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Hello Bloggers... come in... sit down... make yourself comfortable... Please enjoy your visit to The Chat Room. * Extends right arm and welcomes you through the door * | ||
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| The continuing adventures of Gryphonn and Phoenix. In this episode... Yesterday I got a mechanic to do an inspection on the jigger. There were a couple of things I hadn't finished off, such as a little bit of paint that he ignored. I hadn't fixed the right rear tail-light (open circuit), or fixed the handbrake, so they went on the list of 'fix it'. The centre seat-belt was jammed and I hadn't got around to fitting the new (second hand) ones yet (added to the list). He also found a loose front wheel bearing, some brake fluid stains on the back left wheel, and a badly flogged out front drive shaft. He also found that my battery wasn't 'secured'. ...oh, and something else that I won't mention until the day I replace it... it's not critical for everyday use, so we won't talk about the replacement cost either... Yesterday arvo I ripped off the back wheel, and as he had suggested it just may have been a case of someone not cleaning up after themselves. The wheel cylinder (for lay people - the brake squeezer thingy) had been replaced, but no-one had cleaned up after bleeding the brake lines. I then pulled the free-wheeling hub off the front to do the wheel bearing... ...my circlip pliers (all five pair of them) were at a friend's house...10km away and I had a front hub half pulled apart. So, a 15 minute job became an hour and fifteen minutes...half an hour to get the circlip off...about five minutes to adjust the bearing...half an hour to get it back on again...slippery little buggers when they're covered in grease...and ten minutes to bolt it all up again. Last night I found the open circuit on the light and soldered it all back together and did a general tidy up of the wiring. I also tried to 'fix' the handbrake cable...but resigned myself to buying a new one in the morning when I picked up the drive shaft from Queensland Cruisers (http://www.qldcruisers.com.au/). So, early this morning I phoned QC about the drive shaft. They had one ready to go so I jumped in the jigger and headed over to see 'Brad' and 'Bryan'. I grabbed the shaft and a handbrake cable and shot home. I wanted to get the things on and get the second roadworthy inspection as soon as possible so we could hit the road. Why Is It Soooooo Hard To Get Out of This Town??? I got back home and dived straight under the jigger, pulled off the old shaft, then went to put the new one on...and the mating plates (bolt holes) wouldn't match. Now, these connections are specific. They must go on one way. I tried to get these things to match up, but no. Back on the phone. Yep, they'll pull one straight off the 60 series out the back. I'd got trim bits off that one and it is the same model as mine. Over to QC again. This time I took mine with me. It was off remember? For the lay people. You don't need the shaft if you're not in 4WD. It drives the front diff. We looked at this one and they seemed OK (there was a 5mm difference between the holes on the other one when I measured it against mine at home). When I left with that one (they'd cleaned, painted and greased it for me), I thought about checking it against the diff before I left. But I didn't have my tool box, and besides, it came off the same vehicle... ...and I got home and it didn't fit. So I checked the transfer case end and it was perfect. I can only figure that the front diff was changed at some stage and they had an odd size plate... ...on to the phone again to the boys at QC. They were apologising to me, but I figured it was my lack of checking it first that was the problem. I was apologising for dicking them around. On my way over to see them for the third time...meanwhile, they're pulling my old front section off the old shaft and cleaned and painted it up. When I got there, we checked it, and it was a tighter fit than the original. Brilliant! I picked up a new battery cradle too. OK, back home and this time it worked. Handbrake cable. I believe the CIA designed this cable as an instrument of torture, for use in Abu Ghraib. It was rejected as being too extreme. It looks like something a deranged surgeon would use as an endoscope...but it's eight feet long and has a hydra head with bitey bits on it. I worked on getting the pins off the brake ends (after having removed all the support hardware that lets it hang off the car without dragging along behind you, scaring pedestrians) for about half an hour and then had to have a little lie down. I eventually got the pins out and put the new beast in, adjusted it up, then forgot to adjust the back brakes up. I was finishing off the battery cradle and working out how to get my special rubber strap with the special clip ends to hold down the battery on my flash new battery cradle, when the RWC man turned up. The first thing he said was, "I'll have to come back and see the new clamp when you put it on". Legally you need a metal type battery clamp. Apparently rubber or plastics get affected by the battery gasses more than metal does...strange...can someone explain this to me? I figured specific plastics or rubbers would be impervious to acidic gasses and metal would be worse off. Then he jumped in to check the lights (OK), checked the shaft (OK), asked about the back brake, checked to see if Id' done the wheel bearing, checked the seat belt (there was a 5 cent piece stuck in it that I happened to spy when I checked it 'one last time'), checked the lights, and then checked the handbrake...which didn't work because I hadn't adjusted the brake...D'OH! He'll be back tomorrow morning, because I'll have a battery clamp on there by 8:30am. I've done the brakes (and punished my stupidity by laying on my bare back on rough bitumen to adjust them). I will have the rego transferred before the afternoon, and we shall head off for our holiday. MEANWHILE... Phoenix and the kidlets have been packing, sorting, cleaning, tidying, packing, sorting, cleaning, tidying, and generally trying to ignore the @^@$#@#$^%& coming from the garage. Phoenix will happily testify that the only time I tend to get aggro and testosteronishly sweary, is when I work on vehicles. Now, it's OK, so long as things go the way they should do. You know the pretty pictures in the Gregory's manuals that say, 'remove this bit, then remove that bit. Replacement is a reversal of the removal procedure?' Well, real life is not a surgically clean vehicle in an operating theatre workshop kids. Speaking of Gregory's manuals. If you have a modicum of mechanical knowledge (you know a spanner from a torque wrench), you can do your own maintenance and repairs using a good manual. Of course, it helps if you have a shed full (or at least a few toolboxes) of the right tools. I'm kind of lucky. My father was a mechanic and diesel fitter (I inherited most of his tools). Plus, I learnt to watch and listen when I observed people working on things. As a result, I'm a bit of a Jack of all trades. However, knowing that most 'Jacks' can be a danger to themselves or others, I'm extra careful when I do this sort of work. Photos tomorrow when the sticker goes on. Finally... | ||
