Monday, October 22, 2007
Call from Canberra
Got a call from Canberra today, someone was wondering when and if I would return. Well, Bernadette now has a job with a Firm in Brisbane, i am waiting on the reults of an interview I had with BNIT a few weeks ago - a two year contract. Meanwhile our quail are laying (well at least two of them), the fish in the pond are breeding and keeping the mosquitos down. We have had some triumphs and some failures in the garden.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Hi, by now you will have noticed that I no longer keep our news on our web site. But that doesn't matter because as far as i know few people bother to read the "news of the latest and greatest" anyway.
So first a correction. Some time ago I inferred that BNIT no longer taught "Renewable energy". I was wrong, installation of PVC and solar electrical systems is still part of courses offered at Bracken Ridge campus. BNIT just lost some of the most experienced, deeply committed and involved teachers in this area.
Bernadette has gained her MIP, and will start with a private firm in Brisbane as a Patent Attorney in a few weeks. She is really looking forward to the work, having been in preparaton for the last four years. We went to Baguette restaurant to celebrate her good fortune, and enjoyed the chef's Wednesday night special - Cassoulet, sausage, duck. pork, and white beans. Yum.
Our pond is full, a few weeks and we will add fish. Our tank is over half full, no watering needed this week.
So first a correction. Some time ago I inferred that BNIT no longer taught "Renewable energy". I was wrong, installation of PVC and solar electrical systems is still part of courses offered at Bracken Ridge campus. BNIT just lost some of the most experienced, deeply committed and involved teachers in this area.
Bernadette has gained her MIP, and will start with a private firm in Brisbane as a Patent Attorney in a few weeks. She is really looking forward to the work, having been in preparaton for the last four years. We went to Baguette restaurant to celebrate her good fortune, and enjoyed the chef's Wednesday night special - Cassoulet, sausage, duck. pork, and white beans. Yum.
Our pond is full, a few weeks and we will add fish. Our tank is over half full, no watering needed this week.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
I've just seen the news story on the Spanish actions taken to produce power from sunlight focussed by mirrors. So what does our present Government advocate for the future? Something non-polluitng perhaps? No. We'll burn more coal, and dig up and use uranium, a substance with a half life which guarantees it will remain a pollutant for eons.
Here at TAFE I still regret the loss of the Renewable Energy teaching team to QUT, what a magnificent case of mismanagement on behalf of BNIT.
Here at TAFE I still regret the loss of the Renewable Energy teaching team to QUT, what a magnificent case of mismanagement on behalf of BNIT.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Monday 30 April 2007
Soon we will be celebrating both our birthdays, and Bernadette's graduation as a Patent Attorney. The certificate she received looks very impressive, with gold embossing and green background, so we plan to somewhere special. Life in Library world is less than spectacular at the moment, we are short staffed, and training in the new software applications has been minimal and fairly basic.
I'm going to be investing in ( ie buying some of) the new sliver cell photovoltaic technology as soon as Origin energy get it onto the market. These cells should be significantly cheaper than the current cells, and even if not, it is by far the better alternative to nuclear energy. I am excited by the high levels of electrical output from these solar cells, they appear to be far more efficient at capturing and converting solar energy than previous pvc cells.
No rain, no rain, then wind and no rain. We are bucketing grey water onto our trees, and they are struggling on. We had our first custard apple of this season tonight, it was about the size of a tennis ball, and had over 20 seeds. It tasted good but there was very little flesh in it. Our rain water tank probably wont arrive until the middle of May, but there has been no rain anyway. the tomatoes have all got viral wilt, every variety I planted. The zucchini also appears to have some sort of viral wilt, and the citrus all have the worse case of leaf miner I have seen here, due to the dry weather. The local dam, the Wivenhoe, is now down to less than 20% of its capacity, water restrictions are at level four, which for us means bucketing water for our vegetables on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday between 4 and 8 pm only. Which is pretty good considering some of our friends are having to buy in water for their cattle, and have only tank water themselves (when it rains). The three well established pink Euodia (a native rainforest tree) which hosted an annual visit from a flock of Rainbow Lorikeets and other birds, and are located directly behind our back fence, are wilting and appear to be dying from lack of rain.
