Miscellaneous

I miss my Fifi *sniffle* and she hasn't even left yet!!!
I drove her to her dads (old R) this evening cos I live 45 mins from the airport and he is only 10 minutes away from it. She has to be up about 4:30 am, check in is an hour before her flight which is at 6:30 am to Mel.bou.rne. Ergo - we would have been up about 3:30 so, as it is going to be a looooong day for her without losing another hours sleep. She normally sleeps - when not at college - until 9:00 am or longer if I don't wake her!!!
And I really don't do airports well - it is really embarrassing to see a 50 + male sniffling with tears in his eyes and unable to speak without choking!!! Anybody mentions this again they are so in trouble........
Therefore Dad (old RRRRR) is having to do the airport bit......

Changing the subject before I fall into a sobbing heap.....

Pork crackly - it may also be known as fried pork rind/fat/skin. Normally here in oz it is the outer skin with an underlying layer of fat found on a pork shoulder roast or rib rack. The trick is to cook the roast so its nice and tender and juicy but the outer skin is crisp and crackly - ergo the name. I either almost cremate the roast to achieve this result or the "crackly" is so rubbery and chewy you could clad tennis balls in it and produce a super tennis Ball!!! Perfect for serving ( an ace in tennis at least).
I've tried slicing it off and cooking it separately but still manage to destroy it!! OK - I know I'm not the worlds greatest cook ( I'm the only person ever - and I mean in recorded history - to fail the practical aspect of food science at uni!!!! I was such a miserable cook the lecturer a) almost resigned when told I had to repeat the prac... and b) they told me just to do the book and - please - no need to attend class! This is not an exaggeration - Old R can verify this!!)
Since that time - about 10 years ago - my cooking skills have improved dramatically - well they could hardly have got worse! But I still have a way to go yet.
If anyone has an answer to the pork problem please let me know...... so Andrea - if you have a recipe i'd be delighted to have it.. :-)

As I had a quiet Christmas I don't have any pics to post, and it looks like New Year will be the same which - at my age - I'm happy for it to be that way. Instead I'll post some more pics of my piece of geography tomorrow - well maybe lol...
Night all, love you girls and a particular love you to Fifi - *howl* - *sob* - *sniffle*

For FIFI

Ok - where to start?
Niece no.1 has publicly acknowledged a few small things I have done for her recently - thanks sweet. I help where I can and its the way I've always been - maybe not in big ways but......

I'm not alone in helping or doing things for others for just a thank you by way of reward......

Niece no.3 - Fifi by name (or the vague/ dippy/ditzy/zany/eccentric/arty one) can be generous to a fault. She has been known to spend lots of money feeding her college friends during lunch, buying bits and pieces for our larder etc.
But the most amazingly generous thing she has done is to pay 50% of niece no.2's first car.... and then when Niece 2 buys a better car she has offered (and is paying) half the payments on this car!!!! Half of $7500!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS KID IS AMAZING

Your generosity, your smile, your selflessness is not un-noticed. Thank you Fifi - you are a wonderful carefree selfless person - please don't ever change......

I'm posting this cos, as I've stated in a previous post, we never seem to say how much we appreciate or say what others mean to us, or what they do for us - so thank you Fifi - we love you....

(ok - somebody please get me the tissues.......)

Moving right along (sniffle).
Christmas was quiet. I got up Christmas morn and started cleaning the kitchen, cooking the meal and generally rushing around. The Girls ( The Nieces) arrived about 11 am along with their dad (old R). He promptly started helping with the cooking cos by this time I was looking (and feeling ) a little frayed. (ok - so I always look a little frayed....) Dinner went of without a hitch - except the pork crackly - looked, and felt, like old car innertube by the time we finished with it so it didn't get served. (any suggestions for cooking pork crackly?)
The afternoon was spent lazing around and veging - I'm reeeaaaly good at that)

So without further ado - happy new year to one and all....

Ships

Its been a bit coincidental.
Yesterday for some reason I decided to try doing an online search for my old ship that I sailed on when I was 16 - 17. I got lucky and found a website that gave her history.
Origionally the old girl was built in Ho.ba.rt in 1891 as a 2 masted ketch. Then converted to a 3 masted schooner. Sometime in the early 20th century she was sold to a South Au.str.alian Shipping company. About 1950 she was steel plated. Eventually in the early 1960's she found her way to Lau.nces.ton where, in 1973 I signed on as a 16 yr old deckboy and found myself in the toughest, and most dangerous, job I've ever had.

She was used on the ba.ss str.ait island cargo trade, ferrying general cargo and livestock between Tas.mania and the islands through one of the roughest stretches of water anywhere in the world. The cargo handling techniques were still 1800 hundreds with a crew of near cut throats and pirates - in other words - bloody tough men.

And - yes we did still use the sails.........

I survived 18 months of this - and I still can't get the salt outa my system.....

Here is a pic of a beautiful old lady of the sea.....

The coincidental part is today I was waiting in line at an agency when I heard another man called by his name - I turned and there was one of my old shipmates - after 35 years!!!! We spent the next half hour catching up, we parted with an arrangement to meet and have a few drinks to the memory of departed crew....

Not Again!!!!!

I don't believe this!!
Today at work I removed the front suspension from a car to replace the coil springs. This is a simple process - a real no brainer but.........

