3 Paws Saloon Attic

It might be normal ware and tear or (possibly) helping someone understand that you don't have to exert brute force to get the toilet to flush.

In our extended surfing family, there was another set of brothers that all had real jobs in the building industry. They would scout out rental properties that were in need of repair, approach the owner and work out a rental agreement where they would pay cut price rent, in exchange for repairing the property. They would then stay for an additional 6 months, enjoying the fruits of their labor, before moving on to the next property.

The brothers made enough money to start up their own building company while staying in some very exclusive suburbs and locations on the northern beaches of Sydney.

They worked on a similar principle to you. Keep your landlord happy and rental costs don't go up. This also worked for Jadeite and me when renting an apartment back in the 90's. The place was "sold out from under us" but the agent didn't want us to move out. They didn't even increase the rent. It turned out that we were "stable renters", which made the apartment an attractive proposition because of reliable rental income.

Keep that tool box handy! 

I'll tell y'all a little tool story. When I was about 11 or so, my dad asked me if I could have just one thing for Christmas what would it be. I said a guitar.  Dad says , "well if you can't have that what's your second choice?"  While I was use to this game, for some reason it really bothered me and I said "then I don't want anything."  He said I had to pick something, and knowing that he had already nixed any toys (I was 'too old') I said a tool kit. Did I really want a tool kit? Heck no, I wanted a guitar.  

Christmas comes, no guitar, but a Handy Andy tool kit - with real tools scaled for smaller hands.  Gotta say, I wasn't very impressed. But, together my dad and I built a 'hope chest'. Not too fancy, but very serviceable. It stayed behind when I left at 16, but it was still there when I came back at 20, and my Mom made sure I got it back.  When I had kids, it became their toy box.  It served time as a coffee table. It now sits under the window in my bedroom.  I still have parts of my original 'kit' in my tool box - more than half a century later.  Those 'kid tools' have seen a lot of action, and built a lot of memories.

Just for the record, I did get my guitar, but I never learned to really play it. I quite sucked at it. lol  

Yesterday was our 21st Wedding Anniversary.

The day started with a meeting with people from our apartment block, which seemed destined to end in tears. A miracle occurred and we all walked away with a warm feeling in our tummy's and smiles on our faces. This feeling may have been influenced by our meeting location - which was the local coffee shop.

I bought a mocha and an apricot and custard tart for Jadeite on the way back home, which put a smile on her face too.

Still recovering from knee surgery, she wasn't keen to go out for lunch but I managed to coax her into going for a drive down to the beach. If I could find a parking spot, then we would have an Anniversary Lunch at one of our favorite restaurants overlooking the ocean.

Well look at that - a parking spot right outside our restaurant. We went in, sat down and before you could say "Toy Boat" real fast three times, our fish and chips + beef curry + two coke spiders were on our table. Yum, smiles all round.

It's not often that you get that warm feeling that the universe is smiling down on you but today was one of those days.  

Let's see, what is a coke spider? Not a redback smoking a toke. Not a spider swimming in a cola. Not Spidey having a cola.

A coke spider is an Aussie classic. A scoop or 2 of vanilla ice cream dunked into a tall frosty glass of Coca Cola. Yummm. Vanilla ice cream with sparkling lemonade is a Sprite spider or maybe a 7Up spider.  

The simple things in life are often the best.

On another note, the steri-strips on the knee are off. I can walk normally again. Yayyy!!!

Now, we can go treasure hunting with Rex and the teddy bears on the Crimson Dread.

I'm just stopping by to say I'm still alive, and kicking. Just taking a break from what I have been doing for the past couple of months - mopping up, and crochet.

Since we had a string of water leaks, [our water bill has taken a knock] and the subsequent discovery of a hoard of yarn, I have been somewhat busy. Ray is still busy repairing the water damage in our 'Granny-flat' bedroom. Not being as young as he once was, he has to take it in stages. In the meantime, I have been doing my utmost to use up the yarn before the end of my life. Don't laugh, it was a large cardboard box, full to overflowing with yarn. Fortunately, most of it was packed in watertight plastic bags, so it escaped damage. I re-learned how to crochet wooden hanger covers, and to make 'Granny squares' for animal blankets. So far, I have covered 38 hangers, and made 173 squares. Guess who's family are getting crocheted presents this year. LOL.

I hope all you lovely people are in good health, and your weather has been kind to you.

