Wednesday

And the tally stands at 999,548… 

@ 2:49AM EST

 

9.8 out of 10 based on 19 ratings

89 comments to Wednesday

  • #
    tonyb

    This story is scarcely believable. Apartments to be closed down so cycle lane can go ahead

    https://gatesofvienna.net/2024/10/theyre-coming-to-take-me-away/#more-58294

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    • #
      KP

      “On the other hand, there might be something more sinister at work here, and I just make an educated guess, since I’m pretty sure that these apartments will soon be filled with migrants from a certain hostile “culture” after the natives have been forced to vacate. Nothing of the sort would surprise me any longer.”

      As he said, the fire engines would just park over the bike lane if there was a fire.

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  • #
    tonyb

    England’s largest ever treasure hoard found by Detectorists in West country. Find worth £4 million consists of thousands of Anglo Saxon and Norman coins

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13986723/Britain-treasure-hoards-metal-detectors.html

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  • #
    tonyb

    I would imagine the people smugglers and freelancers are having a field day as they head for America to get over the border before Trump closes it, should he win.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13985313/Caravan-migrants-race-2024-election-worried.html

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    • #
      Just+Thinkin'

      That’s so they can a free plane flight out of the USA.

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    • #
      Graeme No.3

      Yesterday (at Bridge) several participants were despondent about Trump wining the election.
      One was most upset but he was (orginaly) from California and had still voted early for the election (and claimed all his relatives had also done so).
      I’ve kept quiet about it except when I suggested last month that the poor economy would boost Trump’s chances. No-one thought that likely.

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      • #
        RetiredNow

        What is it about bridge clubs? My husband reported that at his bridge clubs only Kamala supporters spoke up forthrightly and assuming no-one would contradict them. It wasn’t that many but no-one spoke out for Trump. This was in Perth, Western Australia.

        Age? Boomers? Women? Lefties play bridge? Is this why I instinctively don’t really like them?

        They were about 95% pro vax too, and shut us out for nearly 2 years.

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        • #
          el+gordo

          More anecdotal evidence that green left senior citizens are smug and ill informed. I blame the ABC, they should present both sides of a debate so that people are better informed and can make a rational judgement.

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        • #
          another ian

          I know one club where I’d be sure that isn’t how it works

          00

  • #
    Stuart

    I note again, that the BOM is predicting a hotter summer again, despite almost La Nina conditions. Oh, that’s right, it will be hotter at night, but still hotter. Does anyone ever hold them to account for the predictions they get wrong, year after year, after year?

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    • #
      TdeF

      Last year it was supposed to be very hot and very dry. With this firm advice Farmers dumped their stocks and lost billions in what was one of the wettest summers in years. The BOM blamed the Indian dipole but the reality is that divining tea leaves with El Nino was utterly wrong. And the huge cost of their new super computer to get things as wrong has been hidden from the public as a state secret. Computers are not science. Wrong science means wrong computer results.

      If you want to know the weather, you have to model the oceans. And last year they ignored the massive Hunga Tonga explosion which NASA says increased total atmospheric water by 10%. Our neighbour.

      However victims of faux science as we are, we paid our billions in carbon ripoffs and made a lot of people rich with Chinese windmills and solar panels. Allowing politicians and their lackeys to dictate science is really wrong.

      Maybe when we get our mythical quantum computer, we can get our public service predictions right? Then Albanese’s wild gamble of a billion dollars on a fantasy will make him look very clever. But presently we look like a science ignorant third world country wasting our coal income on technology which doesn’t exist by another Prime Minister who doesn’t have a clue. It’s amazing to the world that we let our politicians make such incredibly bad decisions without explanation or accountability. Unless it’s good old third world corruption.

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      • #
        TdeF

        And don’t forget ‘even the rains which fall will not fill the dams’. And with hot rocks for electricity ‘the technology is straightforward’. That money didn’t vanish. It went into lots of hands not least of lots of ‘experts’.

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        • #
          David Maddison

          For those not familiar with the “hot rocks” geothermal project, Australia’s most activist climate alarmist said Australia could be powered by geothermal energy and managed to persuade the Government to “invest” $90 million of taxpayer money into the project, of which activist Tim Flabbery was also a share holder. Needless to say, it waa a complete failure.

          https://www.heraldsun.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/another-flannery-fail-geothermal-project-scrapped/news-story/331390329e1af9da27ec28a80163b45d

          Also, he claimed “climate change” would cause Australian dams not to fill and rivers not to flow, thus convincing the Government to waste countless billions of taxpayer money on unused desalination plants and other useless “green” projects, ongoing.

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          • #
            Ronin

            Broken Hill in the news following a power outage caused by a suspected tornado destroying multiple transmission towers that bring power from near the NSW Vic border.
            What this has shown up is Transgrids’ total incompetence in keeping the lights on.

            They thought they had two large backup generators that are used whenever the single connector is down for repairs or maintenance, but it turns out only one worked and it overheated and tripped out not long after being put on line.

