Will It or Won't It?

Will it rain today or won't it rain?

Brisbane has been hit with thunderstorms, lightning and sudden downpours the last day or so.  But we here on the Sunshine Coast may have observed a flicker of lightning in the distant sky to the south last night but that was all.

As the screen shot I took around 8am this morning shows it was again blowy this morning but I was up and out on my bike around 7 am, well before the wind began to spring up.  It was sunny at that stage but now, approaching lunchtime, it is overcast, the odd spit of a drop or two of rain and the wind has dropped away eerily.

With any sort of luck we will be in for a heavy shower or two, hopefully enough to fill up the pool.  The pool was back to 28° yesterday afternoon and just delightful for a swim.

I heard back recently that my 6 year old hearing aid which I put in for repair was now irreparable.  As I am an old bloke and on a pension, the government subsidizes me for a new one for me.  We have opted to forgo the health insurance payout (which meant another 5 months wait until the rebate became available) and just pay the difference ourselves.  The only reason we are doing that is the new replacement unit is 'on special'.  It is a very good deal indeed and saves an incredible amount of money.

Two weeks today we head to Coolangatta to stay the night prior to our flight to Kuala Lumpur at 9:30 am on Tuesday Nov14th.  It is around 200k's from here to Coolangatta so we reckon heading down the day before and staying overnight was a good idea.  You never know what may happen on the Bruce Hwy, the main (and only road) between here and Brisbane. There could be an accident, severe traffic jam or anything!

I do like my weather info and always have an electronic weather station set up around the house.  After some time they tend to die or stop working properly.  EBay again was where I went and the replacement weather Station was delivered this morning.

They are relatively inexpensive play things to have about.  I didn't pay a lot for it and as Trish says, it keeps me happy!

With our Melbourne trip a little over a week after we get back from KL I need to sort the Home Brew.  On Saturday I bottled one lot and then put on another.  The new brew will be for the trip down south.  So a bottle washing and bottling are in store for sometime this week.

Well, that's about it for today.  Same old, same old!

Not a Lot of News

It has certainly become somewhat cooler the last few days after all the rain.  We managed another inch of the stuff over Saturday and Sunday but it has remained cool and dry since.  The pool dropped down to 21° or so after the rain and the cooler sunless days.  Today we are looking at 30 or so but thunderstorms are tipped to return on Thursday.

We are beginning to get our heads around our trip overseas in almost 3 weeks time.  Already I have dug out a couple of power plug converters and we are beginning to think about clothes, what is needed and what to pack.  After quite a few years my good old around the house "Rugger" shorts have worn out and I have had to get something new to replace them, just in time before heading overseas.

Despite the rain we caught up with our drinks friends again on Saturday night.  It was great fun and enjoyed by all.  Friends Kerry and Ian travel overseas frequently and have used Air Asia as their airline out of Coolangatta.  They gave us some good ideas for the night before we take off accommodation which we have booked.  There is a great 'Club' just across the road and the car Parking place is just down the road.

Needless to say Sunday was fairly quiet and we moved into "Recovery" mode.  With a busy time for us prior to Christmas my Home Brew situation has come under review.  I usually take a brew away with me when we drive to Melbourne so brewing will be a priority over the next week or so.  I have bottle washed this morning and will most likely put another brew straight after this one ready for the Melbourne trip.

I didn't bother with a bike ride this morning as I am driving up near Maroochydore to do a guy's TV Box for him.  I also bottle washed as the photo above shows.  I have just about got this TV Box set up organized now with a few files I can upload to quicken the setup process.

I did bike ride both Monday and Tuesday and expect to ride again for the final 2 days of the week.

The Sonata goes in for a service o Friday, ready for the Melbourne trip.

Speaking of which I suggested to Trish we fly to Melbourne for the first round of the footy next year.  I can get to a couple of matches and make better use of my MCC Membership.  But more importantly, the weather will be warmer than those cold days I endured at the footy in late August this year.

And I will make an effort to get to several days of the Melbourne Ashes Test match as well.

Bottle rinsing time so that is all for today!

A Day Without Rain!

At last we have had a day where no rain has fallen despite the couple of mls I tipped out of the gauge from yesterday.  Those couple of mls sure caused some hassles though as Trish put a load of washing on the line.

