It's that time of year and the usual "Why doesn't Queensland conform" chants have started.

As a staunch QLD'er, this was my offering ...

Daylight Saving

Arguments for its inception ...

1. You can have BBQ's and drink beer down at the beach every afternoon.

Arguments for the status quo...

1. Daylight saving fades the curtains.
2. During daylight saving, when the Dalby dairy farmer has finished milking the cows (who turned up an hour late), everyone else is having a BBQ and drinking beer down at the beach. By the time the dairy farmer arrives the beer is gone and the snags are cold.
3. Queenslanders are not afraid of the dark and XXXX is an all hours, all weather all purpose beverage that can be readily consumed in all conditions without the assistance of daylight, BBQ's or beaches.
4. Innisfail bananas would have to spend an extra night in the packing shed because the transport workers who ordinarily bring them to town would all be having a BBQ and drinking beer down at the beach.
5. Men would experience the morning glory on the train.
6. The kids wouldn't go to bed. They'd rather be having BBQ's and drinking beer down at the beach.
7. During daylight saving, laundry hung out in the evening would not be dry and ready to iron by a quarter to 6 the following morning. As a result, an increase in the use of laundry dryers would become evident. In most cases, the laundry would not be hung out to dry at all because everyone would be too tired, drunk and sunburnt from spending the evening BBQ'ing and drinking beer down at the beach.
8. Solar hot water systems would not receive the necessary heat in the mornings to ensure everyone gets that necessary warm shower after the previous night BBQ'ing and drinking beer down at the beach. The assistance of the backup electrical booster for the duration of one hour every morning would be required to make up for the lost daylight.
9. It follows from most of the above that the extra hour of daylight itself coupled with the dependence on electrical appliances would be to the detriment of the environment through an increase in global warming not to mention the litter left over from the masses of BBQ's and beer drinking down at the beach.
10. The extra hour of daylight would increase the rate of obesity, alcoholism and skin cancer from excessive BBQ's and beer drinking down at the beach.

Daylight savings just means I'm more tired.

LOL. That's 11

So what happens to all this daylight that gets saved?

does it get shared out to all the needy people...or does the government hoard it, so that when they retire, they can live in perpetual daylight?

or maybe they sell it off to the highest bidder...

The government gets it.  And they don't hoard it, they do what governments always do, they waste it...

I just don't understand it. They should just leave it be. There's less day in winter and more in summer. Deal with it.

yeah - but you'd sleep half the day away in the morning.

LOL! Great list Ruski!

Simon, how do you figure that?

It does kinda suck when you are having trouble sleeping, look out the window, and dawn is breaking. That's just depressing, and it's all thanks to daylight saving

Please forgive if i'm being daft - but as the days get longer if you left the clock as is the sun comes up earlier - they shift the time forward one hour so you don't waste daylight sleeping and have more at the end of the day. At least that's how i saw it . . . . . . .

yeah - but you'd sleep half the day away in the morning.

 
I don't see a problem there....

Simon - ah... Sorry.

I was thinking of the longer days. I doesn't matter what time the day ends and begins, they're longer anyway!

What we need is daylight savings in winter...

I am constantly telling people this. I reckon someone mixed up the dates sometime... We should add an hour in winter - and take an hour in summer

However, after considerable thought, it wouldn't really work because no matter how many extra hours we whack into the day, the sun is only going to stay up for 8 hours in winter, and 10 in summer

wait... 12 in summer.... maybe more

True, but with daylight savings, at least the day would end at 5 instead of 4

Exactly

I think we should trial daylight saving three days a week and revert to standard time for the other four.

We can always rely on Ruskie to come up with a workable solution.

I'm thinking Monday Wednesday and Saturday.

