Pontification
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I’ve been having some interesting chats with my good friend Leon lately. For some reason we end up sitting in the chairs outside debating faith and evolution and all sorts – and it gets into some very cool discussions 
The odd thing is though, both of us have fairly solid standpoints – although leon quite often enjoys taking a different tack just to snarl me up hehe but we get to a point where neither of us can quite remember the exact evidence supporting our individual claims, so we kinda run out of steam. At some point I’ll have to do some research to get my facts lined up again because I can say I’ve seen all this stuff but I can’t for the life of me remember the blow by blow proofs!
Ach well, it’s good fun anyways. Leon talks well 
Fishiness
Yesterday saw us at the aquarium early in the morning. We had tried to go the day before, but since it was a public holiday there was an enormous queue right around the building to get in – so we decided to come the next day. It was worth it though – getting there early got us in quickly, and the place itself is great. They have some very interesting displays, and there are a few big cases where little ones can go under a little tunnel and stand up in these clear perspex bubbles so their heads are inside the tank We saw baby crocs, sharks, froggies, starfish, jellies and all sorts. My favourite was probably the sea turtle in the big tank – they have a huge tank with about 2500 creatures in it apparently and over 60 different species. It goes around a big auditorium, and over the top of a couple of tunnels so you can walk through it – very cool. The sea turtle was quietly doing laps, looking very cool.
B as you might imagine had a great time – laughed himself silly at Finn the Fish Car – a daewoo or similar that is full of water and fish And he happily trotted around hand in hand with Nana most of the time – at the end of which she bought him a little soft toy dolphin that makes annoying noises when you squeeze it, so he had a great morning.
New Gym
Tried the new gym today – it’s a bit of a come down from work, where everything is clean and ordered and nice But after I got over my initial intimidation of the place, I realised it wasn’t too bad. It’s a bit small, and the showers/changing rooms aren’t great but they have the equipment to do what I need soit will do the job. Should be quieter early in the morning as well (I went at 1600-ish today)
Although I think I may have been pulling way more weight than I’m used to – either there’s something very different about the equipment or the weight measurements are totally different, because everything was a good deal harder than it should be. The hand weights were measured in lbs, but measurements seemed to go back and forth between kgs and lbs so I was never quite sure what I was pulling. I’ll spend some more time examining it tomorrow and translate my kilo circuit weights into lbs just in case…
Family
Picked Mum up at the airport yesterday – she got in 25 minutes early and got through customs in 10 – 15 minutes, so she was already meandering about when we got there We went to Threshermans in Carlton for breakfast which was nice, then headed home. B is loving having ‘Nana Shirley’ here, and is trotting about the house after her – she brought a bunch of presents, including about 6 or 7 for B! Two of the presents were a toy dragon and some knights, which he loves, and the dragon has now become his favourite toy and even gets put under the pillow.
So, so far all is good – turns out the bed we bought is comfortable enough, so Mum is doing alright in her room, and her and R are getting along well as I knew they would. Today I think we’re likely to go to the aquarium in the city – we all slept in a bit to catch up so we’re moving slowly but it should be a bit of fun. I haven’t been to the aquarium yet and B loves it so looking forward to the experience. Although right now I’m probably looking forward to my next coffee a little more.
I’ll be going to the new Gym today as well – joining up for a month so I can keep up my workouts. It’s been a week or more since I’ve been in the gym and I’m feeling a little sluggish so it will be good to get back to it. I’ve no idea what the gym I’m going to is like but hopefully it’s decent and has all the equipment I need.
Christmas Wrapup
Well. That was fun.
Christmas has been building up for us this year quite a lot – we’re also having a visit from my mother tomorrow, and my brother the next week or so. If I haven’t mentioned it, they live in the UK, so it’s a fairly big trip. We’re decking out the sunroom as a bedroom for mum (mark can sleep on the floor with the cat so we need to go pick up a few things in the boxing day sales but both R and I are kinda putting that off for the moment as we were up way too late last night watching the extended version of Return of the King. Which rocks, incidentally. I didn’t really like what they reduced sarumans ending to, but it was still a damn good film.
