Friday 31 August 2012

Day 244: Local Landmark 6


I was in the area for a meeting today so I pulled up for a quick photo. Normally I take a bunch of photos and then sort through them before editing and then posting. Today I had a fair bit on my plate so I literally stopped, hopped out of the car, took one photo and got back in the car to head back to work.

I liked the way the sky looked today, and with a little Snapseed Dramafication it kind of steals the focus from the Local Landmark being Old Parliament House. But I don't mind that and I quite like the photo.

Thursday 30 August 2012

Day 243: Sick Day


Henry was sent home early from Day Care yesterday afternoon with quite a high temperature, we took him straight to the Doctor and were told to keep him home for the next two days and bring him back on Monday to see how the Antibiotics were working.

He was far from his normal self today, until he talked me into taking him outside. Now, when I say 'talked me into' I really mean he stood at the back door with tears in his eyes crying 'ousside! ousside! ousside!' until I caved in. It wasn't very warm out and normally Monkey and Bear stay inside, but today Henry insisted that they come outside with us. All three of them had a few runs on the slide and Henry was finally smiling, he was even helping Monkey and Bear climb the ladder of the slide.

After only a little while outside I had to pull the pin and drag Henry, Monkey and Bear back inside. The cold was making Henry's nose run like a tap and with that, my reprieve from the grizzles was gone... at least for a while. Eventually, after Henry had calmed down, we had a nice, quiet day at home together.

Wednesday 29 August 2012

Day 242: Another Day, Another Forgotten Photo


So I didn't take a photo again today and instead of resorting to another 'Arty Farty' photo as there have been a few too many lately, I thought I'd just dig up something interesting about todays' date.

Is it a special date? Well, no. Not really. Unless you're a massive fan of Ingrid Bergman, Michael Jackson, Lenny Henry or Slobodan Milosovic and were looking to celebrate their collective birthdays. Or maybe you're mourning the loss of Ingrid Bergman (yes, she died on her birthday 20 years ago), Lee Marvin (15 years ago) or John the Baptist (Beheaded 1,983 years ago) who all passed away on this day, although there was the odd year or two between them all.

I'd like to thank Google for the information contained in today's ramblings.



Tuesday 28 August 2012

Day 241: All Tuckered Out


I picked Henry up from Day Care this afternoon and he seemed a little tired, instead of his normal big smile and funny little run over to meet me he just kind of stood up and strolled over for a cuddle.

From Day Care we headed to Jenna's place to pick her up for the night and barely 5 minutes up the road I looked back and he was asleep. He stirred a little when picking Jenna up but was fast asleep again in a matter of minutes.

Unfortunately I had to buy some stuff for dinner tonight on the way home which required a stop off at the Calwell Woolies with the kids. I would normally have just taken them in to help with the groceries, but instead of waking Henry up I left him in Jenna's care, locked in the car.

Today's photo was taken with the iPhone before I hurried into Woolies, I thought it was cute how he had flaked out with his sunnies on.

Monday 27 August 2012

Day 240: George Is Wet


On the way back from Wallerawang today we decided to have a little rest stop at the Lake George lookout. There is quite a bit of water in Lake George at the moment and it's something of a novelty because for so many years there was nothing there but an enormous, flat, paddock.

The drive home from The Wang was a sedate affair and this little stop was a good opportunity to stretch the legs a little and take a quick photo of the 'Lake'.

After getting back to Matts, unloading his bike and then hooking the trailer back up to my car I headed in to Fyshwick to pick up the Ginger Ninja. With both bikes in tow I made my way home, unloaded, rearranged the garage and then went in to the shops to replace Henry's sun glasses that had been eaten by the dog while I was away. By the time I finished all that, Belinda was home with Henry and any ideas I'd had of a quiet nap had gone out the window... although I did squeeze in a little Nanna Nap on the couch before Henry's bath time.

I'm back at work tomorrow and am feeling like I need a week of to recover from my weekend. At least this time I didn't come home with 6 stitches in my face and the need to replace the handlebars on my bike like I did last year.

So for me, the score card reads like this:
Great riding, check.
Great company, check.
Drinking too much with the boys, check.
No bike damage, check
No injuries, check.

5 out of 5 - a perfect score on the Funometer.