8 hours in winter, and 10 in summer

The amount of variation depends on where in the world you are (equators = very little seasonal change, poles = 6 months of daytime in summer, 6 month night for winter) but it'll be an equal split either side of 12 hours. So 8 hours (12 - 4) daylight in winter would mean 16 hours (12 + 4) in summer... I think.

arizona doesn't "do" daylight savings either.......except for the navajo nation....they do..

oh and if it weren't for daylight savings........there would be several riddles that wouldn't get solved.

hahahaha

Good reason on the pro side!

The only reason on the pro side?

There's this too, remember?

1. You can have BBQ's and drink beer down at the beach every afternoon

ok miss pedantic.. the only other reason

Ok, this will make you feel better: http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/8080/droughtxc8.gif

please tell me that was written on april 1st.

I'm not sure, but I don't think so

i was thinking about the ol chestnut of the curtains fading - that would actually be true if you didn't have daylight saving - as the sun is up earlier in the morning you wouldn't wake up and open them until they had had a good dose of sunlight.

Oooh... good point...

You know, I never got that since I don't actually drow the curtains... or look behind them

you don't close them or you don't open them?

Ummm... both? I don't bother with them

Then why are they even there?

ummm... I dunno...

Oh wait! I think cos they're red

HAHAHA!!! such a random answer!!

But... but I like red!

sure....i get it.....they are decorative..

Its the whole reason they paint ceilings....I think....

*scratching head*

So ceilings shouldn't be painted?

Well the only reason they get painted is for decoration, right?

Right... yes, I see what you mean...

I guess it was inevitable once people started painting walls...

They also get painted to seal the surface and stop crumbling and so on.  Helps keep the bits out of your sandwich lying on the desk or dust in your hair...

I'm pretty sure they didn't paint the ceiling in India... it was just concrete.

No bits in the snadwich there.

Then again, don't recall eating a sandwich there either

HAHAHAH!!!

I don't use my curtains either... just leave 'em closed. Unfortunately there are certain people around who will open them in my absence (god knows why) meaning I have to close them all over again.

I actually have blinds now, but all of the above are still true.

The blinds in my living room I do mess with. Open in the day, close at night in winter, and close in the day and open at night at the height of summer. Call it manual climate control

I leave my blinds 1/4 open.... just enough light/cool/warm at all times to keep me happy

Just enough to let the lens peep through so's you can get photo's of your neighbours...

I caught one of my neighbours masturbating the other day

I'm seriously considering not spying on them anymore... not that I'm the spying type, I just happened to look in that direction at the wrong time.. HONESTLY!!!

mm hmmm, we believe ya

Eugh.. you've just brought a forgotten memory back for me...

I was in the bus, along Elizabeth street, and was looking at the world go by. The bus stopped at a red light, a car pulled up next to me, and the driver was having a go. He even had a pornographic magazine to look at on the passenger seat!

And that street has a lot of traffic lights...

omg!

dek, the same exact thing happened to me.....in nyc.

hilarious......and we worry about people driving while talking on their cell phones....

a car pulled up next to me, and the driver was having a go

and we worry about people driving while talking on their cell phones 

Still, tough decision on which is the bigger wanker.

Not that tough...

it depends on how literally you are using the phrase bigger wanker.

People who drive 4WDs in the city - fits that term perfectly

I generally don't engage the front axle when in the city nor the rear diff locker. This makes it a one wheel drive. Three wheels short of a wanker.

Granted ... carrying the spare tyre on the bonnet is ... aside from being practical in terms if space saving, accessibility etc ... probably a bit wankey. That I'm prepared to wear.

But how many times have you taken it off-road?

(would be common in your line of work, yes?)

Whenever possible during the 18 months I've had it. In its 36 year life I know it has crossed the nullabor at least once. Not off road but been around for sure. I rarely have to leave the office anymore ... have done my tours of duty ... but yes otherwise very common.

Maybe the more pertinent question would be - how many times has it taken Ruski off-road?

It has taken a Commodore ute and its onboard fuckwit off the road.

Ah yes... I remember that

Eh?

