Trivia and other useless but interesting items

[NavyDiver]

Thought a thread on "Trivia and other useless but interesting items" might be on interest. A little like the Word Association Game or Jokes thread. To start one I heard today.

HAL is a fictional computer character and the main antagonist in Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey.

The Trivia Did you know "HAL" is created from HiAbLm or one letter before IBM computers. This was denied by Arthur C. Clarke I have to add.

[Saitch]

A slugs anus is on it's head.

[loanrangie]

A slugs anus is on it's head.

so they have **** for brains [bigrolf].

[NavyDiver]

while on Slugs They can be very violent

Sea slugs stab partners in head during sex (https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn24568-zoologger-sea-slugs-stab-partners-in-head-during-sex/)

[Hall]

When is fifteen minutes equal to one second ? You will sleep better knowing this [bighmmm]
Cheers Hall

[Saitch]

The 3rd hand on a watch is called the 2nd hand.

[Old Farang]

A shrimp's heart is in it's head.


Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell. (and some have not advanced very much since![biggrin])

[V8Ian]

A slugs anus is on it's head.
I know people like that. [bigwhistle]

[Homestar]

I know people like that. [bigwhistle]

Was going to say the same thing - I work with some.

[Saitch]

MOW, NOON and SWIMS read the same upside down.

[Fatso]

I know people like that. [bigwhistle]

Was their name **** head . [bigrolf][bigrolf]

[ramblingboy42]

Find inner peace by clenching and unclenching your buttocks at least 20 times every day

[JDNSW]

When is fifteen minutes equal to one second ? You will sleep better knowing this [bighmmm]
Cheers Hall

When converting time to longitude.

[p38arover]

MOW, NOON and SWIMS read the same upside down.

Surely "MOW" becomes "WOM" and "SWIMS" becomes "SMIWS"? And the "N' is no longer an "N" [bigwhistle]

[NavyDiver]

The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan." (1904)

[Homestar]

The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan." (1904)

As a stand alone name yes, but Wendy was used as an abbreviation of Gwendolyn before this back in the 1870’s.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

MOW, NOON and SWIMS read the same upside down.

sounds like a voice of experience...
[bighmmm][bigrolf]

[DiscoMick]

If you count backwards, 5 + 5 = 11.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6 + 5 = 11.

[Saitch]

The Nazi uniforms were created by Hugo Boss.

[Tote]

One for all the old school computer nerds. To explain, a VAX was a minicomputer that was made by Digital Equipment Corporation (whom I may have worked for once). This is an old yarn but a pretty good one, I'll leave you to google the significance of the date at the end of the yarn.

VAXen, My Children, Just Don't Belong In Some Places
Usenet Apocrypha

VAXen, my children, just don't belong some places. In my business, I am frequently called by small sites and startups having VAX problems. So when a friend of mine in an Extremely Large Financial Institution (ELFI) called me one day to ask for help, I was intrigued because this outfit is a really major VAX user--they have several large herds of VAXen--and plenty of sharp VAXherds to take care of them.

So I went to see what sort of an ELFI mess they had gotten into. It seems they had shoved a small 750 with two RA60's running a single application, PC style, into a data center with two IBM 3090's and just about all the rest of the disk drives in the world. The computer room was so big it had three street addresses. The operators had only IBM experience and, to quote my friend, they were having ``a little trouble adjusting to the VAX,'' were a bit hostile towards it and probably needed some help with system management. Hmmm, Hostility.... Sigh.

Well, I thought it was pretty ridiculous for an outfit with all that VAX muscle elsewhere to isolate a dinky old 750 in their Big Blue Country, and said so bluntly. But my friend patiently explained that although small, it was an ``extremely sensitive and confidential application.'' It seems that the 750 had originally been properly clustered with the rest of a herd and in the care of one of their best VAXherds. But the trouble started when the Chief User went to visit his computer and its VAXherd.

He came away visibly disturbed and immediately complained to the ELFI's Director of Data Processing that, ``There are some very strange people in there with the computers.'' Now since this user person was the Comptroller of this Extremely Large Financial Institution, the 750 had been promptly hustled over to the IBM data center which the Comptroller said, ``was a more suitable place.'' The people there wore shirts and ties and didn't wear head bands or cowboy hats.

So my friend introduced me to the Comptroller, who turned out to be five feet tall, 85 and a former gnome of Zurich. He had a young apprentice gnome who was about 65. The two gnomes interviewed me in whispers for about an hour before they decided my modes of dress and speech were suitable for managing their system and I got the assignment.

There was some confusion, understandably, when I explained that I would immediately establish a procedure for nightly backups. The senior gnome seemed to think I was going to put the computer in reverse, but the apprentice's son had an IBM PC and he quickly whispered that ``backup'' meant making a copy of a program borrowed from a friend and why was I doing that? Sigh.

I was shortly introduced to the manager of the IBM data center, who greeted me with joy and anything but hostility. And the operators really weren't hostile--it just seemed that way. It's like the driver of a Mack 18 wheeler, with a condo behind the cab, who was doing 75 when he ran over a moped doing it's best to get away at 45. He explained sadly, ``I really warn't mad at mopeds but to keep from runnin' over that'n, I'da had to slow down or change lanes!''

Now the only operation they had figured out how to do on the 750 was reboot it. This was their universal cure for any and all problems. After all it works on a PC, why not a VAX? Was there a difference? Sigh.

But I smiled and said, ``No sweat, I'll train you. The first command you learn is HELP'' and proceeded to type it in on the console terminal. So the data center manager, the shift supervisor and the eight day operators watched the LA100 buzz out the usual introductory text. When it finished they turned to me with expectant faces and I said in an avuncular manner, ``This is your most important command!''

The shift supervisor stepped forward and studied the text for about a minute. He then turned with a very puzzled expression on his face and asked, ``What do you use it for?'' Sigh.

Well, I tried everything. I trained and I put the doc set on shelves by the 750 and I wrote a special 40 page doc set and then a four page doc set. I designed all kinds of command files to make complex operations into simple foreign commands and I taped a list of these simplified commands to the top of the VAX. The most successful move was adding my home phone number.

The cheat sheets taped on the top of the CPU cabinet needed continual maintenance, however. It seems the VAX was in the quietest part of the data center, over behind the scratch tape racks. The operators ate lunch on the CPU cabinet and the sheets quickly became coated with pizza drippings, etc.

But still the most used solution to hangups was a reboot and I gradually got things organized so that during the day when the gnomes were using the system, the operators didn't have to touch it. This smoothed things out a lot.

Meanwhile, the data center was getting new TV security cameras, a halon gas fire extinguisher system and an immortal power source. The data center manager apologized because the VAX had not been foreseen in the plan and so could not be connected to immortal power. The VAX and I felt a little rejected but I made sure that booting on power recovery was working right. At least it would get going again quickly when power came back.

Anyway, as a consolation prize, the data center manager said he would have one of the security cameras adjusted to cover the VAX. I thought to myself, ``Great, now we can have 24 hour video tapes of the operators eating Chinese takeout on the CPU.'' I resolved to get a piece of plastic to cover the cheat sheets.

One day, the apprentice gnome called to whisper that the senior was going to give an extremely important demonstration. Now I must explain that what the 750 was really doing was holding our National Debt. The Reagan administration had decided to privatize it and had quietly put it out for bid. My Extreme Large Financial Institution had won the bid for it and was, as ELFI's are wont to do, making an absolute bundle on the float.

On Monday the Comptroller was going to demonstrate to the board of directors how he could move a trillion dollars from Switzerland to the Bahamas. The apprentice whispered, ``Would you please look in on our computer? I'm sure everything will be fine, sir, but we will feel better if you are present. I'm sure you understand?'' I did.

Monday morning, I got there about five hours before the scheduled demo to check things over. Everything was cool. I was chatting with the shift supervisor and about to go upstairs to the Comptroller's office. Suddenly there was a power failure.

The emergency lighting came on and the immortal power system took over the load of the IBM 3090's. They continued smoothly, but of course the VAX, still on city power, died. Everyone smiled and the dead 750 was no big deal because it was 7 AM and gnomes don't work before 10 AM. I began worrying about whether I could beg some immortal power from the data center manager in case this was a long outage.

Immortal power in this system comes from storage batteries for the first five minutes of an outage. Promptly at one minute into the outage we hear the gas turbine powered generator in the sub-basement under us automatically start up getting ready to take the load on the fifth minute. We all beam at each other.

At two minutes into the outage we hear the whine of the backup gas turbine generator starting. The 3090's and all those disk drives are doing just fine. Business as usual. The VAX is dead as a door nail but what the hell.

At precisely five minutes into the outage, just as the gas turbine is taking the load, city power comes back on and the immortal power source commits suicide. Actually it was a double murder and suicide because it took both 3090's with it.

So now the whole data center was dead, sort of. The fire alarm system had it's own battery backup and was still alive. The lead acid storage batteries of the immortal power system had been discharging at a furious rate keeping all those big blue boxes running and there was a significant amount of sulfuric acid vapor. Nothing actually caught fire but the smoke detectors were convinced it had.

The fire alarm klaxon went off and the siren warning of imminent halon gas release was screaming. We started to panic but the data center manager shouted over the din, ``Don't worry, the halon system failed its acceptance test last week. It's disabled and nothing will happen.''

He was half right, the primary halon system indeed failed to discharge. But the secondary halon system observed that the primary had conked and instantly did its duty, which was to deal with Dire Disasters. It had twice the capacity and six times the discharge rate.

Now the ear splitting gas discharge under the raised floor was so massive and fast, it blew about half of the floor tiles up out of their framework. It came up through the floor into a communications rack and blew the cover panels off, decking an operator. Looking out across that vast computer room, we could see the air shimmering as the halon mixed with it.

We stampeded for exits to the dying whine of 175 IBM disks. As I was escaping I glanced back at the VAX, on city power, and noticed the usual flickering of the unit select light on its system disk indicating it was happily rebooting.

Twelve firemen with air tanks and axes invaded. There were frantic phone calls to the local IBM Field Service office because both the live and backup 3090's were down. About twenty minutes later, seventeen IBM CEs arrived with dozens of boxes and, so help me, a barrel. It seems they knew what to expect when an immortal power source commits murder.

In the midst of absolute pandemonium, I crept off to the gnome office and logged on. After extensive checking it was clear that everything was just fine with the VAX and I began to calm down. I called the data center manager's office to tell him the good news. His secretary answered with, ``He isn't expected to be available for some time. May I take a message?'' I left a slightly smug note to the effect that, unlike some other computers, the VAX was intact and functioning normally.

Several hours later, the gnome was whispering his way into a demonstration of how to flick a trillion dollars from country 2 to country 5. He was just coming to the tricky part, where the money had been withdrawn from Switzerland but not yet deposited in the Bahamas. He was proceeding very slowly and the directors were spellbound. I decided I had better check up on the data center.

