Woolworths and Coles taking wrong direction with coronavirus.

Something is very, very wrong when you see scenes like the the following.

Source: www.News.com.au

Large crowds of elderly people gathering together to wait for the Woolworths supermarket to open.

The last thing we need is for business to create large crowds of any sought, but to create large crowds of the more vulnerable in our community, the elderly, what were they thinking!

Woolworths and I think Coles are pulling back on their home delivery and click-to-collect options, when in fact these are the exact options they should be expanding. Options that limit close contact with others is what is needed.

Perhaps it's pressure from shows like The Project suggesting a separate time for the elderly. Yes these shows put Woolworths and Coles under pressure to take action and be seen to be taking action, but sometimes you just have to think through the consequences of the actions.

There has to be a better way.

Personally I think home delivery and click-to-collect are far better options. Don't under estimate the elderly in our society. As an IT person I've looked after many elderly people and their computers and the elderly are quite capable at using computers. For those people who can't use computers, irrespective of their age, family can often help. Then we also need options for people without technology and without family and friends that can help.

Kelvin Eldridge

Petrol price Melbourne price alert: Unleaded petrol price increasing to 159.9 cents per litre.

Over the last week or so something I've never seen since I've been monitoring petrol prices in Melbournre happened. The average gate price (think wholesale) dropped and kept dropping. First there was the hit because of the coronavirus and then Russia dropped out of OPEC+ and Sudia Arabia apparently started producing more oil further pushing down the price of a barrel of oil. The price of a barrel of oil I read had dropped 20% and could drop another 10%. Whilst it does indicate things are not good for the world economy, it does mean cheaper fuel prices. That is until we get the next price hike which started in Melbourne late Friday.

The average gate price on Friday had dropped to around 113.0. At the time of the last price hike the average gate price was 126.2, the time before 133.9, so we've seen a good drop in the average gate price and that usually means a drop in the retail price.

Previously, as I've mentioned many times, the price hike was usually between 25-30 cents per litre, but more recently we've been hit with a more significant price hike of around 40 cents per litre. With the current price hike and petrol prices hiking up to 159.9, that means we're seeing a massive price hike of around 46 cents per litre. That's a staggering price hike and I really can't see why the media isn't jumping up and down on this.

The last price hike prices dropped over 10 cents fairly quickly as those that hiked their prices early, were already dropping prices, whilst the late price hikers were still hiking up prices. That meant shopping around could save a considerable amount.

Now's the time to start carefully watching petrol prices and fill up those petrol tanks soon. Then if you're using the 7 Eleven Fuel app, wait a couple of days if you can, and lock in the low price for another week.

With the coronavirus now impacting Victorians I can see myself in general using my car less. Less trips to the shops and more staying at home, or visiting family and friends. Less going to places where there's lots of people. It's just the world we currently live in at the moment.

Take care everyone.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

Update: 26/03/2020
Recently the press has picked up petrol prices are significantly higher than they should be. Some may call this profiteering by the petrol retailers. The ACCC has made some noise and said all they could do is to name and shame.

https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/consumer/2020/03/19/petrol-prices-coronavirus/

 Perhaps this has had an effect as the recent price hike figure for more recent retails appears to be 139.9 and sometimes 135.9.  That's a quick 20 cent drop for may retailers.

Still, with the average gate price today at 90.1 cents per litre for unleaded petrol, it looks like 139.9 is still price gouging.

Shop around. There's still plenty of petrol stations with prices around 113.9 or less. If you're lucky to be in the west around Laverton, prices are in the 90s.

Sadly we get no relief from the huge 61 cents per litre of Federal tax.

Coronavirus public exposure locations in Victoria

I couldn't help feel it might be useful to put together a map of the coronavirus public exposure locations around Victoria. I find just reading the articles on a day by day basis wasn't really helping so perhaps a map might help more.

To my surprise there's more public exposure locations around me than I had expected so the map has achieved the desired outcome and made me more aware of the level of exposure around me.

If anyone else is interested in a map of the coronavirus public exposure locations in Victoria you can find the map at https://www.mapz.com.au/coronavirusvictoria//

Kelvin Eldridge
Coronavirus public exposure locations in Victoria

PS. I hope to continue updating the map as I read of new public exposure locations in the media each day. At some point the public locations will be quite numerous so it will be of little use to continue updating the map. When that happens I'll add a note to the map to let people know.

Fitzsimons Lane Update - Williamsons Road and Foote Street

About a month ago I received a brochure on the Fitzsimons Lane Update in the mail. I'm interested in changes in the area which may impact me so I watch out for changes. Even though this brochure states there's been extensive community communication, this was the first time I'd heard of the changes and that appears true of others I spoke or heard from.

I've broken this post into three. One for the Fitzsimons Lane and Main Road roundabout Eltham, one for Fitzsimons Lane and Porter Street Templestowe and one for Williamsons Road and Foote Street Templestowe. This is so if there's any comments people can make comments on the specific intersection.

Details of the project are available from the Major Road Projects Victoria website at https://roadprojects.vic.gov.au/projects/northern-roads-upgrade/fitzsimons-lane

Last night I attended an open meeting where people could meet with and discuss their concerns with MRPV staff and see more detailed plans. I had an excellent conversation with a staff member and whilst I felt happy with the answers, in hindsight I can see issues that concern me. I can see others had their own issues and concerns.

My aim here is to share the issues I feel exist with the current intersection of Williamsons Road and Foote Street and how this has changed with the proposed design. Over the 30 years I've lived in Templestowe I've used theWilliamsons Road and Foote Street intersection thousands of times. The following are the issues I've had.

1. Traffic heading east on Foote Street.

The level of traffic banking up heading east can mean slow drive times.

I can't see the new design change this issue.


2. Williamsons Road heading north turning right into Foote Street

The level of traffic heading north can be considerable with delays reaching over the hill and back to Ruffey Creek or further.

If the new design of the Fitzsimons Lane and Porter Street traffic lights improves traffic flow this may improve the situation where the traffic on Williamsons Road Banks up to Foote Street thus enabling more cars to pass through.

3. Exiting onto Foote Street from Hawtin Street.

Turning right from Hawtin Street into Foote Street has become more difficult since the bus lane was added and the median strip effectively removed. However this was still possible with a considerable delay.

Turning left from Hawting Street into Foote Street can sometimes be a considerable delay with cars continuously from the slip lane in Williamsons Road between cars going east on Foote Street with the traffic lights and those turning east from Williamsons Road into Foote Street with the right turn light with sometimes a considerable delay. Further the U-Turn up the hill on Foote Street is close to he the peak of the hill creating a dangerous situation. This was very poor design.

