PBS Forum

Quote from: Robert_Parks on October 10, 2023, 09:15:40 PMUnless you have half a billion US$ to play with

Ticket sold in California wins Powerball jackpot of $1.73 billion

" One ticket had all the numbers. It was sold in Frasier Park, California, which is located between Los Angeles and Bakersfield in Kern County."

"The grand prize, had an estimated lump sum payout of $756.6 million."

The after tax amount is staggering.  Someone in CA is very happy today.

Quote from: David Pilling on October 02, 2023, 05:54:34 PMIf you won the powerball, are you going to buy a botanic garden...

We're happy to confirm that your prize has been transferred to your Virginia Lottery account!

Game: Powerball
Date Won: 10/09/2023
Amount: $4
Draw: 1540
Congratulations on your win!

I've still got a long way to go before I can purchase a botanic garden.  Wednesday's jackpot is $1.73 billion.  Crazy......

Quote from: David Pilling on October 03, 2023, 04:39:08 PMIf you started a topic, you can edit your first post in it, and change the title of the topic. Just to prove this I made your suggested change.

You Da Man!!!

Quote from: CG100 on October 03, 2023, 10:22:42 AMThere must surely be a person or two here, from down under?

I should have titled this post as Parakeelya primuliflora From Western Australia.  That might have clued some of the Aussies that it's a post about one of their native plants. 

I'm going to try to locate some Western Australian Native Plant Societies on the internet. They might be able to provide some more information about this plant. 

Quote from: CG100 on October 03, 2023, 10:22:42 AMThere must surely be a person or two here, from down under?

Quote from: MarcR on October 03, 2023, 11:24:08 AMYou might try posting on the SRGC forum. They have a larger Australian membership active on the forum.

Good points all.  I will keep poking around on this. Maybe something will come up.  Thanks!

Quote from: CG100 on October 02, 2023, 02:05:11 PMyou just need to find an Australian source.

I searched all of the Australian native seed suppliers online and none of them had this plant. Interesting......

Quote from: MarcR on October 02, 2023, 03:10:25 PMI can't find Calendrina primuliflora for sale; but are very similar.

Thanks for checking into this for me.  I appreciate it.  Right now, I'm going to hold out for the real McCoy.  You have to admit it's a cute plant in the photos.  Maybe something will pop up in the future.  If not, there's always another neat plant to grow.

Quote from: David Pilling on October 02, 2023, 05:54:34 PMBern, that video "Poverty in Britain - Why are millions of Brits so broke?" from the German broadcaster DW is not available in the UK and has comments turned off.

David, I am shocked that this video was censored.  It is not inflammatory or overtly political; it simple laid out some basic facts about poverty in the UK that I was unaware of.  The "heat or eat" dilemma was completely new to me. One gentlemen showed how he would take a device for his electric meter to a convenience store and purchase 20 pounds of electricity for his flat. He complained about the surcharge for this device, but then went home to show how it fit into his electric meter until his 20 pounds was used up. Needless to say, 20 pounds does not purchase you much electricity. I had never seen or imagined any such thing before. Another major item was the doctors at the National Health Service and some of the restrictions they must follow to treat patients.  One heroic doctor was interviewed and he was able to do some good things for some of his patients using imagination and skill, but he was onerously burdened by the government restrictions.

I've seen some incredible poverty here in the USA, mostly on Indian reservations in the southwest, but also in some of the major cities, as well as rural areas here in the south.  NAFTA destroyed many prosperous small towns in the south when the furniture and textile factories were offshored.  They will never recover.  True that these areas are not as bad as the shanty towns I've seen in South America, Kenya, and South Africa, but they are pretty bad nonetheless.  And the drug dealers have moved into these areas to help the unemployed folks there by selling them heroine and other opioids.

Quote from: David Pilling on October 02, 2023, 05:54:34 PMsurprising to see staff in supermarkets wearing body cameras

This is another new item for me.  I'm going to look to see if this starts happening here. 

Quote from: David Pilling on October 02, 2023, 05:54:34 PMThe general situation. Prices, interest rates and rents have gone up.

The same is true here. I talk with people like hairdressers and other service workers and they are hurting badly.

Quote from: David Pilling on October 02, 2023, 05:54:34 PMIf you won the powerball, are you going to buy a botanic garden...

The short answer is yes, but perhaps in Australia or New Zealand?  No way would I buy that Aston Martin condo in Miami!  The jackpot was not won last night.  It's up to $1.2 billion for Wednesday.  I'll have a go for one ticket at $2.00.

And in contrast with the previous post on poverty, tonight's Powerball jackpot is over $1 billion. I purchase one ticket when it's over $1B. This happens several times a year now. Occasionally, I will get one number and I'll win back my $2.00 ticket purchase price.

 

Quote from: David Pilling on September 13, 2023, 05:46:10 PMEnergy prices doubled when the Ukraine war started and word now is that they will never be coming back down.

The morning air temps are quite a bit cooler now with the onset of Autumn and this causes me to wonder about the energy situation as winter makes its way toward us. The Ukraine war is ongoing and at least in the UK, energy prices are not coming down. I came across a few videos with catch words such as "heat or eat" and "s**t life syndrome" and "sleeping rough" in the UK and the EU. Other videos of poverty and homelessness in the US were equally disturbing.  Here are some of the videos that I viewed, at least partially. I'm not recommending that anyone view them, but the problem is large and real and here.

UK video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK68yyrKUOA

US videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f78ZVLVdO0A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VZ3uzuVZeQ

There are some very heroic people in these videos working to help people and there are success stories. 

Parakeelya primuliflora is a small geophyte of the Montiaceae Family found in Western Australia. It has nice, large purple flowers. This plant might make a nice container subject if it was brought into cultivation. An internet search turned up no sources for tubers or seeds. Has anyone seen this plant in cultivation?

Here's a link with photos from Bihrmann's Caudiciforms website.

https://bihrmann.com/caudiciforms/SUBS/par-pri-sub.asp

Now that Autumn is here and there's the certainty of cooler weather ahead, one can daydream about spending the colder months in a warmer climate. Here's a property that popped up when I was looking at real estate in Florida. Aston Martin, the luxury UK carmaker, has constructed a very high-end condominium complex in Miami.  For only $59 million, you can purchase a 19,686 sq ft condo in the heart of Miami.  That's about $3000 a sq ft.  Of course, the monthly HOA fees are a pittance at $20,931.  And the best feature of all is that the doorknob to your condo is leather covered, just like the gear shift on your Aston Martin sports car!  Here's the link.

https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/300-Biscayne-Boulevard-Way-Apt-6301_Miami_FL_33131_M99661-31795?from=srp-list-card

Quote from: David Pilling on September 22, 2023, 01:40:53 PMthe remnants of Hurricane Nigel and Lee continue to sweep across the UK and flood warnings remain in place.

It is amazing how a storm like Lee can form in the tropics in the Atlantic, make landfall in Canada, and then head east over the North Atlantic to dump rain on Britain. And there's still at least two months left in this year's hurricane season.

I still think that finding seeds is the best approach. I'll be searching seed lists this Autumn.

Hi Carlos, Thanks for trying. Perhaps it is true that there are no female plants in cultivation. I'll keep searching also.

There's nothing like a tropical storm to focus the attention of gardeners in its path. Potential tropical cyclone #16 will bring high winds, heavy rain, coastal flooding, and inland flooding for a large swath of the mid-Atlantic states for the next day or so.  Here's what I'll be experiencing in Williamsburg, Virginia. It's time now to move some plants into the garage for safe keeping.