Not A Lot Of News

So far the biggest disappointment of the weekend has been all the rain in Melbourne, it washed out the cricket I was planning to watch on TV Saturday afternoon. However Australia certainly needs the rain it has been getting the last few months with much of the country in drought over the last 10 or so years.

Just sunny weather up this way with daily temps around the mid 20's. The pool was about 24.5 degrees this morning after my bike ride. The clothes line shows where my bike riding gear finishes up after a near 14k bike ride followed by a swim! We look like we are in for some storms late Monday afternoon which will regenerate the lawn and top up the pool.

I had another good morning at the computer club yesterday and helped a few people out again.

Trish enjoyed her morning at the Tourist Info Centre and later attended a Nutrimetics Party (whatever that may be).

We may be up for new neighbours again on both sides. There has been a nasty marriage breakup on one side while the other young family on the other side has been house hunting this weekend. Their place is just too small for them. He is from a farm in Western Australia and his little home now just can't accommodate his interests. He finds it frustrating when listening to his loud music and the grumpy old neighbour (me) puts his head over the fence and repeatedly ask him to turn it all down! I am pleased to add that when asked to turn it down he does!

These smaller homes aren't designed for that sort of living!

We have our little shopping centre opening here tomorrow. That will be great for the estate.

Friday And The Sun Is Shining

The weather is such that it is becoming necessary to get away a little earlier in the day for my bike ride. It is beginning to warm up. Right now it is in the high 20's in our sheltered back yard. Yesterday the pool nudged 27 degrees late in the afternoon while this morning it was between 24 and 25.

Trish spent yesterday on a "Familiaristaion Day" with the Tourist Information Centre. About 30 of the volunteers were escorted around Rainbow Beach (about 80k north of us) and shown the sights and the accommodation. This should then convert into more visitors being directed their way.

They were fed and escorted to some of the attractions of the area. We then headed out for tea at the Thai place in town. Trish had arrived home a little late so we had a night out.

I downloaded the movie "Eat, Pray, Love" so we watched that last night. It was a definite "chick flick". Today I grabbed a copy of "The Social Network" which tells the story of how Facebook was started up. Gets a great score!

I have completed renovating the small side tables and I have been happy with the way they have come up. Look good don't they?

Did my 13+k's this morning and got talking to several people. I met Waiy who has been living here in Australia from Singapore for well over 40 years. We had a great chat about food of course. Then I ran into another guy named Brian. He too is a home brewer and gave me a stubby of his latest brew to try. Looked good riding at 8 am with a stubby in hand!

Warm & Humid Today

The storms we were promised Sunday night arrived around midnight dropping another 21mls of rain on us. The lawn grows as you look at it right now! I had a shortened ride on Monday following the overnight rain but still did over 10k's. I know it is still magpie swooping season as one has had at go at me a couple of times on consecutive days now. I might add a little detour to my daily ride tomorrow and that will keep both me and the magpie happy!

I 'built' some small side tables for when we were caravaning. I used an old fold-up fisherman's chair and attached a piece of timber across the top. They were very effective and being fold-up were easy to store. Weather and time have taken their toll so the side tables were in for a tidy up. It is amazing what you can do with a spray can of black paint and some leftover paint. This photo shows the initial coats drying overnight.

This morning the temp has been just over 30 in our little enclosed backyard all morning. The pool was just under 25 degrees after my ride. There were another 2mls in the rain gauge. This hotter weather and abundant recent rainfall was a sure mix for a humid day today. It is around 75% right now which is even high for this place.

As I put a brew on on Sunday, there was always going to be a day set aside for bottle washing. The job is now all done and one of the nearly finished side tables can be seen drying in the background of this photo.

Trish is at "Stitchers" this morning and has a hair appointment for this afternoon. There is a one day cricket match on TV today which will keep me quite happy!

I thought the joke below was quite a good one!

Toilet Humor

I was barely sitting down when I heard a voice from the other cubicle saying: "Hi, how are you?"

