Petrol price alert - unleaded petrol increasing to 149.9.

Last night I noticed one Woolworths Petrol station had increased their price to 149.9. I like to wait until at least two Woolworths Petrol stations increase their price before letting others know. When multiple Woolworths Petrol stations increase their price this usually means prices are starting to increase. Today a second Woolworths Petrol station increased their unleaded price.

Checking prices yesterday a small number of BP and Caltex petrol stations had also increased their prices.

How quickly prices will rise is anyone's guess, but now is a good time to start watching petrol prices. Usually prices can take at little as two days to increase, but more often than not around four days. One time prices took over a week to increase to the new high. I use the Woolworths Fuel app to keep an eye on prices around me.

If you're using the 7 Eleven fuel app to lock in a low price for another week, it's hard not to lock in too quickly wasting the opportunity if the prices stay low for longer than expected. Use PetrolSpy to keep an eye on 7 Eleven fuel prices around Melbourne. Also remember, you can lock in a price when you're in another area and not just around your area. I've locked in 7 Eleven prices from the other side of Melbourne and once whilst sitting in an aeroplane at Sydney airport. PetrolSpy may not be accurate and it's best to recheck prices using the 7 Eleven fuel app.

For those wondering how come the last price increase went up to 169.9, but this time the price is only increasing to 149.9, the reason is the terminal gate price (think wholesale price) has dropped considerably. When prices increased last the average terminal gate price for Melbourne went up to 147.1 on the 12th of October. The average terminal gate price for Melbourne is currently 117.5 and has not yet bottomed out.

Prices usually go up 25-30 cents per litre so we'd expect prices to peak around 144.9 to 149.9. A welcome relief from the 169.9 of the last increase.

At times when prices peak it is not uncommon for some areas around Melbourne to increase to the new peak, whilst for a while, prices are still dropping in other areas. With the average terminal gate price still dropping, it will be interesting to see what happens to petrol prices around Melbourne in the coming week.

Kelvin Eldridge
https://www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

Late payment for Google Adsense November 2018.

Today I noticed the payment from Google Adsense for November 2018 hadn't occurred. This is quite unusual as Google Adsense regularly pays around the 21st or 22nd of the month. I started to wonder why this could be.

What I don't realise, from my Australian perspective, is in America Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of the month which was on the 22nd of November. Then we have Black Friday. Both of these days may be bank holidays.

If Google were to pay on the night of the 21st of November (my payments are usually received between the 22nd and the 24th of the month) and the money was transferred, if Thanksgiving and Black Friday are bank holidays, and the weekends are bank holidays, that's four days the money leaves Google's accounts and four days the money sits in the banks' accounts. That's a large amount of money not earning interest for Google or it's customers.

So perhaps, just perhaps it's prudent at this time of year for Google to delay payment and make best use of the funds, or perhaps it's just a delay.

Whatever the reason, it was good to learn a little more about the traditions of Thanksgiving and Black Friday that I hadn't known before.

Kelvin Eldridge

Bulleen District early voting centre for those in Doncaster, Bulleen, Templestowe and Templestowe Lower.

Went the the early voting centre today to vote for the forth-coming Victorian election. For the Bulleen District the early voting centre is located Suite 5, Level 1 90-94 Tram Road Doncaster VIC 3108.

If you're going to visit this early voting centre please be aware that even though the building has parking, the parking is not accessible to the general public as there's a boom gate and no way to contact anyone to get in. Why the VEC and the government selects places without easy parking makes me wonder.

The nearest parking is located at Officeworks which isn't particularly fair to Officeworks, but that's just the way it is. There's a considerable hill to and from the voting centre from Officeworks so keep this in mind if hills are a problem to you.

Kelvin Eldridge

Lower petrol prices around Truganina can be locked in using the 7/11 Fuel App.

I was travelling back from Western Victoria on Monday and knew that I'd arrive back in Melbourne with close to an empty tank. The problem was the cheapest prices around the 132 cents per litre were around Laverton and the price closer to home was around the 145 cents per litre.

Detouring any more than a short distance is a bad strategy when trying to save money on petrol as what you gain at the pump, is likely to be lost in petrol usage and vehicle costs. However the good thing about the 7/11 Fuel App is you don't actually have to go to the 7/11 petrol station, you can oten lock in the price some distance away. The 7/11 Fuel App selects the lowest of the nearest five 7/11 petrol stations and the nearest five change if you close and reopen the app as you drive along.

