The Bywong Soapbox

And nobody really gives a shit.

So if the Federal Government really gave a shit about the horrendous P-Plate accident statistics, you’d think they’d have instituted some sort of program to enlighten these suicidal, post-pubescent, little fools who think they’re indestructible.

What’s the solution?  OK Government, grab your chequebooks and listen closely….

One day a week, let’s say…. “Wednesday”, year 11 Physical Education Classes or Sport practice shall be replaced by a qualified, full-blown Drivers Education class.  This means the Phys-Ed teacher goes to attain a certificate and becomes a Driving Instructor. A demountable with full Driving simulators are provided at each school facility and a few Driver Training cars are leased from local car dealerships under an advertising subsidy program.

Instead of a Wednesday Phys-Ed class, once a week ALL year 11 students will rotate into the classrooms, demountables and ultimately, road training vehicles, under instructor/teacher supervision, and learn how to drive, defensively. Learn how to drive a controlled skid, how to swerve, how to brake.

Most importantly… How NOT to be an arsehole showoff for one’s peers. Which usually (according to the carnage I’ve been seeing on TV), ends up in the death of the the automobiles’ passengers.

Wake Up Australia!  Shock-horror TV commercials and the cops dragging half crushed – blood encrusted cars around to the shopping malls aren’t going to save YOUR kids from killing themselves on the road.

P-Plate parallel parking

The Government must stop and consider the outcome if these kids keep killing themselves.  Whoops! Three more voters dead.. Whoops! 2 more voters dead..  Whoops! 4 more voters dead.  A terrible analogy, but it seems to be the only thing (besides sex scandals) that the government pollies seem to understand.

C’mon Rudd.. Abbott.  Some P-Plater might someday be responsible for the death of your kids.  Pull yer finger out and put a good Driver Education program in place.  I’ll even step aside and say you guys thought up the idea. You could even put your ridiculous political mud-slinging aside and call it a bi-partisan effort to stop teenage road deaths.

This Government has initiated much lamer programs for millions of dollars in tax payer dollars, what have they got to lose by trying this one for awhile…  Even if it saves one P-Platers life, it might be worth the cost.

That is, of course, if the government really gave a shit.

How many of you  Bywong/Wamboin residents have come home after a hard days work to find your dog cowering under the veranda or hiding in it’s dog house? Shaking, afraid to come out?  Does this odd behaviour in your pet seem to occur about every three months?

You’ve probably been visited by Country Energy’s Meter Reader.

Oh, he’s a friendly old sort… Always smiling and happy to chew the fat on what’s happening in the neighbourhood.  But if your pet get too close to him, he’s quick to throw the boot or give your pet a good cuff to the ear.

Yes, this friendly old guy has a real mean streak towards over-exuberant pets.  I’ve watched him.  On each visit to my electric meter he has either cuffed or booted a small puppy, who’s only crime was the joy of having someone new to smell and lick.

Is it this mans place to discipline your pet? How would you feel if he were dispensing this sort of discipline to your child?

This isn’t the first time Country Energy Contractors have taken liberties with pets.

A favorite dog of mine, who has since gone to his great reward, was once disciplined by the Country Energy tree trimmers.  I came home to find the poor animal bleeding from the nose with a crushed eye socket. Evidently, he’d been ‘disciplined’ by the tree trimmers.

I rang the Country Energy people and explained my concerns.  Their answer wasn’t good enough, so I’ve indicated to them that any future visits by their contractors would require a phone call to arrange a time for me to be present while any subsequent work is carried out.

I have told these people, any Country Energy Contractor venturing onto my property, without my permission, will be treated as an intruder and dealt with as such.

Unfortunately, I’ve had to extend this to the Meter Reader as well.

Remember, Country Energy is not above the law, nor are they allowed dominion over your animals.