            I wonder if this malfeasance is a result of DEI incompetence once again , as they have a female operations manager. Also $41 M was put into a large battery backup system started in Nov 2022, and govt money invested in a compressed air storage backup generator, both seem to be totally missing in action as residents are left with nothing except their own devices.

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    • #
      Ronin

      We were supposed to have had a warm dry winter, what did we get, cooler than usual and wet as.

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    • #
      another ian

      They’re on a winner – the wronger the predictions the bigger the budget increse needed to fix them

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  • #
    TdeF

    And Albanese’s ridiculous ‘investment’ in Quantum Computers is world news. (at 1:38) If only because it doesn’t make sense even as everyone else backs out, dramatically reduces investment and predictions or just gets delisted.

    Again, why does a Prime Minister personally have the right to wildly gamble a billion dollars of our money on things he knows nothing about in another country? Who made this decision, why and how would it ever benefit Australia? Maybe he should be asked to pay the money back personally?

    Perhaps we can see Ministers betting big on horse races next? At Ascot? Or making government solar panels in the Hunter Valley? Or Green Hydrogen in Whyalla?

    And when will we see the $444Million of Malcolm gave with explanation or application to Lucy Turnbull to ‘save’ the Great Barrier Reef which is at its healthiest ever? Where’s the cash? Does no one care? Why does no one have to explain or justify or report on the previous biggest robbery in Australian history? Or is it just very innocent shenanigans? A laugh. A bit of fun and incompetence? Helping out a friend. Or family member. It happens.

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    • #
      Lawrie

      You have your answer to the need by this government to have a Dis and Mis-Information bill. They don’t want the truth to get out.

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    • #
      ColA

      I can’t wait till he discovers they don’t like intermittent unreliable ruinables!!

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    • #
      Ronin

      That’s right , where’s the cash, what has been done with it, who did it, etc.

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    • #
      Mike Jonas

      Malcolm Turnbull threw half a billion dollars into a bucket saying it was to save the GBR, and bingo! the GBR is booming. What a waste! If he had kept control of the bucket, he could have pulled the half billion out and used it again. Or, if he had just thrown in one dollar, he would have achieved the same result.

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  • #
    Kalm Keith

    Let’s not forget .

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  • #
    ColA

    Happy 1,000,000th soon Jo glad I could contribute, I do enjoy a having a grip once in a while. 🙂

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  • #
    Neville

    More BS and nonsense about co2 sinks from their clueless Guardian and yet most stupid lefties will still beieve it.
    Thanks again to Willis Eschenbach for taking the time to explain it for the rest of us.

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/10/22/no-the-carbon-sinks-arent-sinking/

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  • #

    Looking at the AEMO ” Price and demand” prediction for South Australia today. First thing that stands out is in the past already a short stint at $17,500.
    Then there is the low demand predicted for 12:00 to 12:30, Midday. While i have watched it it has changed from just 59 to 60 MW. Makes sense this time of year there would not be a lot of heating or cooling going on.
    So what happens if there is way too much generation? That is the battery is charged, the gas and diesel generators are off, the interconnectors are at max, then the wind suddenly blows extra hard and the sun gets active as the clouds part.
    NEM data dashboard

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    • #
      Eng_Ian

      It doesn’t matter if the wind increases. AEMO have agreed to purchase power from some suppliers and hence the forecast. Regardless of the wind, the windmills are only allowed to place their agreed energy in the grid for that period. Same for solar, gas, diesel, etc.

      The only ones that float up and down are the ones being paid for frequency control, (actually demand matching).

      All energy that is/could be generated, for example a solar farm rated at 1MW only delivering 0.5MW is unused. For windmills, they feather the blades to reduce their efficiency and to match output to the agreed numbers.

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      • #

        “AEMO have agreed to purchase power from some suppliers and hence the forecast.”
        The forecast for “demand” is somehow affected by agreed purchases? Ok but is the actual demand affected? Surely demand is what consumers want If they unexpectedly turn it off then demand goes down regardless of agreements or forecasts.
        “The only ones that float up and down are the ones being paid for frequency control, (actually demand matching).”
        My question relates to this approaching the zero asymptote then facing sudden change. How well can zero be controlled?
        “For windmills, they feather the blades to reduce their efficiency and to match output to the agreed numbers.”
        That is the part where as i said “the wind suddenly blows extra hard and the sun gets active”
        Making those agreed numbers close to an asymptote, wrong. Suddenly wrong. The type of suddenly wrong that caused the $17,500. However a sudden overabundance that has nowhere to go until the system reacts with further reductions in output. So in essence i am curious about the regulation reaction delay time near the asymptote of zero load.

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        • #
          Eng_Ian

          Okay, let’s make it real simple.

          IF I’m driving a car, I go up and down hills as well as go on flat sections of road. Let’s call that the POWER demand of the car and say it is similar to the grid. It can go up and down, or stay flat. You can look ahead at the road and make some good predictions of what power you will need in the next couple of minutes. If you drive the same path each day you could even make a prediction for what tomorrow’s POWER demand curve will be. Exactly the same for the AEMO and electrical demand.

