Early Risers.

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

 

Similar claims have been made in the US.

 

In my opinion they are largely spurious - particularly when they come from the tweeter in chief.

 

The only tool for suppressing growth of the understory in large areas of forest or bushland is fire. It's not like there's an army of gardeners to pull weeds in the natural undergrowth.  It is accurate to state that wildfire prevention efforts allows the natural understory to develop. There can be more fuel when it is a long time between fires.

 

Deliberately lighting fires to reduce the understory in conditions of severe drought is dangerously irresponsible and untenable.

 

Ironically the heavy rains from the breaking of the 2011 - 2017 drought in California led to increased understory and scrub-land growth that exacerbated the 2017 summer wildfires.

 

EDIT: Rick's and my posts were concurrent. Rick has provided more specifics on why understory mitigation could not take place.

 

 

Hazard reduction burns have been a major feature of life around Sydney during Autumn and Winter  since pretty much forever. This year however the previous fire period extended into late Autumn due to the dry drought conditions, thus delaying the traditional start  and had to be ended much earlier than usual because bushfires started happenning around August. Because of this  they were often conducted on days that they shouldn't have been done on - when wind and atmospheric conditions trapped the smoke in the Sydney basin causing pollution levels similar to what we are experiencing now with the actual fires.

 

Australians are used to bushfires, they are part of summer life here and we usually don't make much of a fuss but these fires are so far  beyond ANYTHiNG we've ever had that previous bushfires seem almost placid in comparison.. For a fun drinking game, watch coverage of the bushfires and down a drink whenever you hear the word "Unprecedented" or "Apocalyptic"  youll be rolling drunk by the second ad break.

 

Places that were the subject of hazard burns in the last couple of years have burned just as fiercely as other  places. Places that have NEVER seen a bushfire have been razed to the ground.   These are not places built deep into the bush, they are on rolling hills with grasslands and livestock grazing. These fires travel 30 to 50km at night - traditionally the time when firefighters get on top of them and maneuver them into areas where they can deal with them and people wake to fire on their doorstep.

 

They are jumping rivers, doubling back and reburning areas all over again, creating their own weather patterns and winds so a fire flank suddenly becomes a roaring fire front heading off in a completely different direction with no notice. And even creating their own tornadoes of fire see below.

 

This is not a good place to be right now. NO ONE feels safe. These fires are affecting everybody, either directly, or through smoke and disrupted travel plans or because pretty much everyone knows someone who has lost their house or had a lucky escape. Holiday plans have been cancelled as complete areas of states have been declared evacuation and no go zones. Almost every road out of Sydney has been cut at some point or other, and the fires are moving closer to other towns and cities -  and nothing can stop them, 

 

There is mo other news on TV - apparently Trump bombed Iran or something?, no one knows or cares about that here,  daily survival and fear of approaching fire is front and centre, excluding anything else.

 

We also have the added distraction of the worlds biggest idiot in charge to get in the way of people actually doing things.

 

 

Fire tornado from about 45 seconds in. Also for an idea of the possible wildlife losses check out how many small animals come hopping for their lives out of this small patch of bush

 

 

 

 

[AndyID]

My shed has forced air heating.

 

 

The stove gets bluddy hot

 

 

and the box-fan forces air over it.

 

That steel heat shield gets too hot to touch even with the fan going full tilt. I had to take that shot of the fire very quickly. I was worried the radiation would damage the camera.

[tigerburnie]

G'night all

[newbryford]

8 hours ago, AndyB said:

 

I note that these new fangled cars have something called "hill assist", whigh takes some of the skill out of hill starts.

Are hill starts still a thing indriving lessons / tests ? I'm guessing hill assist can be turned off, but this is an assumption. 

 

Thanks in advance! Andy

 

I had a few Ford Fiestas for driving school use. Those that were fitted with hill start assist had it disabled with a couple of button presses in the vehicle settings.

And yes- hill starts are still in driving tests, and hill start assist is allowed to be used.

(I usually didn't tell my pupils about HSA until we were on the way home after the test.................)

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2020 by newbryford

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. There are very good reasons for human beings occupying 'dangerous' regions. The first were probably the Egyptians who occupied the *Lower Nile. The annual Nile floods could cause a lot of devastation yet the advantages outweighed the disadvantages with the annual delivery of new fertile mud. The same applies to volcanic regions, volcanic ash is also very fertile. (*It is 'Lower' though on most maps it is above the 'Upper Nile'.) Very sorry to hear of your friend Dave but that brings to mind a former colleague who also had liver cancer and was given a similar life expectancy. In her case the surgeons removed most of her liver and packed her off to the hospice. But she didn't die! It turned out that the tiny piece of her liver that remained was not cancerous and had regrown. She went on to live into her 80's becoming a major fundraiser for the hospice. Not much more news of my brother except that he is progressing well which is good news. 

