#Australia mining tanks

[harshdakadam]

Mining Water Tanks in Australia – Durable & Reliable Storage Solutions

Mining operations require a dependable water storage system to ensure smooth and efficient processes. At Prefab Tanks, we provide high-quality mining water tanks designed to withstand harsh mining conditions while ensuring a consistent water supply. Our water storage for mining in Australia supports operations like dust suppression, mineral processing, and site utilities.

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[miningequipmenthire]

Mining Equipment in Australia: A Guide to Stackers, Tanks, and Concrete Pumps

Mining is a crucial commercial activity in Australia and it also sustains the industrial sector as many of the mining products are required in industries for the manufacture of industrial goods. Mining equipment in Australia is required by the leading companies engaged in the mining sector to bring efficiency to the work and hence reduce operational inefficiencies. Stackers, tanks, and concrete pumps are the three major equipment required for efficient mining operations.

A Deeper Dive into Various Mining Equipment Popular Nowadays for Mining

A stainless steel water cartage tank is specifically designed for transporting and storing water under rugged conditions. Durable stainless steel used in the construction of these tanks is corrosion-resistant and can handle harsh mining environments. Their robust construction is done using stainless steel pipes and fitting and it is done from both inside and outside. There is also an industrial-coated tank lining to protect the tank from harsh elements.

Truck water tanks are compatible with various truck models, ensuring seamless integration into existing fleets. There are many different models available from the same supplier for these products and each has different parameters like difference in maximum capacity. One can get products in different capacities like 22.3m3, 30m3, and 38m3 and other parameters may also be different.

Apart from truck water tanks concrete pumps are indispensable in mining and construction operations and are designed to handle various types of concrete, from fluid mixes to high-viscosity materials. Modern concrete pumps come in truck-mounted configurations. The pumps can deliver high pressure and flow rates from 24 to 79m3 per hour and hence can be employed in infrastructure, industrial, mining and residential construction projects. Modern-day pumps are quite lightweight as well ranging somewhere between 2 to 2.5 tonnes and hence can be easily towed by vehicles with 3-tonne capacity.

Connect with the leading companies offering stackers, tanks and concrete pumps for your industrial, mining and residential construction projects and buy the best to enhance the operational efficiency of the projects.

Source

[cosmicalily]

"taking what's not yours" a minho oneshot by @cosmicalily

"you know where to find me, and i know where to look." - 'taking what's not yours' by tv girl

author's note: oh can you tell im falling in love with the exes to lovers trope more and more by the day?

“Lee Minho, what the fuck are you doing in my house?”

Minho looked up innocently from where he was sorting through the pile of vinyl on the floor; eyes bright, expression blank. His hair was longer, darker, and the tip of a tattoo peeked out of the neckline of his black hoodie. And fuck, if he wasn’t just as, if not even more beautiful than he’d been when you’d last seen him. Those soft lips, the ones you’d leave bruised and bleeding after frenzied makeout sessions backstage during their first tour. The ones that stretched into a smirk as he noticed you staring.

“Was ‘Who Really Cares’ your vinyl, or mine?” He asked casually, still filing through a stack of records.

“Mine. And you didn’t answer my question, Minho.”

“What happened to ‘baby’?” Minho pouted playfully, patting the spot on the rug beside him. You sighed and shuffled over, looking at the small pile he’d gathered on the floor in front of him.

“‘Baby’ was replaced when you had to move onto the next city for your tour,” you replied, rolling your eyes. “What are you doing back here?”

“Didn’t you miss me?” Minho persisted, taking his eyes off the vinyl and turning his body to face yours. “Leo did, that’s for sure. All over me the second I stepped inside. He missed his Dad.”

You took notice of the cat fur that littered the black fabric of his hoodie, resisting the urge to smile. “Leo likes everybody. He’s a friendly guy.”

“He likes me the most. And you. You’re his mama, after all,” Minho tapped the wooden floorboards with his fingers, causing Leo to look up from his food and wander back over to him. The tabby cat purred, rubbing himself on Minho’s sleeves affectionately.

Fucking hell, that smirk.

“So you’re just here to take back your records?”

“And you too, if I can manage it,” he added, smiling at you. It wasn’t the same shit-eating grin he used to give you when you’d whine desperately during a kiss, but genuine. Soft. He leaned in close, leaving Leo wandering off at the loss of attention. “I missed you, sweet girl. Surely you missed me, just a bit?”

“Maybe,” you whispered, taken aback by his sudden change in proximity.

“Yeah, well, I’m home now, baby,” Minho smiled again, moving one hand to gently caress your cheek, the other to your exposed waist in your cropped black tank top.

There were so many questions to ask him. It had been a year since Lee Minho had left your town to go on tour; something that both excited and pained you at the time. Along with Hyunjin, Chris and Changbin, he’d formed a rock band, and they’d worked their asses off to take off enough to leave town. When, after years of playing at shitty venues, their first legitimate tour was finally announced, everyone had naturally been ecstatic. Minho had spent hours with you that night, nibbling hickeys into your neck until the early hours of the morning, loving you rawly and unabashedly. You had to be pulled out of the passenger seat by Chris, where you’d been sitting on Minho’s lap, making out with him desperately, his hands moving all over your body.

“You guys are disgusting,” Hyunjin had whined.

“And you’re gonna make us late. Give her a hug, Minho.” Chris had added, gently tugging your body off Minho’s. His hands had clung to your waist for as long as possible, and now, as you sat beside him, a full twelve months later, you still felt the ghost of his touch.

“Chris met a girl. Moved back to Australia,” Minho said, as if reading your mind. “Without him, everything just kind of crumbled. But Jisung’s mum offered me a job working as a guitar teacher at the nearby school, and the kids are so cute.”

