As before, wash and repeat?

 I hope the  trumpism era ends before the '24 US Elections

Frightening(?) to me, that the common people of the US cannot stand up and tell the orange fraudster to just FO!

Second frightening thing about the world is that this type of 'strong leader' is never called to account but manages to get away with in some cases I think from what I have read, atrocities that the common folk are letting pass. Either actual atrocities or legal and financial avoidance of consequences that commoners are usually convicted for or vilified for or unjustly punished and or disappeared.

Not looking forward to overseas travel next year, but family is family, bite my tongue, enjoy it, celebrate, and get the f345 home ASAP I guess.

On the better side of a at the moment slack time not working for the man and trying not to waste $s from moving out of a mortgage, well, Lake George, Beachport, South Australia, was a very pleasant interlude this year, not a majority of the time on the water speedsailing, but enough to miss it right now. I now have the right sails and masts and a great 2nd hand boom to be a better sailor. Apparently. In my mind 35knots is easily obtainable. No that great a sailor, just another wanna-be-better, so why aren't I?

In the meantime I am up to #4 action camera and it's decided to only turn on, not record... The first one in 2021, a hero9black, turned out to be a dud, replaced by warranty and it was nearly drowned the other day as the door wasn't locked.With #3 the door was opened to change the battery and some water dripped into it so it's "bricked" along with the battery- got to dry off before changing the battery- however the microSD card has been revived!! And now the "spare" new one, a hero10black, appears to be frozen, a warranty job? Forge on brave #2 hero9black action cam!!

My brother again joined me there this year, twice. Here at youtube for your delectation.

https://youtu.be/z1pvTfIiJGs with Simon
https://youtu.be/n4nLn4rZtRo just me ripping up to 40kmh and here too, https://youtu.be/n4nLn4rZtRo ripping again

A typical day at LG, The Golden Lake. Some days January 2024

4th Jan-
 

  

a pic of some combined sessions and the location

I like the idea of the numbers on the video and a friend gave me said to grab a better telemetry app for the video editing, the gopro one was ok, the new one better I think. 

I have spent quite a lot of time there since I came back from a trip to Cairns and beyond in 2023. Three trips before the end of '23 and another after xms, then a month plus, 29Jan to 4Mar, trying to break 35 knots. Not in any dream. Max was 31! Anyway, the water was not quite glassy this year compared to 2022, 2021 1nd 2020, and definitely not as good as last year, which I missed the party for and was late for anyway-2023  https://youtu.be/oSPISl79324 

Height, weight. Rrggghhhg. Other pople are doing really well for my stats in comparison, maybe not enough 'need for speed' in the head, just like to say I can try it out. RRGGh h mmm. Ah well, time off at he moment for stitches, so can aerially with the drone and vicariously enjoy others sailing at the local lakes.

Another great time in late July 2023- Bledisloe Cup, I shared seats at the MCG to a old friend Sean and his wife Mary down from Darwin especially, and  with my kiwi Qld friend Chris the Smoko Kid and his daughter and her husband. Great get together, the headache later not so! Aplogies to Sean Mary and Chris for not having more beer Sunday!

Please let this year end with a happy note

Slow Weegen

Cup day Weegen at Sandy Point
Slow wind days

I took the gels with me to see my brothers and his family down at Sandy Point's shallow Inlet over the weegen.

Twice.

Sunday- First tried to call brother- signal shite- and nah, missed out. Hmph.So. Played first game of mini golf with the gels. Hmm, another time maybe. Then whizzed down to the sailing beach.

Little bro there.

The kids tried to fly a kite and played with step-cousin J in the dunes and worried about the rising tide and the car later on.

I blasted around the southern end and did my back in, as in, just EXHAUSTED meself! Nearly two hours with a big old sail and skeg and the nearly fifteen year old slalom board. It was fun, and nearly made most jibes.

The speed was good, but I was wondering- Need a new set up soonish? Yep.

A great afternoon.

Drove home, not promising to maybe stay Monday nite.

Monday- Sore as. Drove back down to the shack when school and work was over, on the way had a pub dinner that was just edible and too expensive for what it was. The pear cider was too amateurish and too expensive. Two meals, two colas and cider- Fifty One Dollars. Hmph

Tuesday- Early rise and shine at the rental house, and Pensive Looks at the waving trees...

