Adventures in DIY #1

Last weekend as I walked past the hot water cupboard, I felt an ominous ‘squelch’ underfoot. All sorts of disastrous scenarios played through my head, but on closer inspection, there appeared to be a relatively minor leak in the pipe leading to the cylinder. One hurried phone call to Dad later, the wheels were in motion. It had obviously been leaking for a while, as there was a fair amount of mould creeping up the shelving in the cupboard. Of course the carpet was water damaged, and the crappy MDF skirting boards had soaked up the water and turned to weet-bix.

As it turns out, there was a split in the pipe where it had been bent way beyond its allowable curvature, and the one-way valve was also leaking. It’s surprising given the mickey-mouse installation job that the pipe lasted as long as it did (17 years). I fixed the pipe temporarily with a Hepworth quick-fit pipe joiner (who knew how useful those things could be!), but that still left the dripping valve. Of course it was now after 2 pm on a Saturday, when all of the plumbing supplies stores had closed. Neither Mitre 10 or Placemakers had anything, but a bloke at Placemakers pointed us to Chesters in Ellerslie who turned out to be open. They had the part, and sold it to me at trade rates. Good people – I’d go back there. Back home, a bit of hemp and grease on the threads, and everything is working beautifully.
What could have been a very expensive plumbing call-out ended up costing about $70. Result!

meet jack

Hi Jack. AKA Jackson, Jackie, Jackie Chan, Jacket Potato, Tater, Spud, Muppet, Monkey....


We got Jack from the SPCA in March this year, after Sophie died. Jack had been abandoned by his owners and was just getting over cat flu when we met him. He looks fearsome sometimes with his big fangs and needle-sharp claws, but he's really a big ol' softie who loves nothing better than a cuddle. We love him. When he's not throwing his food all over the kitchen...

melbourne, australia, june. holiday

It all came together pretty quickly. Vic and I hadn't had a decent holiday for a while, at least not overseas, and I'd never been to Melbourne, so off we flew for a ten-day holiday.

We chose an early flight to get the most out of the first day, and although we did arrive nice and early, Melbourne had put on an overcast and foggy day to welcome us. The ride into town was painless, but I still can't decide whether to believe anything the shuttle driver said at any time along the way... Our room at the Travelodge Southbank was clean and comfy and had a fascinating view of a guy fixing an aircon unit on the roof next door. After our 4 am start, we were feeling pretty low on energy, so after getting settled, we headed to Pushka for what turned out to be an excellent flat white and delicious bagel. Afterward, shopping ensued. Note theme.

We spent the next few days alternatively shopping, sightseeing and eating our way around Melbourne. I loved every minute! Highlights included Prahran markets with its piles of gorgeous fresh produce - and cheese, bread and cured meat that made our mouths water. We had a well above average coffee at a roaster's stall there too. Walking around St Kilda was a great experience too - it had a bit of that deserted seaside resort vibe that almost drowns you in Blackpool. But in a nice way. I loved the faded grandeur of Luna Park and the Palais Theatre. Walking back to the hotel (great location!) at night, the view back towards the city over the river was beautiful, spectacular even. One thing that wasn't a highlight was our dinner on Lygon Street. I forget the name of the place, but we looked for somewhere with a lot of people, and it fit that bill. Unfortunately, although the service was efficient and friendly, the food was average - it tasted alright, but it was obviously 'slap a few cheap ingredients together on a plate and get the tourists back out the door' fare. Disappointing. Our faith was restored later on by Tiamo further down the street, but that's another story.

As an aside, I've now visited three of the major cities in Australia, and I've really enjoyed each one of them. I don't think I'd have a problem living in any of the three. The people were friendly, the weather was good, and there was always plenty to do and explore.

To be continued...

autocad revelation

One thing that has always bugged me about using autoCAD is navigating multiple drawings. Up 'til now I've had to use the 'window' menu in the menu bar to change between drawings. I discovered today that there is a setting in autocad that places each of your drawings in the taskbar so you can alt-tab between them as you would spreadsheets or documents. It seems small, but it really makes life easier - I've been using autoCAD for years, and until today I'd still regularly engage in futile alt-tabbing to the next drawing. Yay!

ch-ch-ch-changes

So we have a new government. Not exactly unexpected. Forgive me for saying so, but something tells me that, contrary to a lot of peoples' expectations (and the bulk of National's campaign rhetoric), not a great deal will change. What is assured is that the new lot will have a hard time ahead. Time will tell how well they deal with it. I just hope that social responsibility doesn't take too much of a back seat.