“So you’re home now?”

“As long as I’m with you, baby,” Minho smiled.

taglist: @hyunjiiza @velvetmoonlght @s3ungm1nxxl0ve @btch8008s @yaniluvs @ellemir2404 @bellarellasstuff @starsinagreenskyxx @ashtxrie - comment, dm or send an ask to be added

[ardentguilt]

@plaguedocboi

Looked up a few more dangerous Aussie places both water, caves and other places so here’s a selection for perusal should you be interested.

Delta varient cave mount field national park Tasmania -Australia’s deepest cave. Yes it’s named after the covid varient.

Links to previous record holder Niggly Cave and Growling Swallet cave

Nullarbor caves - huge cave system under the desert

Tank cave - mount gambier. Massive underground network of flooded passages around 7010 metres long. At least 1 death

K’gari/fraser island - dingoes on land, feeding ground for young great white sharks, at least 2 species of dangerously toxic jellyfish and deadly riptides with no warning signs of lifeguards. I think it’s the largest sand island too.

Gunnamatta beach - dangerous riptides and large swells ~113 rescues a year

Mount Augustus Western Australia - warnings not to climb between November and February after a series of deaths where climbers literally cooked to death in the Aussie summer heat

Munga-thirri Simpson desert national park - takes on average 4 days to cross by vehicle. Extreme temperatures and winds kick up dust storms. Temperatures are so dangerous the whole area is off limits between 1st December and 15th March during which temps can reach 50+°C

Cahills crossing - a water crossing in the Northern Territory that is considered the most dangerous crossing in Australia due to its high water flow and the abundance of large saltwater crocodiles which have been known to attack people attempting to cross. Generally closed during the wet season as the water volume is far to dangerous the dry season allows for more opportunities to cross. Crossing at the wrong time can overturn vehicles and deaths have been recorded here.

Wittenoom Western Australia - a former mining town build to cater to a large Crocidolite mine. Crocidolite is what we know more commonly as Blue Asbestos and the fibres of this varient are very tiny making it widely considered the most dangerous asbestos varient and was found to be responsible for the most deaths and illnesses relating to asbestos exposure.

The contaminated zone is 50,000 hectares and is the largest contaminated zone in the southern hemisphere.

Mining for asbestos here began around the 1930’s and Wittenoom was established around 1950 to cater to the miners and their families.

The mine was later shut down in 1966 after rising awareness of the toxicity of asbestos though residents still remained.

In 2006 the official status of the town was removed and in 2007 it was removed from official maps and road signs. Again residents still remained. In 2013 the towns closure was finalised though again residents remained and refused to leave.

2015 had 6 residents remaining, 4 remained in 2017, 3 in 2018, 2 in 2021 and as of September 2022 nobody remained.

Even now a century after the closure this area is still massively contaminated and access is forbidden.

I….actually have a mineral specimen of Crocidolite with a bit of Tremolite (white asbestos) from this site but I keep it in a completely sealed display box well out of reach which I NEVER open. Short of finding someone selling off a piece from an old collection you can’t get specimens from this site anymore because nobody’s allowed anywhere near the place.

[travelmanposts]

Balaclava Mines, Whroo, Australia: Whroo Historic Area is 65 hectares of a remnant gold mining township within the world’s largest ironbark forest of 24,300 hectares. The open cut of the impressive Balaclava Mine marks one end of the journey. Remnants of Victoria's gold rush era can be discovered all along the way. Underground storage tanks, mining shafts and tunnels, building rubble and foundations, century old rubbish dumps and gold mining infrastructure comprise an historic treasure trove.. The Balaclava Mine was an open-cut mine in the Australian ghost town of Whroo, Victoria. The site now operates as a tourist attraction. Wikipedia

[anonsally]

Days 19-20 in Australia

Flying back to Sydney and birthday!

We only had one night in Perth. Yesterday morning we got up pretty early and checked out of the hotel, went out for a nice breakfast (and I photographed a very cool bird mural on the way), and then headed to the airport.

There was some stress about that, though: many streets were closed for a cycling race, and we weren't sure we would be able to get the car out of the garage, plus the ticket for the parking garage was misplaced for a few minutes. In the end, it all worked out fine, but we were so distracted that we forgot to refuel the car on the way to the rental agency. We weren't sure there was enough time to take it back out to refuel and then return it, so we had to pay the exorbitant price for them to refill the tank, though luckily we returned it with 3/4 of a tank and they only charged us for the actual fuel they had to fill it with.

After a slight delay in checking our luggage due to some of the pieces being just over the weight limit, we had an easy time at the airport and boarded the plane uneventfully. This time my window seat did have a window, and I had good views of the mines in Western Australia, as well as some coastline along the south of Australia.

We landed in Sydney around 8pm and came back to Sister-in-law's house, where we had a small snacky dinner before going to bed sort of late due to jetlag.

Today was my birthday! We went out for "high tea" for brunch. It was nice but a bit discombobulated; the hot drinks came much after the food, and it was just all very slow. I think they may have been understaffed. However, the food was nice. We had 5 savory items and 8 sweet ones, plus they brought me an extra sweet one with a birthday candle in it! Which was totally unnecessary. I brought it home (and in fact, might eat it for breakfast tomorrow), but I managed to eat all of the other desserts, including a truly exquisite mini pavlova and a chocolate-cherry-gingerbread thing.

There was a view of part of Sydney Harbour, including part of the Opera House, and I could see the ferries coming and going as well as a giant cruise ship that left while we were there. So that was quite nice. Afterwards, we walked around a bit and bought a couple gifts to bring home, and then came back by way of a grocery store. It was very hot and humid out but the threatened rain never materialised.