Sunday 26 August 2012

Day 239: So Long, Sofala


I don't know about the rest of the guys, but I woke up feeling a little dusty this morning. We had an early start with a full day ahead of us and the guys from Sunny Corner Trail Tours kicked it off for us with hot coffee and Egg & Bacon Rolls hot off the BBQ, these guys are brilliant. The breakfast was just what the doctor ordered, I was feeling much better and ready to tackle the trails our guides were about to inflict on us. There was talk of Mt Horrible which had a few of us a little concerned, but that was due later in the day.

The ride was, for the most part, fairly gentle today. Even Mount Horrible wasn't that bad, although there were a few who didn't make it up first go and a few others who either walked or were doubled on the back of one of our guides bikes while someone else rode their bike to the top. I made it on my second attempt, my mistake was attempting it in 3rd gear. I just wasn't going fast enough to keep the revs in the power range in 3rd, but in 2nd it was a great climb that I enjoyed. One of the guys made it most of the way to the top, he was had a few hundred meters to go when his chain snapped. It was still very steep where it broke but between 5 of us we were able to push it up the remainder of the hill taking a few breathers on the way. I think we were all glad the chain broke on a small 250cc bike and not one of the heavier 450cc or >500cc bikes.

Eventually we made our way back to Wallerawang and packed the bikes away in the cellar again. Then it was back into the pub for an end of the tour celebration, the pub had put on a roast for us and we all had a few helpings along with many beers. The evening then took on a life of its own when someone brought out a round of shots... I don't remember who started it, but I do remember continuing on with it and then laughing with the guys before collapsing into bed that the publican would think he'd been robbed when he came in tomorrow because the entire top shelf was missing... at least he'd think he'd been robbed until he looked in the till.

Saturday 25 August 2012

Day 238: Stopped For A Breather


Last night went on for a while, it was around 2am when I finally climbed into bed only to be woken by my alarm again at 6:45. We had our riders briefing scheduled for 8:30ish and I wanted to be ready, so after a quick shower I took a wander down Main St to find some Coffees and Egg & Bacon Rolls. The Wang bakery didn't disappoint and I made it back to the cabin that Matt and I were sharing to have breakfast and get geared up for the day ahead.

We all rode off not much after 8:30 and within minutes we were winding our way through twisty little trails and up steep climbs that were either rocky or muddy or a combination of both. My photo for today was taken at one of the many stops we made to catch our breath and wait for the last guys to arrive. At this stop, directly behind where I was standing to take it, we all watched some clown in a Jeep try to negotiate a very boggy bit of track that had already been chewed up by previous four wheel drives. He didn't make it far before all four wheels were spinning while he was stationary, it kept us amused for a little while before we headed off again on our way to Sofala.

The trails we rode were great and varied, there was every thing from tight single trail to open fire trails and some dirt roads with long and slippery causeway crossings. I can see why our guides like living and riding in this part of the country. By the time we made it to Sofala it was cooling down and we all took turns in the shower before heading downstairs for a few beers before dinner. At dinner we pretty much filled the little restaurant in Sofala, the food was quite good and the company was great. After dinner it turned out to be another fairly big night at the bar, I think the red wine with dinner may have been a mistake after all the beers both before hand and after. One of the guys even bought some white Port which was shared as a bit of a night cap.

It was another great night out with the boys and I hadn't laughed so much throughout the course of a night in ages, the conversations at our table had me in stitches. Unfortunately most of it, or at least the parts I remember, really shouldn't be repeated.

Friday 24 August 2012

Day 237: The Convoy


Three vehicles, three trailers and nine bikes all met up at the Eagle Hawk Servo this morning and took off up the highway. We stopped for a counter lunch and a beer or two (for some it was more) at the Taralga pub on the way up and some of us needed to take more 'pit stops' than others along the way to Wallerawang.

We met up with two more guys at 'The Wang' this afternoon giving us a total of eleven riders for our two days of riding. Once we'd arrived we unloaded the bikes, stashed them in the cellar under the Pub and headed in for more beers and another counter meal.

I had every intention of taking it easy and getting an early night for the full days riding ahead of me on Saturday. Funny how it never really works out that way when you get a bunch of guys together in a pub without anyone but the publican to tell them it's time to go to bed. This is even more so the case when you haven't seen some of the guys since last years ride, there's always so much to catch up on. This is bound to be a weekend full of good mates, great riding and copious consumption.

Thursday 23 August 2012

Day 236: Loaded Up, Ready To Go


I loaded the Dirty Husky into the trailer tonight because I'm off in the morning to Wallerawang with Matt and 9 other guys for a weekend of riding. We'll be led into, around and through the Sunny Corner State Forrest by the guys at Sunny Corner Trail Tours. I did a ride with these guys last year for the first time and it was awesome: The trails were great, the group of guys were good fun and the organised tour was exceptional.

