Not A Bad Game

I enjoy playing a game called Casino Island To Go. It is a range of Casino games and fills in an hour or two very easily.

Games include Ride The Tide, Hold 'em Poker, Blackjack, Video Poker and Slots. When you run out of cash, the management gives you more!

Try the link on the right if you want to download it. All instructions are there, including a small program which makes serial numbers to give you the full version. Hopefully it downloads a lot quicker than what it took for me to upload it!

After installing the program you create a character. Finally click on "Go To" to set up your options including "Full Screen".

Casino Island To Go!

Hibiscus Update

This is what the Hibiscus (see Sunday's post) looked like last night.







Just now the flower has dropped onto the ground.

New Road

As our estate develops the school population is expected to increase substantially and house construction will continue at its current rate. Currently school buses and construction trucks travel through the estate. The developer is building a new access road which will divert most this heavy traffic around the estate.

The new access road will create a more direct access route to our home.


The new road is expected to be opened sometime in November. Current work sees the road surrounds being created and light poles erected.




We saw a good DVD over the weekend called "Capote". It tells the story of American author Truman Capote and the writing of his best book "In Cold Blood". The actor who plays Capote evidently mimics Capote's high pitched voice which made picking up some of the dialogue a little difficult. Full concentration by the watcher was required. Certainly this was one of the better movies we have watched this year.

Only down to about 20 overnight, cloudy and windy today and up to about 23. Pool is 22.6 after getting to 25.5 during the afternoon yesterday.

The Hibiscus flower from yesterday is looking a bit sick and should fall today.

Cooler Today

After a warm but windy 30 degrees yesterday we awoke to a cooler forecast of about 25 today. The strong northerly has been replaced by a stronger south easterly today and some dark looking clouds. Made bikeriding this morning a bit more difficult!

We have a hibiscus plant in the garden. It has survived several replantings, being eaten by grasshoppers and bugs, being severely burnt by the exhaust of a small back hoe as the pool was dug and various shortages of water and food. However it continues to produce beautiful red flowers. The flowers open very quickly and usually last for about 24 to 36 hours before wilting and dropping.

This photo was taken this morning at 7:30








This photo was taken this morning at 8:30.







By lunchtime tomorrow it will have been dropped onto the garden!

Weather Warming Up

We are told it will get to 29 today. Pool temp this morning was 23. Still quite windy with a cooler change overnight tonight.

Today's bikeride took us to Pumicestone Passage. This is a body of water which separates the mainland from Bribie Island. Bribie Island ends about 300 metres from the city of Caloundra. In the photo the land to the top of the shot is Bribie Island.

It is about 400 m from this shot to the right to see Bribie. The yellowish building on the waterfront in the centre is where we were looking at apartments for Anne and Gordon last week. It is the one with the spa!

There is also a caravan park here (Tripcony) with cabins right on the waterfront and other good spots for caravanners.





This park is in the middle of town, just across the road from the K-Mart Shopping Centre.

Friday Catch Up

Wednesday was spent reasonably quietly. A bike ride to start the day off then an hour or two bottling the brew. It all went per plan.

There has been heaps of cricket on TV so I have found myself in front of the box a fair bit. I watched Queensland Vs NSW on Wednesday and I have watched a fair bit of the ICC Cup matches in India too. Especially enjoyed the games from Jaipur with The Pink Palace in the background. We visited Jaipur when in India in the 90's.

Thursday saw us venture down to Brisbane's outer northern suburbs and Chermside. Chermside is to Brisbane as Chadstone is to Melbourne. There has been a big expansion at Chermside so we went for a look around. We saw petrol at 93c per litre at a Coles Service Station in Brisbane which means with your 4c off voucher it would have been 89c.

Pool was at about 22 this morning and the days have been in the mid 20's with low humidity. Today we have a blustery north wind and a much warmer day. A quiet day after a visit to the Chiropractor with a tender back then a little shopping and looking at possibly a new BBQ.

We are after a 3 burner BBQ, a bit smaller than what we now have. They usually come as a 'pedestal' BBQ but without a door at the front where the gas bottle goes. Therefore to turn it off you need to swing the BBQ around and turn the gas bottle off from the back. They all seem to be like that. Not practical!

The photo is a "Panorama" shot of the Glasshouse Mts taken from Mary Cairncross Reserve near Maleny some time ago. Click on the photo for a larger view.

I notice several people have downloaded RipIt4Me from the "Some Links" on the right hand side of the page. Did it download the 4 programs OK and install them? Looking for some feedback on it all so drop me an email on it. I hear later downloads like this have some adware in them. This one should have been clean. Most times when copying a DVD movie you would only have to use the 'Shrink' program from the download. It does a great copying job 19 times out of 20 I find.

