Mum's the world

The Potholes and I took Misselle to Hunter Valley Gardens for Mothers Day....

. ^ Michelle and all Her Boys at Hunter Valley Gardens


"Mum" has been wanting to see the Gardens for ages, (and "Dad" has never been allowed to forget it!) So this year for Mums Day a picnic there was planned. After a BIG cooked breakfast we set off to the Vinyards...It was a thoroughly enjoyable outing...even the "Teenager" attended... :-o ...which pleased her immensely.




At first the concern was that the kids would get bored, but that notion was soon disproved, as they had a ball with all the paths and observation platforms etc to explore. They really enjoyed Storybook Garden, The Border Garden, and the Waterfall Lookout area.



After our Picnic we then ventured to my sister Alison's house to wish my Mum a Happy Mothers Day, and also wish the Potholes cousin Caitlin a Happy Birthday!

Home for a quick tea and the boys crashed out in no time....just in time to watch one of her favourite shows on the teev!

low irritant?

What the hey is low irritant insect spray about?... I mean, you're out to kill 'em, so who cares if you irritate them in the process!!!!!

When you think you are alone.....

another theory ?.....sort of...it seems to work too well!
I'm talking about when you break wind..bottom burp so to speak..when you have been alone in a room for a while and you think it's safe to let a little one slip, (to equalise the pressure as you do!)....someone always apears out of nowhere!!!, before the evidence has disbursed! Of course nothing is said, but you both know what has happened....embarrasing? sometimes...
BUT.. i did find the theory usefull in my time as a field tech. You see quite often you would be left in a room to fix a piece of equipment and the person responsible to report back to when finished would dissapear into thin air elsewhere in the building. No amount of looking or waiting seems to find them but then I started using the "break wind and they shall come" theory. And by jove it had a higher than expected success rate...if not the staff member you were looking for at least someone would appear not long after "being summoned" who could track down the wayward associate for you.
Good to know Murphy can work in your favour!

I think I could be a Cruise Junkie!

We're Back!
Yes from our 12 Day Cruise to Vanuatu....and boy what a GREAT HOLIDAY!
I have never eaten so much, drunk so much (grog), been entertained so much or seen so many sights, in such a short time. Never been anywhere more romantic as going on this cruise!!!!!!!!!!!!I certainly did not want this holiday to ever end!!
This was our 10th Anniversary present to each other, and we renewed our vows on board with the Captain. So I guess you would call it a "Second Honeymoon".
We cruised with friends Kathy and Frank , Kristine and Russell.
If you have never cruised, I strongly urge you to consider it. The staff on board are absolutely fabulous, friendly and all want you to enjoy your cruise so the service is first rate. The food is just laid on and on and on... and is top class tucker....There are Bars all over the ship, so the chronic alcho in all of us has no excuse not to be happy!(I think Russell still wins on the bar tab count!...undefeated champion?...look out next cruise Rus, Frank and I will try harder!)....There are entertainment shows nearly every night in the main lounge and live bands / dj's etc in other bars to cater to all tastes from hip hop to jazz , rock, crooners etc....Gambling in the Casino..."Miss Elle" was quite a champion on the Roulette table as was Kathy, her best friend who came cruising with us to witness our renewal of vows (Kathy was Michelles original Matron of Honour at our wedding)
The Islands we visited were a mixed bunch ranging from "westernised" to "original culture".
The best being Wala and Pentecost and the least favorite would be Luganvile.
We witnessed the "Land Diving" at Pentecost (from which modern day bungy jumping was derived) where the locals jump from a huge tower made of sticks with vines tied to their ankles! UNFKNBLVBL !!!!!
I sampled the traditional "Kava" drink at Wala, made from the root of some tree, makes your mouth go numb and tingly!!!! You could actually get to like it after a few I reckon! good stuff!!!
At Port Vila I went on the jetboat ride with Frank and did a guided pub crawl with Miss Elle in the afternoon....on an empty stomach as I'd missed lunch...and with extra free beers as some people who had booked the tour didn't show so the guide (who must have liked me..good on ya Helen!) gave me more than my fair share of the extra drinks!!!! plus a couple of Miss Elles as she didn't want to tank up at every stop....Needless to say I was fairly "wonky" by the time we got back to the ship!!!!
After our last port of call, Lifou, in the Loyalty Islands, we hit some heavy swell for about a day and a half on our return voyage to Sydney. This certainly sorted the landlubbers from those who had found their sea legs, with "convenience bags" at strategic locations around the ship and lots of "green faces". Michelle and I found it to be good fun and didn't get sick, but Kathy and Frank were a bit seedy for a while.....The rocking motion of the ship is actually quite comforting after a while and I'm sure it rocks you to sleep quicker than you would normally nod off!