I'm not the type to start a conversation in the men's restroom but I don't know what got into me, so I answered, somewhat embarrassed, "Doin' just fine!"

And the other guy says: "So what are you up to?"

What kind of question is that? At that point, I'm thinking this is too bizarre so I say: "Uhhh, I'm like you, just traveling!"

At this point I am just trying to get out as fast as I can when I hear another question. "Can I come over?"

Ok, this question is just too weird for me but I figured I could just be polite and end the conversation. I tell him, "No........I'm a little busy right now!!!"

Then I hear the guy say nervously...

"Listen, I'll have to call you back. There's an idiot in the other cubicle who keeps answering all my questions!!!"

Sunshine Again But Storms Tonight

Another lovely day. The pool was around 23 this morning after my 13.5k bike ride. We are in storm season right now so we could be in line for a thunder storm this evening.

Last night we watched the new "Wall Street" movie. I reckon my mate, drinking partner and financial advisor John Logan would love it. It mentions the US sub-prime disaster heaps of times. John also mentions it heaps of times and believes there is still more to come. The movie only scores 6.7 and we usually prefer movies to be more than 7 but I reckon it was better than that score. We really enjoyed the movie. Watch it and check it out.

I am getting into summer mode. The pool was vacuumed and the garden watered well before I headed off on today's bike ride.

Our new small shopping centre here is due to partially open on November 1st.

The new Supermarket is still a month or so away. Click HERE to check it out. You may have to click on "Back" to return to this page.

I put another brew on today so more bottle washing and bottling to happen during the week. This lot should put me right up to date ready for summer time.

Trish is off to the Tourist Info Centre this afternoon for 4 hours volunteer work. I am hoping the cricket from India will be on TV. However more rain is forecast for the game so it mightn't get a start on time.

Mid 20's And Glorious

Today is a splendid day with temps around the mid 20's. I have just returned from Computer Club where I was able to help a few people out and catch up with a few friends.

For a day out on Thursday, Trish and I drove about 50k's south to the northern Brisbane suburb of North Lakes. This is one of those areas just booming here in Queensland with new houses and estates coming up everywhere. As the suburb grows so too does the Shopping Centre. Trish and I had a good look round the expanded shopping centre, stretched our legs and did a little exploring. Lunch was had at the North Lakes Tavern, a steak, salad and chips along with a glass of beer or wine for $11. The meal was more than passable.

On Friday Trish went into Brisbane to attend the Craft Show. A group of them from Quilters went in by bus and had a pleasant time. Meanwhile at home it was one of those days where I just did one little job, then another and another. At the end of it I was a little tired but the lawn had been mowed, the house floors cleaned and the side pathway cleaned as well. The photo above shows the 'before' view, the one to the left the 'after' view. To soften the algae and mould I used the chlorine/water mix first. You may need to click on either photo for a larger view, then back to get to this page to really see the difference.

From there I was around to friends for Friday afternoon drinks. A very pleasant day was had by all with Trish arriving back home well after 6pm. I had the left over curry heated and waiting for her when she got there!

Just Pottering Around

My bike was certainly harder to ride this morning. I wasn't sure if it was the wind I riding into, the old bloke pushing the pedals or the new tyre not having a friendly profile. Most likely it turned out to be the new tyre needed even more pumping up. That has now been done so hopefully the ride will be easier tomorrow.

It was a lovely morning but it is beginning to cool off now as a sea breeze blows through. It was heading towards 30 this morning in our sheltered back yard. The pool was a little under 23 earlier on so a little warmer than previous days.

My replacement lead for the replaced hard disk drive arrived this morning. It is a double lead as you can see in the photo. It fits either of two connections. I have a single lead arriving via eBay in a few days so I will have a more conventional lead then. I am busily copying movie files across to it now.

Watering the pots, cleaning the pool, helping a neighbour with their computer have been just some of the things keeping me busy today.

