Monday Morning and Still Cold, Wet and Windy!

The heater here at Kate's has been getting quite a work out the last few days while at home it has been sunny and high 20's. However rain is expected up there today.

Thursday night saw Trish and Kate along with Charlie and me get along to our favorite Malaysian Restaurant. The food was great. Those who say the food os dropping off there obviously do not live in Queensland. It was sensational.

Friday saw us do a little shopping and sorting out a few things. Tomorrow (Tuesday) I plan to reformat the kids' computer for them so some time was spent checking out we had the disks and exactly what they wanted to do. I tried some cleanup tricks to get it to work but everything I tried was unsuccessful. Vietnamese for tea with Kim was wonderful.

Saturday was still wet, windy and cold so I decided to attend Emily (grand daughter's) 5th birthday party. She enjoyed herself. We left later that afternoon and drove almost 150k's to Drouin for another good mate's 60th birthday. This was the major reason for travelling to Melbourne this trip. We spent the night with Barry and Rainy and also caught up with Wayne and Launa who had visited us on the Sunshine Coast the previous weekend. The night out was great. It was good to catch up with Russell (the birthday boy) and all the family. Russ' wife Irene was caught up with party hosting duties but we managed a quick catch up on family gossip.

We eventually arrived back at Kate's after lunch on Sunday. I quiet day followed and a good night's sleep was had by all.

Today we are setting off to catch up with my brother. The weather is still wet, cold and windy!

Cold And Windy In Melbourne

Our plane touched down at Tullamarine just after 1:15 pm. There was a 50knot nor westerly blowing and everyone was quite pleased we landed so smoothly. Tiger are a budget airline and some of the facilities it has in Melbourne are best described as primitive, especially where you collect your luggage. The temperature hovering around 12 degrees did not help. But soon after we were collected by Wendy and our grand daughter young Emily and whisked away to their home just a few minutes away. Soon after Andrew arrived home from school followed by Chris home from work and our youngest daughter Kim then arrived too. We enjoyed a great evening meal all together.

About 8:30 pm we said our farewells and Kim drove us across Melbourne to Kate and Arj's home where will be spending much of the time in Melbourne. They live about 80k's from Chris and Wendy.

After a quick chat it was time to catch up on our sleep. Thursday would be a day spent getting organized for the two weeks ahead.

On Our Starting Blocks

We are almost ready to head to Maroochydore Airport to grab our flight to Melbourne. We are in the air for a little over 2 hours with the trip being close to 2000kms. The bags are packed and by the front door. The laptop has been packed up ready for the trip down south too. The fan is whirling above following a record high overnight August temp for Brisbane.

We are flying with Tiger Airways and their rules say we must have checked in 45 minutes before takeoff. Therefore we are leaving earlier than usual to catch our 10:55am flight.

The guy dropped in to finish off the pavers late yesterday afternoon and he says that will seal the pavers and protect them from further damage for the rest of their life. I don't even need to put 'plastic' down to protect the pavers from accidental splashes from the BBQ! The new treatement will mean it is just a matter of wiping any spill up with a cloth.

My next post will be from the Kate's place on the new laptop!

Two Posts In The One Day!

Despite being Monday August 24th and still in winter we had a hot 34 degrees today. After helping a neighbour out with her pool this afternoon I returned home hot and flustered. What did I need, a cool ale and a quick swim. Fancy, swimming in our pool in late winter!

I enjoyed both. The pool was nudging a brisk 21 degrees but that did not deter me. It was surprisingly pleasant (or I was just bloody hot!). Later Trish and I sat beside the pool for some time and just enjoyed the glorious sunny weather!

A Hot Monday In August

I wasn't planning on a post today but our weather right now is incredible. At Maroochydore the temperature is nudging a little over 32 degrees and it isn't even midday yet. Usually 32 would be pretty warm with the humidity around 65%. Right now the humidity level is under 30% so we are enjoying a dry warm heat! We are expecting the north west wind to get up this afternoon and this could lead to bushfires. We need to remember, this is still August and spring is still over a week away.

Despite the warm temperatures, the pool is still under 20 degrees, a little cool for swimming but it sure looks inviting enough.. The pool temp depends just as much on overnight temperatures as max temps during the day. We have had some cool nights recently so any heat gained during the day is soon lost overnight.

We are beginning to pack for our trip to Melbourne flying down there on Wednesday. Right now Melbourne temps are around 10 to 12 degrees with strong winds and showers forecast for the next few days.

I had to ring the paver renovation guy who expected to finish the job before we went away (he doesn't ring me) and remind him that we were heading for Melbourne on Wednesday and that the place will be all locked up for two weeks. He can't get here today but there was a small possibility he can get here on Tuesday.

It's A Very Warm Sunday!

