Friday's News Update

Not a lot of news to report.

We expect the pavers in the backyard to be rejuvenated with a special application some time next week.

The new laptop has just been delivered today so my next job is to set it all up!

That should keep me out of trouble shouldn't it!

Lovely sunny days after chilly mornings. A top today of about 22 but we are looking forward to low to mid 20's next week.

The Chemist's Assistant

A chemist walks back into his shop after a short break and sees a man leaning against the wall.

"What's wrong with him?" he asks his assistant.

"He came in for cough syrup but I couldn't find any so I gave him an entire bottle of laxatives" replied the assistant.

"You idiot" exclaims the chemist, "you can't treat a cough with laxatives."

"Of course you can" replies the assistant, "look at him, he's too ruddy scared to cough!"

Glorious Winter Weather

Yet another sunny and dry day. It is about 18 degrees (67) by 9 am and then eventually finds its way to the low 20's by early afternoon. This is the sort of weather that caravanners from the southern states visit Queensland for in winter. This is the busy season for caravan parks across Queensland. It is quite dry though, we have only had a few mls of rain for all of July. You can see the figures here, click on the quarter you want to see by clicking on Q1, Q2 etc at the foot of the page.

There is a move to develop the land to the south of us to accommodate the booming population of South-East Queensland. The plan is to house a further 50,000 people here at Caloundra South over the next 30 years or so. There is opposition to this to ensure there is a wide green barrier separating the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane's northern suburbs.

Currently we are almost 100k's north of Brisbane. The 'green' barrier can be seen in this picture, the yellow arrow points to our home. Over the 'back' you can see the Unity College oval and school buildings. The area beyond that is earmarked for the new development. If you click on the picture you will get a larger view. Click on "Back" to return to this page.

Another brew went on this morning and as you can see I have put some lemon in it again. It tastes extremely refreshing. It will be ready to enjoy in about 4 weeks time.

The laptop ordered from Dell should be delivered either this Friday or Monday of next week. This PC goes in for tidy up on Monday for three days to try to discover the cause of the strange shadowy screen I had last week. (See here for the picture, and then click on Back to return to this page.) The main PC continues to operate very well after the scare I had over the weekend.

Trish attended Gym again this morning while Tony and I had an 11k bike ride.

PC Problem Solved!

I was saying about things on my PC going into "Zoom" mode. After a bit of thought and a suggestion from Trish I was able to identify the problem and fix it.

Usually to zoom in on something you press the mouse 'scroll wheel' and then roll in to make whatever you have on your screen bigger. I have been a bit concerned about the wireless mouse recently as the scroll wheel became a bit stiff.

It seems that when I made a movement with the mouse the wireless signals it sent were not exactly what should have been sent. Thus things like "Zoom" would happen when they shouldn't.

I removed my wireless keyboard and mouse and connected a spare standard wired keyboard and mouse. Suddenly everything again worked perfectly.

30 minutes later the new wireless keyboard and mouse I had ordered was delivered. It has now been attached to the computer and everything is going OK again!

Nearly All About Computers

I wish to apologize to anyone who overheard any inappropriate language springing from our lounge room here in Queensland Saturday afternoon! I was watching my footy team play Trish's footy team on TV. My team (Geelong) is one of the favored teams to play off in the 2009 Grand Final again. Trish's team, 2008 Grand Final winners have had an ordinary 2009 but have just struck form again and, though about 9th, are again threatening. Geelong, well down at the beginning of the last quarter managed to win by 1 point with an 'after the siren' shot on goal.

The laptop is now heading towards 4 years old. It is extremely slow and not really suitable for 2009. It has only 500mb of RAM and does not cope well with any of the latest software. It seems to take a long time to load or 'wake up' after sitting unused. Both Trish and I get 'frustrated' with it. It is just OK for web browsing and playing simple games. After another 'episode' with it last night I jumped onto the Dell website and have ordered a replacement. It should be delivered later this week.

Meanwhile my PC has had a few more 'screen' problems. The size of the print on some web pages just goes from big to small then back to big again. Right now the screen is hopping around changing size every couple of seconds. At last it has stopped and I can type again.

I think it needs that 'service'!

Friday Update

Now what have I done this week? I am not sure but I know there has been plenty to do.

A 26 degree day midweek was a highlight. Today remains sunny and low 20's. It is getting to be time to water the garden as it has been a while since we had any rain!

I continue to ride most mornings so that gets the day off to an active start. Tony has recovered now and we again ride together.