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| So, where do you want to be in our green economy? Do you have a yearning to start a tourist business? Would your preference be to work in the power generation industry? Environmental protection? Research? In most cases, whatever you can do now, you should be able to adapt in a green society. I have come across a nice little paper from the Australian Conservation Council that lists some great ideas for any budding green entrepreneurs out there. Take a look... it just might give you some ideas for that sea change you've been dreaming of. Or if you're still studying, perhaps you might get some ideas on the subject matter you should be studying. It's a pdf file, but well worth the read... GREEN GOLD RUSH “For environmental technologies to penetrate and succeed in global markets, it is important that they succeed domestically. Thus, well-designed environmental policies that spur innovation, and government measures that contribute to creating and consolidating domestic markets for environmental technologies constitute a basis for success in global markets.” - OECD, Environmental Innovation and Global Markets, 2008 If Australia really wants to step into the world spotlight, now is the time to do it. In my opinion, we should be spending as much money and research time as we possibly can on our method of generating domestic power. Let's face it, we know that renewable technologies will be the best and cheapest power alternative in the long run. That alone would put us ahead by leaps and bounds. If we can simply save the money that we spend on our electricity bill, we can all afford to buy ourselves some little luxuries... you beauty! Gotta love that idea! And in each of us spending a little extra on things we like, we'll start a 'waterfall effect' in our economy. Let's compare our economy with the river... As the river cascades over the waterfall it splashes on a myriad of little rocks and boulders on the way down. If the river is weak, less rocks get wet... but when the river is full and strong it splashes further from the centre. Eventually moss will grow on the moist rocks... water leaches into the surrounding earth and promotes growth... which attracts wildlife. If we do lead the world now in adopting a green source of power, I believe that a myriad of different businesses will benefit. Small businesses and shops will be the ones receiving the money that people used to spend on the electricity. And then those businesses will be able to spend more... expand maybe... new premeses... some new employees... more stock. Eventually as you work your way back the produce line you get to the farmer on the land. He'll have more demand for his crops/stock and may be able to get a higher return for his hard work in the end... perhaps he'll be able to afford to send his child to uni... perhaps that child will go on to become a doctor rather than just another ringer, or truckie, or ... and the list goes on. Let your mind run... One thing I'm pretty sure of is that we Australians will all benefit on a personal level, and in turn the government itself will benefit both from extra tax revenues and the other bonuses of a healthy economy... not the least being a higher economic and political presence in the eyes of overseas nations. And then the rest of the world will come to us to buy our technologies... to learn our expertise. What other benefits would our country receive from that? All of this AND our environment would benefit as well. You see, our environment would quickly revert to one of the most pristine places on the planet with very little change. If all coal burning were to cease... well, that there on its' own is a hell of a change. And if you still need to think in dollar terms, we could quite honestly make a motza from it in the future. Imagine the rest of the world degrading because of the polution that they continue to pump into their own environments. Now imagine our country having the chance to regenerate and function as mother nature intended it to... Imagine twenty years into the future, our country as being one of only a handful in the whole world that still posesses pristine natural environments. What would that alone do to our tourism, I wonder? Once again, you could let your mind run away with you here... the possibilities for making money are almost endless. More citizens benefit because there are more jobs... more money for the government... more influence on the overseas market... The only losers are the coal companies... and they can quite easily cut their losses too if they were to spend some money on research now. With the monies that they currently possess they could quite easily diversify and change tack. I don't believe that we need to continue raping our mother, the planet for her natural resources when our fathers, sun water and wind can easily provide what we need. I do believe that renewable power is our only alternative. It makes the greatest sense economically... but let's also be honest. We HAVE to change our means of power generation because we are essentially killing our mother at this point. See yourself as a flea and the earth is your dog... if you bleed the dog to death you will have nothing left to survive on... | ||
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| The continuing adventures of Gryphonn and Phoenix. In this episode... OK, from this day forth, January 6, 2009 shall be considered 'Day One' of our documented lives. Sure, we've been through a lot in the past six years or so, but if I tried to back-track now, it'd be 2015 before I got to today. As some sort of compensation/suck-up, I'll relate back to some events that have impacted on us and experiences that have had a strong bearing on where we are now. For starters, let me introduce to our new  These were taken about a week ago. We bought this on the 19th of December. I'll fill you in on the details in a sec, but for now, it cost us $2500, and it had a bit of rust in the roof as to be expected...plus a few other minor issues that I found...  So, what happened to the campers and all the other cool vehicles with fridges and stuff? Bugger 'em!! I was in the newsagaents and saw the latest 'Buy and Sell' (19 Dec 08 to 15 Jan 09). There were two ads: Toyota LandCruiser S/wagon '85. Diesel, little rust. Mechanically good. $1000 and Toyota landCruiser Wagon. '84, 2H diesel, extractors, 2-1/2 inch exhaust, side steps, spotlights, $3000. I saw the '84 first and paid a $1000 deposit straight up. I was sick of missing a good deal. So, how good a deal was it? Not too bad. I replaced and or fixed the following: Engine mounts replaced Power steering pump seals replaced Shockie rubbers replaced Rust removed from roof (already done in the above photos) A full service, including new filters, new fluids all 'round. A really good clean inside (thanks Phoenix), including roof, carpets and trim. New rubber floor mats and new seat covers. Spotlights, horn and alternator rewired. Lots of extraeneous and stupid wiring removed. It now idles and runs as smooth as a petrol powered vehicle. Plus, it has no leaks of any sort and runs and handles like a dream...but then, I've always had a soft spot for old landcruisers (I think it was my Dad's influence). This really is the sort of thing we needed. After all, the Bedford would never have made it over the CREB track! Now we need to find someone to do a roadworthy on it so i can transfer the rego. We need to be gone by the end of this week (we got an extension). We are heading back to Ballogie this coming weekend, even if we have to get a permit to drive. To be brutally honest, Rockhampton is a town born of Devil Spawn. I really, really do NOT like this place. Yes, it may be a nice place to visit, but trying living here. I did for far too long, considering it was going to be a two month stop... Expect another post soon... | ||
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| I'd lined up a test drive for the Mitsubishi yesterday at lunch. She phoned at about ten to say she'd sold it to a woman that morning. Ah well, I found out todaythat she probably needed it more than us. She has five kids to cart around. BUT...she got it for $4000!! I got held up going down to check out the Bedford today. Had the money and all, but couldn't get a lift. He sold it this afternoon. Now we're looking at one in Buderim, one in Orange and one in Revesby...and maybe one in Mudgee NSW. They're all long wheel base Mazdas of varying vintage from '84 to '95. All are between $4500 and $5000, registered with an average of nine months remaining and are in good nick. But then, there may be something else come up too. | ||
