Busy…. but only sometimes

The last few days have been a combination of very busy and total boredom with nothing to write about.

The media server project has come to a halt whilst we await the arrival of the hard disk drives which are in one of the UK boxes.  Using the laptop has become easier now I’ve connected the big monitor and full sized keyboard to it.

I’ve also ‘nobbled’ the only table and sole chair.   There was one small thing I could do to advance the media server project and that was to fix the Raspberry Pi to the router using velcro.  It’s an idea I copied from our youngest son.  The Raspberry Pi will eventually be powered by the router and I will replace the existing blue ethernet cable with a short cable we have in one of the UK boxes.

I could connect the Raspberry Pi to the router wirelessly but I prefer using ethernet cables believing they provide a more reliable connection and are also more secure.

Yesterday I washed and polished the Isuzu for a second time.  I’ve become very technical with my washing technique.  During the last few years on Waiouru I adopted the ‘two bucket’ method using a microfibre mitt and a leather chamois to dry.  I now realise drying with the chamois wasn’t the best option.

My new technique is:  

• Initial high pressure water wash to remove surface dirt.
• 2nd high pressure wash using a snow foam gun to cover the vehicle with a layer of foam which is supposed to ‘lift’ some of the more stubborn dirt.
• High pressure gun rinse.
• Two bucket hand foam wash using micro fibre mitt.
• High pressure rinse.
• Dry with micro fibre towel (this is easier and much faster than using a chamois).
• Polish.  I’m trialling Meguars Wet Look polish.  Apply with a sponge pad and remove with micro fibre clothes.  so far I’ve managed to avoid those swirl marks in the paint.

I’m not sure this expensive ‘wet look’ polish is making much difference!

The snow foam adapter that came with the Gernie pressure washer proved to be a failure and after some research I identified the ‘purists’ were using a $120 snow foam gun.  More research indicated I could buy a Chinese copy from Ebay.  Of course it arrived the morning after I’d washed and polished the car.

I’ve now discovered the brass fitting on the gun is slightly too large for the Gernie connector.  I need to file it down…. but of course I currently don’t have a file!

The courier also delivered a package for Jan.  It turned out to be the cast iron pancake pan she has ordered from Ebay.  Unfortunately the overseas seller had made a very poor job with the packaging and the handle had been broken in transit.  hopefully they will send her a replacement handle.

 

I got a hell of a shock yesterday when I went to the website to check on our 240V electrical consumption.  There was significant usage between 1.00-3.00am.  That’s when we are asleep so why so much power consumption.  The only two Items I could think might be using power were the fridge and freezer.  Checking back through the consumption historical data revealed it was occurring every night.  Then I went right back to the day prior to our arrival in Australia and discovered the high consumption was still occurring!!!!

Finally it dawned on me……… I hadn’t logged into our data and was looking at the website demonstration data.   What an idiot….. what a relief!

We appear to be averaging approximately 6.5kW daily.  I entered a budget of $150 and so far this month we have consumed $28.96 (plus the monthly service fee of $14)  That is approx $2 daily or £1 which is less than we would have spent in diesel on Waiouru.  Although I acknowledge the fuel on Waiouru was also being used for propulsion and hot water which means I need to factor in the cost of fuel for the 4x4.

After being introduced to sloe gin by Jan and Alistair (nb Qisma) Jan has decided she would like to grow some sloe bushes.  They are as easy to find in Perth as the end of the rainbow.  After several hours of internet searching she bought some seeds off Ebay.  Hopefully they don’t arrive broken.   She also wanted some thornless blackberries which resulted in us driving to Guildford which is not on the River Wey.  It’s beside the Swan River.

The garden centre didn’t have any in stock “Next weekend”.  Someone at the centre is a mini minor fan.

I did check on the location of the ship conveying our container to Perth.  It left the tip of Peninsula Malaysia and called onto Singapore before heading south towards Australia.  The website doesn’t show the location on the live map to non paying subscribers.  However the latitude and longitude was shown so being sneaky resourceful I copied and pasted it into google Earth.

It looks to be on track to arrive on 19 July.