Thursday, August 31 2006

New Super-Lens

Yuko received her new camera lens today from Amazon.com.

It's a 17-55mm zoom / f2.8 with image stabilizer and ultrasonic motors. It's a very nice lens indeed!

Of course Yuko was out taking pictures with it most of the afternoon - some of which can be seen on Yuko's Flickr Page.

Yuko shows me a picture she took with her new lens

Maroo

We took Mother to Maroo for dinner. We ordered the same thing we always do - ribs and chicken - which we cook at our table.

Mother at Maroo

The fire-maker

Fire arrives at our table

After eating a Maroo we always stop at the nearby Korean supermarket. Tonight Yuko said she needed to do some serious shopping there!

Yuko arrives back at the car with serious shopping

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Wednesday, August 30 2006

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Blog Falls Behind

It's a long time since I've missed a day in the blog. But this week nothing has happened, and I've been very busy (which may seem contradictory). I have also taken no pictures other than one coffee picture per day (see above).

Birthday

Yuko's birthday is next week so I recently asked her where she'd like to go for dinner. She said I should choose for her. Then today she said she wants to go to a particular restaurant (which may seem contradictory).

She also said that rather than buying her a present, I should find my old zoom lens (which is hidden somewhere in the house) and give her that. I will begin searching tonight.

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Sunday, August 27 2006

Bardeli's

We went to Bardeli's instead of Epitome! The chef at Bardeli's always gives us something free (because he likes Yuko). Today he gave us strawberry wine (see above). Note how Yuko got a strawberry and I didn't!

Bardeli's

Yuko at Bardeli's (with strawberry wine)

While browsing the newspaper I was intrigued by the positioning of these two ads...

Cemetery

In the afternoon we went to Waverly Cemetery. I had never been there before. It's right by the sea and it has a lot of old graves dating back to 1877.

Yuko immerses herself in the cemetery experience

Then we stopped at nearby Bronte Beach so that Yuko could photograph surfers.

Yuko at Bronte Beach

We took the cross-city tunnel on the way back to stop at Balmain because Yuko wanted to drop something at Keiko's place. Keiko gave us some strawberries, so we decided to buy matching wine for the evening.

Keiko's house

Keiko offers strawberries

Strawberry wine twice in one day!

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Saturday, August 26 2006

Tax

While blogging at Epitome, I suddenly decided to check my bank balance using Netbank. I was pleasantly surprised to see that my tax refund had been deposited in my account only a week after I lodged my tax return. It was exactly the amount which was calculated by eTax when I completed my tax return. I immediately decided to blow it all on booze, women and gambling.

You can't beat a tax refund

Plumbing

The piped coming out of our water meter began leaking several months ago and when I called our plumber he was on holiday and suggested that I try to fix it myself. And although I was able to tighten the fitting and reduce the flow, it always starts dripping again.

So today I got serious and went to the hardware shop. There i bought some thread sealing tape. I then returned home and performed true plumbing...

The tape ($1.75 at Bunnings)

I turned off the water an loosened the threaded thingy

I wrapped the tape around the thread...

...and screwed the thingy back on

The drip stopped!

Movie

In the afternoon we went to see the move United 93. Mother did not come because she didn't want to see such a horrific movie.

It's the story of a group of airline passengers who prevented their hijacked plane from reaching its target on September 11 2001.

We both thought it was well done and very realistic.

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Friday, August 25 2006

Walrus

Thanks to the reader who sent me this fine picture of a Walrus...

Note broken tusk!

DVD Security

One of my co-workers bought a DVD and later realised that they had forgotten to remove the security thingy at the shop (or that's his claim).

So an operation was launched to extract the DVD from its case. The steps are documented here. It was somewhat more successful than my attempt at doing the same thing a couple of years ago which resulted in a destroyed case.

Opening the case	Case open, but red thingy prevents disc removal
Extracting the disc by brute force	Disc extracted, but red thingy still in place
Attempts to jimmy the end point failed	But a knife slid into the catch from the inside worked

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Thursday, August 24 2006

Goo-goo-g-joob!

More Carnage

The drive to work is becoming an endless trail of car wrecks and death. Yet again, I encountered a scene of carnage...