Most of the floor tiles were back in place. IBM had resurrected one of the 3090's and was running tests. What looked like a bucket brigade was working on the other one. The communication rack was still naked and a fireman was standing guard over the immortal power corpse. Life was returning to normal, but the Big Blue Country crew was still pretty shaky.

Smiling proudly, I headed back toward the triumphant VAX behind the tape racks where one of the operators was eating a plump jelly bun on the 750 CPU. He saw me coming, turned pale and screamed to the shift supervisor, ``Oh my God, we forgot about the VAX!'' Then, before I could open my mouth, he rebooted it. It was Monday, 19-Oct-1987. VAXen, my children, just don't belong some places.


Regards,
Tote

[p38arover]

Ahh, Oct. 1987.

Some of the above brought back memories. I haven't heard the term "scratch tapes" in over 25 years (I used to manage a couple of data centres). One of those was halon protected, too.

Some years later, I was managing the buildings in which the data centres were located. For a number of areas, large UPS systems had been installed. One day, the mains went down at one of the buildings. Usually not a problem, the UPS would take the loads until the standby generators came on line.

Only they didn't. The batteries were shot. My plant maintenance team had been regularly checking the battery terminal voltages but, as we found out, that wasn't a reliable system of monitoring them. After it was all over, we went to also checking ripple voltage when on charge - good batteries have minimal ripple. But we did find that the other same brand UPS systems at our other sites had the same batteries so they were checked and found to also be on the way out. The were soon changed!

Oh, does this look familiar? I used it as a storage box in my P38A.

151285

[Old Farang]

One for all the old school computer nerds. To explain, a VAX was a minicomputer that was made by Digital Equipment Corporation (whom I may have worked for once). This is an old yarn but a pretty good one, I'll leave you to google the significance of the date at the end of the yarn.
If anybody is still awake after reading the above: [thumbsupbig]



The original IBM-PCs, that had hard drives, referred to the hard drives as Winchester drives. This is due to the fact that the original Winchester drive had a model number of 3030. This is, of course, a Winchester firearm.

[NavyDiver]

Loved that one Tote. On a similar theme

Tattersalls runs a few pokies in victoria. Networking to allow jackpots was all via a nice secure server set up on St Kilda Rd somewhere. Back Up Power, Back up power for the back up power. hot swappable raid arays mirrored to other hot swappable raid arays ( Lots of Hard disks for memory to put it simply)

Every thing had back ups+++

A electrican cut just one wire out side the secure area. Pokiegeadon with every club and pub pokie crashed instantly.

On other triva

Elvis never performed a single encore, so when he left, he wasn't coming back. Hence the phrase '[B]Elvis has left the building.'

[JDNSW]

As a result of company history, for about thirty years, engines made by Morris motors used metric threads - with Whitworth nut and bolthead sizes!

(When Morris started making cars in 1912, they used engines made by White and Poppe. In 1914 they started fitting engines built by Continental and imported from the USA. In 1919 this became impossible because of import restrictions. White and Poppe had merged with Dennis, and were not interested.

Meanwhile, the French firm Hotchkiss had hastily moved their machine gun factory from France to Coventry, ahead of the German advance, but in 1919 the market for machine guns had almost disappeared, and they were looking for work. They started making engines for Morris that bore a suspicious resemblance to the Continental engines, with many parts interchangeable - except that since their machinery was all metric, all the threads were metric.)

[Fifth Columnist]

My Dad spent the second World War years designing and developing the first working Mach Meter.

[JDNSW]

My father-in-law spent part of the war as Australia's engineering officer on the Bailey Bridge project - after he had a run-in with General Blamey over refusing to put his signature on a pack of lies. (And apparently got blacklisted from front-line appointments, being sent home from PNG; he also had malaria.)

[drivesafe]

Maybe we need to start a separate Family History thread.

My grandfather was in the US army at the beginning of the First World War. His father became critically ill and although he was entitled to compassionate leave, my grandfather was refused leave so he went awol.

When WWII began, my grandfather’s mother wrote to President Roosevelt, explaining what had happened and President Roosevelt gave my grandfather a pardon.

My grandfather was in Australia at the time and became an engineer working in a number of boat yards on the Brisbane River, building PT boats.

I and my relos in the USA have spent the last 2 years trying to find out if we can get a copy of the pardon. No luck yet.

[DiscoMick]

My grandfather on my mother's side owned the first taxi in Coffs Harbour.
My wife's great grand father was a Lord who owned both a village, named after him naturally, and a chain of newspapers in England.
Everyone in the world with my surname originated on a single farm in Devon.
Family history is interesting.

[p38arover]

My grandfather started, in the Twenties, a salacious newspaper called Beckett's Budget. It had headlines like "White women, black lovers"

151294

Many years back I was talking to a 95 yo lady who remembered it and how her father who bought it would keep it hidden from the family. Obviously, not very well - a bit like ones father keeping Playboy hidden (I don't think Dad ever bought Playboy, he wouldn't have had the money.)

[NavyDiver]

Puffy jackets and Oxygen for Everest! Us colonial scoundrel (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-25/puffer-jackets-the-incredible-true-story/10133112)s[biggrin]

[RANDLOVER]

"When is fifteen minutes equal to one second ? You will sleep better knowing this [bighmmm]
Cheers Hall"


When converting time to longitude.

I was going to say when a person is dead.

[mekon76]

"When is fifteen minutes equal to one second ? You will sleep better knowing this [bighmmm]
Cheers Hall"



I was going to say when a person is dead.

It's all relative.

On the 2001 A Space Odyssey theme. 'Daisy' song that HAL sings when being shut down is somewhat ironic as the IBM 7094 demonstrated this same song in 1961. One of the first big mainframes.

[NavyDiver]

Hot water will turn into ice faster than cold water.

"Mpemba effect", Found by a Tanzanian student who discovered that a hot ice cream mix freezes faster than a cold mix in the 60s

[DiscoMick]

A quarter of the world's people will develop a mental health condition during their lifetime, according to the World Health Organisation.
One in seven children will have a mental condition before reaching age 16.

Common conditions include anxiety, separation anxiety, obsessive-compulsive actions, PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and depression.
Mental health, which is about wellness, should be thought of as being on a scale from low to high, and may vary normally because of life events and other causes. It's not black and white at all, its very complex and each person is unique.

For more on this I recommend the Beyond Blue website. There are short quizzes for adults and children which can help to highlight areas which may need support, and many informative sections and resources.

Society needs to talk more about mental health, and not sweep it under the carpet, I think.

Children (0 - 12) (https://www.beyondblue.org.au/who-does-it-affect/children)

[Saitch]

Charles Dickens named three of his children "Flaster Floby", " Lucifer Box" and "Chickenstalker."

[Eevo]

The Nazi uniforms were created by Hugo Boss.

not designed, only manufactured.

[JDNSW]

The Rover Company was the company first involved in developing jet engines in Britain, working with Frank Whittle and his company Power Jets from 1940. Following friction with Whittle, partly because they redesigned his engine (with Air Ministry approval) without telling him, Rover organised a deal with Rolls Royce to swap their jet engine activities for the contract and equipment to build Meteor Tank engines.

The first operational RR jet engine was the Welland, based on Whittles design, with some input from Rover, was the first engine to power the Gloster Meteor in 1943, but was later replaced by the Rover designed and RR developed Derwent.

Rover used their knowledge gained in this exercise to produce prototype turbine powered cars in 1949-50.

[350RRC]

When is fifteen minutes equal to one second ? You will sleep better knowing this [bighmmm]
Cheers Hall

Don't you mean when is 15 minutes equal to 60 seconds?

DL

[JDNSW]

I think you are right - although I think he meant "when does fifteen minutes equal one minute".

15degrees (longitude) = 1 hour (time) from 360/24

convert to minutes and divide by 60

15x60/60 =15 minutes longitude = 60/60 = 1 minute time = 60 seconds time

[V8Ian]

The Rover Company was the company first involved in developing jet engines in Britain, working with Frank Whittle and his company Power Jets from 1940. Following friction with Whittle, partly because they redesigned his engine (with Air Ministry approval) without telling him, Rover organised a deal with Rolls Royce to swap their jet engine activities for the contract and equipment to build Meteor Tank engines.

The first operational RR jet engine was the Welland, based on Whittles design, with some input from Rover, was the first engine to power the Gloster Meteor in 1943, but was later replaced by the Rover designed and RR developed Derwent.

Rover used their knowledge gained in this exercise to produce prototype turbine powered cars in 1949-50.
Vauxhall Motors made top-secret components for Frank Whittle (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Whittle)'s jet engine (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Jets_W.1).

[pop058]

The Rover Company was the company first involved in developing jet engines in Britain, working with Frank Whittle and his company Power Jets from 1940. Following friction with Whittle, partly because they redesigned his engine (with Air Ministry approval) without telling him, Rover organised a deal with Rolls Royce to swap their jet engine activities for the contract and equipment to build Meteor Tank engines.

The first operational RR jet engine was the Welland, based on Whittles design, with some input from Rover, was the first engine to power the Gloster Meteor in 1943, but was later replaced by the Rover designed and RR developed Derwent.

Rover used their knowledge gained in this exercise to produce prototype turbine powered cars in 1949-50.

151403

[Fifth Columnist]

The Rover Company produced a large number of gas turbine fire pumps for warships.

[DiscoMick]

One in every 23,000 men is a murderer.

[Eevo]

One in every 23,000 men is a murderer.


how many users on this forum?

[Eevo]

how many users on this forum?



19099


phew, that was close.

[Markf]

One for all the old school computer nerds. To explain, a VAX was a minicomputer that was made by Digital Equipment Corporation (whom I may have worked for once). This is an old yarn but a pretty good one, I'll leave you to google the significance of the date at the end of the yarn.

VAXen, My Children, Just Don't Belong In Some Places
Usenet Apocrypha

[deletia]
It was Monday, 19-Oct-1987. VAXen, my children, just don't belong some places.


Regards,
Tote

I was a VMS (later OpenVMS) system administrator, VAX and Alpha, for over 20 years. In that time I even learnt how f$fao() worked..[bigsmile]

I remember that date QUITE well. I was the system administrator VMS Systems at the ASX at the time and can well remember the transaction queue at the peak of trading.

I saw the very first Alpha AXP 1GHz CPU installed (Monash Uni) and the first Alpha with 1GB of memory (Monash again). The first Australian TB storage array was installed at BHP IT for the OpenVMS cluster.

[350RRC]

When I was at school there was a serious nerdy student (but nice bloke) called Mark who had access to the Latrobe Uni computer in the early 70's.

The only productive thing I remember this computer doing was to make printouts of a naked woman sitting on a stool over several joined pages, all in 1's and 0's.

