VENT!

[LeeM]

Getting used to a new phone sucks! 

[Russ]

spent a while trying to replace the Bowden cable in the driver's side door. bought all the little clips, and replaced them all. got the plastic sheet on, speaker back in, all taped up and then the rod that connects the door handle fell into the door  

I'll start it again tomorrow

[LeeM]

spent a while trying to replace the Bowden cable in the driver's side door. bought all the little clips, and replaced them all. got the plastic sheet on, speaker back in, all taped up and then the rod that connects the door handle fell into the door  

I'll start it again tomorrow

Something i would do. Jeff would be proud mate 

[LeeM]

  So the SA government just went ahead with a $100million partnership with Elon Musk without any public consultation to build the worlds largest battery to assist with power prices, and to ensure we don't have a repeat of the catastrophic power failure. Save the planet, renewable energy etc. Great, yet it will only power 30,000 homes for the basic power requirements for just one hour of battery storage! AND it's experimental, so what are the consequences/cost of problems arising with this idea? 

  There is no way in a fit that this won't come at a cost to South Australian residents, as anything that is apparently good for a state is never free. 'It will create jobs'....for who? Average Joe/Janet? No, it will employ specialist people for a period of time, not permanent employment. 

 If this and the federal governments were serious about assisting the people with the astronomical power prices, it would intervene with the incessant price rises being approved by the relative authorities who allow the power companies to hold people to ransom with exorbitant power prices. I have no problem with paying for the services, yet come on FFS! Business greed at its finest!

[OZ930]

 

  If this and the federal governments were serious about assisting the people with the astronomical power prices, it would intervene with the incessant price rises being approved by the relative authorities who allow the power companies to hold people to ransom with exorbitant power prices. I have no problem with paying for the services, yet come on FFS! Business greed at its finest!

The Federal Government couldn't care less about price rises.  The higher the price, the more GST !!

As for jobs.  You are right, short term and the real estate speculators will move in and drive prices up.  The Joe Average house investor will jump in, after the initial boom, usually from these speculators, the prices rise a little, the work will finish and Joe Average will be left high and dry with a house he can't sell.

 

 

Edited 8July, 2017 by OZ930

[Niko]

I love the way you get sucked in by installing solar panels to "do the right thing" for the planet, plus of course make a saving off your bill.

Then a couple of years after you have done that .....the state governments remove the rebate that was offered when you paid out thousands for the panels.

Now it's only the electrical supply companies that will give you a measly rebate.  

Yet they (electricity supply companies) make heaps off your panels feeding your solar power back into the grid when they re sell it.

Latest monthly bill I received (June 1 to June 30) was $91.00, that was with the ......wait for it.....$5.00 solar panel rebate already taken off.

Plus the Electricity has jumped again from 1st of July.

I can fully understand how older Australians who are on the pension would be sitting in their lounge rooms freezing their knackers off because they are too scared to turn on the heater or when the weather warms up again, their air conditioners.

I have a severe dislike for all politicians, I don't care who or what party they represent....

Vent over....that feels lots better.

 

[KGB]

Spoken like a true Elder Statesman (Caprice).

[9r]

  So the SA government just went ahead with a $100million partnership with Elon Musk without any public consultation to build the worlds largest battery to assist with power prices, and to ensure we don't have a repeat of the catastrophic power failure. Save the planet, renewable energy etc. Great, yet it will only power 30,000 homes for the basic power requirements for just one hour of battery storage! AND it's experimental, so what are the consequences/cost of problems arising with this idea? 

  There is no way in a fit that this won't come at a cost to South Australian residents, as anything that is apparently good for a state is never free. 'It will create jobs'....for who? Average Joe/Janet? No, it will employ specialist people for a period of time, not permanent employment. 

 If this and the federal governments were serious about assisting the people with the astronomical power prices, it would intervene with the incessant price rises being approved by the relative authorities who allow the power companies to hold people to ransom with exorbitant power prices. I have no problem with paying for the services, yet come on FFS! Business greed at its finest!

Politicians have only one interest and that is whoever lines their individual pockets and businesses do that nicely with donations and perks and good press to said politians

Business is there purely to make profits and particularly where it is a monopoly type business (which electricity in Australia is by all effects) so above normal price rises and profits will be the norm combined with no new investment.

If government were serious about prices and services they would never have sold off these business in the first place and maintained control, unfortunately for us, the stupid public keep believing the crap that comes out of their mouths. The Kennet government sold the state electricity commission with the promises private ownership will deliver much cheaper electricity prices for all Victorians... yeah right!  Somebody has done very well out of that one... but it's certainly not joe public.

Wasnt one of the basic causes of the Adelaide blackout the fact that a major transmission line blew over... can't see how batteries will fix that problem if it happens again...