          NOW. When I want more POWER in my car, I press the accelerator down. More fuel, more power.

          When a solar panel system has quoted a supply of 1000MW, they probably have the potential to supply 1200MW. BUT, they only set their inverters to make 1000MW, if they produce too much they are subject to enforcement controls from AEMO, this might be fines or refusal to accept future generation, (in the worst case).

          When a wind farm quotes 1000MW of supply, like solar, they can produce 1200MW, and for the same reason, they limit their production by feathering the blades AND by setting their inverters. The inverters actually control the feathering ensuring that they match the supply. It’s a form of negative feedback.

          NOW…. demand management, (frequency control). If you are being paid for frequency demand then you have to have a large generator AND you have to run it at less than 100% output. Let’s say 1,000 MW capacity BUT you are fueling it to run at 500MW. If there is a short term peak or trough in demand, then the throttle to that machine adjusts to suit. It could drop down to say 100MW and still be providing adequate frequency control. Same for if it is supplying 900MW. There is no approaching zero issues. It’s right in the middle of it’s range. No issues.

          The demand on the grid is relatively stable, minute to minute. It certainly can have sudden peaks, eg a line fault to ground. It can also have major drops, again it could a line fault, causing a circuit breaker to trip open. The instantaneous load changes are covered by the inertia of the spinning masses, anything longer than 10 seconds or so is covered by throttling.

          And finally, yes demand can also be managed. There are numerous agreements in place, (with the large consumers), to allow the AEMO to direct them to reduce OR increase demand as required to absorb any forecast errors. For example, an aluminium smelter can reduce demand by reducing the amount of aluminium produced in their pots. The smelter would lose money doing this so the AEMO pay them for this.

          I hope that helps you understand that generation and demand management is NOT a black art, it’s just forecasts and the issuing of appropriate directions to the producers and some consumers.

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          • #
            Ronin

            Thanks for that Ian.

            10

          • #

            Thanks Eng_Ian. Can see your reply. Perhaps the moderator expect engineers to behave badly, like scientists. Nope we just like to understand it. I do appreciate the effort you put into that but having read it twice you did address the question although you did not fully answer my concern. In electronics engineering we call the problems input regulation and loop delay. “The instantaneous load changes are covered by the inertia of the spinning masses” But the input changes? In the situation where the wind suddenly picks up it will first appear as an acceleration of those. The wind providing a sudden increase in torque which will first appear as an advance in phase attempting to increase the frequency and voltage, until the delayed negative feedback regulation counters that. The ten seconds you mention would begin after the wind picks up. After it is happening unless there is some other “spinning masses”. Now it is 12 o’clock there I can see what South Australia is doing. They are leaving the gas turbine running as well as discharging the battery and not fully loading the interconnectors. So the gas turbines provide a spinning mass that is less governed by torque and more by momentum. The battery can also easily vary toward or into charging to pull back the voltage. The situation i described was avoided. That was “the battery is charged, the gas and diesel generators are off, the interconnectors are at max”
            The battery is not charged. It is disharging. So it can switch to charging.
            The gas generators are not off. They are delivering 80MW. The state only demanding 51MW.
            The interconectors are not at max.
            The situation i described was well and truly avoided all three ways by running the state on gas and sending some of that plus a throttled back wind and solar excess to other states.

            10

            • #
              Eng_Ian

              Wind turbines are not synchronous. They only connect to the grid via the inverter.

              All output from the wind turbines, (like solar), is converted to a usable DC voltage before the inverter makes it, (in our case), 50Hz, in sync with the grid.

              Any extra push from the wind is just lost. The blades have a lot of inertia and the rate of change of rotation is easily matched by the feathering rate.

              If the wind turbines were synchronous, then they would have to spin at an exact multiple of 50Hz, (in Oz), or they would drift out of phase. And they could only produce power at exactly that one spin rate. That’s not ideal, it would only work for a limited bandwidth of wind speeds. Hence the need to convert ALL output to DC first.

              I can see a future without gas and coal powered energy systems. It’s been done before, you only have to think back 200 years in Oz for a glimpse. Or maybe look forward 10 years under labor.

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              • #

                “Wind turbines are not synchronous.” That is the problem. Not the solution. Regardless of the “feathering” when the wind stops the turbine slows down and stops. The voltage goes down. The inverter cannot regulate anything when it is off. No amount of unicorn dust can give the dead inverter back any control at the asymptote of zero wind.

                Rotating loads on the grid which are also mainly non synchronous, induction motors need the grid frequency to slow if the voltage falls to keep them within their slip frequency range.

