Cooler Times On The Way!

The trip to the dentist will turn out to be expensive.  I have a large filling which is in an important tooth for my chewing.  I have had problems with it on and off for 20 years or so!  This time I had chipped a bit off the back of the filling making it unstable.

So the old filling came out, a temporary one went in and a root canal procedure will occur in two weeks or so.  Then the expensive bit which I haven't worried about previously, "the crown'" will go on early 2015!

A crown was suggested last time I had major work done but at that time the expense seemed excessive.  Since becoming pensioners our financial position has improved so I will go for the crown this time around.

My jaw still aches a little from the drilling the other morning!  It is best described as 'tender'!

Our elderly friends over the road had a problem with their remote control on the TV.  Was the problem in the remote or the TV?  I took a universal remote over and it worked.  So a disappointed Brian (he wanted a new 55" TV) looked for a basic Logitech programmable remote control.  The base model was $40.  The next model up (the 650) had a RRP of $80 though you can usually get them for $70.

A local electrical store had an online special on them for $50!  So he "Clicked and Collected" it late yesterday.  I popped over this morning and programmed it for him.  Now it is a one button push to watch TV, a one button push for his media player and a one button push for his DVD player.  He is pretty happy with the way it has worked out!

My nephew Marcus does work setting up and dismantling large stores for the company he works for.  He had a quick overnight job to do at our local "Spotlight" store and decided to stay with us for a few hours before flying back to Melbourne.

He flew into Maroochydore around 6:30pm Tuesday, worked through until 4:45 am Wednesday and arrived at our place around 5 am for a couple of hours' sleep.  A quick swim to liven him up and after a bite to eat he was on his way around 9:30am.  Though brief, it was great to catch up.

Today is expected to be around 30º but there is some welcome rain due soon after.  Not only will there be rain, but the weather should be a lot cooler too.

Trish booked flights to Melbourne for next August with Tiger out of Brisbane on the $1 return ticket deal.  It cost us a total of $160 return for both of us to fly to Melbourne and return!  That is $40 per trip per person!

Warm Weather Continues

For the latest Blog entry from Saudi Arabia click HERE.  And the latest collection of photos HERE.

I hope the two links work OK for you.

Just the other day Kate Arj and family did a cruise out into the Red Sea.  The photo shows a group of the kids enjoying the boat trip.

We have had a run of quite warm days here on the Sunshine Coast with top temps in the low 30's and overnight lows in the low 20's.  These are almost summer time temperatures, not what we would expect for a lengthy spell in Spring!  The pool gets to around 29º most days.  It is simply gorgeous in the pool having a quick cooling dip before heading off to bed and to sleep around 10:30 at night!

There was heaps of both golf and cricket on TV over the weekend so that kept me indoors except for the occasional venture outside for a swim.  The swim would go on for around 30 minutes so pleasant is it in the water.

The front lawn even got a mow yesterday early.  With so little rain recently everything is dusty and all the lawns are yellow!  We do expect some rain over the next few days and hopefully the wind will revert to traditional south easterlies off the ocean rather than the north westerlies we are getting from the hot inland. 

Being close to the coast we manage to get the benefit of the daily sea-breeze during the afternoon.

Tiger Airways have some $1 return fares on for late 2015 so we are looking to book for a trip to Melbourne mid August or so.  Strangely enough (or perhaps coincidentally) there would be 4 footy matches at the MCG during our expected time down there.  No it definitely isn't 'coincidentally'!

I have chipped a tooth or a filling so I am almost ready to head off to the dentist this morning, a trip I am not looking forward to making!

Back From The Gold Coast

It actually hit 40º in Maroochydore around lunch time last Sunday!  That is extremely unusual for this part of the world.  Soon after that, the sea-breeze arrived dropping the temperature to the mid 30's.  Needless to say the pool was a popular spot that afternoon!

On Monday we headed to the Gold Coast for three nights.  Trish got an 'online deal' 3 nights for $200.  This was a great price when you consider the hotel was 4 1/2 star and within 10 minutes leisurely walk of the main Surfer's Paradise entertainment strip.

