Maintenance is ongoing

Western Australia has a water problem.  Our rains no longer fill dams and we rely heavily on ground water and desalination plants.  The Water Corporation offers free watersaving shower heads, two to a residence on a bring in your old one and get a watersaving model basis.   I collected my second one today and installed it (with a bit of swearing) at my unit at Quinns Rocks. 

The renovation is going slowly but steadily.  I have a quote to remove the three large palms, grind the stumps out and remove all the mess.  I had an idea that the quote would be around $4,000, but was very thankful to find the man will do the job for $1332.   I  guess he has the gear for the job and maybe he has no work on at the moment.

Cleaning out the gutters is the next contract job for both units and it looks like it will be a difficult job as the roof tiles almost cover the gutters.  The quote might not be as generous as the palms.  An aircondition unit is to be installed for around $2,000 and I think the couple in the rear unit will probably ask for one once they see it being installed.

 Probably another two weeks work before it can be offered for rent 

Desal plants in Australia.  Click to view

Keeping busy

I own a couple of rental properties in a northern suburb.  Both are 3 bedroom dwellings on a single block.  They are probably 40+ years old and starting to need serious maintenance.  One of the units has been vacated recently and I have started maintenance on that one before being able to rent it again.    I have found quite a few problems inside and outside the unit and have started daily trips from my place to get things up to a reasonable standard.    Outside there are problems with three monster palms dropping  fruit in the nearby roof gutters which has caused an overflow and  flooding of the roof eaves.  A contractor will be sought to clean out rubbish from the gutters of both houses and a tree person is to give me quotes for removing the palms.  They are huge and old leaves; or are they fronds, look inviting for some miscreant to set alight.

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Inside there has been a problem with shower tiles leaking water through to an internal wall.  I have sealed the tile grout and some patching and painting on the damaged wall is necessary.   I have repaired a toilet cistern and changed tap washers in all the taps.  Next is to have new curtains made and install a front door deadlock.  Most of the window fly screens need replacing.
 
The tenants in the rear unit have been there for years and look after their unit as though it was their own.  Don't want to lose them.

I’d like to sell them both, but the housing market has crashed here.

Working still at age 102

A local Western Australia university (Edith Cowain University)  has decided that a honorary staff member should retire and work from his home.   He is 102 years of  age, which surely must be a record.  Hope he doesn’t die before he sees himself in the Guinness Book of Records.

He doesn’t want to leave the university campus, but the university thinks he may be at risk travelling to and fro from his home every day.  He catches two buses and a train to get to work.   He was awarded The Order of Australia this year and feedback from the public generally wants him to remain at his post.  I listened to a radio interview with him and he still has all his marbles and works with the Centre of Ecosystem Management as a research associate.   The university has offered to set up his small home as a workstation, but he feels he will last longer if he is in contact with fellow academics.

I retired at 59 years of age because I read that an early retirement can lead to a longer lifespan.  I have reached 76 years and even though I loved teaching, I am glad that I retired when I did.

Ernest 'Shiner' Ryan

Recently reading an article in the local daily paper about Ernest ‘Shiner’ Ryan, I was reminded about my contact with Shiner.   In the last year of WW2, we (Mum and Dad, me, Uncle Jack, Aunty Gladys and cousin Valma and grandpa ) lived next door to Shiner Ryan in South Fremantle.  I cannot recall the sleeping arrangements in our unit, but I am sure there were just two bedrooms. 

Shiner was Fremantle’s own crook.  He had served time in jails across Australia mainly for theft.  

Shiner

Under a staircase in our unit was a pile of canned fish with the labels removed.  Cousin Valma and I would play on what was later explained to be stolen fish, courtesy of a couple of Shiner’s U.S. servicemen friends.  At the age of six in 1945 I was not curious enough to ask what all those cans were doing there. I am guessing that it was a keepsafe operation.

The south Terrace unit we lived in, built in 1870

I remember the excitement when VJ day was declared.  South Terrace became a speedway of cars, jeeps and trucks roaring up and down past our place.’ horns blowing, bugles blowing and lots of singing and yelling out.

