Month: July 2021

Thursday, 8th July 2021

Another hotch potch day. Had a few appointments.

Have a chance at the medical examination. We shall see later tomorrow morning.

Looked at Maui Sprinters. A cunning plan.

Was a very quiet and economical afternoon. I forgot to take my phone and wallet.

Back for 5pm Beer O’clock drinks. Home, showers, home-made chicken soup and veg, a nice poppy seed roll, drinkies, movie.

How’s that for a ‘nothing’ day?

zzzzzzzzzz           zzzzzzzzzzzz         zzzzzzzzzzzz

Wednesday 7th July 2021.

Bit of research this morning. Make a few bookings, or try to. I have been forwarded a 4 page form to get filled out by a doctor. As I turn 70 in a month or so and have both a car and motor bike licence, if I want to retain the motor bike licence, I will need a medical. Car is not a problem. Just the bike. So it’s OK to have a bad turn in a car, but the car keeps going. So you kill yourself and clean up two other cars and perhaps a family or two. But you shouldn’t risk having a bad turn on the motor bike, immediately dropping it on it’s side and skidding  into a post or parked car. Let me ask you something. If you were in a car, would you rather be hit by another car at full throttle or a motor bike on it’s side and skidding towards you? What is more dangerous and hence the bigger risk? Sorry. Too logical. Not at all a Government characteristic.

Now there is my clinic in Adelaide that I have been going to for 20 years and has all my records. I have basically a full medical every year. But they have not done an eye test. So I suggest, I get an eye test done by an optometrist in Darwin. Get them to fill out the eye test part and stamp it, then send it to them for the rest as they have all my records and know me very well.

NO. They can’t do that. It doesn’t matter how I have fared up to the last examination, it’s how you are on the day of the examination.

Now, that’s good, because I will just go to a clinic here in Darwin and they can do a current examination. NO.  They are not interested in my current state. They want to know my past reports. I think I have a hard copy of the last one. NO. They want several previous reports in full.

So back to Adelaide. They cannot send previous reports in full but they will forward a summary.. That will not be enough for the clinics I have spoken to so far.

So what to do, what to do? Getting just a ‘LITTLE’ (!!??!@!?) frustrated with the medical profession in jolly old Australia. To be continued.

Off to the whizz kid Leigh who will help us get Anne’s new tablet set up. It’s got a detachable key board. That killed most of the day, and did a wonderful job of building on top of the medical frustration. However, the whizz kid won on the day and he sent us on our way about 80% there with the right to return if we have to.

Heading home I notice, believe it or not that wrecked car I rambled on about and fanaticized it’s future has gone! Somebody cared. How nice. Or the owner copped the wrath of the council.

Home, we feel not like beer O’clock’s with neighbours so it is a quiet night with a few drinks, showers, food, movies and bed. How exciting.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz          zzzzzzzzzzzz             zzzzzzzzz

Tuesday, 6th July 2021.

10.15am-ish off to Nightcliff to meet associate/friend we know from Dili.(Knightcliffe – my preferred spelling. It’s got more character)

There’s that wrecked car on McMillans Road again. Doesn’t look like anyone’s interested in picking it up. Not much good for parts even. Great conversation piece though if you put it in your front yard with a few flower pots on it. I think the ‘great conversation’ would go, ‘Under clause number 1637, section 56, subsection H of the Darwin City Council Streetscape rules and regulations, you are hereby ordered to remove the damaged car from your front yard and dispose of it forthwith. If not effected in two weeks from the serving of this order, you will be fined and ordered t appear in court at and when declared by the said notice.’ Yep. Great conversation piece.

We are heading for the Foreshore Coffee Shop adjacent the Nightcliff (Knightcliffe) Pool. This car is parked out front. It is the most positive notice board I have seen for a long time. Well done to driver. Attitude counts.

Yep. We’re at the foreshore. The guy on the left works here but apparently the guy on the right is making a guest appearance from The Cool Spot.

This nice young lady has taste. She has more or less co-ordinated the mask with her hair.

Half an hour and we decide not to wait. Another few minutes and the sms comes through that Auntie is very sick and friend has had to rush off to her aid. Hope she is OK. Another time. We make do with our Cappuccino’s and very good ham and cheese toasted sandwich.

