Wednesday Was A "Community Association" Day

It almost felt as if I was back at work again.  I had two meetings to attend on Wednesday, one early in the day with the local Helicopter Training School "Chopperline" at Caloundra Aerodrome, and the second late afternoon with the Caloundra Aerodrome Community Forum at the Council Offices in Caloundra.

I like to keep everyone in the community up to date so after each meeting I have an entry to put on the website. This virtually doubles the time I need spend on each meeting.  But if I didn't enjoy it I wouldn't do it.

The weather continues to be excellent.  A little cooler is the expectation for today as the wind increases in strength and swings around to the south-west.  We still expect around 24 degrees or so which will be even warmer in our backyard.  Next Monday and Tuesday we expect tops of around 27 degrees.

I gave the pool sides a good sweep yesterday.  There was a little build up of algae there.  This morning I also increased the pool filter time by 90 minutes to around 5.5 hours per day.  The extra filter times creates extra chlorine and this then keeps and possible algae build up under control.  Running the filter for extra time is no longer a financial concern to us.  With lovely sunny days the solar energy on the roof more than compensates for the extra electricity usage.  Also the pool is now connected on a 'cheaper' rate.

We are in the throes of swapping electricity suppliers.  The new supplier gives us a rebate each year as well as an extra 2c for any solar energy we generate which goes back into the grid.  This swap over should save us and extra $120 p.a.

According to DHL Tracking my new phone from China is being delivered to the Sunshine Coast.  It was cleared from Brisbane late yesterday.  Whether it comes direct to my home from Brisbane or goes to a DHL facility here on the Coast, I do not know.  I will be staying close by the house today and tomorrow. This isn't a problem as Friday will be a day for bottling my latest brew!

I am still waiting for the builder to confirm when he is going to build the cover in the backyard for us.  I want the timber first so I can paint it before it goes up.  He recently has been on a week's holiday to New Zealand but he is back now.  If I don't hear soon I will need to give him a call.

Beautiful One Day, Perfect The Next

The heading for this blog post has been so true the last two days.  Not a cloud in the sky and around the mid 20's both days.  Just gorgeous weather for us here.  The arms of the chairs sitting in the sun burn a little as you sit down.  The sun is bright and warm.

But the pool water temperature remains around 15 degrees!

Yesterday we were invited around to the home of the President of Trish's Arts Centre Association.  They were a delightful older couple.  We were made to feel very welcome.

He was an electrician and involved in the whole electrical business.  A one time president of the local Chamber of Commerce and long time and highly respected Caloundra businessman.  Their home is a triple level Queenslander with the complete lower level set aside for his model railway.  It is all computerized and he can sit there with a 'remote control' and set trains heading off everywhere.  His current exercise is to teach himself how to fly a Boeing 737.

It was a bit of fun which we both enjoyed.  The coffee and muffin were enjoyable.

One of my hearing aids had been playing up so I put it in for repair. I had a call saying it was now ready to be collected and we had to travel to Mooloolaba to collect it.  Wow, it works great now.

From there we headed to the Maroochydore Surf Club for lunch.  The meal was OK but the view was spectacular!  Sorry about the dirty window, mostly salt I would guess from the sea.

Last night was the Annual General Meeting of the Community Association.  The attendance was very disappointing so we may need to try something to get more people along.  An early thought is to conduct the meeting later in year, possibly November and have finger food and drinks supplied.  The warmer weather may encourage more people to become involved.

Another 13k's on my bike this morning.  Of course that was after adding a lengthy post to the BeCA Website on last night's AGM.  But it was all a bit of fun!

I mentioned last week I had purchased a new phone from China.  They promised quick delivery so I was a little worried when I saw my order was still classed as "Being Prepared" on Friday.  Even on Monday it was the same status.  So I jumped online and contacted them.

One source said they were out of stock, another said they had a problem but it would be delivered when available as "High Priority".  Three hours later it was upgraded to "Parcel sent" and every hour or so I get an email from DHL saying where it is in the delivery process.  The last email said it had been cleared by Chinese Customs ready for delivery to "Regional Queensland".  Hopefully it should arrive in a couple of days.

At Least The Cricket Is Going OK!

Both Trish and my footy teams had unexpected losses this weekend!  Therefore the performance by Australia in the Third Test in the UK provided us with something to smile about this weekend.  It was also pleasant when here the temperature was 25 degrees yesterday (Saturday) while we watched the rain pour down and the crowd huddle together for warmth at the MCG!