My computer has a bit of a coronary yesterday, the screen went crazy as you can see in the photo. However within an hour it was back to 'normal' again. I have a 3 year warranty on the PC so I wandered into the shop where I bought it and the guy said something about the annual service! This is the first I had heard of any 'annual service' so it looks like it will go in for a spring clean. They will want to keep it for three days so to see if they can get the screen problem to happen again. The guy thinks there may be some dirt on the video card. It is $47-50 for a clean up. Click on the picture for a better view, then click on "Back" to return to this page.

What will I do without my PC for 3 days! I guess I will have to press the 'laptop' back into service.

My System Restore points no longer get deleted on start up! I don't know why!

Last week at Computer Club they were talking about a program called Advanced SystemCare of which there is a free version. It looks like it does a fairly good job. I have installed it on the laptop, it usually needs as much help as it can get!

I you want to download and install it (just Google Advanced SystemCare) I can send you a little patch which will then give you the full "Professional" version which allows the program to do a few more things.

Things tend to get rusty around here quite quickly. This heavy umbrella base usually attracts some rust. I have tried to get rid of the rust then given it a quick respray, ready for summer days ahead. The bad spots have had several coats of paint so I hope it will be protected. Plenty of sport on TV this weekend for me, Trish will be involved with local Quilt Show for a few hours each day over the weekend.

The Old Cowboy joke below is one of the best I have come across for quite some time!

The Old Cowboy!

An Old Cowboy

Ya think you have lived to be 71 and know who you are, then along comes someone and blows it all to the dickens...

An old cowboy sat down at the Starbucks and ordered a cup of coffee.
As he sat sipping his coffee, a young woman sat down next to him..

She turned to the cowboy and asked, 'Are you a real cowboy?'

He replied, 'Well, I've spent my whole life breaking colts, working cows, going to rodeos, fixing fences, pulling calves, bailing hay, doctoring calves, cleaning my barn, fixing flats, working on tractors, and feeding my dogs, so I guess I am a cowboy.'

She said, 'I'm a lesbian. I spend my whole day thinking about naked women. As soon as I get up in the morning, I think about nakedwomen. When I shower, I think about naked women. When I watch TV, I think about naked women. It seems everything makes me think of naked women.'

The two sat sipping in silence.

A little while later, a man sat down on the other side of the old cowboy and asked, 'Are you a real cowboy?'

He replied, 'I always thought I was, but I just found out I'm a lesbian.'

It Has Been Hot In Texas!

Dear Diary,

Just moved to Texas ! Now this is a state that knows how to live!!

Beautiful sunny days and warm balmy evenings. What a place!

It is beautiful. I've finally found my home. I love it here.

June 14th:

Really heating up. Got to 100 today. Not a problem. Live in an air-conditioned home, drive an air-conditioned car.

What a pleasure to see the sun everyday like this. I'm turning into a sun worshipper.

June 30th:

Had the backyard landscaped with western plants today. Lots of cactus and rocks. What a breeze to maintain. No more mowing the lawn for me.

Another scorcher today, but I love it here.

July 10th:

The temperature hasn't been below 100 all week. How do people get used to this kind of heat?

At least, it's kind of windy though. But getting used to the heat is taking longer than I expected.

July 15th:

Fell asleep by the community pool. (Got 3rd degree burns over 60% of my body). Missed 3 days of work. What a dumb thing to do. Learned my lesson though.

Got to respect the ol' sun in a climate like this.


July 20th:

I missed Lomita (my cat) sneaking into the car when I left this morning. By the time I got to the hot car at noon, Lomita had died and swollen up to the size of a shopping bag, then popped like a water balloon.

I learned my lesson though. No more pets in this heat. Good ol' Mr. Sun strikes again.

July 25th:

The wind sucks. It feels like a giant blow dryer!! And it's hot as hell. The home air-conditioner is on the fritz and the AC repairman charged $200 just to drive by and tell me he needed to order parts.

July 30th:

Been sleeping outside on the patio for 3 nights now, $225,000 house and I can't even go inside. Lomita is the lucky one.

Why did I ever come here?

Aug. 4th:

It's 115 degrees. Finally got the air-conditioner fixed today.It cost $500 and gets the temperature down to 85.

I hate this stupid state.

Aug. 8th:

If another wise ass cracks, 'Hot enough for you today?' I'm going to strangle him. Damn heat. By the time I get to work, the radiator is boiling over, my clothes are soaking wet, and I smell like baked cat!!

