onetrack

Yep, time to get back on track.

We had drought-breaking rain for 3 days, starting from the last day in April through to May 2nd, we got 12mm over that period. After 7 months of virtually not a skerrick of rain, it was very welcome. Then we had a week of steady rainy days totalling 64mm for the last 7 days of May, bringing our total rainfall for the month to 76mm - way below average still for May, and still a major rainfall deficiency for the year to date. June started off great with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of June bringing us over 48mm. Another rainy stretch between the 7th and 12th June brought us another 37mm. We had another 8mm between the 17th and 2nd, plus nearly 25mm over the 27th and 28th. Our rainfall total for June ended up just over 118mm, but still way down on our approximately 180mm average for June. July has gone back to being dry, this should be our second-wettest month with around 170mm, but we've only recorded 46mm so far, and half the month is gone. The long range forecast is indicating 90-120mm over 8 to 14 days out, I hope they're right! Oddly enough, the far Northern Wheatbelt, normally receiving marginal rainfall over Winter, has done very well with heavy rainfall events, and they're grinning from ear to ear. The Great Southern, our prime cropping area, is suffering badly from a major rainfall deficiency, and if there's no major late Winter rains, it will be a pretty dismal cropping year for them. Overall, the major part of the S.W. of the State is in major rainfall deficit, and only the extreme Northern Wheatbelt and the Pastoral areas further North, are the ones that have received good rains. It's the exact opposite of a normal Winter season, and the 7 month drought from October to the end of April has led to a major soil moisture deficit, that means the soil of the S.W. areas is going to take a long time to come back to good moisture levels.

Ahhh, that car owner is an amateur, when it comes to tyre repairs .....

So .. all those ancient old wines like those 50's and 60's Penfolds Grange bottles must be well and truly shot by now, then? O.K., you can send them all to me now, rather than just throw them out.

Trump claims he saved himself from certain death when he changed his head position as he spun around from looking at a big screen, to face the crowd. Once again, he's full of crap, he was barely moving his head when he was shot, the shooter just wasn't accurate enough, he was no professional. https://www.facebook.com/9NewsSydney/videos/fallout-continues-after-attempted-assassination-of-donald-trump/3408560082777013/

If someone got into an autonomous car, pressed the "start" button, and all the automation took over, it would be a brave legal claim to try and say the person sitting in the car is in control. It surely wouldn't be too hard to decide who was in control at any particular time frame in a crash? These things are full of sensors, and no doubt, recording devices, too. If the driver took back control via some method of cancelling the automated driving, then that would be recorded and traceable, too.

"The Killing of America" is a Japanese film that was produced in 1981 and it's a doco that examines Americans longstanding obsession with murder - random murders, political murders, race-hate murders, murderous hatred of anyone different to themselves, murders spawned by jealousy, murders involving the darkest sides of human behaviour. Many American murderers are seemingly normal people - but they harbour deep, intense hatreds, and these are fed by constant reinforcement, via pervasive exposure to extreme violence, threats - and a ready and guaranteed access to firearms. There is no way back for these people, they are certainly a nation in decline. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killing_of_America

Shannen Doherty, the actress, has died aged 53, from breast cancer. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-14/shannen-doherty-90210-charmed-star-dies/103796370

The photo of Trump being hustled off the podium and pumping the air with his fist, with the Stars and Stripes filling the sky behind him, is now going to be constantly used by radical right wingers as a "heroes" shot, just like the Americans worship the photo of the Marines raising the Stars and Stripes on Iwo Jima on Feb 23, 1945. It's the "combat" glory he's always sought - even though he's a noted draft dodger - he still wants to be seen as a war hero. He'll probably get a special medal struck for himself - "I took a bullet for your freedom!!!"

Trump has regularly been calling for violence and assaults against political opponents, and those in his employment who have deserted him. He wants those he views as "treasonous" (i.e., spoken against him, or against his policies), killed. He specifically stated he wanted Mike Pence "hung". He wants to put Liz Cheney on a military tribunal trial for opposing him (even though she has never been part of any military organisation - such is Trumps dangerous idiocy). He has promoted violence, assaults and overthrow of the Nations prime seat of political governance. He can look in the mirror to see the primary reason for the violent act of attempted assassination against him. This article is from 4 years ago! His warmongering rhetoric has only gotten worse since that time. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/blame-abc-news-finds-17-cases-invoking-trump/story?id=58912889

OME, you sure you got that doseage rate correct? Vitamin B3 is also known as Niacin. The recommended daily allowance is 18mg for males over 14 yrs of age. Ingesting over 35mg a day is regarded as dangerous to the health of the person. https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-924/niacin-and-niacinamide-vitamin-b3