I am posting a few pics with examples of my toils, and a few satisfied customers. *Wink*

On the news, I watched footage of a passenger plane sliding off the runway in Chicago. Snowing or not, if the wing is pierced then aviation fuel will leak from the tear and one spark spells disaster for the passengers and crew. Luckily, the tip of the wing ended up in a pile of snow.

Hopefully this weather is not indicating a return of the polar vortex (make a good name for a movie) and fact will overcome fiction.

I'm sure we've compared notes last year with extremes of cold and snow in North America and heat and fires in Australia - and yes, this happens almost every year but I think the operative word in these recent cases is "EXTREME".

What is also EXTREMELY distasteful is the large groups of finger pointing politicians who are intent on apportioning blame from their air conditioned city offices, far from the smoke and heat at the front-line.

For Sydney, we had one newsworthy fire in the North Western Suburbs but speedy action by fire fighters brought it under control (Like most fires it was deliberately lit). We had a high temperature of 98 degrees Fahrenheit, strong winds and hazardous air quality. At 1:30am, a cool change has rolled through, dropping the temperature to 63 degrees and reducing the bush fire risk. Unfortunately, there is no rain with this change.

I'll never in a billion years understand arson - and I like fire! I can watch flames dance for hours, gazing into them and seeing 'pictures' - prehistoric tv, I suppose. But arson? Totally asinine.

Bush/forest/house fires are totally different then the ones I like to watch. Those are scary, and wearisome. I do hope y'all find some relief soon.

Even though you have your doors and windows closed, you might want to check the seals. A rolled towel at the bottom of a 'leaky' window can make a huge difference.   

Our weather hasn't been so bad. But then it is only November, winter is just gearing up.  I'll be happy if we just stay out of the negatives.  

Jerome is off somewhere, and Kirby has claimed my bed.  It's sooo quiet!   But I do have a Kirby story to share!

For a cat, Kirby's 'old', 12 kitty years is about 64 human. Kirby is the closest thing Jerome has ever had to a pet, and as long as he's good to him, I don't mind sharing. 

Last night Kirby was stretched out on his side on the floor.  Jerome wanders past, his weight making things vibrate a bit, Kirb does nothing, usually he'll at least raise his head or open an eye. Jerome, "Kirb? You ok? Kirby? OMG! I think, Kirby's dead!" I'm out of my room like a slingshot, and I stare at the furball.  

"Did you try nudging him?" I ask.  (My cat's usually live past 20 years, so I know dead cat when I see one, and Kirb wasn't. I had already noted the very slight rise and fall of breathing.)

"Do what?" Poor guy is nearly in tears, no clue what to do, and I should have taken pity - but! - he is 37 years old, he needs to learn some basics. 

"Nudge him - like you would a sleeping person, see if he responds."

"You do it!"

"I really think you should. What if it was me? Ya think anyone else is going to see if I'm ok?"

He swallows hard and reaches out, only to have Kirby wrap around his hand in all out kitty wrestling!  Oh! MY! Totally priceless!  Not even I saw that coming. Was way too funny.

Perhaps a bit mean, but funny.

We're supposed to get into the low 50s today. Believe it when I see it; right now we're sitting at 32. (Fahrenheit.)  Almost everyone has the sniffles or a cold due to all the fluctuating temps.

So, did you get the rain?  I hope so.  I find it rather ironic at your time of desperate drought, we have flooding throughout much of the state. 

It's 4:37 AM, and blacker than pitch outside. Sun won't rise for a couple more hours. Hard to get energized when even the sun is still sleeping. Enjoying a cup of coffee before getting ready for work, while my body creaks, groans, and makes odd popping sounds of protest at the moving. Wonder if there's a joint equivalent of WD40? 

Sounds like what your authorities want to do is 'price gouge'. We see that from time to time here during a crisis when an unscrupulous business will either triple or sometimes quadruple the cost of an item in high demand. I haven't seen or heard of this done with mass utilities yet, these are individual companies taking advantage of a sad situation.  To me, yours sounds more like trying to sneak a price hike through disguised as something 'for the good'. Like you I seriously doubt that once increased, they'd ever decrease it. 

Out here, during water restrictions, abusing your allotment (like watering your lawn) results in hefty fines.