The new design stops right turns from Hawtin Street into Foote Street which is a complete loss. The new design doesn't appear to help in any way.

Unfortunately I didn't check where the right turn lanes turning into Williamsons Road from Foote Street extended to. I'd be interested to see if they've moved the U-Turn further away from the crest of the hill.

4. Bank up of traffic in Foote Street approaching Williamsons Road backs up close to the crest of the hill and there are often accidents as cars don't see stopped cars over the hill. It's understandable because people are accelerating to get over a very steep hill so the car builds a lot of momentum so a car stopped just over the crest is not visible and there's little time to break. Add the late afternoon sun to blind people and it's a real safety issue. There needs to be warning lights on the approach side of the hill if the traffic is banked up to this point.

4. Footpaths and Cycle paths on Williamsons Road have limited length.

The footpaths and cycle paths on Williamsons Road aren't designed for people to use for walking or cycling. They are limited in length and really only for access to bus stops. Whilst an inconvenience this is not a major issue.

The new design provides continous paths for this section of Williamsons Road.

5. The bus turning right from Foote Street into Williamsons Road had to stop at the traffic lights when cars could turn.

To me this didn't make sense. There's three lanes. Why couldn't all three lanes go at the same time? Having a bus lane and the bus not going when other lanes could turn didn't make sense. A call to VicRoads gave me the answer. The three lanes didn't have sufficient turning room for all three lanes to turn into Williamsons Road at the same time. All that work to speed up the bus and it now had to wait.

The new design appears to fix this issue.

6. The bank up of traffic on Foote Street heading west can cause considerable delays to turn into Hawting Street.

The new design includes more space with straight lanes for cars turning right. This should help move more cars into Williamsons Road. However it's hard to see this working when already the cars in Williamsons Road bank up to Foote Street so not all cars can get through. Perhaps the Fitzsimons Lane and Porter Street intersection will improve this.

7. The new design has a bus lane and then a bus stop in the extended slip lane, effectively meaning the bus uses two lanes at this point. This seems like a poor design

Suggestion

I made a suggestion the slip lane traffic in Williamsons Road have some delay to enable cars to exit Hawtin Street onto Foote Street safely. The thought that came back is the slip lane could have lights synchronised with the normal traffic lights depending on how that would impact the overall flow of the intersection.

I get the main goal is to move as much traffic as possible which benefits the most people. However the slip lane creates a safety issue where people trying to exit Hawtin Street turning left (or currently) also turning right) are put under unacceptable pressure to dart out.

Conclusion

Overall I see the new design has reduced the amenity of local residents who need to use Hawtin Street. The area continues to get squeezed in terms of road access. To a degree this is understandable due to the increasing needs of the many who use Williamsons Road, Fitzsimons Lane and Foote Steet.

The new design does not help in any way that I can see improve the situation for exiting Hawtin Street onto Foote Street and in fact makes it worse by removing the ability to turn right onto Foote Street.

Kelvin Eldridge

Please feel free to add your experiences of this intersection using the comments.

Fitzsimons Lane Update - Fitzsimons Lane and Porter Street

About a month ago I received a brochure on the Fitzsimons Lane Update in the mail. I'm interested in changes in the area which may impact me so I watch out for changes. Even though this brochure states there's been extensive community communication, this was the first time I'd heard of the changes and that appears true of others I spoke or heard from.

I've broken this post into three. One for the Fitzsimons Lane and Main Road roundabout Eltham, one for Fitzsimons Lane and Porter Street Templestowe and one for Williamsons Road and Foote Street Templestowe. This is so if there's any comments people can make comments on the specific intersection.

Details of the project are available from the Major Road Projects Victoria website at https://roadprojects.vic.gov.au/projects/northern-roads-upgrade/fitzsimons-lane

Last night I attended an open meeting where people could meet with and discuss their concerns with MRPV staff and see more detailed plans. I had an excellent conversation with a staff member and whilst I felt happy with the answers, in hindsight I can see issues that concern me. I can see others had their own issues and concerns.

My aim here is to share the issues I feel exist with the current roundabout and how this has changed with the proposed design. Over the 30 years I've lived in Templestowe I've used the Fitzsimons Lane/Porter Street  roundabout thousands of times. The following are the issues I've had.

1. Turning left into from Fitzsimons Lane into Porter Street heading east cars behind often try to overtake me but the problem is I then turn into Hawtin Street. You can't turn left into Porter Street into the left lane as the lead foots think the second lane gives them an opportunity to speed past. This is extremely regular.

The new design fixes this issue as there's clearly the slip lane going into one lane on Porter Street.

2. From Porter Street turning right into Fitzsimons Lane people heading east on Porter Street turning left into Fitzsimons Lane simply don't give way. The cut out and cut off traffic.

This is very dangerous and the new design will fix this issue.

3. Turning right from Porter Street into Fitzsimons Lane then left into the Coles Express service station you get mostly the cars again from Porter Street turning left into Fitzsimons Lane cutting you off. They literally try to race you.

The new design fixes this issue.

4. Crossing the intersection as a pedestrian isn't good. There's a long detour to the new pedestrian traffic lights. Now other pedestrian crossing that offers safety for pedestrians.

The new design provides proper facilities for pedestrians making it safer.

5. The pedestrian crossing is poorly placed and when used causes cars to block the roundabout.

The new design fixes this issue.

6. Turning left from Hawtin Steet into Porter Street to turn right into Fitzsimons Lane can be difficult with cars blocking the Keep Clear area but it can be done. People do eventually let you in.

The new design will make it impossible to get out of Hawtin Street to turn right into Fitzsimons Lane. There's now three lanes of traffic and no Keep Clear area and no reason for people to leave a section of the road open for people trying to exit Hawtin Street.

This is a complete failure of the design.

7. Turning right into Hawtin Street from Porter Street is tricky and care has to be taken during busy times. There's two lanes of heavy traffic at this point and a third lane which doesn't have many cars, but the cars do drive past the stopped cars creating a dangerous situation for turning drivers. I usually crawl through to make sure there's no cars using the third lane.

I can't say the new design fixes this problem as they've eliminated the ability to turn into Hawtin Street. In doing so they've created a problem getting into and out of Hawtin Street.

A U-turn is provided further east but the problem is this is reliant on cars letting you through. In busy times the traffic is generally past this point and even with the extra lane space to hold more cars I really think the cars will be back past this point. In effect the area I live in will have a significant loss of entry and exit capability.

