The Wonderful World of Oz

The Shooman

The Shooman

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Yeah, in the US they have all sorts of dessert pies. In oz we don't do much of that type of stuff, we just have the traditional aussie meat pie and that is pretty much it, ie, a pie with sauce that we eat with our hands. Some of the old timer aussies still eat sheppards pie (an old english favourite) and will have an apple pie on special occasions, but that is pretty much the limit. Most aussies just eat the typical meat pie.

Had a pecan pie once made by an American auntie. It was one of the most delightful eating experiences of my life.
 
The Shooman

The Shooman

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Many of the old school aussies will also have a roast on a Sunday. The typical fare is:

- peas
- roast potatoes
- roast pumkin
- roast lamb (a favourite)

Not many of the younger generation do roasts anymore, they eat all types of stuff now. Silverside (boiled pickled beef) is also another favourite of the old schoolers that is had with a white sauce and mashed potatoe, and it is cheap.

The old school aussie diet is not very sophisticated. Lots of potatoe, white bread, meat and a small amount of peas and carrots here and there. Old schoolers don't know anything about legumes etc. Rice was seen an an exotic food (not real food), and pasta was exotic too.
 
fxh

fxh

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Dropbear said:
Kinda like how in the South, all soft drinks are Coke. There are dozens of flavoured milks (always popular with tradies and labourers), generically known as choc-milk.
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you’ve been away too long little buddy. The old tradies breakfast/smoko @10am , sitting on footpath, legs stretched, in front of milk bar, eating a pie and sauce, and sipping a Coffee Big M , sucking on a Rollie dart are long gone.Maaate.

Young tradies these days have a special fridge on back of Ute, with a nice salad, lasagne or rice etc and a coffee machine in cabin. Takeaways are Bahn Mi or Sushi rolls or Pho, even out in the burbs.

edit:: well at least in melbourne. I have NFI about Perth. I know Brisbane/QLD is being dragged kicking and screaming into the late 90s.

you are getting old.
 
fxh

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Seriously there’s nowhere you can go in Melbourne, even outer suburbs, where you can’t get Bahn Mi or Sushi rolls or Pho. Basic Melbourne food.
 
fxh

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VR1-Holden-VN-VS-Commodore-1pc-HSP-Hard-Lid-1.jpg
 
Dropbear

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fxh said:
Seriously there’s nowhere you can go in Melbourne, even outer suburbs, where you can’t get Bahn Mi or Sushi rolls or Pho. Basic Melbourne food.
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Perth is similar, with a the addition of nasi goereng and gado gado (we are closer to Bali than any other state capitol).

Houston also has a big Vietnamese culinary scene though, so I’m trying to steer us into what’s more unique here. The kids are already tuned into their Vietnamese heritage - this month they are learning about Aus, maasaaate.

My wife found gluten free lammingtons yesterday.

The kids saw the Indian Ocean for the first time yesterday- too cold to swim/surf without wetsuits but i have a cousin who will loan them to us later. Today we are off to see some koalas and ‘Roos.
 
The Shooman

The Shooman

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Grand Potentate said:
That sounds fucking incredible.
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It's Australia mate. We're not that advanced.
fxh said:
Seriously there’s nowhere you can go in Melbourne, even outer suburbs, where you can’t get Bahn Mi or Sushi rolls or Pho. Basic Melbourne food.
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That is good, it makes things more simple that way. We have far too many choices as it is.

Young tradies these days have a special fridge on back of Ute, with a nice salad, lasagne or rice etc and a coffee machine in cabin. Takeaways are Bahn Mi or Sushi rolls or Pho, even out in the burbs.
Click to expand...

These young blokes are far too precious. Oh well, at least it saves them from driving up the street to get a pie and sauce.
 
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fxh

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Grand Potentate said:
food diversity, especially asian food diversity like that, is not really that common in the states.


caramel milk? coffee milk? we dont really have that here so it honestly just seems weird to me.
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Re diversity. Contrary to what people might think australia, and particularly melbourne is pretty diverse on many counts. It’s something that is a big shock when we travel. Last time I was overseas (as we say here) was in 2018(obviously) and I was very surprised at the lack of diversity throughout Europe (UK was in Europe then!).