By 1947 Dad had built our house in Bicton, an outer suburb of Fremantle.   In that year, along with just about every other local youngster,  I had my tonsils removed in Fremantle Hospital.  I recall mother collecting me from the hospital and on the way home visiting Shiner Ryan in his flat.   Whilst sitting at his breakfast table he unscrewed one of the legs to show us how he kept his money safe in the hollowed-out leg.   Later as he saw us off at street level, he commented on a car which was parked with the engine running saying…’In my day that car would be stripped and in the river’.  

Shiner was a bit of a folk hero.  He married late in life.  That marriage lasted about 8 hours.

The popular 'Shiner' Ryan

Bathroom warm again

I found a ‘sparky’ to install and wire a new bathroom heater/light/exhaust fan in one of the bathrooms.  The one I bought is the same brand as previously in the bathroom and although there were much cheaper units, I kept with that brand as the ceiling cut-holes are the same size.    All done @ a price of $150. cash in hand.*  The new unit cost $240. and other brands roughly the same size and capacity sold for as little as $99. 

The man made use of an existing light switch near the doorway to the bathroom, then pushed a four core wire down the conduit alongside the existing switch wires.  The new switch has four buttons to operate fan,heater x2, light and the young sparky suggested I give away having two levels of heating and use just one and have that switch operating both heating lamps.   Works well and I have now returned to my own bathroom.

  OK, I won’t write any more Home Handyman stories.

*common term for these jobs is 'a cashie'.

Home Handyman problems

My sister Shirley has returned to her home in Esperance  at the bottom of Western Australia.  The FESS procedure was successful and after a couple of days here in the city she felt it was safe to return home.

I have a home handyman problem with a bathroom light/heater/exhaust unit which is probably 16+ years old.  The unit was installed after construction of the house and used a remote control to activate each part, as it isn’t ‘hard wired’ in.  Over the last month or so I had to be precise aiming the remote control at the receiver and then the whole thing died.   I figured it was the remote control, but after a bit of Googling, found a method of testing the remote.  The testing relied on a camera to record the infra red beam.  I used the built-in camera on an iMac computer and saw the IR light as I pointed it at the camera lens.  Smart stuff!  Sooooo, the remote is OK.  I guess that means the receiver is probably dead.   Trouble is, this model  has not been made for years and there are no spare parts available.

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Getting a suitable replacement which is controlled with a remote which will fit the exact size of the hole which will be left by the current one, is going to be difficult.

A Funeral

Yesterday I and several friends attended the funeral of a young woman who died suddenly at age 46.  I do not know the details of her sudden death, but it would seem that she knew her life was in danger.  She had written instructions donating any and all body parts which would help others.   The word aneurysm was mentioned by a few people and it may have been that she had an existing condition.

There were around 250 attendees and eulogies were delivered by friends describing her as a most interesting character, friend to many and a much loved daughter to her parents.

I wished that I had known her.

After yesterday I thought that I will need to book  Rentacrowd when I go.

Violet Holmes turns 100

This last Saturday, my aunt Violet; ‘aunty Vi’ celebrated her 100th year with a large group of family and friends.  She looks like she is around my age, 76, and announced that she had no plans to leave us all yet.  I took a lot of photos with aunty Vi and different family groups and individuals.

Vi has entered dementia territory, but when a group of singers played and sang some of the songs she knew well, she was able to sing along with each song.  She received letters of congratulations from the state’s Premier, The Australian Prime Minister and QE2.

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Tomorrow I am attending a funeral of friends’ daughter.  I am not good with the sudden death of people younger than me.

Shirl is here for FESS surgery

My sister Shirley is staying with me for two weeks during which time she will have a procedure called Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery to remove polyps in her sinuses.   Yesterday we went to Hollywood Hospital for a consultation with the surgeon, and filling scripts for pre-operation medications.  She will be operated on next Thursday and staying overnight in hospital.   The possible side effects read like a horror story, but the man has told her that he has never had any bad side effects on the many similar operations he has performed.  The Frontal Sinus is to be accessed through the eyebrows. Ouch!

Travelling in France

Our daughter Helen and husband James have booked a European holiday  for the month of September.   Yesterday’s tragedy in the French city of Nice where 84 people were killed and another 202 people were injured by a madman who, was a Muslim, but was not a religious person.  

Helen and James have Paris, Nice and Avignon on the French part of their holiday and they and me of course, have some concern about their safety.  The perpetrators of such horrors aim to create as much terror as possible and so attack crowded venues.   