A Day Spent Mostly On The PC

A drizzly start to our day today. A bit damp on the bike ride this morning but not too bad. Borrowed some new release DVDs and copied them to RW (rewritable) disks for viewing at a later time.

Then for a surf on the internet ... a new version of Firefox was available so I downloaded it and spent much of the day setting it up.

Firefox is a browser for the internet, a bit like Internet Explorer but a lot safer to use. It has a lot fewer security problems. The latest version of Internet Explorer (IE 7) has a lot of features based on Firefox actually and is now more secure than it used to be. What I like about Firefox is that I can add lots of features that I like to use when surfing the net.

I heard today my chip in the pool will be fixed in a couple of weeks.

Also learnt that Gordon and Anne Atkin have returned safely to Melbourne. They did the dirt road trip from Thargomindah in Queensland to Broken Hill in NSW. In doing so they ruined three tyres on the rough dirt road. An interesting experience but a mind sapping drive. They were pleased to be home and able to clean up after their two teenage lads had been home by themselves for 2 weeks! The recycling bin needs emptying Gordon says!

Cool and Very Windy!

Too windy for a ride today! So just some chores around the house and for me to have a long session on the internet!





Warmer weather later in the week with high 20's temperatrures predicted. It should get to 23 today and be a little sunnier than yesterday.

The reading on my home brew hydrometer seems to indicate I will be bottling tomorrow!

Watched a good DVD movie last night called "Transamerica". It is one I can recommend.

Since I changed Computer Firewalls to Kerio I have been able to use Blogger much more easily! Everything now runs as it should run. I listed my Blogger problem on a Google Blogger help page and got ideas to fix it from all over the world.

The guy who helped me get Kerio fully registered was from Lithuania!

Not Bad At All

Click on each slide in turn to get a larger view.

Quiet Saturday

We enjoyed a beautiful day on Saturday with warm temps. Even the pool got to 25+. However I had noticed it was windy and wet down south. Last night the windy and wet weather arrived up here with 13 mls of rain and a howling south easterly wind blowing more showers in from off the coast. Temps are expected to be about 22 today after a glorious 26 or so yesterday.

We did some reorganising in the garden. We removed some less attractive shrubby things and replaced them with transportable pots of colored flowers. It will come up great we think.



It did not take long till I headed poolside for a quiet ale.







After a while the attraction of the pool and a water temp of over 25 got the better of me!

Trish is into Brisbane today to go to the Craft and Quilting Show.


This Blogger program is still causing me some concerns but we are getting closer. The problem is uploading photos and I think it is caused by the computer's firewall. I used to have Zone Alarm as my firewall but I noticed it was pretty strict on what the computer was allowed to upload and what it wasn't allowed. I then tried another firewall called BlackICE but this morning it too seems to block my access to uploading photographs. It did not seem to have a lot of options to allow reasonable access to certain sites.

I am currently trying a third firewall program called Kerio. With it I can get in and say I want great access with files etc to Blogger. I could not upload this morning, now after installing Kerio I can upload.

Pool Repair

I mentioned a small gust of wind had caught the tilted beach umbrella and had tipped it into the pool. As the umbrella base slipped in it caught a small lip (for kids to stand in when in the water) and had chipped the fibreglass - see photo.

The damage is right in the corner near where the umbrella stand can be seen in this photo. The pool remains watertight.

I have been onto the manufacturer to repair it. Seems there is ONE repair guy for all of Australia and it is to be arranged for him to do our repairs when he is next on the coast. I am keen to go with him though, as this would ensure there would be no damage to our Pool Warranty.

Quite warm today with temps getting up well over 25. Pool temp was over 23 this morning and up to 25+ this afternoon. Possibility of storms tomorrow evening. We have had little rain so far this month and badly need a good downpour!

Gordon and Anne Head to Roma

Much of Wednesday was spent with friends Anne and Gordon Atkin who are visiting Caloundra from Melbourne.





They like Caloundra and see it as a great destination for a week or so in 2007. Much of the morning was spent checking out the Unit Rental accommodation scene here. We visited some pleasant top floor units overlooking the coast.

These photos show the view from the top floor and inside the room with the spa overlooking Pumicestone Passage. There is another private spa on the roof for this room!




For lunch we adjourned to King's Beach Tavern.





Anne and Gordon had stayed at Rydges Resort while in Caloundra. It seems a good spot for a stay as well!





Our final evening with them was spent at the Bowl's Club.