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| Hi, long time no see. I just realised my last post was in April and I've barely communicated with anyone since then. So, without boring you with past details, here's a quick rundown on the past months... April to May. House sitting. May to July. Living with the Sister and Brother in law near Kingaroy. July. Back to hometown for two weeks for school holidays and to sort out some custody problems with step daughter. July to September. Stayed in shed at eldest step daughters place. October to now. Moved in to emergency housing with Anglicare. Next week... We have looked at the following for the start to our mobile home that we'll take back to Ballogie (near Kingaroy) with us: 4WD Mitsubishi Delica 8 seater. Reg/RWC 5 months. $4500 Bedford converted to a camper with solar power, shower, toilet, water, gas hot water, big fridge, stove, mobile satellite. Sleeps 4. 202 Holden motor, automatic, LPG/petrol. BUT, I have no idea what it will need to pass a roadworthy. $5000, but we may be able to talk them down to $3500 or less I HOPE. A 90 series Landcruiser wagon. $1800 but I haven't looked at it yet. Once again I am cutting it fine because the emergency lease at this house runs out on either the 13th or the 15th. The thing is, I have a budget of about $6000 at the outside. Now, the Delica is in good nick. It's had the gearbox rebuilt, the radiator replaced. The timing chain and I believe rings also have been done. There is a little wear on the back tyres (big sand tyres), but overall it's in good condition with minimal surface rust. It's an '85 model. The Bedford has everything we'd want in a mobile home!!!! BUT BUT bloody BUT!!!! It has oil on the motor, tranmission and diff. Which is a sign of old age, leaky seals and probably some dollars extra to spend. But then, it would cost more than $3000 to kit a vehicle with LPG, 80W solar, battery, inverter, shower, stove, fridge hot water and satellite...OH, and it starts first pop (hadn't been started in a while) and runs quite smooth. I've just sent off a txt to the seller to see what they think about 3 grand. I'll keep you posted. What are we gunna do in the future? Head back to Ballogie. Sort out our new home there (long story). Get organised and take the youngest kids up to Far Nth QLD for a few weeks. After that we'll sort ourselves out again and get a mobile photo studio/printing thing happening and along with the website that I'm developing, start selling some photos. Just got a txt back from the owner's son. $3500 is the lowest they'll go. All he knows is that the glass bowl on the fuel filter leaks, so it is being run on LPG at the moment. Rego ran out this month. HELLLLP!!!!! | ||
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| Now this is a good idea. The Clean Energy Council wants people who produce renewable power to be paid for the privellege. Fair's fair, I reckon. Why shouldn't they? If they care for the environment enough to invest in a clean source of power production, and can share their excess power with their community, why shouldn't they be able to recoup some of that investment? If a scheme such as this is approved, I'll predict a jump in the amount of solar cells sold in Australia. A lot more people will jump on the solar bandwagon as they see the possibility of getting a return for their trouble. I'll also predict a drop in the amount of power that we'll need to produce by means of coal burning. The increase in the production and supply of renewable power could easily account for a good deal of our home use, at the very least. While we're on this subject, I just want to have another word or two. It kind of annoys me that energy suppliers are currently charging an extra fee to supply renewable power to some consumers, simply by tagging it as a green choice. Then they try guilt-tripping the community into paying that extra fee without complaining. Hello power companies... renewable power costs a hell of a lot LESS to produce. Charging people more for a cheaper product usually ends up breeding a contempt in the community for that particular product. Is it no wonder that some people just don't want to consider this option? Way to encourage a clean change, guys. | ||
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| What is this? Why now, when you have the power to, won't you protect our livestock? Because that's what our whales are, right? Any animal that resides in our territory is our livestock. We wouldn't stand for a bunch of Japanese businessmen coming over here to take off a shipload of our best merinos for 'studying'. Nor do we stand for illegal fishermen coming into our waters to take our fish stock. And there is always an outrage when we hear of someone trying to export a bunch of snake eggs, or baby cockatoos. Would you allow a foreigner to go into a national park and club a heap of koalas to death? So why should we allow one of our greatest tourism drawcards to be killed off willy nilly, with only the promise of scientific study? Seriously, what kind of useful study can be done on a dead whale that can't be done with a small sample of DNA from a live specimen? Errr..... does whale meat taste more like fish or chicken? Come on Peter, we all know that the Japanese are treating us like the idiots that we (apparently) are. We should be sending a NAVY ship down to keep an eye on them, with the clear message that our whales are valuable stock, and that the theft and/or death of said stock will not be tollerated. Have some balls. | ||
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| To Mr Peter Garrett, Environment Minister. On stage in the 80's you won my heart by singing about things that were really important in a time of affluence and ignorance. In the news and the media you reaffirmed those sentiments by speaking out loudly and strongly. My heart swelled with pride and respect as I heard you speak out for those around you... those who were being mistreated... those who couldn't speak so loudly for themselves. In the time since, I have drawn courage and strength from the wisdom and environmental concern I heard both in your lyrics and your own private words. When you spoke out against those who benefit whilst others are suffering, I felt that I was standing next to you. When you protested war and the use of uranium I felt like I was storming the lines with you. When you drew attention to the stupidity of using coal or trying to harness nuclear power when there are so many other viable avenues to follow, I was cheering from the sidelines. Without even knowing me, you have helped to forge the person that I have ultimately become. You passed on that same wisdom... the quest for fairness... the urge to question... the desire to speak loudly... a love for our environment... and a deep loathing for anything nuclear. When I heard that you were becoming a politician, I rejoiced. I even remember saying something along the lines of 'This is a man that I will be happy to vote into the office of PM'. When I heard that you had joined the labour party I was a little confused. On considering our political history, and the fact that we Aussies can't seem to get it through our heads that ours is not just a two horse race, I decided that you had simply chosen the lesser evil. I chose to believe that you had not sold out as so many others around me were suggesting you had. When your government was voted in (on the back of the anti-nuclear vote, I might point out) and you were confirmed as Environment Minister I breathed a sigh of relief, believing that our part of the Earth was in good hands. In the meantime I have quietly watched and waited, hoping to hear that your values were finally going to resurface and become something that Australia could be proud of. When time went by and I heard very little of your thoughts, my smile slipped a little. With more time, the doubts crept slowly into my mind. Today you broke my heart. I can't believe that you are allowing an expansion of the Beverley Uranium mine in South Australia. I cannot believe that I would ever hear these words come from your mouth... "Advice is clear to me that in terms of storing this material, whether you store it above ground, whether you store it in drums, or whether you do re-inject it into a saline aquifer, the last option of re-injecting it into the saline aquifer is considered by all the scientific advice that came to me to be the best, most effective, most environmentally safe way of dealing with the waste," Bullshit, Peter! And the worst thing is that as an anti-nuclear protester since the late 70's, you know it. There is NO environmentally safe way to deal with the waste, and suggesting that it is 'more environmentally safe' way is, in essence, political bullshit... ie, lying. You must have excelled in your political mumbo-jumbo classes. Regards, Tina Cee. This is a link to the ABC story for the 29th of August 2008, where we first read the news. Gryphonn made several comments and replies but I was too slow to have my own say... but then, I publish a blog for that very thing. Unfortunately, his last reply was pretty lengthy and didn't make it into the discussion. However, he has made some excellent points and I wanted to give you his view as well. Please feel free to trawl through the 86 comments on the ABC page as it contains some good indicators (both pro and con) of what Australians think on the subject. But for those who don't feel like reading that much I've copied and pasted Gryph's participation in the debate, as well as the replies to his comments below in red. The final blue paragraph is the comment that didn't make it onto the page. Gryphonn: 29 Aug 2008 12:26:22pm "You rode the backs of the environmentalists