Wednesday 29 February 2012

Day 60: Something Fishy


These days I don't cook dinner that often, and rarely is it worthy a photo.

Somehow tonight I fluked the cooking of our salmon fillets to be just right. It was so good that I'd already eaten three quarters of mine before Belinda had taken two bites... it was then that she suggested this could be my blog entry. Of course that meant I had to stop Belinda from eating any more of her dinner so I could attempt a flattering photo of the meal. Good call my love, I was wondering what to blog about tonight.

The preparation was pretty simple: Wrap the fillet portions in baking paper with a few slices of lemon on top and a sprinkle of Dill Tips. I was going to cook them on the BBQ but it was a bit wet outside so I baked them instead. I figured about 5 mins at 200 in the oven would be about right, it ended up being more like 9 minutes in the oven because I got distracted by serving Henry's veggies first (he's not terribly patient yet). Any less time in the oven and the fish would have been far too rare... any more and it would have been a little dry. So I guess I can than Henry for our perfectly cooked fish.

I doubt I'll be able to repeat this feat, in fact I think that this is probably the pinnacle of my cooking career. Perhaps I should retire while I'm at the top of my game.

Tuesday 28 February 2012

Day 59: The Good Cat


Short on ideas for today's photo I decided to take advantage of what was at hand, namely Daisy the cat. Daisy is an odd cat, I don't think she's ever really liked me that much. It's more a tolerance thing we have between us, I tolerate her incessant and exceptionally loud mewing at the door to be let in, out and back in again while she tolerates me chasing her around the lounge room from time to time just because I'm bored.

Of the two cats that impose on us every day, Daisy really is the better behaved one. She never misses the litter tray, never sheds clumps of fur on the clean washing and almost always comes when Belinda calls her in for the night.

It wasn't always this way, she was a feral kitten to begin with and earned the name Crazy Daisy with her antics. There was one time we came home to find a whole roll of kitchen towel unravelled on the floor of the kitchen, and there was a stage she went through where she'd casually walk along a narrow shelf swatting anything that was in her way onto the floor... and I won't go into too much detail about the Nail Polish incident but let's just say that iridescent green doesn't come out of light coloured carpet very well. At least she was obsessively well toilet trained from the first day.

Today I found a use for her that didn't involve selling to the local bakery as pie filling... She has become blog fodder and that is handy when there's not much else to say. Good kitty, you can stay a little longer.

Monday 27 February 2012

Day 58: Belinda's Button


I was late to work today... I had a good excuse though. The garage man came around at 8:30 this morning to install the Garage Door Opener on the roller door that hasn't had this wonderful technology since we moved in.

When we finally had space to fit both cars in the garage it just kind of worked out that the Commodore (what I'm currently driving until my new car is ready) would only fit on the side of the garage with the remote for the door. Of course this was viewed with a little suspicion at the time and I had to promise that we'd put an auto door opener on the other side for Belinda's car.

Now Belinda has the new button which is nice and neat and fits on a keyring nicely... while I have the old school black box that's bigger than most modern point and shoot cameras.

I might have to rearrange the garage again...

Sunday 26 February 2012

Day 57: Telstra - Australian For Clueless


So after 2 days without it, the Internet came back after a visit by a Telstra technician this morning... But wait, didn't Telstra tell me that they don't have technicians that work on weekends? Didn't they give a 'commitment date' of 7pm on Monday for return to service after promising lunchtime Saturday didn't work out for them? Do they have any, and I mean ANY idea of what they're talking about at the Telstra tech support line??

At least we're back online. I hope I don't have to speak to Teltra again in a hurry, my experience to date with them has made it hard for me to believe anything that I'd be likely to hear from them.

If I didn't know my 10 year old reads this blog from time to time and also that my mum and inlaws read as well I'd probably offer up my thoughts on how I really feel about the service from Telstra in some more colourful language. I think it has been my very first rant post, I'll try to keep these to a minimum.


Saturday 25 February 2012

Day 56: Pigs Might Fly


We took Jenna and Henry to the Canberra Show today with Belinda's parents also in tow. It was hot, busy, dusty, smelly, exhausting and it was also hot. Despite the heat, the 90,000 people, the dust, the odour and the exhaustion we all had a really good time. Even sitting in the searing sun waiting for the racing pigs to be over so we could see the diving pigs was fun... well at least for henry who was happily stealing what was left of Belinda's Mango Ice Cream.