N.B.   The Name ‘Cappuccino’

Cappuccinos first popped up as the ‘Kapuziner’ in Viennese coffee houses in the 1700s. A description of the ‘Kapuziner’ from 1805 described it as “coffee with cream and sugar,” and a description of the drink from 1850 adds “spices” to the recipe. Either way, these drinks had a brown color similar to the robes worn by the Capuchin (‘Kapuzin’) friars in Vienna, and this is where their name came from. (A similar drink of the time was known as the ‘Franziskaner’; it was made with more milk and named after the lighter-brown robes of the Franciscan monks.) The word ‘Capuchin’ literally means cowl or hood in Italian, and it was a name given to the Capuchin monks for their hooded robes.

I guested you were wondering so I checked it out.

Carrot cake followed of course.

Very picturesque day and Anne improves it.

Self adoration.

Beautiful day .

Currently examining the 240volt van systems. This is ours.

N.B.   RCD. Residual Current Device. A residual-current device, or residual-current circuit breaker, is a device that quickly breaks an electrical circuit to prevent serious harm from an ongoing electric shock. When combined with a circuit breaker, it becomes an RCBO. The RCBO meaning is residual current circuit breaker with overcurrent protection. These devices are designed to ensure the safe operation of electrical circuits, triggering disconnection whenever an imbalance is detected.

So now you know. Always been wondering. Haven’t you.

THEN I made a big mistake and thought I would check the balance on an account we just leave for a year at a time. Yep. The password did not work. 45 minutes to try to get a new password issued. Nope. Phone call. Nope. Got too many questions wrong. We will have to go to a branch. Nope. None in Darwin. Down to a SKYPE interview tomorrow. Damn.

Hence, late for drinks with the neighbours. They started without us. I would have as well.

The plane was grey and Anne there for deduced ‘military.

However on closer examination just a ‘Cessna.’ No guns, rockets or bombs. If it had, it would have been the most aggressive Cessna I have ever seen.

Drinks done. A light meal of pea and ham soup and toasted rolls.

Showers. Couple of drinks. Movie. My, what a wild world we live in.

zzzzzzzzz           zzzzzzzzzzz            zzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

 

 

Monday, 5th July 2021

Boys day! Leigh and I are going to Bunnings, Lawrence and Hanson etc etc and Anne has decided she doesn’t need it. (again) She thought she was becoming a Bunnings junky herself for a while back but it wore off.

So as we are off to said establishments without Anne, then ipso facto, it will be a girls day as well.

So while we amused ourselves with power boards, voltage sensors, plug testers, tagging labels etc …….

…… Anne amused herself with a stroll down the Mall, Vietnamese rolls for lunch, coffee, a designer soap shop and general shopping and looking. She managed to scrape by without Bunnings.

We rendezvous back at Leigh’s city apartment for tea and biscuits (very civilized) a good chat, inspection of purchases.(not mine which are in the car. Leigh bought clever things as well) Time flies and the day is over.

Leigh makes a dash to pick up wife and we make a dash home. A drink with a neighbour, the usual ablutions and we settle to a veggie, mash and parmi chicken meal. That’s right. Some prep. chicken schnitzels upgraded with home made tomato sauce come topping, ham and cheese.

How clever my master is.  Bit of TV, the big day catches up and ………..

zzzzzz         zzzzzzzz          zzzzzzzzz

Sunday, 4th July 2021

Sunday. Fixed the rubber on the window adjacent table and chairs. A job done. Off the hook for today, although I did contemplate moving the batteries. Had a look and more good news. I don’t think they’ll fit so I won’t be able to move them.

Around 1.30pm/2pm my master decides she would like to go for a drive to Nightcliff. (I always thought it would be more interesting if it was spelled Knightcliffe) Anyway, we arrive near the small jetty and with luck there is an ice cream wagon, a coffee wagon and a fast food wagon.

I am delighted because I have been thinking about a hamburgers while driving there. Seeing the vending point, I am now looking forward to not so much hamburgers in general but a specific one I can eat. I approach the counter aware of the fact I am starting to salivate. I am met with the vendors welcome speech, ‘We’re out of hamburgers.’ (salivatus interruptus)

OK Be a big boy. A Yiros, cut in half and a cup of chips …. please.