DL

[JDNSW]

In 1885 the firm of Starley and Sutton introduced the 'Rover Safety Bicycle', the ancestor of today's bicycle. By the end of the nineteenth centurey the company had changed its name to the 'Rover Cycle Company', and in turn changing to the Rover company after they started to make motorcycles, then cars. Merging with Leyland in 1967, the current Landrover company is essentially the direct descendant of Starley and Sutton.

[NavyDiver]

World Wide Web was created by Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee in 1989

Some smarty pants where using the precursor playing cmd line star trek in the early 1980s on ARPANET which was purely TCP/IP after the 1970s.

GUIs or what you look at on any computer device is really just allowing you to do simply what some old buggers did or still do via MS-DOS is a command line [biggrin]

[350RRC]

The old blokes would have been looking at carpet in those days, compared with lino these days.

DL

[NavyDiver]

The grandson of the woman who designed Hitler's bunker designed Saddam Hussein's bunker.

[DiscoMick]

The grandson of the woman who designed Hitler's bunker designed Saddam Hussein's bunker.That turned out well. [emoji16]

[NavyDiver]

The ‘Hog’ Nickname Came from a Real Hog

A lot of people who ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles lovingly refer to their preferred method of transport as a ‘hog’. This term originates from a group of farm boys who often raced on their motorcycles in the 1920s. They had a pig for a mascot and would even take him for victory rides after winning a race. Harley-Davidson embraced the term, and even formed the acronym H.O.G. to stand for Harley Owners Group. They also tried to trademark the term but were denied as it was too commonly used to refer to other brands of motorcycles. However, they did manage to change their NYSE demarcation from HDI to HOG in 2006.

[DiscoMick]

Student rhyme (how fast can you say it?):

If Churk Norris could chuck numchucks,
how many numchucks could Chuck Norris chuck?

[Fifth Columnist]

Or, the original....

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

[austastar]

how many numchucks could Chuck Norris chuck?
Hi,
I heard of a fierce rooster called Cluck Norris.
Cheers

[ramblingboy42]

numchuks?

[DiscoMick]

Sorry, should have been nunchucks. My bad.

[Fatso]

The amount of money saved in 1987 by American Airlines by taking out 1 Olive served in First Class Salad . $40,000 .

[DiscoMick]

Filming on the new James Bond movie (not called Shatterhand) has been shut down by Health and Safety inspectors after an over-vigorous gas explosion injured a crew member. Bond has met his match in HSE inspectors armed with briefcases, it seems.
[emoji15]
Can James Bond survive his encounter with the man from health and safety?

Can James Bond survive his encounter with the man from health and safety? | Life and style | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2019/jun/06/can-james-bond-survive-health-and-safety?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard)

[Bigbjorn]

The amount of money saved in 1987 by American Airlines by taking out i Olive served in First Class Salad . $40,000 .

In my GM days any of the individual divisions such as purchasing & supply, manufacturing, engineering, etc. could make changes to a vehicle specification costing up to $0.05 per vehicle without consulting other divisions. Changes over $0.05 had to go through a committee meeting to allow all divisions to have a say. This could amount to a tidy sum when you consider that Chev. division alone made something like 22000 V8 engined Impala per week one year. Tonawanda engine plant was making 3,500,000 small block V8's every year.

[NavyDiver]

The amount of money saved in 1987 by American Airlines by taking out 1 Olive served in First Class Salad . $40,000 .

I like olives [thumbsupbig]

On average, an olive tree can live to a ripe old age with some specimens over a thousand years old still bearing very good crops.
Olives cannot be eaten directly from the tree since they are extremely bitter and astringent.
Harvested olives need to be processed with brine before they become edible. Natural processing takes place with the help of beneficial yeasts and bacteria much like cheese making.
Colour of the fruit depends on the maturity of the fruit. All olives start out green and then turn darker maroon or black as they ripen. A few rare varieties do not colour but go whitish.
Oil extraction below 30 degrees Celsius keeps the aroma and beneficial anti-oxidant levels intact.
One liter of olive oil is produced from the pressing of between 6 and 7 kg of olives.
On average, the world consumes approximately 2.5 million tons of olive oil each year.
Baked goods will last longer when you substitute butter with olive oil. It is the vitamin E and biophenolics that improve shelf life.
Olives and Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) provide a rich source of vitamins E, A, and K.
Olive oil is naturally cholesterol, sodium, and carbohydrate-free.
There is evidence of olive oil extraction in the Middle East from before 4500 BC.
Unlike wine, olive oil doesn’t improve with age. A good quality olive oil should keep up to two years. Exposure to air, light, warm temperatures and moisture shorten the shelf life of olive oil.

[Fatso]

Average number if days a West German goes without washing his underwear: 7 . [bigsad]

[NavyDiver]

Average number if days a West German goes without washing his underwear: 7 . [bigsad]

TOO MUCH INFORMATION?

According to research, it is normal to lose [B]50-100 hairs every day.

Every hair has a life cycle of its own which ends with it falling out to make room for new one to grow. At any moment of time, only about 80 percent of your hairs are growing. The growing phase lasts from two to six years, varying from one individual to another. The other 20 percent of the hair has ceased to grow and gone into inactive period of about 3 months before finally falling out.

Note to above- I am a chrome dome with no hair on my head. I wonder if the stuff would be so kind to fall of all the other places it now inhabits like my ears or nose [biggrin][biggrin] TOO MUCH INFORMATION again?

[Bigbjorn]

I like olives [thumbsupbig]
[LIST]

Olives cannot be eaten directly from the tree since they are extremely bitter and astringent.


A few years ago Israeli plant breeders announced they had developed an olive variety that could be eaten from the tree. The idea of the research was that if Israel was invaded and their army had to go into guerilla warfare mode the soldiers would have to live off the land. They planned to plant many thousands of this olive over the countryside. Must not have been a success as I have not heard any more of it.

[DiscoMick]

I have read that most of the dust in our houses is actually our own skin and hair.


TOO MUCH INFORMATION? [biggrin]

According to research, it is normal to lose [B]50-100 hairs every day.

Every hair has a life cycle of its own which ends with it falling out to make room for new one to grow. At any moment of time, only about 80 percent of your hairs are growing. The growing phase lasts from two to six years, varying from one individual to another. The other 20 percent of the hair has ceased to grow and gone into inactive period of about 3 months before finally falling out.

Note to above- I am a chrome dome with no hair on my head. I wonder if the stuff would be so kind to fall of all the other places it now inhabits like my ears or nose [biggrin][biggrin] TOO MUCH INFORMATION again?

[Markf]

In my GM days any of the individual divisions such as purchasing & supply, manufacturing, engineering, etc. could make changes to a vehicle specification costing up to $0.05 per vehicle without consulting other divisions. Changes over $0.05 had to go through a committee meeting to allow all divisions to have a say. This could amount to a tidy sum when you consider that Chev. division alone made something like 22000 V8 engined Impala per week one year. Tonawanda engine plant was making 3,500,000 small block V8's every year.

Yep, what seems like a trivial amount adds up to BIG savings.
A mate of mine is a process engineer. His team designs the assembly process for cars. He says that for a company like GM or VW the savings of a few dollars per car can amount to millions of dollars saved / day. He also says that's why modern cars can be so difficult to work on - from the ground up it is designed to be assembled and NOT maintained, serviced or repaired. The whole body off (for maintenance and repairs) thing came about because it's faster and easier, and therefore cheaper, to put the body ON as one of the very last steps of assembly.

So, next time you're cursing because your hands are too big or that your wrists, fingers and elbows don't have enough articulation blame the process engineers.

[JDNSW]

Designing for easy manufacture was one of Henry Ford's main contributions to building cars, rather than any specific design features or manufacturing techniques such as the assembly line. Assembly lines and mass production were not new - they date from, I think it was Venice's naval shipbuilding in the fifteenth century.

Mass production machinery and interchangeable parts was introduced to block making at the Royal Dockyards by the elder Brunel in about 1800, and by the middle of the century was being used by Colt for the production of firearms. What Henry did was to take these production methods and design for them. And this has been accelerating ever since.

It does not have to bee in conflict with maintainability though. A good example is the Martin-Baker MB3 (Sabre engined) and MB5 (Griffon) which offered superior performance and manufacturing ease and maintainability compared to that of the existing Hurricanes and Spitfires, or indeed their immediate evolved descendants (Typhoon and Spiteful). It was not put into production, probably because the existing aircraft types were already being mass produced.

[Saitch]

The water temperature last Saturday at Seaforth, just North of Mackay, was 18°.
That is an extremely low temp, by any standard!

[V8Ian]

The water temperature last Saturday at Seaforth, just North of Mackay, was 18°.
That is an extremely low temp, by any standard!
Global warming.

[Bigbjorn]

Designing for easy manufacture was one of Henry Ford's main contributions to building cars, rather than any specific design features or manufacturing techniques such as the assembly line. Assembly lines and mass production were not new - they date from, I think it was Venice's naval shipbuilding in the fifteenth century.

Mass production machinery and interchangeable parts was introduced to block making at the Royal Dockyards by the elder Brunel in about 1800, and by the middle of the century was being used by Colt for the production of firearms. What Henry did was to take these production methods and design for them. And this has been accelerating ever since.

It does not have to bee in conflict with maintainability though. A good example is the Martin-Baker MB3 (Sabre engined) and MB5 (Griffon) which offered superior performance and manufacturing ease and maintainability compared to that of the existing Hurricanes and Spitfires, or indeed their immediate evolved descendants (Typhoon and Spiteful). It was not put into production, probably because the existing aircraft types were already being mass produced.

Cadillac was the first motor vehicle that could be assembled with interchangeable parts. Henry Leland was the chief engineer and his experience with interchangeability was gained during the Civil War when Union arsenals assembled firearms using components from numerous makers. The Whites of sewing machines, bicycles, steam cars, motor trucks and automobiles got their start by making parts for Union muskets. Several of Lelands Cadillacs were sent to Britain where the local industry was astonished by the feat of dismantling the cars, mixing up the parts, and reassembling them. Right up to and during WW2 Rolls Royce were still building Merlins by selective assembly. Ford set them right on this. Read the account in Stanley Hooker's book "Not Much of an Engineer".

[DiscoMick]

If you count backwards, 5 + 5 = 11.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six plus 5 = 11."
[emoji16]

[JDNSW]

I don't think Cadillac were the first to build cars with interchangeable parts, although I'm not sure of the date this is claimed for.

White and Poppe, who built the engines for the first Morris cars in 1912 had demonstrated the interchangeability of their engine parts a couple of years prior to this. They learnt how to do this building shell fuses during the Russo-Japanese war.

[Bigbjorn]

I don't think Cadillac were the first to build cars with interchangeable parts, although I'm not sure of the date this is claimed for.

