Snow, Hail and the Internet

Got some hail and the satellite Internet cut out. The IPSTAR system is much more fragile than Optus.

Getting flakes of snow now.

Have been informed the new fire truck is ready in Sydney. I don't have my endorsement so cannot pick it up

Bryony rang this morning. She has just been exhausted doing 12 hour shifts and then travelling two hours each way

Snow

A little snow is forecast for Wednesday and Thursday

Tip changes

The reason we went to the tip yesterday is that the council is restricting the tip hours to 8 hours per week. Currently we can go to three places in Ebor, pay the fee, get the key and go to the tip. The only restrictions on tip times are the hours the stores are open.

From next Monday the tip will be have an attendant there between 10am and 2pm Monday and Thursday.

Besides the tip fee we also pay an annual fee.

Thursday went looking for a external TV antenna, not at Big W or Kmart. Worked at the Servies drinking coffee in the warmth. I kinda like working from there. Had the Comms AGM again because an inactive member complained he didn't receive notification of original AGM. He didn't show up so this AGM just ratified all decisions made at the previous invalid AGM. One exception was a new deputy Captain.

Saturday had lunch with Dad as it was his birthday. Went to Coffs then to get his birthday present which was to be a new bed cover to match his curtains but couldn't get the right colour so ended up with a toaster. Not really what we had in mind.

Sunday went to tip to trade our household refuse for some good stuff. Came back with corrugated iron and a microwave oven. The oven will become our new mailbox. Went to the fireshed on way back to shorten exhaust pipe so it doesn't hit shed roller door but due to flarings on pipe couldn't do that. Tried to repair shed door but it really need to be taken down to bend back into shape and a strengthening bar put on bottom.

Chatted to manager at trout hatchery about house fires and he suggested that we clean flue in ours to improve combustion. Used a couple of pipe clamps to put a wire brush on end of broom handle and Mary clean it out. When I put the baffle back in firebox it wasn't seated properly so it fell down. Have to wait for it to cool before we it can be put back.

On way back from Coffs called in at Bunnings and got a three new seals for the strainer basket sink plug. Put one on but still the water leaks away.

Armidale is to get a Bunnings and an Aldi store next year.

We have called the daughter a few times recently but only get voice mail and she hasn't called back.

Mary gave me a KenKen puzzle book, only had it a couple of days and have nearly finished it. May take a while to finish and I am now into the medium hardness puzzles and still have the hard ones to go.

Got the 100m wireless door bell. Have to mount the sender on a non-metal mount. It may be a bit awkward to put timber on the gate post where it is clear of the half moon latch

Revenge of the Roo

Going home Monday night saw a small roo or a wallaby on road, slowed down from the 80kph, roo went off road but then came back on. Thump. We turned around but it had run off. Checked the car it was OK.

In daylight Mary found the bullbar had been bent and was pushing against car panel taking the paint off it.

Life

The weather has been fine for about a week. It has been cool some mornings (-1.6) but the sun makes its a fresh day. Now we have high cloud which stops the shed warming up. Having Mary back home has meant the house fire going 24 hrs a day and this uses up a large of amount of firewood. Dad gave us a firewood stand that we have outside with some firewood on it.

Our potential firewood is seasoned but got soaked from rain. Some has the smell of rotting timber caused by termites making it moist.

Last week-end did the CCA course for the RFS. Learnt quite a few things that we hadn't been doing "on the job" because hadn't been exposed to them. This course had been scheduled for quite a while and unfortunately it was the same week-end that Dad was to bring my cousin and her husband to our place. At the course I told my supervisor about the visitors and she told me to go home because all that was left in the course was the practical and she had observed me doing that in real life. The exam questions were in the back of the work book so after the visitors left I emailed in the answers in long form because the multi-choice part of the answer wasn't in the work book.

Our landline phone has been playing up with us not being able to hear the other party on and off even though they could hear us. It was worse the windy days even though our line is underground!! Turned out to be a faulty radio link card at the exchange that affected all the local residents even for local calls.

The fire truck had its analogue radio replaced by a digital one last week. We couldn't raise a driver from the group so firecom arranged for university students who are members of the RFS to courier trucks around. I found our shed door damaged, it had been hit by the exhaust flap. The door is repairable but until then it could jam if handled roughly. Also the battery hadn't been isolated and the radios were on. I found out later that the driver had also backed a firetruck into the FCO's work car and another truck into a Groupies private car.

Have been ringing around and calling in on local RFS members to encourage them to go to an upcoming BF course even if they cannot do the prac week-end. To make it easier for volunteers the instructors (also volunteers) are doing it in an adjoining area. This will cut half an hour of travelling time for our locals.

I have ordered a wireless door bell that has a range of 100m so we can put it at the bottom gate and know in the house that visitors will be here soon.

Mary's Mum is in respite care for ten days. Have heard she wants to go home.

Internet

Yesterday switched on satellite modem and wireless router and started work a bit after 7am. The Internet was intermittent with the satellite connection dropping every so often. Having lots of overnight emails to catch up it wasn't a problem till around 9am when there was no signal from the satellite. Called the ISP and got put on the call back list at position 3. An hour later I rang again. Half an hour later got a call back. The technician wanted to go through their standard problem solving routine but I asked him was there a problem with IPSAT. He didn't know but would check. He came back and said "yes the vendor has a problem with the beam I was under"

I worked via dial-up for the rest of the day.