Do tell 

*sits down eagerly in front of Ruski the great Storyteller*

LOL!

I'll light the fire. Anyone got marshmallows?

...or you could read it here: http://tangler.com:80/forum/cars/topic/20853 look for 10th May post

HAHAHA!!!

Idiot....

I see people doing this on suburban streets all the time.

LOL!

It's so funny that you've responded here...

well, I'm not going to reply to a post over there from almost 6 months ago....

jeez! it's called continuity, woman!!

hahahaha ok ok!

*hides*

it's no good...i can still see you...

It's okay... I don't think  Morgan's mad anymore

The mile and a half that the Avenger does on a weekday will soon be reduced to zero when we move.

@dek - I dont think I was mad in the first place!! unless you're talking about my mental state

@ruski - why out of action?

yeah?

New place is 300m from the local train station.

ahh....so you won't be taking her out for fun?

I don't see why he would with (albeit wanning) gas prices...

Ruski, if you want some extra excercise, you could always push it to and from the train station each day 

Bluegirl ... this may be a chance to put her up on blocks and pay her the attention from underneath that she has been demanding for some time now.

Morgan .. that has happened. There is a saying that goes something like "I'd rather push my Land Rover than drive a Jeep".

That said ... old Jeeps are a reasonable alternative.

Apparently there's going to be a referendum on this again.

Daylight Saving that is.

Which way will you vote?

Maybe they should just split the difference and be done with it.

With all these people now flocking to the beaches in droves for picnics and bbq's there's bound to be traffic chaos. Alcohol consumption which is directly related to picnics and bbqs will no doubt increase, the incidence of drink driving will go up and the ensuing litter problem can only be bad news for the coastal dune systems and the Dugongs. To avoid missing out on the benefits of daylight savings, everyone in places like Winton will have to knock off at midday just so they can make the take journey to the beach for a picnic or a bbq. The whole population is going to end up completely buggered from the previous evenings picnics and bbqs on the beach that they'll barely be capably of showing up the next day for work let alone another picnic or bbq on the beach. All daylight saving can possibly achieve is turning what was once a fine institution ... the Aussie BBQ ... into a common daily chore.

Dividing the State into two zones will only alienate the North ever further towards forming two States ... North Qld and South East Qld. N Qld with its masses of mines and Quarries will be one of the two States of Australia to prosper, the other being WA. Interesting observation is neither operate on Daylight Savings time. SE Qld will become as useless or worse than the Southern States. Disillusioned people will pickup and move north as is happening now ... but not to Brisbane or the Gold Coast where once a lifestyle was enjoyed but is now evaporated by the extra hour of daylight. No this lifestyle will have shifted ... not unlike the clocks ... a few hundred kilometres to the North to prosperous towns like Gladstone and Rockhampton, Mackay, Emerald and Charters Towers.

... in other words no.

*tsk*

It bloody make my life easier, with one less time zone to worry about

"With all these people now flocking to the beaches in droves for picnics and bbq's there's bound to be traffic chaos"

Beach bbq's...!  Fuck me, there is more chance of having to hide from a nuclear attack where I live.  Traffic chaos, normal and every-day occurrence, don't need beach bbq's for that shit I can tell you!

Well, a volcanic attack is all you're getting. Make do will ya?

Ok seriously, I have missed the fact that there was a volcano-thing even going on, I've seen maybe one or two stories about how planes are not flying due to a giant ash cloud or something but that's it. Can somebody please tell me what the hell happened??

The volcano blew up

Which one... Where?!?!!

Oh...

Okay, a volcano woke up from it's slumber in Iceland, and has been spewing thick smoke

Basically, it decided to show hoomans and planes alike who's boss

Ahh... Ok... makes sense now!

Volcano in Iceland erupts, fills the stratosphere with fine volcanic ash (at a height of about 20 thousand feet) meaning that it's invisible and not affecting anything on ground level, but would choke the engines of any plane that tried to fly through it. So airspace over the UK, Scandinavia, and north-west Europe generally is closed for business.

