There is an old joke from a comedian probably in the 60's about a porcelain expert being asked to identify porcelain vases. Oh', it's easy he says and taps the first vase and it rings "Ming". He then taps the next one and it goes "Tang" and then the final is tapped and goes "Woolworths".
I'm pretty sure the Goodies did a version but they didn't originate it.
I seem to remember the sounds as being spoken so it may have been a solo comedian like Dave Allen but it may have been a duo like the Two Ronnies or Morcambe and Wise. It also may have been used by multiple acts.
Has anyone got any ideas where it originated.
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So why is it that a several thousand dollar oven has no supercap backup to keep the clock running through a power outage? Can we please move the technology along to at least the 1990s?
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cursed units just heard on TV:
180 RPM per minute.
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And power is back ...
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We've been dodging power outages but tonight it is our turn.
Hotspot on, candle lantern lit, power bank on standby.
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I really have no idea what drugs the people who write the film synopses for our local paper are on but they really need to reduce the dosage a bit.
Barbarella (1968): In the far future, an astronaut is dispatched to a remote planet to locate a missing scientist. ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
I guess it contains no spoilers. 🤔
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[#]RandomThought
You know, climate change is just a variation of the Trolley Problem. On the branch where the trolley is headed there are billions of people and all the ecosystems of the world. On the alternate branch are the privileged 1%. Unfortunately those few have surrounded the switch handle with countless attack dogs.
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In South Australia there is a town Darke Peak named after the Explorer J C Darke.
As I have driven on the main roads to the north and south I have observed signs with the spellings;
Dark Peak
Darke Peake
Dark Peake
as well as the correct spelling.
Sometimes signs with different incorrect spellings can be found only a couple of hundred meters apart.
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So I rang the bank help desk which told me there was a 7 to 10 minute wait but dropped out before I contacted an operator.
So I rang the bank help desk which told me there was a 7 to 10 minute wait but dropped out before I contacted an operator.
So I rang the bank help desk which told me there was a 7 to 10 minute wait but when I thought it had connected I couldn't hear anything and couldn't seem to be heard.
So I rang Maureen and asked if she could ring the help desk and get them to call me.
Eventually she got back to me and said they required that I ring the help desk myself.
While I was waiting I explored the deeper recesses of the app and past the "beware of the leopard' sign I found a messaging app which put me in contact with an AI that eventually put me in contact with a person (or a smarter AI). Who of course told me I needed to ring the help desk.
Cue screams!
But they did also point me at a different menu for changing the account limit than the one I had been unsuccessfully trying.
Change limit, sent payment. Called Kalgoorlie who had not yet received the payment. They said the driver would call me when the payment went through.
While I waited I contacted the Esperance Toyota dealer and made arrangements. Also extended my Esperance stay by two nights and cancelled my Albany hotel.
Around 12:00 Steve from Norseman called me and said he was on his way ETA 14:00.
It took a bit of effort to get the car on the tray because the front wheels were locked and then we were off.
Arrived in Esperance around 19:00 and unloaded the car at the Toyota dealer and then he dropped me at my motel with the most important things from the car (wine, medications and suchlike).
So now I'm bushed.
Oh and Internet bank my arse.
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Woke around 06:00 left around 08:30 for the short drive to Walleroo to catch the ferry. There was a warm gust wind from the North ... most unusual, and the probable harbinger of an eastwards moving low pressure system.
Rolled up at the wharf in good time ... hybrids and EVs embark last and are spaced out at the back even though my NiMH batteries are arguably less hazardous than the lead acid batteries in the SUVs.
About a two hour journey across the Spencer Gulf to Lucky Bay. Interestingly there was no mobile phone coverage at the landing point even though they carry foot traffic. Light rain as we docked. Headed off through Cowell and onto B91 - Birdseye Highway. I kept a look out but there was no sign there had ever been any vegetable farms anywhere near. I hit a front with a major windstorm and downpour a little before Cleve which dropped my speed a lot. Also slowed down because kangaroos will come down to the road edge to drink from puddles and they have all the road sense of a speed bump. Happily I only had to avoid two. Windy and overcast for most of the rest of the trip as far as Kyancutta and I also grabbed a sandwich along the way. Shortly the wind became a strong southerly and the cloud cover went from 9/10 to clear apart from the horizons. The wind was strong enough to start picking up dust from the gravel roads and stubble fields and threatening to develop into a dust storm. Arrived in Ceduna around 16:00. After watching Antiques Roadshow I sloped off into Ceduna and visited the other fish and chip shop for some local whiting. More expensive and a smaller serve of fish than my favoutite source.
