GRIPES

[Old Koreelah]

But wait, there’s more!

 

Tailgaters deserve to be heavily fined. They must think they have the skill and reflexes of a Formula One racer, but they’re a menace to the rest of us.

Like most motorists, I drive at the GPS limit and usually pull over and let tailgater pass, but this morning a cretin had his bullbar filling my rear mirror. Why? Total impatience; I was overtaking a slower vehicle at 10 over the limit and was planning to then pull over and let him past, there being a very long, clear straightup ahead. But no, this moron had to be a road bully.

 

On the highway I keep at least a three-second gap ahead of me, but so many drivers cut in to fill that gap, as if they are in city traffic. My reaction time is slowing and it amazes me to see mature-aged motorcylists tailgating cars and trucks. They’d have no warning of dead animals and bits of retread on the road.

 

 

[onetrack]

I'm also starting to find that thick windscreen pillars are becoming a real trap for vision as I get older. Of course, it pays to ensure complacency isn't sneaking into your driving habits, too.

[Old Koreelah]

I tend to sit forward in urban traffic and move me head around a bit near intersections, but Old Man’s Neck is an impediment. 

 

It only takes one lapse to cause mayhem. A couple of weeks ago we were called to a level crossing fatality. Old mate was known to me, but younger and maybe his OMN disease prevented him turning to see the fast train approaching from behind his B-pillar.

[onetrack]

I am paranoiac about level crossings after nearly hitting a train in my Mack truck and low loader, many years ago. Fortunately, the train was only moving slowly, and just pulling out of the siding. 

But the low level of train traffic on many country lines leads to complacency - along with vegetation growing up in sight lines, preventing early sighting of oncoming trains.

[Old Koreelah]

Much as I hate vandalism, one black night it saved us. As we drove through an unfamiliar rural village looking for a friend’s address, I almost drove into a grain train that was crossing the street. The ONLY indication was occasional graffiti flashing past my headlight beam.

[facthunter]

 Semi's have to have side clearance lights. Why not a train?   Nev

[red750]

1 hour ago, onetrack said:

the low level of train traffic on many country lines leads to complacency

My dad taught me - always assume a train is coming. Remember the truck/train crash at Swan Hill a few years back.

[onetrack]

We've had quite a number of rural people wipe themselves out on trains in recent years, and there's a big push from relatives to make strobe lights on trains mandatory - without much support from authorities, right at present. Maybe it needs a carload of politicians to be wiped out by a train.

AFAIC, any lighting that improves the visibility of oncoming trains is worthwhile. Steady headlights on trains are often difficult to see from an angle, and they're designed to only light up the track for the train driver.

 

There's still a huge number of level crossing without flashing lights, and every one of them is a major hazard - especially to locals who become complacent.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-24/farmers-and-rail-crash-tragedies/100549340

 

 

[old man emu]

1 hour ago, onetrack said:

Maybe it needs a carload of politicians to be wiped out by a train.

C'mon! If that happened there's no chance that the rest of us would cry out for more warning lights on trains. 😁

[facthunter]

Politicians would behave better if we voted more carefully. IF they can fool you they will because it's easier than doing the hard work the job requires. "They are ALL the same" is a cop out.. It's said when your side is found wanting. Nev

[Old Koreelah]

35 minutes ago, facthunter said:

Politicians would behave better if we voted more carefully. IF they can fool you they will because it's easier than doing the hard work the job requires. "They are ALL the same" is a cop out.. It's said when your side is found wanting. Nev

How many of us vote at meeting of our clubs, etc, much less stand for office?

 

[facthunter]

Somebody will do it and we'll give him hell when he does. Who does He think he is?  Nev

[spacesailor]

It will be my very first time Not voting Labor  .

Voice or no voice , its got my back up .

So they have to go .

spacesailor

[facthunter]

Yeah letting people vote for something is despicable. Better to have a shoot out or take over parliament. Switzerland has referendums constantly and that doesn't make them angry.  Nev

[old man emu]

When is $1.89 not $1.89?

 

When it is the price of petrol actually delivers from a service station pump.

 

On Friday I checked the price of fuel at a service station I knew I was going to pass on my way home from Sydney. I used one of the "fuel finder" online sites. The advertised price was $1.89, which suited me nicely. As I drove towards the servo, the price board indicated that the price was $1.89 per litre.  When I paid for the petrol I got, I read on the Tax Invoice "39.00 L @ 1.899 $/L".