To replace the old springs they need to be compressed with a special tool cos these springs are powerful - they hold the front of the car up. Everything went ok until I had the springs of the strut then disaster!!!! I was holding the spring in my left hand and the compressor came of and, literally, the spring exploded free - crushing my thumb in the process!!!! Yep - you guessed it - the same thumb I tried to drill!!!!

I thought it hurt when I drilled it but nothing like the pain I felt today!!! The (expletive deleted) thumb is throbbing like crazy - its now 10:00 pm and I hurt it at about 12:30 this avo.
Another example of complacency when working with potentially dangerous tools. The worst part is I've had too many painkillers to even think about scotch!!
I am going to fit out a padded room and stay there........

On a lighter note - Niece no. 3's blog - it is sooooo difficult to be stern with her when - as a youth - I did many of the things she is doing. I can't be that big a hypocrit.
And I'm finding it difficult to write something amusing when my thumb is pulverised - and throbbing like crazy......... lots of sympathy needed here.......

The upside to the day was the young guy who owned the car. A really happy go lucky 27 yr old who looked more like 20 - Nieces 2 and 3 met him and were absolutely smitten!! I was standing around in agony - hoping the nieces would be appropriately sympathetic - and all they could do was stand there drooling over this (supposed) adonis!!! "I'm badly injured" I whined. "Poor uncy" was the very casual response. And straight back to staring and drooling!! Hmph.....
Just because he had dark hair, dark eyes, a brilliant smile and friendly personality......... so what!? I got grey hair, blue eyes, wrinkles and middle age spread - beat that punk!!!!! Oh - and I have a spirited personality!!! (alcohol spirits that is...)

Love you Girls - uncy is going to bed to have a good cry.........

P.S. note to self - avoid using left hand....
P.P.S. 2nd note to self - if it looks vaguely dangerous - get somebody else to do it......
P.P.P.S. 3rd note to self - do not introduce my nieces to (supposedly) good looking young men - they lose all pretense at coherent thought.....

Outnumbered

I'm not happy!! The ex called - needs her bathroom vanity fixing so, like the hero I am, I rocked on up to fix it. No problems there - just the usual annoying issues with plumbing connections that won't stop dripping etc.

Anyways, while I'm working away nieces 2 and 3 arrive. So far so good. The the ex's eldest daughter arrives. Hmmmmm - the numbers are becoming stacked against me.

Then out of nowhere the subject of my beard crops up. I like my scraggly goatee - it matches my scraggly hair and overall weather beaten appearance. It seems that none of the females in my life (or for that matter - that were in my life) like my facial hair! Ergo - I somehow found myself in a chair with a towel around my neck (Just loose enough to maintain vital organs - ie I could just breathe) and a set of hair clippers being waived in my face! (the ex's eldest daughter is a hairdresser).

And it didn't stop there - I not only lost the goatee ( only a three week growth left) I also had the shortest of short back and sides (just a millimetre longer than a crew cut). All four females were absolutely delighted with the end result - the Nieces cos the beard was gone ( they hate 'em), the former step daughter cos she finally could get revenge on me for whatever, and the ex? Hmmmm not sure what she got out of it!? She kept commenting on how I look so much better after the haircut etc - how grey hair suits me!! I am seriously getting worried! Been there, done that and don't want to do it again (get your filthy minds outa the gutter!!!!!!). Siberia is looking reeeeaaaaly good at the moment!

For those in my inner circle of friends - check out my face book - if you dare......

Love you Oogie, Mogsy, Fifi and Boop.......

Philosophy

On Friday 12th of December 2008 at 2:00 pm (approx.) a young man lost his life. A tragedy - a tragedy that is repeated so often - daily, hourly and maybe every second somewhere in the world. His poor family...... hopefully there is something, some faith that they can call on. My heart goes out to them.

One thing that has struck me - and not for the first time - how people will write and say things positive about the deceased. I DO NOT criticise this - but I personally feel the world would be so much better if we said these things while the person was still alive.

Niece no. 1 posted some days ago her appreciation of myself - I cannot begin to describe the emotions, of my actions being appreciated over the years. I did what i did for love - not rewards.

Tell people of your appreciation of them - tell it as if the person has just died and you were venting your grief and loss - tell them before its too bloody late........ I know what its like not to say what I felt to people I love before I lost them. Please world - say it now - use the phone, use email, say it in person - say what you really feel about that person.

Joshy G's parents are wishing they had said more just now..........


I love you girls..............................................................................

Geography

Its been a while but..... lots of excuses etc.

Thank you Oogie..... its appreciated.

Onto the local geography. I'm actually going to post some pics of my patch - nothing spectacular to start but I promise to try and get some really good pics of my region - the T.ama.r V.all.ey.
First one is a pic from my gate looking almost due north. The second one is looking at Auckl.and with - in the far far distance - the usa. (if you squint you may just be able to see it). The third pic is looking due south from my gate and the fourth is down my drive towards my house. the last one is a part view of the (cough) mansion. Click on the pics for an enlarged view - thats if you want to of course, which you may not, and thats ok too. But it would be really cool if you did.......

DAMN - ok read the pics from bottom to top - for some reason they posted in reverse order and I'm too lazy to fix it - hee hee.

More later - trying to clean up before the aged care assessors arrive to check over the granny from hell.