Rather unpleasant experience today, arriving home, to find the blue flashing light for the alarm flashing away outside the bedroom window.
Instant sinking feeling, in the pit of the stomach, as I wheeled into the driveway, and opened the garage door...
The door between the garage and the house was open, and the sinking feeling in my stomach increases...
After a walk down the street, to have a chat to Arthur, it seems that the alarm went off between 11am and 4pm. I've also checked the windows, and had a chat to the Frankston Police. They sent a car around, and we couldn't find any sign of forced entry, and they managed to get a partial print from the back garage door, but given nothing has been taken, they will not progress their investigation. Their comment was that for there to be no sign of forced entry, it would have been with a key...
Rather an unsettling feeling. Looks like the locks will be changed very soon...
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Google Earth
Discovered that Google have finally made Google Earth available for easy downloads.
It uses Landsat, Earthsat, and aerial photographs to put together overhead images all over the world.
Currently the Australian coverage map looks like this:
Unfortunately my house, is just out of the currently photographed area :-(
It uses Landsat, Earthsat, and aerial photographs to put together overhead images all over the world.
Currently the Australian coverage map looks like this:
Unfortunately my house, is just out of the currently photographed area :-(
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Triton Upgrades
I spent a good couple of hours, fitting my GMC router to the Triton Router table, I purchased through eBay, back in May, to find that it crapped itself on the first pass on the redgum I am making some bedside tables out of.
Enter Mr Two Year Warranty, and Bunnings Gift Cards. I packed the router back into it's nice wooden case, and headed down to Bunnings at Frankston, and explained my predicament, with fingers crossed that without a receipt, the warranty would be honoured. It was, and after handing over my Gift Cards, I now have the Triton 1/2" Precision Router, which fits the table without heaps of stuffing around, and routed the redgum beautifully.
Enter Mr Two Year Warranty, and Bunnings Gift Cards. I packed the router back into it's nice wooden case, and headed down to Bunnings at Frankston, and explained my predicament, with fingers crossed that without a receipt, the warranty would be honoured. It was, and after handing over my Gift Cards, I now have the Triton 1/2" Precision Router, which fits the table without heaps of stuffing around, and routed the redgum beautifully.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Shorter Shifts....
Was talking to Alex the other night, about short shifter replacement levers for the WRX and the Forester XT, and thought that one could be a good birthday present for him, and a "just for the hell of it" purchase for me...
I did some research on the GTRydaz forums, and after talking to one of the guys, decided to purchase a needle bearing short shifter, from a lady called Elaine, who sells on yep, you guessed it, eBay.
I managed to win two levers, for the grand sum of $49.95 each (starting price), and $11 later for shipping, and a phone call from reception at work, I had them in my hot little hands.
Here is a comparison photo between the WRX and the replacement shifter.
The actual throw is shortened by the length between the pivot and the ball at the end of the shifter.
The shortened throw on the Foz is awesome, much more accurate for the shift.
I did some research on the GTRydaz forums, and after talking to one of the guys, decided to purchase a needle bearing short shifter, from a lady called Elaine, who sells on yep, you guessed it, eBay.
I managed to win two levers, for the grand sum of $49.95 each (starting price), and $11 later for shipping, and a phone call from reception at work, I had them in my hot little hands.
Here is a comparison photo between the WRX and the replacement shifter.
The actual throw is shortened by the length between the pivot and the ball at the end of the shifter.
The shortened throw on the Foz is awesome, much more accurate for the shift.
Friday, May 27, 2005
More Triton Gear
Since buying the Triton Router table on eBay, I figured having something to cut timber with would also be helpful, so again, I headed back to eBay, to check out what was available in the Triton Workcentre 2000 department.
I've been watching the auctions for Triton gear for quite some time, and knowing what you can buy stuff for at retail pricing, from places like Bunnings and Mitre 10 sell this gear for helps immensely. I guess if you had to make one rule for buying anything on eBay it would be to research what you are buying before you start bidding!!!
So, that rule being made, I knew that a Workcentre 2000, from Bunnings is worth around $450, and the Triton 235mm Circular Saw is in the vicinity of $350...
As luck would have it, there was a guy in Melbourne, with a Workcentre 2000 AND a Triton 235mm Circular Saw, with a starting price of $400, with a huge benefit of him being located in Melbourne, and the gear being brand new, still in the boxes...
I sent him a couple of messages about the gear, and then spoke to him. Turns out, he had some cash come his way, and went out to buy the Triton gear, the same day his wife bought him the same gear... Apparently she lost the receipts, and he already had his lot assembled when she gave it to him. Enter eBay :-)
He only had the Workcentre 2000 advertised, and when I spoke to him, mentioned he had the saw as well, so we agreed upon a price for both, and I agreed to bid the auction until I won it...
