Played MTG back in ye olde times. Probably mid nineties.
Had an almost complete set of 4th Edition, full set of Alliances and a full set of something else that escapes me now. Wish Iād kept them for nothing other than nostalgia.
I always loved the artwork on the 4th edition Force of Nature
That art is pretty sweet, dude looks kinda like Predator.
Itās still pretty cheap despite its age. Looks like under 1USD. Should snag yourself one to keep around as an art piece 
Nuthinā like the Wheatbelt!
Itās a bloody good life being out in the scrub hey 
Oh you bugger. Those JCB tele loaders fkn cruise man, quite happily sit on 80 down the black top 
That was taken out at Bodallin Farms, a small 12 000 hectare section of the larger Farming Conglomerate in the region.
At over 120 square kilometres, there were workshops/chemical/equipment sheds spread out roughly every 30 kilometres radius around the property to help save transportation/driving time out to the different regions of paddocks and landing strips.
The Southern boundary ran alongside the Perth/Kalgoorlie Great Eastern Highway, whereas at the northern boundary, it was so far away that even mobile phone reception was non existent and had to rely on 2 way radio communications.
The JCB Telehandlers are the most highly useful machines that I have operated in different jobs over many years, with 4WD/4 wheel steering/abilities to crab walk and operate each steering system independently, telescopic boom and 101 different attachments available for them, thereās no job limit and they can pretty much traverse any type of ground surface/levels
Thank god the machinery sheds were only a 30 klm max drive away though, because with the big water ballast fat loader tyres on those corrugated roads, 30-40 klm/hr was the smoothest speed to sit on without shaking up my beer esky! 
Iāve driven a Manatou loading bales of hay back in the 2018/19 drought. A french made tele similar to JCB but cheaper I believe. Very common around these parts. Easy to drive. JCB is better so Iāve been told.
One noddy was a bit jerky with 3 big squares on and top one ended up rolling back in to the cab from 20M high wiped out the windscreen and damaged the cab 
Yeah I operated quite larger Manitouās when I was working on the mines, and definitely agree that the JCBās were an improvement over those earlier French models 
Watched the AO Sinner v Medvedev, bloody epic match going 5 sets.
I pissed laughing myself at the presentation, and hereās our PM Elbowā¦ boooo boooo
Think the majority have woken up to another shit house labour gov run by a dickhead that does nothing.
I dunno. I think itās more 'cos the only people able to afford a ticket to the AO were liberal voters, pissed off that the poor are getting a bit of a tax break in the middle of a cost of living crisis, too.
His government absolutely has done things, too. Things that benefit the average Australian. During this government alone weāve got;
- Changes to the PBS that allow the poor and disabled to receive more affordable medication, with less visits to the chemist and doctors.
- Changes to workers rights for the benefit of casual workers, now having the same protections as part-time work if they work 20+ hours P/W
- Starting the HAFF once the Greens finally got the fuck out of the way, opening up construction for Commission housing, and freeing up private businesses to do construction on non-commission housing. Itās also Liberal slash proof in the future, since it literally pays for itself.
- Cut taxes for the poor as well as the rich, so that not only the poor had to shoulder the burden in the middle of the cost of living crisis.
- Instituted same-job-same-pay policies so that the corporations canāt just import workers from overseas for cheaper, and instead have to pay Aussies a living wage.
- Increases to bulk billing and medicare.
The media, as always, is full of shit and lying to you/spinning things to try and turn the vote against Labor, because as usual Labor is asking the corporates to play fair and the Murdoch/etc tosspots donāt want to even pay their fair share.
Whatās the alternative? Liberal? Fuck that, I donāt want the potato dickhead party in power. Not after the shit show that Scomo pulled off. Greens? HELL no. Teals? Liberal light, still corporate dick suckers.
Labor might not fix problems IMMEDIATELY, but theyāre the only party that actually wants to fix problems with practical solutions.
I did not say Liberal was the answer.
1 thing Elbow did was extend medicare for our current doctors to bulk bill. Donāt make it technical.
Slide on defence and nothing for primary producers at all. No solution besides cancel it. Iāve been to meetings and wasted so many hours. Nov 20 was the date the AG minister was supposed to announce the results. Nope quiet. Just nothing, itās that bad even stock agents donāt know what the fuck they are doing. This is primary, we are above gov and defence. Why covid did not effect me one bit. Soldiers canāt fight on an empty stomach.
You may of read about the Helicopter crash Taipan I mentioned mid 23. Ukraine asking for them since October but Elbow and itās cohorts decided to rip them to pieces and stick them in landfill up queensland before the crash investigation is still on going. Without telling anyone. No chance for Airbus Australia to resolve, they just nothing but throw it in the bin. This govs decision, not the priors.
You can say all you want but when you are starving none of that shit will matter unless you like chinese vegetables sprayed with chemical banned in Australia 40 years ago, packaged in New Zealand and in your Coles and Woolies to fly under our restrictions.
That is 6 things you listed. Whereās the rest. Prior gov did way more. AUKUS, ANZUS, Apache, Blackhawk, start consultation with farmers about live sheep export, fuel excise for every single fuel user including you Iād keep going but canāt be stuffed TBH
Whereās my electricity supplement, nope cancelled. Whereās my support for being a primary producer working on Australia day. Cancelled had enough of his bullshit, lost so much money itās not funny.
