A Grey Day

Showers, showers and more showers.  That is the forecast since Friday and right now on Sunday it doesn't look great at all.  Dark skies, strong winds and showery.  I am looking forward to late next week when we are told to expect top temperatures around 24 or so.  I can't wait.

Little news, no bike riding, Computer Club yesterday, my footy team won well and we still haven't turned the heater on despite the overcast conditions.

It is great to be rid of some of my not so nice tasting home brew beers.  A lager I am slowly working my way through right now is very very good!

The 'bit off stuff' I brewed wasn't too bad when I mixed a little Ginger Beer or something with it.  Then it tasted quite OK!

I Am Slipping!

Please keep the following information 'in house' as it may damage my reputation.  Instead of installing a pirate copy of a 'pay for' app on my phone yesterday, I actually paid for one!  It was a new experience, I had never paid for a 'app' on my phone before!  There are pirate versions of most apps out there at the same places I get my movies and TV shows.

However apps which are for Australian services and users are not so easy to find.

I am pretty keen on weather stuff.  Trish would say 'obsessed'. I have downloaded and installed around 10 different weather apps on my phone over the last couple of years.  However many of them get their info from services such as Weatherzone, Yahoo etc. 

Many of these apps update slowly and give you the temperature what it was 2 hours ago rather than instant stuff from our Australian Weather Bureau (Bureau of Meteorology - BOM).  Then when I travel to Melbourne the app goes into meltdown when I want to swap to local Melbourne information.

You check the temperature on the phone and it tells you it is 18 degrees but when you head outside it is obvious that it is much cooler than that.

There is one app which gets its information instantaneously from the Australian BOM and it is called "Pocket Weather".  It cost me $1-99!

The wind direction has changed overnight giving us milder but showery weather.  There were 11mls in the gauge this morning and we have a showery week in front of us (so Pocket Weather tells me). It was too wet to ride my bike.

At last the brew I have had on has stopped 'working' allowing me to bottle it all this morning. The photo above left shows the container drying outside.

We ate at yet another Bowling Club yesterday for our lunch. It was good pub fare, not expensive but more filling rather than flavorsome.  For $12 you get a reasonably sized meal and a drink.  I managed a schooner of Carlton Draught for $4-20 which is the best price I have come across recently.

Trish is at Quilters today.  As she is not a involved with the Quilters committee it is an easy day for her.  I had some stuff to sort out for the Community Association yesterday which all worked out OK.  We have our AGM coming up in a month or so and needed to sort out the Treasurer's position for 2013/4.

Friends Ian and Kerrie are still in Sydney and the other couple (John and Margaret) are caught up with family over the last week or so.  School holidays commenced in Queensland a week ago. Therefore we won't be having drinks as per usual today.  There will be plenty of footy on though.  And there is tennis from Wimbledon as well!

Don't Let Looks Deceive You

From the photo here left it looks like another fantastic day here on the Sunshine Coast.  And in due course it may well be a beautiful day.  I just readied myself for my daily bike ride.  I grabbed my camera, my bike odometer, my helmet and I was all ready to go.  It was a little cool despite the glorious blue sky so I reached for my 'splash jacket' as well.  Then I walked to the back of the yard and felt the full force of the steady freezing cold breeze out there.  The 'wind chill factor' would be incredible.

I'm too old for this I thought so I grabbed the odometer, the camera and removed the helmet and headed back inside to be out of the wind.  I may check it out again 'later' and if conditions have improved and I may set off on a ride later today!

As you can imagine life has continued along quietly with not a lot happening.

We are considering doing a road trip in a few weeks time.  One of the spots we missed from back in our caravaning days was western Queensland.  We would be away for around 11 nights and spend a few days in Longreach via Charleville and Isisford.  On the way home we would spend a couple of days in Yeppoon.  We would leave on a Monday and arrive back home on a Friday.

Trish is at Stitchers this morning so I am home alone.  I was planning on 'bottling' today but things aren't quite ready to bottle just yet.  That may happen tomorrow, we will see.

We are just over mid way through the TV Series "House of Cards".  Having a hearing problem I note when anything on TV is even slightly out of sync (OOS).  Trish says the movies are fine and she doesn't notice any problem with them at all (or rarely does).  All three episodes of House of Cards we watched last night were slightly OOS.  Is this a problem with the media player, the quality of the leads connecting it or is the problem with the files themselves?