Sister-in-law's husband's brother, his fiancee, and their baby joined us for dinner at a Thai restaurant where we ordered much too much food and ate a lot! The waitstaff sang me a very rambunctious happy birthday and I got to blow out another candle. They also gave the baby a balloon and she was very cutely fascinated with it.

We came home and packed. We fly home tomorrow, alas. But I will be happy to see the cats.

[octuscle]

I've heard you got lost luggages and I'm missing mine. Might have them here though, can I check?

... Oh here you are, well thanks I'm off to SYD airport, thanks man! Meeting my personal trainer to start my new routine.

You slavishly followed your trainer's instructions for packing the bag. But it seems very silly to you to travel to Australia for two months with only a small piece of hand luggage. Allowed were a pair of boarders, a pair of daisy dukes and a pair of workout shorts, two tank tops, two jockstraps, two pairs of white socks, a pair of flip flops. One pair of boxer shorts to sleep in. Razor, shaving cream, toothbrush, toothpaste. And for the flight, shorts no longer than a hand's width above the knee, tank top and desert boots. And that silly bandana. But you put it back in your pocket. You look a little silly.

After the flight, you feel surprisingly fit. Somehow it's as if you've had a few really challenging workouts. Good thing you decided to wear the really short shorts. Your legs need air. And the muscles are coming out really well.

The bloody immigration fawrmalities drag on. But since ya only av a little 'and luggage, it goes relatively fast. 'n luckily ya speak the language of the customs staff. Root, the bloody 'air is annoyin'. Weah is the fuckin' bandana? The bloke at the bloody customs control can't believe that ya ahah not from heah. Ya take that as a compliment.

'n behind the bloody baggage claim, wich ya can just walk past, yah personal trayynah is waitin'. The bloody pictures didn't porkie. A mixtah of natah boy 'n surfah cobber. Ya shake 'ands liyyke fahkin' old buddies. But yah trayynah awrders ya ta take off yah tank top 'n gives ya a chayyn instead. Now ya could be brothers.

off ta the bloody gym, the bloody next trayynin' session awaits. 'n then off into the bloody surf! Fair dinkum cobber.

[dailyanarchistposts]

Author: Collective Action Topics: austerity, australia, health care

The Abbott government is busy laying the groundwork for a massive attack on the conditions of the working class in April’s federal budget. In charge of preparing the ground is Abbott’s hand-picked Commission of Audit. In the line of fire: Medicare and your right to access a GP. The plan: Rob $750 million from Australia’s poorest whilst giving $5.9 billion dollars to private health insurers.

The Commission of Audit

The Commission of Audit is an assortment of business lobbyists and Liberal party mates. The Commission is headed by Tony Sheppard, president of the Business Council of Australia (BCA) and (until October) chairman of Transfield services. As head of the BCA he argues for lower taxes, abolition of the fair work act, and various attacks on the social wage. As chairman of Transfield Services, he profited from mining, coal, and up to $180 million in government contracts for the operation of refugee prisons in Nauru.

Commission member Peter Boxall is a former Chief of Staff to Peter Costello, who spent time working for the IMF during the “structural adjustments” of the 1980s, and played a key role in implementing John Howard’s “Work Choices”.

Amanda Vanstone joins this disreputable bunch bringing her experience as a Howard government minister responsible for attacks on the unemployed, students, and pensioners, the abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ending any semblance of self-determination, as flawed as that body was) and of course, the imprisonment of many thousands of refugees.

What’s in a co-payment?

The first shot across the bow aimed in the new attack on Medicare was fired by former Abbott advisor Terry Barnes of the Australian Council of Health Research (ACHR). The ACHR is a “think tank” funded by Australian Unity, a health insurer with a lot to gain from any attack on Medicare. Barnes published a paper to coincide with the election of the Abbott government which called for the private health insurers dream – compulsory upfront fees for Australians utilising Medicare.

Barnes wants a six dollar Medicare “co-payment���. His argument is that poor Australians go to the GP too often, and that an additional six dollar upfront fee would send a “price signal” that would harmlessly discourage over use of GPs. Barnes claims that his proposal would save the Medicare budget $750 million over four years.

But a six dollar GP tax is not the only health co-payment that Australians are already slugged with. Australians already pay “out of pocket” for a raft of health care services. There is no dental care coverage under Medicare leaving most Australians unable to see a dentist unless they can pay upfront. There a significant “gaps” between the cost of services and what is covered by Medicare, and access to medical specialists routinely involves significant upfront expense for Australians on Medicare.

The effect of all of this is frightening. Co-payments fund 17% of health care in Australia. One in six dollars of health care expenditure in Australia is not covered by any insurance, public or private, and is instead forked out directly by those who can afford it least. In the United States, so often denounced for its backward and regressive healthcare system, co-payments only account for 13% of health expenditure.

And the Liberal government is gearing up to whack another six dollar charge on top of this. Far from sending a harmless “price signal”, a six dollar co-payment is a brutal measure that would reduce access to GPs by those who need them most, and already use them least.

Under Utilisation

The idea that Australia’s poorest over use GP services is both obnoxious and untrue. Terry Barnes is on the record as saying that a six dollar upfront payment would not stop anyone who is truly sick from attending a GP, as this only represents the price of “two cups of coffee”. Anyone who thinks six dollars is nothing has never attempted to live on the minimum wage, let alone the dole, family payments or a pension, in Australia.

Australian workers already make choices between rent, food and health care on a weekly basis. Cost already dissuades Australia’s poorest from accessing medical services when they need it.

Current research on working class Australian’s use of health care already shows that “poorer people are already under-utilising healthcare, and their rate of under-utilisation corresponds to their level of illness”. Mapping health care use against average income in Australia already shows that people living in Australia’s poorest neighbourhoods are “three times more likely to delay medical consultations than those living in the wealthiest suburbs”.

