WELL WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT?

It's not often that I borrow anything from Richard's (of Richards Bass Bag*) blog other than the spelling of practice vs. practise, license vs. licence or Penderecki but today, an image he posted on his latest (read most recent old) post appropriately fits our situation.

The image

I've had the builders here all day replacing some weatherboards that were rotting. Because of the age of the original house, (1910) the original weatherboards are all outsize compared to what's available 'off-the-shelf' so the builder had to make arrangements with a wood turner to calibrate his settings to the larger requirements of width and length to match ours. I asked for extra weatherboard lengths to be produced for possible future renovations because the set-up costs are so high. The result is great and the two builders did an 11 hour stint installing the boards and fixing other little problems like missing flashings and 'studs' that the renovators in the 1980s 'forgot' to put in.

All good.

But ..... as they were leaving, the head honcho alerted me to a problem with a retaining wall beneath the front deck. This is known to me and the remedy is on my 'fix-it' list - down at about number 12. The deck replacement was number 1, the attic ladder was number 2 and the weatherboard replacement was number 3. All of these have now been done but the retaining wall now is becoming serious. Basically the retaining wall holds back ground-fill at the front of the house below the deck. It's been messy ever since we've lived here for 11 years with some crappy concrete steps going up to the 'front' door. As we live in a house that was repositioned back to front when placed here 40 years ago the 'front' entrance is really the back entrance and vice-versa. Anyway - it was always on the soon-to-do' list but the news today kind of makes this job a bit more of a priority. The builder said that the slippage was distorting the deck above and would need to be addressed. Here is a reminder of what could happen.

I reported this to The Old Girl on our daily Facetime call and she agreed that fixing this would be the next priority.


So far so good.

Unfortunately I didn't have a piece of cellophane to crinkle next to the phone while I was talking, in order to blame telecommunications faults, so my arguments of getting the job done simply, efficiently (and cheaply) was countermanded by "I want it to look nice and classy Matey). Bugger!

It looks like those Tarras Airport start up shares will have to be on hold or, as Robert suggests, an off-the-wall investment in deep sea mushroom farming ventures will just have to wait.

"A real investor would seek out ideas from people on the fringe.
As a friend of Turing said "Sometimes it is people that no one imagines anything of that do the things they imagine". "  - commented Robert on another post of mine.

* My apologies for the obscure reference.

NEW POST - THE DARKER CURMUDGEON

In the absence of a Financial Curmudgeon, The Darker Curmudgeon volunteered to share some investment advice.

MAKING THE MOST (OUT) OF IT

SOME SNIPPETS

This is a holding post while The Financial Curmudgeon - oops, we don't have one of those (yet),  the Darker Curmudgeon will have to step in - writes a post about investment.

 No doubt you've heard the important aspects of the news today unless you're like those twits who only get their news from Facebook, Twitter and other social media but here are a couple of snippets  to keep you going.

ANDY HADEN TAKES HIS LAST DIVE OUT OF ..... LIFE.

Sixty nine is a number that has connotations but in life it's really quite young to die. He was controversial but was a damned good rugby player and All Black and many of the young players today who are (have been) earning the big bucks can thank Andy and his compatriots from the 1970's for that.

THE GOVERNMENT RULES TO CHARGE (SOME) NEW ZEALAND RETURNEES FOR ACCOMMODATION DURING THE MANDATORY TWO WEEK LOCK-DOWN PERIOD IN HOTELS.

Yes, personally I wouldn't have had so many exceptions built into this but am pleased that this is happening. It might make people think twice about taking that holiday away from New Zealand and, for returnees and other overseas people who were thinking about a nice safe holiday they have to be prepared to stump up some extra holiday money. Yes it could be seen as vote catching for those ex-pats who can and will vote but no, I don't favour what Judith The Hun proposed and certainly not what the disloyal and offensive Winston Peter's has said. I guess that this is his final nail in the coffin. With luck and of course good management, Labour's high polling will continue through the elections and NZ First will be kicked to touch (continuation of a rugby theme there) at long last.