                When the wind blows again:
                AEMO 2020 Power System Requirements

                3.3.3 System strength Table 5

                • Adverse interactions with other inverter-based plant (instabilities/oscillations have been observed in practice in
                the NEM)

                Page 19

                This inertial response was historically abundant in many parts of the network. This is, however, no longer the
                case in certain parts of the network that have high levels of inverter-based resources (IBR). A lack of inertial
                response can present risks to system security in the event that these regions become separated from the rest
                of the NEM.

                10

          • #
            Geoff Sherrington

            Eng_Ian,
            At a remote exploration camp, all electricity comes from a diesel generator. It usually operates at constant rpm. There is a dummy load, a big mass of iron in a 44 gallon drum of water. When the demand for electricity falls, the surplus heats the metal sink that has water to help it cool.
            Different scenario. We have a large solar farm. It is connected to a local grid. There are times in the day when demand rises, as for people taking hot water morning showers and there are times when demand falls like when most hot showers are ended. The question is, do solar farm systems have a dummy load mechanism? What happens if, to illustrate, a steady output is interrupted drastically by a broken main cable from the farm? The solar cells continue making electricity, but where does it go? It has the capacity to melt wires, but there are no wires to melt. What else is available to melt? Nothing? What is the fate of these orphaned electrons?
            Geoff S

            00

        • #
          Eng_Ian

          Siliggy,
          I had replied to your questions but the post has been removed.

          So you’ll have to look it up for yourself, I won’t waste any further time providing an engineering solution if it just gets wiped by some moderator.

          And to the moderator, WHY, some explanation could be beneficial?

          30

          • #
            another ian

            Ian

            Could have been an “unflagged automatic ditching” and the mods didn’t see it.

            Or sometimes a post seems to get lost and will appear OK if you re-enter it.

            To quote Chiefio – (“Why? Don’t ask why. Down that path lies insanity and ruin. -E.M.S.”)

            10

        • #
          RickWill

          My question relates to this approaching the zero asymptote then facing sudden change. How well can zero be controlled?

          If the price is negative, most of the grid scale wind and solar will withdraw from the market but reducing output to zero.

          Rooftops respond to local over voltage. South Australia has the ability to selectively adjust local substation voltage to cause rooftops to back off. WA also does this. As far as I know other States have enough demand to Sok up available rooftop power so suburban subs are not being purposefully adjusted to cause the higher voltage necessary to cause rooftops to back off. But many areas in all States have local voltage causing inverters to back off. My output peaked today at 2.9kW but automatically backed off to 1.6kW at peak sunlight due to local voltage reaching the 254V limit.

          All this means that the rooftops are being controlled either automatically or with some substation intervention to back off to balance the demand.

          Rooftops served 45% of the NEM demand at midday when the wholesale price was MINUS $28/MWh average across all regions.

          10

    • #
      Chad

      So what happens if there is way too much generation?

      Its called “Curtailment”…
      Basicly shutting down the wind and solar generation.
      You can see the result in each regeon on the dotted brown line on these charts ..
      http://nemlog.com.au/gen/region/sa/

      40

    • #

      Now at 10:09 EST the minimum demand prediction for S.A. has dropped to just 6MW. Looks like we might get to see what happens.

      00

      • #
        Mike Jonas

        What happens? When it’s the other way round, ie, when demand stays up but wind and solar fail, I can tell you what happens. Earlier this evening in NSW the wholesale price hit $20 per kWh. That’s something like 50 or 60 times the normal price. It has been worse before, and I’m pretty sure that it will get a lot worse in future.

        00

    • #
      Gazzatron

      Siliggy,
      AEMO are on LinkedIn boasting how great it is that SA and NSW both recently (last weekend) reached new records for LOW DEMAND of power, this low demand appears due to Transmission lines being down from the recent storm and therefore there is NO power to various areas, include Olympic Dam mine and another mine at Broken Hill as mentioned in numerous posts by WattClarity.com.au.
      Hardly seems like something to brag about as the Energy Market Operator that your system had record low demand due to vast areas and big economic producers being without power.
      Jo, any way this can be high lighted to other media sources?

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      • #
        Mike Jonas

        That’s not low demand, that’s low supply. They report actual usage as demand without any consideration of the effect of supply failures. Not very clever.

        10

  • #
    Penguinite

    We’re running a Sweep Jo. Who will post first after 999999?

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  • #
    Penguinite

    And you know DJT was over the target when the Dems start trying to sensor Maccas. Is this election interfrying

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  • #
    Penguinite

    The driest year since 1934 in Tasmania’s catchments has forced the state-owned hydro-electricity generating company to scale back generation, to conserve water. As a result, its renewable energy generation is in jeopardy! The state’s claim of being “100 per cent” powered by renewable energy, is relying on imports from the mainland, as well as fossil fuels. Tasmanians really got their two “Bobs Worth” in 1983 when Bob Brown and Bob Hawke colluded and caused the Franklin River Dam Crisis.

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  • #
    Ronin

    “Tasmanians really got their two “Bobs Worth” in 1983 when Bob Brown and Bob Hawke colluded and caused the Franklin River Dam Crisis.”

