And here's a couple of pics....
Friday 30 May 2008
Oh nothing...
The bathroom tap has been dripping for a couple of weeks, and I finally got around to fixing it. The day before, I put the plug in at 8pm to see what sort of loss we were getting...and this is what the bath looked like after 15 hrs! Amazing really init...from a drip.
And here's a couple of pics....
And here's a couple of pics....
Thursday 29 May 2008
Snakelet
'Forgive me father for i have sinned...it has been 10 days since my last confession...'
...can't believe I used to do all that stuff.
Anyway, its a while since I did a blog, and partly this has been due to a heavy workload, and partly due to not having all that much to report.
However, today we had a little (emphasis on little) distraction.
I was in one of those operations meetings that I mentioned a while back, and got a phone call. Actually I got several phone calls, all of which I ignored, until by the time the 5th one came along, i thought perhaps i should reply. It wasn't that important, but I'd left the room and was then the only operational manager that wasn't in a meeting. As such, it fell to me to deal with an issue. I was informed that a snake had been found in one of the structure stillages... and when I asked.... I was told it was a brown snake. Now many of you may not realise this, but an Eastern Brown snake is one of the most deadly snakes in the world. It strikes without being provoked, and is responsible for most of the deaths that occur from snake bites.
We have a sign on the wall about what to do. Here it is - you'll need to click on it to read it:
One of the lads asked if he should phone the snake removal company and I said yes. Then I went to get Daile's camera out of my rucksack and went to find it, thinking of you lot of course!
I spoke to the guy in charge of the structures dept, and he showed me to the stillage. My first impression was how small it was! I said blimey i'd expected this to be a couple of inches in diameter. He said that it was a brown, and that he'd move it for me if I wanted to get a better picture...! I said I assume with a stick...and he said 'of course'! ... in a tone to imply 'stupid bloody Pom!.
I told him there was no need and took a couple of these pics... using the zoom so as not to have to get close.
A person was put on a watch to make sure it didn't dissapear... and I went back, thinking of the meeting. As I got near, they started to come out. I collared the warehouse manager and told him about the brown. He said to show him and I led the way back to the place.
He took one look at it, and declared us all tossers! He reached in, and picked it up!
...I could not believe it!
He said that it was a baby carpet snake (python). I indignantly pointed out that the sign clearly says that we're not to do what he just did...and he said that he'd written the sign...and it was 'Daddy's rules' (i.e. he can break them) Ha ha.
The health and safety guy had turned up in the mean time, and laughing, said...I hope the bloody thing bites you!
Bloody thing. So we all had a laugh that we'd called for snake removal for a worm!
Then it bit him!
And we all laughed REALLY hard.
But the interesting thing is that the others hadn't seen a brown either (apparently), and they're all Aussies. Pretty rare sight then.
The other interesting thing is that the sign has been 'corrected' by someone that has bad grammar.
...can't believe I used to do all that stuff.
Anyway, its a while since I did a blog, and partly this has been due to a heavy workload, and partly due to not having all that much to report.
However, today we had a little (emphasis on little) distraction.
I was in one of those operations meetings that I mentioned a while back, and got a phone call. Actually I got several phone calls, all of which I ignored, until by the time the 5th one came along, i thought perhaps i should reply. It wasn't that important, but I'd left the room and was then the only operational manager that wasn't in a meeting. As such, it fell to me to deal with an issue. I was informed that a snake had been found in one of the structure stillages... and when I asked.... I was told it was a brown snake. Now many of you may not realise this, but an Eastern Brown snake is one of the most deadly snakes in the world. It strikes without being provoked, and is responsible for most of the deaths that occur from snake bites.
We have a sign on the wall about what to do. Here it is - you'll need to click on it to read it:
One of the lads asked if he should phone the snake removal company and I said yes. Then I went to get Daile's camera out of my rucksack and went to find it, thinking of you lot of course!
I spoke to the guy in charge of the structures dept, and he showed me to the stillage. My first impression was how small it was! I said blimey i'd expected this to be a couple of inches in diameter. He said that it was a brown, and that he'd move it for me if I wanted to get a better picture...! I said I assume with a stick...and he said 'of course'! ... in a tone to imply 'stupid bloody Pom!.
I told him there was no need and took a couple of these pics... using the zoom so as not to have to get close.
A person was put on a watch to make sure it didn't dissapear... and I went back, thinking of the meeting. As I got near, they started to come out. I collared the warehouse manager and told him about the brown. He said to show him and I led the way back to the place.
He took one look at it, and declared us all tossers! He reached in, and picked it up!
...I could not believe it!
He said that it was a baby carpet snake (python). I indignantly pointed out that the sign clearly says that we're not to do what he just did...and he said that he'd written the sign...and it was 'Daddy's rules' (i.e. he can break them) Ha ha.
