You know how they were sending Star Trek's Scotty's and Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper's ashes into space? Well apparently it was always meant to be a temporary trip. A token gesture. Here I was thinking he'd be sent into the sun or left up there somehow, but thinking about it, even bits of cremated body are probably a hazard to space shuttles so I guess it was never going to happen that way.

Anyway, they lost them all in the mountains trying to send them back.

What hope have we of making it to Mars?

Back in October last year I said:

Hugs for the first political party that promises to spend a shload of cash upgrading Melbourne's 100+ year old water pipes. For every burst there are probably hundreds of unseen leaks.

When I said that I was actually thinking of State government with the election not too far away. So to see something come from Federal today surprised me...

Yesterday as part of the opposition budget reply Labor detailed a "modest but practical" plan to spend $250 million "to plug leaks in town and city water pipes to stop more than 155,000 megalitres of water being wasted each year" [Herald Sun].

[also: The Age | Full text budget reply ]

So Kevvy, I owe you a hug*.

* hugs cannot be traded in for votes or anything else of monetary value