going to AutoPro in Malaga from Koondoola

Posted on December 1, 2012 - Filed Under Humor, Personal, Technology

Hi Boz (click on the pics for full size ones) Its Christmas (nearly) so I thought I had better start looking for pressies. Seeing as how my boys both have cars I thought car accessories may be good So I did the modern thing and looked online for car accessories shops around here and found AutoPro in Malaga (Western Australia), I live just across the bushland in Koondoola, so it's close too Out of curiosity I thought I would look at the directions online (as I have a few options from here πŸ™‚ ) but I didnt expect the option I got on the net. first the map didn't look familiar, there is no lake here (only a storm water sump) N Chester Dean rd didn't sound familiar either It definitely says Malaga, Australia with a WA postcode so I Zoomed out to see if i could get my bearings and got the full map from AutoPro to my place well sort of ummmm, that doesn't look right how far!!!!!!!! 514 hours??? thats 21.4 days of driving if you drove 24 hours a day 16,663 miles, thats 26,816km (will my EH Holden make it, at least the speedo is in MPH) sail across the Pacifc to Japan??? errrrrr, I don't speak Japanese, except for Toyota, Mitsubishi, Daihatsu I may need a navigator Hang on now it says sail across the Pacific to Australia I think some one is having a lend of me here why didnt I get to go across the Pacific straight to Australia the first time um Darwin harbour how big a boat is it I am on?? and I drive through a park, fish tailing it by the looks?? I doubt the old 179 is up to that, although it looks like dirt not tarmac. (the foreign tourists have to walk through that?) which shed is customs and immigration? So now I have to drive down the west coast of Australia home, at least when I get on to highway one, I know my way home I did notice that on the drive home the route did not go down Beach road, Malaga, WA I also noticed on the way I got to go through Hawaii but miss out on Bali (I thought that was now part of Australia) the other odd thing was I thought I asked for directions from here to there so I am still non the wiser, sigh, I guess I will get out the map book, not sure I could trust sat nav even, do they use Google maps? I noticed it didn't take me past your place I would of popped in for a cuppa πŸ˜‰ There were way too many toll roads for my liking also, it would become a bit of an expensive trip for a couple of gift vouchers.  

Global Warming a Non Issue

Posted on October 23, 2012 - Filed Under Environmentalism, News, politics, Technology

Remember when Global Warming was an issue critical to LIFE and DEATH on this planet? Alarmist couldn't cry loud or long enough. We were doomed! Australia put in a whole Carbon Tax to save us from the end of the world! Andrew Bolt noticed it, and I have to ask. If Global Warming, or as its other name, Climate Change, why wasn't this a HUGE issue at at least one of the debates? The first time the debates have been silent on climate since 1988. Interesting. But I can answer you Mr. Bolt, Obama health care is NOT about health for all, and Global Warming, is NOT about saving us from doom here on Earth. It's all about control. ButΒ  there is interesting news from Scientist in England!
A small British company has produced the first β€œpetrol from air” using a revolutionary technology that promises to solve the energy crisis as well as helping to curb global warming by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Air Fuel Synthesis in Stockton-on-Tees has produced five litres of petrol since August when it switched on a small refinery that manufactures gasoline from carbon dioxide and water vapour. The company hopes that within two years it will build a larger, commercial-scale plant capable of producing a ton of petrol a day. It also plans to produce green aviation fuel to make airline travel more carbon-neutral. Tim Fox, head of energy and the environment at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in London, said: β€œIt sounds too good to be true, but it is true. They are doing it and I’ve been up there myself and seen it. The innovation is that they have made it happen as a process. It’s a small pilot plant capturing air and extracting CO2 from it based on well known principles. It uses well-known and well-established components but what is exciting is that they have put the whole thing together and shown that it can work.”
 