Bali, in Indonesia, suffered an attack in which 88 Australians were killed in a nightclub bombing.  The clubbing foreigners drinking alcohol were an easy target for religious extremists.  In the many times my wife Joan and I visited Bali, we never visited the clubs and stayed in quiet oldies' areas.

Helen and James will no doubt do the same when they visit France and Spain. 

Mitch is safely home

Mitch is home safe in Esperance.  Yesterday, daughter Helen and I collected Mitch from Fiona Stanley Hospital and drove him to Perth Airport in plenty of time.  I thought his baggage was overweight but it went through at no cost.  He will be back up to Perth in about a month for more knee surgery and the hospital will also check out how he is managing the ‘foot drop’ problem.    When he is able to drive again it will most certainly not be a motor scooter.

Last evening I watched ‘Family Feud’.     The thing I find most strange about this show is that the producers somehow manage to find the strangest mix of character in the two families competing.    I have not seen the U.S. version of this show, but the Australian version manages to have at least a few members wearing quite outrageous clothing when they proudly parade themselves for the Australian viewers. So I switched over to the 40th re-run of MASH.   In MASH, I notice there are no ugly nurses.

Some good news for Mitch Jones and Mum

Some very good news for Mitch who is in Fiona Stanley Hospital doing rehab after a major road crash.  It has been eight weeks since he was flown up to Royal Perth Hospital Trauma Unit for specialised surgery  to leg and arm breaks, internal injuries and knee reconstructions.  During the past week he was transported back to RPH Trauma Unit for assessment.  The specialist  team removed an arm plaster and determined that he is fit enough to return home to Esperance this coming Friday.  He has some more knee surgery in a couple of months and maybe some nerve grafting to repair the ‘foot drop’ in his right foot. The nerve damage may well fix itself.  At the moment Mitch’s toes are unable to turn up which may cause tripping on carpet etc.    He is philosophic about this problem as he realises that he is very fortunate to come out of this major crash with most functions working pretty well.

Mitch with Mum, Karen

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Tom Waits

I have been playing a Tom Waits disk in my car.   I dug it out of my collection because I have not heard anything from him for years.   I went to one of his concerts in Perth some 35 years ago and immediately became a fan of his gravelly voice cultivated by many bottles of whiskey and thousands of cigarettes.  I googled him and it seems that he has lost that course voice and has sort of joined the crooners.  Pity!       I  guess my favourite TW number is Kentucky Avenue which is sort of an autobiographical song about growing up. Here are the words. 

Eddie Grace’s Buick got four bullet holes in the side

Charley DeLisle sittin at the top of an avocado tree

Mrs Storm will stab you with a steak knife if you step on her lawn

I got half pack of lucky strikes, man come along with me

lets fill our pockets with macadamia nuts

then go over to Bobby Goodmanson’s and jump off the roof

Hilda plays strip poker and her mama’s across the street

Joey Nafinski said she put her tongue in his mouth

Dicky Faulkner’s got a switchblade and some gooseneck risers

That eucalyptus is a hunchback, there’s a wind up from the south

let me tie you up with kite string and I’ll show you the scabs on my knee

Watch out for the broken glass, put your shoes and socks on

and come along with me

Let’s follow that fire truck, I think your house is burning down

then go down to the hobo jungle and kill some rattle snakes with a trowel

we’ll break all the windows in the old Anderson place

and steal a bunch of boysenberries and smear em on your face

I’ll get a dollar from my mama’s purse and buy that skull and crossbones ring

and you can wear it round your neck on an old piece of string

then we’ll spit on Ronnie Arnold and flip him the bird

And slash the tires on the school bus now don’t say a word

I’ll take a rusty nail and scratch your initials in my arm

and I’ll show you how to sneak up on the roof of the drugstore

I’ll  take the spokes from your wheelchair and a magpie’s wings

and I’ll tie them to your shoulders and your feet

I’ll steal a hacksaw from my Dad and cut the braces off your legs

and we’ll bury them tonight in the cornfield

Put a church key in your pocket, we’ll hop that freight train in the hall

We’ll slide all the way down the drain to New Orleans in the fall

You can listen to it here....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bTCOQsupY0

The Ups and Downs of medicine

I am waiting around for my son-in-law to deliver me to hospital for a Gastroscopy and Colonoscopy.  I have had them before, but this time is the first time because of a positive in a Faecal Blood test.