Today they have headed off to catch up with an old friend of theirs who now lives in Roma, about 5 hours away from here.

I reckon there are a couple of AFD's (Alcohol Free Days) coming up for me!

I had a good day with Blogger yesterday, the picture upload was working. Once you can upload a photo, you can then upload as many as you need. Trying to upload again today has not worked.

At the Blogger Help section it seems a lot of people have problems uploading their photos. Hopefully when the program moves out of 'beta' it will work everytime. I tried to upload photos 28 times before it worked yesterday.

Mooloolaba

Our touring with visitors Gordon and Anne Atkin continued Wednesday afternoon. First stop was Point Cartwright where there are great views of Mooloolaba and Maroochydore.



The Mooloolaba beach is always worth a look. This photo is taken from a spot called "Loo With A View".

We walked along the main road looking at shops and the many outdoor dining areas.



The Mooloolaba Surf Club allows you to look out across the beach while having a refreshing ale.

The day finished with a superb meal at a restaurant called "The Spirit Of Tibet". The food here is extremely good!

Caloundra RSL

The Caloundra RSL has won Queensland's Club of the Year Award at least four times. It is a great venue for a night out. The food has fallen away a bit recently but the overall night out is great.

We collected Anne and Gordon Atkin from their accommodation and headed there for a night out. The food we had is best described as disappointing.

Last night Little Pattie was performing and she came on about 9 pm and sang for about an hour or so.

The girls still found time to wander over to the poker machines and at the end of the night they pocketed winnings of $20 each.

A good night was had by all! I am looking forward to an AFD (alcohol free day)

Hinterland Touring

Caught up with Gordon and Anne Atkin today and did the Sunshine Coast Hinterland Tour.

Our first stop was the Glasshouse Mountains. From there we drove to Mary Cairncross Reserve for some more wonderful Glasshouse Mountain views. We then moved on to Maleny.


Maleny is known as a bit of a 'hippy' town with interesting shops. One of these shops sells great ice-cream!





From Maleny we drove on to Montville with its numerous small shops surrounded by colorful gardens.




This had been thirsty work so we all enjoyed a cool refreshing drink at Mapleton.








Last stop of the day was Strawberry Fields strawberry farm. Some purchases were made here too.

Pleasant Surprise

Good friends Gordon and Anne Atkin arrived Saturday afternoon. I have worked with both of them during my teaching days. Anne is a longtime teaching colleague and Gordon was my Assistant Principal when I was at Doveton North Primary School.

I am pleased to say the home brew was most agreeable and the evening they spent with us was great fun. They had arrived a day earlier than expected only to discover there was no vacancy in Caloundra! Our guest bedroom helped them out. Today they 'migrated' to Rydges, a resort in Caloundra. Gordon was looking forward to doing a little bird watching poolside!

We look forward to showing them the sights of Caloundra until they continue on their way on Wednesday morning heading towards Roma.

Anne awoke early this morning and went outside to read in the morning sunshine under the umbrella pictured below. A gust of wind at just the right (or wrong) angle caught the umbrella spilling it into the pool. The heavy base, which was unable to keep the umbrella standing, slipped into the pool too chipping the fibreglass about 50 cms below the surface. Not happy Jan!

A warm day today about 27 outside and pool temp is over 24. Might get another swim later before heading out for a meal with Anne and Gordon.

The Big Road Test

Trish was a little apprehensive this morning as we readied ourselves for our 7:30 a.m. bikeride and she saw me get the camera! I am not allowed to take photos of Trish without telling her, from behind or with her bike helmet on with her ridiculous looking (but effective at keeping magpies etc at bay) bike helmet with a big cable tie sticking out the top! So when I took this picture she was a fair way away! But here she is on her new bike riding through the Bellvista Estate parklands.

Later we travelled beside the Bellvista Lake which is the centrepiece of this estate. Ducks and other water birds abound in the lake.




After an hour we arrived back home for fresh fruit under the umbrella beside the pool!

Expected to get to about 25 today. Pool temp this morning a whisker over 21 degrees.

Safer Bike Riding

When Trish and I first started bike riding we had a couple of bikes which we bought for $100 each from K-Mart. They did us well for quite a few years.

We now ride almost daily so the $100 K-Mart jobs don't do the job well enough. Trish further upgraded her bike yesterday after I had taken he previous one for a test ride. The brakes hardly worked, the gears did not always change properly and it just didn't feel safe or sturdy. Not the sorts of things you want when crossing between the traffic on a busy road.

Trish's new bike is certainly safer and is not a full mountain bike making it easier for her to ride. First ride on the new bike is due tomorrow!