We have the chips while we wait for the main course. chips, good. Must change the oil often. (trivia)

Quite a few of these guys around. I/we call them Plovers but there are at least two types. See the generic, pic below. These guys we are seeing are Spur-winged Plovers or Masked Lapwings (Common and Swooping)

The little guy on the left is A Hooded Plover and they are Rare and Threatened. Obviously you are not going to harm either of these birds, but in particular NOT the little guy. He is struggling to stay around.

It was hell deciding to have a coffee before or after the food but I decided on after. There comes a time in your life when you have to learn to live with your decisions.

Anne takes a walk with the camera. I drink coffee slower than she.

There must have been a reason for the foot. Contrasting the rock?

Double self adoration? N.B. I love going into a shop with the mask on and saying ‘This is a stick up.’ It gets no positive response, or negative for that matter. I wonder what they think? ‘Sad old man’ probably.

On a serious note, it was a damn shame the sun was clouded over because the rock colours and the clear water are a real highlight of this spot.

On the jetty looking back to where we had lunch.

A chap who by the way had taken over our lunch bench, must have spotted me as a keen bird watcher (?) because he takes the time to tell me where he spotted a Tawny Frogmouth. So we follow his directions and there she is. About 8 metres off the ground and she looks like she is having a snooze. Understandable because they are nocturnal.

I say ‘she’ because a little research suggests that the males (am I allowed to say ‘Male?) are mainly all grey. This little ‘honey’ is definitely Tawny and mottled.

Here’s a generic shot of another one sleeping ….

…and this one so you can see why they are called ‘frogmouth.’

Anne enjoyed her coffee so much, she wanted to be photographed at the coffee van. She can get very emotional about coffee.

Now a special mention. Today was USA anniversary of Independence. I say ‘today’ but it will not be 4th July for them across the International Date Line till tomorrow. See details below.

Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the United States, on July 4, 1776. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were no longer subject (and subordinate) to the monarch of Britain, King George III, and were now united, free, and independent states.^[1] The Congress had voted to declare independence two days earlier, on July 2, but it was not declared until July 4.^[1]

Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches, and ceremonies, in addition to various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States

N.B. While in Dili and as the owner of Guide Post Magazine,  I was for many years invited to the USA Embassy to celebrate the Independence occasion and I assumed to also record and promote the occasion in the Mag. I thoroughly enjoyed both the celebration and the promotion thereafter. I never quite understood why they did not invite me for the last two years we were there in Dili. I always wondered why. I thought perhaps they wanted to just invite the Timorese papers.  If so, I think they failed to appreciate that Guide Post WAS/IS a Timorese paper, just it happened to be in English, just as some other papers were in Tetum, Indonesian and I think Portuguese. We covered many occasions in Dili including Timorese. Anyway, that was just an observation I had forgot about until I thought of the 4th of July. ‘God Bless America.’ (well it must be blessed to have survived most of the crap that has gone on there over the last decade. (or two))

Home and we see the lovely glow of the sinking sun.

The usual. Showers, left overs from last nights meal, couple of drinks. Movie …

zzzzzzzzzzzz        zzzzzzzzzzz           zzzzzzzzzz

 

 

 

Saturday, 3rd July 2021

Saturday morning and freedom, as long as we wear a mask while in close proximity to others, unless sitting down and eating and or drinking.

In our ensuite doing various ablutions, I notice something has blown in under the door and was about to flick it outside with my foot till I had a second look. ‘It’s a whee frog-air.’ (imagine in Scottish accent)

Anne and I discuss the fact that it’s texture does not seem as smooth as we would expect with a frog and we wonder if it’s ‘a whee tood.’ (imagine in Scottish accent again, only better this time)  ‘We can-na risk harm-en a whee frog-air’ so we give it the benefit of the doubt and leave it be. (whether ‘it be’ a frog or toad, that is)

Noise above. What are they?

Two of them.

Blurry when zoomed.  We have been here before. Last time I thought Apache’s until I did some  research.

Three generic photos. Here is the Viper on the left and the Apache on the right.

Viper. Flatter canopy and skids instead of wheels.

Apache. Curved canopy and wheels.

Last time about 3 weeks ago, it was a Viper. Here’s another one of my blurry photos. Notice the wheels on the front. My money is on Apache.