Dreaming of a White Christmas

Posted on August 15, 2012 - Filed Under Humor, News, Personal

My darling husband, I am sure that the first few bars of the familiar song, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" makes you cringe, but I just had to share with you something that popped up on my facebook. It seems that AccuWeather is calling for a snowy winter. You remember, the year and winter you've decided to come for Christmas? πŸ™‚ Northeast cities from Baltimore to New York could be in for a snowy winter, according to AccuWeather forecasters. The weather service's winter 2012-2013 forecast calls for cold weather and large systems of moisture to converge, dumping above-average snow totals along the East Coast. The timing is expected to be in January and February. El Nino, the global climate pattern expected to develop by the end of September, could contribute heavily, according to the forecast. It typically causes a strong southern branch of the jet stream across the country, which can often phase together with cold air and the northern branch of the jet stream around the mid-Atlantic, causing major winter storms. If the right blocking occurs, when areas of high pressure settle over Canada or Greenland, forcing cold air down to the U.S., that can also contribute to a snowy winter. Moist systems need plenty of cold air to produce snow and not rain. Normal snowfall in Baltimore is 20.2 inches in a season, on average. Last season fell far below that, at 1.8 inches, the least since 1972. The season before that was a bit below normal, at 14.4 inches, while the 2009-2010 season is by far the outlier for Baltimore, with 77 inches.   I guess don't worry too much, they've been wrong before. They keep predicting horrible and many hurricanes due to global warming and that hasn't happened either. You're loving and WARM wife. (Boz) xoxox  

sanding a Jarrah (wood) floor

Posted on July 23, 2012 - Filed Under Environmentalism, Humor, News, Personal

Hi Boz, or do I call you Mrs Dolphin now, you may like to know that I (finally) finished doing my (ooops our) kitchen floor. You know, the one you started back in March by ripping up (whilst I was at work) 2 of those rather yuck tiles, that started out grey, but some had turned green and started to crack and break up, I dont think sticky vinyl tiles were meant to be stuck to a wooden floor that expands and contracts with the weather. Below are a few pics of the progress, the first 2 you are familiar with, as you took them.
vinyl tiles and glue

vinyl tiles and glue

sanding wood floor

sanding the glue off

sanding a wooden floor

the glue is gone

The sanded floor free of glue and without the hideous yellow quarter rounds (what do I do about the door frames). The sanding wasnt too hard, a bit scary as the machine seemed quite aggressive (and noisy) and took a bit of controlling. The hard part was to let it down slowly as I walked, not "drop" it suddenly. Sanding should be done with the grain, but to get the glue off initially I had to go diagonal. The other hard part was cleaning sticky sawdust off the sander. The edge sander was harder to use though, not sure I got the hang of that one, in the end I did a bit of patching up using dads square orbital sander πŸ™‚ . There was a bit of hand sanding too in hard to get to areas. I also didnt do the draw scraper thing, maybe I should of :), but $40 ????
sanding a jarrah floor

after one coat

oil on a jarrah floor

first coat close up

first coat of oil

oiling a jarrah floor

different angle

the colour changes with the light

The above pics are from various angles and times of day after one coat of oil. I went with Livos Ardvos natural oil, rather than polyurethane. After some research and reading various woodworking and renovation forums I liked the idea of oil. It soaks into the wood and hardens rather than sits on top as a plastic coating. It is also easy to repair (my kind of finish) with a light sanding and reoiling, plus I wasnt moving out of the house for a week until the poly fumes went away, this stuff has a light smell of linseed oil and so far it feels nice under my bare feet. It is dead easy to apply too, no mixing parts A and B just a good stir, brush it on with one of those lambswool brush/mop things, leave it 20 minutes then wipe of the excess then leave it 24 hours between coats, although I did walk on it in as soon as it felt dry, wearing socks πŸ™‚ .
after 2 coats

after 2 coats

After 2 coats, one more to go and a photo or two to go with it. OK 3 coats of oil down, so I guess it is technically finished some close up photos of parts of the floor to show the grain patterns. There a few areas I am not happy with, especially with the nail holes where the wood putty didnt blend in as good as I hoped. I used 3 colours of putty, black, jarrah and a beige. Mixing them together to get different shades. Also after the first oiling dark lines appeared which I think are where the joins in the vinyl tiles were (they are the right distance apart), not sure what I could of done about those. Sanded more? Anyway I am happy it looks a lot better than the vinyl tiles, now I dont want to put the furniture back in the room on my new floor lol.
close up

close up

after 3 coats

after 3 coats

3 coats of oil

3 coats of oil

with a bit of sunshine

with a bit of sunshine

close up

close up

close up

close up

close up

close up

close up

close up

what do you think?, worth the effort?  

