RC Yacht and Speed Boat

Once

Dad had a flying “dope” powered plane on cables that he built from a balsa kit. You stood on the ground with a two cable-control line and turned in circles as it flew up and down around you. The fuel smelt weird, and we were not old enough to fly it. The engine was a bastard to turn over to start. It got dusty pretty quick…

Read on From another post

Family Cooking (IV) Tuna Mornay

Tuna Mornay
A Main Meal

With full acknowledgments to Tarn, Bev and Dee

As a kid, I liked fish two ways, tuna from the can, and battered deep fried flake (gummy shark). Adelaide, the Eighties, Tarnia tried to get me to eat her favourite fish dinner- salmon patties. "Yeah but Nah, thanks Tarn.", then got me with the Tuna Mornay instead, oh yummy! Of course, tuna was not her fave...

DIY (Marvining) in the Bathroom

Bathroom

Drip. Drip.

"Turn the shower tap OFF please!"
Problemo-  a worn valve or washer suspected.
Three days of reminders.....
Finally, "DONT FORGET THE HARDWARE STORE TODAY!"
"YES Marvin!"



Look for parts in the usual place at the Cob & Co hardware bazaar¤ store.
I thought it was the right place.
Phit?† NONE?
Back to the front counter.
"Ah, ahem, um, valves for taps[faucets]? Do you still sell them?"
Ah.
Behind the counter was the collection of parts, washer, valves, o'rings, all in a little box.
And "Cheaper one piece at a time" was the answer.[Hmm, lesson learnt by the store, plumbing stuff=easy targets] 
Possibly true, compared to the Big Hardware store around the corner anyway.
Total only $3.80 for two each of washer, o'ring and valve. El Cheapo!! Yay me...

Installation
Proceed to g'rage, Vice Grip for water mains, and that's Off. A lesson learnt. Sometime ago.
Collect tools for jobby. Vice Grips. Special Silicon or nylon grips for the flange. Adjustable spanners, large, and larger.

Scratch the flange again

Proceed to shower, open other taps to relieve pressure... [Another lesson learnt previously.]
Hot knob off. Attempt to use new silicone tool on the flange(?). NO BLOODY GOOD. Not exactly cylindrical, so the adjustable grips come into play, and once again a little scratch. ARGH! MARVINED again.

valve damaged and so DRIP DRIP

The last time I did this little DIY in the house somewhere, the hot side fitting was very difficult to undo, so braced myself and the dang thing undid easy... Hmmph! Maybe another lesson previously heeded? Disassemble the fittings noticing that the old valve was very NFG*, and, it was a more expensive silicone sealer too! Go off to get another tool for removing old o'rings. Then go and get another tool to scrape remains off or remove old washers. Hmmph. Assemble and install new parts.

The cold side was much the same, easy, apart from the rubber valve staying inside the fitting. Bloody hell. So had to go and fetch ANOTHER tool, pliers, and a torch. Finger crossed the damming thing did not fall down to really stuff the plumbing up. Knocked the spanner to the floor, JUST missing my toes... Bend over to pick it up and drop the mobile phone in the ONLY little puddle...
Finish up, turn the water back on and put away the tools.

Completed in less than twenty minutes all up I reckon. Shorter without the extra walk-about time...
Things never really go according to plan, huh?
I imagine that it may have cost more than the $3.80 if I had called in the--- Especialists!!!... At extracting $s.


¤ It really is like that, you need a guide to to find things there!
†Phit- Scottish for What, cos they actually and really pronounce the WH like a F sound in Aberdeenshire,as in "FOO was Here"! or me,  A FOOL was here!
*No Good

Curtains...

Bedroom Curtains
Or Home Decorating, a Male Way...

You would think home decorating is for the ladies. If there is no lady to tell you that you have done it the wrong way, Marvin, then you may be like me, constant trips to the hardware store.

Of Course, some people KNOW exactly what they need before they step out of the hoose!

I had a fair idea for doing the new curtains last year, a list as it were- New Curtains.  If there is anybody cheaper than me, I would not be surprised, as it means they are successful El Cheapos.


My original ancient green coloured thick-ish bedroom draperies were nice, blocking the evil morning sunlight from striking me awake ever since we had bought the house.

However, the backing was so old, it was literally disentegrating, especially when just grabbing them.

There had been an Aldi sale earlier in the year, and after I had noticed the poor state of repair of the bedroom curtains, I investigated and purchased same, with some trepidation. But the set was not the SunBlocking kind so Back to the store for a refund. See, TREPIDATED!

