They just went completely out of round, developing huge carcass distortion. The last one nearly wore out, but the tread started coming off on the inside, and that scared me a bit, because it was on a front wheel. So I ditched it for a new Bridgestone A/T697 Dueler. I haven't actually bought any new Dunlops for about 40 years, I refuse to buy them. But I keep "inheriting" the darn things when they come on vehicles or wheels that I buy. They are total rubbish.

Latoya Jackson.

Here is Richard Marles interview on 7:30 on the ABC that backs what Peter is saying... https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-03/aukus-deal-under-scrutiny/106756374

A great Ronnie Corbett classic, worth repeating .... "For some time, my wife’s had this ridiculous idea that I’m playing too much golf. Actually, it came to a head at about 11.30PM last night. She suddenly shouted at me: ‘Golf, golf, golf!! All you ever think about is bloody golf!’ And I’ll be honest, it frightened the life out of me. I mean, you don’t expect to meet somebody on the 14th green, at that time of night!"

So Pauline is going to set up a whole new level of bureaucratic oversight, something like Trumps DOGE? Let me know how that works in practical terms - it seems like DOGE went out the window long ago, with virtually zero savings. DOGE was shut down 8 mths ahead of schedule, and it no longer exists. Musk claimed DOGE saved US$214B in Govt waste and losses - the reality is, his claims were total BS, DOGE saved nothing in the final washup, and it is reported that overall, DOGE actually cost U.S. taxpayers, by the time the cost of having to rehire important people fired by DOGE operatives, and lawsuits by Govt employees unfairly dismissed, were taken into account.

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.

Yeah, that's the beast - and the video below is the one I saw last year. Watch for the screen readout in the cabin, about 13 secs in from the start. https://www.facebook.com/reel/1499670794616183

Not actually a video, it's a Betoota Advocate FB page comparing buying used U.S. subs, to getting a rooted Captiva, when you actually ordered a new Calais! 😄 https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1436470628513101&set=pb.100064505329784.-2207520000

Old headers are a "dime a dozen" Willie. I saw two New Holland TR85 headers go for $3000 each earlier this year, they had Cat 3208 V8's in them, and had only done 4000 and 5000 hours. They were in perfect working order, just essentially obsolete, as the new headers are 3 times the size, and pull the grain in, 4 times as fast. I was watching a video late last year of new New Holland header with a 60 foot front, it was ripping off barley at the rate of 80 tonnes an hour. The old fellas eyes would be like saucers if they were around to see this. Some of the times, two double trailer roadtrains can't keep up with hauling the grain away. Some of the mobile field bins ("mother bins") are now up to 200 and 300 tonnes.

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/

BYD has a dedicated RHD assembly line in one of their factories. It churns out a new RHD BYD car, every 52 seconds. Trump has handed ownership of the car market to the Chinese. https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/an-enormous-ship-docked-in-melbourne-today-its-cargo-could-permanently-change-australian-motoring-20260531-p602f6.html

That's because the U.S. oil companies take advantage of high world oil prices to make extra levels of profit, and the Americans pay accordingly.

If there's good moisture going deep into the soil, when the top dries out enough to carry out seeding operations, it only takes a bit more rain in the season to produce a reasonable cropping result.

The imbecile is unhinged and living in an alternate reality. He wakes up un the middle of the night and goes on hours-long rants on social media, BS-ing about how wonderful his plans and results are - when the reality in the cold light of day, is the exact opposite of what he's promoting. He raves on last night, claiming the Iranians are ready to sign his peace deal on his terms, and it will be a wonderful peace deal, and so great for America. Then the reality in the cold light of day is the Iranians have cancelled all peace negotiations due to Israels attacks in Southern Lebanon, and they won't restart them until Israel stops its attacks there. If this BS-ing, lying, abusive moron was in a job anywhere else, he'd have been shown the door as regards his unacceptable behaviour, and told to never come back. Yet, his entire sycophantic, mealy-mouthed, gutless bunch of equivalent morons in his administration, continue to support every lie, every mouthy piece of BS, like it was Gods own Truth. I cannot believe America has descended into such a state of propaganda and alternative reality, that it makes the Goebbels reign look like pure unadulterated truth. The Iranians have it all over Trump, he has achieved precisely nothing in his massive war expenditure and aims to reduce Iran to a submissive ruin. He has brought about increased costs for every single country in the world (including America), and he still tries to claim the American economy is booming, and Americans have to thank him for leading them to increased prosperity. I don't really know how long it will take for the Americans as a whole (including the dumb Republicans who continue to support Trump) to come to the conclusion that Trump is the biggest disaster of a leader that has ever sat in the White House. An abusive, disruptive, totally corrupt, totally self-centred narcissist, who cannot utter two sentences, without at least one of them being a total lying fabrication that tries to reverse the truth.

Aaarrrgghh!! Does anyone else hate those video shots where a monstrous machine passes over the top of the camera? Watching it, I feel like I'm tied to the railroad tracks! My innate fear must come from the nightmares I had as a child, where I used to dream about being stuck to the ground, and a big tip truck backed up to me, and dumped its load of sand on top of me! I'd wake up in shock and fear, and probably crying out, too. It was terrifying as a youngster. I have no idea what caused me to have such terrifying nightmares.

Yes, it used to be called Foundation Day, but PC demanded its name be changed to something more inclusive.

I thought Victorians left Victoria to go find some liveable weather?? Most of the Victorians that left, went to QLD because they wanted decent weather, not specifically because of their Labor Govt. Victoria has gained in population every year since the pandemic ended, so your numbers are BS, just like Hansons regular BS. If Labor f**** everything it touches (as you're claiming), how come W.A. is doing quite well under a State Labor Govt? The Liberals here on the Left Coast have disappeared up their own arse. They keep on producing leaders of the Party who are total dropkicks and unelectable. Now they have a former dropkick disc jockey/cum Lord Mayor (and he stuffed up Perth City Council, too), claiming he can lead the Liberals back into power. He's a legend in his own bathtime.

Willie, the storm had little effect on me. We ended up with a fair amount of vegetation trash, the big Jacaranda in our backyard lost a small branch, and the fruit trees took a pounding - but there wasn't a huge amount of rain in the storm, we ended up with a whisker over 33mm from Saturday evening to this (Monday) morning. It's a holiday here (W.A. Day) and many people are at home, having cancelled trips and events due to the storm warning, so everyone seems to be out and about now, picking up limbs and leaves and trash. The low-lying areas and the river estuarine areas are the ones that went under water. The River backed up due to the storm surge, coupled with a king tide, and it put a lot of areas under water that I haven't seen submerged for years. The buildings on the coast take the brunt of any stormy winds, the houses and apartments near the coast always seem to lose parts of roofs when a big storm comes through. I'm about 6.5kms inland from the coast, as the crow flies, so the winds are moderated by the time they get to my neck of the woods.