Historic Barns of Maryland

Posted on April 28, 2012 - Filed Under General

Oz You know I've been sick. πŸ™ So, today I spent the day in bed, and this program came on the television. Historic Barns of Maryland- I thought you'd like a preview:

FE – FC T shirt

Posted on March 14, 2012 - Filed Under Inspirational, News, Personal, Technology

HI Boz thought you might like to see a new t-shirt I designed my brother has a hand in organising the FE - FC Nationals in West Australia on the Easter weekend he aims to get as many FE and FC Holdens to Perth as he can he drives a 1958 FC Station wagon So, anyway, I was thinking I wonder if I could Knock up a Tee shirt I found a couple of photos i had taken, played with them a bit and stuck them on a shirt what do you think its in my zazzle shop

Photographic T-shirts for sale

Posted on January 23, 2012 - Filed Under General, Humor, Inspirational, News, Personal, Technology

Thanks Boz for you help in getting the t shirts up and running as much as Zazzle is easy, I got lost a few times πŸ™‚ and the "shop front" you made is great and has a nice retro touch. I hope they appeal to some of the photo geeks out there and I am always open to suggestions and I know you use a Cannnnn, a Cannnnnnn, a Cannnnnnnn, a different brand to me wow that was close I missed the r out of shirt in the heading, that may have sent some odd and disappointed people my way lol the pictures are in the previous blog

new shirts

Posted on January 19, 2012 - Filed Under General, Humor, Inspirational, News, Technology

Hi Boz I have been playing around with my graphics programs and came up with some new ideas for T shirts this time photography based ones, primarily aimed at Pentax users, but can be bought by any photography enthusiast I even tried a black shirt this one is a K1000 camera photo, as close as I can get it to life size it reads 1000 reasons to take photos
Pentax K1000

Pentax K1000 t shirt

Hyperfocal distance for a white or black tee shirt f11 hyperfocal distance 11 hyperfocal distance
hyperfocal distance at f11

hyperfocal distance at f11

and a rather simple f stops t-shirt based on a Pentax 50mm f1.2 manual K mount lens, just for the fun of it
f stops

f1.2 to f22 or should it be f22 to f1.2

I am sure the last 3 will confuse some people lol and imagine being able to explain hyperfocal distance, on you T shirt hmmm seems they arent in the shop yet, I was to quick πŸ™‚ I will let you know when they are in there, and post a linkΒ  πŸ™‚

Perth airport viewing platform

Posted on January 13, 2012 - Filed Under General, News, Personal, Technology

Hi Boz Thinking of going back the airport again tomorrow especially if it is raining, to try and get some photos in the rain plus I am hoping the planes will be coming from the South and therefore landing near the viewing platform rather than taking off I havent got many landing photos, the last time I went we had to evacuate because of the fire anyway I thought you might like a look where the platform is in relation to the runway see the map below, its the red X πŸ™‚ Perth airport viewing platform Top of the picture is North The yellow road is Dunreath Road

Perth Airport fire 2012

Posted on January 4, 2012 - Filed Under News

Hi Barb I went back to take more photos of the planes at the airport I had noticed on the net they were coming in from the opposite end which meant i could get (hopefully) some photos of them coming in to land however it didnt eventuate instead there was a bushfire at the end of the runway with quite thick smoke at times a couple of planes did manage to land while I was there and i got photos but the real excitement was watching the helitankers dropping water on it to put it out I got quiet a few photos and here are a few I will post more as I do them in my gallery the helitankers got really low over the flames you would have to be game to fly them, plus the smoke got so thick that they disappeared in it at times
Helitanker at Perth aiport