Approaching the scene of carnage

There were two fire engines present

Damaged car

Postman

Here's a note Yuko left on the front door. I don't know why...

The postman always knocks hardly

Mother

Mother invited us to dinner, so we went. Yuko cooked the dessert (baked apples) and we took them to Mother's house still in the baking dish and still hot from the oven. This caused a small problem when the hot dish melted a hole in the carry bag...

Hole melted in bag

You can't beat a chicken!

Yuko tells a story about Helmet (former manager of Epitome)

Mother listens to Yuko's story

When it was time for dessert, I went to fetch the ice cream from Mother's freezer and was shocked by what I saw... it was tidy! Mother said it took her a whole day to acheive this...

Mother's freezer

After dinner I showed Mother some photos on my laptop. I noticed that there was a wireless network in range - something that I've never seen before at Mother's house. I tried to connect, but the signal kept dropping out. I advised Mother to speak to her neighbours and ask them to increase the signal strength.

Network

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Wednesday, August 23 2006

August

August is the month when my thoughts traditionally turn to Walruses. And on this day in particular, my thoughts turn to one particular Walrus...

Whyteboard

Today, a woman wrote a message to another woman on my Whyteboard. Fortunately, I took this picture moments before the message was complete...

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Tuesday, August 22 2006

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Monday, August 21 2006

Carnage on the Road

On the way to work I saw more carnage. Of course I slowed down to gawk and take pictures.

Note Olympic stadium in the background

Two Men Dig a Hole

At lunchtime I went for a walk and saw two men digging a hole. I assume it was mass grave.

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Sunday, August 20 2006

Bardeli's

Bather's Pavilion

Feet

Balmoral

In the afternoon Yuko suggested we go to Balmoral - enticing me with the lure of fish and chips by the sea. Her real motive was photographing seagulls.

On the way, we passed the building at Neutral Bay where out favourite Japanese restaurant (Pontocho) used to be located in it's golden era. The premises have been empty for some time, but today we noticed that a new Japanese restaurant has moved in!

New restaurant on the former site of Pontocho

At Mosman we bought fish and chips from the fish and chip shop, and went onto the jetty at Balmoral to eat. Strangely, the seagulls ignored us even when we threw some chips down. So we then went onto the beach to attract the gulls. Yuko had actually bought a serving of chips just for feeding to the gulls!

Yuko gathers the gulls

I threw chips while Yuko took pictures and then we swapped and I took pictures with Yuko's camera. Here's one picture I took...

Gull eyes chip

For more gull pictures visit Yuko's photos at Flickr.

We then walked along to the Bather's Pavilion and had coffee...

Attack by Druggies

Despite the fact that Mother had left her old garden hose outside near her front fence as a special gift for the druggies of Riverview, the drug users still choose to sever her hose at the tap. So I had to go around and repair it...

Hose severed near tap

I examined it with Belinda's headlight

Softening the end in hot water

Hose fixed

Tax

In the evening I did my tax return - having finally received the last of my three payment summaries. Normally I wait until the last minute to do my tax return, but I was motivated to do it early this year because I was expecting a good sized refund.

I used the on-line system (eTax) to complete and lodge my return. The refund it calculated was not as big as I'd hoped, but it was adequate.

Tomorrow in Blogwonky:

• Carnage on the road
• Two men dig a hole in the grass
• I drink a cup of Coffee

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Saturday, August 19 2006

Dogs

Yesterday Yuko went to the park and took a series of pictures of two dogs having sex. I was disgusted!

Auction

We went to a house auction in Flaumont Street in the morning. We took Mother too.

Mother outside the auction house

It was a four bedroom/two bathroom house - perhaps 40 to 50 years old on 966 square metres of land.

This house actually belonged to the lawyer I employed briefly in 2003 after a CISRA employee sent me a threatening letter hand-delivered to my front door by a hired goon.

The bidding started at $900,000, but the auctioneer was insulted by this bid and rejected it, saying that $1.1M or $1.2M would be an appropriate starting point. But he accepted a bid of $1.0M and the bidding was slow after that. It was passed in at $1.125M (which was the seller's bid).

Yuko is usually very good at predicting auction prices. However this time her estimate of $1.6M was far too high.

Yuko inspects the house

Yuko inspects the pool

Movie

In the afternoon we went to see a movie with Mother.

