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Well, the daughter's time at EDF is coming to an end in a couple of weeks. She didn't realise it, but she has racked up about 2.5 weeks holiday leave (we get sometehng like 6 weeks standard, here, but there is no long service leave, but they allow sabbaticals after 5 years (November for me), and pay you up to three months of your basica salary - no pension, medical/health, bonus, additional holiday accruals). Anyway, we are on a long weekend this weekend, but daughter and one of her good mates are driving to Cornwall for the week from Monday arvo. Two 19 year old girls - nay - women (using girls here is common parlance), are going to have a week of fun and frolics. My daughter asked me if I was going to be sad or have any reservations about her going. I looked her in the eye and said I am really happy, a father will never stop worrying ever slo slightly about their adult children, but that she is miles more mature at her age than I was at that time (and probably now). Since she could crawl, she was always fiercly independent. I recall her dropping something when she was still crawling, and when I picked it up for her, she slapped my wrist and got a right strop with me. I put it down, and she picked it up, looked at whatever it was in her hand, and lifted her head to look at me, ans then smiled a very wide grin. Admittedly, the grit has waned slightly, but she is a determined daughter of a bastard. In two weeks she starts univesity. Her employer wants her back for the breaks; I am going to miss her at home, but the university is quite close (unlike Aus, kids often go to unoversities the other side of the country form where they live). But, I am so proud of her. I know we are all proud of our kids.. and rightly so. I just wanted to share it.

I was going to tell a time travel joke, but you guys didn't liike it.

I marveled at the amount of stuff that they had warehoused. The war wasn't won so much on the battle field as in the factories. We never think about the thousands of non-combantants whose efforts supported the front line forces.

I have had a great weelend.. Lunch with the son and daughter at the local pub on Saturday was nice.. albeit pricey. Daughter woke up this (Sunday) morning and asked if we could go to the local airfield (Dunkeswell) for breakfast. Most airfields have cafes/bistros. Although it was cloudy, the wind was blowing straight down the runway and the cloudbase was high enough for circuits. A sole C172 took off for about three or four circuits. We finished our bacon and egg rolls, which were very nice and drove around the perimeter of the airfield to the hangars and checked out the aicraft. After a while we drove home as the wx brightened up. Lovely weekend.

What a perfect day for a ride. Sitting at Kingston Beach with a coffee right now.

Some of that banter is not very helpful guys. It's a serious enquiry . Natn, Go through the Normal channels. You don't have to pay bribes or anything. Thai People have a good reputation here. See if someone can sponsor you We also provide tertiary education but it's NOT free.. Accommodation is a bit hard to get. Good luck. Nev

The Opposition is crying out for Albo to go to the USA to meet with Trump. I say that Albo should not go. Trump believes that he is the most important person in the World. He assumes the title of Leader of the Free World and that the title demands every country pays homage to him. That payment of homage to Trump, not to the USA, reeks of the appeasement tried on with Hitler, and we know how effective that was. Hitler sought to make the Germans the Master Race through military means. Trump is trying it on by economic means. Trump has been proven to be the most vile of persons. I doubt if even Putin could be said to be in the same class of vileness. So why should we demand that Albo go kowtowing to Trump? There is a high chance that Trump would deliver the same humiliating performance that he has done so with allies and friends alike. Nothing positive can come from such a meeting. Have you ever noticed that in joint press conferences, the guest is ignored by the Press so that Trump can waffle on? The guest is never a party to the press's questions. Australia doesn't need its political leader to be treated in such a way. Like the Scottish people, Australia should stand up to Trump and let him know full well that he, himself, is unacceptable to our people. That is not to say that we should sever our relationships with the USA, but it is probably worth looking into how much we put into that relationship. And don't forget that billions of Australian superannuation savings are invested in the USA. If Trump destroys the US economy and causes a depression, it's good-bye to thousands of Austalians' comfortable retirement.

