TAX REFUND

SATURDAY 12th NOVEMBER

  It was an early start - Robert said we had to leave at 7.45am so I got up at 7.15am and had a coffee with some bread and cheese and took my pills, being well ready for the proposed departure time which was delayed by about 10 minutes.  We drove off to Epping where Nick was playing basketball.  He had been sick at school the previous day and had been sent home.  As Jane was the team coach she told her son he wouldn't play in the first half in deference to his sickness.  He came and sat with Robert and I in the stands and proudly told us he had vomited twice at school!  Epping were comfortably in the lead - something like 6-2 at half time.  Nick showed no signs of having been affected by his sickness, and whizzed around the court at speed.  He was especially good at nicking the ball off opponents and hence his nickname "Man of Steal"!  Another Stalin?

   On one occasion Nick stole the ball from a player right under his own basket, raced up the wing, cut in and threw in a perfect basket.  (He is no 44 in the photos).  It was his only score of the game but he passed well and made some good runs with the ensuing pass resulting in a basket.

  It all ended with a 16-4 win for Epping.  After going home to change, we took Nick to the Macquarie Shopping Centre where he took his pocket money to buy a basketball at the sports shop.  He actaully touched an Arsenal football much to Robert's disgust, and found a basketball he liked but was also very much taken with a rugby ball.  It was a tricky choice and he agonised over it without coming to any firm conclusion.  As none of my off spring had ever expressed interest in a rugby ball as kids, I thought to myself that I could hardly turn down the oppotunity to encourage a grandson in the grand sport.  I told him that I would buy him the rugby ball which would leave him with his pocket money for the basketball.  Nick said that "Mummy would tell him off for asking Grandad to buy him the rugby ball", but Robert reassured him that this would not happen as Grandad had volunteered to buy the rugby ball without any request from him.  So satisfied, he went with his $20 to the counter where an attractive young girl was serving.  "Go on tell her what you want", Robert urged, adding "He's shy around girls".  Nick was furious,  "Why did you have to say that Dad?"  But he made his purchase.  Another assistant pumped up the basketball and also took the rugby ball and put a bit more air in it.

  There was assorted entertainment on at the centre with I think some pop stars appearing that caught Nick's fancy.  I meantime moved on to J-B HiFi where I found a 3 CD Judy Garland CD for £6.00 and a 3 CD Shirley Bassey for £7.00 both of which will be very useful for my Charly projects.

  We went home and played with the basketball, Doug has a basket fixed to the eaves of the garage so Nick can practise shooting.  He had me playing a game which involved running to the other end of the drive everytime you got possession of the ball - a procedure that was custom made to knacker me in no time!  We then moved onto the lawn with the rugby ball and practised passing.  Nick has a good spin pass, as indeed do I.  After a few minutes Nick said there was a lump on the ball, and seconds later the stitching split and the bladder popped out.  As Nick was taking the ball indoors the bladder exploded with a bang.  We had the receipt after rescuing it from the bin, and Nick was most put out that Robert wouldn't go straight back to exchange it there and then  Instead he told him he would do it tomorrow.

  We left Epping and headed back to Oakhurst diverting at the Lawnmower Centre.  Robert had noticed that his Tax Refund had been paid into his account, and decided to invest in a lawn mower of his own instead of constantly trying to borrow one.  We were again served by a very nice young girl  (seems like it was a day for attractive young ladies - unlike the one who plonked herself beside me on the train the other day).  She had her speil off pat, but Robert told her there was no need to go on as he was already sold on it.  He asked the girl if she came to mow the lawn as well as part of the package, but she told him she already worked 6 days a week and that was enough.  We took the mower home.

  Robert soon had the machine going and did the verge of the driveway leading up to the house.  It certainly looked much neater. Flush with his tax refund, Robert offered to take us out for a meal.  The venue, suggested by Jeannette was a pub in Rooty Hill that I hadn't been to before, and that indeed was where he headed.

  The food was very good - I had paella with loads of seafood in it, whilst Robert and Jeannette's dushes were equally tasty, and all the better for Robert paying!  He insisted I take a photo of him holding Jeannette's hand to prove to the world at large that her claim that he never held her hand in public was unjustified!

  We got back in time for me to watch a replay of the semi-final game (Rugby League World Cup) between England & New Zealand at the K.C. Stadium that England won 28-6 putting them into the final againt the Aussies next week.  Should be some game.  New Zealand were captained by Benji Marshall, Nick's favourite player, a member of the Western Tigers here in Sydney - the team that the young lad supports.

  Weather continues to be ver warm with no storms for a couple of days.  Forecast for next week is 35 degrees all through the week - sounds like my kind of weather.