 

[OZ930]

 

Wasnt one of the basic causes of the Adelaide blackout the fact that a major transmission line blew over... can't see how batteries will fix that problem if it happens again...

 

The solar panels provided too much power to the wind generators and they blew the transmission towers down.....

I think that's what they want you to believe 

[LeeM]

 

Wasnt one of the basic causes of the Adelaide blackout the fact that a major transmission line blew over... can't see how batteries will fix that problem if it happens again...

 

Correct

I was stuck in Whyalla for 48 hours with no power whatsoever (which I've whinged about before) and no business at all had any back up generators just incase. You'd think a remote large country town would ha e some sort of emergency plan! 

 I could whinge for hours about how much i despise politicians, yet this isn't the place to do it, nor will it achieve anything , yet I will say our premier Weatherdill has to be one of THE worst I have ever had the displeasure of having to put up with. And the bloody treasurer. Pack of a..holes

[Redracn]

  So the SA government just went ahead with a $100million partnership with Elon Musk without any public consultation to build the worlds largest battery to assist with power prices, and to ensure we don't have a repeat of the catastrophic power failure. Save the planet, renewable energy etc. Great, yet it will only power 30,000 homes for the basic power requirements for just one hour of battery storage! AND it's experimental, so what are the consequences/cost of problems arising with this idea? 

  There is no way in a fit that this won't come at a cost to South Australian residents, as anything that is apparently good for a state is never free. 'It will create jobs'....for who? Average Joe/Janet? No, it will employ specialist people for a period of time, not permanent employment. 

 If this and the federal governments were serious about assisting the people with the astronomical power prices, it would intervene with the incessant price rises being approved by the relative authorities who allow the power companies to hold people to ransom with exorbitant power prices. I have no problem with paying for the services, yet come on FFS! Business greed at its finest!

The Government is controlling the electricity market via the RET (Renewable Energy Target) and it is doing what the left and greens want. It drives up the power prices and at the same time makes coal and even gas non competitive. Yes business greed but it is the windmill, solar and now battery suppliers that are sucking up your hard earned as the coal stations prior to there being a power sortage due to some shutting down were hardly making any money. 

[Redracn]

Seems that a generator(s) being government owned only makes the price of electricity higher as Queensland is demonstrating. Given the greed of current governments should they really own anything.

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg:

In Queensland, over the first five months of this year, electricity consumers paid the highest wholesale prices in the NEM, 30 per cent above the average.

The reason for this is that generators in Queensland have been gaming the system. Ever since the former Queensland Labor government merged three government-owned generation com­panies into two in 2011, there has been evidence that market concentration and late bidding practices have contributed, in the words of the Australian Energy Regulator, to “spot market volatility”, code for higher prices.

With government-owned generators accounting for 65 per cent of capacity in Queensland, from 2014 until today the wholesale prices in Queensland have exceeded $5000 megawatt/hour on 30 occasions. Remarkably, this is almost double the next closest state, South Australia, with 16 incidents during the equivalent period.

The winner has been the Labor government’s coffers; the loser, Queensland consumers.

The Queensland state budget for 2017-18 forecasts a $1.5 billion windfall from the government-owned generators, a 110 per cent increase on the dividend contained in the 2015-16 budget.

An indication of how these high energy prices affect jobs is Gladstone’s Boyne aluminium smelter, where 1000 people are employed. The smelter was forced to cut hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of production because of higher energy costs, prompting its general manager to say: “Electricity prices in Queensland and the recent bidding practices of generators are putting jobs at risk.”

With a state election imminent and under real pressure from regulators and industry, the Palaszczuk government has dropped its plans to further reduce competition by merging the two remaining generators into one and has belatedly given a direction to its generators to produce more. The fact the forward price curve for electricity has come down by 25 per cent since that direction is an indication of just how damaging the uncompetitive behaviour has been.

[ANF]

TELSTRA!

nothing more needs to be said!

I have a severe dislike for all politicians, I don't care who or what party they represent....

 

 

You and me both. They all lie.....

[Pork Chops]

TELSTRA!

nothing more needs to be said!

http://www.tio.com.au/

Not exaggerating I will not ring Telstra ever.  I simply lodge a complaint at the site above (correctly anticapting they'll stuff up what ever I need) and they kindly ring me.  Generally they're someone that knows how to get things done and as they have strict KPIs around dealing with complaints to the ombudsman they are very keen to get the complaint cleared down.  Best customer service you'll ever get...

Again, I'm not joking.  You should try it.

[ANF]

http://www.tio.com.au/

Not exaggerating I will not ring Telstra ever.  I simply lodge a complaint at the site above (correctly anticapting they'll stuff up what ever I need) and they kindly ring me.  Generally they're someone that knows how to get things done and as they have strict KPIs around dealing with complaints to the ombudsman they are very keen to get the complaint cleared down.  Best customer service you'll ever get...

