The totally off-topic thread

[drron]

So there's nothing crook in Tallarook?

 

[JessicaTam]

So there's nothing crook in Tallarook?

Nothing at all.

 

[anat0l]

Whats wrong with mixing up a heaped teaspoon of wasabi with a teaspoon of soy sauce and pouring it over a plate of rice!

In a sense, nothing wrong at all. Culturally, it's not correct sushi eating etiquette, but unless you have strict Japanese relations or other people at the table, who's going to judge?

 

[anat0l]

I have just got home from a lovely weekend teaching an off-road driving course. Tallarook is a lovely part of Victoria that I would like to visit more often. Ten students worked together yesterday to absorb some unfamiliar concepts. We then spent today driving over some terrain they would not have considered possible 24 hours before. It was great to see how much could be achieved by everyone working together.

Just out of interest, what was the age range of the group of students that you had, and what would you have considered was the greatest challenge in teaching that group?

 

[JessicaTam]

Just out of interest, what was the age range of the group of students that you had, and what would you have considered was the greatest challenge in teaching that group?

They ranged from about 25 to about 60. It was interesting having a range of experience levels. From newby to an old hand who wanted to formalise their skills.

 

[RAM]

In a sense, nothing wrong at all. Culturally, it's not correct sushi eating etiquette, but unless you have strict Japanese relations or other people at the table, who's going to judge?

...three teenagers and a wife!

 

[GarrettM]

Wandered up to look at the Antonov that landed at PER this morning. Unfortunately, they swapped runway directions just 20 mins before the big bird arrived, so I had to rush from my careful chosen spot, and make do with a roadside stop on the GE Highway bypass.

But here's a question for the community:

The load was "just" a generator for a mining company. Curiously, the "mining company" has not been named in any item I have seen...

(more info here: Antonov An-225 Mriya – World’s largest aircraft, to visit Perth (UPDATED WITH LATEST INFO) | AviationWA )

I'm a project manager, and it would be an unusual circumstance for a generator to be on the critical path and need airlifting - let alone in the world's largest aeroplane.

Does anyone have an inkling why it needed to be rushed? Late in production? And opportunity to reap a bonus if it is commissioned early on site?

It just seems like a strange item to not have allowed time to be transported via ship.

View attachment 70578

On the news they said the gen set was going down south. Make of that what you will. But if that's the case I'd assume somewhere close to Ravensthorpe.

 

[jukebox333]

On the news they said the gen set was going down south. Make of that what you will. But if that's the case I'd assume somewhere close to Ravensthorpe.

Yes, the destination is now being touted as a "refinery". Bauxite or Nickel, one would assume...

*update*

One website is reporting the destination: "The generator will be delivered to company Worstely Alumnia, who will use it to fuel its drills and excavating equipment."
They mean Worsley Alumina, an operation mining in Boddington, processing near Collie.

So that's the where sorted.

Another site has "Mriya will be loaded with a 120-ton generator and will transport it to an aluminium plant in Australia, reports Technet.cz[FONT=Arial, Verdana, Helvetica]. Normally, the generator, produced by a firm in Plzen, would travel by sea, but the Mriya was enlisted given the customer’s need for speed. "[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Verdana, Helvetica]Which sort of echoes my original curiosity: this *could* and normally should have gone by land/sea.[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Verdana, Helvetica]There's a piece on YouTube suggesting "[/FONT]Huge cargo logistics operation supported by DB Schenker to transport 117 Tonne generator made by BRUSH SEM s.r.o. in Plzen Czech Republic and transport it to Perth for Worsley Alumina Refinery Boddington. Contract price for this transport is confidential but i expect $2 - $3 millions dollars. " but that is not verified.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_wMHjxVs8E

 

[medhead]

There might be time constraints that required the airlift. :?:

That was suggested by another post to which I replied. I'm speculating that it might be a logistical issue, or that the logistics made airlift more time/cost effective.

Yes, the destination is now being touted as a "refinery". Bauxite or Nickel, one would assume...

*update*

One website is reporting the destination: "The generator will be delivered to company Worstely Alumnia, who will use it to fuel its drills and excavating equipment."
They mean Worsley Alumina, an operation mining in Boddington, processing near Collie.

So that's the where sorted.

Another site has "Mriya will be loaded with a 120-ton generator and will transport it to an aluminium plant in Australia, reports Technet.cz. Normally, the generator, produced by a firm in Plzen, would travel by sea, but the Mriya was enlisted given the customer’s need for speed. "

Which sort of echoes my original curiosity: this *could* and normally should have gone by land/sea.

There's a piece on YouTube suggesting "Huge cargo logistics operation supported by DB Schenker to transport 117 Tonne generator made by BRUSH SEM s.r.o. in Plzen Czech Republic and transport it to Perth for Worsley Alumina Refinery Boddington. Contract price for this transport is confidential but i expect $2 - $3 millions dollars. " but that is not verified.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_wMHjxVs8E

$2 to 3 million for the charter is nothing if you're losing $$$ due to equipment failure.

 

[PLANT]

Bugger they closed the Esta Thread....... 29 pages short of me payout with 365 Betting that it would go to 50 pages

 

[Moindardt]

Bugger they closed the Esta Thread....... 29 pages short of me payout with 365 Betting that it would go to 50 pages

lol. I was just going to post the same. serfty owes us beers for his manipulation of the betting market. Beers on him next time you see him at the Qantas Pub!!

 

[RooFlyer]

I have just got home from a lovely weekend teaching an off-road driving course. Tallarook is a lovely part of Victoria that I would like to visit more often. Ten students worked together yesterday to absorb some unfamiliar concepts. We then spent today driving over some terrain they would not have considered possible 24 hours before. It was great to see how much could be achieved by everyone working together.
<snip>

On a tenuously related note ...