There have been a few times in the past, where the water was only on at certain times of the day, and it was up to you to collect what you needed during that time.  It's been a long time, since I've experienced it, but I want to say it was on for an hour in the morning, and then an hour in the evening.  My mom referred to those hours as 'the great race', because you raced like heck to collect all you could. It was back then I learned the meaning of 'if it's yellow, let it mellow. If it's brown flush it down," and that a bucket of water would flush the toilet.  (Just one of the reasons, filling the tub was of high priority.) I have to hand it to my Mom, she actually organized us kids into a highly trained 'bucket brigade' when it came to collecting the water. No just turning on the taps and filling a few things for us.   Pretty much, if it could hold liquid it got filled. Even the mop bucket (the water within, when 'dirtied' was used for flushing.With 5 kids running around, one had to be able to mop up messes.)  Basically, as memory serves, we had 2 waters, kitchen water (used for drinking, and cooking) and the bath water used for everything else. My brothers were in heaven, because they saw this as a reprieve from baths. Ha! Obviously, they underestimated our Mom. 

There have been lots of shootings lately near me. Day before Thanksgiving a 15 year old girl was shot while on her porch at night, 2 streets over.  Thanksgiving day, a man was found with multiple gunshots about 6 blocks away.

Friday, 1 dead, 5 injured in shooting 2 blocks away.  I'm told it was a house party...   What the hell, people. Seriously.What. The. Hell.   Cops say they aren't related incidents, and apparently not gang related.  It makes me sad, especially since there apparently is no motive. Of course my creepy little mind wonders if it's the same agent at work in all the cases, or if we have multiple sick people.

T-Rex, the best advice I can give you in a drought situation, is try and be prepared. Keeping a jug of drinking water in the fridge in case the water is shut off wouldn't be uncalled for. If the stores are still selling bottled water, storing a case or 2 might not be a bad idea either.  Since where you live doesn't have a tub, you might invest in a plastic kiddie pool - the blow up kind is easy to store, and if push comes shove, you can use that to 'store' water for flushing, and other incidentals.  

Well, here's a question for you, T-REx; if the drought gets very severe will it also affect your power? I know in some areas it does, especially if dependent on hydro. (I think I have that right.)

A good EMT buddy of mine (rest his soul) use to tell me prepare for the worse and hope for the best.  

I'm adding a link here that tells you how to make your own desalination plant: https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/desalination?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects, of course, to me it looks barely worth while at that size, but it does contain other interesting bits of info.  

I'm thinking you might want to invest in this:

Do you know the good thing about living on the other side of the world?

Australia is one of the first countries to "tick over" to midnight and Christmas Day.

So, Merry Christmas Trezpauzians, have a safe and peaceful break, good health and happiness.

T-Rex and Jadeite.

Happy 2020 everyone.

It's been a month since I talked about the smoke haze from the bush-fires around Sydney, and in that month, things got a whole lot worse with mega fires raging down most of the Australian south east coast. People have lost their lives, property and livestock, with an estimated 480 million native animals perishing as well. You may have seen the footage on TV and wondered if this was Australia or Hell?

Alongside all the stories of suffering and woe, we have received two stories of impossibly good luck as well. Both originate from one of our favorite south coast towns, called Cobargo. Most of the town and outlying settlements has been burnt to the ground (except the Pub) but there are still a few smiles mixed in with the tears.

Every year we would travel to this part of the world and stay on a farm/winery for a few weeks and "wind down" into country life. Our hosts had two very discerning border collies and because we were of good character (according to the dogs), we were welcomed into the family. When we found out about the area being devastated by fire, we made a few unsuccessful attempts to contact our hosts, which added to our worries that something had happened to them. Then one night, Jadeite found an old contact number, gave it a ring and was able to find out that they had sold up the property, two weeks before the fires had started and moved to the southern highlands town of Bowral. There was also a fire threatening this town as well, but it has since been brought under control.

The second story involved our property manager's father, who had a ranch a few miles to the west of Cobargo. He was awoken at 5:00am by Emergency Services and told to "leave for the coast, now". He had no time to let loose his cows, dogs, geese and ducks and he worried about them and the house over the next few days while trapped in the coastal town of Bermagui. He eventually made it back to his property to discover that his property had been ravaged by the fire, except for a 100 yard circle around his house. Yes, his house and shed were untouched. The only thing that was burnt in the fire was the shed door.

He then walked down to the bottom paddock, to look for the remains of the animals left behind but found only ash. He spent the rest of the day calling their names, in the vain hope that they had somehow escaped. On the way back to the house he looked up and found all his pets, huddled together waiting for him. They were all there, not one had been badly injured or perished in the fire.

I understand that the world media are focusing more on the horror stories, at the moment, and I also understand that this can help those people that have lost so much in the last few weeks by promoting donations to the legitimate charities. There will come a time very soon when we will have to look at promoting tourism again and some of these good news stories need to be told.

