The Consumer Price Index for the year ended September 2008 was 5.0% — unusually high, for Australia. As the ABS says: This is the largest annual change since December quarter 1995, excluding the period associated with the introduction of the GST. This figure is used as the basis for the increase in public transport fares ... [More]
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Smiley in the sky
Spotted a few minutes ago. Apparently it’s Venus and Jupiter, as well as the moon. Thanks to my mum for pointing it out. It’s still up there right now, in the western sky, for those in Melbourne. PS. SMH article (from before the fact)
A few quick reviews. No Country for Old Men — great stuff from the Coens. Gripping. Quite violent though; bits of it almost gave me nightmares. Is it trying to make a point at the end? Ummm… probably. Burn After Reading — more Coen brothers. Some very funny characters, and genuine surprises along the way. ... [More]
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End of week brief things
ABC Childcare is in big financial trouble, has been for weeks. The crazy thing is childcare is in heavy demand, and there are government subsidies which should make it all very profitable. I guess not if your childcare company gets too ambitious and borrows heavily to expand and then comes up against a worldwide financial ... [More]
It’s easy to see why motorcycles are offered free kerb parking around the CBD. They take up less space on the road, and (with typically one rider, not much difference to the 1.22 average people per car) burn less fuel and generate less emissions than cars (though more per person than public transport, cycling or ... [More]
This survey of candidates was not on behalf of the PTUA. I’ve got responses back from four of the council candidates for Tucker ward in Glen Eira. All four responded positively when asked about transport (in particular public transport) issues. A number of them highlighted the issue of a lack of direct bus service from ... [More]
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155 litres a day
There’s a bit of fuss about the new water target of 155 litres per person per day. (It seems particularly fussing were people on talkback radio with big families who couldn’t quite grasp that it’s per person not per household.) I have an efficient shower head, and generally have sub-4-minute showers, and have a garden ... [More]
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Who to vote for?
This Saturday is local council election day. Only nine councils are doing voting in person — all the rest have switched to postal voting. I’m lucky enough to be voting in person. Oh sure, sending in an envelope might be more convenient. But I’ll be getting to peruse the cake stall and buy a sausage. ... [More]
A reminder in this morning’s paper of why you should look before you step out of a tram: The 12.14am kid arrives, the blue light case. The paramedics got him in quicker than 15 minutes. He’s a mess. He’s collided with a car allegedly travelling 70 km/h in Preston as he stepped out of a ... [More]
Flashback to a post I wrote about personal branding, in particular your name. I suspect it’s something that happens as you get older, but sometimes I roll my eyes at people who persist in using nicknames on the Interwebs. If it’s a nickname you’ve had In Real Life, then fair enough. But otherwise? Why use ... [More]
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Eastlink’s snarls are by design
From today’s Herald Sun: Eastlink labelled a disaster A NEW report has told us what motorists already know – the southern end of EastLink is a traffic disaster. … Toll company ConnectEast is suffering a $227,000 a day shortfall in EastLink tolls it expected to rake in. Trading in the company’s shares remains halted ahead ... [More]
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Some unsung blogs I read
Thanks in part to Google Reader and the miracle of RSS feeds, I read way more blogs than I post comments on. I do leave some comments, but I just don’t have the time to properly have a blog.conversation on all the posts I read. I try to bear in mind the XKCD cartoon: “Someone ... [More]
“Change here for Unknown LineID [11].” You know, I don’t think I’ve ever been to Unknown LineID [11]. It sounds like a delightful part of the world. To my surprise, it didn’t happen just once.
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CO2 isn’t so bad
A full-page advert for the coal industry in The Age caught my eye the other day. I just love this bit (quoted here from their web site): Carbon dioxide in our daily lives Carbon dioxide itself is not a danger in our everyday lives. In fact, all life on the planet depends on carbon dioxide. ... [More]
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It’s all in the timing
Back in the old house in Ames Avenue, the “central bathroom” was down the back of the house, next to the kitchen. The spot where the microwave oven lived was only about 3 metres from the shower. And the microwave we had at the time included a countdown timer. So when water restrictions came in ... [More]
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Only $330 million?
From Hansard — Public transport: automatic ticketing I refer the Minister for Transport to his statement in today’s Herald Sun newspaper that: “Perhaps with 20/20 hindsight we may have tackled things in another way and not signed a contract for a system that had not been trialled anywhere else in the world.” Given this extraordinary ... [More]