Trump is only interested in Trump, and making himself richer at every turn. He's corrupted the position of the U.S. Presidency into an extension of Trump Inc. businesses. Never read a Bible in his life, but sells them to Christian Fundamentalists at $75 a pop - when every Christian organisation in the world will give you a Bible for free. My Father was a member of The Gideons, they distribute Bibles to anyone and everyone in the world, for free. Trump would know nothing about giving things away for free, he wants to be paid handsomely for every single thing he does - and the suckers and losers who love him and think he's God, continue to fork over millions to him, so he can continue to shaft them ruthlessly, while they think it's Love. He's a grub, and a lying, BS-ing misogynistic one at that. If he hates Socialism so much, why does he reckon Putin is such a great bloke? It's because he loves the way Putin has suppressed every bit of opposition to him, so he can rule like an Emperor. Donny can only dream of doing that, but he threatens every lawmaker that proposes to stop his plans.

On a happier note, Trump has shot himself in the foot over the Murdoch defamation case. If it goes ahead, a judge could order Trump himself to give the evidence that is relied upon to show that what was published was false, leading to the defamation case. He'd eityher perjure himself or incriminate himself.

GON, you have certainly made me think. In the past, I considered it an injustice to force people to go to war; however, I never really thought of those who were forced to train, even if they never ended up in Vietnam. I fully support recognition for these people. Having said that, you cannot change the past. I am definitely not saying that "it was a long time ago, so just get over it." Those 2 years can not be retrieved, but this makes it all the more important to make the remaining years as joyful as you can. As I posted elsewhere, we spent 20 months almost as prisoners in our own home due to knife and gun-wielding drug dealers next door. Against all odds, we won. We did consider that we would not win, and so we worked on a plan on how we could cope and still have a happy life. We found that when it was getting us down, taking action (even if not an immediate game changer) improved our mental health. Despair is bad enough, but adding helplessness makes it so much worse. I did see a petition online that was asking for "Nashos" who did not end up going to Vietnam to be granted the same benefits, such as a gold card. Although perhaps the odds of success are low, the act of taking positive steps is mentally healthier than just dwelling on the original problem. As a non-believer, I accept that this life is all there is, so I don't want to waste it getting hung up on past injustices or past mistakes. The past is unchangeable, but the future is something we can have some control over

I was never fearful of being conscripted, it was just another challenging life adventure to be faced, as far as I was concerned. I've faced nearly every major life challenge that one can face - poverty as a child, bullying at school, mistreatment by teachers, conscription, car crashes that weren't my fault (I was 5 and an innocent passenger when that first happened), plenty of close brushes with death via machinery, and also being in a combat zone, lost my house and virtually all I owned in a fire that was no fault of mine, had a bank destroy my business and all my assets after 30 years of asset building, endured deaths of close family members, some at a young age, and suffered from severe stuttering from childhood until around age 40. I was never involved in any traumatic treatment in the Australian Army, but I was on the receiving end of extreme dislike, that bordered on abusive treatment, by some of the Army regulars, who often viewed conscripts as unworthy trash who diluted Army morale. I was called "reo shit" a few times in Vietnam by a couple of hardened Army regulars who were essentially drunken deadbeats, anyway. "Reo" was the slang for "reinforcement", as troops rotated into Vietnam were deemed "reinforcements" in official-speak. I shrugged off their abusive comments and ensured I associated with them as little as possible. The situation wasn't helped by the fact I wasn't a drinker (and about 20% of the troops didn't drink alcohol, or drank very little, which may come as a surprise to some), so I wasn't part of their "boozing" group, which made up a large part of the regular Army culture. There are stories of supposedly legendary regular Army NCO's, who made their platoon members drink beer from their (NCO) boots, supposedly to bring about cohesion and mateship in platoons. IMO, this is the height of Army dickhead thinking and outlook, and I certainly wouldn't take part in any BS moves such as that, which moves I would consider divisive, rather than uniting. But there were a lot of Regular Army dickheads one had to work with - it was no secret that a lot of Army Regulars were in the Army because they couldn't hold down a job outside the Army, or fit in with civilian life. Despite all that, I was still promoted and given NCO rank, which was extremely rare as a "nasho", because the Army normally saw giving rank to nashos as a useless move, thanks to the fact they were only there for 2 years. Regulars had to sign up for 6 years and nearly always got priority in promotions.