White and Poppe, who built the engines for the first Morris cars in 1912 had demonstrated the interchangeability of their engine parts a couple of years prior to this. They learnt how to do this building shell fuses during the Russo-Japanese war.

John, The RAC awarded the Dewar Trophy to Cadillac in 1908 for interchangeability. Cadillac were the only maker prepared to enter the contest. Three stock Cadillacs and a quantity of stock spare parts were used. The cars were completely dismantled, all the parts mixed up and the cars reassembled. All three were reported to have started easily and quickly after reassembly. Plenty of references to this on the internet.

Interchangeable parts (Inventions) (http://what-when-how.com/inventions/interchangeable-parts-inventions/)

[Old Farang]

Read the account in Stanley Hooker's book "Not Much of an Engineer".
Very much overlooked genius! "The man whom put the power into the Merlin".

[Bigbjorn]

Very much overlooked genius! "The man whom put the power into the Merlin".

Dead right. Before Hooker redesigned and reworked the supercharger system, the Merlin was a very ordinary engine (and unnecessarily complex). Hooker was also responsible for much of the research and development that went into gas turbines (jet engines). The Yanks should have got him to have a look at the Allison V1710 which was a much simpler and easier to maintain engine. Unfortunately the USAAC owned the turbocharger and intercooler patents, had GE make them and supplied to Allison to use at the USAAC insistence.

[NavyDiver]

NBN is cool. If your lucky enough to have it and it works of course. One BIG ozzie company NBN modems have fall over protection. It turns the failed NBN connection to a mobile 4g connection again if for lucky enough to get 4g.

Fall over protection is a great idea. When the NbN is restored my little bit of trivia is I have to manually change it back from the 4g connection. That is at home and work. I wonder who the bright spark was that forgot to progam the switch back to the much faster NBN? [bighmmm] Trivia or trivial?

[DiscoMick]

In Spain and Thailand drivers can be charged for driving while topless.
In Alabama drivers can be charged for driving while blindfolded.

[LRJim]

In Spain and Thailand drivers can be charged for driving while topless.
In Alabama drivers can be charged for driving while blindfolded.LOL, I once saw a fella playing a clarinet while driving funniest ever. Also seen a few truckers have ipads on their steering wheels while driving along, playing candy crush or whatever crap it is.
Worst ive seen is a fella smoking crack, got a photo somwhere you can see his glass pipe clear as day.... people are fried.

[Bigbjorn]

LOL, I once saw a fella playing a clarinet while driving funniest ever. Also seen a few truckers have ipads on their steering wheels while driving along, playing candy crush or whatever crap it is.
Worst ive seen is a fella smoking crack, got a photo somwhere you can see his glass pipe clear as day.... people are fried.

I once spotted a truckie on the New England with a newspaper spread on the steering wheel.

[DiscoMick]

Is this where I confess to eating a pizza while driving?

[Homestar]

I think we've all done that haven't we? [emoji56]

[DiscoMick]

When two people kiss they exchange about 80 million bacteria. [emoji15]
Our mouths are festering cesspits. Exchanging saliva is how many diseases are transmitted. Epidemics are spread by kissing. Many people die as a result.
Kissing is a highly dangerous activity, possibly the most dangerous thing we do.
Kissing should be banned because of its health dangers.

Oral microbiology - Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_microbiology)

[Eevo]

When two people kiss they exchange about 80 million bacteria. [emoji15]
Our mouths are festering cesspits. Exchanging saliva is how many diseases are transmitted. Epidemics are spread by kissing. Many people die as a result.
Kissing is a highly dangerous activity, possibly the most dangerous thing we do.
Kissing should be banned because of its health dangers.

Oral microbiology - Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_microbiology)


hence why i tell people to kill my arse.

[DiscoMick]

hence why i tell people to kill my arse.
That sounds a bit counter-productive. Wouldn't kissing it be preferable to killing it?

[Eevo]

damm typo.
or Freudian slip

[ramblingboy42]

I think we've all done that haven't we? [emoji56]

no, but I've burnt my lip on a hot pie and spilled it down my shirt as a result


I bet you've all spilt an iced coffee from a carton all over yourselves.

[Homestar]

I bet you've all spilt an iced coffee from a carton all over yourselves.

Yep, done that too - I'm a bit of a grot.

[Saitch]

You can't hum while holding your nose closed.

[350RRC]

Both times I went out to Bait Reef (Qld) for a dive there was a big potato cod there who was called Gavin.

DL

[DiscoMick]

damm typo.
or Freudian slipI suppose using tongues might cause even more than 80 million bacteria to be exchanged. [emoji15]

[DiscoMick]

I guess if kissing was ranked, not according to the usual criteria of pleasure, but based on danger of bacterial exchange, the rankings (low to high) might go something like this:

1. Brief peck on cheek
2. Extended pecking
3. Brief lip pash
4. Extended lip pash
5. Lip pash, open mouth
6. Pash, mouth, tongue
7. Extended pash, mouth, tongue
8. All of the above, tongue down throat, extended indefinitely
9. Imagine it yourself, you dirty bugger!

Danger points would be deducted for regular teeth cleaning, kissing and use of mouthwash
Danger points would be added for failure to brush, floss and use mouthwash
Vegetarians would lose danger points, but large consumers of meat would accrue double danger points.

I'm a bit inexperienced in this field, so have I missed anything?

[V8Ian]

I'm a bit inexperienced in this field, so have I missed anything?
YouTube (https://youtu.be/FnWua_Cniek)

[RANDLOVER]

"..........seldom need to capture live prey directly, since their venomous (https://www.britannica.com/science/venom) bite delivers toxins (https://www.britannica.com/science/toxin) that inhibit (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inhibit) blood clotting (https://www.britannica.com/science/bleeding). It is thought that their victims go into shock from rapid blood (https://www.britannica.com/science/blood-biochemistry) loss.Some herpetologists note that the physical trauma of the bite and the introduction of bacteria (https://www.britannica.com/science/bacteria) from the Komodo dragon’s mouth to the wound also play roles in slowing and killing prey."

https://www.britannica.com/animal/Komodo-dragon

One wouldn't want to kiss a Komodo Dragon then.

[Saulman1010]

When two people kiss they exchange about 80 million bacteria. [emoji15]
Our mouths are festering cesspits. Exchanging saliva is how many diseases are transmitted. Epidemics are spread by kissing. Many people die as a result.
Kissing is a highly dangerous activity, possibly the most dangerous thing we do.
Kissing should be banned because of its health dangers.

Oral microbiology - Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_microbiology)I read somewhere that in ye old days when pirate ships were out and about, biting was a common weapon in a fight. In the days before antibiotics a human bite was pretty much a death sentence.
Nasty.

[DiscoMick]

I've been bitten by a bat, which was like having a needle jammed into the finger. [emoji15]
Fortunately I've been vaccinated, although only 1% of bats carry lyssavirus.

[Saitch]

I've been bitten by a bat, which was like having a needle jammed into the finger. [emoji15]
Fortunately I've been vaccinated, although only 1% of bats carry lyssavirus.

Do you spell "Colour" with a "K"?

[DiscoMick]

Like 'kultur'?

[ramblingboy42]

I read somewhere that in ye old days when pirate ships were out and about, biting was a common weapon in a fight. In the days before antibiotics a human bite was pretty much a death sentence.
Nasty.

it's part of our sporting code of conduct...both footy codes including women have had biters in the last year.

In my pirates Creed of Ethics , there is nothing written about biting.

[Saitch]

[QUOTE
In my pirates Creed of Ethics , there is nothing written about biting.[/QUOTE]

You'll find a copy in a secret vault in Canberra as well.

[JDNSW]

The Rover company (ancestor of Landrover) supplied motorcycles to the Russian army during WW1.

[Eevo]

The Rover company (ancestor of Landrover) supplied motorcycles to the Russian army during WW1.

hows that going for them?

[DiscoMick]

There are 140 known species of grain crops which were grown across Australia by Aboriginal people before whites came in and ruined the place with their hard-hoofed animals which ripped the crops out by the roots, so they died out. Most of the native grain crops were perennials and gluten-free, meaning they only needed to be planted once and could be repeatedly harvested. Harvested grains were ground into flour and used to make cakes and other foods, which could be stored for long periods.
King, the survivor of the Burke and Wills expedition, reported seeing an estimated four tons of flour in one native house alone on Cooper Creek. Meanwhile, Burke and Wills were starving because they refused to learn how the Aborigines were thriving with bumper crops while they were dying.
Unfortunately, modern farmers have not adopted native grain crops, which are suited to the landscape, and continue to focus on imported crops, which require large quantities of fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides. Not a clever country.

[DiscoMick]

Fake hair for cheer and dance groups costs about $300 each.

[Bigbjorn]

There are 140 known species of grain crops which were grown across Australia by Aboriginal people before whites came in and ruined the place with their hard-hoofed animals which ripped the crops out by the roots, so they died out. Most of the native grain crops were perennials and gluten-free, meaning they only needed to be planted once and could be repeatedly harvested. Harvested grains were ground into flour and used to make cakes and other foods, which could be stored for long periods.
King, the survivor of the Burke and Wills expedition, reported seeing an estimated four tons of flour in one native house alone on Cooper Creek. Meanwhile, Burke and Wills were starving because they refused to learn how the Aborigines were thriving with bumper crops while they were dying.
Unfortunately, modern farmers have not adopted native grain crops, which are suited to the landscape, and continue to focus on imported crops, which require large quantities of fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides. Not a clever country.

And then some bureaucrats made the hare-brained decision to make rice a major crop on a semi-desert in the driest continent on earth.

[DiscoMick]

Except that the Aborigines used to farm varieties of native brown rice in a band across northern Australia by digging trenches and making mounds to catch runoff on sloping land, aided by wells they dug, so it can be done.

[Saitch]

The Flinders River is the longest river in Qld.

[scarry]

I've been bitten by a bat, which was like having a needle jammed into the finger. [emoji15]
Fortunately I've been vaccinated, although only 1% of bats carry lyssavirus.

I mate of mine had a pet Greyhound that caught one a year or so ago,and it died from lyssavirus.

Funny thing was the vet said 'there is so much paperwork reporting this,i can't be bothered'.

[DiscoMick]

Sorry about the greyhound. The real danger from the 1% infected is not bites so much as licking bat faeces which has fallen under trees where horses graze.

[Saitch]

From Qld Health.
Bat
or other animal blood, urine, and
faeces are
not considered to
be
infectious.


Department of Health | Rabies Virus and Other Lyssavirus (Including Australian Bat Lyssavirus) Exposures and Infections (https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/cdna-song-abvl-rabies.htm)

[350RRC]

I mate of mine had a pet Greyhound that caught one a year or so ago,and it died from lyssavirus.

Funny thing was the vet said 'there is so much paperwork reporting this,i can't be bothered'.