The suburb of Sunnybank and its Asian food was on the way to the Gold Coast and luckily we arrived there around lunchtime.  By 1:30 we had eaten our fill and were at our 4 1/2 star hotel.

Despite booking 'cheaper' priced accommodation we were on the 11th floor with a peak of a view at the ocean.  The room was fine for what we wanted.  Needless to say anything 'extra' we wanted (eg WiFi) was available at a charge.

Friends Ian and Kerrie were staying on the Gold Coast at the same time so we caught up with them most afternoons for a chat, drinks and meals.

We visited Broadbeach, just south of Surfer's, on day two for a look around.  We took it easy, had some fun and ate out regularly with our friends.  The weather was OK and as expected, warm and humid for this time of year!

A new feature of the Gold Coast is the light rail system.  Coming from Melbourne where there are trams, we are used to this form of public transport.  The light rail system is fantastic for getting around.  As the photo shows we had a light rail station right outside our hotel.

Click on all photos for a larger view.

We arrived back at home on the Sunshine Coast mid afternoon on Thursday via Costco.  We saw that at home there was 30mls in the rain gauge so the garden had a good watering while we were away!

We collected mail and set the house up again, moved the Waeco out under the pergola, gave the pool a vacuum, brought in the rubbish bin and unpacked our clothes from our short trip away.  The pool needed a good clean because after such a long time without rain, there was a buildup of dust from the pool surrounds and the house roof and quite a bit of this finishes up in the pool.  The 'harvesting' of rain water via a house downpipe to the pool sees some of the roof dust end up in the water! 

Some items I had bought online had been delivered while we were out of town.  My two pairs of 3D glasses (which usually cost around $50 each on special) had been delivered.  It was obviously a sell out of them and I bought them for $2 each plus postage.  They work great and are rechargeable!

The 8 high quality Eneloop rechargeable AA Batteries I bought at half price were there as well.

It didn't take long to get back into the swing of things again.  I did my bike ride Friday morning, the first for around a week.  I caught up with TV show acquisition and sorted that all out.  During Friday afternoon there was cricket on TV so that was a good spot for me too.

Despite the cricket on TV I still jumped in the pool for 30 minutes Friday afternoon. Summer is almost upon us and the days are really warming up.  Most days it is around 30 degrees or so, the pool hardly gets below 26º either.  Most afternoons the water temp is nudging 30º if there has been any sun at all.

Then at 1pm yesterday (Friday) Skype went off on my PC.  It was Charli in Saudi Arabia wanting to show us the presents she had received for her 9th birthday.  So it was a pleasant chat online and we enjoyed catching up with the latest news.

I have Computer Club this morning followed by a Community Association Final brief meeting and Christmas Celebrations later this afternoon.  It all should be good!

What A Great Thing Skype Is

We were after some details on some things regarding our upcoming trip to Saudi Arabia April 2015.  So we dropped Kate an email and soon after we were chatting face to face with Kate 50k's north of Jeddah via Skype on the PC.

We said hi to the grand kids as well but they were off to sport or catch up with friends.  We sorted our stuff with Kate out, got some good advice and caught up with some local chat.

Much of what we talked about is on an up date from Arj which you can read HERE.

Sorry about the screen shot quality above, it never looks as good as what the quality really was like.  Kate is on her iPad we guessed.

Their water problems are over now but they have heaps of bottled water left if you ever need any.

Very hot indeed here today.  Brisbane is expecting 40º where as here it should be closer to 36.  There is cricket on TV this afternoon so we will be indoors with the air con running.  That solar energy we put on last year makes using the air con a cheap way of keeping cool!

We head to Surfer's Paradise tomorrow for three nights.  We are due back Thursday around lunch time.

They're All Here

With the G20 getting underway in Brisbane today leaders from all around the world are present.  The city of Brisbane is in 'lock-down' and what would have taken you 15 minutes to walk a week ago takes you over an hour today.

They even declared a Public Holiday in Brisbane for yesterday and with heat-wave conditions forecast for the weekend, thousands upon thousands of Brisbaneites fled the city for the beach on the 'long' weekend.

