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  1. #31
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
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    Ringwood, VIC
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    575

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    You'll be set then. Lots of pine plantations around Traralgon.
    And coal smoke.
    And dust
    And soot
    At least hazelwood is shut, a staggering difference in air quality.
    And afaik the smell from the paper mill is a thing of the past.
    (visit the valley regularly, grew up in Morwell and my mum and brother still live there)


    Russ

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  3. #32
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Earth
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    I have been in Traralgon for almost 2 months. I have been flat out with work. I scored a job as a woodworking/metalworking teacher at the local high school. I have been trying to get two workshops up and running after being negelegted and abused for years. None of the machines work, there are no tools except boxes and boxes of nails and claw hammers. The kids having nothing to do so they spent their time hammering nails into workbenches took me a week to pull them all out. There was so much rubbish in the both workshops that it took 10 ute loads to remove all of wood scraps, failed woodworking projects, car motors and scrap metal. At the same time I need to teach, develop curriculum and learn all the bureaucracy of teaching. The staff are nice and supportive. The kids are a mixed bag.

    I am living in a really nice spacious & modern house. I have a double garage for my woodworking, a large shed that I want to convert into a metalworking workshop and a second smaller shed that I use to store my beer brewing gear all for less then what I paid in Melbourne.

    The town is nice, it has all the big shops & services. Once a month a there is farmers market which is nice however very expensive (so I look for the most part). Folks are friendly enough, strangers on the street say hello. I live on the other side of town but it takes a 10 minute drive to get from home to work.

    The negatives are that fruit and vegetables are expensive. Variety is limited. There is no ethnic food. Coffee is substandard and costs a fortune $5.5 for a medium watery latte. Take away food is bland and tasteless. The paper mill smell is still a problem depending on the which way the wind is blowing. You go outside and this bad smell fills the air, its hard to describe its a cross between organic waste and synthetic chemical smell. Then you can look out towards Loy Yang and the coal power station. Looking at the sky you can see this grey cloud even on clear days, follow it down towards the horizon the cloud splits into 6 columns gushing from the chimney stacks. So the air quality is worse than living in the city.

    Then their is the intergenerational poverty this place has a very much the wrong side of the railway tracks. As a teacher I see kids, from both sides. La Trobe valley has 4 times the states domestic violence rate, and double the states murder suicide rate. A large number of my kids have apprehend violence orders on their names.

    Once I get a car I will be making regular trips to Melbourne so that I can stock pile dried fruit, cheese, coffee, beans, nuts, pasta, Asian sauces/pastes, tofu, spices, meat etc etc..

    I will try to last 3 years, give it enough time to safe some money and get myself on a more solid economic footing. Beyond that I am not certain.

  4. #33
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Langwarrin
    Age
    43
    Posts
    952

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    Hopefully after a bit if time you may discover a couple if gems as far as food outlets go, and fingers crossed if the manual skills classes take off then some of these wayward teenagers will discover a love for something other than running amok - and that will be thanks to the hard work of a diligent teacher that spent a week pulling nails out of old work benches.....
    "All the gear and no idea"

  5. #34
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Sydney
    Posts
    1,166

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    PM me your postal address and your coffee desires and I'll send you a care package to tide you over.... I have a batch sitting here ready to go from my last roast I did a few weeks ago.

  6. #35
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    5,124

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    Poundy has it right!

    Use Woolworths home delivery, or failing that Amazon! OR ring a good cafe/deli in Melbourne and have them stuff a box full of your favourite things

    Never too late to learn to cook!

    edit: Thumbsucker, your Location is still Melbourne

  7. #36
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Earth
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    3,567

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    My hope is that time over the coming years I can build the technology subject up. My hope rests with the year sevens. Getting them enthusiastic and committed to the subject. Seeing that there is a future in design, jewellery making, craft, architecture, industrial design, interior design and furniture making. At the moment it is seen as a dumping ground for the "special" kids on their way out of school. I had a punch up today in one of my classes. A female aid in the middle with two kids throwing wild punches, a second aid needed to step in to pull them apart.

    The year sevens in metal are doing pewter castings that they are turning into brooches, rings, key chains, etc etc... In wood they are learning to carve a wooden spoon using gouges and spokeshaves. Really basic projects but I think they are working well as introductions to both mediums as I only have them for 1 term not a semester. I trying to get the year 8's to built a post and rung foot stool. Some will make it, some will not. It is a balancing act, make it interesting, make it a learning experience, build skills and make it challenging.

    I will post some photos in a few weeks.

    woodPixel I am a good cook. My first job was as an apprentice chef many years ago. I suppose that is part of the problem, also living in the ethnic heart of inner north of Melbourne, if I lived off McDonalds than I would not have a problem.

    Thanks for the offer poundy. Are you pro roaster? I have my little stove top coffeemaker. I tend to like dark roasted coffee the way the arabs have it.

    Gabriel I have been told that the local wines are good, and I am sure that when I get a car to around to visit some of the towns in the area, and hopefully find some fine food. I am told that there is allot of Venison going around. Hunting and guns is big in this part of the world so I am looking to see if I can score some in the future.