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Made my first foray (for this trip) into the city today. Got off at Melbourne Central station and went looking for stuff. I found Hikari first but as advertised it had several matcha desserts but not icecream. I next went looking for Gatcha Cafe at Melbourne Central Arcade. If I interpreted the help kiosk map correctly I needed to go up to first level, go all the way down to Little Bourke street, go down to lower ground and come almost all the way back to Lonsdale street. Not happening, but while we were there I visited the Columbia Sportswear outlet to get a new fleecy jacket ... the one I purchased in 2019 (for the 2020 Worldcon in Wellington) is coming apart.
I then went up to Hardware street (lane?) to find Matcha Mate but it no longer exists although I did find Bing Chillin nearby which did not show up in my searches or from the references by locals and didn't open until 13:00 but does list matcha icecream on its window.
Starting to get desperate, I went in search of Hareruya Pantry in Somerset lane and we found it in what I suspect was once a loading dock. Oh, and it wasn't where Google Maps had pinpointed it. But Hareruya was the jackpot, I had the strong matcha icecream which was pleasant and next time I will try the extra strong matcha icecream.
After that we wended our way down to Hearn's Hobbies and got some stuff before jumping on a train to come home.
We did encounter the strange eastern states custom that cheese is a salad vegetable and if you have a sandwich "with salad" it will automatically include cheese. Weird!
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Five and a half hours of sleep is not great but it will suffice. I was planning on a late start but 08:30 snuck up on me and I was scrabbling to vacate the room by 09:00. I drove into central Bendigo, found a parking spot just outside the metered zone and strolled around looking for breakfast. I had nice scrambled eggs at Jun & Nov and headed out to Bendigo Pottery and their artisan alley. I poked around in the antiques hall and the pottery sales area (displayed around a couple of old pottery kilns) and then back to an artisan specialising in glass work making small purchases at each place.
On the way back into town I refuelled with E10 ... the only time I have spotted it outside far north Queensland. Then back onto A79 - Calder Highway. Google maps though it was just under 2 hours to Werribee but it took 2.75. I visited the B24 Liberator museum and had a wander around. It is less of a formal museum and more like wandering around a workshop with multiple projects on the go. Apart from the Liberator they are rebuilding an Avro Anson and a replica of an Oxford trainer. They also have a Link training simulator in the back corner. There is an engine that they run once a month and a demo of the Norden bombsight operation.
I tore myself away for the 2 hour drive across Melbourne to where I am staying but of course Google made some really bad road choices and it took 2.5 hours. I really don't like Melbourne roads or traffic ... or drivers. Made it to our accommodation abut 16:30 and unloaded the car a bit before walking up to the train station and finding out that one of my Mykis still operated and had enough credit to get me into town, Topped up the Myki at Souther Cross station and grabbed another one for Maureen then grabbed the Sky bus out to Tullamarine just about the time Maureen's plane arrived. Rode the Bus and train back to our hotel arriving just after 21:00.
I probably won't post anything regular until I'm heading back to Perth.
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I managed 6.5 hours of sleep, waking at 5 because I had stayed up to watch Brian Cox's new show on the solar system.
On the road about 6:30. Still heading east but the sun was far enough risen to not be a problem. Headed along B64 - Goyder Highway towards Renmark. Turned off after Taylorville to take a gratuitous ferry ride across the Murray river into Waikerie and thence onto the A20 - Sturt Highway. Had a stop for coffee and bacon quiche at Waikerie and then onto Renmark where I missed a turnoff hidden amongst a lot of road work redirections and headed off into the wrong direction for about 10 minutes. Back onto the highway and on to Mildura and another coffee and sandwich before heading south on the A79 - Calder Highway. Ob joke: "What is this road called?" "Its Calder highway dummy."
Most of the day has been annoying high speed, low speed as I pass through a long procession of small towns with no traveller friendly amenities. Stopped to get another coffee in Charlton ... or was it Bridgewater?
Got into Bendigo around 16:30 ... cobbled together a dinner from supplies and stayed up to attend a body corporate AGM for the units where we live as it is the first with the new strata management company. Thursday will be a lazy start visiting a couple of museums on the way into Melbourne.
On the highway from Renmark to Mildura there are a lot of signs about what to do if there is a dust storm. Slow down, lights on ... that sort of thing. By about Ouyen I am in wheat country again and lit looks like harvest is well over. I'm seeing a lot of starlings and sparrows and a few of the smaller parrots, rosellas and the like. Saw a fox investigating so fresh roadkill ... you don't often see them in full daylight in the west.
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Forgot to mention, yesterday I overtook a #RecumbentTrike heading East just out of Nullarbor roadhouse (IIRC) travelling light with a support vehicle.
I also refuelled at Ceduna before ending the day.