The road between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast was 'chockers' yesterday with traffic reduced to a crawl along the major highways as people fled the city!

Caloundra is 'packed' as well with people making the most of the extra holiday and hot sunny weather.

They are talking about 40º for Sunday and 35º for today!  But it is like when we lived in Melbourne, the heat is accompanied by a strong northerly wind.  Strong winds and nearby shrubs and trees does not go well with my pool I am afraid.  Speaking of which, the pool is close to 26º right now at 7:40 am.

The air-conditioner may get a good run tomorrow as we prop inside, with me watching the cricket of course!  I may even give my usual bike ride a miss as well.  Stinking hot winds does not make for a pleasant bike riding experience.

I am just about to hit the shower and get ready to head off to Computer Club.

It will be a great day for getting the washing dry today!

Today's top temperature will depend on when the sea-breeze can be strong enough to burst through and temper things down a little. 

It will be cooler by Monday which is when Trish and I head to the Gold Coast for three nights.  We got ourselves a cheap deal around 6 months ago, three nights in a 4 star hotel in the middle of Surfers Paradise for around $200!

We are looking forward to it.

Warming Up!

So much for the mid afternoon finish on Tuesday around at our friends' new place.  The day was great and enjoyed by all.  Eat?  We ate so much a vegemite sandwich was all that was needed for tea that night.

One of the reasons they moved was to have a backyard big enough for a pool.  As it was a delightful day and the nights up this way aren't cold, the pool retains its heat and at this time of year is quite warm and pleasant for swimming.

So with a bit of morning sunshine it warms up quickly from any heat lost overnight.  Yesterday (Weds) our pool peaked at around 28.5º so this morning after my bike ride the pool was still 25.7º and very pleasant!

As the photo above shows, we had lots of fun, heaps to eat and a few drinks. The pool is somewhat deeper than ours and a little longer.  Our pool seems minimally wider though and has the advantage of a narrow ledge around the side about 50cms below the surface.  This is perfect for the grand kids when they are using it.  They can rest there and catch their breath.

The other two major pastimes for this week (apart from using the pool) have been bike riding and home brewing.  This morning before 9 am I have ridden 13k's and then bottled my latest brew!  The photo shows me adding the 1 teaspoon of sugar into each bottle prior to filling it.  The yeast acts with the extra sugar to create the alcohol.  My home brew strength is usually around 3.5% (or 'mid' strength).

Later today I have a meeting with representative from Council regarding the new Bellvista Meeting Place.

I had one swim after the ride and now after doing the bottling and blog update the pool beckons again.

We are expecting around 30º today and into the mid 30's over the weekend.  I seem to recall mid 30's is roughly the same temperature being experienced in Saudi Arabia right now!

A Warm Tuesday

We are expecting about 30º today with cooler sea-breezes after lunch.  Around 4pm those 'cooler sea-breezes' can be quite cool.  This makes just opening the front and back doors a 'natural' air-conditioner for the house.  Our home faces north east, especially purchased so as to capture those afternoon breezes.

We are invited around to friends Ian and Kerrie for lunch today.  They have moved about 5k's away from here to a new home.  With current drink driving laws that now means someone has to refrain from drinking if we head over there or they come here.  This really spoils it so today we expect to be home a little earlier than usual, probably around mid afternoon rather than making a whole afternoon of it.  Then everyone can have a drink when we get home.

Their move also puts a dampener on our Friday Drinks session as well.  They have just sold their home here on this estate.  Previously, despite moving 5k's away, they would prop overnight at their unsold local residence before heading to the new home the next morning.  Now all those plans have gone.

I did a little extra on my bike ride this morning.  I do ride through some pretty parks and gardens as the photo shows.  This photo is of one of my favorite spots.

Click on the photo for a larger view.

In the UK the final episode of series 5 of "Downton Abbey" played on Sunday night.  So last night, having obtained the final episode, Trish and I sat down to watch the series one episode after the other.  We were limited to three of the eight episodes last night as we had a couple of lengthy phone calls come through!