But then we had a very chilly 4.7 degrees here this morning.  The bright sunny skies and lack of cloud means we lose any heat overnight.  I am still waiting for the temperature to get up before embarking on a bike ride this morning!  We have been promised 22 degrees today but the reality is it will possibly be a little warmer.

Really busy at Computer Club yesterday but everyone seemed please with the help they got.

One of the guys at Computer Club makes his own alcohol and provided me with another 1100mls yesterday.  That will be turned into Sambucca when I can get a mix at the Home Brew Shop.

Speaking of which the latest brew is bubbling away in the garage.  I now have a bucket of water with some bleach in it where I soak my bottles for 30 minutes or so after I have consumed and rinsed them.  There is no way my brews should be at all "off" anymore.

Some don't taste as wonderful as others but all are better than what you buy for $35 a carton.  A dash of Stones Green Ginger wine can make any questionable brew into something which is outstanding!

Now That's More Like It

The heading describes the weather, hardly a cloud in the sky, a glorious blue color and a top around 23 degrees.

My phone contract is with Virgin and uses the "Optus" network.  Optus works just OK, but to receive and make calls I really need to be outside or inside at the front of the house.  My deal with Virgin has been great despite the mediocre reception and the phone was a part of the deal.  I get a lot of fun from my phone.

My two year contract is up at the end of September.  Trish recently swapped mobile phone providers and is now with "Kogan" which uses a large part of the Telstra network.  The Telstra network provides great coverage from most places, certainly much better than from my Optus network.  Trish can comfortably make and receive calls from anywhere in the house.

So when my contract is up I will swap to Kogan as well and be on the Telstra network.  Unfortunately they just put their prices up considerably on the pay as you go plans.  It went up much less on the full year plan so I will be going with that.

Of course with a new phone plan I will need a new phone as well.  Yesterday I ordered a new mobile phone from China.  It is a ThL W100 and cost under $200 delivered to my front door.  A better known brand with similar specs here in Australia would cost me around 3 times that price.

I did heaps of searching and I reckon this is the best option for me.  In China ThL is a recognized brand just as Huawei is.  I paid extra for quick delivery by DHL so I hope to have it some time next week. People who have bought them here in Australia are just delighted with their purchases.

I managed a 13K bike ride this morning and got back home around 10:00am.

I have just put another brew on which I mixed up this morning after the bike ride.  Recently when I popped into the Caloundra Home Brew shop I asked the guy there what was his best selling "Lager".  It is this one (see photo left), a Morgan's 'Blue Mountain Lager'.  I will tell you what it is like in around a month's time!

At last there was a positive day to report on involving the cricket from the UK last night.  It was quite pleasant watching the first couple of hour's play.  Before that we watched a couple of episodes of "The Vikings" which unfortunately isn't one of Trish's favorites.

My footy team plays tonight and 'should' win against a lower placed team.Trish's team plays tomorrow afternoon.

Spirit Of Tibet

As I mentioned in my late Wednesday afternoon post below, Trish and I headed off to give the reopened restaurant "Spirit Of Tibet" a try.  We believe the food there is as good as most places we can get to in Melbourne.  It is clearly the best food available here on the Sunshine Coast.  Being a Wednesday we decided not to book but to just front up.  We would be early so there should be no problems getting a seat.

You can drive by any Sunshine Coast restaurant on a Wednesday evening and hardly find a soul in there.  So you can imagine our surprise when upon our arrival we were asked had we booked!

After a minute or so of counting we were shown to a table for two.  Soon after our host "Jampa" came over and was pleased we had come.  He seemed to remember us OK, especially the chilli side serve he would make for me.

He has been open less than a week and had 55 people in the opening night.  Other nights had been as busy.  Tonight was all but booked out as well and it was a Wednesday.

The crowd was just beginning to arrive as we left at around 7:30pm.  At least 6 or 8 people had eaten and left just before us.  I grabbed this quick snap with my phone as we left.

The food was as good as we had remembered and the cost was a little dearer than normal but well worth it. The only hassle is it is around a 25 minute drive away.

Another bright sunny day as we enter August.  We expect a top temp around 22 degrees so it should be pleasant outside in the backyard later on.  I managed 13k's on the bike this morning. 

Some of the day will be spent on the pool.  It has just been cleaned and I will clean the pool filter cartridge shortly.  After that I need to add a bag of salt to get the levels back to where they should be.