Coming back along the Western Highway, before reaching the Metrolpolitan Ring Road, I felt there was a small chance I'd be able to lock in the Truganina 7/11 petrol price. I tried locking in the price just before the Western Freeway turned south near Caroline Springs. No luck. The best price was around 145. As we neared the section marked with the pink circle below, where the Western Freeway curves left and heads more to the east near Derrimut, we were in luck. The 7/11 Fuel App found the Truganina petrol station which had unleaded petrol for 132.2. The price was locked in and I can fill up closer to home at the local 7/11 store when it's more convenient.

The savings will be around 13 cents saving around $6-$7 when I fill up.

For those interested the apps I used to help identify the lowest prices was the PetrolSpy app and the 7/11 Fuel app to double check the price. Whilst the PetrolSpy app showed 131.9, the 7/11 Fuel App had the price of 132.2, which is the price that was locked in. Differences in prices like this can occur because prices can get updated at different times by different apps. The 7/11 Fuel app's price for Truganina dropped to 131.9 the next day. You never know which app will be the most accurate, but since you can only lock in the price shown in the 7/11 Fuel app, that will end up being the price that can be locked in.

By using the fuel apps on this latest trip I was able to plan where to fill up and saved around $10-$15 on petrol. It isn't a large amount, but these amounts do add up over time.

Kelvin Eldridge
https://www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

Victorian Stamp Duty Calculator has now been integrated into the Mortgage Repayment Calculator Australia

As I review the web apps I create I need to decide if the web apps are best being left stand-alone, or if it's best to integrate the web apps together.

The Victorian Stamp Duty Calculator appeared as a menu item on the Mortgage Repayment Calculator Australia and also linked back to the Mortgage Repayment Calculator. In effect the Victorian Stamp Duty Calculator appeared as an option.

I've decided for simplicity to now have all four of the calculators appear as menu items on the Mortgage Repayment Calculator Australia. All calculators were written at a time when people were looking for properties so they relate well together.

The Victorian Stamp Duty Calculator appears still as the Stamp Duty menu option.

Kelvin Eldridge
Mortgage Repayment Calculator

News.com.au site published an article indicating water mist could hydrate the skin. The article appears to be misleading and could be considered a hoax.

I read yesterday on the News.com.au site an article titled "Scientists claim this one thing will boost hydration" and goes on to say it's water. More specifically mist. At the end of the article are number of mist hydration products are listed with their prices.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/human-body/scientists-claim-this-one-thing-will-boost-hydration/news-story/50867e602c4ac6cd2645151705c0a581

This article is a HOAX like those HOAX emails you receive.

HOAX emails take certain believable facts but in the end what is purported isn't true. The information misleads people who then go on to spread the information as if it's true. Whether the sharing of information is forwarded as an email or passed on in conversation.

What is staggeringly unbelievable is the article appears in a reputable news site. News sites pride themselves on the integrity of their journalism.

I was interested in the article because if water mist is a good way for women the hydrate their skin for up to six hours that would be very good. All women need is a misting bottle and some water, even better if the water is distilled. There are products that women can buy that are listed in the article. Sadly it is not that simple.

I did some searching and found articles from the mentioned Aichi Medical University in Japan which lead me to the following article which is the result of the research.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/srt.12648

What is important to note in this research is the water droplet size for the mist that made the difference in the tests is known as a water nanodroplet. A water nanodroplet in this case being 0.5 μm, or half a micron in size.

In essence the size of the water droplets is incredibly small so the droplets can penetrate the skin. These droplets would be invisible to the naked eye. If you can see the mist when you spray it, then the droplets are not small enough.

I found this chart on particle sizes I thought may be of interest.

https://www.coloradoci.com/bin-pdf/5270/ParticleSize.pdf

The article indicates the water nanodroplets were produced by an air conditioner and further reading indicates this was probably a desiccant air conditioning system.

The HOAX aspect of this article is the information is believable, backed by science, and provides products that can be purchased that would appear to align with the science. However, it is unlikely any of the products shown would produce water nanodroplets of the size required to penetrate the skin.

Kelvin Eldridge