to get a seat in parliament, then you stabbed the same people in the back and jumped on the coat-tails of big business. MO: 29 Aug 2008 12:59:51pm"I respect Peter Garrett. Here is a man who decided that to really make a difference he needed to be inside, not outside throwing rocks like most bloggers.Obviously it is not easy when the narrow agenda gets broadened and decisions need to be taken when all the facts and agendas are taken into account. Tough Gig Peter, but at least you are having a go at creating the changes you want, even if I don't necessarily agree with the narrow agenda. Maybe your time will come as the environment and the parties adjust. This is the reality. Narrow agendas cannot be followed as the good of all must be considered." Gryphonn: 29 Aug 2008 1:10:41pm'The good of all'. MO: 29 Aug 2008 1:35:11pm"G, I suppose you also oppose the radio active waste storage facility mooted for NT or SA. ? Gryphonn: 29 Aug 2008 2:17:50pm"Well MO, I oppose uranium mining and enrichment. Strange that. But I guess I'm just another damned greenie. One of those damned greenies that was spouting some rot about 'global warming' and 'greenhouse effects' in the eighties.I would have thought that it would be obvious to everyone that we cannot afford to continue promoting uranium mining and uranium based energy production as economically viable practices. In the long term, we will all pay the environmental price. I guess you consider it OK to dump radioactive waste so long as it isn't anywhere near where you live MO? It was OK to bury chemical waste in the bush 50 odd years ago. Then cities expanded and houses were built on long forgotten dumps, and suddenly toxic waste began to surface, forcing the abandonment of entire suburbs. Will it be OK in a hundred years when radioactive waste leaches into the Great Artesian Basin? Have you thought that if Rudd, Garrett et al started spending money on serious research projects for renewable energy resources instead of putting money in large corporate pockets with uranium interests, we wouldn't have to have this discussion?" ravensclaw: 29 Aug 2008 1:19:43pm"It continues to amaze me that some people still cannot apply some critical thinking to be able to tell the difference between -Nuclear weapons, nuclear medicine, nuclear power and other uses of radioactive materials eg aviation. We have a nuclear power station, we use radioactive material for cancer treatments and the aviation industry every day. We even transport radioactive materials around the country every day. Do we have a Nuclear Bomb? No Are there any 2 headed babies born near our Nuclear Power Station? NO! Has any radioactive waste escaped from storage, transformed into a Godzilla and radiated the nation? No. Has there ever been a sensible argument against the responsible use of uranium for energy and medicinal use? NO, and there probably will never be! Nix to Chernobyl - If the reactor had a containment facility the event never would have happened. That was a fault of socialism, not responsible use of uranium." Gryphonn's response (had the discussion not been closed): "The discussion here is about a Uranium mine. Last I checked, Uranium has no use in modern medicine. That's the job of other radioactive isotopes. Well, actually, the discussion is more about Peter Garrett compromising his beliefs for party politics and a healthy salary, but I'll digress again. Uranium (-235) in itself is not much of a problem. After all, most rocks contain between 2 and 4 parts per million of uranium. The problems start when it is mined and concentrated, making it harmful to humans and difficult to store safely. Yes, you are correct. We do not have (as far as we've been informed) a 'nuclear bomb'. However, our troops and our allies are using depleted uranium in ammunition, and our allies have nuclear bombs. Is it morally or ethically Ok for us to mine and sell uranium to our allies so they can produce nuclear weapons? We do not have a nuclear power station, we have a nuclear reactor used to produce neutrons and products such as doped silicon for creating computer chips. Big difference, far less risk than the nuclear energy a nuclear power station produces. Our reactor is more in line with being a mini reactor...for want of a better explanation. We can supply that reactor quite easily without having to expand a mine that uses very risky extraction processes. I am unaware of any radioactive waste leaks, other than what occurred on the seabed south west of England in 2002. But I guess that waste was dumped between 1960 something and 1980, and no Godzilla 'radiated' England, so I guess that doesn't count. I really feel you should do some study to find out what caused the Chernobyl melt-down and subsequent explosion. Containment facility? Please explain how a containment facility could prevent the top blowing off a nuclear power generator and cause a radioactive cloud to spread across half of Europe. Socialism caused Chernobyl? Socialism didn't cause Chernobyl. Human error caused Chernobyl. Also remember that it's been 22 years or so since that disaster and it is still unsafe to go near the place. There are also hundreds of thousands of hectares of once viable cropland that cannot be used due to contamination. Not to mention thousands of people physically affected by radiation poisoning. If I have a catastrophic failure of my solar panel or wind turbine, I can replace it on the same patch of land. I don't have to abandon the farm for a thousand years." Hear, hear. | ||
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| I recently found a story on hybrid sports cars and immediately thought 'Eh?? But aren't hybrids supposed to be somewhat lacking in power? How can this claim of a hybrid sports car be taken seriously?' So I went and had a bit of a look around to see what I could find. And it didn't take long for me to find some very interesting stories on the state of the hybrid industry at the moment. I concentrated on the models that showcase the sports performance side of the vehicle, and surprisingly, I found quite a bit on these flashy cars. Now, I like cars. I like watching motor sports, I like the fact that we've got something that will take us to distant places safely and quickly... and I just like driving a good, responsive vehicle. This is one area of conservation about which I sometimes feel torn. Do you have to compromise on the fun of driving in order to save a few greenhouse gas emissions? Well not any more, it seems. From what I've seen, there have been some great breakthroughs when it comes to power, fuel economy is at an unbelievable level, and new NiZn batteries promise 30% more power while being cheaper to produce and safer to store. It seems that we don't have a whole heap of excuses left for not considering this option when buying your next car. So let's have a look at a few. Ok, to start with, the one that took my eye originally, The Fisker Karma.   Ok, so this one is flashy! I could actually see myself driving in this... except it's probably a little expensive for my budget. $80 000 USD will get you one of these luxurious monsters. This one combines a small gasoline engine with lithium battery packs. Apparently, if it's charged properly, it would use only 1 tank of fuel per year. As for the performance, 0-60 mph within 6 seconds and a top speed of 125 mph... I might have expected a little better from a sports car, but hey, that's not too bad. Most of us wouldn't use all of that allowance anyway. But still... this is a car-lover talking...
Then I stumbled across this little beauty, the Tesla Electric Roadster.   Now, this one might be the one for me, I think. Jay Leno even has one! The lines of this vehicle are part Corvette, part Ferrari, part Porsche, and it looks great in black. An electric car that gives you 0 - 60mph in 4 seconds... that's more like it. It can travel up to 250 miles per charge and will set you back a mere $92 000 USD. No worries, I'll have two please, one for daytime use and one for night.
If you're looking for a larger vehicle, something like the Citroen C-Metisse might be the car for you.  How about something a little more affordable? The ZAP Alias is set to be released at a cost of roughly $30 000.  An all-electric three-wheeler vehicle, this one will be able to travel about 150 miles on one charge and go from 0-60 mph in about 7 seconds. For a small vehicle around town, that's not a bad deal... and it wins in the style department too. As yet, it's just another concept car, but with a 2009 release date you can place your order for one now.