    The greens caused much CO2 to be produced by banning the dam and causing Tasmania to rely on brown coal to top up generation.

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  • #
    John Connor II

    Wednesday funny

    Parents: “Will our baby be a boy or a girl, doctor?”

    Doctor: “We’re not allowed to assign gender any more. It does have a d!ck though.”

    😆😆😆

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  • #
    John Connor II

    Wednesday Words of Wisdom for the Wise

    “There are people sitting there who are deliberately waiting for the thrill of being offended. They want to be offended because it gives them a sense of moral superiority”
    – John Cleese

    “Those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed by the masses.”
    – Plato

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  • #
    John Connor II

    Wednesday ejukayshun

    In an experiment in 1746, Nollet gathered 200 monks into a circle measuring almost a mile, with rods held between them. He then discharged Leyden jars through the human chain and observed that each man reacted at substantially the same time to the electric shock, showing that the speed of electricity’s propagation was very high. Hearing of this performance King Louis XV demanded a repeat at Versailles and a company of 180 soldiers holding hands leapt simultaneously .

    I have an idea. If we round up all the pollies and hook them up to a solar farm output…

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    • #
      Graeme4

      The problem with using a solar system is that you could never guarantee that its output would be sufficient for the experiment on a certain day at a certain time. Better stick to using Leyden jars…

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  • #

    Yeah, it’s all the same isn’t it? (and I’ll get to that, and this is probably something to file away in the ‘useless information’ folder)

    Since Barbara passed away 18 Months ago, there’s not a week goes by when I learn something new every second day, (even now) and at the start it was every day, sometimes more than twice a day really, things that, as a man, you take so much for granted that it makes you feel guilty that you did it, and it’s probably sexist to say this, but male brain ….. female brain, there is a difference, perhaps even of ‘gulf’ proportions that cause you to actually take it for granted.

    I was unloading the dishwasher two hours back now, just drying the last of the dampness of some things. I was drying off an old serving spoon, not a normal spoon per se, but one of those much larger serving spoons used for dishing up food (casseroles etc) onto the dinner plate, and one that’s been in our family for ….. I have no idea how long. (Huh! See what I mean) Anyway just as I was about to put it in the cutlery drawer, the light caught the back of it, and I noticed the text. Curious now, I read it, and it said ….. 18/10 Stainless, and I had to go and get my large magnifying glass to check that numbering. (and hey, you know, you never look at ‘stuff’ like that, do you, besides as an eight year old drying the dishes while Mum washes them, and you look at the knife and ask ….. “Hey Mum, what’s stainless steel?”, probably the only time ever that you actually notice it, as every time after that, you ‘know’ what is engraved there)

    So now, curiouser even, I went to the computer and wrote some text into the search engine.

    Wow! Another of those days when you learn something new. (Life is just so good!)

    Anyway, I just have two links you can read for yourself, and I dunno, it might just be me, but it was so interesting.

    Link One – 18/10, 18/8, and 18/0 Stainless Steel: What Are the Differences
    Link Two – Stainless Steel Types and Grades from Austral Wright Metals

    In our first year of marriage, 1981, Woolies had a promotion going on, where you could put the value of your shopping dockets towards the cost of some superior sets of pots and pans, (or buy as individual items) and even at the maximum after many dockets, you still had to pay maybe a quarter to a third of the cost, and this was good quality stuff mind you, which surprised me, because I sort of expected it to be ‘el cheapo’ stuff. Now, we already had a good stock of pots and pans etc, from Barbara’s first marriage. The only thing she ‘coveted’ (hinted at often enough) at that Woolies promotion was the super large 7.5 Litre range top ‘pot’ for soups etc, a huge thing, and used so many times over these last 43 years, still in use even now (Silverside, Pickled Pork, soups etc) and still spotlessly clean, and no pitting at all in the base. Even with the shopping dockets it still cost $50, still a lot, even back in 1981.

    So, thinking of the above, I got it out of the cupboard and turned it upside down to look on the base. And there it was …… 18/8 Stainless with Korea written under that. And it’s not on everything, perhaps one in five items, or even less than that.

    Nyuk nyuk nyuk! I can see some of you now going to the cutlery drawers and searching, because trust me, it’s not engraved on everything stainless.

    And I can even possibly hear some of you saying ….. “Tony, didn’t you know that?”

    Like I said, probably useless information really.

    Tony.

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    • #
      Eng_Ian

      Now tell us about duplex stainless steels.

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    • #
      Chad

      Ii am always surprised at how many “stainless steel” items still actually rust and stain !

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      • #

        I am always surprised at how many “stainless steel” items still actually rust and stain!

        I also have a second 5 litre pot as well, and it is also 18/8 Stainless, and we’ve only had this smaller one for maybe fifteen years or so. It’s nowhere near as ‘shiny’ as the older and larger pot, again emphasising the difference between manufacturers, even both being 18/8 stainless.