Christmas eve was fun – loads of decorating and putting things on the tree. Our Christmas tree came out a treat, and R did some great work with the lights, which makes it look very cool. The house is decked with tinsel and coloured lights all over the place, and last night R put a bunch of lights in the back and front gardens as well which were awesome. Our good friends Leon and Cat came over during the afternoon which was lovely – and surprisingly we didn’t go too overboard on the food!
The presents worked out great – R loved her jewellery and other assorted bits which I was quite relieved about, and B of course went nuts. We got him a “Burp Blaster” which is a toy gun that fires nerf style micro darts, but as you pump it’s action it makes quite interesting belching sounds He loves it- and Scruff got me the sister gun, the “Fart Blaster” along with three other little toy guns for work So B and I have been running about the house peppering each other with darts. And it looks as though today I’m likely to be unable to escape a bit of a dousing with the water pistols Although I’m not sure you could consider them pistols, as they’re all shoulder strap mounted!
I had a great time – lots of fun little things in my Christmas stocking, including a lovely frame with To Dad , Love Michael on it, which I’ll be taking to work with me. I got the extended boxed gift set of ROTK from the muppetty, plus a bunch of actual muppet dvds and King Arthur which I’m hanging to watch. R also got me these cool elephant ornaments, one for happiness and one for wealth, which I’ll put up on the center speaker next to the horn I think
Oh and I finally got my lego! I have two massive mega blocks “Dragons” sets, one a castle and one a ship, and I have a huge technic lego pneumatic truck. Nate is well chuffed! I put the castle together yesterday and the munchkin and I played with it and the dragons which was a load of fun.
Leon and I had a couple of games of trouble with B, and then we got stuck into this electric shock game – you hold a handle and press the button in the middle – it makes noise and lights up, and when the light changes colour and the noise stops you have to press the button on your handle. If you press it too soon, or you’re the last one to press it after the lights change then you get an electric shock >:) Much fun.
Dinner was awesome, and R seemed to just take it in her stride and get it all done in an hour or something ridiculous like that. And then she managed to do it again for tea! So I was very well fed yesterday.
Hrm, that’s all for now, I need to stop typing so I can use both hands on my coffee cup… then maybe go get another can of V from the fridge. Daddy’s head hurts a little…
The fight for cool air
It’s been a saga but we’re finally getting airconditioning! YAY!
R hunted around the websites etc and discovered the right model for the house, and then managed to get us several hundred dollars off the RRP We rang around, then went to the Good Guys big clearance center on the Nepean Highway. Someone came to help us out but he was basically unwilling to do anything more than read me the details off the screen – which I could have done myself, so we wandered off and ended up getting the unit from retravision. The Good guys fellow did give us a number we could use to talk down the retravision guy though But I won’t be going back to them – their ads are annoying enough but that guy was useless.
Anyways, we finally have the unit, R picked it up a few days after we ordered it, so all’s good there. Next problem, we can’t get anyone to install the damn thing before christmas. We had a couple of people come round and give us ridiculous quotes – then one fellow did a proper inspection and discovered a number of mildly alarming things about our power supply.
Turns out this house is running on a 35 amp connection – where the current standard is 80 amp. Which explains why the house keeps getting overloaded… The original guys who rewired the house didn’t bother to get the mains upgraded – which isn’t always required when rewiring is done but considering they were supposed to be rewiring for the express purpose of stopping the short circuits we keep getting… So it looks overall that the guys we used, ShipLec did a fairly ordinary job. They didn’t replace any of the switches which apparently is fairly standard practise because if you don’t, you’re guaranteed to have at least one of them fail – which happened to our toilet light. The big problem is our aircon unit draws 20 amp… which means we’ll have to turn off a number of things while we’re running it, and not run it at night when the water heater is going. Plus when the condenser kicks in the lights will dim momentarily However that will all be fixed when the upgrade the mains….
Basically the guy from ShipLec, Craig, just had his apprentices do all the work and then he checked it over cursorily and left. So we got a poor job done. The next surprise is that the house doesn’t appear to have a mains earth. Not only that, but it needs in fact two earths, as there has to be a seperate one from the hot water service which is also electrical.