N/B. Am I developing an aircraft identification Pseudo Fetish?

On the road heading for Casuarina Beach but spot this up ahead.

A serious wreck.

An attempt at a better shot fails. Good close up of the GPS though.

We get to the Surf club and meet up with we thought, Hayley and Dan. Turns out it was a part family get together and had a great coffee and nibbles brunch. Perfect day. Good company. Enjoyable occasion.

Good coffee and food from Cafe De La Plage. French De La Plage means ‘from the’ or ‘of the’ Beach. So, it simplifies to Beach Cafe. How about that.

The very first time I have been asked to be loud or noisy. The very first.

It’s a win win situation here. The food is so good, only crumbs are left. However, these guys are quite happy with crumbs.

What are they. No it’s not a pseudo fetish for bird identification. I’m just curious.

Mask is in the pocket. I am still on my coffee.

I have eaten, but these burgers are calling me.

What is that?

Blurred zoom. Looks like some sort of gas plant. A local would have known, but I wasn’t clever enough to ask.

Me from my best side, Dan and Luke as we leave.

Athletes foot to look at walking shoes to replace my deceased pair.

Smelly soap shop. Nice smells though. Also went to spotlight for a plastic box for the battery cover board in the back of the car.

Rubbish on the road. I would have stopped and cleared it but had someone sniffing my rear. I call them ‘dogs.’

Drinks with neighbours. The question pops up, … What’s that? I just manage to click it. I say with confidence, I’d say it’s a ‘C-17 Globemaster.’ I have been through the I.D. last year with a person who knew because his son works with them up here.

Blurred but to me obvious. Four engines, high profile tail and pointy at the back of the fuselage.

Generic photo 1. Four engines and high profile tail.

Generic photo 2. Pointy back of fuselage.

So where is it going at about 5.30pm on this Saturday afternoon? It looked sort of north, northwest … out of Australia. It’s BIG for carrying significant loads. Then I think … we (Australian Forces) are checking out of Afghanistan. It’s going in the right direction. So I check and they can go over 10,000km on a tank, Philippines is about 3000km and Afghanistan is about 8000km. So it could get to Afghanistan with 2000km of fuel to spare. If they wanted to top up, they could do it at the Philippines as they are diplomatically friendly.

N.B.  The Philippines is one of Australia’s longest-standing bilateral relationships. … Australia and the Philippines have a long history of bilateral cooperation. Both countries have much in common, being geographically proximate and sharing perspectives on many regional, economic and security issues. Australia–Philippines relations cover a broad range of areas of cooperation including political, economic, development, defence, security and cultural relations. Australia has an embassy in Manila. Wikipedia

So we may have seen the Aussie Army bus going to pick up the troops and bring’em home. Maybe?

Showers, Anne’s great noodle salad, couple of drinks, movie …

zzzzz         zzzzzzzz        zzzzzzzzz

 

 

 

Friday, 2nd July 2021

Anxious to find out if the lockdown is to be extended past 1pm today.

At 12.30pm we find out. No!  But there are a few proviso’s.

Where social distancing cannot be maintained, masks must be worn. So as soon as you get to the supermarket or shop, put the mask on.

We take off to Woolies and fill the empty gaps in the pantry, mainly fresh vegetables, but also grabbed some fresh fish fillets.

THEN, onto a happy place. (Vintage Cellars.)

Refer photo. See the white line in the middle just in front of the dark car and see the red car behind our white car. I had to reverse into the park to within 200mm of the red car and still hung over my front line. This is because the red car driver chose to park over my rear line and leave half their own space free. So now I ask the question, what was going through their mind when they did this. I will also answer my own question. Nothing was going through their mind. Nothing at all.

Mask on and into the happy place. My kind of shopping. Then another brief stop in town to say ‘howdy’ to Leigh.

 

Currently doing a little brush up on electrical school and also discovering a few new/modern items.

Back to camp. unpack and some prep. A drink, no two, with the neighbours.

Now, showers, our fish and fresh veggies, bit of TV.

zzzzzzzzz        zzzzzzzzzzz           zzzzzzzzzz

 

 

 

Thursday 1st July 2021

I did mention we wore our masks to the office to renew our stay for a couple more weeks. What I did not mention was we were told we had to wear masks in the park if outside the van (?) and there was a fine if not done and the police check on it. Now SURELY this is incorrect. As long as we are social distancing, we are upholding the law … surely.