I decided to dig into my archives this morning and replayed a section of one of the OOS episodes from last night on the computer.  Lo and behold, there it was, the files themselves are ever so slightly out of sync.  They do not appear to be fully as bad as when played on the media player, but then a computer has a lot more processing 'grunt' than a $120 media player!

To the right of this post there is a series of links under the heading "Finding Good Downloads".  If you want to have a try at getting some movies or TV shows for yourself download the "How To" at 09. Downloading From 180Uploads.  I tend to look for things that have been put on the tv-release website by "mSD".  Those files are smaller than other regular downloads because of the format he always uploads in.  All of his files are in a format called "Matroska" and end with .mkv  Matroska Files are well known for their high quality by small file size.  The down side is if you are going to have a problem with a file playing correctly, most likely it will be in the "Matroska" format so my experiences shows.

Give it a go!  There is  TV show playing in the UK at the moment called "Dates".  Each show is only 20 odd minutes long and mSD has uploaded his version of them at tv-release.  Each download is a mere 100mb so would be a good place to have a practice and see how you go!

Typical Winter's Monday

As promised by the weather people, on Saturday we awoke to a lovely cool but clear and sunny day.  The weather has continued on the same way ever since.  Sunday's bike ride at around 9 am was very cool indeed with me wearing cycling gloves and the splash jacket.  Today I rode at 9:30 and it was already around 18 degrees by that stage. The splash jacket and gloves were no where to be seen.

The temperature is around 21 right now but certainly much warmer than that in our small enclosed backyard. As the photo shows I bottle washed this morning and now I am attempting to get the bottles dried.  Being a very lightweight plastic it takes time to dry them.

A single 'glass' bottle I have is very dry already.  The glass itself heats up and this in turn dries the bottle.  The lightweight plastic doesn't heat up any where near as much as the glass ones do.

The dog problem next door with barking when the family is away has all but stopped.  I can go out the back door without being harangued by a fierce outburst of aggressive barking.

My footy team was defeated yesterday after they all but stopped in the last quarter or so.  It took a kick after the siren for Brisbane to clinch the match but that was enough.

My team has never been able to overcome the retirement of their No.1 ruckman several years ago.  Yesterday they fielded one ruckman playing his 6th game and another in his first AFL season.  Brisbane's young ruckman is a No1 draft pick and a very good player.  As my team's rucks tired the other guy came to the fore giving them first use of the ball.  In the last quarter everything went perfectly for them and with first use of the ball went on to win the game.

Trish's team won easily and now sits one game clear on top of the table.

Computer Club was great on Saturday.  I was being hounded by people seeking help on other days.  At times I have 5 or 6 people wanting to see me.  With the pressure off on Saturday I was able to help anyone in need without rushing.

We began to watch a new TV Series called "House Of Cards" last night.  It stars Kevin Spacey.  It is set in the USA and tells the story of a chief campaign advisor to a new US President "Elect".  As a reward for his great electioneering work he was promised a major role in the new administration.

However as the jobs are being delegated out he finds that people have gone back on their word and he has been cast aside to being just a Congressman.  He begins to wreak havoc within the new government as he seeks retribution for his being overlooked.  It looks like great series.

Wet And Miserable

The Australian Weather Radar shows a blanket of cloud covering much of the Northern Territory and Queensland.  That cloud has arrived here on the coast and is giving us a Melbourne type rainy day.  The rain isn't what locals would call 'heavy', but we could get 15mls out of it during the day.  The cloud is expected to clear the coast later today or early tomorrow returning us to bright sunshine and temperatures from single figure minimums to around 20 degrees maximums and sunny during the day.

The bike remained parked under the patio today.

The rest of the news is boring so if you want to switch off do so now ..... and go onto another website!

We drove to Maroochydore yesterday for a little 'office' shopping in attempt to better use space available for us and make our little home more user friendly. We have achieved that.  I checked the local telephone company shop and was told I have another two payments to go on my phone plan to complete my contract.  I will then switch to "Kogan Mobile" which provides an excellent plan, is sensationally priced and connects to the major "Telstra" network. The Telstra Network is easily the best across this country.  My current provider is via the Optus network and the phone service here at Bellvista is best described as 'nearly serviceable'.

From there we caught up again with friends Peter and Cheryl at the Headland Golf Club for lunch.  Three of us had the Chicken Parma while Cheryl went for the Fish and Chips.  The meal was "sensational' for regular pub 'fare'.  For around $14 you certainly weren't hungry afterwards.  And at $4-60 a schooner for beer it was all well priced.