Finally, later last year, Aldi had some sunblocking curtains out there cheap. Eggslantê!

With all undue haste, I was there on the Sale Day, with all the other poor El Cheapo bstds, in the wind and rain, waiting for the nine o'clock opening...

Nah, I was't really, but was there later on.

I got to the curtain bin, and all that was left was two sets. BEIGE, and BROWN. As I really did need to cover large window area, bought both. No good asking for a RAINCHECK cos They Do Not, and they won't call the next store [an hour way by road] if there is any left there, Oh No.

'Kay, set off with the odd pair of pairs, and dismantled[?] the old drapes. Boy they were old and stuffy. And stinky, never would have survive a good launder. Actually, they did not... Very fluffy clothes for a week of washing afterwards. Bugger!

A folding stair stool combination would be nice next time. Stepping on bedside tables, chests of drawers and edges of beds and window sills could be dangerous. Just don't look down...

Clambered around the bedroom, getting the draperies off. Assemble the new ones.

Need an IRON? 

NO WAY, a bit plastic, I thought, to actually IRON?
Then.
Not enough hooks...

Only out up three curtains, the last one with 1/4 of the number of  hooks and rings... back to the hardware store or Spotless [I dislike the staff there, they see me and turn around, I swear, like just cos I got no boobs, man, really, the money is the same?!]

There was no need to fancy pants it all up in my opinion. There was no one around, really, to critique it.

But last week, I thought I better do something.
The spare curtain lying over the bed canopy for 6 months was a bit too long.

Off to the hardware store. Again. More rings and hooks. Remember the clambering last time? This time, a close call atop the bedside table, lucky I fell towards the bed... And to rub the salt in...

Wrong hooks... Wrong size rings by a fraction, too bad. El Cheapo remember. Muttley was behind it! Back to the hardware store again.

So finished it off today, looks okay too. IMHO.

Brown and BEIGE though. Argh.

Evil Smell Question

I thought I had lost this in the Great Google Blogging Website Meltdown 12-16 May '11
Is this the face of..?
Face, no.

This is the kitty, a marvin-ing kitty!

Speak no Evil,
Hear No Evil,
See No Evil
Smell no Evil
Do no Evil?...........

near the end

Near the Ending


Breakfast

Eating the last of the cereal, I had to pick up the bowl to scrape out the last bits.

And I realised; it was a bit sad really, approaching the end of something.

I had been multitasking; time-watching, eating and reading.

To finish off brekky, I had had to put the book down to use two hands, and thought, "Interruptus vulgaris!"

The End

Scanner scammed

 my friend D...

Addendum to last message for a laugh

I went to scan that pic for your dad, and the damn thing would not scan to the computer. 5 min

So i reinstalled the software, disk out of date, 

so got some from off the internet, 20 min

Still would not work, 10 min, bugger it.

NO, went back see what is wrong.

Reminded me to make sure was connected to pc,  sure, course tis.

And then, just in case...

Hmm.

Guess what?

Don’t tell your dad i wasted 30 minutes of his life waiting....

USB Wasn’t plugged in

Catch ya

Reply:

"ha, ok BLONDIE!!!!!"

Thanks D

Boring Bit Conglomerated

A life page.

Family Cooking (III) Quiche

Quiche and Baked Potato
Tarnia's way


For four people.

This is the first of two ways I get the kids to eat cheese and eggs...

Mothers

Happy Mothers Day to my Mum.
And to Bev's memory too. My Granma and Nanny.

I wish I could say it all to Tarn. All eighteen times. Those missing ten times...

Weegen

Weegen


Weegen and the wallet is dry. 

Between last weekend and this weekend, the house-hold account has bled red and dry via checks, credit cards, savings, and cash! Consumerism Rules me. My head aches. I need a rant, something cathartic besides retail therapy. Food? Typing?



The Shopping. 


New triplet set cordless phones, half price; Hardly Normal. Slow cooker; Aldi. iPhone and contract for Son#2; Retro-Vision. School shoes for gels #3a and #3b plus inserts for that one too; Cheap As Shoe Shoppe. Jeans noir, pour moir; Targettê. Deep wide fry-pan & Multi-socket power adapter for the car and all the gadgets; Aldi. Food gets a...small nod.  There was something else for Son#2, but cannot remember. On top of last weeks rain gauge and Van rego!

Ah, I wonder do I need all this? And how do I do it?