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| While researching an article on wind power today, I was appalled to read of the decision by Shell to sell off their one third interest in the London Array wind farm project. So I had to add this one in here too. A bit of background... On the 18th of December 2006, British government approved the plans to build the world's largest offshore wind farm off the south-east coast of England. This wind farm, London Array, a partnership project between Shell, E.On and Dong Energy, was to incorporate 341 turbines, would cost somewhere in the neighbourhood of £1.5 - 2 billion, and would generate 1000 mW of power, or enough to feed 1% of the UK's energy needs... that's enough to power a quarter of London. But today's news reports that Shell has decided to sell it's share of the project, leaving E.On and Dong to ponder the future of the project. Shell has defended its' action, saying that ity has decided to sell its stake as part of its "ongoing review of projects and investment choices," and noting that the company has 11 other wind projects across Europe and the U.S. The Chronicle Herald, on the 2nd of May 2006 reported... "Friends of the Earth spokesman Nic Rau said Shell’s decision was especially hard to take since it came just two days after Shell posted a 25 per cent rise in first-quarter profit to a record $9.1 billion on the back of soaring crude oil prices. An extract from an article in The Star dated the 3rd of May 2006 states... "It came just before the consortium signed a contract with a turbine manufacturer - the point at which the companies had to put their money on the table. Shell's move is an economic one, with funds redirected towards potentially more profitable wind schemes in the US. I'm sorry, but the numbers just aren't stacking up. Shell recorded a profit of $27.5 billion (£13.9 billion) in 2007. That makes their share of the £2 billion that the London Array would have cost seem like a piddling little trifle, doesn't it? So why have they justified pulling out of this project over a concern about money when they made such a whopping amount last year? Probably because it's more profitable to sell their oil to the poor ignorant slobs at home. Shell is now making a $75 million (£38 million) per day profit... that's PER DAY... on the price of oil. That means that they could pay for their share of the project after a single day's trading. Uh??? But once the wind farm has been accounted for, how much could they reasonably ask the British public to pay for a resource that's obtained almost free of charge? Not as much as for oil, obviously. | ||
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| Think about it... how many times have you walked down the street, particularly in large cities, lamenting the wind tunnel effect created by the buildings lining the street? It's a pain in the behind, isn't it? Especially if you've just spent good money having your hair styled, or if you have to physically hold down the skirt of your favourite dress out of modesty. Trust me fellas, your wife or girlfriend will know exactly what I'm talking about. But what if we could use that wind tunnel effect in our favour? What if each building could be fitted with wind turbines to catch all of that annoying wind? How much energy would some of our cities be able to produce then? Well, in a little while we'll be able to ask the owners of Bahrain's new World Trade Centre. This new highrise is an extension to the existing Sheraton Hotel complex and comprises two 50-storey sail-shaped commercial office towers, which taper to a height of 240m and support three 29m diameter horizontal-axis wind turbines. The towers are integrated on top of a three-storey podium which accommodates a new boutique shopping centre, fine dining, business centre and car parking. The three wind turbines are expected to provide around 10-15% of the power for both towers, representing about 3.5% of the total cost of the project. The blades, each 29 metres in diameter, the first to be integrated into a commercial structure were turned on and tested last month. An MSNBC report dated the 9th of April 2008, states... "We truly have pushed the boundaries of environmental architecture with this project," Ole Sangill, a partner in turbine specialists Norwin, said of the project. "It is a testament to Bahrain that private developers are investing in sustainability and pioneering design, which is certainly the future of architecture as it shapes the planet in years to come."Could this be the start of a new trend towards big businesses using wind power to sustain their own energy needs for the future? Why not? This is a viable way to achieve that goal, an opinion that Trammell Crow seems to share with me. This Houston based developer plans to build a newly proposed highrise, Discovery Tower. The 871 000 sq foot project is expected to open in 2010, will cost around $300 million and will sport 10 wind turbines on the roof. And what about recycling off-shore oil rigs for wind turbines? Wind Energy Systems Technologies are presently engaging in wind monitoring activities on recycled oil platforms off the coast of Texas with an aim to using them to support wind turbines. What a brilliant idea. It seems that wind energy could become a boon to businesses in the future. Many countries use wind as a significant (and reliable) portion of their electricity power. (Denmark 20%, Germany 7%, Spain/Portugal 20%). In addition, over 4.5 million U.S. homes get their power from wind energy. Texas alone generated 4,446 megawatts of energy in 2007 — enough to power nearly 1.2 million homes. Add Colorado, which generated roughly half of that again, and that's a significant amount of alternative power. And what about Australia? What are we doing in regards to producing alternative power? Well currently, we're only producing about 1% of our total power usage by means of wind. When you think that the average output of each wind turbine is enough to power around 1000 homes, and then think of all the available vacant land that we have, I think we could do a hell of a lot better, don't you? Have a look at the Australian Greenhouse Office's list of renewable energy generators all over the country. You can click on the map to zoom in and see what's in your area. So, what about our homes? Could we start by looking up onto our own roofs? But wind generators are huge and ugly structures that we don't really want to look at every morning... aren't they? Well, Engadget had an article about home-sized wind generators, dated 3rd July 2007. It states... "Generally speaking, wind generators have been reserved for more macro-scale operations, but a West Australian inventor "believes he has developed a way to generate electricity for homes using wind power." This residential approach utilizes a modular turbine that is minuscule enough to perch atop nearly any roof without causing too much unsightliness, and can create power for the house to consume as the wind pushes its blades."Well, that makes one think, doesn't it? | ||
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| I've just been reading a story at The Sydney Morning Herald site about the Police Union complaining about new rules regarding the LEAP database. Here is an excerpt:
Police officers are turning into "robotic public servants" because of harsh new laws controlling the use of confidential information, say some members. The full article is here. In my opinion, I would not like to have a Policeman neighbour checking up on me to see if I was a good citizen or not. I would consider it an invasion of my privacy. However, if I was under investigation, then that's fine. I believe that that is what the database is for. I have friends who have been in the force and I know other people who are Police Officers and I have a great deal of respect for them. Being a cop is not a job that I would do. In many cases, police are treated as aliens, or non-human, purely because they are doing their job. However, if, when I was working at the Uni, I had accessed the student database to find contact information for a student, or to check the academic records of a student for personal reasons, or even to show someone how it worked, I could have been fired and quite possibly have faced charges for breaches of the Privacy Act. I can't see why it should be any different for any other job. As I stated, I have no problems with LEAP being used for the purpose that it was implemented for, but we all have rules to follow. I'd be interested in your opinions on this as well folks. So please, read the full news report and let me know via the comments on this blog.
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TC and her Big Sis have made a small contribution to the protests surrounding the Chinese Government and their human rights record. I've taken the liberty of reproducing TC's post here. I am very proud of what these two ladies have done. Please read:
Big Sis and I have been talking about the Save Tibet campaign lately. Everyone who owns either a TV, internet-enabled computer or radio would surely have heard about all the protests being carried out around the world concerning the Olympic Torch. The torch relay has successfully been hampered in many places by the protest of some very concerned people of the world, the most notable being the London and Paris protests. China has slammed these protests as being 'vile', even though they have been peaceful protests. Rather hypocritical of that particular government I say, considering the vile acts perpetrated upon their own citizens as well as the citizens of other countries like Tibet. We took the clippers to our own heads, then after donning our orange colours we made the greatest sacrifice of all. We stood in front of a camera!!!
 Does my head look big in this?
 Two beautiful blooms.  This was not a great sacrifice for either of us, though. At least we live in a country where we're allowed freedom of speech without the fear of being either arrested or shot in the streets. At least we're not being forced to live in squallor, suffering from famine and disease, and being denied the right to the most basic of aid. Nor have we been encouraged to give up our babies to die naked and alone in hospital, simply because they are unlucky enough to be born with a disability. Nor have we been injected with a saline solution that will slowly and painfully eat away at our babies because we have fallen pregnant more than once. Nor do our children have to live without a legal identity, and thus the access to the most basic of educations. Nor do we have to watch our elderly neighbours slowly starve to death because their one son has died and they have no financial support in their old age. I could go on, but I won't. I will however, provide you with some links so that you can read about these and many more human rights violations in China.