There was a big crowd in, unlike the previous week when we attended on a Tuesday.  It is a popular spot for group luncheons we are discovering.

Needless to say it was bread rolls and whatever for last night's evening meal.

Last night we watched another UK detective series called "Vera".  It was excellent viewing.  The footy is back on again this evening and over the weekend.  I have Computer Club tomorrow as well.

Another brew went on this morning.  This time I have made a lager.  I gave the container a good bleach out and rinsed it with hot water to ensure the container was sanitized.

A liberal spray with sanitizer yesterday and a decent rinse out this morning followed by a final hot water rinse means it should be clean and ready for the brew.

I will tell you if it all worked effectively in about 6 weeks time when this brew is ready to drink.

A Lazy Wind

They call it a lazy wind when it blows straight through you rather than around you.  That is what we have had the last couple of days, a lazy wind.  The sky is a gorgeous blue but the breezy conditions mean you really feel the cold.  It is around 17 or 18 degrees for a top temp today.  This morning it was around 6!

Despite waiting until after 9 am this morning before heading out for a bike ride I soon stopped and put on the 'splash jacket' I carry with me just to keep warm.

It has been quiet really.  On Monday we had a trip into Caloundra for a a jacket of some sort for me to wear at night.  Trish isn't a big fan of the flannelette shirts I love to wear so we have decided on a new a dressier outfit.  It is even warmer than the flannelette ones I love to wear.

Today I have my 'quilted' version of my flannelette shirt on to keep the cold wind out.

This morning's ride took me around the lake as usual.  The chat among early morning walkers and bike riders is all around the adult swans and their recent litter of 6 cygnets.  Today there weren't any cygnets to be seen.  People have a range of stories of what happened but the most likely is the large eels which inhabit the lake probably got them.  They seem to get them each year actually.

One of the adult swans didn't seem too keen on me taking a snapshot of it this morning.  I took the photo to put on the Community Association website.

Yesterday saw me replace screws in the side gate latch lock and mow the lawns.  Not the most exciting day at all!

We have only three episodes to go of the TV series "The Borgias".  This is the third and final series.  We also watched the movie "The Place Beyond The Pines" the other day which was OK.

We only managed to squeeze two episodes of The Borgias in last night as the soccer (Australia Vs Iraq) was on from Sydney. We will get through the final three episodes tonight.

We have almost finalized to have a structure built in the backyard on the 'new' concrete to provide shelter from the sun during summer.  I have settled on a quote with the guy.  The cash to do this won't be available to us until mid July.  We will probably do something with the pavers under the clothes line and create another area where we can sit and enjoy the winter sunshine.

At this stage there is a 6" gap between each of the pavers.  We will make these gaps smaller which will enable us to make an area on which we could fit at least four chairs and a small table.  It means we will possibly need around 9 new pavers to complete the job.

It will mean removing some of the current pavers to use for the 'area', smoothing out the river pebbles to create a level'ish' area and then relaying them.  It will just be a matter of returning the river pebbles 'in between' to hold them in place. The replacement/additional pavers will most likely be a terracotta color and would form the pathway to the shed.

Winter On The Sunshine Coast

We are entering the coldest time of the year in this part of the world.  The padded fleecy shirts have come out as has the warm woollen socks.  We expect this coldest weather of the year to go through from now until around the end of July.  Daily top temperatures then seem to begin to rise from what we can expect nowadays which is 20 or the low 20's.  Overnight it gets into single figures.

Despite all this we still haven't felt the need to turn the heating on.  The coldest time of the day is around 5pm.  We close the blinds in the living room to retain any warmth and this seems to work OK.  Then while sitting in the living room it 'feels' warmer by 7pm or 8pm.

Morning bike rides now depart after 8:30am when things have warmed up a little.

Computer Club was OK yesterday and it was good not to be rushed off my feet despite there being a bumper attendance.

There was one lady and her Samsung 10" tablet.  She and her husband took the tablet with them when travelling overseas.  They had a heap of photos which the tablet had 'saved' onto the micro SD card rather than the tablet's own built in internal memory.  She wanted to transfer the photos off the external SD card onto the tablet itself.

I introduced her to an app called ES File Manager which was downloaded at no cost from the android "Play Store".  This is the most amazing Android App and allows you to copy/paste files anywhere on your home wireless network to and from your tablet.

Here at home I have set up "Sharing" on the computers.  Sharing means you allow other devices on the home network to copy/paste or run programs or files from one device to another.

