The Random thought thread

[red750]

Funny how your perceptions change as you get older. The year 2000 doesn't seem that long ago, and it comes as a bit of a shock when you realise it was quarter of a century ago. That's what happens when you are more than three quarters of a century old.

[facthunter]

We won't hold your youth against you. Happy new  year, 2026. Older and WISER they say. Nev

[onetrack]

Here's wishing everyone a great year in 2026. I had a good year in 2025, but it ended with a rash of bad news from friends. The wife of a good mate and former employee, has been found to have major breast cancer, and is going to undergo a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction at the end of January. She's about 64 I think, and mate is 67.

 

If that wasn't enough, his sister had a 30 yr old son killed in a car crash on Dec 9th. She had 4 boys. The sad part is, the 30 yr old was getting driven home by a workmate, a 25 yr old woman.

The woman must have gone a bit crazy at the wheel, she sped up like a mad thing down a suburban street in Kalgoorlie, lost control on a slight bend and hit a solid tree, tearing her little Honda into 3 pieces. The crash killed them both.

Oddly enough, mates sister was always terrified this son was going to kill himself on a big bike, he had two very large and powerful Jap bikes - but he was simply taken out by another idiot driver.

 

Then, I got news another long time former employees wife had a heart attack at 60. So it was a month of bad news, hopefully 2026 will start off a bit brighter. The good news is, myself and SWMBO are doing just fine, and looking forward to a great year.

[onetrack]

Oh, incidentally, the Chinese Year in 2026 is the Year of the Fire Horse - also known as the Year of the Golden Horse! I hope that means galloping wealth gain! 😄

[Marty_d]

Happy new year all!

Only in Tassie - sitting at Kingston beach following a ride. 

There's 10 lifeguards with RHIB, paddle board, ATV and all the equipment - and about 6 people braving the water!

(I know it's bloody cold, we went snorkeling this morning and even with full wetsuit boots and gloves we were freezing).

So your chances of rescue are pretty good!

 

[red750]

Watching the Brisbane International Tennis on TV is like alphabet soup.

 

Muchova, Rybakina, Sabalenka, Kovacevic, Nakashima to name a few.

 

[old man emu]

2 hours ago, red750 said:

Muchova, Rybakina, Sabalenka, Kovacevic, Nakashima to name a few.

That's easy for you to say.

[facthunter]

I wonder what it would have come out like after it went through those voice recognition things. Nev

[onetrack]

Muck over, Rye back kina, Saba lent car, Kova Chev vick, Naka sheen ahh.....

[Jerry_Atrick]

Saba ought to know better than to lend her car out.

[red750]

I just read where a number of states in America have outlawed the use of speed and red light cameras.

“The constitutionality of automated enforcement laws has been challenged in many jurisdictions,” the National Conference of State Legislatures notes.

 

In those states that do permit them, they don't send a fine or photo a couple of weeks later, they immediately notify police patrols in the area so the police can apprehend the perpetrators and get them to correct their ways immediately.

 

The American who posted about it is holidaying in Australia, and could not believe we use cameras to detect people not wearing seatbelts or texting. These things are not fined in the States.

 

 

 

[red750]

The birth of personal computing.

 

https://www.facebook.com/WondersYouveUnseenandUnread/posts/pfbid0341Leoxy4UWHHaxW87Da1LMmZa7P2HxPp24q7KX5dF7i6U9rgFYjB5WTPpnbhmWXFl

 

I hope this works for you. It may require Facebook.

[red750]

An interesting perspective....

 

https://www.upworthy.com/american-in-europe-realization

[old man emu]

5 hours ago, red750 said:

An interesting perspective.... https://www.upworthy.com/american-in-europe-realization

His videos are good to watch.

[old man emu]

I can just see it now. Former President Trump's funeral cortege rolls past cheering crowds. 

 

The irony would be lost on Americans.

[facthunter]

Not ALL of them. He has NEVER been elected by a significant Majority and He's wanting the Mid terms to be cancelled. SCARED to FACE the ELECTORS HIS Popularity is Waning. Let's see how he reacts to THAT? 

 

It won't BE Dignified or Pretty to watch.  Nev

[nomadpete]

5 hours ago, facthunter said:

He's wanting the Mid terms to be cancelled.

So, nothing to worry about.

 

Donold did promise 'You'll never have to vote again'. 😉

[nomadpete]

Here's a random thought. A hilarious thought. 

If USA takes over Greenland, will they re-own all the junk and pollutants that they left behind when they abandoned their under ice nuke missile base? It was home to 200 personnel for over 10 years.

 

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/05/488872411/melting-ice-in-greenland-could-expose-serious-pollutants-from-buried-army-base

[nomadpete]

At last!

A post that's NOT political.

 

How can a hovercraft be an ice breaker?

 

 

 

[facthunter]

When it's on THIN Ice?. Nev

[nomadpete]

The last comment puzzled me. After 20 years service, one of Canada's hovercraft is being sold off to be used for rescue work in 'the swamps of the Indian Ocean'.

 

Ocean is not usually swampy.

 

[facthunter]

Maybe it's a PLASTIC Swamp?  OR Just the edges that touch INDIA.  Nev

[onetrack]

Some thoughts ....

 

1. Nothing in that video looks like fun. Freezing cold, and even more freezing cold on top of that. I hate to think what it's like anywhere near those big fans.

However, there are many people who seem to love Canada and its dreadful (to me) conditions. A best mate had two of his three sons move from Perth to Canada.

They're not coming back, they've been there for a decade or more. They love the place. One lives in Vancouver, the other lives in Toronto. Their lifestyle is nothing like the lifestyle they had in Perth.

 

2. The wear on that skirt must be horrendous. I wonder what kind of material can withstand that constant abrasion, over every type of surface imaginable?

 

3. Hovercraft seem to have very little by way of lateral controls. I wonder why that is? I would design in rotatable thrusters to give me some substantial degree of lateral control.

 

4. No-one seems to bother with any kind of immersion suit or even lifejackets. I wouldn't like to think what your survival chances would be, if that chopper went down into that icy water. I'd at least be wearing a full-length wetsuit to give me a fighting chance, in case of immersion.

[onetrack]

Perhaps the "swamps of the Indian Ocean" are the Sundarbans of Bangladesh, or the mangrove swamps in the Bight of Sofala, in Mozambique.

[old man emu]

It is amazing to see the temperature environments that humans have adapted to and live in. It's a process called acclimatisation. Just think about the local environment you live in and compare it to the evironment of another of our members. I once was aclimatised to the colder environment of the NSW Southern Highlands. When I lived in Sydney after that, I didn't need extra heating for my bed because I did not feel cold in Sydney. This summer I have lived through temperatures in the high 30s, but the humidity has been about 18%. I could not handle 30 degrees on the Queensland coast because of the humidity.

 

People who live in the high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere can handle temperatures that we in the mid-latitudes would not care to contemplate, and vicky-versa.