For one reason or another, I can’t remember why now, I was looking at data about Canberra’s hottest days a few days ago, and I found something rather interesting…none of the hottest days are in recent years:
All of these exceptionally hot days occurred in the years 1957-1977, with the years 1965, 1967 and 1968 taking seven of the twelve places. Surely if the planet is warming we would see some, probably the majority, of years coming from the 1990s and 2000s…perhaps Canberra is just unusual, how does Melbourne stack up?
Well that’s interesting, nothing after 1983, with two thirds of the hottest days occurring before 1950.
So, what does this prove? It proves that even if the planet is warming (which it isn’t), it’s been hotter and we all survived, even prospered. Makes you wonder what all the hype is about doesn’t it?
If, in the list of charges, the following appeared, what would you think was the person’s original (alleged) offence?
The man was arrested and taken to Liverpool Police Station where he has been charged with [..] assault police, resist arrest, fail to supply details to police, give false details to police and [..].
You would probably expect that sort of thing to appear in the list of charges for somebody who was drunk and got in to a fight, or perhaps somebody who was on drugs and was caught trying to rob a chemist. So, did the person in this case fit those or any similar categories? The New South Wales police don’t think so:
About 12:40am, a police vehicle patrolling as part of ‘Operation Taipan’ allegedly detected the man’s Toyota Corolla hatchback travelling west at 133km/h as it passed through a 70km/h zone at the toll point on the M5.
The Corolla was intercepted in Heathcote Road at Moorebank, where police discovered the 30-year-old driver had two passengers, a 7-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl who was apparently not properly restrained.
It’s a perfect alleged example of “how to make things much worse for yourself”. Adding assault police, resist arrest, fail to supply details to police and give false details to police to a rap sheet which already contained exceeding the speed limit by more than 45km/h and having a passenger under the age of 16 not properly restrained is definitely not the way to, should you happen to be found guilty, successfully request a reduced sentence…it certainly didn’t help this person to get bail.
The helpful message I received from the New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority’s website at 4:15am when I attempted to register for an e-pass, in order to pay for my trips through the Sydney Harbour Tunnel on Sunday:
Apparently they don’t like people submitting orders between 12:30am and 6am. If they only accepted electronic orders during standard business hours it would almost be understandable. If they didn’t accept order between 12:30am and 6am on one day per week while they performed system maintenance it would be understandable…but to block orders every single day between those hours sounds like premium quality red tape to me, in other words, a rule for the sake of having a rule. I’m just surprised that the times aren’t more exotic, perhaps they could block orders between 12:27:48am and 6:04:27am in their next revision of their website…maybe they should block them between 11:36:53am and 2:43:18pm for an executive lunch break as well.
For a city that is trying to make all toll roads electronic and cash-free, this is a very poor effort.
Update: A few hours after originally writing this article I went back to the RTA website to register for an e-pass, during the registration process I gave them my email address so that they can email a copy of my invoice to me. Despite this, they want me to print the “registration successful” page containing my E-Toll Pass ID and Receipt Number for my reference. They have my email address, why can’t they just email the information to me? End Update
I certainly didn’t expect that, apparently Ron Wilson, co-anchor of Channel Ten Sydney’s 5PM News is going to replace outgoing 2GB breakfast newsreader Rowan Barker whilst retaining his Channel Ten job.
That a very long set of hours. Congratulations to Ron on the new job, I just hope that the hours don’t become too much for him.
I’m not sure where Rowan is headed, but he isn’t the only person leaving 2GB this month. Trevor Long, Executive producer of Sport, Special Events and The Continuous Call Team had his final day with the station on Sunday. His new role is Business Affairs Manager for SBS Radio.
2cc Jane’s “editorialising”. My saying is “I don’t rant, I editorialise”. Samuel
I like 2CC’s SMS functionality. It might cost me 55 cents to send them a message, but it’s immediate and it’s worth it, especially for things which don’t warrant a phone call.
I’m a couple days late with this (and I completely forgot last week) so I’m glad that the random number generator has picked a song that I was listening to the other day and thinking “I must make sure that this is on the Musicians Of The Week waiting list”. Last time I mentioned this song I was helpfully informed that I am “most likely a sheltered, white-bread, middle-class anglo-saxon who has never been met with even a small amount of hardship”, a statement which is at least half wrong…hooray for stereotypes!
Anyway, the award this week goes to (if you haven’t already worked that out from the previous paragraph) The Eagles, and the feature song is “Get Over It”.
(I can only assume that the person who decided to find semi-related anime clips for this video was very bored at the time…it’s the only embeddable video of the song with decent sound quality that I can find though).
I turn on the tube and what do I see
A whole lotta people cryin’ “Don’t blame me”
They point their crooked little fingers at everybody else
Spend all their time feelin’ sorry for themselves
Victim of this, victim of that
Your mumma’s too thin; your daddy’s too fat
Get over it
Get over it
All this whinin’ and cryin’ and pitchin’ a fit
Get over it, get over it
You say you haven’t been the same since you had your little crash
But you might feel better if I gave you some cash
The more I think about it, Old Billy was right
Let’s kill all the lawyers, kill ’em tonight
You don’t want to work, you want to live like a king
But the big, bad world doesn’t owe you a thing
Get over it
Get over it
If you don’t want to play, then you might as well split
Get over it, Get over it
It’s like going to confession every time I hear you speak
You’re makin’ the most of your losin’ streak
Some call it sick, but I call it weak
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
You drag it around like a ball and chain
You wallow in the guilt; you wallow in the pain
You wave it like a flag, you wear it like a crown
Got your mind in the gutter, bringin’ everybody down
You bitch about the present and blame it on the past
I’d like to find your inner child and kick its little ass
Get over it
Get over it
All this bitchin’ and moanin’ and pitchin’ a fit
Get over it, get over it
Get over it
Get over it
It’s gotta stop sometime, so why don’t you quit
Get over it, get over it