A postman goes out on his daily delivery round. He comes across a house with a pile of beer bottles and wine bottles near the door. Just then, the household comes out. The postie says, "Hi Bob, looks like you had a good night last night." Bob says, "It was a few nights ago, and I'm recovering." The postie says, "It must have been quite a turn." Bob says, "There were about a dozen couples here. We got so drunk, we ended up playing Who Am I." The postie says, "I'm not familiar with that game." Bob says, "The men all go into another room and get undressed. Then they come out covered by a sheet, with only their manhood showing through a hole in the sheet. The women have to guess who it is." The postie says, "It sounds pretty wild. Sorry I missed it." Bob says, " You'd better keep a low profile for a week or so. Your name was mentioned seven times."

Before I was married I would sit at the traffic lights for hours because I had no-one to tell me the lights had changed.

He probably dimly realises by now that he’s been done over by Putin, so now he’ll try and save face by picking a fight with Zelensky and blaming him for his own pathetic failure.

Judging by his performance so far he'd give away the lot. What a twat. Achieved nothing but making things worse for Ukraine. "Master of the deal" my arse.

When the Russians invade Alaska, how much of it do you think Trump would give them to get a ceasefire?

What are the chances that Putin meets Trump to discuss Ukraine and talks Trump into selling Alaska back to him?

Six months or more ago, I lost one of my hearing aids. The other was only really any good for listening to the TV on bluetooth. The aids were issued in Feb 2023, and free government aids for pensioners are only available every five years. In my last hearing test, I was told they couldn't do much withthese aids, and I would have to rely on lipreading to suppliment the hearing aids. I've had to ask people to repeat themselves 3 or 4 times. Today, I decided to visit another audiologist. I explained that I had a neew set of hearing aids in 2023 and was not elligible for another set till 2028, and I had a hearing test last November. However they had been advertising free hearing tests and I wondered if their aids were any better than the ones I had. They gave me a full test, and tried some top of the line aids which were great, but cost $9,000. There are 5 levels of aids, top level $9,000, second level $7,000, 3rd level $5,000. The bottom two levels are the ones issued free to pensioners. They said if I completed a stat declaration that I had lost a hearing aid, they could replace it free of charge under a government replacement scheme. I completed the form, got it witnessed at a chemist shop in the shopping centre, and they issued me with a replacement on the spot. Unit cost $0.00, annual maintenance charge $0.00. Without Bluetooth, I had to listen to the TV with volume at 78. With this replacement aid I can hear it at 36. I can now hear my daughter clearly first time, minimal repeating. No need for lip reading. An absolute positive. Can't wait to see how it goes at the Shed. I might be able to hear what is said at the lunch table. Have to take it out when the machines are running.

Money can't buy you personality, character, taste or wisdom, evidently.

There are numbers hidden in the middle of the phrases. Zero, One, Two and Three.

Question - who picks up guide dog shit?

Some electric cars fall short of claimed range by up to 23%, Australian motoring group finds Here are a few relevant points from this article A government-funded program to test the true performance of vehicles has found the driving range of five popular electric cars is between 5% and 23% lower than results from laboratory testing. The Australian Automobile Association tested vehicles from Tesla, BYD, Kia and Smart – the first EVs to be put through its four-year, federally funded Real World Testing Program to give consumers more accurate information on vehicle performance. The extended range variant of the BYD Atto3 had the largest discrepancy, according to the AAA, with a real-world range of 369km, 23% lower than the 480km achieved in laboratory testing. The Smart #3 had the lowest, with only a 5% difference. The Tesla Model 3 had a real-world range 14% lower than the lab test. Tesla’s Model Y and the Kia EV6 both had a real world range 8% lower. Is this just an EV thing? No The results come after the AAA released a summary last month of tests on 114 petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles that showed 77% used more fuel than advertised. One in five also broke noxious emissions that were advertised from lab tests.

