Hot & Steamy

Many of you will have already come across this on Facebook or the like.  But just in case you haven't!

The few degrees of wind direction turning a northerly into a north westerly has been back the last day or so.  I now leave the 'garden Vac/Blower' continually hooked up to the power outside and do a sweep every hour or so around the pool area to pick up leaves from next door's plants.  We got a northerly the other day and didn't get any dramas.  A few degrees of direction to the west and we get the hassle back again.

I am 'stuck' at home with deliveries from overseas due in the next day or so.  I got an "Out For Delivery" email this morning from DHL but I am not sure if it means it is on a truck coming to my place today or if a truck is heading to the Sunny Coast with the delivery on it ready for me to get tomorrow.

Trish's new phone is now listed as "In Transit" from Hong Kong.  But that message is now 3 or 4 days old and could arrive on the doorstep at any time.

Things are beginning to fall into place for our trip to Melbourne as far as accommodation is concerned.  We will prop at Newcastle for the Wednesday and Thursday of the journey down to Melbourne.  That makes Friday a huge day with around 950k's from Newcastle to Attwood (near Tullamarine Airport Melbourne) to do.

That will be the biggest day on the road for us for the whole time we are away.

We have booked accommodation in Glen Waverley for Christmas Eve and Christmas Night and set ourselves to catch up with friends on Boxing Day and then stay at Chris's that night. The last couple of nights we will spend with Eddie and Patsy Riordan.

Being a hot and steamy day today the pool will be a popular spot this afternoon.

Trish is out for much of the day, a meeting and then a Christmas get together will follow.

We were supposed to get storms last night but it seemed extremely heavy rain fell here for less than 10 minutes but that was enough to put 8mls in the rain gauge.

Friday

It is late Friday morning.  Trish is at Quilters but more importantly the promised cooler wind change has arrived early dropping the temp back to a very pleasant 29°.  Which coincidentally is about the same temp as the pool!

This morning it was a bright clear sky and the temp was nudging 35° outside when I did my 12.5k bike ride.  The north wester was relatively quiet so there wasn't the wind hassles I have been having with leaves in the pool from next door.

Then the clouds rolled in and the wind switched to the south (despite showing it blowing from the east via the wind vane in the photo).  So we have a pleasant afternoon in store for watching the golf from Sydney or the Test cricket from Adelaide.

Yesterday was blistering hot.  We decided to just make sure the air conditioner was working and cool off inside just a little.  The air con wouldn't start and when I checked the switchboard, I saw the AC power switch had flicked off indicating most likely there had been a short somewhere.  I couldn't get it to go.

I have called from a repair guy to look at it.

I have just been told the Waeco has been fixed.  The fan had stopped working which caused the fridge to operate almost continually.  This in turn 'fried' the power lead.  I will pick it up Monday morning and give it a good test run before we head south.

But then things happen in threes don't they!

As you may have noticed I am keen on the Android TV Box.  The one I have has its problems so I have bought myself a new much better model for Christmas and my birthday.  It is a Minix Neo X8H Plus.  JB HiFi will sell you one for around $285.  I have found one online for around $180 delivered.  I should have it in a week or so.

Trish's new phone also bought online remains classified as "Collection: Shenzhen (guangdong) - CHINA".  It has been like that for a few days now.  Such is the joy of dealing with purchases from China!

Last night we had a meal at the local Caloundra Bowls Club.  Good basic fare it was.  I enjoyed my roast beef very much.

The two TV shows we are watching right now are "The Man in the High Castle" and "Masters of Sex".  I am really enjoying the former.  It tells of life in the USA had the Japanese and Germans won the war.  Half the US is called the "New Reich States".  It is all very interesting to watch.

Time to fire up the TV for a sport watching afternoon.

My Biggest Hassle Right Now

There aren't too many hassles in this part of the world.  We have had low 30's today even at around 4:30pm.  Then the pool registers something like 29.7° which is pretty comfortable when having a swim.  Usually we get a north easterly sea breeze come in around midday or so but it has stayed north westerly for a few days this week.  And the north westerly wind creates my biggest hassle right now.

