Fine and Dry

We continue to enjoy fine sunny and dry weather.  Tops around 27 degrees or so and generally sunny blue skies. The morning pool temperature fluctuates between 19 and 21.  21 degrees is just OK for a quick swim but 19 is too close to cold to be comfortable. I still swim most mornings after my bike ride.

The week has been 'same old, same old'.  Anzac Day morning was spent sorting out stuff for the community association while AFL on the TV took over the afternoon and early evening.  There were no drinks on Friday as one couple was in recovery mode from the funeral and guests and the other couple had commitments with Marg's mum and her ongoing chemo treatment for cancer.

I 'bottled' yesterday so there is another task out of the way.  The new bottles I purchased to replace all the old ones seem more flimsy.  A recent lager was a a little 'frothy' indicating a lively brew.  The result is when 'organising' things yesterday  I discovered two new bottles had split at the base. This meant removing the bottles, washing out the polystyrene box and then putting them all back.

Usually I go 'yes it is ready to bottle today but I will give it one more day just to be sure'.  Possibly I went a day early with the lot that is causing bottles to split.

Trish continues to have pain from her back where she fell while we were down in Melbourne.  Her crook shoulder still causes discomfort as well but seems to be improving very very slowly.

The local who decided to change his Bigpond password and cut himself off the internet has informed me he has left some cash for me at the home brew shop in town which is nice of him. I managed to get him back online, sort out his version of Office and reinstall Internet Download Manager for him.

Computer Club is on this morning and then we have bundles of sport on TV later today.

Slowly but surely I am working out the new Android tablet we have bought.  Trish never uses it while I find it handy to check stuff out on the internet, tune into Melbourne radio and play the odd game of solitaire.

We have just completed watching all Series 7 of the UK Police show "Lewis".  We did like it.  

Almost 30 Degrees Today

We have an absolutely gorgeous day today, lovely sunny and warm weather after a cool morning with an overnight low in the high teens.  Yesterday was cooler with a top around 25 but we had an overnight low overnight Sunday of around 11 degrees.  Yesterday's ride was a little chilly while today's 13k's was warmer.

However the pool was 19 yesterday and too cold for a swim.  Today was a little warmer but today's swim was quite brief.

Our friend's mum passed away around lunchtime Saturday.  She was around 90.  The family are all up from intestate and locally and the funeral is at 1pm today.  We are heading off shortly then back to their place to meet family and have a few drinks.

Foolishly I did some online research on solar energy on Sunday.  I completed a query form and have been inundated with companies wanting to come and provide a quote.  I must admit the learning curve on solar energy has been severe.  The price differential has been severe as well with quotes on smaller systems around 2kw varying from $3000 to $4600.  Of course the more expensive company declares it uses better quality panels and inverters.

There doesn't appear a lot of difference in panel quality as nearly all are from China.  The difference does appear to be in the inverter supplied.

I bottle washed yesterday and now all is ready to go.  I will most likely bottle on Friday.

At computer club on Saturday I was given another 700mls of 40% alcohol.  Our supply of rum has now been replenished.  I am getting another 1.25 litres this Saturday and that will be become Bourbon.

I was busy helping a guy out with computer yesterday and managed to get it all back together again.  Somehow instead of a System Restore he did a full computer restore.

It took some messing about but I got there eventually. He had also lost his internet connection.

He called me back this morning saying he again had problems.  While he was on Bigpond he decided to change his password.  The password has been changed and as a result he can't get on the internet anymore.  I will have to go back tomorrow after today's funeral and reset the modem with the new password for him.

He had an attack on Firefox and the default search engine had been changed to something called Portaldosites.  I got rid of the the search engine from Firefox after some mucking around but each time he restarted Firefox it went to Portaldosites again.  It turned out the icons for Firfox on his desktop were to start Firefox at the Portaldosites search page.  After deleting the icons and putting some 'new' ones from the original firefox.exe file everything worked OK again.

Now we have the funeral to get to.  My new dark trousers will get another 'outing'.

Our new neighbour popped over on Sunday and said he would would pressure hose my driveway for me.  As we want to repaint it the offer was gratefully received.  I mowed both our lawns this morning but I still think I got the better end of the deal.