[BSW01]

Good evening everyone 

 

Well all the decorations are down, all I have to do is put the boxes away! They are currently stacked up in the cellar and by this time tomorrow they will all be in there new home, the storage area I made under the hall. 

 

Sorry to read about your friend Dave, it’s a real buqqer!!

 

Goodnight all 

[newbryford]

Dave - shout it out..........

 

 

Work was worked.

A quiet day on the phones/email (no daft customer calls!) , so much catching up of small tasks was undertaken.

Hockey was then watched.

 

End of P1 and we're 1-2 down against the Solihull Barons.

Couldn't fault the work effort of the lads, but 15 minutes into P2 and it's 1-4 with the usual defensive errors being punished.

That's when they really start to get it together and 2-4 going into the end of P2 with it nearly being a "one-goal game" (a phrase oft-used by hockey coommentators)  at the end of P2

 

4 minutes into P3 and it's 4-4 after a penalty shot. Nerve wracking to watch as the player's Mum was sat a few seats away.....

 

 6 minutes to go and it's 5-4 to set up an exciting finish with Solihull pulling their goalie for the extra player with 90 seconds to go. 

Empty net goal for 6-4 and 20 seconds on the clock..

 

Well done lads!

 

Our netminder won the MVP award for his efforts. A fitting way to end his week after being called up for the GB under-18 squad earlier

 

4 of 7 days work tomorrow.

Have a good week folks.

 

Cheers,

Mick

Edited January 5, 2020 by newbryford

[The Stationmaster]

G'night all

[PhilJ W]

Goodnight all.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

Places that have NEVER seen a bushfire have been razed to the ground.   These are not places built deep into the bush, they are on rolling hills with grasslands and livestock grazing. ....

 

They are jumping rivers, doubling back and reburning areas all over again, creating their own weather patterns and winds so a fire flank suddenly becomes a roaring fire front heading off in a completely different direction with no notice. 

The fires in the western US in the last three years have exhibited similar behaviour - particularly burning places that are not "forest" or bushland, and jumping wide multi-lane highways (like four lanes in each direction) and are usually referred to as "wildfires" rather than "forest fires".

 

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

And even creating their own tornadoes of fire see below.

These are a really nasty aspect of the severity of the fires in Australia. They are not new, I remember one being recorded some years ago, but they appear to be much, much larger than earlier recorded examples.

[Ozexpatriate]

3 hours ago, pH said:

However, a major export from Australia, at least in the past, has been timber. 

Mostly today it is minerals like iron and coal. According to this, timber is $1.77B (0.7%) compared with $47B in coal (19%). 

 

A vast amount of Australian coal has propped up the Australian economy and been burnt by the Chinese.

 

Edited January 6, 2020 by Ozexpatriate

[skipepsi]

Back to work tomorrow now I am allowed to drive... Retirement earlier looks good despite the financial problems of doing so, better to retire before dying rather than after. First world problem I know.

 

Goodnight Y'awl  

[laurenceb]

Night awl

[Ozexpatriate]

Being Twelfth Night, I made an effort to remove my Christmas decorations today. The outside decorations were still damp from the rain so they are air drying in places where I am unlikely to step on them. 

 

Going up and down a small stepladder I have aggravated the muscle tear in my leg. Hopefully this is not a big setback. With the swelling finally receding I was hoping I had turned a corner.

 

Sensibly the Golden Globe awards had to wait until playoff football concluded for the day. I watched them until I couldn't put up with any more, which didn't take very long. Ricky Gervais (as promised) did his very best to be obnoxious but the whole pious nonsense of celebrities congratulating each other had me change the channel before very long.

[leopardml2341]

Why am I awake?

 

Grrrr!

[Joseph_Pestell]

Me too! Worked quite hard yesterday and should be tired.

 

But sometimes insomnia can be a good thing. I have most of my best ideas while lying awake at night. I guess it is due to the lack of other distractions.

 

And sometimes I remember things that I had forgotten. For the last couple of months I have known, during talks with my solicitor, that there was a "black hole" in the financial statements prepared for the divorce settlement - but I could not work out what it was. Now I know what it is and having done a search of the computer, I am owed £69,000 more than I thought.

[AndyID]

Tomorrow MrsID is going to her Handy Doc to have an op to remove a little bone at the base of her thumb, at least she's supposed to. Unfortunately she started getting a head cold yesterday. We don't know if they will want to do the op now or not.

