red750

At least in Victoria, each shed is individual, and run by their own rules. Some are set up almost as a business or club with elected office bearers and run their own affairs. Others, like ours, are set up by an auspicing body which runs and finances the shed, with an employee of the auspicing body appointed as co-ordinator. However, all sheds can register as part of the Victorian Men's Shed Association, which lobbies on behalf of all Victorian sheds, and acts as a sort of clearing house for goods exchanged between sheds. eg. If our shed was gifted with a large supply of plywood, more than we would use, we can advertise it to other sheds through the VMSA. Grants from the state government are processed through the VMSA.

Then there is the Australian Men's Shed Association, AMSA, which acts similarly with the federal government. Sheds can register with both organisations.

Haven't had a frozen dinner in yonks. Only had KFC or Macca's 2 or 3 times in 10 years. Occasionally have a HJ's. Their burgers are 20 times better than Macca's.

It's most likely that we won't find suitable accomodation to move across seamlessly. It will probably be that projects will have to be shelved for a period. We may have to look at hiring something like a scout hall where we can meet, chat, have a coffee, etc. The alternatives are, as we did during the pandemic, meet at a coffee shop, or hold Zoom meetings remotely.

Some sheds are run like a factory. Come in, clock on, go to your work station and heads down till the lunchbell rings. There is one shed in our suburb which actually does have a lunch bell for tools down. Our shed is not like that. The first hour (10 am - 11 am) is, come in, have a cup of tea or coffee, sit and chat, discussing the news of the week since we last met, what's coming up in the near future, any personal details you care to discuss, tell yarns, footy/cricket, etc. Around 11, start doing what takes your fancy. Some go to the workshop to do personal or group projects, some tend the garden, one guy sits and does crosswords, some continue to chat, some sit back in an armchair and have a snooze. I am usually on the computer, doing my aviation stuff or tasks for the co-ordinator or other members. I also provide the humour, from the silly photos, funny videos and quickies from this website. Lunch is between 12 and 1 approximately, then back to whatever. The shed operates Monday, Thursday and Friday, roughly 10 am to 3 pm. A different group of guys attend each day (except me - I attend all 3). There are about 15 guys each day. Tuesday, the co-ordinator is at head office in Box Hill, and Wednesday, healthAbility uses the facilities for a group of young people from broken homes, school dropouts, etc. Some graduates from that course who would otherwise likely have drifted into crime or drug use, have gone on to be teachers, nurses and even one lawyer.

The whole point of our shed is socialisation for retired gentlemen. In the main, retired guys who have little other social contact. Maybe their wives have passed on and they are on their own - at least 5 in that category.  Loneliness and depression can set in and have a very adverse impact on health. We have saved a few from depression.  Mens health, including mental health is the key objective of our shed. Other concerns are secondary.

2 minutes ago, onetrack said:

Inner city land is worth a fortune now, and industrial/commercial land is worse.

Yep. There are a number of factory/warehouse type buildings empty around this and neighbouring suburbs, but rent would be six times what we have been paying.If the council could let us have an empty property, or a piece of land, for a peppercorn rental for a number of years, we can get up to $80,000 in a grant to upgrade or build.

A woman who had been married three times walked into a bridal shop one day and told the sales clerk that she was looking for a wedding gown for her fourth wedding.

“Of course, madam,” replied the sales clerk, “exactly what type and color dress are you looking for?”

The bride-to-be said, “A long frilly white dress with a veil.”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, madam, but such dresses are usually more fitting for the first time bride who is more innocent in the ways of life, if you get my meaning.”

“WELL!,” replied the customer, a little peeved at the clerk’s directness, “I can assure you that a white gown would be quite appropriate. Believe it or not, despite all my marriages, I remain as innocent as a first-time bride.

You see, my first husband was so excited about our wedding, he died as we were checking into our honeymoon hotel.

My second husband and I got into such a terrible fight in the limo on our way to our honeymoon hotel that we had that wedding annulled immediately and never spoke to each other again.”

“What about your third husband?”

“That one was a politician “, said the woman, “and every night for four years, he just sat on the edge of the bed and told me how good it was going to be…but nothing ever happened.”

Leapin' lizards, this thread has had a few derailments along the way.

If y ou search billy cart on the net and select images, you get these:

Search "hill trolley" and you get golf trolleys (buggies), trolley buses, but nothing like the photos above.

Our local fish shop sells peices of flake that hang off both sides of the plate, with potato cakes (scallops in some locales) larger than a saucer. YUM.

The previous Whitehorse Council didn't want to have anything to do with us.A new CEO, mayor and councillors, and a very different attitude. They have been to see our operation, impressed with the service we provide for retired gentlemen, and are on board to help. They have a number of vacant buildings which are boarded up, its's a matter of working out which suits best, for size, facilities and location. Not much good having a building 20 km from where everybody lives. We also have connections with a number of Rotary Clubs (no, not helicopters), who have been generous benefactors in the past, and if we find somewhere that is suitable with a tenure of at least five years, but needs fitout/upgrade, there is a grant available through the Victorian Men's Shed Association. So it's not a matter of doom and gloom, but a matter of timing. These things don't happen over night. A bit more notice would have been appreciated, but it is what it is.

9 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

Why so many sharks?. We stopped eating Them !, So the eat Us.

Flake is about the only fish I eat.

The men's shed I attend 3 days a week, healthAbility Men's Shed, formerly Whitehorse Men's Shed, is forced to move. The shed is operated by a community health organisation originally called Whitehorse Community Health, in Box Hill. People thought we were run by Whitehorse City Council, so to avoid confusion, the name was changed to Carrington Health, after the street it was located on. Then Carrington Health merged with another health organisation located in Eltham, and the name changed again to healthAbility Community Health. The men didn't want the name changed, but healthAbility pay all the bills, so they won out.

We have been extremely lucky. For the past 14 years or so, we have had the use of two large rooms (formerly school classrooms) and a large amount of yard space, rented from an organisation called Nadrasca, for the low rental of $1000 per month. Nadrasca provide a "sheltered workshop" type of operation for handicapped clients, now under the NDIS arrangement. They have two campuses but wish to amalgamate them, so they want their rooms back.

We have to vacate the room we use as a common room/lunch room/computer area by the end of June.The room we use as a workshop for small projects with handtools and a few small machines such as drill press and router table has to be vacated by the end of July. We have a larger colorbond shed, the size of a double garage, which we had built ourselves for larger machines such as band saw, table saw, thicknesser, lathe, etc., which will still be ours, but does not have room for a lunch or meeting area, and does not have toilets. So we are frantically looking for new accomodation. It is a pity because the two rooms we have been using are heated for the winter, and air conditioned for summer. This is what we are loosing:

This is the shed we own, and some of the garden area where members grow vegetables. We will still have access to this.

Americans are very big on frying everything. Fried chicken is a most popular food. Fried Mars Bars. They have even had fried ice cream. 

As for religions and pork, the joke in Quickies the other day (condensed)

Priest to rabbi "When will you eat some ham?"

Rabbi: "At your wedding."

They were saying on the TV this  morning that you should switch to canned or frozen veges where possible. My daughter told me KFC are using cabbage in their burgers instead of lettuce. I don't know what Asian lettuce costs, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

In all the places I lived as a young'un, never heard them called hill trolleys. And we moved around a bit. The old man used to say when a moving van went past, the chooks rolled over to have their legs tied.

34 minutes ago, onetrack said:

home-made hill trollies

Otherwise known as billy carts.

There were more in the collecction.....

You were saying???

https://au.yahoo.com/news/mother-charged-2-old-uses-033027011.html

This is the scariest thing I've seen in years.....