#1570 Tuesday 6 June

Today seems to have been a very busy day ..... and it's only midday!   Activities for the trip so far.

1) Arrange repair of the painting in bathroom 1 - this room was painted in January yet the paint is peeling off in many places.  There is a problem.  The painter is coming to discuss and repainting before the next guests will be arranged. (This has been arranged to be done tomorrow.)
2) Arrange for a maintenance system for the generator.  The manufacturer no longer has local staff and their price included travel from Jakarta .... so a local person is being found.  We have now found a person and he is coming tomorrow to fix the problem.
3)  We are arranging a quote for a re-treatment for termites.  After having to replace the whole kitchen 3 years ago, we need to keep the treatment up to date.
4) For some reason the electricity consumption rate has jumped about 2.5 time the normal rate.  We are testing the consumption rate with almost no load and finding that the rate is higher than the normal full load rate.  There is a problem that has to be located and fixed.
5)  We have realised that the electric hot water system is not needed when there are no guests .... so the two HWS units will be turned off when not needed.
6) The rooftop pressure pump needs to be replaced again.  Arista to manage this.





7)  The tall trees outside the villa have been trimmed back to a level just above the wall.

...... TIMBER!!!!!! ...............


These are fast growing trees and this pruning will need to be done at regular intervals.

#1569 Monday 5 June

Lunchtime and I'm at Aquaviva .... they still haven't sorted their internet arrangements and so this is being done offline. I hope I don't lose it.

The morning has been spend talking a lot about villa issues..... how to manage the electricity consumption. Last month it was over double the normal and I've set up a recording system to work out just what is going on.

Later: ..... no it was still safe.

Evening .... at the "Tomato and Ketchup" on Danau Poso .... for tea.  I went on a hunt for rendang and found this spot.  The TV is playing videos from the 70s .... George Harrison, Mick Jagger and so on.

This trip I'm struck by how good my "wellbeing" is now that Lyrica is working well ... the leg pain is fully in control now.

The rendang was a good 'un ..... I once made rendang at home .... it was very successful so I must do it again.

Naomi tells me that Kaylia has Bali firmly in her sights again ..... it looks as if another Christmas trip will be on the menu.

#1568 Sunday 4 June

It's been a pleasant day .... I played a trick on Kaylia ....I went down before she had woken.  That way she stayed asleep rather than having to wake up to go upstairs.  So Kaylia slept and Naomi had a good sleep in. 

After the routine pancakes for breakfast we went to meet Aunty Mim and Uncle Steve at Nando's in Canningvale for lunch. Then it was home and a few hours to prepare for my flight to Bali.  I'm now waiting for boarding in about an hour.

This trip is to sort out a few maintenance issues that have come up.  I'll be home on Thursday.

Later:. Well.... that's something new.  I've just watched as a flight was cancelled after passengers had boarded ..... fortunately not mine!  It is a Malinda Air flight. Everyone has to get off and they are making arrangements for hotel accommodation.

#1567 Saturday 3 June

Strange morning!  She woke very early .... so I went down to get her settled.  NO Way! .... she was keen to do things ..... and then at 7am she went to sleep .... and stayed asleep till 10.  At that point she says ..... "Get up?" .....ok .... so I get out of bed.  She just laughs and snuggles down for another hour of sleep.

Phew ... after I wrote the above, I closed the tab instead of publishing the post ... "Oh No!" says me .... but Mr Google was up to the task and my work had been saved despite me having closed the tab.

End of the day..... she took herself off to bed very early tonight.  Last night she complained of a sore tummy.  Perhaps she is coming down with something.  It's hard to tell.

#1566 Thursday 1 June

Ah ..... that was a better night.   We gave Kaylia a melatonin tablet last night and it worked. It's a wonderful pill but  I have found that it only works at the normal bedtime ..... if given at say midnight, it won't work ..... and it's effect​ reduces rapidly when used repeatedly.

I'm writing this at 6 am ..... she woke at 5:30am and I tried a delaying tactic .... but it didn't work.  So now I'm down stairs ..... ensuring that she stays quiet till 6:45 when the morning shower routine commences.

Later: After a foray out, I can see that everyone is burning! The air is very smokey.

The world tweeting competition (after yesterdays epic) is hilarious ...... here's a few of my favourites.

.

Later again:  the fire has had the first burn of the season

Later and later ......

I've been sawing firewood again ..... using Dad's McCulloch Electramac saw ....  a 240v saw that is about 30-40 years old.  In the past I have replaced a few parts as they died .... but today the main gear drive died.  I rang the local parts place .... $66 ..... better to buy a new saw.  So onto Ebay and Bunnings ...... and there on Ebay is the identical part for a newer machine for $10.48!  I checked the dimensions and it certainly looks as though it will fit.  For $10 it won't matter if it doesn't .... but if it does fit, it will be a cheap fix .... and the Electramac will live again!

#1565 Wednesday 31 May

Last day of the month and tomorrow we can light fires again! Yay.  Today I've been gathering all the burnable rubbish I can find and putting it close to "the pile" so that it can be thrown onto the fire as it burns down.  The timing is important .... everyone wants to be in on the event.

Kaylia is having trouble settling to sleep again..... we don't know why.

She is on a school excursion today.  Every day she comes home full of excitement about her day.  It makes us happy that she is so happy.  We're certainly glad that we chose that school for her.

One of our long term goals is to link up with a few other parents of "auty ones" and fund / build a group home for the children..... designed specifically people on the spectrum.  We may have found someone with the same idea!  Watch this space!

#1564 Sunday 28 May

It 6:30 am ..... she's wet the bed ......  so I've been down to change the sheets and make the bed. Now we can settle for a few hours of "sleep in Sunday"!

For the history buffs among you ... yesterday was the anniversary of the sinking of the Bismarck in 1941.