old man emu

The QANTAS lay-offs begin next year. The problem is that not only are current jobs being lost, but the ability for Australia to train our young people in AI development. In other words, the loss of jobs is alo a massive brain drain.

Actuyallk my gripe about the route over the Blue Mountains relates to the fact that the Minns government sput the stoppers on the tunnel, yet they will spend billions on roads criss-crossing Sydney. I can bitch and carry on about time taken to do the trip, but after nearly five years doing it, I know how long the different sections take to travel and where I can stop for refreshment. But I'm not counting the economics of teh delays that poor road causes. I should really be bitching about what those delays cost me when I go to my local supermarket to buy my Weet Bix and frozen veggies. Not to mention the extra cost for other goods that have to be transported from the coast. Those costs must be playing havoc with the viablility of so many businesses west of the Divide. In that video it mentions the multi-lane road on the western side of Mt Victoria which was supposed to form the exit to the tunnel. The road bypasses the locality of Little Hartley. A few years ago a business started there selling lollies. It did alrigh until one night it was struck by lightning and the shop burned down. So the owners rebuilt and re-opened, still doing a good trade. The the bypass opened and traffic no longer goes past its door. I believe the business now gets a lot of its sales on line, as well as from the trade of people who knew it before the bypass and are willing to pull off the main road to shop there.

There is an alternate route. It means going on the Golden Highway towards Newcastle, then down the M1 to Hornsby then the M2/M7/M5 to my journey's end. Accordning to Google Maps that involved 6 h 31 m drivng time. which is about an hour more than what it used to take me when the route over Mt Victoria was open. That time also depends on traffic flow on the M2/M7 stretch which can be a bitch in the afternoon when I would be going through there. I suppose I should go that way next time. I'm bored shitless going down through Mudgee and Lithgow. But that route takes 5h 30m and is about 100 kms shorter (that's 7.5 litres of fuel in my car).

I didn't disagree. I just thought the idea dwelt in a world of fantasy.

This is why I don't want to drive to Sydney anymore. If I did, I have to use this route and I can tell you, it's rooted.

You poor, poor dreamer.

Gilgandra is a typical inland town. The local indigenous mob are the Widjuri, with Gamillaroi as next-door neighbours. Our Op Shop gets trade from the residents of the town and surrounding towns, as well as the travellers (who make up a large part of our customer base).. For the size of the indigenous population in the area, we see very few of them in the shop. The word is that the indigenous people are not doing it so tough and can afford to buy from the major chain stores.

I suppose someone at QANTAS used AI to prepare a Press statement dealing with the loss of 800 jobs in Australia and the gain of jobs for some Indian AI swaetshop.

Tell me about it! People bring in all sorts of things to the Op Shop - bags and bags of clothes, shoes, bags, bric-a-brac like crockery. We go through it all and sort the saleable from the rubbish. We end up sending unwanted clothing to go to Africa (allegedly). Yesterday I sent away 220 kgs of clothing. That was after I had taken a ute load of solids to the tip to go into landfill. We are lucky in that our local tip does not charge us for that. Getting rid of this stuf costs Lifeline and Vinnies thousands of dollars each year. On the bright side, our Op Shop has distributed over $100,000 within the community over the past three years and still has a helthy amount of funds on hand. It is marvellous how much money an Op Shop can make selling just about everything at less than $5 each. It helps that it is fully volunteer run with no wages, but rent and consumables do take a bit each month.

I rest my case, M'Lord.

Primary Industries and Mining really don't do much to make a Nation economically strong. While both those industries generate income, they only generate service jobs for the rest of the community. Look at teh nations which became great, starting with Britain, then Europe and the USA and now China and India. Greatness came from making stuff from raw materials, not simply providing the raw materials.

You missed the sarcasm of my post.

My opinioon, from my experience, but not in road construction, is that it is the geology that makes constructing roads for heavy weights the problem. Over nearly all of the continent, the ground is sedimentary material. Very few places have the surface close to bedrock. That results in great difficulty building a sound base layer upon whihc to build a road. Also, the way we seal the surface of our roads is a compromise between cost and results. That's why we have our roads sealed with bitumen sprayed over gravel. Where the roads are made opf concrete, the failure rate os a lot less, but the cost per kilometre is much more.

There's a strong precedent for a future President to make changes to the White House. It's most recent user of that precedent was Donald J Trump.

What would we do with all the money spent on defence if peace suddenly broke out?

Amazing! This thread was started on 10th November 2024 and today should reach 190 pages of comments. That's a lot. There are still two years of Trump to go. Those two years will be very, very interesting. Following the Democrat tsunami, I think that Trump will moderate his bullying. He's in a situation now similar to the Leader of the Pack looking over his shoulder to see his Pack slinking away, leaving him standing alone, face to face with the Good Guy. The Democrats are also facing a hard battle. They really can't reverse Trump's Executive Orders until they get the Presidency themselves. Even then, the next presidential term will have to accept some of Trump's glorifying acts. The East Wing reconstruction will have to go on. Most likely the above-ground part will be modified to suit the architectural scale of the rest of the building. The below ground bit is probably a good idea, but one hopes that its uses can be mothballed under a less aggressive government.

Aussie F1 legend Alan Jones passes away aged 80.

A polite name for a fart.

I see your point. I don't have any on hand to check, but I can see that the edges parallel to the split in the 1925 design are flat. I suppose later improvements made those edges round. Probably made it easier to manufacture the pin.

The thing Australians call a split pin was patented in the USA in 1925. https://patents.google.com/patent/US7413391B2/en This patent seems to be for an upgrade of pre-existing similar items. An earlier patent was granted in in the USA in 1902, and that item is of cruder design. https://patents.google.com/patent/US691730A/en 1902 version 1925 version There have been a number of later patents issued for amendments to this design, but these have been minor tweeks. The wedge-shaped piece or bolt that is/was used to fasten a pedal crank on a bicycle is known from the 1640s The word is of uncertain origin, perhaps a shortened form of cotterel, a dialectal word for "cotter pin or bolt, bracket to hang a pot over a fire" (1560s), itself of uncertain origin. Cotter-pin is attested by 1849. It would seem that the Australian term for the item provides a better description of how the pin is used and effectively differentiates it from the bolt-like thing.

Dunno about rain, but the wind has been pretty consistent up my way. Last night an isolated strong gust passed through. No! I don't suffer from flatulence.

Jeez! He slipped in unannounced!

I heard a couple of sound bites of Trump answwering questions after the election. He seemed very subdued, not his usual bombastic self.

That's why we don't have them. We don't manufacture anything that the majority of consumers want.

They are scarce on the ground in my neck of the woods.