Saturday
22nd January 2005 Today was an eventful day. We decided last night that we
would go down to Victor Harbor today, which is on the south coast, about an
hour south of Adelaide. As we would have to go through Adelaide, I wanted to
drop off at the camera shop where Eleanor had bought the telescope lens
and adaptor from, so
that I could swap it with one that had a shorter focal length.
So this morning we all went to the camera shop, and I was drooling over all the telescopes that they have. I have been using my old telescope for 7 years now, and never saw the need to replace it - until now. When the very helpful assistant brought out the smallest lens that they have, I tried it in my old telescope - but still could not focus it. Whilst he was rummaging through boxes to try and find a smaller lens, I was loking through all their big motor-driven and computer-controlled telescopes that go up to $6000. I then noticed a telescope in the window that is exactly the same focal length and mirror size as my old telescope, but 'the next step up', with a more solid tripod and more lenses and features. The interesting thing was that it was only $40 more than the cost of the lens and adaptor that Eleanor had bought for me. So, I asked the assistant if I could trade in the one lens and get a new telescope. He pointed out that the new telescope has 2 lenses supplied, and they are the same fit, but not the same make, as the expensive lens that Eleanor had purchased for me. So, Eleanor agreed and I paid the extra to get a new telescope (she later gave me the $40.50). I will have to tell you tomorrow how good the telescope was after a night's viewing.
So, once I had my new telescope, we headed on down to Victor
Harbor. Once south of Adelaide, we picked up the Southern
Expressway, which is a one-way
road that goes to and from the southern parts of the Fleurieu
Peninsular to Adelaide. It's a three lane road that, during the week, goes
north in the mornings and south in the afternoon. It took about 20 minutes off
our journey, and we were at McLaren
Vale within 12 minutes. The scenic drive to Victor Harbour goes through
forests and hills, and winds it's way through interesting sounding places like
Mosquito Hill and Currency
Creek.
Once we arrived in Victor Harbor, the first port of call was for lunch for all
of us. Thomas had his first children's meal, which was the ubiquitous chicken
nuggets and chips. After lunch, we went straight over the wooden causeway
to go to Granite
Island. I took some photos
as we went, and Thomas even managed to do a bit of walking on the way. Once
at the end, we had a coffee and then took the horse-drawn
tram back.
By this time we were all feeling a little tired, so headed back home. It was
very strange to be driving along the same bit of tarmac, but in the opposite
direction - as the Expressway had changed to north-bound at 2pm.
When we got home, we were all to tired to do much, except unpack and admire the telescope, and have a quick barbequed burger for dinner. The salesman told me that there were two lenses in the box, but there were three lenses, plus two 'Barlow Lenses' which double the magnification - so in effect I have 12 lens combinations. I will have to see the effect once it gets dark. I am now going to stand by the window and wait for sunset.
Comment
on this entry
Last night's stargazing was a little disappointing. Just as you can't see the stars at night because of the sun's glare, when there is a full moon, it is hard to see all but the brightest stars. I managed to get a good view of the cluster of stars called Pleiades, and got a good view of Saturn's rings, and then found that my highest magnification lens (4mm) is a little blurred. I will try again in 10 days when the moon is gone.
This morning Ann went shopping, and I stayed home to bottle
my beer. Thomas got very agitated that we might be leaving him alone with just
Eleanor, and had a long tantrum. It took a while for him to calm down, but eventually
he got so upset that I had to put him to bed.
Eleanor then helped me do the tedious task of cleaning and sterilising
each bottle. We were both hunched over the bathtub, sloshing soapy water around
and knocking over the bottles everywhere. Eventually I managed to get 35 pints
bottled by lunchtime.
After our roast chicken, we all took Eleanor down to Adelaide, so that she could catch the coach that would take her to Mannum so that she could get her boat trip on the Murray river. It's been a real change now that Eleanor is gone - having one less person in the house makes it much quieter.
Comment
on this entry
The website was down today. The company that I pay to provide the service that this website is on have had terrible problems for the last three days with server failures. Today I could not write anything, as I could not save any changes. I'm sorry if anyone got worried that they were doing something wrong - no it was PlanetDomain's fault.
Now that the website is back up and running, I have taken
the opportunity to do some housekeeping, and so you may notice some small differences,
like little link icons - they are
in the blog to help you know if there is a link that leaves the website or stays
here. If you see the then you know that
the blue (or purple) word that you are clicking on will stay in this website.
I have also gone through some old pages to put in some more links to relevant
Internet pages, so have a look back over old Blog entries to see any new information.
If you notice anything wrong, tell
me as soon as possible, and I will fix it.
