The totally off-topic thread

[cove]

Star Track is being run by that idiot who is running Australia Post. Their ability to do freight has been shattered by staff departures. They can now send wrong sized trucks to jobs as bankers seem to have replaced experienced staff.

 

[cove]

Bundy Bear you must really enjoy travelling in coach. Leaving a BAS to be paid by EFT is almost a criminal offence in AFF land.

 

[RooFlyer]

Let me tell you, this growing vegies at home is for the birds! I'm guessing this isn't how a carrot is meant to turn out? And before the SAs start commenting there was atleast 10cm of potting mix below the 'u turn'. Meh. Woolies. all is forgiven; here I come.



The most successful crop by a country mile were the peas. I used pea straw as a mulch. The capsicums died, the carrots .. well, you see what happened to them ... the strawberries were stingy, but the bloody mulch self sprouted the most glorious crop of peas you could imagine. ..

I give up.

At least the lemon and lime are doing OK - I'll be good for G&Ts for a while yet.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

Let me tell you, this growing vegies at home is for the birds........The most successful crop by a country mile were the peas. I used pea straw as a mulch. The capsicums died, the carrots .. well, you see what happened to them ... the strawberries were stingy, but the bloody mulch self sprouted the most glorious crop of peas you could imagine. ..
I give up. .

Well be glad you don't live in sunny QLD RooFlyer, because when our mulch sprouted we got a crop of sugar cane :shock:

 

[RAM]

That beautiful black rock is not radioactive.

The Fukushima Daiichi incident and the subsequent political maneuvering in Japan has been great for coal producers.

Much more so for gas producers really.

Back to nuclear/coal - closer than many may think...

As there is so much MONEY involved there is a long list over oversights, errors and corruption in the nuclear sector. Tokyo Electric Power for example, try "nuclear pipe corrosion".

But on the other hand what wonderful industry is responsible for legally spreading radio-active waste around Australia and the world?

......

Any guesses....

Did you know that Sydney's 3rd runway (the new N/S) is radioactive? Built using fly ash as a 'cost saving'?

At issue is coal's content of uranium and thorium, both radioactive elements. They occur in such trace amounts in natural, or "whole," coal that they aren't a problem. But when coal is burned into fly ash, uranium and thorium are concentrated at up to 10 times their original levels.Dec 13, 2007
Coal Ash Is More Radioactive than Nuclear Waste ...

www.scientificamerican.com/.../coal-ash-is-more-radioa...Scientific American

A new Duke University-led study has revealed the presence of radioactive contaminants in coal ash from all three major U.S. coal-producing basins.

The study found that levels of radioactivity in the ash were up to five times higher than in normal soil, and up to 10 times higher than in the parent coal itself because of the way combustion concentrates radioactivity.
The finding raises concerns about the environmental and human health risks posed by coal ash, which is currently unregulated and is stored in coal-fired power plants' holding ponds and landfills nationwide.
"Until now, metals and contaminants such as selenium and coughnic have been the major known contaminants of concern in coal ash," said Avner Vengosh, professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment. "This study raises the possibility we should also be looking for radioactive elements, such as radium isotopes and lead-210, and including them in our monitoring efforts."
Radium isotopes and lead-210 occur naturally in coal as chemical by-products of its uranium and thorium content. Vengosh's research team revealed that when the coal is burned, the radium isotopes become concentrated in the coal ash residues, and the lead-210 becomes chemically volatile and reattaches itself to tiny particles of fly ash. This causes additional enrichment of radioactivity in the fly ash.
"Radioactive radium and lead-210 ends up concentrated in these tiny particles of fly ash, which though individually small, collectively comprise the largest volume of coal ash waste going into holding ponds and landfills," said Nancy Lauer, a Ph.D. student in Vengosh's lab who was lead author of the study.

Read more at: Radioactive contaminants found in coal ash

 

[medhead]

Let me tell you, this growing vegies at home is for the birds! I'm guessing this isn't how a carrot is meant to turn out? And before the SAs start commenting there was atleast 10cm of potting mix below the 'u turn'. Meh. Woolies. all is forgiven; here I come.