Please show your disgust at actions such as these. Visit the International Campaign for Tibet website and do some reading. Then follow some of these links and voice your own protest. Free Tibet.
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| Solar Thermal towers collect the heat from the sun in a completely different way than by using photovoltaics (solar panels). A solar panel converts the sun directly into electricity, whereas this method concentrates the sun's rays onto an area that collects the heat. That heat boils a liquid (such as water) and produces steam, which is then converted into electricity. This may seem like an added step in the process, but in actuality it is more efficient in large-scale production. Heat can be stored more easily than the electricity produced by panels, hence solar thermal towers can provide a more even energy source for a longer time. Higher operating temperatures allow for different technologies to be used. One proposed method utilizes liquid fluoride salts, using multi-stage turbine systems that allows the plant to use higher-temperature dry heat exchangers for its thermal exhaust. This reduces the plant's water use, which comes in handy if it's situated in the desert... where large solar plants are the most practical. With the use of a back-up system for the rare emergencies, this method of obtaining power becomes very attainable. This is a very promising way to produce power to the masses, in my view. Have a look at Wikipedia's list of Solar Thermal Power Stations from around the world. Now, there are several different designs when it comes to solar thermal power stations. Most people have, at one stage or another, seen or heard about the solar farms that use masses of mirrors surrounding a central tower structure. These Power Tower designs use mirrors (called heliostats) to focus the sun's rays on a collector at the top of the tower. But to do this each mirror needs to be fitted with a motor to track the path of the sun, maximising the heat collected. This increases the cost, and decreases the attraction of this type of solar tower. Parabolic trough power plants use a system of curved troughs, which reflect the sun's rays onto a receiver positioned above the trough. As the position of the sun changes, the whole trough tilts so that the focus remains on the receiver. However, if the troughs are positioned parallel to the sun, it does not require adjustment of the mirrors, as the light is simply concentrated on another part of the receiver. So in this way, the trough design takes out the added cost of a tracking system. Another design uses a large, reflective, parabolic dish (similar in shape to a satellite dish). It focuses all the sunlight up onto to a single point above the dish, where a receiver captures the heat. Typically the dish is coupled with a Stirling engine in a Dish-Stirling System. These engines require no fuel, creating a rotational kinetic energy that can be converted to electricity using an electric generator. Of all these technologies the solar dish/stirling engine has the highest energy efficiency. A single solar dish installed at Sandia National Laboratories National Solar Thermal Test Facility produces as much as 25 kW of electricity, with a conversion efficiency of 30%, compared to around the 20% of the parabolic systems.A linear Fresnel reflector power plant uses a series of long, narrow mirrors to focus light onto one or more linear receivers above the mirrors, much like the parabolic system. The receiver is stationary and so fluid couplings are not required (as in troughs and dishes). The mirrors also do not need to support the receiver, so they are much simpler structurally. When suitable aiming strategies are used this can allow a denser packing of mirrors, thus producing more and/or saving valuable land space when needed. Another advantage of this design is that lenses are cheaper than mirrors. Furthermore, if a material is chosen that has some flexibility, a less rigid frame is required to deal with wind instability. It does bear mentioning however, that no full-scale thermal systems using Fresnel lenses are known to be in operation, although products incorporating Fresnel lenses in conjunction with photovoltaic cells are already available. Below are a few more interesting links for you to peruse on this subject... CSIRO - Solar Thermal Energy Research. Triple Pundit article - Solar Thermal Electricity: Catching the Eye of Utility Companies. Clean Technica article - Solar Thermal Electricity: Can it Replace Coal, Gas and Oil? | ||
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New South Wales is set to smooth the path for farmers wanting to trial Hemp as a commercial crop. New measures to be put in place will allow farmers to trial Hemp without getting approval from the Health Department. A comprehensive article in the 'Northern Rivers Echo' explains the new rules and also provides an informative read about the many positives of commercial Hemp. Unlike the cannabis smoked by 1 in 3 Australians, industrial Hemp has extremely low THC levels, but has a myriad of uses, including oil, paper and biofuel. The seed is highly nutritious and contains high levels of Omega - 3 and Omega-6 oils. Happy Planet products has a good description. Here is an excerpt: So omega-3 and omega-6 are essential to health. But why? Omega-3 (LNA) has been shown to protect against certain types of cancers and positively modify immune and inflammatory reactions. It has been demonstrated that renal, respiratory, cardiovascular, and dermatological conditions are improved by including omega-3 in the diet. Omega-6 (LA) can help protect against acne, loss of hair, poor blood circulation, and cardiovascular disease as well as liver, kidney and gallbladder problems. EFAs are also necessary for maintaining the structure of cell membranes and the permeability of the skin. Health Canada recommends that pregnant and lactating women increase their omega-3 intake as found in the equivalent of approximately 1 tablespoon of hemp oil per day.For the full story about NSW's new Hemp industry, check out the Northern Rivers Echo article. | ||
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| "But can we really rely on renewable energy? What happens when the sun stops shining or the wind stops blowing?" This is a question that was asked of me some time ago. I had all intentions of answering at the time, but couldn't because of our absence from the net. So, expanding on the groundwork I initially put in, here is my response. Well, there are many different renewable energy sources. Some, like wind power and rooftop solar panels, are intermittent at a local level. But when they are spread over a sufficiently large area, with different climatic conditions, they are barely more intermittent than coal. It is unlikely that there will be no sun or wind anywhere across the electricity network of Australia. By deploying wind and solar across the landscape we can reduce any intermittency of wind and solar generators. And using these technologies in the home has the added advantage of producing electricity where it is used, so less energy is lost in transmission. On the subject of lost energy, did you know that about 11 per cent of the electricity produced at a big coal-fired power station is lost while being transported to the end user? So it seems that the problem of transporting power is something that all deliverers of power have to combat. So yes, both wind and solar power are subject to the weather. However, weather forecasting is very reliable and, in most cases, any lack of sun or wind can be predicted and compensated for (for instance, by cranking up hydro and biomass generation). But in contrast, coal-fired generation suffers unpredictable outages and breakdowns that can and do plunge the electricity grid into crisis. Solar power is particularly useful for delivering power at times of peak demand. Hot, sunny days when people are using their air conditioner, will generally be days when there is plenty of solar energy generated. And consider this... Solar water heating is hugely underused in sunburnt Australia. Less than five per cent of houses have a solar water heater. Some other countries, Israel, Spain and Ireland, are making solar water heating mandatory, while China has over 60 per cent of the world's installed solar water heating capacity. Now, some technologies, like hydro power are highly predictable and controllable. They can be deployed when it is most useful, providing either baseload or peak power. Eraring Energy has a number of hydro-electric plants and the Stanwell corporation is also using power derived by means of hydro generation. As for Tasmania... well, we've all heard about the successful use of hydro power in the Derwent River catchment. Bioenergy is another source of power that is being currently utilised in Australia. Woodlawn, near Sydney is Australia's largest bioreactor landfill. Veolia Environmental Services produces power generated by the methane that our waste produces. They also have plans in the works to incorporate a large scale windfarm on the Woodlawn site. Emerging technologies, like geothermal could theoretically provide large quantities of baseload power in Australia long before a single nuclear reactor can be built (they take 10-15 years) or a commercially feasible carbon capture and storage coal-fired power station could be developed. Geodynamics is a Brisbane-based company currently researching hot-rock technologies in the Cooper Basin. Solar thermal is another promising technology being researched by the Stanwell Corporation, one which I want to expand on soon. You can download a PDF file by the Environmental Protection Agency outlining the Stanwell Solar Concentrator here. So why is it that people still think that renewable energy sources are not viable when all these technologies are available? It seems to be hard for many to accept, but solar and wind are not the only alternative sources available to us. With a combination of several or all of these methods we are completely able to supply power in a safe and renewable way. We just have to get over the idea that it has to be either one technology or another. | ||