On my phone or the 7" android tablet it is possible to navigate to a movie or any file on another device and have it play on the phone or tablet.

In some ways these 'apps' are like add ons for Firefox.  If there is something you want the tablet or Android phone to do, most likely there is an app which will do it for you!

The lady was delighted with just what this new app enabled her to do.

What A Difference

What a difference a day makes!  Thursday was warmish with some heavy cloud around. But there were quite a few glimpses of sunshine through the cloud during the morning.  Trish rang me just before lunch from a meeting she was at and asked me to put a load of washing through for her.  This I did and had it on the line within around 45 minutes.  Within an hour of putting the stuff on the line in came the clouds as this photo shows.

Soon afterwards the sky opened up and we had a very heavy shower of rain.  The wet washing was rescued and moved to be hung up all around the garage.

I have just taken this photo almost exactly 24 hours later.  Yesterday the breeze was from the south east, today it is from the west and blowing dry cold air into our part of the world.  The temperature outside is 22 degrees but it feels more comfortable than that as we sat outside to enjoy a couple of rolls for lunch.  The sunshine is glorious and the solar energy panels on our roof are working away nicely.

The next load of washing was put through this morning (Friday) and is drying now in the bright sunshine.

It was no surprise that the pool needed another bag of salt yesterday after all the recent rain.  We have had 9" or 225mls since the weekend.  This amount of rainfall causes the pool to over flow and as the water flows away, so too does the salt.

You can see the small overflow opening in this photo.  This small opening prevents the pool from overflowing.  The excess pool
water enters into the house's storm water system and escapes out into the street.

I have been delivering Community Association newsletters this morning after I completed my shorter than usual bike ride.  I did around 9k's on the bike and then spent well over an hour walking about delivering around 130 copies of the "Bellvista Connector".  That is enough exercise for today.

No drinks this afternoon as people are away for the weekend.  Being such a glorious day I might sit outside myself later and enjoy a couple of frothy tops.  All of the brews I am enjoying at the moment taste fine which is a pleasant change after some recent less than successful brews I have had.

I even gave the brewing container a 4 parts to 1 water to bleach rinse yesterday to ensure the container is fully sanitized.  It then needed a good strong hot water rinse afterwards to get rid of all the remnants of the bleach!

Footy tonight and over the weekend will keep my occupied.  I also have Computer Club tomorrow morning as well.

Click on the photos for a larger view.

Wet Wednesday

I am pleased we are now well into the dry winter months which are meant to be full of bright crisp but sunny days.  If that is what we are meant to be having, we are well away from what is really happening.

The weekend and Monday were wet and rainy.  We experienced 210mls of rain during that time when the monthly June average is half that!  Yesterday saw a respite from the gloomy conditions but the overcast showery weather has returned today with showers extending to rain forecast for this afternoon

It is expected to clear tomorrow morning and we will return to cool mornings but sunny days.  There should be top temps around 20 degrees but hopefully it will be warmer than that in our enclosed back yard.

I bottled yesterday as the photo above left indicates.  I now give my bottles and extra 'rinse' prior to bottling trying to overcome some of my recent hassles.  The truth of it all will be in the tasting a month or two away just yet!

We try and get out for a meal each week with friends Ian and Kerrie and try somewhere different each time. With a respite from the wet weather yesterday we tried the "Headland Golf Club".  This golf cub has daily lunches and is situated on the hills just behind Mooloolaba.

As you can see from this photo, the view from the Clubhouse where we ate is quite spectacular.  The photo also shows what a pleasant day yesterday was as well. The alcohol was well priced but the meal service was surprisingly slow.

But when our lunches did arrive we were delighted in what we received.

Click on all photos for a larger view.

The ladies ordered a 'parmigiana'.  It wasn't one of those massed produced jobs you usually get at pubs and clubs. The meat appeared to have been cooked fresh along with the sauces.  It was delicious.  I had a glorious "Shepherd's Pie" and Ian enjoyed a "Burger".  We will be adding the Headland Golf Club to a spot to take visitors for a meal.

We have decided to ensure the glorious food wasn't just a one-off and that we should try it again in a week or two.
 
Trish is at Stitchers this morning.  I am having a quiet day at home for a change.

The noisy dog next door which plays up when the owners are away has been very quiet the last day or so and hasn't been a problem.  I had words with the neighbour again last Friday about it and expressed my frustration with what was happening.  I am not in her list of favorite people right now.  It must have had some effect though as everything has been OK with the dog and its barking since then.