A blue whales butthole can stretch to three and a half feet, which makes it the second biggest arsehole in the world next to Donald Trump.

Because it's entrancing, watching a show unfold, and you don't know how all the twists and turns of the story are going to pan out?? We're all just hoping the baddie gets his comeuppance, the heroine gets saved, and the goodies come back in force, and take over the town, and restore civil order from lawlessness!!

Ah, I see Tourism Australia has hired you Nasho

Natn, Australia can be good or bad, just like any place. My workplace is very multicultural, my team of 9 people includes people from Vietnam, China, India, and Pacific Islands. Everyone gets on well. Respect and inclusion are key, most people are nice. Of course there's always some intolerant and racist idiots around, but again that happens everywhere.

Trump is in full dictator mode now. He gets information that disagrees with his manipulated economic story, and he promptly shoots the messenger. He's just organised the sacking of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Erika McEntarfer, after data showed weaker than expected employment growth in July, and massive downward revisions to the prior two months’ job counts. The Orange boofhead claims McEntarfer is manipulating the stats to make him look bad, because she was a Biden appointee. The problem is, the stats are estimated for the month ahead, then revised accordingly after that period has passed, and the companies actual employment figures come in. The U.S. BLS provides preliminary, second preliminary, and final estimates before annual benchmarking, which further refines the data. The Orange boofhead is upset because the employment stats just released, don't show the massive increase in U.S. employment that the Orange boofhead is looking for, to match all his MAGA BS. Next in line is Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chairman. Official U.S. interest rates are currently at 4.33%, a figure set by Powell. He won't change the official rate because he says all the economic indicators don't support any change to the official rate. Trump wants the official interest rate at 1%, and he's scheming how to get rid of Powell, so he can appoint a MAGA loyalist who will do exactly as Trump says. The problem is, it's not so simple to sack Powell, because he's not a political appointee. The Federal Reserve is a stand-alone institution with no political alignment, it was designed that way from Day One. Accordingly, Trump is scheming up a plan to sack Powell for some illegality, such as spending more on the Federal Reserve building improvements in Washington, than what had been approved. Meantimes, Trump is spending an outrageous $200M on a Trump ballroom on the White House grounds. So much for DOGE cutbacks. If Trump sacks Powell, the economic fallout for the U.S. economy (and the global economy) would be huge, as external investors see increased financial risk to the U.S. economy with politicisation of the Federal Reserve - and price in the financial risk, accordingly. It's rare that I link to SBS news articles, but the SBS has this Trump news article right. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/what-would-the-global-economic-impact-be-if-trump-tries-to-fire-jerome-powell/3f9w6fcqf

Maybe we Non-Indigenous should take a page from the Indigenous playbook and start making Citizen Title claims so that these foreign corporations have to start paying the Non-Indigenous of this country royalties and compensation for the corporations' digging up and carting away the very ground we stand upon.

I just got home from ten days at Noosa escaping the Vic freezer. Hadn’t been to the Sunshine Coast for thirty years. I was surprised at the development, it was like a linear city. Like the Gold Coast I guess. The main surprises were; all faces were white Anglo types, no Asian or coloured folk to speak of roundabouts every where seem to help the traffic flow electric bikes all over the roads, unregistered but doing 60kph without pedalling wealth, wealth, wealth, that we don’t see in rural Vic Now struggling to get out of bed in a cold house.

When you were a child, were your grandmother's cooking lessons an introduction to nanna-technology?