The Piggy show was pretty cool, but Henry enjoyed the animal nursery the most. I was impressed that he recognised all the animals in the flesh after having only ever seen pictures of them in his story books. He was yelling out 'Moo Moo' and 'Baa Baa' and 'Neigh Neigh' at all the right animals and then we found the Llama. It stumped him a bit, he couldn't decide if it was a 'Neigh Neigh' or a 'Baa Baa'.

Jenna also had fun playing the carny sideshows, driving the dodgem car, going on the roller coaster and of course, buying her showbag. I couldn't help myself in the showbag pavilion and ended up walking out of there with 5 showbags... 1 for Jenna, 1 for Henry, 1 for Belinda, 1 for me and one for Jenna and I to share (I wanted the ripstick and Jenna got all the lollies). A good day had by all.

We got home at around 5pm thinking that the internet should be back on since it was well after the lunchtime deadline. Well, 'Pigs Might Fly' pretty much sums how that panned out.

I spent another 40 minutes on the phone to Telstra before I spoke to a person who told me their 'commitment time' for return to service was by 7pm on Monday night. I enquired as to why I was told service would be returned by lunchtime today on my last phone call to them and was told 'oh no, we don't have technicians to work on the weekend' and 'I don't know why you were given the wrong information'.

Not impressed with Telstra.


Friday 24 February 2012

Day 55: I'll Just Call Telstra, It Won't Take Long...


Jenna was horrified to find that the Internet was broken when we got home tonight. We hadn't noticed until she alerted us to the dire situation and after resetting the modem with no improvement I thought I'd give Telstra a quick call to see if there was an issue in our area.

It took about 10 minutes of talking to a robot before being put through to a real person... who then promptly told me they had to transfer me to the Mac support team and put me on hold. Hold lasted 40 minutes and a glass of wine.

When I finally spoke to another human, and I use the term human loosely, I had to reset the modem a number of times and then log out and log back in with a new password all of which did nothing to help with connection to our Bigpond Service.

I was then told there must be a problem at the exchange, given a case number and told that the service would be returned by lunch time tomorrow. I was also to call back quoting the case number if it hadn't returned by the lunchtime deadline.

So after being on the phone for over an hour and only spending about 10 minutes actually speaking to a human I'm still without access to our Bigpond 'Service'.

I'm really glad I bought an Optus SIM for my iPad :)


Thursday 23 February 2012

Day 54: ICR For The Extremely Messy Writer


ICR software has been around for ages, the ICR stands for Intelligent Character Recognition and the software is designed to interpret handwriting and convert it into text that is editable in normal word processing programs. There are many companies that have spent incredible sums of money trying to make their ICR software work but quite often it just doesn't quite get there.

A while ago I was using my iPad to take notes in a meeting with one of my customers. The guys I met with are particularly strong on their gadgetry and always have the coolest and newest toys so it was no surprise that these guys suggested I try out this 'cool' note taking app that would convert my almost illegible scrawl into text. I was very sceptical at first and when I looked the app up and saw it was almost $10 I thought it was a bit steep and I'd probably have to adjust my writing for it to work anyway.

After having my thoughts return to it on and off over the last few weeks I finally bit the bullet and bought the app. After about 30 seconds of playing with it tonight I can only say wow... I can't believe how accurate it is even when I'm trying to be messier than I normally am with my handwriting. The guys were right, the ICR engine in this app is spookily good.

For those who're interested, the app is called '7notes HD Premium' and it costs $9.49. If you have trouble reading your own writing like I sometimes do, this could just be the app for you.


Wednesday 22 February 2012

Day 53: That's Not A Mozzy


On my way to wake Jenna up this morning I found this little chap sitting on the door jamb. Initially I thought it was a mosquito, but then I had a closer look. It didn't fly like a mozzy, it reminded me more of a moth.


After a 5 minute google search on 'T shaped moths' I found that this is a species called Pterophoridae or more simply; the Plume Moth. There are a heap of different subspecies of Pterophoridae and I have no idea which one this falls into. But it was interesting to note that some species have been used as biological control agents to combat invasive plant species like West Indian Lantana. Apparently they can also be a pest for those who are trying to propagate Artichokes, Geraniums and Snap Dragons.