        However, the bottom of this smaller pot is pitted, not too badly, but all the same, still pitted. It also is stained, but not like you think. You hold it up to the (natural, not internal fluoro lighting) and it looks like an all over rainbow colouring to it as you move it around in the light.

        Oh, and Eng_Ian, Duplex stainless is explained in that second link. Of the five grades of Stainless, the Austenitic (mainly used in cookware etc) is only one that is NON magnetic.

        Tony.

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      • #
        JoKaH

        Type 304 stainless steel will develop “tea Staining” when exposed to salt water. Type 316 stainless steel also contains molybdenum in the alloy which reduces the staining from salt water and is referred to as “marine grade”.

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    • #

      As to taking so much for granted thing, things like cooking every meal without referring to cook books, of which she had more than a dozen of them, and I use them all now, and have even added a couple, mainly slow cooker cookbooks, and how easy is it to chase recipes on the www, and I have a whole folder with sub folders, and a hundred or more recipes, and I never realised how therapeutic cooking really is.

      Same same when I purchased a new Sharp Microwave after ten weeks marriage, and she used it from day one from that day forwards, for everything really, and then each new one across the years, five of them in all, and she got used to each new one, within days in fact. I have since got a new Sharp microwave, usually replacing them after eight years or so.

      And hey, cookbooks for microwaves. Usually they are part of the small paper booklet with the instructions, and usually only twenty recipes at most. However, that first Sharp Microwave back in 1981. It came with a full sized full colour, quality paper, 200 plus pages, soft cover cookbook, which I still use even now, just (ever so slightly) using different times and temperature settings. I have a new Sharp microwave now, and it’s funny how across the years, you get a good handle on which of the electrical ‘stuff’ manufacturers make the best products, and I’ve found Sharp do the best microwaves. That original Sharp cookbook has the single best recipe for pork spare ribs in a plum sauce. (oh yum!)

      Another thing, the (absolute) ‘thing’ about bl00dy vacuum cleaners. Just what is that? They have to be changed every year or so.

      In 2009, I actually shopped around on the www looking for a new one, and I settled on the Dyson Animal. It was the first time I had any input into a vacuum cleaner, and I only did it because she was just so tiny, and the Hoover she had, and loved was hard to push around. That Dyson (the smallest ‘ball’ vaccum they had) cost more, but was around 2.8 Kilos lighter than the one she had. She loved it, best vacuum she had ever owned, so easy to use, so much suction, and so versatile as to moving it around, and it ended up being the one she used for the longest time during her life.

      As she slowly faded away over the last year or so, I took over all the household duties, and even I found the Dyson so easy to use, and by now it was eight years old. I had replaced the ‘head’ as the rollers had somewhat worn away, but it was as good in 2018 as it was when new.

      Anyway, after she passed, and after almost six Months, that same vacuum ‘bug’ hit me, and I wondered what it was, such a new thing to me, and while the Dyson was still good, I looked for a battery stick vacuum, as the only hassle was moving around my Apartment with the cord plugged in to an extension cord so I could do the whole apartment from the one ‘hole in the wall’ outlet. (lazy b@$tard Tony, eh)

      So, I got a Dyson V15 Detect Absolute, listed at $1699, but early on, Dyson had an introductory offer of $849 (half price) and that was too good to pass up. Absolute magic really, does the whole apartment in one go, well even then only down to 25% charge remaining. Hard floor, carpet, so easy to use and so light. (I swear that Barbara sits on my shoulder while I’m vacuuming saying …. “why didn’t you get one of these for me?”)

      Like I said, the things that, as a man, you take so much for granted, without even realising you’re doing it.

      Life is just so good.

      Tony.

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      • #
        Tides of Mudgee

        Tony your discoveries of things stainless steel are interesting and am pleased you’re getting a kick out of learning new things, even housework, but my experience with things stainless steel is that often something that is marked “stainless steel” with no numbers allows magnets to stick (my little test). So what the thing is actually made of I don’t know, but a magnet shouldn’t stick. ToM

        10

      • #
        Steve of Cornubia

        My favourite cooking appliance is my pressure cooker. It’s the old-fashioned type with no bells and whistles. Well, it’s sort of got a whistle but no bells, electronics or Bluetooth nonsense.

        I love it because (a) I enjoy making curries and stews, (b) because it makes meat very tender and (c) it cooks most stews in less than 20mins, saving time and money. The results are similar to a slow-cooked stew.

        I tend to cook in batches so that I can freeze it. I find curries and stews taste better after freezing and reheating. Dunno why.

        Before getting the pressure cooker I used a big pot that I would bring to a boil then place inside a heavily-insulated box, where I would leave it for some hours. The residual heat is enough to slow-cook stews etc.

        20

        • #
          another ian

          Steve

          I’ve been a pressure cooker user since the mid 1970’s on similar reasoning. Mine is a Sears Roebuck model bought in USA so spare parts like seals became a problem back here. But a chance discovery was that one Namco model was from the same manufacturer so that worked for a while.

