Geoff13

I agree with most of what you say and to use an "old line from Politics, I have been misquoted. What I said was The best way not to get booked is to not speed. I also quite clearly said that if you choose to speed then take the consequences when they come, Not if they come because persistent speeders will eventually get caught. Now do not get me wrong, I agree that speed in itself in not a killer, but excessive speed is. Alcohol impairment is. Distraction is. There are many others. I have no problem with people driving above the limit. I do often when I judge it to be safe. On a motorcycle I tend to ride 5 to 10 klms/h faster than the surrounding traffic, it saves me looking over my shoulder. But when I get pinged I just cop it sweet and wear the fine. I don't jump up and down about it I just wear it. As for spending more time looking inside the vehicle than outside, that is simply a poor argument. Most people on here are pilots, when you fly VFR you fly to the attitude of the aircraft with a quick scan now and again. You should drive the same way. Most experienced drivers are more than capable of estimating their speed within a few kph. Those that can't like pilots who can't fly VFR by attitude should practice more. Now the good old argument that the speed limits were set 30 years ago and now cars are far safer. That is just like the speed kills argument. Yes cars are safer taken on their own and if they are used in the manner they are intended. Most are not. Also they are being driven on roads that for the most part were designed more than 30 years ago and are simply not capable of taking the volume of traffic we now put on them. There are hundreds more cars on the roads these days, and if you think every driver out there is totally focused on driving the car in the manner that the manufacturer recommends, then give me a ring and come with me for a day. Now the OP made a couple of comments that quite clearly contradict the point he and others are trying to get across in this thread. This is not meant to be personal OME, but it is your post. He was driving down Conrod Straight a 60kph zone and got pinged at 82kph. (this is not just over the limit and the excuse of eyes having to be glued to the gauges simply won't wash here). He wasn't even going fast, he was just pulling in after overtaking. 82kph in a 60 zone is more than 33% above the limit. That in anyones book should be classed as hooking in. Then the clincher, the demons were just over the crest and here I risk being wrong but I am assuming that they were hidden from the top of the straight by the crest which having recently driven the cct I can vouch for. If that is the case than anyone who was coming up the straight would also have been hidden. Considering the comment "I was just pulling in after overtaking", can no-one else see the problem here and the potential there for disaster. I can. Now for the speed restriction. Now everyone here has been jumping on the bandwagon here and complaining about to much signage being a distraction. The track/public road at Bathurst to my memory is a circuit and apart from all the farms and industry there are no other entrances or exits except the main one at the bottom of Conrod. So if there is a speed sign as you enter the circuit than in keeping with not having to watch to many signs and the principle that the speed will remain the same until you pass another one, I pose a simple question. How many signs do you want or need? I only needed the one as I entered to be certain that the limit was 60kph and in the absence of any others, I was quite aware that it didn't change during my 2 laps. There was also another sign that quite clearly stated that the circuit was a public road. The second part of how fast should it be is quite simple. The speed should be set so that the average driver can drive the road under normal conditions without being a danger to themselves or other road users. Considering the fact that there are vineyards and industry up there, the width of the road and the tightness of the corners, I think that in general the 60kph limit is fairly suitable. Yes Conrod could be a bit more as could mountain straight but remember the crest already mentioned, and the fact that most posters here are asking for less sign clutter, well I am sorry guys but you cannot have your cake and eat it to. In case you haven't figured it out, road safety is very close to my heart. I may one day write a book on the stupid things that I have seen on the road, and I assure you that it is not an exaggeration to say that many heavy vehicle drivers risk their lives on a weekly basis to save those fools who just do not get it. I have done millions of kilometeres in my time on the road. I have been stopped more often than most people can count. One night 7 times in an 8 hour run. Only twice in all those years do I feel that I was hard done by and you know what? I still copped it sweet because believe it or not I reckons even the coppers should be allowed a bit of error in judgement sometime. The courts are there to protect you when that happens.

