The totally off-topic thread

[Mal]

PS. The sign for today...

 

[Major]

Just for the top guns out there

Taken at Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa

2012 Raytheon Award Video

 

[drron]

And today the email of the day is from Peter Brock.Dont tell me i have crossed to the other side!

 

[medhead]

Damn! Too busy watching Danish murder/politic mystery "the killing" yesterday and forgot to pay a credit card bill. Hopefully, SWMBO remembers to not use that card for the next month or so.

And today the email of the day is from Peter Brock.Dont tell me i have crossed to the other side!

I just saw "Bocky" overtake in a shopping centre car park over a pedestrian crossing. Not sure where he finds the time to email.

 

[medhead]

This wasn't you by any chance?

View attachment 13564

Looks like someone left the inspection plate off.

 

[bossreggie]

Well. I've been out walking this morning and there has been light snow.

This is one of the reasons I've moved to Europe.

That, and the fact +1 lives here.

But mainly the snow. ;-P

 

[Mal]

Yep light snow around London. Not my favourite part of winter... the cold chill is quite annoying and I'm now coming down with a cold.

 

[anat0l]

Yep light snow around London. Not my favourite part of winter... the cold chill is quite annoying and I'm now coming down with a cold.

Would you believe that there's actually a fair number of people I'm aware of that have the "summer cold" here.

Sudden changes in weather are not kind to some people.

 

[Mal]

Would you believe that there's actually a fair number of people I'm aware of that have the "summer cold" here.

Sudden changes in weather are not kind to some people.

Yeah, colds don't discriminate weather wise. Travelling on public transport is a great way to get exposed to all sorts of colds etc.

 

[Flashback]

Yeah, colds don't discriminate weather wise. Travelling on public transport is a great way to get exposed to all sorts of colds etc.

... or working in an office with muppets who bring it in :evil:

 

[Mal]

... or working in an office with muppets who bring it in :evil:

Indeed. Usually contractors who can't afford a sick day.

Which reminds me. I'm still employed by my umbrella company. Wonder if they would pay me sick leave lmao.

 

[RB]

Think it was on here that people were asking about Po Box renewals-received mine today

 

[Katie]

Right, thinking about flood-proofing/ reconfiguring our old house, which is now a rental property. It's in a Brisbane flood plain, and I have no idea how the heck BCC allowed it to be built around 1990. It's bricked in down stairs, which is the big problem, rather than conrete slab & slats. Thanks to the bricks, it seems safe to use for storage, etc. When we bought it, the previous owners had it set up as a pool room and a sewing room. The rooms are specifically not bedrooms, but it's all legal height, so easy to make assumptions that it is "habitable" space
Most of the walls are covered in gyprock/plasterboard, which is the big issue when it floods. And then it means the bathroom needs to be re-done, as the walls on either side of it are platerboard, and it breaks the wet seal ... maybe we can add more brick wall, render them, and put all the power points up high, and it'll be OK to hose out after a flood???

So, what should I do next to try to plan a more flood resilient downstairs rather than our insurers re-do downstairs for the third time??

Do I talk to an architect? Engineer?

I found some post-2011 info from BCC, but some of it refers to Qld Govt departments that no longer exist/have been reshuffled, so I feel like I'm going around in circles.
Any pointing in the right direction is appreciated.

 

[Simo]

Well. I've been out walking this morning and there has been light snow.

This is one of the reasons I've moved to Europe.

That, and the fact +1 lives here.

But mainly the snow. ;-P

Just walked outside and it is raining.

Something different for Sunny Qld LOL

 

[anat0l]

Just walked outside and it is raining.

Something different for Sunny Qld LOL

Yep... all sides of the house are getting a good clean here.

 

[anat0l]

Yesterday's cooking attempt: Profiteroles with vanilla crème pâtissière and dark chocolate sauce.

