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THE VIRUS 2020 - the good, the bad, and the ugly

You can thank Turnbull for this whole mess. Be that as it may, it is wrong to force Australians to switch to NBN. But... has there ever been an alternative once the roll-out had started? The switch from analogue to digital TV was similar in nature. A friend, who was unaware of the impending switch, had bought a huge, heavy analogue set, only to be forced to discard it a few months later.

You don't fancy the idea of a tradie coming onto your premises - understandably so - but what if you need an electrician or a plumber?

Hi luckily I can do my own electrical work if need be around the home, the only time i've ever needed a plumber was for a burst water pipe outside the house, nothing wrong inside the house luckily. I just change the odd tap washer every now and then myself.

Thanks for the replies regarding the NBN connection everyone, we have a large grey coloured box that's been installed outside the house with coax cable connecting this box to the street line. So I am assuming when a technician comes out he will have to run a cable into the house from this grey box which is sitting outside the wall at the moment. We were sent a letter from Tel$tra a while ago saying that existing copper line networks would remain connected for the time being and the NBN rollout was paused because of COVID-19. Well now it seems that it's being forced upon us COVID-19 or not!

I mean now in Melbourne because of last night's storm there is a potential contamination of the drinking water supply. Water should be boiled as a precaution before drinking etc. Gees were having a good run here in Melbourne at the moment... :(
 
I mean now in Melbourne because of last night's storm there is a potential contamination of the drinking water supply. Water should be boiled as a precaution before drinking etc. Gees were having a good run here in Melbourne at the moment... :(
There will be a bunch of very smug people who had hoarded bottled water in Melbourne right about now - this may not have been the reason they thought they would need it but they will be pleased they did it!
 
Hi luckily I can do my own electrical work if need be around the home, the only time i've ever needed a plumber was for a burst water pipe outside the house, nothing wrong inside the house luckily. I just change the odd tap washer every now and then myself.

Thanks for the replies regarding the NBN connection everyone, we have a large grey coloured box that's been installed outside the house with coax cable connecting this box to the street line. So I am assuming when a technician comes out he will have to run a cable into the house from this grey box which is sitting outside the wall at the moment. We were sent a letter from Tel$tra a while ago saying that existing copper line networks would remain connected for the time being and the NBN rollout was paused because of COVID-19. Well now it seems that it's being forced upon us COVID-19 or not!

I mean now in Melbourne because of last night's storm there is a potential contamination of the drinking water supply. Water should be boiled as a precaution before drinking etc. Gees were having a good run here in Melbourne at the moment... :(
And I am feeling for you - things are effing crappy enough for you all withough that.
 
There will be a bunch of very smug people who had hoarded bottled water in Melbourne right about now - this may not have been the reason they thought they would need it but they will be pleased they did it!

Hi yes there is reports already of panic buying of bottled water in some parts of Melbourne! Oh well I drank some tap water in the morning before I heard the news. Not much you can do now just hope it doesn't make me ill.

Yes it's bad enough being in lockdown at least you had a good clean water supply while in isolation..well not any more. Hopefully it's resolved by the end of the day.
 
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So she didn't even need an exemption. She could have crossed the border. Very sad.

I wonder if her and her family were confused by the information or someone misinformed them.
 

So she didn't even need an exemption. She could have crossed the border. Very sad.

I wonder if her and her family were confused by the information or someone misinformed them.

Damage control.

“Queensland hospitals are for Queenslanders”
 
Wait... doesn't the landline run on electricity?

Nope. Not with the old school style phones. I kept my old one. Back in '01 my town had a huge storm. Some houses were without power for 10 days or more. We were still able to call all the oldies & check they were safe & not squashed or anything. I just swapped out my cordless phone (which did need power) and plugged back in the old landline one. Even if your service was disconnected, you were always able to still dial 000.

But now that cord get gets plugged into the wifi modem, which *does* need power.
 
Hi yes there is reports already of panic buying of bottled water in some parts of Melbourne! Oh well I drank some tap water in the morning before I heard the news. Not much you can do now just hope it doesn't make me ill.

Yes it's bad enough being in lockdown at least you had a good clean water supply while in isolation..well not any more. Hopefully it's resolved by the end of the day.

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I've got plenty of these at my place... want some?
 
Nope. Not with the old school style phones. I kept my old one. Back in '01 my town had a huge storm. Some houses were without power for 10 days or more. We were still able to call all the oldies & check they were safe & not squashed or anything. I just swapped out my cordless phone (which did need power) and plugged back in the old landline one. Even if your service was disconnected, you were always able to still dial 000.

But now that cord get gets plugged into the wifi modem, which *does* need power.
That's weird... I can't imagine how this works. Maybe it depends on whether the lines are above or underground - depending on the area. I would have thought electricity is required to send a signal in the first place... the pony express became obsolete on routes where there were telegraphs, thanks to electricity.
Maybe in your case there was some sort of a battery you were unaware of.
 
That's weird... I can't imagine how this works. Maybe it depends on whether the lines are above or underground - depending on the area. I would have thought electricity is required to send a signal in the first place... the pony express became obsolete on routes where there were telegraphs, thanks to electricity.
Maybe in your case there was some sort of a battery you were unaware of.
Older corded phones got its power directly from the phone lines not the power lines. So there could be a power outage but as long as the phone lines were not damaged as well the phones worked.
 
That's weird... I can't imagine how this works. Maybe it depends on whether the lines are above or underground - depending on the area. I would have thought electricity is required to send a signal in the first place... the pony express became obsolete on routes where there were telegraphs, thanks to electricity.
Maybe in your case there was some sort of a battery you were unaware of.

In all honestly, i have no idea. Our power is above ground. Phone cables underground, in the same pits they are rolling the NBN out in, well at least in my small town. I have often relied on that phone (before the days of mobiles). It used to be a run to the phone to bags it & call a girlfriend in the 80s, house with 4 girls and regular black outs back then......
 
Damage control.

“Queensland hospitals are for Queenslanders”

Geez this is sad :(

My fb from locals was telling me NSW health could transfer a patient plus one support person without that person having to isolate for 14 days first. Or maybe it was a support person to a patient under 18yrsold? (this started with the baby in Lismore needing to go to brisbane & bubs mum wasn't allowed into QLD unless she isololated for 14 days first:bang:) Again, from my fb locals, apparently this lady *was* permitted into QLD, however her partner was not allowed straight in. Because of that, they chose to go to sydney. It's NSW that had the delay in getting them to safety. imo.

This is exactly why more funding is needed for regional hospitals. My local no longer delivers babies. It just puts more & more pressure on the bigger hospitals.
 
Nope. Not with the old school style phones. I kept my old one. Back in '01 my town had a huge storm. Some houses were without power for 10 days or more. We were still able to call all the oldies & check they were safe & not squashed or anything. I just swapped out my cordless phone (which did need power) and plugged back in the old landline one. Even if your service was disconnected, you were always able to still dial 000.

But now that cord get gets plugged into the wifi modem, which *does* need power.
Older corded phones got its power directly from the phone lines not the power lines. So there could be a power outage but as long as the phone lines were not damaged as well the phones worked.
Thanks for explaining that. I've often wondered why phones used to work during blackouts but now don't...I guess I never gave it much thought until now.
 
That's weird... I can't imagine how this works. Maybe it depends on whether the lines are above or underground - depending on the area. I would have thought electricity is required to send a signal in the first place... the pony express became obsolete on routes where there were telegraphs, thanks to electricity.
Maybe in your case there was some sort of a battery you were unaware of.
Nope, the old style phones definitely still worked in a power outage.
 
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