paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Sept 23, 2018 23:20:24 GMT 10
Yeah I've just been rocking the laptop bag between offices and going minimalist on the documents. A briefcase sounds like just the ticket!
Been looking for a couple days... this purchase is going to hurt. 'Buy once, cry once' I guess?
The thermal blanket is a great tip! especially given it's size/weight costs are so low.
Carryon BOB is pretty serious Pion, not a bad idea...
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Sept 20, 2018 22:07:59 GMT 10
Having moved from a trades to an office environment a couple years ago I've struggled a lot with EDC. I used to be the guy with a knife, multiitool, a lighter, small torch ect.. on my person and almost came to rely on that fact. Very early on in the piece I got far more attention than I typically like to attract when I offered a simple GRP griptilian to someone needing a knife. This caused me to pull back and now I keep a very simple victorinox style pocket knife in my desk and that's it. Now I've always got a proper knife and gear in the car but there's always the thought that you need to leave your car quickly or something happens to it leaving you without tools. What sort of prepping gear do people carry when in you're business attire or formal gear say at a wedding?
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Sept 19, 2018 11:27:17 GMT 10
Avast ye skallywag carouser... Slack on that grog lest ye end up three sheets to the wind.
Been hanging the jib as the wenches are all sunken chest and no booty. I'll abandon ship there as dont want things to get rrr rated, the landlubbers might get salty.
Enough running the pig... Ya best stick to battening down the hatches.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Sept 16, 2018 22:20:44 GMT 10
I sold my Baldivis Central property in October 2013... boy did I get out at the right time. I still made good money on that house. You're right about the high level of FIFO in that suburb, was a nice quiet place to live because of that though. Half of the houses were empty most of the time and not just due to the FIFO. There was little demand for rental housing in the area and most were owner occupiers. Only people I knew that were renting, were also building a house there and were just waiting for it to finish. Soon as overtime started drying up though it was pretty clear to anyone paying attention the boom was over. I think I managed to get out before those that didn't have personal connections to the mining industry and were simply listening to the media saw the writing on the wall. It's the "anyone paying attention" bit that always gets me... so many people think they know what's happening, but they rely on gossip rather than serious thought & study. So many also got ripped off by bad advise from "alleged professionals". Yeah so true... I had really bad feelings for the WA economy for all of 2013 but seeing the financial situation of the company I worked for along with others from customers we had good relationships with at EOFY... I just knew at that point I had to go. Looking back, I really knew January of 2013 but didn't trust myself enough to act. I think I was trying to convince myself things would magically get better... I guess too many held onto that fantasy for too long? The whole thing as taught me to trust my instincts more and I hope I can actually act with more purpose next time.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Sept 16, 2018 22:15:37 GMT 10
Baldivis is basically a swamp isn't it? Some of it - particularly around Rivergums (and especially near the new high school) was reclaimed swamp. The water table there is so high that even soakwells don't work effectively. Digging a hole requires dewatering to a ridiculous extent - especially given the small block sizes. We never had an issue with drainage being in central... our entire property was imported sand. Was crazy how quick that suburb actually grew... many 'fastest growing suburb' phrases were thrown around but seeing the corners that got cut was amazing. I saw houses in handover 8 weeks after slab poors and similar madness... Still have a few good friends there, is always interesting to hear how things are going.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Sept 16, 2018 22:08:45 GMT 10
Baldivis is basically a swamp isn't it? I'd describe it as scrub land they bulldozed and filled with bricks... The other side of the freeway where there is much less development is the 'swamp'. Nice properties that side lol
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Sept 16, 2018 22:06:47 GMT 10
I've never had much time for economists. If they're such experts why aren't they all millionaires? I was once advised by an economist to buy an investment property in Baldivis (south of Perth, at the time it was the fastest growing suburb in Australia). I was concerned that the high number of FIFO workers would lead to prices crashing when the mining boom ended (which they did). Values are now so low that banks aren't allowing people to sell their homes as there's insufficient equity to cover existing mortgages. There are now hundreds upon hundreds of vacant houses there and it's now got the highest rate of personal bankruptcies in Australia. I sold my Baldivis Central property in October 2013... boy did I get out at the right time. I still made good money on that house. You're right about the high level of FIFO in that suburb, was a nice quiet place to live because of that though. Half of the houses were empty most of the time and not just due to the FIFO. There was little demand for rental housing in the area and most were owner occupiers. Only people I knew that were renting, were also building a house there and were just waiting for it to finish. Soon as overtime started drying up though it was pretty clear to anyone paying attention the boom was over. I think I managed to get out before those that didn't have personal connections to the mining industry and were simply listening to the media saw the writing on the wall.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Sept 8, 2018 11:16:30 GMT 10