The highest use of GP services in Australia, and the highest concentrations of GPs, are not where people are poorest, or where people are sickest (which coincidentally is where people are poorest), but rather where people are wealthiest. The richest use GP services the most, there are more GPs in wealthier suburbs, and Australia’s wealthiest are less likely to fall ill and die young.

Being poor and working class, attempting to live on a shitty wage or poverty level pension, is a major health hazard in Australia. The wealthiest 20% of Australians live an average six years longer than those of us surviving in the ranks of the poorest 20%.

Health Cash for big business

We’re told that Medicare costs too much. A six dollar copayment, effectively a tax levied disproportionately on Australia’s poorest and sickest, might save the health budget $750 million over four years. But there is one area of health spending bloat that the Abbott government will never touch. This year alone the government will spend $5.4 billion subsidising private health insurance.

The private health insurance rebate is an enormous transfer of wealth from tax payers to private, profit oriented health insurers, such as the one funding Terry Barnes’ sick attack on what remains of universal healthcare in Australia.

The private health insurance rebate was meant to make private health insurance more affordable by keeping premiums low. Introduced in 1999, this massive payment to health insurers has occurred at the same time that average health insurance premiums have risen 130%. Average prices (inflation) in the same period have only risen 50%.

The justification for this massive rort was that subsidising private health insurance would save money in the long run by reducing costs to Medicare. The most recent analysis shows that this $5.4 billion subsidy does little to shift costs from Medicare, and its abolition would save the government at least $3 billion a year.

Conclusions

The class self-interest of the government’s health policy is blatant: Tax the poor, throw money at the rich. The so-called Commission of Audit is stacked with the same big business cronies and Liberal mates who have always attacked the conditions of working class Australians, and now they are coming for what remains of Australia’s public health system. If the health budget is unsustainable, and the poorest really do have to be slugged with an additional six dollar GP tax, it is only because the government continues to throw bucket loads of money at private health insurers. The truth is that private health insurers want Medicare dismantled, so that more Australians are forced into their health insurance rackets, paying ever greater premiums for a diminishing health service.

[bufomancer]

You mentioned it a while ago, but can I ask how you do mite preventative for hamsters? I'm trying to gather info for a future robo hamster and mites are my worst nightmare.

I use selemectin monthly as a preventative. In the US it’s prescription only but I order mine from Pets Mega Store in Australia, it always gets through customs no problem.

I use the Neovela brand of selemectin and I get the one labeled for kittens and rabbits. It’s a pink box I believe!

Just one drop on their back each month!

I always make sure to treat new arrivals but I’ll be honest I sometimes forget to treat *every* month but you definitely want to do a treatment when you first get your robo in case he brings any in from wherever you get him from.

If there’s an active infestation you’ll want to re-treat 2 weeks after the first dose and then monthly for a while. And sanitize everything in the tank. Sarcoptic mites are more common, they’re microscopic so you’ll only notice them due to scratching or hair loss. They’re easiest to get rid of luckily. Tropical fur mites are the ones that are more difficult, you can see them with the naked eye. They only hang out on their host to feed, and don’t need to feed super often so they’re most common to find hanging out on the inside of your hamster’s favorite hide. They’re more annoying because they may leave the tank and then come back, so harder to get rid of. But I haven’t had any come back since my first infestation of them!

If you end up with tropical fur mites, I recommend lining the top of the enclosure with vaseline to limit them going in and out, and diatomaceous earth around the outside base of the enclosure for the same reason. You can also use flea and tick sprays from the pet store that are meant to be sprayed on furniture etc to kill any in the environment but don’t use them in the cage. Freezing, heat, and bleach can all kill mites inside the cage or on items.

Robos are the best so good luck and enjoy your lil hammy friend!!

[charlesandmartine]

An Epilogue

When we sat at home in our little office during the early months of 2024 planning this trip, we had no idea how it would pan out. Realistically, all we were doing was to choose a route, book flights, and accommodation. It was like buying a Christmas tree; just a bare framework for hanging the baubbles that really make the thing of beauty. We had no idea at that point if we would find the trip to be ultimately successful and rewarding or a complete flop.

The amazing thing about Australia is that it shapes your trip for you. We often say that when you start the day, you have absolutely no idea what this amazing country will throw at you, but without fail, fantastic things are always on offer: ancient rock art, mine trips, disused Uranium mine, dramatic waterfalls, intensely blue and impossibly deep pools, abandoned villages, and run down isolated villages with a population of 2 plus goat. So many times, a chance sight of an object has led us to research further to find intriguing stories and the opportunity to start joining the dots of the amazing history of this place. We have travelled through 3 states, covering 4,500 miles, through different climates, seasons, demographic populations, and social ramifications that result from the challenges raised by these. The Northern Territories were perhaps the most challenging in this respect. A shock having to show identity to the police before simply buying a bottle of SB or asking at the supermarket tills for staff to unlock the cabinet stocking antiperspirant. And yet, temporarily being a Territorian was exciting, experiencing a unique part of the world; vast open spaces, long empty roads, searing heat, tiny friendly communities, having beer in old verandaed pubs along with the setting sun, the Roadhouse that's an oasis in isolation not experienced anywhere in Britain, living alongside one of the oldest civilisations anywhere in the world. Meeting people also temporarily there; Road Train Drivers there overnight breaking the long journeys to the coast, tradies working long distance from home, roadworkers repairing carriageways in the middle of nowhere, the people who live there hardened to their remote way of life yet good honest people. Tourist; few. Then, moving to the coast and the delight of Magnetic Island, the beauty of the Whitsundays, the pure white vast deserted silica beaches that squeek under your feet. The solitude taking in the gorgeous sunsets across a million miles of wide open skies, paving the way to witness a myriad star filled universe, the Southern Cross, even skylab passing! This is a different place, a special place. The variety and diversity of this continent; vast areas growing sugar cane, mangos, bananas and avocados, huge activity in mining every mineral known to man showing the wealth of this continent. We loved seeing wildlife in their natural environment; crocodiles awaiting their evening baramundi meal at high tide, koalas stretching as they wake in their arboreal perch (marsupial not bear), kangaroos in the shade and startled by our presence in the heat of the midday sun, sea eagles circling, darter birds hoping for breakfast, the midnight thump on the roof from possums, waking to the laughter of kookaburras and the screeching of butcher birds. Wow, we miss all this already.