The veranda is accumulating a sediment, a "fine-Not" veneer of boxes of replaced usable but old worn appliances and crapped out fixable maybe appliances. Useless stuff. Unused stuff. A larger than usual aquarium and extras. Roof racks for an Eighties Van. Old swimming and surf gear, boards, fins. Old sailboard gear for teaching getting old, broken pieces cannot be replaced or fixed. A huge sale or clean up is imminent. Yeah, one day, one day. Separation anxiety? The Old Stuff That Works should be in a yard or garage sale some weegen when I can be bothered. De je vu? I thought I wrote this a while ago... I just cannot at the moment. Sad really. There are other things to do, like practice my typing and spelling... The Working Sailboard Stuff there does not count here as crap, it's My Crap, my special weegen get-away and do something gear!

In the yard, the old sailing dinghy- it has to go back to my dad's place. It's probably forty years old and needs TLC. The kids are not into sailing in it. My friend Trav helped me renovate it six years ago and is owed time away with it fishing, but we hardly see each other any more. A weeegen away is off the schedule until he gets his life back (and together) and the neck fixed I guess.


There is the old and new car oil and coolant next to the Alcoholery; bathroom and kitchen sinks next to that, waiting to be either sold or given away, and installed respectively. Needed the oil and coolant like a hole in the head, but you never know. The stainless sink is for the Alcoholery of course. The vines and fruit trees need pruning, the gardens weeding, the lawns mowing...

The Rant, or ranting nagging whatever

This morning, girl talk over the phone-line and then the gels wanna go see their friends play netball.  And meanwhile, four washing loads are staring at me each time I go to the bathroom. Normally on the weegen, the weeks washing is done in one morning, dry by dinner...
Netball? Sure. But there is a condition... have they tidied up the  lounge and their room?
No.
Well?
"Oh daaaad..."

And then, another call a bit later.
"Can We Go To The The Pool?"
WHAT? It's Winter Nearly!

"Heated pool, Dad."

"Dunno, what about the Lounge and Bed Room ? All week, tidy it up. Not done? Well, no outings!"

"But, a shower?"
"No, the room..."

 Ah. All done nonchalantly and under sufferance but not 50%! A friend arrives early, as anticipated while one was in the shower...
At the courts stood with some mothers, watching the gels watch their friends win 17 to 0, and now they want to play too... Other mums try to talk me/us into it and Muttley-like thoughts occur and then cascade- taxi-ing, sports uniforms and footwear, practice nights, game days... Leave the new sports complex calculating time and money...

Shopping on the way back home. Visit the Nu Hoose and check out progress. Then to Aldi. Oh dear. Just the milk?
Nah. A big arse frypan too. Lights, ceramic knife...

Get home.
"The Room! or no..."
ring ring   ring ring   rin...Oh dear gott.
"Lo? Yes?"
"Are the girls there?"
"They are somewhat...busy. Can I take a message?"
"Um. Ah. Can I talk to one of them?"
ARHGGG!
Hmm. Buggerisation.
"Oi! Phone!"
Arrangements are made to get to the pool...
"Nah-uh, ROOM! Then- maybe."



Had bought the wrong light. Of course. Lucky  (LUCKY?) the gels wanted a five block ride to the pool, so I could exchange the "Not right" light. Nearly bought a magasine, but thought, Nah, really really really don't need it. Weegen. Marvined Time or what?

As I park the car at home, I note the good weather. And the long grass waiting for Son#2 when he is ready.
To wit, a call, he and his young lady will be home for dinner soon.
Right. Washing out except for last load. Prepare dinner. Bring the washing in and sort to rack or drier. Delegate the young people in the kitchen with rest of food prep.

[Huge sigh remembering all that]

Food.

Still managed to spend more on the kitchen and food.
Top it off?
Aven-a-goo-weegen? So far? Yep!

The Slow Cooked Taco Recipe tonight was a Weegen Winner!
And the lad gave me a Coke and Potato Bombs from the kitchen he works in, excellent!

Family Cooking (II) Chow Mien

Tarn's Chow Mien


With one so favourable comment- let me do another Tarn recipe, one that she says she got off her mum. I think after ten years I may have changed the basics, but the kids and their cousins and their aunts like it.

renew a weather monitoring tool

As mentioned somewhere, the original rainfall collector just weathered badly since 1998.

Being plastic (from Nylex as well?!) it got brittle. Getting up on a shaky homemade stool... I had dropped it twice over the years, and repaired twice with super glue, the last time with some freezer bags too... Cracked it then actually broken the second time actually. Tape and plastic bags do not do a great job
, but better than vinegar and brown paper! It did not help that I had it mounted well over my head, on the roof, top corner, of the former Alcoholery (now plain Shed to some & Vacant as Son#1 is at Uni, and #2 Son wants to move in So Bad...), but the backyard, I thought, was not clear enough of low plant life to mount the collector by itself, just near the ground.  Pictured above and at right

Once back together again, it was okay, as I did have the digital recorder, the 'backup'.
But I think it also a) leaked in  or b) absorbed moisture, because there was always something to measure, even over a dry week...

