The Random thought thread

[old man emu]

That means Adelaide only got back half the number of wheels it lost to Melbourne.

[facthunter]

Where's the Track there? Nev

[pmccarthy]

Watching a show about restoring a horse-drawn coach, I finally found why the yanks call sill panels rockers. On a through-brace coach, they sit on the leather braces and rock to provide suspension. 

[red750]

4 hours ago, facthunter said:

Where's the Track there?

 

Where they held the F1 Grand Prix before it moved to Albert Park.

 

[Marty_d]

They're moving motorbikes from a purpose built racetrack to a street circuit?  Not the safest decision I would have thought.

[old man emu]

When was the last time you had a counter lunch in a pub?

[facthunter]

Terrible by comparison with Phillip Island. esp. with the Visuals. Where's the Counter lunch connection?. It's still pretty popular around here.  Popular place to gather and talk and eat. I can't afford it but Plenty of others can. nev

[onetrack]

It'll be a long time before I rush in and buy a Chinese Taiyota. There will be a time coming soon when all these people who rushed into buying Chinese vehicles will start to realise they were only cheap for a number of reasons - build quality, resale value (very low), and poor parts and service backup.

 

And they'll find the model they bought is now utterly and totally obsolete, because the East Wind brand is now the owner of ten other Chinese car brands, and the management has decided that nine of the brands have to go, because they're unprofitable. So those makes will just disappear overnight, like Holden did.

 

Some car guru wrote a little while back that the Chinese Govt will soon force all the 57 different Heinz brands of Chinese car manufacturers to amalgamate into about 5 brands, because only a couple of the manufacturers are actually profitable.

 

Meantimes, Toyota plug along happily with manufacturing reliable and sought after cars, that have high resale value - and they're still the worlds biggest manufacturer by volume, and have billions in cash in the kitty tin.

 

Edited February 19 by onetrack

[Jerry_Atrick]

There was some pressure to have it at Albert Park or lose it to Adelaide, I read. I guess that there were some local objections. 

[red750]

Albert Park would have required modification as longer runoff areas are needed for bikes. There are some corners at AP where there is no room for longer runoffs.

 

Wayne Gardiner had quite a spew about the loss. He said the place had been badly run down since Aust GP Corp took over and the government wouldn't put up cash to restore the place, Asked if he would remove his statue, he said he would "stick it up their arxe".

[onetrack]

On April 20, 1945, during an air battle over Germany, Eduard Schallmoser's Messerschmitt Me.262 collided with an American Martin B-26 Marauder medium bomber.

 

Schallmoser managed to bail out and open his parachute. He landed in the back garden of his parents house, right in front of his amazed mother!

[Jerry_Atrick]

Just because the kids fly the nest (or are independent of mum and dad) doesn't mean you have tome to do what you want. 

 

Got zippo done on the reno..

 

Wanted to go to a specific runner shop about 20 miles away as my feet are wide and only Asics are constantly right for them across a manufacturers' range.. 

 

But no.. despite not bad weather today, things just got in the way, so Amazon it was, unfortunately. 

[facthunter]

10 points LOST, but carry on.  Nev

[willedoo]

On 19/02/2026 at 6:12 PM, old man emu said:

When was the last time you had a counter lunch in a pub?

A couple of months ago. I only ever do it in the context of meeting up with someone for lunch. These days it's the only reason to go to a pub ( 7 years on the wagon now).

[red750]

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's arrest photo was briefly displayed at the Louvre Museum in Paris by activists from the anti-billionaire group Everyone Hates Elon on Sunday, February 22, 2026. 

• The framed photograph, taken by Reuters photographer Phil Noble, shows Mountbatten-Windsor slumped in the back seat of a Range Rover after being released from Norfolk police custody following an 11-hour detention on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
• The image was hung on a wall at the museum alongside the caption “He’s Sweating Now”, a reference to a controversial 2019 interview where Mountbatten-Windsor claimed he couldn’t sweat due to a Falklands War injury, contradicting allegations by Virginia Giuffre. 
• The display lasted only 15 minutes before Louvre staff removed it. 
• The stunt was part of a protest against Mountbatten-Windsor’s alleged links to Jeffrey Epstein, including emails suggesting he shared confidential government information while serving as a British trade envoy.
• The group stated their goal was to show “how the world will remember him” and called for “Justice for all Epstein survivors.” 

[facthunter]

Plenty of others DESERVE to be Pilloried as Much as HE is.. There's NEVER a shortage of Royalty KNOCKERS. .I suppose it's "Look how the MIGHTY have fallen" thing..  Nev

[red750]

Apparently his protection personnel and staff at his home had a four letter nickname for him - it rhymed with stunt.

[Marty_d]

Prince Punt?  Runt? Nah you've lost me Peter! 😆

[red750]

Now they are calling for Charles to abdicate. William and Catherine to become king and queen.

 

The article is behind aa paywall, so I don't know any more than that.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-15580417/charles-abdicate-william-kate-andrew-epstein-MAUREEN-CALLAHAN.html

[pmccarthy]

1 hour ago, Marty_d said:

Prince Punt?  Runt? Nah you've lost me Peter! 😆

His brother once wished to be a tampon.

[Jerry_Atrick]

The evidence looks damning, but what happene until innocent until proven guilty?

 

Somehow the orangutan, who has about the same amount of evidence as Mountbatten seems  to be immune.. from that and many other alleged crimes. 

 

Many others implicated as badly.. but nary a word about them.

 

At least Mendleson has been arrested on suspiciopn of misconduct of public office. He will take Starmer with him.

 

 

[old man emu]

Notice that there has not been one clergyman named? 

[willedoo]

The new UK dual citizen passport rules come into effect today. Dual UK/Australian citizens have to have a valid UK passport to enter the UK, or an Australian passport with a certificate of entitlement. From a cost perspective, it's a no brainer to get a current UK passport for $190, compared to $1,100 for a certificate of entitlement.

[onetrack]

I'm confused on the "dual citizenship" angle. I was born here, so I'm an Australian citizen. But I got a British passport some years ago (about 15) because both my parents were British and I was entitled to a British passport.

 

I got it when travelling on the basis it would make travelling around the EU on the Schengen Agreement easier. I never used it, my Australian passport got me everywhere with no problems.

 

However, SWMBO and I got caught out with a US$80 entry fee to Turkey upon arrival, no-one mentioned it prior. We had to scrape around our belongings to find the necessary US dollars, and it was dead lucky we had it on hand.

 

At this point, my British passport is long expired and I see little benefit in renewing it - but perhaps it might save me some money if I ever venture back to the U.K.?

 

Edited 18 hours ago by onetrack

[facthunter]

Might get you cheap Medical Treatment. Nev