Concrete drive

Well who would have thought it possible. I woke up at 4 am this morning and it was just pouring down!! In the end we had 17mm of rain between 4-6 am. The ground was sodden and as usual at the front of our section we had a lake. It did not look promising for the workers to lay the concrete. Still by 9am-ish they turned up and got cracking. I had a computing Level 2 diploma exam - so left them to it. By the time I returned at 11.15 am - we had a blue dome day - lots of "Solar headlights" as Augie Auer used to say. Just stunning weather, just stunning.

Anyhow looks like the concrete will be finished this afternoon - then we have to wait 2 days before we can walk on it and at least another 5 days b4 we can drive on it.
Should keep Granddad safely upright - and of course is just perfect for the Harley we gonna eventually get!

How to get my cute chick on her own Harley

hmmm - that is the question of course
Currently we are saving to renovate our geriatric kitchen. Once that is done
the Harley will be the next priority. However I have gained one concession - we can buy one by the time I turn 50!

Which IS NOT that far away -- really ---- when I think about it!!!! Wohooooo

Of course if I ever get a full time job it will all be sooner then later.

Cute chick has a Sat drive on a Harley Davidson

ok - so I was a good lad and gave my mamabear a birthday present - a voucher for a 1 hour chauffeur drive. Yep -- Today was the day that the hot chick had her lazy Saturday drive on a Harley Davidson! I get her to write on the how and why and where . . . .

So here comes Mamabear . . . .

Well I must admit I was more than a bit nervous before the ride - never having ridden on a motor bike before. However Brett my chauffeur was very cool; and told me everything I needed to know and it wasn't long before I was kitted up and on our way. We had a lovely drive up through Cashmere past the Sign of the Takahe down to Governors Bay, along through Lyttleton, back over the Port Hills, through Sumner and back into town. It was a lovely sunny day with not much wind so there were lots of stunning views and not cold at all on the bike. The ride itself was interesting - we were on a 15th anniversay Fat Boy of which there is apparently only 5 in the country. The seat definitely wasn't made for touring but I didn't feel like I was going to fall off!! You could feel every bump in the road but the driver was smooth so after I got used to the idea of being on the bike and began to relax I enjoyed it a bit more. When Papabear gets his bike it will have to have a comfortable passenger seat!!! The guys at Rolling Thunder were really good too - lending me all the gear and being really friendly before and after the trip.

WHEN???? uhu - better save my pennies
urm - there is this bike you see - yummmmeeeeeeeeeeeeee :)
papabear drools

49000 odd km on the road and available for around 16 grand NZ.


A N D it has got Mamabears fav colours

sigh - where is the lotto ticket . . . . .

Bluetooth thivery from lulu castagnette cellphone

It is just as well I got a sense of humor!! I really had to laugh over this one! A mate of mine got a new car and cellphone and part of HIS set up was a cheap "single mates rates" on weekend calls. He could only think of one number that would qualify - mine - and got the Tel-co folks to put that on his phone.

W E L L ^^ :o) we think they stuffed up big time and giving my mate MY SIMCARD number ------ because all calls to my cell phone and various txt's have ended up on said friends phone, and I no longer can do anything with mine. Cannot ring / txt to and from my lovely lulu castagnette clamshell.
Meanwhile I get a call on the old fashioned smoke signal line from a leader asking me why I am not answering his Txt's to me!! Just as well I used the old fashioned smoke signals to connect with someone.

And you know the funny part was - I had recently installed a bluetooth device in my lappy and thought I have upset some hidden setting on my cellphone!! Coincidence?? I kidd you not - here is me digging in my cellpone for clues for hours - when it was never my fault in the first place.

Lets just hope nobody sends any SECRETS to MY number - could be embarrassing for some parties - just imagine mamabear sweet rasping some txt and it goes to . . . . . NOT ME!! :p
Anyhow

Concrete people will arrive on Wed and start working / digging etc - good to get this done.

