Slot Car Model Raceway.....

Recently, as you know, I've been fund-raising for the Child Cancer Foundation...the last few nights, we've been going round the cul-de-sacs in west Timaru - and with quite a bit of success, I might add!

Apart from that, however, I've been building up a slot-car model raceway. I've always wanted a slot-car set; but as with the model trains, I never had the dosh...until recently! I've bought a number of cars on Trademe, some track, and now this evening, we've got it going. We still have quite a bit to learn about slot cars, but we'll get there. The kind I have is HO scale ~ same size as Matchbox cars, just a lot more expensive. I bought two Scalextric slot-cars (well, motorcycle side-cars, actually) many years ago, on the Isle of Wight, with the intention of getting into the bigger scale; but that didn't eventuate. We wouldn't have the space for that scale anyway...but, these little cars are cute :)

Our Bushwalk!

On Sunday morning, we went for a Bushwalk to see the local waterfall, before the day got too hot! As I'm a social & friendly guy, I introduced myself to people we met on the way. As we approached the waterfall, there was a place to stop & rest...there, I met Henrik from Sweden (and his three friends); plus, while walking back from the majestic waterfall, I met Jentzl & Andreas from Germany...I spoke with them for about 8 minutes.

Once back at the Camp, I met a young lady from Scotland, Elaine from Edinburgh, who was making a fry-up for lunch, for her partner & herself. "Is this the 3rd degree?" she quipped, as she fought with the stove. She told me how she doesn't watch much TV, & loves outdoor sports...but there's no way she was going bungee-jumping! :)

Also there from Geraldine, were Alf & Jean, and Dave & Noeleen. They enjoyed a rather decadent (and fantastic!) Champagne breakfast!

Oh, yeah - before we got to the Camp, we paid for our stay at the local shop (but not just for local people). While there, I bought myself a bag of Pork Scratchings...I love those!!!

The weather, friendliness of the other campers, greenness of our surroundings, and general atmos were all FANTASTIC. I learned what I'd forgotten to bring...Beer; a Torch; Jandals; Pants; Shaving Gel...oh, and a Hammer. I recommend Camping!

Camping Fun

We've just had our first weekend Camping, as a family! We travelled to Peel Forest to try out our new 8-person Tent, before going camping at Christmas time in Dunedin (my home city).
We arrived at about 4pm on Saturday, just in time to put up the Tent, and make Tea. The evening meal was sausages & noodles. I got a bit "down" by 8pm, and went to bed. The Camp was pretty basic - just an amenities block, and what one brings with one.

The Night
Well, it was a pretty good night's sleep! Got up in the middle of the night - 1:32am - to answer a call of nature; forgot my torch, but the Moon was so bright, I didn't need it! I'd NEVER seen such a bright moon. Lovely! More details tomorrow....

ALL before 9am!

This morning, I got up at 6:40am, switched on the 'puter, fed Polly-puss, got the Washing going, chased the neighbour's cat (Tabitha) out the door & squirted her with my water-pistol (always on stand-by now!), made some toast for Zoe, hung out the washing, got Margaret's car out for her, chased the neighbour's OTHER cat (Shadow) out the door & squirted her, too; lent the neighbour my jumper-leads to get her car going; and comforted Zoe when her big brothers hassled her...!

Slinky Came HOME!

...well, OK..I brought him home! I discovered him at No.24, wayyy up the street; made himself at home, he had! But HERE is his HOME...I carried him most of the way back; then put him down & he followed me.....

He'd not been seen here since last Thursday. We've been getting more & more worried about him! I rang the SPCA the other day...we're SO pleased he's back! The other family have a white cat he's been playing with; so he'll probably visit there occasionally...I think a combo of our kids & the cats from next door had put him off! Hopefully, he'll stay now...we'll have to get a collar for him!

"You're A Good Driver"

Our old Nanny, Maree, paid me a compliment today...she said I'm a good driver!! And, she asked me to drive her car....in reverse....with a trailer hooked on the back! She'd bought a fridge-freezer, and as it was near the end of a long driveway - the seller lived in flat #15 in a row of eighteen - she wasn't confident to back it out. I was slightly nervous about the prospect; it's a long time since I'd driven a car with a trailer on...but I managed it! The car - for those of you who like cars - was a '92 Toyota Celica automatic. Quite a contrast to my people-mover!

This evening, we went to the party of the folks behind us. Now, it's interesting...we've been invited now to parties at #2, #4 & #6, though the folks at all those addresses don't like each other!!! It's like we're the "neutral" ones.....

Fundraising is TOPS!

