Jerry_Atrick

? I don't get the correlation, myself...

Corporate buzzwords and phrases. It was things like "bringing them along for the journey".. The latest is aligned.. as in "lets all get aligned".. These things are repeat ad nauseum... I am not sure people even know what they mean. P155es me off.

Little bit of a thread drift, but over here, they do not recognise common law marriage lie in Aus. In practice, if partner and I broke up, we could divide the property as per the legal (or any trust) ownerhip share.. anything that is legally hers stays hers, and anything that is legally mine stays mine. Mind you, the father has no legal access to the kids while they are under 18, but still has to pay for them.

It's incredible and you would not believe it, but we can have all this rain and still technically be in "drought". First, we have been, in relative terms, quite dry for around 18 months. Our underground resevoirs may not fill up (technically, may have enough leaks to lose a lot). For some reason, since I have been int he UK, there has been at least 3 hosepipe bans due to lack of water I can think of, and they were all after a decent spell of rain. Dare I say, privitasation at its best.

They say the first time you marry is for love; the second for money. Having never been married, I doubt I will ever find out.

I sometimes qquestion the wisdom of buying a heavier bike, but despite the electrical issues, my last ride back from London, and its general handling characteristics in the current weather has confirmed it. I am doing a few more push ups and squats per day - not because I keep dropping the thing, either.. but I do know I need to have a bot more strength than I do, should I drop it again. Once the electrical gremlin is sorted, and/or the weather warms up, it will be a beaut! Today, went to Yeovil - about 30 miles away to a brand new Infiniti Motorcycles store. It was in the car and took a bleedin' hour and a half. But, I picked up an opening deal on a diual set of intercoms; they were missing an adaptor plate for my helmet, so, on Saturday, we will be there on the bikes to get the intercoms fitted to the helmets. But, I was very thankful I took the car in the end. It absolutely hammered down for about 10 minute. It would have tested the best made motorcycle clothing. And the wind whippted up to about 20kts..

Bite the bullet.

Those Indian summers are far more frequent these days. But even when the summers haven';t been the best, the days are long with sunset going past 10pm, and sunrise a little after 4am. Combined with a more relaxed approach to drinking (at least where I lived in London and where I live in the South West), made loverly long but relaxing summer days, often watching them attempt to play cricket. Happy days!

I think there's a real market for a new political party, without necessarily experience of running a government, but with solid central policies that foster innovation/entrepreneurship and ensure the risk/reward formula rewards well those who take risks and succeed, but also ensures that those that participate are not left behind - i.e. striking the right balance. The right balance is different for different people - I get it - but at least the rational conversation to try and strike that balance. While I agree that it would be good getting someone in who has experience running the country, by being in parliament, you do get that experience even in minor or major opposition as you are exposed to the machinations indirectly and directly through parliamentary committees and the like. So, you would want them not to take government day 1, but maybe after one or two elections where they have had time to get that experience and build their numbers - and also prove their mettle - or not - to the electorate. The other reason is that (hopefully) they would come with little political baggage. For example, the issue Jacinta Allan in Vic has in tackling the CFMEU is just that.. a lot of this happened under her watch (and prior). also, when you represent the old guard, coming out and changing things is admitting you were wrong the first time, and the press love that; and people naturally question your competence. She is not the only one - Dutton is a second (although I think he didn't see any wrong he and the government he was very senior in did). For some reason, the electorate hates it when pollies admit they were wrong and learned their lesson and will do better - it's as if everything we try and teach our kids goes out the window when it comes to politics.

Despite this, according to a headline on The Age website today, One Nation are in with a decent chance: Reform here, and their predecessor party UKIP (effectively the same but rebranded), spent years without any seat in the House of Commons until the last election, where they got 4. The seat Farage holds is Clacton, one fo the more deprived areas in the country. Despite his voting record which will make the people of Clacton even worse off, they love him and his popularity there has increased. Because they only listen to what they want to hear and reject everything else. Pretty well much how society works these days, I guess. The fact is Hanson offers people who feel left behind, of which more of the population seems to be itself an issue that needs to be resolved), something to blame at least, and therefore an answer to the problems. People will expect to see these problems solved overnight, just as per Chump, but it will take a long time before they stop excusing her. Also, rusted on Lib voters can never see themselves endorsing Labor - it really is that simple. Libs are in no mans loand between what @pmccarthy correctly terms as Australian conservative values and the rabid right.. They will never compete with Pauline properly unless what is left of the more middle ground is hollowed out completely. Like Reform, they are more likely to pick up seats the longer out poltical malaise continues.