This year, it's a few of the same guys from last year with some new faces and the overnight tour will be going to a different pub. It's also the last run for the Sunny Corner Trail Tours guys, they're calling it a day after our tour which is a real shame because they put on such a good ride. I'm sure they'll have some special trails lined up for us as a farewell gift.


Wednesday 22 August 2012

Day 235: Belated Birthday Bonus


I found an unexpected parcel in the letterbox this afternoon and was having a lot of trouble trying to remember what it was that I'd bought online. This does happen to me from time to time; I buy something late at night before shuffling off to bed and then the next thing I know is there's a package waiting for me and I can't remember what it is that I must have ordered.

This time however, I was pleasantly surprised by a late birthday gift from Dave & Dani. It's an iPhone mounting thingy that you can attach to the handle bars of your pushbike, I'll be having a bit of a play with it to see if it will work on the ZX14 when it comes back from having some suspension work done. If it works the Ginger Ninja will be almost as cool as Andy's K16 with its fancy integrated Sat Nav... almost.

Tuesday 21 August 2012

Day 234: The "Arty Farty, Had Nothing Else To Blog" Post MkVI


Here we go again, I've returned to scrounging around the house for something interesting because I didn't take a photo today. This is my 6th one of these and it's nearly the end of August so I'm averaging a little less than one day per month where I'm stuck for a photo. I guess that's not so bad but I'm rapidly running out of ideas for these last minute photo shoots.

My subject today is pretty self explanatory although I did have to squat a little to get the angle right so our light fitting, which is close to a meter in diameter, would fit inside the mirror that is a little bigger than a sheet of A4 paper. I like the way the light fitting is framed by the mirror from this angle.

Monday 20 August 2012

Day 233: A Little Worn


I bought new rear pads for the Husky to day and chucked them in this afternoon... I noticed they were 'a little worn' on Saturday arvo when I was refitting the rear wheel after having a new tyre fitted. It's safe to say that 'a little' was quite the understatement, the green one on the left is down to the metal backing plate in the top left corner as it sits in the photo and the other was down to what I'm estimating is a little under 1mm. Oops. I'm sure Pete will try to rib me for lack of maintenance on this... I'll just have to refer him to his throttle cable.

I'll have to fit the front pads another night during the week, and I also need to re-oil my air filter and attach my rego label. After all that the Dirty Husky will be ready for the trek Sunny Corner on Friday and two days of riding through some spectacular bush. Last time I did this two day ride I came home with 6 stitches in my chin, I'll be doing my best to avoid anything similar this time.

Sunday 19 August 2012

Day 232: Googong Goodies


The good folk from the Googong development arranged a builders guild exhibition for today, it was a chance to see all the builders who are approved to build in the development in one place. We had a wander around and spoke to most of the builders, collected a bunch of business cards and left our details with those whose details we collected. I'm sure we'll be getting a few calls next week.

Upon arrival at the expo we were given a little Googong show bag that contained a few brochures and other things we didn't look at. The thing we did look at is the subject of my photo today: The little tin of Jelly Beans. We actually got 3 of these which can only be attributed to walking in with two kids - one each for the kids and the one in the show bag, kids really can be useful. The jelly beans are very yummy and are mostly gone already.

So, the highlight of the day was the Jelly Beans. I'm sure the Googong folk would be pleased to hear that.

Saturday 18 August 2012

Day 231: Confined Spaces


I can't wait to get into the new house with a far more spacious garage.

This afternoon I put the wheels back on the Husky, I got them back from the bike shop with fresh new tyres earlier in the week. The space you see is what I had to work in for the rear and the front was marginally larger at around a square meter. And this is with the Ginger Ninja off getting its forks seals replaced.

I really need to have a bit of a garage reorganisation session soon, but the priority for now is getting the Husky ready for Sunny Corner next weekend. While I was putting the rear back on I noticed the rear brake pads were looking a little worn, I think I'll be back at the bike shop on Monday for some more supplies.

Friday 17 August 2012

Day 230: Happy Little Vegemite


This morning Henry really made a meal of his Vegemite Toast, at least this time he managed to keep it out of his hair. He has been getting much, well, neater with his eating of late. He's hardly been spilling anything off his spoon or fork but every now and again he'll get into a bit of a crazy mood and will just make mess. This morning was one of those mealtimes, I was particularly impressed with how he managed to get the black blob onto the tip of his nose.