It never ceases to amaze me. The best way to not get booked is to not speed. If you persist in speeding then take the penalty when you get caught without looking for someone else to blame. One of the problems with todays society is the way everyone needs to blame someone else for their own failings. Don't speed and you won't add to any government coffers. If you choose to speed then take the kick in the ar** when it comes. The speed limit on the circuit is to stop boy racers from trying to kill themselves and the rest of the public (a bit like the rules we fly by). You can do 300 klms down Conrod if you want just spend a few years proving you are good enough to do it first and get picked by one of the major teams to drive one of their cars.

it is very simple to jailbreak almost any apple product if you are content to void your warranty.

I have an iphone and an ipad. Apple most certainly do not have my credit card details. For that to happen I would first need a credit card. I also use a PC for most of my computing requirements. I run several programs that are not yet supported by the fruit. When they are I will probably go all fruit. I still evaluate every program that I use on all devices for functionality, cost and usability. Apple normally wins on 2 out of three, if they don't, then I go the other way. I understand that not everyone works to the same standard and some have different criteria, you simply cannot blame a company for marketing to what people want. Lets face it apples big big big plus is that the sold themselves as being user friendly. I am not saying that they are but they are perceived as being so. That in itself is a very marketable item. If you want to sell something, make the people think it is the best, until the competition can do that then apple will retain their market share. As for the market being captive, no they are not captive, but it will take a very good marketing strategy to draw many away from what has been marketed better than anything else for the last 20 years.

Only time will tell if they get it right or not. To be honest the couple of music providers that I have tried could do with some good competition. Having said that "she who must be obeyed" seems to love her movie apps.

I don't get the logic of the comment. The only way they can destroy the 30 other providers is if they provide a better product or a better price. Sounds like fair competition to me.

To put it quite simply, without calculus/mathmatics we would not be able to discuss anything on this forum. It is not mathmatics that makes it work , but it is mathmatics that allows us to make it work.

The question of what %age of people trust Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander people is only relevant when it is compared to how many trust any other group of people. Lets ask the same question except delete "Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander people" and inset one or all of the following. Catholic Arab Caucasian. Asian Protestant etc, etc Only then can the statement be relevant.

6.0 ltr Commodores recommend nothing over 91 so thats what I use. The bikes all three recommend 98 so thats what I use. As for E10, it is legislated that in Queensland E10 is to be 3 cents per litre less than 91. When it first came out it was and I used it in the cars as Holden said it was acceptable. After about 12 months BP put the price up to the same as 91 and to get your 3 cent rebate you had to send in your receipt and apply for it from BP Australia. Needless to say I promptly stopped using BP and still don't unless I am stuck. The other providers followed suit about 6 to 12 months later. I still boycott BP on principle because they started the fiddle. I know my little protest does them no harm, but I would rather give my $5,000 per month to someone else. I no longer use E10 or any other derivative in protest of the government not enforcing the spirit of the legislation even if they still do enforce the actual ruling.

You guys can have all the reform you like. I want 2 things from the justice system. 1. Punish the bastards for what they have done. 2. Prevent them from doing it again.

I simply ask those holding candle lit services in our capital cities tonight to have an educated opinion and not listen to what mainstream media is feeding you, to make this easy here are some quick facts. - illicit drugs cost Australians over 81 Billion per year - opioid overdose is responsible for the death of over 737 per year in Australia alone - drug related domestic violence resulted in the death of 15 people last year. - opioid replacement programs (pharmacotherapy) costs australians millions every year and achieves very little and is a drain on our GP's and pharmacies. - Ambulances responded to over 5000 opioid related cases last year taking that ambulance away from your loved ones. - opioids are responsible for the destruction of thousands of families every year and often child abuse or neglect. In my opinion for those saying save the death penalty for murders & rapists i say Sakumaran and Chan are murders! look at the statistics. To those saying why kill people that have changed their ways, are you a criminal phycologist? Who says they have changed? Rupert Murdoch? To those saying they are so brave, get real... brave are our solders that have fought to protect our country brave is those volunteer firefighters running into fires to save your family. not these scum bags. To those saying killing them will not stop the drug issues, your right no it wont, but the same people are saying kill murderers and rapists, so does that mean murders and rape will stop? To those saying they have not hurt or affected anyone! i hate you the most! To those saying we should observe a minutes silence! you make me sick, why are we putting them in the same category as our brave solders. What we should be doing is holding candle services and having a minutes silence for those families that have lost loved ones or subject to constant family violence due to drug abuse, that these two are partly responsible for not the other way around! I will end by saying if you have never been personally affected by drug abuse you may never understand, but i will simply ask while you are weeping and praying for these two scum bags tonight that you do the same for those affected by drugs! And to call these scumbags heroes is simply disgusting and an insult to true Heroes everywhere. I copied some of the above from someone else so cannot verify all the numbers but I agree totaly with the sentiment.