So ...we are all keen for another cruise as soon as we can afford it....anyone interested?

Jay Leno has similar theory

Jay Leno said the other night on his show that apparently pole dancers spin anti clockwise in the southern hemisphere (OZ), compared to clockwise in the US.......see, I'm not crazy!

note... see prev post "stuff" november 2005

AHOY! Not long now....

Just under a week to go now until we embark on our 10th Wedding Anniversary Cruise..
We will be cruising the South Pacific for 11 days . . . and we just can't wait!!!. The "potholes" are going to stay at Grandma's while we renew our vows and enjoy a "Second Honeymoon" aboard the Pacific Sun...take in the tropical sun...visit some of the islands in Vanuatu...drink heaps of grog...spoil ourselves stupid really!!! Sure we'll miss the kids (?) but they are really looking forward to holidaying with Grandma...Heath, infact thought that he was going there this last weekend, and was a little upset to find out he had to wait another week...Mike started packing things to take up there weeks ago!!!...and James has been fairly quiet about the whole deal (I think he will be the most emotional about us going initially)...
The days are going faster the closer it gets...can't wait, can't wait, can't wait........

webcam off now

I have turned off the webcam software for now....
It seemed fairly stable, but didn't cope 100 % with all the other stuff happening on this PC...
Some other software when run, hampered its ability to reliably upload images....
Left to its own devices on a quieter, perhaps dedicated PC it would possibly work without hiccup.
If I find another program to try, I will set it up again "on trial".
The "eyetoy" camera itself ...as stated in a previous remark , seems to suffer from auto exposure problems, but served its purpose for testing ...a better cam will have to be sourced if I put one online permanently.

cec.

I'd like to buy a vowel please...

e-mail, e-business, e-commerce, imac, ipod, itunes....etc... so forth, need iquote more?
The point is, someone comes up with an IT buzzword abreviation starting with a vowel and every man and his dotcom follows the leader...so whats next, imean the irish probably have dibs on "o" (o'reilly,o'rourke,o'donahugh......) and nobody would be silly e-nough to steal that one!... "a" is sort of taken with our e-mail addresses in @. But we could probably use it at a-pinch... so that leaves "u" which I dare say, other than U-Haul, is probably out there somewhere but not as well used.... unix, uucp, u-tarzan?....I guess the unix camp have rights to it...


So that means there are no more vowels . . .hmmm

More webcam experimentation

experimenting with the "eyetoy" cam....uploading images to my webspace at exetel.
http://home.exetel.com.au/pitts/webcam.html ...will probably have it up as much as possible over the next couple of days to test software to see if i like it...if it works out i might get a weather proof cam and mount it outside ($ permitting) permanently....cecil

YEEE HAW

Must have been a cowboy in a past life!
After months of pain i finally asked the doc to look at my sore heel.
He sent me to radiology for an Xray....see pic.
You've got a heel spur!....great all i need now is the Horse!

Eye Toy as a webcam

After pondering the potholes "eye toy" for their PS2, I got to thinking ... this is just a USB webcam isn't it?.... a quick google and by golly I was right .... a few sites came up detailing how to use it on your PC as a webcam. (Its not quite plug and play as it is). Followed the "destructions" and it works like a beaut! see pic ... audio and all..even with msn etc...

The office is always open.....or it should be!

I have been using "open office" lately and am quite happy with it as a whole. (as opposed Bills office software which is a hole...and i was dreading paying for a more recent version than what i had)
I feel much better using "software written for the masses" so to speak than contributing to Mr Gates retirement fund, and also not being so exposed to anti Bill worms etc.

speaking of "open". . . can anone tell me why Mandrake Linux changed their name to Mandriva?...maybe the magician complained?

I'd like to get a Linux box off the ground to stuff around with,,,,I've got a nearly historic Smelleron 400 that I'm assuming has enough grunt to run Linux provided I get a version that supports its hardware. I can boot it to "mandrake move" which is a single cd-rom portable version so I'm hopefull "Mandriva" will work. I tried "debian" but it didn't take too kindly to the Lan card I had installed so I've canned that distribution for now!

Wouldn't it be nice if I could ditch all the window boxes in the house, and teach the kids n wife to use Linux instead!...I don't see many kids games on the shelves ported to linux yet so it probably won't happen lol! (i don't see "world of warcraft" for linux yet which is quite perplexing considering its global popularity!)...

Lets hope that the "open" movement continues, and isn't absorbed by the big players protecting their own bottom line.....