So there you go. I learned something about bugs.



Tuesday 21 February 2012

Day 52: Granny Knapp


This mix of beverages is probably not something you'd see on one small table all at the one time very often. Obviously, Henry's was the milk and there's no real surprise that the Knappstein was mine. That only leaves the Dirty Granny which certainly wasn't Jenna's (she had a glass of cordial with dinner), which only leaves Belinda.

The Dirty Granny has become Belinda's beverage of choice since reading an article in Delicious about the Matilda Bay Brewing Company and their aptly name Cider. Once she'd read the article I was sent on an errand to retrieve the Dirty Granny from our local Woolies Liquor. I was impressed that they were there, in stock and already cold. It seems that what our Woolies lacks in range on the grocery front, it makes up for in varieties of booze. They've clearly got the local socioeconomic demographic nailed.

Monday 20 February 2012

Day 51: Like A Tiger


You may not know this about me, but I like my shoes almost as much as Belinda likes hers. Today's photo is of my new Onitsuka Tigers, I bought them while I was in Melbourne but I'm yet to wear them, hopefully I'll have a casual day this week and I'll be able to take them out for their maiden voyage. I've even waterproofed them in preparation.

The Onitsuka brand has an interesting story; it was founded in Japan in the 1940's and grew into the enormous ASICS corporation that most people know. They returned to the original moniker for their retro range of shoes with designs from the 60's, 70's & 80's. Mine are the Mexico 66 style, based on the shoe designed for the Japanese Olympic Team in the 1966 Mexico Olympics. They sure went all out with the creativity when coming up with this styles name... at least the design dept. came up with a good looking shoe :)






Sunday 19 February 2012

Day 50: Room To Move?


Today's project was reorganising the garage with the challenge being to fit both cars, the three remaining bikes and the box trailer in all at once. I set myself this task after offloading the old Daytona that I blew up riding at Phillip Island last year. It was the last of the superfluous toys remaining to clutter up the garage and was picked up on Saturday.

I got quite a bit done while Belinda was off at school getting some work done and Henry was asleep, it involved a lot of shuffling things about and also moving the Piano from one side to the other. From there I partook in some mental Tetris and a little pacing out of distances on the garage floor.

I wasn't able to finalise the shuffle until Belinda returned and took Henry out grocery shopping, she took the commodore instead of her 3 so she could drop a very full boot load of cardboard off for recycling on the way. The fruit of my labour is what you can see above with the Commodore sized space being just right.

It's nice to have both cars in the garage for a change, this is the first time since moving from our old place in Gilmore... I still miss the 4 car garaging we had there, but that's about all I miss of it.

Saturday 18 February 2012

Day 49: Shopping With Henry


We took a late afternoon trip in to the Canberra Centre today and what you see above is Henry's preferred position for negotiating the tight aisles of the shops. It was a bit of a challenge avoiding either knocking things off hangers & shelves or damaging those precious little legs on less flexible shop furnishings. 

I know Henry doesn't like being strapped into the stroller and would prefer to roam free, but at least you could say he makes his own fun when he is forced into immobilisation.

Friday 17 February 2012

Day 48: Sun Up Departure


After spending the day in Melbourne and taking a few photos, I've decided that I'd use the one I took on my iPhone as the plane was taxiing out onto the runway for my departure. It's so rare that I see the sunrise that I thought I should use it today as (with a little luck and fore-planing) it's unlikely to happen again this year.

The whole reason for my trip was to inspect and test drive another car, up until this point what I'd looked at had left me either unimpressed with condition of the car or unhappy with the interior/exterior colour combination. Not so today. The car drove very well, the interior and exterior condition were better than those I'd looked at previously and the all important colour combination was very appealing.

With the completion of a little negotiation I agreed to buy the car and am now looking forward to hearing back from the dealer with confirmation of a mid to late next week pick up. It will mean another day off work and a nice drive from Melbourne to Canberra that will allow me to become very familiar with the new car. I organised a pick up rather than a delivery intentionally as this way I can make sure what's been promised will be delivered prior to handing over final payment.

I'll leave photos of the car until it's all been finalised.

