You too mate...Make it 5 because 4 just sounds wrong...:)

Shooting all day, but that's now over so...A few coldies now...

Ah yes, I remember it. Well, make sure you do something Australian today...And tomorrow (Monday) is a public holiday here so you can Monday off too! 😂

Deal!

You're welcome. Happy Aus Day mate!

That's totally an Australia Day BBQ and counts for sure! Happy Straya Day!

Well, a coldie is traditionally a beer of course but certainly extends to encompass the shandy for the ladies...(Beer mixed with lemonade...) I'm going to call it and say yeah, a coldie can be an orange juice, provided that it is indeed cold..

Thanks mate, much appreciated. 🙂🇦🇺

Haha, well hopefully you make a packet on those shares...I'm sure tomorrow will help also (Public holiday)..

Hmm, good question.

I'm not sure I'd call it trauma or that confidence is dropping, or lacking...Aussies tend to be a fairly pragmatic bunch, at least traditionally, and I've always found situations like this bring people together, rather than pull them apart like a bad attitude will. Sure, there's people who probably do feel as you say, however in the main the underlying thought most are having is what can I do to help which is being seen from individuals all the way up through businesses and corporations.

Of course, times are different now than they were in the good old days and with an influx of new Australians the way of life, and certainly how people think, is shifting. In the main most Aussies will help their fellow man (or woman) because it's the right thing to do.

Yes, the country has experienced some very troubling times but it's nothing that hasn't happened before. I said in a post a while back that it's possible we'll have floods soon and the fires will seem like a dim memory for those who lose their homes, farms, crops and stock to flood waters...But you know what? We'll just roll up our sleeves, pitch in and help out our mates, even if we don't know them. That's sort of what we do.

Australia has always been a brutal country of extremes, we sort of know it and deal with what the country throws at us. What else is there to do?

Having said that...Confidence and attitude towards policy-makers is probably at a low ebb...Back-burning in bushland areas has meant these areas contain more fuel to burn and with years of drought conditions it's tender dry. It also prevents access to fire crews fighting fires, makes those fires more intense and therefore uncontrollable. The lack of back-burning is due to policy changes for environmental reasons which has cost people their homes and lives. They can't cut firebreaks in either generally, for environmental reasons.

Back in the old days, I mean prior to Europeans coming here, fires burned unchecked. They'd sweep through an area and burn out the undergrowth...Simple. No one was here to put them out. These days when lightening strikes and causes a fire we douse it quickly and so the undergrowth builds up in those bushland areas...So we have fires like we have recently had (which are still burning).

Dealing with drought, floods, cyclones, fire (and deadly animals) is part of life here in Australia...It's helps to breed tough people, as we have to be to cope.

_{I have a post going live shortly about a military action the Aussies were involved in...I think the attitude discussed there says it all...The pragmatic way an Aussie thinks...It's about a battle at The Nek, in Gallipoli in WWI.}

I hope this answers your question.

Any excuse for a BBQ and a few coldies. 🤣