Nancy Crow (2)

I have paid the second installment for the Nancy Crow course of NZD500 from the S1.1, which I refilled with AUD500 from my S10.

Off to Melbourne soon. I hope you had a good time in the Amazon. I'll talk to you when I get back - assuming you've got Wifi.

Flowers

Haven't had any flowers for a while, so here's a different kind of iris:

and some wahlenbergias:

Cherries

Well, I don't think youll get much of a cherry crop this year. Today I had a go at setting up the netting - well, several goes actually - and failed. In the process the cherry tree took a bit of a beating. I've decided that trying to roll up the netting at the end of the season doesn't work well.

When I get back from Melbourne I might have a try at building a new net as we've got plenty of netting and I can re-use the ropes at least. Might be a bit after that though as it's supposed to rain much of next week.

Internet

I had the cabler call around today to fit a central splitter to the phone line so the alarm system is now separate from the rest of the phone/ADSL circuits. He was going to run a cable from the central splitter to the modem and phone so they would also be separated but he couldn't do that as he couldn't drag the cable through.

As a result of what he has done we're now getting a line speed of around 5Mb/sec which is about four times what we were getting before this whole saga began. And Telstra haven't done their stuff about looking at the line between our place and the exchange. We might get some more speed yet!

The cabler recommended that we still go ahead with running a new cable from the splitter to the modem and phone, but that would probably mean relocating where they both are. I thought it best to delay this until you get home so we can discuss if we really want to do it and, if so, where the best place for them might be.

Financial news

We have been paid! And the numbers are up! The numbers have also been recorded.

I haven't paid the Nancy Crow stuff yet. I plan on doing it on Friday morning (local time) before going to Melbourne unless I hear otherwise from you.

Nancy Crow

I forwarded two emails to your dpr2903 account about the next payment for the Nancy Crow workshops, which is due 01 November (Sunday) and is $500. Do you want me to pay it or are you going to?

If I don't hear from you before I go to Melbourne I'll pay it anyway.

Telephone line

The technician sent out by Internode came today and checked the telephone line, which involved taking the line out of service for a while. He said that the line was not as good as it should be, so the next step is for Internode to contact Telstra to fix the line. Who knows how long that will take or what our line speed will be when it's done.

On a related point, I'm thinking of having him fit a central splitter to the phone line so there won't be any contention between the alarm system, the modem, and the ordinary phone.

Last of the new irises

Here is what is probably the last of the new types of iris - at least there is nothing that looks like it will become a new iris:

I made some wedding soup yesterday, but I weakened and bought some sucuk to go in it. It's not as thick as the last one, but it's pretty close. I think that if we want a thinner soup we will have to move to the big pot. I am eating the soup with the smoked paprika that I bought. It seems to be a good combination.

Modem

I had a long session with Internode today trying to figure out what was wrong with the new modem. In the end they decided that the modem was no good and they are going to replace it. While testing things they also thought that we might have a line fault between here and the Kambah exchange and so their cabling people are going to come around to try to sort the line out.

During the process they also tried a few things to get the modem going and, as a result, we've now got more bandwidth using the old modem. It's gone from 1.7Mb/second to 3.2Mb/second. If there is a line fault and it gets fixed we might get up to 9Mb/second. I'm not holding my breath though.

Wet, wet, wet

Yes, it did rain and is still doing so. 12.3mm overnight and some more since then. It might stop this afternoon.

The numbers have been recorded and are up on last week. Here's a picture of a different kind:

Two new irises

They were hiding under the Apricot and the Kentish Cherry, but I found them!

Nothing much

Good to hear that you arrived in Quito safely and that you're enjoying things so far. We can't seem to make a connection at the moment - either I'm away from the tablet or you're outside wifi range.

I spent most of Sunday at the archery range helping to set up and tear down ranges. It all went pretty well. I think I was at home when you tried to call, but must have been outside.

This morning (Monday) I am making soup as I didn't have time yesterday. I missed your call this morning as I was downstairs.. I tried to call you back but couldn't get a connection. Later on I will have another go at getting the new modem to work so the internet connection might not be working for a while.

A new iris!

The first new type of iris for a while:

Similar to one of those on Monday, but with darker petals.

On the technology front, the new modem isn't working well. The wifi seems to be good but I haven't yet been able to get stable synch to DSL and hence no internet connection. I'll give it another try sometime, but if it still doesn't work I'll get in touch with the support people and figure out where se go from here.

Still no new types of iris

So you'll have to settle for a picture of the acer palmatum dissectum instead:

 Although there are no new types of iris, these ones are cropping up everywhere:

 

In other news, we have been paid and the numbers are up slightly.