Last night I attended a meeting which required a website follow up this morning. Those tasks are all now completed. Later today I around to put some software on a PC for an older couple.

Long Walk For A Bike Ride

While I was filling in some time the other week I was hunting around the local K Mart and found bike tyres on special for $8 each. I grabbed a couple for you never know when you might need a new bike tyre.

Yesterday's bike ride saw a couple of magpies give me a bit of a tough time so I had my eyes 'peeled' today just in case. However it wasn't the magpies which brought me undone, it was the bike itself. I felt the back tyre was a little flat after about 6k's so I checked it. It wasn't only a little flat it was getting even flatter! I made a B-Line for home but didn't get too far! Then it was another couple of kilometres on foot wheeling the bike beside me till I was home again.

Upon my arrival at home and after a close inspection of the bike, I discovered the culprit was the back tyre. It had worn all the way through and then the tube had been punctured. I took the old tyre off and put one of the new ones on the back. New tyres don't stretch like older ones so it took a little muscle to get it on. I repaired the puncture and put it all back together again. All is OK again. I will give the magpies another run for their money tomorrow.

Also today I have collected the 1300 Community Association newsletters from where they were printed. Shortly I will drop them off so they can be sorted for delivery by volunteers. Then later this afternoon I am around to see an older couple from the Computer Club to discuss various internet connection options for them to consider.

Sun Is Out, Time For Some Spring Cleaning

As many people know, we have had a pretty bad run with the pavers around the pool in the back yard. The surface has worn off many of them exposing some of the aggregate. The company which manufactured them spent some $1500 re colorizing and sealing them at no cost to us. I was then told if I were to clean them DO NOT to use my pressure cleaner.

Friends in Melbourne have a son who is a successful landscape designer. He works hard and does a great job. I contacted him the other day about a formula you can mix to spray or sweep over your pavers which will then remove all algae and mould. The formula was 2:1 water and pool chlorine. I did a small patch the other day and I was quite pleased with the result. Today I did the rest of the surrounds they have all come up very well.

I hosed them off and noticed the water was a milky color. Was I losing more of the paver color? No, it was the dead algae and mould washing away.

Next job for me to do will be to give the side pathway a chlorine and water treatment!

Lovely sunny but crisp days, about 25 in the backyard this morning. It was less than 10 degrees this morning which is unheard of for this time of year. However further south around Melbourne there was snow!

Plenty of cricket on TV this afternoon so I will be quite happy.

I have Community Association Newsletter work tomorrow, then with Trish to the Specialist just before lunch Tuesday, and later I have people to catch up with locally regarding their internet access.

And Trish is getting stuck into her computer stuff too nowadays. She is setting up a website for the Caloundra Arts Centre Association. I get a "Help please Les!" from time to time. You can see it online HERE. There is still heaps to do. Trish will be getting others to complete information and email it to her for inclusion in the new website.

Penguins

Did you ever wonder why there are no dead penguins on the ice in Antarctica - where do they go when they die?

Wonder no more ! ! !

It is a known fact that the penguin is a very ritualistic bird which lives an extremely ordered and complex life.

The penguin is very committed to its family and will mate for life, as well as maintaining a form of compassionate contact with its offspring throughout its life.

If a penguin is found dead on the ice surface, other members of the family and social circle have been known to dig holes in the ice, using their vestigial wings and beaks, until the hole is deep enough for the dead bird to be rolled into and buried.

The male penguins then gather in a circle around the fresh grave and sing:






"Freeze a jolly good fellow"
"Freeze a jolly good fellow."

Over 10" Of Rain

The rain has at last stopped. We totalled a little over 250mls or 10" in the old scale. The rain fell over 4 or 5 days so we are merely saturated rather than flooded! However rivers and streams in this part of the world are all flowing. Brisbane's water storages are currently running at well over 100%.

I have ridden the last couple of mornings both rides under blue skies. Needless to say the pool is full. With so much pool overflow the salt level drops so I needed to put another bag of salt in the pool.