My Dad died from Melanoma, it's a horrible way to die. He had a small skin cancer lump on the side of his face, right in front of his right ear. He had it removed when he was around 70. At 78, it came back, bigger and better than ever. He left it too late to see the Doc. The Doc called the brother and myself in and told us it was probably too late, it had spread to his lymph gland in his neck directly below - but he was going to operate on him, anyway. The Doc ended up taking a massive chunk out of his face and neck and left him disfigured. I know the Doc was desperate and trying to do his best, but it was wasted effort. He got Dad to undergo severe radiation treatment, but it was so bad, Dad gave it up. He only lasted about 9 mths after the operation, and the last 2-3 months was hell for him - bedridden with a morphine injector strapped to his stomach. I can remember him asking us to shoot him to put him out of his misery, and we were appalled - but it probably would have been the best thing, in retrospect. You wouldn't let a dog suffer like that.

Seriously, this eBay sale might enlighten you! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295957740877

The tag shows he's owned by American Express if anyone tries to rustle him!

That 21th July is right before the Umpteenth of Octember.

Let's look at this in a positive light. Only two dead, the event can't be added to the "mass shootings" count for this calendar year. You need 4 dead to count as a "mass shooting" event. What's the bet this exercise will lead to a massive surge in gun and ammo purchases, and more people joining the NRA? "There's a lot of dangerous people out there, you gotta be able to defend yourself!" I wouldn't be surprised to see the Don start carrying a firearm openly, now, too. What does surprise me is that this "assassination attempt" hasn't happened earlier.

Nev, that would've been Lincoln Electric. They were noted for their high company morale. Anytime I dealt with them, nothing was too much trouble. Corporate management training today is based on how much you can squeeze out of the minimum number of employees, how they are never entitled to a wage rise because the company can't afford it, and ensuring executives and shareholders are richly rewarded, even when it's undeserved.

The answer is 4.

Yes, the page numbers keep creeping up on me. After I posted the answer, the screen jumped to the next page.

Friday and Wednesday.

Here's an interesting development that just popped up in my Google feed .... https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/wave-delivery-fire-spewing-engine-no-moving-parts

I have a Vietnam Veteran mate who was a gunner in the Artillery. He has a real knack for maths, in fact I reckon he's got a mind like a computer. He was selected for the artillery because of his maths skills, the gunners had to do quick and accurate paper calculations back in the 60's to enable accurate placing of rounds. You had to be able to place rounds within 100 metres of your troops without hitting them - from 8 or even 10kms away. This mate used to study the form guide until he knew the full track record of every neddy - and pick out the potential winners. He would then bet on them, and win almost every time. I've seen him win $2800 in one go, and that was over 25 yrs ago. But then he suddenly stopped betting on the neddies. When I asked him why, he said, "Because I could see it could easily become a life-controlling obsession, and I don't want to go down that road". I understand he's never bet on neddies ever since he made that decision to stop. He doesn't really need the money anyway - he's worth millions, just his investments in property trusts would have paid him handsomely, and he's inherited multi-million dollar properties as well.

Spacey, it's called "gracious acceptance" when someone gives you a gift. Accept it with thanks and gratitude, these kind of events are few and far between. Don't forget to "pay it along" when you see someone worse off than you, genuinely in need. On the Celebrating Positives angle - while getting kicked out of my rented workshop/factory unit was a real kick in the guts - whilst cleaning up along the side of the shed, I pulled out some junk lying at the base of the shed wall - and found a $10 note! The amazing part is, it had been there so long, it had laid folded over a piece of metal, with the top portion facing the sun, and when I picked it up, the sun-damaged portion of it broke, resulting in a $10 note in two pieces! Regardless, the serial number was still clearly visible, so I took it down to the local Bendigo Bank and swapped it for a new one without a problem!

Americas problem is worship of money and allowing the rich to run the country, thus defeating all their so-called democracy. Most of the U.S. population only rates as modern day peasants, although some may like to think they have some wealth. The real wealth and power resides in the mega-millionaires, and now mega-billionaires. They have ensured total warpage of their economic system to ensure they continue to get richer and richer and more and more powerful. Trump has managed to get his US$450M bond requirement, that is required to appeal against his NY court judegment, down to US$175M. And that US$175M has now been "provided" by a little known insurance company, Knight Speciality Insurance Group, based in the Cayman Islands. The Knight Group has offered a "bond" for the money - but the Cayman Islands company and financial systems are notorious for impenetrable "security", which ensures criminals, mobsters and drug lords can use the Cayman company structures to ensure they run their finances without any scrutiny by authorities from other countries seeking to uncover criminal activity and major tax evasion. It's highly likely the Knight Group is a MAGA or Trump "front", and even more likely they don't have the $US$175M available to them to pay the money, and even less likely that any U.S. legal authority could ever collect the money in the event of a Knight Group default. https://caymannewsservice.com/2024/04/cayman-home-to-trumps-questionable-bond-supplier/