  8. #37
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Location
    St Georges Basin
    Posts
    1,015

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    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post
    Every time I hear Wangaratta I am reminded of Nick Cave the musician who grew up their.
    I understood Warracknabeal was the town involved.

  9. #38
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    Earth
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    Born in Warracknabeal grew up in Wangaratta, then Melbourne

  10. #39
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    27,756

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    Sounds like some good projects going with those kids,

    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post
    . . . I tend to like dark roasted coffee the way the arabs have it. .
    My limited Middle east experience is that while it varies a lot most only lightly roast their coffee beans. In fact quite a bit of the so called "coffee" I had there was made with a mix of mildly roasted and green beans - it was like drilling a brew made from straw. The most highly roasted coffees I've seen are roasts by old school Italian espresso roasters. Like the coffee being roasted in the 1960s' - shiny glossy black roasts - aromas and tastes of burnt toffee and charcoal.

    Most of the best coffee roasters will deliver. They're expensive but if you want to try some of the best coffee in Australian then look up Five Senses coffee. They started in Perth but have Roasters in Melb. I've been a customers of theirs for 25 years - used to go through 4kg a month at my place but in the last few years are down to 2.5kg.

    BTW if you are worried about air quality have a look at these consumer level PM2.5 dust meters (They PM2.5 stands for Particulate matter 2.5 microns and smaller)
    https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Househol...5724dbdf2bc728
    There are cheaper ones but these actually give something close to the right answers, they even display up to 10 microns although the 5 and 10 micron ranges are a bit low.
    You can also use it in your wood work classes.
    Just don't put it near a high level dust source like a WW machine or power tool - this will kills it. Keep is at least 1m away from any visible dust stream.

  11. #40
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Canberra
    Posts
    5,124

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    BobL, how good is that particulate metre! Amazing. I'm grabbing one, maybe two.

    Thanks also for the coffee roasting place. We are big drinkers and looking to find something that's not in a packet.

  12. #41
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    27,756

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    Quote Originally Posted by woodPixel View Post
    BobL, how good is that particulate metre! Amazing. I'm grabbing one, maybe two.
    I did a review of that meter when I got mine in 2018 - my description starts at post #138 in tis thread and full review is a few posts past that one
    Developments in Dust Sensor tech

  13. #42
    Join Date
    Mar 2018
    Location
    Sydney
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    1,166

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    Quote Originally Posted by thumbsucker View Post
    Thanks for the offer poundy. Are you pro roaster? I have my little stove top coffeemaker. I tend to like dark roasted coffee the way the arabs have it.
    No I'm a "passionate home roaster with a coffee hobby who has a larger than normal group of coffee drinking friends". I roast every few weeks (slightly more often than once a month) and send beans to friends and family around the country (although largely just work colleagues and close friends). Far from a pro-roaster, even if I have a commercial coffee roaster that I run in my backyard (random ebay purchase from MANY years ago). But I roast and many people seem to like it. I did a swap of coffee for some pen blanks a little while ago, so @Ironwood may chime in and comment. My roasting is more suited to espresso and filter preparation as it's (significantly?) lighter than what I'd expect dark-roast and stove-top imply, but you're still welcome to have some if you'd like. @Woodpixel, happy to send some your way too if you like (plus I can give you Canberra recommendations if you want). I like Five Senses too, although it's been a few years since I've drunk their coffee (pre their Melbourne opening I think). These days if I want a change I tend to go to a company in Newcastle, Josie Coffee, who have some great coffees especially if you're into unique single origin coffees in filter perparations...

  14. #43
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    near Mackay
    Age
    59
    Posts
    4,628

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    Quote Originally Posted by poundy View Post
    ".........so @Ironwood may chime in and comment....
    Poundy sent me 1/2 kg of his Xmas blend and a kg of his January blend.
    My machine is a DeLonghi Perfecta, a fairy automatic machine but still makes a passable coffee. I found the Xmas blend to be excellent, family and friends who tried it, all commented positively. I would be happy to drink that coffee for the rest of my life. The January blend wasn’t as good, but still far better than the Vittoria Oro beans that I had been previously using, and several steps up from the pod coffee that I also drink.
    I am currently using some beans that I got from my favourite coffee shop @ $60 kg, the Xmas blend I would rate higher than these beans.
    I am by no means a Barista, but I can tell Poundy knows his stuff.
    ​Brad.

  15. #44
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    Mar 2006
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    Earth
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    Thanks for the information on some interesting coffee rosters. The Crompton Road from Five Sense sounds like my cup of coffees.


    My local arabic shop in Coburg used to sell an Aden roast from Yemen. Very chocolaty and full bodied, not to acidic. A former house mate used to work at Seven Seeds in Melbourne and they had some interesting stuff.


    Poundy I will PM you. I am not sure what I can swap for an exchange. I have some interesting woods.

  16. #45
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Perth
    Posts
    27,756

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    I finally found something useful to do with the mountains of coffee ground we generate. I used to put them direct onto the lawn and they used to just disappear in a couple of days but according to the green thumbs the coffee grounds will turn into better compost by adding something with more nitrogen so after a big of research I add dog poo (two dogs - small back yard) in a compost container as this solves two problems at the same time.

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