Christmas / New Year 1999 Newsletter

Introduction

This is an attempt, biased of course, at bringing you up to date with what has happened to my family and I since April 1999 to Christmas 1999. I am sure I will leave important things out but feel few to reply with questions.

One-Way Trip

As you will know by now I quit Sunraysia Institute of TAFE at Easter and packed up my ute, to the gunnels, and drove to Adelaide on a warm Saturday at a fair speed, not fast, but not slow considering. I felt very pleased that the ute made it. I stopped a couple of times for oil and petrol. It uses both, (more about that later), but arrived safely. Unfortunately the alternator stopped providing charge in the last half hour of my journey but as I was not using lights, after a quick check to see that the fan belt was still present and the water pump was working, I continued on battery power. I was able to fix the alternator the next day with some new brushes and rectifier in a couple of hours. Many thanks to my friends at Willunga who provided me with "board and lodgings" for the next x weeks, (I can't remember how long now). What I was doing was starting to gel as I arrived alone, no wife, kids, house, mum etc. Bad luck, too late to turn around now. Little did I realise that was going to be a one-trip for me, as I have not been back to Mildura since. I am not sure I could have handled that thought and luckily it did not occur to me for a few weeks. I went to work, came home, (to my temporary home), rested, went for a few training rides, wrote e-mails to Elizabeth, Nicole and Megan, talked on the phone to same and worried about selling houses.

Work

Work was/is demanding. I went from being on my own mostly, knowing heaps because I had grown up with the computers/technology around me to being in a group of 6 people and being the new kid on the block and facing a very steep learning curve. Fortunately this is also very rewarding. I am pleased to say that I am starting to put something back into the group now but I still have lots more I want/need to learn. I am in the faculty of Science and Engineering IST Group, which provides computing services for several science buildings, not all, just Computing, Earth Sciences, some Engineering, some Chemistry and some Physics. Our services are Unix based and managed. Applications are provided via X-Windows boxes and NT PC's. All users have accounts with usernames and passwords centrally managed. Each user is given a disk quota of storage space available from where ever they work. Printing is available from all computers/workstation/etc to all/most printers. We provide e-mail, web, proxy, Windows Terminal, servers etc which are connected via many hubs and routers to the Universities fibre optic backbone which then connects to Aarnet via a very fast connection. First thing in the morning before most other people get there the download speeds are incredible! We have recently received a new injection of money so things will become hectic again soon. One of my jobs is "accounts manager" which I am only slowly coming to grips with as it really involves a lot of background knowledge I do not have yet. Another is setup / installation / maintenance of many NT PC's. Having not used NT a lot before this has been interesting and challenging. I still like Win98 but only NT provides the security required.

House

Waiting for our house to sell in Merbein was a testing time. It was hard enough at this end but Elizabeth bore the brunt of the Sales people at the Merbein end. I just said, "Yes" at the other end of the phone. Elizabeth and the kids came to visit a couple of times during which we found a house we "had to buy" here in Adelaide. We took the risk and bought it after accepting a ridiculous amount of money from the Bank, which meant we owned two (2) houses for a while. I sort of moved out of Willunga, to Port Noarlunga South. I slept at Port Noarlunga South but ate and talked in Willunga. It is really hard to live in a house when every thing you own is in another house 450km away. I bought a fridge and a mattress and camped in several rooms. 3 months passed before we got a sale. Nerves were getting on edge. Then we got a nibble, then a contract. As soon as this was signed, things really got moving. Elizabeth went into full packing mode. Packing up and leaving after 21 years was a big job and it all had to be done in 2 weeks.

The Spa

My job during this time was to remove a large spa from a room in the house at Port Noarlunga South and make it into a normal room. Fortunately it had not been installed properly, no floor drain, sloping floor, ventilation or water pipes. All the same, it was a big job involving cutting the spa, it was to big to go out the door, apparently it was inserted before a wall went in, removing lots of pipes, wiring, pumps, tiles, bricks etc. Then, with a little help from my friends I fixed the floor, re-wired, plastered the walls, cleaned up the window frame, laid skirting board, painted the walls and ceiling, varnished the window frame and skirting board making it look like a room. Later we had some carpet moved in from another area. The Spa-Removal Event has been captured in a set of pictures, which I may put up on my web site, time permitting. Packing continued, with the pressure mounting for Elizabeth. I received several phone calls asking "do you really need xyz", can't I just throw it away. Elizabeth received help from several people just in the nick of time. Thanks to them, you will remember who you are.

Shifting

The day of shifting came at last and all was ready, just. The big truck, 80 cubic metre semi-trailer, of which we used 60 cubic metres arrived in Merbein on Monday morning 7:30 am. 3 to 4 hours of packing and they were off. 7:30 am Tuesday morning it arrives at Port Noarlunga South. 3 - 4 hours later our empty house has been converted into a house full of boxes. Port Noarlunga South is nearly twice as big as Merbein! The most often sentence said for the next few days was "How did all of this stuff fit in our old house!!!" Next most often "Where is XYZ?" Next "Oh it's in a box somewhere!!!" Next "We are never moving again!!!"