The showers were "on and off" several times across the day, but eventually the washing dried and has now been put away.

I even managed a bike ride this morning as well and 'did' a little over 17k's.

The heavy rain is expected to arrive again on Saturday morning and should last for a couple of days.  It is expected to drop up to 200mls during this rain event.  Often the heavier falls are localized so you get the full 200mls if you are stuck under a non-moving thunderstorm!  Otherwise a total of  around 100mls is expected.

The new blinds were installed today.  The new blinds are slightly shorter than the previous set and are a very different color.  The shorter blinds were done for several reasons.

Of course being shorter they are less expensive, but now allow a greater movement of air beneath them, keep out minimally less sun and finally, are that little bit lighter to roll up.  This later fact is extremely important when I manually roll up the longer 3m blind.

The longer blind is around 30cms shorter again than the other two blinds. It shouldn't be so much of a hassle now to roll up nice and tight by hand.

I suspect the material is lighter in weight as well which also makes them less heavy to roll up nice and tightly by hand.  But overall I am more than pleased with the outcome.

Around 95%

It has taken a little time but things are rapidly getting back to normal in the midst of what has been some very wet weather.  Since the rain began last week, the current total is a little under 200mls.  It is certainly a lot brighter outside this morning as I type.  Despite repetitive showers, I managed to get the bathroom towels dry yesterday in between the showers.

Other areas further to our north have had around 400mls but we seem to have missed the very worst of it with our 200mls total.  The downpour has now pushed 2017 into an 'above average' year for rainfall.  It has been the continual strong wind which has been another major feature of this week's weather but it seems to be moderating nowadays.

The weather forecasters are saying we are in for another bout of very wet weather come the weekend so we now have that to look forward to.

So all the software now on the PC has been newly reinstalled and as always happens, some things don't work just quite the same.  However my networking setup is again perfect allowing me to push files around as I want, and my downloading hassles have disappeared.  Throw into the mix a new version of Firefox has just been released and some of my addons are now out of date, no longer working, and have required modifications.  It is all about 95% perfect again right now.

I hate it when everything is great and then there is an update and everything changes again.

Within the web browser Firefox there is a "Sync" function.  Firefox remembers all your addons, bookmarks, passwords and other features.  If a new install of Firefox happens, it is then able to download all your addons, passwords etc just as you had it before.  So that was great and now gives me a brand new install of the web browser.

Regretfully with the recent update a couple of the addons no longer work properly but I have implemented some changes so things work OK.

As I had a medical appointment in Caloundra to update prescriptions on Monday, I popped into the home brew shop to check my account.  It had over $150 on it.  So I have updated my supply of spirits mixers to go with the alcohol I get and a few bits and pieces such as grommets and the like as well as a few more cans of brew.

With so much cash there I also bought a new (and taller) beer brewing container.  Since updating the shelving in the garage some time ago, I now have extra space which can handle the taller (and better) brewing container.  At times, as the beer brews, it produces a lot of froth.  When this happens in the shorter container, the froth can push back up through the air lock and make quite a mess.

This should now be a thing of the past.  I think I will put a brew on next week.  I need to get my head around all this as we set of for Malaysia in around 25 days and the brewing process takes at least 7 days.

Needless to say with the wind and the rain, bike riding has been off the agenda.  According to the forecast I 'may' get a ride in tomorrow.

And the new blinds (or should I say the 're skinning'  of the current blinds) are being installed tomorrow.   ..... and a light shower is passing through again right now.

Plenty Of Water Has Passed Under The Bridge

The headline above is true in more cases than one.  As you may have seen on the news, SE Queensland has received a heap of rain with this area approaching around 200mls over the 3 days or so.  It is still raining outside now as I type. Earlier this morning (as I type at 8:34am) I think I saw a lighter patch in the skies as the sun tried to poke its head out through the clouds.

But it is raining again right now and has been doing so for the last 30 minutes or so.

The rain has been heavy at times but generally very steady giving us a good soak which is just what we need.

Usually I could tell you to the ml as to just how much rain we have had but today I can't.  As the 'ordinary' photo shows above, the PC has had a bit of an accident.  It all began of Friday with a few minor issues.  My default file downloader began to play up just a little.  It didn't matter what I did it still only worked intermittently. Then on Saturday it stopped working altogether.