I agree making a statement that can be supported by facts in itself is not racist. making a statement that can be supported by facts to highlight or improve a situation is not racist. Making a statement whether it can or can't be supported by facts would be racist if it is made to vilify or denigrate a certain group of people.

What part of implying that someone got scabies and beat up because her partner was aboriginal was not racist. What part of implying that going out with an Aboriginal because it would be trendy is not racist. (Now I know you didn't actually say that but your post supports it). And without doubt the most common theme from racists these days to to imply that because we can't see it your way we are part of the problem. No Teckair I can see where the problems is here.

I think your point was quite explicit. And I think it was racist.

The sad thing is that it actually took me to this post to realise the the young lady was even dark skinned and even then I had to go back and check what the heck you were on about. It just goes to show how differently you and I saw the post. It just goes to prove that racism is alive and well in parts of Australia.

Hi all. I know that this is not aviation related and I apologise for that. It is however important to me, as well as being a part of who I am. Please humour me and either read it or ignore it the choice is yours. About 6 years ago when there was a deal of controversy about whether shops should be allowed to open on ANZAC day, I wrote the following piece on a forum I was very active on at the time. That forum is now defunct and the original piece has been lost. Below is my best recollection of what I wrote. I was approached later and asked if it could be published in the club magazine for the following ANZAC Day. Whether it was or not, I guess I will never know. Any way this is how the main thrust of my post went. Anzac Day What does it mean to me. I well remember my grandfather polishing his medals. When I asked him what he was doing and why, he would say to me boy I hope you never have to understand. That seemed like the silliest thing that you could say to a kid. I wanted to understand. He was my Pappa and my Hero, why would I not want to understand. My Pappa was I found out many years later a senior officer during WW2 and responsible for training Artillery soldiers to the point that he was never sent overseas. This I realised later in life was a great bone of contention for him because although the Army felt he was doing critical work, he felt he could do more if they had let him. He was a career soldier until the day he died. You see I am the Grandson of a Soldier. Life continued and in our small country town I grew and watched and learned. My father, another Hero to me and the man who had the greatest effect on who I am today was different to everyone else's father. In a small country town he was a deeply religious man. I only say this because it becomes important later. I always understood that our family were different but I never understood why. He never went to the Pub. On Sundays I wasn't allowed to play football. But the one thing that I never understood was that my Father despite being a serviceman during the Second World War never, Ever went to an Anzac Day Service. Don't get me wrong he placed enormous value on the day. He never worked and would always honor the Dawn, but in his own way out in our little back paddock on his own. Many years later once I had decided my own future and placed my own values on Anzac Day I asked my Father why. His answer not only shocked me but also made me sad and it also made me understand that for a generation, we Australians almost forgot the true meaning of Anzac Day. You see my father's answer was simple. He said son, when we get as many to the Dawn Service as we do to the piss-up at 1000 then I will join them. I am so proud to say that before my Father died I did see him start to re-attend Anzac Day Dawn Services. What that meant to me was that he believed the younger Generation actually got it. Whether he was right or wrong is irrelevant, what is important is that it is what he as an ex-serviceman believed. You see I was the son of a Soldier. As a 16 year old 6 foot tall bullet proof country kid, I packed my bags and pissed off to Victoria to join the Army as an Apprentice. I thought it was the greatest adventure in the world. Now 35 years later I realise that I was driven by deeper beliefs and feelings than I could ever imagine. In hindsight I think I had this feeling that I should do what I could to serve my Country and make my parents proud. Only many years later as I watched my son walk off to War did I realise that the real reason I had joined, was so that my children would never have to. In that task I still feel that I failed. It is without doubt my deepest regret that I could not protect my children from that horror of horrors and I shall live with it forever. You see I served through