Last weekend was our first weekend away in the tent in three years. We went to Noosa, and it rained in Noosa, but not in The Gap. We booked a campsite in the National park, but the roads were impassable, even for four wheel drives, so we decided it better to take our station wagon somewhere else. We spent a Friday night we wouldn't want to repeat at John's Landing, then moved the Noosa Counci l beach site the next day. The site was great but the weather was very windy, and overcast. Kyaking was very difficult and disappointing. On Sunday on the way home, after we had stopped and got the large and unidentified spider out of the car, we drove to Kenilworth for lunch, then stopped for a paddle in the Mary River, so as to enjoy it before the dam is finalised. I couldn't resist touching the unmarked live electric fence that some idiot had strung across the river, I thought it was a discarded fishing line!
I'm going to be investing in ( ie buying some of) the new sliver cell photovoltaic technology as soon as Origin energy get it onto the market. These cells should be significantly cheaper than the current cells, and even if not, it is by far the better alternative to nuclear energy. I am excited by the high levels of electrical output from these solar cells, they appear to be far more efficient at capturing and converting solar energy than previous pvc cells.
No rain, no rain, then wind and no rain. We are bucketing grey water onto our trees, and they are struggling on. We had our first custard apple of this season tonight, it was about the size of a tennis ball, and had over 20 seeds. It tasted good but there was very little flesh in it. Our rain water tank probably wont arrive until the middle of May, but there has been no rain anyway. the tomatoes have all got viral wilt, every variety I planted. The zucchini also appears to have some sort of viral wilt, and the citrus all have the worse case of leaf miner I have seen here, due to the dry weather. The local dam, the Wivenhoe, is now down to less than 20% of its capacity, water restrictions are at level four, which for us means bucketing water for our vegetables on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday between 4 and 8 pm only. Which is pretty good considering some of our friends are having to buy in water for their cattle, and have only tank water themselves (when it rains). The three well established pink Euodia (a native rainforest tree) which hosted an annual visit from a flock of Rainbow Lorikeets and other birds, and are located directly behind our back fence, are wilting and appear to be dying from lack of rain.
Last weekend was our first weekend away in the tent in three years. We went to Noosa, and it rained in Noosa, but not in The Gap. We booked a campsite in the National park, but the roads were impassable, even for four wheel drives, so we decided it better to take our station wagon somewhere else. We spent a Friday night we wouldn't want to repeat at John's Landing, then moved the Noosa Counci l beach site the next day. The site was great but the weather was very windy, and overcast. Kyaking was very difficult and disappointing. On Sunday on the way home, after we had stopped and got the large and unidentified spider out of the car, we drove to Kenilworth for lunch, then stopped for a paddle in the Mary River, so as to enjoy it before the dam is finalised. I couldn't resist touching the unmarked live electric fence that some idiot had strung across the river, I thought it was a discarded fishing line!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Monday 26 February 2007
We have started to settle back in. Bernadette has started work as an Outposted Examiner for IP Australia, and I am employed as a Library Technician with Brisbane North TAFE. We are managing the garden through the climate changes, and will soon have a 5000 gal/23000 litre rainwater tank installed, hopefully before the wet season finishes. We have mulched the garden extensively and hope this mulching will improve the soil condition. There is still much to do around the house, before the windows fall out.
Bernadette has joined the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra on Contrabass, and will soon be playing softball again. We have regular visits from a flock of Rainbow Lorikeets, a Scaly Breasted Parrot, a pair of Kookaburras, and of course, Crows. There is a pretty good crop of oranges, mangoes are finished, and there a few custard apples. We also have some tropical apples, pawpaw, papaya, one feijoa, two canistens, but no partridge or pear tree. The chooks will be some way off until the terracing Russell did has proven to have consolidated and will not be washed away in the next downpour.
Monday 15 January 2007
Aaaaaaaargh! Season's greetings, Happy new year.