People and reflected in food etc.

in australia about half the population, 50%, have a parent born overseas. I suspect not having a centuries old tradition of high cousine, plus the varied overseas born and influenced population has shaped our tastes.

Its literally true that almost anywhere you can get a sushi roll locally for lunch. Same for Banh Mi, Kebab, and. HSP* - I think it’s a melbourne invention, nearly true also for bubble cup, dumplings, Bento Box

* Halal Snack Pack

Not to forget the world famous Melbourne Coffee Shop. Just everywhere. In my small suburban shopping strip there are 5 coffee shops. The Starbucks Melbourne story is instructive and amusing.
 
Dropbear

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Who wears short shorts?

Me!

I picked up a couple pairs of Hard Yakka traddie shorts yesterday and I’m stoked.

fxh said:
Re diversity. Contrary to what people might think australia, and particularly melbourne is pretty diverse on many counts. It’s something that is a big shock when we travel. Last time I was overseas (as we say here) was in 2018(obviously) and I was very surprised at the lack of diversity throughout Europe (UK was in Europe then!).

People and reflected in food etc.

in australia about half the population, 50%, have a parent born overseas. I suspect not having a centuries old tradition of high cousine, plus the varied overseas born and influenced population has shaped our tastes.

Its literally true that almost anywhere you can get a sushi roll locally for lunch. Same for Banh Mi, Kebab, and. HSP* - I think it’s a melbourne invention, nearly true also for bubble cup, dumplings, Bento Box

* Halal Snack Pack

Not to forget the world famous Melbourne Coffee Shop. Just everywhere. In my small suburban shopping strip there are 5 coffee shops. The Starbucks Melbourne story is instructive and amusing.
Click to expand...

I don’t eat American food, which is not a problem living in Houston, which is one of the most diverse cities in the US. Pho and gorditas are on every other corner, though there isn’t much Indonesian food - which I miss greatly.

Today the family is doing some shopping (my wife want to get an opal here) while I catch up with some friends from East Timor.
 
The Shooman

The Shooman

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Grand Potentate said:
can any of you guys give me the rundown on why this is going on?

www.abc.net.au

'Designed as winter tents': Why are Australian homes so cold in the winter?

As rental advocacy groups call for minimum standards in housing, researchers are finding links between cold homes and the occupants' physical and mental health.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au
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I understand that hypothermia in houses effects people worse in less cold areas than the really cold areas. Why? The homes in the less cold areas are built with less insulation etc where-as the homes in the really cold areas are built to keep the cold out. Many of the older homes in Oz can be very drafty and don't have double glazed windows or proper insulation, so people get cold. Some older homes have no insulation at all.

I think Oz now has the higher power prices in the world, either electricity or gas, one of those two.
 
fxh

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Grand Potentate said:
can any of you guys give me the rundown on why this is going on?

www.abc.net.au

'Designed as winter tents': Why are Australian homes so cold in the winter?

As rental advocacy groups call for minimum standards in housing, researchers are finding links between cold homes and the occupants' physical and mental health.
www.abc.net.au www.abc.net.au
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it’s spot on. Australian houses have never been built to climate. Full of draught, leaky, even roof insulation is only common in last 20 years. Virtually no double glazing, the market is so small it’s made it expensive. It’s a national embarrassment.

People who have lived in snow in Canada etc will tell you they never felt as cold in a house as a melbourne winter. Houses are dreadful, but usually workplaces are fine, trains and trams etc too.
 
fxh

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I do LoL a bit at Sydney and queensland people talking about cold. Try Hobart or Melbourne Hills ya big wuzzes.
 
The Shooman

The Shooman

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Grand Potentate said:
www.bbc.com

Australia's environment in 'shocking' decline, report finds

Extinctions are growing and 19 ecosystems are on the brink of collapse, a five-year survey warns.
www.bbc.com

Good thing you got a picture while you’re still able
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I heard about this report, and l understand it is misleading. Apparently most of these species become extinct over 100 years ago, and many ecosystems were on the brink of collapse long before we were born. The media will naturally blame this on climate change, but all this is said to happen long long ago.