FALLING AGAIN - DON WILLIAMS

"Here I go,like a fool, falling again."

There are a lot of songs about falling and a disproportionate number of Country songs. I guess those old jokers in the funny hats just never learn.

I fell again today - while playing golf.
For the first time, honest, on a par 3 by the roadside I hit my ball out onto the road.
When I was up by the green, I parked my golf trundler and set off through the bushes and up a steep bank to the road. I found my ball and headed back. As I left the road and stepped into the foliage my ankles caught against a hidden strand of fence wire and I tumbled head first down the bank. I landed heavily on my left shoulder and lay still for a moment or two wondering if I'd broken it. The ground I landed on was fortunately soft after all the rain we've had up north and, apart from being winded and feeling a bit silly, I was OK.

The course was showing the effects of the big storms we've had. Some of the streams seem to have changed their course and there were vast mounds of debris that had been swept down. If I hadn't fallen I'd no doubt have gone for a fossick amongst the debris as I'm sure that a lot of golf balls would have been dredged up and swept along.

I'd played five holes at this stage - not very well but I did find 5 golf balls so all was not lost. After the fall though I decided to quit and came home. I had scrapes and grazes from the wire and the foliage and my shoulder was sore so decided to have a soak in a hot bath. I put some Epsom Salts in.

"The theory is that when you soak in an Epsom salt bath, these get into your body through your skin. That hasn't been proven, but just soaking in warm water can help relax muscles and loosen stiff joints. People use Epsom salt baths as a home treatment for: Arthritis pain and swelling." - Wikipedia.

Anyway, I believe it.

Here's a tip for young players: When in your supermarket looking to buy some bath salts ignore the fancy, schmanzy labels that say 'bath salts' and buy Epsom salts instead. A couple of weeks ago, in Wellington I demonstrated to The Old Girl the difference in prices. A 500 gram bag of Epsom salts cost $2.49. On the shelf beside it a 500 gram bag of some branded bath salts cost $14.99. The ingredients on the bag of Epsom salts read: "Contains Magnesium Sulphate". The ingredients list on the bath salts read: "Contains Magnesium Sulphate and Aromatics".

While relaxing in the bath, listening to National Radio my phone rang. It was The Old Girl calling me on Facetime to tell me how wonderful the day was in Wellington. I told her that it was the same up here - blue sky, no wind, harbour like a mill pond etc., etc. so she asked me why then was I soaking in a bath. I told her that I'd hurt myself playing golf and yes, I admitted that I had gone looking for a golf ball, but, in my defence it wasn't a random golf ball, it was the one that I'd hit. This of course fell on deaf ears and I got a lecture about looking for golf balls when we have a shed full of them. She ended by saying that she had no sympathy for me and would have had none even if I had broken or dislocated my shoulder. "Bit harsh" I thought.

So, how's your day going?

NEW POST - THE MUSIC CURMUDGEON

I know what you're thinking. The Music Curmudgeon should also have written that last post - yeah?

Well here's another one:

"MAYBE I'M AMAZED"

No doubt Richard of Richard's Bass Bag (if he hasn't used up all of his wit today) will be able to call this one a 'mini-post as well.

As there's no irony in it maybe Robert will discover some.

PUTTING IN A GOOD WORD OR TWO

"Am I missing something?"

I listened to a Jarvis Cocker song - 'Am I Missing Something' -  on National Radio yesterday and was struck by a really good line:

“I don’t wanna dance with the devil, but d’ya mind if I tap my foot?”

It's not quite up there with Scott Walker's: I'VE SEVERED MY REEKING GONADS AND FED THEM TO YOUR SHRUNKEN FACE

..... but, it's not bad.

The song reminds me of T-Bone Burnett's songs which I also like.

AM I MISSING SOMETHING?

SHOPPING AND JOBS TODAY

I've been busy today. As it was fine I did three loads of washing which I now must take in off the washing line. (done) Feeling industrious I then did the vacuuming. The Philips cleaner was decidedly sluggish with not much suck. I was tempted to use my new ($25) AL-KO Hurricane outdoor vacuum but instead looked up the internet for a solution. The internet is great for this and I found a very helpful Scottish woman who troubleshooted possible problems, one being clogged filters. Sure enough, when I removed the filter I discovered that it and the sponge square behind it were totally clogged. I cleaned them and .. ... job done, the vacuum is working fine now.

