Hello and welcome to the sweating, I mean blog...another 40Celsius+ day in Mt Gambier with a couple more to come...and I love my little Housing Trust home but it's a single brick, uninsulated, non-airconditioned sweat box that heats up after only a day or two...my thoughts go out to those who are struggling through this, particularly those who are ill or otherwise incapacitated...and don't worry, I've given myself a thorough slapping for that ridiculous post title.
My Tip: fill empty spaces in fridge and freezer with water bottles, cleaned plastic lemonade bottles are perfect, so that when you open said appliance the 'cold' is retained within the fridge and less hot air can get in...put 3/4 full bottles in freezer (water expands on freezing)...this works particularly well if there is a power failure, allowing access to cool drinks without losing all your cool first time you open the door, and in an extended failure frozen bottles can be moved to the top shelf of the fridge if necessary.
I repeat the many calls for people to keep a look out for their elderly family members, neighbours, etc, and look after yourselves with heaps of water, but try to avoid soft drinks, too much caffeine and particularly alcohol...having said that, I recall the simple joy of stepping into an air conditioned pub after a long, hot day at work to have one icy cold Coopers Pale Ale...(obviously a distant memory given that you haven't 'officially' worked since the Unfair Dismissal thing in 2000/01-Ed)...
Well, not official paid work, but I busted my back for the shrekin' Lutherans on plenty of occasions, even if that all ended not long after "text-book grooming paedophile" teacher Glyn Dorling was suddenly removed in June 2002 and St Martins School turned on myself and some of the other parents...and there was the 'Work for the Dole' stuff I did a few years ago renovating/repairing the now removed Valley Lake raised walkway...(but that was sort of in winter-Ed)...fair enough.
It might be 20+ years ago now, but I worked as a Furniture Removalist, and in the heat that was hard-core...lugging a houseful of furniture into a large metal box on wheels, only to go somewhere else and take it all out again...and no knocking off because it was too hot, the day was over when the truck was empty again...thank goodness I'm not doing that anymore...but I digress...
(Hey, you think you've got problems, try wearing a bloody fur coat 24/7 in this heat-JTD)...yes, thankyou Jack the Dog...of course pets and other animals are also extremely vulnerable and require special attention so make plenty of cold water available, shelter where possible, etc...and be careful if you go walking after dark when it's cooler, particularly with dogs, because in this weather snakes will hide from the heat and then also emerge late, and I am aware of at least one case last summer where someone happened upon a Copperhead snake 'warming-up' just after dark on the concrete path opposite the WIN TV station up at the Blue Lake.
Yesterday Keith, a regional centre roughly halfway between Mt Gambier and Adelaide, was the hottest place in Australia at 47.2C, a new record that may yet be broken today...and what really concerns me is that these extremes are occurring outside of an official drought period and without the influence of El Nino/El Nina which remains effectively in neutral...El Nino is the trans Pacific weather pattern that drives conditions in Eastern Australia and Western South America.
If there was an extreme El Nina/Nino event...(one creates wet, the other dry, with the opposite conditions at the other end, ie, flooding in Oz whilst droughts in Chile, etc...I can just never remember which 'El' does which-Ed)...quite...if this was having a drastic influence, then the extreme conditions would be somewhat understandable, but what potential extremes might occur when the current 'neutrality' reverts to the more normal fluctuations?...what an odd situation...and what if El Thingy doesn't shift for a decade?...this weather and then some will be the norm.
I note that we have just come out of a particularly warm winter into a warm but unusually wet spring and then into this...and this warm trend has devastated Adelaide Hills fruit crops like apples and particularly cherries which require good 'frost events' to help set buds for fruit, causing shortages and therefore price rises, etc...just listening to reports that this heat may hammer grape production from the Barossa and Riverland.
This 'heatwave' highlights the extraordinary resource...(can we say 'asset'?...I don't particularly like the term 'resource' because it infers something to be exploited for advantage without appropriate protections and/or maintenance...an 'asset' is something to be treasured and protected-Ed)...very good point Ed...the asset we have in the massive South East Aquifer (sorry, can't remember it's specific title) that runs from well north of Penola right through to the ocean, and apparently contains approx 1/3 of South Australia's fresh water.
Which segues nicely into a brief 'yahoo' that Robe District Council has passed a motion calling for a moratorium on Fracking for 'Unconventional Gas' in the South East, not least of all because wherever that frickin' Frackin' is done in the SE it will be impossible to avoid direct interaction with that Aquifer...in an ABC Local Radio interview this morning, Robe Mayor Peter Risely (?spelling) explained the concerns that his Council had with the prospect of Fracking, including the contamination issues with, size of, and economic relevance of the SE Aquifer.
A caller suggested...(I would suggest 'rightly pointed out'-Ed)...good point again Ed, you're on fire...that this is an issue for the South East Local Government Association (SELGA) to address because the pollution/contamination problems with Fracking are legion and undeniable...and I would further suggest that the mutual Aquifer is the unchallengeable justification for SELGA to take on the state parliament, Labor and Liberal, because they both support Fracking.
I would then suggest that Liberal Mitch Williams' recent declaration of his parties support for Fracking kind of makes his bleating about Wind Turbines look a little hollow...dare I suggest that he is opposed to what his party doesn't support, Wind Turbines, and supports what the Liberals like, Mining, and that his supposed opposition to Turbines was simply...(go on, say it, I double dare ya'-Ed)...playing politics...thankyou, thankyou...that he was opposing Labor not Turbines.
And this is why I'm so concerned to the point of dismissive about the local response to what's happening right now at Penola, Fracking is happening right now at Penola...wake up people...and there's just no way the vested interests and deeply compromised members of SELGA are going to oppose it...and yet another segue, this time into the ludicrous assertion there's no politics in local government...SELGA, for example, is packed to the gunnels with failed Liberal Party candidates and/or staffers and/or paid up members.
I applaud Robe Council for what they've done, and it's great to hear that they've had several dozens of letters expressing concerns or outright opposition, but too little too late...it's a done deal and you can have all the resolutions and meetings and petitions to SELGA, the state government, whoever you like, because that shaft is being prepared right now if actual drilling hasn't already begun...and it may have.
I don't believe that Robe Council's resolution is a collusive manipulation of the citizenry in the manner that the Forestry Roundtable was, ie, they haven't acted in collusion with the state government and/or Beach Energy to give the impression of opposition and thus diffuse real opposition whilst the drilling process proceeds...I reckon they're genuine if still too late...but it's not for me to tell you what you think about this possible scenario.
Regardless, polite and appropriate opposition is pointless...the decision has been made, the drilling is already happening, and both sides of state politics support it and therefore so do SELGA...if you want to stop this then I suggest that you get your collective finger extricated and get thee to the well site because actual physical opposition is your only option...nobody who can politically stop this wants to, they support it, and if they say they're listening they're lying...if you want this stopped then it's down to the individuals.
This is the future of the entire South East and therefore a critical economic issue for the entire state...once that Aquifer is contaminated, and it will be, then it's all over...
Tomorrow: It's A No Wind Situation
Every electric fan in the state going flat out except the ones that are supposed to create the electricity, Wind Turbines...(beautifully put sir-Ed)...thankyou...and that Naracoorte Child Abuse stuff.
I am Nick Fletcher and this is my blog...can you feel the love?...cheers and laters...
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