Oztalgian
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Posts posted by Oztalgian
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When we downsized on retirement around 4 years ago we bought a Dyson V10, the latest model at the time and have to say it has been brilliant, used two or more times a day after visits from the dogs, grandkids or me bringing in lawn clippings on the bottom of my boots. We have a mix of carpets and tiles and get a run time of 45 mins on normal and 15 on max power. When finished empty it and plug it in to the wall mounted charger. Just had to invest in a new battery so no complaints here. You just have to clean the filters periodically which you should do on mains powered machines any way
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I have decided to go electric cordless wherever possible, no more extension leads that somehow manage to tangle themselves up whilst hanging on a hook. They always get caught on the slightest lump or obstruction and if you have to use more than one to get to far flung parts they are forever coming apart at the join. This does not include them tangling around your feet and being in the way of what it is you are trying to do. No more difficult to start mowers, trimmers, chainsaws etc or getting everything ready for a job and find you have no fuel or have plenty of fuel but the wrong sort, 2 stroke vs 4 stoke. Just clean it down and plug it in to the charger when finished, jobs a gud un.
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According to the latest data Covid 19 has infected almost 10 million people, killed almost half a million and economically has brought the world to its knees.
The UK (Hong Kong) flu epidemic of 1968/69 and 70, which many of us lived through, is estimated to have killed somewhere between 1 and 4 million people worldwide. It too started in China and persists today as Influenza type A, a seasonal flu, and it killed 30,000 people in the UK yet we did not shut the economy down as we have done this time we just got on with life. During the Hong Kong flu epidemic in the UK sickness benefits claims for influenza peaked at 500,000 claims and around 800 deaths per week with an infection rate of 200 per 100,000 of the population. Between 2014 and 2019 average deaths from flu in the UK were 17,000 per annum.
The UK has had 310,000 confirmed cases of Covid 19 that has resulted in 43,500 deaths with a population of 66.65 million a 0.47% chance of being infected and a 0.065% chance of dying. In 1970 the UK population was 55.56 million and with 30,000 deaths a 0.053% chance of dying, Covid 19 therefore is more likely to kill you if you get infected, but if you take off the average yearly number of deaths from flu then the impact of Covid 19 is very little different to the Hong Kong flu of the late 60's and early 70's
In 2017 Australia had 1255 deaths from the flu and in 2019, 902 died from just under 313,000 cases. In 2020 Australia we have had only 7593 cases of Covid 19 and 104 deaths
I don’t know about you but to me this begs the question why has this strain brought about economic chaos that it has and what has changed in our psyche that has caused governments to react the way they have particularly here in Australia given that it is far less than a normal flu year. In previous years the level of flu deaths has not raised concern yet this has? What is happening and why have we hit the panic button on this one?
Is it
- Governments responding irrationally to media hype
- Government thinking that it must do something
- The impact or social media and misinformation
- Part of an icreasing anti-China sentiment fuelled in part by Trump
- Ultra-cautious medical and scientific advisors
- The risk of litigation
I would be interested in your views
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8 hours ago, Max B said:
Apparently, it was presented on the pub car park???
I do, it was on the Dale Lane side of the pub opposite the El Rico café and Madge Duggan's fish and chip shop. The Waltzer, dogems and whiplash always seemed to be there along with the usual side shows, shooting range, coconut shy, hook a duck and some kiddies rides.
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Due to an increase in Covid 19 cases in Victoria people have again started panic buying toilet rolls and paper towels. Coles and Woolworths our two biggest supermarkets have imposed limits on purchases across the whole country.
Idiots who panic buy toilet rolls should be compulsorily sterilised so they cannot pass their genes on to another generation.
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Can't say that I recall her on the Clive James Show buy I do remember Janet Webb on Morecambe and Wise
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Here in South Australia as of Next Monday social distancing is being reduced to 1 person per two square metres effectively allowing 50% capacity at venues.
Unfortunately there are still active cases in Victoria and the South Australian government has introduced on line pre approval requirements for all "essential" travellers wanting to come into SA from Victoria. We have opened or borders to all other states.
Our last confirmed case was almost a month ago and we have only had two cases since 23 April so things are looking positive. However 800 Australians from overseas will be allowed to land in Adelaide soon and taken into supervised quarantine. I hope they manage it properly or else we could have restrictions re-tightened.
Keep safe and well everyone where ever you are
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Her voice and the words of her songs are writ large in Britain's history and may they never be forgotten. She used these words in her last performance
"To the brave boys and what they sacrificed for us. They left their families and homes to fight for our freedom and many lost their lives trying to protect us and our liberties."
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What you need are Cactoblastis cactorum moths they were one of the most successful biological controls ever used.
Ben would know where to get them from and how much they cost.
Prickly pears were introduced into Australia in 1926 and pioneered by a laboratory (here comes the Nottinghamshire connection) in Sherwood, Brisbane.
At the time of their release NSW and Qld. had 60 million acres covered by this pest species making it unusable. By 1933 the little moths had done a brilliant job as Qld. had cleared 80% of their cacti and NSW around 55%.
A really successful application of a biological control unlike the introduction of the Cane Toad which was introduced to control the cane beetle and has become a pest in its own right.
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Just had a look at that one philmayfield and I agree it looks stunning but the price is definitely way over the odds. You can get one here in top nick for about the same amount in OZ dollars. RMA, RMB and RME's are quite common collectables here, I'd love one, would have to have two tone paint.
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I find the history of rail gauges fascinating. It was only in 1995 that all mainland capital were joined by the standard gauge railway.
