onetrack

A major factor that affects driving skills, that comes with advanced age, is muscle and joint flexibility. Many older people have trouble turning their heads to 90°, and more than than a 90° head swivel is required for looking back at angled intersections. Where slip roads join at T-junctions is a classic place where you need adequate head-turning ability to be able to see approaching traffic. Another interesting feature of aging is becoming single-focused on the problem of the moment - which often leads to excessive time spent on the problem, while ignoring peripheral problems, and not keeping up situational awareness of other traffic. The classic case of, "where the hell did you come from?" common statement of older drivers, right after a collision.

Meantimes, while Trump fiddles with his tariffs "deals", the Chinese are reaming America senseless with their total dominance of rare earth metals - that are needed for nearly every single major defence item, hi-tech aircraft engines, electronics, and even explosives. The Chinese know this, and fully enjoy squeezing the testicles of every U.S. manufacturer. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/the-stealth-war-how-china-is-quietly-squeezing-the-lifeline-of-us-military-technology-through-magnets/articleshow/123084346.cms?from=mdr

Here's a very revealing article that points to many peoples concerns about how the US$ could be worth little more than dunny paper after Trump has finished his economic destruction. We exported AU$2.95B worth of our gold to the U.S. in the whole of 2024. But such is the rush to gold in the U.S., we have exported AU$11B worth of our gold production to the U.S. - just in the first four months of 2025! The level of gold sales to the U.S. ensured we actually ran a trade surplus with the country - for the first time since Harry Truman was President! If this trend continued, we wouldn't be able to provide enough gold to meet the U.S. demand! However, it appears the rush to gold by Americans has eased for the moment and gold exports to the country have subsided a little. Regardless, the rest of the world appears to have the jitters about the US$ - and possibly paper currencies in general - because we exported nearly AU$47B worth of gold, to the rest of the world, in FY 2024/2025. This is also a record, up 42% from 2023/2024, and nearly double the gold exports to the rest of the world in 2022/2023. Fortunately, Trump has stated he won't put a tariff on gold (probably hoping he'll get a big gold kickback from gold producers and dealers) - so in effect, none of his tariffs on Australian products are having a great deal of effect overall, because as he taxes one of our exports, another of our exports gains, with increased sales. https://www.watoday.com.au/politics/federal/one-of-australia-s-largest-exports-to-the-us-escapes-tariff-hit-20250812-p5mm8c.html

I deal with Audika, they're part of the Oticon group, who make hearing aids, so Audika specialise in selling Oticon hearing aids. Oticon are Danish and make every component of their hearing aids. I've used Oticon hearing aids since 2004, and I've gone through about 4 sets in 21 years. I use the "in-the-ear" hearing aids, because I find working around machines, the "behind the ear" style are a PIA and fall off, or get knocked off all the time. I had trouble with the earlier models, they had a fragile "shell" (the plastic body) that would break easily when dropped - so I was often without a hearing aid while they manufactured a new shell (the shells have to be made from an internal ear impression, so they fit snugly). Even worse - every time repairs are needed, they can only be done on the East Coast, so the hearing aid had to be sent East and then wait for repair, then sent back again. Nothing has changed in 21 years, the process is still the same, and I find that very annoying. The last lot I acquired in 2019 and I paid $1600 over and above the "standard" hearing aid cost, to get a superior version. They're not too bad, but my hearing loss is severe, so nothing can make it up to good hearing ever again. These hearing aids fell apart (the shells fractured) last December, and I was annoyed at having to send them off just before Christmas to get them repaired. What with the holiday period and repair time, I knew it would be mid-January before I saw them again. They gave me a set of loan "behind-the-ear" hearing aids - and they were bloody useless! Mid-January came and went, and I inquired where my hearing aids were? A bit of panic ensued, and the girl rang the Eastern States repairer to find out what was going on - and they replied they had no knowledge of them!! But the girl insisted that they had a record of them being sent, so the mob in the East must have lost them somewhere? It was a couple of days before I got more news - yes, they'd found my hearing aids, they'd been misplaced as soon as they arrived, and nothing had been done to them! That made me even unhappier. Then, the following day, I got a call from the local business, saying the repairers had examined my aids, and they were unrepairable, and they would have to make completely new ones!! That then entailed another trip to Audika to take new ear impressions. To say I was pissed off, was the understatement of the year. I was getting thoroughly sick of Audika. So I waited another 10 days, and got a call that my new hearing aids were ready to be picked up. I went there and had them fitted and tuned, and was then amazed to be told that the new replacement hearing aids were free under warranty, as the old hearing aids had a 5 year full warranty, and the warranty was still in force when they buggered up! So that was particularly good news. These new hearing aids now have a new design computer chip in them, that is specifically designed for hearing aids. Previously, they used off-the-shelf chips that didn't have all the design features that the new chips have. They're reasonably good, but I still have times when I have to ask people to repeat themselves. I was under the impression, the top-of-the-wozza hearing aids were more about increased miniaturisation, rather than having major increased abilities. I was told if you keep shrinking the hearing aids, you can't get the same abilities in the smaller aids, as you can get in the larger versions, as they simply run out of room to install components.