Distances are huge, communities separated, but when a bakery in Cloncurry was shut due to staffing problems, the bakery 278 kms further down the road knew all about it. When we drove 80 kms from Mckinlay having had a drink at the pub featured in Crocodile Dundee to Julia Creek, we passed only 4 vehicles along the long straight featureless unsealed road. These journeys can only be made when the tanks are full. We always fill up whenever there's a filling station available. Then, as though appearing from a long tunnel into the light, we find ourselves at the coast in Townsville, and we find a tourist town filled with Aussies seeking a holiday and a good time. Suddenly, the red earthed country is behind us, and the fields are green. We are still in the tropics, but it is cultivated, the first peoples have gone. The alcohol is freely available, the supermarkets are full and entrances free of alcohol and drug induced patronage. But the temperature has fallen ten degrees. We are now in manicured territory, with an atmosphere to be found anywhere in western vacation destinations. We love it, but it has lost that gritty, earthy edge we enjoyed so much in the outback and we felt a real sense of loss and regret, of having now finished the pioneering part of our trip, and found ourselves in what counts as normal life in Australia.

We had however the most excellent excursions along the East Coast; the flight over the Whitsundays and then over the Great Barrier Reef was superb, followed by the boat trip to the Whitsundays and landing at the Whitehaven Beach to see at close hand the white silica sand we had seen from the air. Later, still on an island theme, we visited K'gari and experienced the curiosity of an island built of sand, coming face to face with a Dingo, a wild dog with a notorious reputation. Sydney never fails to delight, and once again, it responded well. Our new year celebrations at the SOH were brilliant, and the subsequent fireworks were some of the best we have ever seen. Who could fail to be impressed by the bridge exploding in a blaze of colour and light and the booms of the massive fireworks, cascading sparkling trails above our heads over the iconic sails of the SOH accompanied by the gasps of approval of the crowd below. Magnificent as ever. Then it was to the cricket ground for my first ever test match. What a great day that was, and I have to report an awakened interest in the sport, not for the technical excellence or the skills involved, but more for the atmosphere the event generated.

Perhaps on reflection, our hearts could be seen to yearn to be back in the outback and especially the Northern Territories to be once again a part of those fantastic little, isolated places.

We will most likely think back to The Pebbles near Tenant Creek. The sunset over the land that the first peoples have inhabited for 60,000 years and consider most sacred, giving them a spiritual link to their past, was almost a spiritual experience for ourselves, too. There was a real sense of connection to their belonging in this place.

We can not, of course, overlook the experiences of Hong Kong, seeing Liam and Almond. This island, a former vestige of British rule, awakened into new vitality by its new masters, China. Clearly, the old Hong Kong still breathes, and the expatriate communities are still very much alive and well and must still bear influence. Behind the scenes, we could see the strength and resolve the new regime has, but the glitter and showmanship of this fascinating city is overwhelming. What a great place to bide a while. The investments there are breathtaking, such as the new 50 km bridge which plunges to the the depths of the ocean beneath, transforming itself to tunnel, in its progress to the old Portuguese protectorate of Macau; an amazing achievement. We loved every moment of this visit, the city built by the sea and of the sea. The society built across islands; we visited Kowloon, Lantau, Lamma of a possible 263! Still a few to go.

An amazing trip. Our thoughts now are that the more you see, the more there remains to see. Next time we should take less luggage, we should look carefully at climate and seasons v weather. Our interest and intrigue in Australia is by no means diminished. When people dismiss this place with a shrug and say it was okay, we are outraged. I mean, it's an opinion, I suppose, but this is a continent, not just a resort you go to for a fortnight. It needs unpicking, unravelling, exploring, discovering. We are blown away by the thoughts of the early explorers who picked away at it, in great danger inched their way across the great expanse of nothingness, massive mountain ranges, forest, swamps, immense heat, the most dangerous wildlife anywhere in the world, drought, flood, and Cyclones. And yet, in just over 200 years, this magnificent country has been transformed into the most fantastic interesting land imaginable, and we want to see a lot, lot more of it.

[southeastasianists]

Six more provinces are scheduled to be declared landmine free in 2023, including Kampong Speu, Kratie, Kampong Thom, Siem Reap, Mondulkiri, and Ratanakkiri provinces, after 12 provinces were previously declared mine free.

Senior Minister Ly Thuch, First Deputy Chairman of the Mine Authority, said in a press conference on the morning of July 18, that for more than 30 years, Cambodia has been very successful in clearing mines on more than 2,794 square meters with millions of munitions, including more than 1 million anti-personnel bombs (1,177,000), more than 26,000 anti-tank mines, which left more than 60,000 people affected by explosive remnants of war.

More than 4 million explosive remnants have been found by the mine authorities over the past 30 years and have been completely destroyed while 2,794 square kilometers have been handed over to farmers.

Senior Minister said that so far, 12 provinces have been declared mine free, while in 2023, the mine free status will increase to 18 provinces.

