[Just a reminder: There are NO cuddly animals in Australia.]
Spent most of the day on my back under a sink fixing things that my “help” had busted. It is back to the freezer for Florida tomorrow after two days of relatively mild temperatures [as in closer to “normal” than the week before].
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Established: 21 November 2004
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11 comments
That only three people have ever died of natural causes in Australia says something about the viciousness of the fauna…
My sympathy on the sink. I’ve been fighting my own issues. First the bathtub (had to re-core the faucet), then the refrigerator (compressor was locked up doing the humm-CHUNK hummm CHUNK thing, a whack with a rubber mallet freed it up and proved it was the compressor, new refrigerator purchased, sigh!), the starter for the overhead light in the garage is going out now, and the TV antenna on top of the house fell over in the wind because the nails holding the base of the mast pulled out and is dangling there from its mast wires. And oh yeah, I need to replace the kitchen sink faucet too because it leaks around the base of the spout, but that’s sort of low on my priority list at the moment :).
These older houses are such fun, eh? :).
Death by duckbilled platypus *has* to be the most embarrassing way to die, BTW… though death by wombat can’t be far behind. Maybe we should send Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin over there… “shhh, I’m hunting wombat!” Only thing is, their hunting partners might not survive :twisted:.
– Badtux the Handy Penguin
Yeah! My sympathies also Bryan. Know the feeling…
Well, we are house hunting again. *sigh* The owner of the place we are living in has been sold. We have to be out by end of Jan. Moving house at the height of summer! What fun. 🙁
And my housemate was kicked in the shin by her son in law wearing steel-capped work boots on the farm. (He is a coward and a bully, particularly since he is half her age and twice as tall. He’s also a typical Christian and senior member of his Church.) And it got a clot and became badly infected. She has a bruise from mid shin to her toes. So, she’s not very mobile which makes house hunting difficult. If I’d been there when it happened, I would have arrested him on the spot, and since he’s also a moron, he would have tried to fight. He would have ended up in Hospital with busted knee-caps (at least). There was a witness, and yet, he denies he did it. Yeah… typical coward!
Yeah Badtux, Aus would take care of those maroons! I’d send them on an outback adventure! Even with gun’s, they wouldn’t survive! 😆
Jams, getting eaten, beaten, or stung to death by the indigenous animal life is considered a “natural cause of death” in Oz. 😉
If it makes you feel better, Badtux, the emergency replacement air conditioner that I bought was also a Haier and it worked like a champ, although it is undersized for what I was asking it to do. I bring it up because of the compressor which is much quieter than others in the same class, and it worked as advertised from the start. I actually bought it to assist the main unit with the computer room, as it is difficult to get the air to circulate properly. It got pressed into service when the main unit died.
The problem with old houses is finding the parts to repair them, so you can avoid replacing things with the current line of crap. Fortunately Ace Hardware has been able to supply me with the necessary parts.
That’s a double bummer, Kryten. Yep, knee caps for the feet and collar bones for the arms. I was not a nice person with a baton when provoked, but it reduces the number of people you have to shoot, and it doesn’t take long for the news to get around that provoking me is a bad idea.
I feel your pain, Kryten, because I hate moving, possibly even more than the cats hate it.
Bummer, Kryten, as it means another row to get your ‘Net service settled again.
Yeah, it’s truly a PITA! We live in a very large town which is large enough to have a large central exchange, and several sub-exchanges. To get ADSL2+ with decent performance, you have to live within roughly 2km (line length) of the exchange (though, that also depends on the quality of the lines & the age of the exchange & equipment.) Only some of the sub-exchanges have DSLAM’s from our provider (Optus/AAPT), the others are Telstra only! So, we are looking for a house in an area that meets our internet needs (since we both rely heavily on internet & VoIP). 🙂 Also, it takes upto 16 workdays to get provisioned, so I may be offline a few weeks. *shrug*On the plus side, when we move we can sign up for one of the new plans out provider has. They have a new ADSL2+ unlimited UL/DL 24/7 VoIP plan with static IP for $58/mth! Telstra, by comparison, best plan is 60GB/mth peak, unlim off-peak (o/p being 2AM to 9AM) for $110 (inc $30 line rental).
We’ve seen some nice places (and some real dumps!) Will be looking at 4 today, so a busy day ahead (after I get some sleep). 😉
And, thanks. 🙂
Take it as easy as possible, and here’s hoping that someone is feeling the “Christmas spirit[s]” and gives you a good deal on a new place.
We should still be around when you get back.
Jams, getting eaten, beaten, or stung to death by the indigenous animal life is considered a “natural cause of death” in Oz.
