octave

We are in a situation where we have to visit my mother in aged care interstate. We make at least 4 trips a year so 8 flights plus some more flights for the odd overseas trip. The news and the internet are full of videos of air rage incidents. There are probably other incidents that don't get videoed. I would think in the last 5 years I would have done perhaps 50 flights and not one experience of an unruly passenger. This does not mean it does not happen. It probably happens somewhere every day but this is not going to stop me from taking the most efficient means of travel for a particular trip. I haven't been subjected to road rage either although it appears that it happens regularly. My next train trip, plane flight, or car drive might be the one where I have an unpleasant experience however it needs to be put in perspective. In my post where I gave an example of how I travel into the city, it is pretty clear that is way quicker than the car and also cheaper. There are other benefits in terms of less wear and tear on the car and stress. I usually get into the designated quiet carriage pop my earphones in and listen to a podcast. I am usually pretty rational about how I travel. If I am traveling interstate for up to a week I usually drive to the airport. Over a week and the long-term parking fee tends to far outway train and Skybus. With an overseas trip, I am more likely to take public transport. A car breakdown on the way to the airport could become very costly in missed flights. I don't care what other choices others make however I don't usually see the people around me and think they are "deadbeats" They are usually people going to work or school or just on a pleasure trip to the city.

I do travel at night. You are right that it may be a coincidence but it does suggest that if the instances are widespread and numerous, a regular traveler will eventually come across such instances. Doesn't it? Vic Rail transports around 450,000 passengers a day. A train traveling into the city in the morning is full of business people, school kids, pensioners etc. It is not the war zone you imagine, There are bound to be incidents just as there are incidents on city streets and in pubs and at sports events. I could come across anti-social behavior at any of these locations. I am just not afraid to travel on public transport. Even if the events are widespread on very late-night trains (which I have been on) this does not mean that trains are 24/7 war zones, otherwise, why would anyone travel on the,?

So why am I not seeing this as a regular train traveler? Or am I seeing it but pretending that it is not happening? I can assure you that I have never had a significant problem. Once or twice there have been overly noisy people but that's life. If these things are happening regularly and not exaggerated they never appear to happen when I am. traveling. This is my honest experience. On a network with millions of trips per day, there will always be some problems just as there are in any city or other public venue.

This seems like an exaggeration unless your train system over there is vastly worse than ours. I can honestly say I or my wife have ever been hassled on the train. My wife will happily travel at any time of the day on the train. I am sure occasionally people do have bad experiences but likewise, people have bad experiences with road ragers. I think sometimes those who seldom or never use public transport probably are not in the best position to judge.

Just a minor correction in my screenshots. The drive time was at 9 AM To compare apples with apples it should be the same time. so here it is

Much depends on where you live and where you are going but for me, a trip into the city by car is much less convenient and much more expensive. If I want to go into the city tomorrow during the day, this would be the situation. By car - So it could take 1 hour in perfect conditions put it could also take 1 hour and 40 minutes. If I had an appointment I would have to assume it was going to be 1:40. I would also have to add time to find a car park. By train- This would require a 10-minute walk to the station or a 2-minute drive with free parking. When I arrive in the city I can hop on a free tram to get anywhere within the city district. The choice seems pretty clear to me. There are of course sometimes reasons to take the car to perhaps pick up larger items.

Every 20 minutes doesn't seem too bad. Surely if you plan your trip and get to the station at the right time that 20 minutes is irrelevant. I have not driven in Sydney for about 30 years now but I know in Melbourne if I were to drive to an appointment I would need to ensure more than 20 minutes to allow to to find a park. Sure you might get lucky and find one straight away but you also have to allow for the fact that it could take a while to find a park. Then there is the stress of driving in city traffic and the actual cost of the parking.

This is an interesting article https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2023/mar/13/new-normal-sydney-and-melbourne-public-transport-use-still-at-80-of-pre-covid-levels I have not closely read or absorbed this yet but I just to pick out a few points. It seems that during COVID passenger numbers dropped but have not recovered. But here is an interesting point. "Guardian Australia looked at vehicle counts on major roads around metropolitan Sydney and Melbourne and found similar results. The number of vehicles on the roads is much closer to pre-Covid levels than public transport, but there has been a reduction in morning peak-hour traffic." It appears that it is not just a case of people switching from public transport to cars. People still working from home may be a partial explanation.

I think that the grid draws small amounts from many EVs during the peak time say between 6 PM and 9 PM. After this time electricity demand drops and there is a surplus meaning the price drops. At this point, the EV can charge at a lower cost ready for the next day.

