The totally off-topic thread

[Jasecoop]

It is a little bit busy on ticketmaster this morning, all these West Australian buying tickets for Fremantle vs Port Adelaide game.

Update,

Got a ticket, although after waiting for 20 minutes it logged me out but of course each website I seem to have to enter a password for as a different number of letters required so I had to re-enter them all again.

At least I am there.

Says I have mine but yet to receive the ticket on email yet - better come

 

[penegal]

Life out in the real world can indeed be risky on several fronts mate - why not out come join us some!

I know


Let's see who I can offend today:

• Lactose intolerant people can get nasty if you give them cows milk... That is, before they go running to the bathroom.
• People who are very sensitive to caffeine speak too fast when complaining that you didn't give them Decaf, so you can't actually understand them.
• W@ankers have no idea what they are actually drinking and therefore don't realise they should complain.

FWIW - I can't taste the difference between "Skinny" milk and full cream milk in coffee. I know that many cafes view them as perfectly interchangeable behind the machine, and will often top up skinnys with full cream froth and vice versa to get coffees out to waiting customers faster.

 

[penegal]

A friend's son worked in a bar many years ago and said that they topped up most of the whisky bottles with their own house blend.

Those 2am shots of Johnny Blue were actually some cheap rubbish... Mind you, if you're going to pay bar prices for Johnny Blue, you probably have more money than sense anyway...

 

[RAM]

A friend's son worked in a bar many years ago and said that they topped up most of the whisky bottles with their own house blend.

Those 2am shots of Johnny Blue were actually some cheap rubbish... Mind you, if you're going to pay bar prices for Johnny Blue, you probably have more money than sense anyway...

Home blend can be cold tea and ethanol!

 

[Flashback]

Starbucks have obviously read your thoughts. Starting an 'express' coffee shop in New York. Phone/ email etc though order, pay digitally, log in when get to store and coffee order done immediately. Trying to discourage queues by having very limited food offers and no seats. Reminds me of when London changed to Oyster cards..no fumbling for coins or asking what the fare was to be, just use the card. Bus timetables had to be rewritten because all the buses were running ahead of schedule; less time wastage.

London has now gone 100% cashless on the bus system - although still took some people a while to figure that out even though they'd been advertising it for several months..

It is a little bit busy on ticketmaster this morning, all these West Australian buying tickets for Fremantle vs Port Adelaide game.

Update,

Got a ticket, although after waiting for 20 minutes it logged me out but of course each website I seem to have to enter a password for as a different number of letters required so I had to re-enter them all again.

At least I am there.

The only thing I hate (and like) about finals - it's run by the AFL, so you don't get your usual seat. It does mean that you have a chance at getting a better seat though... which I did for an Eagles v Swans final I went to.

 

[JessicaTam]

Batten down the hatches in MEL tonight.

 

[anat0l]

I wonder what would happen if Australian public transport went to an open gate system very similar to many parts of Europe.

In such systems, there are hardly any fare gates (if at all). It is your responsibility to obtain a ticket before boarding transport. In many cases, you buy the ticket from a ticket machine and then you validate it by putting it in a separate machine, usually close to the bus stop / train platform (this stamps the generic ticket with the date and time, so you can't just reuse the same generic ticket). Naturally, there are seasonal tickets for those who use the system more often than tourists who would use the system sparingly.

There are stiff fines (well, relatively stiff anyway, e.g. EUR 80) for being caught taking transport without a valid ticket (i.e. without a ticket at all, or with a ticket which hasn't been stamped by the validating machine).

Overall the system relies quite a lot on honesty (it is possible to "ride the transport system for free" as long as you can evade being caught without a valid ticket), but IMO it also results in a relatively quicker system for boarding as less time is spent on boarding for people to validate their ride - instead, here they just simply hop on. Probably a minimal effect for trains (as trains you traditionally need to buy a ticket in advance anyway - the major advantage would be no ticket barriers required at stations, so improved traffic flow) compared to a greater effect on buses. I can see that a lot of people right now would say that it makes fare evasion (particularly by students) far too easy..... so I wonder how the jurisdictions that have such a system deal with such an issue.

 

[JessicaTam]

Wow. I just saw Wolowitz's mum - three times!

 

[Flashback]

Wow. I just saw Wolowitz's mum - three times!

Was she eating brisket?

 

[Blinky]

As I am not (sigh) flying much at the moment, this is about the only thread I can post on topic.

Mrs Blinky and I have seven kids, all now adults, and one grandkid. A huge financial sink for sure, but all our own doing - my wife would have had a dozen if circumstances had gone our way.

