onetrack

There's a couple of good articles in the links below. Trump fully expected China to kow-tow to his tariffs, the only thing that has happened is China is becoming more assertive, looking for ways to improve their products to a superior level - and mocking Americans for letting their global corporations rip them off. After all, the greatest level of wealth accumulation in America in recent times, has been American companies making massive profits from sourcing or manufacturing in China. The Chinese are fully aware of how their low-cost goods are highly priced in America. https://www.watoday.com.au/business/the-economy/trump-has-already-lost-his-trade-war-against-china-20250416-p5lsbe.html https://www.channelnews.com.au/big-european-appliance-brands-miele-smeg-delonghi-sennheiser-who-manufacture-in-china-targeted-by-influencers/

Anytime I tried that argument, my Dad always told me, "A bad workman always blames his tools!" 😄

PA door stands for "Personnel Access door" in building terminology.

The polymers in multigrade oils are actually called "Viscosity Index Improvers" (VII's). They are "long-chain" polymers which have the curious ability to thicken up when hot, and to thin out when cold - which is the opposite action of straight oil. VII's can comprise up to 30% of the oil quantity in a multi-grade oil. So they stabilise the oil viscosity over a far larger temperature range than straight oil ever could. In addition, there are at least 7 other chemical additives added to oil to ensure it can deal with a wide range of problems that degrade oil - heating, by-products of combustion, moisture, acids forming, and carbon buildup. The TBN number of oil is the critical measure for oil performance. TBN is the measure of the oils alkalinity, and its ability to deal with acids forming in the oil. When the TBN gets too low, it's regarded as degraded and unable to do its job properly, and it's time the oil was changed.

It's the variable level of connection between your brain and fingers that's the problem. And you ARE supposed to proof-read before posting. Oh, and fingers doesn't have an apostrophe, either. 😄

I like the Dave Allan burial benediction - "In the Name of the Father, the Son, and in the Hole He Goes".

It's called a Personnel door.

Gavin Newsom, the California Governor, has launched a lawsuit on behalf of the Californian State against the Trump administration, claiming Trump has exceeded his executive powers in applying tariffs, and claiming that the Trump tariffs are going to destroy the Californian economy and the American economy. In California's lawsuit, Mr Newsom and California Attorney-General Rob Bonta - who are both Democrats - asked a judge to bar the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection from enforcing the tariffs. The United States has gone in a matter of weeks "from free capitalism to crony capitalism, just like that." Mr Newsom said. "This is the personification of corruption...this is smash-mouth, in-your-face, every minute of every day, every hour. "How in the hell are we sitting by and allowing this to happen?" https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-17/article-gavin-newson-california-sue-trump-administration/105188450

It's O.K., Trump won't even know who Dutton is, even if he is elected as PM.

Did you see the story about the Australian tourist denied entry to the U.S. simply because of his "circuitous" travel path to the U.S.? The Aussie traveller took a circuitous route to the U.S., because he was taking advantage of good airfare deals on routes less travelled. The Americans deemed his travel route "highly suspicious", and deported him on the spot!! The bloke says he lost $15,000 for a cruise he was going to take from Florida, which he could no longer take, because he was denied entry to the U.S. - and the cruise company refused to refund his money! https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/travel-news/an-australian-was-denied-us-entry-for-bizarre-reasons-he-s-not-alone-20250403-p5lov8.html I'm so glad I did a lot of overseas touring in 2010 to 2014, because it was easier, less costly, and I was younger and fitter. Plus at my age now (76 next month), I'm going to have a real battle getting affordable travel insurance, and many car hire companies won't hire cars to people over 75.

It looks like the Animals and Cannabis are on a winner in this Legislative Council!

There's been an interesting development in the W.A. Election final results. The lower House results were determined within a few days of the March 8th election, with Labor retaining their massive majority, and the Conservatives struggling to have any major impact, despite a general swing against the Govt of a few percent. However, the Upper House (Legislative Council) results have only just been finalised (it must have been a torturous count and recount/s) - and the end result is a big surprise, with Labor losing its former total majority in the LC, and the balance of power handed to the Greens. What is even more surprising, out of 37 LC seats (there were 36 seats in the last election, but a re-jigging of boundaries saw an extra seat added), 16 are Labor, 10 are Liberal, 2 are Nationals , 4 are Greens, 2 are One Nation, and one seat each for Australian Christians, Legalise Cannabis, and Animal Justice parties. This loss of control of the Upper House is going to make life very difficult for Labor this time around when it comes to passing their legislation, and the Greens are gloating over their potential to install many of their main policies, such as climate crisis legislation, aiming for a strict "net zero" emissions basis by 2030 for W.A. The coming 4 years in W.A. politics, and political decision-making will be interesting. The makeup of the LC probably is a fairer representation of the States voters alignment, than the Lower House results. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-04-16/wa-upper-house-final-election-results-revealed/105185376 https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/wa/2025/guide/lc-results