I lived in the country for many years where there was no public transport. Whilst I enjoyed those years I was aware that this would become very difficult in my later years. One of the criteria for choosing my present (and probably last) location is easy access to public transport. Over the past few years, we have had to help out my parents who live interstate. They moved to a residential park that was close to a town but not close enough to walk and with no public transport. We were determined that we would not end up in this situation. Our place here in Geelong is about a 15 walk (10 if you step it out) to the station. It is a one-hour trip into the centre of Melbourne which is about the same as driving although looking for a park often adds substantially to this time. A few weeks ago we had to drive from the airport where we had been parked whilst away into the city to meet someone. Although it was a public holiday it took around 30 minutes to find a park. Last week we went into the city by train. No parking hassle or expense. Once in Melbourne you can just hop on a tram for free within the centre. I don't know what it is like in other areas but for me, public transport is quicker and cheaper Around Geelong I will use my bike for shopping trips etc and can sometimes go a week or more without driving my car. Luckily my city is quite progressive when it comes to pedestrian and cycling facilities. I can ride through the center of Geelong on good quality protected bike lanes. I guess if I put my negative hat on the only annoying thing is on those few occasions when I get to the station and see that terrible sign that says "bus replacement service" but I guess the lines have to be worked on sometime. How can we get more people using public transport in urban/suburban areas? I would say carrots and sticks, perhaps more costly to take a car into the city and cheaper (although it is pretty cheap) better services public transport. In my personal situation, I can't really see how it could be more convenient or pleasant than it already is. Perhaps I am lucky in where I live. Unfortunately, Australia has tended to follow the US in building cities and suburbs around roads in such a way as to make cars necessary in many suburbs. ,

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/electric/sweden-will-build-worlds-first-ev-charging-road

We discussed weight earlier. I know you see this as an airtight case against EVs but it is not. The firstly where is the evidence? "According to the British Parking Association, no UK car parks have banned electric cars. They said that “there was no evidence to show that the weight of electric cars is an issue. While we recognise that large cars with bigger, more expensive batteries weigh more, this issue is not specific to electric cars.” Will Electric Cars Collapse Multi-Story Car Parks (Parking Garages)? In a previous video, you posted by this guy was mourning the end of the Bentley W12, I am not so familiar with but it does sound heavy. If there was a problem then the solution is simple. We restrict the weight of cars permitted to enter car parks. You would surely just set a weight limit? It does not matter whether the weight of a car is made up of a battery or a V8 engine. I find it interesting how passionate people are in their total condemnation of this technology. The pace of change in this country is very slow. The time frame for phasing out IC vehicles is quite long. Whilst there are solid arguments for different folks not to get an EV at this point there is nothing to get hysterical about. Dont like EVs then don't buy one. The problem is these folks don't want anyone to buy one. As far as change goes this is quite a slow one. Trying to kill off technological change because change feels a little uncomfortable is unfair to the coming generations. It seems to me that the folks who bag every aspect of EVs are either -in the IC car or fuel industry -believe it is about politics (weird as if only hippies buy cyber trucks) - just anxious about anything changing. Just to be clear I am not saying everyone should go out and buy one. We are still in the early adopter phase This has been the case with most technologies. I am not in the market for a car so it is not an issue for me in the foreseeable future but if I needed to buy it is the way I would probably go. By nature, I am an early adopter and I relish change and innovation. To me only looking back and not forward would be depressing.

I count 8 List of ev stations in dubbo nsw

This is not a problem that is not being anticipated. Yes, the grid can handle electric vehicle charging – even when demand spikes https://aemo.com.au/-/media/files/stakeholder_consultation/consultations/nem-consultations/2022/2023-inputs-assumptions-and-scenarios-consultation/supporting-materials-for-2023/csiro-2022-electric-vehicles-projections-report.pdf It would be difficult to transition to all EV tomorrow and I would not favour this. The grid grows with demand. Sprawling new suburbs are constantly being built and the supply grows and becomes more efficient. More and more rooftop solar and other means of generation are constantly being added to the grid.. Again consider Norway, yes it has heaps of hydro but in terms of the grid and wiring and such it has the same limitations as our grid except it probably has progressed more because it is more forward-looking EVs also present advantages in grid management In Europe fleet operators will be able to buy electricity when it is cheap, store it in their vehicles, and sell some of it back when prices peak. https://www.fleeteurope.com/en/new-energies/europe/analysis/vehicle-grid-pilot-schemes-gather-pace?a=JMA06&t[0]=Nissan&t[1]=EDF&curl=1 Even in Australia, things are happening Australia’s capital goes live with V2G technology after 2-year trial