Arrive beach side early- 10:30am like, and No Wind. Puffs only. Flew the 2nd kite.Also westerly swirling crappy breezes, and Left For Home at 1pm in Disgust.

Marvined.

Overall- family time and some speedsailing. Good.

10 minutes, a small fortune

I hope a test aint a waste
and the speed ticket was not fun either

I had to take A DAY OFF WORK TO do a special eye and brain test in the Big Smoke, and took some speed-sailing gear in case I was out early. I thought it was test three, the BAER, on the handout as the specialist seemed interested me in lying down for a few hours while technicians attached wires to me. Or a VEP or/and BAER.

No. Not that one, or the other one either. It was a VEP test. Not even a ten minute test. At their lab. In the city, well, nearly inner suburban.

Five minutes to hook two electrodes with thick glue to my scalp, stare at the monitor steadily with one eye, then stand up and read a poster a few yards away, [right eye - poor - two bottom lines hazy].

And That Was That. Out by 10:20am.

But that's not the only story.

That morning I arose earlier than usual, took off by 6:30am to get there by 9:30am. Yeah,  to drive through the frantic city bound traffic at the PEAK HOUR.

First, a petrol stop, [yeah, lack of planning there!] then off.

Bypass the land-slipped town and did not watch the hundreds of speed limit signs on the curvy country road... I was not watching the signs...

Pinged twice as a bluey followed me over the limit.  No idea he was there- how long was he there for, at least a minute or two at least, but long enough, and dang it if a lady driver had'nt flashed headlights at me a few minutes earlier...

The LAST time I went this way, a few months ago, I would have been fine.
Since the landslip, the road I wanted to use has been tagged and re-signed, with a big reduction...

I then noticed him, and he put the flashing lights on. Pulled over and got the licence ready. Bugger. "Why were you over the limit?" I was pregnant? Enjoying a country road? Did not realise that the limits were changed? As he went back to process my licence and registration, I was red from embarrassment and fury.

He came back and was almost laughing I think. He was so polite.
"Well, you were over twice and guess what else? The car registration was due last weekend..."

Silence.

"That could be a 655 bucks fine, but if you keep off the tollways and try to use your smartphone to pay as soon as possible, you will be okay..."

See? Nice, polite and so good.Maybe just a warning?

"But I will have to give you this one [a pink slip] though, so you only have this to pay- the speed fine"
"Uh. Um, well thanks", sort of... RRHGFRGH and %^#@ )(!*

As there was a child minder at home I called him to get the bill off the refrigerator and could he afford pay it for me ASAP? No explanation for why I remembered it...
"Yes, no worries."
"Thanks, see you as soon as I get back!" I said, fingering the spare cash I could have left at home for it.

So I cool off and REALLY WATCH the GPS- [speed limit data not updated of course- too cheap for that!] and get into the city traffic about an hour later.

The ABC radio traffic update warned me off the freeway- I knew that spot of trouble well, so took off on a different route.

Still late, not believing the GPS as I was looking for the wrong road just minutes away from My Destination... Lost me a few minutes as it insisted I was headed the wrong way in its muffled mode [woman, Irish, nice, but still a know all GPS thingo].
She was right as in Muttley like.
I turned the car around.

Got to reception after parking the wagon on the 2nd parking level [out of 5- so lucky], explained I was finally here late due to traffic problems, and told by a beautiful young woman, "Don't worry, it's okay..." Ahhh. Alright then!

Sat down to read for the indubitably long wait, read half a page of my Asimov mag and "Mr Marvin?"
Bugger- "Hi".

Off to the test, as above, a short test. Out by 10:20am and minus another hundred bucks for the test.

Oh well.
$9 for 37 minutes parking...

Oh well.

Took off. Time for Me Time after all.
Some speed-sailing at Sandy Point, if I could get there WITHOUT speeding!

GPS informs me, 1pm ETA, good.
On the way, avoiding traffic, through an industrial estate, mainly small to medium garage like shops, I spied a HOBBY shop! Squealing of tires NOT- "Just a quick look" and spent 5 minutes there, yum, and spied a model my uncle might want.

Got back on the road with all my money safe. Stopped for a Cornish Pastie, with sauce, that was not there in the end- did not squeeze the bloody bottle HARD enough, and arrived at Sandy Point. 1pm.