Wailing!

well Whaling anyway.... what gives the Japs the right to whinge about environmental protesters having a bit of fun disrupting their so called "research". Bring it on I say!!!! In fact, lets all chip in and buy a few ex navy destroyers and frigates etc. (maybe Johnny would sell us his dud Collins class subs cheap) and become Environmental Pirates. We'd probably have to find a deserted pacific island for our base, as 'Lil Johnny would probably have some political objection to basing a pirate fleet here in Oz. Capture the "researchers", investigate their vessels, send 'em home and then strip and scuttle their vessels....perhaps sink them somewhere where we need a new artificial reef in a marine sanctuary would be fitting.
Another "milder" campaign could be to get everyone to stop Japanese tourists in the street and ask them about the results and benifits they receive from their "Whaling Research". Sure . . . it might dent tourism a little, but do we really want money from a country too gutless to admit to what they are really doing? . . . I sure don't, so a little pressure on their visiting populous may (or may not) induce some pressure from the more morally conscious Japanese, to campaign their own government against whaling.

welcome twenty'o'six

Another year down at the Pitts'
Christmas is over, lets sound a cheer. We've just welcomed in, another new year.
The garbage bin's full, of wrapping and food. But the holiday's not over, for most of the brood.
Another month of play, pity the weather's not cool. Before they go back, to boring 'ol school.
Another year of budgeting, for me and the wife. To live life the fullest, get the most out of life.
This year we'll go cruising, to the isles in the Pacific. To relax and unwind, and do nothing specific.
The "potholes" will grow, here in our comfort zone. and before we will know it, they'll be "Pitts" on their own.
For the years seem too short, they slip by way too fast. And the time with our kids, seemingly won't last.
so here's to twenty o six, three cheers and hooray. lets enjoy it, have fun, and cherish each day.

Gravity !

I was recently reminded of my own theory of gravity, which basically revolves around the premise that the earths gravitational pull apparently varies at different points on the earths surface.
You see, I believe that the majority of houses have their kitchens built right over that point on a block of land that has the most gravitational pull. Proven, no less, through many years of observation in the numerous dwellings in which i have resided over the years, by the overwhelmingly high number of objects that are sucked out of ones hands into the floor and smashed in the kitchen, as opposed other rooms in ones house!!!...I wonder if there is a business opportunity in surveying blocks of land for gravitational pull, before people build, to advise on where not to put the kitchen? :-)

Damn you Chevy Chase!

Christmas decorating has never been the same since Mr Chase popularised the festooning of one's house with heaps of strings of lights...and once you succumb to your "sprouts" desire to similarly adorn ones own abode you can never go back :-| .
There must be a kickback to the retailers of these lights from the energy companies, y'know ..The more lights you sell, we'll drop your power bill by a few percent this quarter coz we'll make it up with the increased power sales to the punters lighting up their houses!!!
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the fact my "potholes" (small, prepubescent Pitts) get such a kick out of it :-), but frankly I'm tiring of it. Each year has to be bigger and better (apparently)...It seems last year I was confronted by yet another string of lights, glowing reindeer, fibre optic tree every week in the lead up to Christmas. (This year I'm up for more extension cords and power boards by the way). AND this year there are murmurs for extra cut outs for the outside display and I'm considering a DIY to save on $ if pushed!...a bit of creative recycling of left over renovation material ;-)
I sit here trying to relax after a weekend of unknoting strings of lights, testing and replacing dead globes, climbing ladders, testing and replacing more dead globes, fitting cutouts, replacing more dead globes, all whilst trying to complete some of the internal house renovation prior to Saint Nick's arrival,,,and did I mention fixing more dud globes,,,
Roll on New Year! When the reverse procedure has to happen. NOT!...it wouldn't be the first year when the lights have stayed up until the Queens Birthday long weegend! Purely because I don't want to wear out the ladder prematurely, ladders aren't cheap y'know! ;-)
Merry Humbugs to you all!!

Dark side of the moon

Ever pondered the craters in your newly opened jar of Vegemite?......
Perhaps this is what the dark side of the moon looks like....

Thruxton 900

Here is my new mid life crisis transport....

Triumph call it one of their "Modern Classics"

cats vs quick set cement

one of my daily chores is to clean out the cat litter trays....(yes yuck!),,,we have two cats one male one female...I use clumping cat litter and have two trays as "himself" is quite fussy and won't use the tray if "herself" has used it, or he decides his is just too "used" to stand in!...he then chooses to go wherever he feels like.
It's days like these I wonder if I should substitute quick set cement for cat litter in his tray ...kinda like the mafia cement boot idea...
anyone tried it?

beep beep beep

trying to find out what three long beeps on a AMI bios based motherboard means.......

seems to be a lot of other codes i can find but not this one?

@#$%^&*!!!