We are currently watching the US 'Spy' series called "The Americans".  We have two episodes to go to complete the first series.  With showers due to continue after lunch we may finish the final two episodes later today.

Farewell Kim As The Rain Pours Down

It is just before lunch on the Monday of the Queen's Birthday Long weekend.  I tipped 60mls out of the rain gauge this morning and we have probably had another 25mls since then.

Trish returned not long ago from dropping Kim off at Maroochydore Airport for her return flight to Melbourne.  Kim will probably get more showery and colder weather there as well.

Friends Ian and Kerrie popped over Sunday afternoon and we had a pleasant time with them meeting Kim.

The several quiet ales were pleasant as well.

Later that night Trish and Kim chatted on while I was beginning to show signs of wear and hit the sack.

I was hoping to bottle my brew this morning but it seems to be still 'working' as there are occasional bubbles still appearing through the air lock.

The forecast for the Sunshine Coast continues to look bleak for the first part of the week as well.

Flying Visit

Kim flew up for the long weekend yesterday (Saturday).  She flew into Maroochydore Saturday morning around 10:30 am and heads back to Melbourne Monday morning.  The forecast had been for cooler weather and showers but Kim was greeted with 25 degrees and lovely sunshine.

The photo left was taken at the Mooloolaba Surf Club where we stopped for lunch on the way back from the airport.  There were a few in the water and many more relaxing along the beach.

We walked the shops and finished back to the Surf Club and a spot overlooking the beach. The cloud over the ocean was an ominous sign of what was to come.

After couple of drinks and a large lunch we arrived at home around 1:30pm.  The girls chatted and talked while I kept an eye on the footy where my team was battling against the lowest team in the comp. Kim adjourned to the backyard and the fading sunshine. After a slow start my team won comfortably.

Some take away for tea and a few more drinks followed.  It was a great way for Trish and Kim to catch up.  The later footy match from the Gold Coast (150k's south of us) was played in very wet and slippery conditions, a sign we were in for some wet weather.  The rain was heading north and arrived here overnight.  There were 31mls in the gauge this morning.

This long weekend is a huge weekend for The Arts Association and their Fair.  Trish and Kim have headed there this morning (Sunday) to make an appearance.  Family comes in front of any commitments either of us have over our local volunteer interests.  I didn't bother with Computer Club yesterday.

We have the Drinks Gang around later this afternoon.

Click on the photo for a larger view.

Too Good Not To Share: "Retirement"

Question: How many days in a week?
Answer: 6 Saturdays, 1 Sunday

Question: When is a retiree's bedtime?
Answer: Two hours after he falls asleep on the couch.

Question: How many retirees to change a light bulb?
Answer: Only one, but it might take all day.

Question: What's the biggest gripe of retirees?
Answer: There is not enough time to get everything done.

Question: Why don't retirees mind being called Seniors?
Answer: The term comes with a 10% discount.

Question: Among retirees, what is considered formal attire?
Answer: Tied shoes.

Question: Why do retirees count pennies?
Answer: They are the only ones who have the time.

Question: What is the common term for someone who enjoys work and refuses to retire?
Answer: NUTS!

Question: Why are retirees so slow to clean out the basement, attic or garage?
Answer: They know that as soon as they do, one of their adult kids will want to store stuff there.

Question: What do retirees call a long lunch?
Answer: Normal.

Question: What is the best way to describe retirement?
Answer: The never ending Coffee Break.

Question: What's the biggest advantage of going back to school as a retiree?
Answer: If you cut classes, no one calls your parents.

Question: Why does a retiree often say he doesn't miss work, but misses the people he used to work with?
Answer: He is too polite to tell the whole truth.

QUESTION: What do you do all week?
Answer: Monday through Friday, NOTHING..... Saturday & Sunday, I rest.

Cloudy Conditions

The cloud rolled in mid morning shutting out the warm sunshine and all the warmth that came with it. It isn't even 20 degrees right now and despite being warm after this morning's bike ride, it is currently early afternoon and the track suit trousers are on and both Trish and I are dressed in our winter woollies!

Not much news to add but I did want to put this online.  Click on the picture for a larger view.  Not bad at all!

We have arranged to meet a mate of mine from the Computer Club and his lady friend (Peter has been a widower for some time) for lunch tomorrow, a Greek restaurant in Mooloolaba.  It should be something different for us.  If the food is anywhere near as good as what we used to get from the Greek restaurant in Caulfield (Melbourne) all those years ago it will be great.

