Newstead Live is asking for expressions of interest from local musos.
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I wasn’t aware of this until almost too late, but I think Councillors are willing to accept late submissions from the community (having spoken to John Cottrell and Kate Redwood on this subject last Sunday at Clydesdale). I think they know that “things take time in the country”…
This is the draft strategy:
Draft biodiversity strategy
It’s not bad, but it has a few holes. This is my submission:
biodiversity submission
Equipment that is used intermittently or rarely can always present unpleasant surprises. Stale or contaminated fuel can make them hard or impossible to start. Low oil level: modern motors have motor protection sensors that detect low oil level and won’t allow the motor to start. Mud wasps can make a nest in the muffler (happened to me) and/or air cleaner and totally stuff a pump, and you won’t even see it.
So you need to test.
Not just the pumps, but any taps, valves, hoses and nozzles, end-to-end. I have had nozzles rust out and gate-valves fail.
“Mr McKinnon, who first saw the finished work in October, described the painting as “pretty realistic”, and said he hoped it would come away with an award.
While part of the hut has begun to fall down and Mr McKinnon has been restricted to the front rooms of the quaint property, the historic property which boasts a large open fire still provides the regular meeting place for Mr McKinnon’s mates to come over for a cuppa.
And despite the lack of power, Mr McKinnon says he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.”
(Advocate, Brendan Wrigley)
http://www.hepburnadvocate.com.au/story/4724944/immortalised-in-paint/
An earlier article on Duncan McKinnon, of Old Nuggety Farm, Yandoit
(from the Advocate).
http://www.hepburnadvocate.com.au/story/2855130/a-simple-but-good-life-at-old-nuggetty/
HMS Terror sank during a disastrous expedition led by British explorer Sir John Franklin, after whom Mount Franklin is named. Franklin was attempting to chart the North-West Passage, from the Atlantic to the Pacific via the Canadian Arctic.
”The long-lost ship of British polar explorer Sir John Franklin, HMS Terror, has been found in pristine condition at the bottom of an Arctic bay, researchers have said, in a discovery that challenges the accepted history behind one of polar exploration’s deepest mysteries.”
And here’s a song to go with it…
Our area has been downgraded on the NBN rollout plan. We were to receive fixed wireless, but now we have been relegated to the Sky Muster satellite service. This technology is inferior to fixed wireless or FTTN, but is better than the old satellite services. Speeds will be comparable to ADSL2 which many of us now enjoy, BUT the latency will be longer. Longer latency negatively affects services that require many interactions with a server, such as online gaming, Voice over IP, Facetime, Skype, etc..
Any form of voice communication over the Sky Muster service will suffer a noticeable delay, making a natural conversation difficult. ‘Ping time’ (the time it takes for data to make a round trip from you to the server and back to you) is typically 600mS on Sky Muster. On ADSL2 the ping time can be 35mS or even less. So in terms of latency, Sky Muster is a downgrade from ADSL2, although the bulk download and upload speeds should be higher than ADSL.
Check NBN availability at your address here.
Copper fixed lines will continue to be available at addresses served by the Sky Muster service (recognising the unsuitability of Sky Muster for voice communications), however products such as ADSL internet will eventually be decommissioned and you will be forced to use Sky Muster or the expensive 3G/4G mobile network for internet access.
The Sky Muster service is also affected by bad weather and may drop out on some days, so it is not reliable for emergency purposes.
Response from NBN Co to my enquiry regarding the degrading of our service:
- “Once an area as been made available for the Sky Muster Satellite scheme it will not be receiving another type of infrastructure. The nbn Sky Muster satellite service is dedicated to providing broadband connectivity to regional and remote Australia.”
As far as internet connectivity is concerned, you might as well be living in the middle of the Simpson Desert.
Interestingly, the major players (Telstra, Optus) are not yet offering Sky Muster internet plans. Sky Muster plans are currently only being offered by a motley list of minor ISP’s that you have never heard of: here they are.
In summary, our area will now receive a second-rate NBN service, and I suggest you all complain to our local member, Catherine King (contact form here).
The Yandoit Mechanics’ Institute is returning to its roots, but with a more inclusive bent: “Mechanics’ Institutes are educational establishments, originally formed to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working men”. “The Mechanics’ Institutes were used as ‘libraries’ for the adult working class, and provided them with an alternative pastime to gambling and drinking in pubs” (Wikipedia).
The Book Exchange has grown like Topsy – too many books, amazing range! Get down there and take some (and contribute others)!
Outside Yandoit Hall, open all hours, no membership cards to lose, no fines, no grumpy librarians saying “Shhh”, and no obligation to return the books!
The Book exchange consists of a couple of cupboards and an unexpected number of boxes outside the Hall which folks can access at any time. And I promise you there is an eclectic mix of stuff, reflecting our community.
If you want a book to read, just go down the Yandoit Hall and get one!
“In Australia, the first Mechanics’ Institute was established in Hobart in 1827, followed by the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts[4] in 1833, Newcastle School of Arts in 1835, then the Melbourne Mechanics’ Institute established in 1839 (renamed The Melbourne Athenaeum in 1873). From the 1850s, Mechanics’ Institutes quickly spread throughout Victoria wherever a hall, library or school was needed. Over 1200 Mechanics’ Institutes were built in Victoria but just over 500 remain today, and only six still operate their lending library services.” (Wikipedia)
…well make that seven!
I have added a new Education category, currently containing Languages, Local Booklist and Technology posts. See Posts by Category in the sidebar at right.
If you know of, or have written, any books with a local focus, please add a post and select the Local Booklist category.
If you want to post something Educational, just select the Education category, and if appropriate, contact me to request another sub-category.
If you have to leave your horses during a fire, write your phone number on their hooves with permanent marker.
Take off all halters and rugs-these can burn/melt on your horse or get caught on trees/fences etc.
(Thanks to Doug Mills of Gisborne)
More information: stock-and-domestic-animals-in-a-bushfire
RE: THE COMMUNITY BOOK EXCHANGE
Many Thanks to all those people who have shown an interest in the proposed Community Book Exchange. A particular thanks to all of those who have generously donated books to date and have approached me with promises of books in the future.
The Yandoit Hall Committee have approved the location of the Book Exchange to be on the side verandah near the kitchen door entrance.
I am currently trying to find, buy or have built a weather proof cupboard to store the books and allow easy access to all users. It will be under cover, but the books will still need protection from dust, termites etc.
If anyone is able to assist with the above request it will be greatly appreciated. Once we have storage we can open up our ‘Free Library” to the community. We have a budget of $200 to this end.
Contact: Roni Nettleton M: 0425752507 E: roni.nettleton@gmail.com
(from ABC Central Victoria: Larissa Romensky)
”Don Morrison is still milking cows at the age of 83 alongside his son Robert and twenty-three year old grandson, Nick”.
You’d think they would let him retire!
Good read…
http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2015/09/21/4316522.htm?xml=4316522-mediarss.xml&1442799173283
Thank you to all who attended the Yandoit Trade Fair today and added their skills to the skills register. Skills posts are now ordered alphabetically by title on the Skills Page.
To find a particular skill, either browse the Skills Page or use the Search box (upper right on all pages).
In my view, installing solar panels on the hall would be a waste of money. The reason being that the return on investment would be negligible. The hall has very little use during the day. The feed-in tariff for solar … Continue reading