This afternoon I am in town using Virgin mobile broadband. Three different methods in two days. The mobile broadband is the best but not available at home. satellite is good for large downloads. This morning I downloaded "3 acts of murder" from ABC and it was 320 Meg taking about 90 minutes. The dial-up from home is via a pair gain line but doesn't have the satellite latency.

good week-end

The road was flooded as we left Saturday, doing a meeting in Dorrigo then down the mountain to see Dad. On way stopped at McDonalds for coffee and to try free WiFi again. I have had limited success using it in trips to Victoria and at the Armidale McDonalds I have never been able to connect. I have asked for help from the suppliers but the problem has not been solved.

Saturday I was able to get a connection as usual as shown by IPCONFIG but did not get all the acceptance page loaded. Refresh of the page gave "page not found". I disabled Microsoft Loopback adapter and all came good.

Good to see Dad, Mary and I had been going to see him a few times but support for other family members have got in the way. Earlier in week Dad had notified me of a firewood stand available at a reasonable price. Dad suggested he order it for me as delivery would be easier to his place. Dad wouldn't let me reimburse him for the purchase. Dad also gave us birthday presents of a usb TV for me and a rug with a pouch for Mary. Mary has used the rug finding it good. When it is spread out the feet go into the pouch and when folded up the rug goes into the pouch making it tidy like a cushion. This allows it to be left out on the couch and accessible all the time. Just what is needed up here.

Rain is forecast for the next two days, then fine. Mary is waiting till Wednesday to walk to waterfall.

Sunday spent three hours on radio check duty for RFS but only checkins for first 80 minutes, the following 100 minutes were silent. Fixed zip on camouflage jacket which is good because the jacket is warm. The little generator stopped working. Checked spark plug and it was fouled with fluffy carbon deposits. Cleaned spark plug and it ran but later died. Will put it in for service. Mary and I carried large generator onto back verandah.

Mary's car had a flat tyre so that needs repair.

Away Again II

Sunday got a phone call from our daughter to say she was trying to get into detox. This is great news as she had decided for herself to go down this path. She had talked to her boss who was allowing her time off at short notice even though she had just gone permanent. Bryony was frightened.

Monday got a call from her asking for support and could we come. We waited till Tuesday morning to pack just in case she changed her mind but she hadn't so off we went. In the afternoon got a phone call to say she had a place at detox if she could be there Wednesday. She had a girl friend stay with her so she would be able to get there no matter what state she was in.

Mary and I continued driving but diverted to Bendigo instead of Melbourne.

Mary was very good in Bendigo not allowing herself to do things for her Mum that other relatives would have been doing. Mary needed this. She enjoyed her time with her Mum and was ready to help her daughter.

We rang the detox each evening to see how she was going and when after 48 hours we could talk to her we did. Sunday was the first day we could see her so travelled down and spent afternoon with her. I caught train from Melbourne to Sydney and Mary returned to Bendigo. Monday (Queen's Birthday holiday) train bus to ? and then train to Armidale where the other ARO I had been away with drove me home.

Bryony finished detox after a week and came out. Mary stayed with her for nearly a week leaving yesterday and will be getting home today.

Bryony is doing well.

Away again

Tuesday got a phone call asking if I would go to Coffs Wednesday to relieve one of the two AROs. FCC arranged for a car to be delivered to me at home so I could continue working that day and would not have to leave early the next morning. The duties at Coffs were light just doing flight following on the hour and half hour. I was told there was Internet during the day and in the motel.

Went down the next morning calling in at Hungry Head to collect battery charger that I had put in for repair last year. Got told it would be ready "next Tuesday". They had it there in parts. Wished I had called when I knew I was going down.

Found the Aero club, not hard after finding it on Google earth. Not much to do. Flight following was done by mobile phone as the SES didn't have adequate radio coverage and we were not allowed to have a RFS channel allocated. All the helicopters had RFS radios.

The Internet turned out to be individual mobile connections. Mary still had our new Virgin mobile Internet usb device so I worked offline for a while.

The helicopters were doing food drops of three days food, fodder drops of round bales of hay and medivacs. People would ring a centre who obtained an address then got a grid reference from Google earth which was passed on to helicopter pilots. The grid references were usually out a fair bit but all did the best they could. Sometimes there was confusion between lot numbers and street numbers. Someone said they had a signal fire going which turned out to be a smokeless bbq.

Needing to work at night I obtained wifi access at the motel. Although they advertised free wifi, it was only available for 4 hours per night per room. I had to get the other ARO to get his vouchers. The SES and pilots not having work restrictions wanted to drink and maybe eat so I didn't go with them paying for a take away at the nearby shopping centre.

Thursday was a bit boring with only one flight to look for places to take the Emergency Services minister if he wanted to go have a look himself. The crew took photos and dropped them off at Grafton. The Minister was too busy to go for a flight but if he had been able to go he would have seen the most in shortest of time. In the afternoon there was theory training for SES in winching from helicopter. The two RFS AROs also did the theory.

Friday the Grafton airbase was closed. a number of helicopters were released and the AROs stood down. Got home early afternoon.

Saturday did a bit of catch up work and then Mary got home. Sunday finished catch up. The flexibility of this job allows me to enjoy being a RFS member.