8. Right turn from Porter Street into the Templestowe Reserve has not been an issue.

The new design creates an issue as the ability to right turn into the Templestowe Reserve has been removed. This is a very popular park with a lot of activity at peak times. Losing the ability to right turn could be an issue for some. There is a U-Turn to enable people to U-Turn and then left turn into the Templestowe Reserve. The ability to right turn out of the Templestowe Reserve has been removed. All cars must turn left.

9. Right turn from Hawtin Street into Porter Street towards Warrandyte has been removed.

The new design appears to provide the ability to U-Turn at the traffic lights however from my testing of U-Turns if the lanes are not sufficiently wide it won't be possible for the majority of cars to U-Turn. Anything with a poor turning circle will find it difficult to U-Turn at the traffic lights.

I consider the removal of the ability to turn into Hawtin Street from Porter Street and out of Hawtin Street into Porter Street to be a failure of this design.

10. Hawtin Street is used as a rat-run for cars trying to avoid Williamson Road. This creates a considerable bank up of cars exiting Hawtin Street turning left onto Porter Street with the aim then to turn right into Fitzsimons Lane.

Since the Keep Clear section has been removed because cars can't turn into Hawtin Street from Porter Street this means turning from Hawtin Street left into Porter Street will become close to impossible. The rat-run in theory will be useless to others but until people realise the ability to use Hawtin Street to exit the area originally known as the Mountain View Estate wll be close to impossible. Only the southern exit of Hawtin Street will be usable at busy times.

Also keep in mind Hawtin Street becomes busy at the start and end of school times as parents with children in the Templestowe Park Primary School use Hawtin Street to access the rear of Templestowe Park Primary School.

I consider the removal of the ability to enter and exit Hawtin Street a complete failure of the new design. To me there is a considerable safety issue when a complete housing area is effectively forced to use a single exit and then only with the ability to turn left.

11. Hawtin Street exit onto Foote Street used to work well until the bus lane was introduced and the median strip reduced so it was no longer functional.

During busy times it's no longer possible to turn right out of Hawtin Street into Foote Street. You can still turn right during quieter times. Turing left out of Hawtin Street into Foote Street can be slow as there's a constant stream of traffic from the slip lane in Williamsons Road turning left into Foote Street, in addition to the traffic heading east when the lights change, plus the turning traffic from Williamsons Road turning right to head east into Foote Street. At times the delay to exit Hawtin Street can be considerable.

The new design completely removes the ability to turn right into Foote Street from Hawtin Street. This is a minor inconvenience and the option to turn right when available would be nice. However providing the option to turn right means people can sit and wait forever to get the opportunity and don't think about the cars behind them waiting.

The real problem is this exit is already an issue. With the northern end of Hawtin Street in the new design becoming an issue to exit more cars will use the southern exit causing even longer delays.

To me this is a safety issue. Putting more traffic on this exit will put exiting drivers under pressure to exit when it might not be safe to do so.

12. One benefit of the new design is for those exiting Hawtin Street turning left into Porter Street to then turn left into Williamsons Road.

Because there will be a permanent jump lane for the bus (short bus lane) you can exit Hawtin Street into the bus lane and then left turn using the slip lane into Williamsons Road. Because the bus lane will be empty most of the time, as long as Hawtin Street isn't backed up by those using Hawtin Street as a rat run, this will make a good alternative to trying to exit Hawtin Street right into Foote Street. Yes we have to go north to go south, but it's a compromise that's perhaps acceptable.

People need to keep in mind you are allowed to travel up to 100 metres in a bus lane to exit and enter a road so using the bus lane in this way is legal,

https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/safety-and-road-rules/road-rules/a-to-z-of-road-rules/buses

12. A benefit of the new design is those exiting the Coles Express service station onto Fitzsimons Lane can use the bus lane for up to 100 metres and safely merge into the traffic.

13. The addition of a left turn lane heading north from Williamsons Road into Porter Street heading west seems to me like a complete waste of time. The volume of cars turning left into Porter Street could easily use the bus lane to turn left without overly affecting the bus times.

14. The U-Turn in Porter Street to assist those entering the Templestowe Reserve and Hawtin Street should to a large degree overcome the removal of the direct turns. However it's uncertain if these will work well in busy times with cars not letting other cars through and no reason for them to do so except out of courtesy.

The right turn from Porter Street into Hawtin Street or the Templestowe Reserve could remain and not cause any major issues. The reason is these cars will not block the traffic on Porter Street heading east as cars are allowed into bus lanes to overtake a right turning vehicle.

I understand how right turning vehicles coming out of the Templestowe Reserve and Hawtin Street pose a safety issue trying to cross up to three lanes of traffic to turn right. This could be fixed by having exits out of Hawtin Street and the Templestowe Reserve to be left turn only.

This keeps the Keep Clear zones which enables cars to merge from Hawtin Street (and potentially the Templestowe Reserve if a Keep Clear was added) into the right lanes to turn into Fitzsimons Lane.

15. The removal of much of the mound separating the end of Clarke Street and Williamsons Road seems like it is unnecessary.

Is a left turn only lane here really that necessary? Surely cars turning left can share the bus lane.

Perhaps less of the mound can be removed if the left turn lane was not required.

Suggestion

1. Hawtin Street is a rat-run and that's understandable. We would all use a minor road if we felt it could improve our travel time. However these changes mean exiting out of Hawtin Street into Porter Street to turn right into Fitzsimons Lane will be near impossible in busy times. Even to exit Hawtin Street to turn left to continue on Porter Street, or left into Williamsons Road will be near impossible unless cars are made to leave room, which is what the Keep Clear does.

Is it possible to have Hawtin Street as local traffic only and impose fines?

Keep the Keep Clear zone so cars can exit Hawtin Street more easily.

2. Carole Close is currently closed. Opening Carol Close onto Williamsons Road would enable the local traffic using Hawtin Street to enter and exit Hawtin Street. This change provides convenience for Hawtin Street users. It does however affect two properties in Carol Street where the properties have been subdivided.

To counter this if the U-Turn in Porter Street works and using the bus lane to turn left out of Hawtin Street and the slip lane into Williamsons Road means this change wouldn't be required. Reducing the volume of cars using Hawtin Street as a rat-run would mean this isn't really required.

3. Enforcing local traffic only along Hawtin Street could significantly help the flow of local traffic using Hawtin Street.

Conclusion

Overall I see the new design has reduced the amenity of local residents who need to use Hawtin Street. The area continues to get squeezed in terms of road access. To a degree this is understandable due to the increasing needs of the many who use Williamsons Road, Fitzsimons Lane and Foote Steet.

