Being Pro-active

[WhitewaterWoman]

This looked really weird to me the first time I saw it, every tree shaped like a perfect cube. Pruned and picked by machines. Not a lot of people like working out in the sun all day in Darwin and they always had a lot of trouble getting seasonal workers.

View attachment 128185

Are those mangos? An interesting approach. Commercial mangos are picked unripe and they never ripen properly at home. In order to machine pick, they must be picking them unripe. Plus, due to some kind of federal rule, mangos have to be sterilized before coming into the US. This means the area around the skin has been cooked. Imported mangos are terrible here.

We have lots of seasonal workers in Florida. A substantial percentage are undocumented. Americans have no idea the human cost of getting themselves cheap fresh fruits and vegetables. If workers had to be paid minimum wage, no one would be able to afford even one tomato.

 

[Outdated]

Are there "hot pots" where people can soak in hot water. Obviously not as it is coming out of the ground, but down river from where the water comes up. We do that here in places that have thermal springs, such as in the Rocky Mountains.

There are, but a lot of them are highly radioactive and have warning signs all around them telling you not to get in to the water and to not even remain in the area too long. But also in that country hot water isn't something you really look forward to.

Further north in the tropics we have a lot of thermal springs where the water is bright blue, that water comes underground all the way from New Guinea. The colour in this picture hasn't been enhanced, that's what it really looks like.

Are those mangos? An interesting approach. Commercial mangos are picked unripe and they never ripen properly at home. In order to machine pick, they must be picking them unripe. Plus, due to some kind of federal rule, mangos have to be sterilized before coming into the US. This means the area around the skin has been cooked. Imported mangos are terrible here.

Yes, those trees are mangoes. And here they go through a chemical bath to remove the sap but if you use hot water or in some way try to sterilise them they will be classed as unfit for human consumption and illegal to sell here. The natural yeast that forms on their skin is their protection against other nastier infections.

The US also has this problem with eggs, because of their wash treatment they are illegal for sale in other countries, and they need to be refridgerated. Eggs from Europe (Australia too) are illegal for sale in the US because they haven't been through a sterilising wash but they don't need to be refridgerated and they have a longer shelf life.

 

[thejuice]

So I was purchasing a very expensive HIPAA compliant cloud storage for my business, which was thousands of dollars that had to be paid by the year in one lump sum. My business closed and I kept the account open until the end of my paid year to take care of loose ends and besides it was already paid for.

So, they automatically renewed it for a full year and I did not catch it in time. They said I could cancel, but the current plan would stay in effect until July 2025 and I couldn't get my money back for the current year, even though I was only a few days late. This was about $3000.00 for a business no longer bringing in any money.

Well, it took awhile, but they did manage to refund the money. So, I guess the skills I have developed over 20+ years of advocating for my clients has come in handy during retirement.

It really does feel like youve been robbed. Awful feeling.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

There are, but a lot of them are highly radioactive and have warning signs all around them telling you not to get in to the water and to not even remain in the area too long. But also in that country hot water isn't something you really look forward to.

Further north in the tropics we have a lot of thermal springs where the water is bright blue, that water comes underground all the way from New Guinea. The colour in this picture hasn't been enhanced, that's what it really looks like.

View attachment 128186


Yes, those trees are mangoes. And here they go through a chemical bath to remove the sap but if you use hot water or in some way try to sterilise them they will be classed as unfit for human consumption and illegal to sell here. The natural yeast that forms on their skin is their protection against other nastier infections.

The US also has this problem with eggs, because of their wash treatment they are illegal for sale in other countries, and they need to be refridgerated. Eggs from Europe (Australia too) are illegal for sale in the US because they haven't been through a sterilising wash but they don't need to be refridgerated and they have a longer shelf life.

In Florida there are springs that look much like the photo, but they aren’t thermal. They do stay at the same temp all winter, so the manatees will travel upriver to hang out at the springs when the Gulf water gets too cold.

 

[Outdated]

In Florida there are springs that look much like the photo, but they aren’t thermal. They do stay at the same temp all winter, so the manatees will travel upriver to hang out at the springs when the Gulf water gets too cold.

The picture I posted is of Mataranka, 100 Km south of Katherine. There's another almost identical spring inside the township of Katherine but every time the council or the business association put a sign up pointing to it the locals rip it down. The tourists can have Mataranka but the spring inside the town is their own.

 

[SusanLR]

That is a beautiful photo.
I've seen a lot of those types of springs in Florida as @WhitewaterWoman mentioned.
Here is a photo of a tourist attraction called Weeki Wachee Springs.
There is a viewing area at the bottom of the spring where people dive down and put on shows in the water. Yes, that is actually a person walking on the bottom of the spring.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

The picture I posted is of Mataranka, 100 Km south of Katherine. There's another almost identical spring inside the township of Katherine but every time the council or the business association put a sign up pointing to it the locals rip it down. The tourists can have Mataranka but the spring inside the town is their own.

YAY! for the locals.

