Cold Duck Rally

As I did my stint at the Central Hawkes Bay Settlers museum this morning, the assembly of the enthusiastic motorcyclists involved in the 'Cold Duck Rally', was taking place. I used to be a motorbike enthusiast, blasting down the M1 in England, intent on doing a 'ton' , in mph too! Since then I've only had commuter bikes for getting to work. Today there were Harleys,Triumphs, Yamahas and Hondas, you name it! Strange , at least to me, 3 wheel bikes, some with two at the rear and a couple with two at the front!

It's all in the mind!

Dentist today for a major filling that had broken away. I don't know- I've only had these teeth for 60 years and they're packing up already! I think the fears of the dentist are largely mental- I hardly felt a thing and it was a new guy- my old dentist had retired and you are never quite sure about new professionals in any field but particularly dentistry.
I'm always amazed that anyone wants to take up dentistry, as while the money is probably quite good, who would want to be feared by everybody and spend your life rummaging about in other peoples mouths! You don't know what they've had in there!
Anyway he was very good which is a relief.

Winter?

Well, maybe a bit premature but it's not nice out today. We've had 3 inches of rain in about 24 hours. It's not cold but it sure is windy and it can't be as bad as it is for people in Haumoana, along the coast, they've got a high tide any minute now and flooding rivers. Some have been evacuated so I guess it's pretty wet there. Seems to have been a pretty exciting but unwanted start to 2011, hope it doesn't escalate! Had a small 4.5 quake last night about 8 or 10 seconds long but time is relative and it seemed like a long time waiting for it to end.
Got Lucy's kids staying while she does a photo shoot in the outdoors. The Outdoors? Yep, not sure where but it's got to be wet! Looks like a good afternoon for playing games.

Back to normal!

Auto self repair on hand seems to be complete! Am now able to use both hands which is an advantage when shinnying up a ladder to replace the Signage on the front of the museum. It's strange, in retrospect, that I put it up early in the morning when nobody was around as if I fell off the ladder nobody would be around to see my embarrassment! To heck with the fact that nobody would be around to send for the ambulance. Strange logic! I remember , years ago, being astounded at my uncle, who lived alone, climbing on his roof to do something or other, "For God's sake, " I had thought, "He's 70 years old! What is he thinking of!" Sometimes I have to remind myself of what myself of 30 years ago would think of what I am doing today. I don't like limitations!

Inactivity!

Every idea I have of something fun or useful to do is getting stymied! Unless it can be done one handed I'm stuck. The wound is healing but it's kind of crunchy and has little bits that get caught on material or anything stringy. One thing I've noticed that I've lost by my argument with the belt sander, is the last of my coral scars from Bermuda when I was about 8 years old. I've always been contemplative when looking at my evidence of how sharp coral can be and how long the scars stay with you and now they've gone, replaced by a coarse reminder of old age ouch! Sounds a bit like that tree that falls in an unpopulated forest...... if my scars are gone , did it ever happen?

You'd think I'd have learned by now!

Decided to put underfloor insulation under the house, a good idea so why is my house built so you can't get under it on your hands and knees? You have to scoot along on elbows and toes! I scuttled in and out from 11am to 3.30pm, sometimes facedown sometimes face upwards, roll over, lose the tools somewhere, found my car keys that I didn't know I'd lost, in the dust and stones that are the result of living on a river terrace. Getting the insulation in place was the easy part- getting the body in and out and up and down- now that was the hard part. Stage one completed , abdominal muscles severely taxed, shoulders ached, hair full of cobwebs and spiders, hope it works!
Next day- more good works but this time above ground! Making a prop for daughter's photo studio and being mean by nature I figured I would use some timber that I had hanging around that was rough sawn. After all, I could sand it smooth with one of the numerous tools I have that go "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" (I don't do hand tools!). Timber pieces cut and shaped just need sanding before I assemble them. If you want to take up a life of crime buy a belt sander! You can remove all your fingerprints in a few seconds and the blood soon biodegrades! It's not the sort of thing that needs stitches- glue would probably work better. So now I'm walking around with a big bandage on my right hand which is varying shades from white to red, with abs that would make Daniel Carter proud and a whole lot of unfinished things to do.
Maybe next week!

Surprise Surprise!

Every time we get a letter from "Work & Income", that's the govt dept that pays , amongst other things, old fogies pension, we tend to think "more paperwork" or a notice saying our pension will have something or other deducted or it's gone up by 23 cents a fortnight, but this time a nice polite little letter saying " we are sorry to bring to your notice, but we have been underpaying you and we will reimberse you on the 16th of May. $2063-42 will be credited to your bank account!
Hell! I'm not sorry! They must be honest to tell me! I never would have known!