Thursday 16 August 2012

Day 229: More Kitchen Escapades


I've been on a bit of a roll with the cooking over the last few days. Tonight Belinda was off getting her hair done so I was on dinner duties again, Belinda suggested I used the mince we had in the fridge to make a cottage pie with the instructions of 'just make a savoury mince and put in some worcestershire sauce because that always tastes good in cottage pie'. I can't remember exactly what I put in there, or the quantities, so I doubt I'll ever be able to recreate this dish exactly which is a bit of a shame because I thought it tasted pretty good.

I was home sick today and because I slept until after lunch time I didn't really have the opportunity to take a photo, to I had to combine my kitchen escapades with my blog-ography (I just made that up, feel free to use it). I'll try to avoid having 3 entries in a row of antics in the kitchen again, sorry about that.

Wednesday 15 August 2012

Day 228: Happy Birthday Belinda!


Just a little something I whipped up this afternoon for Belinda's birthday. You know you've done a decent job when you're asked 'Did you really make that? No, really, where did you buy it?'. For the record I really did bake this cake, I even cut the strawberries, whipped the cream and dusted it with icing sugar all by myself.

It's not as good as my Nan's legendary sponges but I'm pretty proud of my effort today. I googled 'sponge cake recipes' and found quite a few but I chose this one from taste.com.au because it's called the 'Basic sponge Cake' and I figured if it's basic I should be ok. Turns out it wasn't as hard as I thought it might be and the cakes only took about 30 minutes to bake.

I loved being able to surprise Belinda with this little bit extra for her birthday, her initial disbelief made it all worthwhile but I Henry's reaction was even more priceless. When he saw the cake his eyes just about popped out of his head and he started doing his little happy jig while pointing and yelling out 'Cake!! Cake!!'.

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Day 227: Spaghetti


Tuesday night is usually my night for doing dinner and tonight was no exception. It was an easy one this week though because we had a fair bit of left over Bolognese sauce that only needed stretching out with a tin of tomatoes and some more mushrooms to feed the four of us.

Initially in my photo tonight I wanted to capture the way the pasta had fallen in the pot and made a pretty pattern, but because the water was bubbling away it didn't really look as good as I'd hoped. Instead I took this photo that I then cropped it in close to avoid showing the mess I'd made of the stove top... I think it looks alright anyway.

Monday 13 August 2012

Day 226: Skippy


I was so happy about having my Camera to use again that I took a bit of a drive down to Tharwa via Point Hut Crossing this afternoon in the hope of taking a decent photo. I stopped off for a look around at the Tharwa bridge and as I was heading back to the road from the little car park at the bridge I spotted these 3 and pulled over for a few happy snaps.

They were only about 10 meters away and the big one looking directly at me was huge. I reckon he would have been at least 6 feet tall when standing up, probably even taller. His eyes never left me the whole time I was there taking photos either.

The picture is a little grainy because the light wasn't great, it was a little after 5:30 when I took this photo and the sun was well on its way behind the hills. Still better than what it would have looked like on the old Canon I was using until I got the Nikon and I won't even mention the iPhone...

Sunday 12 August 2012

Day 225: There You Are!




I left this behind in the boot of my car last Friday and had to make do with the iPhone while in Sydney... as far as a camera goes, the iPhone really sucks. I was going to take this photo with the iPhone as a reminder to myself not to leave the Nikon behind again, but the images were so crap I gave up and used Belinda's little Sony.

I just keep thinking about how much better my photos from Saturday night would have been if I'd had  real camera. So annoying... I'll do my best not to leave the camera behind again.

Saturday 11 August 2012

Day 224: Not So Local Landmark


After a full day in a small conference room at the Novotel we were shipped off to Circular Quay to catch our Captain Cooks Cruise Dinner vessel. There weather has been very windy all day with rain on and off, it's not really the weather you'd hope for on a dinner cruise. At least it's not cold out here by Canberra standards.

The dinner wasn't what you'd call spectacular but I guess these cruises are more about the views than the food. As we were cruising about I had my photo responsibilities fresh in my mind after last nights last minute view from the hotel room, each time we passed anything of interest I'd dash up onto the roof, sometimes into the rain, to grab an iPhone photo. Most of them were crap because the light was obviously low and most of the photo opportunities were a long way in the distance. These are things the iPhone doesn't cope well with. Then we passed Luna Park quite closely so headed out into the rain again and I managed to grab this photo as well as a couple of the Harbour Bridge. I liked this one the best so this is my photo for today.