Anyway, amid the normal travails of family life, there are special days which I will take to my grave. One was last Saturday. My third child's 30th birthday, and one which she has been planning for ages. In the morning her new boyfriend, a very large, gentle and friendly carpenter came around with his tools and insisted on fixing all the small maintenance jobs I've been putting off. Then the party.

At a nearby restaurant she booked, with about 80 friends, many of whom we saw grow up. One of the things we are most proud of is when all our kids get together with partners, they talk, laugh and get on like a house on fire. Not every family (from experience) gets on like this. The band was terrific, and what made the night was the video one of the boys put together. He's the Melbourne Demons Media Manager (a decade younger than every other AFL Media Manager) and he had AFL players and commentators wish my daughter a happy birthday, including a couple who insisted she was an ex-girlfriend.

One of the best things is that me and my wife were not tolerated as token oldies, but were treated as part of the group.

All the kids and partners came around yesterday for Father's Day, and this would normally be the highlight of the month. As good as it was, it was a distant second to the 30th.

We are very, very lucky.

Sorry about such a self indulgent post......

 

[Bundy Bear]

Says I have mine but yet to receive the ticket on email yet - better come

Still waiting for my ticket to arrive via email

 

[drron]

Nothing self indulgent about it at all Blinky.It is what life is all about.
Father's day was special for me as well this year.As some are aware I have 4 surrogate grandkids-they adopted us when the eldest went to school and wanted someone for grandparents day.That was 17 years agn Sunday we were taken to hungry Feel at Buderim by them for brunch.A chosen family.

 

[JessicaTam]

Was she eating brisket?

No, but she was in the kitchen.

 

[Blinky]

Nothing self indulgent about it at all Blinky.It is what life is all about.
Father's day was special for me as well this year.As some are aware I have 4 surrogate grandkids-they adopted us when the eldest went to school and wanted someone for grandparents day.That was 17 years agn Sunday we were taken to hungry Feel at Buderim by them for brunch.A chosen family.

Wonderful. Sounds like a great day.

One of Queensland's greats, Jonathan Brown, was in my daughter's video "apologising" for not turning up, but saying it was all for the good as he was locked up on his 30th. Don't know if that's true, but a funny story.

 

[Bundy Bear]

Good four corners program regarding MH17 on now, if you miss it usually available on ABC iview.

 

[JohnK]

A friend's son worked in a bar many years ago and said that they topped up most of the whisky bottles with their own house blend.

Those 2am shots of Johnny Blue were actually some cheap rubbish... Mind you, if you're going to pay bar prices for Johnny Blue, you probably have more money than sense anyway...

Someone I know used to work in a night club at Kings Cross. He tells stories of dipping the rim of the glass into a tray of house scotch adding ice and coke and charging a fortune for the privilege. If you've already had a few for the night your first sip is going to indicate strong mix.

 

[amaroo]

Can't see any downside here A dark day for Aussie expats in Asia as ABC names cut-off date for Australia Network

 

[anat0l]

Can't see any downside here A dark day for Aussie expats in Asia as ABC names cut-off date for Australia Network

Thank goodness it's just an editorial, because it's a damn overreaction IMO.

Most of the content you can get online now, so it is really only a problem for areas where internet connection is a problem or a premium; for many Aussie expats, I can't imagine that is a huge issue. As for the kid's shows, I thought you can usually get a lot of that for free online now (no, I am not referring to downloading off those file sharing sites).

 

[Hvr]

Can't see any downside here A dark day for Aussie expats in Asia as ABC names cut-off date for Australia Network

Actually there's no upside. Once again we're cutting our nose to spite our face. By not having a media presence in Asia we're telling them they're not important enough to broadcast to and we're not really interested in them. Still I guess Rupert will be paid squillions to broadcast his propaganda and present it as official government policy.

 

[anat0l]

Actually there's no upside. Once again we're cutting our nose to spite our face. By not having a media presence in Asia we're telling them they're not important enough to broadcast to and we're not really interested in them. Still I guess Rupert will be paid squillions to broadcast his propaganda and present it as official government policy.

What moral, practical or ethical obligation did the national Australian broadcaster have with respect to providing television programming services to Asia? (Let alone as opposed to any other area in the world?)

As for the Rupert propaganda, I agree, especially with the right government Australia has right now (right government in power = Rupert well off the hook = carte blanche, anyone?). That's a separate issue and frankly hopefully it'll just take the old man time to kick the bucket and maybe then a shift in regime. In Australia you'd hope that there won't be a manifestation of Orwellian ideals that reach farther, but Auntie should have nothing to do with this.