😆 Well, since that generally only happens to people who are stupid (especially tourists who don’t read signs or heed the warnings), Most sane Aussies don’t see it as a bad thing. 😉 😈
Well, one down, three to go (after lunch!) It was an old place,a nd they want too much for it. Had almost no storage, and the rooms were… wierd! Odd shapes, like the builder changed his mind half way or something, or it was renovated at some point, and rooms rearranged. And it was right across the road from one of our major Army training facilities, and where they manufacture lots of things that go *BANG* (used to be Commonwealth Gov owned, but was privatized years ago). The place hasn’t changed a bit from when I did my adv. weapons course there in the 80’s! I swear… was like stepping into a time warp thingy! Even the old corrugated tin Quonset huts were sill there! (Though, I am told they are storage sheds now). I think I’d mach rather NOT live there, thanks all the same! Even if the house was free! 😉 😆 Too many memories of things I’d rather not be reminded of every day. It was actually a shock when I first saw the place… all the memories came flooding back. My housemate asked if I was OK!
The manufacture everything from man-portable weapons to battlefield vehicles such as the Bushmaster APC & Hawkei PMV-l (similar to a Hummer, only cheaper and better), to ABM systems (they recently successfully tested the SAMP/T Surface-to-Air Medium Range missile system at the DGA Missile Launch Test Centre (CELM) in Biscarosse), the Goalkeeper CIWS (which is replacing Phalanx on our Frigates & other vessel’s, mainly due to high overhead cost of Phalanx. Even the US Navy are very interested in Goalkeeper, and it has successfully completed a series of trials and out-performed Phalanx). 🙂
GOALKEEPER – Close In Weapon System
They also make a couple of *cute* micro UAV’s & ULV’s. 😉
Micro unmanned vehicles
😉 I can be impressed by the technology they create… I just don’t want to live next door! 😉 😆
Right! Lunch! 😀
That sounds like what I would feel if I had to live next to Ft. Meade – thanks, but no thanks.
You wouldn’t be happy with my section of the Gulf, because this is the home of all US airborne weapons systems, and they are tested year round. This is also an Army Ranger training area, EOD training, Special Ops training, a Special Forces base, a National Guard tank range, and a lot of other exciting things that go bump and bang in the night.
Yeah, I know what you mean m8! But I don’t think it would be the same if I lived there (or you lived near Thales here). We wouldn’t have the *instant* memory of things that happened there, because nothing did. It took me a long time to get over nightmares. I spent 23 weeks doing an adv. weapon’s and comm’s training course at that facility, and a friend died there when we got back from a mission to a place *that never happened*! (Not Cambodia). I’ve never been back to Victoria Barracks since the 80’s, and even quit a job because they wanted to use me to get access there because I knew people etc. I even had to stop going to the Melbourne Art Gallery and Entertainment complex because they were right next to the Vic. Barracks. There are demons that are best not to wake up.
Anyway, finished the 4 houses. Two are not bad, but the crooked agents lied about the rental figures! When we went to apply, the prices had gone up $20-$50/wk since we got the brochure Fri! I don’t think they can do that actually… But it’s a seller’s market! And Christmas! *sigh* Greedy people are everywhere.
I have to admit… I am rather… surprised at the feelings and memories since I saw that old place this morning. I’d thought I was well over them by now. I guess now. I suspect I may not sleep very well tonight. *shrug*
*sigh* I guess now. –> I guess not.
PS> An after thought… I was quiet most of the day (not like me usually, I bet you can guess that!) 😉 My housemate asked what was wrong after lunch… I didn’t know how to explain! Tried several times over the years to explain to people who haven’t had my experiences. they don’t get it, and can’t imagine them (which is probably a good thing really). I guess, in a way, that why I tell you here. 🙂 Kindred spirits and all that! 🙂 Strange, isn’t it? Most of the people we meet wouldn’t understand (and neither of us can give many details without ending up in prison for life anyway), and the others who do know, have their own demons and it’s not a good thing to remind them, just as we don’t like to be reminded either I guess. What a World! 😉 *shrug*
It’s one of the reasons I don’t go to the Vets organizations I do belong to. While many would understand, they don’t want to talk about it, and they sure don’t want to listen to it. As for people who were in the business, I ran into a guy I knew by reputation, as we were never stationed at the same place at the same time, and we spent a few minutes talking in coded phrases that totally annoyed the people we were with. They knew something was going on, but there was no way that anyone who wasn’t in the business would have had a clue at the information that was exchanged, even if we hadn’t used a fair number of Russian terms for certain things.
So many guys who survived to retire never got to enjoy it. It was hard on your body as well as your soul, and it certainly wasn’t good for your mental well-being.
Wow, the real estate thing is a major difference, because we certainly have a buyers’ market in rentals as well as sales. It would be a hell of a commute, and we have another freeze warning for tonight. It has been at or below 0°C since 8PM.