Riding Away

Did the one hour circuit around Drysdale of 14km.  Much quieter than last time but it was in the afternoon which is generally not as busy. For one thing the coffee van packs up and moves to some other location.  It was overcast skies which is actually better with my face not meant to be exposed to sunshine at the moment.  I am currently shedding skin like a snake.

trains are not running due to the world going viral

More cancellations

I spent the last 4 hours cancelling two weeks in June all around the Cairns area.  I spent one week to set it up and now it is all refunded.  This is different to the wedding week which was supposed to be last week. For that one I moved everything back six months but this was more complicated. There were no issues anywhere, refunds all around.  I will be keeping all these details and rebooking it all again but not sure when. Tip: Send the details by email then wait for confirmation.  The first reservation I spent an hour on the phone then I went to emails.

Shower Time

We had a shower rail project today which was deemed an essential service, so a tradie was allowed to do a bit of a job for us but also observing the appropriate work distancing rules.  You never know when you might need an extra place to lean on when you are in the shower.  The weather has been crap for two days. We had been resisting the urge to use the heating but we turned it on for an hour which took the edge of the cold.  I have photos where we were on the beach on this day last year and this time around the temperature is 13°. It was more like 23° last year.

Tradie's lunch break

Shower Scene

One year ago - Blind Sided

Base Camp

I was riding two weeks back and spied a couch and two armchairs on the side of the road with a cardboard sign 'FREE to take'.   The next day out of our top floor we see that stuff being carted off down towards the beach and disappear into the bush. We already new groups were gathering there as the cars were cramming the grass across from us.  So she, with the all seeing camera, starts to follow the trail snapping photos of number plates, of burly furniture lugging etc.  They were caught in the act.

The Council were very impressed with the dossier of evidence and ready to hand out citizen of the month.  They have been here numerous times with trucks cleaning out junk from teenage parties. We were now close to the ring.  We kept up the surveillance and the same group was always topping up base camp.  The council man could not find the stash so Debbie took him on a hunt thru the bush to the camp. He is a desk man not used to bushwalking so slipped and went down in the mud on occasions.   When they found it, the camp was ever growing and so was the pile of rubbish. But at least it was bagged.

The council man gave us updates throughout. Like when he traced the number plates to a phone number and the father answered and was mortified that his truck was used in the operation. He assured that the place would be dismantled by the end of the week. That was yesterday.  All afternoon there was a steady stream of teenagers pulling junk out taking it away to who knows where.

Maps on Stamps

I have uncovered my 1000th stamp with a map.  Some of the maps I have found on stamps are a bit symbolic. This one is unusual and not very useful at the same time.  It's good for show. I had to go back to one of my old cartographic text books, which I still have here, to give this map a more formal name which is, 'a Map of the World using a Sinusoidal Skewed Oblique Projection'.  That's a mouth full. It brings back memories of the mathematics I had to get my head around to understand this stuff.
The maps on stamps topic has now filled an entire stamp album.

E and G  

Tricky Tricksters

We had our session of remote 500 last night and completed 6 games or so in that time. Three of us had the required gear to get started in a game.  Apple Ipads work well and if using a laptop, it needs to be Windows 10 to install the Trickster App.  Two days ago the video component was working as tested, however I received a rude message about how they had to take it away now because their service provider increased charges.  This changed the whole experience as we were reduced to the chat button and were typing comments between hands.  It was a worthwhile experiment. I will monitor the video situation before we try it again.  We can try a Zoom meeting in the background which adds another layer of complexity and we would need more equipment than the batcave.

Face Time

I have been applying Efudex to my head for the last 11 days and I have been counting those days.  The higher cheek bone area has copped it.  Sleeping is now a problem, as I am bleeding in spots and sticking to my pillow case each night. I am washing it out and drying it every day.  Knowing when to stop and trying not to scratch are the tricks. I am dithering over the coatings on my cheeks and nose at least but definitely continuing on with my forehead and the top of my scone. The guide says to keep up the applications twice a day for another 10 days if I can.  Healing can take weeks.