I know you didnāt say Liberal was the answer, man. Didnāt imply that you did. Wouldnāt presume that of you.
I also still donāt think AUKUS is a good thing, Iāve always thought it was bad. Australia has a natural naval defense to its north that would be ideal for intercepting Chinese transport vessels if they ever sailed our way. Smaller, quieter diesel-electric submarines like the ones Labor bargained for with France would have been a better choice.
Thereās dozens of tiny islands all around us that Attack classes would have been able to hide around and strike from. Now, instead weāve got these big things intended for American tier conflict, powered by a fuel source we donāt have the infrastructure for, less capable of fulfilling Australiaās needs.
I also donāt think thereās any actual threats at the moment. China isnāt even ballsy enough to attack Taiwan, thereās no way theyād make the extra effort to invade Australia. That fact, coupled with the fact that theyāve recently done a huge purge of their generals for corruption means that thereās 0 need for us to arm up for a huge war.
Weād be FAR better off containing China economically, by forming a trade bloc against them with the other SEA/Oceanic countries. Instead Scomo shackled us to the yanks with these multibillion dollar boondoggles. Billions of dollars that couldāve been reinvested into average, working class Australians instead of American military corporations.
Iām not saying Labor is perfect, Iām not even saying theyāre necessarily the best party for you. The concessions theyāve had to make with the inner-city Greens idiots about LAE are god damn atrocious. Iām just saying on the balance of things, theyāre the only party who actually try to make things better for as many people as they can.
Well that is indeed where you and I disagree.
We already mine Uranium and have done for many years now. We already have a nuclear plant. This is Australia I am talking about.
Chinese and Russian ships have been probing our shorelines for years and not just north. We send our Collins and the Russians just out accelerate ours. Mission fail no intercept. They are and will have far more ability with their VLS systems to get a reload off if needed as it will be same same stuff. Logistics. Something the US is very good at. Need I mention the only ally in WW2 that supplied australia with 500 P51 Mustang plane kits that we put up 2 squadrons with when Japanese invasion was a real possibility. If you go to a airshow there is still some of them flying today with RAAF roundels on them. Pretty cool.
What about the Abrams replacement prior gov did, I suppose thatās shit too. What about Toowoomba upgrades and a few other upgrades in region to bases to accomodate the 2025 AH64EV6ās on order 
no, the fuel bunkers, extension of runways with US funding to accommodate their strategic long range bombers as well as the sticks we can throw. So all of that is no good in your thoughts and we just sit back and let them have what other countries want. Resources. If so better brush up on your mandarin.
Trade cohersion, havenāt you seen how epicly that has failed. Australia needs money to support the economy. Australia gets that from export. We no sell, we poor.
As I said awhile back China will run out of fuel before they hit our shores but I have suffered the effects of their trade. So thatās how good that shit went, thanks scooter. Would be 15k richer and I live like an ant as it is consuming as little as possible.
The solution, yes get onboard with especially the UK first as we have and the USA unless they go bonkers with the upcoming president thing. Europe is backing out of their strict ice ban now as that was never going to work.
Things will work out for the better, Iāve been to so many meetings in the last 3 years about the wool and meat situations that directly has to do with me. What a fucking waste of time, Iāve had my voice along with thousands of others yet no one listens. Another live sheep ship due back any day now if it hasnāt landed already to crash the national market after the houthis started their shooting match.
Back to grass roots. There is one minister up queensland way I like. Also Jacinta and Mundeen speak sence so they get the immigrant Africans covered and supported with what they really need.
Be a lot better and a start anyway. IMO
havenāt been around in a whileā¦ been having too much fun with VR games.
Decided to take my webbed feet to Bunnings to get a 2.4m CCA treated pole and some quick set to replace a rotted out tap support. Dug a 600mm deep hole, stuffed in the post and filled the hole with what was left of the quick set, after the bag decided to tear and dump a bunch of its contents on my shoes.
Took about 30 minutes to dig the hole and plant the post and it was time for a new t-shirt. Usual problem - t-shirt so wet couldnāt get it off
So Iāll change the spring on one of my CYMAs while the t-shirts dries out. Took off the butt stock, looked down the buffer tube to unscrew the bolt and a stream of water runs down my face onto my glasses and stings the crap out of my eyes.
Figured with the pain from last weeks dental surgery, buggered hand from the whiplash from the drain eel and now stinging eyes, that that was enough. Still canāt get the t-shirt off but the post is still straight
Lived in HK for several years but never experienced draining hot humidity like this. Some mid-60ās music sounds appropriate - canāt afford an E&C CAR15
Nice had your own private wet t shirt competition 
bonus beer gut display!
āMasters of the airā pretty good so far mini series with a spielberg in it. Bit of Aerican cheese on top but yea not bad in my books. On Apple TV episode 2 atm
oh yes i forgot that was a thing. i have been waiting for ages for it to come out even when it for announced under HBO before they dropped it and it went to appletv.
will have to skip VR for a night
Got news the sheep and cattle ship is sitting off the WA coast still awaiting clearance. Canāt they expedite this shit too much red tape crap yet again holding the works up I bet.