Thursday 16 February 2012

Day 47: Planning An Early Start


In my quest for another car I've had to widen my search parameters. Initially I'd restricted my search geographically to be within ACT or close to Sydney as I'm in Sydney pretty regularly, I even had a dealer meet me at the Hotel last week so I could test drive his car while I was up there for training.

After exhausting my options locally and in NSW, I've had to widen my search to include Melbourne. So chasing what looks to be the right car at the right price I've taken tomorrow off and have booked a return flight and car hire. This will entail getting up well before I would normally to catch the first flight out of Canberra. Those who know me will understand how desperate things have become when I'm forced to be up and out of the house by around 5:30am. This is not something I'm comfortable with and certainly not something I will do if I can avoid it. I really do prefer to be sound asleep until at least 7:45 on a weekday and much later on weekends.

With a little luck I'll be putting a deposit down and getting the towbar and delivery details organised before lunch which will give me a few hours to kill before my flight back.


Wednesday 15 February 2012

Day 46: The "Arty Farty, Had Nothing Else To Blog" Post MkII


Yep, I did it again... Another day without any blog fodder which I've used as a good excuse to play with Belinda's camera again. I really do need to upgrade so I can play with my own toys.

Last time I did this, I ended up driving the streets searching for subject matter until close to midnight. This time I only had to walk outside and look up, but I was still up until close to midnight trying to get a shot that I was happy with.

It wasn't easy. It was pitch black which makes the composition very hard to see through the camera's viewfinder, the LCD screen on the back of the camera was even less use in this respect. Then there was the amount of time each photo took, followed by almost that time again while the camera processed the image and let's not mention the enormous mosquitos

After some experimentation I ended up with what you see above, I think the shutter was open for somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes. I wish I could be more exact than that, but I really can't remember as I wasn't timing & taking notes like I should have been if I ever wanted to recreate this type of image with out going through all the experimentation again. It was obviously long enough that the rotation of our planet made the stars draw lines across in the sky. I also used Snapseed to enhance the final product a little and add the frame.

Overall I'm quite happy with how it's turned out.


Tuesday 14 February 2012

Day 45: 3G For Me


I finally got around to buying a SIM card for my iPad so I've got access to the world wide interwebs without relying on WiFi.

The smart kids can tether their iPads to their smartphones or iPhones and that's all great when you have control over your own phone bill. Unfortunately my phone is funded by work (I know, it's bloody terrible having someone pay all your phone bills) and while I do get internet access for the phone they've managed to lock down the ability to create a 'Personal Hotspot' that allows other devices to connect to the phone's internet service.

In other news: Today is Valentines Day and due to disorganisation Belinda and I have decided to delay the whole shebang until Friday night so we'll have more time to get ourselves organised to share a nice dinner and a little wine.

Day 44: The Cozy Coupe's a Cubby


After Henry's bath I decided to hang his towel over the Cozy Coupe to air it out. Henry decided that it made the car even more fun to play in and spent the next half hour climbing into and then back out of his little car yelling out "BOOO" as he emerged through the towel.

I think this might become a regular game to keep Henry entertained while dinner's being prepared. Today's photo was a little posed; not because I set it up, but because Henry saw the camera and started posing. The posing is a recent development and is only when he's in the mood, it's also something that Jenna used to do when she was a toddler.

It's always fun to discover the little things that pique Henry's interest as he's growing up and also to see the similarities and differences between brother and sister.

Monday 13 February 2012

Day 43: Allo Allo Allo, Wot 'Ave We 'Ere Then?


Day two of our jaunt  saw us riding from Bright after in glorious sunshine and on to Mount Hotham which was shrouded in low cloud that reduced visibility to around 15 meters in some sections.

Right up the top of Hotham we cruised past the Highway Patrol car pictured above. It pulled out quite quickly behind us and I started to worry. After a few minutes of tailing us the lights went on... Pete and I continued on for a little while looking for somewhere safe to pull over, Andy had done the smart thing and disappeared into the mist ahead.

I didn't think we'd been doing anything wrong, but the three bikes all have fairly noisy exhausts and I figured we were probably going to be given a talking to about the legality, or illegality as it were, of our exhaust systems.

I'm glad to say I was wrong.

