Huge blast and Firestorm Rocks Canberra

Firefighters say they do not know how long it will take to extinguish a huge chemical fire which has sent a plume of potentially toxic smoke streaming over Canberra. The fire broke out at a building in an industrial estate at Dacre Street in the suburb of Mitchell in the city's north at about midnight. Fire crews initially brought the blaze under control but were forced back by a series of explosions which witnesses said sent flames shooting up to 100 metres into the air at about 2:00am. This morning fire fighters were attacking the blaze with foam and water but had so far been unable to extinguish the fire.

The explosions were heard all over the city

and sent flames leaping into the night sky

Smoke rises above Canberra's hills this morning

In other developments:

Explosions from the fire rocked the nation's capital early this morning.
Residents in the suburb of Mitchell have been told to stay indoors.
But an order for people within 10km of the fire to stay at home has now been cancelled.
Students are being advised to stay away from schools in Canberra's north.
Evacuation centres have been set up at Canberra stadium and Dickson College.
Emergency services say the smoke is potentially toxic but the risk to the public has been described as low.



No cause for the initial explosion and ignition of the used electrical substation oil coolants stored on-site in drums has been released at this time.

I know, I've been quiet lately .....

but I am Okay - Just been a tad busy - but I do keep reading all your threads, so, "Keep'em coming people!"

The Recycling Grand Prix

Tuesday morning and it’s recycling collection week.


Aaaah! You cannot beat the skills of our local waste collectors who believe their gargantuan vehicles are designed as something that should be used in NASCAR races – mind you, those side loader arms have not yet actually thrown a bin over the top of the truck but, give them time, they will get it right one day.

A street full of green and yellow soldiers spaced 20 metres apart – it can only mean two things, firstly accelerate from a standing start full pedal to the metal and then a precision stop opposite the bin. Secondly, grab same bin and toss the contents into the hopper like some mad chick downing your Bourbon shots (remember to hold on to that bin boys – we don’t want to scare the natives with Sulo bins hurtling over the truck into on-coming traffic) and then slam it down on the pavement (object is to see how many you can leave not standing).

Then …. Repeat the process with another rapid 20 metre dash.

Fun stuff at 7am!



.

Painting ……

I hate painting!

I guess I’ve never had the patience to be a good painter. Take the last two days up at “The Camp”. We had all the steelwork from the new patio enclosure to paint and the old steelwork, gutters and drains were looking chipped and tired and in need of a ‘refresh’. So, seeing as to how we had three lovely spring days we decided to get the first coat on the undercoated new steel.

Here are a few comparisons in style – ability!

1. I have to work hard to get paint to apply – no deft touch here, I almost have to rub it onto the surface. Rhonda’s brush glides over the surface like silk leaving a complete application in a single stroke.

2. After half an hour my new paint brush looks like my old grandfather’s bristly beard. Rhonda can wear a brush down to a stubble with not a bristle out of place.

3. No matter how careful I am to not overload my brush I always manage to get a splatter of paint that will travel metres. Rhonda hardly ever gets the merest of a ‘flick’.

4. Paint runs – I could get paint to run off a table top. Rhonda can apply a smooth surface to a vertical sheet of flat steel that looks like it was ‘powder coated’ when done.

5. I use a ‘drop cloth’, of course, however, you can always pick where I’ve been working by the trail of drops all round. Rhonda is to miserly to consider spilling a single drop!

6. I need a two can supply of paint to Rhonda’s single can!

7. Rhonda can paint with ease in any position. I work best at waist height. Anything over or under that, for me, is an effort.

I think I’ll hang onto her – you never know when a good painter will be required!

Second Hand shop purchases

I wandered through a scond hand shop yesterday - mostly kitsch junky items of bric-a-bac but I did find a couple of good purchases.

Six bread and butter plates of the Meakin Works 'Sunshine' stock made as a part of a 'collectable set' that you could purchase pieces at a time to build the whole set. These were available in Australia post-war, imported from England. They were in good condition, no chips or crazing cracks.

From the Meakin Pottery works, they were mass produced for export where the prudent wife could buy her plates, soup and sweet coupes, cups and saucers separately as she could afford them to garner the ful set for her 'Hope Chest'. I remember my mother had a set of a similar design. The beauty of them was that if they were broken as a result of 'rough treatment' - and in our household of 4 children that was always possible - replacements were readilly available at the department store.

I also picked up half a dozen sweet dishes and a large sweets bowl that were of much higher quality - I'm sure that the dealer did not know the true value of this set. Royal Staffordshire AJ Wilkinson Works also from the UK

The serving bowl was a larger version of the sweets bowls. All-in-all a quite pleasing purchase, especially getting a full serving set in good condition. I'll save them for 'special occassions' in summer - Fresh baked peach slices with  crème fraîche or mascarpone and topped with fresh strawberries and a little mint.

Tricked into buying wooden iPad

Scammers swindle $168 from US woman



If a stranger approached you in a McDonald's parking lot and offered to sell an iPad on the cheap, how would you react? For Ashley McDowell, the answer was an immediate yes.


According to the sheriff's office in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, in the US, Ms McDowell, 22, was picking up food at a McDonald's on Monday night when two men approached her in the parking lot. After showing her a new iPad, the police report said, they told Ms McDowell that they had bought the tablet computers in bulk and were reselling them for $US300 ($280) apiece.

Ms McDowell evidently jumped at the chance to snag a cut-rate iPad but explained that she had only $US180 ($170). The men decided to sell her one iPad at that price, she told police.

She handed them the money and then waited to open the FedEx box supposedly containing the iPad until she got home - where she proceeded to pull out not a shiny new Apple tablet, but a "piece of wood painted black with an Apple logo", the police report said.

The so-called "screen" is filled with mock iPad icons for email, photos and Safari - all held down with black tape. The studious conmen even included a "Best Buy sales ticket", police said.

Ms McDowell told police that the swindlers were driving "a white Impala with no rims and no tint". One of the guys, she noted, had "a gold tooth".

LA Times


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/tablets/tricked-into-buying-wooden-ipad-scammers-swindle-168-from-us-woman-20110901-1jmp7.html#ixzz1WgRcxOiQ

Been fishing!

Had a few days up at The Camp, did some fishing but did not catch anything for the 'keeper' - but we did do some gardening and I reckon I earnt a nice drink beside the fire in the cool of the evening.

Yep! It's "Sundown"!

Cheers!

We also checked on the progress of the repairs to the Graham Bridge on the Frogmore Road - we took these pictures from the bypass route theat they've graded through an adjoining property - looks like they have taken out both approach spans, are building a retaining wall by placing interlock cinder blocks and backfilling behind those to create approach ramps.

Hmmmm! Hope they know what they are doing but it appears to me that the gap for water to pass under that bridge is being made narrower!