          Another chance discovery was a shop here that deals in pressure cooker parts. They are good to deal with, identified the model on first go and have the parts so it is back in action.

          For anyone else who has an older pressure cooker grounded for lack of spare parts have a look at

          https://www.therazorshop.com.au/pressure-cooker-spare-parts/

          10

          • #
            Steve of Cornubia

            My current pressure cooker came from India. Basic, old-style cookers are very popular there, so they’re still made in large quantities. Quality seems good.

            00

      • #
        Ronin

        I have usually taken 18/8 to be for cutlery and 316 for marine use.

        10

        • #
          Chad

          316 is the “go to” SS for industrial process tanks and pipe work.
          Is anyone familiar with the “passivation” of stainless materials before use with chemicals etc ?
          It is aa multi stage chemical ( acid) process to produce a protective “passive” , layer on the surface of SS when used in chemical processes.

          00

          • #
            Steve of Cornubia

            304L is the go when making magnetic sector mass specs, especially flight tubes and optics.

            00

          • #
            Eng_Ian

            Chad,
            Been there and done that for several years in a lithium chemical plant. Passivation till the cows come home.

            Passivation is the formation of chromium oxide on the face of the steel. It’s a clear oxide, like the coating on aluminium. Without it, it’ll rust in fresh water.

            Stainless steel does not HAVE to be acid etched to ensure passivation, it just needs to be clean, very clean. The oxygen in the air will form the passivation layer. BUT, heat affected SS, the blue coloured stuff, needs to be cleaned back to shiny metal, most people specify a chemical to do it, but on big vessels this gets very expensive to purchase and dispose of.

            20

  • #
    John Connor II

    Australia to award 155mm shell production contract in coming weeks.

    Currently, Australia imports its 155mm shells from a South African subsidiary of Rheinmetall. While there is domestic production via a joint venture between a local company, NIOA, and Rheinmetall, those shells are only for export to Germany.

    Overall, Australia has committed up to $21 billion AUD ($14.1 billion USD) for what it’s calling the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise (GWEO) over the next decade to increase its domestic munitions production.

    https://breakingdefense.com/2024/10/australia-to-award-155-shell-production-contract-in-coming-weeks-minister-says/

    Clueless crazy war mongering pollies.

    Meanwhile, How much would it cost to end homelessness?

    Have you ever wondered how much it would cost to fix homelessness? If everyone pulled together, and if there was a boundless budget and complete agreement on the end goal, how much would it cost to house everyone, provide the support they need and wipe out homelessness?

    “For a decade, Australia has been without coordinated responses to deal with the housing crisis, without consistent long-term funding that can adequately respond to need, and lack of investments in social and affordable housing. Over 15 years, since 2006, we’ve seen the number of people experiencing homelessness grow by 36 per cent.”

    Last year’s Give Me Shelter report found that every dollar invested in social and affordable housing could deliver double the benefits to the Australian community, a rate of return better than some major infrastructure projects around the country.

    But the cost of not acting on the need for social and affordable housing was estimated by report author SGS Economics and Planning to be $25 billion per year by 2051.

    Marcus Spiller, principal and partner at SGS, told Pro Bono News that ending homelessness can be done.

    He’s crunched the numbers, and he says he knows how much it would cost, too: $17 billion over 30 years.

    https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2023/03/how-much-would-it-cost-to-end-homelessness-weve-got-the-answer/

    $21B over 10 years to fund more war and death or $17B over 30 years to end homelessness in Oz.
    Tough choice for the pollies eh..

    30

    • #
      Mooka

      JC2, they have not added in the Government waste and building union factors into the cost estimates for housing the homeless.
      If you times it by 10 you might be getting closer to the real cost.

      50

  • #
    Ronin

    AEMO head Daniel Westerman has pulled the rug out from under that idiot Bowen-in-the Wind, by stating in Senate Estimates that it could not be guaranteed that renewables will be cheaper in the future.

    40

  • #
    el+gordo

    Harris to get a leg up in swing seats, the Brits are coming back and Donald is not happy.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/22/trump-complaint-uk-labour-party

    01

    • #
      Simon Thompson M.B. B.S.

      McDonalds have redressed Trumps epic troll of working at McDonalds on her birthday.
      They have a special burger: “A quarter to pound her”

      Ok i am in the naughty corner

      10

    • #
      another ian

      FWIW – The Guardian without amnesia

      “Australian Labor fined $14,500 over campaign push to stop Trump”

      https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jan/31/australian-labor-fined-14500-over-campaign-push-to-stop-trump

      20

    • #
      Steve of Cornubia

      It never ceases to amaze me just how dim the average lefty is. Comics like the Guardian seem to believe Trump is genuinely miffed and/or worried that 100 “unpaid Labour volunteers” are going to help Harris do a few letter drops, and that’s why his team are crying ‘Foul!’.

      But of course the Trump team couldn’t really give a stuff about it. Just like the genius McDonald’s stunt (which had one objective: to force the MSM to talk about accusations that Harris lied about working at Maccas), this ‘legal action’ is designed only to alert Americans to the fact that those darned British are meddling in American politics, which will of course wind a few of them up.

