It Is A Very Ordinary Day!

The weather has turned 'Melbourne like' being grey overhead with a cool breeze and plenty of light showers. Yesterday was 28 degrees and just glorious, today is low 20's and miserable! The map left shows what was heading our way from the south west last night around 10 pm. By the time it got to us an hour or so later there was plenty of thunder and lightning but a only a measly 6mls of rain. It managed to put water back into the pool but not enough to fill it.

Trish had a great weekend, she and 5 other girl friends headed to Lake Coroibah north of Noosa. It was very successful for her, Monday was a quiet R&R day.

I hit the Computer Club and was as busy as usual. But I enjoyed it.

I spent Sunday on my bike ride, in the pool, a little on the computer but mostly on a chair in front of the telly watching cricket. There were heaps of runs scored but unfortunately Victoria lost out.

There is a new model of my media player out called the "WD TV Live Streaming" It retails for around $169 but several stores have it on special at $147. One of the forums I follow had people buying it for around $130+ after some haggling. Some people just told outright lies and purchased them for less than $120. I copied a couple of their receipts and took them with me to a couple of local electrical stores. After showing the guy both of my under $120 receipts he said he would check out the boss on a possible 'price match'. I told him I would be very pleased with $120! He came back, said the boss OK'ed it and I now own a new media player.

One of the guys at the Computer Club was in the market for an old second Media Player for the bedroom. I have one sitting here not being used. He wants it and will give me $35 for it. I take that off the new one I have just bought and it turns out the new one actually cost me $85.

I am happy with that!

The new model should have regularly updated firmware. It has 'built in' wireless so it easily connects to my computer in the other room and plays movie, music or photo files directly from my PC to the TV in the lounge room. Using some software I have discovered, it also accesses ABC's iView and other 'catchup TV, direct via the computer to my TV as well. The previous one also had wireless and it has gone onto Trish's TV in the 'sewing room' or second bedroom.

Time For An Update

The weather has been sensational the last couple of days, sunny and in the high 20's. The pool temp even nudged 26 degrees this afternoon but most times it is closer to 23 when I swim after my morning bike ride.

Monday was spent tidying up loose ends, a load of washing, mow the lawns, spray Ant & Cockroach killer around all the skirting boards, that sort of stuff. All the jobs were done and the place was looking OK for Trish's return from Melbourne late on Tuesday. I did have an 'emergency' Community Association meeting to chair Monday night but that went very smoothly.

As I have said elsewhere, we have a new estate being built just across the main road near our place. People are rightly a bit upset that there will be extra traffic and no extra entry or exit to the estate. Residents want a safe new exit, the developer wants to upgrade the current single entrance and thus save a lot of money!

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Trish flew into Brisbane on Tuesday and I picked her up around 5:30pm. It is a round 180k trip to and from the main Brisbane Airport. Things will return to normal when the budget airline "Tiger Airways" returns to service the Sunshine Coast. We phoned ahead to our 'new' nearby Fish and Chips shop and collected our order on the way though.

It didn't take long for things to get back to normal, Trish was at Stitchers by 9 am this morning and I was still on my bike ride. But the swim afterwards was great. It must have hit the high 20's this afternoon which was a little unexpected as cooler weather and thunder storms had been forecast.

With all the construction work going on around 100 metres away (see above pic) and with a prevailing easterly wind we have been getting some dust off the construction site. I gave the pool a vacuum this afternoon and then decided to clean the filter. As you can see from the photo, it is easy to see where most of the dust finishes up ... in MY pool!

After sorting out the filter and cleaning the pool it looked very tempting! It was a very pleasant swim for 10 minutes or so, the water at 26 degrees was delightful and the home brew "Black Ale" sitting on the edge of the pool was even better!

Trish has Tourist Information Centre tomorrow morning, Quilters on Friday and then she and several other ladies are off for the weekend. One of them owns a holiday spot beside Lake Coroibah just north of Noosa so about 5 of them are off together. Trish brought her weekend's alcohol supply home with her today, it looks like it will be a good weekend!