Queensland 'shuts down' this evening for the first of the three State Of Origin Rugby League matches from Sydney.  People will be glued to their TV sets.  We aren't great fans of Rugby League but the State Of Origin matches can be worth watching.  Queensland has won the last 7 series straight so tonight they go for Number 8!

Things Are Back To "Normal"

Trish arrived home Sunday afternoon, tired but happy after a visit to family down south in Melbourne.  She brought photos and movies of Kim's new flat in St Kilda and very positive comments regarding the purchase from a local Real Estate agent.  It was an excellent buy!

Trish was really positive about it as well.  A 'crew' of friends were assembled to help with the move in to the new address last Saturday.  Trish says the flat's position is excellent, possibly even closer to the main drag than her earlier address.  Kim bought a flight up to visit us sometime ago and it is due this weekend.  She will spend a couple of nights with us up here this weekend.  I guess she will be keen to get back home again now.

After a couple of loads of washing yesterday Trish has settled back in again.  She had a Committee Meeting Monday afternoon and I had a Community Association Committee Meeting last night.  I was keen to get home from my meeting as there was a rare AFL match on TV live from Perth as well.

The weather both Sunday and Monday was perfect SE Queensland winter weather, top of around 23 or so and a low around 12.  There was not a cloud in the sky!  It is a similar day today.

Lots of talk in this part of Australia regarding electricity prices with 22% price hike due to arrive on July 1st.  When the guy upgraded the meter here recently he left without saying anything.  I decided to use the internet and found a page explaining how the new meter should work.  It had three sections, 01 the energy I had used from the network, 30 which showed the energy I had used from 'reduced' off peak and Tariff 33 rates, and 40 which showed energy my Solar System had put back into the network for which I would receive 16c per kwh.

My meter never had section 40 so I thought it may 'kick in' when we had put a little more solar power back into the system.

So today I rang my energy company AGL and asked about my concern.  They suggested any fault would be picked up automatically and would be fixed by the supplier Energex.  I decided to ring the installer just in case there was a problem there.  I was advised something definitely was wrong and it was suggested I ring Energex immediately and report it.

The young lass at Energex who answered the phone was excellent and reported that the solar system installer had failed to notify them that the solar had been installed so the new meter was not programmed to handle it.  It was OK for the solar power I used but did not record any power my system had put back into the network.

I made a quick call back to the installer and within 15 minutes I had received two emails from Energex saying a works order had been prepared to reprogram the meter box!

Fortunately I had gone to the trouble to check the internet regarding the new meter.  Otherwise I would have been oblivious to the error.  As we only get 16c for every kwh we put back into the system we have not suffered a substantial loss in the 10 days it hasn't been operating.

Trish Home Today

With a break in the showers the last day or so I have been able to catch up on some of the washing.  The bedding was done yesterday and the bathroom stuff is on as I type.

The reason the barking was so quiet next door on Friday was because they took the dog with them!  However it is to attend some obedience training which began yesterday and they were going to follow up on strategies to employ to stop it barking while they are away from home.  We will see.

Ian popped around on Friday afternoon for an extremely pleasant hour or two enjoying the odd ale or three.

The rest of the time since I last wrote on my blog has been addressed to Computer Club and watching the footy on TV.  I had a lady with Windows 8 who couldn't get her computer to fully load up.  She had a program on it called "Spybot" and it had identified a program it needed to get rid of.  Each time you clicked on OK it would begin to remove it and then the same message would pop up again.  And so it went into a cycle, message, OK, message, OK, etc.

You would have 15 seconds or so each time you restarted the laptop to do something before the cycle restarted.  I also found Ctrl-Alt-Delete gave you a few seconds as well before the cycle recommenced.  I got to "Control Panel", the the cycle recommenced.  Ctrl-Alt-Delete the laptop resumed and I got to Programs and Features.  The cycle resumed, Ctrl-Alt-Delete and I selected Spybot Uninstall.  And so it went on until I was eventually able to uninstall Spybot.

It took about 30 minutes to get it done.  The old reliable 'tap the f8 button' to start the computer in "Safe Mode" wouldn't work!

Watched footy for most of the rest of the time. The Friday night game was so boring I watched a bit of the England Vs New Zealand One Day Cricket match instead!  My team won on Saturday night by almost 9 goals against one of the improving lower teams.  However at 3/4 time the scores were level!

Trish flies in just before 2pm today.  I will be collecting her and bringing her home.  I am looking forward to that.  Two weeks on my own is enough I reckon!