On Sunday I thought I would do a System Restore which I tried but it didn't complete fully.  Partial System Restores are not good!  Thereafter a few other things stopped working including my networking, I could no longer see some other devices on my network.  The ability to be able to move files around, especially to and from the Seagate Cloud drive is very important for me.

Next step was to 'undo' the System Restore back to how it had been originally.  Again this didn't work completely.  Even another System Restore back to an even earlier date didn't work either.

I usually reformat my PC every couple of years but as things had been going so well I didn't bother, if it's not broken, don't fix it was my motto.  Fortunately I had done an backup early on the weekend.

The latest Windows makes it quite straight forward to do a quick full restore from within itself.  So by 8pm Monday night the PC was back to pristine condition but now means setting back up again with all my programs and other utilities.  I am sure there will be bits and pieces I still need to 'acquire' to get the job done.

So back I go to continue copying files across and getting evrything setup again

So the wet weather will continue and I will press on.

I remember we had around 141 mls for Saturday and Sunday.  I tipped 34mls out last night (Mon) and there must be another 10 or so mls in the gauge as I type.  I need to reinstall Office 2013 to record these falls.

So it is back to work  ...... or is it back to play!

And I'm pleased to report the company in China has agreed to replace the TV Dongle.

WoW, Time For A Post

Currently my life seems to centre around those hum drum mow the lawn, clean the pool type activities.  There is also the daily bike ride for which I clocked up well over 100k's this week, the odd home brew story, Community Association stuff and Android TV boxes.

So what have I been up to the last week or so, most of the above!  Home Brew is off the agenda for a week or so but all the rest has kept me busy.

I have visited other people's places to help with their TV boxes, there has been the odd Community Association stuff and the general everyday maintenance stuff for the pool and the garden.

We have been here 15 years now so the once young 12 year old lass from across the road is now in her late 20's, has a family and has since broken up with several partners.  She rather likes the $50 android TV box I set up for her mum so she thought she would get one for the new boyfriend's family.  It arrived the other day so Dad promptly dropped it off at my place for me to set up for her.

It is an Xiaomi Mi Android TV, under $100 and one of best value for money boxes out there.  It is a true Android TV box, rather than a less expensive purely Android powered boxes available from China.  As such the android TV system it has is one especially designed for Android TV Boxes.  My Nvidia Shield is the same, you can't download any old app from Google Play to use.  It has to be an app especially suitable for specially designed Android TV Boxes.

The big difference is the Nvidia Shield is designed to operate without a mouse.  So if you try to download Firefox to the Nvidia Shield, the download is not available to the Shield as Firefox relies on a mouse!  The Xiaomi My Android TV box is the same.

Now of course where there is a will there is a way so there are roundabout ways to install these apps and to use a mouse.  So I have a little explaining to do later today when Rachael pops over to collect her newly set up Mi Android TV Box.

Trish caught up with Kathryn, our mid 30's single and just delightful Chiropractor last night to head off into Brisbane for a Show.  Kinky Boots I think she said it was.  She just loved it and had a great time.  On Tuesday night she headed off to her first "View Club" dinner, I had Community Association business Wednesday night, Trish went to a show Thursday night while I spent several hours Thursday afternoon helping a mate out with his TV box.  He is a happy chappy now after I finished.

Pool was up to 27° the other day and is consistently around 25° for my morning swim.  The weather has been warm and sultry.  Today is a little cooler with the promise of thunderstorms possibly later today but we can expect plenty of rain over the weekend.  The screenshot above seems to indicate there are thunderstorms around.

I have just finished watching a 10 episode TV series called "The Vietnam War".  The show totaled over 18 hours and I was glued to the screen.  Needless to say the background music for the series was wonderful with Bob Dylan stuff getting a good airing.  It is predicted to be one of the top TV series for 2017.  Needless to say it won't be on Channels 7, 9, or 10 here as it is too good for those stations.  So keep your eye open on the ABC or SBS.

I continue to communicate with GearBest over the dead TV dongle.  Their last email to me was to check I had it plugged into the right HDMI port on the TV.  This is despite it working fine for 6 days and then on day 7 when I turned it there was nothing!  But you play the game and go along with them.  Needless to say this is the down side to buying cheap electronics online.  But it's fun!