I must say, I'm surprised that not one reader has commented on my intention to shave my head for charity... unless all of you lot out there, have gone on holiday simultaneously, and haven't read the last post yet.... I'm doing quite well; one person, Bear, from Sausagenet, has donated; he was my first Online donor! Kudos to you, my fuzzy friend. Meanwhile, in summery Timaru, I was given $10 by Neville Twaddell, the owner of the newsagent I go to. He'd had an operation to remove a cancer a couple of years ago. And on Sunday, my littlest son, Ben, and I hit the streets once more, meeting more neighbours & raising more funds for the Child Cancer Foundation. One elderly lady said, "Can I see your house from here?" "Well, let's go out the back," said I. (Meanwhile, Ben was happily playing with toys their grandchildren play with). We stood on her patio, and I intoned, "You see the house with the green roof? That's my house." "Ahh," she smiled, "Your wife's the Doctor!" I grinned!

Ah, well. The last few days, have been excellent washing weather. I put out a load yesterday, after going around the town, paying for various items I'd bought on Trademe (the local auction website). In the evening, I went 'round to see some old folks; I showed the man "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels." They always put on a good supper there :)

Child Cancer Funrazor!

Well folks, here's the latest...I'm going to shave me head! :) No, really! It's to raise money for the Child Cancer Foundation. I got my Funrazor Sponorship Pack yesterday; and now I'm looking for Sponsors. Anyone can sponsor me...anywhere in the world! I'll be canvassing for sponsors noth offline AND online. I began yesterday, by hitting the mean streets of Washdyke ;) ... I got 16 sponsors, some of whom will give later - and quite a few gave immediately! So, offline, I've raised $53.90 so far. I'm doing this as part of a national effort; they hope to get 1000 peop. to "shave their lid for a kid", all on the SAME DAY - the 6th of December! I'll go along to have my noggin buzzed at the Speights Ale House here in Timaru, at 5:30pm on the first Thursday next month. If all of you out there would like to donate to this very worthy cause, here's my Funrzor website's address:

http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/NevWalker/

Go to my page, make a donation of $5, Five Quid, Seven Canadian Dollars, Eight Greenbacks, or several of whatever currency you use! I take Visa, Mastercard, Diners...and remember, I make NOTHING outta this...except the embarrassment of wandering around with a suddenly nude nut! I'll also be doing an extra Blog, on my Funrazor (fund raiser) page itself.

Photos from the Cubs/Scouts Soapbox Racer Day

Getting "the Flyer" ready for launching!
This time, one of the Scout Leaders is going to have a go!! If memory serves, the trolley on the left suffering a technical failure, & one of the wheels fell off!!!

Yesterday...

Well, yesterday I got my new Family Guy CD in the morning mail; a good laugh it is, too! It's an audio CD, with a DVD of the making of it on anther disc...if you like that kind o' thing...

My friend, Stefan, has been unwell for the last 3 - 4 years; yesterday I took him out to a nice little Cafe in the country. It was a pleasant time; and the 1st time I'd seen him outside his home. He's much better nowadays.

I forgot! I was supposed to go to the Doctor yesterday; and have my stitches out, from when the moles were removed...however, Wifey to the rescue...Margaret plucked the stitches oot 4 me :)

Soapbox Racers

On Sunday, we went to the Cubs (& Scouts) Soapbox Racer event. It was held at a farm about 18km (near enough to 10 Miles) west of here; on a long hillside, ideal for racing...with two lanes mowed. Well! You would not believe, the variety of little vehicles that trundled up to the start line! Small wheels, medium-sized wheels, three wheels, four wheels...pram wheels; bicycle wheels; motorbike wheels.....just amazing! More than once, the wheels fell off the "Racer" at the bottom of the hill; prompting laughs, cheers & jeers! Jamie won his opening race; I saw him in another, where he gave it a go. More soon!

Too Much Petrol?!

There was Too Much Petrol in the car today; so we went for a Drive to see rellies in another town.....

OK, I'll explain. Recently, I was ripped off by a nearby garage. A large chunk of me vowed that this SHOULD NOT happen again. I resolved to stick up for myself more. So, the other day, when I dropped off my car at the Panelbeaters & picked up the Courtesy Car, I listened & inwardly digested the following message from the manager:

"That car has no hardly any petrol in it. If you put $20 worth in it, use it up & return to us empty."

Well, as I wrote earlier (I think) - this is one Thirsty turbocharged car! I put in (aprox) $20 of fuel - it only lasted 2 days on that! So, I put in another $44 of premium gas yesterday...then, the big lug of a manager calls me up, "Hi, your car is ready...." "Hold on," says I, "You said it wouldn't be ready 'til Tuesday!" "Oh...well it's ready now." (skip to the end...) Anyway, he agreed I could hold on to their car for another 60 hours or so, and use up the petrol....so I decided it would be nice to visit Auntie Valmae & Uncle Earnie, who live in Ashburton; that's about 1 hour north of here. I prayed that the car - well, let's be honest. It's more of a refugee from Rent-A-Dent. The engine runs as smoothly as a netball team running thru a minefield. At slow speeds, the steering shudders & shakes like the NZ Finance Minister, when the PM informed him he'll HAVE to make some Tax Cuts in his next budget (true). I had to fold in the electric mirrors at 60mph, to stop them shaking themselves to pieces. ...anyway, I prayed the "car" would make it there & back (it did). It was good to see Val & Earnie again....they've been married 64 years! They used to be Farmers, but they moved into town to retire. I recalled on the way home, that back in 1977, Uncle Earnie taught me how to drive...

