blamebrampton | Fuck me ...

Fuck me ...

People often ask 'why do you stay in Australia when all of the fauna and some of the flora is lethal?'* This is the wrong question.

The right question is: 'What the hell are you thinking staying in a country that has new fire danger warnings like this??!!'

ETA: And just in case there is any suspicion of this being another example of my love for hyperbole, I give you the news page the image came from. Alas, I've not found a copy of the TV advert explaining the Catastrophic level on YouTube yet, but it is along the lines of 'RUN! RUN! RUN AND DO NOT LOOK BACK!' Which I have to say is wholly reasonable under the circumstances.

* This is not strictly true. The sheep, as Terry Pratchett accurately observed, are quite safe. Most wallabies, kangaroos and koalas are perfectly harmless. Many of the birds are actually pleasant! But steer well clear of the cute little octopuses.

Threaded | Flat

What I want to know is who is going to have time to go and reset all the fire-warning signs when we reach catastrophic? They're all manual in the bush, so some bastard has to go move the arrow. *sigh*

Oh, and don't be fooled, sheep actually have excellent powers of facial recognition, and can give a nasty head butt. And if you've ever seen a bull roo take on dogs (and win) or tried to handle an angry koala ... well, it can all end in tears, that's all I'm saying.

:)

btw - you still thinking of visiting? I'm just wanting to make sure I'm keeping the right dates open, assuming they are still in demand.

I probably should not be as amused by that as I really am, considering the topic matter and seriousness, however... I'm truly find that sign amusing.

Hey, we get fires down here sometimes! Although, this summer (after a winter that saw something like 3x the average rainfall for the period) you're probably pretty safe coming down here. I imagine that all we'll be able to manage is a fitful smoulder...

Wow! It says something when 'High Risk' is only the second option.

Funny sign, not so funny for you guys I suppose.

Wow, I hadn't heard about that yet. Seems like a good idea: every progressive warning sign needs a "Run Away!" setting!

Seriously, though, this looks like a surprisingly sensible strategy. "Extreme" just means extreme likelyhood of fire, whereas the new option adds the touch of we can't stop this one that has sadly been proven necessary. The alert levels and siren that go along with it are pretty much what the far North has in place for Cyclone warnings, so not too much extra confusion.

wow! Sometimes I'm real glad I live in an area where the biggest catastrophes one can imagine are storms that take down trees. Actually my state (Brandenburg) is the one with the highest danger of fire warnings, but human life has never been threatened by them.

What do octupuses do? Don't some people eat them?

This is not strictly true. The sheep, as Terry Pratchett accurately observed, are quite safe. Most wallabies, kangaroos and koalas are perfectly harmless. Many of the birds are actually pleasant! But steer well clear of the cute little octopuses.

LOL you forgot the teeny tiny deadly jellyfish (irukanji or however the hell you spell it) I live a block from the beach if you can call mud flats a beach. There was a blue ring octopus that was found at my local beach when I was in primary school. One of my BFF's used to do surf life saving at a local beach about 20 mins away and they had an encounter with one of the teeny tiny deadly jelly's.

That fire warning system needs to be matched with one for cyclones here in QLD. Catatrophic fir warnings YIKES!!!!

I suppose that unless you've grown up around gum/eucalyptus, it is hard to understand just how dangerous that stuff is on a hot day during a drought. My husband describes it as being comparable to a month-old Christmas tree soaked in lighter fluid, which strikes me as being quite apt.

I think your commissioner is covering ALL bases, including a possible apocalypse.

"Catastrophic".

Um.

Well then!

*scared*

Ok - sheep I'll give you, but I still think kangaroos can be pretty nasty - especially when coming through your windscreen at speed..... and they have big pointy claws.....

Phew, I'm relieved about the sheep. :-)

*titters*

I'd be scared of your huge freakin' SPIDERS!

♥

(or "I'm half dead with exhaustion so I can't formulate a witty response but this made me smile and I like you and I wanted to say something")

I personally love your sense of humor. :P I don't think I've laughed so hard for an LJ post before.

And I love your stories. :DD HP Slash~~~~

Threaded | Flat