Yuko and Mother at Macquarie Centre

The movie was called Kenny.

It's the story of a Melbourne man who works with shit. In addition to working with shit, his father, ex-wife, son, brother and members of the public all treat him like shit. All this makes hime very happy.

Mother and I liked the movie, but Yuko didn't understand a word of it. We then had coffee at the Silver Screen Cafe (see second coffee picture at top).

Outside The Silverscreen Cafe

Inside the Silverscreen Cafe

Collecting Bowels

We watched a program on the ABC yesterday called Collectors. We watched it and I decided to have a look at their website.

In the Gallery Section I was shocked to see this item...

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Friday, August 18 2006

Drinking and Smoking

Today was drinking day at work...

The drink repository

I drank this woosy red drink

...and eating...

During the proceedings I snapped this picture of a co-worker which can later be used for blackmail purposes...

Japanese Kiss?

There are some strange things to be seen on Japanese TV. Tonight we saw this interview being conducted in English...

Interview

The dude being interviewed was the lead singer of a Japanese rock band which bridges the gap between Kiss and Kabuki.

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Thursday, August 17 2006

Riddle

Q: What's the difference between a duck?

A: One leg's both the same!

Visitors in the carpark at work

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Wednesday, August 16 2006

Crash

On the way to work I saw an accident scene which was blocking the traffic in the other direction and causing chaos. It appeared that a truck had crashed into the side of another truck.

Of course, I slowed down to gawk at the scene - contributing to the disruption of the traffic on my side of the road.

No coffee

Today I was extremely busy at work due to the absence of my co-worker. This caused my coffee drinking to be late, and then I forgot to take a picture of it! So today's coffee picture is a previously unpublished picture from the archives.

I also missed having coffee in the afternoon! At least I was able to grab a Twix.

Waqu II

Having been to Waqu last week, we decided to take Mother there tonight.

Waqu

The chicken I ate at Waqu last time was disappointing, so tonight I ordered more carefully and I liked the result much better. Mother also like it.

Yuko ordered the Sukiyaki cooked at your table in a paper cup. Strangely, it didn't catch fire.

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Tuesday, August 15 2006

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Monday, August 14 2006

Sick

Today I was sick - a cold virus invaded my body and I decided to stay home. However, I worked anyway using remote access.

Working from home

Cheque

I received my certificate and cheque for my jury service. The pay rate is a tad low...

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Sunday, August 13 2006

Bardeli's Coffee

Photo by Yuko

Manly Coffee

Bardelis

We didn't go to Epitome today. We went to Bardeli's instead. Bardeli's is the place to go when the weather is as nice as it was today.

The coffee was particularly nice today too, due to a dab of cream on the top on which an artistic pattern was painted (see top coffee pics).

Yuko at Bardeli's

When we got home, Yuko moved our garden...

North Head

In the afternoon, we went to North Head. We went there because we had already been to South Head. We took the Fairfax walk...

It was a tad windy and I assisted Yuko with hat stability while she took pictures.

Looking over the cliff edge, we saw some dolphins exiting the harbour. When we saw them, Yuko had to hurry to attach her zoom lens and I helped by holding the other lens and her hat. For this reason, I didn't have time to take any pictures of the majestic marine mammals. But Yuko got a few shots with her zoom lens...

Dolphin

Dolphin

After leaving the head, we stopped at Manly for another coffee (see pic 3 at top), and to handle some fat...

Yuko handles 1Kg of fat

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Saturday, August 12 2006

Cameraygal Festival

The Cameraygal people were the inhabitants of our local area before the white invasion of 1788. Each year there is a festival to celebrate their existence.

The plaza at Lane Cove was buzzing with festival activities.

Buzzing with activity

Aboriginal dancers?

Bridge

We went to photograph the sunset from the top of the Gladesville Bridge. Of course, you can't stop your car on the bridge, so we had to park nearby and walk.

It is a little known fact, that this is the largest single-span concrete arch bridge in Gladesville!

The Gladesville Bridge

We found the walkway to the bridge roadway...

The walkway itself was very narrow - strictly single file.

While Yuko photographed through the bars, I climbed over the railing and dangled over the edge to get this picture...

Then, the sun set...

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Friday, August 11 2006

For Sale

One mobile missile launcher...