Not really that funny, you pay them the big bucks and they don't do their job.

That is so ****ing slack they should be reported. Part of keeping the cost of managing disease outbreaks to a minimum is accurate reporting of locations of /and / or incidents..

DL

[350RRC]

There are 140 known species of grain crops which were grown across Australia by Aboriginal people before whites came in and ruined the place with their hard-hoofed animals which ripped the crops out by the roots, so they died out.

They haven't died out, I'm growing some of them.

Most of the native grain crops were perennials and gluten-free, meaning they only needed to be planted once and could be repeatedly harvested. Harvested grains were ground into flour and used to make cakes and other foods, which could be stored for long periods.
King, the survivor of the Burke and Wills expedition, reported seeing an estimated four tons of flour in one native house alone on Cooper Creek. Meanwhile, Burke and Wills were starving because they refused to learn how the Aborigines were thriving with bumper crops while they were dying.

They did not know how to learn from an 'inferior race' in that situation.

Unfortunately, modern farmers have not adopted native grain crops, which are suited to the landscape, and continue to focus on imported crops, which require large quantities of fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides. Not a clever country.

There are farmers who are well on the way with a more wholistic approach with native herbs and grasses and they are doing very nicely.

DL

[V8Ian]

There are 140 known species of grain crops which were grown across Australia by Aboriginal people before whites came in and ruined the place with their hard-hoofed animals which ripped the crops out by the roots, so they died out. Most of the native grain crops were perennials and gluten-free, meaning they only needed to be planted once and could be repeatedly harvested. Harvested grains were ground into flour and used to make cakes and other foods, which could be stored for long periods.
King, the survivor of the Burke and Wills expedition, reported seeing an estimated four tons of flour in one native house alone on Cooper Creek. Meanwhile, Burke and Wills were starving because they refused to learn how the Aborigines were thriving with bumper crops while they were dying.
Unfortunately, modern farmers have not adopted native grain crops, which are suited to the landscape, and continue to focus on imported crops, which require large quantities of fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides. Not a clever country.
A native type of millet. You might be interested in reading "Dark Emus".

[V8Ian]

From Qld Health.
Bat
or other animal blood, urine, and
faeces are
not considered to
be
infectious.


Department of Health | Rabies Virus and Other Lyssavirus (Including Australian Bat Lyssavirus) Exposures and Infections (https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/cdna-song-abvl-rabies.htm)





I won't be taking the risk, I'll not be licking any bat poo.
Have you got a picture of bat poo? Just so I know what to avoid.[bigwhistle]

[DiscoMick]

A native type of millet. You might be interested in reading "Dark Emus".Reading it now, actually, very interesting.

[350RRC]

A native type of millet. You might be interested in reading "Dark Emus".

Only one Emu.

DL

[DiscoMick]

From Qld Health.
Bat
or other animal blood, urine, and
faeces are
not considered to
be
infectious.


Department of Health | Rabies Virus and Other Lyssavirus (Including Australian Bat Lyssavirus) Exposures and Infections (https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/cdna-song-abvl-rabies.htm)





Yes, I've seen that before as I'm actually a vaccinated bat carer, so I've had the vaccination - which reminds me that I need a renewal before the breeding season in November.
Sorry, I didn't explain that well in my previous post. I was referring to horses getting it from infected bats by grazing under trees where an infected bat may defecate or even die.
As for humans, the three confirmed cases all came not from defecation but from being bitten or scratched by an infected bat, receiving saliva and failing to immediately go to a doctor and be vaccinated, which should have saved them. The virus is not known to have passed directly from bat to human by defecation, but is believed to have done so to grazing horses, according to my BIL who is a vet with actual experience with lyssavirus in horses.
It's ironical that people obsess about 1% of bats being infected, when the much more likely threat is from their household dog, as dogs are the main carriers of rabies.
It's particularly a good idea to get the rabies vaccination before traveling overseas, where people are much more likely to encounter a rabid street dog.

BTW Ian there is nothing photogenic about bat ****, take my word for it.
[emoji16]

[JDNSW]

I was under the impression that rabies was not present in Australia, hece the very rigorous quarantine regime on cats and dogs? But you are absolutely right about overseas.

[DiscoMick]

I was under the impression that rabies was not present in Australia, hece the very rigorous quarantine regime on cats and dogs? But you are absolutely right about overseas.Not known in dogs in this country, but how often do we test dogs, foxes and other mammals? Known in 1% of bats.
Vaccination for rabies is a wise precaution after any animal bite, I think.

Department of Health | Rabies, Australian bat lyssavirus and other lyssaviruses (https://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ohp-rabies-consumer-info.htm)

[Saitch]

It's a pity about the bat virus really. In my youth, I worked in some, what were termed then, "Northern Remote Areas", although not so remote today. Anyway, a couple of the local black fellas, who were working with us, decided to supply some tucker for us white fellas. One of the "Mains" was flying fox and it's a beautiful tasting, white meat. Their fruit diet helps.

Mike, please don't take offence that I have consumed one of your charges.[biggrin]
This was a long time before they were a protected species...…………………..and good on you for your animal caring role. My SIL is a possum carer and it's not all beer and skittles, hey?

[scarry]

Ok,back on topic,and some trivia,looks like those that want it,i know there are a few on here,well,its NOT for sale....[biggrin]

Jaguar Land Rover Boss Says Company Is Not For Sale (https://www.motor1.com/news/356160/jaguar-land-rover-not-for-sale/)

[Homestar]

Ok,back on topic,and some trivia,looks like those that want it,i know there are a few on here,well,its NOT for sale....[biggrin]

Jaguar Land Rover Boss Says Company Is Not For Sale (https://www.motor1.com/news/356160/jaguar-land-rover-not-for-sale/)

“Our company is not for sale!” - Said every CEO right before their companies sale... [bigwhistle]

[scarry]

Have you got a picture of bat poo? Just so I know what to avoid.[bigwhistle]

So Ian,you asked....

Apologies its side on,bloody phone pics.

Anyway,i am sure they fly around the whole suburb,then either aim for one of our glass sliding doors,windows,or a car parked in our driveway[bigsad]

https://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/16160912/640/16160912.jpg (https://picturepush.com/public/16160912)

[scarry]

One for GAV,would that really have cost $300K? or are they worth 300K today?
I wouldn't have thought so.


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48124329598_bcc45b6d26_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2gjzLyE)IMG_2217 (https://flic.kr/p/2gjzLyE)

[Homestar]

One for GAV,would that really have cost $300K? or are they worth 300K today?
I wouldn't have thought so.


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48124329598_bcc45b6d26_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/2gjzLyE)IMG_2217 (https://flic.kr/p/2gjzLyE)

A quick google showed the following about this model and year. It also said current price guide is $31 to $45K - hows that for depreciation! - $193,800 for the short-wheelbase diesel to $362,800 for the long-wheelbase Supersport.

[scarry]

A quick google showed the following about this model and year. It also said current price guide is $31 to $45K - hows that for depreciation! - $193,800 for the short-wheelbase diesel to $362,800 for the long-wheelbase Supersport.

Thats even worse than some FFRR!

The problem is,as cars get more expensive,the more that is paid,the more is lost in depreciation.

And as they get more complicated,its only going to get worse,particularly for European vehicles.

[DiscoMick]

It's a pity about the bat virus really. In my youth, I worked in some, what were termed then, "Northern Remote Areas", although not so remote today. Anyway, a couple of the local black fellas, who were working with us, decided to supply some tucker for us white fellas. One of the "Mains" was flying fox and it's a beautiful tasting, white meat. Their fruit diet helps.

Mike, please don't take offence that I have consumed one of your charges.[biggrin]
This was a long time before they were a protected species...…………………..and good on you for your animal caring role. My SIL is a possum carer and it's not all beer and skittles, hey?No worries. Not much meat there.
You have to always remember they are wild animals, not pets, no matter how cute they can be.

[Bigbjorn]

“Our company is not for sale!” - Said every CEO right before their companies sale... [bigwhistle]

Much like football coaches having the full confidence of the board.

[JDNSW]

It's a pity about the bat virus really. In my youth, I worked in some, what were termed then, "Northern Remote Areas", although not so remote today. Anyway, a couple of the local black fellas, who were working with us, decided to supply some tucker for us white fellas. One of the "Mains" was flying fox and it's a beautiful tasting, white meat. Their fruit diet helps.

Mike, please don't take offence that I have consumed one of your charges.[biggrin]
This was a long time before they were a protected species...…………………..and good on you for your animal caring role. My SIL is a possum carer and it's not all beer and skittles, hey?

When I was in PNG in 1969 some of the locals in the Torricelli Mountains used a very ligkt net of nylon fishing line with about 6" mesh that was hoisted between two stayed bamboo poles about ten metres high and the same distance apart. This was located in a gap in the mountains known to be used by flying foxes. When a bat hit the loose net and became tangled, it was dropped to the ground, the animal knocked on the head, disentangled, and the net rehoisted. I was told that on a good night they could feed the whole village in half an hour.

[scarry]

When I was in PNG in 1969 some of the locals in the Torricelli Mountains used a very ligkt net of nylon fishing line with about 6" mesh that was hoisted between two stayed bamboo poles about ten metres high and the same distance apart. This was located in a gap in the mountains known to be used by flying foxes. When a bat hit the loose net and became tangled, it was dropped to the ground, the animal knocked on the head, disentangled, and the net rehoisted. I was told that on a good night they could feed the whole village in half an hour.

My father used a very similar set up to catch bats for research,often on Fraser island.
We called them mist nets,the fine mesh was around 2" x 2".
Not only fruit bats,but tiny little insect eating bats, as well as the occasional owl,frogmouth or night jar used to get caught in them.

With thick leather gloves,we had to be very careful as even the tiny little bats had a good set of sharp teeth.

This was in the 70's.

[JDNSW]

Yes, they were only after big fruit bats, hence the large mesh. One place I was in PNG our recreation room only had walls up to waist height and to keep the number of insects inside down at night, the lights were under the wide eaves. As a result, quite often we had tiny little insect eating bats flew right across the room just above head height, obviously delighted at the cornucopia that we had provided for them!

A bit alarming at first, but you soon got used to it.

[350RRC]

So Ian,you asked....

Apologies its side on,bloody phone pics.

Anyway,i am sure they fly around the whole suburb,then either aim for one of our glass sliding doors,windows,or a car parked in our driveway[bigsad]

https://www1.picturepush.com/photo/a/16160912/640/16160912.jpg (https://picturepush.com/public/16160912)

You don't want fruit bat **** on acrylic car paint. A bit like dollar spot on a golf green.

DL

[NavyDiver]

.....e had to be very careful as even the tiny little bats had a good set of sharp teeth.