Oh, so you aren't getting ash on the ground?

Not that I've noticed, although someone I know said they had ash in their pond.

Ahhh...

I was thinking it would be like the time some volcano erupted in Indonesia. This when when I lived in Singapore. Maaan... there was ash EVERYWHERE! For weeks!

We called it the tropical version of snow

About 12 years ago they had something like that, we had ash in Darwin for months. Very pretty sunsets though 

I bet!

There's nothing like pollution to make the colours prettier

And what's worse, I have a holiday booked for the 10th May.  If I can't get to Lanzarote I will be even more grumpy.  I am thinking about re-arranging my travel so that I drive to Madrid (Spain seems to be keeping clear of this "glass ash" ) and then take a flight from there.  Mrs Dent doesn't seem to be impressed with that idea though.

Apparently, the ash from this volcano is different to others,  because the molten rock is being spewed out through a glacier, it is cooling rapidly into tiny shards of glass which is mixed in with the less dangerous normal ash and if you fly through them in a jet aircraft your whole day gets ruined.  I heard on the news this morning that the last time this particular volcano let loose, it lasted for a couple of years. That was 100-odd years ago though and obviously had no effect on airliners.

As far as I'm concerned we should nuke the volcano (and most of the surrounding country) with all the spare ones from the latest arms reduction agreement between USA and Russia, that would get the eruptions over in the next couple of days or so and then I'll be ok to go on holiday - and then at least any terrorists won't be able to get their mits on them.  It might have the effect of devastating the whole of Iceland but to be honest who gives a stuff about them, they have already nicked several billion quid in our savings when their banks collapsed and they deserve a good kick in the nuts.

And the final rub - Glasgow airport is opening for flights at midday today and the first flight is to bloody Rekyavik, perhaps that could carry the first nuke as well.

That's fucking funny Arthur. From the antipodian perspective anyway.

... and from this perspective a volcano in iceland is like having a festering boil on the arse.

Festering boil on the arse - a perfect summary of the situation.

What is really hacking me off is that the prevalent winds at this time of year are from the South West, which would spread the cloud of shit over the Arctic, which might have the benefit of blocking out the sun for a while and let the ice do a bit of catch-up and perhaps save a few more polar bears or something. But no, this year the winds are (unusually) coming from mainly the North East and the chances of my holiday being fucked up are increasing daily.

I should have moved to Australia years ago then I'd be able to gloat at all the Poms whingeing about this...

The Americans were freaking out about how the cloud would make it's way here.
I think they're feeling left out 

But, and this  might actually make you smile Mr Dent - seems they resumed flights some hours ago?

And what's at Lanzarote anyways?

Good, the sooner it gets there the sooner the decision about the nukes will be made.

Lanzarote is one of the Canary Islands - just to the left of Morocco off the cost of North Africa.  On about the same latitude as Miami but better because there are less Yanks...

Move to Australia

Too many Yanks

(I am envious though..... Lanzarote looks gorgeous)

I'm booked into a place called Playa Blanca on the southern coast.  I have rented a villa in an area called Costa Papagayo.  There isn't much there, apart from (rather ironically) heaps of extinct volcanoes...

hehehe I know, I was chuckling at that

LOL!

Don't come to Australia.... We're going earthquake crazy at the moment. We've had 4 in the last two weeks, of which two of them measured 5 on the richter scale.

Oh really?

But those were in places no sane person visits right?

Kalgoorlie and Boulder (in WA) yesterday, did a bit of damage to a few buildings..

I'm betting there's gonna be a big one in California soon. The signs point that way

Yek Dek. Spot on. The two Andro said plus Adelaide and one other.

The F1 GP had to be moved from Adelaide to Melbourne because the drivers were getting bored and falling asleep

heheheh

If Melb is not careful, it'll be ditched for New York

They had one in Mexico, a week or so ago..