Now, people who write blogs don’t especially look for laurels from the public, but when they get one, it really makes them feel good.  Here’s a comment I got from Sabrina, who was reading my blog about my motorcycle, which I’ve translated from her Spanish… which she wrote from her Dutch IP address, while logged onto her German based ISP… 

“Hello, my name is Sabrina and I was looking online, it was then I found your blog, which I liked very much, which is quite pleasant to read. Return next week to read you again. Greetings Sabrina”

Now..  all her bizarre routing aside… It’s still a nice thing to say to an old fart like me…

Oceangoing ships are responsible for moving at least 80 percent of all commerce worldwide, so maritime pirates are a threat to everyone

The United States and international community are trying to feed those facing chronic hunger and starvation in Somalia and the Horn of Africa, but the ships carrying that humanitarian food aid must contend with pirates who are seeking to hijack and ransom emergency food shipments for their own personal and selfish financial gain,”  said Robert W. Maggi, the U.S. Department of State’s coordinator for counterpiracy.

Recently, the Maersk Alabama was carrying 5,230 metric tons of humanitarian food bound for the East Africa region on behalf of USAID’s Food for Peace Program when four suspected pirates attempted to board and hijack the vessel 560 nautical miles off the northeast coast of Somalia. That food would provide a daily survival ration to 330,000 people for about 30 days.

Somali pirates holding a huge Saudi oil tanker

The ship successfully repelled the hijackers with a combination of evasive maneuvers, long-range acoustical devices and action by an armed security team onboard the ship. No injuries to the crew or damage were reported in the incident.

Unfortunately, the large oil tankers which ply this shipping route, are loathe to have armed security forces aboard for the fear of setting the ship alight with errant gunfire.  They’ve taken the attitude it’s best to allow the pirates to take over the ship, rather than be damaged and create oil spills, which could wipe out the ecology of a coastline.  The pirates ask millions for the release of these ships.

The bright sparks aren’t thinking outside the box.

Back a few wars ago, there was a similar problem with shipping across the Atlantic, except it wasn’t pirates of which the merchant ships were afraid.  They had a problem with U-Boats.  In those cases, convoys were formed to allow the protection of the many, by a few destroyers.  Perhaps this tact would be applicable to today’s piracy scourge.

A merchant convoy

How hard would it be, to organise shipping convoys to get commerce past the Somalian coastline?  Surely it would behoove the shipping companies to schedule mass convoys that could be protected from the pirates by one, or even two Corvette class frigates.

The simple mathematics are sound.  You organise a NATO supplied frigate to escort a convoy of merchant ships and tankers past the piracy zone. Once past the zone, the frigate returns to whatever port of departure and awaits the next convoy of shipping to be staged.  Alternately, a ship rotation between member nations to supply a fresh frigate and crew.

Surely, the safety of these giant carriers of commerce are worth the inconvenience of being staged into a multinational shipping convoy, if it would guarantee the safety of their consignments.

One to protect the many

I’m sure the Somali pirate would find themselves between a rock and a hard place if they were forced to go up against a heavily armed gunboat, which was prepared to blow their pirate asses out of the water.

Anyone listening out there?

The United States and others formed the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia in January 2009 — which now includes some 50 nations partnered with the shipping industry — to develop anti-piracy solutions. They aren’t doing their job..

There are now about 12 ships being held by the pirates off the coast of East Africa, including the 300,000-ton, Greek-flagged supertanker Maran Centaurus, which was seized November 29 some 800 miles off the Somali coast near the Seychelles.

A scheduled convoy might be the answer.

SOLAR-POWERED RADIO FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD

(taken from an interview for the local newspaper)       

Imagine delighting your friends and neighbours with your musical selections as you listen to the radio. You can do that, or take in a community announcement or a 24/7 mix of baby-boomer rock, classics, soul and blues as you negotiate with nature or your livestock in the top paddock. It’s all possible now for some residents of Bywong and Wamboin thanks to a solar-powered narrowcast radio station operating off Macs Reef Rd.   Marcele Martins talked to the man who makes it happen.