The health and safety guy had turned up in the mean time, and laughing, said...I hope the bloody thing bites you!
Bloody thing. So we all had a laugh that we'd called for snake removal for a worm!
Then it bit him!
And we all laughed REALLY hard.
But the interesting thing is that the others hadn't seen a brown either (apparently), and they're all Aussies. Pretty rare sight then.
The other interesting thing is that the sign has been 'corrected' by someone that has bad grammar.
Sunday 18 May 2008
More about grass...
I didn't want to overdo the green grass thing, but I had wanted to get you a picture to illustrate. Today I went over to the house to do the last of the painting. I am, as they say here, 'over it' in regard to the house painting thing. It's been dragging on for weeks. Glad to finish.
I was planning the ceremonial last watering later, but the sky clouded over, and did it for me. This is the first rain for quite a few weeks now, and you can see how badly its needed.
I mentioned yesterday that we'd put a lot of soil under this little bit of turf. The reason was that the next door house had, until recently been dropping all its run off across what would have otherwise been our 'lawn'. They had something like 15m2 of soil dropped onto their yard to improve the slope, and bordered it with a low timber wall prior to the fence. I asked if I could see what went on behind that fence a couple of weeks ago, and it looked like it would still leak out the end to me. So it was good to be there when this rain happened...to see this:
Not THAT bad, but it would have an affect after a LOT of rain no doubt. Thing is this ground, like most of the ground round these parts is like rock. Its clay, and its drizabone - so anything that rains on it slides right off, and heads down the drain.
Consequently, planting these Lillypilly's was backbreaking work! ...so I left it to Daile and Bernadette! He he.
Funny thing about little dogs, (changing the subject) is how highly strung they get. Even the super cool Mont[ster] is totally freaked out by thunder. Actually, so is Matilda... well not totally, but she does get worried by it. So it was a brave thing that she did when she offered Mont to go into my truck during the storm...and got soaked doing it. (They'd come over to 'help' me paint) Here you can just see him... shaking...and making my seat wet.
Here's a more typical pose:
I was planning the ceremonial last watering later, but the sky clouded over, and did it for me. This is the first rain for quite a few weeks now, and you can see how badly its needed.
I mentioned yesterday that we'd put a lot of soil under this little bit of turf. The reason was that the next door house had, until recently been dropping all its run off across what would have otherwise been our 'lawn'. They had something like 15m2 of soil dropped onto their yard to improve the slope, and bordered it with a low timber wall prior to the fence. I asked if I could see what went on behind that fence a couple of weeks ago, and it looked like it would still leak out the end to me. So it was good to be there when this rain happened...to see this:
Not THAT bad, but it would have an affect after a LOT of rain no doubt. Thing is this ground, like most of the ground round these parts is like rock. Its clay, and its drizabone - so anything that rains on it slides right off, and heads down the drain.
Consequently, planting these Lillypilly's was backbreaking work! ...so I left it to Daile and Bernadette! He he.
Funny thing about little dogs, (changing the subject) is how highly strung they get. Even the super cool Mont[ster] is totally freaked out by thunder. Actually, so is Matilda... well not totally, but she does get worried by it. So it was a brave thing that she did when she offered Mont to go into my truck during the storm...and got soaked doing it. (They'd come over to 'help' me paint) Here you can just see him... shaking...and making my seat wet.
Here's a more typical pose:
Friday 16 May 2008
The green grass of home...
The houses in Collingwood park, like many of the suburbs of Brisbane, are characterised by low set brown coloured buildings and brown coloured lawns. When it rains, the lawns all spring to life…and instantly become green, thought not quite as green as grass in the UK. It’s a mixture of grass like the kind you tend to find in suburban Britain, and something all together more robust.
There’s been no real rain of note for several weeks now, and most of the front lawns are quite dead looking, parched, brittle and white, with the mud showing through the diminished cover – bit like my hair, and my head. . Imagine if you would then, driving down one of these streets, every house looking dried out along with its front lawn. You come over the crest of a low hill and from nowhere you’re hit with a colour green that would not be out of place in a Surrey Spring. And that would be ours. An oasis of short term watering allowance. Lush, opulent green grass. Every day for the last two weeks, we’ve spent half an hour systematically watering the panels, and it’s been getting to the stage lately where on the one hand I’m pleased to see them knitting together over the little gaps, and on the other, I’m getting embarrassed when neighbours drive past…and see me.
There’s a rule that allows you to water your grass for an hour a day between the hours of 6pm and 7pm….for two weeks. For our lawn, the time is up tomorrow. I feel like a nervous parent! Will the grass die? When it next sees water, will it recover? I do hope so. It cost us $500 to put it there if you include the soil that’s under it…not to mention the seven solid hours that we’ve spent sprinkling water onto it.