View attachment 65944

The most successful crop by a country mile were the peas. I used pea straw as a mulch. The capsicums died, the carrots .. well, you see what happened to them ... the strawberries were stingy, but the bloody mulch self sprouted the most glorious crop of peas you could imagine. ..

I give up.

At least the lemon and lime are doing OK - I'll be good for G&Ts for a while yet.

Someone warned me against ever growing carrots in a pot because they do stupid things like in your picture.
The father in law planted caulifowers for us. I think we got one out of 4. 2 are still on the plant rotting. The fourth one seems to be growing fruit now.

Avocado are easy. And the mango is still alive after 3 weeks.

 

[RooFlyer]

Someone warned me against ever growing carrots in a pot because they do stupid things like in your picture.
The father in law planted caulifowers for us. I think we got one out of 4. 2 are still on the plant rotting. The fourth one seems to be growing fruit now.

Avocado are easy. And the mango is still alive after 3 weeks.

Agree, but the bloody thing was in a ruddy big trough with 10cm clear of premium potting mix underneath it. Ungrateful sod; I enjoyed crunching on it.

Mango eh? Very envious (but do you get fruit bats in Adelaide?). Lets compare the mangos to my peaches next year. I got 6 beaut ones off my dwarf peach (its first year ... in a (BIG!) pot). The peaches diameter were 20% of the height of the tree :shock:

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Carrots have very fine roots which extend well below the visible "root" of the vegetable and when they hit the bottom the visible root curls up.

 

[GarrettM]

Let me tell you, this growing vegies at home is for the birds! I'm guessing this isn't how a carrot is meant to turn out? And before the SAs start commenting there was atleast 10cm of potting mix below the 'u turn'. Meh. Woolies. all is forgiven; here I come.

View attachment 65944

The most successful crop by a country mile were the peas. I used pea straw as a mulch. The capsicums died, the carrots .. well, you see what happened to them ... the strawberries were stingy, but the bloody mulch self sprouted the most glorious crop of peas you could imagine. ..

I give up.

At least the lemon and lime are doing OK - I'll be good for G&Ts for a while yet.

The price of limes being what they are you'd be mad to do anything OTHER than grow your own. Our dwarf citrus suffered a tad over summer, but the lemon is already hitting back strong. The lime doesn't seem to be too far away either. And the blueberries should come out really well next spring too! Sadly that's all our small yard can accommodate.

 

[JohnK]

Let me tell you, this growing vegies at home is for the birds! I'm guessing this isn't how a carrot is meant to turn out? And before the SAs start commenting there was atleast 10cm of potting mix below the 'u turn'. Meh. Woolies. all is forgiven; here I come.

View attachment 65944

The most successful crop by a country mile were the peas. I used pea straw as a mulch. The capsicums died, the carrots .. well, you see what happened to them ... the strawberries were stingy, but the bloody mulch self sprouted the most glorious crop of peas you could imagine. ..

I give up.

At least the lemon and lime are doing OK - I'll be good for G&Ts for a while yet.

Looks of the vegetables should be the least of your worries. Once you have tasted home grown vegetables leaves the vegetables you buy in shop for dead.

 

[RooFlyer]

The price of limes being what they are you'd be mad to do anything OTHER than grow your own. Our dwarf citrus suffered a tad over summer, but the lemon is already hitting back strong. The lime doesn't seem to be too far away either. And the blueberries should come out really well next spring too! Sadly that's all our small yard can accommodate.

You wanna talk to me about blueberries? Do ya, ... punk? (If Dirty Harry is unknown to you, you won't get the reference ...)

Look at what I used to walk though mile after mile when I was a geo in northern Quebec.



My blueberry muffins were to die for.

Native strawberries and raspberries too. Watch out for les gape, though (hint: its Quebequois, not French!)

 

[JessicaTam]

Eric 'Winkle' Brown has died, aged 97.

What an astonishing career.