The fail in the design is since cars travelling along Porter Street no longer need to leave space for cars leaving Hawtin Street the drivers simply won't leave space. Cars won't be able to easily exit Hawtin Street into Porter Street to either continue on Porter Street or turn right into Fitzsimons Lane. A Keep Clear section will need to be added to enable cars to exit Hawtin Street into Porter Street. Whilst it is not legal for cars from Hawtin Street to sit in the Keep Clear area this seems to be the only practical way for cars to exit Hawtin Street.


Kelvin Eldridge

Please feel free to add your experiences of this intersection using the comments.

Fitzsimons Lane Update - Fitzsimons Lane and Main Road Eltham

About a month ago I received a brochure on the Fitzsimons Lane Update in the mail. I'm interested in changes in the area which may impact me so I watch out for changes. Even though this brochure states there's been extensive community communication, this was the first time I'd heard of the changes and that appears true of others I spoke or heard from.

I've broken this post into three. One for the Fitzsimons Lane and Main Road roundabout Eltham, one for Fitzsimons Lane and Porter Street Templestowe and one for Williamsons Road and Foote Street Templestowe. This is so if there's any comments people can make comments on the specific intersection.

Details of the project are available from the Major Road Projects Victoria website at https://roadprojects.vic.gov.au/projects/northern-roads-upgrade/fitzsimons-lane

Last night I attended an open meeting where people could meet with and discuss their concerns with MRPV staff and see more detailed plans. I had an excellent conversation with a staff member and whilst I felt happy with the answers, in hindsight I can see issues that concern me. I can see others had their own issues and concerns.

My aim here is to share the issues I feel exist with the current roundabout and how this has changed with the proposed design. Over the 30 years I've lived in Templestowe I've used the Eltham roundabout hundreds if not thousands of times. The following are the issues I've had.

1. Turning left into Main Road from Fitzsimons Lane heading north and going west. There are two slip lanes going into Main Road. The main issue is drivers in the right hand slip lane drive into the left hand lane of Main Road and cut off drivers in the left slip lane. To fix this broken lines should  direct the second slip lane into the second lane of Main Road.

The new design fixes this issue by providing marked lanes. The left lane goes into the left, the right into the right the center goes into two lanes, one for straight ahead and one for turning right. This fixes the issue so drivers know which lane to go into. However, I can see drivers not knowing ahead of time which lane they should be in and trying to move across cutting off other cars. At least overall its better.

2. I've heard a number of people coming from Main Road Eltham which then goes into Fitzsimons Lane having this issue. There's three lanes at this point in Main Road at the roundabout. The left lane goes into Fitzsimons Lane, the middle lane into Fitzsimons Lane or continues on Main Road, the right lane continues on Main Road. The problem isn't here it starts further back. Driving along Main Road there's two lanes, as the lanes split into three the left lane becomes the only left into Fitzsimons Lane. This is  unexpected and people travelling on a two lane road, Main Road, that continues on a two lane road, Main Road, don't expect the lane to change. What should happen is the two lanes on Main Road goes straight on to Main Road and the left lane should open up with dashed lines. That way people knowing move into the left lane. The issue becomes because people have ended up in the left lane they cut across the people in the centre because they think they continue on Main Road, but they cut across people in the centre lane who are now going into Fitzsimons Lane creating a conflict and potential for a crash. This is very poor road design.

The new design fixes this issue with lanes continuing as they would be expected to.

3. Heading east along Main Road to turn right at the roundabout into Fitzsimons Lane to continue on to Templestowe. The traffic here is often very bad, particularly late afternoon. The delay can be considerable.

If the new design aims to improve the traffic flow and works then this delay should be shorter. However since no information is provided in terms of expected delays or timing, to rely on trust alone is difficult. We can only hope the delay is reduced.

4. Exiting from the Woolworths Petrol turning left onto Main Road is often a matter of running the gauntlet. It really isn't good. The roundabout design means there's an almost constant flow of traffic and it is difficult to exit the petrol station.

The new design may make this worse because there's now a slip lane meaning potentially no breaks in traffic heading west to east on Main Road. This is worse than the current situation which is already bad.

5. Turning right from Main Road into Fitzsimons Lane there's often small issues. Cars don't stick to lanes. Cars from Main Road heading west cut into the roundabout when they should give way. To me roundabouts are a terrible road feature because people don't do what they should .

Most of these issues go in the new design as lanes are clearly designed and traffic is stopped by lights so people don't cut in front of others without clearly breaking the law.

Conclusion

Overall I see the new design removes two poor design issues (which could also be easily removed with fixing lane markings). To me these are very real safety issues. Replacing the roundabout with traffic lights would not be required to fix this issue. However, the main issue the traffics hopefully can improve is the delay on Main Road heading east to turn right into Fitzsimons Lane.

I really only turn left from Fitzsimons Lane into Main Road and from Main Road right into Fitzsimons Lane, so these really are the only issues I have clear experience with. I don't turn left often from Main Road into Fitzsimons Lane so this is not an issue personally to me. Exiting the Woolworths Petrol station is an issue. The time delay heading east on Main Road turning right into Fitzsimons Lane is a considerable delay. The new design should improve most of these issues.

Kelvin Eldridge

Please feel free to add your experiences of this intersection using the comments.

eBay order from China cancelled due to coronavirus.

Today an order I'd placed for a small item from eBay was cancelled and the money refunded. The supplier left the following message.

Hi friend.
Recently, due to the occurrence of infectious diseases in China, we cannot live normally and cannot work normally. we can't get any item because all the factories in China were out of work now,they can't afford our order,so i have to cancel this order,thanks for your understanding and patience.you can buy it agian if you really need it.
I hope you and your family pay attention to safety and good health
Best Wishes

I completely understand, as we all do, the problems occurring in China at the moment with the coronavirus and that is likely to occur across the world.

This order was placed around a month ago and one thing I didn't notice was the Order Update. Normally when I place an order I get an Order Confirmed and then, perhaps the same day or the next, an Order Update, which is letting me know the item ordered is on its way. Then in around 4-6 weeks I'll receive the item.

However, with this order and another small order, what I didn't notice was the order update didn't come. There has been none. That now indicates an issue with supply. This order was cancelled after nearly four weeks. The second order has not received an order update and that's been around 1-2 weeks.

The real problem isn't that orders need to be cancelled, but that it's taking so long before the order gets cancelled. The suppliers are most likely sitting on the orders as long as possible before they cancel them, just in case they can get supply.

One item I did place an order for from China at the same time is on its way, so it's not all orders, just some.

Given the normal long delays it getting items from China, adding an additional 2-4 weeks before knowing whether or not you'll get the item ordered probably means it's prudent to rethink your purchases. Unfortunately that's not good for the suppliers in China, but it is understandable what's happening.

Kelvin Eldridge.