Rain

Left Bendigo Saturday morning and got near home Saturday evening a bit after 11pm. There was water over the road at the trout hatchery. Too deep to cross in truck. Turned truck around so it was facing uphill, put the seat back and went to sleep. Had to put paper over the flashing light on the dash that indicates the engine immobiliser is working. Got cold about 5:30 so ran engine for a while. About 6:30am walked to foot bridge getting wet feet. Decided to go back way to home but after travelling 56 km got stopped by a fallen tree hat I couldn't get around. Back to trout hatchery put the now thawed frozen vegies in the back pack along with the milk and camera and headed to home over foot bridge. The guys at the hatchery said I should drive over the foot bridge and they would guide me.

The bridge is only a little bit wider than the tray on the truck and coming off I had to turn to avoid the firewood stack it was obvious the tray was going to hit the rail. So off with the side of the tray and only a little bit of paint was scrapped from rail post.

They had had strong winds and 27 inches (680 mm) of rain.

Unpacked put food away and tried for a sleep but only dozed for about an hour. The pager went off wanting AROs to go to Coffs for 3 day deployment talking to helicopters doing food drops to flooded in victims. Said I was available but I needed to work in the evenings. Got packed and was going out the top gate when got a call to say some-one else who didn't have work obligation could go. Glad it turned out that way as I went to bed a bit after 6pm and got up 7:20am next morning. There had been a 46 minute phone call from the daughter late at night but still I slept for a while.

Chasing the sun

put the generator on about early afternoon, then started to walk back to shed when I was startled by a black thing in the grass. There was a snake that was moving across the path. Called Mary who came for a look. The snake sensed us and tracked us coming towards us as we moved around at a safe distance.

It finally settled down in a sunny area and was still there when we left for town mid afternoon.

Sun low in sky

The time either side of the equinoxes has the most rapid change in sun height and in length of day. Now the sun does not get high enough to fully cover the coil of poly pipe used for heating our shower hot water. We have had the fire going in house a few times lately. Trying to get a store of firewood but has been left a bit late. Only have about half the needed wood stored in shed.

The navara had its 5000km service 9th April. Asked for the licence plate lights to be turned around. Got back to find work not done even though there was a line item on the account saying it had. The desk clerk got a screw driver and turned the brackets around. A week later got a call from service manager asking if I was happy with service, I mentioned I was disappointed with item on account for work not done. He explained that the mechanic had questioned the item with his supervisor and they had done the requested work. They rotated the light bulbs!!

Have had problems with washing machine. The latch to release the door would not work, had to slide a knife in to get door open. The handle is made of plastic and it has cracked. Made a small bracket to go around the cracked piece out of a strip of aluminium coke can and put on with 5 minute epoxy. Hope it works.

With the new Internet have downloaded tv shows from ABC. Got 90 Meg in less than 30 min. Have also watched channel 9 news live. Tried to get comedy shows from BBC but get message that I am not in UK. Tried going through work vpn site for UK so I could get a UK ip address but it didn't allow traffic to go outside of work. Will have to check with a UK colleague if they are configured to use a proxy.

Been listening to "Australia All Over" Macca has been talking to the volunteer fencing army down in Victoria. These are ordinary people who have given up their time to build fences on farms in fire ravaged areas of Victoria. Gee this is a great country to live in.

Just memories for some

In case you did not recognise it, the above photos show what happens when rain water tanks are full. Yes excess water comes out the overflow pipe.

Both tanks are full.

Comedy on the Run

Mary saw an ad in the Coffs paper that Dad showed us of the floods. It was for a comedy show at Sawtell. Friday afternoon she found somewhere to stay and booked us in for two nights. Walked along beach Saturday morning and had a sleep in the afternoon as I still have the flu. The comedy show was good especially as the volume was not too loud as it is in most venues. Sunday we went to Coffs Jetty then came home. It was 25 degrees in Coffs, 24 in Bellengin and 11 degrees at home.

Today the internet installers came to replace satellite hardware except for dish and cables. Now I can use wireless router again.

Mary is in town getting repairs to car. After the battery was replaced at the last service the parking lights would come on when the brake pedal was depressed and the reversing sensor stopped working. Turned out to be two separate faults - blown brake globe and dirty contacts on sensor wiring.

Bryony rang today, she sounded bright, glad I have been sending her jokes by sms.

Yesterday

Yesterday was Wednesday. It was an interesting day. I have a bad cold and my head hurts when I cough. Corresponded with the FCO and found out our fire truck is to be replaced with a brand new dual cab Cat 7. Since I have been in the brigade we have gone from a tanker trailer to a petrol Cat 7 to an old diesel Cat 7 and by end of calendar year to a brand new dual cab Cat 7.

There was a special work meeting yesterday and I attended for 15 minutes even though I am on leave because I thought something was up. Turns out 9 out of the 18 people in the off shoring from North America are to be given the flick unless they can find work locally. I am not one of them at this stage.

Disappeared from the meeting so could drive the current fire truck to town for it annual servicing and certification. I drove with the previous Captain beside me. Mary picked us up from the council depot and as driving home got the phone call to say I was not one of the nine being dumped from work.

Got to the Trout Hatchery for the fire brigade AGM where I was re-elected Fire Captain for another year. All current positions were retained.