House

Our house is now very liveable, it still needs a few things done. Give me some time and money and I will start. It is 750 metres from the Mid South Coast beach. No main roads to cross, just a few minutes walk. Far enough to stop the strong wild and salt spray, but close enough for the sea breeze. The Primary school is 400 metres, bike shop, newsagent, deli, bus stop, park are all about the same. Computer shops, super-markets, department stores, High School about 2-4 km. The expressway / veloway will be about 5km away at the end of 2000. We have a garage and a shed with a pit, bricks and all, very nice. More later. We have a small garden at the front, my lawn mower should last forever now, and fruit trees and vegies at the back. The clothes lines arrangement need modification and the garden shed should go but at the moment it is very full of a spa pump, bricks, pipes etc. I must finish installing the dishwasher!!!

Cycling

I drive to work on Monday and Tuesday. Rest days. I get a ride into work in the morning then ride home from work on Wednesday, Thursdays & Friday nights. This is a trip of about 25km, several hills and usually a head wind. My time varies from 42 minutes to 60 minutes. Sometimes I ride in as well. This always seems to take longer, sometimes 75 minutes, maybe down to 55 minutes. 8 km is on the veloway but this will increase to about 20km at the end of 2000. I can hardly wait. No cars, buses etc. I try to go for a ride on Saturday and Sunday, time and distance varying depending on how I feel. I have ridden in the city for a coke at Mackers and back. Round trip via Glenelg of about 130 km, mostly flat. I have also ridden up Willunga Hill, around to Kangarilla and back. This goes over some of the courses I have travelled down to race opens on. Not flat, about 70 - 120 km. Last weekend I tested my nerves by coming down the Victor Harbour road after climbing Willunga Hill. 82.1 kph max. Focuses the mind!!! I have not raced yet. The house etc. needed to be sorted out first. Even now I am not going to join a local club yet. I want to race "track" and that is going to mean travelling North to Hansen Reserve or the Superdrome. I have had one Friday night "beginners class" on a hire track bike. I did about three lessons in one session. It is very intense. I hate 165 mm cranks. The track moves, it has give and the walls are very steep. I went with the intention of finding if I was a track sprinter or not. This question remains unanswered and it would appear that I will not find out for quite a while so now I need to buy a track bike and train and race. There are plenty of races, it is just a matter of getting there and being fit enough. Wednesday night at the Superdrome, Saturday morning at Hansen reserve, Sunday crit's etc.

Ute

The Ute was in need of attention before I left Merbein. The oil rings had seen better days and there were a few other leaks. City life did not help with the Tapley's Hill and others to climb each day. A slipping clutch decided the issue. The motor that had sat under the bench in Merbein for approximately 10 years was stripped, cleaned up, surfaced, ground, new rings, bearing, seals and gaskets added. This motor was then inserted into the Ute with a new clutch, gearbox seals etc. Next day after a new water pump and lots of tuning it was going OK. A couple of weeks later after a second-hand carby (ex 120Y) and a new radio, it goes fine. I have even adjusted the doors so that they open and close nicely. There is a bit more vibration than I would like but I can't think what to do about this. The Ute Motor change is also the subject of a set of photo's I hope to get on the web.

Computers

I have built some more computers and connected everything together in an in-house network with a Unix / Novell Server, which provides shared printing, file and internet access. User files/documents are centrally stored, backed up and available from each of the five (5) client computers. Down time has been minimal but, Oh do the customers complain if it is unscheduled! I have created a few web pages and published them. More are sitting on my hard drive waiting for final editing. I have had trouble with CD-RW burners. GMC have been good and replaced it twice. Lets hope that is enough. My UPS (un-interrupted power supply) is even more useful as city power seems to be fairly ordinary sometimes. Of course we have two phone lines, so that you can ring up any time and tell me what has been happening.

Elizabeth, Nicole & Megan

Nicole has joined the South Port Surf Life Saving Club, after a little persuasion. This means training Tuesday nights at the heated pool, Thursday afternoons at South Port on Surf Boards, Saturday afternoons for basic training on the beach, carnivals on some Sundays. She has a lot to learn and is not very competitive yet. It is a real test for her as she only likes being good at things. This does slow her down a bit, but not enough to stop her getting very good reports from school. Megan is having swimming lessons on Tuesday nights. Vac-swim coming up soon. She could do Surf Life Saving, but choses to take things more easily, as she gets quite tired as is, given that we ride down to South Port on Saturdays which is quite tough for her little legs. Megan would like to do Irish dancing. She is also getting very good reports at school. Elizabeth is the home-maker and taxi service. I think the kids are going to drive her crazy over these holidays, given that I will be working most of them and the kids get 7 weeks holidays here. Nicole and Megan have both started brownies again but Nicole is now a Guide as here guides start at 10 years old. Both also play netball. Training on Monday night after school on the courts half way home from school and a game on Friday night.

create by: Michael.Young@mailandnews.com / Michael.Young@softhome.net