I don't know how much this hay convoy has made the mainstream news - but to those who know nothing about it - a sizeable number of W.A. farmers have donated a huge amount of hay to drought-affected farmers in S.A. -and are delivering it, free, as well. This is a sterling and worthy effort, and it's good to see wealthy people helping out those who are battling major adversity. I actually know a number of these people personally, and the Lucchesi family are past clients of mine. The sheer effort in organising the collection and delivery is monumental, with a lot of bio-security roadblocks and bureaucratic hurdles to overcome. Full kudos to Samantha Starcevich for her organising and rallying ability. The Starcevichs are well known in the Eastern Wheatbelt, and a close mate (a local truckie) is one of them, too. He was born and raised in Merredin where a lot of the Starcevichs were originally located. Les ("Tom") Starcevich, the WW2 VC winner, is one of the Merredin area Starcevich mob. The sheer amount of driving to be done is colossal, and a number of individual truck drivers are driving the road trains for free, easing the burden on the farmers who have contributed the free hay and their trucks. I drove a truck from Echuca to the W.A. Wheatbelt in May 2024, and I can tell you, it's a BLOODY LONG WAY! - with a lot of endless road, and driving boredom to deal with. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-25/convoy-of-compassion-wa-farmers-hay-to-sa/105564054

An 86-year-old man went to his doctor for his quarterly check-up. The doctor asked the man how he was feeling, and the 86-year-old said, "Things are great, and I've never felt better! I now have a 20-year-old bride who is pregnant with my child. What do you think about that, doc?" The doctor considered the question for a minute, and then began to tell a story. "I have an older friend, much like you, who is an avid hunter and who never misses a season. One day he was setting off to go hunting. In a bit of a hurry, he accidentally picked up his walking cane instead of his gun." "As he neared a lake, he came across a very large male beaver sitting at the water's edge. He suddenly realized he left his gun at home, and so, he couldn't shoot the magnificent creature. Out of habit he raised his cane, aimed it at the animal as if it was his favorite hunting rifle, and yelled 'Bang Bang'. Miraculously, two shots rang out, and the beaver fell dead." "Now, what do you think of that?" asked the doctor. The 86-year-old replied, "Logic would strongly suggest that someone else pumped a couple of rounds into that beaver." The doctor replied, "My point exactly."

There is something pathetic about Trump in that he always needs to be the hero. There is no self-deprecation. I did not much care for President Bush, but at least he could make jokes at his own expense. Has anyone ever heard Trump admit to performance less than perfect? No reasonable person would expect an amateur golfer to be as good as a pro. He believes he is demonstrating strength, but most of us (other than his sycophant fans) see weakness. A real man would say, "I fucked that up" and not feel diminished.

We don't need to copy America's lead in that one.. IF you don't Like the Government Vote them OUT. WE have a secret Ballot. Stay on the Medication, space. Nev

International socialism, like our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme? "US President Donald Trump this week threatened to impose a 200 per cent tariff on pharmaceuticals, a move which sent a chill through Australian manufacturers. American drug companies have long railed against what they call our ‘socialised medicine’, arguing our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme discriminates against them and unfairly forces down prices. " Life Australia Institute The PBS is, literally, a life saver for Australian families. The Australia Institute has compared the staggering difference between the prices Australians and Americans pay for some of the most common medicines in the world. For example, Atorvastatin - a cholesterol pill which is among the top ten most prescribed drugs in Australia - is 125 times more expensive in the US. Australians pay $21.07 for a prescription of Atorvastatin. Americans are slugged $2,628.39 for the same medication. A commonly used tablet for high blood pressure, Lisinopril, is almost 25 times more expensive in the US than in Australia. More than 10 million Salbutamol asthma puffers are prescribed or sold over the counter in Australia each year. For every $30 Australians spend on these puffers, Americans are charged $50. "Americans who can't afford health insurance are going without life saving medicines and, in extreme cases, dying as a result," said Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist at The Australia Institute. "It is a shameful situation which cannot be repeated here

You should be on the STAGE GON, The Scandanavian Countries are where the PEOPLE are the Most Content and not that warlike these days. Trump wants to make himself (and his cronies) RICHER and stuff you other suckers.. Nev

Octave, Thank you for sharing your experience. It highlights a major ongoing dilemma that, even though it only directly involves 5% of housose, also indirectly causes harm to larger communities.

At which point, I sense a wry smile cross Nev's lips. So glad he got out of grapes when he did.

