#2144 Thursday 1st December

At last..... now we can count down to the trip to Busselton for Christmas.  Till now its been coming in the distant future...... Each night at bedtime I have to describe the trip in great detail..... where we will stop etc. Once that routine is done she will go to sleep.

Tomorrow I will take Bob off for another inspection. I wonder how long this will go on for?  I've had the vehicle for a year now and I'm still trying to get it licensed for the road.

We had a minor tragedy today..... the air conditioner in the upstairs bedroom died.  The reason for noting this is that it is 21 years old!  This is quite a remarkable age for an air-conditioner.

....... and talking of electrical stuff..... our latest power bill came today.  Before we had solar panels fitted, the bill would always be over $1,000 for two months..... this bill is $200!

#2143 Saturday 26th November

Kaylia and I had a little adventure this morning..... my cousin Tom had his little hot rod on display at the Hot Rod Show at the Claremont show grounds. 

 His car is based on a Model A Ford and Tom has made most of the car himself. Its a very impressive result and Tom can be justified in being proud of his work. 

Kaylia loved the train ride from Midlands to Claremont and she's a beaut companion to have. 

This afternoon I've been making a battery cradle to hold the second battery in Bob.  I've managed to buy a second hand battery at a good price..... its a huge battery and it's from the supplier that I trust.... so it should do the job of powering the winch. 

I'm still working on the engineering certificate..... Ho hum.  I'll be very glad when I can eventually register Bob for the road.  I've found out that I qualify for a huge discount on the cost of registering Bob.... cos I'm a pensioner! 

#2142 Sunday 20th November

 Excuse me on this occasion ... I feel like I have to let off steam!  I've been online with everyone's favorite government department (who have the cheek to call themselves a service ... NOT) ..... I've been waiting for 3 weeks for my pension to restart .... I have a letter from them to say that it would be paid on 2nd of this month .... still nothing.

On their website they say that an urgent payment can be requested so I thought "Why not?"  I began the process online and went through about six screens of questions about why I needed an urgent payment ... and then at the final screen ....

...... "You cannot apply for an urgent payment online." !!!!!  

So why start the process?

#2141 Saturday 19th November

 What strange weather!  In November we expect the days to be heating up .... usually pleasant low 30's with a few high 30's thrown in ...... but yesterday was another very wet day .... we've had a run of cold days 15-19 with colder nights.  Today was cold again with occasional showers.  It's weird.  I wonder if the cold weather will continue in December?  It reminds me of that time it snowed on Christmas Day ... I think it was 1956.

My work on Bob is continuing... the winch electrical connections are finished and the cable has been wound onto the drum.  Part of the electrical work has been to set up the vehicle for dual batteries.  The winch is now ready for use when needed.  At the moment I'm changing the seats so that it can carry 3 people.  Before now it had only 2 seats. Then I will be building another storage box under the passenger seat.

Kaylia is in a good space at the moment ..... she's enjoying her life and her nighttime routine is low-stress for her and for us.  Today she's had her Saturday fix of DVDs at the op shops.  It included a reminder to me that in some ways she is just a little child ..... we went into one shop and another customer had left her own purchases on a seat near the door ...... and the purchases included some DVDs of the sort that are highly valued by Kaylia!  Kaylia spotted these and dived on them!  We had to physically restrain her and explain that those DVDs belonged to the other shopper - she couldn't have them.  Eventually she accepted it ..... but it was hard.

#2140 Tuesday 15th November

Today has been Kaylia's day with Jenny. Jenny takes her off to shops and visiting people..... Jenny's friends but its all social experience for K and Kaylia always enjoys it.

Then at 4pm we head off to dance group where Kaylia is again experiencing time with her own age group..... she might be learning dance moves but it doesn't matter if the moves don't sink in.... the social time makes it all worthwhile. 

I spent some more time on the wall at the front of the house.... and then relaxed in the shed with the task of wiring up the winch. 

#2139 Monday 14th November

The other day when I dropped Kaylia off ar Workpower she was clearly very happy to be there.... she isn't usually very expressive and we mostly have to interpret a thumbs up.... or a thumbs down.... but this day she was beaming like a lighthouse. It was very good to see.

Today she's been doing her "Curve Style" business.  Over the weekend three sales were made! (Clothes are listed on Ebay)

I've been busy with the Land rover..... on Saturday I took it down to a welding business to have some welds strengthened. Today I've completed the hardware mounting for the electric winch.

The next stage is to connect the power and controls. 

There was a lot of work involved in making the mounting and a new bumper bar. 

#2138 Monday 7th November

 Phew ... I've been slack... no posts for a week. 

No particular reason ... Kaylia is cruising.  The medications are working well and she is happy and calm.  She has a fairly full week now.  Mondays and Thursdays she has her "Curve Style" online clothing business..... she has a support worker (Lee) comes in to assist her. The business has had its first sale.  On Tuesdays Kaylia has another support worker (Jenny) who takes her off for drives, shopping and general activities from 10 till 3.  On Wednesday and Friday Kaylia goes to "Workpower" from 9 till 3.  This is an employment training group that aims to improve her skills ready for work.

These activities give me a good break to tackle my own interests .... it makes me feel as if I am actually retired!   Much of this revolves around Bob the Beast.  This week I've been constructing the mounting frame to fit my new winch to the front of the vehicle.  I still don't have engineering approval to allow it to be licensed.  The delays just seem to keep coming ..... each time I jump one hurdle, another pops up to delay things further.  It's very frustrating.