The General Chat Thread (2016-2022)

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I'll probably make it until the ball drops at Times Square, but doubt I'll be awake at midnight in Dallas.

CD
 
They showed highlights of fireworks all over the world. Got to bed at 1am, was a good night. No hangover, in fact it's nearly drinks time again.
Adios.

Russ
 
I think most people have seen the news regarding Canberra and the south east of Australia generally.

I'm afraid it is as bad as the news has been reporting. There are massive areas of tourist (aka Australians on summer holidays) evacuation zones and in some places only a few hours drive from my home, mandatory evacuation full stop.

Thousands upon thousands of livestock that have survived the bushfires with nasty burns have to be put down (last figure I heard just for 1 of the fires in the Snowy Mountains was 18,000 head of sheep and cattle alone). The wildlife cost is simply unknown. The human casualties still rising including the deaths of more volunteer fire fighters (in freak vehicle accidents). The RFS have set up dedicated bank accounts now for people to donate to such had been the overwhelming support for the volunteers fighting these fires, all of whom are on unpaid leave from work to carry out this formidable task this season.

Fuel, food, water and fodder shortages currently only affect towns and townships cut off by the fires. Some areas are devastated such as Corryong, somewhere I stayed not that long ago. Others have escaped so far, but the worst is yet to come, tomorrow.

Roads out of Sydney south to Melbourne and Canberra have been closed. Canberra had recorded the worst smoke pollution ever, I'm not certain if that's just in Australian history but it was a night I had major issues with my asthma. I got little sleep, nor have had recently at night full stop. With the Australian extremes of daily temperature (as much as 30°C), at night when the cold air comes down, it compresses the smoke pollution and leaves new smoke nowhere to go to but outwards instead of upwards. The result is widespread smoke pollution of previously unseen concentrations. I know rascal had started that the smoke had been seem/smelt in New Zealand before Christmas. It's now making it into international (northern hemisphere) news. The irony is for me, that I'm actually better off trying to stay at home that go to either local city for medical help when it's this bad because both local cities are in depressions in plains and the smoke pollution is worse there than at home.

This was the night that set the record. The particles measured that are called PM 2.5 are the ones that can penetrate the lungs and very into the blood stream. They are too small for most smoke or dust masks to filter out and the disposable dust masks that can filter them out have long since sold out. Plus the disposable ones only have a working life of 8hrs continuous use if and only if you actually manage to get them to fit properly and get a good seal all of the way around every time you use it. And most people don't realise that they should be stored in a dry, dust free environment. The only thing Australia (geographic) has sussed out there is the dry bit at the moment!

We're due very high temperatures and very high winds tomorrow as another cold front comes through. Gales are the last thing needed, but neither are the potential thunderstorms. The lightning is the problem. Often our thunderstorms are dry storms, that's how these fires started in the first place. I actually saw one lightning strike ground not far from me during the last dry thunderstorm and within minutes had a notification on my phone that there was a fire in my 'home 5km' zone. A zone I have setup (I have 5km, 10km 20km and 30km zones) around or home for alerting me to fires of any type. Luckily it was under control within 30 hectares (75 acres) of burning.

We're predicted 44°C for tomorrow, but also 10-20mm of rain, so with any luck we may see a little. To date all predictions of rain overt the Christmas holidays did not materialise, so I'm not holding my breathe. Unfortunately the land is that dry that the soil is now hydrophobic. It simply won't be able to absorb the rain, it will just run off and cause widespread flooding downstream. Hopefully the rain forecast for Sunday will occur but I suspect it is part of Saturday's rain and the rain won't occur until well after dark and that Sunday's rain is simply the same storm as Saturday's.

If I'm not online over the weekend, please don't worry. Satellite broadband had been flakey during the high levels of smoke pollution and frequently times out. Our usual bale out options when the temperatures are simply too hot at home, such as cinema or indoor swimming pool, are closed. All tourist attractions right now in Canberra and our immediate area are closed, so staying home is our only option and we don't have aircon.

Hopefully I will have internet, but...


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The night that set the first records which was broken the next night. The air quality figure is given in the bottom corner.
 
There was a fire at our local coop yesterday. 2 fire engines, roads closed etc..apparently 1 of their fridges decided to go up in smoke. No serious harm done but it could be a while before the re open.
 
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