Another Week On ....

Last Sunday, my health following a big night out was my major concern!  Today it is my back.  I have been seeing Chiropractors pretty much over the last 30 years or so and throughout that time my back has been a source of concern for me, playing up seriously every now and again.

The source of the problem is usually either my lower back or up around the neck region.  If the lower back plays up it can effect my legs via the sciatic nerve.  When this happens I can have a sore and aching knee or right up to the whole leg (or legs) beginning to ache.  The problem gets worse when you try to get to sleep and your legs ache no matter what position you get in to sleep as was the case this week.

I did get into to see a Chiro (not my regular one) on Thursday who spent some time trying to sort things.  I still needed a couple of paracetamol tablets but at least a good night's sleep followed that night.  At least now a night or so later I can get to sleep without any tablets. I am booked in to see my regular Chiro Monday morning.

This week has been spent sorting out people's TV Box setups.

I have done three boxes this week with another to get to today.  The Kodi scene changes every day and some people with little clue at all on how the thing works just throw their hands up in the air.  But needless to say I have had a ball and the people I have helped seem pretty happy with things when I have finished.

Kodi TV boxes are no longer for the person with little or no knowledge on how they operate.  You now need some basic knowledge on the Android System and you need to try to keep up with things.  And things change regularly.

It has been hot and steamy up here as well.  The heat hasn't been super hot but it seems to be relentless.  And with humidity hovering around 65% it can become tiresome.  With all that humidity you would reckon we could be in for the odd tropical storm or two.  At best we have been promised showers over the next week or so when we badly need more rain.

Computer Club was again a little bare of members with the oppressive weather keeping many away.  It is so much easier to curl up in front of the One Day cricket or the Tennis, put the air conditioner on to around 26° and have the ceiling fan whirring away.

I can make the odd sprint to the pool for a quick dip but with warm weather daily the pool hovers around 31° which is not that refreshing during the day but absolutely perfect for the 10pm swim before going to bed!

We just loved the movie "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Minnesota".  Other good shows have "Darkest Hour" and "The Post".  Most of the other shows up for awards are about subjects in which we really aren't interested.  "Lady Bird" is a teenager coming of age movie and "The Shape of Water" is about a woman who falls in love with a human like sea creature, neither of which tickle our fancy!

We are slowly working our way through the TV series "American Crime, The Menendez Murders".  It is certainly a better selection for us over a movie about a woman falling in love with a sea creature!

So now it is a quick breakfast, a quick haircut and then off to sort out another Kodi setup.

In Recovery Mode

I am not moving at quite 100% today, mainly due to a wonderful "Drinks Night" with friends.  It was lots of fun last night, with heaps of laughs and good times, but I am suffering for it today.  Maybe I am getting too old for that sort of thing!

I have managed a couple of days bike riding but with Computer Club yesterday (Saturday) and the big night last night, the bike might have to wait until tomorrow before it gets out again.

I received an email saying our 'new' internet plan was up and running and welcoming me to the new $90 plan with 500GB download!  I nearly fell off my seat as I had signed for $80 and 1000GB.  It was only when I read the small print where it said I was getting a $10 discount and an extra 500GB download that I felt a little better.

So it was all just a little deceptive and not exactly what I had signed up for but still finally with all the benefits I wanted.  Not sure if I agree with the way Telstra/Bigpond does business on this!

Weather remains warm but not too hot.  The pool is now around 27° in the morning and getting up to about 29° in the late afternoon!

I washed the little Honda Jazz the other day and it has also had a much needed service.  I bottled the latest brew on Saturday as well.  It seems I now need a trip to the Home Brew shop to replensih supplies.  I wonder how my tab is going down there?

Just for the fun of it I am doing some checking of air fares.  I see where Scoot Airlines has fares of $119 from the Gold Coast to Singapore.  It is then just another $55 to get to Penang with Air Asia.  Around $175 to Penang sounds a good deal to me!

Check out Texas Lou's comment on the previous post!

Cooling Down

After the oppressive weekend with temperatures hovering around the 40° mark, the cool wind change has brought the daily max back to around 30° along with that great afternoon cooling sea-breeze we tend to get most days.  The weather has just been delightful since the wind has changed.

The cooler nights have seen the pool temp come in at around 26° most mornings and climb to about 28° or so late in the day.  Now the pool is again truly 'refreshing'.

