A Friday Update

It's a bit blowy outside here today but it is expected to get to around 25 degrees or so.  I did my bike ride a little earlier today realizing that it would get windy.  And we are in the midst of magpie swooping season with lots of eggs about and a couple of very protective birds who take a special dislike to old blokes on bikes. The lengthy cable ties generally do their work and take the pressure off knowing there is a deterrent to them.

I am doing this on the new Dell Tower PC which is now pretty well setup to my liking.  But it didn't like any of the recent versions of Office I tried to install until I tried a 2010 version which will be OK in the short term.  I tried a couple of 2013 versions but they just wouldn't install with the install program crashing out and not finishing.

But today I downloaded a x84 version of Office 2013 and when time permits I will try and install it.

Overall the new PC is a lot snappier than the previous.  I guess the latest i5 processor and the 8GB Ram make the difference. When I set up the recent laptop I had given to me I noted its startup time was roughly similar to the former PC.  The new PC loads and is ready to go at least 40 seconds quicker than the laptop started at the same time.

The new Dell PC only has 2 xusb3 ports and both are at the front of the PC.  I bought a better quality USB3 4 port 'hub' which works fine and I can connect the external hard disk drives I need as the photo shows.

It is around 2/3 the size of the other PC which surprised me.

Trish is slowly getting over her cold.  Coughing fits are now reduced in both the number of episodes per day and the length of time for which the episode lasted. 

We received a note from TPG recently saying we could expect the NBN to be connected on around October 19th which is good. The new modem has been delivered and is in service.  The biggest hassles were that I had to reinstall the printer software onto ALL computers and I had to manually add the printer to the wifi network.  But it is all working fine now.

So that's about it.  I have a new toy and rarely come up for air always finding something I have to do to get it running just as I like.

Where Have You Been Les?

Well I have been on the Sunshine Coast while Trish is just back from almost a fortnight in Melbourne.  One thing has lead to another and putting a post up on Blogger hasn't happened.  But things have now settled a little so here we go.

Trish has returned with a cold, this is quite usual for us as it is sniffles time for families down south and when there are grand kids involved, they are keen to share everything and we invariably bring a cold home with us!

Well the old laptop from Mick is now being used to put the beginning of this post together.  Mick is delighted with his new machine. I have made several visits to set things up for him just as he wanted. Now his Toshiba laptop become my Toshiba.  I took it to the Computer Club last Saturday where one of the guys (who knows much more than I do) reformatted it to Windows 10 Pro for me.  He rubbed all Mick's stuff off and put a new copy of Windows 10 on for my use.  It runs well.

The big Tower PC refused to start yesterday, it would keep on trying to start but nothing would happen.  So off to the PC repairman (our Computer Club President) it went.  I usually replace my PC every 4 years or so and this one only had one month to go before I would have given real consideration to replacing it. I first bought it on Sept 19 2014!

The big PC has now (a little later) just returned home from the repair guy's home with the big PC running OK again.  It seemed that the video card in it wasn't functioning at all which caused the start up process to trip up.  Right now the video card has been taken out of it and it is running with graphics straight off the motherboard.  The letters are slightly fuzzy on my large 24" screen but great after paying $44 for the repair.

I have also blown the Ethernet port on the big PC and it now connects to the internet via a USB3 Ethernet converter.  As the computer guy said this morning, the incident that caused the Ethernet port to blow may have left some other damage on the motherboard and it is now just waiting for the right time to give up the ghost completely.

I have a mini USB hub stuck in the back of the main PC as well as I have run out of USB3 ports for all my external hard disk drives and the backing up that I do.

So I will get my Christmas present early this year, a new Tower PC.  I was going to get a laptop but really the one I have received at no charge  is OK.  Yes it is older but it runs fine for everyday purposes and with the recent Big PC crash emergency it more than covered for the big PC.  So I think I'll get another tower.

The weather has been bitterly cold here the last week or so.  This morning it was 3.2° with a feels like temperature of -0.2°.  So the bike has been put right away until the warmer mornings return.  I have been busy with computer the last few days anyway.

Afternoon Update: It is nice to have the big PC back and running fine despite the video card being removed.  I have ordered a new PC Tower from Dell and it should be here sometime over the next few weeks.  It has a video card, 8GB of RAM and a huge hard drive.  It is a bit light on for USB ports but I have a USB hub (or two) which will sort that hassle out.

Some of the black typing on the screen with the PC back seems a little fluffy without the video card but most things are fine.

Now back to the mundane stuff .... it has been freezing cold here as I mentioned above with very chilly mornings.  The house hardly heats up at all even though the doors are open to catch the warm afternoon breezes.

Both Trish' and my footy teams are still alive for the 2018 season finals with Trish's team 'definitely' in the finals and my team 'probably' in the finals.  This should result in some rivalry.