peace time. 18.5 years of peace. Sure we had peacekeeping missions, sure I served in England and Germany through the peak of the IRA crisis, but we (being my generation) never rid the world of War, and that was our job. In that respect I failed, but I did my best and Served with pride. You see I was a soldier. You know that once you have been a Serviceman, you can never again really be a Civilian, as much as we want to we will always be Ex-Serviceman. And so to the fourth Chapter, as I write this my Son is now a serviceman. The day he joined was the worst day of my life. I had feelings of absolute pride, of absolute fear knowing the future of the force he was joining, and absolute failure knowing that for all my service and effort, I had failed. My Son was going to war. I served so that he would never have to but here he was joining up with the absolute certainty that he was going to either Afghanistan or Iraq. So I had failed in my role as a parent to protect my kids. This past Anzac Day as it was almost certain that he was on his way to Afghanistan I woke up in time to go to the Dawn Service, put my medals on and my Fathers, and for the first time in 35 years I could not open that door and walk outside. I sat at the table crying like a baby with a feeling of total failure. Later in the day I forced myself to go for my daily walk and I observed a minute silence alongside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the Wynnum waterfront. The following year he was actually in Afghanistan and it was worse. I did not observe Anzac Day at all that year. It was beyond my abilities to do so. You see by now I had the toughest of Jobs that I had ever faced. Now I was the Father of a soldier. (And my boy was on active Service). That was the end of my story 5 or so years ago, but if you will humour me, I would like to fill you in on the past 5 years. Now again I celebrate Anzac Day. I honor our Veterans young and old. I wear what is left of my uniform with pride. And I have like my Father before me returned to the Dawn Services. I honor their Service and their Memory as we all should using the freedoms that they fought and died for. This year being the 100th Anzac Day I feel that I should do something special. I tried to get a place in the Ballot for Gallipoli and failed. After that I tried to get a position on a Kakoda Trek. I was accepted at very late notice but have decided that my physical condition due mainly to my former service would make me a burden on my fellow trekkers. For this reason I decided not to go. But I still need to do something Special. In 1971 my Father lost his leg in an industrial accident. We come from a small town and in honor of my Father the owners of the sawmill bought the log into town that had taken my Fathers leg off, painted it white and placed it in front of the sawmill with the caption Sam's Log painted on it. That log sat there for 20 years. Every time I drove through town I would see it. Then in about 2000 it disappeared. Well 4 years ago during a drought I found it again. It had been moved, not far but just to the outskirts of town. I spotted it as I drove through, the drought had killed the grass that normally hid it and it had again become visible. So this Anzac Day, I intend to honor my Father and all the former Serviceman that he represents to me by going back out to Yelarbon with a tin of white paint. I am going to paint dads log white as it was back then and once again I am going to paint Sam's Log on it, so that as my Grand kids drive through town they can also honor their Grand Father and everything he and his Generation fought for. Thank you for humouring me and reading this far. An to top it off Anzac Day this year will also be my first day of retirement, so I will never forget. The last day of work for me was determined by pure chance but it is so significant in the important things in my life that I believe it was pre-determined. So if you happen to pass through Yelarbon on Anzac Day and see a bloke beside the road painting an old log white, that will be me. Blow the horn and say Gidday.

I could not agree more. It worries me on a forum when people pick up on what is obviously an intelligent and well meaning comment because someone my not have the same ability to verbalise something as the person doing the picking. Some of us may have the benefit of a silver spoon education, where other may have gained theirs through the school of hard knocks. To belittle someone because of their ability to verbilise in imho nothing short of typical school yard Bullying and in fact many cases it is discrimintory. (And before anyone picks me up on my spelling of discrimintory, I am sure it is not spelled correctly but I have no idea how to spellcheck on my Ipad and I am not in a place where a dictionary is readily available to me). I can give a perfect example of a discrimination case that fits this picture if anyone is interested, but will not bore you unless asked.