After 35 years working in the information technology field, building and designing IT Installations for others, Alex Colquitt decided to design something of his own. Now, “almost retired” – as he says, Alex, using his past experience in the radio field, dedicates himself to his “one man show” tourist radio station and community notice board: The Lake FM  (88 & 87.8 MHz).

With a low power licence, acquired six years ago, he can reach around 400 nearby homes in  and around Bywong/Wamboin  and lately, the Burra/Michaelago area as well, offering 24/7 programming to the community.

“For the joy of listening to what I like”, he answered when asked why he started Lake FM. The accent is American (although he has been living in Australia for 19 years) and for the last 30 years he has been

The face behind the microphone

collecting CDs, vinyls, tapes and MP3s of his favourites artists, amounted to some 11,000 (eleven thousand) pieces to date.

The radio station is based at Alex and his wife Liz’s property in Bywong overlooking gum trees and paddocks grazed by 3 horses. The station is completely automated, operated via software customized by him, using 4 computers, with two of them powered by solar energy. He says the 145 Amp hour per day collectors and battery system provide enough energy for the station even on a string of cloudy days. The technology was set up in collaboration with the local wireless broadband operator, Anthony Goonan from Yless4u.

Two hours per day are spent feeding the system with the day’s mix list. His eclectic style can be noticed in a few minutes listening to Lake FM. While a sequence of ‘80s romantic music was being broadcast during our interview, his mobile phone tone rang a ‘70s Led Zeppelin success. At this point, I had no doubts: Alex really enjoys music!

Alex is not content to share his library only with Palerang: his reach is global through the virtual world. Through ‘Second Life’, he DJs a Blues/Rock Club where up to 50 people get together at a time for real fun.

As a good IT expert, Alex has the Internet on his side. At www.bywong.com.au, the audience can request songs (you can select up to six per hour, played promptly from the huge database) send suggestions and community announcements, and interact with him. It is also through the web that he gets around the limitation of his 1 watt transmitter to reach a broader public. As I am doing now from Canberra, anyone in the world can access The Lake FM learn a bit more about Palerang and enjoy the programming in real time!

The Federal Trade Commission will try to regulate blogging for the first time, requiring writers on the Web to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products.

Take 'this' FTC

“Hello There!”  Would you like to try ‘this’?

Wonderful!  Try it today!

Try it tomorrow!

It’s BAD for you, but try it anyway!

These Federal guys are beginning to sound like Australian politicos, always trying to squeeze a few more dollars from our pockets.  What will they try to ‘regulate’ next?

Well, the little girl is getting bigger and also getting her adult teeth.  Sharp… & with her strong jaws, she makes playtime, very interesting.  She’s becoming a strong, nuggety little dog.

Little bone chewer

Her puppyhood is going well and she seems to have potty trained herself.  Her appetite varies  according to how much her new teeth hurt, but she’s still managed to weigh in at over 10 kilos (that’s a bit over 22lbs for my un-metric American friends & family).

We can leave her by herself for the day and she’s learned to use the dog door.

Well, I kept telling myself that we should practise “Staff reduction by attrition”, but it seems bizarre to be on a property without a dog around.  So Liz and I jumped in the Ute and headed down to Cooma yesterday.  The end result was an eight week old, female Staffordshire Terrier, which I named, “Dina”.

Dina... A new addition

She’s a cute little thing, brindle in colour and even spent her first night away from her siblings without much of a whimper.  A well adjusted little pup… Now let’s see if I can adjust to training a puppy again.  The only upset on the trip back from Cooma was that about 3/4 of the way back, the poor little thing tossed her cookies from the rough ride.

Voracious little eater and I expect she’ll fill out in no time..  OK, so this morning she whimpers a bit and I take her out the front to pee.  She looks around, figures the wet grass is not a great place to be and then jumps back up each front step (no small feat for this tiny little puppy). I open the sliding door to let her back in and she makes a bee-line for the kitchen……  and proceeds to pee on the floor.