We could sure do with some rain.  This is our storm season where we can expect a hot humid day and a build up of clouds later in the afternoon and then turning into thunder storms and heaps of rain.  But this hasn't been happening just yet.  You could expect a storm each week with around 25mls (1") of rain.  This would be more than enough to clear the atmosphere, water the lawn and garden and top up the pool!

But no rain means I have to top the pool up from the tap.  Fortunately it isn't a large pool so not a huge top up is required.  You would be surprised at how high the evaporation rate can be during the hot weather.  I could expect to lose between 2 and 4cms of water from the pool a week (1"-2") through evaporation.

I hope you enjoy the stories in the post below.  Some of these stories show that these people are not the sharpest tools in the tool-box!

Just For A Laugh!

Number One.
"I am a medical student currently doing a rotation in toxicology at the poison control centre in Brisbane. Today, this woman called in very upset because she caught her little daughter eating ants. I quickly reassured her that the ants are not harmful and there would be no need to bring her daughter into the hospital. She calmed down and,at the end of the conversation, happened to mention that she had given her daughter some ant poison to eat in order to kill the ants. I told her that she better bring her daughter into the emergency room right away".

Number Two.
Some Boeing employees on the airfield in Sydney decided to steal a life raft from one of the 747s. They were successful in getting it out of the plane and home. Shortly after they took it for a float on the river, they noticed a Westpac Rescue Helicopter coming towards  them. It turned out that the chopper was homing in on the emergency locator beacon that activated when the raft was inflated. They are no longer employed at Boeing.

Number Three.
A man, wanting to rob a Bank of Queensland, walked into the Branch and wrote ';Put all ya muny in this beeg.' While standing in line, waiting to give his note to the teller, he began to worry that someone had seen him write the note and might call the police before he reached the teller's window. So he left the Bank and crossed the street to the NAB Bank. After waiting a few minutes in line, he handed his note to the teller. She read it and, surmising from his spelling errors that he wasn't the brightest light in the Harbour, told him that she could not accept his stickup note because it was written on a Bank of Queensland deposit slip and that he would either have to fill out a NAB deposit slip or go back to Bank of Queensland. Looking somewhat defeated, the man said, 'OK'; and left.

He was arrested a few minutes later, as he was waiting in line back at the Bank of Queensland.

Happened in Brisbane.

Number Four.
A guy walked into a little corner store in Cairns with a shotgun and demanded all of the cash from the cash drawer. After the cashier put the cash in a bag, the robber saw a bottle of Scotch that he wanted behind the counter on the shelf. He told the cashier to put it in the bag as well, but the cashier refused and said, 'Because I don't believe you are over 21.'

The robber said he was, but the clerk still refused to give it to him because she didn't believe him. At this point, the robber took his driver's licence out of his wallet and gave it to the clerk.
The clerk looked it over and agreed that the man was in fact over 21 and she put the Scotch in the bag.. The robber then ran from the store with his loot.
The cashier promptly called the police and gave the name and address of the robber that she got off the licence. They arrested the robber two hours later.

Number Five.
A pair of robbers entered a record shop nervously waving revolvers. The first one shouted, ';Nobody move!'; When his partner moved, the startled first bandit shot him.
Happened in Adelaide

Number Six.
A guy wanted some beer pretty badly. He decided that he'd just throw a brick through a liquor store window, grab some booze, and run. So he lifted the brick and heaved it over his head at the window. The brick bounced back knocking him unconscious. It seems the liquor store window was made of Flexi-Glass...
The whole event was caught on videotape.
Happened in Perth WA .

Number seven.
"My daughter went to a local McDonalds and ordered a burger. She asked the person behind the counter for 'minimal lettuce.' He said was sorry, but they only had iceberg."
Happened in Surfer's Paradise.

Number eight.
"I was at the airport, checking in at the gate when an airport employee asked, ';';Has anyone put anything in your baggage without your knowledge?" To which I replied, "If it was without my knowledge, how would I know?" He smiled knowingly and nodded. "That's why we ask."
Happened in Melbourne ..