I might even shout myself a little surprise too while she is away!

The 'old' computer was playing up a bit, it refused to start up. I pulled the ram out, gave it a bit of a jiggle and put it back again. I would give the video card a jiggle as well, cross my fingers and after a day or so it was up and running again. However the PC's date had reverted back to 2002 each time I restarted it. Google was my friend but I had guessed the small battery on the motherboard had died. Co incidentally it is the same battery as I use in my bike trip meter and I had a spare. A few minutes later after replacing the battery, re jiggling the ram and and the video card it is working OK again!

Mate Wings His Way Back To Melbourne

I collected John from his Mum's place mid afternoon on Friday. John's Mum is beginning to show her age and is experiencing a few mobility problems. It may not be too far away from making a decision on her future.

We enjoyed a couple of quiet ales in our backyard upon our return and the weather was pleasant enough.

John is a steak and chips man and not used to extending his taste experiences. He has developed a love for peanut satay sauce he tells me. So my suggestion we head off to the local "Bombay Bliss" Indian Restaurant for our evening meal was taken with a little trepidation. John doesn't like any heat in his food so I ordered a mild Butter Chicken, a mild Lamb and Spinach and a garlic naan.

I have created a monster, John enjoyed his mild butter chicken so much he has demanded we must come to this restaurant again during his next visit. We finished with a taste of Chiken Tikka. He loved it all!

We managed not to over indulge upon our arrival home and headed off to the sack at a reasonable 10:30 pm.

It was a quiet Saturday morning as we tidied things up and grabbed a bite to eat before we went to Brisbane airport to catch his 2:20pm flight to Melbourne.

I had put a load off washing on during the morning so I wasn't too pleased as showers increased the closer I got back to the "Sunshine" Coast!

John Is At His Mum's

It has been great having a mate of mine, John Logan from Melbourne, spend a few nights with me. I collected him from Brisbane Airport mid afternoon on Tuesday and we drove the 90 or so K's north to our home. John had been allowed 10kg 'free' luggage on the flight up, unfortunately he had 12.5Kgs. He had to pay a 'late' fee of around $75 for his extra 2.5kgs above the limit.

I cooked steak for us for tea that night and we enjoyed quite a few home brew ales, possibly it could be said we enjoyed too many. Therefore Wednesday was extremely quiet, especially for yours truly! I wasn't a well boy at all.

We didn't do much, just lazed around chatted and walked down to the shops. It was a quiet and lazy sort of a day. I had to 'pinch' an hour and attend a meeting with our local MP on a community issue but the rest of the time was spent quietly (and soberly).

Fish and Chips for tea and early to bed for me was the rest of the day.

I dropped John at his Mum's place early this afternoon (Thursday). I will go back around there later today, collect them both and provide transport to and from one of the local Clubs for an evening meal. As I am driving I won't be indulging too much at all.

I will drop in sometime on Friday again and bring him back here for our last night before he flies home soon after lunch on Saturday.

It has been great for me to have him visit, especially with Trish currently in Melbourne. Trish is due home late on Tuesday.

Cooler Today

The sky has become overcast with the chance of a shower. So far today we have had a sprinkle which didn't stop me getting some washing done and dried.

The recent rain has helped Trish's cuttings to take root.

Lots of house keeping duties today, washing, beer bottling, collect Trish's library book and getting things ready for a friend John Logan who is flying up from Melbourne tomorrow soon after lunch. I will collect him from the Brisbane airport around 2 pm.

John will spend 3 nights with me and another night with his mum who lives about 20 minutes away.

The last couple of days have been spent watching cricket and other sport on TV. A normal weekend really!

The mailman left another package for me today. It is a large faced digital clock. Gee I enjoy that eBay and DealExtreme!