This morning Bryony SMS'ed me saying she was OK and thanked me for the daily jokes I had been sending. She had met my sister for tea last week and got her head mucked up so she told Mary she might be quiet for a while while she straightened herself out. I sent her a daily joke with no other text just so she knew she was in our thoughts.

Not many posts

I have not been blogging for a while. This is due to being tired and a lot happening in our lives. Doing nightshift at the fires in Victoria took its toll. We sleep a lot more since we moved to Ebor, it could be the altitude, it could be not setting up the TV, it could be using a petrol generator and changing our cycle to fit the sun.

Going onto 12 hour nightshifts when we are orientated to being up during the day with the first day being up for 28 hours straight affected us.

We tried to finish off the house. The only remaining thing is the insulation under the floor but when we went to do it we found the joists are 600 mm centres and the foil we have is 450mm wide. Bugger. Will buy 3 rolls of air-cell that is 1350mm wide and split it into 2.

The truck experience has been interesting.
Went to the Commercial Trader and Tenancy Tribunal. The Nissan dealer came up with an offer to put a Nissan bull-bar on truck till an ARB bull-bar with fog lamps is available. Picked up truck 8 days ago. Pretty good. Mary and I can talk while we are travelling at 100 kmh with the radio on without shouting! Turns out the strike force leader for taking the fire vehicles down to Victoria had tea with Nissan dealer the Friday before the tribunal hearing. During the trip down I told the Strike Team Leader about my problems in dealing with the Nissan dealer. Who knows if this had any bearing on the outcome.

Week-end Drive

Friday 13th February the pager went off wanting two drivers to take a staff car to Albury tonight, fly back Sunday. Called in and got OK. Seven minutes after pager went off it went off again saying spots were filled. Picked up other driver from Hillgrove on way in. (Later thought both Mary and I could have done it)

At FireCom got told there were two tankers up ahead and we should catch within 4 hours. We were to stay at Dubbo overnight. Were given a Google maps printout of trip to Dubbo. Contacted the tankers on way and they waited for us at Tamworth where we had tea. Then left for Dubbo as a convoy. On way Turtle was told he was to be a strike team leader, so tomorrow I would be in tanker and Turtle in staff car.

Got into Dubbo after midnight. Keys left in night box at motel. Three units of 2 bedrooms each. Left motel at 6:30am. At truck stop at 6:50am. Truck stop weren't expecting us till 9am. Had breakfast, fuelled vehicles, waited. Other vehicles arrived, waited. Finally got away at 10:30. Lunch at ? On way one truck had a puncture. Tea at BP Albury. Took a while to find, used "locality guide" at railway station. Leader only had a google maps from Armidale to Healsville. Yes Healsville, convoy was going further than Albury. At motel about 8pm. Parked trucks at rear of motel. All packed in, looked good but couldn't get a decent photo. Got to bed about 8:45pm after shower.

Wake-up call at 2am. Assembled out back with trucks. Motel put out coffee in airpots on wheelie bins. Headed off at 2:30am. Past cheering crowds waiting for nite-rider buses or taxis. Pulled up near waterwheel park because navigator did not know way back onto freeway as google maps didn't have stop for us at Albury. I moved back to staff car as navigator and we headed off.

An hour later down the Hume Hwy at 3:30am called a friend waking him. He got out his map and clarified some details of trip coming up. Thanks Phill.

Had a couple of navigation problems. Leader was slightly dyslexic and so even when directions were to turn "slightly right" we took the left turn. Convinced him to leave convoy while we went 10 km ahead to check for next turn. Also Google maps has name of highway eg Melba while roadsigns used National Highway numbers eg A320.

Did Hume, Midland and Maroondah highways. Fire bad between Alexander and Healsville. Passed through two roadblocks. In between there had been heavy, hot fire. Houses, petrol stations, timber yard, and cars burnt. Logs over road but cutout to allow a truck through. Some burning logs on road and beside. Stationary shocked kangaroos and charred sheep.

At Healsville went to staging area at Dons Road Sports Ground. SES marshals at entrance and fueling trucks. Trucks needed water as travelled with only 1000 litres. Parked the vehicles nose to tail on sports ground. We were an hour late getting in at 7:30am. The day crew who had flown down the day before provisioned the vehicles with drinking water and food and headed out. We went off for breakfast, seeing CFA, DSE, Melbourne water, DW, a Buddhist girl cleaning tables and St John Ambulance people.

A Upwey CFA guy said "Thanks for coming, we are so tired". I felt a fraud because in 20 minutes I would be on a bus heading to airport to go home.

At Essendon airport other crews left for home leaving six from New England. Some pilots took pity on us and arranged to take us home after dropping off eleven crew at Parkes. The plane couldn't get fuel there so over to Dubbo and then on to Armidale.

I changed over the week-end with all the good wishes of the people and with what I saw. I knew I had to do more than just ferry vehicles. I had to do what I had been trained for - fight fires.

Mary picked Dylan and me up from Armidale Airport. Staff member Ivan welcomed us back. Gave Mary some roses bought at Essendon airport. Going home water was over road at trout hatchery. At home emailed manager in America asking him to take time off even though he was on leave himself. No reply Monday so rang him. Talked for 30 minutes. He gave his OK. Rang FireCom and put Mary and my names down for deployment. Mary did not want either of us to go on our own.

POSTSCRIPT.
I feel a lot better about ferrying the vehicles down. Not everyone can hold a hose. Every bit of support of those holding a hose is important. I met some wonderful people who make those holding a hose better prepared for the task. We did a great job in getting those 21 vehicles down to where they could be used.