South Australia red light camera, speed camera locations now added to Speed Camera Locations site.

The Speed Camera Locations site started out of my own interest with the red light and speed camera locations for Victoria. Since then I've added red light and speed camera locations for New South Wales.

Whilst it can take some work, I decided why not see if I could add red light cameras and speed cameras for South Australia. That work is now completed enough to provide red light camera and speed camera locations for South Australia. There's still some work to be done, but I feel it is better to provide the basics and then flush out the rest as time permits.

For example of work that still needs to be completed I find the number and value of fines really helps to locate where the most people are making the same or similar mistakes. For example quite a few people were booked in the Melbourne CBD area when the speed limit across the area dropped to 40 km/h. Yes the government does provide a few weeks notice but many people for months, if not years are not aware of the change. If you're not familiar with the roads in an area it's easy to make a costly mistake.

I hope others find the South Australian red light camera and speed camera locations useful.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au/sa/

Red light camera fine shows driver in the intersection. A common misconception or wrongly fined.

As part of creating the site www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au I've learnt quite a few things that I and others often don't understand or know, and as a result, we can end up getting fined.

I read quite a few people on the internet who believe they were in the intersection when they incurred a red light camera fine.

The following is one such example. The person in question wonders whether they should take this court as from their understanding, they'd already entered the intersection. The cars had to stop as a car from the opposite direction went through the yellow light delaying them.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AusLegal/comments/8wo64f/red_light_camera_fine_shows_me_in_the/

Here is a link to the two photos taken for the red light camera fine.

https://imgur.com/OOsobaz

For convenience the following is a copy of the first photo showing the car past the stop line.

This situation is extremely common and I'm sure most of us have been in this situation.

The first car is well into the intersection and there's enough room for a second car in the intersection, or is there?

The location is the intersection of Balwyn Road and Whitehorse Road, Balwyn. The camera is a wet film camera.

Keep in mind everything here is just my thoughts. I'm not qualified in any legal way so my opinion is just that and yours is just as valid.

I always believed once I was over the white stop line I was in the intersection. From what I've read this isn't the case. The intersection is the imaginary lines where the two roads cross such that cars could collide.

The stop line is actually quite a distance back from the intersection. There's a pedestrian crossing area before you reach the intersection.

For convenience this link is for the detail page from my Speed Camera Locations site. Using this link you can quickly see further details using Google Street View, Google Maps and a dash cam video.

We can see using the Google Maps aerial view more detail.

The line of the pedestrian crossing nearest the intersection is close to the intersection, but not quite at the intersection.

The distance from before the stop line to the intersection side of the pedestrian line is approximately 5.4m. The width of the two lanes on Whitehorse Road the cars are turning into is approximately 8m.

The SUVs turning I'd estimate to be around 4.7-4.8m.

There's physically not enough room in the intersection for two cars to turn right from Balwyn Road into Whitehorse Road.

That means the second car, the car in question, was not fully in the intersection. There's no way to know if the car was actually partly in the intersection, or not in the intersection at all. Being over the stop line is not the same as being in the intersection.

There are two pieces of information people need to consider.

1. The placement of the sensors in the road.

In this case it's hard to see where the sensors are in the road. The sensor closest to the intersection is just passed the stop line towards the intersection. It looks like the second sensor my be under the stop line.

If the car was partly in the intersection, based on the length of the typical SUV the car would have been past the sensor and wouldn't have been detected. This may mean the car wasn't as far forward as the driver thought they were.

What this person did is something I'm sure most of us have done.

Perhaps since the white SUV in front is blocking the ability for the second car to proceed, the second car shouldn't have proceeded past the stop line. However that depends on the definition of blocking.

From what I've learnt creating the Speed Camera Locations site is that we need to think carefully how we drive, and in particular, at intersections where there's a red light camera.

Many people turning right at this intersection may consider there's enough room for two people to be in the intersection at the same time. There isn't.

Many people turning left will pull forward to turn left into the left lane nearest the kerb around the corner, particularly if there's pedestrians crossing. This isn't a good idea as it is very easy for the rear of the car to be over the sensor. The distance from the sensor to the intersection appears to be around 4.5m and that's less than a small car's length. It is better to move further forward as though you're turning left into the second lane.

We shouldn't have to drive like this, but it's the only way to ensure you don't get fined. The fine is considerable and the time and effort of contesting a fine is considerable, including the risk of additional costs if you lose. For most people it isn't worth the time, effort and risk of contesting a fine, even if you think you're in the right.

Did this person do anything wrong? The government thinks so and in the end, unless something changes, that's what gets enforced.

For us as drivers we need to be more aware, more careful. Perhaps improve our driving skills, perhaps adjust our driving style to minimise potentially being fined.

Be aware of where red light and speed cameras are located. A small error in judgement can be very costly.

If you don't already, move further forward into the intersection when turning left or right. In particular, make sure the rear of your car is completely in the intersection. If you're at an intersection with a camera, keep in mind those road sensors can be quite a distance forward of the stop line, and in one case, I've seen one in the intersection.

I hope these thoughts help others. It's certainly helped me to learn from others.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au

Update: 14/02/2020
Victorian Road Rules 2017
On page 172 of the PDF (page numbered 156) using section 128 Entering blocked intersections, it states: A driver must not enter an intersection if the driver cannot drive through the intersection because the intersection, or a road beyond the intersection, is blocked.

One question I'd have is whether or not the road is considered blocked if there's already one car in the intersection waiting to turn. The car is giving way so it's hard to say if this would be considered blocked.

On page 514 of the PDF (page numbered 498) the dictionary definition: intersection means the area where 2 or more roads (except any road related area) meet, and includes—(a) any area of the roads where vehicles travelling on different roads might collide; and (b) the place where any slip lane between the roads meets the road into which traffic on the slip lane may turn—but does not include any road related area;

On page 512 of the PDF (page numbered 496) the dictionary definition: enter an intersection or crossing, for the driver of a vehicle or a train, means enter the intersection or crossing with any part of the vehicle or train;

For the car in question there's one thing it is hard to prove conclusively with the photos. Where the car was located before it moved. That is had the car entered the intersection, even partly, because the above definition of enter means with any part of the car.  If they were partly in the intersection then this I'd suspect means they'd entered the intersection. However, if you look at the picture closely the first car is quite far into a turn when the camera went off. If the red light changed, and half a second had elapsed (the time before the first photo is taken), then the front of the car in question is marginally in the intersection.

Measuring our small SUV the distance from the front of the car to the front of the tyre where it would meet the road is 80cm. This could potentially place the front of the car in the intersection., the white line is just in front of the front tyre.

The things missing is the time when the photo was taken after the light had changed to red, the position and how the in-ground sensor works.