Among the provinces announced, some provinces have received the support of the Prime Minister’s project, called “Providing Safe Ground, Creating Smiles” project, up to 3,663 rounds of ammunition were found, including 50 mines and 7,000 unexploded ordnance, and nearly 200,000 people were affected.

The remaining 358 square kilometres of landmines are minefields to be cleared in the upcoming seventh mandate; cluster munitions cover about 700 square kilometres; and explosive remnants of war cover about 500 square kilometres. The mine authority plans to clear 358 square kilometres, which requires $78 million.

The senior minister confirmed that the results of demining from 1992 to June 2023 under the auspices of Australia, Japan, the United States, Britain, Germany, Switzerland, Norway, China, Ireland, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Hungary, India, Canada, the United Nations, the EU, Spain, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Hungary and Denmark, as well as civil society organizations, the private sector and philanthropists. Kampuchea Thmey

[harshdakadam]

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[engineer-gunzelpunk]

Its been a bit of a while since I put some fiction up. I'm gonna introduce another character while I am at it, because why not.

Here I introduce "Puffing Billy" or as his human name is, William Vauclain the 1st. Esq. or Victorian Railways NA-class 2-6-2 T 2A, one of a pair of original Baldwin Works locomotives sent to Australia; one of many "Puffing Billies" that chuff along the Narrow Gauge Belgrave to Gembrook line in the Dandenong Ranges.

(Baldwin Works of Philadelphia in the early days of the Victorian Railways produced a lot of locomotives for them, the so called "Yankee" locomotives; to my limited knowledge, a Baldwin D3 is preserved at the Newport Railway Museum, all the rest have been scrapped including 1A and 2A; but 2A lives on has my fictional char...)

All the remaining NAs, including the ones that chuff around the Puffing Billy railway today, were built at Newport Workshops.

Here he meets Heavy Harry in for the first time, in the midst of the Scrappings...

The Man In Black

Preamble

Sometime in the late 60's

“You call me ‘cute’ again, and I will break your kneecaps! I might be short, but your knees and shins are perfectly in reach, you great galoot!”

The tiny, short, potbellied narrow gauge engine in human form stares with unblinking hostility at the black clad titan and his slighter red-haired companion. The big Man In Black merely stares back with an inscrutable expression.

He is only 5ft’’, 1’, but he is very round, squat and powerful. He is clad in an old-timey American engineers outfit, complete with striped hat and thick gloves. The only tell of his locomotive being is the lamp affixed to his hat.

He kept this affectation long after he got humanised, no matter how much the humans that ran the joint discouraged him from doing so. It amused him to tease and vex railfans by wearing such an out-of-place set of clothing on an Australian preservation railway.

He is not at all impressed by the pair of tall timbers in front of him dressed like delinquents.

Yobbos.

He had been in the country long enough to know what a ''yobbo'' was, if they played the fool on his railway he’d chase them off.

Others he’d cut to pieces with dour humor if they ever even so much as smirked at his get up.

The Man in Black takes a puff of the cigarette.

“Stroppy little bastard, aren’t you?”

“I’d be ‘stroppy’ if some so-called 'King of the Railways' came over to my abode and started throwing their weight around! I haven’t seen you in the entire time we’ve existed, and now that the VR has destroyed your railway, you show up to mine!

Whaddya want?!”

“I never said I was the king of anything. No Gods, No Masters…”, said the Man In Black, the red-head shaking his head from side to side.

“Nae, not a word of it!” said the red head.

“Then why are you even here, all the way in the Dandenongs? Don’t you have a heritage railway of your own to puff around on?”, the little tank engine stood proud, chomping on his cigar.

“You have no idea who I am and why I have come, haven’t you?”

“All I know is that there’s this guy, this Big Harold fellow, who you seem to be, who’s some kind of king of the VR locomotives… well, you aren’t my king!”

“Well, then it’s a good thing I’m not looking for subjects then…” said the Man In Black.

“Then why have you come all the way over here, surely its tiring for your big self to be walking around like this…”

Silence for a few moments. A nerve had been struck.

“I’ve heard you are a stroppy bastard, Puffing Billy… It just so happens I really, really like stroppy bastards...”

Puffing Billy is suspicious, narrowing his eyes to slits. “What do you want from me…”,

“First, I want to know who built you…””

Puffing Billy is taken aback… “You came over all the way from where you live just to ask me that?

‘If it’s that important, its Baldwin Works, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America to you!”, he gesticulates, pointing sassily at the Man In Black.

“Hmmmm, Billy from Philadelphia… shall I call you ‘Billy From Philly’ to distinguish you from the other Puffing Billies here?"

Puffing Billy laughed for the first time since meeting the Man In Black, “’Billy From Philly’!?, Ha! Only took about a half a century for someone to come up with it, but I like it!

But I presume there's something more to this…”

“Yes. There was nothing arbitrary with what I said about me liking ‘stroppy bastards’. I heard you are the stroppiest of all in this state…”

“Uh huh…”

“You and your humans have managed to stave off the scrappers during the Lokodammerung, haven’t you? And Operation Phoenix?”

The little engine scratches his head.

“I can’t lie, big fella, it was a very tough going for a while. We did close a while, but we opened up because the humans wanted us operating, and managed to wrangle control of the railway ever so slowly from VR to the Preservation Society. We won a huge battle and we’re damn proud of it!

‘But we can’t just physically fight the scrapping, Big Harold! Its impossible!”

The Man In Black only smiled his ironic half-smile.

“Oh yes we can… but not as an end in of itself, we aren’t martyrs. We do that, we lose.

‘We can’t simply fight them, we need to make things easier for our human allies and ourselves and to make things more difficult for them… we need to buy some time for our kin and an opportunity for our human brethren to rescue them...”