Eric 'Winkle' Brown: Celebrated British pilot dies, aged 97 - BBC News

 

[JessicaTam]

[-]A[/-] Un chateau. [-]Two[/-] Deux chateaux.
Just FYI.

There, fixed that for you.

 

[penegal]

Thank you for the spelling lesson.

I struggle with English, so French is a real stretch...

 

[anat0l]

My Texan son-in-law reckons that American coffee is dog's ****. He loves coming to Australia to have a good cup of coffee. I found that on my RTW trip last year that the coffee in London was awful and that was as good as it got. Terrible in France, even worse in Italy and the usual ditch water in the US. But back in Australia - a really good drop.

I can't imagine where you found terrible coffee in either France or Italy.
Unless perhaps you were looking for a "flat white" which doesn't exist in either country.
But then once you adulterate coffee with milk or sugar it's all much of a muchness.

Oh I tried to avoid ordering those - always asked for "café allongé".
Even though half the time they would respond "C'est a dire café americano?".

When in London, try to find a cafe that is run by an Australian or New Zealand expat. You'll get a better coffee fix there, just like home. I would have thought they were popping up like mushrooms there, given the number of antipodean expats. Keith009 used to have a finger on the pulse on all of the hotspots.

France, Italy and Switzerland... it's all espresso. Keep it simple is best - an espresso, double espresso (if you need it), café (which is usually a longer drawn espresso / lungo, i.e. more water than a small shot, but still retains notes and flavours) or café crème (served usually with a small tub of 15% fat cream). I don't know in France, but in French Switzerland you can ask for a café renversé (literally "reversed coffee" or "upside down coffee"), which is a milk coffee closer to a flat white. Latte macchiato is also commonly served (shot of espresso, made up with hot milk, layer of milk foam), but this is usually one of the most expensive coffees you can buy (easily CHF 4-5 per serve). For me, I'm usually a latte drinker, but when I was in CH, I just drank espresso or café crème. Italy is pretty much only espressos, and many Italians will shot it down then take off, unless they have time on their hands.

Germany tends to follow more the Americans when it comes to coffee, but even they drink standard coffee rather stronger than the average American coffee. Overall they're not entirely enamoured with it to flesh out a "culture".

Bottom line is, Australia and New Zealand carved out a coffee culture like the Americans carved out a pizza culture that is nothing like pizza in Italy.

For those interested, here's a video (in English) produced by a French woman about ordering coffee in France: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFENKcYFNXw

 

[RooFlyer]

When in London, try to find a cafe that is run by an Australian or New Zealand expat. You'll get a better coffee fix there, just like home. I would have thought they were popping up like mushrooms there, given the number of antipodean expats. Keith009 used to have a finger on the pulse on all of the hotspots.
<snip>
For those interested, here's a video (in English) produced by a French woman about ordering coffee in France: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFENKcYFNXw

Same in Nth America of course. I have western Canada pretty well mapped out. The Wild Flour Café in Banff can be more Melbourne coffee experience than, well, Melbourne with the right ski bums behind the counter.

Interesting video presenter!

 

[amaroo]

Jeez, glad I'm a tea drinker

 

[anat0l]

Jeez, glad I'm a tea drinker

I drink plenty of tea at home (oddly not when I returned home here, guess I should change that), but coffee when out and about.

Can't bring myself to pay almost the same price for tea as coffee most of the time, unless there are some really nice infusions available.

 

[amaroo]

I drink plenty of tea at home (oddly not when I returned home here, guess I should change that), but coffee when out and about.

Can't bring myself to pay almost the same price for tea as coffee most of the time, unless there are some really nice infusions available.

Most places serve a pot ... I'm still drinking long after the rest have completed their coffee.

 

[GarrettM]

I drink plenty of tea at home (oddly not when I returned home here, guess I should change that), but coffee when out and about.

Can't bring myself to pay almost the same price for tea as coffee most of the time, unless there are some really nice infusions available.

Ditto. Can't recall ever paying someone for a tea. But then again I still prefer a milkshake over coffee half the time anyway. Real grown up like.