Just how good am I?

I just dragged my GPA kicking and screaming from 5.5 to 5.75. Why is that so important? I was ofered membershp to Golden Key a couple of months ago. Membership is only available to the top 15% at each university. I'm still trying to work out how I managed that with a 5.5 GPA. Everyone else must have really sucked.

The Credit for Environmental Economics is a huge relief. I had to HD my last 2 assignments to get it after my spectacular 9/30 on the first one. But as Rick pointed out, I always was shithouse with money. You can always rely on certain people to keep your head out of the clouds. Personally I'm not sure exactly what he means. I know its value and can spend it faster than anyone else I know.

As good as these results are I'm still disappointed. I was riding a HD wave for Environmental Science so must have really tanked my exam to just get the Distinction. Geographic Information Systems is a disappointment too. I didn't get exact marks for my assessments for this subject, just things like D+. After sitting down and working everything out I knew I was borderline for a HD. The fact I got a D means I just missed out on the HD by one or two marks. It's just not fair!!!

Never give a poof a power tool

I have said it before and I'll say it again. Thankfully Mark never listens to me (selective deafness I'm afraid, though it's usually when I tell him I want to spend money) and I was able to get them.

We had to build a new box for the batteries as the old one wasn't big enough. You just know this is going to fun when you know I failed woodwork in year 10 and Mark is very prone to tantrums (of which we surprisingly only had one).

... and that required power tools

Surprisingly enough the box turned out quite ok as you can see from the picture below. Built to last too. I even painted it.

My new weapons of destruction are:

My drill

circular saw

mitre saw

and jigsaw

All dangerous when in the wrong hands and they were in mine!!!

The most disturbing bit though is if you put one of these in front of me I'm like Homer Simpson with a donut.

More Power

And then it was done. You can see here the clean array of 10 x 80W panels

... and here's a close up of one

Here's the new array of 20 x 123W panels

... and yet another close up

... and just in case you didn't know what a solar panel looked like, here's one before it went up on the roof.

Of course there were also the batteries, before installation

... and after installation

But the pride and joy of this little project is the new regulator. The new one is on the left and all the 123W panels go through it. The old regulator, blue one on the right, still has the 80W panels going through it.

The regulator is definately Mark's new little toy. He's checking it at least 5 times a day to see how much power we've brought in.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

So the upgrade happened on Sunday. The scope of the project was to relocate the 4 x 123W solar modules on the north side of the house to the east side, add a further 10 x 123W solar modules on the east side, install a new regulator and replace the battery bank with a higher capacity one.

As you can see in this photo it was a glorious day and the boys were hard at work. Apologies for the ass shot of Nick but unfortunately, as is always the case with me, the tradesmen are never cute. You only ever get the good ones in porn. I keep telling Mark that but he still won't let me have a pool boy, keeps muttering some nonsense about him being the pool boy.

Speaking of Mark, our 10 old 80W solar modules were filthy, black even, and as a result were not producing any power at all, so Mark had to get up on the roof and clean them. Always knew he was a scrubber. I did get up on the roof to have a look but I am afraid of heights and nearly soiled my undies, so had to climb back down.

Just look at him, he was so proud of himself up there. Still has the best titties in town but he wasn't happy with this shot so he made me zoom in and take another one.

Show off, you won't catch me up on the roof having photos of junior taken.

The way we were

I really should be studying for my exam on Wednesday but procrastination is so much more fulfilling. Anyway, the solar upgrade has finally happened so I thought we could trip down memory lane and have a look at the setup that was.

As you can see, these 6 panels were looking lonely.

While these 14 panels were having a party

So we decided that the 4 at the front in this picture would go and join their friends at the front of the house and everyone could be happy.

... and then there were the batteries. The poor babies were alone and isolated and spent their whole lives locked away in a box on the back verandah.

Something needed to be done.

Oops I did it again !!!

Hello, my petals

This blog entry will go to show how Britney Spears always gets it right while we keep accusing her of being tr*sh.

A few weeks ago I decided to remove a pile of garden rubish we had as a result of doing some pruning and chopping down a few dead trees during the wet season. I wanted to save a few tree trunks to possibly use them in the garden as retaining walls.