Friday 10 August 2012

Day 223: Views of Manly


I don't get a weekend this week, the boss has arranged for us to spend tomorrow and Sunday in Manly for a branch planning session. We had the choice of flying up or driving in a hire car, I chose the latter with one of my colleagues and we left late morning.

At least the boss is making it worth while, we arrived at the Novotel Sydney Manly Pacific hotel in time to check in and head to the bar for a quiet beverage before being taken to Le Kiosk for dinner. The food was very good, so was the service and the wine. I'd happily dine here again if I'm out this way again.

I did have full intentions of bringing my camera with me for the weekend workfest but I realised about an hour out of canberra that I'd left it in the boot of my car at work. This means I've had to resort to the iPhone for my photo today and I'll have to do the same tomorrow. Tonights photo is the lovely view I have from my room, pretty hey? I seem to do these types of photos when I'm away for a night or two with work, I tend to forget about the photo until I'm heading to bed. I'll be away for a few days again early in September, although this time should present more opportunities for photos. Stay tuned.


Thursday 9 August 2012

Day 222: The "Arty Farty, Had Nothing Else To Blog" Post MkV


Yep, it's another one. Didn't get around to taking a photo today so I searched the house for some more arty fartiness.

This is a close up of Belinda's lamp, it makes pretty cool shadows on the walls when it's on but they weren't showing up so well in a photo so I changed tact and shot the lamp itself. I tried a couple of photos but ended up choosing this one instead of the full view of the lamp because I preferred the way the light and shade looked closer up.

Wednesday 8 August 2012

Day 221: Olympic Fever


Olympic fever... well, maybe it's more just a slight temperature. I haven't really been too into the Olympics this year.

Tonight I watched a bit of the 49er class sailing and while I was sitting on the couch watching the Aussies float about in their 'Already won Gold but have to make it look like we're trying' final race, I thought I'd cheat a little and take a photo.

I tried to get a good shot of the 'Gennaker' which is a term I hadn't heard before the commentators mentioned it. It obviously a mixture of the words 'Genoa' and 'Spinnaker' and toe me the sail itself looks to be more of a loose, collapsable Genoa because a Spinnaker is a big sail for heading down wind that has a pole attached to the outer corner to help hold its shape, it also collapses like the Gennaker does. A Genoa is usually pulled in tighter when in use furled around the front mast stay when it's not in use, Mum would be able to tell me if I'm theorising correctly on this.

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Day 220: Local Landmark 5


As I was leaving Civic this afternoon I noticed the Captain Cook Water Jet was on so I pulled in for a quick photo. After taking a couple of pictures I realised I didn't know much about it apart from its name.

Once again I was forced to resort to Google and I found lots of info on it, these are the bits that I found interesting:
- The Jet is run by two pumps that can pump 250 litres of water every second.
- There are two nozzles that direct the water into the air
- One nozzle is for when both pumps are running, this one shoots the water up to 147 meters into the air
- The other nozzle is for when only one pump is running and this one shoots water 110 meters high
- When the water leaves the main nozzle it's traveling at 260 kilometers per hour
- While the jet is in operation there is approximately 3 tonnes of water in the air at one time while one pump is running and 6 tonnes while both are running.

Wow, pretty cool hey?

Monday 6 August 2012

Day 219: Fork 'n Mess


Pete noticed that my forks were leaking oil on Saturday after we'd put his bike back together and were about to head off for our next stop. Both sides had a fair bit of oil on them which would explain why the front felt a little mushy. Unfortunately there's very little you can do about leaking fork seals when you're a long way from home, so I had to keep riding as they were.

At every stop on Sunday I was keeping an eye on them but when I got home I had a proper look. The photo above is what I found: Fork oil all over the brake calipers and lower fork leg, it had also sprayed up onto the lower fairing a bit too. You'd think that with all that oil on the brakes they wouldn't work very well but the only real difference I felt was in the initial application, they just didn't bite like the did before, other than that they still felt pretty good. Looks like I'll be making another appointment with Laurie 'Suspension' Smith in the next week or so.

Sunday 5 August 2012

Day 218: Bonus Day


Apart from Pete getting a new throttle cable yesterday, another good thing came out of his breakdown: We were delayed long enough that there was no way we'd be able to make it home in the remainder of the day.

This is good because it meant we had an excuse to spend the night in Marlo on the way home and we could extend our trip back to include stopping in Cann River for Breakfast, taking the Imlay Road toward Eden and the up to Bombala through Wyndham and Cathcart. From Bombala it was a pretty uneventful ride in to Cooma and then the boring stretch back to Canberra.