I cleaned the rangehood grease panels and decided to buy new charcoal filters. The rangehood was in the house when we bought it 11 years ago so, of course, the model isn't recognised by any distributors in New Zealand (checked on-line again). I established that Bunnings stock charcoal filters for other brands and models so I measured the required diameter of mine and set off. I found a pack of two with the same measurements I needed ($29). Job done.

One of the ARLO security cameras decided to stop working the other day. I checked out if it was a  battery problem by replacing with one of the working one's battery but no change. The unit was munted. I set myself up for a protracted hassle with the retailer - Noel Leeming. Last night I sent an email explaining the problem and, by identifying the purchase date (8 months ago) established that it was within the 12 month replacement warranty period. I received a response this morning from them asking to bring it in for checking with a warning that the evaluation would cost me and that replacement would depend upon the problem being covered by the manufacturer. "Here we go" I thought and girded my loins ready for battle.

The pleasant young woman at Noel Leeming (I've dealt with her before and she is very competent)* sorted it out without argument, prevarication or obfuscation. She opened a new box containing the security system, took out a camera and battery and swapped for the ones that I'd brought in. I must mention here that the retail price of a camera is about $600 and the battery another $110 so I was most pleased. When I got home  tested it and it is working satisfactorily again. Job done.

After this I went to COUNTDOWN to do some shopping. Between home and there I managed to lose my shopping list but went around the shelves anyway. This takes longer when you don't have a list as you have to go up and down all of the aisles in the hope of remembering what was on the list.  I bought, I think. everything I needed and, with regard to the food items I've got the ingredients for meatloaf, gravy, roast vegetables (potato, and pumpkin) and greens (broccoli and cauliflower). I prepared the meatloaf mixture with my usual additions of lashings of garlic, chilli, soy sauce, ginger, capsicum, spring onion and piquante peppers and managed to make six small loaves - one for tonight and five for freezing. Job done.


So. How was your day?





* On completion of our business I asked her if she gets complimented on her work. Surprised she asked why. I told her that she is excellent to deal with and sorts out problems remarkably. I will put an endorsement on their website if there is an opportunity to do so.

NEARLY DONE

The builders were here all day making quite a racket.
The attic steps have been completed - installed and painted with a nice architrave around the hatch.

This will be great for access and I won't have to go up the narrow chute in the cupboard anymore.
(see the cupboard behind the attic stairs).

There was obviously a big mess on the floor but I told them that I'd clean it as I was itching to use my new purchase - the AL-KO Hurricane outdoor vacuum.

I called into an op-shop in town yesterday and spied this. I bought it for $25 to clean the leaves and other bits of wind-borne rubbish that accumulates in the back porch. Sweeping it away is a pain because the wind blows it back again. I'm very pleased to say that this machine, which sounds like a jet engine, more than adequately sucked up all of the dust, wood chips and other debris from the ceiling work.

The builders also chopped out chunks of weatherboard from the side of the house. Some of the weatherboards were soft with rot in places so I'm getting them replaced. Being such an old house the boards have to be specially made.

Note the message from god made by sunlight reflecting off the neighbour's house windows. I wonder what it means?

I TOLD YOU SO

See here:  OVERPRICED AND OVERHYPED


I published a post on this a while back: BLOODY LEECHES


I hope now that the vulnerable people will see through the cynical TV advertising and realise that they are being ripped off.

FREEZING

It's cold up here today.

Just as well I bought my face warmer which is named a Unisex Apex Chute.
I bought this from Icebreaker in Wellington last week for our trip to Queenstown in August. I didn't think it would ever be necessary in Northland - but there you go.

Maybe Richard should buy one of these to use when he's playing his fiddle. It would have the double advantage of protecting his neck from the edge of the instrument and protecting his identity should he play any off-notes or forget how to plug his amp in.