I decided to wear the 'country homo' outfit for the occasion: Timberland boots, blue jeans and a white t-shirt. Two hours later I was sweating like a pig and had blisters trying to escape from my boots. I burnt my face too (forgot to wear sunglasses and a hat). Obviously, it was not the right attire for 30 degree heat and scorching sun.

The following day I decided to wear the 'sporty homo' outfit. Adidas sneakers, gym mini-shorts, a singlet and a baseball cap. I managed to scratch my legs, burn my shoulders and yet again sweat like a pig.

Third time lucky as they say....... On the 3rd day I decided to dress up as Britney and I was in pure heaven..... I still wore sneakers as my only pair of high heels are kept by my beloved Wendy (God bless a woman who can sashay in 7 inch heels without breaking an ankle.....I couldn't). Then I accessorised with a lovely pair of white and pink mini-speedos my husband bought me on EBay and an old t-shirt that looks like a tank top due to excessive use of the dryer while living in the civilised world. Finally, I put on my sunglasses, a cap and a tea towel underneath to repel flies and capture the sweat. The tea towel made all the difference (no, I won't sell it on EBay if I ever go back to modelling and regain my famous status.

I still managed to get scratched but at least thanks to the mini-speedo and tank top I was as cool as ever. Shane took a photo or 2. I did stretch the tank top down a bit to cover the abs. I don't want to take the limelight from Britney that much. Let her thunder be hers.

Mr. Carrington is taking over the blog!

Hello petals,

Yes, it is about time I take over this blog so it gets updated on a regular basis.

I would like to let you know that although people change when they move to a new environment, you don't need to worry about me. I am still as superficial as ever.

Now, let me get the latest photos out of the way so I can get into some much needed gossip.

Here is the 'temporary' swimming pool in all its glory. Plans for a 7x4 'real' pool are underway. ETA is mid March 2008.

Here is the photo of the 22,500 litre water tank we installed. Instead of connecting it to the house, it is using the existing gutters in the shed to collect water and then it is pumped to the header tank. It is so noice not to have to use the water pump every 2 weeks to get water from the creek.

We bought a patio heater when we went to Rockhampton back in August. Yes, it does get cold out here, petals, and it does make far more enjoyable our quiet evenings boozing in the veranda.

I managed to paint the front gate (forest green). I used a spray can (or 3) and I wore gloves to protect my fingernails. However, it was a bit windy and my arms and legs ended up green. As a result, I have decided to leave all the painting for Shane. Let's face it, my job here is to do community service (show the rest of the population how ugly they are when compared to me), and it s a full time job, pets.

Recent visitors:

We hosted my brother Miguel and his wife Tiffany for a week back in late June (they were on a four month world tour). We had a ball!

Miguel and I get along like a house on fire. He is older than me (35) and we don't look alike. He is like my dad and I am like my mother. He is got the brains and I got the looks. Tiffany is a lot of fun and Shane and I hope to pay them a visit in sunny San Francisco some day.

Shane's dad and grandad arrived in early September to visit us for a few days. They are a lot of fun. Bill and Bill were on a 3 week road trip re-visiting some places and enjoying new spots. We were very sad when they left. We wished the could have spent a few more days with us.

Who's coming next?

Hopefully Wendy and mother will make the journey to paradise.

What have we been up to?

We went to Rockhampton for a few days as Shane had to go there for University labs. It took 2 days to get there and 2 days to get back (we drove). Shane was so busy at Uni that we only got to have dinner together so I spent 4 days on my own in glorious Rockhampton. I shopped, slept a lot, went to the movies and swore that I will never stay in another Villa at a caravan park.

Shane has been studying, painting, taking care of our children and making me happy (please do not puke on this blog entry!). He is a bit stressed out at the moment as he is approaching the last 3 weeks of his second semester and he is got 3 papers due and a final exam. He is also the social butterfly and in charge of calling our fiends. I spend all day on the phone (work) and trust me, I am much better at face to face communication.

As you can imagine, Shane is looking forward to his 3 months off until the next University term. I got plans for him........painting (yes, it is a big house), pruning some trees and bringing me drinks at happy hour (which kicks off any day after 3pm or any weekend after 10am if needed -just kidding).

Wendy, I still drink champagne. However, day to day boozing is now made out of beer (mid strength). I know, shame on me!