Here on the Left Coast we've had a nice turnaround in the season, with regular heavy rains since mid-July. Perth got 50mm over 2 days in the last week of July, and we've had nearly 90mm in the first 11 days of August. We exceeded out July average rainfall (170mm) with a total of 175mm. The good rains have gone through most of the Wheatbelt and the crops are looking fantastic. Water is lying everywhere in low spots in big pools, it's like the wet Winters of the 1960's again. The GIWA crop report will be out on the 15th, it will make interesting reading, I fully expect a bumper grain crop for W.A. in 2025/26, making 5 of the last 6 years, above average to record-breaking seasons, for total tonnages produced. Wheat is the biggest tonnage produced, but canola is not far behind, and has been increasing in recent years. The bitter cold burst of mid-July has gone, the days are getting longer and sunnier. The forecast is 23° for today and tomorrow, with more rain coming late Wednesday.

There's just three reasons why vehicles crash. 1. They go out of control of the driver 2. They run off the road (see the previous reason) 3. They collide with each other. 3. Can be largely prevented by barriers and divided carriageways. It doesn't prevent rear-enders, which are usually less likely (but not always) to be fatal. 2. and 1. are usually the result of poor driver control skills, pure carelessness and negligence in driving, and generally as a result of a casual attitude towards driving a vehicle. Use of drugs and alcohol are prevalent features of many crashes. Lack of seatbelt use is a surprising factor in many road deaths. That's directly related to carelessness and a poor attitude. Medical events and mechanical failures make up about 2-3% of crashes, it is suspected that possibly around 1-2% of fatal crashes are actually suicides - and occasionally, trying to hide a murder. Overall, speed is only a major factor in accidents when it is coupled with poor driving skills, drugs and alcohol, lack of attention and carelessness. Improved levels of driver training, leading to improved driving skills, really need to be introduced. Authorities are down on speed, for one single reason - the lower the crash speed, the less likelihood of major injuries or fatalities. There are plenty of places in rural and remote Australia where 130kmh would be a satisfactory speed limit. There are sections of the Stuart Hwy in the NT that actually have a 130kmh speed limit, and the crash incidence is no higher on that section of highway, than any other lower speed-limited section of highway.

Draw. The first letters of the words are consecutive from the start of the alphabet, the last letters are in reverse from the end of the alphabet.

He's worth a reported $4B. He wouldn't miss $30M, it's small change to him. He paid $15M for a boat given as a gift to his daughter.

All trucks over 12 tonne GVM are limited to 100kmh maximum speed. The vast majority of heavy trucks (22.5 tonne GVM and over), either have speed limiters fitted, or the truck owner has to show the truck is incapable of more than about 105kmh, due to the combination of maximum engine RPM, gearing and tyre/wheel size. Large road trains such as quads and oversize loads are limited to 90kmh and 80kmh respectively. Truck crashes are generally the result of drug use, drink-driving, inexperience and unfamiliarity with the roads being travelled, and overseas truck licences being accepted, where the overseas driving skills and experience and training are unknown quantities. Driving hours are tightly controlled with logbooks, but occasionally, logbook entries are forged. Forged logbook entries is a major offence. But regardless, there are still cowboys behind the wheel who flout the rules and regulations.

The W.A. Police force bought a large number of Harley-Davidsons in the late 1980's for Police patrol work - against the wishes of most of the serving officers. There must have been a kickback involved. The WAPOL's HD Shovelheads performance was absolutely abysmal. They broke down 4 or 5 times as much as the previous Jap WAPOL bikes. And when they broke down, there was always a huge parts delivery delay, and the cost of the parts was through the roof. The serving officers largely hated them. Heavy, excessive vibration, oil leaks galore, electrical problems galore. The W.A. Govt took the step of getting rid of all the WAPOL HD's by auctioning them, and at auction, about a third of the HD's on offer were non-functional. They brought dismal money. There were questions asked in the W.A. Parliament about the debacle, and the horrendous reliability of the HD's, and just who was responsible for acquiring them. No-one ever accepted any blame, nor pointed the finger, and the WAPOL hierarchy ensured the fiasco was brushed under the carpet. The next lot of WAPOL motorcycles were Japanese - and they've been Japanese ever since. One of the nicest bikes I've ever ridden (in the early 1980's), was a late 1970's, ex-WAPOL Yammy 750.

