Readers be warned!

Having now lived through a plague I understand why all those Renaissance painting show chubby people lying on couches!

Boundary Fencing

Jan informs me I need to be more careful with the blog content as I may offend some readers.  She was obviously referring to the last post.  In the past I’ve been described as having a “lively” sense of humour and if that means I offend, then it’s not deliberate.  But nor am I going to change.

The back boundary fencing and side fencing with our neighbours is being replaced today.  It’s a task I would have attempted except the original fencing is made from corrugated asbestos cement which is of course, hazardous.  The old fencing is starting to degrade which increases the asbestos hazard.  Furthermore the fence is also starting to fall over.  The third problem is it has insufficient height to be compliant with swimming pool regulations.  We’re therefore replacing it with colourbond steel fencing.\

It has taken the fencing contractors a morning to remove the old asbestos fencing whilst dressed in their hazmat gear and then install the new steel panel fencing.  I dare not touch the new fence as the concrete is still curing.  Obviously they have completed the task much faster than me.

In the above photo you can see the join between the original and new fencing.  I’m going to lay the lengths of concrete kerbing in the foreground at the base of the new fence to create a mowing strip.

The states of Victoria and New South Wales continue to control outbreaks of COVID-19.  Consequentially the adjacent states have either closed their borders or imposed severe movement restrictions.  This is having a adverse effect on many people in the border region where they usually seamlessly pass backwards and forwards over the border on a daily basis.  Some farmer have been particularly affected with parts of their farm and stock on either side of the border.  The media have reported one farmer needed to move 40 tones of hay across the border to feed his stock.  The bureaucratic response was for him to road his hay from the border down to Melbourne and fly it on a 747 to Sydney where he could then road it back to the other side of the border.  However the sheep shearing problem has been resolved.

The mind boggles

Banggoods has been sending us unsolicited shopping emails and today we received one that was mind boggling

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Top of the list of suggested items.  For $16.95 you could purchase an

Electric Sucking With Tongue Lick Massager Body Massage For Women – Purple

It’s described as “Cordless,Handheld,Rechargeable,Vibrater,Nipple massage”.

Readers it’s obvious the device isn’t aimed at me; which leads me to wonder about Jan’s recent browsing habits?

When the matter was raised, Jan indicated she wasn’t interested; although Molly appeared curious.  Mind you… with 8 nipples it would be an expensive purchase for one pampered Dachshund.

Spice Girl

Yesterday I suggested we go out for lunch.  “Where?” was the reply.  “How about the local ”Scottish restaurant?”  <AKA The Golden Arches> says me.  The answer wasn’t very enthusiastic!  Reader there is little point in starting expectations high and then trying to work down.  Eventually we agreed on a Chinese meal from the shopping centre food hall. 

Whilst there, Jan decided she needed a couple of things from Aldi.  That’s when she noticed the boxes of spices in the centre isle.  Two different boxes and she was struggling to make a choice.  “Buy both!” says me.  Her “But the expense”.   Me “OK. Leave the money for the kids”.  Jan managed to overcome her guilt and bought both.

This morning I spent 30 minutes making a simple kitchen drawer rack for them out of scrap Jarrah,

Don’t tell me she’s not spoilt

Alas – and it’s just not fair

Alas, I have been unable to repair one of Jan’s bread maker appliances.  It wasn’t until I had completely disassembled it that I was able to establish repair was impossible.  I’m disappointed, although I note Jan has quickly gone online and purchased a replacement.

On a more positive note, I was able to repair the gimbal for the 4K video action camera.

A week of rain has resulted in me spending the bulk of my time inside.  One positive aspect of this enforced confinement was finding the motivation to do more video editing on the 2018 outback trip.  My brother had already informed me there would be a hour of video editing for every minute of finished product.  He was right…. and I still haven’t finished!  I suspect I’m over complicating things in an effort to achieve perfection

I thought I might have solved the instant gas heater problem where it wouldn’t always ignite.  The heater has a hydro ignition system.  When a hot tap is turned on the running water spins a small impeller which then generates a spark to ignite the gas.  We’ve been getting the spark but sometimes the gas doesn’t ignite.  Gas isn’t really an area of expertise for me, but I have had another look at the heater.

Tracing the gas line I noticed there was a small bowl shaped air filter on the side of the jet.

 

When I removed it I noticed the rear portion of the wire gauze bowl had a hole.  Then I looked into the chamber it covers and noticed a small spider which was possibility blocking the air intake.  Have I found the problem?  Time will tell.

Meanwhile Jan’s Daffodils are almost ready to flower.  Several months ago I think I might have managed to buy the last five bulbs in Western Australia . 

Daffodils might be as common as muck in the UK but they appear to be a rare as rocking horse droppings in Western Australia.

It’s Just Not Fair

Jan has pointed out how well her plants are growing.

Apple tree from a pip                            Not sure what this one is

Her greens are sprouting and we’ve already had two meals from them.

Her spring onions are significantly larger than mine although her rhubarb is a little slow

In the next photo it’s Jan’s large beetroot at the far end and my small beetroot and tiny spring onions at the near end.

I’m despondent !!!