Speaking of which, I bought an FM transmitter which plugs into the car's cigarette lighter.  Both cars are pre Bluetooth connection technology so any music I wish to play has to be off the 6 stacker CD player.  The new FM transmitter is also Bluetooth enabled so my music options when travelling down to Melbourne have just been expanded enormously!  I can also listen to Melbourne Sports Radio as we drive along!  Nifty eh!

Headlines Spot On!

The sun is back out, the front lawn is beginning to green up perfectly, the pool is full and the garden is well watered.  Over the recent few days we have amassed 120mls of rain, the first really decent rain we have had since summer. And exactly what the weekend's headlines had said!

In this part of the world summer is the wettest time of the year where thunderstorms can give you a quick 20mls just like that.  A stormy day can provide as much as 150mls and we have had well over 200mls in a day on rare occasions.  So to get 120mls over a couple of days was exactly what the garden needed.

On Monday it was down to around 18 degrees mid afternoon.  The trakkie dacks and slippers were back out along with a warm cup of soup.

Today it is around 27°, I am sitting in shorts and singlet busily typing away.  This morning was first time on the bike for a few days and I managed over 19k's.  Then I mowed the lawn which was the first time since before we flew to Melbourne in August.  Prior to being mowed it was strewn with gum leaves from the recent numerous windy days and trees in the street.

Now they have all gone, all cleaned up by the mower and into the green waste bin.  I have re mixed some two-stroke fuel for the line snipper and sorted things out ready for the mowing season.

The pool is around 24° later in the afternoon so a bit cooler than that in the morning.  But it is so refreshing after a long ride or mowing the lawn and cleaning up in the sub tropical spring.

Some bad news regarding the new TV Dongle, today it won't fire up.  It worked OK yesterday but this morning I unsuccessfully tried a new HDMI coupler I had bought so I could connect it to my Tuner amplifier but after connecting it the thing didn't want to load.  I manged to get something on the screen at one stage and it worked using the coupler, thus removing a possibly bodgy coupler causing it to crash.

There isn't a reset switch or anything on the box so letting it totally shut down for 24 hours and a restart then might do the trick but I seriously doubt it.  And having bought it online from China means little or no recourse for a refund or a replacement unit.

Ah well, we will see.

Floods, highway chaos: 120mm downpour threatens for Coast

That's the headline in this morning's local paper, The Sunshine Coast Daily.  As in Melbourne, it is a long weekend up here, the only difference is the holiday is on Monday rather than Melbourne's Friday.  And the forecast for the next few days has been upgraded with a heap of much wanted rain due to hit us this afternoon and over the next few days.

The photo is a screenshot taken from the BOM weather forecast for this area off my Kodi.  It seems the long and hot dry spell is coming to an end and for many people it just couldn't come soon enough.

On Friday as I tried to drive towards Caloundra the traffic was stopped on Caloundra Rd as holiday makers made their way into Caloundra for the long weekend.

For those of you in Melbourne Caloundra is a little like Rosebud's poorer cousin and is the choice of families with kids.  The Gold Coast is for the younger ones who want a great time and to spend money, while Noosa, well the only ones who go to Noosa are the local snobs and people from Melbourne who measure the success of a good holiday by how much it costs!

Don't get me wrong, Noosa is quite nice but it isn't the top choice as a holiday destination for the locals.

To top it all off there is a large Music Festival on here this weekend with top line acts performing over the three days of the long weekend.

The newspaper article referred to above suggests that those families who can head home today (Sunday) instead of waiting till tomorrow should consider to do so.

Well the footy has now come and gone with Richmond the 2017 premiers.  And the last team to beat them was my team about 4 or 5 weeks ago!  But then they belted us in an earlier final.  The Richmond faithful will be all very happy and many with sore heads this morning.

Daylight Saving has again started in the southern states putting oursleves one hour out of kilter with those down there.

I managed a 24k bike ride this morning as the wind has all gone with the weather change on the horizon.  Then I did a 'bottle washing' this morning as well because with the forecast rain, there wasn't another suitable day popping up early next week.  But it is all done and the bottles now have a few days to dry.