They are promising us a very warm summer for this year. If today is any indication it will be very warm indeed. 28 is expected here on the coast today and Brisbane is looking at a record breaking 33 for tomorrow. It is expected to cool down on Wednesday as August's traditional wind, the cool south westerly returns. It is Wednesday we fly down to Melbourne for a fortnight, returning here September 9th. The 'new' laptop will be accompanying me this time so I can keep up with blog stuff.

Thursday and Friday were fairly quiet with just a little shopping on Friday where I obtained some new swimming trunks. You need a collection of them here as you can spend a fair bit of the summer's day in your bathers.

On Saturday we had a surprise visit from Wayne and Launa, another couple we know from Drouin in Victoria. They were visiting friends on Bribie Island about 40 minutes from here so they popped up for a visit. We showed them around Caloundra and enjoyed a lovely lunch on the balcony of the King's Beach Tavern. We enjoyed a walk along the beach front and onto the boardwalk, then to a great lookout on "Queen Of Colonies" a spot at Moffat beach which looks north along the coast towards Mooloolaba. This spot overlooks the some good surf spots and was Steve Irwin's home surfing spot. From there we visited the Dicky Beach Surf Club and the Caloundra RSL. They seemed very impressed with where we live. They hadn't been here before. The photo is back from our trip along with them to the Whitsundays.

I had to leave the Computer Club early to catch up with Wayne and Launa but I had been pretty busy there so being called away was a blessing in disguise. We will see Wayne and Launa again next Saturday at the party we are heading down south for.

Today has already been busy with BeCA Newsletters to be delivered. It is not my favorite chore but I was able to deliver my section of the newsletters on about 90mins. Then it was back home to bottle the brew I put on early last week. This will ensure I have plenty of supplies for when we return from Melbourne! I did some stubbies (see the photo below)this time and they need to be 'capped'. Usually I use plastic bottles with a screwtop but the capping takes a little extra time to do.

Footy results this weekend weren't good for my side, they are in the midst of a form slump and the finals are just around the corner! Trish's team had a good win and are an outside chance to make the finals. Next week's round is the last before the finals commence the week after.

Life Potters Along

Still not a drop of rain since I last posted! Sunny days but yesterday and today have been quite a bit cooler with the south westerlies back again. However there is some expectation of getting back into the high 20's or low 30's later this week or early next week. With it still being cool overnight, any warmth the pool gains during the sunny days is soon lost overnight.

We fly to Melbourne for two weeks a week from today. We get back here on Wednesday September 9th. We are using Tiger Airlines and we were lucky enough to get sensational fares, being just over $220 for both of us to fly to and from Melbourne.

I had a problem with my Vista Firewall no longer working. I would have to reset it each time the computer started up when the startup should have been automatic. Google came to my aid and directed me to ensure the Vista Firewall startup service was set to 'automatic', not 'manual'. After adjusting the setting back to 'automatic' everything is again fine.

Trish went to sewing Tuesday night and again today (Weds) while I put another brew on Tuesday morning (photo above). I continue to ride most days. Yesterday afternoon I finished up around at Tony's where we all enjoyed a few drinks and had a great time. We are having a BHBAS (Bellvista Home Brew Appreciation Society) meeting Friday afternoon and all of us will need to be wearing our 'official' uniform which is a T-Shirt with the club's new 'insignia' on it. Tony's neighbour Paul and his wife Linda were with us too.

Weekend Wrap

Not a great deal to report, really just more of the same .... We again watched plenty of footy on TV and saw a couple of very exciting games. My team won a close one but probably the highlight was the late Sunday afternoon match with the top team St Kilda going down by a few points.

Temperatures have been warm and the weather sunny. Though the nights remain cool with temps in the low teens, the days have been mid 20's and above. Today we are looking at 28 as a maximum but there is the promise of a cool wind change for the next couple of days before we hit a 30 over next weekend.

I bottled a brew on Sunday morning.

I eventually heard from the guy doing the pavers and he expects to finish the job on Thursday. That should give all the chemicals a good chance to do their thing and give the best possible outcome. There is a bit of a difference in the shade of the pavers now as you can possibly see in the photo. The 'new' color is on the left and it is a few shades darker. Click on the photo for a larger view, then click on Back to return to this page.

To Maleny

Maleny is a hinterland town about 30 to 40 minutes drive away from the coast up into the coastal hills. It is an interesting town with many conservationists and alternative lifestyle residents living there. You can see spectacular views overlooking the Glasshouse Mountains (see photo above left) and on hot days the temperature would be a good few degrees cooler. There is a 4 km climb up into the hills and when stuck behind a truck it makes the trip up there a bit longer.