The photo shows the end of the pool and what the neighbours have planted in their backyard.  He seems to plant whatever and the tall growth to the right is bamboo.  For us it gives us some welcome shade during the afternoon to the kitchen.

Now the plant to the left of the umbrella is a lillypilly. It too provides excellent sun screen late in the afternoon for the lounge room.  The weather vane points due north!

Possibly the two worst plants for pool owners is either a gum tree or a lilliypilly.  The reason is they drop leaves all year round.  So with a north westerly some of the falling leaves find their way into the pool.

We did get a north easterly yesterday afternoon but we had the north westerly and just a few falling leaves today.  After a north easterly yesterday afternoon I didn't even need to vacuum the pool this morning.

Today has been a more of a north westerly day so the pool will most likely need a vacuum tomorrow.

So just a few degrees of wind direction makes a huge difference for me.

Isn't that just such a wonderful if it is the biggest problem to have?

The swim in the pool just before was sensational.

Yes, retired life is pretty good!

Quick Post Before a Swim

Trish was concerned that the "Back" button on her $100 phone didn't always work.  It seemed OK when I used it but she was sure it wasn't working properly all the time.  She has had it 2 years now and it has worked fine for what she wants.

Onto the Chinese websites we go and her new phone will arrive later this week or early next week.  The drop in the Aussie Dollar hasn't helped.  The USD$125 translates to AUD$185 nowadays but the new phone should arrive shortly.  It has a better camera (that wouldn't be saying much) 4G and much more memory then her current phone.

That is a photo of the parcel taken from the GearBest website where we bought it.

Again we have the low 30's today and the pool is around 28° so very pleasant for swimming. 

We are in the midst of planning our trip to Melbourne and hoping to fit in with Kate and Arj when ever we can.  We will leave here on Tuesday Dec 17th and return most likely New Year's Day.  We have a two night stop over at Newcastle on the way down, arriving in Melbourne on Friday Dec 18th.  We will spend several nights in a hotel quite close to where Kate Arj and family will be staying over Christmas time.

We have our two night stay in a holiday house booked for the whole family.  Most likely we will travel direct from Irene and Russell's home in Drouin to the booked holiday house at Rye on the Mornington Peninsula.

We will spend several nights with at Chris' place and a couple of nights before heading home with Eddie and Patsy.  We may be after some contingency stop overs as well.  We will spend at least two overnight stops on the road heading home.

There isn't an update on the Waeco repair just yet but we recall the service from the place isn't super quick.

The pool beckons!

A Bit Of A Change

After some sunny and warm days (the pool got up to 28° on Saturday) it is a little overcast with a slight sprinkle about this morning (Sunday) and a bike ride is off the agenda.

It has been a busy couple of days ... for a change.

The movie theatre company Queensland based Birch Carroll and Coyle have withdrawn from theatre ownership in Victoria.  So Trish was given a couple of vouchers during a recent trip down south to Melbourne.  We decided to use the vouchers on Thursday afternoon and trooped off to Maroochydore and saw "Bridge of Spies".  I wasn't too sure where the movie was going but as soon as they introduced an American Airforce pilot named "Powers" it all fitted into place.

It did bring back thoughts of "Spy Planes" and the "Cold War".  We both enjoyed the movie very much.  Thanks David!

There is a new road being built by the developer Stockland to open up all of Caloundra South and add another 50,000 to the population of the Sunshine Coast.  This road will connect into our main road Bellvista Blvd and provide a much sought after second way in and out of our estate.  As President of the Community Association I was invited to attend a "Turn the First Sod" ceremony for construction of the new road on Friday.

The whole show was bigger than Ben Hur with local TV and the press in attendance.  There was the Government's Minister for Main Roads (and his advisors whom we had met with a couple of weeks earlier), our local MP Mark McArdle, local Councillor, and executives from Stockland.

As it turned out I was invited to participate as the local citizen representative.  You can read more about it here.  I was interviewed by both local TV stations and got a quick spot on the Local News on Friday night.  It was nice to be welcomed by the Channel 7 interviewer and be greeted with "Hi Les".