The disaster:

• Profiteroles look more like hollow biscuits rather than tall and airy. Probably should've expected it, since the batter was rather runny after I'd added the egg before putting it onto the trays. Then, they stuck to the baking paper so most of them lost their bases before I could fill them.
• Crème pâtissière tasted OK but had an odd smell. Not sure if it was due to the cornflour I added, which I guessed because the original recipe I followed had plain flour, but a comment on said recipe said that plain flour adds a bad taste element to the creme. And whilst not completely disastrous, my first forays with a piping bag were not excellent, which wasn't helped that the creme was flowing out of the spout even without adding pressure.
• I used 70% cocoa chocolate to make the sauce. Seemed to be OK when it came out of the pot, except that even with a bit of brown sugar and some cream, it tasted really bitter, and was just hoping that the sweet profiterole would be offset by the chocolate. When I put the chocolate sauce in the fridge to cool, I later took it out and found I had a dark chocolate mousse, except there wasn't quite a lot of air in it.

Not having a lot of luck with sweets.

 

[Katie]

Yesterday's cooking attempt: Profiteroles with vanilla crème pâtissière and dark chocolate sauce.

Should get you over when Mr Katie is making macarons. He's also done profiteroles. He works with the exactitude of those kind of recipes (humidity also has a huge effect on macarons), but I prefer Grandma-style baking - pinches, dollops, and the like.

 

[docjames]

Right, thinking about flood-proofing/ reconfiguring our old house, which is now a rental property. It's in a Brisbane flood plain, and I have no idea how the heck BCC allowed it to be built around 1990. It's bricked in down stairs, which is the big problem, rather than conrete slab & slats. Thanks to the bricks, it seems safe to use for storage, etc. When we bought it, the previous owners had it set up as a pool room and a sewing room. The rooms are specifically not bedrooms, but it's all legal height, so easy to make assumptions that it is "habitable" space
Most of the walls are covered in gyprock/plasterboard, which is the big issue when it floods. And then it means the bathroom needs to be re-done, as the walls on either side of it are platerboard, and it breaks the wet seal ... maybe we can add more brick wall, render them, and put all the power points up high, and it'll be OK to hose out after a flood???

So, what should I do next to try to plan a more flood resilient downstairs rather than our insurers re-do downstairs for the third time??

Do I talk to an architect? Engineer?

I found some post-2011 info from BCC, but some of it refers to Qld Govt departments that no longer exist/have been reshuffled, so I feel like I'm going around in circles.
Any pointing in the right direction is appreciated.

Is the problem not specifically that it'll never be considered 'habitable" via council by-laws due to being below flood height?

In which case you'll never be "habitable" on paper, and unable to then sell it with such, although only you can judge how much you're prepared to spend to make it basically "hose out-able" and how likely you are to be able to make it "flood resistant".

I'd be finding a decent architect or town planner in Brisvegas who surely must have come across this problem before and can give you professional advice (before going to council).

Good luck.

 

[coolumbla]

Blatant ad as per my post in the Avalon airshow thread

delinquent and I now are not using our gold passes to the spitfire stand on Sunday so am happy to trade it to an AFFer for cash!

they cost 160 each but am happy to negotiate

I'll be putting them on fleabay tomorrow night

C

 

[Katie]

Is the problem not specifically that it'll never be considered 'habitable" via council by-laws due to being below flood height?

In which case you'll never be "habitable" on paper, and unable to then sell it with such, although only you can judge how much you're prepared to spend to make it basically "hose out-able" and how likely you are to be able to make it "flood resistant".

Without raising the whole structure (currently two storey, wood Qlder up, brick & plasterboard down) by at least 1.5-2m, the downstairs will never be classified as "habitable" by council guidelines, because it is in a flood plain. I'm just wondering about what we can do to make it easier to clean and so that each flood doesn't result in $100k of building rework. I've got some rough ideas, but don't know if I should go to an architect or builder or engineer ... or who???
Sounds like maybe an architect or town planner??