Meanwhile...
There was a special a while ago at the hardware store for a cheap replacement- missed out.

Last week, after a little spending spree elsewhere, I thought, bugger it, let's get a new collector.

Ta da! Twenty bucks man! Oh yeah, measure up to 250mm rain- just what I need if the climate changes so much more differently than anyone expected in the next fourteen years!

A label on another box, the Rolls Royce model naturally, said where it should be mounted.

This time it is just over my head.
And so clean...
On the clothes line instead.




*End of Autumn Downunder- Son#2 is "booked" to do the lawns sometime soon....

Family Cooking (I) Mexican style

Recipes Mexican style


I want to start a family favourite recipes collection. My marriage to Tarn was a delight as far as food goes. And this is way to honour her memory and recipes! Our cholesterol count was great. One time her's was higher which was hilarious, because Oil Rig food is not supposed to be that healthy! I welcome a contribution, as the first post will be recipes that have stirred me the last fortnight and share, inspired by three people.

In the mid 80's, Tarn and I were living next door to King's Park on Park Ave in Crawley, Western Australia. For a birthday, we went to a local Mexican restaurant and she persuaded me to try an avocado dip. I was not that into hot stuff or avocado, but the dip blew me away. Tarn said she had the recipe back at the flat. Great!

Dishwasher 2011 Episode II

Three mornings ago
Arrgh....Kids.

Three mornings ago there was some water on the kitchen floor as we got up.
Kids!

Two mornings ago
Hmm? 


The same. They would not have done it emptying the dishwasher? Nah.



Two nights ago
Flashing. RTFM.


The dishwasher would not go past what sounded like the draining stage, and a light was lit.
And Flashing.
Oh no.
Where's TFM! Was it a possible DIY repair?

Read the manual again.
"CALL A SERVICE PERSON"
Thanks. A lot...

Yesterday
Find the service people Tone, Repair Time...


Did so, and they said;
"See you tomorrow!"
Bugger! I thought I could get away with not opening the wallet for at least a week...
"Sure!"

Muttley-like* thoughts going through my head- $#%^^ %^& etc etc. A new dishwasher? Argh.

Just spent 60 bucks on some tray rollers!

Today.
Make sure machine out of niche. Bargain?


Door bell rings right on time.
Race from late morning bathroom obligatorys...

Teenager with toolbox at door...[WTF! Fuck off!]
"Hi there. Um, where's the other guy?"
"Brett gives me the shit work."
"Right, come on in then."

Preceed him to the kitchen, trying to be positive in my head.
He gets stuck into it, asking some questions.
After he pokes around the outside at the pipes and wires, undoes a panel or two:
"Have you got a towel please?"
"Yep".

I fetch the oldest towel in case a MESS spurts out all over the place.

"I do remember a small puddle there the other day. Does that help" How could That Help? Ah well.
No answer.

"There" he says. "Will just see that it cycles through."

Da da!
Bloody hell.
And he shows me where a problem could occur if too much detergent or rinse aid could overflow into a tray and cause a float to rise and turn on the draining cycle if there is too much foam in the system!

Plan B was to visit Aldi for a 300 buck 5-cycle dishwasher.
Comment on that from repair guy- "...cheap shit..."

$66 visit/check/"fix".
Instead of a new washer.

Bargain.

*From a cartoon out of the sixties[correct me?]

Drop-ins and shopping spree...

Busy day yesterday- the baby had banged her foot on the first day of the "Feaster Weegen" and been limping all week long- so Thursday I managed to get a doctors appointment- I prompted an emergency need like I thought she may need a x-ray? And only had to wait 25 minutes, and then off to th ex-ray place. No call about a broken foot last night, that was good, but;

Surprise telephone call last night. From my brother [another one] who also has a motor bike, one of the latest Triumphs too.

A ten o'clock drop in tomorrow? Sure I said, sure.

Lonesome Breakfast Times These Days, & Stings

The weekend, and today...


Breakfast Today
The three progs* left at home these days are getting so autonomous, I could leave home  for a few weeks and nearly be comfortable with that on a rig in the North Sea...

Not really.

I can sort of sleep in while they get ready for the school day. Toast smells sometimes drift down to my room. Some talking,  mostly the TV noises. Occasional brawls do not make me rush to put out the wildfire anymore.