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| Woodlawn is Australia's largest bioreactor landfill site. Situated on the site of an old open cut mine, Woodlawn has so far received over six hundred thousand tonnes of waste from Sydney. Plans are now afoot to introduce wind turbines over the next two to three years. This is an excellent example of using an area that was once an area of environmental concern. Woodlawn is owned and operated by Veolia Environmental Services, part of the Veolia group that has interests in waste management and transport services. ABC has an article here. | ||
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| Spelling errors will be corrected when I get around to it... Today started out to be a complete pain in the proverbial... If you don't want to read about the start of my day, please scroll down to the picture of the Kingaroy Peanut silos. I met a man who has some history to tell that I'm sure you'll find interesting if you're into that sort of stuff. Yesterday I had appointments with a psychiatrist (to see how crazy I was), my new GP (for a Medical Certificate to prove I was crazy) and Centrelink (to tell them I was crazy) in Kingaroy. For those of you who don't know, I have been diagnosed with severe depression. I've been aware that I wasn't quite 'right' for a few years now, but was too proud (or stupid) to see anyone about it. I haven't worked for quite a while. In fact, the last job I had lasted three weeks, which was a miracle in itself. I sold almost everything I owned and got to the point where I was (am) what most people would call destitute. Anyway, that's another story altogether, but goes some way to explain why I spent yesterday and today in town getting things sorted out with a psychiatrist, my new GP and Centrelink. On with the show... I had to be in town at 8:30 for a second Centrelink appointment, then at 12:30 I had to see the folks at CTC, a Job Network organization. For those of you who don't know, things are a little different nowadays at Centrelink. Back in the eighties, I was on Sickness Benefits due to a car accident. Back then, you got a medical Certificate and you fronted to Social Security as it was known then, and they gave you 'Sickness Benefits'. In this modern age of strangeness, if you do *not* have a job to go back to when you get better, you apply for Unemployment Benefits with a disability exemption. This means that you apply for the dole at Centrelink. They refer you to your chosen Job Network provider and book you an appointment. Then you go to the provider and you fill out more forms there and have another interview, and then, because you provided Centrelink with a Medical Certificate (it *must* be an official Centrelink Medical Certificate form, not just a Doctor's medical certificate), you don't have to do any Job hunting or participate in any job network programs. It all gets over-ridden by the medical certificate and you can then start getting payments (if you have all your ID and a separation certificate from your last employer etc etc). Now, I can somehow understand why it is done this way...it saves having to go through all of the dole applications and Job Network interviews when you get better and you can get straight into looking for a job etc. However, for people who are suffering from a psychological condition or illness, wouldn't it be better to do all that *after* they are well, rather than have them have to go through all that rigmarole at a time when they are least likely to be able to cope with it? Wouldn't it be far easier for the client (that's you and me if you're not a Centrelink worker) to just apply for Sickness Benefits and worry about the other stuff *after*? Here's what happened to me this morning. I got up at 6:30 am after a shit nights sleep as is usual for a lot of Depressives (3 hours I think last night because I have a wonderful case of insomnia). I got ready and drove the 60 odd kilometres to Kingaroy for my 8:30 appointment. When I got there, and went in to see 'K' from Centrelink, he said, "you'll have to participate in Job Search (or whatever it's called) because your GP has ticked the box that says you can work 8 hours or more week." "He must have ticked the wrong box." "You'll have to go back and get another certificate then. Oh, and your ATM statement isn't any good. We need you to go to your bank and get a balance that is stamped and signed (here is the form), and get a statement of your transaction for the past x amount of time." I don't recall exactly how long he asked for. I'm not whinging about 'K', that's his job. He has to make sure it's all done according to Centrelink rules. Besides that, he seems like a nice bloke. In fact, everyone I've dealt with at Centrelink Kingaroy have been nice people. He said that if I could get this done today and get the paperwork back to them today I should be able to get a payment by Monday. I'm glad I agreed to have an early appointment with them, else things may have gotten a bit curly. OK. So I walk up the road and front the receptionist at my new GP and inform her politely that Dr B had ticked the wrong box on the Medical Certificate and they need me to get another. "Do you have the certificate with you?" "No. Centrelink have marked the certificate as received and can't give it back to me." With a look that said, 'time waster', she says,"Take a seat and I'll talk to Doctor." Half an hour later, she calls me up and hands me a photocopy of the copy. "Here." "I haven't had to deal with Centrelink in a long time, but I think they'll accept a copy." I said. "If they have a problem, tell them to ring the doctor. I've *never* been in there and going by the things I see in here, I don't want to either," was her reply. With that, she turned her back and started sorting paperwork. Funny thing that. I got the same cold attitude when I asked the Doctor for a medical certificate yesterday. Maybe I'm misinterpreting their vibe. But I have a feeling that I may have to talk to the psychiatrist at my next appointment in six weeks (or my Psychologist sooner) and ask if he knows of another GP in town that bulk bills. I get this feeling that he and his part time receptionist think I'm some sort of welfare sponge. I didn't sell off everything I owned to become a sponge, I did it so I didn't have to become one... Anyway...by then the bank has opened, so I walk down to the bank and get served by someone almost straight away (30 seconds wait!). I tell Sue (that's her real name on her badge) that I need a balance to be written and signed on the form that I have and that I need a statement as well. She is absolutely lovely and tells me that a statement will cost $2.50 but it will automatically be deducted from my balance. No worries, I had $3.06 in there so I was flush. She gave me a statement going back to February and I said good-bye and thankyou (she was nice...CBA, you have a nice person working at Kingaroy) and I headed back to Centrelink. When I got there, the bloke that gave me my prelim interview yesterday was at the reception desk and he took all the forms from me and said he'd give them to K for me. I didn't know if they needed to see me again, so he checked and all was OK. By this time it was about 10:30 and I still had two hours to kill before my interview at CTC. Now, normally, or should I say, for a 'normal' person all this would have been a breeze. But for a crazy person, it is bloody draining. I was knackered. Alright, the little voices in my head are telling me I'm not crazy. I know I'm not crazy, and no, little voices don't talk to me and I'm not taking this piss out of people suffering schizophrenia. It's just a coping strategy I'm using to deal with this depression thing. A very good friend of ours whom we have never met face to face put some money in the bank for us yesterday, so I had some spare...well not really, but I was stuffed and my body said I needed to eat. I tend to not eat until my body yells at me. That's