The totally off-topic thread

[JohnK]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

Finally a holiday and time to relax.

Wife and daughter sound asleep. I'll head off to golf to ensure the golf clubs haven't rusted. Busy week ahead with visa and citizenship applications.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

Really $5000 per quarter in Winter? I know it's cold in Canberra, but...!

For that money, you might be able to solve your problem with underfloor heating. It would still be expensive, but at least the heat would be coming from where you need it (ie, the ground floor).

I live in a wooden Edwardian in MEL. There are holes in the floorboards where I can see daylight through and our power bill (without the solar) would be about $600 +$400 for gas in winter. Summer the gas drops to about $100. One of the best things about this house is that the living room is not open plan. Heating it is easy with the door closed, even with the holes in the floor and the high ceilings. I can't help thinking that big open-plan spaces (while beautiful) are ridiculously impractical in that regard. We did not expect this benefit when we moved in, we were thinking of opening up the spaces, but not anymore. I think the house would be pretty intolerable with no heating at all though - it gets damp in here if (say) we go on holidays and turn it down too far. Not bad damp, but damp enough.

we have underfloor heating - downstairs is all (apart from our bedroom) concrete slab with heating. Over laid with tiles and rugs. We don't run any heating at all overnight - I am not sure when the floors run - they are timed to heat up and then switch off during the day when the slab still radiates warmth and the sun pretty much warms the house (when we have sun).

The in slab heating is terrific, but we still need the combination of central heaters and slab to get a comfortable temperature.

We have good solar orientation and big windows so when we get sunny days we don't need any heating at all, but unfortunately we can get very cold gray days in Canberra. Big house (about 500m2 not counting pool), open plan, high ceilings = energy guzzler.

 

[Pushka]

Gosh transferring from Perth International to Domestic is a pain. Nothing like balancing all luggage on a bus standing up and multiple roundabouts.

On the other hand the new Business Lounge here is lovely compared with the zoo was the original combined one. And great pizza. Adelaide does not have pizza.

 

[wandering_fred]

Re: Rumour:[Denied by RR] Qantas to ban JQ SYD-MEL pax from F lounges & send to J lou

Well WA is outside the national electrical grid, but we still have electricity but billed every other month. Wood heater fueled from our "bush" where timber for the original house was taken about 65 years ago cuts down the inverter heating costs.

3.5K PV panels installed about 4 years ago another 500w a year ago. Max bill two months ending August about $300. Min bill ending Feb about $60. Alas the FIT is only worth about 7 cents a unit. And with this winter's weather, the April bill was $100 over the normal.

Main issue is the grid interactive solar controller. No mains power = no solar power. Just finished with a 27 hour outage - so SA should batten down the hatches as they will see this storm shortly. The annoying bit is the network switch overs that occur about once a month where power is lost for about 2 seconds... with no notice.

I have talked with panel provider about batteries. Opinion is - not quite there yet. Complication is that we are on a rural 480v feed so would need two of everything... And the solar controllers would need replacement in addition to the batteries.

I'm hoping for break even on the Feb bills - ie I won't owe anything, but the normal unit cost keeps going up, so maybe another 500w.

Happy wandering

Fred

 

[Denali]

Gosh transferring from Perth International to Domestic is a pain. Nothing like balancing all luggage on a bus standing up and multiple roundabouts.

On the other hand the new Business Lounge here is lovely compared with the zoo was the original combined one. And great pizza. Adelaide does not have pizza.

I wonder why they just dont build a train shuttle. I took the Brisbane terminal bus last month and it was annoying that they drive the normal traffic roads.

 

[jukebox333]

Gosh transferring from Perth International to Domestic is a pain. Nothing like balancing all luggage on a bus standing up and multiple roundabouts.

On the other hand the new Business Lounge here is lovely compared with the zoo was the original combined one. And great pizza. Adelaide does not have pizza.

I wonder why they just dont build a train shuttle. I took the Brisbane terminal bus last month and it was annoying that they drive the normal traffic roads.

There *is* a heavy rail connection coming (FAL), and stations on both sides of the runway... in 2020/21. But, and it's a big BUT, it will be a looooooooooooong walk from airbridge to train door, especially on the T3/T4 side. So much so, they call it "Belmont" now, not "Airport West", as in the early plans.

Forrestfield Airport Link > Home

I can't imagine anyone transiting from T1/2 to T3/4 wanting to use the rail over a bus interconnect...

 

[Denali]

I have to bite the bullet and buy new check in luggage... uggh, too many choices.