Just Glorious

The title describes the weather we have been enjoying.  Top temps in the mid to high 20's, lows around 14 and above and pretty much cloudless skies have made living here on the Sunshine Coast exceptional.

Trish remains busy with her 'organisations' and my internet stuff keeps me going.  The PC continues to run beautifully and as you can see from the photo, the scenery in this wonderful weather is spectacular.

I took this photo on yesterday's bike ride. The quick swim I had after the bike ride was challenging, the pool temp now is around 21 degrees.  It was a very quick in swim indeed on Friday morning!

Click on the photo for a larger view.

One of our BeCA Committee Members (and good friend) has his elderly mother in poor health and the outlook doesn't appear positive at all.  A few of us pitched in to help and get the Newsletter to be published yesterday.

Drinks on Friday afternoon was most civilized with a 3 pm start and a 5:30pm finish.  John's mother in law is staying with them while she undergoes extensive chemo for cancer.  John and Marg have found it difficult to get to drinks so we were invited to their home for yesterday's gathering.

Next today is the Computer Club for me then back home to settle into the arm chair and watch all the footy.

I put another brew on yesterday.  I went to exhaustive lengths to ensure the equipment was sterilized.  A mix and long rinse of 25% bleach 75% water should hopefully ensure all is sanitized.  This was followed by a liberal coating of spray on sanitizer.  Finally a rinse out with boiling water should mean there are no taste spoiling nasties left behind.  The brew is now bubbling quietly in the garage as I type.

I will bottle wash early next week and bottle around Friday as long as everything is ready.

Whilst in Melbourne, Arj introduced me to a website trick called 'Scribd", a free service which enables you to 'embed' a photo or text file (pdf) into a website.  It worked really well when I put a pdf version of the latest BeCA Newsletter into a post.  Check it out HERE. It may take a few seconds for the page to load but it looks great and gives us another way to communicate with the Community.

Home Safely But A Little Battered!

I was back on my bike for the first time for almost a fortnight this morning.  Autumn has kicked in so the temps are little kinder for early morning rides.

They have had over 8" of rain here and there are a couple of spots where water still covers pathways.  It was still just warm enough for me to have a very brisk swim this morning.

Monday morning in Melbourne was spent quietly getting ready and ensuring all was packed.  With school starting back we had the house to ourselves.  We watched Adam Scott win the Masters on TV.

Trish had a fall at the wedding reception and we now believe that was most likely the cause of her sore left knee.

We drove over to Chris and Wendy's home and arrived there soon after 4pm.  It was good catching up with them all and Wendy always prepares a great meal as well.

Trish and Chris both love cards so they finished up playing cards until after 10pm.  Chris got us to Tullamarine Tuesday morning by 7:30 so we had plenty of time before our plane's scheduled departure time.  The plane wasn't full so we had a spare seat beside us.  Brian picked us up at Maroochydore and we were home by 1:30.  The Melbourne gear came off and the shorts and singlet gear went on!  It was 28 degrees and after 8"of rain it was very steamy!

We both headed off to the Chiro Tuesday afternoon.  It now seems certain Trish's sore back and painful knee are both from the fall at the Wedding Reception.

The new 'tablet' I had ordered arrived first thing Wednesday so that took care of that day.  It has similar specs to a Google Nexus 7 which retails for another $100 over what I paid.  I am impressed with its weight and its speed.  It loads webpages almost as quickly as Trish's laptop.  It has been a huge learning curve for me but lots of fun!

Trish had Stitchers followed by 7 other ladies around for lunch.  Meanwhile I headed around to help someone with their network problems.  It started by a problem with his printer when he replaced the ink.  I suggested a "System Restore" but he did a "Computer Restore".  He virtually lost 50% of what I had put on for him as well as his internet connection.

Two hours later he was reconnected to the net and I had replaced programs which he had 'lost'.

Last night we watched the first 5 episodes of "Top Of The Lake", a New Zealand crime mystery.  To watch 5 episodes in one sitting indicates we thought it was OK.

The rest of the today will see the final load of washing dried and altogether just a quiet sort of a day.  We expect around 28 degrees later so the backyard beside the pool should be a fair option.