Found a tiny little bat in our water tank when I was about 10. Fished it out. The ungrateful little sunk it teeth in. I got a heavy duty fever about two hours later.

Rabies is not an issue in Central Vic but as a 10 year old it seem feasible. [biggrin] Trip to Dunolly hospital sorted out my tonsillitis. Doctor was amused I brought the bat for a check up. Nurses were not [bigrolf]

[DiscoMick]

Bats get agitated if they can't grip with their feet, thumbs and teeth, so the bat wasn't attacking you, it just wanted to hang on to feel safe. That's why carers wrap up bats and give them dummies to bite.

[NavyDiver]

My little bat was happy once put in the rafters of the hay stack with a branch of a gum tree to give it some cover and right sized branches to hang off.
I see 100s of Fruit bats here every evening and several Micro bats helpfully removing mozzies just out side my house in eastern Melbourne.


Trivia: Micro-bats. Approximately 70% of bats are micro-bats. Micro-bats are characterized by their small size, use of echolocation for navigation, ability to hibernate in cold temperatures and their diets largely consists of insects but can include small mammals, frogs, fish and occasionally fruit, pollen and nectar. Link (http://www.allaboutbats.org.au/micro-bats/)

[DiscoMick]

My BIL has a colony of micro bats living in his four vehicle carport garage. They do a great job keeping the insects down. Cute too.
People should get over the vampire bat rubbish and admire bats for their way of life.

[Saitch]

This little fella was enjoying our lounge room fire.

[DiscoMick]

Probably taking care of your mosquitoes too.
Don't try to catch him - they panic. Just give him chances to fly out by himself.

[DiscoMick]

Watching Wimbledon and just saw Novak Djokovic arrive in a black Discovery 5, ahead of several other black D5s queued at the entrance, so D5s must be the player transport vehicles. Good marketing.

[DiscoMick]

I can report that it's not a good idea to try to eat pancakes with honey and drink coffee in bed while reading AULRO on your phone. Can become a sticky situation!

[ramblingboy42]

I can report that it's not a good idea to try to eat pancakes with honey and drink coffee in bed while reading AULRO on your phone. Can become a sticky situation!

I bet you have a tv in your bedroom.....

[scarry]

My BIL has a colony of micro bats living in his four vehicle carport garage. They do a great job keeping the insects down. Cute too.
People should get over the vampire bat rubbish and admire bats for their way of life.

My son has a colony of them that live in the roof above the pergola at his place.
They fly off just on dark every night,one after the other,out a small gap under the roof flashing in one corner.
An amazing sight to see.

[DiscoMick]

I bet you have a tv in your bedroom.....No, actually, but we do have books.

[DiscoMick]

My son has a colony of them that live in the roof above the pergola at his place.
They fly off just on dark every night,one after the other,out a small gap under the roof flashing in one corner.
An amazing sight to see.I'm not sure if this is the right place to mention that bats are famous for their love of oral sex, both opposite gender and same sex. Apparently there is a lot of love going around in the colonies. [emoji15]

[superquag]

My grandfather.......
Family history is interesting.

My Old Man was standing alongside the SS Fort Stikine when it went BOOM, in Bombay harbour during WW2. - 1944. Up to that time, was the biggest explosion in world history.
Some years later, another ammunition ship took the record.

Incidentally, he survived .... The bloke standing with him wasn't so lucky.
Only last year I discovered that he'd also been a spy for the Brits, pre-war and had been..."robustly interviewed" by the Japanese when he'd (innocently?) taken his cargo ship into a Jap port some years before.

Then there was the funeral of a an elderly female friend of ours, some years ago.
Surprise mourners in the form of two senior British diplomats conveying the Government's Respects. Turns out this delightfully eccentric, ex-manager of a Secretarial School was one of the Bletchley Park Code-breaking mathematicians !

Yes, Family history IS interesting...

[JDNSW]

.........

Yes, Family history IS interesting...

My brother is currently researching the history of our paternal grandmother. It seems that in 1892, at age 15, having grown up in and around Orange, she got a job as governess on a station between Walgett and Carinda. He is trying to confirm, but it seems likely that she was a "pupil-teacher" at the school she presumably left to go to this job. In the 1890s this was the normal pathway to teaching, and may partly explain why her three oldest children became teachers (with university degrees).

[Disco-tastic]

“Our company is not for sale!” - Said every CEO right before their companies sale... [bigwhistle]"It's not for sale" because it's already sold?

[DiscoMick]

One of my wife's relatives started researching a branch of her family a while back. He discovered a grandfather who had been a travelling salesman in Tasmania and had four families scattered around the state! Must have been a good salesman.

[V8Ian]

One of my wife's relatives started researching a branch of her family a while back. He discovered a grandfather who had been a travelling salesman in Tasmania and had four families scattered around the state! Must have been a good salesman.
Your wife is a he? [bighmmm][biggrin] I've met her and she seemed very feminine.

[RANDLOVER]

Your wife is a he? [bighmmm][biggrin] I've met her and she seemed very feminine.

A "he" can be a "she" when it is the "Flying Scotsman" train which is referred to a "she", same for ships and planes I think.

[DiscoMick]

The wife is definitely a she, but the relative was a he. Did I explain that badly?

[DiscoMick]

One in 4 Australians was born overseas.

[NavyDiver]

The wife is definitely a she, but the relative was a he. Did I explain that badly? Depends on your perspective Mick. I got a chuckle so it was fine with me [biggrin]

[RANDLOVER]

A beefalo? What's a beefalo? A beefalo! Why, didn't you know? - ABC Rural - ABC News (https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-07-09/beefalo-calf-born-of-bison-bull-and-angus-cow/11292336)

You can cross a bison with beef cattle!

[DiscoMick]

Strange. I wonder if it would be fertile?

The historic area of Bolivia is between Tenterfield and Glen Innes.

[Old Farang]

Strange. I wonder if it would be fertile?

The historic area of Bolivia is between Tenterfield and Glen Innes.


A beefalo? What's a beefalo? A beefalo! Why, didn't you know? - ABC Rural - ABC News (https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-07-09/beefalo-calf-born-of-bison-bull-and-angus-cow/11292336)

I think it depends on which way they are bred, but one mentioned in the link said it would most likely be sterile, like a mule.

[Saitch]

A beefalo? What's a beefalo? A beefalo! Why, didn't you know? - ABC Rural - ABC News (https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2019-07-09/beefalo-calf-born-of-bison-bull-and-angus-cow/11292336)

I think it depends on which way they are bred, but one mentioned in the link said it would most likely be sterile, like a mule.

According to Wiki it was 1st done commercially in the 19th century in the US. Apparently the cross is referred to as Cattalo in Canada and they are fertile.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

and theres a question for Trivia night wasted....[bigrolf]

[Eevo]

fire trucks are actually water trucks

[Bigbjorn]

Strange. I wonder if it would be fertile?

The historic area of Bolivia is between Tenterfield and Glen Innes.

Bolivia Hill. On the old New England Highway this steep narrow stretch was a sore trial to the low powered trucks of the day, Commer Knockers, Mercedes 1418, Leylands, etc.

[Saitch]

fire trucks are actually water trucks

Was Friar Tuck's brother Walter Tuck?

[V8Ian]

Bolivia Hill. On the old New England Highway this steep narrow stretch was a sore trial to the low powered trucks of the day, Commer Knockers, Mercedes 1418, Leylands, etc.
1418, they faithfully served a lot of owners well, making them some good coin. I recall struggling up Mt Petrie Rd., FIS bound in first low choofing away below 1000rpm, expecting it to stall. The old girl tenaciously fell over the top. I have never used that route since.
Burringbah, Bulahdelah, Mt. Victoria and Ousley, just to name a few of the joys the young steering wheel attendants of today will never enjoy.

[donh54]

1418, they faithfully served a lot of owners well, making them some good coin. I recall struggling up Mt Petrie Rd., FIS bound in first low choofing away below 1000rpm, expecting it to stall. The old girl tenaciously fell over the top. I have never used that route since.
Burringbah, Bulahdelah, Mt. Victoria and Ousley, just to name a few of the joys the young steering wheel attendants of today will never enjoy.

Cunninghams Gap in a Perkins-powered Dodge, overloaded to buggery with High-performance horse feed. I swear I could hear the individual cylinders firing on the last jump-up! No safety fences back then, either! Scary stuff! :eek2:

[V8Ian]

Cunninghams Gap in a Perkins-powered Dodge, overloaded to buggery with High-performance horse feed. I swear I could hear the individual cylinders firing on the last jump-up! No safety fences back then, either! Scary stuff! :eek2:
Going up with 200hp, if you were flash, usually less, was always stressful back when overloading was the norm, but coming down was worse, no need for seatbelts one had a secure pinch grip on the seat.
I reckon going up the old Toowoomba Range was worse than Cunninghams, particularly for the uninitiated. So many came unstuck grabbing a gear on the saddle.

[Bigbjorn]

1418, they faithfully served a lot of owners well, making them some good coin. I recall struggling up Mt Petrie Rd., FIS bound in first low choofing away below 1000rpm, expecting it to stall. The old girl tenaciously fell over the top. I have never used that route since.
Burringbah, Bulahdelah, Mt. Victoria and Ousley, just to name a few of the joys the young steering wheel attendants of today will never enjoy.

Moonbi 1 & 2, O'Sullivan's Gap, Pretty Sally, Black Mountain before the highway was realigned, and so on.

[DiscoMick]

I have many memories of Buladelah range in various vehickes, so I wouldn't fancy it in a truck. Thankfully the motorway has detoured it.
The climb just north of Tamworth would be a challenge coming up in anything towing a load. It was interesting enough coming down it on Tuesday in the Defender towing our camper trailer.
The climb to Maleny towing the camper is a third gear slog in the six-speed Puma.

[V8Ian]

Moonbi 1 & 2, O'Sullivan's Gap, Pretty Sally, Black Mountain before the highway was realigned, and so on.
Did you ever frequent the unlicensed pub, on Pretty Sally, Brian. [wink11]

[rovers4]

A Water truck is used to cart water to fill up your tanks.

A Fire truck, officially known as "an Appliance" is used to carry some water to put out a fire.
That is "some water" as the water is only part of the load, the rest being the other fire-fighting gear required.
Plus, never fill your tanks these days from a firey's truck, due to contamination from the foam additive.

Also, don't forget the sanitation or "black water" pumpers, the road watering trucks and the live fish carting trucks. They all carry water.

[RANDLOVER]

.....

Also, don't forget the sanitation or "black water" pumpers, the road watering trucks and the live fish carting trucks. They all carry water.

Similar to "black water" night soil wasn't really soil, but rather the contents of chamber pots.