 

[Mary Terry]

The only citrus I have successfully grown here are a Meyer lemon and a Persian lime, both in large clay pots that have to dragged into the house during winter. Yet, oranges and grapefruit grow well outdoors a mere 100 miles south of me. Mangos don't grow here at all.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

The only citrus I have successfully grown here are a Meyer lemon and a Persian lime, both in large clay pots that have to dragged into the house during winter. Yet, oranges and grapefruit grow well outdoors a mere 100 miles south of me. Mangos don't grow here at all.

Just a few miles can make a lot of difference in what will grow and what won't. This is why you can grow so many regular vegetables and I can't. Also being near the sea or a large lake can change the microclimate.

You should be able to grow one of the dwarf mango varieties if you are willing to plant in a pot and take it inside in winter.

 

[Mary Terry]

Just a few miles can make a lot of difference in what will grow and what won't. This is why you can grow so many regular vegetables and I can't. Also being near the sea or a large lake can change the microclimate.

You should be able to grow one of the dwarf mango varieties if you are willing to plant in a pot and take it inside in winter.

I didn't know there were dwarf mangos. I'll check that out.

I've saved old glass doors and windows for years in hope of someday building a greenhouse. Maybe I should just spend the money on a store-bought greenhouse and forget about having a custom-made, artsy greenhouse since that's yet another project that never gets done.

 

[Outdated]

Just a few miles can make a lot of difference in what will grow and what won't. This is why you can grow so many regular vegetables and I can't. Also being near the sea or a large lake can change the microclimate.

That's one of the factors in the variety of fruits and vegetables we can grow in the Murray Riverlands, it's a very dry climate a long long way from the ocean. It does get cold nights although never below freezing, but frosts are extremely rare.

The biggest problem farmers pray doesn't happen is rain in February. If trees suck up too much water when the fruit is getting near ripe then most of the fruit will split.

 

[Outdated]

There is a viewing area at the bottom of the spring where people dive down and put on shows in the water. Yes, that is actually a person walking on the bottom of the spring.

That looks fantastic, all of our springs are only waist deep.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

I didn't know there were dwarf mangos. I'll check that out.

I've saved old glass doors and windows for years in hope of someday building a greenhouse. Maybe I should just spend the money on a store-bought greenhouse and forget about having a custom-made, artsy greenhouse since that's yet another project that never gets done.

I had a 10x12x13 ft greenhouse which was destroyed in a hurricane. You can buy a plastic setup for a couple hundred bucks. That’s what I did this past year. They don’t last more than a year or two, but I couldn’t afford a real one.

I also have dreams of a greenhouse put together with old windows.

That looks fantastic, all of our springs are only waist deep.

BTW, there are mermaid shows at those springs. Florida is rife with underground aquifers and caves that some daring people have explored. I recently paddled a spring that was 60 ft deep in places and the water so crystal clear it looks like you could touch the bottom with your fingers.

We don’t want a lot of rain when the fruits are maturing. They don’t split, but the flavor becomes insipid.

 

[SusanLR]

@WhitewaterWoman Yes, that's one of the mermaids in the left background there.
They are very pretty to watch.

The same thing happened to me with the clear 60 ft water once in the Ocala Forest.
I walked out onto a rock cliff and sat down above a clear spring, dangled my feet in it and noticed a metal engraving set in the stone beside me: The water is 60 feet deep at this point. Wow, I felt funny as it looked like maybe 6 feet.

@Outdated
Per your OP on rip offs from businesses, one that happens a lot with me are physician offices.

I have Medicare, our government insurance for retirees here, and a secondary to pay the co-pay that Medicare doesn't.
I have gotten so many bills in the mail to pay that co-pay and I don't even owe it.
I call and get a response that they didn't know I had the secondary insurance or that is just an automatic bill that is sent out to everyone when we get the Medicare payment so, ignore it.

Can you imagine how many older people probably don't think about it and just pay the bill?
I think it is a scheme to get extra money. If they send out enough of those type of bills, some are just going to pay it.

 

[Outdated]

Can you imagine how many older people probably don't think about it and just pay the bill?
I think it is a scheme to get extra money. If they send out enough of those type of bills, some are just going to pay it.

I think you're right there, I do think they do it deliberately.

[Edit] I just thought I should add that we have an entirely different climate in Australia regarding health and insurance. Roughly 50% of Australians never pay for any private health insurance in their lives, our Medicare is with us from the cradle to the grave and it's actually pretty good, which is why so many of us never bother to pay for insurance.

 

[vergil96]

Thank you for sharing, I've been wondering myself about that kind of situations and how to address them. Should I file complaints or not? How to do that? They don't happen rarely. Over $200 is a lot of money by the way.

 

[Outdated]

Over $200 is a lot of money by the way.

200 Australian dollars is worth about 130 Euros, but you're right, it's not exactly pocket change that anyone can just let slide without complaint.

Yes, you should complain, yes you should make sure that authorities are aware of bad practices. Not just for your own sake but also for the people of your community. I would be surprised if there weren't government departments to look in to this sort of thing in your country considering it's political history.