In Victoria, if I'm right, the photo is not taken until at least half a second after the light changes red. If the cars moved off after this time and photo would be taken instantly, and that is the position of the car as it just moved, shows the car is most likely in the intersection.

However, if you think about the in-ground sensor, this sensor is placed just in front of the stop line. Which the car had to move over or off for the camera to take a photo, then the car may have been further back when it took off. That is the car was not in the intersection (the intersection as defined the the road rules dictionary). If the car was further back, there's plenty of room for the car to have simply stayed where it was and not proceed into the intersection. Yes the car would be past the stop line, and yes the car is potentially blocking pedestrians, but the person would not have been fined.

The one unknown here is how sensitive the in-ground sensor is and when it sets off the camera. Is it possible for a car slightly past the sensor to set the camera off? Only VicRoads engineers could answer this question. If the car was on  the last sensor or past the sensor (but still causing some inductance) the distance is around 4.1m (using Google Maps). The car being longer than 4.1m means the car may have already been in the intersection.

I was hoping after all the further information I'd be able to say with confidence whether this car should or shouldn't have been fined. Unfortunately I can't say because I don't know 100% how the in-ground sensor works. If the rear of the car was over the last sensor, the front of the car in the intersection, and the car took off, could that set off the camera? I simply don't know. If that is the case the car should probably not be fined in my opinion.

If it was me I'd certainly want to test that sensor to see how sensitive it was. If the rear of the car can be over the sensor (meaning the car has entered the intersection) when it takes off, and this sets off the camera, that potentially means people are getting fined who shouldn't be.

The following picture is from Google Street View and shows two cars in a similar situation turning. The difference is the first car isn't as far forward and the second car is also not as far forward. The second car is also a smaller car.

The first in-ground sensor is clearly visible. It is located on the stop line. The second in-ground sensor is slightly forward of the stop line but not visible as it is under the car. There is not much space between the two sensors. I'd certainly want to test the last possible position the sensor could set off the camera. Note the red car in this photo is not in the intersection and has not entered the intersection (even partly) . Given the space we leave between cars, even if the red car moved closer to the white car, the red car would still not be in the intersection. The red car would then be forward of the stop line and blocking the pedestrian area, but not in the intersection.

Update: 15/02/2020
There's two further points that I find interesting. In the comments on the Reddit post the person indicates they think they're in the intersection once they are over the stop line. This is not correct as this isn't how intersection is defined.

The second, is if you look at the white car in front turning, when the picture was taken the white car had moved considerably across both lanes of the stopped oncoming traffic. This photo would indicate the white car has moved a reasonable distance. The second grey car you'd then think would have also moved a reasonable amount since it was following the white car. Not necessarily but we could assume this to be the case. They grey car must have moved at least some distance to set off the camera. If that is true then the grey car may have moved considerably as well and if this were the case the grey car was more than likely at or over the white stop line, and given the distance to the intersection and the length of the car, the grey car was most likely not in the intersection, even partly.

In other words, it is most likely the grey car did move into the intersection and continued through the intersection after the lights had changed to red.

The two main points I was aiming to make with this example were:

1. The intersection isn't where the white stop line is. It is where vehicles travelling on two different roads might collide.

2. It is important to realise the in-ground sensor that triggers the red light camera is further forward than you would think. The second sensor is usually past the stop line towards the intersection. I've seen one sensor in the intersection (a T intersection). If you go over, are on, or even possibly very near the sensor, moving the car forward could set off the camera. If in doubt, it is probably best not to move the car once the traffic light turns red.

How long does it take to upload videos to YouTube?

Many people upload videos to YouTube and find it takes much longer than expected. In today's age internet is fast, so people can often wonder why things take so long. Recently when uploading a large video file I wanted to know roughly how long it would take to upload the file. When I find I need to do a certain calculation on a regular basis, I'll write a web app to help me and make the web app available to others who may have a similar need.

When uploading a video there's two variables. The upload speed and the size of the file. The size of the file can be obtained by looking at the properties of the file. In this case my file was 15.2GB.

The second variable is the upload speed. To get an estimate of the upload speed you can use the site fast.com, which is a Netflix service to measure your internet speed. Using fast.com my upload speed was 3.9Mbps. Now all I needed was to perform the calculation.

To perform the calculation to work out how long it takes to upload a video file I wrote the web app Megabits to Megabytes which is located at www.MegabitsToMegabytes.com.au. The result in this case is around eight and a half hours. That's certainly quite a long time.

Today I checked some other internet service providers. On a  50Mbps NBN service the upload speed was 17Mbps. A Telstra mobile service test at two locations, one a busy shopping centre had an upload speed of around 2Mbps and in a residential area around 30Mbps. The speed can certainly can vary considerably depending on the service and the location. Knowing your internet speed and file size at least lets you know how long it will roughly take to upload a video.

Or should I say in theory. It also depends on the service you're uploading the file to. If the service you're using is slow, then the upload could take even longer.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.MegabitsToMegabytes.com.au

Petrol price alert - Petrol prices in Melbourne increasing to 173.9 cents per litre for unleaded petrol

Last night I noticed the first of the Woolworths Petrol stations increasing their price to 173.9. Checking other services stations and there's spots where prices have started to increase. It looks like the current petrol price hike is starting.

With the current average gate price (think wholesale) at 126.2 this would put the price jump as one of the largest for years at nearly 50 cents (47.7 cents) above the average gate price. Something doesn't feel right. When prices were jumping 25-30 cents above the average gate price there was a lot of noise coming from the government. This time nothing. Doesn't really make much sense but that's the way it is.

For us consumers all we can do is manage when we buy or petrol. Now is the time to start watching the price of petrol and fill up around half way through the price hike part of the cycle. It's currently Wednesday so there's a good chance the price hike will complete sometime next week.

What appears to be happening however, is as the remaining petrol stations increase their prices, prices in some areas may have already dropped by perhaps 10 cents a litre, so shopping around if you need petrol can make quite a difference.

My approach is to keep an eye on the petrol prices around me, factor in when I'll be driving, how far (such as a longer trip around Melbourne) and fill up when I feel the time is right. Yes a pain, but it saves a few hundreds dollars a year. In addition I'll watch and wait and lock in the lower price using the 7 Eleven Fuel app. That way I get nearly another week at the lower prices. By then we're often around half way through the cycle and prices have dropped by half the hike. The longer you hang on at this point the greater the saving. Of course often we can't change our need to drive, but sometimes we can slow it down a bit.

With prices well under the 128 mark in quite a few areas, this has been a lower price than we've had for a while.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

Nothing - A sixty minute video of nothing.