For his 18th birthday, I bought a nephew an advanced driving course from the RACT (it was more a present for his parents ... I gave him other stuff as well). I asked about what sort of things they do, and I was amazed to find that stuff like skid control and recovery wasn't part of it. When I asked why, the reply was that they teach the students to drive defensively, so they won't get into a skid. When I asked "but what if they do ...." there was no reply.

I checked back later, in case I got the wrong info, but one of the senior chaps in the driving skills area confirmed it and said it had nothing to do with insurance etc, just that they taught very good defensive driving skills.

How dumb is that? Sort of like saying "We aren't going to provide doctors, because you are being taught healthy living habits."

 

[RooFlyer]

There might be time constraints that required the airlift. :?:

If its going inside a new building, and manufacture was delayed, that could be a reason. In a new project build I was recently involved at, the main bit of kit was wider than the distance between the supporting beams of the enclosing building. Coming to Canada from England by ship, it had to be precisely scheduled to be installed after the foundation slab and before the building supports were put up.

We had an airlift contingency arranged if it was delayed.

 

[JohnK]

Bugger they closed the Esta Thread....... 29 pages short of me payout with 365 Betting that it would go to 50 pages

What part of time to move on don't you understand?

 

[medhead]

On a tenuously related note ...

For his 18th birthday, I bought a nephew an advanced driving course from the RACT (it was more a present for his parents ... I gave him other stuff as well). I asked about what sort of things they do, and I was amazed to find that stuff like skid control and recovery wasn't part of it. When I asked why, the reply was that they teach the students to drive defensively, so they won't get into a skid. When I asked "but what if they do ...." there was no reply.

I checked back later, in case I got the wrong info, but one of the senior chaps in the driving skills area confirmed it and said it had nothing to do with insurance etc, just that they taught very good defensive driving skills.

How dumb is that? Sort of like saying "We aren't going to provide doctors, because you are being taught healthy living habits."

A common misconception about defensive driving. The analogy simply doesn't work, healthy living doesn't prevent needing a doctor. Unlike driving to avoid dangerous situations - e.g. not driving so fast that you risk getting into a skid.
Your post reminds me of all these pictures on social media of a car well over a solid line to give 1 metre when passing a bike, with a comment about the car being "forced" into danger on the wrong side of the road. A defensive driver would slow down and pass when safe, rather than put themselves in danger in the first place.

Anyway, plenty of courses out there that do involve the use a skid pan. But I used to work with someone who did one of those courses. Their driving was atrocious because they would use their left foot for the brake and right foot for the accelerator. The driving was extremely erratic, riding the brake while accelerating; sharp transitions between braking and acceleration due to lack of feel with the left foot with resulting whiplash like head movements for passengers. According to everyone else in the office they had decided that the driving course recommended using a left foot braking technique.

 

[QF WP]

The power of words...this is a wonderful, one minute clip filmed in Glasgow (so Princess Fiona will love it - in fact I can almost hear her doing the talking of the female actor).
Full of wisdom and it's not a joke, it's not religious, it's not political, it's just...special.
I hope you'll agree - it should have meaning for all of us.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Hzgzim5m7oU

Of course, if that is a beautiful day in Glasgow....

 

[RooFlyer]

What part of time to move on don't you understand?

It was some humour, JohnK May I suggest a liberal dose? And speaking personally, I'll move on when I choose to, thank-you.

 

[RooFlyer]

A common misconception about defensive driving. The analogy simply doesn't work, healthy living doesn't prevent needing a doctor. Unlike driving to avoid dangerous situations - e.g. not driving so fast that you risk getting into a skid. <snip>

You don't have to be driving 'so fast' to get into a skid.

...and when you are dealing with kids, you can teach them all the defensive driving in the world, but they being kids, I reckon its not unimaginable that at some time they will not be driving defensively, and I'd like my family members (and everyone, really) to be trained to deal with a bad situation when that happens, whether or not it should have happened. Otherwise its just being blind to the realities of life, and young people's lives in particular.

The analogy was fine, thanks; but don't feel obliged to agree.

 

[serfty]

Bugger they closed the Esta Thread....... 29 pages short of me payout with 365 Betting that it would go to 50 pages

At how many post per page? For me it happened to be page 8, for others it could have been page 31 ... it all depends on your settings ...

 

[medhead]

You don't have to be driving 'so fast' to get into a skid.

...and when you are dealing with kids, you can teach them all the defensive driving in the world, but they being kids, I reckon its not unimaginable that at some time they will not be driving defensively, and I'd like my family members (and everyone, really) to be trained to deal with a bad situation when that happens, whether or not it should have happened. Otherwise its just being blind to the realities of life, and young people's lives in particular.

The analogy was fine, thanks; but don't feel obliged to agree.

A skid means that the forces on the car are greater than the force of friction between the road and the wheels. That can only happen when driving too fast for the conditions. I'll cite when I aqua-planed at about 30 km/h due to excessive braking in the wet because even 30 km/h was too fast for the conditions.

I' did a defensive driving course when I got my licence as a "kid". I learnt a number of techniques that have allowed me to avoid danger, that I also applied when driving as a "kid". Even when driving as a "kid" I did use defensive driving techniques. Defensive driving is something that you do all the time, I do feel there is a misconception here.

As for the analogy. Healthy eating can not prevent many serious conditions that require a doctor. Healthy eating can never be a reason to have no dcotors. Unlike defensive driving when teaches people to not get into situations in the first place. The driving is not going to get appendicitis or cancer.