[Bigbjorn]

Did you ever frequent the unlicensed pub, on Pretty Sally, Brian. [wink11]

No, Ian. I didn't run the Hume much. I was more interested in getting away from Melbourne. I didn't much like the city or Victorian law enforcement as applied to trucks and drivers. My Melbourne forays were nearly all down the Newell. I did have a drink on occasion at the unlicenced plonk shop at Rutherford. Other establishments popular with interstaters in those more carefree days before the breathalyser were the top pub at Deepwater, Red Lion at Glencoe, Wingen, Willow Tree, Bendemeer. Tomingley, Tocumwal, Wobbly Boot.

[ramblingboy42]

I've been up and down the Newell probably hundreds of times and never seen anyone turn right into the Wobbly Boot.

I keep promising myself , must put it on the bucket list.
YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2LhL5EmyEE)

[350RRC]

No, Ian. I didn't run the Hume much. I was more interested in getting away from Melbourne. I didn't much like the city or Victorian law enforcement as applied to trucks and drivers. My Melbourne forays were nearly all down the Newell. I did have a drink on occasion at the unlicenced plonk shop at Rutherford. Other establishments popular with interstaters in those more carefree days before the breathalyser were the top pub at Deepwater, Red Lion at Glencoe, Wingen, Willow Tree, Bendemeer. Tomingley, Tocumwal, Wobbly Boot.

Any of the truckies familiar with the Koala Motel on the Princes Hwy as you get into the Stoney Rises heading west? (west of Colac before Stonyford)

[biggrin][biggrin][biggrin]

DL

[JDNSW]

Moonbi 1 & 2, O'Sullivan's Gap, Pretty Sally, Black Mountain before the highway was realigned, and so on.

Reminds me of my first trip up Moonbi, as a child (1951?). There was Mum and Dad in the front and us three kids in the back of the 1931 10hp Swift. Travelling with us were my uncle and his wife and youngest daughter in their 1926 Rover 9 tourer.

The Swift had the advantage of a four speed box, so did Moonbi in second, and we stopped at the top to wait for the others. One of my lasting memories is the Rover coming round the final bend in first, with my uncle leaning out the side to see, as the windscreen was obscured by the condensation and dust from the plume of steam rising from the radiator.

[ramblingboy42]

...the old steam from the radiator....

I can remember as a child it was quite a common occurrence to boil the radiator on a summers day. Nobody seemed to mind ....it was the rule rather than the exception , so you pulled off the road and lifted the hood (remember it was a hood and not a bonnet).....but never lifted the radiator cap. You'd wait until it cooled down enough to drive on.

[JDNSW]

Which reminds me of the time my father was waved down one evening and told that his engine was on fire - it wasn't; just that the timing linkage from the timer (commutator for the coils) on the front of the camshaft to the spark control lever had fallen off and it was running very retarded. The apparent fire was the glow of the exhaust manifold, visible through the vents in the side of the bonnet and through the radiator.

Just stopped the engine, hooked it back up, gave it a crank, and drove on home with the timing more correct. (That was in the 1923 Ford, two vehicles before the Swift, and would have been in the mid 1940s)

[Bigbjorn]

Reminds me of my first trip up Moonbi, as a child (1951?). There was Mum and Dad in the front and us three kids in the back of the 1931 10hp Swift. Travelling with us were my uncle and his wife and youngest daughter in their 1926 Rover 9 tourer.

The Swift had the advantage of a four speed box, so did Moonbi in second, and we stopped at the top to wait for the others. One of my lasting memories is the Rover coming round the final bend in first, with my uncle leaning out the side to see, as the windscreen was obscured by the condensation and dust from the plume of steam rising from the radiator.

The first time I went down the New England I was a spotty faced teenager riding in one of our petrol engine Commers with my father. The service station at Bendemeer had a WW2 6x6 tow truck to pull low powered old trucks over the steep gradients of the time before the road was realigned, straightened, and lowered. We didn't need it. God alone knows why. Dad was not averse to putting on a bit of pudding, 12 tons on an 8 ton body truck. The idea was to book a trunk call to the station and reserve a place on the tow list. This would have been circa 1956.

[JDNSW]

Our family did the New England a number of times in the 1950s - and we dreaded getting caught behind you lot on the bad hills! (The Swift was replaced by a 1948 Austin 16 in 1953, and a new Simca V8 in 1959).

[RANDLOVER]

Supposedly the first Tour de France bikes only had 2 speeds, which were changed by turning the wheel around, as it had a sprocket on each side, if that wasn't a good ratio the whole wheel would have to be swapped for another.

[Bigbjorn]

Our family did the New England a number of times in the 1950s - and we dreaded getting caught behind you lot on the bad hills! (The Swift was replaced by a 1948 Austin 16 in 1953, and a new Simca V8 in 1959).

I well remember going up the steeper climbs on the New England and Pacific Highways at walking pace in low first. Waves of heat roiling up through leaky floors and cabs with the door propped open for some ventilation. Always scared that if the engine stalled you would need a tow to get going again as there was not enough engine to take off laden on a steep bit. Commer Knocker with 135 horsepower and a bogie trailer probably grossing 25 tons.

[Old Farang]

Commer Knocker with 135 horsepower and a bogie trailer probably grossing 25 tons.
What an incredible engine they were! De-coked one in another life. There is a an old bloke that lives around where I come from in WA that has an engine set up on a trailer that he takes to old car and tractor shows. I have seen younger people arguing with him about just how the thing works!
But he sure draws a crowd when he fires it up!

[JDNSW]

Commer knocker - best German engineering - thanks to all German patents being cancelled in the UK in 1939. Basic design by Junkers for submarines in WW1, used in aeroplane engines in the 1930s.

[PerthDisco]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190727/9b8bb721e4e01331634e4fb5ab957041.jpg

Ouch - saw this on social media

[V8Ian]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190727/9b8bb721e4e01331634e4fb5ab957041.jpg

Ouch - saw this on social media
Well that should cure the passenger's constipation!

[Saitch]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190727/9b8bb721e4e01331634e4fb5ab957041.jpg

Ouch - saw this on social media

It's a safety option on Transylvanian registered vehicles.

[rick130]

It's a safety option on Transylvanian registered vehicles.Hahaha, where's Vlad?

[4bee]

Well that should cure the passenger's constipation!

But it's a tossup whether it would cure or aggravate his/her Hemorrhoids & would they even care 58i?[smilebigeye]

[Eevo]

oh, i thought it was a vasectomy

[4bee]

That would depend on how bad one needs one Eevo.[smilebigeye]

[RANDLOVER]

So if one has the hose out vinyl interior, one must remember to put the drain plug back in before off-roading.
This was very important in the army when I worked on armoured personnel carriers, as we'd wash them out after servicing/repairs and had to put the hull plugs back afterwards, as just the blast from a landmine entering via the plug could kill the occupants.

[LRT]

Commer knocker - best German engineering - thanks to all German patents being cancelled in the UK in 1939. Basic design by Junkers for submarines in WW1, used in aeroplane engines in the 1930s.

Commer "knocker" engine is back | Farm Online (https://www.farmonline.com.au/story/3627567/commer-knocker-engine-is-back/)

[DiscoMick]

If it takes 5 machines 5 minutes to make 5 widgets, how long will it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets?

[grey_ghost]

5 minutes? [emoji848][emoji15]

[cripesamighty]

Commer "knocker" engine is back | Farm Online (https://www.farmonline.com.au/story/3627567/commer-knocker-engine-is-back/)


That link is dated from 2011. Any progress since then? Looks like a sound (pun intended) concept.

[p38arover]

Yep

[cripesamighty]

Only reason I asked is because the EcoMotors link didn’t work and wiki said they are defunct. I was wondering if anyone had carried on with it.

EcoMotors - Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EcoMotors)

[DiscoMick]

5 minutes? [emoji848][emoji15]Very good.
Each machine takes 5 minutes to make a widget. Therefore the number of machines and widgets is irrelevant.
Whatever the number, they still take 5 minutes to make.
I actually got that wrong at first myself, so I learnt something about logical thinking.

[grey_ghost]

The question is written in a way that people will (logically) jump to a conclusion of 100 monutes... Lol

[p38arover]

Very good.
Each machine takes 5 minutes to make a widget. Therefore the number of machines and widgets is irrelevant.
Whatever the number, they still take 5 minutes to make.
I actually got that wrong at first myself, so I learnt something about logical thinking.

I did the three questions in that quiz and got them all right.


The question is written in a way that people will (logically) jump to a conclusion of 100 monutes... Lol

Illogically.

[LRT]

That link is dated from 2011. Any progress since then? Looks like a sound (pun intended) concept.

I didn’t look at the date - that’s a bit old...

[grey_ghost]

I did the three questions in that quiz and got them all right.



Illogically.

Isn’t that a matter of interpretation? [emoji6]

[RANDLOVER]

Operation Noah (https://operationnoah.blogspot.com/)

As seen on Australian Story, The ABC's Kirsten Drysdale is the granddaughter of Operation Noah's Rupert Fothergill, which rescued thousands of animals when the Zambezi River was dammed, in then Rhodesia (actually originally Southern Rhodesia) now Zimbabwe.

"A few buffalos had been removed before the starvation crisis reached its peak. Rupert's team...removed five adults. Then they ran out of drugs for the darting equipment and there was no response from Salisbury as to when new supplies would be arriving. So Rupert went after the buffalos with the Land Rover. In the gloom of the dust pall, amidst the snorting, lumbering, desperate animals, they looked for targets. As the younger animals slowed and dropped behind, the men would race from the vehicle and, bare handed, through force of numbers and in desperation at the plight of the game, wrestle the buffalo to the ground. Then the creature would be trussed up and carried to the raft. More often than not the bellows of the calves would bring angry mothers charging back and a free-for-all would ensue." From Keith Meadows' book "Rupert Fothergill Bridging A Conservation Era" showing a Land Rover was involved.

[DiscoMick]

There is a plant named after Land Rovers. San Watson, in Land Rover Owner International, June 2019, p. 87, says:

"Scrophularia Landroveri is a hardy mountain plant that grows in the high valleys of Afghanistan. It was discovered in 1962 by scientists Per Wendelbo and Ian Hedge from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, who named it in honour of their tough old Series II 109. It carried them throughout their expedition to the rugged mountains of Iran and Afghanistan, and without which they said they couldn't have done their research. Above and Beyond indeed. "

I wonder if any plants are named after Toyotas.

[Eevo]

I wonder if any plants are named after Toyotas.

im sure they would be a weed

[DiscoMick]

And here it is, thanks to Google. It's the same colour as their Landy. I'm terribly excited.