I have to admit.. as a bit of pyrophobe, I am happy they are not in common use anymore, but the engineering is interesting.

Don't talk to me about being wet! OK, we haven't had the floods that Aus got over the last few years, but crikey, we have had over 40 odd days of continuous rainy days (not always raining, but for a decent part of each day) and grey, grey, grey. Yesterday was a sunny day for most of it. I think everyone got sunstroke they were so unacclimatised to seeing any sun. And it only hit 6 degrees. Today; back to the rain..

Ask @red750 or @old man emu - they should know.

How I came to the UK is a looong story. To cut it short, my then fiancee and I split up, but for a year, she was still hanging around wanting best of both worlds. Muggins here allowed it for a bit, but to try and put some distance between us I took a 12 month contract in Traralgon. She was still hanging on, which is a bit rich since she initiated the split. Anyway, I decided buuggah it, I am going to move to the UK and use it as a base to see the world. The sofeare company that was putting in Software at Morwell power station had just started up a London office and when their people at Morwell learned of my plan, they offered me a job. So out here I came, and met parnter Atrick (never been married) and had two offspring. We moved to Melbourne in 2003, but both of us throught that at that time in our lives, London was probably the better option for us, financially and for the kids. And, it largely was. However, while I still do OK financially, 13 years of conservative rule and the kids growing up, Aus looks the better place now (just wish I had kids younger). I knew we were better in Australia when we moved out of London about 12 years ago now, and we almost did move. SWMBO needs a place to call home and we were having no luck finding a suitable place here, at any price. But just as we were about to start planning the move, a place same up and we bought it. That, IMHO, was a mistake as it really wasn't what we both wanted - one wanted it more than the other. Then this place came up, so we went for it, which was a mistake for the same reason - except the other wanted it more than the last one. The other mistake was this is a massive peice of work and we will lose money on this one (at least with the other, we broke even). Thankfully, house prices have just picked up a bit here. If we had moved to Aus 12 years ago, we would be sitting pretty with respect to a property and probably one or two rentals. So, we are close to finishing this place. I have to spend more time on the house than the keyboard. My son wants to study marine biology in Townsville or Hobart (but, Geelong (Deakin) will do as far as I am concerned). My daughter is wedded to finishing law in the UK, but her univeristy, which is something like 200th in the world ranking of law schools is affiliated with Melbourne, which is 10th.. so I am encouraging her to see if she can transfer to Melbourne, get her degree from Melbourne and if she wants to come back to the UK, she can do a masters at one of the better universities, which will cost her a lot less and she will be far more attractive to potential employers. I want to work a bit more in Aus, and truth is I will probably never retire until I am physically and/or metnally incapable of continuing. But, I don't want the pressure I have now, especially in the corproate environment as I am thoroughly sick of the politics (never been good at it) and where I work has really changed from being a great place where you can just get on with it and people are mutually supportive to back to the a dog eat dog world and executivemanagement than bend with the wind. I guess I am more cyncial these days. But, I wouldn't have changed moving out of Aus for the world. Just would have comeback sooner. I have learned a lot and it has taken me to place and allowed me to experience life in many countries as a peer and not a tourist. .I have many great firendships. Believe it or not, it has made me less uptight and a lot more tolerant. And opened my eyes to many things I would have shunned. So I consider it has made my life experience far richer than it would have been.

I have spent a bot of time on the Great Ocean road and Shipwreck Coast. 3 hours from Mleb could be anywhere depending on which roads you take, but I am guessng the more direct route and a bit inland from Warrnambool. When I last lived in Melbourne (2003 - 2005), there was a lass in the office from Warrnambool - and I have to admit if I wasn't already spoken for, I could have had her speaking for me. Nicve part of the country - one of the regions I am looking to retire.