Then the inevitable "Bye Daddy", "See you Dad",
"Yeah, Bye! Oh. Made your lunches? fed the Cat? Done your shoes? Have a good day, see you tonight!"

Weird. I am a bit lazy sometimes, but they are all really growing up!

I am still Grumpy at breakfast, probably like my dad! Back when/then, Tarn, and my Mum too, would give "Their Man" brekky in bed to stave off the Grump from "ruining" the kid's breakfast...


I walk down the hall to get ready for the day for a Pondering Shower  or ABC news over a lonesome brekky and nice coffee.
Yeah.
Bath towels, underwear, and breakfast dishes all around the lounge. TV on.
All left in situ like a tsunami had been announced or I walked into Pompeii...

#2 Son and Heytell

#2 son is not so much a handful anymore, and some conversations are pretty good- and I though last night, pretty grown up. "We" "had" to try an "app" out on our respective iPods- 'Heytell.'

Hmmph.
Pause an old NCIS at 11:55pm and go to my pc and find and load the dang app, fine, and the iPod wanted update itself- jeze mabel!

Anyway- like coitus interruptus, the two downloads went ahead. I got the app loaded and I wondered back to see if #2 the dazzler had loaded his app.

Nah, It was in the middle of updating the song list instead...
Hmmph.

Stomped back, snatched the iPod off the umbilical, forgetting to make sure it was okay to eject it and went back to watching my show.

Finally the Frazzler got his shite together, and with much sssss's and stuff, we got it to work. Dunno how much that is gonna cost me in wasted time and money, but looks like a cool walkie talkie type thing. If a WiFi hotspot is close by that is.

To be Stung or Not
The other two progeny have really stung me this weekend. Their birthday money went on an iPod touch each with some subsidizing- I don't like one missing out- so sue me.

"Everybody else has an iPod Toch. Bwha, bwha!"
Fine where's the cash gels?
Got em, although there could have been extras for extra- like Maccas...
"There you go. Satisfied?"
Oh YEAH! They were!

Tarn would not have gone down this track I am bloody sure, but, [And Happy 39th again Tarn], I cannot help myself. A Techy Boy Thing I reckon.

And then after all set up and the facetime is finally usable:

"Everybody else is using iTunes!"

Who- What- How- Why- When?

Parents do not read the conditions, or do, don't worry or/nor care and still sign over the preciousnesses of their lives - to The Net. Or Steve Jobs and minions. (Jeze Mabel- shoulda got those Apple shares)

I did so as long as use was supervised- after all, I managed to trust #1 Son. I think.

The Sting.
Their accounts needed some real verification before accessing the app store. Really?

Big mistake.

#3b girl child went for some  free apps/songs. ["Not"!]
I was not there over her shoulder, so did not notice, AND was not told that the verification notice was in reality--- an agreement to purchase these app/songs...
Da dong...

Okay, and I agreed to what I thought was a strange way to get a freebie... Da Dong

And then  #3a girl child needed some verification code too. Still not suspicious.

As they went off to bed I recieved some emails with Apple invoices and a thankyou for using the Apps Store.


DA DONG!

WHAT?!

We had just put some credit into their accounts from Target using the rest of their birthday money from the rels at Fi-ester Weegen!

Raised my voice and berated the two rapscallions, nor Yelling but certainly crossly!
"never Never do that again! Etc etc etc..."

And then and now realised that it was all my fault anyway. Still, cheap and not cheap!

More Stings. Today

[An aside- a pay check $238. Food today $136, Sting 2- cat medicine $46]

I received a text message from The Bobby Dazzler that I could pick him up after school.
Why? No answer.
So when It gets home, It says, "we could have gone out to the grave to pay respects?"
BUGGER, yes, we could have done it that way!
Hmmph again.
Off we go to see Tarn to put a little posy in the vase thingo, share some tears, and leave.


Travelling towards home:
"I need shoes"
"Me too"
Bugger me!

So. Via the shops...

First shop, cheapos okay, but do what Tarn would have made me do anyway, and get some more quotes.

Next place.
"Yuck"
"Don't like 'em"
Get some replacement jeans on special for me...$35

Next place.
"Nah, my friend says those shoes are crap"

Back to the first one, and fork out 120 buckaroonies!

Next stop, get some shoe inserts for the injured one like the doctor says. Another $35.
By the way, from last weeks x-ray of #3b's foot, looks like there's Nothing Wrong with it...
Hmmph, knew that!

Stung too many times. Credit card, cheque book and pay check buggered again for the week.




*not sprogs! Progenies. progenics?