Coming Soon

Two new postings soon when I have time and am rested

Driving Fire Vehicles to Victoria
and
Deployment to Victorian Fires.

Quick update - Mary and I are fine. Have chest colds probably from being wet with sweat then getting breeze on damp PPE.

Out of the Ashes

181 people dead.
1000's homes lost.
cattle killed.
kilometres of fencing destroyed

But out of all this came a phone call from our daughter checking on Mary's relatives in central Victoria. Last time I spoke to her was 26 months ago and Mary 22 months ago. The daughter moved and changed phone numbers and did not ring us.

We don't have an address for her but she gave us her current mobile phone number.

Mary and I are very happy

Bulga Fire at Singleton

Monday afternoon pager went off looking for 2 ARO and 3 ABO. I rang in and put my name down for ARO (Aviation Radio Operator). Got call later saying would leave at noon Wednesday. I mentally prepared my kit.

Tuesday 1pm got phone call asking if I could leave ASAP if rest of crew (2 ABO) could leave then. Got call a few minutes later asking if I could leave at 6 o'clock. Mary packed for me while I finished off work. Mary had iron going in morning to iron my two RFS shirts and a pair of blue drill trousers.

Had tea at 4:30 and left at 4:45pm. Got to firecom before 6pm but main gate was locked so entered via Dumaresq brigade entrance.

Nearly 6pm got call on mobile to say that the others weren't going so could I pick up car at 6am Wednesday. I told them I was at Firecom so after a few phone calls went off to pick up car and receive travel documents. Mary and I decided that it would be better to stay in town rather than go home Tuesday night and come back in Wednesday, after all Mary had worked on assumption of doing shopping Wednesday. We stayed at caravan park in a van. Its a lot hotter in Armidale than at home and the van didn't have air conditioning.

Wednesday morning at 5:50am I left Mary in the van and headed off stopping for breakfast at Tamworth. Chatted to an Army guy who gave me good information on where I was going, staging areas, description of buildings.

The ABC local radio station in Tamworth is on AM and I could hear crackle in the signal. Approaching Scone there was low cloud, I thought "this is good, I can settle in till the cloud burns off" Got fuel then headed out to the airport. Couldn't see any air activity or RFS personnel. There was lightning. Finally spotted some-one in PPE so parked just outside security fence on grass and walked to hanger. Got told ABOs were packing up and ARO at NPWS office was departing. Got given a RFS phone to call Controller. She thanked me for coming, stood me down and wished me a safe drive home.

Chatted to the ABOs and turns out the captain's mother lives in Ebor so she knows area, Captain lives in Glenco where a couple of friends from Dorrigo are moving. Its a small world up here.

Getting back to car, got soaked, the rain was very heavy. I put car in 4wd to get off grass. Drove to Tamworth slowly because of rain. Got coffee and directions to Bunnings where I bought the extra vents for the wood shed. Back to Armidale, too late for lunch at Servies, so got bread and milk that wasn't on shopping list because I was going to be away, fueled car and Mary rang to say she had arrived, so we met for coffee while I also had a hamburger.

We returned the car and called in on radio to say I was going home.

The cost:-
My employer - a days wages while I was on special leave
State Government - forgone payroll tax (no tax on special leave for emergency services personnel)
Me - caravan stay and two lots of petrol for Mary to travel to town, take away "food"
Mary - many hours driving me around, plus packing for me
RFS - fuel and car usage for 545 km
McDonalds - half price for 3 cappucinos and a big mac

Hot Week-end

It got to 28 degrees in the house and 26 degrees outside over the week-end while many places had 45 degrees. We measured the river heights again and also had another swim.

Saturday afternoon installed air vents at the bottom of wood shed. Need more vents.

Also got internet via wireless router working but next day (with new router) it wouldn't.

Did radio checks Sunday morning after call from Comms Deputy saying his radio was out of order.

Mary and I watched DVD "Life on Mars" that Aaron gave me for Christmas. Watched 4 episodes Saturday night getting to bed about 11:30pm. Tired Sunday.

Sunday afternoon cleaned leaves out of spouting of house and pressure sprayed to back side to clean mud and algae.

Wondering if will get page for volunteers for Victorian fires.

Disappointment

Monday afternoon got RFS page requesting Aviation Radio Operators (ARO) for fires at Tumut. This is a 5 day deployment - fly in - fly out. Arranged with work for time off and put my name down. Tuesday afternoon had not been contacted by FCC so emailed and got a phone call from receptionist apologising because she did not remember passing my name on and all places were filled. I was looking forward to working in a team and learning from others. So far have only done ARO work on my own.

Tuesday morning after meeting, Mary and I headed to top of waterfall to do do height measurements using our new "Pocket Sighting Level" from CST/Berger. We were able to measure the height above the water surface where the penstock will travel and then go up river to find the same height. This is important because the intake needs to be above the highest point of the penstock route.

After the measurements we stripped off and had a dip in the river. Found a channel where the water could pound down on neck shoulders and back. Really nice once we were in. The rest of the state may be in a heatwave but up here we get to 28 max.



Mary went back Wednesday to measure the horizontal distance from waterfall to water intake. If the penstock runs around rock at waterfall rather than going over it then the distance is 67 metres instead of 170 metres. That's a difference of $800 for penstock.