Well, have been back on the bike for q couple of weeks, now. Leg is still a little sore when stretched. Back to London early Tuesday just gone. It was a much less dramatic ride in terms of getting lost in London. And the ttemperature was about 7 degrees which all but the gloves were coping admirably with. ... Buuuuut... there was a problem. The heated grips have a small switch on the left grip and a LED light to indicate the heat seetting and status. When one switches off the engine, the grips detect a drop in vooltage, and they flash bright green for a short time before switchign themselves off to conserve battery. This started happening.. when the bike was pulling 5,500rpm doing about 75mph. It did this for a little bit - maybe 5 mins or so and I was praying that there was enough juice in the battery to get me to London. Then it stopped and I was thinking an intermittent drop in voltage could indicate the stator is about to soil its trousers. After about 1/2 hour, my left hand was getting quite cold - while the right hand was warm. I pulled into the next saervices, and sure enough, the left heated grip was stone cold. This is despite the power button and the LED on the left hand griup indicating all was OK. Flippin heck... I went on to the next services, about 30 miles away, pulled in and purchased a hot chocolate - to wrap my frozen left hand around and warm up. Once done, the cup and the hot chocolate went into the bin. Shortly after that, I was in London at speeds that didn't freeze the tips of my fingers. I parked the bike and went to woork. In the evening, I emerged form work looking like some alient traveller, and went to the bike to ride to the pub for the evening. I put the key in the ginition and started her up. Imeediately after, I put on my gloves (I use this time to let the oil flow around the engine before going anywhere. When I put my left hand on the left grip, it was already at peak temperature. Hmmm. that is odd.. this time, the right grip remained cold. Bloom nora.. this does not look like a stator issue, but wither poorly installed heated grips or, worse, a short. The next morning, I didn;t put the grips on as it had warmed to a balmy 8 degrees, and there was no real need to put them on. That evenng, on the way home, I put them on. They briefly warmed both hands, and then fell away The LED light told me all was OK, but It wasn't reflected in the lack of heat coming from the grips. Thanks to the storm guards, my hands were only freezing and not frostbite, but with the M5 being closed reuiring me to take a further 30 minute diversion (detour) and feeling a little tired (left the office at 8:30pm), I figured if I could get a motorway services hotel (really sort of a motel) cheap enough , that would do as I still around two hours from home. I managed one at Membuiry Services, and hunkered down for the night. The next morning, the left grip was working again and then petered out. So it was freezing fingers all the way home. Yesterday (Saturday), the sun was shining - We have had consistent rain for over 40 days and nights, apprently.. Some arcing, but no ark. So, I took the opportunity to clean both bikes; they were putrid. Although, I had a little too much concentration of snow foam and they looked like they had been snowed on in Northern Europe. It also took me an hour to clean the driveway from the excess snow foam afterwards. Spent over £30 on chain and brake cleaner, but buggah me, it does a good job on cleaning things up. Managed to lube the son's bike chain, but for some reason, didn't get time to do mine. Haven't ridden it yet, but of course, it rained again. Have to clear out the garage today of the rubbish in there to fit the bikes and be able to work on the,. Next weekend, I will be applying ACF50 to both of them.. which means a thorough clean and a half again. Son took his out last night.. Just as it started rainign again. it is dirty again.. Blimey!

OK... 3 Hurs from Melbourne.. Where is "out here"? Roughly?

Yeah.. Will Day, the mercurial centreman has succumbed to a complex collarbone dislocation what will keep him out for the first half of the season. With James Worpel moving to Geelong, it will be up to Jai Newcombe ("the boy from Poowong") as a centreman and half back Josh Weddle, fast becoming a superstar, to plug that gap. With James Sicily not yet training properly from memory due to a hip injury, the centre and half back line will look a little wobbly. Will Day has spent more time injured than playing, it seems like. I wonder if his bidy is up to the physicality of AFL.

Magic! (Sorry, OT!)

Thanks, @willedoo - sadly, though, not well typed, even by my paltry standards.

Th AFL season kicks off in about a month. The first year I admitted to my "compulsion" on these forums, I turned £50 to about £350 before losing it all. My shirt stayed on my back, though. Last year, I turned £50 into £250-ish by the end of the season, and took the family out for a nice meal at a local fancy shamncy restaurant. I just logged into my betting account and there is still £8.50 in there. When first bounce of the season nears (although I think they will no longer bounce the ball - which is a real shame as it does add to the excitement compared to a simple throw up of the ball), I will depost another £50 and again wait a few rounds before attempting to build the funds for yet another fancy shmancy meal for the family at the end of the season. I don't hold high hopes for my beloved Hawks this year. They had a poor performance in the trade period last year - reducing the quality of their midfield in pursuit of a star, but aging midfielder, in Zach Merret , only to have that deal fall through. But, I do have high hope I look at the odds objectively and will hopefully be able to take the family out for this meal. Otherwise, they will have to suffer my cooking that night.

