Salvo

When we built 6 years ago, we advised the builder that we wanted a Zero Energy house and that it would be audited and profiled by the SECCCA and published in their magazine.

We weren’t seeking any discount or special treatment, but it would have been a great opportunity for this builder to showcase that they are progressive.

Every step of the way, the Site Supervisor and contractors snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. It is was almost as if they were trying to sabotage the build.

It came to a head when they tried to install an “electric assist” hot water service instead of a fully electric hot water service. We never had Gas to site.

The Site Supervisor and their manager called us idiots for not wanting gas and ranted and raved. They said it was not possible to have a house in Australia without Gas hot water.

Their CEO got involved and pointed out that his house did not have Gas to site, he had two Tesla PowerWalls and 20kW of solar over two inverters and was essentially off-grid in suburbia. He got a rebate from his power company every month.

The Site Supervisor was fired and their manager was given a demotion.

Building Inspectors used to be employed by local government and were audited to prevent them being able to take bribes.

Now Building Inspectors are employed by the builder. Their whole business model is one big bribe.

I see people walk out of the supermarket without paying constantly.

They just walk out with carry-baskets full of stuff, the staff call them out and they just keep walking with no consequences! They don’t even return the baskets!

Meanwhile, us honest people at the self-checkouts get treated like a criminal if we want to purchase something that is too light for the scales to register and are treated like social deviants if we don’t want to use a loyalty card.

“Back when I was a lad, we used to commute into the city every day in our V8-powered sedan and it only took 10 minutes because petrol only cost 30c/l and there weren’t as many cars on the road.” “I expect my workers to do the same, even though petrol is $2.30/l and it takes them an hour to and from work.”

Consumer phones in regional areas are still an issue. As @baku said, 3G has better range than 4G (which has better range than 5G). If someone in the middle of the bush, or on a country road needs to use their 5G phone, they may not have coverage.

I have a friend that had to drive 10km with a cracked skull, ribs and broken arm and leg because he didn’t have coverage on his farm. He now has 3G coverage, but not 4G.

The other problem is that tradies don’t know how to / can’t be bothered learning to reduce a buildings energy consumption.

We had an argument for weeks with the Site Supervisor because his subcontractor didn’t want to install the Reverse-Cycle condensers on the south side of the house because it was “too hard”.

One of the refrigerant lines insulation was nicked during installation and we started getting condensation stains through the walls.

The contractor came back and once again, he wanted to relocate the condenser on the north side. He kept blaming us for making him run the pipes to a location that was “too hard” for him.

This guy claimed to be an Air Conditioning specialist and couldn’t understand how a heat exchanger in direct sunlight will not be as efficient at cooling as a heat exchanger on the cold side of the house.

It’s not “America Bad”. It is “Capitalism Bad”. When a builder or contractor can save 5c in the dollar by half-arseing the job, and then come back to “fix” it and charge $1 extra for something that would have been 5c worth of extra work, they win and we loose.

I think it is mainly because;

• Melbourne and Sydney (and Adelaide) have historically always had mild weather. The extremes we are starting to see now had only been occasional. Now they are consistent.
• energy prices have always been deflated. There has always been plenty of cheap natural gas avalable.
• commercial builders have been reluctant to embrace new technologies like aerated concrete panels and the market does not support highly rated insulation batts.
• inflated qualified labour pricing has resulted in builders and improvement contractors taking the quickest, simplest option instead of the best option (eg. blow-in powdered insulation instead of batts).

I like getting to Sydney overnight.

If I have to stay in a cheap hotel in Tullamarine so I don’t miss my flight, I arrive stressed, tired, hungry and usually late for my appointment.

If I catch the XPT from Southern Cross, I arrive refreshed, relaxed and satiated. I can then take advantage of Sydney’s public transport to get to my appointment on time.

As a driving enthusiast, I agree 100%.

Everyone benefits when there are multiple safe transport options available.

If you are stuck in traffic behind a Bus, or at a Level Crossing, or at a cyclist or pedestrian crossing, you need to remember that you are stuck in traffic. If the other traffic wasn’t there, and they were all taking the train, bus, bike or Shanks’ Pony, you wouldn’t be stuck in traffic.

Belarus.

That was what I was going to say.

That said, if someone detects some sort of data-mining plagiarism bot sucking down everything on an instance, it can be defederated very quickly.