You can read more about the new road and the planned extension to the area here.  Check out the embedded movie there.

At Computer Club on Saturday morning I was greeted as the TV Star!  A little over the top of course but nice.  I have been invited to speak to the local "Ratepayers' Association" on Tuesday evening about BeCA's involvement and reaction to the road situation around here.  There is much lobbying going on for major infra structure for the Sunshine Coast, especially the road system.  With another 50,000 to move in over the next 10 to 15 years, road planning and upgrades need to begin now.

There is plenty of golf on the TV at the moment and that will fill in much of today.  I have the program "Kodi" installed on my tablet.  Kodi is the program I use on my Android TV Box to watch movies, TV series and to do some streaming.  Currently the Australian Masters is also being shown on "The Golf Channel" in the USA which I can watch via "Kodi".  So I spent a little time yesterday sitting beside the pool after a swim, enjoying a cool drink and watching the Golf live via Kodi on my tablet!

I managed to get another brew on yesterday as well.  It was hot (and thirsty) work!

I also decided it was time to set the Waeco (portable 12v refrigerator) up under the patio to house our summer drinks.  I also wanted to be sure it worked OK.  Regretfully it didn't work so on Monday it is off to the work shop for a repair. We use it a lot when travelling especially when we will drive to Melbourne this Christmas.

It's Warming Up

We are looking forward to the low 30's later this week but the overnight temps will remain in the high teens.  If ever you wanted to visit the Sunshine Coast, this time of the year, November, is the month to do it.  Usually we have warm daytime temperatures along with not so hot nights.

We are promised some top temps in the low 30's coming up later this week.  It is light around here well before 5 am at the moment!

Thank heavens the test cricket match is over and hopefully a better pitch will be available for the next Test match due to begin late next week.  This week is a watch the golf weekend I think!

I booked the car in to have the power/cigarette lighter points in the dash and the boot checked.  Trish drove the car down around 5 to 8 in the morning and was home with the car around 10 minutes later with it all fixed.  The first guy had stuffed it up.

The original guy was down his main reception man who was on holidays so he was doing two jobs at the one time.  He had forgotten to check the fuse of which I reminded him as I arrived to pick up the car after a service.  He found the faulty fuse and sent a worker to get a replacement.  We chatted along until the spare fuse arrived back which he fitted.  There are a couple of 'spare' spots for spare fuses.  He inadvertently stuck the fuse in a 'spare' spot rather than where it was meant to go.

On Tuesday the auto elec immediately saw the problem, put the fuse back in the correct spot and "We had ignition!"

I managed a bike ride this morning (Weds).  It has been a bit showery overnight the last few nights.  Even a hint of any rain means I don't ride!  Wet roads are more than a hint of rain so I didn't ride the day before.  That it all cleared up beautifully afterwards was all too late.

The more I mess around with Kodi and the Android Box I have bought the more impressed I have been.  Kate described it as a Google TV Box when we were Skyping each other recently.  A little more investigation and I can confirm the Google TV Box can be a distant cousin to what I have. I guess it really comes down to what you call it.  Most commonly the box I have is referred to as an Android TV box.

Apart from an android problem of effectively dealing with HD sound, my unit is just amazing in what it can do!

Trish is tidying up a few chores after Stitchers this morning and I am filling in time writing a Blog entry.  Time to think about another swim I think!

Read My Blog Or Watch the Perth Test?

What a decision to make, read this blog entry or watch the Perth Test match?  Which is the more dull and
less exciting to do?  Both are pretty chronic at the moment aren't they?

Not much news around about at this stage.

Our "Holiday Club" membership has been cancelled and following a phone call today we were told to return the 'kit' that we received at sign up and then all monies would be refunded.

Computer Club was very quiet on Saturday which meant there was no rush to get things done.  I could take my time and ensure everything went according to plan.

My 'new' chair has an updated 'protective covering'.  I do tend to perspire a lot so something like as you see in the photo above is required to protect the fabric, despite it already being 'scotch guarded'.  Sitting in the chair is a sure way to fall asleep if you are even just a little on the tired side.

