Road things
Insurance companies are talking about reducing insurance premiums for people who don’t drive much, on the basis that they’re less likely to have accidents and cause pollution. I’m not sure why insurance companies inherently care about pollution, but bring it on!
But hey, I can say that — my average driving in the car has dropped to about 50km per week while Marita’s staying during her house renovations. Surely for it to be revenue neutral, it would mean people who drive a lot would see premium increases?
In fact there are arguments for also bringing rego costs down, with the income moved onto fuel taxes, which would not only help reduce driving, but also help reduce the use of inefficient cars.
Meanwhile Toyota has found that 90% of 4WDs never leave the bitumen. Are we really surprised by that one? But with petrol prices on the way back up, I suppose 4WD owners will be paying for it in dollars, even if most haven’t worked out yet that they’re also in more danger on the roads, particularly from single-vehicle accidents.
And at this point I might just note that last weekend I spotted:
- a 4WD driven by a middle aged woman merrily rolling down Centre Road with its hazard lights on for no good reason
- another 4WD whose driver apparently reckoned the 60 speed limit was in fact 80
- and a driver in a little white Ford Laser (the opposite of a 4WD?) who not only reckoned the 60 speed limit was 80, but that tailgating and overtaking on the left (where there were no line markings; lucky I checked before I indicated/moved left to avoid a car up ahead) was a good idea
Idiots come in all shapes and sizes.
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King of the Coke!
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Here is my couch
Here, looking very posed, is a piccy of me on my new couch, which arrived on Saturday.
Super-comfortable. Feels quite high off the ground, compared to the old, saggy one (which hopefully some lucky Freecycler will want). None of the pictures taken quite captures the colour exactly, but this one is as close as any of them.
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Happy birthday, nephew
My nephew Leo was born two years ago, and celebrated his birthday yesterday. His entry into the world doesn’t seem that long ago, and already he’s a toddler, not talking yet, but running around and making the kinds of noises toddlers do when they’re trying to express themselves. Showing people things, curious as anything, and addicted to Play School. (His previous fascination with Pingu appears to be waning.)
Of course, Jeremy just turned 9, Isaac is now in grade 6 (high school next year, ALREADY). All the family kids are growing up fast.
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Connex hacked
So, did we all get the fake SMS from Connex last night? I certainly did. Looks like lots did.
ALLAHU AKBR FROM CONNEX! our inspectorS Love Killing people – If you see one coming, run. Want to bomb a train? they will gladly help! See you in hell!
Shame they can’t spell.
The followup, later last night:
A hoax message was sent tonight to some users. Connex apologises and is investigating with the police.
Doesn’t instil you with confidence about their security. We’ve had people vandalise their trains before, now they’re vandalising their computer systems.
By the way, a bloke in Big W last night asked “Don’t you work for Connex?” No mate, I don’t. But with Channel 7 running an advert which includes the shot below (at Flinders Street Station) for the past week, I can almost understand the confusion.
Hey, at least they finally used one of those damn walking shots!
PS. 2pm Ooh, funny. My new couch arrived this morning. Shortly after that I was asked to re-create receiving of the SMS, for a TV crew. As a result, you may see my new couch on tonight’s ABC TV news.
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Sometimes the world is horrible
At first glance, to someone living my busy-but-comfortable life, the world is a pretty nice place. The trees are green, the birds noisy but happy, the neighbours are friendly, the paper arrives on the lawn every day and food and drink are plentiful.
But you only have to watch the news to know that much of the world isn’t like that. There’s death and destruction almost everywhere. Even ignoring things like the road toll and domestic problems with drug deaths, some of the stuff that happens overseas is just horrific. People can be so downright nasty to each other in a way that I just can’t fathom sometimes.
When should I tell my kids the world’s not very nice? They know about Stranger Danger, but they’re going to need to hear about all the rest of it at some stage. That people are starving. (We do what we can.) That people are killing other people (and apparently enjoying it). That in wars (both just and unjust) innocents get in the way. I don’t generally watch the news when they’re around, but as they grow older, maybe it’s time to start.
Not that it’s all bad. The lady on the train with the crutch the other morning got offered a seat immediately. There are random moments of kindness that happen from time to time. And there are countless people out there doing good deeds. They deserve to know about all that too.
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Would you want to know?
A friend of a friend is sick. Dying. Body riddled with cancer. Months to live.
He’s not young, but not old, and by all accounts he’s a good guy. He’s told people that he wants to hear now, whatever they were planning to say after he was gone.
He’s a religious man. His whole family are. Their faith must be consoling them.
But it must be a horrible thing to deal with.
I’m not sure I’d want to know.
No, on second thoughts, I would want to know. I wouldn’t want to waste my last days/weeks/months of time on Earth.
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Can you see the light?
The Australian government is going to get conventional (incandescent) light globes phased out in favour of energy efficient bulbs.
Obviously this will save people money on their power bills. And it’ll reduce household emissions. Up to 75% of emissions from household lighting will be saved.
How much is that? Ummm… Well, not that much at all, actually. Because lighting only accounts for 3% of household emissions.
Indeed, people seem to be forgetting that a huge portion of emissions aren’t generated from “fixed” energy sources (eg power stations).
(Source: National Kilowatt Count, 2002/PTUA “It’s Time To Move”. Another set of figures at the Australian Greenhouse Office.)
So how are they addressing the big hitter in the emissions game, transport? Ummm… by putting $19 billion into roads.
Yeah. Building lots of roads, encouraging people to drive more. That’ll help.
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