Aug. 9th:

Tried to run some errands after work. Wore shorts, and when I sat on the seats in the car, my ass caught fire. My skin melted to the seat. I lost 2 layers of flesh and all the hair on the back of my legs.

Now my car smells like burnt hair, fried ass, and baked cat.

Aug 10th:

I'm convinced now that the weather report is a damn recording. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. Hot and sunny. It's been too hot to do Shit for 2 damn months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week.

Doesn't it ever rain in this damn state? Water rationing will be next, so my $1700 worth of cactus will just dry up and blow over.

Even the cactus can't live in this damn heat.

Aug. 14th:

Welcome to HELL! Temperature got to 115 today. Cactus are dead. Forgot to crack the window and blew the damn windshield out of the car. The installer came to fix it and guess what he asked me???

"Hot enough for you today?"

My sister had to spend $1,500 to bail me out of jail. Freaking Texas . What kind of a sick demented idiot would want to live here??

Will write later to let you know how the trial goes.

Sport On TV and More Sport On TV!

The wind has dropped and we are enjoying warm sunny days after chilly nights. Today may see a top of 23 after 8 overnight. All in all it is very pleasant.

Footy and Cricket seems to have been on TV all weekend. (Not that I mind at all you know!) Computer Club was on Saturday morning and it was quite hectic for me. I seem to have 'won' a team' of members who want some assistance each Saturday. Then I get a few referrals too from the Secretary. People ask her who can help them out and I get a few more 'customers'. But it is good to help people.

The brew I put on last Wednesday was ready to bottle this morning (Monday). Sunday morning was spent washing bottles and then this morning I bottled. Cleanliness is crucial with home brewing and the fermenter requires a good clean out each time it is used. It must then be fully dried to prevent the formation of mould. Here is the equipment drying in the today's late morning sun! Before I brew again the fermenter is fully rinsed with boiling water to kill any bacteria.

The mouse attached to my computer has begun to show its age recently, sometimes the 'scroll' wheel won't turn easily so I reckon it is telling me it is time for a new one. One of the daily sales specials websites I visit had a special on a top of the range keyboard and mouse, all the latest design. It was at a 'better than eBay' price so I have ordered one.

Trish enjoys her "Gym" and attends at least every second day.

Tony's foot has come good and we are riding together each morning. We had a quiet 11k's this morning!

Lou Ann is 'enjoying' extremely hot weather in Texas right now and sent me a joke which I will put in the blog sometime this week. Daily temps her way are into the low 40's each day. I think they have just about had enough of the hot weather over there in Sweetwater.

Busy Busy Busy!

It is Friday and I have just returned from my daily bike ride. Tony remains on the "injured" list with a crook foot so I have been riding on my own!

I left for my ride at about 8:20 am and the traffic for a quiet little estate as ours was quite heavy as this snap shows. The traffic is associated with the drop off time at the local school. Next year there will be 1200 students at the school and 75% of these children will come from outside our estate. We only have one access road in and out of Bellvista so the traffic at school busy times is a problem. This is complicated by the roundabout onto Caloundra Road not operating as planned.

Stockland has plans to further develop another 500 homesites on the other side of this roundabout in the picture. The concern is the heavy transport coming in and out of the estate to develop the new land release and the current busy traffic during drop off and pick up school times. We have been pushing for the road in to be duplicated. However the Council is waiting for a traffic usage 'trigger point' to be reached before building the road duplication. This sounds like a project for the Bellvista Community Association.

There was a strong gusty south westerly wind this morning blowing cold dry air across us originating from somewhere down south. Yesterday it only got to about 18 with this cold breeze and today may not be any better. We have a lovely clear sky but a cold wind. You need to find a spot out of the wind and in the sun to enjoy the day!

I just had to post this, it is from today's "Sunshine Coast Daily":

Ugg boots. Check. Mittens. Check. Beanie. Check.

Get your winter woollens ready – tomorrow morning is going to be a teeth-chattering four degrees.

Yesterday, Sunshine Coast residents shivered through the day, with the maximum temperature at Maroochydore climbing to just 17.1C, two degrees higher than the lowest maximum ever recorded for the area in July.

In the morning, the mercury fell to five degrees.

Today the temperature is expected to reach 18C after a morning low of six degrees at 5.30am.

According to a Bureau of Meteorology spokesman, the cold temperatures have been caused by strong, dry south-westerly winds.

“We’ve had an outbreak of south-westerly winds across the south east, bringing cold, dry conditions and causing temperatures to drop,” he said.