I have updated the old laptop to Windows 10 just for the fun of it.  With a special connecting device I bought I am now able to put what is on the old laptop screen onto the TV which is great if I needed to use Kodi with it for TV and movie show watching.

The connection isn't quite 100% but I would want to try it for an extended time to see if the picture 'holds' and doesn't start 'flickering' again.  The old laptop's hardware just isn't quite able to do it, it nearly does it but not 100% it seems.

This was a major reason for updating the laptop to Windows 10 in the hope that improved Windows 10 graphics drivers would be able to hold the picture.

I bike rode this morning and our weather looks like warming up again.  The 22mls of rain we got overnight Saturday into Sunday has done the garden the world of good.  Low 30's later in the week looks like perfect swimming in the pool weather.

Sad End To A Great Night

The local Powerboat Club here in Caloundra had a double act on last night (Thursday), rock icon Jon English along with Peter Cupples who often performed in "Carols", lots of daytime TV shows and with a group called the Stylists in the 70's were performing.  Along with 4 friends we had a great night out, great company, good pub fare and few drinks to go with it.

I have a link with Peter Cupples via his brother Terry.  As a young 19 year old country teacher I was appointed to Toora Primary School in South Gippsland around September 1965.  I lived with a local family.  I went to French Island in 1966 to teach but returned to Toora in 1967.

In 1967, ccommodation was found for me at the local Guest House where I was quickly taken under the wing of two of the young residents there, Garry Moore who worked at a local bank and Terry Cupples, the Toora Station Assistant.

In those days I never really had a drink.  These two guys were seasoned Guest House inhabitants and before long I was enjoying a beer, listening to music and having an all round wow of a time.  We became good mates and spent nearly all of our out of work hours together, chatting, listening to Bob Dylan albums and enjoying a cool refreshing ale.  I will spare you the gory details but we got up to quite some mischief and did some things we would now not rather repeat nowadays.

How we ever got home some nights driving in the condition we were in made us believe we would live forever. 

On weekends, we would each go home then meet up again on Monday when we returned to work.

After leaving Toora a couple of years later, we kind of lost contact, a fact I discovered happens with many young teachers working in different spots around the state.

Around 20 years later we all caught up again at Terry's place in Thorpdale in the Latrobe Valley for Terry's 40th birthday.  It was a glorious sunny day, sitting around telling lies about what we used to get up to, enjoying a few beers, meeting each others' family and having an all round great time.

Later that afternoon Terry's younger brother Peter arrived to join the celebrations.  We all sat on the grass in a paddock nearby, Terry and Peter with their guitars and Garry's wife with her violin.  There were a few more beers of course.  What a sensational day we all had, the drinks were great, the music unbelievable and the company as good as ever.  It was like the intervening years had disappeared and it was just yesterday.

I hadn't heard from Terry since that great day now around 30 years ago.

As we headed to the Powerboat Club last night I vowed to have a chat with Peter, check up on how Terry was going and try to contact him.

Jon English and Peter Cupples were just great, we all enjoyed the evening enormously.  After the show I managed a few words with Peter and asked after Terry!  Terry had passed away a couple of weeks ago.  Garry Moore had been dead for around 2 years now.

What a shock!

No News

The new lounge chairs were just too much for me last night.  I missed a few minutes of a couple of TV shows from time to time as the eyelids just got so heavy.  We continue to find the new chairs great.

I got the car back from the service OK late yesterday afternoon..  But it has done 100,000k's now and things like brake pads and the like are beginning to require replacement.  This all adds to the cost.  The car still runs perfectly.

He tried unsuccessfully to fix the cigarette lighter type power outlets this car has in the dash and in the boot.  Though replacing the fuse, they didn't work when I tested them at home.  It is booked into an Auto Elec next week and he will get them going again.

The cigarette lighter type power point in the boot powers the Waeco when we are on the road.  I can take my own beer with me as we have this mobile source of cooling to take where ever we go. But it also handy for foodstuffs as well.  Nothing better than to pull up for a breather and there is an icy cold drink ready to go.

I managed a bottle wash for my home brew this morning and then mowed the lawn in lieu of a bike ride.  Riding anytime well after 9 am is a pretty warm thing to do at this time of year.