Yesterday we took Gordon and Anne there for lunch at a little restaurant called Tranquil Park". Trish had found a 'special' deal so we headed off. We had a table right by the window and overlooked the glorious view above left. I took this shot along the outside balcony to where we had our table inside at the far end. The meal was great and no one was hungry when we left. Beer was sold by the pint and the cost was the same as we had paid in London 12 months ago, $6 per pint!

After such a huge meal it was just left overs for tea last night.

The pavers continue to be worked on. Another coat of sealer went on yesterday while we were out but I don't know what is happening next. I was forced to do a bottle wash in the garage this morning as I could not confirm one way or the other if the paver job is finished or not. I think it probably needs a final clean up as there is some pigment dust still lying loose on the surface.

Yesterday the temperature got to 27 degrees and a 25 is expected today. The weather is warm for this time of year and one lot of long range forecasters is tipping a hotter than usual summer. We had another very brief storm with thunder last night but it only dropped about 3mls of rain.

Just When We Did Not Want Rain!

We had our first rainfall for about 4 weeks last evening, the one time we did not want any rain. A storm scooted through about 7 pm dropping 4 mls onto the paving around the pool. Yesterday it had its second coat of pigment and stabilizer, hopefully it had dried enough so the final appearance won't be compromised. It is certainly a shade or two darker than the original color and this photo shows how the water now beads on the treated pavers. The guy is due here again today to put the final sealer on. 24 hours later it should be finished and be able to be walked on again.

We enjoyed a great night out at our favorite restaurant "The Spirit Of Tibet" with friends on Monday evening. Tony took the photo while Paul, his wife Linda, Tony's wife Angela and us were in the photo. The night seemed to be enjoyed by all.

Yesterday morning Tony and I did over 15k's on the bikes while this morning was a shorter 12k's. It is quite windy today which made the ride a bit more difficult. Yesterday we rode down to Pumicestone Passage again where I again took the obligatory photo (see below left)! Trish heads to the gym every day or so. She is enjoying it very much.

We caught up with Gordon and Anne Atkin last night for a meal at the little Thai restaurant in Caloundra. Another enjoyable night was had by all. Gordon and Anne have rebooked the accommodation to come back again in 2010, this time for two weeks! Today we are heading to Maleny with them for a pleasant lunch

I Got A Laugh Out Of This One.

I hope I don't offend anyone but this joke just tickled my fancy!

The New Bra

Dr. Calvin Rickson, a scientist from Texas A&M University has invented a bra that keeps women's breasts from jiggling, bouncing up and down, and prevents the nipples from pushing through the fabric when cold weather sets in.


At a news conference, after announcing the invention, a large group of men took Dr. Rickson outside and kicked the daylights out of him.


And rightly so,

Work On The Pavers

Craig has been employed by the supplier of our pavers around the pool to carry out the restoration work. The fact is they will not be as good as new but they will certainly be much better and more stable than what they have been.

The pavers were cleaned yesterday with an acid wash. Today they are being covered with a coat of stabilizer and pigment. The final color may well be a little darker than the original color but we see this as more of an advantage than disadvantage. The worst effected pavers were getting a good hand paint job while the pavers in better condition were treated via a paint roller.

A second coat of stabilizer and pigment will go on tomorrow. When fully dry, a sealer will go on over the top.

The chemicals being used are very expensive. If I had to pay the bill for the job would be in the vicinity of $1500+. The paver supplier is covering the costs.

It's Monday

Sorry to be a bit repetitive but again we have a glorious sunny day without a cloud in the sky.

The young family living next door now have both of them working. This makes things a bit quieter around the place during the working week. Not so much that they are noisy, more so the proximity our houses are to each other. Our houses are designed for older retireds or a young couple starting off before having a family. They are not 'family' friendly with small backyards and built closely together!

The guy coming to do the paving has been held up and won't be here now till this afternoon. At least he has rung to say he is running late.

The backyard looks a little bare with everything moved off the pavers. His plan today is to do an 'acid wash' which will clean the pavers ready for them to be resurfaced tomorrow. Then 24 hours later they will all be 'sealed'. A further 24 hours later all will be ready to walk on again.

Tonight we are off to "Spirit Of Tibet" with 5 others. It should be a bit of fun!

Trish is doing some volunteer work at the Tourist Information Centre this morning while I continue to modify and update my PC. I am trying a new anti-virus program called "Kaspersky". It is frequently ranked the best of all the AV programs available.
An electrician popped out late yesterday afternoon and replaced the thermostat in the hot water service. No extra charge for doing it on a Sunday he said. This morning's hot shower was appreciated a little more than previously!

Sunday Morning Report

The weather continues to be sensational with cloudless blue skies and glorious days with temps in the low 20's.

