Jerry_Atrick

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

That should be Labor shoudl learn from it.

Labor has had a small drop in the polls. Yes., these are not elections. I am guessing they are more likely to gravitate to the Greens than PHON. But, you don't want it to get to the point where Labor voters start gravitating to PHON as they are sick of being forgotten. It happened here.. Labour shoud learn from it.

Yes.. even the ABC is reporting on it.. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-12/three-arrested-taskforce-hawk-cfmeu-corruption-investigation/106334256 The reality is power corrupts... No one is immune to it. But the CFMEU looks to be a doozy - potentially under the noses of governments of both flavours.

My copy arrived today.. Looks like @pmccarthy is (probably once again) contributing positively to Australia's balance of Trade 😉

There are striking similarities between UK and AUS politics. Normally, I would say to predict what is going to happen politically in the UK, just look at Australia's recent past. The libs impending implosion and the lurch to the right are the two exceptions, where the UK leads, but Australia is following. The conservatives have been out of ideas and losing relevance for a long time. Brexit was a way they could lay the blame of the malaise they imposed on the country and solve it in one foul swoop. Of course, when that didn't work and the chickens came home to roost, it showed how hollow they were - out of touch with the electorate; out of touch with business; out of touch woth foreign policy.. the party kept on proffering candidates who seemed to be stuck in the old colonial days. Brexit initially delivered the conservatives a large swing from Labour. But they have no oether swung back, or swung to Reform - Nigel Farage. Brexit was a protest vote - people who were on the margins, which seemingly more and more of what should be the middle classes find themselves. Conservatives followed suit - their party in disarray, not representing the rank and file. First, they tried emulating reform. Once it became clear that conservative voters had shifted, so too have some of the lesser qualified conservative MPs. Reform took third place in the popular vote in the last elections; I would say they are even money, if not staring down taking first place of the popular vote at the next. They are unlikely to grab the premiership due to the concentration of their votes, but taking the popular vote is a big boost. Yet, their policies will hurt the ones that vote for them most. Australia is heading that way. The Libs are more and more irrelevant. They have a habit of nominating candidates that are less and less competent. Lib voters are moving to PHON. As the Libs implde, some will see the personal value of defecting to PHON. Labor lost some ground in the primary vote in the last polls. That is probably more attributed to Bondi and general incumbent blues than a shift to PHON at this stage. There has been no Brexit moment to pull Labor voters away. But, there are things creeping in that may move Labor voters at a higher rate. There is stuff like the NACC, where Labor have proved not much better than the Libs at the end of the day. That is minor in the scheme of things, but these sorts of things that can be the straw that breaks the camel's back, Despite Australia looking after its poorer and lower mddle classes better that the UK, we are seeing a wider gap between the haves and the have nots; we are seeing constantly increasing costs of lving, and hot topics like property rental and purhcase prices spiralling continues unabated. The result, more and more people will feel forgotten, get pi55ed off and cast their prtest vote. The difference between the UK and Australia is that voting in Australia is compulsory (or at least getting your name marked off the electoral roll is, anyway). This will mean those thast are p155ed off are more likely to cast a protest vote than in the UK, because many who would say normally vote conservative wouldn't turn up for the election - which happened in the last UK general election. Of course, Australia has a preferential system rather than first past the post, so that works in favour of keeing PHONies out., But don't bet on it. Libs and Labor have lessons to learn if they don't want a rabid right wing mob with significant power.

Sorry - you're right Though technically, it is still a foreign investment

? So, the ABC news article is BS and Albo (with Doofus) didn't set up the NACC? If you're trying to say this is an "I told you so moment", yeah it could be construed as such. If you think I feel good about it, you're quite mistaken. If you're willing to ignore the little fella having enough of grift, then don't be surprised they do a protest vote..

Are you talking about the foreign investment review board? More a rubber stamp. Who would have allowed the Darwin port to be sold to foreign interests at all, let alone China?

So, how is it pretty much all crap?

Indeed.. And we are getting the fruits of that cave in now: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-09/independent-inquiry-launched-into-nacc-chief-defence-ties/106320954 Second time he is being investigated and still there... And people wonder whty the protest parties such as One Nation and Reform in the UK are breaking ground.. And why Chump gets elected a second time after a disastrous first round.

Normally, it does. It is when, why, and the way it is used that makes the difference. In the case of the GFC, the banks were largely on their knees. They had burned through their capital ratios and hand nothing left in the banl (a capital ration is the ratio of cash and cash like securities held compared with loan and other exposures on the books - more or less). There was a cred crunch at the time, which meant the money wasn't flowing between the banks. Banks need money to survive and the money markets help the banks manage their cash flows amongst other things. So, banks were burning though their cash at an alarming rate and a few did fold. So, QE was used to purchase government debt (and some high grade commercial debt) from the banks. The money to the government had already been lent, and the money provided to the banks helped them stabilise their balance sheets not increased their lending capacity. I think the RBA went one further and slowily cancelled the federal government debt that it purchased, but don't quote me on that. Because the banks needed the cash to stabolise the system, while money was added to the money supply through quantiative easing, nothing was really done with it that created a credit multiplying effect. However, it only lasts a certain time before it does create a credit multiplier effect (a lot longer in this case than many economists projected). Part of this is because the divisions of the banks that were the beneficiaries of QE by selling their government debt in the open market were parts of the banks that don't really lend to individuals nor small/medium business enterprises. It is usually very large corporate grade stuff and mostly government lending. This meant the government had a ready supply of cash available, partly to cover the cost of the bank bailouts (I know Australia didn't have them), but also to lond to those where eother the spend budget is already known (government) or where they will invest rather than consume. But, as you could see, time eventually runs out oin that space as well, and the dollar devalued (which is what happens with inflation).

QE is a monetary policy lever that is uysed by central banks. It is where the central bank authorises printing of money to purchase the government debt already issued and usually held by private institutions. It is used to, in a more controlled manner than printing money and sending it straight into the hands of people to spend, increase the money supply in a drip feed way and stabilising the financials system.. It works well when done in moderation, but the deployment post GFC was, in the end, maintained for too long; well after the financial systems stabilised and credit markets flowed nicely again. The problem was they bought the bait that the financial markets become dependent on QE and the new money should still flow. Once stabilisied, you can withdraw QE in a gradual basis and allow the system not to rely on new money after a while. But what happened is that, after a while, when it was no longer needed to stabilise the money markets and other elements of the financial system, it became just another stimulus package and it contributed to inflation. Hindsight is wonderful.

I do try..

Keep counting.. At least 6 times.

That's OK.. In short, the policies he is implementing could work for a while, but they way he is implementing them is likely to come back and bite the US a loq quicker...