Catherine the link to the TPMS Ebay seller is below.  However there has been a slight increase in the price (now $35.99 up from $27.98)

Solar and 12V TPMS

Deliveries

Australia Post delivered our new 12V air compressor this morning.  Only five days for it to come from the other side of the city! (well this isn’t the UK)

This one has a single head so probably half the speed as the original.  According to the label it draws 45 amps so half the demand of the original.  Taking twice as long to pump up a tyre doesn’t particularly worry me (I’m retired and waiting for god!).

I found it on Ebay for $139.04 but decided to check the suppliers website.  It was $119 on their site which was a saving.  Then I gave Jan the link who went searching for a discount code.  Final price was $109 with free delivery.  That girl knows how to save money!  Oh, I checked all the bolts and screws for tightness before using it to add air to the tyres on the 4WD.

The postman also delivered some button batteries I’d ordered online.  They were $6 each in the major supermarkets, which seemed highway robbery.  Ten for $12 online. 

I need them for the 4WD Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) which I purchased from China last year.  The TPMS has a control unit and display on the dash which is wirelessly linked to a sensor on each tyre valve stem.  The display had stopped showing the data for the front left tyre and I initially thought the unit had failed.  Then I considered the possibility that despite the sensor batteries having a life of 3-5 years they may already have been old.  This morning all four sensor batteries were replaced.

and were then refitted to their respective valve stems.  The dash display came back to life!

Light blue numbers are the tyre pressures in psi and the yellow figures are the tyre air temperature in centigrade.  The control unit has two power sources.  A small solar panel on the top and a usb inlet port on the side.  At under $30 it’s a cheap safety device.

Poor Purchase

The 12V air compressor has failed.  It died whilst I was attempting to inflate one of the 4x4 tyres.  An Ebay purchase and; of course; the 12 month warranty expired a year ago.  What’s annoying is I must have only used the compressor 10-12 times. 

I stripped it down to see if I could make any repairs but it quickly became obvious there were a number of issues.  First the circuit board is fried.  Then I noticed the poorly soldered connection on the negative wire.

 

Less than half the copper strands are connected.

I also discovered the bolts holding the heads onto the cylinders were only finger tight.  The entire piston, cylinder and head assembly has been bouncing around on loose bolts.  This has mangled the seals on the cylinder heads.

Obviously I should have checked all the connections before using it.

Being a hoarder, I’ve salvaged what parts I think might come in useful at some later date.

• Power lead
• On/Off switch
• Air pressure release valve
• Two air filters
• Air hose

 

Inserting Videos into Open Live Writer

Well I’ve finally worked out a method of inserting video files into Open Live Writer (OLW) and publishing them to Blogger.

The steps are

1.  Upload the video to You Tube

2.  View the video in You Tube and copy the link address in the Address Bar

3.  In OLW select ‘Insert’ from the menu bar and then ‘Video’.  Select the “From the Web” option.

4.  In the pop-up window paste the You Tube link into the address bar like my example below. 

5.  THIS IS THE IMPORTANT STEP.   Edit the address by removing the ‘s’ in https so it now looks like the following.

You now have a grey box and there is no preview.  However if you click the Insert button the video will be inserted into OLW.  You won’t see it although you may see the text “Enter video caption here” which actually appears beneath the video (which you can’t see)

The video will appear when the draft is posted to Blogger from OLW.

You should see the You Tube video from my last post below using the above instructions

Did he walk the crossing first?

Before driving through any water crossing it's important to walk it first to check the bottom for obstacles or holes, etc.  The question is...... Did this driver walk the cross first?  It's only a short You Tube video (9MB)

I suspect not!

Oh.... this is one reason why I don't camp in a tent.

I'm also still trying to establish why I couldn't insert the video into Open Live Writer.

Kevin TOO the state government regulations require pool fences on external boundaries to be a minimum of 1800mm high.  It's Jan's pool and she will be the one 'skinny dipping'.  If it was up to me the fences would be 300mm high which would guarrantee the neighbours would stay inside with the curtains drawn!

Tick

Well that’s the bookcase installed.  Some modifications were required as it wasn’t designed to be fixed to a wall.

Regrettably our collection of books is a shadow of itself after the losses we experience when they were in storage.  Being philosophical about it….. books are only “stuff”. 

I’ve realised there were sufficient remaining scraps of Jarrah hardwood to make a fourth chair-side table.  A number of old nail and screw holes needed to be filled which means the table is far from perfect.  Jan doesn’t want the table so I’ll need to find it a good home.

Not quite completed

The ‘sand flag’ for outback travel has been completed.  You can buy sand flags for $100+ however I am reluctant to spend that sort of money.  My sand flag has cost us $1.

We bought a $1 hi-viz safety vest from Ebay which Jan then cut and sewed a flag.  The metal mounting bracket came from some recycled square tube salvaged from the old garden shed and the yellow mast is a 40 year old fibreglass fishing rod.

The one job I have decided not to undertake is replacement of the back and side fences. 

It’s a corrugated asbestos/cement fence and because of the additional safety requirement for the removal of asbestos I’ve decided to pay a fencing contractor to complete the work.  The fence has to be replaced as it doesn’t meet the height restrictions for swimming pools.  However I will install the other two sides of the pool fencing…… But not until after the pool has been installed.  Once the pool project is complete we will be able to do the backyard landscaping.