Scrophularia landroveri – botanical whimsy – Botanics Stories (https://stories.rbge.org.uk/archives/20869)

[V8Ian]

Toyotijuana, does it get any more bogan? [wink11]

[Gav 110]

Toyotijuana, does it get any more bogan? [wink11]

[emoji1531][emoji1531][emoji1531][emoji1531]

Maybe even toyoshroom
Another fungus, they just seem to pop
up everywhere
And the people who drive them like to hallucinate about them

[NavyDiver]

Almost all planets revolve anticlockwise. All eight planets in the Solar System orbit the Sun in the direction of the Sun's rotation, which is counterclockwise when viewed from above the Sun's north pole. Six of the planets also rotate about their axis in this same direction.

The exceptions – the planets with retrograde rotation – are Venus and Uranus..

[4bee]

are Venus and Uranus..


Not my anus Diver, it goes where & when I want it to go.[smilebigeye]

[Fifth Columnist]

A different viewpoint NavyDiver would say you are 100% wrong..........[wink11]

[DiscoMick]

There is life on the moon - and 96 bags of human waste.

Tardigrades may have survived spacecraft crashing on moon

Tardigrades may have survived spacecraft crashing on moon | Science | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/aug/06/tardigrades-may-have-survived-spacecraft-crashing-on-moon?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard)

[ramblingboy42]

isn't it interesting how people just assume all the planets in our solar system orbit Sol in a flat trajectory and thus Sol's 'north pole' is reciprocal to ours.

it's not that way at all with no alignment in any planets orbits and the elapsed times for orbits varying with each planet due to the universe still expanding

this is why we will never see an alignment of all the planets.

[NavyDiver]

From 2006 to 2011, Hewlett-Packard spent $51 billion on share repurchases at an average price of $40.80 per share. Shares currently trade at 12.80 ($USD)

Wonder how much the directors got paid for that?

[4bee]

As Jo B P would say, "Don't you worry about that".

Directors would have done quite nicely regardless of the outcome, Diver, the scamming/scheming bastards always do. [bigsad]

[DiscoMick]

Baby bats teeth at 14 weeks. Just saying...

[DiscoMick]

I see on the news that 430 people have died of the flu so far, and it's far from over.

[JDNSW]

Yes, likely to be either the worst or second worst flu season in modern times. For no obvious reason.

[Eevo]

hmm, Tchaikovsky really really wanted 1812 Overture played outside only.

[NavyDiver]

Man who stole $50 to be freed after 36 years in US jail

Man who stole $50 to be freed after 36 years in US jail - BBC News (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49522501)

[4bee]

That is not a very stiff penalty Diver. Not even a $ a day but I bet they got their moneys worth out of the poor sod stitching up mailbags or breaking stones or whatever else they do in Prisons these days. OOPS, no not that..


Oh hang on, I see what you mean.[smilebigeye]

[DiscoMick]

Reminds me of the bloke who got transported to Australia for stealing a loaf of bread because he was starving.

[4bee]

Not to mention the pious audacity of some, referring to blokes like the bread tea leaf as Australian Convicts.

The Brits don't realise that we didn't have convicts until GB sent theirs here & suddenly they are ours.

[Bigbjorn]

I always countered snide convict remarks from Poms with " Oh! Yes! The convicts. They were English, weren't they".

[Fifth Columnist]

Surely, a great many were Irish political offenders...?

[350RRC]

Fe shur, fe shur.

DL

[4bee]

Surely, a great many were Irish political offenders...?

Fair point, but they still were not Australia's back then. Maybe they should have built bigger Gaols?

Hang on, haven't I heard that somewhere before?[biggrin]

[DiscoMick]

Australia didn't exist back then, so they couldn't have been Australian.

[Saitch]

Australia didn't exist back then, so they couldn't have been Australian.

Yea, they were all bloody Cockroaches!

[DiscoMick]

I read about a bloke who got sentenced to seven years of transportation for stealing a loaf of bread because he was hungry. Hardly a case of the punishment fitting the crime.

[V8Ian]

When did the sentence start, on departure or arrival? [bigwhistle]

[Saitch]

When did the sentence start

With a Capital Letter.

[4bee]

Fair point, but they still were not Australia's back then. Maybe they should have built bigger Gaols?

Hang on, haven't I heard that somewhere before?[biggrin]




Oi, stick to your retirement planning & leave the cockups to me.[biggrin]

[RANDLOVER]

Central Australia is in Cuba????????


The village, founded in 1901, is in a sugar growing area and "dominated by the old, out-of-service sugar factory's chimney, with "Australia" written prominently down its length."[4] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia,_Cuba#cite_note-Traveller-4) The village is named after the factory, the Central Australia,[5] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia,_Cuba#cite_note-5) which like others in the area were named after continents.[2] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia,_Cuba#cite_note-a-2)
The village was the first sugar town in Cuba to stop using slave labour,[6] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia,_Cuba#cite_note-6) and served as Fidel Castro (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro)'s base of operations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_of_operations) during the 1961 Bay of Pigshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia,_Cuba invasion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Pigs_invasion).[4] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia,_Cuba#cite_note-Traveller-4) ....................https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia,_Cuba

[RANDLOVER]

Hurricane may hit Melbourne (Beach, Florida USA)

https://www.bing.com/maps/geoplat/REST/v1/Imagery/Map/RoadVibrant/28.065625,-80.561661/13'ms=472,180&heid=10067925,707070&fpp=28.068389892578125,-80.56533813476562;178&ml=Basemap,Landmarks,OsmBuildings&key=AnTcaqBi2ypp0xI-OZNi4W_ik2KhjgpqioTAtXLC8GzkMBQRMlyxvxyTnd5b73im&c=en-US&fmt=jpeg&od=1&logo=n&da=ro

[cripesamighty]

Central Australia is in Cuba????????


The village, founded in 1901, is in a sugar growing area and "dominated by the old, out-of-service sugar factory's chimney, with "Australia" written prominently down its length."[4] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia,_Cuba#cite_note-Traveller-4) The village is named after the factory, the Central Australia,[5] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia,_Cuba#cite_note-5) which like others in the area were named after continents.[2] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia,_Cuba#cite_note-a-2)
The village was the first sugar town in Cuba to stop using slave labour,[6] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia,_Cuba#cite_note-6) and served as Fidel Castro (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro)'s base of operations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_of_operations) during the 1961 Bay of Pigshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia,_Cuba invasion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Pigs_invasion).[4] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia,_Cuba#cite_note-Traveller-4) ....................https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia,_Cuba



Drove straight past it when I was there around 10 years ago, but unfortunately didn't have the time to stop.

[NavyDiver]

Richard Lawrence (c. 1800 – June 13, 1861) was an English born American house painter who was the first known person to attempt to assassinate a sitting President of the United States. Lawrence attempted to shoot President Andrew Jackson outside the United States Capitol on January 30, 1835. At trial, Lawrence was found not guilty by reason of insanity and spent the remainder of his life in insane asylums.

On January 30, Jackson was attending the funeral of South Carolina Representative Warren R. Davis at the U.S. Capitol. Lawrence originally planned to shoot Jackson as he entered the service but was unable to get close enough to him. However, when Jackson left the funeral, Lawrence had found a space near a pillar on the East Portico l, where Jackson would pass. As Jackson walked, Lawrence stepped out and fired his first pistol at Jackson's back; it misfired. Lawrence quickly made another attempt with his second pistol, but that also misfired. It was later determined that the weapons that he had chosen were noted for being vulnerable to moisture, and the weather on that date was humid and damp.[2]

Lawrence's unsuccessful attempts were noticed by Jackson, who proceeded to beat him with his cane. The crowd (which included Representative David "Davy" Crockett) eventually intervened and wrestled Lawrence into submission.

[DiscoMick]

It is a myth that men have one less rib than women. Just because God pinched one of Adam's ribs to make Eve, doesn't mean subsequent men had a missing rib.
Men and women both normally have 12 pairs of ribs. A small number of people have 13 pairs of ribs, like gorillas.
Women's ribs are about 10 per cent smaller than men's.
The Guinness record for the smallest waist is 15 inches, achieved by wearing corsets 24 hours a day, which is not recommended.

9 Interesting Facts About the Ribs | Mental Floss (http://mentalfloss.com/article/502701/9-interesting-facts-about-ribs)

[350RRC]

It is a myth that men have one less rib than women. Just because God pinched one of Adam's ribs to make Eve, doesn't mean subsequent men had a missing rib..........................
9 Interesting Facts About the Ribs | Mental Floss (http://mentalfloss.com/article/502701/9-interesting-facts-about-ribs)

And if you take one out, but leave the sheath that it sat in, the rib will grow back.

DL

[RANDLOVER]

One can actually hire a "spaceship"...……...Spaceships campervan hire: explore the outer space of Australia (https://www.spaceshipsrentals.com.au/)

[NavyDiver]

1. Most of the earth's surface consists of water; there is much more water than there is land.
2. Water can not only be found on the surface, but also in the ground and in the air.

3. There is the same amount of water on earth as there was when the earth was formed. The water that came from your faucet could contain molecules that Neanderthals drank…

4. The overall amount of water on our planet has remained the same for two billion years.

154131

[DiscoMick]

1. Most of the earth's surface consists of water; there is much more water than there is land.
2. Water can not only be found on the surface, but also in the ground and in the air.

3. There is the same amount of water on earth as there was when the earth was formed. The water that came from your faucet could contain molecules that Neanderthals drank…

4. The overall amount of water on our planet has remained the same for two billion years.

154131

That's right. There is no such thing as 'fresh' water. All water is recycled. The water you last drank may have once passed through the intestinal tract of a brontosaurus.[bigsad]

[DiscoMick]

Name an odd number that doesn't have an 'e' in it.

[DazzaTD5]

Name an odd number that doesn't have an 'e' in it.

a maths type person should get this.

[4bee]

On a reliable authority (Walsh Well Drilling SA) our Bore water here originates in Papua New Guinea. When it flows out of the faucet one can hear the Kundu Drums beating.. No Kid.[biggrin]

[NavyDiver]

Name an odd number that doesn't have an 'e' in it.

Loads as you did not specify language

Ono (Italian), hana ( Korean), Moja (swahili) , אַחֶדֶתHebrew [biggrin]

[NavyDiver]

Except in Sydney- You mummify [biggrin]

Dead bodies move while decomposing, a significant find for death investigations - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-12/dead-bodies-move-while-decomposing-significant-find-for-police/11492330)

[DiscoMick]

Loads as you did not specify language

Ono (Italian), hana ( Korean), Moja (swahili) , אַחֶדֶתHebrew [biggrin]Very true, I didn't. Should have said English.

[DiscoMick]

Except in Sydney- You mummify [biggrin]

Dead bodies move while decomposing, a significant find for death investigations - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-12/dead-bodies-move-while-decomposing-significant-find-for-police/11492330)That's fascinating. I guess there is life after death!

[4bee]

Not sure Blowflies count.[smilebigeye]

[Eevo]

Name an odd number that doesn't have an 'e' in it.


three...

it was two "e" in it.

[Saitch]

trio