Hot But Not So Windy!

It is difficult to remember that this is still September because of the recent hot weather.  Under the pergola in the backyard, (especially during the morning as the photo left shows) the sun beats in, heats up the concrete and the thermometer out there goes crazy. But thank heavens the strong northerly winds have now abated.  And I even managed a bike ride this morning after several days of strong wind warnings.

Despite all the recent hot weather, the pool still was around 23° this morning, delightful for a swim after a 17k bike ride, but a wee bit chilly when you first hop in   Yesterday just before lunch it was reading over 38° under the pergola when probably the 'actual temperature was more likely a couple of degrees cooler than that.

This photo left was taken this morning and as you can see the time was 10:17 am. But that is the outside temperature and under the pergola with the hot sun beating on the concrete underneath.

An hour or so later the thermometre is telling me it is 39° out there as I type right now.  Here in the office it is a delightful 29° but the house is all locked up to keep it cooler.  The afternoon sea breeze will rock in soon dropping the under the pergola temperature by around 5° or so.

Next week we can look forward to tops around 25° which is a lot more like what it should be.

The new toy  (an android TV dongle) arrived yesterday and this photo shows it is all set up.  It gets its power from one of the TV's USB ports and the dongle itself can plug directly into one of the TV's HDMI connections.  I had to buy an ' HDMI swivel extender' as the bulkiness of the dongle means it can be difficult to fit when you have other HDMI cables plugged in to your TV.

The thing did not come with a remote either but a little $12 controller I had previously used was pressed back into action.  I had a 32GB Mini SD card which I have fitted and I also have a 32GB USB stick which then makes this unit ideal for travelling.  You can fill the SD card with TV series and the USB stick with movies meaning you can take around 16 TV series, each with 10 or so episodes, and over 30 movies with you when you hit the road.

The bit you can see poking out of the dongle is the wireless receiver for the mini keyboard.

Speaking of travelling, yesterday Trish booked accommodation for our upcoming trip to KL late in November.  I got incredibly cheap airfares late last year with Air Asia.  Now we have booked all other connecting flights and the associated accommodation.  It looks like we will have 5 nights in Kuala Lumpur staying Air BNB, then 5 nights in Sri Lanka staying in Galle (at a place Kate recommended) and finally 5 nights at the wonderful Golden Sands Resort in Penang before flying home.

We managed some good deals by booking accommodation alongside our Air Asia flights.  All of our flights are with Air Asia.  It looks like a great time away.

Warm & Windy

The small screenshot was taken from my PC before 8am this morning.  Yet another strong wind warning for us here and I reckon this is the third or fourth strong wind warning we have had in a row.  Of course it isn't much fun bike riding in strong wind which means I have given bike riding a miss the last couple of days.

With this wind comes some unseasonable hot weather so early in the year for us.  It is expected to get to the mid 30's today and again tomorrow.

We still enjoy cooler nights though and with a mere 25° as a top yesterday at least there is some respite.  The pool is hovering around 23° right now (mid morning) and might hit 25° later in the day.  Now that's delightful for swimming!

Summer must be getting closer, the Waeco was set up on Tuesday just outside the back door ready to supply icy cold drinks during the swimming season!

But for me I have been getting the Community Newsletter together for printing next week. I finished that off earlier this morning so now it is wait till the postie arrives bringing my latest toy all the way from China.  I am looking forward to setting it up and just seeing what exactly it can do.

Speaking of streaming stuff, we finished series 5 of "Suits" last night and we think we will give it a rest for a while.  We are also into the most recent season of "The Americans" which has been sitting on the Hard drive for a couple of months.  But being 13 episodes it tends to be strung out a little too much nowadays.

I think I am getting old you know.  We watched the movie "Baby Driver" during the week.  It is a recent movie and rates around 8 on IMDB which is a great score for a movie.  there was action a plenty, a reasonable story but hardly worth an 8 I thought.  Trish did more of her "Word" game on her tablet than watching the movie I am afraid.