I would detest living in a country where destitute women were forced to prostitute themselves to feed their children. You obviously follow the MAGA line - if you're poor, you must be lazy. People become poor for hundreds of reasons and many of them not their own fault. I like living in a society which looks after its poor, jobless and destitute. The wealth our nation currently has, and has produced, is incredible - the only problem being, a vast amount of it ends up in millionaires and billionaires pockets, when in reality, they have no need of more money. It's simply untrammelled greed, and Clive Palmer is the face of continuing untrammelled personal greed. My best mates son was working for Roy Hill (mining company), as an IT manager. He got the "termite" treatment from another senior manager who came from BHP, and who then brought all his mates in from BHP to Roy Hill. When my mates son protested about the managers shonky moves, he was undermined, then sacked for "failing to meet performance levels". He was sacked one day before a large bonus was due, and it wasn't paid to him - so he's engaged a lawyer to fight for what is rightfully his. But I said to my mate - "But Gina Rinehart (owner of Roy Hill) is the type of person who will spend $10M on lawyers against your sons claim, just to ensure he doesn't get his $10,000 bonus!" You only have to see what Gina Rinehart spent on lawyers to stop any of her children from dismantling the Hancock Trust, and thereby getting huge money that is due to them, from that Trust. She is reported to have spent hundreds of millions on lawyers, fighting her childrens claims - and she always won. But she's only got $37B, she doesn't have enough to live on.

God Forbid anything like that happening here. That is Europe, pre-Schengen Agreement, and it was the biggest PIA out when travelling - and it lead to massive criminality, bribery and corruption, as passes and visas were so easily forged.

Australia is pretty much an Asian society today, and you can play the "Spot the Anglo-Saxon" game if you're looking to kill time, too.

Yeah, but how much did it cost to build the 3D printer?

If it was MY car, I wouldn't be happy, until I knew what the actual oil pressure reading was, checked with a proper analogue gauge.

If Clive became PM, he'd treat Australian Govt funds as his own, and make Trump look like an honest, upstanding President.

There's a valve called the IAC (Idle Air Control) valve that controls the idle speed according to engine temperature and load. 750RPM would be a normal idle speed when warm. If the A/C is turned on, the IAC increases the idle speed to take into account the increased engine load.

Chinas blocking of Australian exports was an own goal for a number of products. One, we found other markets for the products, and the price often went up - especially for rock lobster (crayfish), which the Chinese can't get enough of. The ban reduced overall sales initially, but the ban simply meant the lobster fishing industry found other countries willing to take our lobsters, and the industry is now more diversified and less reliant on China for income. Secondly, the Chinese stopped importing Australian coal, but that sent coal prices up, and China had to buyer poorer quality coal at higher prices from other countries. Australian coal producers had no trouble selling our coal to places such as India, which competes with China.

The Cerato may have a partially-blocked oil pump screen, which will result in low oil pressure, especially at idle. No guarantee bearings won't fail at 50,000kms, Kia have a bit of a history of early engine failures.

EGR systems work O.K. if kept maintained and regular oil changes carried out and good quality oil is used. You can buy Penrite "Foaming Intake Cleaner" in both petrol and diesel versions, this stuff works good to clean out sludged intakes and engines. The Ford Ranger 3.0L diesel is notorious for the EGR failing with coolant leaks. The welding on the EGR coolant section was poor and the weld splits, dumping coolant straight into the intake, it buggers engines very quickly, usually by overheating. I have one with that problem right now, it pisses me off, having to strip the engine right down to check the damage.

GON, check your oil pressure with an accurate oil pressure gauge plumbed into an engine oil gallery or lube supply point. Once you have an accurate reading (engine hot, and pressure checked at idle and at speed), you can then check the readings against the recommended pressures. Some engines have low pressure at idle normally, but a light on at idle is generally an indicator of excessive big end bearing wear.

Here's an interesting article from Politico, showing how the Chinese are not total fools, they're targeting MAGA homelands with total blockages of U.S. imports, thanks to clever manipulation of health and food safety rulings. These people are shrewd traders and they have 5000 years of trading experience, Trump and his MAGA idiots have only a few dozen decades of global trading experience, and the Chinese aren't about to let their economy suffer by the actions of one U.S. Presidents chaotic decision-making. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/12/china-trade-war-exports-00287123