Tomatoes

I am being picked on by tomatoes. Every time I eat something that contains tomatoes, tomato sauce or tomato paste some of it ends up on my white t-shirt!

I doesn't look like there will be any new types of irises today. I can see that some are on the way, but it looks like they still need a few more days.

Communications

Well, I've had a big day re-organising our communications. I've ordered a new ADSL2+/wifi router, changed our internet plan from 30GB per month to 100GB per month, changed our phone line provider from Telstra to Internode, and our long distance provider from iinet to Internode. All this should save us about $50 per month and will be paid for from the S10.1. I've also added you as an administrator or our Internode account.

In another break from tradition, yesterday I had sushi for my lunch. I figured that with you being away Canberra's sushi providers would be going broke, so I thought I'd support them.

No new irises

There are no new irises today. Well, there are new irises but no new types of irises. The tulips are just about done for the season. There are a couple that still have flowers, but they are just about to fall apart.

I think you were right about the victoria plum. It hasn't had any more blossoms son I think it will be a poor crop this year. I fact, I think tat some of the branches are dead. We can discuss this when you get back and before I do any pruning.

It's time for you to visit your parents again - we've run out of used plastic bags.

I've resent Charlotte's email - this time to the right place.

While I was away

The irises have been busy. I think this one was first as it was the furthest developed when I left:

Another one:

And another one:

And another one:

That's all for the moment.

My weekend

While you have been touring around seeing all the sights, this is what I have been doing:

Irises

The white iris has finally come out, and we might soon have some other kinds.

The Dutch Irises are in flower too.

Chainsaws

I am being persecuted by chainsaws while trying to slack off. Yesterday it was Andrew trimming the hedge along the fence.

And now for the financial news. We have not been paid as it is not pay-day. The numbers have been recorded and the markets are up - about $20K in your case. Holiday Concepts/RCI have both been paid, as has your 28 degrees mastercard. I decided to pay now and to over-pay as you are going through money quickly and I don't want you to run out.

Email and other stuff

You have at least three new emails in your dpr2903 account. One is from your mother and two are ones I forwarded from your main account - one is an Airbnb request for a review of the place you stayed, the other is about your 28degrees account.

I'm happy to pay your 28degrees account, but I've forgotten your log-on id and password. I'll have a look at your computer tomorrow to see if they are there, otherwise you can tell me what they are or you can pay the account yourself. I don't want to try too many things as they only give you three attempts to get it right or they lock your account, and I've already had one try. I didn't keep

In other news, the elevated cubby house that was next door is gone. I don't know when it went - probably over the weekend - but it's gone.

FotD

I think the tulips have finished for the year, and the irises still aren't out - maybe tomorrow as they are looking like they're about to open. You'll have to settle for a Kentish Cherry, which looks like it might have a good crop.

Yesterday it was 32.2°, which was the hottest October day ever in Tuggeranong. The forecast for today is 31° and then it drops to more reasonable temperatures, which a chance of showers. Melbourne, Bendigo and pretty much all of the south-east have been unseasonably hot.

Bogong moth

The first Bogong Moth of the season. I was shaking out a cloth in the tool room, and there it was.

Flowers of the day

The last new flowers before I go to Melbourne are a tulip and some freesias. The irises still aren't out.

Tulip

Freesias

Technology

I've updated your laptop with all the Windows 8.1 updates and also updated Firefox, Thunderbird, Chrome and a few other bits and pieces. I've also malware checked it and am in the process of virus checking it. WHen that's done I'll take a full backup.

I've also taken a full backup of the old PC and have updated it to Windows 10. The update went very well, with all user accounts, data, settings and software seeming to have come across without me having to do much at all. I still need to fiddle with the new Windows 10 settings though. Still a long way to go before I'll try the update on one of the systems we use.

Australia Post Philatelic

Well, Australia Post Philatelic has done it again. I got a letter from them saying your accouunt had a balance of $0.00 and you had an order for $23.20. I rang them up and it seems they placed the order against an old credit card, so they said I should ignore the letter.

Australia Post Philatelic really needs to get its act together.

Flowers for today

Today's new flowers are two tulips:

Purple

Yellow

We have been paid and other stuff

We have been paid as it's pay-day. The numbers have been recorded. The market is down, but your cash has gone up due to a pile of dividends being paid. As a result, your total has gone up slightly.

What I wanted to know about Holiday Concepts & RCI was whether or not you wanted me to pay them both. I'm confident that you have to pay them separately, for a total of $799. Let me know if you want to pay them both and, if so, I will sort it out..