Sheesh!…

Let’s see… they say they learn to hold their bladders around 14 weeks…  8 from 14 is…….   Damn! it’s gonna be a long puppyhood….

Well, I never thought I would be singing the praises of Actew Corporation,  but I must admit, they’ve finally done something exemplary for regional tourism.  I hope the rest of Australia reads this blog, as I should think Actew’s actions should be made a boilerplate for all further injections of corporate assistance.

Corporate Neighbours

Will Burra Creek look like this?

The Burra residents should be well pleased that thousands of tourists will be visiting their area in the very near future, to take advantage of a new and exciting tourist draw.  The additional tourism will mean huge increases in local services, restaurant, petrol stations, outdoor sporting goods and retail sales.  Burra could become a very large and wealthy village in the coming years.

Where 'White Water Rafting' begins

And how is this huge change going to occur?  Why,  Actew Corporation has graciously committed to providing the area with a new and exciting sport, “White Water Rafting”.  Yes friends and neighbours, Actew Corporation is going to release 100 Million litres of water per day into Burra Creek.  Not only will the sport be viable on the creek, the water, once the new gas-fired generator is built in Williamsdale, will be WARM! Yes folks, Actew will use up to 60 litres of water per second to cool the power station and dump up to 5 million litres of hot water into Burra Creek every day!

Personally, I can’t think of a finer corporate neighbour than Actew Corporation.  I just wish I were one of the shareholders who are going to reap some of the gazillions of dollars generated by this unselfish act of community service.

Country Energy, the third world supplier of electricity to Southeast Regional Australia, has once again dropped the ball for its customer base around 5:42AM this morning.  Here is a power company who charges a premium rate and additional excise to supply customers of a ‘rural’ and ‘rural residential’ nature.  Oh yes, Victoria, it costs so much more to supply the farm folk with electricity… 

Perhaps you’d think it a plausible excuse to gouge customers, but the least they could do is supply a quality product for the exorbitant fees they charge.  The power garnered from the Country Energy grid has probably the most spikes, noise, glitches, over/under voltage swings and momentary outages than any other power company in Australia.  For this third world type service, ‘rural’ and ‘rural residential’ customers are tithed severely, with some of the highest penalty rates around.

Now, you note I have bracketed the words ‘rural’ and ‘rural residential’. The areas which are abused by

Standing around waiting for a smoko

Country Energy and their less than adequate consumer supply,  are within 30kms of the National Capital City, Canberra.  That’s right, most of this service area is within sight of Telstra Tower, which looms above Canberra.

I know many people in this service area who attempt to run small businesses from their ‘rural’ properties..  Most say they need to run a UPS backup and power filtering system, just to keep their electronic equipment from dying from the almost indigestible electricity provided.

I myself, have been moving more and more of my household off the electricity grid. It makes sense to invest my cash in solar panels & batteries, than to pay Country Energy a premium rate for third world service.  The power I generate is clean, smooth and dependable.  Oddly enough, the Sun is very happy to keep my 1650Ah battery pack charged and the wind is kind enough to top it all off when the wind happens to  blow. The end result is that, to date, I’ve reduced my quarterly power bill by 50%.  Which is just as well, for Country Energy keeps edging the rates higher for lesser quality service.  Remember Victoria, it costs SO much more to supply the poor farm folk.

Basic Thermosyphon

As an aside: My experiments with hot water Solar powered Thermosyphon concepts have proven very efficient and a large scale collector and storage tank  are being constructed as a phase two project.  I am surprised as the quantity of hot water that can be produced by a small solar collector.  I might finally get that spa I’ve always wanted.  Without the pain of paying for the electricity to heat it.

Perhaps the Solar Panel outfitters should target this area a bit better.   Discounted installations of household solar systems, which dump their excess energy onto the grid (for which you get credited), would surely return profit in sheer volume of sales.  Just as an observer, I’d say people in the area are tired of living with third world energy supply and I’ll bet they would jump at the chance to give Country Energy the bird.