Much of the cooler weather has been accompanied by quite stronger south easterlies.  Strong wind warnings have seen me give the bike riding away for a while but has given me the chance to put another brew on, to now already have washed all the bottles ready for the upcoming bottling, to have given the car a good wash after the Melbourne trip, and to have given the lawn a mow.

I borrowed Kate's car wash gear when we were in Melbourne.  It was kit she had bought from Costco and had a great car wash mit you wore with a tough material on one side and softer gear on the other.  A 4000km round trip down south accrues quite a few bugs smashed across the front of the car which are usually hard to wash way.   But my pressure hose sprayer and new Costco provided car washing kit (with the great car wash mit) managed to do the job quickly and very effectively.

And now to some other updates.

The car ignition lock barrel has been repaired by the locksmith and now works perfectly again.  I shuddered at the thought of having to buy a new lock and keys from the car manufacturer but, fortunately, a much less expensive alternative has worked out perfectly.

The quotes for an air conditioner in the bedroom are all in and one has now been accepted.  As pensioners, were get a discount of around $200 if we have it installed via "St Andrews Care".  And to top it all off we look like we may be eligible for a further $400 rebate from the government with two of the incentive schemes they have running at the moment.  With all that in mind we get the unit installed for less than $1000 which seems a pretty good deal to us.

We are out for tea again tonight, a Thai place in Caloundra with alfresco dining in a courtyard.  It sounds pretty good to me.

The wind is expected to drop overnight so the bike which also got a good was wash with the pressure hose and new mit today, should get back out on the road tomorrow.

Teachers go back to school tomorrow in this part of the world with kids due to start on Monday.  There is a new school opening just down the road so the beginning of a new school year is a big deal for this area.  The duplication of the main road into the area is in full swing but is causing a few holdups during construction.

So that is today's update, not too enthralling I regret but that is what it is!

Respite From The Heat

Here it is, just after 7 am Monday morning and we are enjoying a spell from yesterday's incredible heat.  The photo is of the small electronic 'weather station' which sits in our lounge room which was taken this morning (Monday).  For much of yesterday (Sunday) the outside temperature was around 40° while the humidity level was in the mid 20's.

Outside there was a strong north westerly blowing bringing the hot air down from northern Australia into our homes.  The pool water temp headed towards 32° and the water level dropped quickly as the evaporation rate increased across Sunday.

Around 6:00pm Sunday night we had a 'Melbourne cool change'.  The humidity went from 25% to 60% in a matter of minutes as the cooler south easterly wind off the ocean took over.  By 8pm we were down to around 26° and able to open the place up to let the cooler air into the house.

Our air con sat on 26° all day Sunday giving us respite from the extreme heat. It had been almost as hot on Saturday too with strong north westerlies blowing.  Overnight Saturday it only had got down to around 26°  This morning the minimum was 20°.

The cooler air allowed me to turn the bed room ceiling fan off around 4am this morning.  Today we expect more cooling strong winds and a top around 28°.

So what else has been happening?

The main car is back in the garage.  The ignition lock only turns around 1 time in 30 or so.  It also seems the keys are well worn too.  I managed to get the car to start on Friday afternoon and took it straight to the garage for repair..  So it is either repair the ignition lock barrel and cut new keys or get a replacement from Hyundai.  The former should be substantially cheaper than the latter!

Needless to say another brew has been bottled.  With the extreme heat and strong winds, bike riding has been off the agenda the last few days.

We enjoyed a great night at our nice local Vietnamese on Thursday night with another couple.  The neighbour over the road provided me with another litre or so of alcohol so some short of stock has been replaced.  He also grabbed a 'new' TV box which I have now set up and is running well.

Trish is back into full swing with the Arts Centre.

We are in the process of getting quotes to have an air con installed in our bedroom, just preparing for when one of us to be confined to bed for some reason and to remain cool.  Our "St Andrew's Care" group can subsidize the purchase and installation.  But we are grabbing a couple of 'outside' install quotes as well.

Computer Club was back underway again on Saturday and the morning was spent catching up with friends.

Our internet provider Bigpond told us the special deal of $80 per month was no longer available and they were going to increase our download limit but also raise the price by 25%.  As a result we have adjusted our ADSL Broadband plan and now get unlimited download and $15 worth of calls for the same cost as previously and remain with the same provider.  Bigpond (the internet provider) have $15 per month worth of landline calls as a special Pensioner Discount which we now use to cover the few monthly landline calls we may make.