Again, I'm not joking.  You should try it.

I dealt with the TIO at length with our last issue with Telstra (they could not connect our landline, took 4 months), and quite frankly they were useless. They basically told me that they had too much work and would not get to resolve my issue. They sent an email or 2 to Telstra and that was it, when it came down to it, they did nothing.

I resolved myself to go elsewhere this time (NBN connection) but they ended up being far worse, so went back to Telstra.... sometimes better the devil you now..... now not so sure.... carrier pigeon anyone!

Edited 11July, 2017 by ANF
dyslexic fingers

[firstone]

After 2 hours of discussion the Civil construction engineer's still wouldn't listen so I implemented their plan to prove it would fail. 2 minutes in they agreed to try our plan. It works. Now he says they will invite us to the preliminary meeting in future. 

Won't hold my breath.

Arrogance produces no good. Ever.!

[LeeM]

I dealt with the TIO at length with our last issue with Telstra (they could not connect our landline, took 4 months), and quite frankly they were useless. They basically told me that they had too much work and would not get to resolve my issue. They sent an email or 2 to Telstra and that was it, when it came down to it, they did nothing.

I resolved myself to go elsewhere this time (NBN connection) but they ended up being far worse, so went back to Telstra.... sometimes better the devil you now..... now not so sure.... carrier pigeon anyone!

  After a recent survey as to which is the best service provider for the internet with speeds and service, iiNet who I'm with are in the top 2. Telstra ain't anywhere near that! I've never had a problem with iiNet (formerly Adam internet before they got bought out). Same as Vodafone, never had a major problem with them either, yet a lot of people say 'Ooh Vodafone are shit' etc. Garbage. Telstra? Absolutely I've had loads of drama's, and I'll never go back to them

[Stew F]

  After a recent survey as to which is the best service provider for the internet with speeds and service, iiNet who I'm with are in the top 2. Telstra ain't anywhere near that! I've never had a problem with iiNet (formerly Adam internet before they got bought out). Same as Vodafone, never had a major problem with them either, yet a lot of people say 'Ooh Vodafone are shit' etc. Garbage. Telstra? Absolutely I've had loads of drama's, and I'll never go back to them

Unless you're in an area where you have to use Telstra to get any sort of coverage (as we were a few years back), I don't understand why anyone would want to knowingly pay a premium for less data that is less reliable.  I have a mobile phone and Foxtel bundle with them, but I'm thinking about changing the phone.

I'm with iinet (Adam). When I changed to NBN I had so many dramas with the connection that I ended up contacting the TIO.  It got sorted within a week, and I've not had a problem since.

[Coastr]

 

If government were serious about prices and services they would never have sold off these business in the first place and maintained control, unfortunately for us, the stupid public keep believing the crap that comes out of their mouths. The Kennet government sold the state electricity commission with the promises private ownership will deliver much cheaper electricity prices for all Victorians... yeah right!  Somebody has done very well out of that one... but it's certainly not joe public.

Wasnt one of the basic causes of the Adelaide blackout the fact that a major transmission line blew over... can't see how batteries will fix that problem if it happens again...

 

that's actually incorrect.  The transmission lines blowing over made it worse, but wasn't the cause.  This was in the report that came out recently.

All windmills have an over speed protection control built in.  If the wind blows too fast then they put the brakes on and stop the blades spinning.  Plenty of video around of what happens if they overspeed - you don't want to be close by.

in SA a big weather system moved through the state, carrying high gusts.  What happened was that as that weather system reached each industrial windmill installation, the rotors hit their limit and they stopped.  As each installation has the same exact control software, they all essentially stopped at the same time.   The SA grid went from lots of wind power to no wind power very quickly, so the draw on the Victorian interconnecter ramped up too fast and blew the circuit breakers.

10 minutes later the weather front hit the transmission lines and knocked them over too, making it worse and making recovery longer.

While it is fashionable to blame the energy companies for price gouging, it's not really their fault.  They are operating in a regulatory regime which mandates what type of power they have to buy, and at what price.  It was no coincidence that the 'retail arms' were sold off privately - so people angry about energy costs wouldn't associate their politicians with the bill rises.

We are in a situation where we are paying double (or more) what we used to pay for less reliable energy.  This is entirely because of policies passed by subsequent governments.

the RET as already stated mandates what type of energy must be bought if it is available.

To help people understand, here's a story.  Imagine if Qantas and Virgin had to supply 'renewable' flights to people. This was decided by politicians because it was said plane vapor trails were blotting out the sun and causing a small reduction in crop output.  Nobody has noticed any problem with the crops and Australia only grows 1% of the world crops, but the politicians went to a big party on an exotic island and some other people told them it was very important. 

