2010-09-29

Blast!




I done some mowing today and noticed a water leak in a pipe at the side of the house, D'OH!
Initially I just bunged it up with a tap but then I noticed it fed the taps in the backyard that I actually use so I was lucky enough to have enough length to be able to shorten it and whack it back on.

One of these days I'm going to sort out the plumbing mess that I'm not happy with.
Now we can expect a massive water bill next time as well as the wrath of the greenies for wasting, although I suppose we still use less than they do.

2010-09-28

New lavatory lamp.


I got sick of waiting for the antique olde style bulb to expire in the lavatory so have now replaced it with a new LED lamp before it was due.
That el-cheapo "savings" brand lamp had served us faithfully for the 7.5 years we've lived here, plus however long it had served its previous masters, enough to leave a guilty feeling.

I've washed the old one and laid it carefully away in the cupboard, hopefully away from the eyes of suspicious customs officers who may want to slap a $100,000 fine on us for owning one.

Ugly.



Jimmy burnt a hole in our good plastic bowl the last time (ever) he tried to make popcorn.

At least he had a go at patching it last night, it works but looks crap. A bit more work forthcoming. The brown patch is a bread label that I've melted into it.

2010-09-23

Rain gauge.



The wet weather of late has had me scratching my head a bit due a bit of inconsistency between the wireless rain gauge and the good old fashioned one, perhaps not just weak batteries being the cause.
Anyway I got this cheap new one in the mail today and quickly set it up on the back deck thingy, so Grace has another plaything.

Naturally when I was moving about finding a good place to take a photo, my foot went through a board, so Jimmy now has another job to replace it, D'OH!
I hate going to the hardware shops in Ingham, parking is awkward and you tend to get accosted as you step in the door, which usually rattles me into forgetting what I came in for, but timber isn't something that's ideal to buy online from the comfort of home.

2010-09-21

Spark plug time.


With our weather being too wet to do any real work I changed Tru's spark plugs today. Not a simple job but not too big a chore either, except her number 5 plug was a bit seized. Actually it was very tight and I think I was a bit lucky not to cop some real damage, I might have a play with it again tomorrow and try to tidy up the thread a bit.

In the photo I've taken the number 6 plug boot/coil thingy off, as I started at the difficult end with number 6 being a real bugger to access.
Their length is the reason straight 6s are so rare these days, in many ways a shame since they're inherently smoother than pretty well all other engine configurations except perhaps the boxer fours.

2010-09-19

Slowly dropping.


Down south they talk about petrol dropping to a dollar a litre but I guess we'll have to wait a bit longer.
The picture isn't a good one but that's the punishment I get for being lazy.
The grey Falcon the chap is pouring fuel into is a V8 with mufflers tuned for extra noise, something owners of V8s and those wretched two cylinder American motorcycles love to impose on bystanders.

2010-09-15

Not a chore I'm looking forward to.


I found Tru had a sagging spring on my recent trip so I've grabbed a replacement set from our local wrecker. The wet weather meant a 3 week delay for him to remove them but things don't happen in a hurry in Ingham.

I wonder how long it'll take me to warm the jacks up.

What to do?


Dunno how I'm going to use these home beer kegs we happily charged our glasses with the last few days, but I'm sure not going to toss them away.
Usually I avoid buying trendy things like these but they were 50% off due to being close to their expiry date, so the price compared favourably with canned beer.

A new toy for Grace.


Although I think it will become Jimmy's plaything.
Quite handy for sorting and dispensing coins but already I've figured out it's a bad idea to overload it, like I have done already with the 5c coins here.

2010-09-12

Every year.


About this time these red flowery looking things spring up in the back yard.
This time the photo isn't as good as what the eyes see but i'll post them here for my Mum who was in hospital last week with a touch of pneumonia, methinks emphysema kicking in.

So get well Ma even though I know you never check my online diary. Jimmy does hope it triggers you to give up that poverty inducing drug habit you've had for 60 years.

2010-09-06

New toy.


About 07:15 this morning the delivery man brought us a new fairly big screen TV. Pity it didn't come before the weekend but I think there's a delay built into any delivery for Ingham.

It has a 139 cm screen or a number 55 in Fred Flintstone units which are almost meaningless these days except for the young, who seem to love talking American style.
It uses a bit more power than I'd like and weighs a fair bit more than I expected but since those specs were hidden from view in the advertising it comes as no surprise.

Judging by the actions of the lass in the queue on the diving board that pool is about to become a bit wetter. Do pools still have diving boards or have the safety nanny's killed them too?

2010-09-04

Rail chicane


Our NZ cousins have had an exciting but mainly miserable time today with an earthquake as well as an aeroplane crash only 200 km away from it.
I wonder if the IPCC people will gather a consensus that the events are linked and their view is caused by climate change, thereby needing more taxpayer funds to investigate.

It may take a while to clean up the rubble, with today being Saturday and tomorrow Sunday, with Monday a rostered day off but soon the place should look better and newer than ever.

The picture shows the railway have a bit of work to do too, that's mighty fancy rail bending.