onetrack

I think a lot of animals are a bit smarter than we give them credit for, and they don't take long to figure out new techniques that are needed for new threats.

I think Nev's been watching too many Zombie apocalypse movies. Although, if I was a dog, I'd be worried about a 'roo stare. I can recall the brother telling me, when we had the dairy farm about 11 miles N of Perth in the 1950's - and the whole area was littered with water-filled swamps - about the time he spotted a big buck 'roo being chased by a pack of wild dogs, when he was on his horse minding our dairy herd (we had grazing rights over a big area of crown land around the farm). This big old buck 'roo simply went for the nearest swamp, waded out up to his chest, and then turned around and faced the dogs (about 5 of them, I think the brother said). Of course, the dogs swam out to the 'roo, baying for blood - but the 'roo was an old hand at this dealing with dogs. As each dog came within reach, he just held them under until they drowned. He drowned about 3 dogs, and the other 2, who must have been quick learners, took to their heels. After about 1/2 hr, the big old 'roo just waded back out of the swamp, and casually took off.

The "her" is Cash. SWMBO can snarl too, but nothing like the fully refined feral snarling of MC. https://www.facebook.com/9News/videos/angry-outburst/1835003536547475/

Michaela Cash is the closest thing to a feral we've ever had in Parliament. SWMBO does a great imitation of her snarling, in that psycho manner of hers, when she's on some political point-scoring run.

I'm in the middle of massive upheaval and disturbance. SWMBO decided the house needed painting from top to bottom, along with general renovation and interior renewal - from mid-March. However, on 18th March, the landlady who owns my workshop/factory unit blew me right out of the water with a note saying all of the 12 adjoining factory units she owns will be demolished, and the land sold off for redevelopment - and we had just under 6 weeks to get out. On top of that, she's wiping out the truck parking depot which is all part of the same business. There's about 100 truckies that will now need to find new truck parking areas. I've been in this factory unit for 25 years this year, and my landlord was a decent easy-going bloke who never bothered any of us, and we all got cheap rent with no outgoings apart from power used - but he got about 2 or 3 cancers about 7-8 years ago and slowly deteriorated until he died late last year. I was concerned about some changes after he died, but I thought the worst would be a rent rise. But No, she's simply dropped a bomb on all of us, and about 9 lessees in the 12 factory units are now running around madly trying to find new premises and pack up 25-30 years of accumulated junk and collections - which includes me. I'm fortunate, I have an industrial block in a small country town about 130 kms out - which I've been using for storage for the last 4-1/2 years - but now I have to go out there, any time I need to do some repair or restoration. I'm selling as much surplus items as I don't need, and moving all the rest. Fortunately, it's a great drive on 2 major highways, with no interruptions to the drive. So the house renovation has been left to SWMBO and I'm going like a cut cat to clean everything out by 30th April. The worst part for many of the evictees is that factory units are in short supply around Perth, and rents are ballistic. I saw one factory unit, a tin shed of 200 sq m, on offer for $5200 a month, PLUS outgoings!! I don't know how people can afford this sort of monthly outlay.

It sounds like "Neither" would have been a better choice of name change for a Presidential candidate.

Don't forget Noahs Ark was built using cubits. Thigs must have started going wrong the day we moved away from cubits.

SO! - In your real life, you were actually a steam roller driver? - and you only then, graduated to a B727 and Fokker driver??

How do you tell where the land ends, and the ice starts in Antarctica?

One thing I can assure you - a good hit to the balls will most certainly make you move!!

Donald Trump has had his miserable arse saved by an appeal court reducing the amount he has to post as a bond to US$175M. I find it amazing that his billionaire backers such as the Koch Bros didn't come up with the money for him - so I think Peters meme about Ivanka and Jared rings true for all his rich supporters. But if you're a "Mom-and-Pop" Trump supporter though - they're the sort to stump up thousands to help their beloved Donald beat all that personal victimisation and DemonRat corruption.

I was always of the opinion that racing was all about building big-dollar, cutting edge technology machines, and then setting out to drive them into the ground as fast as possible. I have to agree with Nev, it's just plain stupid to race historic machines, just as it's just plain stupid to tear around the sky in ancient, rare and highly valuable warplanes.

All my money seems to disappear into black holes every month. The Saudi Petro Dollar black hole must be the largest in the entire Universe.

I think I can now see at least one reason why the African natives don't rule the world with their technological and scientific developments.

So ... Putin's forces rounded up some anti-Russian protesters, a few petty crims, and nailed them all as the full complement of the terror attack group! - all within about 24 hrs from the attack!! What a brilliant and capable mob!! Let's see - they'll all be charged and found guilty within another 24 hrs (with hundreds of valuable witnesses providing all the necessary evidence), and they'll all be in a Siberian Gulag within another 24 hrs!! What great place to get problems solved!! No wonder Donald said Putin was a "very clever man!!"