 The rules were changed so that if a 'renewable' plane was available, they had to fly it.  The renewable planes worked using a combination of solar and wind power.  The renewable planes could only take off from special runways, so those are built to accomodate them.

Renewable planes cost 3x as much to buy, and require 10x the crew, but once you are flying, there is no fuel cost.  Flights should be cheaper, right?

well, no.  In order to have cheaper flights you have to use your plane as much as possible.  It cost a lot of money to buy, so if you use it half as much you have to make twice the margin to pay the finance cost.

so qantas and virgin have a set of boeings and a set of renewable planes.  They decide which one to use at the last minute and they have to by law provide scheduled flights 24/7.  Because the boeings cannot be cold started you have to have them idling on the runway with a crew burning fuel waiting to see if they are used.  If the conditions are right they get out the renewable plane, otherwise they use the Boeing.  So you have two sets of crews, two sets of planes and two sets of runways to provide the same exact number of flights as before.

Soon,  flight prices go up and flight availability goes down as inevitably the wind and sun stops and there is no spare Boeing available.  As selling renewable planes is an easy business  due to the mandated purchase of renewable planes, renewable plane sellers make lots of money and donate plenty to politicians.  

People who are paid to recite lines and sing songs appear on the television and tell everyone to use renewable planes, but they keep their own private jets, because they are important people and have schedules to keep.

 As prices continue to go up and people start getting stranded with no flights, the passengers complain to the airline, and the airline mumbles something about saving the planet (despite the idling boeings still making the sun dim and the crops lose yield).  This is because they don't want the regulations to get worse.  The government vows to do something and talks to a huckster who promises a battery powered plane that can fly 10 passengers from Tullamarine to Avalon for an unknown price.  Another one promises a monorail in a comedy dance routine that the voters like.  

They then tell the passengers the problem is that boeings are just to expensive to fly and stick with it until renewable planes can fly when it is not windy or sunny.  They also de facto ban purchase of new boeings even though more efficient ones are now available.  This is done by taxing new boeings at a high rate.  The airlines junk their oldest planes because it costs so much to have them idling and flying occasionally it's not worth it, but more and more gaps in the flight schedule are starting to appear.

Some smart passengers note that flights used to be much cheaper when there was only one set of planes and planes are actually cheaper and more efficient now anyway.  They suggest providing flights should be done with the most efficient technology and with the least crew and runways. These people are publicly shamed and pelted with rotten fruit for wrong-think and fact denial.

[firstone]

After 2 hours of discussion the Civil construction engineer's still wouldn't listen so I implemented their plan to prove it would fail. 2 minutes in they agreed to try our plan. It works. Now he says they will invite us to the preliminary meeting in future. 

Won't hold my breath.

Arrogance produces no good. Ever.!

Update:

My colleague asked the same engineer today to include us in the next project preliminary meeting. Answer, No we don't need their input, we make those decisions, we hire that company to follow our instructions. 

More screw ups ahead. Oh well, I'm up for it. ?

[LeeM]

He coulda parked anywhere, yet this is where he parks! WANKER!

[9r]

He coulda parked anywhere, yet this is where he parks! WANKER!

 

Your being polite there LeeM,

you can just tell by the type of vehicle and its condition, The sort of person who sees a nice car and deliberately try's to intimidate by getting way too close when not necessary, even when you are parked!

Clearly curbs and gutters are used as navigation guides by the look of those tyres

[LeeM]

It was some d..k with a trailer. He coulda parked much further away, but noooo, let's piss off this Porsche wanker with no other cars around, coz I have an old heap of shit and like to risk bodily injury! At his full lock, He woulda just missed my bumper, so I moved to avoid A. Hitting my car. B. Avoid confrontation with me abusing him, and C. Me inserting my fist into his gob with great vengeance and fuuuurious anger! 

 Wanker

[Niko]

We just got home from a little drive to Port Albert for some fish and chips for lunch.  

Apart from crappy Bass Highway road conditions great day, no drama at all.

Then two K from home, on Ballarto Road, stopped at the reds with Skye Road, facing West.

I'm in the LH number 1 straight ahead, first cabby.   Blue FORD TERRITORY pulls up next to me in the RH lane.

Young bloke, baseball cap reversed.   (sure sign)

Obviously thought I was going to thump the Cayman so I could get into the merge into one lane before him.

He took off like a bat out of hell, probably doing 120K (in a 60) when he hit the merge lanes.   Smoke and crap coming off his vehicle.

I along with everyone else just mosied off and got left in his crap....

Spanker....... 

Edited 23July, 2017 by Niko

[symsy]

Oil leaking, smokey unserviced vans with, lock the gate, angels on board and save the forrest stickers. 

Lets not talk about the road is to share sticker.

Its my Fricken road.. Im the only dude round here paying tax Im pretty sure and im unemployed..