Yeah, I get that. How far to tne nearest bigger town, and what is that town like? Or better to ask, how far to the nearest decent larger town? There are a lot of people who crave being well away from any major conurbation but if a decent town is within an hour's drive (say 100ks depending on the area), they they are really happy. The trick I think is to present the property to highlight the drawcards of being in a natural setting but is comfortable, and secluded (rather than isolated); If it is within - or even just beyone an hour of a decent town and facilities, especially if the drive is realitvely easy, then higjight easy access to the town with its facilities, yet far enough to be out of the rat race. You're not selling a property - you're selling a lifestyle.. If it's much more than an hour out of town, market it as a retreat - again it's the lifestyle that is the drawcard usually.. But, I am not a real estate agent... but when I am looking at rural locations, I am looking for lifestyle.

@randomx - I may have missed it, but what is it about your current place, apart from being a cabin and I am guessing a few k's out of the major town, that you really don't like about it?

First, I have no issue with Nev's style - yes, Internet etiquette says CAPS is SCREAMING, and I guess that is written etiquette, too. But in the absence of in person or at least voice to coice comms, where infelctions can be made, and in the absence of mid-caps to allow for emphasis (sometimes an exclamation mark won't do), I have come to accept that is Nev's way and I am comfortable with it. We all have our ways whe it comes to written word, so don't go changing at least on my account. @Marty_d's post has put far more eqloquently and completely the point I have been trying to get across.. This lurch to the right is a global thing, because globally, the symptoms and root causes have coincided. Add rabid religions to the mix of billionaires, and a synchophatic press mostly devoid of objectivity, and it is a recipe for disaster. The reality is these issues, which could have been solved by governments of different colours, but they continue. It is easy to throw stones at the pollies, but my guess is there are forces we never see behind the scenes that make it extremely difficult to survive politically, professionally, and dare I say personally (in terms of character assaniation and assasination) if the pollies upset the apple cart too much. The latter bit may seem a bit of a conspiracy theory, but I have seen first hand the extreme rage, anger and threats when someone very wealthy has stood to lose quite a bit of money. It is ugly, and while they have the money to fight, by god they do. To be clear, I haven't seen them take action against the person beyond the threats they have made.. but this person was in such a state, it wouldn't have been a great leap to do so. Also, once in government, the party of power wants to stay there, so there is a conflict of interest already building up with those who have the money (which equals power) to make life more difficult for them. Imagine a CEO sayin we will pull the business from your jurisdiction and move it somewhere else. Imagine all those jobs lost. People will still buy our stuff - you know that - so you better bend to our will or it is you who will carry the can. The issues that Marty raise, sadly transcend colours of both parties. The rabble rousers of whichever colour you want start to get attractive. The sad reality is that most people, even more and more into what was the middle classes are so busy keeping their and their families' heads above the water, they are too exhausted to look into the complex world of politics, have more and more been forgotten by those they vote for, and grab onto anything else that pretends to offer them a lifeline. The the press describe these people are those on the margins, no hopers, blaming the world for their problems. Well, just maybe, that is stereotyping them like stereotyping Muslims as all terrorsts... When you look into it, a lot of these people work hard, but due to the widening economic gap, struggle, and are left out.. maybe society is forgetting them, too? And now, they gravitate to parties that offer them something to blame, and a hollow salvation. The other parties have long ago fogotten them; here are parties that at least recognise them if nothing more. That is why I highlight things like Brereton. It is one thing to say well go live somewhere else, or we still have it good hear, but that does not justify the constant erosion of trust, integrity, and quality. Would we rather stop the rot before we sink to an autocratic dictatorship as the US has done, by which it is probably too late before blood is shed? Oh, wait, it has been shed already in Minneapolis, and no doubt by the Venezualans (but they were all bad, of course), and by the undocumented migrants cast to jurisdictoons with a clear disdain for human rights? At some stage a government is going to have to bite the bullet properly, or else we are headed in the same direction.

Yeah, but he'd not be allowed to compete while suffering football in mouth disease