Thanks for your understanding Bandit12. Days like today bring it back. My brother is now an assistant commissioner for Qld Ambulance. Back then he was in charge of training for NQ. I remember on the way home catching up with him at the Ambo centre in Cardwell. I arrived a few minutes after him (he was on a tour of the area to see how his people were) and as we sat and chatted a really old guy wandered in worried because he couldn't get to his doctors appointment. The compassion I saw that day as my older brother took this guys BP and looked in his eyes and ears then sat him down for a cuppa while we waited for an ambulance to get back an take him home was amazing. After he left I asked about the Dr's appointment and Big Brother said couldn't you see it mate, there was no appiontment, he just needed someone to talk to and he knew we would be here. PS I never saw that compassion as we were fighting in the back yard as we grew up.

My apologies for my course language in my earlier post. I just check it and realised the I had been asterisked out on two occasions. The event moved me in ways that I sometimes struggle to put into proper words. Again sorry if I caused offence. [You worry too much. The asterix are put in by a censorbot.. It's a dumb computer type thing - Mod xox ]

So this Marcia who is coming in as a category 4 or 5 reminds me of 2011. On 6th February 2011 I was the very first commercial vehicle allowed to travel north from Ingham. I was parked at the Ingham police station with an emergency generator on board for a resort/emergency accommodation centre for Mission Beach Qld. I had spoken to the coppers several times and they refused to let me through. At 2am on the 6th I got a phone call from the owner of the genny, he gave me a number to ring. I rang the number and old mate at the other end said where are you, wait there. About 10 mins later a couple of coppers came over and asked who I was. I told them and the response was Boss wants to see you. Over to the cop shop and the boss asked who the hell I knew because he had just had a call and been told to get me through. So just on sunup I left Ingham following an Army convoy. Three times before Cardwell they had to stop and clear the road of debris. At Cardwell it was the most eerie sight. The town was gone the beach was on the road. They Army unloaded a couple of Bobcats and cleared a path through the sand. The run through to Tully was actually quie good but there the Army parked up and I headed out to Mission Beach on my own. A couple of times I had to stop and drag trees of the road using chains and straps but I got into Mission Beach right on dark. What a mess. I searched out direction to the resort, it was on top of the headland at South Mission Beach. By the time I got there, it was 10.00 pm. They had no power, no running water, 50% of the villas were gone, and all they could think of was to try and organise a feed for me because they heard that I was coming. I went to bed after a sandwich because they wouldn't take no for an answer. It proves that people who have nothing, will give you all they have. The next morning was an absolute lesson in humility for me. These people who 2 nights before had been cringing in a dark room whilst trains and planes had been dancing on the roof (As it was described by a 10 year old) could not do enough to help. About 20 of us unloaded a 5 tonne genny, don't ask how oh&s would have a fit. We wired it all up and got her running. Once again they tried to feed me but I had tucker in the truck and they had nothing so I refused. I spent the next few hours chatting because I think that was what they needed. The two that I will never forget were a young couple 3 week old baby, she was making cuppas on a wood fire and he was everywhere and doing everything. I asked how he fared in the storm. He said I haven't been home I spent 2 days cutting a track so you could get the truck up here. Then he pointed to the beach and said the whole street is gone. We only settled and moved in the week before Christmas, how the hell do I tell her she has been to busy to look and hopes that it is still there. What can you say to that. The look of despair in his eyes. Then 30 seconds later it was gone and he slapped me on the shoulder and said shit mate it's gone but we are alive and I can fix it up. That to me was She'll be right mate at the highest level. I wonder how that little family are today. I saw enough that day to know that no matter what Marcia does people will get up and kick her arse.

Listening to Robbie Katter this morning, a vote for the Katter Party could well be a vote for the LNP

Yep and in 6 weeks we could have a totally different answer.

My lifelong dream is to pay $1,000,000.00 a week in tax. It would mean that I was earning at least $2,000,000.00.

TY

So where do you find that the ABS quote average wage or median family income but not median wage.