I managed to get a printer up and running for a friend yesterday, showed another older guy how to rip CD's and put them on a USB so he now play music and listen in his car.  I seem to get out every day or so to help out someone with a Computer problem.

I will put another brew on tomorrow morning with the obligatory 'bottle washing' and 'bottling' to follow next week.

Now I am waiting for the new doorbell to ring for the postie with my new toy! 

There it goes now ........

The Verdict

Larry from "KenRay Blinds" popped out to check out the split stitching on the sunblinds across the rear of the house and to give us a quote on what repair costs may be.  One of his first comments was that we had had these blinds for some time.  He said the experts give the material around 12 years before it begins to deteriorate from the sun's UV rays and we reckon we put them up soon after moving in about 15 years ago.

So he wasn't surprised the stitching was beginning to break down.There was no guarantee a repair would last any length of time as the blind material itself was in the early stages of deterioration.

They were quite expensive to put up in the first place we recalled so we began to prepare ourselves for a large cash outlay, an outlay we hadn't counted on.  The best idea he felt was to reskin the blinds, that is keep the ropes, the pulleys and other bits and pieces and just replace the material itself.

And that is what is going to happen.  They will make the new blinds up in their factory, then come out to our home and replace the blind material itself.  He estimated it at around a 45 minute job to swap the material over and our blinds would be good for another 15 years or so.

To have the current blinds restitched would have cost anything from $400 or more and there would be no guarantee for that job at all. We may get two years out of a restitching if we were lucky.

This time we have gone for a darker color, a light charcoal color, one that fits in with the dark colored pool fencing and a color which won't show the dirt and other marks as easily.

Now it is just sit and wait until the new blinds are installed.

Welcome to the 2017/18 cricket season.  My footy team got a belting last night and are out of the footy for this season.  You would say that to finish 3rd or so is about how good they really were so I am not that disappointed with the outcome.

More Spring Cleaning!

What a huge difference a couple of litres of chlorine and water make to removing the gunk off the pavers.  No they don't look like new I am afraid but they look superbly clean.  The build up of black gunk along the lines between the pavers and across some areas of the pavers themselves are all now 90% spick and span clean again.

But as the photo above shows, father time is beginning to have an effect on the sun blinds across the back of the house.  Several of the panels see the thread sewn joining them are disappearing.  This could mean a full removal and return to the factory to be resewn again.

The guy is coming out Friday afternoon and we will check out what we can do at the best cost efficient price.  In reality we only really need the first 2 blinds as we have discovered over the years.  The third and largest blind does get used but only a few times each year at the most.

So we wait to see what the possibilities are.

The new case was delivered today with a price tag on it of $269.  Now this is quite inflated of course but even at $96 delivered we reckon we have a great deal on an Antler brand suitcase.

At 21° the pool was a little brisk this morning when I had a brief swim.  But that is the second swim for the season now!

Spring Cleaning

With ample warm and dry weather about it was time for the annual 'spring clean' around the backyard.  I have the pool sorted, I have and the back fence now covered with the new panels. Last but not least is to clean the sun blinds and give under the pergola a tidy up.

All of that has now been done and at 10:30 am it is time to sit back and let things dry out a little.  The new pressure spray cleaner I got off eBay last year is great and makes short work of jobs like this.  It doesn't get used on the pavers as it tends to take the surface clean off.

The photos show how things are now looking.  In another 30 minutes or so all will have dried out allowing me to put chairs, small tables and my bike back where they belong under the pergola and and let me roll up the blinds.

With these jobs to do I didn't bother with a ride this morning but managed to get my exercise working in the backyard.

All that's left to do is give the pavers outside a sweep over with 1:3 chlorine and water mix.  This kills anything left over from winter and lets the pavers look tidy and clean again.

Computer stuff has kept me busy as well the last day or so.  One guy couldn't get his computer to see his new WiFi printer on his home network and his wife was keen to be able to print directly from her iPad as well.  After a quick re install of all the software things are working well for them again.

Then there are the mandatory Kodi tweaks when things stop working for a couple of the neighbours.  All is running well again now.