Message to Leaders: It'd be great if we could just stick to selling our fresh produce, seafood and minerals to China and buying the stuff that comes out of their factories. Let's not spoil it all with a military misadventure. p.s. - Buy nuclear subs and nuclear missiles to load into them. (Working on the Lion v's Porcupine theory. We can be small and weak yet impossible to swallow) I'm very much in agreement with this strategy. I was particularly excited when the CSIRO report on potential irrigation dams in the northern half of Australia was handed down, some of the politicians are even making the right noises. If we get the go ahead on half of the proposed sites it'll be an amazing thing for Australia going forward. Regardless of anyone's feelings on climate change, it's pretty hard to argue against investing in water security and increased food production capacity with the way the world population is going. I'm also of the belief that trade is often the best form of diplomacy... and China seems to agree.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Sept 5, 2018 0:56:02 GMT 10
SO i try to follow these rather than, "Wow I can wiggle my butt just like Miley Cyrus does!" or "I style my makeup the way the Kardashians do!" I know right! It's hardly some big achievement to wiggle your butt like Miley... She's no Lexy Panterra.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Sept 2, 2018 22:31:34 GMT 10
To me it seems like an extreme idolatry... which is never particularly healthy. While it might not seem like they do anything useful to you or me, they have reached the pinnacle of their particular social dominance hierarchy and trade in a very different currency than what we would accept. You see it in sport and politics also. People choose to join that group and those at the top garner almost god like status.
I feel the same processes in the brain that allow people to experience euphoria in the presence of their god can be redirected to a personal idol if that is what they choose to worship.
To respect and to worship a person triggers very different responses. Not sure you can directly compare them.
That's always been my take on the more extreme fandom anyway...
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Aug 30, 2018 10:31:05 GMT 10
So... it's a designer root cellar?
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Aug 29, 2018 0:12:27 GMT 10
There are ways to jig up a soldier fly larvae breeder box where as soon as the larvae are large enough they can climb over a lip in the box and they slide into the water. This gives you a nice constant feed of protein into your pond. Another great way of producing food for your fish is duckweed. Very high in protein and you just need to keep a smaller bucket/tank to grow it in as it likes more stagnant, higher nutrient water. Given appropriate conditions, it will double in volume daily. Much of what often goes into a compost in the way of vegetable scraps makes good fish food also. This is often the stuff that doesn't make good compost anyway so is a much better value add to feed it to fish. If you come across some good specials or know anyone that disposes of large amounts of old vegetables, you can prepare this in advance & freeze it for good savings in fish food. You'll need to obviously supplement with different amounts of protein depending on your species of fish. Most setups that produce food for consumption in Australia use Tilapia as they're pretty fast growing, omnivorous, can handle some cold over winter ect... You can have barra if it's warmer (you'll have to heat/keep a glasshouse if you want to keep them over winter in most places in Australia) or trout if you're somewhere cold. Anything outside that is only if you have fingerlings available in your area.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Aug 28, 2018 19:24:06 GMT 10
While aquaponics is an amazing idea, it's really nothing special... All you need to do is run the pond water over the roots of a plant and you'll have a system.
I've been involved in systems that ponds 5000-8000L with a few growbeds - flood/draining in expanded clay down to systems that are fish tanks with a handful of goldfish feeding a 20L drum of media.
For something simple to get things started... you can do a floating raft system with lettuce or similar which can be as easy as cutting holes in a boogieboard and inserting rockwool, then sprinkling lettuce seeds on the wool. Just float this on top of the pond and you have an aquaponics system!
All pond systems go through the ammonia to nitrite to nitrate cycle... then you do a water change. The only difference in aquaponics is instead of removing the water, you remove the nitrates with plants.