My photo today was taken out the front of the cabin we stayed in at the Marlo Caravan Park, we were just about to head off and it was looking like the weather would be good to us. It was a good day weather wise... until we got to Cathcart where the wind stated to pick up and by the time we rode through Bombala it was cold and blowing a gale.

I was glad to get home at around lunch time and out of the cold, I didn't have that much unpacking to do because I was wearing most of it. I think I counted 8 layers on top which wasn't counting my Dri-Rider Jacket or the one piece rain suit that I was wearing to keep the wind out. What a great couple of days.

Saturday 4 August 2012

Day 217: Bits Of BMW


Who'd have thought it would take so long to change over a throttle cable? We arrived at Heyfield a bit after 12:30 and started dismantling Pete's bike on the footpath, we needed to completely remove both side fairings and the fuel tank to access the engine end of the throttle cable. Once we'd pulled it all apart there was a fair bit of fiddling about with pulling the junction box out so we could remove the end of the cable that was still in there.

Just to make our job a little more fun, the bike had developed a flat battery as well. When we left the bike here overnight we had an inkling that we wouldn't make it back before midday, the time that the shop looking after Pete's bike was closing. The guy who'd let us store the bike had wheeled it out the front and had left the accessories switch on causing the radio to flatten the battery. This meant that after spending just over 2 hours replacing the throttle cable we had to push start it to make sure the repair was effective. Push starting a 250+ kilo two cylinder BMW wasn't too bad, it started on the 3rd attempt after Pete tried it in 3rd gear instead of locking the rear wheel up with the engine compression in 2nd. 

Before all this had happened we'd payed a quick visit to Wapshott Motors to collect payment for the warranty repairs that were required a couple of months ago. After being mucked around for months with the old 'the cheque's in the mail' story, then actually receiving a cheque that couldn't be processed because it was dated incorrectly I figured dropping in to collect in person was the only way I was likely to see anything from this dodgy dealer. The pick up was fairly painless and hopefully this will be the end of the dramas that I've had with the car. At least I was able to tie this little mission in with a road trip on the bike.

Friday 3 August 2012

Day 216: Happy Birthday To Me


Andy, Pete and I left my place just after 7 this morning for our ride to Melbourne to watch the footy, celebrate my birthday and go on a little debt collecting mission.

The ride down was cold enough for us all to put on an extra pair of socks at our first stop in Bombala. After that it was a little more comfortable and Andy took us on some great roads, until Pete broke his throttle cable somewhere between Maffra and Heyfield. He was able to limp it in to Heyfield using the fast idle (normally used like a choke when the bike is cold) where we left it in the care of the local hardware store/Suzuki dealer.

Eventually we made it to Pete's sister's place in Fitzroy where we were welcomed with some pre footy beers. Andy slapped a Hawks hat on my head and we were pretty much ready to catch the tram in to the MCG. What an experience and what a game, for my first time at the MCG and my first game of AFL I don't think we could have had a more exciting game. The Hawks let the Cats get off to a strong lead in the first quarter and then fought their way back to be in front by a few points in the fourth, unfortunately the Cats had one last kick at goal on the full time siren and didn't miss giving them the win by 2 points.

Despite the loss we were still in good spirits (the beers may have helped with that) so we Trammed it back in to Fitzroy for Pizza and a glass of wine before retiring back to Pete's sister's place for the night.

I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my birthday.

Thursday 2 August 2012

Day 215: Cold


The car has been living outside since I got it back because we still haven't sold the Commodore. This morning I was greeted by a roof lined with small, spiky icicles when I went out to put Henry in the car. At least the windscreen was clear, our driveway catches the morning sun and it had managed to defrost the windscreen but hadn't worked its way up to the roof yet. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come tomorrow when I'll be heading out on the bike at 7am.

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Day 214: Perfectly Packaged Parts


A little parcel arrive for me today, in it was the Triumph QuickShifter I ordered to replace the one that broke while Pete was riding my bike at Wakefield a couple of months ago.

I'm pretty impressed with how these are packaged from the factory, they come in a sturdy little plastic case that is lined with the spongy foam that you can see the unit sitting on in todays photo. The case has a pair of little clips that secure it closed, pinching the Quickshifter firmly between the layers of foam. It's got me wondering what else I could use the case for after I fit the part, I'm sure I'll find something to use it for.