A few days ago, I was carrying out a guerrilla raid (a very short shopping expedition) in our local supermarket.

As I was traversing the freezer section, a woman's voice broke my concentration.

"Excuse me young man, can you help me?"

I looked around for a shop attendant but there was only me and a lady who was looking at me and gesturing with her hand to join her.

I was in a hurry and played with the idea of walking away and finding someone to help her but I then relaxed and all of a sudden I wasn't in a hurry anymore.

Three strides later and I was next to her, where she started to explain to me that she needed string beans but not "this yellow stuff". She handed me the bag of frozen peas with corn and I put it back in the freezer where it belonged. I looked down the row of freezers, until I found a packet of baby beans. She gave me a flash of displeasure and repeated "I...NEED...STRING...BEANS...PLEASE".

All I could find was diced beans, so I told her that I could only find "Diced String Beans". She smiled and put out her hand and I stupidly picked out a one kilogram (2 pounds) bag and placed it in her outstretched hand. She made a face and asked me to find a packet that wasn't so heavy, so I gave her the 500 gram (one pound) bag, which again brought a smile to her face.

I asked if I could help her with anything else but she shook her head and thanked me several times. She then told me that I had been very patient and she would tell my supervisor.

As I walked towards the first (and only) check out counter, I could feel the tension building up within me. So bloody typical, a long line of people and only one checkout counter in operation!

Another woman called out to me "Excuse me sir, can you walk over here".

I turned and immediately understood that Karma had just opened another checkout counter right next to me. I was through in a flash and on my way home.

As I walked back, I realized that if I had ignored the lady's call for help and kept on walking, I would have been stuck in that checkout line. By assisting that lady, I not only helped her but I also helped myself (in more ways than one).

Is that how Karma works?

Fergie! How good to 'see' you! Glad to hear you and yours are in good health. 

My certainly looks like you've had rain to share.  

Shedding are planned periods of time, yes? So you know from x o'clock til z o'clock no power ahead of time? Guess it's small consolation that you can plan around that, still it affects so much.  I don't know about SA, but here so many of our things have electric starts, like stoves and furnaces. 

I would imagine that non perishables are in high demand as well?   

Hmmm we have all kinds of surge protectors here, ranging from $10 on up.  

Waiting for the repair guy to show and give me some prices on fixing some damages.; 2 broken window panes and a busted bedroom door. Can't say I'll miss the roommate's physical outbursts.  Of course he claimed they were 'accidental', but that's an awful lot of accidents there.  At least his guardian said they would pay as much as they can for fixing them, but without prices...  I understand, the state demands a paper trail of where money went and why.  Helps keep anyone with the idea of 'borrowing' for their own pocket out of the till.  But doing it this way is difficult too.  It's like a game of hurry up and wait...and wait.  SO frustrating at times.

There are perks to being alone. Like if I wanted to run around naked, I could. I don't, but if I wanted to...  I'd say I can nap on the sofa, but, alas currently without furniture.  Another tip of the hat to ex-roomie.  Poor things had been reduced to broken bits, under his weight.  Well, they were old and rather sad looking anyway, and my computer chair seems very happy to do double duty, wheeling from one room to the other to be my sit upon.  Besides, when I had the chance to have it removed (for free) I thought it was best to take advantage.  

There have been some odd happenings here. Three times now I've distinctly heard someone playing with the cutlery in the sink - like a spoon hitting the side of a glass, or striking a ceramic bowl.  When  I look I find nothing amiss, but Kirby hears it too, which makes me believe not imagining it. It isn't angry sounding at all, but rather cheerful, like someone experimenting with the different sounds.  

Wish the repair guy would hurry up and get here...I wanna run around nakkie  Kidding, but jammies sounds sooo good to me.   

Hi Wolfie. Sorry to hear about your neighbor. Was this due to flu or other issues?

The Coronavirus is a worrisome thing. I just finished an article about it over in Ready Reckoner:  https://threepawssaloon.activeboard.com/t66346985/coronavirus-disease-2019-aka-covid-19/?page=last#lastPostAnchor

It makes me angry when a serious issue such as this is twisted to be a money maker for big pharma.  I understand the law of supply and demand, but when the fear tactic is exploited to make money? Grrrr.

I waited and waited for the handyman to show yesterday. When he was an hour late  called and was told he was on his way, never showed, never called.   This after blowing me off the other day too.  So, I'm calling a different guy today.  SO frustrating. If you don't want, can't handle the work, just kindly say no, for pete's sake!