Needless to say, I won the auction, and for $740 I became the proud owner of the Workcentre 2000 and the 235mm Circular Saw, with local pickup... When I rocked up, I only had $730 on me, so he said that was cool... All round good deal for me... :-)
To make it even better, Mum had made me an IOU for my birthday last year, for exactly this gear.
I've been watching the auctions for Triton gear for quite some time, and knowing what you can buy stuff for at retail pricing, from places like Bunnings and Mitre 10 sell this gear for helps immensely. I guess if you had to make one rule for buying anything on eBay it would be to research what you are buying before you start bidding!!!
So, that rule being made, I knew that a Workcentre 2000, from Bunnings is worth around $450, and the Triton 235mm Circular Saw is in the vicinity of $350...
As luck would have it, there was a guy in Melbourne, with a Workcentre 2000 AND a Triton 235mm Circular Saw, with a starting price of $400, with a huge benefit of him being located in Melbourne, and the gear being brand new, still in the boxes...
I sent him a couple of messages about the gear, and then spoke to him. Turns out, he had some cash come his way, and went out to buy the Triton gear, the same day his wife bought him the same gear... Apparently she lost the receipts, and he already had his lot assembled when she gave it to him. Enter eBay :-)
He only had the Workcentre 2000 advertised, and when I spoke to him, mentioned he had the saw as well, so we agreed upon a price for both, and I agreed to bid the auction until I won it...
Needless to say, I won the auction, and for $740 I became the proud owner of the Workcentre 2000 and the 235mm Circular Saw, with local pickup... When I rocked up, I only had $730 on me, so he said that was cool... All round good deal for me... :-)
To make it even better, Mum had made me an IOU for my birthday last year, for exactly this gear.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
17 inches of rubbery goodness... :-)
Before:
And After:
Not sure about the wheel alignment at the moment, as the car feels like it is floating a bit, but I suspect that is due to the alignment being accurate, rather than how it was out of factory...
All the noise of the Geo 900's is totally gone, and the cost was significantly less for the Toyo Transpath MP3....
Fitting was done by Beaurepaires Franksston, who did a very careful, and clean job... Need to work out how the alignment should be though... I suspect there is not enough negative camber, or the car is just a lot more responsive due to the reduced tyre profile....
And After:
Not sure about the wheel alignment at the moment, as the car feels like it is floating a bit, but I suspect that is due to the alignment being accurate, rather than how it was out of factory...
All the noise of the Geo 900's is totally gone, and the cost was significantly less for the Toyo Transpath MP3....
Fitting was done by Beaurepaires Franksston, who did a very careful, and clean job... Need to work out how the alignment should be though... I suspect there is not enough negative camber, or the car is just a lot more responsive due to the reduced tyre profile....
FeedMap
This is a very cool little website... FeedMap tries to map out other registered bloggers in your vicinity...
I found it to be quite scary how accurate it is... I put in the street name, suburb, and the maps nearly has the street itself in it!!!
It gives you some code to add to the side bar of your blog, which is over to the left... Pretty cool really... At this time, there are 50 registered bloggers in the area, which seems to have about a 50 km radius...
I found it to be quite scary how accurate it is... I put in the street name, suburb, and the maps nearly has the street itself in it!!!
It gives you some code to add to the side bar of your blog, which is over to the left... Pretty cool really... At this time, there are 50 registered bloggers in the area, which seems to have about a 50 km radius...
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Let The Routing Begin
Last year, I got given a GMC 1250 Router for my birthday,
and although I've used it a couple of times, I've been a little hesitant about using it as a plunge router... Somehow it seems a little bit cumbersome (or is it that I'm un-coordinated) ? So, I resorted to Ebay to try and find a resonably priced Triton Router table, and Router Stand...
After patiently watching and waiting for a couple of months, I have finally found a Melbourne seller, selling the Triton RTA300, and RSA300 Router Table and Stand...
I picked it up from Rod, the seller, who, like most people I've bought from on Ebay seemed like a very nice bloke...
Now all I need is the WorkCentre 2000 and a saw, and I'm in business... :-)
and although I've used it a couple of times, I've been a little hesitant about using it as a plunge router... Somehow it seems a little bit cumbersome (or is it that I'm un-coordinated) ? So, I resorted to Ebay to try and find a resonably priced Triton Router table, and Router Stand...
After patiently watching and waiting for a couple of months, I have finally found a Melbourne seller, selling the Triton RTA300, and RSA300 Router Table and Stand...