Actually there's lots of seismic and volcanic activity all around the world at the moment..

Yeah, exactly

And similar happened in the 80s, when the big quakes struck.

Stuff is happening underground!!

*considers sleeping in the doorway*

There was an article in MX the shit free paper they give out to read on the evening train. According to some nut job in Iran which doesn't exactly narrow down the suspects, the quakes are caused by provocatively dressed women ie. not wearing the burqa or the full hijab.

The only logic I can follow ... it ensues that Mohammad gets a bit over excited at the site of female flesh, one thing l;eads to another and the end result is the earth moves. Makes sense. Bloody women.

MX the shit free paper

To clarify ... it's shit and it's free. Certainly not "shit free" as first suggested.

HAHAHAHAH!

In fact it is one of those rare items that you could wipe your arse with and it turns out looking cleaner.

Well, the Haiti quake was blame on the Haitians making a deal with the devil.... this from an American evangelist or something.

Stupidity sure ain't geo-retarded...

Certainly not. If stupidity can get through then large bodies of water ie. oceans are not the barriers we once thought they were.

Yep....

Hey, maybe it's all this stupidity making the earth shudder

I need a new atavar. The McNamara diff locking mechanism is getting a bit boring for me. Any suggestions?

Couldn't blame it too

A volcano?

Stipulation is it must be part of the Avenger

A green volcano?

oooh ohhh! I got it!

An image of the exhaust! That'd be topical

I gave it a spray underneath with fish oil after the recent beach work and got a fair bit on the 2 1/4 inch stainless exhaust. The first drive it cooked up to the smell of a fish and chip shop. The two neighbourhood cats were hanging around a bit as well.

LOL!

Actualy want to re route the exhaust up the gearbox tunnel so I can get the second 75 litre tank under the passanger seat where the exhaust currently runs. But the springs need to be replaced first because the fuel tanks have to come down to get to the spring hangers. But I also want to get a stage 1 head which might necessitate an increase to a  2 1/2 inch tubing for the exhaust so now the order or work becomes springs, headjob, exhaust, auxilliary fuel tank. Logistics logistics logistics ...

Andro, hewwwlp!

hehehe

I was thinking of Dent for the possible helwwwp. A set of parabolic springs from Paddocks at Matlock for 180 lbs. A stage 1 head from Turners at Surrey for around 500 - 600 lbs. Might as well grab a set of long travel Procomp shockers from Paddocks while your there. Probably another 100 quid. Bring it all with you when you move to Australia. Don't worry about the seppos. A bit of racial genocide will take care of them.

Head Job

Bit you're looking for is the four cylinder petrol head.

Pair-o-bollocks Springs

Long travel shockers

Look for the ES3000

I have the fuel tank already and the exhaust will get done locally.

This should all be in the Avenger thread but I don;t know anyone who works at Tangler anymore to tell me off or sort it out so fuck it.

In any case fuck it.

Where'd everyone go?

I'd be glad to help out with the Avenger stuff Ruskie.  By the way the seppos don't worry me too much.  It's nice to have them around when someone (or something) needs to be nuked.  Like that Icelandic volcano with a name that no-one on earth can pronounce for instance.

Although the Bush/Blair let's go shag (the world) affair appears to be over and as Obama is probably still hung up doing nothing because he thinks he should be be mopping the Whitehouse (or should that be Shitehouse) floor rather than running the USA it may well not happen...

As an afterthought, we could use our own nukes but the UK is so flat broke at the moment we wouldn't have anything to re-load with in case that Ayatollah nutcase was to get off his prayer mat and press a button or two.

Sorry Ruski, I'd fallen asleep.

And... hey! I never told you off even when I worked here!

Now take it to the Avenger topic!!

hehehe 

Yeah your right you never did.

They are all Avenger topics. That is the goal at least.

LOL!