Even today in South Australia the interstate trains (standard gauge) cannot get into the main station in Adelaide as the suburban network runs on "broad gauge" 5 ft 3" and even more stupidly when they do upgrades and build new lines they do not convert them to standard gauge. I do notice that the new lines have sleepers that can accommodate standard gauge.
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10 hours ago, radfordred said:
Big fan of Lea & Perrin's Worcestershire sauce
I am too with a dozen plump Coffin Bay oysters and some streaky bacon pieces.
Oysters Kilpatrick and red wine comprise one of the essential food groups.
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3 hours ago, philmayfield said:
Apparently chicken salt is a peculiar Australian delicacy made from salt and chicken skins and lots of other disgusting things. I think we should send them missionaries!
Peter Brinkworth was the first person to make chicken salt back in the 1960's. His original chicken salt included onion powder, garlic powder, celery salt, paprika, chicken bouillon and monosodium glutamate and the yellow colour came from curry powder.
Modern "chicken salt" does not contain any chicken it is made from lots of salt but no chicken. There can be paprika, onion, citric acid, garlic, rice flour, pepper, celery seeds and something called "chicken flavour". This is generally made from hydrolysed vegetable protein.
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12 hours ago, philmayfield said:
The noise when you floored it when pulling away was like music to the ears!
Nothing like the burble of a V8 as you hit the change gear now line on the rev counter.
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As our Covid 19 restrictions continue to ease we had fish and chips at the beach and on the counter at the chippie was white vinegar and malt vinegar and as usual the choice of plain or chicken salt.
Do any of you afishianados know which is the "correct" condiment, white or malt vinegar. Definitely not chicken salt, only plain salt and plenty of it.
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Did we ever get to the bottom (pun intended) of why people bought and hoarded excessive amounts of toilet roll at the start of the pandemic?
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In Australia we have a Federal Government and State Governments. State governments with help from the Federal government fund health and education. The Federal Government looks after defence and taxation and the distribution of GST (VAT) back to state governments. Both these levels of government employ public servants, it is only the Federal government that has to fund military and defence personnel pensions.
Between the level of governments they have unfunded liabilities of AU$224 billion. An unfunded liability is a debt that is not covered by the value of assets, savings or investments that have been allocated to pay the debt. Superannuation and pension benefits are by far the largest component of current unfunded liability.
Remember when we sold Telstra the government put some of the funds into the Future Fund unfortunately unfunded liabilities are growing faster than the Future Fund which has assets of AU$168 Billion, a net deficit of AU$56 billion. The federal government effectively tries to hide this debt from the public by only focussing on current debt during the budget process. Unlike governments companies must provide for superannuation when it occurs and not like the government live on the credit card.
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16 hours ago, Brew said:
There was no need to buy into it if we didn't want to. We could have enjoyed the benefits that came from privatisation with out spending a penny if we so wished. I say again they took nothing away from us they simply changed bricks and mortar into cash and invested it elsewhere.
I would have like to think that governments would have "gone to the people" to seek a mandate for selling publicly owned entities but they did not. In many of these privatisations they often happen after a change from a labour to a conservative government where the incoming government claims that the budgetary situation is worse than we were told and we have to do this to reduce government debt. This also helps perpetuate the myth that "Labour cannot manage money". It would not have been so bad if they had invested it wisely. As I said earlier the vast bulk of it was used to cover the unfunded liability of public servants superannuation, something that they had allowed to get out of hand largely through their largesse in tax breaks to the big end of town.
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Benjamin1845 is almost old enough to remember women working down t'pit.
The Mines and Quarries Act banning women and girls working underground in mines came into force in 1842. Boys aged above ten could still work underground.
Oops, Benjamin1945
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1 hour ago, Brew said:
Judging by the millions who applied for shares there were not too many voices raised in serious objection to the privatisation program,
Not very often I feel the need to chip in on politics discussions but this time I feel I must.
Privatisation of public assets is one of the biggest cons ever perpetrated on joe public, getting them to buy shares in something they already own.
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I always thought that "serry" was a different pronunciation of "sithee" as in "see you later"
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Here is one for Brew and DJ360...… Turn your speakers up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdOCWUgwiWs
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1 hour ago, mary1947 said:
I don't know what it is but there's some thing about going round grave yards, it is so peace-full and reading about ages and family members,
I agree Mary1947 especially in the historical country towns here in Australia. Almost without exception they all have a war memorial and when you look at the names you see so many with the same family name. Also looking at the tiny graves of the children of those that died so young of diseases that are today curable. Many of these have no formal graves as their families could not afford a headstone or even a simple cross and are remembered only by a boundary of stones or just an entry in the church or cemetery records.
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9 hours ago, TrevA said:
I remember watching Duncan McKenzie playing for Forest before his transfer to Leeds.
During his time a Forest he did two separate loan periods at the Stags. Made a total of 16 appearances and scored 10 go0als, not a bad effort.
Coronavirus
in Owt' Abaaht Nowt !
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Here in South OZ we have had three new covid 19 cases after having none for around a month. The difference this time is that they have a source that is from 280 repatriated Aussies that returned from Mumbai on a "mercy" flight and have been put in mandatory quarantine with regular testing.
Victoria (Melbourne) is still struggling with new outbreaks and have locked down at suburb level in a bid to control the spread. Our borders with Victoria will remain closed beyond the promised reopening date due to the current situation.
Keep safe everyone, this is not over yet and I hope that the opening of pubs etc on Monday does not result in a spike of new cases.