onetrack

My stepdaughter was one of W.A. first female plumbers, and went on to work for the gas and oil service group, Schlumberger. She became an expert on drilling equipment and reconditioning complex oil/gas well drill bits. She went on to gain an Occupational and Environmental Health and Safety Major from ECU, and became a senior OEHS manager in Beach Energy. But Beach recently went on a major cost-cutting drive under a new CEO, and sacked 30% of their employees - including the stepdaughter. So, several of them formed energy consultancies, and she's just joined one of these consultancies, working with former co-workers - and now, they're REALLY into the big money!! Can you say "Consultancy Fees" for Global Corporations and Govts?? I thought she was on big money before, now her former salary at Beach is starting to look like chicken feed! The cunning part is, these people have formed consultancies that include renewable energy forms, so they're covering all their bases.

Volvo is the latest car manufacturer to backpedal on their original "hard target" of producing nothing else but EV's by 2030. They have realised that Toyota's approach of going to hybrids first, while EV technology matures, is the more sensible approach. Volvo are now saying they plan to still have a sizeable percentage of plug-in and mild hybrids in their production levels by 2030, with EV's making up the remainder of their production. In other words, Volvo will still be manufacturing IC engines well into the 2030's, as they can see the EV market has plateaued - and they're also concerned that the distribution of charge points will still be inadequate for 100% EV's for quite some time to come. I note they have not even mentioned charge times, and range of EV's, which are still sticking points for many potential buyers of EV's. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-05/volvo-cars-drops-2030-electric-vehicle-target/104316262 QLD inquiry expresses concern about ability of grid to cope with large number of EV's - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-05/queensland-ev-inquiry-power-grid-pressure-battery-technology/104315690

C

Brush box has an average dry density of 900kg/m3. https://kalanihardwoods.com/pages/brushbox

He was lining up for a knee operation himself as well - maybe that got dropped on him at short notice. I hope he's O.K. He might be a grumpy old bugger, but I like him, and he's very knowledgeable.

That's a pretty sharp fireplace alright, no doubt about that!! 😄

Spacey, I think you're talking about the near-new British destroyer that struck a big rock just off Lord Howe Island. The rock tore a massive hole in the hull, it cost the Poms something like AU$100M to repair. The grounding happened as the Captain had just returned in a chopper to the warship, after going to Lord Howe Island with a sick sailor. A number of junior officers were on the bridge and one put down "a navigational instrument" on the chart, which hid the rock. Another junior officer saw the rock in the moonlight, but it was too late. They all got a reaming over the accident, and I think the junior officers involved were returned to shore duty. The Captain merely received a reprimand as he actually saved the ship with his good management, after the rock penetrated the hull. https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/jul/08/military https://www.theage.com.au/world/captain-guilty-of-warship-rock-wreck-20030912-gdwbwn.html https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/sep/12/military.simonjeffery https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1404113/Commander-who-ran-aground-revealed-to-be-ships-saviour.html

There used to be a social forum called The Blokey Shed (www.theblokeyshed.com), it was an offshoot of the Woodworking forum, and was designed to discuss everyday blokes stuff, which wasn't allowed on the Woodworking Forum. I was on there for some time, it started about 15 years ago I think, but it died for some reason unknown to me, a few years back. I suspect it was because there weren't enough users to continue funding the website. One of the problems associated with forums is that the social media sites offer a lot more instantaneous gratification, and this appeals to the younger set. Then there's the problem of trying to encourage new members to a forum, and how to get the word out to the people who might use it. Then, once you have members, you have to moderate the ones who want to dominate it, or who become abusive to others. You may recall the member "Dax" who became quite abusive to another user, belittling his opinions. I personally think that members of forums become like club members, with most of us knowing that clubs usually only survive, because a few people do all the work and promotion of the club, and a lot of club members do very little. I must say I'm surprised at the cost of maintaining the website and forum. I really don't understand how it costs so much, but I'm not a tech person, so I don't know what goes on, as regards site hosting and maintenance. I'm a member of a tractor and machinery forum that is set up and run by one American bloke, and he's paid for it solely, and runs it and maintains it smoothly - and has done, since 2007. He never asks for any money for the site, and he seems happy enough to keep the site going, because he likes it as a repository and source of tractor knowledge and stories. He's no millionaire, but he must have some costs in running the site - however, they must be reasonable costs that he can afford to pay out on annually. He is an IT guru, based in Florida, so I guess he's on good money. But the bottom line is, we've found the number of frequent users of the tractor forum has declined steadily since 2007, and only a handful now use it regularly. A lot of good contributors have simply passed on. Naturally, just adding "Shed" to a forum name is guaranteed to garner a lot of interest from a bunch of blokes doing Google searches for their favourite thing - a shed!

