There's a lot of not so quiet muttering on the North Coast as retirees discuss the possibility that the subsidised roof insulation installed in their homes over the last year is unsafe.
All the media exposure about shoddy work and greedy spivs has masked another emerging problem - that of other types of roofing work contracted for by local affordable housing providers.
Seems at least one provider is canvassing its tenants to find out if one particular company has left a trail of leaking or unsafe roofs in its wake after sub-contracting work to non-tilers.
Whatever happened to company ethics or pride in a bloke's workmanship?
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
A word in your shell-like, Tones
Since he successfully knifed 'Truffles' Turnbull in the back and vaulted over the corpse into Liberal Party leadership, Tony 'Mad Monk' Abbott has been almost unrelentingly negative in what he says for public consumption in his unofficial 2010 federal election campaign.
Presumably he thinks that constant carping and attack will compensate for the tissue thin economic, social and environmental policies in which he wraps himself.
Even when he attempts a 'positive he fails. You've just gotta laugh at his latest contribution which will be welcomed like a dose of plague by the Coalition's traditional supporters in big business.
Tones, despite slight incremental growth in recent opinion polls, this negativity will eventually kill you if you persist.
Nobody likes a whinger.
Monday, 8 March 2010
Bring out your e-waste!
Bring out your
Heard that call from your local council sometime in the last two years? Then you are one of the lucky ones.
Responsible people are running out of room in their garages and sheds to safely store this waste, while local government often only pays lip service to policies on garbage, recycling, safe disposal and landfill.
Clean Up Australia Day founder, Ian Kiernan, has stepped up calls for national laws to crack down on e-waste producers, as almost 600,000 Australians rolled up their sleeves and got stuck into the annual litter bust.
Which is fine sentiment, but also ignores the fact that ordinary people are storing mini-mountains of this waste, because many local councils are unwilling to take it off the homeowner's hands on dedicated kerbside collection days.
Will global warming be the death of the party balloon?
The passing years don't just mean that I am getting older, they also add to the number of times I've done mundane things like made beds, swept floors, cooked meals, hung washing and come home tired from work. The years also mark the fact that I've done a heap of fun things including....... blowing up festive brightly-coloured balloons for birthdays, anniversaries, farewells and plain old Let's party! occasions.
This year I have inflated a slew of balloons for three separate events with party packs purchased from three different stores on the NSW North Coast which were not air-conditioned.
A large number of these balloons were obviously starting to show a degree of heat stress - some sticking together in the packet, others showing slight fading and a few slow leaks developing as they were inflated.
Which set me wondering - will such fragile things as party balloons retain a reasonable shelf life in the face of the record high temperatures Australia has been experiencing in recent years?
And what else might be found to last for relatively shorter periods in stock store rooms and on display shelves?
Balloon graphic from Google Images
2009 Annual Australian Climate Statement Map from BoM
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