For those that fear coming to Australia!

[St Enodoc]

3 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

On the weekend I moved a tray of seedlings to sweep around them and disturbed a frog that started hopping across the pavers to a safe hiding spot about a metre away. It got about a third of the way across when a Butcherbird divebombed it from out of nowhere  and carted it away struggling in its beak , I suppose to spike it  on a stick somewhere. I felt pretty bad for a bit!

I'd have felt bad too. Live frogs are always better than dead frogs.

[kevinlms]

I wonder how long and how many people it takes to steal 1,000 sandbags?

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-16/sandbags-stolen-from-mildura-ses-flood-evacuation-warning/101661572

[Gwiwer]

11 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

I'd have felt bad too. Live frogs are always better than dead frogs.

Are unifrogs legal in Australia yet?

[Gwiwer]

1 hour ago, kevinlms said:

I wonder how long and how many people it takes to steal 1,000 sandbags?

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-16/sandbags-stolen-from-mildura-ses-flood-evacuation-warning/101661572

Depends if they had to manually load them or simply hooked up to and stole an already-loaded trailer 

[kevinlms]

10 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

Depends if they had to manually load them or simply hooked up to and stole an already-loaded trailer 

Hard to say as the article doesn't give much away.

 

If you recall, the ABC is the official emergency news network, so it appears that part is being withheld on the advice of Victoria Police. Instead a call for video footage of the area.

[Classsix T]

7 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Depends if they had to manually load them or simply hooked up to and stole an already-loaded trailer 

Well exactly. Sounds like an opportunistic theft, likely in a container and hauled away before knowing of the contents.

 

I'm not sure of the black market worth of 1000 nylon sacks, but crime of the century it is not.

 

Further, the actual owner has on-site insurance Shirley? Just order another batch?

 

C6T.

[Gwiwer]

39 minutes ago, Classsix T said:

the actual owner has on-site insurance Shirley? Just order another batch?

The theft was from a yard but it isn’t clear whether it was from SES premises or someone holding the sabdvon their behalf. 
 

Insurance or not - and in a land where insurance is often considered an optional extra (even motor insurance isn’t mandatory everywhere) - 1000 sacks and so many tonnes of sand don’t just get whistled up from the builder’s yard. 
 

The report makes mention of this theft now meaning that a township in the path of floodwaters will be left unprotected. 
 

An opportunistic theft, in my opinion, but what kind of person does that at the cost of potentially drowning a town?  
 

If it’s “just sand” then (anonymously if you must) tell the cops where it is and let them recover it. 

[Classsix T]

31 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

The theft was from a yard but it isn’t clear whether it was from SES premises or someone holding the sabdvon their behalf. 
 

Insurance or not - and in a land where insurance is often considered an optional extra (even motor insurance isn’t mandatory everywhere) - 1000 sacks and so many tonnes of sand don’t just get whistled up from the builder’s yard. 
 

The report makes mention of this theft now meaning that a township in the path of floodwaters will be left unprotected.

Undoubtedly, however an open opportunity for theft to my mind doesn't exclude the owners of the property from blame.

 

I'm not going to argue the toss over this specific story... it's incidental, fact of the matter is why the sandbags are needed in the first place. And that's a much wider issue.

 

C6T.

Edited November 16, 2022 by Classsix T

[kevinlms]

5 hours ago, Classsix T said:

Well exactly. Sounds like an opportunistic theft, likely in a container and hauled away before knowing of the contents.

 

I'm not sure of the black market worth of 1000 nylon sacks, but crime of the century it is not.

 

Further, the actual owner has on-site insurance Shirley? Just order another batch?

 

C6T.

It is a theft of potentially prime importance - possibly the difference between a home getting flooded or not. The value of the sacks and sand in them, is not the issue, but the fact that these sacks are no longer available to provide a barrier for flooding. Time is of essence and replacements may be too late.

 

Perhaps, you think that looting is OK too, because the goods are covered by insurance?

[kevinlms]

On 02/11/2022 at 19:43, kevinlms said:

No doubt you have heard of the 5 escaped lions at Taronga Zoo in Sydney.

 

The also have a 'Snore & Roar' experience, where you can chose to spend the night within the confines.

 

Last night there was indeed a family that needed 'rescuing' from the big cats, presumably because the staff weren't 100% sure where the lions were. So they were taken to a secure brick building and everyone was locked in.

 

Anyway the father of the group, was on radio and said that 'They heard the lions roaring and were woken up in the middle of the night - the 'bas tards'!

 

Hilarious!

The outcome of the escaped lions.

 

https://www.timeout.com/sydney/news/a-lyrebird-at-taronga-zoo-has-been-mimicking-the-evacuate-now-alarm-since-the-lions-escaped-their-enclosure-111522

[Gwiwer]

4 hours ago, kevinlms said:

The outcome of the escaped lions.

 

https://www.timeout.com/sydney/news/a-lyrebird-at-taronga-zoo-has-been-mimicking-the-evacuate-now-alarm-since-the-lions-escaped-their-enclosure-111522

Ah. The Great Australian Lieing Bird

[monkeysarefun]

On 17/11/2022 at 13:21, kevinlms said:

It is a theft of potentially prime importance - possibly the difference between a home getting flooded or not. The value of the sacks and sand in them, is not the issue, but the fact that these sacks are no longer available to provide a barrier for flooding. Time is of essence and replacements may be too late.

 

Perhaps, you think that looting is OK too, because the goods are covered by insurance?

Perhaps unless you live here or at least  have an awareness of the SES and RFS as volunteer organisations, as well as the dire flood emergency out west, then  the understanding of why this is considered such a lowdown dog act and therefore newsworthy may not resonate as it does with Australians...

