less cars : roll on $2 per litre

TimC wrote:

I do wear rose-tinted glasses while cycling, but they don't work so
well when making decisions about my kids' education. That's why they
don't go to the high school. The evidence is clear enough. As for other
people's kids, yes, I'm happy for you to decide to use the high school,
good idea, saves money, easier transport etc.

(... reminding myself this is about cycling).

Donga

Zebee Johnstone wrote:
Your kids can take the bus just like I had to if I wanted to go
anywhere. Won't kill 'em. Will teach 'em to manage. If they can't
get up early enough they don't want it enough.

They do, when it works. It's 15 minutes walk, five minutes train, X
minutes wait, 10 minutes train, 20 minutes walk, X depending on how
well the trains coincide. Or 40 minutes bus once per day either way.
That's all very well, until your timetable varies a bit.

Donga

Wrote:
cfsmtb wrote:
Freight? Logistics? Unless there is a immediate shift to returning
Australia's freight requirements back to rolling stock, we could be
potentially in for a very rude shock regarding food prices. So why
don't food producers grow stuff closer to the population centers??

How about your back yard? Or your front yard for that matter.

My wife has been studying nutrition as part her master's in ed. One
of the factors leading to high levels of obesity is the high cost of
fresh food vs cheap processed foods. Then the quality of the
fresh fruit and veg is deteriorating too, and we can't afford to buy
all organic.

So last week I finally got around to laying out a vege garden.
Rhubarb, cucumber, capsicum and silverbeet to start with We
already have various herbs and lettuce in with the flowers.

It craps me when people with V8s complain about the cost
of fuel. Now I am beginning to think that people with gardens
who whinge about the cost of food are much the same.
And its not just the cost differential of processed/unprocessed foods.
Many people have lost the ability to turn ingredients into food. I was
just in Woolworths in the city at lunchtime to re-stock the jelly snake
jar in my office. I wasn't paying much attention at the check-out but
there was some unusual fiddling about with bits of paper, so I looked
up. The check-out chick was processing a Department for Community
Development emergency purchase order for an older woman with a young
boy. I glanced at their shopping - chocolate biscuits, potato chips,
corn chips and other crap things. Things gotta change.

SteveA


--
SteveA

On 2006-08-15, (aka Bruce)
was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea:
On 14 Aug 2006 19:52:10 -0700, "AndrewJ" wrote:

Is it just my imagination, or are there actually less cars out there?
Seems to me that it is starting to reduce slightly.

Roll on $2 per litre.

Which means absolutely everything will cost more.

Roll diesel back to 50 cents per litre.

Damn, you've convinced me.

_I hereby declarum that diesel be 50 cents per litre._

There, done.

--
TimC
``Here, sanity ... niiiiiice sanity, come to daddy ... okay, that's a
good sanity ... {*THWONK!*} _Got_ the *******.'' -- Anthony de Boer in ASR

In aus.bicycle on 14 Aug 2006 23:57:09 -0700
Donga wrote:

Zebee Johnstone wrote:
Your kids can take the bus just like I had to if I wanted to go
anywhere. Won't kill 'em. Will teach 'em to manage. If they can't
get up early enough they don't want it enough.

They do, when it works. It's 15 minutes walk, five minutes train, X
minutes wait, 10 minutes train, 20 minutes walk, X depending on how
well the trains coincide. Or 40 minutes bus once per day either way.
That's all very well, until your timetable varies a bit.

Yup, sounds familiar.

I used to look at timetables to work out bus and train routes.

You get to decide if they have to handle it or you keep paying heaps.

Maybe even find out if they want it enough.

Zebee

I used to think parents getting their young children participating in
organised sports was like dog owners getting into dog clubs & puppy
school etc. But now that I know a lot of young families, it seems like
the accepted thing for what is regarded as balanced child rearing.
With the way things are with child care, work & spare time nowadays,
most parents spend a majority of time with their children stuck in
traffic in between ‘events’.

Prob is with Aussie lifestyle, it all revolves around the car. Imagine
the viability of (Melbourne) residential estates like Point Cook &
Roxburg Park if it wasn’t for the availability for the car.
And this lifestyle has been ramping up to a greater & greater extent
since the ‘50s, so it’s coming as a culture shock to think that you
might need to walk around to actually get things done, instead of a
means to past the time.

But I don’t think that everyone should use p/t & ride a bike tomorrow.
I suppose people will need to gradually consider modifications in
lifestyle to account for lesser dependence on the car. Things like,
living in denser, more central areas to work & family. Trend away from
going across town for dinner/shopping/etc.


--
Marx SS

Stuart Lamble wrote:
What we *need* is for the government to retract the funding from private
schools (especially Catholic schools), and put it into public education.

I send my kids to a private school. It certainly isn't rich, and at
times it has come dangerously close to bankruptcy. My kids get a
good education and the teachers are amazingly dedicated. If my kids
went to the state school it wouldn't save any government funding, quite
the reverse in fact.

Not only are we committed to the education our kids receive, but
we are horrified by the techniques and environment offered in the
state system. Parents are pulling their kids out of state schools
in droves, and it isn't some sort of consumerist status thing.

On 2006-08-15, SteveA wrote:
Many people have lost the ability to turn ingredients into food.

Word. I *love* baking ... so you can imagine just how annoyed I was when
I realised that the damn shops were selling "bread mix" instead of
"bread flour". *BIG* difference.

--
My Usenet From: address now expires after two weeks. If you email me, and
the mail bounces, try changing the bit before the "@" to "usenet".

I find it amazing that parents today are willing to drive their kids
around almost to the detriment of their own lives, even when their kids
are able to either walk or cycle to where they are going. The same goes
for people flogging themselves to death at work so they can pay
exhorbitant private school fees and clothes. I can't see how that is
healthy for either parents or the children. I remember when I was a kid
that whenever we played away games, there was usually car pooling or a
roster system between the parents. At home games, we would often walk
or ride to games.


--
deejbah

Zebee Johnstone Wrote:
In aus.bicycle on 14 Aug 2006 23:57:09 -0700
Donga wrote:

Zebee Johnstone wrote:
Your kids can take the bus just like I had to if I wanted to go
anywhere. Won't kill 'em. Will teach 'em to manage. If they can't
get up early enough they don't want it enough.

They do, when it works. It's 15 minutes walk, five minutes train, X
minutes wait, 10 minutes train, 20 minutes walk, X depending on how
well the trains coincide. Or 40 minutes bus once per day either way.
That's all very well, until your timetable varies a bit.

Yup, sounds familiar.

I used to look at timetables to work out bus and train routes.

You get to decide if they have to handle it or you keep paying heaps.

Maybe even find out if they want it enough.

Zebee
I don't know why people think kids *don't* do these things... one of
my youngsters crosses the city umpteen times a week getting to and fro
to a variety of sporting activities - sometimes by PT, sometimes on her
bike, sometimes walking. But sometimes this is impossible - like a
hockey match at 8pm on a Friday night in Geelong or Ballarat, and I'll
borrow or hire a car. Sure, she could just not play, but only playing
games that are convenient isn't much of a way for a team to be, well, a
team. And there aren't alternatives at present for both her age,
gender, and level. There is car pooling, but again that may not cut
down much on distances travelled unless a team all live close by and
near PT.

ali


--
alison_b