I picked it up from Rod, the seller, who, like most people I've bought from on Ebay seemed like a very nice bloke...
Now all I need is the WorkCentre 2000 and a saw, and I'm in business... :-)
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Words from the Road
Had a good run up to the Gold Coast on Thursday and Friday. The past few days have pretty well been like this...
Katy's Schedule for Thursday 17th February
6:43 Leave Ferntree Gully
7:05 Leave Heathmont
7:13 Stop at Kilsyth 7-11
7:20 "On the Road Again..."
Later that day Arrive Gilgandra
Our first day on the road begain around 6.00 for Katy, and 6.15 for me, in Ferntree Gully. After heading across to Heathmont to pick up Emma, we were off on our way to our first destination, of Gilgandra, with a quick stop in Nagambie, and about a 45 minute stop in Numurkah to visit Caz and Trent, who none of us had seen for a little while...
We got to Gilgandra a little late (around 8pm or so), as our day on the road (like the following 3) took us longer than expected. Thursday took us longer than expected, due to our first ordered lunch at Finley pub first being served uncooked (nothing worse than uncooked Chicken Kiev or Schnitzel).
As we drove through Jerilderie, we drove through clouds and clouds of locusts. Quite a bit of fun, watching them go SPLAT on the windscreen as we drove through them.
We had dinner at one of the truck stops at Gilgandra, and the steak sandwich I had was fantastic!
Katy's Schedule for Friday 18th February
Morning: Leave Gilgandra
Later that day Arrive Surfers Paradise
A pretty uneventful day on the road on Friday, a lot of mileage (we decided between us that there is no such term as kilometerage). We (well, me) were up lateish on Friday, I was woken as the 7.15 am train went through the town. We got some brekky at the milk bar and bakery in town, and then hit the road. We stopped for lunch in Goondiwindi, where we couldn't work out why the sports club was so quiet until about 2.30, when there was a huge influx of people wanting meals... About an hour down the road, we realised that we had changed timezones, and our "late pub lunch" of 1.30, was actually an early one of 12.30!
Not a lot happened between Goondiwindi and the Gold Coast, and the road is pretty unspectacular, aside from driving across through the hills through Warwick, and across the past Mount Tamborine. It's an excellent driving road through the mountains, and the Forester handled it very well!
Katy's Schedule for Thursday 17th February
6:43 Leave Ferntree Gully
7:05 Leave Heathmont
7:13 Stop at Kilsyth 7-11
7:20 "On the Road Again..."
Later that day Arrive Gilgandra
Our first day on the road begain around 6.00 for Katy, and 6.15 for me, in Ferntree Gully. After heading across to Heathmont to pick up Emma, we were off on our way to our first destination, of Gilgandra, with a quick stop in Nagambie, and about a 45 minute stop in Numurkah to visit Caz and Trent, who none of us had seen for a little while...
We got to Gilgandra a little late (around 8pm or so), as our day on the road (like the following 3) took us longer than expected. Thursday took us longer than expected, due to our first ordered lunch at Finley pub first being served uncooked (nothing worse than uncooked Chicken Kiev or Schnitzel).
As we drove through Jerilderie, we drove through clouds and clouds of locusts. Quite a bit of fun, watching them go SPLAT on the windscreen as we drove through them.
We had dinner at one of the truck stops at Gilgandra, and the steak sandwich I had was fantastic!
Katy's Schedule for Friday 18th February
Morning: Leave Gilgandra
Later that day Arrive Surfers Paradise
A pretty uneventful day on the road on Friday, a lot of mileage (we decided between us that there is no such term as kilometerage). We (well, me) were up lateish on Friday, I was woken as the 7.15 am train went through the town. We got some brekky at the milk bar and bakery in town, and then hit the road. We stopped for lunch in Goondiwindi, where we couldn't work out why the sports club was so quiet until about 2.30, when there was a huge influx of people wanting meals... About an hour down the road, we realised that we had changed timezones, and our "late pub lunch" of 1.30, was actually an early one of 12.30!
Not a lot happened between Goondiwindi and the Gold Coast, and the road is pretty unspectacular, aside from driving across through the hills through Warwick, and across the past Mount Tamborine. It's an excellent driving road through the mountains, and the Forester handled it very well!
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Soon to be On The Road Again...
Thursday morning, and Katy, Emma and I will be off on another of Katy, Emma and Drew's Excellent Adventures, following the Melbourne Storm , this time to the Gold Coast, for their second trial game for the season. The boys are playing against the Brisbane Broncos, at Carrara, which is also known as the Gold Coast Stadium, where I saw my first ever game of League that was explained to me (by Katy)!!
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