Hit nail on head.

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

Yeah, I got a bit confused with my big hand, little hand, and thumbs and fingers.....I don't look at analogue clocks much, any more! 😄 The answer to the computer question is PASSWORD. Take the letters to the left of QBTT and take the letters to the right of VNQC.

96 times.

They're ruthless barstewards, and we need to come up with a way to counteract their scheme. They can't keep subsidising smelters forever.

Worm. The sentence is a palindrome.

I can remember the Sunbeam Trolley buses we had in Perth, they were made obsolete by diesel buses, with the last of them taken out of service in 1969. Leyland trolley buses were first introduced in Perth in 1933, but I don't recall seeing any of the Leylands, they were probably gone by the early 1950's, when the Sunbeams came in. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybuses_in_Perth

As an old mate found out in Cobdogla, after he bought a small vineyard and ripped out all the vines - growing vegies that are in demand, pays better than growing grapes.

The legislation in Qld is the Legal Profession Act 2007 (as amended). Suspension or cancellation of a lawyers certificate to practice appears to start at Sect 59, and it seems the regulator initially sends a "show cause" notice to the offender stating the reason/s why they should be suspended, or surrender their certificate. As Sam Iskander surrendered his certificate, it appears he must have weak grounds to refute the allegations, or one would think he would've taken legal action to stop the action, by showing he had cause to stop it. My personal opinion is, I think that anyone who works for Clive Palmer must have dubious ethics, anyway. https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-2007-024

You mean Koonunga. You're slurring again.

Bangui

The W.A. Govt has purchased its last diesel bus, all public transport buses produced in Perth from here on in, are going to be electric. My landlady turfed me out of my factory unit (along with the other 11 factory lessees), and sold the 3.7Ha of industrial land she owned, to the W.A. PTA (Public Transport Authority) for conversion of the site to a huge electric bus parking/recharging depot. Everything on the entire site has been demolished, and work is proceeding at speed to totally renovate and rebuild the site to the new major plan. Once again, it's the European companies getting the lions share of the EV development money. I don't understand why Australian companies can't be in the forefront of these developments. I was also quite surprised to find (there was no fanfare with this expansion), that an entirely new Govt Dept, The "Dept of Energy and Economic Diversification" has appeared. This agency is pursuing a major new initiative, called "Powering W.A." Powering W.A. is taking charge of a massive revamp of the entire electricity supply system in the S.W. of W.A., as coal power generation is planned to be phased out within 2 or 3 years, huge wind and solar generation projects take its place, and massive grid batteries are being installed everywhere. The speed and level of change in our electricity network is staggering. https://www.pta.wa.gov.au/news/media-statements/electric-future-starts-now-as-last-diesel-bus-leaves-the-depot https://www.pta.wa.gov.au/news/media-statements/electric-buses-charge-into-the-suburbs-for-the-first-time https://www.theindustrialist.com.au/2024/08/28/bayswater-327ha-site-sold-strategic-transport-operator-new-electric-bus-fleet-colliers https://www.sustainable-bus.com/infrastructure/kempower-perth-electric-bus-depot/ https://www.wa.gov.au/government/media-statements/Cook Labor Government/Construction-starts-on-Merredin-Battery-Energy-Storage-System-20250805 https://reneweconomy.com.au/construction-begins-on-merredin-four-hour-big-battery-in-wa/

Vest

News just to hand, has Clive Palmer making the startling claim, that his solicitor (Sam Iskander) has stolen possibly up to $30M from Palmers private company Mineralogy, between 2016 and July 2025. Palmers lawyer has issued an injunction to seize a large amount of the solicitors assets, and Iskander has handed in his solicitors licence to practice law. I guess this step is due to the allegations and injunction. Iskander has not been officially charged with any offences at this time, which seems unusual to me. It appears that Palmers move is simply one designed to stop his lawyer from spending any of his money or disposing of assets, until Palmer can actually prove he's been robbed. The whole setup seems strange to me, I thought anytime there was criminal wrongdoing, and you could provide some evidence, that Police moved in and charged the defendant. Maybe they have different rules for lawyers?? https://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland/clive-palmer-accuses-long-time-solicitor-of-stealing-30-million-20250808-p5mlcw.html https://au.news.yahoo.com/palmer-claims-30-million-fraud-080552730.html

The modern vehicles making smoke are usually doing a DPF burn.