It is back to under 22 degrees again so the swim I had this morning was a quick one! News of our rain has even reached Texas. I received an email from Lou Ann saying she had seen S.E. Queensland's floods on her local news!

Yesterday Trish and I ventured to "The Plaza" which is the largest shopping centre around here. I grabbed a micro fibre T Shirt and a pair of sandals while Trish bought some tops. We then enjoyed lunch at our nearby Thai Restaurant then back home for Commonwealth Games and Cricket on TV!

I bought more beer mix and put another brew on as well. It should be ready to bottle early next week. Actually my beer supplies are like the local dams and running at very near to 100% capacity!

Bottling, Rain & Recovery

The rain has continued to fall here on what was once known as "The Sunshine Coast". I keep the rainfall figures 'online' HERE. Since the rain started overnight Thursday we have had a total of 209 mls in the last four days. In the old terms this is getting close to 8.5 inches of rain. And October is meant to be a dry time of the year. The above link shows the average total rainfall for October is usually around 81 mls, we had almost that monthly average total overnight last night!

On Sunday afternoon we went around to good friends' Paul and Linda's home to help Paul celebrate his 61st birthday with a dozen or so people. It was a great night, plenty of home brew, a few red wines and numerous yarns and jokes. We enjoyed some home made 'finger food' too. Linda always prepares tasty things to eat. The overnight rain had its good points this morning as it was too wet for me to ride so a recovery sleep in was enjoyed.

Trish eventually headed off to Gym this morning which left me alone at home to 'bottle'. I am using large Coca Cola type bottles for this bottling. Each 1.25 bottle is the equivalent to about 3 stubbies. The bottling did not go smoothly be I eventually got there in the end. The wet weather means both cricket and Commonwealth Games on TV will be how the wet afternoon will be spent today!

Where Is My Ark?

The weather has taken a turn for the worse since I last posted. 49mls on Friday morning and a further 66mls this morning. Along with grey skies and much cooler temperatures the weather has done an about face.

These bathers went on the line to dry Thursday afternoon. Since then they have had almost 5" of rain fall on them. Can you tell I was able to buy these cheap? I think I paid $5 for them on a discontinued line table and Trish says I still paid too much!

An extremely pleasant Friday afternoon at "Drinks" and a busy Saturday morning at the Computer Club. I was up for another 'presentation' today which I did on a small program called "FreeLaunch Bar", a very handy program which makes accessing programs on your PC quite easy.

When I arrived back home I upgraded Trish's Office pack from 2003 to 2010.

Another Test match has just started in Bangalore India and the Commonwealth games continue on. So there is plenty of sport to watch on TV. More heavy rain is expected here overnight and this is meant to be the dry time of the year. About 50k's north of us they got almost 10" of rain overnight so we were lucky to get less than 3'.

Thursday's News

The weather continues to be sensational with 28 predicted for here today. There is a real bite in the sun. My daily bike rides continue with minimal intervention from swooping magpies. I think I have had three fairly minor brushes with them this season so all is good.

Monday night saw me at a Community Association Meeting which leads to a busy Tuesday updating the Association's website. It was on Tuesday the State Government announced it would take over the planning for Caloundra South because the SCRC was just too slow getting organised. This is big news for us so another 5 links were made on the BeCA website to articles in newspapers here about the takeover!

I get a swim in after each bike ride. As the weather warms so too does the pool. Monday was a brisk 21 or so in the pool but today was 24.3. One afternoon the pool temp was over 25 degrees. It should get to 26 today in the pool. I am planning to mow lawns later today so I will be in the pool after I finish. Storms are due this evening and cooler weather for next few days is expected too.

Had a lovely night out last night with friends at "The Curry Bowl". heaps to eat, good food and all for $35 per double. It is B.Y.O. too which also helps to keep costs down.

My car plug in cigarette lighter MP3 player which takes a thumb drive arrived Wednesday. Being only $11 from China means the quality is fairly basic. However it does work and will be fine for the car in Melbourne. Our local Aldi store had bike riding specials on so this morning I ducked in to 'town' for some bike riding gloves and clothing!