There’s been no real rain of note for several weeks now, and most of the front lawns are quite dead looking, parched, brittle and white, with the mud showing through the diminished cover – bit like my hair, and my head. . Imagine if you would then, driving down one of these streets, every house looking dried out along with its front lawn. You come over the crest of a low hill and from nowhere you’re hit with a colour green that would not be out of place in a Surrey Spring. And that would be ours. An oasis of short term watering allowance. Lush, opulent green grass. Every day for the last two weeks, we’ve spent half an hour systematically watering the panels, and it’s been getting to the stage lately where on the one hand I’m pleased to see them knitting together over the little gaps, and on the other, I’m getting embarrassed when neighbours drive past…and see me.
There’s a rule that allows you to water your grass for an hour a day between the hours of 6pm and 7pm….for two weeks. For our lawn, the time is up tomorrow. I feel like a nervous parent! Will the grass die? When it next sees water, will it recover? I do hope so. It cost us $500 to put it there if you include the soil that’s under it…not to mention the seven solid hours that we’ve spent sprinkling water onto it.
Sunday 11 May 2008
Sunday breakfast again...
Went out to have breakfast on the river again today. Wont bore you with that...but here's some pics of the river.... about 7am. We wished we'd gone earlier than that, cos the river had obviously been really misty...
We went to the same place as last week, but on the sunny side...
...and this time we CROISSANTS!
:-)
We went to the same place as last week, but on the sunny side...
...and this time we CROISSANTS!
:-)
Tuesday 6 May 2008
You gotta larf
I went into a meeting of operations managers last week, and my boss who normally chairs it wasn't there. He's a very focused man and keeps everyone very much on the task at hand. Without him there, we had a much more relaxed, though probably nearly as productive meeting. At one point, we were talking about a problem that had occurred involving two opposing points of view. Someone said that 'every stick has two ends' (quoting my favourite) and then I said 'what's brown and sticky?'... they all looked at me quizzically... and I said 'a stick!' at which point I collapsed into giggles as I do when I tell a joke. Momentarily they all looked at me like I was mad...which only made it worse... and then one of them said 'fuckin' POMS!!' I just fell off my chair! I've noticed that Aussies resort to expletives when they're faced with sophisticated humour...! Ha ha.
Monday 5 May 2008
Balloons, boats and breakfast.
We did let the balloons go in the end, but a much reduced batch, and even then, Matilda refused to let hers go. It was a special thing to do never-the-less. The rest of the balloons went into an intensive game of water bombing and the kids got into their togs before they got soaked... which makes a change!
Most of yesterday we spent at the rental house (Whitlam Drive) and once again the kids were really well behaved... so we promised to take them out on the boat this morning. In the end, Matilda had the bright idea that we should take breakfast with us. Brilliant! We went along to their favourite place on the river - which is a channel that runs behind a little island off the main river. We pulled up and had a really quiet breakfast, blue sky, lapping water...and REALLY big spiders in the reeds!
After we set off, the girls had a go at the steering. They're starting to get that hang of it now! It doesn't look like the boat is going in the pics, but it is...honest.
...and then I had a go...
Now I'm off to the house again, and thought I'd just put this up whilst having a cuppa.
Most of yesterday we spent at the rental house (Whitlam Drive) and once again the kids were really well behaved... so we promised to take them out on the boat this morning. In the end, Matilda had the bright idea that we should take breakfast with us. Brilliant! We went along to their favourite place on the river - which is a channel that runs behind a little island off the main river. We pulled up and had a really quiet breakfast, blue sky, lapping water...and REALLY big spiders in the reeds!
After we set off, the girls had a go at the steering. They're starting to get that hang of it now! It doesn't look like the boat is going in the pics, but it is...honest.
...and then I had a go...
Now I'm off to the house again, and thought I'd just put this up whilst having a cuppa.
Sunday 4 May 2008
Happy Birthday Bernadette!
Yesterday was Bernadette's 60th birthday, and she had a party to mark the occasion. Leanne and Jim came up from Newcastle on Wednesday, and since then, have been preparing food for the night. Jim fancies himself as a chef, and is indeed, a very good cook - a bit like Bill. Everyone else had tasks too, ranging from the peripheral to the non glorious, and I managed to get away lightly with only a commitment to provide helium and a means of getting it into 60 balloons for a balloon release to mark the event.