Every had an idea that seemed silly at first. Nothing is one such idea. A video of nothing for sixty minutes. Nothing on the screen, no sound, nothing.

At first I thought the idea was a waste of time, but then I started to think, perhaps that could be useful when testing computers or mobile phones. I checked the internet and 10, 12 and 24 hours of nothing had been done, so I thought what about an hour. That's a good period of time.

So I decided to go ahead and do Nothing, a video about nothing.

Remember those days when you'd quickly minimise the screen so your boss or others didn't see what you were doing and it wasn't work.  Have the Nothing video running in the background and now you can switch the screen quickly and when asked what you're doing, the truthful answer is Nothing.

At times when I find it hard to sleep I picture black, my mind drifts and I picture black again, but it's hard to picture black. But if you watch Nothing and then close your eyes, it is really easy to picture black.

A black screen makes it look like a computer or mobile is off, when it actually isn't.

Having a black screen running in the background puts your focus much more on what you're working on in the foreground.

The Nothing video makes a good timer. You know what an hour is up. You can check the elapsed time at any time, but it doesn't distract you.

Apart from the many puns I came up which gave me no end of amusement (that's worth it in itself), I'm sure others will have ideas with what they can do with Nothing.

You can find Nothing at https://youtu.be/UOCrsrvadS4, or should that be something!

Kelvin Eldridge

Top red light speed camera for NSW is located near Newcastle.

I must say I didn't expect the top red light speed camera in NSW for 2018/2019, when measured by the number of fines, would be located not in Sydney, but near Newcastle. The location for the top red light speed camera in NSW for 2018/2019 is at the intersection of Griffiths Road and Turton Road, Lambton.

As I was reviewing the data for the Speed Cameras NSW / Red Light Camera NSW one thing stood out that I felt worth investigating. If you look at the top red light speed cameras for NSW by value of fines, the location in the 6th position has the most fines by number. It really stands out. I decided to review this camera and location to see why it possibly gets so many fines.

To the credit of the NSW government the data provided is very good and quite detailed. Here's a summary for the 2018/2019 year for the camera at Lambton for the number of fines.

Motor vehicle exceed speed limit - 10 km/h and under: 6,937
Motor vehicle exceed speed limit - over 10 km/h: 2,803
Motor vehicle exceed speed limit - over 20 km/h: 112
Motor vehicle exceed speed limit - over 30 km/h: 20
Motor vehicle exceed speed limit - over 45 km/h: 1
Proceed through red traffic arrow: 8
Proceed through red traffic light: 304
Total number of fines: 10,185

From the above we can see most of the fines were for speeding as opposed to going through the red light. Around 68% for under 10 km/h and 28% for over 10 km/h.

As to why people were speeding I have some ideas, but really they're just my thoughts and not research based. Your opinion is just as valid so I'll leave it up to you to ponder.

For those interested in this intersection and red light speed camera the following link is for a YouTube video. I start the video at the 13 minute mark near the roundabout at Newcastle Link Road and Transfield Avenue, Wallsend. The red light speed camera is around the 16 minute mark.

This video is sped up so if you want to watch it in near real time I'd suggest changing the speed in the YouTube settings to 0.5 and muting your sound.

YouTube video of location at 13 minute mark.

YouTube video at 16 minute mark just before red light speed camera

In the video you'll noticed at the 13:28 mark the speed limit changes from 90 to 60. 

If you check Google maps and Street View, the view taken February 2017 the speed limit dropped to 70. In the view in May 2018 this had changed to 60. It is interesting to note in 2017 the speed limit for this red light speed camera was 70 km/h, although what the speed limit was a few years ago isn't really relevant, but I still find it interesting. The real result in terms of safety is when you take the change in speed limit and then check the corresponding road statistics for this section of road. Have the fatalities and injuries reduced, or have the fines simply increased with no corresponding benefit?

2016-2017 Fines: 1,872, Value of Fines: $443,896

2017-2018 Fines: 4,505, Value of Fines: $885,124

2018-2019 Fines: 10,185, Value of Fines: $1,898,150

For the section of road after the Main Road and Newcastle Road roundabout, heading east along Newcastle Road/Griffiths Road, to after the Griffiths Road and Turton Road intersection, the following are the crash statistics for 2014-2018.

2014 Non-casualty (towaway): 20, Minor: 4, Major: 19, Serious: 7, Fatal: 0, Total: 50

2015 Non-casualty (towaway): 10, Minor: 7, Major: 9, Serious: 5, Fatal: 0, Total: 31

2016 Non-casualty (towaway): 8, Minor: 5, Major: 7, Serious: 8, Fatal: 1, Total: 29

2017 Non-casualty (towaway): 6, Minor: 7, Major: 9, Serious: 0, Fatal: 0, Total: 22

2018 Non-casualty (towaway): 9, Minor: 5, Major: 7, Serious: 1, Fatal: 0, Total: 22

Keeping in mind the speed of the section of road was reduced in late 2017 from 70 to 60, the total number of accidents hasn't changed, there's an increase in non-casualty (towaway), an increase in serious, but there is a decrease in minor and major accidents. It would be interesting to know what happened in 2014-2015 as that was a period of significant change.

I hope others find this information interesting.

Kelvin Eldridge

www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au/nsw/

Speed camera locations / red light camera locations in NSW now show number of fines and value of fines.

It's taken many thousands of copy and pastes, but after a few days of work, I've now added the number of fines and value of fines to the NSW map on the Speed Camera Locations site at www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au/nsw/. Selecting a camera will take you to a detail page where you can see the number of fines and value of fines for fixed speed cameras and red light speed cameras in NSW.

Knowing the number of fines and value of fines in an easy to view format, helps people to know which cameras are collecting the most revenue because more people are making the same mistake. Generally that means there's more chance one of those cameras may catch you when you make the same mistake.

The majority of people drive according to the road rules, some don't, but most do. Most of us however make mistakes and if that's recorded by a camera, it can be very costly indeed. Knowing where more people make mistakes can help you identify what mistakes they may be making and help each of us become a better and more compliant drivers.

From my own experience in the past, I know for example after driving on a higher speed roadway such as a country road and then dropping down to a lower speed limit, your perception of speed is really put off. It is very easy for your speed to creep up even though you have no intention of speeding, but the result is the same. You get a speeding ticket. Whilst taking videos of red light cameras/speed cameras in the CBD area of Melbourne, where the speed limit is 40 km/h, it was exceptionally easy for the car's speed to creep up. You really have to focus far more on your speed than in the past which is a concern, as it takes your concentration off the road.