You just have to wonder about the others involved - in taking the photo - and issuing the photo for public release - when they surely must have all picked up the stupidity of the rifle scope fitted the wrong way around? - or did they miss it, too? Or is it because the U.S. Navy is now the home of a bunch of incompetents, with a bigger accent on being soft on gender issues, and earning Masters in political studies and the Arts, instead of actually being skilled in operating Navy ships? One has to note the replacement Commander, Cdr Allison N. Christy, is an "outed" lesbian with a Bachelors Degree in Political Science. The old Navy mariners must be spinning in their graves. https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-warship-commander-relieved-from-duty-over-backward-rifle-scope-furore/cba54c00-225a-419f-b046-daeff6b719d5

Former ATSIC head, Aboriginal Geoff Clark, found guilty of $1M fraud, whereby he diverted ATSIC funds to his own personal use. His son has also been found guilty of fraud, associated with his fathers rorting. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-04/former-atsic-head-geoff-clark-found-guilty-fraud/104308834

The former ABC broadcaster and author, Tim Bowden, died on Sunday 1st Sept 2024, aged 87. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-09-03/former-abc-broadcaster-and-author-tim-bowden-dies-aged-87/104305872

Reviving an old thread - and getting back onto crows - I didn't know that a French theme park had trained crows to pick up rubbish, in exchange for food. They mostly seem to target cigarette butts. The article I read said they'd selected six, "particularly intelligent" crows for the training. Most of the more intelligent members of the bird families seem to enjoy playing games and interacting with humans, once they lose their natural fear of them.

I can recall when we visited Chartres Cathedral in 2013, it was undergoing massive restoration works (after having been built in the early 1200's), and the smoke staining of the interior was terrible. The workmen were meticulously scrubbing the entire interior of the Cathedral, and the difference in the appearance of the stained glass windows after restoration cleaning was staggering. The light increase for the interior of the Cathedral was about doubled, and the colours in the cleaned glass were outstanding.

No, you're correct in that belief, the pensions are increased in line with the CPI. But the Federal Govt has been pushing for improved wage increases for workers for the last couple of years, saying that wages in general are not increasing in line with the level of executive salaries and inflation. So the Govt is trying to ensure that workers in general and their wage increases, are not being left behind, and disadvantaging working families. If you recall, many wage increases in recent years were smaller than properly deserved, as union leaders were brow-beaten, and executives in charge of workplace agreements beat down wage increases, on the basis the companies (and many Govt depts, too), "couldn't afford them". The simple fact remains there are many in our nation who are exceptionally well-rewarded for their efforts, and a lot of them don't do much to justify their income. But when it comes to lowly everyday workers, they're expected to put in major effort continuously, and even be on call after hours, as we've seen with the recent ban on work demands out of hours.

OME wants a completely black, smoke-stained, interior finish??

I can recall Halleys Comet as a complete and utter disappointment, it was nothing like it was promised to be. A case of the goods not meeting expectations. We only saw a moderately dull glow in the sky.

So, the Govt in its supreme generosity, is giving pensioners an extra 2.6% in their pension payments, come 20th Sept 2024. Woo-hoo! - don't spend it all at once! But hang on - I looked up the average adult wage increase over the last 12 months - and it's recorded as a 5.8% increase. Good-oh for the workers, they are catching up a little to the executive salary set. However, all this means that the pensioners are being dudded again. A 2.6% bi-annual increase is only 5.2% increase for the year for the poor old pensioners. We've been left behind again, to the tune of missing out on the additional 0.6% increase we should've got, to keep up parity with wage earners. Am I missing something in the equation here? Yes, we do get a range of concessions - but we've always got them, and nothing has changed otherwise in the overall scheme of things, AFAICS. Maybe we gained some amount in some fringe benefits that I haven't counted, but I can't think of any at present. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-working-conditions/average-weekly-earnings-australia/may-2024

I can't even pronounce its name, and it will probably appear at a time when I'm in my deepest sleep mode, as so many seem to do.

More photoshop. It's actually the Anaz Indian Restaurant in Colne, Lancs, in the U.K. https://www.google.com/search?q=97+Albert+Road%2C+Colne%2C+BB80BS&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

This thread is simply descending into the crapper. I personally believe the stains on Trumps trousers are a photoshop effort, no-one would let him be seen in public like that, surely?