The girls and I spent the day at our rental house which got them (and I) out from under everyone's feet. I have been preparing the front garden to take turf and it has taken three very full Ute loads of garden soil, and two Ute loads of river rock for an area around two of the trees, under which nothing will grow. (The iron bark Australian gum drops some kind of detritus from an insect that populates it). I went to pick up the 70 square metres of turf,, and the guy at the yard reckoned that I could take both pallets at once. Every time they've advised about the load carrying capabilities of my truck, they've been pretty spot on - but in this case, I think he must have just been keen to demonstrate how you actually fit two pallets onto a standard Ute bed. The first one went on at the back, he then backed up the forks, and picked it up halfway along the tangs and lifted it into the middle to leave space for the second one and then put the second one to push up the first. I did seem like a good idea to have them both, since I would have to completely unload one before I could go back for the other... but this is what the load looked like:
I had to sit in the truck whilst he loaded it, since the thing was being pushed forward without me keeping my foot on the brakes. When I got out I said 'perhaps this is overloaded and I should come back for the second one' he just said 'Na.... she'll be a bit light at the front that's all'...and proceeded to back away. He wasn't joking. Another couple of rolls and I reckon I'd have been looking at the sky!
Anyway, I got it all laid, and the kids were well behaved - making a turf sofa out of the off cuts.
The other coup last week was that Andrew scored some fencing for us from a building site on the other side of Brisbane. It looks pretty much the same as the fence you can see on these pictures that the neighbour recently had put up. We've got about 50 metres of it! Result!
By the time we got the turf watered, and all the new plants in the back garden too, it was completely dark. We got back to a party underway, and whilst the kids took a desperately needed bath to transform them from feral to 'angelic', I went out to fulfil my balloon inflating commitment - looking like a muddy tramp... as guests began to arrive, all clean and dressed up.
I'd arranged to take a couple of half empty bottles of helium from the Moreton Express dept at work, which were not going to charge me - since the bottles were returns. Steve, the manager of that dept assured me that there was enough gas for 100 balloons 'easy'. It was not the case, as by the time we'd done 20, and sucked in the contents of another 4 or 5 for the 'helium voice' trick, we'd run out. The big balloon release never happened. Needless to say the kids are delighted with this outcome this morning, since they can play with them.... and do more of the helium voice trick... We all love that gag.
It was a great night, with fantastic food, wonderful company, and speeches from Barbara and Leanne to express our feelings about a wonderful woman.
Today Bernadette is off to New Zealand for a week of fun and mayhem with her mates out there. Wayne was asked if he wanted to go... but he declined (experience of earlier times we assume...ha ha.) Have a great time Dette!
The girls and I spent the day at our rental house which got them (and I) out from under everyone's feet. I have been preparing the front garden to take turf and it has taken three very full Ute loads of garden soil, and two Ute loads of river rock for an area around two of the trees, under which nothing will grow. (The iron bark Australian gum drops some kind of detritus from an insect that populates it). I went to pick up the 70 square metres of turf,, and the guy at the yard reckoned that I could take both pallets at once. Every time they've advised about the load carrying capabilities of my truck, they've been pretty spot on - but in this case, I think he must have just been keen to demonstrate how you actually fit two pallets onto a standard Ute bed. The first one went on at the back, he then backed up the forks, and picked it up halfway along the tangs and lifted it into the middle to leave space for the second one and then put the second one to push up the first. I did seem like a good idea to have them both, since I would have to completely unload one before I could go back for the other... but this is what the load looked like:
I had to sit in the truck whilst he loaded it, since the thing was being pushed forward without me keeping my foot on the brakes. When I got out I said 'perhaps this is overloaded and I should come back for the second one' he just said 'Na.... she'll be a bit light at the front that's all'...and proceeded to back away. He wasn't joking. Another couple of rolls and I reckon I'd have been looking at the sky!
Anyway, I got it all laid, and the kids were well behaved - making a turf sofa out of the off cuts.
The other coup last week was that Andrew scored some fencing for us from a building site on the other side of Brisbane. It looks pretty much the same as the fence you can see on these pictures that the neighbour recently had put up. We've got about 50 metres of it! Result!
By the time we got the turf watered, and all the new plants in the back garden too, it was completely dark. We got back to a party underway, and whilst the kids took a desperately needed bath to transform them from feral to 'angelic', I went out to fulfil my balloon inflating commitment - looking like a muddy tramp... as guests began to arrive, all clean and dressed up.
I'd arranged to take a couple of half empty bottles of helium from the Moreton Express dept at work, which were not going to charge me - since the bottles were returns. Steve, the manager of that dept assured me that there was enough gas for 100 balloons 'easy'. It was not the case, as by the time we'd done 20, and sucked in the contents of another 4 or 5 for the 'helium voice' trick, we'd run out. The big balloon release never happened. Needless to say the kids are delighted with this outcome this morning, since they can play with them.... and do more of the helium voice trick... We all love that gag.
It was a great night, with fantastic food, wonderful company, and speeches from Barbara and Leanne to express our feelings about a wonderful woman.
Today Bernadette is off to New Zealand for a week of fun and mayhem with her mates out there. Wayne was asked if he wanted to go... but he declined (experience of earlier times we assume...ha ha.) Have a great time Dette!
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