It has been so dry here with hardly any rain for the last month.  However there is a wet change on the way we have been promised a couple of inches to fall over the weekend.  Everything needs a good soaking so badly, especially the new little front garden!

At last I have sorted our Internet Plan for the upcoming switch to the NBN (National Broadband Network).  We are currently with Telstra and I paid extra to be off a contract back in December when they changed our plan.  I have decided to again go with Telstra, mainly as their new modem which they give at no charge to new customers but ask current customers to pay around $220 if they wish to upgrade is a part of the deal.

The guy wanted to confirm who I was with full name, date of birth etc.  He also asked if I was a pensioner.  So when it was all agreed to and everything he mentioned was OK by me he said I could expect some emails on what was happening.

I negotiated that I would go on a new contract with Telstra but only if they gave me the new modem and waived all charges.  To keep me with them, Telstra then agreed so I am getting the new modem (with 4G backup) for free.  It will cost me $79 per month, unlimited download at 50MBps speed and include a landline phone service, or so I thought.

So after discussing it all and then reading the followup emails, it 'seems' we may be paying $69 per month which includes the landline as well.  We will need to wait and see.  The new modem is arriving tomorrow and the NBN is due to be connected some time in October.  The NBN guys have been up and down our street on numerous occasions so we get the feeling things aren't far away.

So that's the news!

Been Busy?

We've been busy doing not too much at all.  Just this weekend we were invited to catch up with Trish's nephew Peter and family down in Nundah, a suburb not far out of Brisbane.  Peter is getting married in the Philippines in December and we are heading over for the event.

Peter works for Virgin Airlines and is a Flight Planner for the airline, planning routes for aircraft as they ferry passengers around Australia and overseas.  In his younger days he was with the RAAF doing stuff with aircraft movements so his current occupation is a step along from his airforce days.

Peter's wife to be, Vecy prepared us a typical Filipino meal of prwans and a dish called "Chicken Adobo" (photo above left).  I managed a couple of serves for lunch and followed up with another for tea.  As you can tell I didn't mind it all!

There were other Filipino sweets and nibbles as well.  We had a great time and it was good to catch up with them again.  For breakfast on Sunday morning we visited the nearby Nundah Food Market.  To my great delight I found a small stall selling Char Kuay Teow, my favorite Malaysian dish.

It was OK but nothing like what we get in Melbourne.  Speaking of Melbourne, that is where Trish is heading on Thursday for the best part of a fortnight.

Anyway, back to Nundah.  Because of its closeness to Brisbane there are new units going up everywhere.  It is a mere 5 train stations into the heart Brisbane making it a desirable spot.  It gives the impression of previously being a little on the run down side but that is changing with every house demolished and block of units taking its place.

The photo shows one of the new cafe type places which are everywhere in this rapidly changing suburb. A short walk around the shops showed further evidence of how this little suburb is being transformed.

We discussed further plans of what would be happening in Manila so it is all getting exciting. Peter will meet us off the plane and help us with sim cards and getting to our Manila hotel.

Footy has had its ups and downs for me and Trish with this weekend being the final showdown for both our sides.  And as luck would have it, my team plays Trish's team.  With Trish being in Melbourne I jumped online and grabbed a couple of tickets for her and Kim into the MCC Reserve for the Saturday afternoon match!

The rest has just been the same old same old as life here plods along.  I helped a guy buy a new laptop and I have set it up for him.  He is going to pass on his old laptop to me which I will use as a backup for my desktop PC.

I have been messing around with a website named Reddit and the information available there is amazing.  Check out this website for instance:  http://213.32.113.82/  Have a look inside some of the links as it may go to another complete page of links.  It is just mind blowing!  You can download and stream from these links.

From time to time we head out with a group from the Computer Club.  We introduced them to the local Miss HoiAn Vietnamese Restaurant.  They love it and we have been back there several times for a great meal and heaps of laughs.  It is a great little spot.  The photo isn't the best but I think you get the idea!

One of the chaps is a retired merchant seaman.  He was a lot more than just a merchant seaman and now lives on the third floor of a very large unit overlooking the Pumicestone Passage.  Another guy is a Vietnamese Vet and retired hairdresser.

We head out every month or so and enjoy ourselves.  As some will be away, our next get together will be a day at the Caloundra Races in early October.

As you can see we continue to enjoy ourselves.  The worst of winter has now passed and we have days often in the mid 20's with low teens overnight.  Bike riding is back on the agenda.  We managed almost totally without a heater this winter.  It may have gone on for the odd hour or two but that is all.

We are both well.  Trish is busy getting me ready to look after myself for a couple weeks.  I will find plenty to do while she is away!