‘This is what I need you, your cussedness and your gift with machinery for…”

“I’m listening…” said the newly minted Billy From Philly.

[chipped-chimera]

Agonising over when to get another Betta for this tank ... I know in my head I should do it sooner than later because the longer I leave it the less choice I have when it comes to the current stock my store has but ...

I'm still ripped up over Fish Karlach's death. I had her for such a short time and I still miss her, and I'm not sure my tank is in the clear. Another Corydora, a more mature one too, passed away but I noticed this one developing a problem around the same time the issue with the Betta started, and after a chat with my shop bought stronger medicine since what I was using probably wasn't cutting it - but I think in the end that was just too much for her. She was on the way out and I probably could have saved her if I went for help sooner but couldn't really do much while waiting to be clear of COVID (absolutely shit timing btw).

I was looking at the females at the shop on that day and just ... I didn't want them. I wanted her back. I know it's just my extremely bad luck, I did just about everything right with the knowledge I had available at the time and literally dealing with COVID, but it just hurts when like, I know there are betta fish out there living in unheated, unfiltered shitty, tiny tanks with plastic plants still live whereas mine, in a carefully managed heavily planted tank had to die. It's not fair.

What also sucks is with this shipment at the store, all the females are just marbles- maybe even from the same spawn and I'm straight up allergic to that gene because I know of its high risk for tumors. I generally don't want a marble. At all. But unfortunately all the other non-marble, specific-type fish are all Males, which I think would be more likely to have a behavioural issue in a community tank considering all the females are still stocked together so they're used to other fish already. I don't really have much in the way of other options unless I take a near 2hr drive way north of my city but even then fish stocking in Western Australia just plain sucks.

Maybe I'll wait a week. Idk. But pretty sure the methalyne blue that went in the tank will have killed off any remaining bacteria (what was theorised to be the cause) kicking around in there. I definitely know there are no parasites, since that treatment ran for like 2 weeks. Not really wanting to do a full course of methalyne blue though since I could tell some of my plants weren't liking it, and the one fish I was treating for died quickly anyway. Still a decent amount in there, just less. Probably need two more water changes to clear it.

I need to move on but goddamn I don't think I could deal with another sick fish.

[havendance]

Santaquest pt3!

I'm falling behind on this, so let's speedrun some comics.

Limited Collector's Edition #34

Not Santa related, but the second story, features Captain Marvel where both Billy and Captian Marvel buy presents for each other. Billy does his best to be polite about his alter-ego's taste:

Santa (not the real deal): What's this? From Capt Marvel to Billy?? Billy: Sure! Ha, Ha! Capt. Marvel bought me something I never had the nerve to get myself. Billy: Er--uh--I always wanted a loud necktie like this!

Story 3--the one with the real Santa!--we see that he and his dwarves are happy to throw down:

Santa: Hmmm! I'm against violence, but... ...they were trying to steal our Christmas toys!

One of the thieves tries to get away, unfortunately there's a truck containing explosives!

A move which destroys all the toys Angel and Sam collected for Santa!

DC Special Series #21

We've go our Santa appearance as previously documented by Zahri:

Also in this story: an explosion breaks the time barrier!

Destiny: As the fuel tanks exploded, the rocket-plane crashed through the time barrier--with an explosion that was seen across the ages...

The sort of comics pseudo-science I do enjoy

Best of DC #22

In a reprinted story from Batman #27, we have no appearance of the real santa, but we do have another appearance of the holiday bat-plane!

Onward to our real santa story: The Seal Men's War on Santa Claus!

Our young Jed finds himself making a deal with the old miser who lives nearby to raise money for the christmas fund:

Mr Gotrox (note: what a name!): I like your spirit, young fellow, so I'll tell ou what I'm going to do! If you can prove to my by midnight tonight that there is such a person as Santa Claus, I'll give that fund of yours a check for one million dollars! Nephew Gotrox: Uncle Titus! Jed: Oh wow! A million dollars! Do you really mean it, sir?

Will he succeed? Judging that this is our real Santa story I think he might, but we'll have to see. Fortunately, Jed is friends with the Sandman, and the Sandman is friends with Santa Claus!

Narration: And after Jed has breathlessly told the Sandman his story... Sandman: Why, that'll be no problem at all! Santa Claus is a friend of mine from way back! He'll be glad to help out. Jed: Gee, Sandman, that's great!

Anyway, there's a whole adventure with the seal men and the nephew but in the end, Santa shows up and Mr Gotrox remembers his Christmas spirit. Santa even lets him ride in his sleigh!

Santa: ... Is there something special you'd like for Christmas? Mr Gotrox: Yes, Santa, there is! It's something I've always wanted. Bzzzz-bzzz-bzzz Narration: And what is it that Titus Gotrox has always wanted, you ask? Well... Santa: Ho Ho HO! You're doing a fine job driving my sleigh Titus! But you'd better put on some hustle! The kids in Asia and Australia will be popping out of bed any time now, and we don't want to be late!

Finally, in the justice league story (no real) Santa, we get this little gem for the dinahollie fans:

Narration: Oliver (Green Arrow) Queen and his Lady Friend, Dinah (Black Canary) Lance, interrupted in the midst of a more personal celebration... Oliver: Of all the lousy times for the JLA to call!

Hey! At least you've still got your clothes on...

Well, that was perhaps not quite so speedy but there really were quite a few christmas stories to get through. Well, until next time!