Number nine.
"When my husband and I arrived at a car dealer to pick up our car, we were told the keys had been locked in it. We went to the service department and found a mechanic working feverishly to unlock the driver's side door. As I watched from the passenger side, I instinctively tried the door handle and discovered that it was unlocked. 'Hey,' I announced to the technician, ';it's open!'; His reply, 'I know - I already done that side.'"   Happened at the FORD dealership Dubbo

Picture Yourself!

It is a sensational Sunday afternoon.

The pool is around 27.5º and there isn't a cloud in the sky!  The air temp is probably around 28 degrees and that howling wind has died to a comfortable sea-breeze which is blowing cooler air through the house.

You can sit under the fan right now and watch the golf from Shanghai.  Or you sit back in the pool in the pool lounge, enjoy a cool drink and soak up the warmish pool water. Just picture yourself!

It ain't half bad!

Trish has been out all day today (and yesterday) at the Art Show Fair.  She is really enjoying her involvement and they are making heaps of money for the association!

The sun pergola we had built just over 12 months ago now is just perfect.  Perfectly positioned and now providing glorious shade over our concreted backyard!

Notice the pint of English Bitter on the table?

Right now there isn't as much beer in it as when the photo was taken!

Being Queensland and needless to say, in an hour or two around 5pm someone just over the back will decide to mow their lawn!  Things are done a little strangely in this part of the world!

On a sadder note, the puncture I repaired last week came back.  I was greeted with a flat front tyre again this morning.  I took it all apart and saw the puncture patch was leaking.  Most likely I didn't use enough glue.  Trish has bought me some new fangled stick on patches so I used one of those.  That was a waste of time, the new fangled patch didn't hold either and the tyre went flat again.

Being well prepared I have a couple of spare new tubes in the garage.  I put a new tube in and completed my ride.

Upon my return I used plenty of glue and an old fangled tube patch and stuck it all back together again.

The patched tube has become my new 'spare'.

Click on each photo for a larger view.

I help Brian across the road a bit with movies etc.  His 83 year old mate Ernie has money to burn and is setup with a Media Player as well.  I heard via Brian that Ernie's WD media player had 'died' so he had bought a replacement, a Phillips brand which is no where as good as the WD Live Streaming Media Player we all use.

Ernie couldn't get the new media player to work so Brian brought it over to our place to check it out.  I set it up on my TV and it worked OK. When Ernie got it back he again yesterday, he set it up but the thing wouldn't work on his Sony TV.

Brian drive me over there this morning to have a go at getting it to work.  We discovered it would work perfectly on their second Samsung TV but Ernie's big 55' Sony TV didn't like it.

So the problem was partly solved.  Ernie had his old allegedly non-working WD media player there so I plugged it in and "Bingo" it worked perfectly!  The power pack on the WD is quite large.  It is a battle to plug it right in if you have something plugged into the power point beside it.  You can do it but it isn't a 'good' connection.  You can get a file and file a bit of the Power Pack away so it fits comfortably if a little snugly into the power point.

I am guessing something had happened previously and the oversized power pack hadn't quite been plugged in properly.  Thus the media player didn't work!

We filed a bit off the power pack so it fitted neatly, plugged it in and we had 'ignition'.  Everything worked OK.

Ernie was happy to have his media player back again (and they could watch the latest Downton Abbey) but the local Dick Smith Electrical Store won't be happy when the get a Phillips Media Player returned!

Oh, and one more thing, Arj's latest blog update from Saudi Arabia is HERE!

It Is Saturday Already

Almost a full week and no updates!  Probably because it is the same old story day after day.  I wake up, go for a bike ride, have a swim and then by mid morning get into what ever is on for that day.

It may be time on the PC, it may be a few chores around the house, perhaps pop over the road to help someone out with a computer problem, maybe get involved with something from the Community Association.

And that really sums up this week.

On Monday night I chaired a Community Association Public Meeting where our speaker was the Mayor of the Sunshine Coast.  I have met him a couple of times now and we seem to get along OK.

Then there is always a "HUGE" Community Association website update to report on what happened at the meeting! Then a copy goes up on the Notice Board at the local shops.  Oh it is so busy.