This launcher comes in stylish camouflage green, with bonus netting.

Ideal for launching small-scale attacks on neighbouring suburbs where precision targeting is not required.

Drive to your launch site and launch within minutes, evading satellite identification and possible counter strikes.

Includes one four-fin Raven V10 missile (warheads sold separately).

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Thursday, August 10 2006

Old Camera

Yuko completed another roll of film with my old SLR camera. This time, it actually produced some pictures.

Photo shop dude places pictures in bag

The pictures were surprisingly good. Here's one...

Sex under the bridge

At lunchtime I went for a walk and saw something unusual - or perhaps it's not so unusual and I have just led a sheltered life. I beheld the scene below and my attention was drawn to the area circled...

I could see a man making odd movements while standing facing the bridge support pillar...

Man against pillar (This is a magnified section of the image above - hence the poor quality)

Then I zoomed in, and as the man moved away from the pillar, I saw that there were two actually people, apparently adjusting their clothing.

Adjusting clothing

Then the second person, apparently a woman, walked away.

The second person walks away.

Taiki

In the evening, Mother took us to Taiki at Lane Cove.

Arriving at Taiki

Mother at Taiki

After dinner we went next door for coffee at Yellow (see coffee picture at top).

Yellow seems to be a very unpopular restaurant. There were only two other tables occupied - which is two more than last time. But the coffee was quite good.

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Wednesday, August 9 2006

Work

When I arrived at work I discovered that someone had vandalised the sign I left on my desk on Monday.

Later in the day, a co-worker offered me a donut. You can't beat a donut!

Big Fat Moon

Driving home, I saw a big fat Moon rising in the east (as Moons do).

Big fat Moon

Camera

Yuko was curious about my old film-based SLR camera.

Canon AE1 - I bought this in 1985

I had already assumed that it would never again be anything but a museum piece. But Yuko wanted to actually try taking pictures with it! So on the weekend we bought a roll of film and I loaded it (I still remembered how) into the ancient machine. Then Yuko went out shooting on Tuesday.

Loading light-sensitive plastic film

Yuko picked up the developed film today. The pictures were not of a high standard...

Film

I suspect the film detached from the take-up spool and did not advance. This would explain how Yuko managed to shoot almost forty images on a 24-exposure reel.

I've loaded another film.

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Tuesday, August 8 2006

Jury Service

Today I went to the city to do my Jury service. I drove to Artarmon and took the train to the city.

Mitsy at Artarmon

I had to go to the Downing Centre in Liverpool St. There is a subtle irony in this.

To enter the Downing Centre, you have to go through a metal detector and bag-xray procedure similar to airport security. I got through without setting off the detector.

Of course, no photography is allowed in the building, so I can only show the outside...

The Downing Centre

Based on my summons, I was expecting a ten-week trial. But when I "checked in", the dude said the trial would be "two to three weeks", so I was quite happy with that.

We assembled in a very large room (the aptly named 'Jury Assembly Room') and there were, I estimate, 90 people - three panels of 30 people each.

My panel was called first to go for a roll call. This was done in a court room where a dude gave us a spiel about how the process works so that we'd know what to do later. At the roll call, a number of people submitted personal applications to be excused from jury duty. I think more than half of the 30 people asked to be excused.

We then went back to the assembly room and the people who had asked to be excused were called up one-by-one to have their applications assessed. I don't know how many succeeded.

After more waiting, the first jury panel was called. Each person is called individually by their number. I was in the first group of 20. We were then taken to the court room for the empanelling.

In the courtroom were the judge, the accused, the barristers for both sides and some miscellaneous dudes. We sat in the back of the court in the public gallery. The judge then told us that the trial would probably only last 5 days!

Then a dude read out the charges and one of the barristers read the names of the witnesses who would be called during the trial. The judge asked if any of us knew the accused or any of the witnesses. We didn't.

Then a dude drew juror numbers randomly from a box and as each number was called, that person went and sat in the jury box - until there were twelve. My number was not drawn. So I and seven others remained unchosen.

Then one of the miscellaneous dudes handed a bible to each of the twelve, and as he did so, paused to allow the barristers to challenge the juror. The defence barrister did challenge three of the jurors, who then had to leave the jury box.