 

[Foreigner]

Are checked bags for domestic flights put through xray?

 

[Denali]

Are checked bags for domestic flights put through xray?

I'm going to say yes because we were once paged, taken downstairs into the Qantas bunker and asked please explain on something inside our check in luggage.

Despite us having a print out from their website attached to the item inside the bag.

Edit: We were told they werent going to open the bag without us there. It was a empty/valve removed small scuba tank cylinder for a Rebreather that was also packed.

 

[Steady]

Are checked bags for domestic flights put through xray?

I've had domestic checked luggage held up in MEL following in transit screening

 

[JohnM]

There *is* a heavy rail connection coming (FAL), and stations on both sides of the runway... in 2020/21. But, and it's a bug BUT, it will be a looooooooooooong walk from airbridge to train door, especially on the T3/T4 side. So much so, they call it "Belmont" now, not "Airport West", as in the early plans.

Forrestfield Airport Link > Home

I can't imagine anyone transiting from T1/2 to T3/4 wanting to use the rail over a bus interconnect...

You need to fix that, JB333 .

Jesting aside, isn't the long-term plan to relocate all airlines over to the INT side?

 

[whatmeworry]

Looks like MEL turn to cop some bad weather tonight and tomorrow. Might be some delays at MEL.

 

[blackcat20]

Looks like MEL turn to cop some bad weather tonight and tomorrow. Might be some delays at MEL.

I was watching the planes doing racetracks on flight aware earlier...

 

[suze2000]

My neighbour's fence was blown over in the high winds today.

 

[jukebox333]

You need to fix that, JB333 .

Jesting aside, isn't the long-term plan to relocate all airlines over to the INT side?

Indeed

Perth Airport - Corporate | Master Plan downloads

And the airport station will then be relatively central to all terminals (and of course there will be no shuttle bus to the Western side, as there won't be one).

However (there's always a however with these things!) all these plans were gelled when the mining boom was in full swing. It's no secret passenger numbers on our trains here in Perth are down - a new generation of urban railcars has been indefinitely shelved as a result. Similarly, I suspect the new runway, and subsequent migration into a central terminal precinct, will also now be on a lot longer timetable than had been hoped for.

 

[Flashback]

Indeed

Perth Airport - Corporate | Master Plan downloads

And the airport station will then be relatively central to all terminals (and of course there will be no shuttle bus to the Western side, as there won't be one).

However (there's always a however with these things!) all these plans were gelled when the mining boom was in full swing. It's no secret passenger numbers on our trains here in Perth are down - a new generation of urban railcars has been indefinitely shelved as a result. Similarly, I suspect the new runway, and subsequent migration into a central terminal precinct, will also now be on a lot longer timetable than had been hoped for.

Which would be poor forward planning, if true - mining and such does go in cycles and it'll only be a matter of time before it's in an up swing again...

 

[whatmeworry]

My neighbour's fence was blown over in the high winds today.

Quite a few of my neighbour’s annoying tree's got pruned in today's high winds... Pity their on Holiday

 

[Denali]

Husband needs an inflatable wedge for travelling because since hes started sleeping with a wedge pillow behind his back, hes stopped snoring overnight (yeah!).

We tested this when we went to NZ last month, no wedge = snoring. Prop the bed up with pillows, stopped snoring.

The online reflux wedges seem flimsy and not as high as the pillow he currently has.

Thanks to the online sex toy industry and Alibaba, I found exactly what he needs last night.

Husband to me, when I showed him the free gift it came with: That better not be to shove up someones butt

Me: No. I think thats the pump to inflate the pillow.

 

[beefarmer]

Husband needs an inflatable wedge for travelling because since hes started sleeping with a wedge pillow behind his back, hes stopped snoring overnight (yeah!).

We tested this when we went to NZ last month, no wedge = snoring. Prop the bed up with pillows, started snoring.

The online reflux wedges seem flimsy and not as high as the pillow he currently has.

Thanks to the online sex toy industry and Alibaba, I found exactly what he needs last night.

Husband to me, when I showed him the free gift it came with: That better not be to shove up someones butt

Me: No. I think thats the pump to inflate the pillow.

Sure sure sure, we all believe you Denali.....

 

[Denali]

Sure sure sure, we all believe you Denali.....

We also had a discussion on what to do with the pillow during housekeeping

Me: We'll just leave it under the top sheet.

Husband: No. We'll just put it to the side in the room

Me: I can only imagine what the poor maid will be thinking finding that in the corner of the room!