After a bit of a yarn with Mick the friendly rock chucking plod we discovered that he was conducting a survey of riders that come through the area in an attempt to find out where the riders come from, why the come to Mount Hotham and why they keep falling off the roads up there. Apparently there had been two fatalities in the last two weeks up there, not good. Mick gave us a bunch of pamphlets and brochures on protective gear, choosing the right line for the corners and stats on accidents and risks associated with riding.

So why did I call Mick, our friendly Highway Patrol Officer, a rock chucker I hear you ask? Allow me to elaborate: While I was taking this photo Pete was having a bit more of a chat with Mick and noticed that his shirt was looking really grubby, I guess the constant attention Pete was showing Mick's uniform was enough for him to offer up an excuse for being such a grot. The reason he gave was that he got a bit bored waiting for bikes to show up yesterday so he decided to pick up a large rock and throw it over the edge of the hill to see how far it would roll... apparently all the kids are doing it these days. My question is: Why didn't he change his shirt from yesterday? Pete reckons that one was probably too stained with Coffee & Donuts from the day before...

The rest of the day cruised along smoothly, we managed to dodge more rain than we got caught in and only struck a small amount of hail about 30km out from Jindabyne on our return trip. We covered somewhere around 640km today and Andy dropped me home at a little before 8pm after a big day.

What an awesome weekend I've had with two good mates, but damn it's good to be home.



Day 42: Decision Time


After a great ride from Jindabyne up through Thredbo and Khancoban we pulled up for a late lunch at Corryong (at least I think that's where we stopped). The cafe was nice and we had sheltered seating outside which came in handy when it started to rain. As it was raining we took advantage of the Cafe's hospitality and cleaned our visors with the warm soapy water and cloth that was delivered out to us by the young lady who took our lunch orders, you just don't get service like that in Canberra.

I also took the opportunity to duck into the hardware store and buy a couple of ocky straps to secure my back pack to the pillion seat, it worked really well and I'll be using this method of carrying luggage for any future overnight rides.

When the rain had eased we moved on again and found some nice dry sections of road going through God knows where... well actually Pete & Andy seemed to know where they were going and I just tagged along enjoying the scenery when the roads weren't that exciting and the roads when the scenery wasn't that exciting.

Eventually we arrived at this little information bay just outside of Tawonga, behind us was blue skies and ahead it was looking pretty dark. We had a choice to make: continue on with our plan to ride through to Omeo for the night or take the next right up Tawonga Gap Road and into Bright for the night. We took the latter and ended up in Bright with time for a few beers before scoffing an impressive goat curry at the local pub.

All in all we dodged most of the rain and had a bloody good day covering somewhere around 300km with plenty more to come tomorrow.

Friday 10 February 2012

Day 41: Almost Organised / Return Of The Bee


I'm off to the Snowy Mountains tomorrow with Pete & Andy for a weekend ride that should take us from the NSW alps to the Vic alps. We're towing the bikes to Jindabyne to avoid the Canberra to Cooma stretch that is so mind numbingly boring.

This arvo I loaded the R1 that I've now taken to calling 'the Baboon' and my old steed which is now Pete's Bee into the trailer ready for Andy to pick me up in the morning. The more observant of you may have noticed that the Baboon is missing a mirror, this is intentional. Whilst two bikes do fit into the trailer fairly well, when they both have mirrors that are in very similar positions they will hit. I took the Baboon's mirror off instead of the Bee's because the Bee has the integrated indicators built into the mirrors and the wires can be a little fiddly to thread back through when trying to re-install.

Now I just need to get a good nights sleep and get up early enough to pack a bag before Andy arrives.

Day 40: A Very Long Day


After a full day of product training that involved sitting, listening and being shuffled from one room to another all the while feeling a little tired from the previous nights activities I drove my colleagues back to Canberra. I was comfortable in the role of chauffeur and aside from the 10 minute stop at Marulan for a 'comfort stop' and some Hungry Jacks we drove straight through.

The hire car was a current model Calais which is not that different to Belinda's Commodore, just a little more plush with the leather seats and dual zone climate control. I was glad to be in a car I was familiar with because I knew how to disable the annoying rest reminder that chimes at you every 2 hours, I was also able to set the time correctly (it was 10 minutes fast when I picked it up).

I was interested to see how the newer V6 engine felt and performed compared to our older non SIDI V6 so I reset the trip computer before we headed up the highway.