Last night I had 5.5 hours of sleep ... almost acceptable. I was awake at about 03:30 and arose about 05:00 to be on the road at 06:00. I should have waited for another half hour because the sun was only just clearing the horizon and I was driving East.
The nice bakery at Wudinna was not yet open so I went on to Kimba to refuel and grab a coffee and sandwich.
I didn't feel the need to stop at Port Augusta so I headed onwards turning off of highway A1 onto B56 and headed up Horrocks Pass towards Wilmington and Orroroo. After Terowie I was heading south on A32 - the Barrier Highway.
I pulled into a rest area somewhere before Orroroo and I was having a quiet piss behind a bush when a couple of totally unafraid Apostlebirds came across to inspect me rather more closely than I was comfortable with. They are no cockatoos but they do have a very noticeable reinforced beaks. Thankfully they decided that picking my bones clean was not on the agenda this week. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostlebird
I had another coffee and sandwich break at Orroroo and then I went on via Peterborough and Terowie to Burra, arriving just after 14:00 where I refuelled.
Peterborough was a major rail centre and one of only a couple of places where all three Australian mainline rail gauges co-existed. Terowie was a major break of gauge transhipment point between NSW standard gauge and SA broad gauge.
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Got a good 6 hours of sleep last night and woke up around 04:30 ish. Got set up and breakfasted and on the road at 05:30 with the sun a good handspan above the horizon,
Didn't see an open petrol station on the way out. Took highway alt-94 Goldfields Highway to Kambalda. Passed a couple of A-Double (2 full length trailers) road trains all decked out with explosives signs about 10 minutes apart. Refuelled at Kambalda West. then onwards to highway 94 Coolgardie Esperance highway. Passed another Explosives truck only a standard semi this time.
Topped off the fuel in Norseman and went into town for some milk. Had to wait 15 mins for the IGA to open at 08:00 then back on the road. East of Norseman I'm on highway 1 - Eyre highway (after the explorer John Eyre).
Topped off the fuel again at Balladonia. Took a couple of leg stretches and a lunch stop along the way. At the second leg stretch I was mugged by about 8 march flies (Horseflies in other parts of the world) and they were out for blood. A quick smear of tropical strength Aerogard on the legs and I was out of there quick smart. Luckily none manages to sneak into the car. Made it to Madura Pass around 14:15 local time (unofficial central Australian time +8hrs 45 minutes). Refuelled here ready for tomorrow.
Chilling out and reorganising stuff. I'd like to get to Ceduna before 15:00 tomorrow but the 1.75 hour time difference between here and there makes that unlikely.
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Well, pussycat is now lodged in his resort and I have recovered the stored trip items from the lockup. Some sorting has been done and pack-up day will be tomorrow.
Road trip departure is Saturday. As usual I'll do (hopefully) daily posts of my progress. Taking it easy and expecting to arrive in Melbourne on Thursday.
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So, anyone out there have any suggestions about good smoke detectors?
Our previous radioactive sensor worked reliably for 22 years requiring only annual battery changes, reliably reporting burned toast and excessive steam with nary a false alarm until right at the end when the radioactive source became too weak.
The new optical one has had two false alarms in less than 9 months operation. Last night's effort was at 3 am and I am done with this shit. Is there anything out there that just works?
[#]Enshitification
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Interesting YouTube vid. The Feral Historian analyses the world of the original Mad Max film and just about recapitulates the idea behind Terry Pratchett's speech where Death talks about the importance of the Hogfather.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnD50llAkP4
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Watching "Mysteries from Above" on SBS Viceland and they have a a segment on spiral bubble patterns off the coast of NSW. Maureen and I both immediately said whale feeding. It took the show nearly 10 minutes of spurious blind alleys to reach that conclusion. They have to be really short of material to take something perfectly straightforward and spend so much time twisting it into a "mystery".
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So, for my trip in November, I'm checking the the opening hours of my favourite Ceduna fish and chippery and I find that it closes early at 3pm on Mondays. Of course I'll be going through Ceduna on Monday ... in BOTH directions and 3pm may be a bit of a stretch for driving.
So I'm looking around to see if there is anywhere else I can get my fix of locally caught King George Whiting. The other candidate seems to be Bill's Chicken and Seafood and I look at their Facebook page to see if the have Whiting and i see they have quangdong cheesecake and quangdong lamingtons. Sob ... How am I going to fit either if those and the all important whiting as well?
For those not in the know the Quangdong is an Australian shrub related to the Sandalwood. For a short season it has a red astringent fruit (a drupe) that makes excellent jam. Quagdong products have almost totally disappeared in Western Australia after law were passed that they can only be harvested by indigenous peoples even from plantations.
I never did find if Bill's has Whiting on the menu because Facebook locked me out ... as it does.
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