      Trump charges in from the right wing and … he scores again!

      30

  • #
    el+gordo

    Guterres to party with a war criminal, the world has turned upside down.

    ‘United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also attending – and is expected to meet Putin on Thursday. On Monday, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticised Guterres, saying that while he did not accept an invitation to attend a Ukraine-backed peace summit in Switzerland in June, “he did, however, accept the invitation to Kazan from war criminal Putin. This is a wrong choice that does not advance the cause of peace. It only damages the UN’s reputation”. (Aljazeera)

    27

    • #
      KP

      “United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also attending – and is expected to meet Putin “… President of Russia, a United Nations Security Council permanent member.

      “Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticised”.. who? Some Eastern Euro country no-one had ever heard of four years ago..

      “It only damages the UN’s reputation”.. Anyway, everyone knows the UN’s reputation cannot get any worse! It should have been disbanded decades ago!

      30

  • #
    KP

    So, I’m being coerced into fratenising with the medical fraternity, the Govt insist I have a medical certificate or they will ban me from driving. A reasonable request in some lights, although age is a minor factor in my eyes…

    My wife suggests her doctor so I drop into make an appmt, the receptionist says ‘No, no new patients’.. ‘What about family?’.. ‘I will ask him to contact you.’

    OK, fair enough.

    “You will need two half-hour appointments to fill out that Govt letter.” WTF! ‘Why is that,’ I enquire. “One to get your medical history and one to evaluate you.” I said “I don’t have a medical history, I don’t get sick.”

    She was quite unbelieving that I wasn’t taking pills for SOMETHING.. Needless to say we parted on the very worst of terms and I expect she threw my number in the bin as I walked out. No loss, I think I’ll try the Abo clinic, they seem down to earth people!

    Well, I’ve always had a good nose for rort, and this is one! Has anyone found they can get an aged Fitness to Drive in one appointment? I expect an eye test, tap your knee with a hammer, listen to your heart and out the door.

    60

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW

    KP

    Here in Qld it takes one visit, but that is to a practice that has my medical history. It gets combined with a “nanny state senior’s program” which I treat as an annual inspection that could be useful.

    I’ll be suprised if you don’t have to pee in a bottle.

    I’d suggest that you (from my experience) get your eye doctor to fill in the eyesight section rather than risk some medico’s “intepretation” of that requirement.

    And walk in with a crossword about half completed and you’ve pretty well passed any cogitative testing.

    Best of luck

    20

    • #
      Simon Thompson M.B. B.S.

      West register street
      Pen
      Watch

      serial 7’s (100-7, take 7 from that)

      Who is the Prime Mincer (sic)

      10

    • #
      Hanrahan

      It’s money for old rope for your regular GP. They can charge out a long consultation for some time with the “nurse” answering some questions.

      Walking into a new practice I imagine they think “What are you trying to cover up”.

      10

  • #
    Skepticynic

    ANOTHER Democrat breaks ranks and deserts the Democrats to join up with the Donald Trump for President Team!

    Tulsi Gabbard, former Democratic candidate for president, joins Republican party at Trump rally
    Gabbard represented Hawaii’s second district in Congress from 2013 through 2021

    Gabbard recently joined the Trump campaign as an honorary co-chair for the former president’s transition team alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr., another former Democrat.

    TULSI GABBARD SAYS SHE WOULD BE ‘HONORED’ TO JOIN A POTENTIAL TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

    Gabbard cited her admiration for President Trump’s leadership “to transform the Republican Party and bring it back to the party of the people and the party of peace” in part for her decision.

    I’m proud to stand here with you today, President Trump, and announce that I’m joining the Republican Party. I am joining the party of the people,” said Gabbard.

    https://www.foxnews.com/politics/tulsi-gabbard-former-democratic-candidate-president-joins-republican-party-trump-rally

    40

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – “kinda/sorta/maybe but probably not ”

    “MSM Hacks Are Too Isolated and Ignorant to Grasp How Many Americans Despise Them”

    “The Times article goes on to say that Trump can only kinda/sorta/maybe but probably not do any of the things the authors said he might do at the top of the piece. I may be the only one other than the Times editor who OK’d it for publication who read the whole thing and found that out though. They know that most of their low-info base only reads the headlines, so they make sure that they get all the scary words in there and in the sub-headline. They play pretty loose with facts and reality over at the Times.”

    More at

    https://pjmedia.com/stephen-kruiser/2024/10/22/msm-hacks-are-too-isolated-and-ignorant-to-grasp-how-many-americans-despise-them-n4933513

    20

  • #
    another ian

    FWIW – sounds about right

    “The usual font of misinformation, the Guardian”

    “has an article claiming the following: In 2023, the hottest year ever recorded, preliminary findings by an…”

    https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/10/22/no-the-carbon-sinks-arent-sinking/

    10

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