Jerry_Atrick

This is a very good article and shows the longer term impact of our flee to globalisation mixed with a deranged US leader: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-29/us-dollar-trust-weakening-due-to-donald-trump-iran-war/107204644?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

I didn't know about the railway museum but there is an aviation museum now.

Indeed.. I learned to glide at the Geelong Gliding club at Baccus Marsh, and then shifted to Tocumwal after that. After I got my PPL, it was heaven when I could.. A RVAC PA28 from Moorabbin (and then Coldsteam) to Tocumwal... weekend of gliding and back home. Bliss - except when I checked my bank account of course. I worked at Coles Myer at the "Tooronga Zoo" (Coles Myer head office in Tooronga, Melbourne - near Camberwell). They had a "bistro" and one of the servers there and I used to chat a bit as her husband used to drive to Tocumwal on a Saturday morning, glide all day, and return I think that night. She was ship scared he would die in a glider accident and I used to assure her it is possible, but after a day of gliding, I would be more worried about his drive home. Sadly, and it was a long time ago - around 1995 - as I recall a powered aircraft pilot failed to give way and the prop sheared off the fuselage boom of the glider and he died. Although technically the powered pilot's fault, it is entirely possible that the pilot with the big facial panel and cowl to look over did not see the glider , although they tend to come in higher. When I did see here, I felt utterly horrible and sorry. Strangely, I never met him. That is a discussion for the other forum, though.

One of the many flaws in my character is that the long term partners I have managed to attract have all had phobias of flying and.. moths.. 2 of the three still live on the East Coast of Australia. Those moths are doomed.

Thanks for the detailed explanation.. it is really appreciated and clarified things. And I picked up from Mongrel Dog Productions' video that what BMW do in these cases is quite exemplary - life of the bike and no cost to owner for fixing issues from design flaws is a pretty good thing.

Nope

Just when you think it couldn't get any uglier, you lot are going to have to endure me in the country again in the not too distant future. Leave here late on the 30th October and arrive in Melb early on 1st November for two weeks. This time though, I will be officially working while in Melb.. And I am going to head up to Sydney to meet our Aussie colleagues.. Have booked the obligatory night in Tocumwal as well. Hope to catch up with my ab initio flight instructor again. As well as have rather yummy dimmies from - of all places - the bakery! Probably shouldn't as we are going through money like it is going out of fashion, but will try and sneak a flight from Tocumwal this time.

Back to the CBF. It is running like a dream at the moment. The electrical system seems to be working well, but given the corrosion with the connectors, that they found, I think it may be prudent to one weekend spend time going through all the wiring and connectors to make sure it is OK. But that will be on the back burner (pardon the pun) for now. Thankfully, the weather is still very mild - especially for this time of year. The El Nino is expected to cause a pretty shippy winter, and I can foresee many weeks of working from home, which will help the hip pocket, but not make life terribly easy. This week's commute was interesting, and I think I managed to pick myself up a speeding ticket. The ride in was, well, in first world terms, well, not terrible, I guess. In relative terms, it was a bit of a pain. I caught almost every red light through town towards the motorway. I wasn't able to fill up before I left, but decided I would take the price hit and fill up at a motorway services when I stop for a comfort break. I usually stop at Leigh Delamare, which is about 1/2 way there. But, alas, not to be. There was a big traffic jam on the entry road as a truck had broken down. No worries - have enough to get to Membury - I would say about 40 miles east. Stopped at the servo there, and no unleaded at all - high octane or normal. So, next intended was Reading.. about about 40 miles or so. There is Chievely, but it is off the motorway and a pain to get to and return to the motorway from. As it was, I had enough fuel to comfortably get to reading, had utilised almost every micron of bladder capacity. Though, I decided to fill the bike up and raced to the loo before going back and paying. (Look up the place names in google maps if you are in the least bit interested ;-)) The traffic on London was manic - quite a lot heaver than it normally is. Very close to Parliament, the traffic thinned, and unfortunately, I wasn't quite concentrating in a 20mph zone for which most motorbikes are not built, and I noticed a couple of flashes coming from the fixed speed camera.. I looked down and was doing a whole 24mph... without a car, bike, bicycle, scooter, pedestrian or even a fox or cat around me on a ruddy wide road. If the police operated the cameras, then they would probably just think it was minor and look at the next photo. But the camera system is run by civil (public) servants, who know His Maj's Revenue and Collection could use a bit more these days than in the past. As it is a minor infraction and I haven't been caught for quite some time (12 years??). they will offer me a speed awareness course, which will cost be the same as a fine, but you don;t have to inform your insurance in this case and mine is up for renewal. Having said that, I have yet to receive the tax, er bill, er fine in the post. Got to the parking area easy enough from there.. but when riding back to the pub in Richmond for lodgings, there was no parking. One of the great things about Richmond council is they are motorcycle friendly. As long as we park on metered parking space boundaries perpendicular to the kerb, we don't have to pay.. As long as we park in residential permit areas perpendicular to the kerb, no problems. No charges either way. Do you think either were available within the normal radius of the pub? FFS! I finally found somewhere about 10 mins walk from the pub.. which with a heavy backpack and in full kit, is a slog (at my age, anyway). That was Wednesday. Thursday, the traffic in was heavy, but when it thinned out around Parliament, I made sure I went through the camera zone under 20mph. The ride home was excellent. The traffic out of London was lighter than normal, and there were no road closures or works I had to slow down for. The ride is c. 3.5 hours each what. I dort of groan at the start - especially the ride in as it was 3:14am this week.. But once I get going, I find it relaxing and because I concentrate on the ride, cleansing of the soul.

Correction:

I wouldn't call a CBF1000 a fashion piece and about the only tech it has is ABS. Honda bikes have a good reputation for longevity - buying an old used bike is a bit of a gamble and depends on its history no matter which manufacturer made it. But what reminded my of this post was this vid; I can't recall the nike you have, but if it is one of those in the vid, hope it is helpful:

In fact, it would argue the owners of AI agents have absolute control over them... or they decide to relinquish it. An owner of a dog can train but not have absolute control of a dog's mind

There was a quote from some business man (ahh the powers of AI: Jeremiah Colman.. founder of Colman's mustard that says (and I will quote AI): "I did not make my fortune from the mustard that people ate, but from the mustard they left on the side of their plates.". AI apparently found it on Redditt.

I think another interesting question is if you or I hack into Medicare, we will be prosecuted... yet there is no news of anyone at Open AI being investigated.. So much for Albo's UN speech

Most of what I have seen in the "media" landscape are those that are arguing he should not be prosecuted.. for no other reason than.. just because. Through his lost defamation cases, the judges effectively found that on the balance of probability (not beyond reasonable doubt), he DID commit war crimes. The defence used justification - which is more likely true than not. Now, if a judge found the defence of justification valid because after all the evidence provided under strict rules and, as BRS was funded quite handsomely, probably the best barristers around to test that evidence, I would suggest that those people abjectly saying he shouldn't be further investigated to determine if he in fact did commit war crimes beyond reasonable doubt and, if so, should be held accountable, are indeed themselves dangerous to our society of freedom, democracy, and fairness. The prosecution, on analysing the evidence may decide there is not enough proof to bring it to court. That is OK.. that would, IMHO, as long as the prosecution acted in good faith, also be an acceptance it can't be proved and therefore, it is justified to stop any further action (unless something turns up).