Bike Riding

Most days (weather permitting) Trish and I head off for a bike ride about 7:30 a.m. The exercise is good for us and it is a bit of fun as well. The Caloundra Council has just completed a 1.5 km pathway section which links our estate into the grid of pathways into Caloundra. This section has been some time in coming.

The new pathway still requires some landscaping and tidying up but it is a pleasant environment in which to ride. The new path goes behind a huge new Bunning's Store built about 2 k's from us.



The pathway then winds its way past the Caloundra Airport and through an area called "The Duckponds". This is a great spot for riding.




Today we rode all the way down to Pelican Waters before returning to home via the Pumicestone Passage. Pelican Waters is an upmarket estate boasting 'Waterfront Blocks" and built around a Greg Norman designed golf course. The estate developer constructs canals and then sells the waterfront blocks for prices well over half a million dollars!

I hear that if people wish to make comments into the Blog you get asked to create a Google Account. This account asks you for an email address which you use to get into the account after it has been created. I think an 'activation' email is sent to the provided email address with a link you click on to activate the free account.

Don't use your 'regular' email address if you wish to get a free Google Account. Most people have 2 or 3 email addresses they give depending on who wants the information. I have my regular email, a Yahoo email address (which I use for this Blog page) and a Hotmail email address. The last two email accounts (Yahoo and Hotmail) are freebies. I suggest if you wish to make a comment on this blog page you should get a free Google Account but use a 'free' email address.

Swooping Season Still On

At last we awoke to a day with clearing skies and a moderate wind. Eventually the sun came out and the moderate wind dropped back. Off we went for our daily bike ride. A new 1.5. km pathway has been opened up between our estate and the city of Caloundra where it now joins established pathways.

We have been using the new pathway lately to escape swooping magpies. It was suggested to us we put some large cable ties onto our helmets. These won't stop magpies from swooping but may deter them from making contact with us! I won't say what we look like as we ride along but it seems to be effective. I had a couple of swoops at me today but nothing that came very close.

Other news:

Trish's brother Bill and his wife Heather are overseas (London) for a month or so.

Our friend Russ has acquired a new Toyota Prado to pull his new caravan. They head off about May of 2007.

Today about 24 or so but with the cold weather the pool is again under 20 degrees. Only about 17 overnight. 2mls in the rain gauge this morning from numerous showers yesterday.

Windy With Grey Skies

Monday the weather here was terrible. It blew a gale all day off the sea from the South East. I guess there are some advantages to not living right on the coast. The pool was full of dirt and even under the back pergola there were piles of dirt between the pavers.

Today the wind has died and we are having some sunshine. However there are still dark clouds rolling in from the sea from time to time. Hope to get to 23 today. Only 22 yesterday.

I spent a couple of hours over the road at a neighbour's yesterday afternoon sorting out a problem they had with copying DVD's. I was able to give them a further 12 months subscription on their Anti-Virus at no cost. They also wanted to copy disks such as "Narnia" (heavily copy protected) which were able to do with the RipIt4Me group of programs (RipIt4Me - DVD Decrypter - Fix VTS - Shrink). See the link to the right for the RipIt4Me download program. This program downloads all 4 programs and I think it even installs them for you.

Blogger Beta still playing up a bit.

I have added a link (on the right) to a reasonable DVD Copy program called Shrink To 5 Pro. All installation instructions are included in the .zip file. They say it can get through many of the new copy protection on DVD's. It has a few good features and options. Being the 'Pro' edition is another benefit. Use the patch in the package to give you the full registered version.

Problems Posting

I have recently upgraded this blogger site to a new version called Blogger Beta.

Blogger Beta is an 'upgrade' from where this site was previously. 'Beta' means it is still being developed and has a few bugs still to be ironed out.

In upgrading I was not able to keep the previous web address, therefore you need to follow this new link to read the blog.

To ensure people know they are on the new site I have added that to the title.

I can no longer make any changes to the old blogspot site. I am now locked out of it.

This site has been unavailable till almost 2 pm this afternoon. I wonder if you could hear me swearing all morning? I have been trying to update this for about 3 hours!

Things seem to be working better now!

Upgraded Blogger - News From The Sunshine Coast

Unfortunately I made a mess of 'upgrading' my Blogger Blog page.

This is the 'new' site and should have some added features.

All info from the previous Blog page has been uploaded to this one.

You will need to delete your link http://thomfam90.blogspot.com/

You will need to create a new link:

http://newsfromthesunshinecoast.blogspot.com/

Les

Up To Date Posts

Friday, October 06, 2006

Blogger Updated

I think I have just updated my Blog Page to a newer format with more features!