After work Tuesday and Wednesday applied another coat of paint to wood shed floor. Hopefully it is sealed now. Still have to put air vents into wall and roof. Then need to cut firewood to fill it.

Changed powerpoint behind fridge from single to double powerpoint so now don't have to swap cords for radio and Cd player.

Did more work on Internet router problem and concluded that the problem is beyond my control. Contacted ISP who said there had been a problem but that all should be OK now. Still doesn't work though.

Friends Visit

Friends from Melbourne arrived Thursday afternoon. Mary was at her meeting but as she was the only one there she closed the venue and came home. We went to the Ebor pub for Surf'n'turf for tea and talk. Friday I had off using the last of the time from the upgrade a fortnight before. We went to the tank traps in Mary's car which bottomed on the old road and got a couple of scratches on the side. If we had the 4wd King cab Navara then it would have been an easy drive.

After the tank traps into Ebor for a cappuccino at Fusspots. Lunch at home then the visitors left.

Over the week-end got Mary's car washed, glued a crosspiece onto the knife block, contacted most of the fire crew regarding upcoming events, emptied wood shed and put first coat of paint sealer on concrete floor, attended inaugural meeting of New England RFSA, reconstructed maintenance list for fire truck, got a replacement microphone for PA on fire truck, fitted saddle clamp to standpipe for washing machine waste, read AR magazine and Reviver magazine, did some work so can have a late start Monday morning.

This morning it is 16 degrees and drizzling. Not suitable for putting second and third coats of sealer on woodshed floor.

Tank Trap

The top photo shows how the dug out is collapsing.

Photo 2 has Mary on the side that the Japanese would be coming from. You can see the rock build-up on this side. The trench is partially filled with dirt, leaves and rocks. In the distance is the entrance to the dug out

The wooden stumps that would stop tanks are in photo three

The last photo shows a wooden stump in front of two concrete pyramids

Australia day Long Week-end

Friday afternoon finished work early taking back some of the extra time I spent the previous week-end getting ready for the upgrade at work. Picked up Mary's cast iron fire and brought it back to house and got fire going. Picked up bath from past garden shed and put it on walkway. Took a couple of hours but heated enough water for a bath. Mary put in rose petals. Mary wanted a bath as she needed to soak a bruise she has from a slip when climbing waterfall. Saturday I bought a packet of Epsom Salts and Mary had another bath.

Got a call from neighbour saying she was opening our bottom gate so cattle could knock down tall grass. They eat some and trample a lot. We don't have protective fences around satelite dish, water tanks or roses.

Saturday afternoon I cleaned out the composting toilet. There was a lot of liquid in bottom of composting bin and it overflowed out the cleaning opening. It was a lot more pleasant than I had been anticipating. The composting toilet is working. The liquid and the solid matter have hardly any smell even when carried in an open bucket. The liquid is the colour of strong tea. The solid matter looks like rich soil. With the bin mostly empty the area around the overflow filter drained and I was able to hose loose the clogging material. Also dug up inspection elbow and put hose up clearing away all debris. Dug up contaminated soil and buried that too in the old veggie compost hole.

To prevent the overflow problem re-occurring will require more frequent inspections. Also I think a drain around outside of composting toilet bin needs to be constructed to stop storm water entering the toilet. The drain may not be needed due to the ground being very porous with surface water disappearing quickly after rain. Last night I went out just after the storm and there was no water build up in the pit around the inspection elbow. Maybe a low deflection wall will do to stop water running down hill but I have never seen it run down the hill. It is only speculation that it could.

Sunday we played a game and Mary got to choose an activity. She chose to see the tank traps as I wanted to go but hadn't made time. After a couple of false starts we found the old road and a likely spot. We found the dug out under the road that has the entrance fenced off. Will go back with a flashlight so can peer through.

The tank traps consist of 4 rows of tree trucks set in the ground to a height of 3 or 4 feet. These go down to soft ground where there about 8 concrete pyramids. The idea was to blow up the road and along with the wooden and concrete barriers stop the advance of Japanese tanks down the inland route towards Sydney.

After seeing the tank traps we went into Ebor to buy the history book that Mary had seen the tank traps in. It is out of stock but they will order some more.

Truck

Friday morning sent email to Nisan dealer demanding my deposit back. Got a call from Office of fair trading saying dealer had been in contact with them. The dealer believes it can show by emails that i intended to purchase the vehicle. The OFT did not see that we had common ground for negotiation and has said my next step is to lodge a complaint with Consumer Trader & Tenancy Tribunal which i did Monday.

There will be no details in blog of my preparations till after hearing.

Thursday

Did a few hours work then went to town with Mary. Did some work sitting at the Servies then met Mary for lunch. She dropped me off at Firecom where I chatted with Trevor who is now based in Grafton until Justin arrived. Also picked up material from pigeon hole.

Justin took me out the Cat 1 fire appliance. We did about 65 km (according to the log) with me driving. Still have a more practice to do especially in regard to getting in the correct gear when approaching an intersection. The air brakes are sudden death when I apply them. It was a really pleasant 90 minutes with enjoyable conversation. I get a high when hearing aspirations and plans for a positive future.

