I got this little mystery that's bugging me.

Late last year I got rear ended. The car was repaired under insurance. When I got it back, there was a black thing left on the console. I thought it was a trailer thing (the tow bar was repaired - I am not much of a car guy).

A few weeks after, I was surprised there was no windscreen fluid. I was even more surprised when I couldn't fill the reservoir - it poured out underneath. Thought the accident must have cracked the reservoir, but it turns out the entire washer pump was gone.

I checked insurance and asked if the repairer did work on the front of the car. I felt an idiot just asking it - I got rear-ended. They said they didn't touch the pump.

Cynical part of me thinks there's a black market, but the pump is only $50. I was about to order it and realise it's the part on my console.

I installed it today, it all worked fine. It must be the repairer who took it out - it didn't drop on the road or hang off the harness. But why would they?

I have one of those old school Hills Hoist which I love. The crank mechanism though had been clunky even back 10+ years ago.

I had this plan to refurbish it from way back, but I wasn't sure if I can handle the weight of the hoist when I strip it down.

Today I had a look again, and it's the first time I noticed there's a hole for oiling the mechanism which I've never noticed before.

I'm an engineer, ladies and gentlemen. Don't trust engineers to be practical.

I have a flower pot next to my desk to serve as a reminder of my failure in horticulture. I have never been able to maintain a plant for more than a couple of months in it.

But in the last few weeks, I have once again forgotten my deficiencies and decided to try growing some Pansies. They were selected by the kids committee, and my only criteria was that they must be edible by Guinea Pigs.

The plant seem to flourish but I am now seeing aphids. My youngest with the full gravitas of her seven years on Earth tells me I need ladybugs. I told her since I didn't have any on hand, I'll just have to use tweezers.

Let's see how long these flowers last.

Am I a bad father if I don't tell the kids Kpop Demon Hunter Sing-Along is at Hoyts?

https://www.hoyts.com.au/movies/k-pop-demon-hunters-sing-along

Federal election day today. I thought about doing the early vote, but I want to make the kids stand in line so they can feel their civic duty. Hopefully there'll be sausages afterwards to reinforce the Pavlov response.

Especially in the current climate, democratic society cannot be taken for granted. There's a website (link below) that says only 29% of all people live in a democracy in 2021. Further down the article, it also warns that political polarisation is linked with democratic decline.

I think it's important to avoid falling into camps and barracking as though it's a sport. It's unfortunate that politicians of all shades had figured it's easier to pitch to the animalistic mob part of our brain than to pitch boring facts and grounded ideas.

Democracy cannot be taken for granted. We are lucky to be born in a time and place where we are granted this responsibility. Fellow Ozzies, whichever way you lean, vote and support our democracy.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/how-many-people-live-in-a-political-democracy-today/

I am glad we have an institution like the CSIRO to carry out proper analysis and not waver under political pressure. I am genuinely more interested in that single graph labelled "Estimated cost of power sources in 2024" than the entire rest of the article.

Let's admit it, regardless of our political persuasion, how many of us actually tried to figure out the cost? I haven't, even though I have my own preconception, however uninformed it might be.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-09/nuclear-power-plant-twice-as-costly-as-renewables/104691114

As a long term reader of The Onion, waking up to this news is surreal.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-15/-the-onion-buys-alex-jones-infowars-out-of-bankruptcy/104603560