We have a bit of a hassle with some youngsters around the town right now and we have been following up with local police.

There was a new brew to go on too!

For lunch on Thursday we checked out the Kings Beach Surf Club.  The club is a bit run down right now but they are undergoing renovations.  It was a bit of a "Construction Zone" there but as you can see the view was sensational. Click on the photo above left for a larger view.

There weren't any drinks on Friday.  The couple who were due to host are having a kitchen update done so it was easier to put it on hold for another week.

I have gotten into watching some golf on the TV.  So if there is a spare hour and there's golf on the telly that's what I do.

The weather remains fine but blowy most afternoons and a little unpleasant and cool (owing to the wind chill factor).  Mornings are delightful.

Last night we had a couple of showers but there wasn't a lot in the rain gauge.  It was great to give the garden a quick water and top the pool up a little but that is all. Today it will be fine again after the clouds clear.  We have been told the wind will go away for a few days as well.

My phone is telling me it can't download updates as there isn't enough space.  So I have been keeping my eyes open for a replacement with the extra space.  I don't need a lot but the 4GB currently would be heaps better of it was 8GB.  Trish's new phone is 8GB and she can download all she wants.

I was just about to order a cheap phone from China again when after checking the specs I saw it wouldn't work with the supplier we use here.  It would work fine with Optus and Vodafone but not with Telstra.

So now it is back to the drawing board on a replacement phone.

The Waeco lid broke yesterday.  Two small knobs hold the lid in place but allows it to swivel.  One of the knobs broke off, the old story about plastic going brittle with the hot weather.   I replaced the lid yesterday and was lucky they had one in stock.  He said it was the second lid he had sold this week.  So all is good again.  However I didn't like the $95 charge for the replacement.

Trish will be out all weekend as the Craft Association has another "Fair" on this weekend.  I am just about to head off to Computer Club shortly so that will get my weekend off to a good start.

There is golf on TV this afternoon and cricket tomorrow.

So it is same old ... same old!

Thar She blows!

We have had it so windy here recently.  It doesn't seem that a day goes by without the wind getting up and getting quite blustery especially during the afternoon.  And today is no different.  We have a strong S/E wind blowing right now which is signalling a cooler weather change is not far off with the "possibility" of a thunderstorm.  "Possibility" being the operative word!

Anyway, the more interesting stuff to tell you about is here.  Arj's latest post from Saudi Arabia:  HERE.  The latest collection of online photos from Saudi Arabia, HERE.

At the moment where Kate and Arj are, a pipeline to the area's desalination plant is broken, thus limiting the supply of fresh water from the tap.  It seems to be close to mended now but the school has been closed for health reasons for several days.  Without water the toilets won't flush and if the toilets don't flush, you have a health concern.

It seems some reasonable supply with good pressure is now available for periods of the day after several days of slow low water pressure.  As you read Arj's blog you will see how the the local authorities have ensured access to fresh drinking water for everyone.  Expense isn't an issue!

As school was closed down, this gave us time for a Skype chat the other day with Kate and the kids and a chance to catch up first hand face to face.

We have had a quiet continuation of same old same old here on the Sunshine Coast.

Most days I ride the bike and then spend a short time in the pool.  As the wind gets up the pool doesn't seem to be such an inviting place any longer.  I potter about, mowing lawns, clearing wind blown debris from the pool and looking busy!

I bottled my latest brew on Saturday morning before I headed off to Computer Club.  It is nice and cool first thing in the morning so I was able to get the task completed with a minimum of fuss.

At Computer Club on Saturday one of the ladies had bought herself a phone on my recommendation.  The phone is a THL T6s, a brand from China.

I ordered it via this link, HERE. The phone is around USD90 and is delivered by courier free.  That is a photo of it above left.   For the everyday person who just wants to make calls, play a few games, check emails and do some internet browsing, this phone will suit their needs fine.  It is 'quickish' with quite a reasonable processor and has a great 5" screen. And all for less than $100 delivered to your front door.

The lady now has the phone up and running and she is delighted with her purchase!  It took around 10 days to be delivered from China.