So imagine my ‘apprehension’ when I see a police car pull up close to our van this morning.

This is a terrible photo of the police car as the camera focused on the screen door.

However, I am sure you will understand why I didn’t throw the van door open and yell out, ‘Smile ! … and can you just pull out your Glocks for the camera?’

Oh well, you can at least see it was the ‘paddy wagon’ style car.

They got out the car with masks on and took a stroll to adjoining neighbours sites which were by the way, void of cars or people. They strolled around for 5 minutes or so and then departed. Our car was here but they didn’t bother with us.

I made a mental note to at least have my mask with me if leaving the van. I have been told it is OK to remove the mask if eating or drinking. (?) ‘No **** Sherlock.’

N.B. I mentioned ‘Glock’ It is a very popular law enforcement pistol I believe throughout the world. Probably not just law enforcement as well? Anyway, here is all you didn’t have to know about the ‘Glock.’

This is the Glock 17.

Why is it called Glock?     Gaston Glock was a little bit eccentric in naming his guns, called his first basic pistol the 17 because it was his 17th patent, and he was very, very proud of that.

Why are Glocks so popular?    Glocks also gained rapid popularity due to their simple design and firing mechanisms. If a gun operator needs to shoot, they can gently press the trigger to fire the gun. With these easy-to-fire features, the Glock could outcompete most revolvers that seemed to resist firing.

This is the Glock 18.

Why is the Glock 18 illegal?    The Glock 18 is Illegal in the United States.  The Glock 18 is a fully-sized automatic pistol. It fires 9mm; however, it is capable of firing 1200 rounds per minute. This firing rate is the biggest reason why the Glock 18 is illegal in the United States. NOW LOOK AT SOME SPECIFICS.

That looks like a lazer sighter underneath the barrel and an extended magazine.

A silencer?? and that extended magazine again.

Did I say extended magazine? Look at this guy!

NOW, look at this monster! ……. and it can shoot 1200 rounds a minute.

Designed specifically for maniacs ?

You didn’t need to know this but now you have a new subject of conversation at your next dinner party. Mind you, you might bemuse your guests a bit and  reciprocating  invitations may drop off. Wouldn’t it be funny if the only ones to send you invitations, were itching to show you their firearms collection. They’re out there.

On to a productive day of paying bills and chasing up unanswered emails. Hey. We’re locked down. What the hell else am I going to do?

Beer O’clock suddenly presents itself so we sit under the canopy, masks at hand but not on as ‘we are drinking’. Besides there is not one other traveller within 50 metres of us.

The only company we had was this little guy who loves to admire himself in the car external mirror but today is settling for creating a grand silhouette on the snorkel, majestic in the dusk. Sort of a bit like ‘Gorilla’s in the mist.’ (?)

Brought his colour up a bit for no good reason.

A pleasant call from the ‘Deegs’. Fellow lockdowners but 1500km away in Alice Springs. They were cheery in the face of adversity. The lockdown has not dampened their sense of humour. Mind you the cold is giving them a bit of a rattling.

Showers and evening meal of those great Woolies crumbed Garlic Chicken  Kiev’s with spuds and red cabbage. Yes. Red cabbage. The veggies are getting a bit low. We have avoided going to the supermarket even though we are allowed. One person per family. No point if we are OK and we are. So leave it to the needy or the greedy.

On that note, spotted this on face book ….

Silly little sausages. Apparently this time they are taking food as well. That’s innovative of them. Last time toilet paper came first. On that note, because the caravan park has all ensuites, we are issued with a toilet roll when we arrive. We have managed to get by with one roll for two people for two weeks. That means a pack of 24 would do us for damn near a year. I just don’t get it. Maybe they are just twats?  N.B.  Dictionary:  twat  /twat,twɒt/  noun  VULGAR SLANG  plural noun: twats.    Stupid or obnoxious person.

Yep. That’s about right.

Tomorrow we will find out if we are to be unshackled or lockdown extended.

Isn’t life exciting.  ….. zzzzzzzzzzzz          zzzzzzzzzzzzz          zzzzzzzzz