Today has been so boring one of the more exciting happenings was that I changed my computer's desktop background. The photo above is now on my PC.

Check out http://wallpaperswide.com/ for wallpaper downloads for your desk top background update.

It's a gorgeous day here today. Great blue sky and around 28° in the backyard.  The pool water temp is around 26.5° mid afternoon Wednesday.  It was a few degrees cooler when I swam this morning after mowing the lawn.

The Skies Above Are Blue Again

It has been an anxious couple of days as we slowly but surely begin to get on top of things.  We have opted to use the "Cooling Off" terms to cancel the Holiday Club we had joined.  I see from my Express Mail 'tracking' the letter advising them we wanted out was signed for and collected this morning.

Just to be on the safe side I rang the Holiday Club yesterday (Monday) afternoon to get an email address then emailed them a copy of all the paperwork.  Now refunds of deposit etc should begin to re appear in the account.  I certainly slept a lot better last night.

It has been a little cool, overcast and showery here with around 25mls finding its way into the rain gauge.

But today the sun and warm (not hot) weather has returned.  I did a bike ride after getting the car to the local Auto Service Centre for the car's 'getting ready to go to Melbourne" service.

Kate and family only spent a couple of days in Egypt but had some incredible adventures around the pyramids.  We spoke with them via Skype Sunday evening and the kids seemed to have really love it surrounded by all that history.

We continue to modify plans for the Christmas trip to Melbourne with Kate and family flying back home just for Christmas.  Kate flies in to Melbourne at 6:30 am on Saturday Dec 19th.  Trish wants us to get to Melbourne as close to the 19th as possible.  It seems Kate and family will be catching up with people ASAP the first day or so before we all head to Portsea (or somewhere on the Mornington Peninsula) for Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

While they are catching up with their friends over the arrival weekend, we will possibly head Drouin way to catch up with friends down there.  Kate is keen to head to Carols by Candlelight Christmas Eve.  Christmas will be spent together with the traditional "Bartholomeusz family Christmas Night".  We will work out Christmas Day arrangements in due course.  As Chris' wife's dad is ill, we expect they will head to Central Victoria to celebrate Christmas there.

From Christmas onwards we will still need to confirm accommodation, even if it means grabbing a motel for four or five nights along the way.  A motel near to where Kate and the family will be staying seems a good alternative right now.  We will spend a couple of nights with the Reardons before heading for home around New Year's Eve.

Those plans will most likely change again as we find out what the others are up to, especially Kim who is flying over from Perth.

But we will see.

On & Then Not On.

It is almost a week since I have posted, and what a busy week it has been for both us.

To begin with, summer has arrived in force with top temps yesterday (Saturday) reading as high as 35° in our little backyard.  The backyard is protected from any breeze but for most of day the temp sat around the low 30's.  The pool was over 27° during the afternoon as well.

We had a huge day Monday with the Community Association's AGM and array of speakers including our Federal and State MP's along with our Councillor.  This was preceded by an Emergency Services Expo and free sausage sizzle for local families.  The Fire Brigade, SES, Water Rescue, Red Cross Police etc were all in attendance.  It was great and the kids loved it.

The major focus of all speakers at the Monday Night Public Meeting was on the new Caloundra South development right on our doorstep which will see another 20,000 homes built over the next 10 to 15 years and the huge need for an upgrade in roads around the area.  These roads are already under pressure and will suffer more as the area continues to grow.

Trish's Arts Centre Association groups have been readying for a major Fair being held over this weekend.  As Secretary of the whole thing, she has been busy all week with preparations.

On Wednesday several of us from the Community Association attended a meeting in Brisbane with advisors to the State Government's Minister for Roads on the roads issue.

On Thursday Trish and I drove down to a spot south of Brisbane to pick up our 'freebie' prize.  It turned out to be a "Holiday Club" pitch with a buy in for 15 years (at a largish price) and get cheap accommodation all over the world.  There was the promise of a free two for 1 cruise offered as a sweetener when you signed.

