Old Koreelah

I spot on, OME! I do my best to let trucks past, because they usually have more pressing deadlines than me. I use CC to sit on actual speed limit (according to GPS) but still get idiots tailgating; they’re a menace on the roads, so I pull over to let them by if I can safely.

Fuel prices will only rise, so fuel burn should be a major factor in choosing a vehicle. I drive a community bus, a Mercedes Sprinter (similar to an Ambulance). Carrying seven people and a heavy chair lifter, it averages 9.4 litres per 100km on trips to Tamworth Hydrotherapy Pool. That’s more than my small 4WD burns when towing my small, streamlined camper trailer! If I’d had my time over, I’d have bought one to convert into a camper.

My large family is pretty representative of Australian marriage status. Married or de facto had no apparent impact on family happiness or kids’ lives.

Once upon a time, going camping was getting away from it all. These days people want to take it all with them.

OT it sounds like you did a very professional job in an almost impossible situation, so I hope you sleep easy.

My limited time in the US convinced me to avoid the place in future. Too much mental illness in a nation where anyone is likely to have a firearm near at hand.

I didn’t express myself too well. I’m not saying that incontrovertible evidence is about to emerge, but speculating about the Pentagon’s motives. If UFOs turn out to be alien, things would sure get interesting, but maybe not as we’d like. Think of how you'd react if you’d been secretly studying a nest of dangerous snakes, then they discovered you nearby.

Interesting developments in recent years; why has the US military now changed it’s stance on UFOs? Are they bowing to the inevitable exposure of incontrovertible evidence, or just trying to distract us from something else?

Red where did you find that image? Was it one of the right-wing US sources that runs a hate campaign against AOC because she scares the pants off them? Intellligent, well educated and capable, she runs rings around the gutter tactics of the Republican hacks.

The last time I heard them mentioned, Canada was interested in buyng them.

Soon after the USA took mankind to the moon, it was taken over by Republicans, who depend on the voters being ignorant.

That pipeline will be a critical link and easily destroyed. I believe lots of Russians have already left Crimea. When the water dries up, more will follow.

What’s the best use for our SuperHornets? Ukraine would take years to train personnel and set up facilities for them. Perhaps at best, a signal to Russia that their little neighbour is assured of a reliable supply of foreign weapons. Maybe Australia would be prudent to mothball recently-superseded warplanes in our desert for a few years, while we have still have all the facilities, personnel and skills to operate them if things closer to home go pearshaped. That’s what the yanks do. Woomera RAAF base is already secure and has a couple of disused runways, probably a perfect place to store them. Let’s hope that Putin’s forces get the message that the world is swarming to Ukraine’s side and that they’ll never win, so go home and rebuild their own country. Unfortunately, history’s lesson is that beaten Russia fighters will go home and start a revolution.

Even better, grow your own food, a skill that many of us have lost.

We can debate the merits of the case against this bloke till the cows come home, but who knows how you or I would behave in a similar situation? Hopefully this case will give all our military people cause to behave better in the field, but should also be a lesson to our leaders about the true cost of sending our people to fight.

Me too, PM. My wife and I have inherited much of the frugality that got our parents through The Great Depression. I’m currently staying with the kid and reflecting on the massive difference of their lifestyle. Sixty years ago they’d have been termed very rich, but today, just comfortable middle class. Do it while you can.

Monumental hypocracy:

This one was described as being the most reliable car: https://www.motorious.com/articles/highlights/this-citroen-2cv-that-challenged-land-rover/

My wife and I have pedalled the Fernleigh Track, a Rail Trail on a disused line south of Newcastle. Love to pedal the abandoned lines in the New England, and once designed a device to link two bicycles to ride the old rails. Alas, those old lines are now so overgrown it would be a major achievement. There is still an active campaign against converting the line north of Armidale into a cycle trail; they want it re-opened to rail traffic. That track has some impressive engineering, but was never economical and the bridges are now in a sorry state.

Red that brick fireplace for the copper meant you were rich!