The tide was IN. Lack of planning. Severely!
Stuff it, I needed a bathroom quickly, and plowed through the small pools between me and relief...

Set up a sail, spoke to another sailor- "Not great".
Oh well.

From the files, but example- tide---  IN

Buggered around with the sail and mast rghrgh and got on the water, and planed fast enough down the course.
Up the course, there was only enough to slog back to shore...
Unpack and take off by 2:45pm.
Get back to town home, pay Son#2's dental bill, lucky for him and me they could see him at such short notice (Thanks) then off and reclaim the medical bill, go home and the gels get dropped off, with a pizza, and they kindly let me have two pieces...

What a bloody day!
Four hundred bucks for a 10 minute test. A ticket. A very short sail. And Is the optic nerve on its way out?
I better "fail" it... Or pass. Whatever.

winning and losing

The last few weeks are not going to be greatly remembered for anything more than me making it to the winning old age of fifty. Greys through hair and beard, little pot belly annoying the aching back. Need a trim as well. Bothersome bloody life. Maybe I should be auditioning for St. Nick!


If anything, losing a bit of weight would be nice, but choc covered liquorice and a block of chocolate, a few rum and lite-colas is too much to pass up! And the new dinner plates are bigger than the old, and so I have to add a little more to make it look enough...

I noted to Son#2 today that I have not been at all busy with my model boats. Scratching time out for that is harder than I thought lately, or my enthusiasm has been quenched- been there- done that. Nearly full PVR[s], so I am not entirely stuck in front of the idiot box mindlessly sipping coffee or liquor or dozing off. Much.

However, minding the collection of pc's takes up a bit of time too- looking for needs to upgrade on the net, or googling and wiki-peering things also manages to distract and procrastinate things a wee bit. A bit of blogging and associated research and reading other peoples doings... I hated researching stuff at BCAE for a report or essay, but if it interested me, well!

Updating the genealogy... A death and birth in the family jungle meant booting up the older pc for a balance. It takes ten minutes to be warm enough to start pecking away! And marked off my mum's cousin Cutch, the first along that side of my grandmother's neffs-n-neeces. I think. And then added my cousins girl in the births ledger. Losing and winning.

The family wagon is back in use as the school taxi while daughter#1 recovers from a chipped fibula. It sounds terrible as I crank it up and move it down the road. The mechanic I used  for a service on the blasted thing last year was required to report back if it needed fixing- no report- so must be okay? Winning? Poor old car, been abandoned while using the van for nearly everything else. Long road trips aside of course- the van does not fit the family! Only me, work trips and HOBBIES and SPORTS equipment!(This is the Old Adelaide collection- similar in size to current, imagine nearly all of it on a Maza 323? No?, then here you go then)

The garden, as noted elsewhere, is starting to piss me off. The weeds and shrubs and trees all need a complete make over. Long live a concrete yard please. Or gravel. The grapevines have been looked after, a bit early but while the sun shines and I do not have to bend over- bugger it, cut it. The baby hedge is "still in nappies". The plan to make a new gravel path and reduce the greenhouse effect (using the lawn mower LESS) is still fermenting near the front of the brain, rising to the top of it as I trudge to the post box to collect the next bloody bill. At least on that front I have reduced some insurance costs due to being half a century old now... winning!

Red Wine Pressings

arg- watery, okay, not as great as I expected.
Not being continuous with the order of where the blogs go!

And as I am a little slack, not going to move it here, so to the story click here

What do they want...

what do they want

Speedy Sailenzo

For all the sailboarding afficiendos out there- I know there must be a couple... 


I managed to stave off the kids and the werk Skedyewl
(told them to leave it all until later in the day as I had to be away... Being an independent self employed contractor had to have a perk in there somewhere for Slow day. Yeah, Mondays, SLOW to the point of why even get up for lunch! ) 



And get to sandy by 9:45, and leave the water at 12:15 (swimming back to the channel bank AGAIN!!!!), and home for shower and work before dragging kids to dentist and chiro and and and- reminds me of an Arc Day. But SO WHAT.


I can't get me $600 ten yr old shrunken wetty on or off IN A HURRY so I wear the falling apart florescent style circa 1988shorty... And a sort of wetsuit vest. 