Disaster Avoided

As you can see my PC is running fine (or else how would I have completed this post?).  But for a short time Sunday afternoon I wasn't so sure.

I ask that my PC update Windows and other important drivers, namely video graphics card, printer firmware and the like.  Windows 10 updates the system fine but not so some of the other parts of the PC.

Yesterday I found a little program called "Driver Talent", a paid for program which checks all your drivers and updates them for you.  I know the Nvidia Graphics card had an update and I also had guessed there was a possible problem with my Audio driver.

So when I ran Driver Talent and it told me there were updates and repairs available for my Audio drivers and my Nvidia Graphics card I let it go and do its thing.  It also found an update for the 'on board' graphics included on the PC's mother board.

So off it went and downloaded and installed the new Audio Driver and then the on board graphics driver.  After it had installed the on board graphics it suggested a restart to complete the on board graphics update.  I held off doing this as I guessed the Nvidia update would also require a restart.

So after the huge 350mb Nvidia update, I hit restart and the PC closed down and tried to restart but all I got was the error message in the picture above.

So I hit OK and the PC begins to restart with the same error message screen eventually coming up again.  I hit restart again and the PC went through "Automatic Disk Repair" and it still wouldn't start.  Then I got the message "Diagnosing Your P.C." and it came up with a list of "Advanced Options".  I worked my way through each advanced option and finally opted to try "System Restore", back to before I had tried to install the Nvidia Update.

15 minutes later the PC began to restart and the same error message appeared followed by "Preparing Automatic Repair" and so on.  Eventually it got back to the "Advanced Settings" but this time I opted to start up in "Safe Mode".  And this time it started up fine but only in Safe Mode.

So I shut it all down and turned the PC off at the power point.  A minute or so later I tried to start it up again and "Voila" it was all working and started perfectly 100% again.  Quite often a shut down and complete power off will allow the PC to "Reset" itself and start properly ....... as it did!


I have been busy on eBay again.  We bought some very inexpensive luggage from K-Mart for our recent trip to Bali.  The luggage is great and is lightweight, but it sure is flimsy and not really 'full size".

So when some genuine "Antler Brand" full spinner luggage valued at around $260 came up via "Ozbargain" at $96 delivered to my front door, we grabbed one.  I am not mad on the only color which was available but Trish doesn't mind it.  It should be easy enough to spot on the baggage carousel!

And I grabbed an Android TV Dongle (below).  It is a nifty little device and I am looking forward to having a play with it.  It will run Kodi fine and is a quite powerful little device.  It can plug directly into a HDMI port on your TV and connect to your home wifi network and stream movies either from a source you have or from somewhere online.  Pretty clever eh?

Wind, Wind, Go Away!

Today the wind isn't so bad and we still have a stiff southerly blowing again!  The last week has seen strong north westerlies before it swung around to the south west.  But it was still a fairly strong and consistent wind.  For a day or so it was the windy summer's nor' easter and I even got in the pool after a bike ride for a very quick swim one morning.

Then the wind swung back to the south again for a day or so and today we again have a blustery south easter blowing.

Pair this with hardly a drop of rain over the last month or so and the accompanying dust with the wind you can imagine what it is like.  It is a waste of time to clean the pool, an hour or so after cleaning, the pool floor is covered with dirt again.  I went and bought a new 'cartridge' for the filter.  The guy says you should change them every 3 years.  I reckon the pool is well over 12 years old and this is only its third new filter cartridge.

In the photo you can see dirt on the floor and on the steps of pool steps.  You have to vacuum at least a couple of times so as to get most of the dirt.  It rises up as the vacuum goes by then settles again after you have put all the cleaning equipment away!

Or you just wait until the wind subsides and you get a clear go at it over a day or so.  It is dusty under the back pergola, it is dusty everywhere.  Headlines in today's local paper are around a 50% chance of rain later in the week.  People using tank water have to wait up to 4 weeks for a tank fill up from the water carting companies.

You can imagine what bike riding is like as well with the windy conditions.  It is great one way then bloody murder riding back again!