 

39 x $1.899 = 74.06

39 x $1.89  =  73.71

Difference  = $0.35

 

Not a bad way to turn a profit. Save the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.

 

Should I report this to Fair Trading? Having a Seniors Card, I did actually pay, by the price set on the pump, $1.859, but still that 0.009 cents added 35 cents to a relatively small purchase.

[Marty_d]

Diesel down here is north of $2.10 so your $1.899 still sounds like a great deal. 

[nomadpete]

5 minutes ago, Marty_d said:

Diesel down here is north of $2.10 so

Now that IS a gripe.

 

Especially considering that diesel is cheaper to produce than petrol

[onetrack]

The oil companies claim that diesel costs the same as petrol today, thanks to diesel fuel specification demands that means more refining has to be done to diesel, to bring it up to todays fuel standards.

 

When I first started in contracting with both diesel equipment and petrol vehicles in 1965, petrol was 3/- 4d (3 shillings and fourpence - 34c) gallon (4.546L) and diesel was 1/- 8d (17c) a gallon!

Of course, wages were only $60 a week then, and a new Holden car only cost $2320, including sales tax!

 

We could also buy No. 2 furnace oil, which was about one shilling and fourpence a gallon (about 14c), which was a less-refined diesel with a higher energy rating.

However, No. 2 furnace oil was only available in 44 gallon (200L) drums and it was a PIA to handle, whereas ordinary diesel was readily available in bulk, which made for a lot easier handling, when you were using 80-100 gallons a day. Plus, oil companies would give you a free 500 gallon, 4 wheel bulk tanker trailer, if you signed a fuel contract with them.

 

Edited September 9, 2023 by onetrack

[old man emu]

The reason I went to that servo was that at the price they were asking I was saving ten or more cents per litre than at other servos.

 

My point was not aimed at the asking price for fuel, but at the false advertising of the price.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Not really a gripe, just noting a marked shift in culture. Job interviews. Since the pandemic, I have not conducted one job interview in person. Have hired 3 contractors, a permanent, and now hirign another, and they are all done online.

 

Of course interviews I have had in Australia have been online out of necessity, but we don't see the person in the flesh until they arrive in the office - and sometimes that can be a week or two before they even start!

 

Is it like this is Aus as well (I know many on here don't interview anymore, but wondering if anyone has the "good oil" on it.

 

Had an interview the other day, and the interviewee's camera was focused on her forehead - got a good view of her ceiling, too.. When I told her, she was, "meh?"

 

Oh well, she's not in contention, anyway...

 

Edited September 13, 2023 by Jerry_Atrick

[old man emu]

Why can't a tradie simply tell you that they don't want the job you are offering?

 

I've got a roll of vinyl floor covering to put down in the kitchen (when I get that far with the reno). There's a local bloke with a flooring business in town. Yesterday I was lucky enough to catch up with him and asked him how much he would charge to lay the material. After asking me about the dimensions of the room and the condition of the floor, he messed about with his Smartphone ( I assume he was using the calculator) and came up with a price of $400. I wonder what his hourly labour rate is. 

 

As yet, YouTube hasn't shown me how to lay this material, but I'm thinking that it only involves rolling it out and making a few cuts. Two hours' work at the most, since the room is only about 5m x 3m and the floor cupboards take up a portion of that space.

 

He embarrassed me when I had to utter that I would have to think about it. I would have been happy if he had been honest and simply told me that he had a lot of other work lined up and was unable to do the job. One question he didn't ask was when I wanted the job done. Then I could have told him that it wasn't a rush job and that I was just getting an idea of the cost.

 

I bet he didn't want to touch the job because he's also the flooring retailer and there would be more profit in selling the material than fitting it. That's another local business I won't be supporting.

[nomadpete]

GRIPES ?

 

I think It is time to retire. This forum is getting a bit too frightening for me. I don't want my friends to find out I hang around extremist forums......

 

 

"I find myself agreeing with... Pauline Hanson"

 

 

"Don't get me wrong here, But I LIKE Donald Trump."

 

"Body disfigurement"

 

"Silly Picture Thread. "

 

By now my ASIO file must be bulging!

[facthunter]

Not much about PLANES.   Nev

[old man emu]

You forgot  

The historical content of the Bible confirmed again. 

The Almighty rewards the Righteous

How Christianity could save Australia from terrorism

 

 

 

 

[Marty_d]

But in reality... how many of these threads are ironic/tongue-in-cheek (Trump, Pauline, a couple of OME's christian ones)?

And there's nothing wrong with silly pictures.