Red Back

Continuing with the arthropod theme of late, here's a couple of pictures of a rather large red back I found in the garage while I was cleaning it out the other day.


It's a little hard to get scale here, and for some funny reason I didn't stick my finger next to the spider for reference. Even though red backs aren't large spiders, this one was pretty big.

Back Online...

So I haven't blogged for a long time, but it hasn't been easy with two hospital visits for operations on my kidney stones putting me out of action for a while. I've finally had the last operation tho, so hopefully things will improve from here. My advice, never get kidney stones. You'll want to top yourself. I don't know if they're worse this time around than before, all I know is that yesterday I was longing to be put out of my misery. I can't really tell the difference between being in agony and being in fucking agony, so that might give you an idea of the difficulty in comparisons.

Anyway, I'm much better today. And on a positive note, Jess and I got engaged on the 1st of December! She's a fantastic girl and a real support, especially during these trying times. I also got my motorbike licence last weekend, so I'll be on the lookout for a moto come January. Can't wait.

Here's a damselfly that I saw in the Botanical Gardens the other weekend. Will post more pics when I have a minute.

The wait is finally over part 2

After being stuffed around again for my surgery, it's finally happening tomorrow, 12th November.
Will post again when I'm back on my feet again.

The wait is finally over.....

I assume that it's pretty clear to most people out there that our public health system is a joke, and I won't disagree with that due to my first hand experience. However, my long and painful wait is nearly over. After almost 6 months of waiting, I've finally been booked in for surgery to remove my kidney stone on October 29. This, mind you, was after the surgeon said July. Better late than never I guess. Anyway, to celebrate this marvel of modern medicine, I'm proposing we have a 'Stone's Out' or a 'No Stone-fest' party at the Condo in November with the exact date TBA. Hope to see you all there to join me and some friends in having a brew or two and flushing out my now stone-free kidney.

Rims

When the compass points North...

The champagne flows...

Strange people appear...

and it's all free!

Now that's a reason for everyone to smile

Happy 21st Trace

The birthday girl

Presents for Tracey's big day

The chocolate cake was huge, as were the door-stop sized slices handed out

A young reveler with an over-sized glass

Hope you had a fantastic night Trace. We certainly did.

Air show @ Temora

Jess and I decided to go to an air show out at Temora the other weekend as there were 3 F/A-18 Hornets visiting from Williamtown, near Newcastle. It was well worth the travel and entry fee as we were allowed to be up close and personal with these $40 million machines
A quick plug for the museum and airport, their vintage collection is outstanding.

With a chair, hat, sunscreen and esky in hand we were set for the day. No alcohol allowed though.

Here I am at the back of one of the fighters. The engines are huge, as is the plane itself. At 17.1 metres long, they're much bigger than a bus.

One of the F/A 18 Hornets on the tarmac.

Jess admiring the Hornet. We did get to have a look in the cockpit, however they wouldn't allow me to take photos as the planes are still in service. In other words, we still use them to kill people so we can't share any secrets. However, I'm sure what's on these planes is readily available on the internet.

A vintage plane doing a loop.

Finally one of the F/A 18 Hornets took to the air and did a display. We were rather close when they started the engines on the 2 planes on the tarmac. Earplugs were advised but I don't mind the sound or the smell of the avgas. Click on the pictures to see them enlarged.