octave

the adoption of the motor car was quite quick. 1913 Below 10 years later https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/transformation-can-you-spot-horse-ralph-torrie/ The notion that you must build enough charging stations BEFORE the beginning of the change is not what we have traditionally done. The building of airports followed the need for airports. Early petrol cars did not have a huge network of petrol outlets. Using the logic of we should not transition to EVs before there is a fully developed charging network means that we rely on private enterprises to build networks that are not yet profitable or the government will have to build a network for the day when we need it. The anti-EV crowd often uses this circular argument. Don't build charging stations because there are not enough EVs Don't buy an EV because there are not enough charging stations. It can be difficult to imagine the progress that is and will continue to be made. When I first used the internet it was hard to imagine that we would be watching movies and some of us doing our jobs online. In 1903 the New York Times published an article predicting that it would be 1 to 10 million years before humans would develop a flying machine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Machines_Which_Do_Not_Fly You point out that in 1913 cars were for the rich and petrol was expensive. I guess we could say that EVs are at this stage (although I would argue they are a little more developed than this) Governments built roads and infrastructure for the car it wasn't just left to the open market. I can't see that we are rushing the process, especially in this country. There is an aspirational target of I think 2035 after which NEW ice vehicles will able to be sold however you and I can still buy second hand and in fact a new IC vehicle built in 2034 should by viable for many years. ICE will probably be the expensive option though. In 2023 8.4% of all new cars worldwide were EV not a huge figure. I have driven around NZ in a Tesla, yes a smaller country but also notoriously hilly. Most small towns had a charging station as well as cafes and motels. I do think NZ has progressed further than us on this. On a recent road to Adelaide, we started counting Teslas because they seemed to be numerous. Presumably, these vehicles were able to comfortably travel these distances without running out of electricity or bursting into flames. Again 10 years is a long time in tech progress. We have one of the slower transitions. This means we can look to countries like Noway. In 2022 more than 80% of new cars were electric. If there are widespread problems with the adoption of EVs we should be seeing it in countries that are ahead of us.

I do listen to parliament often including Senate committee hearings and I don't believe that significant time is devoted to the things you suggest. Governments deal with a huge range of issues but I can't see any evidence that governments spend much time on the issues you suggest at the expense of other issues. I am happy to consider the evidence.

When I joined the RAAF band in 1979 the majority of my colleagues smoked. We used to travel around a lot on coaches and RAAF aircraft, mainly Hercules C130. I used to come home from work stinking of secondhand smoke. I can clearly remember the day the RAAF changed its tune on smoking. We were traveling interstate and the loadmaster was giving the usual passenger briefing that we had heard many times before. This time there was an additional item. "As of 0700 hours today smoking is strictly prohibited on all RAAF aircraft". You should have seen the look on the faces of the smokers. One guy complained who bitterly is no longer with us, He died in his 50s of emphysema. I remember he always used to say that it had not been scientifically proven that smoking was harmful.

I would suggest that anti-smoking campaigns have been reasonably successful. https://www.cancer.org.au/assets/pdf/good-news-as-national-smoking-rates-decline

I didn't pay my bill, we all had to leave. If the power goes out in a large supermarket having cash is no help. I have bought something in small shop that had a portable efpos. during a power cut. I guess they would have also accepted cash.

I have been in a supermarket when there was a power outage and it did not matter whether you had cash or not. The cash register ceased to work and also the scanner. Of course portable efpos machines in smaller shops are often portable and rechargable as long as the phone network is working.

My New Years Resolution is to procrastinate less. This is the same as last year and the year before. Maybe this year I will do it but if not perhaps 2025 or 2026.

Geez why do you think good people working as bank tellers have some devious plan to stop you from drawing out your money, to what end? When my wife was a bank teller the easiest thing to do was what the customer wanted but there is a great responsibility not to give YOUR money to someone who says they are you. The tellers behind the protective counter DO NOT MAKE THE RULES. If a withdrawal was fraudulently made from your account you would also be whinging

The share price isn't plummetting. I have shares and although they are a little down from their peak they are still healthy and growing.

I can't speak for other banks but Bank Australia operates Australia-wide. They have branches in most states but given digital banking it is not necessary to have branches all over the place. For those who want branches everywhere, they just have to put up with banking with bigger banks and accept their business model. For me, at least a local branch is just not necessary.

