Goodbye Ravens (Crows)

I had my Mazda 929 ignition switch replaced and received a bonus free $199. service voucher to be used within 6 months. I was at first very pleased, but then thought maybe the service centre would find all sorts of other old gear problems and actually make a lot of money from me. Maybe, but still happy with Mazda. I have had 6 Mazda cars over the years and always found them to be well built with no lemons.

I have been feeding some Ravens in my backyard for a couple of years. They refuse to be friendly and lately have been annoying me with damage to plants and this morning before feeding time, one of them decided to try and eat a squeeze mop drying on an outside table.
Sorry guys, the food supply has run out.

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Mazda recall

In a couple of days I get my old Mazda 929 ignition switch replaced by Mazda on a recall.   I was amazed that a 1993 model car still had such a recall and free  replacement of a component.  Even more amazing was when I returned home after booking in at the Mazda dealer I could not remove the ignition key from the switch and had to disconnect a battery lead to get the key out.   An amazing coincidence; to get a recall about faulty switches and on the same day, the fault shows itself.    Creepy!

CPAP Machine

Another sleep apnoea test at a hospital in Perth last night.  I arrived at 8.45pm, filled out a few forms and was told to get into my pyjamas.   The fitting and testing of all the 20 electrodes took about 90 minutes.  I had a bad night’s sleep and left the hospital @ 7am.   Don’t want to do any more of those.

The test was a follow-up of a previous test which showed that I had breathing problems when sleeping on my back.  On my side, hardly any problems showed up.   So last night’s test was to determine if sleeping entirely on my side still shows minimum breathing problems.  If it does, I  won’t have to purchase and use the CPAP machine, which everyone I have talked to about them, finds them very uncomfortable.

Looks like a vacuum

Some good and bad news

Today I received a registered letter from the Mazda car company telling me that my 1993 Mazda 929 is in a recall to exchange the ignition switch.   What??   24 years old and they still  do free repairs?   I don’t think many brands would worry about a car over 10 years old.    Next week they will replace the key barrel.   Thanks Mazda.

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love the four wheel steering in my 929

                     Over the weekend I lost my wallet near a service station.   I didn’t realise how much that would affect me mentally and economically.  Lost around $150 in cash and some 10 important cards such as my bank card, State Seniors Card, Royal Automobile Club, Australian Medicare card, HBF card, drivers licence etc etc.  The worry about getting replacement cards let me know that dementia aint gonna be an easy or pleasant time.   I immediately shut down access to my bank card as the touch and pay method commonly in use now would allow the finder to have a number of purchases each day. The rigmarole of getting new cards is going to take weeks.  

A write off?

Yesterday afternoon I had a call from my brother Graham.  He told me that his car had been badly damaged by another car and he needed a lift home.   Graham works at a shop in a reasonably large shopping centre where employees of the shops there cannot park in the centre’s parking area, so Graham parks his BMW in another nearby street.  

When he finished work, he found a rather tatty car with the engine still running and no driver to be seen.  Witnesses to the crash saw the driver flee from the scene and one of them called the police.  When I arrived on the scene, there were two motorcycle cops and a forensic officer attending along with three tow trucks.  The cops did a search on the vehicle registration and a known villain came up.  Damage to Graham’s car is probably enough for it be written off.  A rear wheel has been pushed forward in the wheel well and two doors and a door pillar damaged. 

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Wheel/axle pushed forward

Under the Lighthouse Dancing

Rottnest Island is around 22 kilometres from the Port of Fremantle in Western Australia. It is a popular holiday destination.  In 1997 a movie was filmed on Rottnest, named Under the Lighthouse Dancing.  A house was specially constructed for the filming and later transported to a spot on the Swan River at Bicton.

It is unknown how much the transporting and construction on the riverside block cost.  The block itself must have been worth a small fortune.  I reckon the neighbours must have been taken aback at the strange house in amongst the millionaires’ dwellings.  

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Film prop at Rottnest Island

Now overlooking the Swan River

Bicton Baths where I learned to swim

by myself some 70 years ago.