I think Chris, Kate and Kim can now post on this Blog Page.

Anyone can now leave comments, i.e. you don't have to to be a 'registered' user.

Cricket Climax

About 40 years ago I was playing in the local Dandenong Cricket Competition when I was invited by Fred Pereira to have a try for the Dandenong Sub District side. I managed to be selected soon after and spent a few years playing with them. Fred now resides here on the Sunshine Coast and is heavily involved with umpiring. He umpired the final day's 50 over match between Tasmania and South Australia yesterday.

The photo is of Fred and Greg Blewett. Click on the photo for a larger shot.

For a short while, yesterday's Maroochydore Cricket Ground was almost the centre of sport news in Australia when Dan Cullen was plucked from the game to pack his bags and join the Australian ICC Cup Squad heading to India. He was bowling in the match. Jason Gillespie was having the game off and was heavily involved with a mobile phone call. A few minutes later Cullen was called from the ground and was seen on the phone.

Then he was no longer to be seen.

He rushed to Brisbane where he caught a plane to Adelaide to pack and get his passport. Then there was a quick flight to Melbourne to collect his Visa, then up to Brisbane to join other members of the Australian team for their departure today!

Tasmania won the game by 5 runs.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

More Cricket!

I again journeyed to Maroochydore Cricket Ground and enjoyed a 20/20 match between Tasmania and South Australia. The first ball was bowled at 9:30 a.m. and everyone was on their way home before 12:15 pm. Lots of 6's, plenty of lusty hitting and some great running catches ensured the crowd of a couple of hundred had heaps of entertainment. Most enjoyable. South Australia won when Tasmania lost too many early wickets. It was one of those days when balls hit in the air saw a fielder stand on his head and take great catches.

The photo shows Cosgrove and Blewett having some catching practice earlier this week.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Cricket On The Coast

Much of the last two days has been spent about 20 minutes north of home here at Maroochydore Cricket Ground where the Tasmanian and South Australian State cricket squads have been having a pre season cricket camp. All the squad members are in attendance and it is great to rub shoulders with Sean Tait, Jason Gillespie, Mark Cosgrove, Dan Cullen, Greg Blewett, Michael Bevan and Matthew Elliott all of whom have represented Australia on the playing field.

Both teams are giving their bowlers a good work out. Sean Tait opened the bowling for Australia against England last year and watching him come in to bowl to Michael Bevan was fantastic. Tait is pretty quick I can tell you.

I was also interested to see Cullen bowl 'in the flesh'. Some tipsters are touting him to be the next big thing in spin bowling for Australia.

There was a 2 day game on Monday and Tuesday. Tomorrow there is to be a 20/20 match and then on Thursday both states will field full strength teams in a 50 over match.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Monday Update

Trish and I had a wonderful meal on Thursday night at the Spirit Of Tibet Restaurant in Mooloolaba. It was good that I had booked as, being school holiday time, the place was very busy.

On Saturday Det and Brenda (a couple we met on our Vietnam China trip) drove up from the Gold Coast to watch the AFL Gr and Final and stay the night with us. We had kilos of prawns and oysters and litres of alcohol! Det does a day's work in the smallgoods industry so he came suitably armed with a variety of meats too. He is also just into home brewing so plenty of 'cross sampling' was enjoyed.

The match on TV was a cracker and their company was fantastic. They left Sunday afternoon about 4 pm after a few hours at the Caloundra RSL. Trish left the RSL $50 better off thanks to the pokies. That night the Broncos beat Storm in the Rugby League Grand Final.

Whilst up here, Arj carried out some adju stments on my sound systerm. By increasing the subwoofer output the sound improved remarkaby. However on Sunday the subwoofer stopped working. About 12 hours later I tracked the problem down to the extra vibrations of the subwoofer had loosened the power connection so that it eventually fell out! Plug it back in and I was back on the air.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

A Wet Night

Yesterday it was bright and sunny at 3 pm.


By 4:30 pm the sky was an ugly black and rain was falling in the distance.

Shortly afterwards this shot was taken from the front door looking seawards. The clouds were moving in but there was still sunshine out to the horizon. The storm was on its way.

Later the rain set in.
This morning I tipped 18 ml from the rain gauge. The storm had lost a lot of its power by the time it got to us. However the pool was topped up, the garden had a good drink and the lawn at the front was watered too!

It rained on and off into the night.

Been a busy day today, bottling a new brew, cleaning the sun blinds at the back of the house (this is a big and messy annual chore) and giving the front lawn a mow.