It was a little cold, BUT, but the wind was a squally SW to SSW at aboot 20knots. 


I was rapt! 


I used my second-hand 4.2 wave sail from Simon and my fav board.


And the SPEED sailing, it was purfection. A couple of little showers and some sand blasting off the dune did not stop me- just reminded me to get back to the car at the next lull and grab the pseudo-Polaroid sunnies!


I think I was the fastest there. Out of 4. Nya nyah!!
But. If they were not there, I could'nt have sailed- Safety first, f@#& it. 


And I only had 80 minutes or less on the water. Prob less. Ah well, great time.


AND BUT I left at home my new data logger gps toy, so I could tell if I really was fast or just pulling my own leg... 


But. {again} I would not want to fall off- I was fast, yay me. The new harness lines were good, the footstraps need attention, I do not seem fit enough or confident nuff to just "and the foot was slammed in with out looking people! Wow!" I did not spin out after I was in the groove. Jsut did not attempt huge flairy gybes. Did not want to swim back in the lulls or hurt myself...


Until the wind dropped and I had to swim home  A/A. And cramping- ow. Note to self- fitten up ya slack mudder! I still hurt all over 36 hours later. :-(

At Last, A grrreat Sailing Sess-shon

Cup Day, first Tuesday in November, I was asleep by 1am and up at 5.45am.

I was going sailing. The weather had not been that great for me for ages- I need a good breeze from the south west, not WSW or SSW, just SW. My younger brother, Sime, had been on the blower a few times over the last few weeks about going south to my favourite sailboard sailing spot in Australia and getting wet and tired.

I retired hurt from the field with sore ribs (suspected fracture?) last year. After crashing out after a catapult at speed I had returned to shore for a snack and figuratively lick my wounds. When I returned to the waters edge for another speed run, I could not raise the boom above my shoulders. Owwwww! "Limped" home 150km and tried to not cough, sneeze or even laugh for a few weeks. I have only been back once since then.

Last weekend- I got out all my speed sailing gear. My board is a a 'Speed' slalom type, early nineties. A 5.9m2 course racing sail by Neil Pryde. A30cm slalom fin. A speed seat/waist harness. Carbon fiber lightweight mast. A thin boom. And spares. Floss and needle. Screwdrivers. Socket and knife combo. A few spare sails and masts and booms. Spare board, a Fanatic Cross 100, hardly ever used, as it is a bump and jump freestyle type. Did not check everything though.

All loaded into the latest sailing vehicle, a Mercedes 2.9L van. Easily.

West, entrance more to the left.
Tide was IN.

East, speed course around a little bit more.

Fueled up and left by 6:55am, and arrived at 8:30 with a full tide, up to the tree line, so I eased the van around the beach in shallow water. First to arrive! Sime messaged, he had left the big smoke, would be there in 90 minutes. He was not going to miss much, the wind was sketchy and slight from the NW.


I thought to rig two sails to match conditions, the racing rig and a smaller 4.5m2.
Hitch! The spare masts were incorrect for the chosen sail- too big or too small= ERGH!! Ah well, just have to de-rig the big one if I had to. Marvined.

Then the harness lines turned out to be shot! Tried to fix or replace them, but I was out of luck, I would have to just carry on with what I had.

Sime had a few friends there too by lunchtime.
He encouraged me to ask to try a demonstration board and rig- Lightwind short board (ultra wide!) and a 8.5m2 sail! It was suggested that since I had not been out for a while, I better try a smaller setup- OK.
One run was fine- I had not lost my skills- came back without falling in. Now for that big rig.


I was gob-smacked. As I sped back up the course, I was thinking,

                                       GET THE CREDIT CARD!

It was great, and on the edge of my capabilities, I did not have weight enough to hold down the rail, I could not steer quick enough among the other Slower Sailors! Specially ones that capsized in front of cos they did not realise I was THERE. But I did not crash out, or try any smart maneuvers either.

I want that setup. Me and my old board and sail let me down along with the slow conditions and my own unfitness. I spent more time swimming to the bank than actually sailing. That's the rig below- once set up right, it still does a good job.

January 2000

I need new harness lines too, they are in the post- but I will not get it in time for the weekend!

Can't wait for another sess-shon!!