The Removalists from Hell. They arrived at 7.00pm in Canberra and finished loading the truck at 1.00 am. Only with Bernadette's help (you should see the bruises). Turned the air blue with their f..ing and c.ing. Didn't have a ramp to get the car box trailer on the truck. Same driver but different "assisatanists" at pick up and delivery. Similar sort of language when they arrived. One "assisatanist", a dishevelled, intoxicated, unsteady fellow, dropped several items. he was incapable of lifting anything "heavy". The other was under instruction, and only learning his trade. They Scratched the fridge sometime after taking it from Canberra, and gouged the floor getting it into The Gap house. Started at 8.00 pm after assuring me they would be there by 6.00 pm, and finished at 12.00pm (only with my help), I was due to catch a 6:30 am flight back to Canberra the next morning. Dropped the trailer from the truck, broke the flooring and smashed the tail lights. Payment was done through direct debit, so we couldn't halt it. Letter to the company has resulted in no reponse. Pirates. Caveat emptor.
Flew from Brisbane back to Canberra at 6:30 for the drive to Rutherglen for a weeks frolicking in the Victorian wine region. Aaah, happy fami lies. See photos on Flickr, if you can't email and we will send you an 'invite'.
Bernadette's AWA has not been finalised, so she has been obliged to fly back to Canberra for another week until IP's HR can tidy the contract up. Oh, they have only had 3 months notice.
Bernadette has successfully finished her Master's in Intellectual Property, I'm a bit confused as to whether to refer to her as Master, Mistress, Doctor, or just Your Highness please forgive the broken galasses I am just an humble oaf. Any way three warm cheers for her.
So we have half our belongings, the one's from the flat, here and unpacked, and now await the rest of our household goods from long term storage.
We have started to settle back in. Bernadette has started work as an Outposted Examiner for IP Australia, and I am employed as a Library Technician with Brisbane North TAFE. We are managing the garden through the climate changes, and will soon have a 5000 gal/23000 litre rainwater tank installed, hopefully before the wet season finishes. We have mulched the garden extensively and hope this mulching will improve the soil condition. There is still much to do around the house, before the windows fall out.
Bernadette has joined the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra on Contrabass, and will soon be playing softball again. We have regular visits from a flock of Rainbow Lorikeets, a Scaly Breasted Parrot, a pair of Kookaburras, and of course, Crows. There is a pretty good crop of oranges, mangoes are finished, and there a few custard apples. We also have some tropical apples, pawpaw, papaya, one feijoa, two canistens, but no partridge or pear tree. The chooks will be some way off until the terracing Russell did has proven to have consolidated and will not be washed away in the next downpour.
Monday 15 January 2007
Aaaaaaaargh! Season's greetings, Happy new year.
The Removalists from Hell. They arrived at 7.00pm in Canberra and finished loading the truck at 1.00 am. Only with Bernadette's help (you should see the bruises). Turned the air blue with their f..ing and c.ing. Didn't have a ramp to get the car box trailer on the truck. Same driver but different "assisatanists" at pick up and delivery. Similar sort of language when they arrived. One "assisatanist", a dishevelled, intoxicated, unsteady fellow, dropped several items. he was incapable of lifting anything "heavy". The other was under instruction, and only learning his trade. They Scratched the fridge sometime after taking it from Canberra, and gouged the floor getting it into The Gap house. Started at 8.00 pm after assuring me they would be there by 6.00 pm, and finished at 12.00pm (only with my help), I was due to catch a 6:30 am flight back to Canberra the next morning. Dropped the trailer from the truck, broke the flooring and smashed the tail lights. Payment was done through direct debit, so we couldn't halt it. Letter to the company has resulted in no reponse. Pirates. Caveat emptor.
Flew from Brisbane back to Canberra at 6:30 for the drive to Rutherglen for a weeks frolicking in the Victorian wine region. Aaah, happy fami lies. See photos on Flickr, if you can't email and we will send you an 'invite'.
Bernadette's AWA has not been finalised, so she has been obliged to fly back to Canberra for another week until IP's HR can tidy the contract up. Oh, they have only had 3 months notice.
Bernadette has successfully finished her Master's in Intellectual Property, I'm a bit confused as to whether to refer to her as Master, Mistress, Doctor, or just Your Highness please forgive the broken galasses I am just an humble oaf. Any way three warm cheers for her.
So we have half our belongings, the one's from the flat, here and unpacked, and now await the rest of our household goods from long term storage.
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