Perth airport fire 2012

Helitankers at Perth airport fire 2012

Perth airport fire 2012

Helitankers at Perth airport fire 2012

Perth airport fire 2012

Helitankers at Perth airport fire 2012

Perth airport fire 2012

Helitankers at Perth airport fire 2012

Perth airport fire 2012

We were all told to evacuate the area eventually and it now sounds the fire got pretty bad

Aeroplane watching: Perth airport viewing platform

Posted on January 2, 2012 - Filed Under General, Inspirational, Personal, Technology

Hi Boz, its been a while since I added anything either my life is too boring or I have been really really busy πŸ™‚ However I did do something interesting the other day (ok I think it was interesting) I had to go into work during my holidays to make sure the printer still works (thats not the interesting bit) while it was running through its cycle I read a local paper and came across an article about a new viewing platform at the Perth airport - "the Perth airport viewing platform" oh I thought that sounds interesting, and seeing as the airport is on my way home kind of nearly almost if I go the long way I decided to take a look it is on Dunreath road, a road too new for my map book, but easy to find by following the large brown signs it joins the international and domestic terminal by going around the outside of the runway unfortunately I didnt have my camera πŸ™ but I enjoyed watching a few planes come in and land ( I didnt see any take off) So, to make a long story not quiet as long as it could be I went back again the other day camera in hand, with the 300mm lens this time the runways were operating in the opposite direction (must be something to do with the wind??) but I did get a few photos of planes taking off, and a number of different types of planes. so here are a few photos:-

the new Aeroplane viewing platform

a plane taking off

Take off past the control tower

a smaller plane

small plane

I am not that much into planes that I know what is what but a bit of a search on the net helps me out first off I found a map that shows incoming and out going flights with some plane information a link with types of aircraft and a couple of links with airports Searches and ICAO ID I have more photos on my web site and hopefully I can get back while I am still on holidays to get more photos πŸ™‚

We Set the Date

Posted on December 21, 2011 - Filed Under Inspirational, Personal

February 27th, 2012! Well handsome, the date is approaching soon. We have our wedding date and are planning the honeymoon. A friend told me some time ago that what we're trying to do is a "logistical nightmare." Well, it hasn't been easy. The courtship has been very non-traditional. So why have a traditional marriage? I hope we can be an inspiration to all long distance romances out there.

A Dolphin Tale

Posted on August 30, 2011 - Filed Under General, Inspirational

Hi Oz Everyone loves a great dolphin story, no? This movie is based on a true story of a dolphin who hurt its tail and how he survived.

Looking for Something Dumb To Do

Posted on July 23, 2011 - Filed Under General, Personal

Oz I can't get it out of my head. πŸ™‚ It's a beautiful night we're looking for something dumb to do Hey baby i think i wanna marry you Is it the look in your eyes or is it this dancing juice Who cares baby, i think i wanna marry you Well i know this little chapel on the boulevard We can go whoa whoa No one will no whoa Oh come on girl Who cares if we're trashed Got a pocket full of cash we can blow whoa whoa Shots of patrol whoa whoa And guitar girl Don't say no no no no no Just say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah And we'll go go go go go If you're ready, like i'm ready Cos it's a beautiful night we're looking for something dumb to do Hey baby i think i wanna marry you Is it the look in your eyes or is it this dancing juice Who cares baby, i think i wanna marry you Oh I'll go get the ring Let the choir bell sing like ooh ooh ooh So what you wanna do ooh ooh Lets just run girl If we wake up and you want to break up That's cool ooh ooh No i won't blame you ooh ooh It was fun girl Don't say no no no no no Just say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah And we'll go go go go go If you're ready, like i'm ready Cos it's a beautiful night we're looking for something dumb to do Hey baby i think i wanna marry you Is it the look in your eyes or is it this dancing juice Who cares baby, i think i wanna marry you Just say i do ooh ooh ooh Tell me right now baby Tell me right now baby, baby Just say i do ooh ooh ooh Tell me right now baby Tell me right now baby, baby Oh It's a beautiful night we're looking for something dumb to do Hey baby i think i wanna marry you Is it the look in your eyes or is it this dancing juice Who cares baby, i think i wanna marry you

tomorrow the world (evil laughter ha hah haaaa )