You may be surprised, he'll probably get his asking price and sell it all. There's a market for rusty CGI as a canvas for artistic works, some of the art-sellers transfer enlarged photos onto the iron. The same applies to rotten old wooden fence pickets, they get sought after for photo or picture frames. Cleaned up and sanded back a bit, they provide the necessary artistic impact.

Couldn't you imagine the tantrum if an interviewer called him, "former President Trump". He still thinks he is President - he just got "robbed", and won't let anyone forget it. There's plenty of memes centred around the amount of golf that Trump plays, instead of working.

Have you seen the cost of all types of steel lately?? The stuff is going to need an armed guard on the steel delivery trucks, soon! 😮

It is a basic fallacy and an unsatisfactory approach to try and compare the Aboriginals of Australia with the Negro slaves of America, with the American Red Indians, or even with the Maoris. All those cultures are vastly different - and if you want to see real hatred and divisiveness, see what the attitude of Aboriginals is towards other black people, and even Maoris - they treat them like dirt. All the Governmental decisions taken in past decades have largely centred around the basic facts that the Aboriginal cultures are largely unable to manage themselves, and manage large amounts of money, in a Western democratic setting of rule. The Aboriginals live for today, tomorrow doesn't factor into their planning. They rely on constant assistance from others, for their lack of planning ability. "Humbugging" is a unique feature of the Aboriginal culture. "Humbugging" is basically, constant begging for money. Despite being given adequate money in every case of every Aboriginal (they can even get special payments from Centrelink, that Whites can't get). They burn up money as fast as it's given to them, they have zero money management ability. In many remote areas, you'll see signs stating "no humbugging". At my local shopping centre, 5kms from the Perth CBD, the entrance doors are regularly blocked by Aboriginals begging - on a constant daily basis. This is the "mob" who claim they have constantly been robbed - and yet they have just been given land rights over the entire S.W. Region of W.A., and been given $1.5B in direct cash payment, plus the Govt set up no less than SEVEN new Aboriginal corporate bodies, just specially for this group - all fully Govt funded for 12 years - at a reported cost of another $600M! All this for just 3,500 claimants. https://www.noongarboodjatrust.info/ If you've ever travelled in the remote areas or isolated rural areas, you'll often encounter Aboriginals who have run out of fuel in their car - because they never factored in fuel use in their trip planning. It was never a requirement of their original culture or lifestyle, and nothing has changed in their outlook in the 236 years since Europeans arrived and set up their ordered and planned society, and style of Govt. The Aborigines are the original communists, they never owned anything of manufactured value, apart from spears, nulla-nullas, woomeras, grindstones and dilly bags. As a result, they have little respect for the intrinsic value of manufactured items of value. The Govt of Australia builds them nice houses in remote locations, at mind-boggling cost - and they totally destroy them, because they lack appreciation of what has been provided for them, and the cost involved. Then they complain the houses weren't designed properly for their cultural usage requirements. They demand to be treated differently to Europeans, and to always get special treatment. Their attitude is similar to children, with constant demands for unearned rewards, selfish behaviour, constant demands for money for doing nothing, constant demands for expensive items they have no appreciation for. It's little wonder that the bulk of the hard-working Australian population gets sick of the constant whining, complaining, and demanding of "entitlements", that accompany most Aboriginal outbursts. As to the constant complaints about "stolen" Aboriginal land, I'd wager very few Aboriginals even know, or appreciate, that they now have freehold ownership and vast amounts of control over more than 16% of the Australian land mass - as well as receiving multiple billions in monetary compensation, in various forms. All this, for a culture that makes up just 3% of the Australian population. https://www.pc.gov.au/closing-the-gap-data/dashboard/se/outcome-area15/land-and-water-ownership#:~:text=Nationally as at June 2023,baseline year) (figure SE15a. https://www.nsw.gov.au/living-in-nsw/aboriginal-outcomes/healing/stolen-generations/reparations#:~:text=The Stolen Generations Reparations Scheme provided ex-gratia payments to,applications on 30 June 2023.

That's a pretty neat comparison - and I believe the GOP has underestimated the amount of women they have pissed off, with their abortion laws and other religious crap, that treats women as worthless subservient slaves, and baby factories, rather than as our partners and equals. The female vote will play a big part in this upcoming election, provided the women are able to vote with independent thought, rather than being told who they have to vote for, by the "man of the house".