“These chilly conditions will continue until Sunday and temperatures next week will be back to average, with daytime temperatures of about 22 and night temperatures of about nine.”

Frosts are expected in the Coast hinterland, which will be colder than coastal areas, but conditions inland will warm by up by Sunday.

Negative People

Thanks for this one Jan. One of the things which made my job as a school principal difficult was having to deal with negative parents and staff members. This is a good yarn about "Negative People". Below the joke is today's blog update!

A woman was at her hairdresser's getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome with her husband. She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded:

" Rome ? Why would anyone want to go there? It's crowded and dirty.. You're crazy to go to Rome . So, how are you getting there?"

"We're taking Continental," was the reply. "We got a great rate!"

"Continental?" exclaimed the hairdresser. " That's a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they're always late. So, where are you staying in Rome?"

"We'll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome's Tiber River called Teste."

"Don't go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks its gonna be something special and exclusive, but it's really a dump."

"We're going to go to see the Vatican and maybe get to see the Pope."

"That's rich," laughed the hairdresser. You and a million other people trying to see him. He'll look the size of an ant.

Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You're going to need it."

A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome.

"It was wonderful," explained the woman, "not only were we on time in one of Continental's brand new planes, but it was overbooked, and they bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot.

And the hotel was great! They'd just finished a $5 million remodeling job, and now it's a jewel, the finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner's suite at no extra charge!"

"Well," muttered the hairdresser, "that's all well and good, but I know you didn't get to see the Pope."

"Actually, we were quite lucky, because as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder, and explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors, and if I'd be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me.

Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me."

"Oh, really! What'd he say ?"

He said: "Who ####ed up your hair?"

Two Posts In Two Days!

I was a bit lazy back there not posting often enough. If you don't put new material on your blog, people get out of the habit of checking the site. I will try to be a bit better in regard to this from now on.

I have transferred the Bellvista Community Association web site from the Izfree Server over on to the 50webs server. 50webs is where most of my website stuff has been put lately. Later today I have a little updating to do of the BeCA site (http://bellvistacommunityassociation.50webs.com) but I only have to update the "Sponsors" page. That shouldn't me take too long.

Last night Trish and I watched the movie "The Hangover". It was light entertainment but I am happy I didn't pay $9 per person to watch it in a picture theatre! Early tonight we will have a look at "The Escapist" which was a given a good report on a radio station I was listening to last night.

Later on tonight is the No.3 game in The State Of Origin rugby league series. I am not a rugby league fan but a good State Of Origin match can be exciting.

Right now Trish is at Stitchers' "Christmas In July" function which is being conducted at Coolum. All the girls have headed there in a bus so she will be having a bit of fun. She is due home mid afternoon.

We have enjoyed some delightful days recently but today the wind is coming from the west over the land. This means the wind is cold and dry. It will only get to about 19 today after a brisk 6 this morning. Being a dry wind, there isn't a cloud in the sky. We expect cold mornings for the next few days.

I have already been busy today with another "Brew" put on this morning. It will take a week before ready for bottling so I have to try and time it for when I have 32 empty bottles! This one is a lager with a bit of lemon in it. This afternoon I will have a walk for 30 minutes or so. I did an 11k bike ride this morning. My riding partner Tony has injured a foot so I am riding solo at the moment.

Time For An Update

Here we are and it is Tuesday. We have had some great weather lately, a lot warmer than some of the wintry days of last week. Yesterday it was about 23 or so.

As usual I spent Saturday morning at the Computer Club helping out. Much of the weekend was spent watching sport on TV. At the moment Australia is playing England in cricket with play televised here live from the UK. It starts at about 8pm and goes through to about 2:30 am. I try to watch as much as I can but I don't ever make it to the end of play. But it is after midnight when I eventually fall into bed. The late nights are starting to mount up.

My footy team was beaten again on the weekend, their first consecutive losses for over 2 seasons. Hopefully they are saving up for another go at wining the Grand Final on that last day in September.

I have had a few people ask me about getting movies off the internet. I put together some instructions on how to do it and then yesterday I converted this to a web site. You can see it here: http://movieshowto.50webs.com/index.html

We had people around for dinner last night. I seem to have had plenty to drink as this morning I am a bit 'tender'. Trish made some curries which were just great. I think everyone had a great time.

It Is The Middle Of Winter You Know!

That is what I keep on telling myself, "It is the middle of winter you know!"