That left three more spots to be filled. So they began drawing numbers from the box again. Again, my number was not drawn, and the three new jurors were not challenged.

So the jury was complete and I was not on it.

Those of us not empanelled were taken back to the assembly room where we had to wait to see if we were required for another trial. After another long wait, we were eventually discharged.

And thus, I fulfilled my civic duty for the time being. I will now be removed from the jury list for twelve months. After that, I may be called again.

It was about 2pm, so I had a late lunch and then went home.

View from the train

Cash Back

When I got home, there was a cheque from the RTA waiting for me! It's the refund of my motorway tolls. I will have to show this to Mother as she didn't believe that the government would refund the tolls.

This refund only covers a short period as I started near the end of the cycle. Normally the amount will be larger.

Census

Today is census day.

Census form

In the evening, I filled in the form. I made myself "Person 1" and Yuko "Person 2".

Here's an example question...

Question

Answer

We both agreed to have our details made public in 2105.

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Monday, August 7 2006

Court

Today was scheduled to be my first day of Jury service. However, last night when I rang the Sheriff's office, it turned out that I was not required today.

But I had to call again today after 5pm. When I called, the recorded message said that I am required to attend court tomorrow at 9am. So I put a sign on my desk before leaving work...

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Sunday, August 6 2006

Mole

We met Laughing Mole for coffee at Epitome.

Laughing Mole

Mr. Mole showed us the remains of his camera display...

Waqu

We have found a new Japanese restaurant - Waqu!

Waqu

Waqu is located exactly where Ponto Cho used to be. Not where Ponto Cho was originally, but where they moved to after they got evicted - in Falcon Street, Crows Nest.

Yuko at Waqu

The chopsticks rested on an unusual pillow. It's actually a top - so I spun it...

Pillow

Top spinning

The food...

Scallops

Yellowtail

Chicken

Sushi

We liked Waqu, and will certainly return.

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Saturday, August 5 2006

Rain

It rained.

When we got home from Epitome, it was raining so heavily that we couldn't get out of the car. So we just sat there rotting...

As we sat there rotting, I noticed an after-dinner chocolate in a wrapper on the floor on the passenger side. I wanted t eat it, but Yuko insisted that we leave it there...

Big Game

There was a big game at Riverview College today. This resulted in traffic chaos in the streets around our house. Fortunately, our section of the street was closed off except for residents (that's us).

Our street closed off

I walked over to gawk at the bizarre ritual of the schoolboy rugby game. There was a lot of mud and shouting...

Game

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Friday, August 4 2006

Rain

It rained.

Rain in the morning (note black Buggy)

Rain in the evening

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Thursday, August 3 2006

River

At lunchtime, I stopped by the river...

River

Maroo

in the evening, we went to Maroo, the Korean BBQ restaurant at Eastwood. We were surprised to find the restaurant almost empty. The whole time we were there, there were only about 3 other tables occupied.

Mother at Maroo

I put my hand on the cooker in an attempt to brand the word "SONG" onto my hand. But it didn't do anything!

As usual, the food was very nice indeed...

Food

Fruit

After we'd eaten, Yuko demanded money from me. Of course I obeyed...

Giving Yuko money

When we dropped Mother back home, I noticed this innovative and highly effective security measure on her neighbour's driveway...

It says "HALT INTRUDER!" How could any robber go past it?

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Wednesday, August 2 2006

Belinda

Belinda was left out in the cold all night again! Poor Belinda! This time it was Yuko's fault, as I don't normally drive Belinda during the week.

When Belinda is left out, it forces me to reverse Mitsy all the way down our driveway, as Belinda occupies the space where I normally turn Mitsy around. But it's easy to forget and reverse Mitsy into Belinda! This morning I remembered not to do that.

Belinda out in the cold

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Tuesday, August 1 2006

Horses

The Noswonkys wish horses of the world a happy birthday!

Aeroplane

I tried the airport route again. I think the problem is that I can't resist taking pictures of aeroplanes, and this will probably cause me to crash my car eventually. So perhaps I should stick to the boring route.

Aeroplane

Shadow

Here's yet another shadow picture... taken as I walked to my car after work. It should be possible to use this picture to calculate what time I left work to within a few minutes. I leave this an an exercise for the reader.

Shadow

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