I can't believe I was blown off AGAIN! By a different handyman. Again no call no show.  I get that it's the busy season, going into spring lots are remodeling or having repairs done, but if you can't or don't want to then say so!

It just kills me that these are the landlord's go to guys.  

I really need to fix things before I can get a new roomie. What am I supposed to say?  Those aren't broken windows - it's down home air conditioning?    Ugh, everytime I think of those windows I get mad. Moving the dresser in front of them so that I couldn't see them was NOT fixing them!   Yeah, I really don't like being lied to. Not to mention this is playing havoc with the pocket book.

Oh well, been down rougher, rockier roads, guess I'll live.

Not sure how bad this coronavirus really is, except for those with impaired immune systems or the elderly. Please don't misunderstand, I'm not making light of it, I just don't understand the panic.  Our 'shortages' were created by the masses panic buying. The warehouses still have much, but with folks snatching and grabbing it's hard to tell. 

Diarrhea is not one of this virus' symptoms, so what gives with the toilet paper? People are actually fighting over it?  WHY? Completely illogical.  Besides wiping or blowing your nose in it in lieu of tissues, whatcha gonna do with it? You can't eat it.  Double what you use in a week and you should have plenty. 

Having said that, it seems I'm the TP Queen of at least my block.  Not by design but rather through kindness.  At work we were discussing the tp 'shortage', mind you word had just broken our state was going on lockdown more or less. Schools closing, all public places, et al, and people were freaking out.  Most of us were saying how we were going to wait and try to get groceries and such because of the crazies mobbing the stores.  I mentioned to a coworker that I found it ironic that I actually do need to get some TP soon, or result to olden day methods. We both laughed. I was very surprised when he gifted me a 9 roll package after work!!!

Another concerned relative of a friend made me a care package of mini-shampoos and the like with 4 rolls of tp.  Then an unknown angel left a package at my door, with my name on it with -you guessed it another 4 rolls!!! I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry.  Good thing unless it gets wet, TP doesn't expire.   It is very comforting to know, others are looking out for those of us who are somewhat alone.  Of course now that I've more than enough, I can share if the need arises.

What a difference 11 days make in our brave new world.

China's infection rate is on the decline (but nobody believes them) and Europe has accelerated to the top of the charts.

Our next stage of restrictions is almost upon us, which means only groups of 2 people are allowed out for essential purposes only. The police and military are spot fining brain dead zombies for breaking the self isolation rules.

Some in the media are not helping either. A news anchor person was told that today's number of new infections was slightly less than yesterday. This person's reaction was "Oh good, so does that mean we can lift all restrictions tomorrow?"

One observation I will make about self-isolation in Sydney Australia is that this pandemic is starting to polarize people's attitude and subsequent behavior in public.

There are the ones that think everything is OK and happily go around, getting in close, and potentially spreading the virus - cause even if you get it you'll be OK (it only kills the oldies).

The other ones are like us. We take this seriously (perhaps to the point of paranoia) but we keep our distance and have become very good at predicting what similar masked people are thinking - by looking at their eyes and body language.

Stay safe, stay well and keep a sense of humor.

For some unfathomable reason "essential businesses" seems to differ a bit state to state, for instance in IL liquor stores are considered 'essential', and in Alabama gun stores.  I guess they figure if we get drunk enough we won't care that we can't get food or toilet paper   just can't understand the logic of gun stores though - unless it's to ensure you can get ammo, they do hunt a lot down there.  

Just to qualify, when I say 'here' I mean Illinois, and I can really only speak about here first hand. I hear about other states and their particular woes, but can't say for certain.  Some states have it worse than others, and it appears the further in city you go here, the harder it is to get supplies. Probably the per capita rule in effect.  I can say it is a crap shoot when you go to the store - might have eggs, might not, might have milk, might not.  Same goes for meats, tinned goods on.  Personally I've been fortunate, but then I'm pretty flexible and can rethink my 'menus' on the fly.

Most public places have been closed, churches aren't holding services  except for via internet. School's have resorted to online classes - rumour is we'll be closed until next school year (August or so), gatherings of more than 10 people are frowned on. We are at the 'shelter in place' or 'stay at home' level. That means we can still go to the store, bank, get gas, go for walks, things like that. It's a step below actual quarantine.   

I've heard the same about China, Fergie.  They say it's because they didn't stay lockdown long enough.  But I don't know for a fact.