Hay Fever is something I used to get very infrequently when I was younger but I reckon I had a slight dose yesterday afternoon.   But at least the weather is warm with mid 20's experienced most days.

But other than the weather and my footy team's great unexpected win on Friday night, it just the same old same old stuff.

We are watching the final series of a TV Show called "Bloodlines".  It has been a great series so we are looking forward to see how it finishes up.  Before we watch each new episode there is a brief summary of it as well as that episode's IMDB 'score'.

Usually the scores are around 8.5 or so but we see the last 2 episodes rate 5.5 and then finally a 4.0.  Now they are not the scores you would expect for an exciting climax to rate.  Last night's episode was a little unbelievable and it got an 8!  I seem to think we may miss the rest of the series the way it is going!

For us there is plenty of other stuff to watch anyway!

Finishing Touches

The first hour or two of Sunday (today) was spent just tidying up those finishing touches for the revamped back yard.  The lantern from Saudi has now gone on display under the pergola.  The colored panes of the lantern really came to life during sunset as the rays of the sinking sun shone through the pergola lighting up the lantern.  It was quite spectacular.

Photo at foot of this post. It's not the best photo in the world but it does give you an idea of how it looks.

The wall hanging lizard has had a third coat of paint, this time green, before being attached to the new back wall.  The three ladybirds in a row have at last found their proper home, also being attached to the back wall.

And if you look closely you will see a green gecko on the brown horizontal paneling of the pergola itself.  A new plant now adorns the back corner near the pool filter cover.  A new swim safety sign has gone up above the pool filter cover and the oversized sun lounge has returned to its original spot!

All of the final fittings took several looks and deep discussion before the final positioning was completed.

Around $60 worth of pool salt and pool chemicals has gone into the pool making everything tip top for the upcoming swimming season.

My footy team took a belting on Friday by a team we beat comfortably a month ago.  With a match against Sydney scheduled for this Friday coming up, it seems that yet again we could be out of the finals race 'in straight sets'.

Last night we attended an evening with several others from the Community Association.  It was held locally at a private home.  Three of the four guys there are all home brewers so the discussion and activity had a certain 'beer focus'.  I may be having a quiet day off the beer today!

Now all the heavy stuff has been finished in the backyard, I have a belated appointment with the Chiro on Monday afternoon.  I think she has a bit of work to do.

Via Kodi, I am able to stream TV from anywhere in Australia so this afternoon I will keep an eye on the VFL footy live from Melbourne while I sit quietly in 'recovery mode'.

And then tonight it is time to complete watching Series three of Narcos, a superb TV series on our Kodi TV Box.

All Done

As the photo left shows, the HardiPlank paneling along the back fence is now completed.  There was a last minute addition of a third silhouette panel (we had hoped to get away with just 2).  Then I had to tidy everything up, replace some pebbles and finally give things a good hose down to get rid of all the dust.

We have totaled well under 10mls of rain for all of August so the accumulation of dry weather dust leaves a film over everything.  The back fence job seems to finish off the backyard nicely and now gives us 100% privacy from over the back as well.  We expect to more than recoup our expenses if we were ever thinking of selling as the whole backyard now has had a further lift.

And then this morning (Friday) I bottled my latest batch of home brew and I still got a 15k bike ride in as well.

This afternoon I am off to the Pool Shop for all the bits and pieces required to get the pool in tip top shape ready for the upcoming swimming season.  There will be the customary two bags of salt and alkalinity leveler along with other chemicals required to keep the pool ideal for swimming.

Currently the days are delightful with clear skies and temperatures in the mid to high 20's.  But with a predominant S/W wind we still get cold nights and it is these cold nights which kill off any water temperature gained from the previous sunny day.

When the S/W winds move around to be N/Easters then the nights will warm up and the pool temperature will follow suit.  Right now the water temperature gets to around 18°.  I find 21° is my absolute minimum for a swim, especially if things are hot after a bike ride.

The footy finals are now underway.  Last night's match was a bit of a fizzer with the top side belting the 4th placed team.  Tonight's game is expected to be closer with my team, which finished second, playing the 3rd placed side.  We go into the match as slight favorites but we will see.  The forecast for Melbourne is cold and wet and not conducive to great footy conditions.