What many refuse to talk about is the environmental policies of the world rely on China for solar panels and batteries, so basically we become dependent on the communist regime for energy. We also likely rely on Urghur slave labour to make these things according to credible reports.

Of course the media and politicians don't like talking about this, nor do they like talking about the soaring power costs to business that will cause many to close down and have us rely on China for more manufacturing. Of course China is exempt from all of this green stuff, but naturally they encourage all the other countries to jump on this green bandwagon. I call it `the green socialism'....de-industrialize the west and have them become dependent on China for energy, manufacturing and technology. If we can become dependent we can soon live under the Chinese Communist Party rules. Already Xi is cracking down on the big businesses of China for the preparation for the big move back to socialism.
 
The Shooman

The Shooman

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The good news is that Europe is waking up to the scam. Sadly the U.S, Australia and New Zealand are completely asleep. Will this green scam succeed? Of course not!

Guess how much to convert to renewables in Oz? Was 1 trillion dollars not so long ago. This is the dirty little secret the current aussie government hid from the people. They had this government organisation do the costings, but they hid it because the figures are scary. Guess who foots the bill? We do, the tax payers. Of course, being a government full of people with no business experience they are due to blow the budget, so it will probably cost over 1 trillion dollars.
ecos.csiro.au

Technological innovation will drive change in Australia's energy system - ECOS

Our energy system is changing. And technological innovations have halved the estimated cost of Australia transitioning to renewables.
ecos.csiro.au ecos.csiro.au
 
Dropbear

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The Australian solar grid is fucking phenomenal. Over 30% of homes have panels on their roofs. They can then either store excess power in their own batteries or sell the excess to the grid. So instead of relying on large, centralized solar farms, the entire thing is decentralized and spread across the cities.
 
prince nez

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fxh said:
A few years ago I had a bong bit cut off my front yard hose. Little buggers. I coulda given them plenty of old hose from out the back if they’d only arksed.
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You would have invited them in to use your bong more likely.
 
prince nez

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Dropbear said:
The Australian solar grid is fucking phenomenal. Over 30% of homes have panels on their roofs. They can then either store excess power in their own batteries or sell the excess to the grid. So instead of relying on large, centralized solar farms, the entire thing is decentralized and spread across the cities.
Click to expand...
It's also phenomenally inefficient. The reason you have a grid - with large, centralised and flexible/controllable generation - is because of diversity of load. Local generation is fine to offset some of a homeowner's electricity bills (though the payoff is still in the 8-10 year range - e.g. $6k for a solar HW system versus $1.5k for electric or gas is a lot of fucking bills to make up the difference) but it also causes issues such as voltage rise for a grid that was only ever designed to be one way - generator-to-consumer, not consumer-to-grid.

As for the 30% of homes figure, I am assuming that is houses only. In the cities, most people live in apartments. Where exactly you put your solar panels if you live in a flat? And who pays for it if you rent? Renters won't spend $'000s on a solar set up, nor will landlords install them when it's the tenants who reap the benefits via cheaper power costs. Distributed solar generation really only benefits relatively wealthy homeowners who can afford houses in the inner city (it makes more sense in the country as many homes aren't connected to the grid or town gas in the first place).

Chiefly it seems to be for champagne inner city socialists with multi million $ homes who like to virtue signal with their solar/battery setups (all of which, as The Shooman The Shooman notes is made in the good ole PRC), when they would be better off running their Priuses off the smell of their own farts.

Before fxh chimes in here - I actually have papers published on this topic. So I guess take my POV with a grain of salt.
 
The Shooman

The Shooman

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Dropbear said:
The Australian solar grid is fucking phenomenal. Over 30% of homes have panels on their roofs. They can then either store excess power in their own batteries or sell the excess to the grid. So instead of relying on large, centralized solar farms, the entire thing is decentralized and spread across the cities.
Click to expand...

I think it is a really bad idea. Why?

1). most likely using urghur slave labour
2). they have a limited life, so these toxic things will end up going to landfill, and the consumer will have to buy more solar panels to replace them at great cost
3). google how much coal is used to produce solar panels.

You see the scam? Hint, read points 2 and 3 again.
 
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