Posted on July 23, 2011 - Filed Under Humor, Inspirational, Personal, Technology

As you may know I can be pretty easy going and laid back but there are a few things that irk me you know, things like drivers that cut you off then brake and you just about run up their backside usually it is serious stuff like that that gets my dander up but now I have solved one of them (on my computer at least, tomorrow maybe the world) the silly use of 12.00am and 12.00pm, its just wrong all because some (not as clever as they thought they were) computer geniuses couldnt figure out how to make computers say 12.00 noon, or midnight the world it seems has now accepted the use of 12.00AM (and they capitalised it too on the computer, double grrrr) and PM . 12.00 am and 12.00 pm can not exist (in-spite of how clever computer programmers think they are). I do belive both are oxymorons (derived from two Greek words opposed in meaning, oxus 'sharp' and moros 'dull') why?? am comes from antemeridian or before the meridian, pm from postmeridian or after the meridian, so what is the meridian noon so if noon is the meridian it can be neither before nor after itself and midnight being the exact opposite can also be neither before nor after therefore 12.00 am and 12.00 pm can not exist and should cease to be accepted so in my quest to stamp this practise out, my thin end of the wedge I have worked out how to make my computer AM and PM free (in Windows 7 at least) yippeeeeee I clicked on the time to open up the date and time window. (there is likely a shorter way, maybe through the control panel) click the change date and time button click change calender settings (yes calender) click the time tab change short time to H:mm (no tt) and change long time to H:mm:ss this will give you a 24 hour clock with no stupid AM or PM at all (the capital H gives the 24 hour clock) now I am a happy camper tomorrow the world if i get up in time πŸ™‚    

It Makes the Indian Cry

Posted on May 17, 2011 - Filed Under Environmentalism, General, Personal

Oz... Children all across the nation learned not to pollute, in this highly effective ad. I saw this many times growing up and in the evenings on TV, this commercial would show. I thought I'd share with you!

Engaged

Posted on May 6, 2011 - Filed Under Personal

Well Oz, Who would have thought so many, many, years ago, one gumnut and one xerraire would have actually met in person and then finally taken that companionship to engagement? We sure have taken our teas and cultural exchanges to a whole other level!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Love you, handsome. πŸ™‚

Weather For You

Posted on April 8, 2011 - Filed Under Personal

Hi Oz! Here is the weather forecast I've cooked up for you when you get here.   Have a safe trip! ~Boz

the weighest of less

Posted on March 15, 2011 - Filed Under Humor, Inspirational, News, Personal, Technology

ok I know that this is in reference to suitcases and that they should be lightweight so you can carry more stuff you need but is there a particular suitcase that falls in the category of the weighest of less i did a search, but all i got was the search engine trying to correct "weighest" i could use a weighest of less suitcase

Big Al’s poker run

Posted on February 16, 2011 - Filed Under Inspirational, Personal, Technology

G'day Boz I know how much of a car enthusiast you are, especially American muscle cars. I believe you owned a Comaro iroc z (or something like that) or a Cobra II Mustang (or both?). So I thought I would share the photos i took at Big Al's poker run last weekend. The poker run is a charity event where hot rods, custom, classics and oldΒ  Australian cars gather near Burswood casino for a few hours (about 5 I guess) before going for a cruise around Perth and its suburbs. The 5 hours gave me heaps of time to wander through the cars, have a really good look and get a few photos (350ish, nowhere near what you would of taken I bet lol ). Some cars were just nice looking classics, there was a beautiful white Riley, some were customised almost beyond recognition or like the jacked up 4WD Austin of England, a bit unbelievable. Of course there were heaps of American cars, as any American car is allowed to enter and heaps of hot rods (including 2 rusty old rat rods). You could say there was a herd of Mustangs. Of course what I was looking for were old Aussie classics in particular the 1964 EH Holden like mine (hoping for inspiration lol, although the stretch limo one was a bit beyond my budget πŸ™‚ ) Any way, the short story is I have managed to get a few photos on my site and will be adding some every night till they are all up there (thats the plan at least) the photos are here if you want to see them πŸ™‚ plus there are previous years too keep looking »






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