Recently in the paper was an article about housing and how the government had reduced their involvement n public housing. This has caused more concentration of housing commission clients. The problem with this is that if a person is growing up where lots of their mates leave school early and end up in the legal system (as clients) what are your expectations going to be. Compare this to a person in a neighbourhood where it is normal to complete high school and then go onto university.

After the driver training I got dropped off at McDonalds planning to connect via their free WiFi Internet to send off work emails that I had written earlier but although I could connect to their access point I could not get their terms and conditions web page. Went off, got hair cut then met Mary doing shopping. Had tea at the Servies then home stopping to have a chat to Pete (from Comms) who was sitting on his front porch in town.

While driving got a call from Office of Fair Trading. They said to demand my deposit back and if Hardmans had an issue with that to contact him. I have sent an email off to the Nissan dealer this morning.

Even though it was late night trading the Dick Smith Electronics store and the Jaycar store both were closed before I got there so didn't get any clamp on filter to put around the cables of the satellite modem. maybe next week when I go in for another driving lesson

Topics

In no particular order.

Work.
I have been involved in the upgrade of a computer system and had booked time to take the system. As I was getting up to the time found that not every thing had been done. This meant doing overtime. Worked all Saturday skipping morning meeting. Sunday went to Coffs harbour for a hamfest and Dick Smith Electronics. Then home for more work. Foe tea went to pub where there was a benefit bbq for a local who had been in a car accident. This was arranged by the Ebor Lions Club. There is a great community in this area. We didn't stay late because I had to come back to work.

New Vehicle.
It has been a week since the Nissan dealer said they would get back to me soon regarding return of my deposit. I have contacted Office of Fair Trading via their website and am waiting on their reply.

DVD
To relax we have been watch "The Glasshouse - Double Glazed" getting a good laugh. We also watched "The Blackstreet Boyz" who we saw on the beach at Woolgoolga during Coffs Comedy Festival.

Amateur radio
I have wanted to get back into Amateur Radio but have been too busy on existing up here. Sunday though Mary and I went to Coffs Harbour for the North Coast Amateur Radio Club Expo. Not much flea market stuff but lots of people and some big commercial exhibitors. This was the first hamfest I have been to since moving up here.

Internet Wireless Router
The Linksys router failed completely so Mary bought a replacement D-Link router from Dick Smith. It had the same problems. Hmm maybe it is not the router that has the problem. The F-connector on one of the leads to the modem was nut on properly and came off when cable flexed. Got a couple of connectors and a crimp tool after the hamfest while in Coffs. Replaced the faulty connector but it didn't help. The combination of modem, router and laptop work if done by cable with wireless turned off. Turn wireless on and connection becomes iffy. Moved router to bathroom to keep it away from modem but that didn't help. I don't know what has changed. Maybe I can get some chokes to put on cat5 cable and see if that helps.

Hydro
Trying to find what permits are needed for micro hydro - so many government departments. Things permits may be needed for, diversion of a river, discharge into river, energy, fish, construction within 40m of a river.

Under House.
Mary has been clearing under the house so insulation can be installed with us lying on our backs. She has been getting rid of weeds and rocks and leveling soil. An awkward task but a step forward in our journey up here.

Prickle in foot.
Have a prickle in my right heel, haven't been able to find it by running fingernail over heel but find it sometimes when walking. Will have to wait till it rots a bit.

Crossword Puzzles.
Mary has got stuck into the crosswords. She has a few books of puzzles and is enjoying it.

Composting Toilet.
The toilet is not functioning properly with liquid in the bottom of the chamber. When next in town Mary will buy a throw away bucket and a scoop so we can empty the chamber into a pit we normally use for vegetable scraps and then cover with a foot of soil. When we have emptied chamber will have to investigate cause of liquid build up.

Woodshed.
Still haven't sealed floor with paint or installed vents. Need to get on with it so can start collecting firewood. We did have the fire going last week.

Starry Starry Night

In the international year of astronomy National Parks and Wildlife Services held a paid observation of the heavens. There were two NPWS Discovery Officers, one operated the telescope and binoculars and pointed out stars, constellations, satellites and other bodies. The other officer an aboriginal gave the aboriginal origin of some of the constellations.

Prior to the presentation we had tea at the Canopy Cafe at the Dorrigo Discovery centre. Didn't get home till after 11pm, still it was a good night. We only found out about it because Dad saw it in his local paper. He scanned the article and emailed it to us.

hydro visit

Tuesday evening after tea put on Internet to check for emails from local Nissan dealer. Couldn't connect. The Linksys wireless router has finally failed completely, it does not come good after resetting and reloading config. Wednesday had to work using a cable direct from laptop to satellite modem.

Sunday afternoon I worked so I could take a few hours off Wednesday morning. This was because the hydro installer was coming to visit.

He spent 4 hours here during which time he got to know what we wanted to do with the power and did site investigation. He has been working overseas for a while and may have a different orientation to us. I am willing to pay now so that I have a system that has little maintenance down the track. I am also willing to pay to get more power than it seems that I could use. Our situation is that we will be here for many years getting less and less mobile and so do not want to be out in all weathers fixing faults. I had planned to have buried cable while he was offering an option of aerial bundled cable attached to trees. Maybe he was just making sure we were aware of all the options.

One really good thing that came out of seeing our site with fresh eyes was that the reevaluation. I had looked at the site and said I could use all the head of the waterfall, then after observation worked out it would be easier to take water from a natural ledge lower down. I hadn't gone back to look at whether there was another point along the river that provided the same lower head. There is more work to do.

