At the local Safeway, the renovation (and eventual transition to “Woolworths”) is underway, and the self-service checkouts are now operating. There’s five of them, compared to three express checkouts, and eight “normal” checkouts. From memory there used to be more normal checkouts, though as at most supermarkets, I don’t ever recall all of them being ... [More]
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Blast from the past: found on the train
Found this on a train this afternoon: I’m guessing a bookmark that’s been sitting inside someone’s book for fifteen years and they decided to re-read the book, and subsequently left it behind on a seat. These scratch tickets were used before Metcard was introduced in the late-90s, and were notorious for fare evasion. They didn’t ... [More]
I was following a link in a comment on The Australian’s amusing story about a Federal government media adviser accidently leaving an email trail on a media release (reminds me of the Windsor affair), which led me a document with some interesting factoids about the arrival of asylum seekers from 1976 to the present: Boat ... [More]
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Flagstaff station turns 25
Next Thursday marks 25 years since the completion of the City Loop. Flagstaff Station was the last loop station to open — on the 27th of May 1985. It’s the only station in Melbourne that is closed on weekends — being in the middle of the legal precinct, it’s a bit quiet around there on ... [More]
(Let’s see if I can make all this week’s posts nostalgia-based.) My uni course (Bachelor of Computing — Information Systems) included some business-oriented subjects, and I remember studying and practicing public speaking. I don’t remember specifically what lessons I learnt from it, though I suspect like much in the course, the knowledge sifted into my ... [More]
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Flashback to 1993
My old uni buddy Brian recently emailed through a copy of a photo from graduation day at Monash Uni, from 1993. It was at the main Clayton campus, which we rarely actually went to in our student days, though I do recall one memorable session in the campus radio station recording a demo tape of ... [More]
Right now I’ve got no blog post written for today, so here instead is Van Halen’s Right Now (1992) — one of my most favourite ever music videos. I wouldn’t like the song half as much if it wasn’t for the video. (Better quality copy here which can’t be embedded.) Here’s another old music video ... [More]
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News spreads fast
Seen on Elizabeth Street at lunchtime: They’re special posters for the opening of the Titanic exhibition at the Melbourne Museum.
Often when I listen to Radio National, I’ll learn something I didn’t know before. In this case, I was listening to Saturday Extra last week. Cutting power consumption? One item talking about electricity efficiency noted that enormous amounts of money are being invested in distribution networks, instead of being spent on measures to cut consumption ... [More]
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Lord Jesus Christ hit by a car
No, really. ‘Lord Jesus Christ’ struck by car in Northampton … Police responded at around 3:40 p.m. on Tuesday to investigate an incident where a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle while he was in a Main Street crosswalk, Savino said. The man was hurt, but conscious, and handed police his identification, Savino said. âHe ... [More]
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Understandable reaction
A Melbourne “miracle baby” who escaped death when his pram rolled into the path of an oncoming train has celebrated his first birthday. No doubt, the baby was incredibly lucky not to be killed. If you haven’t seen it, check out the video — it’s just amazing. I hope the train driver, who I would ... [More]
My car key remote went flat. This is a major pain when one is used to the joys of remote key locking. Having to go to the door with the keyhole every time and fumble to get the key into it — bleuch. I assumed that like most things in the world of cars, I’d ... [More]
I don’t think it’s any great secret that Melbourne’s buses aren’t very well co-ordinated to the trains — with two exceptions that is, the Trainlink buses at Epping and Cranbourne, which are timed to meet every train. This is a major problem because so many trips simply can’t be made on PT without using a ... [More]
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Through others’ eyes
If you think with the traffic, sprawl, crime and the crowding the city’s going down the toilet, just check this almost hopelessly optimistic, positive report on Melbourne from 2005 for the Johannesburg Star. After spending five days in Melbourne and the state of Victoria, it’s easy to see why Australia so appeals to South Africans ... [More]
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Using less water
My latest water bill arrived, and I’m feeling pretty smug about it because without even trying, my water consumption has dropped by about 20% compared to a year ago. A few years ago household use had been around 250 litres per day. A switch to a water-efficient showerhead in 2007 saw it drop by about ... [More]
Stakeholder and interest group commentary on the State Budget usually happens out the back of Parliament. And when it starts raining, everybody huddles under the shelter near the back door. Here’s my State Budget summary — well, the PT bits: Four new stations on existing lines to be built — Caroline Springs (V/Line), Williams Landing, ... [More]