[copperbora]

Just a few weeks before my mom passed away my 23+ year old female leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularis) Diego died too. Ever since I have been trying to figure out what to do with the enclosure that she left behind, and here are some of the ideas that I have come up with:

- Turn it back into the aquarium that it originally was; it could make for a rad freshwater species aquarium of zebra danios and beautiful blue freshwater shrimp, or it could be a second saltwater tank. Right now the thought of entering into another expensive-to-equip aquarium adventure makes me mentally hyperventilate though, especially when I still have yet to finish stocking my Fluval Evo reef tank which I've dubbed Purrling Reef. Sure the thought of a seahorse tank or an angler fish is fun but do I really want to enter into another aquatic pet like that at this time? Probably not!

- Get a small (male) snake! This is the original thing that I wanted to do but my mom wasn't on board with snakes. My dad? He's fine with it. So far the most likely species for me is the Plains Hognose (Heterodon nasicus,) Rosy Boa (Lichinura trivergata,) or the Anthill/Pygmy Python (Antaresia perthensis.) I am really not interested in Kenyan Sand Boas (Gongylophis colubrinus,) and I like that hognoses and rosy boas are both from North America - in fact the plains hognose is native to a few Canadian provinces! (Thankfully not mine though which means that hognoses are completely legal where I live, yay!) Rosy boas are unfortunately hard to find here, and so are pygmy pythons (which are from Australia, and not from the Perth region as their name seems to suggest.) Hognoses are easy to find - but only if you want a fancy colour morph, which I don't. I love the regular wild type morph of hognose but so far I haven't seen any available in Canada. (The fancy morphs are considerably more expensive, like $200+ more at least.)

Considering my hiking hobby a snake who as an adult only needs feeding once every 1-2 weeks and a clean, topped up water dish is pretty ideal. Top entry enclosures like mine aren't ideal for snakes (reaching down to grab them is too much like a bird of prey swooping down on top of them,) but I just need to check myself over how I reach for the snake friend. All three species of consideration are relatively docile, with the hognose being likely the best. Considering Clint's Reptiles and Wickens Wicked Reptiles' enclosure size recommendations I feel confident that Diego's 20 gallon long enclosure would be just fine especially for a male hognose (which is twice the size of the 10 gallon that some recommend.)

A garter snake would fit too however a larger enclosure would be better, especially so that I could keep more than one as unlike most other snakes, garter snakes are social beings who appreciate having garter snake friends.

Why specifically a male snake? Male snakes are significantly smaller than females.

I'm not interested in a tricolour hognose (Xenodon pulcher) as they do not live long enough. (5-8 years at best is ow, especially for an animal that would cost $400+ here. Nope, hard pass.)

- Get another lizard, but not a leopard gecko (nothing against my beautiful late Diego but I simply don't want another leopard gecko.) So far my favourite option for this is the completely gorgeous Schneider's Skink (Eumaces schneider.) At first I really wasn't considering another lizard but watching Reptiliatus' videos of feeding his tokay geckos made me realize that I actually really miss feeding Diego and watching her hunt her crickets. Skinks tend to be personable and friendly; I'm still researching what other options might exist.

Bonus points for ease of care for my dad whenever I'm away. He's probably more comfortable dumping a bunch of crickets into a lizard's home than feeding dead rodents to a snake if I am gone for a long time as I would be should I succeed someday in returning to Scotland to finish the Scottish National Trail (and potentially hike the Hebridean Way.)

- Stow away the 20 gallon and get a bigger enclosure for a larger reptillian friend. I'm not going to lie, a Ball Pythons (Python regius,) would be awesome and their particularly slow metabolism would be ideal for my thruhiking hobby (some adults only eat once every three weeks.) I also really like Pueblan Milksnakes (Lambropeltis triangulum campbelli,) and Arizona Mountain Kingsnakes (Lambropeltis pyromelana)! In fact, a Pueblan Milksnake is probably my dream snake - I'd feel happy every single time that I looked at that thing.

Alternatively I could adopt a tokay gecko (Gekko gecko) because they are not only beautiful but hilarious but since they are vocal geckos I'd probably have to keep it in my room.

Downside to an animal requiring a whole bigger enclosure: I'm not... financially well at the moment. This will change eventually, but right now? Right now things are hard.

But building an enclosure from scratch woukd also be really fun!

Wait, aren't fish really high maintenance? No, not really, not when you have automated systems in place like I do already and plan to add. An automatic feeder will eventually give my fish a daily breakfast meal of mixed pellets (currently a blend of Vitalis, Piscene Energetics, Fauna Marin and Northfin carnivore/clownfish diets,) an Automatic Top Off system guards my salinity against evaporation, my lighting is programmed with a full day/night cycle and an Inkbird temperature controller regulates the temperature of my water. My USB air pump will keep running and oxygenating my water for up to 36 hours in the event of a power outtage. All the coral species which I plan to keep are photosynthetic so they don't need to be fed actual food for their survival while I am away. My fish won't get any tasty frozen food when I am gone but they will have the pellets to munch on as well as the tiny live copepods which also call my reef home. For maintaining water chemistry I have extensive rockwork and porous media for biological filtration and I will soon be introducing macroalgae to one of my filter compartments. (Plants are the original filters and will - along with my future corals - lap up my nitrates and phosphates like greedy puppies.) Additionally, I have other plans for autominously maintaining other properties of my water and I will be purchasing a chiller before next summer (because fans suck at cooling aquarium water.)

If I do adopt another reptile I will be giving it UVB as well as a bioactive setup just like Diego had. Due to Keplar's very strong prey drive and my tendancy to deeply bond with my pets rodents are not on option for me as pets. I will be fortifying the terrarium similar to how I have fortified my reef tank against Keplar being a pest to my other animals.

I also have vague plans to build or buy some taller, better stands so that he can't go nose-to-nose with my non-feline pets anymore.

(Keplar is so cute but he is such a pest to non-feline organisms.)