Weekend Wrap

Well, the weather went from really crap through to really good yesterday and disappointingly my Saturday cricket was washed out... which meant I found myself at Bunnings on Saturday afternoon instead stocking up on things for the "odd jobs" that had been building up...

 

So, I found myself successfully re-valving the toilet in the ensuite, changing halogen lightbulbs that had gone out, fixing some door stops, put up a new curtain rod in Brookie's bedroom but the damn cold tap in the ensuite wouldnt budge when I tried to change the valve in that!  Can someone explain to me how you take off a bell cover off a tap when it has been perhaps cross threaded without destroying the white enamal?  I tried WD40, hot (boiling) water and all sorts of attempts to grip it but it wouldnt budge.  So the tap in the ensuite remains unuseable (its not dripping, no water comes out at all!).  Seems silly to call a plumber out for just one freaking tap, but thats what it may boil down to...

 

Also with all the rain, I found 4 big (and I mean BIG) funnel web spiders nesting in the eaves above the back door under the pergola.  Funnel webs that were 3 cm in diameter and black and evil looking were sitting in their funnel webs... now they'd be just eating bugs and flies, but they are nasty and if one of the kids were bitten it could be curtains for them!  So I carefully soaked them in bug spray... they got angry and rared up, but when the got sluggish, I flicked them off the eaves with a broom and then squashed them under my trusty sandals.... The kids were at the glass doors freaking out, but it reinforced the "no shoes, no play" philosophy.  I do recall later on the Sunday, Brooke calling out when she was on the trampoline because she had dropped her shoes and was now marooned on the trampoline, too scared to come down!  LOL.

 

Sunday, a much better day weather wise was spent with Niki's sister and family coming over for lunch.  Because the weather looked so bad on Saturday we cancelled any ideas of a BBQ so Niki made lasagne and salads... but in hindsight the day was beautiful.  The kids played on the piano, my nephew Alex was playing his clarinet and it turned into a musical day... mind you my headache later in the day was a bad side effect.  Our guests left at 5:30, but by 7pm I laid down to see off the headache... the next thing I knew it was 9pm and the girls were waking me up to say good night!!

 

Feel good today though... and the weather has turned bad again, we're supposed to get 7 days of rain apparently...

Piano!

Last weekend we were offered a free piano for our place as long as we paid for the removal and we went ahead and did it!

 

It was delivered today whilst the kids were at school and I just got off the phone with the girls who were ecstatic about it!

 

It was an older couple's piano that had sat in their family for years and they wanted to get rid of it and offered it to anyone willing to have it taken away... this was relayed to my brother in law who asked us and we said "sure!".

$380 to ship a piano from Mosman to the Blue Mountains and now we have some really happy kids!

 

Kate played a tune down the phone to me and said "Daddy, I was so surprised I closed my eyes and hit myself in the head to make sure I wasnt dreaming!".

 

Gotta love kids!

 

It needs a bit of a tune as some of the keys are a bit sticky and that happens Monday.  I dont know the people from Mosman, but their generousity is most appreciated.

End of Pandora

I use quite heavily the website Pandora to listen to tailored radio streams.  Its a great service, and has been running for many years after it was commenced as part of the Music Genome Project.

I received an email from Pandora yesterday stating that due to US Legislation changes they can no longer offer Pandora outside of the US.  As an Aussie, that means me!

I cannot follow this legislation, but there is a petition and a blog link trying to explain it all...

If you're a Pandora listener, you should have received a similar email to me...

U2

Last night went to see the final U2 show at Telstra Stadium. It was a fantastic show, and Niki and I had a brilliant time. Seats were B Reserve which meant at the far end of the stadium but with elevation. This meant we were able to see the full (read 4 story high) video wall front on and the light show was excellent. Sound was clear with the exception that you had to strain to hear what Bono was saying when he went into his little monologues.

This all was a damn sight better than when Niki and I saw U2 at the SFS during their Zooropa tour (was that 1994??). That day, the sound was crap and the show was ruined. But last night, for the first time ever, I had a good experience at an outdoor concert. We only got the tickets on the cheap after one of the girls at work couldn’t go, so I am glad I went.

The concert itself was excellent with a mix of very old and new songs. In the very old playset was New Years Day; I Will Follow; October; and amazingly the very old B side song Party Girl. It seemed that the only people who knew the words to that song was myself and the guy on the other side of Niki. Everyone else around us was “huh?” and even U2 themselves stopped mid way through when Bono apologised for stuffing up the lyrics and called the band together half way through the song to sort it out.

“I know a girl, a girl called Party… Party Girl!”

Anyways, the night was also excellent on the transport front… drove from the city and parked at Lidcombe (across the road from Rookwood Cemetery – Niki was most impressed) and jumped on the Sprint Train into Olympic Park. Met Niki outside the bar at the Novotel and spent about half an hour inside with a beer and listening to the Rattle And Hum cover band. Then it was a kebab and straight into the stadium with no hassles.

Coming home was easy as well and I was really glad my car was at Lidcombe instead of trying to get a train back to the mountains as it was a pretty late night… the show finished after 11:00pm.

So in short, for those of you yet to see the show in other cities – enjoy!