another thing that seems to be symptom of my condition. I forget to eat unless Tina tells me too, or my body warns me that I really need to eat. I lost about six or eight Kilos over the past five months, three of that in the past two weeks (unless the scales are stuffed). I went for a wander up the street and found a cafe. The 'Busy Bee' cafe, which has been operating since the 1920's (there is a photo on the wall inside). This is a cafe that at one time in its life would have had booths down the wall with a jukebox at each one attached to the wall. Older folks would know what I'm talking about. Nowadays the booths are gone, replaced with round tables and no jukebox. It still has that olde worlde charm about it though. I ordered a Coffee Thickshake and a Bacon and Egg burger and sat down and read the local paper. After a few minutes the nice lady gave me my thickshake, and about five or ten minutes after that my B & E burger arrived. If you are ever in Kingaroy, go to the Busy Bee and order a B & E burger. They are bloody excellent and cheap enough that you get better value than a 'plastic Mac' meal. I devoured the burger and sucked down the thickshake like a starving refuge on speed. Thankfully I slowed down on the shake and avoided a brain freeze. Now, if anyone has bothered to read this far, I'll get to the story of what I wanted to tell you before I got side-tracked. I found the Kingaroy Tourist Information Centre and Heritage museum by accident in the last hour and a half before my CTC interview. In there I met Wilf Young, the son of the man who is credited with starting the large scale commercial growing of Peanuts in Kingaroy, Harry Young. So, without further ado, here is a (hopefully) short story about the yarn we had and my little history lesson about the Kingaroy Peanut industry. I wandered back up the road from the Busy Bee Cafe with the intention of taking a few photos of the silos up the road. Kingaroy is the Peanut capital of Australia (don't laugh). The processing plant has 99 silos!  Across the road is the Kingaroy Visitor Information Centre and Heritage Museum, so I decided that I could waste some time in there and maybe pick up a map or two (I like maps). I went inside and saw shelves and shelves of stuff you could buy but I couldn't afford, so headed to the pamphlet rack. A gentleman headed over and asked if he could help, and suggested I have a look at a short (10 minute) video that explained all about the Peanut Company of Australia and how Peanuts go from seed to consumer. I watched the short doco and learnt something new. Peanuts are closely related to Peas (Duh!). But, the peanuts don't grow on the roots. The flowers self pollinate at night, then the stamen extends toward the ground, and then pokes its end underground and a Peanut grows from the end of that! Oh, and something I just discovered while checking my links for this saga, the PCA names the cultivars it develops and releases after Australian Prime Ministers. I don't know why, but I found that to be as funny as...Peanut Politicians. Somehow I suspect that the idea may well have started as a joke. After watching the movie, I was going to leave, but noticed a walkway to left of the front exit. Above it was a sign that pointed out that it was the way into the Heritage Museum - Free Entry. Cool, that would definitely give a trivia and history geek like me plenty of things to look at and read for the next hour. Upon entering the museum I was greeted by an old bloke who looked about sixty or so (he's actually in his late seventies). I explained how I liked looking at things that related to the history of areas I visit and that I was here for a while. With that the conversation turned to the state of the modern word and our theories on why young folk are the way they are (the age of commercialism and stuff). During this yarn, he said that his father was a founder of the peanut industry in the Kingaroy region. Well, he had me then! This was a bloke that had some stories that needed to be told to me and wasn't gunna get away! His name is Wilf Young, son of Harry Young, grandson of Ah Young, a Chinese Immigrant who came to Queensland with his wife. How he met his wife is a tale. Somewhere on the way to Australia, around the Great Australian Bight, the vessel they were on got ship-wrecked. He rescued her and nursed her back to health. They then travelled to the East coast where they married. If I recall correctly, they first settled around the Gympie area (Gold of course). They moved out Kingaroy way and planted their first Peanut crop in the Burnett region at Memerambi, just North of Kingaroy. Wilf went on to tell me about some of the early machinery on display and explained how peanut crops were manually harvested and stacked, or made into 'stooks' to dry before threshing. As his story unfolded, he showed me an old Wheat thresher that had been converted to handle Peanuts, "it was a little small though and couldn't handle too much at one time", and casually pointed across to a much larger machine behind it, adding, "the bigger one made it easier". As we yarned, I asked him if the smaller one was used on his father's farm. He said that it came from another farmer's property, but may well have been his father's old one because he had converted one at one stage and sold it to someone else "after he built the larger one behind it." Well, I was like a kid in a candy store! Here I was, talking to this bloke whose father was the pioneer of the commercial Peanut industry in Australia and it was like he was talking as if it was just an everyday occurrance. I was talking to Wilf Young, a part of Kingaroy's REAL history! We wandered in the direction of this huge machine and he went on to explain that it used to have more parts on it, but over the years he'd borrowed bits off it to build other things around the farm, so it didn't look quite like it once did. He diverged off the subject of the thresher for a bit and showed me photos of the 1951 fire that destroyed the timber silos and told me how he was out working the paddocks on his farm one day and knocked off early due to rain. As he was heading to the house, he noticed smoke over towards Kingaroy, but didn't find 'til later that it was the silos and thousands of pounds of Peanuts getting roasted!  Later on we got back to the thresher. He pointed out a small spot at the rear of the machine where a little boy could climb in and sit. "I used to climb in there when we were going to do contract harvesting. It was my stagecoach and I'd shoot Indians from there. Sometimes I'd climb up on top and shoot 'em from there, from the top of my stage coach." He showed me a sketch that his sister had drawn in 1995, on display in front of the thresher. "I asked her when she was drawing this if she remembered him building it. She said she can remember him in the shed, punching holes in sheet metal to make the separators, but not much else". He figured that she was about 2 years old then. The sketch shows the tractor, thresher, two trailers and the horse and sulky used to take them home at night when they were out contract harvesting. The thresher itself was in use right up until the fifties.  Wilf Young with his father's thresher. Click on image for a larger view.  We talked some more and he showed me the bolts that his father had made on their forge.  "He could weld with a forge. Him and a mate worked together. It was a tricky process where the metal was heated up to a molten stage. Fine sand would be sprinkled on it to stop it running and then they move the two pieces together, then gently tap them so they'd meld together. As the metal started to cool he'd beat the square shape for the bolt head on the anvil. He made a lot of his long bolts because they were to hard to buy back then." By this time it was getting close to my interview time at CTC. He took me outside and showed me some Peanut plants they had growing for the tourists, then we went back in and had a look at a couple of aerial photos of the Peanut processing plant. Unfortunately it was nearly my deadline. Wilf was due to knock off at one o'clock anyway. I said good-bye and told him that I'd be back next Wednesday to say g'day again. If you are in Kingaroy on a Wednesday morning and would like to meet a true gentleman and a part of the district's history, drop into the Heritage museum in Haly street, opposite the silos and say g'day to Wilf. He's a bloody nice bloke.  (The two B & W images have been copied from the Peanut Company of Australia website. These images are also on display at the Heritage museum. Permission for use has not yet been requested, but I hope that the society doesn't mind). | ||
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| I like this. Some bloke went for a swim in Sydney Harbour, then decided that the Governor General's pool would be a great place to head to, to rinse the salt off. Read more here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/06/2209201.htm?section=justin  This image belongs to AAP Press and Skynews. I stole it... | ||
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