The end result was actually pretty impressive: 4 adults with over night bags traveled around 690km with an average speed of 88.5kmh and average fuel consumption of 8.8 litres per 100km. It still had a good quarter of a tank when I got home. The SIDI engine still felt as good as our Commodore but the economy really was better than what I'm used to in the SV6, I have to congratulate Holden on the evolution of their V6 powerplant... I just wish they'd been able to come up with a better name for it that "Spark Ignition Direct Injection". I mean really, it's a petrol engine, where else is ignition going to come from if not from a spark?

Day 39: The Last Thing I Saw Before Bed


I spent this afternoon driving up to Sydney in with 3 colleagues for a conference that's on tomorrow. The theory was that if we drove up and stayed at the hotel the conferences is being held at the night before, we'd be in far better shape for the conference than if we all had to get up early for the first flight out of Canberra. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Two of my 3 colleagues are quite into their wine so there were 4 bottles of exceptional wine to have with dinner. Of course before drinking wines that are 20 - 30 years old you need to cleanse your palate with a beer or two.

My entree was Pigs Head Terrine, Watercress & Crispy Pigs Ear, which  was delicious despite the name being off putting to those who are a little sensitive. The main of Cape Grim Pasture-Fed Scotch Fillet & Roast Garlic Butter with sides of French Fries and Snow Peas for the table was among the best steaks I've had in a long time.

It's fair to say that these dishes were enhanced with the selection of wines provided by my colleagues and naturally after dinner we went to the pub down stairs for another cleansing ale. Then, sensibly, we decided it was time to go back to the hotel... where the bar was still open so one or two Gin & Tonics were enjoyed before being prompted to retire for the night by the closure of the hotel bar.

So much for an early night. It wasn't long before midnight when I realised that I didn't have a photo for the day, so I snapped the view from my room overlooking Darling Harbour on my iPhone before falling in to the very large and very comfortable bed.

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Day 38: Goodies At The Post Office



I found one of those notes that tells you a parcel is waiting for you at the Post Office when I got home yesterday, so this afternoon I picked it up.

About a week ago I'd ordered some goodies from Torpedo7 and as usual their delivery was pretty quick. They're a New Zealand based online store specialising in outdoorsy type things like mountain bike parts, road cycling stuff, snowboard gear, camping paraphernalia, motorcross bits & pieces and they've recently added a fishing line (pun intended) to their already wide selection.

My new dirt bike lift stand and tie down straps look the goods and I'm sure they'll be put to use soon.

It's always nice to get something other than a bill in the mail.

Day 37: The "Arty Farty, Had Nothing Else To Blog" Post



I arrived home from work today and realised I hadn't taken a photo... nor did I have anything in mind to take a photo of. What was I to do??

After a little thought interspersed with a lot of procrastination I decided I'd highjack Belinda's Nikon again and play with the 'Bulb' setting and the tripod. The sky was still blue and I could see it was going to be quite a full moon, what better opportunity to try a long exposure shot of the night sky!

After the nightly chaos that only Henry can create had subsided (yes, this means he was now asleep) I borrowed the Nikon and discovered the Battery was flat... bugger. So I put the battery on charge and waited patiently for there to be enough charge to take couple of quick shots.

Finally the battery was charged. I set the camera up on the tripod and headed outside for my photo shoot... Great... not a star in the sky. It had become so overcast I couldn't even tell where the moon was.

Now what??

I decided to go for a drive to find something, anything, to photograph. I ended up doing a lap of Lake Tuggeranong and the end result is what you see above. It took while... I didn't get home until 11:45pm, but the job was done and I had my photo of the day.


Sunday 5 February 2012

Day 36: All tuckered out


After all the excitement yesterday with selling the boat (still sad) and test driving BMWs (still undecided) we decided we'd cool off at the Blacktown Leisure Centre this morning. We've been there before with Jenna and she loves the place... well, it's really the wave pool that she loves.

After a short adjustment period, Henry actually enjoyed the water today which was nice as the last time we took him to a pool he was kind of freaked out. It was great to have him laughing his little laugh as I swooshed him though the water toward Jenna who would try to give him a kiss, they both had such a good time and shared so many giggles.

