Repair shop mishap

Funny thing happened to me today; I noticed that my car’s hood wasn’t closed properly. One side is shut but the other side looked like it was not closed. At first I thought someone’s hit that side of my car but I couldn’t find any dent on the panels. So I popped the hood and lord behold I found a few screws which were wedged underneath the hood when it was shut! That’s why the hood looked like it wasn’t shut properly.

I wondered how those screws got there and then I remembered taking my car to my local repair shop for the busted radiator a few months back. The mechanics must have left those old screws in there like those horror medical surgery stories you hear of surgical instruments left inside a patient’s body!

Well I like the car services I’ve gotten from this repair shop but the screws incident reflects poorly on their lack of attention and thoroughness just this one time. I think I will give them another chance and hope that is the last mistake they make with my car.

Oleander

There are few plants which grow almost everywhere in Australia. The humble oleander (Nerium oleander), is such a plant and it is also one of the most useful of all garden plants.

If pruned correctly the oleander can be a magnificent plant, its dense foliage providing privacy where many other plants could not survive. Even on a very busy city road these plants can make a colourful screen against both noise and visual pollution. As it is dense but not woody it is also an effective road-side barrier as it should slow down a crashing car.

Oleanders are adaptable to a wide variety of growing conditions, from the salty winds of the seaside, to dry, sandy desert soils, and wetlands. They can be grown just about anywhere in Australia, preferring a well-drained, sunny position. They will manage to grow well in dry soil but cannot tolerate very wet conditions, although they like plenty of water during their main growing and flowering times.

They have a long flowering season, (summer to autumn) and a wide range of colourful varieties. The most common colour is pink, although there are also red, white and apricot flowers.

Acer laptops

I’ve been checking out new pc and laptops lately, the end of the financial year is here and if I want to get new technology for work it is now. This way I can claim it on this year’s tax instead of next year’s. So that’s why I’ve been trolling all over looking at some interesting acer laptops and tablets which caught my eyes.

Wisteria

Grown and admired in China and Japan for over a thousand years, wisteria is one of the great garden plants. These vigorous, long lived climbers like a sunny position with good drainage and reliable moisture during flowering and the initial growth period. In Australia they grow well in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney and the mountains.

In China and Japan wisteria is often displayed on bamboo frames, but in Australian gardens this is not practicable. However, a pergola can easily be constructed from treated pine, which is readily available and affordable. The pergola needs to be high enough so that people can walk under it without brushing against the flowers, and wide enough so that two people can walk side by side. Wisterias can be trained to grow up a strong pole and then allowed to spread onto a few cross pieces. This creates a wonderful standard effect, which can be achieved with plants grown either in the ground or in pots. Probably one of the most famous displays of wisteria in the world is at Monet's garden at Giverny near Paris, where W. floribunda 'Shiro Noda' grows on the railings of the Japanese bridge.

Wisteria

Grown and admired in China and Japan for over a thousand years, wisteria is one of the great garden plants. These vigorous, long lived climbers like a sunny position with good drainage and reliable moisture during flowering and the initial growth period. In Australia they grow well in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney and the mountains.

In China and Japan wisteria is often displayed on bamboo frames, but in Australian gardens this is not practicable. However, a pergola can easily be constructed from treated pine, which is readily available and affordable. The pergola needs to be high enough so that people can walk under it without brushing against the flowers, and wide enough so that two people can walk side by side. Wisterias can be trained to grow up a strong pole and then allowed to spread onto a few cross pieces. This creates a wonderful standard effect, which can be achieved with plants grown either in the ground or in pots. Probably one of the most famous displays of wisteria in the world is at Monet's garden at Giverny near Paris, where W. floribunda 'Shiro Noda' grows on the railings of the Japanese bridge.

9v batteries

My portable digital radio is the best thing since sliced bread I reckon. The sound quality is the best bar none. No more static noise and interference you get from an analogue radio, just pure sound and sweet music. The only drawback is that it goes through batteries very quickly so I have to continue swapping batteries every eight hours. Therefore I have to keep buying batteries every few days, I have a shop that I go to all the time for my batteries in my local neigborhood. They sell all sorts of batteries even the odd ones and the 9v batteries that some equipments need.

First Trip To Sydney.

Early this year in January, Terese & I took a trip to Sydney for a bit of R & R. This was my first trip there despite the fact that I've been living in Australia for 15 years! So the first thing we did when we got to Sydney was to check out the Opera House! Funny how I always though it to be white in color but not so, as you can see!
Sydney is a beautiful city & I was kicking myself wondering why I didn't bother to visit sooner.
Fast forward to the next day, we went sight-seeing in the city & decided to visit the chinese garden.
We saw this cute little stone child monk & I couldn't resist rubbing his head!
We also went up the Sydney Tower for a panoramid view of the city, in this photo you can see the tower's shadow against the park's trees.
What a breath taking view!
In the evening we went for a harbour cruise tour & the city's silhoutte with the sunset was magnificent! I particularly like the bright lights from Luna Park!
On the third day, we went on a city explorer & bondi explorer buses to visit all the landmarks around town & Bondi where the sand on the beach was perfect.
We then took the ferry across to Manly & decided if we were to live in Sydney it would be here.
On the fourth day, we went on the harbour cruise again to see the city lines.
We got to Watson Bay & found this really cool cliff that faces out to the ocean.
On the way back we saw the start of the Tsunami Aid Concert outside the Opera House. The next day, unfornately we had to go back to Melbourne. We want to go again!

Yoga mats

Ever since we bought the wii console we’ve been on it just about every day. My favourite would have to be the yoga exercises and I must say I’m getting good at it too. Now the exercises seem to be too elementary for me. I think it is time for me to do real yoga, I need to join a proper yoga class with real instructors and proper yoga mats! I’ll be the next yogi master soon.

Red eggplants

Most people would be familiar with the large, purple-black eggplant or aubergine (Solanum melongena) which is used to make delicious recipes like ratatouille and baba ganoush. If you shop around you'll also be able to find white skinned or striped varieties, lady's fingers and the tiny pea eggplant, which is used in Asian cooking. The good news is that there are new red varieties of eggplant available, which have a better flavour than the common purple ones because they are not as acidic. They can be cut in half and put on the barbecue, or sliced thinly, fried and added to platters of antipasto.