Old Koreelah

Bex you're burning the candle. Do you ever sleep?

...My biggest headache today was getting the protective plastic film off the 6 sheets, damn they don't make life easy!

 

Bex you probably already know this but I've learned to remove that film ASAP, even if I plan to store a sheet for years. I suspect UV helps to "cook" its adhesive onto the surface.

Bex I guess your al. sheet cutting-out isn't much different to what most of us have done with gyprock, hardi flex, plywood or cotton fabric.

We might be better off without the wizz bang software; getting a perfect job done is one objective, but (especially for those of us trying to postpone dementia) giving our onboard computer a good workout is still important.

I've seen skulls of two caribou who died with antlers locked together.

Good argument against Intelligent Design.

And meanwhile we destroy manufacturing in this country by having the highest power prices in the world...

 

Jim I share your concerns about the loss of our manufacturing capacity, but I hope you're not blaming renewables for our high electricity prices. That furfey has been well and truly refuted. Our power prices are high largely because of mismanagement of the sector by successive governments- mostly LNP- who allowed massive waste and who still refuse to plan for the future.

...This is quite an interesting talk although it would take an investment in your time to watch and perhaps your interest is not that deep but I will post a link anyway.

 

 

Thanks for posting this, Octave. I've just started watching and will hopefully find time to see it all later.

It occurred to me that the major problem we face is narrow thinking and lack of imagination among our leaders.

Marco Polo was ridiculed when he came back to medieval Europe with stories about the technological wonders he saw during his years in China.

As we see the amazing engineering feats in the videos Bex and others post, the Middle Kingdom is rapidly returning to its place as the powerhouse economy of the world. Our leaders are scrambling to adjust to this.

Alexander Graham Bell, when he invented the telephone, couldn't foresee any use for it other than for broadcasting news around the district.

IBM helped invent the computer, but thought the world market might be less than a dozen.

Bob Memzies, revered as Australia's elder statesman, argued vociferously against the Snowy Mountain Scheme, and refused to support Australia's early lead in computers and space science, claiming there was no future in them.

John Howard, like many of his party, mocked the potential for solar energy and has been proven dead wrong.

We need a new political messiah who understands the enormous potential of these new technologies and can carry the electorate into a cleaner, more sustainable future.

As I mentioned to you before, I was asking OK his opinion on CO2; nothing more nothing less; if you want to go off into your world that's fine; just don't attach it to my conversation, which OK hadn't answered. 

 

Sorry Turbs, I thought my position was plain enough: that the increased concentration of CO2 (and several other gases we release into our atmosphere) are contributing to the changes in climate that we see. 

I also accept that not all evidence supports this conclusion, but the time is long past when our species can afford to put off cleaning up its act.

Honestly don't care much about our vision or how bigger balls you think that the world thinks about Australia.

 

You should, because if we continue down the current path, the rest of the world, on which we depend for our prosperity, will start imposing on us the sort of sanctions that Apartheid South Africa experienced.  

If you think that is far fetched, all the signs that we are alienating our traditional friends are there.

You are getting close to being offensive regarding who is sprouting what.

 

Sorry if that is how you see it. I value being able to respectfully discuss these weighty issues with thoughtful people like yourself.

None of the previous forecasts and models have proven correct.

 

That's a brave statement. In fact some scientists are saying that in some areas, ice melting is happening decades earlier than predicted.

They are trying to predict miniscule changes over hundreds of years from vague data sources.

 

As indicated climatology on global scale is incredibly (impossibly) hard to measure, let alone draw predictions from.

 

Agreed; no wonder a few of their projections have proven inaccurate.

Would you have us continue to expand the burning of coal until all evidence is irrefutable? 

Talking about what should be done is easy but has the risk of being very expensive with no return

 

The renewable industry in Australia is booming and already employs huge numbers of Australians, while coal mining is shedding labour and automating.

The concept that renewables is reaching parity with fossil fuels is plain BS from those supporting it. It is if you ignore large parts of their production and disposal happening in countries where they don't care about emissions.

 

Renewables are a great thing and should be supported but as for replacing coal power, it is a dream.

 

Time to reassess your sources of information. Lots of countries have already shaken off their dependence on burning coal. 

the CO2 will be released if Australia sells coal or not, China and India etc will use coal from somewhere, potentially low grade sources and be even worse...

 

A standard argument used by the coal lobby. In fact the rapidly falling cost of renewable energy in Asia is now making their coal look expensive, even before we factor in its environmental damage. The reality is that Australia's cheap coal has undercut many other exporters.

Australia is so small that if we ceased ALL emissions and exports there would still be no effect. yes several climate scientists have indicated it is unlikely that Australia lowering CO2 emissions would have any reducing impact on world levels...

 

The cringing we're too small to make a difference cop-out again. Australia used to make a difference when we were a far smaller country, impressing the world in electoral reform, worker rights and innovation. Australia is now a far more significant part of the global economy, but we seem to have lost our balls.