A Mere 7 mls of Rain

The photo of the dark storm clouds in yesterday's post left us with a mere 7 mls of rain. Other areas to the south of Brisbane copped it with heaps of hail and up to 100 mls of rain.

More storms are expected this afternoon but it is just on 3 pm here on the Sunshine Coast and the sky remains sunny with some build small up of cloud.

It has been a quiet day today. My major task was to prepare this casserole. It has been 'spiced up' with a desert spoon full of the sensational Vietnamese chilli we get from a restaurant in Springvale. As usual I have made 'too much'.

The pool was around 24 degrees this morning making my swim after the 12.5k bike ride very pleasant. There is both cricket and soccer on the sport channels tonight so I will settle back after my meal and take in the sport.

I have Computer Club back on again tomorrow morning.

An Update!

Weekends have turned to be a lot quieter without the footy on TV. Over the weekend I did watch a one-day cricket match and had a sneak look at a soccer match or two.

Trish flew to Melbourne on Tuesday morning out of Brisbane. Her flight left at 8:40 am and being with low cost airline Tiger Airways, she had to be checked in at Brisbane by 7:55 am. We have since decided flights departing Brisbane at that time of the day are no longer viable.

Traffic was pretty heavy and the last 30 k's or so was slow. There were periods of stop start motoring and other times you could get up to 90kph. Luckily we gave ourselves ample time to get there and Trish made it with around 5 or 10 minutes to spare.

Since Trish has been gone I have been getting stuck into outside spring cleaning. The side pathway has been cleaned of grime and built up mildew and the pavers have all been cleaned as well. I have been using a concoction of 30% chlorine, 70% water. I 'sweep' the mixture on with a soft broom, let it sit for a few minutes and then sweep it over. Finally I hose it all down. The result is spectacular!

Then I did the huge blinds we have across the back of the house. My pressure cleaner has lost a little of its oomph and didn't do a great job. This morning I sprayed a mix of 10% bleach and 90% water onto still marked areas and again let it sit for a few minutes. I then wiped the offending areas over with a towel and finally gave the whole blind a good hose down. They have come up beautifully.

The Community Association has kept me busy as well. The Newsletter is due for printing on Friday. It looks like I have handballed that one over to someone else. He came around Tuesday afternoon and we went through everything. I gave him Office 2010 as the Newsletter is done in "Publisher".

Then it was a meeting with the local Unity College Principal Wednesday morning and the follow up post onto the BeCA Website. Then back to more cleaning.

I have also managed to put another brew on as well.

A good mate from down south, John Logan, has his Mum here on the Sunshine Coast. He is coming up on Tuesday of next week for 4 nights, 3 with me and probably 1 with his Mum. That will be a good break for me to have some company as well.

Trish flies home on Tuesday October 25th.

The weather has been into the high 20's the last few days. Interspersed with my cleaning jobs have been a couple of swims in the pool. This afternoon the water temp is around 24 degrees so OK for swimming. I usually grab a swim after my daily 12.5k bike ride.

Storm clouds are brewing this afternoon and the bureau is predicting heavy rain for today and the next few days with around 100mls expected in some areas. Luckily I got all my washing dry before lunch!

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And Down It Came .... At Last

We have been promised rain for so many days recently all for no result. A line of storms crossed the coast this morning giving us 20mls of rain. Via the rain and the water diverter the pool water level was raised at least 2 inches. It was getting down almost to a level where I would have needed to put the hose in and fill from the mains.

Right now the sun is out, the temp is around 24 degrees and everything outside has returned to normal.

There was no Computer Club today as the hall had been booked out. There is a large music festival in Caloundra on today so I am guessing that was why the hall wasn't available.

Trish is on duty at the Tourist Info Centre and I am spending my first non AFL footy day trying to keep busy.

