Trench, Gas and a T-Rex

Last night my son suggested that after I have done the backup (which I have) I should do the factory reset and reinstall myself. Not keen on that idea. I was reading on line – always a dangerous thing to do – of people who did just that, made a stuff-up of it and locked themselves out- then had to send the machine to Apple for repair and that was not cheap. I sometimes think that we go on line to find information and end up scaring ourselves half to death  :o)  We are fortunate in that there if a fairly large Apple Shop in Rundle Mall in Adelaide, so it’s an easy thing to hop on the coach, do what has to be done and coach back home. Well yes it does mean 10 hours on a coach ( 5 x 2) but at least you know that it has been attended by Apple Techs. Or, if I am feeling generous with myself, drive down,  get the machine attended to, book into the Sage,  spend a quiet night in Adelaide and drive home the following day. Not going to happen mainly because I am going to be in Adelaide several times in August so  I’ve waited this long I can wait a few more weeks – I think…..

Nice Trench
Nice Trench
Isn't this exciting??
Isn’t this exciting??

With regard to the weather, Adelaide is taking a bit of a battering and another storm front is moving in. We get some of the  left over rain, which is always welcome. But looking at the path of the storm front, it has gone through below us, which is about  normal for these things.  You may remember – or you may not know – but in November of last year an electrical fault was discovered underneath my driveway, which had to be part dug up. The fault was fixed but then they discovered a gas line fault and that could not be fixed. There was not a part available in Australia. They put in a temporary patch and filled it all back in, promising to come back soon as they had the part and repair the fault and re-concrete that part of my driveway. As I said, that was last November. The workman arrived today and not only did they open the trench, they extended it. They kindly came yesterday and suggested I park my car out on the roadway. Anyway there were trucks and vans and a back-hoe and men with shovels and they dug up the area. Then some other men arrived and they inspected the hole and the pipe and  dug two more holes, then extended my trench on either side and I had to go out and move the car so that they could do this. Anyway, that’s it for today and they will be back again tomorrow to carry on working.  Looking at the trench I thought it would look just right with a couple of WW1 Soldiers sitting in it. I know, I have a very warped sense of humour!!

Benji's T-Rex.
Benji’s T-Rex.

Took Annabell shopping and as we entered the supermarket she met a friend and chatted. I wandered off. When I came back, she looked and shook her head. Well, what can I tell you – it’s a nice Dinosaur and I know BJ will just lurve it.  (He does!) Then she wanted to know if he has enough toys already and I thought, you can never have too many toys. Feel free to disagree.

The work on the trench continues and the gas to the house has been disconnected for the moment. I can make myself as much tea and coffee as I wish, but I can’t cook anything since we have a gas cooker. By the time Annabell comes home ( I go and collect her) from her ladies Coffee Morning, it might even be back on again, although after talking to the gas fitter, it might be off for most of the day – do the repairs, test it, then turn the gas back on. Anyway, if I get peckish there is always the Microwave.

Wednesday evening:   The new gas pipe has been installed and the repairs completed – howeffer…. the trench  – nice though it is – will not be filled in until sometime tomorrow. Then we will have another wait until they finally get around to doing the concrete – in the fullness of time… Although, having said that, they could actually surprise me.

Adelaide and a Dinosaur

Adelaide Arcade
Adelaide Arcade with the fountain in front.

Just after 1:30 pm Andrew picked me up and we headed off to Adelaide. We drove directly to Port Wakefield before we stopped for coffee and something to eat. From there we drove to Adelaide – Andrew to his hotel, me to mine. Fortunately both were in South Terrace – The Chifley and the Sage – Andrew in the Chifley. Why not in the same hotel, or even sharing a room? Well this was not a planned trip – Andrew was going down for a meeting so I  bummed a lift from him and I just booked to stay where I normally do in Adelaide, whereas Andrew’s room was booked by his  company. In the morning I made my way into town – had  scones (and butter) and coffee at the Coffee Club in David Jones. Refreshed I  went up the road to the Apple Shop to find out what was wrong with my laptop. Here I need to bore you further with an explanation. My Apple MacBook Pro is working fine – it’s great – no problems– however  (there’s always a “however”isn’t there?)   although it is working very well, it will not upgrade. I am running an operating  system that is at least three upgrades behind what I should be running and I am starting to find that some things I download will not operate because the OS is out of date. Why wont it update? Well, that’s what I was seeking an answer to. I didn’t get one – well I got one of sorts. After  going through it the tech admitted he had seem nothing like it. Everything is there but it will not upgrade and we don’t know why. They believe that the best solution is to  wipe it clean and start with a fresh install then upgrade that to the current OS.  That I could not do because I do not have a recent backup, so  we are back home again and I will do a backup before I go back down.

Andrew finished his meeting and I met up with him again. We went off to Bunnings and we both did some shopping there and I checked out some of the things I would like for the garden – which I need a trailer for. Leaving Bunnings we headed for home again stopping at Port Wakefield for fuel and food. We arrived home at about 9:40 – a long and tiring day.  I may do the backup this weekend and perhaps take a run down during the week and have the clean and install the new operating system. All I have to do then is put the backup back into the computer. Actually I might get

Sleeping with a Dinosaur
Sleeping with a Dinosaur

the Tech to do that for me – probably cost, but worth it. In Adelaide we came across   “The Pet Barn” a big pet accessories shop.  Well, yes, I did buy some new toys for BJ, one of which was a Dinosaur. Since I gave him the Dinosaur he has hardly let it go and he takes it up on my bed with him. I managed to  get it on its own for a bit and took a photograph. His duck was a bit grubby so I gave it a wash. Came out quite well and the squeaker still works.

Although I’ve been in Adelaide the weather up here has been calm and warm – today is a mild 24c and whilst the warmer weather is welcome, it wont last and we’ll be back to cold and wind again soon. However, I did take advantage of the warmer weather to get some work done and this morning I  hope to hook up the trailer and get down for a load of Granite Chips and make a start on the back.

The WaWa continues to go for Benji and the spray bottle is no longer having any effect; Yesterday was not a good day. The WaWa never shut up the entire day. Spent much of the day outside or driving – always with Benji with me – even if I was going to the hardware store, I took him with me. Keeping him with me and  stopping the WaWa from nipping at his back legs has become a constant battle and although I do not wish away time, October can’t come soon enough. Sooah  insists she will be back then – I hope so, I really hope so. I have to have something in place before November when I head off back to Mount Gambier and be away for  four and a half days and I wouldn’t be at ease worrying about him.