the adoption of the motor car was quite quick. 1913 Below 10 years later https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/transformation-can-you-spot-horse-ralph-torrie/ The notion that you must build enough charging stations BEFORE the beginning of the change is not what we have traditionally done. The building of airports followed the need for airports. Early petrol cars did not have a huge network of petrol outlets. Using the logic of we should not transition to EVs before there is a fully developed charging network means that we rely on private enterprises to build networks that are not yet profitable or the government will have to build a network for the day when we need it. The anti-EV crowd often uses this circular argument. Don't build charging stations because there are not enough EVs Don't buy an EV because there are not enough charging stations. It can be difficult to imagine the progress that is and will continue to be made. When I first used the internet it was hard to imagine that we would be watching movies and some of us doing our jobs online. In 1903 the New York Times published an article predicting that it would be 1 to 10 million years before humans would develop a flying machine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Machines_Which_Do_Not_Fly You point out that in 1913 cars were for the rich and petrol was expensive. I guess we could say that EVs are at this stage (although I would argue they are a little more developed than this) Governments built roads and infrastructure for the car it wasn't just left to the open market. I can't see that we are rushing the process, especially in this country. There is an aspirational target of I think 2035 after which NEW ice vehicles will able to be sold however you and I can still buy second hand and in fact a new IC vehicle built in 2034 should by viable for many years. ICE will probably be the expensive option though. In 2023 8.4% of all new cars worldwide were EV not a huge figure. I have driven around NZ in a Tesla, yes a smaller country but also notoriously hilly. Most small towns had a charging station as well as cafes and motels. I do think NZ has progressed further than us on this. On a recent road to Adelaide, we started counting Teslas because they seemed to be numerous. Presumably, these vehicles were able to comfortably travel these distances without running out of electricity or bursting into flames. Again 10 years is a long time in tech progress. We have one of the slower transitions. This means we can look to countries like Noway. In 2022 more than 80% of new cars were electric. If there are widespread problems with the adoption of EVs we should be seeing it in countries that are ahead of us.

I do listen to parliament often including Senate committee hearings and I don't believe that significant time is devoted to the things you suggest. Governments deal with a huge range of issues but I can't see any evidence that governments spend much time on the issues you suggest at the expense of other issues. I am happy to consider the evidence.

When I joined the RAAF band in 1979 the majority of my colleagues smoked. We used to travel around a lot on coaches and RAAF aircraft, mainly Hercules C130. I used to come home from work stinking of secondhand smoke. I can clearly remember the day the RAAF changed its tune on smoking. We were traveling interstate and the loadmaster was giving the usual passenger briefing that we had heard many times before. This time there was an additional item. "As of 0700 hours today smoking is strictly prohibited on all RAAF aircraft". You should have seen the look on the faces of the smokers. One guy complained who bitterly is no longer with us, He died in his 50s of emphysema. I remember he always used to say that it had not been scientifically proven that smoking was harmful.

I would suggest that anti-smoking campaigns have been reasonably successful. https://www.cancer.org.au/assets/pdf/good-news-as-national-smoking-rates-decline

I didn't pay my bill, we all had to leave. If the power goes out in a large supermarket having cash is no help. I have bought something in small shop that had a portable efpos. during a power cut. I guess they would have also accepted cash.

I have been in a supermarket when there was a power outage and it did not matter whether you had cash or not. The cash register ceased to work and also the scanner. Of course portable efpos machines in smaller shops are often portable and rechargable as long as the phone network is working.

My New Years Resolution is to procrastinate less. This is the same as last year and the year before. Maybe this year I will do it but if not perhaps 2025 or 2026.

Geez why do you think good people working as bank tellers have some devious plan to stop you from drawing out your money, to what end? When my wife was a bank teller the easiest thing to do was what the customer wanted but there is a great responsibility not to give YOUR money to someone who says they are you. The tellers behind the protective counter DO NOT MAKE THE RULES. If a withdrawal was fraudulently made from your account you would also be whinging

The share price isn't plummetting. I have shares and although they are a little down from their peak they are still healthy and growing.

I can't speak for other banks but Bank Australia operates Australia-wide. They have branches in most states but given digital banking it is not necessary to have branches all over the place. For those who want branches everywhere, they just have to put up with banking with bigger banks and accept their business model. For me, at least a local branch is just not necessary.