My computer chair suddenly became all rickety and dangerous so I dismantled it and put it in the bin. I will get a replacement later this week. I will pick one up as I drive back to the Sunshine Coast after dropping Trish at Brisbane Airport for her flight to Melbourne Tuesday morning!

Trying, Trying!

The possible rain is "constipated rain". It has been cloudy and overcast for a full day now. No matter how hard it tries to rain, nothing is happening! The skies are gray and every hour or so there are a few drops of rain but then nothing!

During today's bike ride some heavy drops began to fall. I immediately postponed the rest of my bike ride and sprinted for home. The further I rode and the closer I got to the dry safety of the house, the less the raindrops fell!

The pool water level is right down so if rain doesn't fall today I will need to top it up.

Today was a bottling day. All the indicators were the brew was ready to bottle. Yesterday the hydrometer level was just below "done" and the bubbles hadn't moved in the air lock for 36 hours. All the indicators were it was time to bottle.

It was a frothy brew to bottle (which seems to indicate the brew was still 'working'). The bottling has now been completed and it is spending its 14 days just sitting before it is ready to test. After so many failures recently I was pleased when yet another brew had completed its 14 days after bottling so was ready to be tested! It was fine. It seems my crook brew problems have been solved by updating the brew barrel.

I like to buy stuff from China. I usually have a couple of little cheap gizmos somewhere or other in the mail. Delivery can take as long as 3 weeks. A couple of items arrived today which I had ordered well over 4 weeks ago, I was beginning to think they had been gobbled up in the mail somewhere. The items were a leather case and a plastic protector for the new phone.

Rain Tomorrow?

Temps have been around the mid 20's the last few days but getting down to the very low teens overnight. By this time of year we would be expecting overnight temps to be in the high teens so it is a little cooler than normal.

We are crying out for rain right now and we expect the next rain band to come through tomorrow. Strong southerlies have been blowing for almost a week now which is keeping those temps down. The strong winds make the pool impossible to keep clean but they seem to be tapering off now. I gave the pool a decent clean this morning and it looked most inviting. However a pool temp reading of 19.3 degrees soon changed any thought I had of an early dip.

Not a lot of news, just the everyday stuff. A mate of mine, John Logan has just returned from a holiday in the USA. He arrived back in Melbourne yesterday. John has his mum living up here. Even though he was overseas I spoke with him a couple of times via Skype. I mentioned to him that Trish was heading to Melbourne next week so he is possibly taking the chance to head up here for 5 days and catch up with his mum. He stays at our place, spends a couple of days with his mum then comes back here again.

John doesn't mind my home brew either. It is a great time to catch up with each other, have a chat, enjoy a couple of beers and sit outdoors.

What A Week End

It has been a big couple of days for me, as many of you will already know, my footy team won the Grand Final on Saturday.

I managed an hour or so at Computer Club on Saturday morning before heading home around 11 am ready for the footy on TV. It was interesting to count up the empty bottles of home brew after the game. Not only did I enjoy those, but a couple (or more) whiskey and coke's finished off the night!

I continue to bike ride most mornings and the threat from swooping magpies seems to be lessening. I still have the cable ties sticking out of my helmet though ... just in case.

Today has been a bottle washing day using my revised method. It is a little quicker than the previous method and a little more expensive but uses heaps less water. I rinse the bottles in 'sanitizer' which seems to leave them a little 'wetter' than the previous method. This isn't so bad when the weather is warm but may be a hassle during the cooler months.

We have had an unseasonally strong S/W wind blowing. The pool is filled daily with shreds of palm trees and other bits of vegetation. The evaporation rate has gone through the roof too with the need to fill the pool from the water supply just to keep the level up so the filter will work. There is a faint hope of a shower later today which would be a godsend.

It is the driest time of the year up here.

The house next door is For Sale. A couple of people have been to check it out but not many. Yesterday an older lady was looking at it with her son. Trish overheard them talking about how well it would suit her. We will keep an eye out to see if a "Sold" sign goes up on the For Sale sign.