Autumnal Equinox
You can watch the arrival of the equinox at Archæoastronomy. It takes place at 9:49AM CDT this morning.
It’s time to man the rakes in northern climes while Spring arrives below the Equator.
On-line Opinion Magazine featuring annoyed rumblings from the leading edge of the Baby Boom firmly tied to a reality-based world.
Established: 21 November 2004
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4 comments
And spring has indeed arrived! To the amazement of all here… After weeks of constant clouds and rain, we have had two absolutely perfect days! Not only have I managed to catch up on my laundry pile, I have been out and about yesterday and today. Yesterday I went out at lunchtime, got myself a nice big hotdog (with onion,cheese and mustard) from a local bakery, and nice cold peach iced tea drink (the Arizona one I mentioned before) and went to Lake Weeroona and watched the World go by for a few hours.
Lake Weeroona
Today, I just got back from a lovely visit and walk through the Canterbury Gardens. 😀
Canterbury Gardens
These are only a couple of the reasons I wanted to move out of the insane city and to Nth Vic. I’m feeling a little tired, but pretty good all things considered. 😀
Yeah… First couple of really decent days in quite awhile. 🙂
Cheers friends!
Me and my big mouth! There is an old joke here in Vic that goes: ‘If you don’t like the weather, wait a couple hours.’ Of course, the corollary to that is the reverse.
It was a beautifull, sunny, warm and clouless day. Until about 2 hours ago when it became a very grey (gray) and very wet late afternoon/evening! *sigh*
I *really* wish all those praying for rain would please STOP!
That reminds me of something that one of the Farmers who was in Hospital with me said. this fellow (who i posted about that met with Op leader Abbott) has a very large area of land (over 1k acres split into more than 30 large paddocks and farms). He just had to spend a lot of money moving his catchment area and dams because his normal *heavy rain belt* has shifted significantly and with so much land it requires a hell of a lot of water to irrigate, which means a very large catchment area made up of mostly clay and sand. I’d hate to think what that cost. It’s yet one more thing the retarded weather change deniers and right-wing morons fail to consider. When you own several hundred acres of land, rain fall patterns become a lot more important and complex than whether it rains enough to water your little garden at home, and if it doesn’t rain, that’s what tap water is for. Right? *sigh* Well, when you need about a mega-liter and you have to pay a lot for *tap* water, it becomes very significant, especially when the prices at your local grocery skyrocket as a consequence.
I saw in the local paper an apple orchard was for sale. it was almost 600 acres, planted with 5 varieties of apples and ready to go. I noticed the price was ridiculously cheap, even for these tough times! Less than $600k! I got suspicious got the prospectus via a friend… and noticed buried in the fine print it only had 350k liters of water available! The previous owner had sold of the water rights, a stupid idea Howard introduced and has been capitalized upon by our new State Lib Gov! That means that anyone stupid enough to buy that property will have to pay to have a pipeline put in and pay a premium for the now privatized water providers, or via trucks by the dozens! The other problem is that although you may own the land the catchments and dam’s are on, you do not own the water and yet you still have to maintain them (at your expense) . Of course, you could pay whoever owns the water rights (on your land)! No wonder apples cost $6-$9 a kilo now!Not too long ago, you could pick up a kilo for 95c!
I keep telling you… It’s not just American politicians (or American people) who are greedy, stupid and/or insane!
/rant!
More info:
Water Trading Australia
This one is interesting (and scary!)
Liquid Gold: The Economics of Water Trading Markets
Welcome to the new New World!
Privatization of essential resources, like water, is brain-dead. Selling water rights is beyond understanding. It isn’t just agriculture, people can’t survive without water. Water isn’t just another commodity, it is a necessity of life.
People who pollute the air or water shouldn’t be fined, they should be shot. This is a matter of survival, not market forces.