More concrete evidence

ok here is the strip we are looking to concrete over. About time to we finish the bit. Grandad already had a fall and it's just not save anymore for the old fella. Whence my quotes I sought - see yesterdays blog entry.
I would have to say though Mamabear is looking forward to having this bit completed - which is really some more concrete evidence that we are progressing nicely with the house and renovations.



So excited is she in expecting the finished product she could not help herself and test a new car! As you can see it just fits. And here is me thinking it would have been a Harley Davidson.



:-o) Speaking of which - I gave her a voucher from the local Harley Davidson store - they apparently do "chauffeur" drives. So sometime over the next week or so she will get kitted out in leathers and helmet and will be driven up to Sugarloaf - along the Summit road and back down at Sumner and back to the shop - should take about an hour!! Wonder what she will make of that trip?????

Concrete measurements

I ask you - how hard can it be . . . . . . really???
We have this strip on the drive that we did not concrete in at the time - mainly because we run of the necessary dough.
So now we think we have enough dolores saved, I rung up 5 contractors to take measurements and give us a firm price on costs and the results where astounding.
One just did not turn up for a start - the remaining four quoted as follows

$ 5378 --- 76.0 sq meter --- @ 1 sq meter = $ 70.60
$ 4405 --- 71.2 sq meter --- @ 1 sq meter = $ 61.88
$ 7671 --- 73.2 sq meter --- @ 1 sq meter = $ 104.8
$ 4331 --- 77.5 sq meter --- @ 1 sq meter = $ 56.25

I mean for a start the area is a nice straight rectangle - so u would expect the square meter figure to be closer together. And the all quoted the same concrete - / finish / placement / cut /etc etc

Guess it pays to shop around ^^

now - who will get the job??? ok - eeny meeny miny mo . . . . . .

:-)

How to be a geek and not a nerd

Take 18 scouts
mix well with ventures
add as many computers as you can lay your hands on
Take them all on a camp
<---- east wing!!
And you will end up with our annual pre joti "geek camp" and no - you don't have to be a nerd - anyone can attend. wohooooo Of course scouts will want to chat to folks from all over the world - so sleep is a premium - and some did not sleep at all - only to literally crash at home. rightho, so this is spaghetti junction - just from the Leaders equipment - who naturally bring their own gear. Cables galore . . .
In fact we had so many pc's up and running that our power supply became somewhat unstable and fried some powerunits inside the pc's - which can be replaced I hasten to add.

Anyhow the scouts had fun learning a different operating system to Windows and used Linux and for chatting they used Xchat - a solid program. We taught then some basic cmd's and we see how many will remember them in October.

Oddly enough - we have been visited by "mr. Spoon" although I have never seen him in person - so I suspect he made an appearance online. I should go and check the logs . . .

You would have to be nuts to be part of this outfit - and yes giggles has managed to upgrade herself into something more solid . . . . . . .Jaymo_black was great - teaching the kids how to be polite online!

Anyhow - I am so tired - better go to bed now -
ttyl
Papabear

PS. One of the NZ scouts living in the north island wants to join our outfit - because we are quote " so much fun" Somehow I don't think we would get away with him being part of our "remote" scouts in our group - but then again . . . . . .

Can a Fish be as playful as a kitten???

ok - that is a question worth investigating and until recently the notion that fish can "be playful" or play with a toy like a kitten was a complete foreign concept especially when you consider that goldfish are supposed to have the attention span of 2 sec (so the myth says).

This is me testing the equipment for any future investigation.


Anyhow - let's back track for a mo and refresh our minds that we had a cat who tried her water skills in the breast stroke - which failed miserably and I ended up with one wet & soggy moggy. (hmm perhaps she needed one of these very high tech modern swimsuits????) - anyhow - I am convinced that her escapades did the damage to the fish tank that led to the eventual cracking of the seam and subsequent flood in the house - refer to previous blog entry:

(oldbearnews-noahs-flood.html &
oldbearnews- swimming-cat-doing-breaststroke)

Soooo; one expensive large tank later with several late additions of water plants and different fish types we are all sweet - and set up - O N L Y
to hear once in a while a occasional twack, twack (it sounded just like a drop of water falling from the shower head on the floor) coming from the general region of the fish tank. - SOOOO I know what your thinking - I'm paranoid - but trust me - having had twice to mop up and since our NZ houses are timber framed and Gib lined - I could not face yet another clean-up - let alone the drama of shifting everything - again. Still after a extensive search I could not find any water on the floor or anywhere else. And yet the twack continued at various intervals - at totally random times. And I'm getting more and more worried - u know - 200 liters of 26 degree water - make a hell of a mess . . . .