I did have to pay extra amount to remain 'off contract'.  Otherwise I would have been locked into their deal for 2 years.  With the NBN due to be available here in 12 months or so, I wanted the freedom to be able swap providers for a better service deal if possible. I am now free to do that.

We have easily survived the heat wave weekend (thank heavens for the air conditioner) and are now looking forward to a stretch of more normal 30° or so maximum temperatures.  25ml of rain would go also go well.

Quick Update

Needless to say that with the 5th and final Cricket Test match being played up until recently, much of my free time has been spent in front of the TV.

But I have collected the mower after its repair and I have replaced the skimmer box door (or Weir Door as the pool shop guy called it).  The front lawn has now been mowed and all is good again.

The bike is back out and I have clocked up 100k's already with my almost daily bike rides.  I did miss a day on the bike after I put a brew on and then did some bottle washing.  All is now ready to go and I will bottle late this week.

As I do my beer is mainly clear plastic bottles nowadays it has become important to keep 'daylight' away from the beer bottles as the brew 'matures'.  I purchased a black 60l plastic container from Bunnings and I already had a second clear container which also suits the purpose for brew storage.  A quick spray with some black paint has solved the daylight issue with the clear container.

We have arrived home in the midst of a SE Queensland summer so warm to hot weather is the order of the day.  A wind change late last week blew away much of the very high 65%+ humidity and now we are back to a more comfortable 50% level.

It has been necessary to turn the ceiling fan down to its lowest setting overnight the last few nights as some milder weather sets in.  It is around 25° when we go to bed and drops to an overnight low of around 20°.  Though the pool was delightful just before bed when the humidity and resultant heat were up last week.

At the moment most days get to around 30° but as usual it is a little warmer in our concrete pavers and stones filled back yard!

We are in the throes of sorting a quick trip by air down to Melbourne for the first round of the AFL footy.

Trish has gotten back into the swing of the Arts centre Association and is again heavily involved.

Trish received her new phone from China as the previous one was experiencing battery problems and I think she is happy with it.  She is still setting it up and discovers something new to adjust from time to time.

My 4TB portable had drive arrived from the US and has now been set up as my major portable source for my computer backup.  This means that if I take this drive with me when I head away, I have access to virtually all my computer stuff, profiles, video files almost everything!  It certainly would have been very handy on the recent trip to Melbourne.

The pool remains a very popular spot for relaxing.  I usually manage a swim after the morning bike ride, another dip just before lunch, another late in the day and finally if it is warm enough, a final swim prior to getting into bed under the ceiling fan!  The pool is magnificent and currently runs at around 30° late in the afternoon!

Home Sweet Home

Here we are, January 2nd and we have now been home for two glorious nights' sleep in our own bed.

The time in between my last post and today really panned out almost exactly as planned.  A lovely family Christmas Day with Kate's family and scrumptious curries for Christmas evening meal with Arj's family.

Boxing Day was down to Drouin where we had to be fairly well behaved as we drove back to Kate's that evening so I could get to the cricket.  I managed to get to the MCG for days 2 and 3 which I enjoyed immensely.  It was around 38° for Day 2 so very warm indeed.  As a special treat we re visited the Hoa Tran in Springvale for a second glorious meal.  So the photo is not of the food we enjoyed for tea but more of what was left after we had eaten!

Day 3 saw me leave the cricket at the Tea break as we wanted to catch up with our daughter Kim and Jay for an evening meal. Chinta Ria is one of Melbourne's most iconic Malaysian Restaurant, a short walk from Kim's flat in St Kilda.  I got her Android TV Box up and running for her as well.

I sat down to watch Day 4 of the cricket on telly and rest up prior to driving back to the Sunshine Coast.  We did the return trip of around 1800 k's in 2 days with a stopover at Gilgandra in central N.S.W. and arrived home the next day at around 3pm local time.

Since arriving home the heat and very high humidity almost makes us wish we were still in Melbourne.

The place has been now tidied and the pool used regularly.  The lawn mower refused to start so is now off being fixed.  The door to the pool skimmer box has broken as well. The internet took a couple of goes prior to connecting but is great now again.  My downloads are now back to normal.

I have 'fixed' a neighbour's Kodi for him so things are getting back into the swing of things again.

My 4TB portable Hard Drive arrived this morning and is currently being loaded with all my 'stuff'.  I should never be caught short of things ever again now with everything of importance now on the one hard drive.

I think I will now head down to the Pool Shop and see about replacing the skimmer box door!