It looks like the Islamic hard-liners are out to exact some retribution on the Russians - so what better time to launch a terror attack, than when Putler is warring with Ukraine? https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/03/23/islamic-state-group-claims-russia-gun-attack-a84583

Here's a little downside from the brave new world of EV's and their information-gathering (from the NY Times). The Chevrolet Bolt is the latest EV product from GM. "Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ Driving Behaviour With Insurance Companies: ­ Kenn Dahl, a meticulous driver from Seattle, was puzzled by a 21% hike in his car insurance for his leased Chevrolet Bolt in 2022. Investigating further, he discovered that his driving data had been extensively tracked and shared with insurers by LexisNexis, a global data broker. The data included detailed logs of every trip, revealing aspects like speed, hard braking, and rapid accelerations, but not the locations. This information was sourced from General Motors, the Bolt's manufacturer, and used to create a risk score for insurance purposes. Dahl felt betrayed, highlighting a broader issue where car companies and data brokers, under the guise of usage-based insurance and with often obscure consent from drivers, monitor and share detailed driving behaviours. This practice raises significant privacy concerns and questions about transparency and the real intent behind data collection, leading to increased scrutiny from consumers and policymakers alike."

The WAPOL tried it for a period, but it was just too costly and ineffective. They needed police patrols on the ground, working in with the air wing, to apprehend the speeders. But the choppers are valuable in the city for following crims on the run.

I saw where a coroner has recommended that VicPol should be acquiring cadaver dogs. They had a dog branch between 2004 and 2008 apparently, but disbanded it. I would consider a dog division vital to any police force. I find it hard to believe how VicPol have put minimal effort from Day One into finding out what happened to Samantha Murphy - and how they put so little effort into finding the perpetrator of the womans unprovoked bashing in the same area a couple of years ago. They'll no doubt wait for 20 years, then declare they have an important cold case to solve - long after all the evidence has been lost, witnesses died, or memories have become fuzzy. I thought the W.A. Police were largely incompetent, it look like VicPol are gaining on them. We have something like 18 unsolved murders of women here, some over 50 years old, and WAPOL just recently called for witnesses to these crimes to come forward. FFS!! Anyone possibly involved, either as associates or witnesses, would be on their deathbeds. The worst case here is the unsolved murder of Corryn Rayney. Her hubby is the prime suspect, but they can't pin anything on him, obviously because he hired a hitman. The hubby and a computer whizz destroyed a lot of recorded evidence, but got away with it. It took WAPOL over 20 years to nail the Claremont serial killer, but they had all the evidence in front of them all the time, they were just led by a bunch of incompetent idiots who couldn't track elephants through snow.

AUKUS will be finished before it's even started anyway, if Trump gets in. You only have to see how he's abused and (mis)treated the NATO countries to see how he'd treat Australia as soon as he gets into power again. He'll be abusing us for "not paying for our share of defence costs" and tearing up every agreement Joe Biden signed, because that's what he enjoys doing - not to mention firing people wholesale, another thing he enjoys doing immensely, to add to his already inflated ego.

If black isn't a colour, then what colour are black people??

SWMBO and I went for a walk one night about 25-26 years ago, and we only got about 150 metres from home and we found a big fat wallet lying on the footpath. We picked it up and we were quite surprised to find something like $1300 in it! However, along with the money was the blokes driver licence, credit cards, a payslip showing it was his pay for the fortnight, and the name of the business he worked for. It was a cabinet-making shop not far from my workshop. So, the next morning, I dropped into the business, asked for the bloke, and when he appeared, I gave him his wallet. He wasn't particularly grateful, just said he'd dropped it whilst helping a mate shift furniture, said "thanks", and turned around, and went straight back to work! It was quite interesting that it appeared he'd written it off, and wasn't over the moon about it being returned. I lost my wallet the year before last, walking into a big local shopping centre (it seems I didn't insert it in my back pocket properly). It only had about $130 in it, but it contained a lot of important cards, including a couple of credit cards. I got home and realised it was missing, so I went straight back to the shopping centre and went to the managers office to see if it had been handed in. I was fully expecting it was gone for good. To my amazement, it had been handed in, and it was completely untouched! I got the name and number of the lady who handed it in - she was a young Asian lady - so I texted her and asked what kind of reward I could offer her. She said she wanted nothing, and was just glad I got it back. So I got her address and sent her a big Lotto ticket (because I know Asians love gambling) - but unfortunately, the ticket won nothing for her! (I'd kept a copy and checked the numbers).

Pete, be thankful you've still got dam water! Our water supplies in the S.W. of W.A. are in a pretty desperate state, thanks to virtually no rain since Oct 2023 (2 light showers have been the grand total in 6 mths) - and when we had a substantial fire near Pearce airbase, the choppers picked up firefighting water from a sewerage plant holding pond! Whether it was done by accident or on purpose, no-one seems to know - but fortunately, the sewerage pond water wasn't dropped on buildings or people! https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/firefighting-water-bombers-drop-sewage-on-homes/wg46mijmr

Re the unexpected deposit - this happens more often than you realise, and numerous beneficiaries have immediately spent a portion of the unexpected windfall. However, you can be charged with theft if you spend the money - but the prosecution has to prove that deception was involved. If no charges are laid, you still have to repay any funds put into your account in error, and the financial institution will pursue you for any amount of the payment error that you've spent. https://www.canstar.com.au/online-banking/what-happens-if-your-bank-makes-an-error/