'TILL I saw what happened. Well you see I have 2 striped Gouramis - who so I am NOW told can be playful and one of them takes pleasure in swimming lazy circles towards the area where the thermostat is attached to the wall and as he goes slowly and very deliberately past it he flicks his tail forcing the thermostat against the glass - which makes a very definitive "twack" sound - and then he continues - another lazy 4 inch diameter circle - returns and - "twack" - and - again "twack"!!
Mystery solved he says with relief - and it would seem that at least some fish have enough intelligence to be playful!! - who would have thought???? I therefore can confidently say - yep - at least some fish can be as playful as a kitten. Hmmm wonder if I can get the fish to catch the resident mouse ? ? ? ?

Scout mum's do their best

Scout mums do dutiful best, too

• Belinda Keir
• August 6, 2009

QUESTION: how many pages are there in a Scout record book? Answer: 149.

How do I know this? Because I have just prised apart and blow-dried every single one of them. Hopefully, after a fortnight in a vice it should become reasonably book-like again.

Such is the life of the Scout mother. Little did I know that when the boys promised ‘‘to do my best to do my duty to my God and to the Queen of Australia’’ they were also promising ‘‘and Mum will have her work cut out for her’’.

Since then I have sewn enough badges to upholster a sofa, driven long distances on dark, wet nights with only a short-sighted 10-year-old as navigator, and learnt the story of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi by heart.

I’ve found out things that were interesting, and a few that come under ‘‘too much information’’. (do you have any idea just what a Sea Scout hides in his sailor hat?)

The big question, of course, is just when are they going to put out a Scout mums’ field book, full of the useful stuff we parents need to know? Things such as ‘‘how to blow-dry a Scout record book’’, or ‘‘how to get a kid to keep his woggle somewhere he’ll find it again next week’’ (answer: ‘‘don’t bother. Go to the Scout shop and buy a gross’’).

In the meantime I reckon I’ve earned a few badges of my own. Here is a selection:

The Woggle-Finding Woggle: every Sunday afternoon find all items of scout uniform that have dispersed themselves around the house, car and cubbyhouse since last week, plus the papier mache pyramid for the ‘‘anthropology’’ badge.

The Badge-Sewing Badge: sew 10 badges on to various parts of a Scout’s shirt 15 minutes before they have to head off to the local hall. None are to be upside-down. Super Glue is not an acceptable alternative to needle and thread.

The Camp Mothers Cord: attend a weekend camp with a bunch of 12-year-olds and remain sane. My best advice for this one is: ‘‘Just don’t watch – it all works out in the end.’’

Naturally, bravery awards go to any parent organizing a Bunnings barbecue fund-raiser.

All up, though, it’s been worth the ride.

I now have boys who can tie their shoelaces in a choice of knots (bowline, sheetbend, clove hitch or reef). They can cook Anzac biscuits. They’ve made masks, sunk boats, raced billy carts and learned annoying songs to make long car trips more memorable.

With youth like this, Australia’s future is in good hands.

Dyb dyb dyb, dob dob dob.

Hear hear - here's to all you loving devoted parents out there!!!

How to have a daughter - thats not your own flesh and blood

Sigh - it had to happen later or sooner. You know me - fun loving carefree bear, always ready to play some tricks (my fav tv show - Candid Camera!!) - and my checkered past is catching up.
Anyhow everyone knows we got two boys - well urm they are young men by now - but NOT many know I also have a daughter but don't worry - I did not have THAT much fun - still the mind boggles. Never mind I can EXPLAIN . . . on how I have a daughter that is not my own flesh and blood.