Not Well

It is Sunday evening, we have just finished our evening meal and bed is looking inviting.

I am not operating at 100%, possibly something to do with the numerous beers and wines we enjoyed yesterday at the wedding. 

On Saturday, Trish and I were ready to check in to the Southbank Travelodge soon after 1pm.  Arj and Kate who were also attending the weather were involved with audio arrangements for the big day.  Fortunately our room was ready so we were able to go straight up and get organised.

The wedding and the reception both appeared to be within comfortable walking distance of the hotel.  The car had been parked and around 2:15 Kate had joined us.  Arj was setting up the sound system!

It was a comfortable 15 minute walk to the wedding venue but a much longer trek to the Reception.  Drinks commenced as soon as the wedding ceremony was over!  One quick photo of the whole congregation and drinks were served.

The Reception began at 6:30.  Trish and I caught up with friends John and Sue after the long walk prior to 6:30!  The drinks went down very smoothly.

Then it was to the reception and things contiued to go down smoothly!  All too smoothly in fact.

It was a top wedding, wonderful catching up with people but Sunday was pretty quiet.  Trish has a sore knee, most likely from all the walking.  She is hobbling about today!

Tomorrow we pack up here and head over to Chris and Wendy's for tea.  Then we go to Tullamarine Airport first thing Tuesday to fly home. We are due in around lunchtime.

It seems Caloundra has had over 6" of rain since we have been gone!

The Sun Is back

Thursday was spent catching up with friends in the early afternoon.  They are in the midst of looking to sell and find a place in a retirement complex.  As with many of us in this climate, everything is dependent on selling their own place for the 'right' amount to make the whole exercise financially viable.

As they had to head out mid afternoon we had a little time to 'kill' so Trish had a quick look through "Spotlight" which is one of her favorite shops.

We headed out for tea at a different restaurant than 'the usual' in Springvale.  In hindsight this wasn't a good idea.  Though parking was easy and the place was quiet and cheap, the quality and selection of the food wasn't as good as we hoped.

We arrived in Springvale around 5pm and spent some time looking around the markets, the shops and the streets.  It is a new world there, like taking a step from Melbourne into any Asian town.  I just love it there.

The hustle and bustle of people shopping, the incredible range of cuts of meat at the butcher's, the hustle around the Tattslotto shops (Chinese/Vietnamese don't mind a flutter), the various food places and small restaurants, Springvale is an amazing place.

The seafood shops are just incredible to see.  Every kind of fish and seafood is available to buy.  These look pretty good too!  Generally the prices are excellent.  Checking out Springvale really is a highlight for us when we travel to Melbourne.

During our meal we caught up with Eddie and Patsy as usual.  Eddie was a Principal I worked with back during my classroom teaching days.

We have remained in contact and have become good friends.

We have lunch out today at the home of Carol and David. Later we have baby sitting tonight while Kate and Arj head out for their wedding anniversary.

My crook back flared again a few days ago.  Fortunately I brought Mobic with me which are anti inflammatory tablets.  They have brought things back under control again but it still hurts and I need to be careful.

The sun is back out today and we are hoping for a very pleasant 25 degrees.

Tomorrow is the wedding!

Email Address Hacked

I apologize to anyone who received Spam from me overnight.  It appears my Yahoo email account was hacked.

I have now changed my Yahoo Email Password so hopefully all will be OK.

It's sometime later as I add this piece below.  

I have no idea what has happened with my Yahoo email address.  Hopefully it will now have stopped.  The email had no subject.  Don't open it, just delete it.

I am doing a full scan of the computer here as well.

Wet and cool outside, not much different to what is happening at home really. It seems home has had in excess of 85mls of rain since we left on Tuesday

Yesterday was spent with family here and having fun with the grand kids.  Even had tea at home last night.  I disappeared when "Neighbours" came on the TV.  My back played up terribly yesterday but after a couple of "Mobic" it is much improved today ... thank heavens.

Evening meal with friends and Kim in Springvale this evening which we are looking forward to.  Out for lunch tomorrow and then baby sitting (and enjoying the footy) Friday night.