Edited November 20, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[kevinlms]

1 hour ago, monkeysarefun said:

Perhaps unless you live here or at least  have an awareness of the SES and RFS as volunteer organisations, as well as the dire flood emergency out west, then  the understanding of why this is considered such a lowdown dog act and therefore newsworthy may not resonate as it does with Australians...

I don't buy that explanation. If someone thought after reading the article that there was no importance to the theft, then why not ask, why so?

 

Instead the assumption is that it is no big deal, just replace them and make sure your security is better next time and go to the insurers.

[Gwiwer]

6 hours ago, kevinlms said:

the assumption is that it is no big deal, just replace them and make sure your security is better next time and go to the insurers.

Australia doesn’t work nor think like that in my experience. 
 

Money can replace thousands of bags of sand but not quickly enough to prevent townships flooding which could have been protected. Security?  Almost anywhere can be entered if the thief is determined enough. Just how much security do you want to put on a trailer-load of sand?  
 

Stealing from the SES or similar organisations, whose members are volunteers and put their lives at risk to help others, is a low-down thing to do by any standards. 
 

Put another way if theives made off with one of the RNLI’s inshore RIB rescue boats - which are normally in locked boathouses when not in use but are theoretically not too hard to hitch up and tow away - and someone then drowned because there was no rescue boat available would that make UK headlines and attract comment?  

[Gwiwer]

In other news don’t do science experiments on windy days. 
 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-63698896

 

Back in my high school days we were set a practical to determine the boiling point of chloroform. 
 

In those days there were no goggles, no lab coats and the only safety advice given was “Don’t inhale the vapour”. 
 

What did the teacher expect a class of twenty-odd teenage boys would do with chloroform??? 
 

I was one of only three who didn’t pass out. Teacher was asked to leave his employment very soon afterwards. But no-one was actually hurt. 

[monkeysarefun]

Gotta feel for teachers having to think of every possible dangerous way kids might find to utilise any object if left alone with it. I recall in 5th grade the teacher was teaching us the fine art of shutput when he got called away to take a phone call or something. He returned to find us standing around throwing the shutputs straight up in the air above us then crouching down to avoid getting hit as they  returned to earth. We believed we'd invented a great new game called "Mortar Attack", he was less enthusiastic about it. Wouldn't happen these days of course because the second the teacher left everyone would be sitting around using their mobile phones.

[kevinlms]

On 20/11/2022 at 20:00, Gwiwer said:

 

Put another way if theives made off with one of the RNLI’s inshore RIB rescue boats - which are normally in locked boathouses when not in use but are theoretically not too hard to hitch up and tow away - and someone then drowned because there was no rescue boat available would that make UK headlines and attract comment?  

There is a specific reason that stuff like lifeboats are not that difficult to steal and it's entirely logical.

 

You want them to be accessible easily and quickly, without extra levels of security or 4 people required to get access to the building.

 

The solution is community trust and there are some things you just DO NOT steal. Just as hopefully people don't steal wheelchairs or ambulances.

[Gwiwer]

3 hours ago, kevinlms said:

The solution is community trust and there are some things you just DO NOT steal. Just as hopefully people don't steal wheelchairs or ambulances.

Or sandbags intended for flood protection. 
 

Community trust - absolutely. But you can’t trust a thief in any community. 

[monkeysarefun]

4 hours ago, kevinlms said:

Just as hopefully people don't steal wheelchairs

 = Worlds shortest police chase.

[kevinlms]

4 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 = Worlds shortest police chase.

Sadly though, wheelchairs DO get stolen!

[monkeysarefun]

4 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

Sadly though, wheelchairs DO get stolen!

I was sitting in the car in Townsville  parked outside a chemists while my co-worker was in the  milkbar getting lunch.  Outside the chemist were various wheelchairs, walking aids etc with a chain looped through them all  to tie them together and so  prevent theft.

 

Woman rocks up with Golden Retreiver, ties it to the nearest  wheelchair and goes inside the chemist. Dog gets all frantic at being left alone, then  spots her  inside the chemist and  charges in,  dragging all the wheelchairs, crutches,  walking frames etc with  it. Kind of like stealing them in reverse I guess.

[kevinlms]

You need to plan your fuel stops carefully!

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-22/barkly-roadhouse-fuel-stop-closes-indefinitely-kitchen-fire/101683454

[JZ]

Arrived back in Sydney after 3 weeks on the road and covering 6000km. Due to flooding, I couldn't get to all the places I originally intended. Well, actually, I could have got to them, but not between them. First night I spent in Mudgee. If anyone is in the area, I can recommend Three Tails Brewing, not only for the beer, but the excellent barbecue. Disappointed with the other brewery in town as they served the beer far too cold for the style. Went on to do the Virtual solar system Drive to Siding Spring Observatory. Then headed to Broken Hill, but ended up in Dubbo after driving 500km. I tried heading to Warren, but after heading down the road for many Km, there was a sign saying road closed, use alterative via Trangie. 50Km down the road I find it flooded.

 

More later, as I'm getting the train to Katoomba shortly.

[monkeysarefun]

4 minutes ago, JZ said:

 

 

More later, as I'm getting the train to Katoomba shortly.

Give us a wave as you go through Glenbrook..

 

(If you sit on the left hand side facing forwards  you get a great view down into Glenbrook Gorge)

Edited November 23, 2022 by monkeysarefun

[Gwiwer]

11 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Give us a wave as you go through Glenbrook..

Trains must be running through the Mountains again then.  That's becoming a rare and unpredictable event.  A mate lives at Woodford and keeps me posted; he usually has plenty of time between trains to do that!