It's funny how a few hours in the water can make you so exhausted, Henry was already due for a sleep but even when he's really tired he doesn't crash in the car seat within 60 seconds of being strapped in. He didn't even wake up when I carried him from the car seat (shortly after this photo was taken) into the house and put him in bed. I think we were all a little tuckered out.




Saturday 4 February 2012

Day 35: A Boat's New Abode


It's happened. My boat has found a new home. I really don't like selling the toys I've chosen to love and hold on to but like I said on day one: 'Sometimes life gets in the way of a good time'. At least with my three sales this year I'm 100% confident that those who've bought my pre-loved toys will continue the love affairs.

First there was the GSXR... I can categorically say that Pete is loving the 'bee', plus I get to see it regularly (it's even in my garage right now).

Then there was the Evo... After meeting Luke and helping him load it onto the car trailer I know he loves that car as much as I did... maybe even more.

And now the boat, this is the toy I was most attached to. I fell in love with it the first time I saw the photo on Boatsales just over 4 years ago. With it, I had possibly the best Christmas of all time with my family on the Molonglo River and some great weekends at Burrinjuck with mates and family too. Then there was the trip to Wisemans Ferry for my mate Kyle's bucks weekend... it didn't get much use that weekend but it was great to have it there anyway.

After talking to Locky over the last couple of days and meeting him, his mates, his dad and his girlfriend today I know the boat will be loved. Locky even offered to take me out for a wakeskate/board anytime I was up in Sydney and I do believe I'll be taking him up on that offer.

I've been sad most of this afternoon. Even car shopping and test driving V8 BMWs hasn't really helped me shake the mood. I know I'll get used to it but I also know the next time I go to the garage it'll hit me all over again... she's gone and is now being loved by someone else... but it's OK, I know we'll meet again.

Friday 3 February 2012

Day 34: Last Minute Inclusions


After a couple of phone calls yesterday and a few more today I had to make an executive decision to take the Commodore to visit the in-laws this weekend. We were planning to take Belinda's new car (previously mentioned on Day 30) to show it off to Belinda's parents, but instead we needed to take the Commodore so we could tow the boat.

I've had it advertised for sale since the first of Jan (see my first post, Day 1) and subject to a satisfactory test drive I'm confident it will be sold tomorrow, so this afternoon I loaded the car up with all the usual stuff along with the box of spares and then hooked the trailer up... all in the drizzle that was steadily working its way up to being proper rain.

The interesting about the rain is that it actually made the boat wet for the first time in just over two years. I'm looking forward to taking it out on the water again tomorrow, I think that even if I don't sell it I'll be happy that I got to take it out for a run.

Thursday 2 February 2012

Day 33: Yamalube & Tools


I've been in the process of doing an oil & filter change on the R1 for about a week now. It all started well with removing the lower fairing and draining the oil from the sump. It all came unstuck when I tried to remove the oil filter itself, limited space behind the headers and incorrect tools next to impossible to remove.

So yesterday I finally went back to the Yamaha shop where I'd already purchased 4 litres of Yamalube (I don't know why, but I have a hard time saying 'Yamalube' with a straight face) and an oil filter so I could also buy the correct tool for the job. It's the little circular thing leaning against the oil filter box above and as I discovered this evening, it really does make the job *that* much easier.

Now that the oil's been refreshed and the filter is new I'm feeling much more ready for next weekend's Snowy adventure with with Pete & Andy.




Wednesday 1 February 2012

Day 32: Bikers Can't Read























I ducked across the road today to grab a pie from the Harley Davidson shop in Fyshwick, their Beef & Red Wine Pie really is worth crossing the road for.

As I hopped out of the car I noticed this little scene and had a chuckle. Just read the small sign above the bike in the middle and you'll understand. The funnier thing is that these aren't illiterate customers bikes, they've been put on display by the very shop that put the sign up and painted the lines in their parking area.

I'm always up for ridiculing those who ride in the 'Child Birthing Position' so it got me thinking maybe this was intentional... maybe it ties in with the whole bad boy image that comes free when you buy a Harley... maybe the shop staff are rebelling against the owners rules in an attempt to show that they have little regard for 'The Man' (even if the 'The Man' they're rebelling against pays their wages)... maybe swinging your leg over a Harley really does decrease your IQ in direct proportion to the increase in antisocial behaviour.

Whatever the reason, it made my lunch break just that little more enjoyable.