Down South

Today has been spent fairly quietly catching up with Kate, Arj and the grand kids.  It has been lots of fun.  Both of them are teachers so they are enjoying school holidays at the moment.

Kate and Trish headed to the shops to purchase last minute odds and ends for us to wear to the wedding on Saturday.  The seldom used white shirt I keep here has begun to go yellow around the collar and the tie I have here doesn't go with my new trousers.  And that is just for me!

We arrived in Melbourne around half an hour later than timetabled on Tuesday afternoon.  So instead of being caught in the pre homeward rush of workers, we were caught in the middle of it all.  We left the Sunshine Coast in showery weather only to arrive in Melbourne to bright and warm sunshine.  However last night's minimum of 12 degrees was a bit of a shock.

For tea we went to our all time favorite restaurant Malaysia Garden with Kate Arj and family and our youngest daughter Kim joined us as well. We just loved it there, enjoying some of the food we love and being with the girls.  There were 5 adults and 3 kids.  The bill totaled $90.  Sorry about the quality of the photo!

Today Wednesday was lovely, sunny and warm.  But being Melbourne tomorrow will be showery and much cooler.  We expect around 25 for the wedding on Saturday but a cooler showery Sunday to follow.

Arj was having a problem activating "Office 2010" on his PC.  It took a bit of messing about but we got there in the end.

We are heading off to Springvale for tea tomorrow night, we have a lunch to get to on Friday, baby sitting Friday night and then we have the wedding on Saturday.

Sunday will be spent recovering and catching up with friends in the city.  At this stage it looks like Sunday could be a little wet.  There is a big footy match live on TV Sunday afternoon which we will probably make an effort to see.

Monday we head across to spend time with Chris and his family and we fly home on Tuesday morning.

Heading South

We are leaving home around 10:45 am tomorrow to catch our Jetstar 12:45 pm flight to Melbourne.

My nerves are just beginning to settle following the footy yesterday.  After being 41 points behind late into the second quarter, the Cats got up to win by 4 points in an epic about face.

Trish's team won comfortably.  We focused on the matches involving our own teams yesterday.  The third game was a good one also with the Magpies eventually getting over a gallant Carlton in the last quarter.

Today is when we lay our stuff to take away out on the spare bed.  We revisit it from time to time with items we had forgotten.  Having done this so many times now it is almost second nature.

Going away for just a week makes the task a little easier.

We have already planned where we are eating for the first few nights.  It looks like Trish and I are baby-sitting Friday which is OK because the footy is live on TV.  We have the wedding on Saturday and a good possibility much of Sunday will be spent in Sick Bay recovering.

Then it is to Chris' place for Monday night to stay before flying out around 10 am Tuesday morning for home.

Trish is at an Arts Centre Association meeting this afternoon while I have a Community Association Meeting tonight.

It has been cool and showery meaning I didn't get my ride in this morning!

One More Ride Before We Go

Rain Thursday and Friday put a stop to any thought of a bike ride for those days.  Though overcast and cool today, I did get my 13k bike ride in.  I wasn't foolish enough to brave the pool though this morning.  Expected top for today is 23 and overcast.  However it is around 25 already in our little backyard.

We have new neighbours.  He is an older guy compared to who we have had in there previously but his partner/wife is somewhat younger.  They have an infant.  The only way I knew they had moved in was some lights on next door last night.  He is a concretor by trade and just emerging from a marriage breakup.  They have moved from another home here on the Bellvista Estate.

The TV has been turned to the Footy telecasts the last day or so. One game yesterday between Brisbane and Adelaide was OK, but the remainder have seen blowouts with the winning team getting on top and going on to a comfortable win.

Late Friday afternoon we headed into Caloundra as Trish had spotted some dress trousers which would suit my needs. I jokingly requested a "Seniors Discount" and immediately had 10% knocked off the price.

The new trousers are quite comfortable and will suit my needs.  The main suit I still had was one I bought for the Principal Vacancy interview for Doveton North around 1986.  I am not a big suit wearer.  At school I would wear a suit each Monday (mainly for School Assembly).  The remainder of the week was usually dress trousers and a sports jacket.

Trish had bought herself a new dress just to 'keep up'.