Today will be another 22 degree day but a little windy with winds temperate from the south west. There is a thought we will have temps in the high 20's for a couple of days later this week. Two friends of ours from Melbourne are visiting the Sunshine Coast with other family members. Anne and Gordon Atkin popped in Friday after lunch for a quick hello. We hope to catch up with them when their commitments permit.

The guy is coming to rejuvenate the poolside pavers on Monday and expects the job to take several days. It will include applying more pigmentation and resealing. Firstly the pavers will be cleaned, then the new pigment applied and finally sealed. Each stage will take about a day.

Whilst cleaning up last night I noticed the hot water wasn't too hot. It looks like the heating element has gone in the hot water service so we will have cold showers till it is replaced. Hopefully it will be done on Monday. These things always happen over the weekend don't they!

Yesterday's Computer Club was again busy where I caught up with several people to help them out. One of the tutorial presenters was ill so I was asked to step into the breach and do a repeat of one of my tutorials. Later in the day we caught up with Kate, Arj and two of the grand kids James and Charli via Skype. We head down to Melbourne in a little over 2 weeks time for a fortnight.

My footy team suffered another loss on Friday night but the cricket from England has made up for any disappointment I may have suffered.

A Pleasant 24 Hours

We have just farewelled Graeme, a former colleague of mine from my days teaching back in Victoria. Graeme was in the area for a few weeks, he is in the process of selling a unit he has in Kingscliff and wanted to be onsite for negotiations. His mother lives in an accommodation place near the unit as well.

Kingscliff is under 200kms south of us so is a touch over 2 hour's drive. It was great to see him again. We enjoyed quite a few home brews yesterday afternoon before he headed back after lunch today.

Another glorious day with plenty of sunshine and temps in the low 20's.

The main PC is back from its service with a clean bill of health. I was advised to remove my firewall as it was most likely causing some programs not to load and open. I am now using the installed Windows Vista firewall as well as the inbuilt firewall in the modem/router. The 'Tech's' advice was that was all that was needed, going for a third installed firewall was only going to complicate things.

The Bank Robbery

Fortunately, all who read this are happily married so this joke doesn't relate to us .......

A guy charged into a bank today wearing a balaclava and wielding a gun.

He made people lie down while he stuffed money into his bag.

As he tried to leave one brave guy ran at him, failed to overpower him, but did pull his balaclava off. The robber shot him.

He then shouted 'did anyone else see my face' most people looked down at the floor but one guy looked at him, so the robber shot him as well.

He then shouted 'did anyone else see my face' and after a short silence a voice was heard from a far corner 'I think my missus got a glimpse.... "

Tuesday, 28 hours without my PC!

I dropped the main PC off at the repair shop yesterday morning with attached photos of what it had been doing. The guy at the shop seemed a bit gob smacked over some of the photos. It is in for a 'service' which includes a clean-up. PCs are well known for becoming dusty inside leading to breakdowns. The rest of the time there should be spent confirming what the problem is and confirming it is a hardware problem.

Sensational weather today, glorious sunny day with temps nudging mid 20's. So far I have done a 11k bike ride, bottled my most recent brew, mowed the lawns and cleaned the pool!

We have friends Gordon and Anne Atkin visiting the area beginning Friday for a week or so. They have family staying in Caloundra so we will only see a little of them. As Gordon is a Collingwood supporter, I guess we may see them Saturday night when Collingwood is on Pay TV in this part of Australia!

Another mate Graeme Williamson is visiting tomorrow afternoon and staying overnight. We will possibly sneak a few 'frothy tops" in I guess.

From The New Laptop

It has been a fun couple of days after the new laptop arrived. I got the chance to 'set it all up'. It is just about there now and so it is "Blog Test" time. This post is from the new laptop.

Setting it up has been a bit time consuming but a heap of fun. It is now a smaller version of the main PC which goes in tomorrow for a service. This is an excuse to ensure it is all clean inside and to check out my video problems. We will see if the video card is operating properly or not.

It was very busy for me at the Computer Club yesterday. About 6 people tackled me soon after I arrived and we did all things from getting photos from someone's mobile phone to advising on how to 'reformat' a laptop. Other people had problems with programs not doing what they wanted or emails not showing up properly. One guy wanted to know how he could email a section of an Excel document to his 'employers'. He was unaware of copy (Control C) and paste (Control V). He was delighted when he saw how easy it was.

We did a little movie swapping too. Pirate programs and anything illegal is strictly forbidden so this limits what I can tell people about.

Another exciting game of footy for me on TV yesterday with my team just getting over the line. Another one point game on Saturday night made for an exciting day's TV.

It is still lovely and sunny with temps reaching the low 20's. We only had 11mls of rain in July! According to the calendar the coldest part of the year is now over, but a chilly 6 or so this morning indicated we may have some more cool mornings still to come.