Comment
on this entry
Today the temperature nearby reached 38.3°C,
but I was OK in my office. I spent a bit of time in the computer room, which
is chilled to 17°C - which was refreshing for a bit, then cold, and then
when I left the room, I was really hot anywhere else. I actually ran out of
work today - I have completed a couple of major projects, and could not start
anything new as almost all staff are out of the office on leave.
Whilst walking to lunch, I went past a construction site for Mawson
Centre, and I saw three workmen in the direct heat, individually checking
each paving brick to make sure that it was straight. They had poles and sticks,
and they were poking at the small bricks to get them exactly straight - it shows
the real dilligence that people put into their work here, which is a marked
difference to my experiences of the UK.
Ann and Thomas did not get the luxury of air conditioning for the whole day - only in the car and at the shopping mall. In the house, the one air conditioning unit that we have is OK for the lounge room, but not for the whole house. Thomas and Ann went to Pixi Foto to have a free picture taken, to enter them for the Baby of the Year competition. I think that it's just a ruse to get more people to sit for a photo, but it can't hurt - except the $50 per photo print sting.
Comment
on this entry
It's Australia Day today - a public holiday. It's traditionally a day when people go to the beach, watch sport, cook a barbeque and get together with friends. So, not to miss out on the first Australia Day for Thomas and me, I cooked us a fried breakfast - on the barbeque. We didn't quite have a barbeque for every meal - because we dropped in on Cathy for lunch.
After our bacon and eggs, we went out to Gouger Rugs, to get a play rug for Thomas. We had seen them before in another store, so as the sale was on today, we dropped in to our local shop and bought one. It's got a design of roads and houses on it, where Thomas can run his little cars around and place the people on the buildings. We sat Thomas on the rug as we chose the appropriate size, and Thomas seemed quite happy, and so we chose that one.
As we were in the local area, we dropped in on Ann's schoolfriend,
Cathy. When we arrived, it looked like no-one was in, but instead it appeared
that Julia had had a sleepover with some girlfriends, and so they were all in
their pyjamas.
I arrived at the right time for Cathy, as she had been having some problems
with her computer. All three of them use the same computer, and so when someone
changes something, it affects everyone. So I simply installed profiles for them.
As there was a sleepover happening, Cathy was starting to cook for all the girls,
so Ann and I were invited to join them. Thomas sat for over 2 hours in a standard
kitchen chair, without rolling off, without complaining and without hurting
himself - we were all very impressed.
This afternoon we all felt a little drowsy and so had a few cold drinks and rested. They had been predicting a thunderstorm, but it never happened. I had to go out and water the plants with the water from Thomas' evening bath because they were all looking a little dry. I knew that if I watered the plants, the rain would come.
Today I saw my first Redback spider. It was in the garden shed when I was putting away my brewing equipment. I kept well away from it, as it was bigger than I expected. I don't know if I need to do anything, but apparently the spiders fly (well, they use a thread of silk to catch the wind to move to new areas).
Comment
on this entry
A very humid and hot day today. The predicted thunderstorm still has not arrived, but it feels like it is very close.
Ann had her eyes tested, and so left Thomas with his grandparents for a little bit. When it came time to put Thomas to bed, he was not happy - we are concerned that he is getting more separation anxiety when he can't see Ann. Even when I am looking after him, he gets upset until I entertain him and take his mind off his mummy not being around.
I managed to fix the videos on the website
today. Windows Media Player 10 needs some extra security changes, so I have
done that and now I can publish the videos over the Internet again. This means
that I will spend some time putting some more videos together so that you can
see Thomas. I don't know if I will ever get the time, but keep your eyes open
for something new!
Comment
on this entry
One of my work colleagues is leaving UniSA today, and so a large group of us went to the Bridgeway Hotel in Pooraka for lunch. It's a pretty standard hotel, with a salad bar and schnitzels, and a large section of pokies and an area of horseracing. I was later told by another colleague that they had once been to that Hotel to see Motorhead play, and it was renowned for other live bands playing there.
This evening Eleanor returned from her boat trip along the
Murray river. She told us all about it, and showed the photos that she had taken.
Unfortunately of the capacity for 200 people, only 30 were on board on that
trip, and the average age of them was 120. The captain had explained that there
was often a lull in the season and demand at this time, because often people
have done a lot over the Christmas period, and the three or four weeks around
when the children return to school is often quiet.
On the first night on the boat, everyone had nametags, and by the next day,
the crew knew everyone's name.
Comment
on this entry
[Homepage] [Blog] [Slideshows] [Links] [Migration] [Search] [LogoTest]