Computer Club was busy enough on Saturday.  We have two professional I.T. guys at the the club.  The second guy was after some downloads of TV shows.  His elderly mum is ill and he has been supplying her with stuff to watch.  I have invited him around home here to check out how I get my movies.  He seemed quite interested.  Always handy to a computer repair guy as a 'friend' I reckon.

We expect to finish Series 2 of Homeland tonight.  Tomorrow night I have a Community Association Meeting and then we will watch the final episode (a series of only 3 movie length episodes) of the new "Foyle's War".

We expect to leave here around 10:45 am Tuesday for our 12:45 departure to Melbourne from Maroochydore.  We arrive in Melbourne around 3:10 and expect to be picked up by our daughter Kate and go directly to her place.  Chris won't be home from work at that time and Wendy and the grandchildren will be up at her mother's as it is School Holidays. Usually we always catch up with them first.  This short trip we will spend Monday night with them prior to our return on Tuesday 16th.

Autumn Arrives

The glorious weather we experienced earlier in the week has given way to cooler temperatures and blustery winds.  Overnight rain the last two nights has curtailed any thought of bike riding.  Yesterday we awoke to 16mls in the gauge, this morning there were 47 mls.

And we have a blustery cooler southerly wind as well.  For the first time for a long time the back sliding door was closed all night.  Even the front door was closed as well.

There isn't a lot of news.  A short shopping excursion yesterday followed our trip to the Chiropractor.  My back now feels the best it has for around 4 weeks.

We are beginning to get into 'travelling to Melbourne' mode.  With a wedding to get to I have discovered all my suits and dress trousers have shrunk!  I have sports coats and the like in Melbourne but I probably need a pair of trousers which fit me.  Trish is checking some shops out this morning for me after she has been to Friday "Quilters'.

I have been busy 'training' Brian over the road on how to download movies and TV Shows.  He enjoys the action movies.  If the description has thrills, action, in it, that is a movie for him.  The more blood the better he reckons.  He also likes some of the Sci-Fi stuff that Trish and I aren't into.

I have got him onto uTorrent and he is now keeping himself up to date with the TV Series "Arrow".

We are half way through series two of "Homeland".  Last night we watched Episode 5 and the whole story has been completely turned on its head.

I managed to get a bottling in yesterday.  Supplies are back to almost 100% again now.  It also means I won't have to worry about anything upon our return from Melbourne.

Friends Ian and Kerrie jetted off for a 10 day overseas trip yesterday.  I am not sure if 10 days is really long enough to travel overseas.  They are doing Singapore and KL. It will be interesting to get their views upon their return.

There won't be a Friday drinks session today, I may have to pop into Caloundra for new trousers anyway.

The weekend will spent the usual way as any other weekend would be spent during the AFL footy Season!  Both our teams play on Sunday so we can just sit back and relax for tonight and tomorrow!

Divide by 8!

What was tipped at around 4" of rain due to fall Sunday evening finished up being closer to half an inch!  But that amount was enough to top the pool right up and give the lawn and garden a good water. We got around half an inch or 12 mls altogether.

Monday proved to be fairly quiet with watching the footy in the afternoon the main feature.  It is now 10 times in a row my team has defeated Trish's team in a dramatic tight struggle.

We have finished watching Rome Series 2 and on Monday night we enjoyed the second in the new series of Foyle's War.

Friends Kerrie and Ian are heading overseas later this week for 10 days.  To us it seems a lot of money and time flying to be away for 10 nights.  They are heading to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur with around 5 nights in each destination.

So today (Tuesday) we had lunch down on the Caloundra foreshore.

To say it was pleasant is an understatement! We bought 'take-away' noodles and sat back and enjoyed each other's company, a few drinks and the view.

I had a form of Char Koay Teow while the others had what we would call Mee Goreng and prawns.  It was all very tasty and enjoyable.  I took some of my Springvale Chilli with me as well just to give it a 'lift'. Click on the photos for a larger view.

It looks pretty impressive doesn't it?

And the second photo is where we sat, under some shade with a BBQ right beside. This may even be a great model for a new shade feature we are considering for the backyard.

It was all great fun.