I've read with speed cameras and red light cameras there can be an increase in injuries from rear end accidents. For a few of the cameras I read about in NSW, this was sometimes the case.

There are quite a few differences between cameras in NSW and Victoria and it really is interesting to know. For example in NSW there is more warning of an approaching camera and best of all, you're  advised in the warning sign what the road speed limit is. In Victoria it's often hard to tell what the speed limit is for a road and often there's no speed limit sign for quite a distance before a camera.

In NSW there's quite a lot of fixed speed cameras (including in school zones) on regular roads, whereas in Victoria there's mostly red light speed cameras with only a few fixed speed cameras on freeways.

In Victoria if you're flashed by a camera facing you it's unlikely it's you being booked. In NSW there's many speed cameras (and one red light speed camera) that will record an offence from the front of the car.

In Victoria most cameras record one side of the road in the direction the car is travelling and from behind. In NSW many cameras can take pictures covering both directions from the back of the car, or the front of the car.

What is amazing is that even though in NSW there appears to be far more warnings and information provided to the driver, there's still a huge number of people being fined.

When I read the statistics on the number of fines, what concerns me for us as drivers, is in our parents' day, if I recall correctly, there was a tolerance of 10% when it came to speeding fines. If you read the statistics, if that tolerance remained today, most people would not be fined (possibly greater than 80%).

Hopefully the updated NSW map of fixed speed cameras and red light speed cameras highlighting the number of fines and revenue for each camera is useful to others.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au/nsw/

Eastlink Southbound Video and Eastlink Northbound Video.

As I was taking videos of speed cameras for my site www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au on the Eastlink and surrounding area, it occurred to me that some people may like to see the video of the full length of Eastlink in both directions. If this interests you, can find the Eastlink videos on YouTube using the following links.

Eastlink Southbound Video - From Springvale Road, Donvale, through the Mullum Mullum Tunnel down to Seaford.

Eastlink Northbound Video - From Seaford, through the Melba Tunnel to Springvale Road, Donvale.

Hopefully you'll find the videos useful.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au

Red light speed camera locations in NSW

The Speed Camera Locations site was built to cover Victorians, to help people who had erred and received a red light camera fine or speed camera fine. By finding out more about the location, understanding what may have led to the fine, we can modify our behaviour to ensure we reduce the chances of receiving a future sign. Not everyone who gets a fine is a lead foot out doing the wrong thing. The majority of people are like you and me.

I couldn't help feel the same technology could be used for our neighbours to the north in New South Wales. We all drive on similar roads, make the same mistakes, so perhaps the technology I've put together for Victorians could also help those in NSW.

As can be expected it will take some time to determine and map all the speed camera locations and red light camera locations in NSW. Rather than wait for all cameras to be determined I've made the NSW section of the site live with the first type of cameras. Red light speed cameras have now been uploaded for the red light speed cameras in NSW.

The next type of cameras, fixed speed cameras in NSW is currently being worked on and will be progressively uploaded.

You can find Red Light Camera Locations NSW and Speed Camera Locations NSW at www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au/nsw/.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.SpeedCameraLocations.com.au

Petrol price alert: Petrol prices in Melbourne increasing to 175.9

A couple of days ago I noticed the Woolworths Clarinda petrol station put their unleaded petrol price up to 179.9. I thought this was a bit steep as the average gate price was going down. The average gate price is currently 133.9 for unleaded petrol. To go up nearly 45 cents seemed a bit steep based on previous prices hikes.

Today a number of petrol stations have put up their unleaded price to 175.9 which we can now expect to be the current hike price.

It's hard to say if prices will go up before this coming weekend for the first wave of holiday makers returning from holiday, but it's almost certain the prices will be up for the following weekend for the rest of the holiday makers.

For a couple of years the price hike was between 25-30 cents above the average gate price, but recently that has increase to around 40 cents per litre. Since nothing been said by the powers to be about excessive price increases, we can only expect the price hike each time to now be around 40 cents per litre.

It's time to keep an eye on prices and fill up as and when required. Then if you're using the 7 Eleven fuel app, wait until you feel you can lock in the low price for another week. Last month I managed to save over $17 for a tank of petrol using the 7 Eleven fuel app. Makes the $2 saving I make using discount vouchers look tiny, but every bit helps.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au

New kilograms to pounds web app now available.

Recently I needed to convert kilograms to pounds, or so I thought. But actually what I really wanted to do was to convert kilograms to pounds and ounces.

Using Google you instantly get a kilograms to pounds converter which isn't always what you want, particularly if you want pounds and ounces. I decided this was an opportunity to create a simple calculator which converted kilograms to pounds and also kilograms to pounds and ounces.

The Kilograms to Pounds calculator can be found at www.KilogramsToPounds.com.au

Kelvin Eldridge
www.JustLocal.com.au

Alert: Qantas Anniversary Celebration Giveaway - scam

This morning I received an email which I thought was worth sharing. The reason is unlike other scam/fraud emails, the offers in this email weren't too far from being what you'd expect, given all the promotions happening at the moment. That's a long way from the scams where you could get part of millions of dollars from a prince wanting your help to transfer money out of the country.

In the past the ridiculously large sums were used to find the easily tricked people. If you thought you could make millions, you were easily tricked. However, this email pretending to be from Qantas makes the offers good, but not unrealistic. The more realistic an offer appears, potentially the more likely reasonable people may fall for the scam.

Don't be fooled, this is a scam.

There's quite a few clues. One being the email address the email is from. The other is the link you click on, but it is hidden by a URL shortening site, which makes it easier for people not to realise the scam.

For me it's easy. I copy the link, then I open the search page I've created for myself (www.AdvancedSearch.com.au/SearchGoogle/). I type in "virus" which takes me to a site that I can paste the link I've copied. That site then lets me know the link to takes me to malware. Final proof the email is a scam.

The lesson here is no longer, "if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't", doesn't apply. The lesson is, "even with offers that sound reasonable, you still need to be very careful".

Kelvin Eldridge

Petrol prices in Melbourne hiking to 175.9

A couple of nights ago I noticed the first signed of petrol prices starting to hike. The price hike will take the price of petrol to 175.9.

The average gate price on Wednesday was 135.6 cents per litre so a hike to 175.9 is what would be expected based on recent price hikes.

At the moment prices around Melbourne down to around the 130-133 mark. So far around 20% of petrol stations have put their prices up. Last time the price hike took some time to roll out, perhaps it will be the same this time.

It's time to keep an eye on petrol prices and fill up before the petrol price cycle peaks. Also don't forget to lock using the 7 Eleven Fuel app to give yourself an extra week of lower priced fuel.

Kelvin Eldridge
www.PetrolPricesMelbourne.com.au