If anyone hasn't seen why the Southpart creators are in Chump's bad books, here's a glimpse:

What about Boris and Natasha, his Russian friends. Kinda hits home a bit more.

You wouldn't want to mix up the spelling of her name, McEnfarter.

Of course no one likes to be taken as a sucker, etc. However, Chump doesn't care. Whether done diplomatically or not, the bottom line is that the side that has the most power in an materially asymmetric relationship will always get the better outcome In dimplomacy, often the outcomes are the same - if you have the levers of power well over your counterparty, you are going to win. It has been like this always. The difference is Chump isn't diplomatic about it at all. He has no issue telling the world he is going to use the same levers.. he publicly rather than privately threatens. The bullying tactics are part of him, like they are in many. Tarrifs ensure the US taxpayer pays more tax.. The importers pay the tarrifs, not the exporters. Either they take a hit or they pass it on. Either way, it is the US that pays the tax. It is there for one reason and one reason only.. Making the wealthy wealthier. Those big tax breaks to the wealthy are not going to pay for themselves in a developed economy. Getting back to Chump and his antics, and why he remains popular relative to the deomocrats. And I think it is in the culture of the people. Americans like the hollywood BS.. Everything is brute force with them. Die Hard, etc. I remember when 9/11 happened there were people wondering whee the real Die Hard shoot-em-up law enforcers were. You only have to look at the reaction in the aftermath where people were seriously calling for pilots to wear guns.. Look at their law enforcement (sadly, some of it has spilled into Australia) compared to the unarmed bobby. The other thing is that America epitomises selfishness. It's al me me me me me me me me me. They could not care about what anyone outside America thinks. I seriously think that most people who live in America think the rest of the world is a third world backwater, anyway - at least those that haven't ventured anywhere else. And there's a lot of them. So Chump shafting the world is seem as power, being tough and brutish.. which is what they want. We call him dumb, but he plays his audience very well. And only they get to votet him in. And yeah, you can argue that he was voted out, but he was voted in after the democrats fixed the economy and their foreign relations after the first bout of Chump. And this time he was ahead in the popular vote and took both houses! The yanks do not care. Like everyone else, it is "what is in it for me?" A lot of them were convinced the crap he is doing is better for them when iut is worse at every level.. I still love the US, but I no longer preference by spending on US products over Chinese (yes, I know US brands are largely manufactured in China, but at least some of the profit went back). I am more inclined to buy non-US brands in may things. And although I won't use Temu nor Ali-Baba, I no longer spend as near as much as I used to on Amazon. I use Mistral LLM AI over Chat GPT. I have made my decision with my wallet.

If you've wondered how the old-timers managed to build massive structures, here's an interesting outline of the movement of a 50 ton manufactured girder, produced for the Swanston St (Melb.) railway bridge in 1908. The girder was fabricated in the Dorman Long factory (count the rivets! - no welding back then! Arc welding didn't appear until 1923), and it was dragged by a team of around 60 horses to the site. The horses needed frequent rests, and it took nearly 12 hrs to move it, starting on a Saturday afternoon and going into late Saturday night. A special low-loader trolley was fabricated by Dorman Long for transport, it had multiple steel wheels of around 3 feet diameter (915mm). The front of the girder appears to be resting on two drays. At every rest stop, hydraulic jacks were installed at the rear to hold the girder from rolling away. Unfortunately, the photos don't show how they got the girder off the drays and the trolley - but it does describe how the girder was positioned with multiple numbers of 70 ton jacks - which is a technique still used today, but with electric-hydraulic jacks, instead of manually-pumped ones. The other interesting part of the story is the mention of "Wells flares" for worksite lighting. Remember, very little electricity, or electric lighting in 1908! I'd never heard of Wells flares before, but a quick search produces "Wells Light", which is basically, a kerosene fuelled blowtorch that was used to produce light for industrial sites back then. Click on the arrows up top to advance the pages. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-300629325/view?partId=nla.obj-300646414#page/n39/mode/1up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_light