The state of the economy at the street level

[farmerge]

That's age related issues, I'm actually starting to notice it, but I still like a great visual show like 'Top gun Maverick' on the big screen it is just amazing.
On the TV (I do have the blue ray) it just isn't in the same league, the visuals in the cinema are worth the cost of sound cancelling headphones, just to watch it IMO. Lol

I'm not too sue about age related issues as we took our granddaughters with us some time times, 2 were teenagers and the youngest was about 9.
The three of them all complained about the high, deafening volume.

 

[TimeISmoney]

I think this song is justifiable.

 

[Smurf1976]

The last time I took my work ear muffs and She had ear plugs.

Musicians' earplugs are the best option for that sort of thing. They're not cheap but you get perfect audio quality just at a lower volume.

Perfect for using right up the front at concerts but you could wear them to a cinema too.

Just have to get the right ones, there's a few options for attenuation level.

 

[sptrawler]

I'm not too sue about age related issues as we took our granddaughters with us some time times, 2 were teenagers and the youngest was about 9.
The three of them all complained about the high, deafening volume.

My appolgies I said that badly, what I meant was when I was young I went to see Black Sabath, led Zeplin, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd etc live and the closer I got to the speakers the better, now in my late 60's I cant stand load noises.
Guess I was generalising, without thinking people would take it literally.

 

[mullokintyre]

WOW, this headline doesn't sound good, it looks like cracks are appearing. Literally.

Councils pitch flexible rates to tackle ‘alarming’ funding woes

Struggling councils say services will be cut and infrastructure will deteriorate if they don’t have more say over rate rises.

www.theage.com.au

From the article:
Cash-strapped Victorian councils say they will be forced to let roads deteriorate, sell off assets and ditch aged care and kindergarten services unless the state government loosens its grip over how much they can hike rates.
The peak body for councils wants to move to a “multi-year approach”, giving councils a rate cap over four years instead of one – and the ability to charge more in one year and less the next.

The increases are set based on a forecast of the consumer price index – which measures inflation – to reduce pressures on household budgets. But local government bodies and councils have complained that actual inflation often easily surpasses the cap, leaving them struggling to keep up.

Quelle surprise!
Councils are merely finding out how their constituents are going.
Everyone else has to tighten their belts, make decisions about non essential survival items, forgoing luxuries, eating out less, using cheaper ingredients etc etc.
However, the local council sees it always as a funding issue, to with not enough thereof.
No thought of cutting down on expenses, less of the frivolous feel good stuff ( of which our local council employees are masters).
Perhaps not employing as many exployees, less management and more workers perhaps.
Excuse my cynicism.
Mick

 

[qldfrog]

Quelle surprise!
Councils are merely finding out how their constituents are going.
Everyone else has to tighten their belts, make decisions about non essential survival items, forgoing luxuries, eating out less, using cheaper ingredients etc etc.
However, the local council sees it always as a funding issue, to with not enough thereof.
No thought of cutting down on expenses, less of the frivolous feel good stuff ( of which our local council employees are masters).
Perhaps not employing as many exployees, less management and more workers perhaps.
Excuse my cynicism.
Mick

Noosa shire just upped rates by 5.5%. And then you are reminded that the last valuation of properties in the shire was up 30%+ in 2 years
Do yes expect their income increase to be well above 10%..and these hypocritical bastards will pull full pages on how we need to stop Airbnb by slugging more fees to help affordable housing, causd Airbnb is the problem...
Will be happy not to pay rates there anymore asap..not that Sunshine coast is better.
But at least , the mayor and councillors got a bit of a shake up in sunny coast, while the old corrupt clique in Noosa shire got reelected....

 

[sptrawler]

I thought our council was the only one that seemed to waste money endlessly. Lol
About 4 years ago they extended the foreshore out into the water about 10meters, for a length of about 500m, rolled on lawn really nice.
Now they have fenced it all off, killed the lawn and cementing the area, it should be finished by 2025 apparently. Everyone you ask is saying, why?
Strange people councils.

 

[divs4ever]

About 4 years ago they extended the foreshore out into the water about 10meters, for a length of about 500m, rolled on lawn really nice.
Now they have fenced it all off, killed the lawn and cementing the area, it should be finished by 2025 apparently. Everyone you ask is saying, why?
Strange people councils.

global warming ( or they have buddies in the concreting/fencing industry )

maybe they will turn it into a caravan park for the homeless ( OOPS tourists )

 

[sptrawler]

maybe they will turn it into a caravan park for the homeless ( OOPS tourists )

Many times something said in jest, is extremely close to the truth.

 

[divs4ever]

Many times something said in jest, is extremely close to the truth.

i have to, otherwise i would have been lynched years back

at 5 my mum used to call me 'the voice of doom' ( and never rewarded for being correct ... until i started in the share market )

 

[wayneL]

While the E plebeians were distracted with bread and circuses:

 

[JohnDe]

The streets of Victoria may become quieter and poorer soon. Victorian taxpayers may be staring down the barrel of higher taxes, and it might be Jeff Kennett to the rescue again.