No Navara

Got a call from the original salesman at the local Nissan dealer. He told me that they cannot get a steel bull bar and fog lights. He came on strong and tried to get me to justify having fog lamps. He also told me that they could supply driving lights and that they were the same as fog lamps.
He said they had a vehicle in a colour they could not sell. He threatened legal action.

I asked for my deposit back as they could not supply the vehicle I wanted.

I also mentioned I hadn't signed the contract. He said didn't I have a moral obligation to purchase as they had got in a vehicle especially and had registered it with Nissan as a business transaction in my name.

I remained cool, didn't rise to his salesman tactics. He got a little het up and I didn't. I was proud of myself.

After the call I sent an email asking for my deposit back because they could not supply the vehicle I wanted. Also said I did not want to deal with Nissan on this or any other vehicle. They replied that management is considering its options.

Boule

Mary and I played boule yesterday on the cut grass in front of the house. Afterwards painted the jack red to make it easier to spot as there a lot of leaves and dried grass around as well as hollows. Definitely isn't a bowling green.

Last night we went through the hydro generator manual and got alarmed because the nozzles didn't allow enough water through at the 15m head. Then remembered that the gen has four nozzles and the table i was looking at was per single nozzle. Whew.

This morning we borrowed the RFS gps unit to measure the height of the waterfall. Don't have an accurate reading but it could be 73m and the shelf where the water intake for the generator is could be 40m but I think less. Anyway it is higher than the 15m we were working on. Might have to get a different turbine for our generator. More cost.

I am working this afternoon so that i can have time off when the installer comes later in the week. Better get back to work.

Saturday was a good day

Mary got the new blades for mower and brushcutter on Thursday. The mower blades are genuine Rover and appear stronger with a longer cutting edge. The brushcutter blade is reversible and has more cutting edge and less centre plate (also 50% more expensive).

The mower cut through the long grass and mulched it as well.

Did some RFS stuff. We have been offered a chainsaw for the truck so went to see those who might use it to find out if they have qualifications. They were not at work but a workmate said they all did a chainsaw course through Dept of Primary Industries. So I will accept the offer as long as we can get a kit as well - helmet, chaps and 2-stroke fuel container. The chainsaw maintenance equipment can be done by individuals using their own equipment.

Called in at the neighbours to drop off the last of their PPE. It had been sitting in the shed for a long time.

Rang the Nissan dealer Friday to say it was time to move on as Nissan have not been able to provide the vehicle I want. He got me to give him an open ended extension while I look for a different vehicle. I will ring him tomorrow and limit him to end of Tuesday because I want to be able to negotiate unencumbered. Picked up a brochure on the Ford Ute and it has all I have been looking for. It is like a passenger car with a ute tray. Enormous petrol engine though and fuel consumption not listed.

Mary put up 2009 calendar and copied over birthdays. We missed calling Barry last Monday. Sorry Barry.

Wasting time with Telstra

Ran my internet connection via a data pac on the mobile phone from Telstra. This months bill was large. With the new "no detail just pay up bill" couldn't see how the charge was accrued. Got on the internet and found that the last day of usage on the data pac had been billed at mobile phone rates. Went to look at another item but the Telstra web site died.

Rang Telstra this morning but after navigating the voice commands got disconnected signal. Next time didn't even get the voice navigation even though call answered. This afternoon got through to a human but he could only waive $150 from a bill. Had to wait for his supervisor who was on the phone dealing with an angry customer. Finally got the entry reversed. Also mentioned that no credit appeared for cancelled time of the pre paid data pac so got that sorted. The service consultant was also able to cancel the discontinued service with 4 cents credit that Telstra send me letters about. I asked about getting the billing address changed to what it should be but their data base of roads didn't match the post office area so he couldn't change it.

The service consultant asked that I pay the full amount of the bill as received not the adjusted amount because if I didn't pay the full amount the bill would be marked as delinquent with nasty consequences.

Still nothing from the Nissan dealer. Tomorrow I tell them to forget it as Nissan cannot supply the vehicle I require.

Had two "Blue Screen of Death" on the laptop today. Nothing changes.

Last night the toilet smelt. The fan had stopped working. This morning pulled fan out but it was OK. Turned out the jumper cables I use between the figure of eight cable and the battery terminals had become open circuit. Possibly the ends of the cable had touched and the jumper lead acted as a fuse.

Did I mention that the hydro installer from Dorrigo wants to come down next week and inspect the site at no cost. Still will take a while as he has to become registered so we are eligible for government rebate.

Mary is going to get another set of mower blades. Current ones only lasted a fortnight. I am collecting a lot of rocks. She is also getting another brushcutter blade.

Warm Weather

Armidale has had forecast temperatures of 31 degrees. It has been 28 or 29 around here. The water heated in the coiled polypipe gets too hot for a shower during the day. After Mary walked over to the other side of the block yesterday had to mix water from polypipe with top tank water in the large soup saucepan that we normally put on stove for her to have a shower.

Nothing yesterday from the Nissan dealer.

Went back to work yesterday. That was fun. I am glad that I didn't read work emails over the Christmas break even though I downloaded them. NSW labour laws give me one month long service leave after 5 years and I have done that. Those laws also allow the leave to be taken with agreement of the employer. I feel like having a whole month off.