Now the fun part – the cable that connects us to the rest of the power grid is being rubbed through in several places by a tree on the nature strip. Our friendly electrician informed us that it wouldn’t last a 12 month – which means fun and games. For those of you who don’t know, the power cable coming to your house from the overhead wires brings power in but also sends excess power back out. The problem we face with the wire getting exposed is that all of a sudden, power wont be able to get back out. And with no earths and an electrical hot water service – every tap in our house becomes a live contact. NOT something that makes you feel secure I’m just glad B isn’t in the habit of poking things in powerpoints…
So we’re working to get the owner to agree to have the mains upgraded, which my wonderful landlord is getting organised. We do however have an electrician – friend of a friend at work – to come round today and wire in the new circuit and powerpoint. And we had a quote of 200 or more for some guy to put the aircon unit through the window, but we borrowed the handy man from next door (he’s working on their renovations) and he said he’d do it for 120 – plus he really seemed to know what he’s doing so I’m happy!
So once again R saves the day with the organisational skills, and we’re gonna have airconditioning for Christmas! And the handyman also gave us his evaluation of the unit and the house, and said it would easily completely cool the lounge and dining room (the latter being where all the ‘puters are) and blow out into the hall as well, so again, R picked the perfect unit What a babe.
Dreams and Omens
I dreamt last night that R had a baby. Incredibly beautiful, wrinkled little thing – and it was a girl. I hope to God that isn’t an omen…
I’d love a girl every bit as much as a boy – although I must admit to some odd fixation on wanting a first born son. Then again I’ve kinda got that in B which is very nice What worries me is that I’m afraid I’d be wrapped around my little girl’s finger. Plus I don’t like the idea of her growing up and meeting boys like… well… like me.
I can see myself now, answering the door with a huge knife, and sharpening it while the would-be boyfriend explains his presence. At least I’m confident that I can loom threateningly
Sleepy
It’s been an odd week so far – three days in a row I’ve failed to make it up early enough to get to the gym in the morning, which is distressing. Monday I went to the gym after work and tuesday during lunchtime – although I’m not going to have time for either today. I’m just really tired at the moment, and not finding enough time to get to sleep – perhaps I should stop watching the telly altogether. I need to get another set of training clothes too, as this washing every night and trying to get them dry is ridiculous. Ah well I’ll try for tomorrow – at least next week I’ll be going to the gym closer to home so I’ll both have a the time for a little extra sleep, and be in a position where oversleeping by 20 minutes isn’t going to lose me the morning, as it’s only a 10 minute walk away
Many much lots posts!
Oh I’d like to point out that I’ve pass the 100 Posts mark (this in fact is #107). Not, perhaps, with the most auspicious subject in the world, but still one about family and loved ones so all’s well
Manly Stuffs
I’ve been doing stuff in the garden and about the house. Yes, that’s right – of my own volition I have been going outside early in the morning and cutting branches, shifting boxes and tidying things. Shock. Horror.
I managed to chop back the minor rainforest guarding my garage, and did battle with the ivy tentacles ensnaring the door in their unremitting grasp. Eventually, after much sweating and cursing I prevailed, and lo the door was opened…
Bugger me what a mess
I pulled everything out of the garage the following weekend, and made the hard decision to chuck all of my old computer hardware. More Shock. More Horror. I threw it all in the garbage pile along with the fascinating polystyrene shapey bits that I’ve been hoarding against the day I miraculously wake up to find my Warhammer 40K army completely assembled and painted by an army of piskies, so I can build terrain out of it. I figure in the years it’s likely to take to assemble said army of tiny helpful mythical cornish beasties, I’m likely to have bought a fair bit more hardware, and so polysytrene will once again be plentiful.
So now I have a huge pile of rubbish in the carpot awaiting a hard rubbish collection, along with an old desk, a mouldy couch and a number of other less savoury items. The garage is repacked and orderly, now also containing everything non rubbishy that was filling the sunroom up, yet still leaving walkway space etc. I’m right proud of myself really, although any normal person would likely have done it ages ago. Ach well.
P.S. I’d like to point out that I did this all by my poor little self, as a certain person whom we’ll call…. Leon, for example, didn’t show ;p