There are some things like buffering PH with shells so it doesn't go too high, making sure your media you use is inert so you don't introduce anything that kills the fish... but most is normal pond management.
If you already have a functioning Koi pond, most of the work is done... the system will have cycled and you just need to introduce plants. You can either add a second pump that dumps the water into a grow bed, or buckets, or strawberry tower... then just drain back into the pond. Or you can divert the existing drain from the filter pump into such a bed.
Thing to remember is while everyone tries to 'design the perfect system' so it's all in balance... if things get out of hand you can just do a part water change to drop your nitrate levels the way you would in a normal pond. If your plants start to yellow off you either need more fish or less plants... if you're growing too much algae do a water change and/or add more plants.
Start with easy plants like lettuce and work up from there. Expanded clay, rockwool, pearlite... any inert medium is great. I'd start with expanded clay balls for simplicity.
I need to take one of the girls to the after hours doctor... will post more later.
Bell-siphons are your friend!
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Aug 28, 2018 19:01:20 GMT 10
After your suggestion about building up a tolerance for bee stings, this will be discussed on my next visit to the Dr. Question - on a secondary BOL I can use, I have come across a MASSIVE swarm of native bees - pardon my ignorance, but - is their poison the same as run of the mill honey bees? And do they produce honey? I've heard varied reports... You'll receive mixed reports as there are hundreds of different types of native bees in Australia. Some of them will sting you, some of them wont... Some of them will produce a few liters of honey, some a little less, some of them wont at all... none as much as the European ones. It's dependent on your location & what vegetation you have in your area. www.aussiebee.com.au/beesinyourarea.htmlI've never gone down the path of native beekeeping but there are many who claim you can be productive. So far my favorite book on the topic has been 'Australian Stingless Bees - A guide to sugarbag beekeeping' by John Klumpp
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Aug 26, 2018 11:09:49 GMT 10
Perhaps showing my age here but I've never driven one...
I only buy manuals though and have driven plenty of old cranes/tractors so I guess I could work it out?
Maybe I'm the zombie food on this one lol
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Aug 26, 2018 11:04:29 GMT 10
Not a joke, but a funny exchange with Little Miss tonight... Her: Daddy, would you rather eat a worm pie or a cockroach sandwich? Me: I don't like bread, so I'll go the worm pie. Her: Seriously? It's the bread you've got a problem with? How to confuse an 8yo... Maybe I take this route too often... I'd simply get a "Don't be silly Dad" from my 7 year old... They've learnt not to take what I say at face value. Such fun age for them to be at as they're asking plenty of questions, good to throw in at least 30%-50% fake answers so they know not to trust what they hear!
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Aug 25, 2018 0:43:20 GMT 10
You'd be forgiven for thinking I have politics on my mind tonight...
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Aug 25, 2018 0:21:21 GMT 10
On the up-side: at least our leadership Coups don't involve tanks, soldiers and curfews. Much easier for the rest of us that they depose each other behind closed doors. You'd have to expect this isn't over yet. The right wanted command and they still haven't got it ... and seemingly by the same margin as with Turnbull. Listen carefully! .... Hear that? The faint sound of steel on stone? That's the sound of Dutto and Tony re-sharpening their knives. Whether or not you like Turnbull, I think he played a bad hand well this week. Surprising the Dutton camp with the vote on Tuesday followed by delaying the second meeting past Thursdays sitting... resulting in him stepping aside for his own treasurer or deputy. I don't think they'll have another stab at it until after Morrison looses the election... Tony might be ready to raise his hand again by that stage! Regardless, I'll have my popcorn ready.
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Aug 24, 2018 20:27:36 GMT 10
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paranoia
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Post by paranoia on Aug 23, 2018 21:00:31 GMT 10
I don't think Bishop can win given she's of the same faction as Turnbull. If they have the numbers to call a partyroom, they wont be voting in Bishop.
Scomo is the obvious candidate being center faction but I don't think that will satisfy those pushing for change.
I think Dutton will get the leadership and then loose the election. You can dislike Turnbull but you cant dispute the fact his votes will bleed left and they don't have the buffer to bleed like that.
This all points to a horribly divided liberal party that wont be electable at the next election, possibly even the following... My feeling is we face at least one shorten term, possibly 2.
Be afraid...
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