See - many many years ago we lived in Wellington and when we returned to Christchurch, I came across this bloke who had 2 very young girls and recently divorced. Never met the mum for a while but the girls came to church regularly. After a while the arrangements of child care changed amicably and dad was off doing study some other town. Mum became the full time carer. By that stage I had already befriended the little girl and over time we became very very good friends.
I must have made a good impression. Cant imagine for one minute how - seeing that like Balloo I'm into having (some say too much) fun. *grins* Or was it the substitute male father figure?? *shrugs*

Still - some 18 years or so later (who's counting?) - we have kept up the relationship and I have been privileged to part of her live. Seeing her go through primary school / teenage years / overseas trip / sport/ new work placement and recently her engagement. I am honored to be sure.

And so yes my lovely cousin - I do have a daughter - albeit a honorary one but nevertheless a real person I treasure in my life.

Hmmm she's getting married sometime soon . . . . .
What does one give as present for that??? Me gets Parental Manual out - page 69813548567534 paragraph 2564 - I think it was . . . .

brb


Wohooo - had the dinner - lovely food and fantastic company!! It has been announced - I might have a wedding to go to next year! Only question is - what to give. Ok i got a year to ponder that - meanwhile - back to dishes

The Nature of Hell

The nature of hell is often discussed. The following is an actual question on a Reed College (Portland, Oregon) chemistry mid-term exam. The answer by one student was so profound, that the professor shared it colleagues via the internet, which is of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well. (Then of course this citation of hell could be just a big fat urban myth - who knows????)

Bonus Question:
Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or Endothermic (absorbs heat)?
Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law, (gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some variant thereof.

One student, however, wrote the following:
First we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefor, no souls are leaving.

As for how many souls are entering Hell, lets look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there are more then one of these religions and since people do not belong to more then one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell.

With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we can look at the rate of change of volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionality as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:
1; If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2; Of course, if Hell is expanding at a faster rate than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it???
If we accept the word given to me by Ms Teresa Baynan during my first year at UNI ".....that it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you" and take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then #2 cannot be true, and I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze.

The student received the only "A"

Camping teddy bear

lol - I cleaned up and shifted some stuff round today and ended up sneezing for hours. Anyhow I found this little snippet about scouts taking their teddy bear with them on camp. We always had them as a rule when going camping- but really never enforced them - much.

Teddy bears

These furry little things are welcome to come on camp.
They will have to obey the teddy rules. These are . . . .

• NO growling in the dark
• NO eating other people's sweets
• NO keeping people awake
• NO leaving the tent after breakfast
• Teddies must be prepared to guard their owners
• All the Pack Leaders MUST be introduced to them
• NO girl teddies (unless they sleep in a separate tent)
• NO wandering off
• NO singing in the shower
• All teddies must pay attention at all times

While not claiming that these rules would suit every scout troop / cub pack it is clear that it has helped guard against homesickness - even if it means getting run over by a horde of teddy bears while on camp.

Teddy bears seem to be a feature of the Scout movement, which has been under-estimated. About time them some of them get recognized and have their owns scarf.

wait - Brodie already got his ^^ :o)

Kirsch schnapps

right - so here is me minding my own business and I get a invite for a fund raising event for one of our teenager friends we happen to know - seems she organized a "taste" evening with an out fit called Prenzels
http://www.prenzel.com/
who amongst many things also sell a Kirsch schnapps - which I have to say is first rate. In fact its almost to good to use in baking / cooking. Still it enhanced the flavor of the Schwarzwald Kirsch Torte made a while ago, which I have to say the rest of the family had NO trouble polishing of rather quickly.

Well the other - urm - liquids where equally divine - and of course in the spirit of things we just had to help the young girl for her trip to - urm - Cambodia!!

I am looking forward to be cooking with one of the rice oils - infused with herbs and garlic - Tuscan Style!
Brilliant!!!

Although the evening was brilliant, I did bring with me 2 mugs in anticipation of a hot gluehwein. Alas no such luck! Non was served - maybe just as well. Still we ordered some bottles so should be set for a wee while yet!
After this we had a leisurely walk back home - didn't take the car as we thought u know - wink nudge - we might get tested after wards . . . . .