The cool blustery winds have continued all this week. Quite a few showers and 10 mls of rain on Tuesday did not help. Today continues cool with temps struggling to get to 20 degrees. The reverse cycle air-con has been used most nights but only for 45 minutes or so till the place warms up. Then we can turn it off.

My footy team was beaten for the first time this season on Sunday. It was a great match and the final score difference of only 1 goal meant it was a close great game. The game could have gone either way.

I had a Community Association Meeting on Monday night and the development of the new BeCA website has kept me fairly busy with emails going all over the place. However things now appear to be sorted out and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I put some security software on a couple of computers on Tuesday for people and got a bit of a scare as they took almost 24 hours before they would update. But they all updated eventually and everyone is happy.

A BeCA Committee member needed some software to be able to read the Association Reports and I am pleased to say there is another happy customer there.The person who does the BeCA newsletter does not have a good picture/photo manipulation program so I will install a few things for her tomorrow morning.

Tony and I ride most mornings and now Trish attends a local Gym for her exercise.

Good For A Laugh!

A married man left work early one Friday afternoon.

Instead of going home, he spent the weekend (and his money) partying with the boys. When he finally returned home on Sunday night, his wife really got on his case and stayed on it.

After a couple of hours of swearing and screaming, his wife paused and pointed at him and made him an offer "How would you like it if you didn't see me for a couple of days?!?"

The husband couldn't believe his luck, so he looked up, smiled and said, "That would suit me just fine!!"

Monday went by, and the man didn't see his wife. Tuesday and Wednesday went by and he still didn't see her.

Come Thursday, the swelling went down a bit and he could see her a little out of the corner of his left eye.

Now read today's newsy post below!

A Cold Blustery South Westerly

On Thursday afternoon Tony and I attended a meeting at the Caloundra Offices of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council (SCRC). We weren't sure what to expect before we got there but we had envisaged a group of 50 or so interested citizens to hear about the SCRC's proposal to accommodate a further 50,000 residents just to the south of our Estate.

Instead of fifty plus, there was just 6 of us, 3 representatives from SCRC, a representative from the Golden Beach Progress Association and us. Most of the information we received can be found at http://beca.izfree.com/news/news.htm The population is increasing rapidly in this part of Australia and the State Government is planning for the further expected increase in population. There is a fear that eventually there will be a 250k strip stretching from Noosa in the north to Coolangatta in the south and a huge urban sprawl in between surrounding Brisbane.

The above map shows the plans for the future development. Our estate is just above the two pink areas indicated by the yellow arrow (Bellvista Community). These two pink areas are where the next development of 500 new homes will be. Construction vehicles will need to pass through our estate to get to the development areas and this will have implications for Bellvista residents. Click on the map for a larger view, then click on "Back" to return to this page.

I went to Computer Club on Saturday and again I was able to help a few people out. Then I watched the footy on TV.

The weather has been about 20 lately but it sure feels a lot colder with blustery south west winds blowing in across from central Australia. The wind chill factor is having quite an effect. Not only is it cold when bike riding but the strong wind is tough to ride into. I still got a 13k bike ride in this morning.

Happy Birthday Kim!

Trish Arrives Home ... Tired Out!

I enjoyed a pleasant Monday afternoon with Peter G and had a great spicy meal when around there. I arrived back home well before 9pm.

Tuesday was spent mowing lawns, washing the car and just getting the place ready for Trish's return on Wednesday. I bought myself a Pizza for Tuesday's evening meal. I just checked out the website to confirm what I would have from their online menu and saw I could now order and even pay for my Pizza online. As the website promised, 15 minutes after making the online order, it was ready to be picked up in the store.

Trish flew in about 10:30 but there was quite a wait until her luggage came through. She looked quite washed out and weary. Needless to say the rest of the day was quiet. We watched the movie "Knowing" after eating our evening meal and probably wouldn't recommend the movie to anyone I am afraid. Wednesday saw the temp get to 25, warm even for these parts in July!

Thursday was another bright sunny and warm day and Tony and I completed a 13k bike ride. Trish was certainly a lot brighter after a good night's sleep. I spent some time getting stuff ready to go online with the Bellvista Community Association website. Slowly but surely it is all coming together. Here is a screenshot of what it is looking like.

This afternoon Tony and I are off to a Council Meeting as representatives of the Community Association to hear what is planned for Caloundra South, the next real estate development to accommodate the thousands of new residents who are flocking to South East Queensland from the southern states. It should be interesting!