I bank with Bank Australia which grew out of a coalition between CSIRO credit union and other credit unions. Just by having an account you are like a shareholder and you get to vote in the AGM. I have it organized so I never pay fees. The bank does not lend money to things I tend to disagree with. There are not so many branches however I have never needed face-to-face banking. I don't need cash but if I did I could go to any post office. Interest rates seem comparable to the mainstream banks

I think that systems are complicated. Sometimes we don't get what we want immediately. Mostly I find things go OK. Recently I had some frustrations with Centrelink regarding my mother's situation as I administer her affairs. I had a situation where I could not get the correct information to get to where it should be. Let me stress the counter staff were fantastic however if the computer system will not accept the information it is hardly their fault. It would be paranoid and a little dickish to think that these people spend their lives trying to make life difficult. The other side of the coin is the outrage when someone gets something they are not entitled to. Everyone then says stupid Centrelink staff allowing people to rip off the system. I must admit I have little patience for whinging. When I was a kid my dad would listen to my problems but would have little patience for me constantly restating the problem. he would say "Yes you have told me the problem, now you have to either work out how to live with it, solve it, or get around it. As an example, people constantly go on about bank's super profits and I certainly understand this. I don't however contribute to these massive profits. I bank with one of the many banks where the only shareholders are the customers. As a shareholder, I get to vote on the bank's direction.

How many times did this happen before you took control of the situation and switched to a bank that better suited your needs?

Yep sounds like classic FUD to me Fear, uncertainty, and doubt I often find it amusing how EV owners are characterized. My son owns a Tesla but he also owns the little yellow convertible posted earlier and a motorsport race car. Is he rich, well richer than me probably upper middle class I would say. Is he a Tesla fanboy, nope in fact although he likes the car there are things he is very critical of. My son'sTesla is now 4 years old and despite numerous goes on the motorsport track still has a battery in great shape. Lately, there has been an invigorated campaign against EVs especially in poor-quality rags like the Daily Mail. If EVs are so bad we would expect this to show up in Norway Norway: Plug-In Car Market Share Hits Record 93% In September 2023 With this many cars you would expect the predictions of the doomsayers to cause people to riot in the street.

I don't really see this car as a chick magnet in fact these small convertibles are often seen as being a bit "girly" by some. I would be more suspicious about the bloke in the V8 muscle car.

I think we need to distinguish between the teller at the coal face and the people who determine the rules and regulations. My wife many years ago was a bank teller and was once abused and called a "f****** Bi***" because she refused to cash a cheque. On another occasion, she bent the rules to help someone and she paid a price. The cheque did not have everything it was supposed to have. As a lowly teller, she simply did not have the power to override bank policy. Today I traveled to the city on the train and there was an announcement asking people not to abuse the staff. Over Christmas travelling by air, there was the same announcement. It seems more and more we are abusing the people at the coalface. Please don't brand bank staff as bastards because it almost certainly is not true.

Hey I resemble that remark!

A bank teller is not in charge of the bank. My wife used to be a bank teller and she has never heard of a teller doing such a thing. If this happened to me I would certainly close all my accounts at that bank.

I find it hard to believe that a bank teller for some mysterious reason would deny you a withdrawal. I also find it hard to believe that you did not stand up for yourself. Why would you just accept a teller denying you your withdrawal?

My experience is that joint accounts are set up as "either to sign" or "both to sign" My wife and I have a joint account where either of us can sign. If you were refused a withdrawal on your account it undoubtedly was because when you opened it you opted for "both to sign"

Adelaide to home (Melbs) Just a 1 hour flight but there is a backlog due to earlier storms in Melbourne. Apparently we have to circle for 30 minutes. Fine by me but can I have another miniature bottle of Shiraz????

Sitting in an aluminium tube in a relatively comfortable seat drinking Shiraz and travelling at 859km an hour at 36000 feet and connected to the net. Life is pretty f****"" good ehh?

I just read that Aus post delivers around 2.5 billion items a year. The majority of these are delivered reasonably efficiently. I can only recall 1 item not turning up and 1 item that took way too long (during covid). Perhaps I am just lucky or perhaps I just don't dwell on the few occasions when things don't go perfectly.

I only recently got the Auspost app. Before that I would receive a text. At the moment I am interstate. The app allows me to see if anything is coming and to say whether it should be left on the doorstep or left at the post office.