Some still say we should be seen as a global leader in sustainability. By far most of the world population is more interested and getting to try electricity for the first time or learning to read.

 

Not important who admits what, our govt can do NOTHING to change the course of global climate change..

 

This is the guff being peddled by vested interests in the fossil fuel lobby.

Much like the nonsense we heard from the tobacco industry not so long back.

At that time, thank dog, Australia had a government with guts and some decency. This country led the world in fighting the scourge of cigarette dependency. We made a difference.

Where has our vision gone?

Turbs you might need to edit your last post, because your text appears as if it were my post.

Well you can ignore them because they have their own agendas; my question is about CO2 and I'm curious to see what your position is on CO2.

 

CO2? Lovely stuff, especially when compressed into a fire extinguisher. I squirt some CO2 into the containers in which I store some of my produce, such as nuts, carob beans and grain.

I'd love to build a big greenhouse with integrated chooks, rabbits, etc to bump up the CO2 level to boost plant growth. Yep, I like the stuff.

I don't like the fact that we have hugely increased the concentration of it throughout our atmosphere. While lots of silly people say that's good because our crops will grow better, we also must realise there will be lots of downsides, many we can't even imagine yet. During a working life spent learning and educating about how our natural systems work, I've developed a fair understanding about how easily humans can bugger up the good earth we all depend on.

We humans have stuffed up huge tracts of good farmland and decimated forests, fisheries and river systems- while our population continues to grow and demand ever more food, fibre, timber and raw materials. Nobody with any real understanding of this can possibly think we can go on as usual.  Go for a fly over the Hunter Valley and the coalfields of Central Queensland and see the mess we are leaving for our grandchildren.

Not all the predictions of climate change scientists have come to pass, but some have happened decades sooner than expected. Anyone who isn't worried about the changes is in serious denial.

My indignation stems from the anti-science trend of governments, egged on by the Murdoch press and an army of overpaid lobbyists for the coal industry.

What exactly do people want the govt  - or the PM personally to do?

 

Show some intelligence and stop denying the facts. 

...It's been openly agreed, even by those strongly advocating action, that Australia can have almost no impact on global climate change...

 

Incorrect.

Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal, so if you add our over dependence on burning it here to the vast amount of our coal burned by China, Sth Korea, etc, you can see we make a significant contribution to the problem. Worse, our LNP governments, despite their free-market rhetoric, openly talk about subsidising new coal burners.

Meanwhile, LNP governments have done plenty to hinder sunrise industries; as a result, much of our innovation goes overseas. With sensible leadership, Australia could within a decade be a powerhouse exporter of renewable energy. 

Instead, we have become ever more dependant on exporting the dirty fuel of yesterday- coal.

For those who cannot accept Australia could make a difference to climate change, remember that this country is very dependant on global trade and the good will of the international community.

For yonks I have been warning that we risk becoming an international pariah state because of our govenments's obstinant refusal to take this global issue seriously.

Remember what the world community did to Apartheid Sth Africa. 

Bec I haven't been following this project closely, so may have missed this point. It occurs to me that you're trying to get the max. number of component parts out of each al. sheet.

Lots of brainwork, but I believe software exists that can rearrange 2-D shapes to minimise wastage.

I guess then there would have to be a trade-off between optimum component shape and minimising waste of material.

It was a brilliant design in its day, and exceeded performance expectations.

Avoiding the rudder being blanketed by the horizontal plane is one of the important lessons in aircraft design, but it's sometimes ignored even today.

...For three or four months every year the fuel load is dry enough and warm enough to take out houses...

 

All valid points Turbs, except the above. It used to be about four months; now it's often year-round. 

 The Greenie Bashers have been wrong too often. 

I was caught out this year and was unable to complete my burns before the Total Fire Ban season was brought forward. How can we do hazard reduction burning when bushfires get out of control even in winter?

...trusty 2 stroke Daihatsu Charade...

 

Didn't know there was a 2T model. Our 1980 model one litre triple 4 stroke was awesome.

Super reliable, economical and we took it on lots of 4WD holidays.

 While wearing a helmet might help in some situations I would not like to see it made compulsory...

 

Certainly never my intention.

So fear of looking like a dork ranks above your desire to avoid injury...

Crikey Nev. Are we gonna square off about the advisability of head protection?

I haven't seen many little aeroplane cockpits that I'd like to bang my head against.

After a bingle, the last thing we need is to be sitting like a stunned mullet while the fuel leaks out...

... I have thought that a bike-type helmet would be good to have handy for a forced landing, but you would need time to put it on.

 

Best put it on for every flight; mount your headset on it.

https://www.ozpilot.com.au/avmap

I know where a couple of them have been sitting idle for months, along with a pilot highly experienced in water bombing.

 

... it would be interesting to know how many AT802's could be had for the cost of the 737.

 

I know where a couple of them have been sitting idle for months, along with a highly experienced pilot.

Save a few dollars by using cheaper fuel and risk thousands in engine repairs.