At railway stations around Melbourne, they’ve started removing Metcard validators as part of the final switch to Myki. In some cases, some station entrances have no Metcard validator at all now. In theory this doesn’t affect many people, as it’s been several months since multi-trip Metcards were sold, and also since unvalidated single trip Metcards ... [More]
Year: 2012
Categories
The fuzz!!
From my sister’s “Best of British” birthday party in October. I used to love The Bill (before it went all soapie), so I thought I’d go for it. I didn’t know until we were had all arrived that my cousin Justin and his girlfriend Valerie had the same idea. We’ve had the toy helmet sitting ... [More]
Last night’s skyline from the country: It’s not often I have to be urgently somewhere in the car, but it was the case yesterday. “Don’t be late!” I’d been (lightheartedly) told. It’s not a trip that is completely impossible by public transport, but with only three trains a day, and the first of the morning ... [More]
I’d been told this segment was coming up on Coxy’s Big Break, and it finally aired on Sunday: a look at the cash railways at the shop I worked at part-time as a teenager, Hattams in Elsternwick. Apparently these are some of the few still working cash railways in Victoria. They were common in medium ... [More]
In the Apple Store at Southland the other day, I noticed they had all the iDevices maps set to satellite. It wasn’t hard to see why — it took all of a minute or two to find some glaring errors in the street maps. It’s not just that tram lines are completely missing; they’ve put ... [More]
I ran into friend and blog commenter Andrew W on the train last week, and we were chatting about the Dandenong South crash. I noted that the design of the train hadn’t really been remarked upon in coverage of the accident, and being the knowledgeable person that he is, he was able to tell me ... [More]
Categories
RIP Michael
Marita’s dad Michael was the nicest bloke you could meet. Tragically he died in a farming accident on Wednesday afternoon. RIP Michael 1941-2012
One of the chemists in Bentleigh is renovating, and this old signage has been revealed — soon to be covered up with something new. Apparently they used to sell stuff called “film” from a company called “Kodak”. The windows have also shown up some old ads. Anybody care to estimate how old they might be? ... [More]
In the wake of Saturday’s tragic train accident, perhaps it’s understandable that people feel a little nervous. (Online vote, Herald Sun) They shouldn’t feel nervous. Even one death is too many, and more needs to be done, but the fact is that Melbourne’s trains have an enviable safety record. Even with Melbourne’s 170+ level crossings, ... [More]
It’s long been a bugbear of mine that a vehicle that has correctly stopped in a legal parking/stopping position should not use its hazard lights. Some buses do this, despite being stopped in proper bus zones. Melbourne Bus Link appears to be one company whose buses mostly do this. Most buses from other operators seem ... [More]
Thank goodness Camberwell station has been saved from re-development. The project has been shelved, so it will remain as lovely as it is today: The superb vistas from Burke Road will be preserved: …as will the views from the platforms: The ramps will remain non-DDA compliant, helping to maintain its exclusivity: The car spots, providing ... [More]
Categories
Shiny discs
CDs recently turned 30 years old. I first got a CD player in 1988, when they fell below $200 for the first time. It was a CDC brand player (made by Teac), for which I trekked out to KMart at Box Hill. It worked for fifteen years, until 2003 — though its replacement didn’t last ... [More]