Working for the 'mothership' is going well. I have done lots of overtime lately but I am now back to normal hours.

I am think of going back to my modelling career when Shane returns to the workforce once he is done with his degree. Mind you, getting work in the industry at my age (29) may be a bit tricky.

Well petals, I think that this is it so far. I hope I didn't bore you too much. If I did, now you know that you need to have a drink or 2 handy prior to reading this blog

Love

Mr. Carrington

The Horror Of It All

I know I don't usually comment on what's going on in the world but I'm on uni holidays, I have the time and this is really really important. Paris Hilton has been let out of jail, for a medical condition no less and will have to serve the rest of her time under home detention. Don't you just love the term "medical condition". It must be code for cocaine withdrawal. I really feel sorry for the poor medical staff employed by California's corrections department. They've never seen cocaine withdrawal before. Criminals usually can't afford better than ecstacy. But poor Paris. Imagine having to spend 45 days under home detention at a Hilton mansion. Noone to talk to except the butler, the maid, the chef, the personal trainer, the life coach, the therapist or the pool boy. Having to spend half of a Californian summer lying by the pool drinking champagne and working on the tan. I honestly don't know how she's going to be able to cope with it all. But it's not all about Paris. The real victim here is her poor cocaine dealer. Right now, somewhere in LA, there's a rather dejected, hungry Columbian wandering the streets, trying to find a way to feed his starving children. With Paris out of circulation, Lindsay and Micha in rehab and Tara obviously broke (she is doing Dodo mobile ads after all) he's no longer able to support his family. If you see this man I urge you to buy a gram for charity. It's not about the cocaine. Remember, you are doing it for Eduardo Jnr and Enrique.

Just Like Christmas

Every mail day is just like Christmas and Santa was certainly busy this morning. The haul was very impressive and apart from one of my magazine subscriptions and a care package from WT (thanks Brent), among other things I also got a couple of assignments back. A Distinction and a High Distinction of course. Do you expect any less? The fun bit though was the result of the latest eBay splurge. I got my Sopho CD which you bastards were supposed to find and get for me, but I won't go into that. I'm not bitter. We also got the first of four new paintings we bought. I really like this one and it's going to look great hanging over the bed when I eventually get around to painting our bedroom. I hven't told you all yet of the latest little gadget that's revolutionised our lives. Check out our media centre. This little baby plugs straight in to the TV or stereo, though we've done away with the stereo as the sound out of the new TV was better (time to get a new stereo I think), is fully networked (wired and wireless) and I can plug it into the laptop and treat it as an external HDD. I'm in the process of ripping all of our CD's to MP3 so that we can box them all up and store them. Which reminds me that I haven't bragged enough and shown the world our new TV yet, so here it is, our 32" LCD baby. This one is even better than the other two. I probably should have taken a photo of the water tank when I did the last post but if I recall correctly I just couldn't be bothered. It still isn't installed yet as it's been raining too much to do the ground prep and trenching but here's a photo of it anyway. And finally, what is a post from me without a gratuitous puppy pic. I had to take this photo as they just looked so cute all curled up in bed together. Sylvester almost ruined it by getting up to follow me when I went to get the camera but I threw him back in bed with the other two. Sylvester and Daphne have their first birthday in two weeks so send presents.

Are we there yet?

It's the last day of term and I have just finished my final assignment for Physical Geography of Australia, the last of three that are all due today. Seriously though, what the f*** do I care about dirt and rocks??? Most of the subject was interesting but I dare anyone reading this to try and write 3000 words on the dirt and rocks found in their area and not fall asleep after five minutes. Am I excited by having finished for the term? Hell no. I'm too exhausted to care past my pillow right now, though I do plan on getting pissed tonight purely out of principle. Besides, I still have an exam for Environmental Science on Thursday. The water tank was delivered yesterday. We still haven't done the ground preparation or trenching required to install it though so it's just sitting off to the side of the driveway right now. I would take a photo of it to show you but quite franky I'm too knackered to even bother with that. Don't bother looking for that Georgia from Eurovision CD for me either. A whole bunch of them ended up on eBay and after losing six auctions for it I ended up getting one for 25 pounds. If you're thinking what I am you're right. I just paid more than $60 for a CD. It better be good. I'll let you know if it is when it gets here.