We had to make a commitment at the end of the presentation right there and then, on the spot.  That turned me right off and I told the guy so.  However Trish was quite keen and we finished up agreeing to become involved and paid a substantial deposit.

In the cool light of the days following the agreement, I continued to feel uncomfortable about the whole thing.  In my current state, the uncomfortable feeling began to reflect in my anxiety levels.  Advice from friends was not to proceed.  There is a 7 day 'Cooling Off' period which we will exercise on Monday.

Hopefully a peaceful night's sleep will follow on after that.

Trish has been busy with the Fair preparations, setting up on Friday and then the actual event itself yesterday (Sat) and today.  Finally she has a Fair wind up meeting on Monday morning.

I managed a bike ride two mornings this week but with visits here and there and showers overnight (we just had a light shower and threatening skies earlier this morning) it hasn't been possible to ride daily.  Usually the weather clears mid morning but with warm and humid conditions, bike riding is extremely uncomfortable when left to later on.

And to top it all off the cricket has been on TV daily since Thursday as well.

I did manage to bottle my "Melbourne Trip Beer Supply" this week and get another brew on to top up my everyday supplies as well.  Bottle washing and a bottling will follow during next week.

Kate Arj and the family are currently holidaying in Egypt for a week with a group of friends from the school they teach at.  What great experiences the grand kids have had for their age.  Just amazing what they have seen and experienced.  The photo shows our grand children Charli and James with a friend at the pyramids.

My morning shower beckons.

Weather On The Improve

After a mild weekend we are looking forward to some more typical temperatures coming up this week.  Though it is high 20's today, 30 or so is on the way for much of this week.  Even the pool is getting back towards 25° today after the cool outburst we have just endured.  It should be even warmer later in the week.

Drinks were great fun Friday but not so good on Saturday.  Trish had a fairly slow Saturday but I managed to struggle through OK.  By Sunday we were all OK again.

The lounge area has been through a bit of a reconfiguration.  We have had it setup this way before (refer to the photo above) which isn't a good setup for when we have visitors staying.  Their view of the TV leads to a cricked neck.  But we don't get people staying very often so this setup suits us nicely right now.  It would take around 15 minutes to put it around the other way again if and when visitors ever come to stay.

We have temporarily covered my chair with one of Trish's quilts.  With the warmer weather on the way and with me perspiring so much, a cover of any sort will help protect the chair's covering whether the cover be leather or fabric.  The experiment so far has taught us that the idea of a doona cover with a polyestre centre will best suit our needs.  The next step is to find a suitable bright and matching color doona cover to complement the other new recliner chair.

And a word on how we find the new recliners ... sensational.  They are extremely comfortable!

Recently I was online and got onto a couple of 'free' tickets to the Brisbane Food and Wine Show.  We went in yesterday (Sunday).  We had saved around $60 on entry costs so $20 for parking was a breeze.  It wasn't quite what I expected.

It was more of a cavalcade of various produce from companies or areas around Queensland and interstate.  There we cheese producers from the "Yarra Valley" back in Victoria, there were other products from Queensland's "Granite Belt" or "Logan Area".  There were wine makers from all over Australia and even some boutique beers to try as well.

We didn't need any lunch on our way out.  It seemed all nibblies, yoghurt, wine or beers!  But it was fun.

We were given free scratchies for a chance of a lucky prize.  Trish is the winner of a 'major prize' from her scratchie.  The top major prize is a $2000 credit card, the bottom major prize is an $800 iPad.  One of the in between prizes is a free holiday in Caloundra!  We have won 'a major prize'!

As you may have guessed, we have to attend a 90 minute presentation to collect our prize.  It is some way away for us to travel to, a spot south of Brisbane, but for minimum of an $800 prize it seems worth the trip.

It isn't all bad news, the place we have to go is just a few kilometres from Sunnybank, one of the few places we can eat Malaysian food here in Queensland.  We drive down there on Thursday!

Kim flew to Bali for 5 nights to stay with her friend Mel.  It is a 3 hour flight from Perth and the cost isn't at all great.  Photos we have spotted on Facebook indicate she has enjoyed a spot just beside the pool.  She flies home today.