[AndyID]

I'm awake too! Mind you it's only 8:20 here. (And sleeting.)

[AndyID]

4 hours ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Mostly today it is minerals like iron and coal. According to this, timber is $1.77B (0.7%) compared with $47B in coal (19%). 

 

A vast amount of Australian coal has propped up the Australian economy and been burnt by the Chinese.

 

 

Given the appalling situation in Australia that's slightly ironic. Not that the US is any better. There are enormous trains of coal for Pacific export passing through North Idaho. Short term benefits with no regard for the consequences.

 

It's "I'm alright Jack" except it's not in the least bit amusing.

[roundhouse]

Good morning

 

Back to a more normal routine - been in the shed already varnishing decals. All track laid last night and preparing to start wiring.

 

Other half getting ready to go to work.

 

Xmas tree to go back in the loft today.

 

No beer since Saturday and might be Wednesday before any more is consumed if even then.

[Ozexpatriate]

2 minutes ago, AndyID said:

Given the appalling situation in Australia that's slightly ironic.

It is behind the anger many Australians are expressing at their elected officials. And yes, presently the US is no different.

 

Besides the Seattle route, there are proposals to build a coal loading facility on the lower Columbia to export Powder River basin coal across the Pacific. It is strongly opposed by the locals. This is not just "nimbyism". I'm guessing it might still use the BNSF North Idaho route and diverge south at Spokane (on the old SP&S alignment) like the Portland section of the Empire Builder.

 

I imagine that you saw Thursday's BNSF derailment on the Kootenai River (caused by a landslide) that delayed the Amtrak Empire Builder.  It reminded me of all those 737s the BNSF dumped into the Clark Fork River in Montana in 2014.

[chrisf]

Good morning one and all, though how good it will be depends on so many things.

 

Dave, feel free to scream.  It can help but you won't know until you have tried it.

 

I did not set foot outside the front door yesterday save to top up the recycling bin.  Instead, I dealt with some correspondence, though some still remains, and caught up with much of the TV backlog.  This reminded me again that I spend too much time watching TV.  Lunch was a little late and was with typical lack of imagination a lump of sirloin steak and modest trimmings. 

 

Still to be done is the feedback on the Swiss trip.  It will be mostly favourable except when it comes to the subject of travelling to and from that wonderful country.  Apart from an outbreak of the wrong kind of snow, we have always used Eurostar to cross the Channel.  The national rail systems of France and Germany have their flaws and frailties and over the years we have suffered from most of them.  The route preferred by the travel company embraces Brussels, Cologne and the Rhine Valley, takes the best part of two days and bores me senseless.  If the French are not on strike, and that was a big if this year, it is quite possible to reach Interlaken in a day.  Once in a while some imagination breaks out.  A few years ago we left Chur by bus through the San Bernardino Pass and picked up the train at Bellinzona.  That was the stroke of genius that can only be done once.  I am sure that other bright ideas are available.

 

There is not much in the diary for this week.   Perhaps it is just as well.

 

Best wishes to all

 

Chris

Edited January 6, 2020 by chrisf

[Barry O]

Ey up!

 

Glad you are allowed to drive again Skipepsi.

 

Busy day ahead, parcels to prepare, said parcels then need to be posted. Tidying up to be done (again?), Cars to be washed... Mundane things to do compared to what some people around the world are having to do at the minute.

 

I hope that the rain does happen in Australia..the fire fighters and other inhabitants need a break.

 

Mugatea to be drunk, day to be grabbed and shaken into submission!

 

TTFN!

 

Baz

 

 

[grandadbob]

Good morning all.

Dave, very sorry to hear about your friend.

Still dark but it is dry outside at the moment although we may get some rain later.

Rugby duly watched and a very enjoyable game it was too.

I have to visit the doc first thing to find out if the new BP meds are working. After that I need to go to the optician as my glasses are in need of a small repair as a bit has gone missing.

I have offered to take The Boss out for a pub  lunch but as "we" are supposed to be trying to lose some weight this probably won't happen. We'll see.

Mick, I retired early and although, certainly initially, it caused a few financial hiccups, I've never regretted it. As you say retirement after death is not a good option.

Have a good one,

Bob.

Edited January 6, 2020 by grandadbob

[pH]

1 hour ago, AndyID said:

There are enormous trains of coal for Pacific export passing through North Idaho.

 

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Besides the Seattle route, there are proposals to build a coal loading facility on the lower Columbia to export Powder River basin coal across the Pacific. It is strongly opposed by the locals.

 

Meantime, a lot of that Powder River coal crosses the border and is exported through terminals in the Lower Mainland of BC.