ALL GOOD THINGS COME TO AN END

WEDNESDAY 16th NOVEMBER

   Well the weather forecast got it completely wrong!  The Skies clouded over and the temperatures plummeted down to about 18.  So much for the prediction of 30 degrees for the rest of the week!  Clothed in an assortment of T-shirts, shirt and jacket along with long trousers and socks I managed to just about survive working outside.

  I took Reilly for a walk and just when I had reached the furthest point from home it started to rain.  Just about sums up my day.  I set off before 4pm for Epping.  I had a wait of 20 minutes for a bus, and that drew in to the bus station just as the train pulled into the train station across the road.  The chances of me getting up and over the footbridge to the station and buying a ticket before the train departed were none existant, so I didn't even attempt it.  I had a 25 minute wait for the next train.  Upon arriving at Strathfield I checked on the next train to Epping which was due out on platform 6 in three minutes.  I hurried to the relevant platform but there was no sign of an Epping train on the departure board there.  I went down below into the station.  It was still showing the Epping train as leaving, even though the time had gone.  I spotted a billboard lower down stating that buses were replacing the Northern Line until 19th November.  I now had 15 minutes until my rendezvous with Rovbert outside the RSL Club.  I had no phone with me and no idea of his number.  A quick survey of all the depature boards showed an express train for Gosford which stopped at Epping leaving in 11 minutes.  So with 2 minutes to go to the rendezvous I boarded the express.  Naturally I was late (about 12 minutes) and of Robert there was no sign.  It was of course raining by now.  I stood outside the RSL pondering on what to do next.  Walk along to Doug's house and get wet, and hope that Jane came straight home from the game.  Catch a train back to Mt Druitt, or stay where I was partially sheltered from the rain.  I was still considering these options when I heard a loud honking horn - it seemed to come from my left.  I looked in that direction and saw a car coming out of a side road with another trying to pull into it from the main road.  However it then struck me that neither of these two chaps were responsible for the honking.  I turned around and there behind me was Robert blazing away like mad!  I dashed over to the car to be assailed by a torrent of abuse.  Couldn't I hear the horn, why was I late, etc, etc.  Once he had vented his spleen, we carried on amicably to the indoor centre, where we arrived during the first half of Nick's match.  The score was 1-1, and so it remained until half time.  The opposition were to my mind far better at passing the ball and had one player who was about double the size of all the others.  In a sudden spurt they scored 4 goals in a matter of minutes with several unstoppable shots into the top corners of the goal.  It looked all over, but suddenly Nick broke through from midfield  and cracked in two splendid long range shots.  A run down the wing saw his centre converted into another goal, and an error by their keeper saw the scores levelled with just a couple of minutes to go.  Sadly that was long enough for the opposition to come back with a very late winner, but all told it was a good display, with Nick (#4) winning the Man of the Match award.

  After we had told Nick how well he played, we set off for Oakhurst.  Jeannette told us she may be going to Melbourne next week to train up the Customer Services in Bev-Chain in Victoria as they are not coping with the new system very well.  However she won't know until tomorrow.  Anyway it seems to augur well for her contract renewal if they think that highly of her.  Thought of having an early night but watched a Sherlock Holmes film on my Arcos when I got to bed, so it was well past midnight before I called it a night.

MORE GOOD WEATHER

TUESDAY 15th NOVEMBER

  Not much to report today.  A fairly uneventful day. Cloudless skies with just a hint of breeze (maybe a degree or two cooler than yesterday), absolutely perfect weather for sitting out in the fresh air and working away. 

  I had offered to cook curry and set about it around 4pm.  The Bombay potatoes turned out a treat (I'm sure you'll be happy to hear Tony), and these were accompanied by curried mushrooms with a liberal sprinkling of garlic, Rogan Gosh chicken with added peppers (or as they are known over here - capsicums), onion ratha, poppadoms and rice.  There was just enough left for my lunch tomorrow.  Washed down with some Pinot Grigio it all went down very well.

  The evening cooled down quite a bit and I was forced into donning a long sleeve shirt and socks in order to continue work out in the fresh air.