A poorer Victoria means a poorer Australia.

Victoria has become “a basket case” again because it borrowed “so much money on infrastructure projects that were never tightly managed, over budget and years behind delivery”.​

​

This “will adversely affect every other service provided by government, and cost opportunities for citizens”.​

The place is a mess. The Victorian building industry has collapsed, watch the video -

 

[LeFeek]

I get what you mean. I’ve been seeing a lot of shops shutting down in my area lately, too. Just the other day, I walked past a bookstore that’s been around for ages, and now it’s gone. Plus, a few of my friends are having a tough time with their jobs, and it’s definitely got me feeling uneasy about the economy. It’s a bit of a downer seeing all these changes up close.

 

[mullokintyre]

The place is a mess. The Victorian building industry has collapsed, watch the video -

There is a heart warming story about the man who started Shangrila Building in Sydney Morning Herald.

Obaid Naqebullah makes the journey from Afghan refugee to running a multi-million dollar construction company with 50 employees seem easy.

The managing director of Shangri-La Construction came to Australia with his family as a teenager after living for seven years in New Delhi as a refugee and settled in a rental home in Wantirna, in Melbourne's east.
"It was war in Afghanistan so it was not safe to be there. We applied to Australia and America and we got accepted in Australia," Mr Naqebullah said.
"I was young at the time ... I remember there were rockets, fighting going on. Safety was an issue and security. Different groups were fighting among themselves," he said.

"We were an average family. My father was an accountant in Afghan Airlines."
Mr Naqebullah's success in construction has been anything but average.
Shangri-La, a company he founded in partnership with Dodo entrepreneur Larry Kestelman in 2008, is turning over $120 million worth of building work every two years.
He expects that to increase by 30 per cent over the next five years.
Shangri-La has just completed a five-level apartment for BPM Corp in Queens Parade, North Fitzroy and lists another 12 medium-sized apartment developments on its books.

Mick

 

[moXJO]

The place is a mess. The Victorian building industry has collapsed, watch the video -

This guy missed a lot of the basics. Roof sheets not turned down into the box gutter for one. Thats a huge cause of leaks and should have been instantly recognisable. The distance between sumps looks suss as well. Hard to tell with the other areas without being there.

But this is what I mean by saying even the guys that supposedly know what they are doing miss basic sht.

 

[divs4ever]

This guy missed a lot of the basics. Roof sheets not turned down into the box gutter for one. Thats a huge cause of leaks and should have been instantly recognisable. The distance between sumps looks suss as well. Hard to tell with the other areas without being there.

But this is what I mean by saying even the guys that supposedly know what they are doing miss basic sht.

after being in a hotel for three years while a house was being repaired from water damage ( caused by a previous bad repair ) , yes i was truly amused by the video

it is amazing how even the re-repairs often miss standards by a noticeable mark

 

[TimeISmoney]

This guy missed a lot of the basics. Roof sheets not turned down into the box gutter for one. Thats a huge cause of leaks and should have been instantly recognisable. The distance between sumps looks suss as well. Hard to tell with the other areas without being there.

But this is what I mean by saying even the guys that supposedly know what they are doing miss basic sht.

Most of them are turned down, I think it's the fish eye in the camera lens that makes them look straight. You got keep in mind that this guy is one of the only inspectors to name these grubs and he gets constant death threats.

 

[moXJO]

Most of them are turned down, I think it's the fish eye in the camera lens that makes them look straight. You got keep in mind that this guy is one of the only inspectors to name these grubs and he gets constant death threats.

View attachment 179773

You are correct. Looking at it from my phone behind a dirty cover is probably the reason.

 

[TimeISmoney]

after being in a hotel for three years while a house was being repaired from water damage ( caused by a previous bad repair ) , yes i was truly amused by the video

it is amazing how ever the re-repairs often miss standards by a noticeable mark

The last guy I used for a building and pest inspection in the mid 2000s for a new home, I had to tell him to add extras onto the report. His excuse was that they were minor defects and the authorities would laugh. When I sent the report to Qcat ( I think it was them at the time) they basically said you're on your own and we have a huge backlog of people with major defects like houses about to fall down. It's best to chase them up in court, but within 2 years these builders went insolvent.

 

[divs4ever]

The last guy I used for a building and pest inspection in the mid 2000s for a new home, I had to tell him to add extras onto the report. His excuse was that they were minor defects and the authorities would laugh. When I sent the report to Qcat ( I think it was them at the time) they basically said you're on your own and we have a huge backlog of people with major defects like houses about to fall down. It's best to chase them up in court, but within 2 years these builders went insolvent.

going to be REAL interesting ( in the building in the video ) what happens when mould/mildew becomes a health issue there ( things in the house repairs were stumbling along in the first year .. until they discovered the mould in the internal walls .. nearly all of them )