With the new brew on I was busy with some bottle washing yesterday. I am going to be using 1.25 litre Coca Cola bottles this time to build up my supplies with Christmas coming on.

Plenty of cricket on TV along with the Commonwealth Games in Delhi keep Trish and me busy most evenings.

Glorious Weather

The school holidays are just over and the weather has really turned around. A lovely mid 20's day today after a bit of a gloomy (and showery) fortnight. I did the 13k bike ride this morning and even ventured into the pool for a quick swim. The water is back under 22 degrees after the recent cooler weather so the swim didn't take up too much time.

Even took half an hour and put yet another brew on. This one is a lager "Gold" but I have used brown sugar this time instead of the usual white refined sugar. Lovely warm weather means it should begin to bubble fairly quickly. As usual this means a bottle washing and a bottling later in the week.

The Commonwealth games are on in New Delhi India and we have subscribed for the 6 extra channels through the Pay TV. Coverage usually begins about 1 pm our time here so it is perfect for armchair comfort. The cricket from India is on Pay TV too!

The Blonde And The Brunette

Two sisters, one blonde and one brunette, inherit the family ranch.

Unfortunately, after just a few years, they are in financial trouble. In order to keep the bank from repossessing the ranch, they need to purchase a bull so that they can breed their own stock. Upon leaving, the brunette tells her sister, 'When I get there, if I decide to buy the bull, I'll contact you to drive out after me and haul it home.'

The brunette arrives at the man's ranch, inspects the bull, and decides she wants to buy it. The man tells her that he will sell it for $599, no less. After paying him, she drives to the nearest town to send her sister a telegram to tell her the news. She walks into the telegraph office, and says, 'I want to send a telegram to my sister telling her that I've bought a bull for our ranch. I need her to hitch the trailer to our pickup truck and drive out here so we can haul it home.'

The telegraph operator explains that he'll be glad to help her, then adds, it will cost 99 cents a word.' Well, after paying for the bull, the brunette realizes that she'll only be able to send her sister one word.

After a few minutes of thinking, she nods and says, 'I want you to send her the word 'comfortable.' The operator shakes his head. 'How is she ever going to know that you want her to hitch the trailer to your pickup truck and drive out here to haul that bull back to your ranch if you send her just the word 'comfortable?'

The brunette explains, 'My sister's blonde. The word is big.

She'll read it very slowly.... 'com-for-da-bul'.


Now read today's news in the post below!

Magpies AFL Premiers

Our showery weather continues with showers predicted for most days of next week. I was about 4k's into my bike ride today when fine misty rain began to fall. I made a quick sprint for home.

Friday was 'the usual'. I bottled Friday morning giving me quite a good backup of supplies. I need to keep in front though as a couple of weeks 'off' leads to a shortfall in supply. We are invited to a nephew's wedding in late November and we have already booked to head south to attend. The invitation arrived late last week and we have been booking accommodation. The wedding and reception are being held on the Mornington Peninsula and it is quite a drive back to Berwick from there.

There is again plenty of sport on TV with live TV coverage of the Test Cricket from India between 2 pm and 9:30pm daily. And then the Commonwealth Games from New Delhi are on TV from midday Monday. Pay TV has 6 channels devoted to coverage so we won't miss a thing.

Friday afternoon we headed around to the 'usual' meeting and enjoyed it very much.

Saturday I was back to Computer Club to help people out. Then Saturday afternoon we watched the AFL Grand Final replay from the draw the previous week. This week Collingwood were too strong and it was a one sided affair with Collingwood winning by 9 goals. I spent most of my time enjoying the Test cricket from India again.

Daylight saving commenced today along most of the east coast of Australia ... except in Queensland. So we again have the need to 'convert times' when making phone calls or travel arrangements. This will go on for about 6 months until once again things come into alignment.