I haven’t really eaten anything in the last few days and the bowel cleanser seems to have done the job...as it were.  I won’t crack the old joke about hoping they do the Gastro first.

I know that when I come around I will be offered a sandwich and a coffee but I will really be thinking of a nice meal I have already prepared at home.  

Daughter Helen is collecting me from the hospital and I am hoping that I have good news to give her.

PS:  All is well.

Mitch in rehab at Fiona Stanley Hospital

My niece from Esperance has been staying at my place whilst visiting her son in rehab at Fiona Stanley Hospital.  Mitch is undergoing rehab after a major road accident where he had three breaks in a leg, a broken arm and two knee reconstructions.  When I saw him on Sunday he was on a machine to exercise (stretch) the ligaments in his right knee on a CPM (Continuous Passive Motion) machine.  He is a long way off being discharged; probably another month before he will be able to walk unassisted.   Fiona Stanley is a relatively new hospital of probably three years.  It is huge and up-to-date with all the latest medical facilities.

Last night I advertised an Apple Mac G5 tower on a trader paper, Gumtree.  This model is very popular with people building a ‘Hackintosh’ where the Apple Mac’s guts is removed from the solid aluminium G5 and a fast Windows computer packed into the empty space.    I didn’t want any money for it and overnight, I had 185 views of the page and 16 people wanted to come and collect it.  One fellow finished work at 10pm and fronted up to take it away.    I restore Macs and give them to needy folk for free.  This one refused to run properly so I sacrificed it to Hachintoshville.

The Inoccents

Daughter Helen had me over to dinner last evening.  Her husband James was on a mining site; week on, week off.

She had made a lovely curry and after finishing the meal we adjourned to the lounge to watch a bit of TV.

Helen complained that one of the staffies (Ruby and Rosie) smelled like urine.  She did a bit of sniffing of both of my grandkids and was a bit perplexed about which of the girls had done a Number 1.  Helen asked me to come and investigate the smell and after a short sniff-around I determined that is was on her.     We  both realised that she has spilled some Fish Sauce on her blouse when she was making the curry.   The girls were forgiven.

Getting old

Yes, growing old isn’t for sissies.

   

My Psoriasis has returned and I have made an appointment with the dermatologist to recommence the UV light treatment, which to a large extent worked, earlier in the year.  

I had a blood faecal test which came back positive and I am booked in to have a colonoscopy .  My GP tells me that the presence of blood  doesn’t necessarily mean I have bowel cancer.  Thanks Doc.

Daughter Helen and my late wife Joan. 

circa 1983

Letters to the editor

I always read the letters to the editor in our daily newspaper. There are other minor weekly papers serving specific areas surrounding Perth City.  A recent letter to the editor of The Fremantle Herald had Barry having a bit of a whinge about homeless people camping in his leafy suburb of Applecross.

Tina replied to Barry in the next week’s edition and Bazza shot one back to Tina the following week..  I’m not sure this exchange is totally finished.  In any case it’s a good read.  Click to enlarge text

A good week

I have had a very good week; visits from two lovely ex-students, a friend, an ex-colleague, who is visiting home from the U.S. and today a friend who brought me some memory food back from one of his his regular trips to Papua New Guinea.  Click images to enlarge.

PNG products still popular 

This morning I went to a ‘swap meet’ and bought a blow torch.  It is probably 50+ years old and still works well.  The fuel tank is brass and will polish up nicely.  Not sure if I will ever use it, but it is a nice piece.    A ‘swap meet’ is perhaps not the correct name for a flea market as the only swapping done there is swapping money for objects.

Lynch Syndrome

Our daughter Helen recently had a Colonoscopy and the results showed no cancers, but 31 polyps were removed.  That number is of concern and when she visited her GP she was told that there is a possibility that she may have Lynch Syndrome.  

An extract from the doctor’s information handout....

   It would seem That either my side of the family or my late wife’s side may be genetically disposed to this syndrome.  I should perhaps get tested. I will discuss the matter when I visit my GP next week.

Meanwhile Helen will have regular tests and scans.