NEW WEEK

MONDAY 14th NOVEMBER

  Got up as usual and went outside to work as normal.  Received a bit of a shock when Robert turned up about 10.00am.  Apparently he decided to have another 5 minutes when the alarm went off and didn't wake up until after 7.00am.  He rang work and they told him to have a day off (sick) as things weren't that busy.  We drove up to Plumpton to see if I could get a mains tester whilst Robert called in at the surgery to get a sick note.  I had no luck, he was successful.  In view of my failure Robert decided to invest in a new hoover.

  Having brought it home he decided to give the house a clean, but after a few minutes of cleaning one of the wheels snapped off.  He returned to Plumpton and got a replacement machine and continued with his work.
I did likewise.  Another superb day weatherwise, waited until the evening to take Reilly for a walk when it was a shade cooler. 

  Jeannette surpassed herself cooking chicken breasts in mustard sauce with Camabert cheese and asparagus - I'm sure the dish has a name but as far as I'm concerned "damned tasty" will do!

BONDI

SUNDAY 13th NOVEMBER

  Not quite such an early start today as we had quite a few bevvies last night!  We headed for Epping and jumped into Jane's car as she has the electronic tag for the motorways, and drove to the sports shop at Macquarie where they exchanged the rugby ball with no problem.  I reckon the previous one was over pumped and that is what caused it to blow.

  Nick, the young Aussie born Sydneyite has never been to Bondi Beach.  He wanted to know what "iconic" meant when Robert described it thus.  Jane had read that there were sand sculptures on display there, so all in all that was to be our destination.  It took about 45 minutes to get there and then a while to park.  We played with the rugby ball on the beach - my spin pass wasn't working as well as I would have liked but I took one superb diving catch from a Robert kick.  The only problem was I then needed his help to get me up on my feet!

It turned out that the sculptures were at the top of the head on the path between Bronte and Bondi - a walk that Bridie, Angela and I had done in April.  Nobody was too keen to walk that far so we just viewed it from afar!

Instead we went for something to eat - Nick had been most concerned to know if they did chicken nuggets in Bondi.  Reassured that they did, that is what he had whilst I went for the Bondi barramundi and chips  (Fish & chips).

Nick was most taken with a cafe named Nick's and insisted on a photo.  After collecting Robert's car in Epping we drove back to Oakhurst.  I must admit I nodded off on the way back, and after our return Robert remarked that my forehead was even browner than before, and he wasn't wrong.  There was a very nice roast beef dinner awaiting us and a leisurly evening ensued.  There still did not appear to be any concrete news on the cause of Peter Roebuck's death at the age of 55 in a hotel room in Capetown, where he had been reporting on the South Africa v Australia cricket series.

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.

WORKING DAY

FRIDAY 11th NOVEMBER

  Apart from a walk in the park with the dog, I ventured out no further concentrating on my work for Charly, and watching a replay of South Africa v Australia.  The Aussies totalled 284 with Michael Clark scoring over 150 of them.  The South Africans narrowly avoided the follow on being all out for 96.  They then bowled Australia out for 47 having had them at 20 odd for 9.  With Hashim Amlar and Smith both scoring centuries (Smith's was undefeated), South Africa won by 8 wickets.  An amazing match!  The first time in over 2000 Test matches played that a player from each side was out twice in one day (Clark and Rudolph).

   Robert came home and said Jeannette would be working late again, and we'd go down the pub to eat.  Then he said he couldn't be bothered, and said that Jeannette's long working hours were doing his head in. She is in the last month of her contract as manager at Bev-Chain and has to re-apply for her job.  They also changed her working hours from 6 - 2.  However the company have got the contract for distributing Red Bull, apart from it approaching the Christmas season, so Jeannette works on to 7/8 in the evening.  Robert does not think this is good for her, but she wants to prove that she can handle it all.

  In the end Robert went out and got me a kebab and we had a few beers and we called it a night.  Jeannette stayed the night at her parents.

HOTTEST NIGHT

THURSDAY 10th NOVEMBER

  Well according to the news, last night was the hottest night in Sydney in 44 years which is only one year less than when England won the world cup, and exactly matches (in years) young Adam's age!  At midnight the temperature was 28 degrees, and I have to admit I didn't go under the bedclothes for once.

  Today was another fine day although not quite as hot, probably in the mid 20s.  Not much to report other than the usual promenade with Reilly and working on Charly stuff.  I got a call from Rob that he wasn't going to play football, so my trip to Epping was aborted.  In response to Jim's request here are some more pictures of Reilly.