I will be watching of course!

Just About There

Bike Riding each morning has been on the back burner as my latest backyard project gets closer to completion.  But there is a good chance I will be back on the bike tomorrow morning if all goes according to plan today.

As the photo shows all the hard painting, lifting and securing work has now been completed.  The fence posts and the need to work around them has been a bit of a headache.  The levels didn't help either with an approx 15cm fall from left to right.

But Bunnings came to the rescue and cut the smaller pieces I needed for me.  I got on quite famously with the European Bunnings guy who served me.  As it turned out he had moved from IT into working for Bunnings, but I am not sure how that worked.  He too was originally from Victoria and played soccer for Doveton.  He was also a bit of a Kodi fan and was experimenting a little with his home brew.  No wonder we hit it off!

I will be catching up with the Chiropractor early next week as the back is suffering following the lifting and carrying.  Rather than clean up the paint rollers and trays I put them into a plastic bag and headed for the rubbish bin!  As it turned out it was the easiest clean up job ever!

Our back yard is around 12cms lower than over the back as it had to be done that way when the pool was installed and leveled.  There is rudimentary drainage system along the back fence to help with seepage from the block at the back.  Thus the need for border stones and the pebbles along the fence line.  The border stones and much of the pebbles had to moved to ensure the levels were at least reasonable when leveling off and fixing the large Hardiplank panels.  Needless to say there were pebbles strewn everywhere from the task so this morning's job was tidying up those pebbles.

Trish is bringing home a couple of large 180x90cm silhouette panels from Bunnings this afternoon and they will be attached to the back fence when we find the best position for them.  They will be the same as what we already have on the side fence (Click HERE, then 'Back' to return to this page)  Then the wire lizard and the new ladybird wall hangings will need to go up followed by the hooks for the solar lights.

But they are all minor jobs.

As a home brew went on late last week and with a lighter backyard work list today, I managed to get the bottle washing all done ready for a bottling on Friday.

I chaired a Community Association "Public" Meeting on Monday night.  5 of our Committee members were apologies for the night leaving the setting up to basically just two of us.  Trish came along early as well to help with the setting up and everyone was glad she did.  Of course after the Meeting there is a the full report to go online which is also my job.

And finally there is the Community Newsletter draft to have ready for printing 2500 copies off mid next week.  The draft has to be ready by Friday but that is well in hand as well.

Lucky we don't have to get to a full time job anymore isn't it!

Day Of Rest

Yes it is Monday and I am declaring it a day of rest.  Despite it being Monday today, it is a day off for me.  As the photo shows I am putting cladding along the back fence just as I have done to one of the side fences.  It is ideally a 2 person job but with Trish involved with an Arts Centre Exhibition over the weekend, it was left to just me to get this much done.

The task is made more difficult than previously because the back fence slopes from left to right, there are border stones to consider and bits and pieces need removing between the pergola and the fence.  You ideally need two people to maneuver the 6'x3' sheets into place, level them and then screw them to the wall.  The fence has the fence posts to deal with as well which means one sheet needs to be cut into smaller pieces so they will fit.

But I managed to cut two of  the sheets so they would fit around a concrete knob on one fence post, either side.  This time as well, I decided to paint the sheets prior to putting them up.

It was around 26° during the day so it was thirsty work.  When it was tools down it was glasses up and I suspect the ensuing drinks makes me feel less than 100% this morning. I still have the hassle of having a sheet cut into 1x40cm and 1x45cm wide pieces.  This cladding isn't easy to cut unless you have special tools (which I do not). And that is the hassle caused by having fence posts to maneuver around.

Trish's days were extremely successful with heaps of new people visiting the Arts Centre.  The planning group were delighted with the attendance figures and it was an outstanding PR exercise.

I got a brew on as well so I again have a bottle washing day as well as a bottling day sometime this week.  And I have a Public Meeting to chair this evening as well.

So a quiet day today is in store.