Another thing about the petrol issue is, the bloomin' PRICE has been going thru the roof!! I mean, now it's about the same as it was when we spent a year in the UK! (1996/97)

It's OFFICIAL!

It's OFFICIAL! What I've been saying is true/will be true, now actually IS true - my 4-year-old daughter is the SAME WEIGHT as my 8-year-old Son! LOL LOL LOL LOL! Not sure whether to be concerned, or laugh my nuts off.....

Coffee in Geraldine...

Yesterday, I drove out to Geraldine, a quiet little town 10 miles off State Highway 1. On the way, I dropped a clanger...

There was a house coming along the road, on the back of a truck. I switched the engine off (that was my mistake...can you see where this is going?). All the traffic was stopped; waiting, waiting...the house was nearly passing me...I noticed the traffic was moving; went to start the car, nothing! Zip! I moved to dial the AA... Guys from the Oversized Vehicle Motorcade asked me "What's up?" "She won't start!" "OK, we'll just push you off to the side...stick it in neutral, alright?" I popped it in neutral; they started pushing the car (the Subaru Estate Turbo) - I idly turned the ignition, and VOILA! It hit me like a cream pie in a clown's mush...I'd left it in Drive! D'OH! Me not used to Automatics..... (insert embarrassed smiley here, staff!).

Anyway, I asked around when I got out to Geraldine (some folk refer to it as "Gerald-vegas") - found a nice Cafe with Comfy Chairs (little Monty Python reference there...). Just about finished reading the script of Arsenic & Old Lace. Cruised back to Timaru, in time to pick up the twins from Kindergarten.....

Quiet Day.....

Today, I took my car to the Panelbeaters, as Margaret backed it into our babysitter's car a couple of months ago...being Timaru, it's shouldn't surprise people when they Bump Into someone they know!!! The panelbeaters guys photographed my car about 6 weeks ago, and I rang them last week - "Oh, right, you're you, right...sorry, there's been a change in staff," etc!
::) I got there early-ish this morning, & they tried to loan me a Mitsi RVR - "A nice little car" - "4-door, is it?" I enquired. "No, no, two-door." "Well," says I,"I need four doors, with three children..." So, they loaned me a reasonable Subaru Turbo estate, which understeers a bit (an Exxon supertanker probably turns more quickly) - but it goes OK, and it has a good sound system...

I bought an old NZ Half-Crown yesterday...minted the same year as I was! :-)

TV Trivia Game

Well, on Saturday, I reached the next level on the Facebook game, "TV Trivia", after scoring over 400,000 points. I went from "Enlightened Master" to "Exalted Mind", but there were no extra benefits, no bonuses...I can still edit people's questions, but I don't have any more power...I'm still correcting spelling, grammar, and occasionally, correcting an "correct" incorrect answer. On the plus side, however, I did have a whole day of not playing at all, on Sunday :)

Guy Fawkes Night!

Tonight we had Guy Fawkes; as usual, being the pyro I am, I was the one who detonated the Fireworks! We had three fireworks early - about 8:30pm - while it was still light, so the Twins could see them before they went to bed; they stayed up a little later than usual. Then, about an hour or so later, we had the rest. Jamie was VERY excited! I lit quite a few with my pistol-shaped lighter; the last few, I lit with a taper. The box of aprox. 14 fireworks cost around $20.

Minor Surgery...

Today, I went to see our Doctor to get some moles removed. She wasn't confident of her ability to do it - she actually wanted to send me to the Hospital! ::-) Margaret (who, of course, is a GP herself) persuaded Liesl she could do it, and soon she was giving me THREE local anaesthetic injections; and two 6cm (about 2.5") cuts! It felt a bit painful having the injections, and weird feeling the scalpel slice into me. I got six stitches. Liesl said I'm a model patient - quite approprite really, as I'm a guy who likes Models ;-)

Family Visit

Yesterday, we had a visit from my family, who travelled up from Dunedin. My Mother, Brother, his wife, and my oldest Sister gave us a visit, along with Mum's old dog, Sophie. It was good to see them all, and I had a few games of pool with my brother, Hugh. Mum's in pretty good shape for her age (she's 84).

Phone Call!

Well, today I rang two new friends, Doreen & Bryan, who live in Germantown, Wisconsin. It was a great conversation! I can't really remember much of it, but we chatted for 105 minutes, so we must have talked about something!! I met Doreen & her hubby on MySpace.

KNICKER VICAR SAVES INGLEWOOD!

The tiny North Island town of Inglewood has become international news, when a local clothing store stopped selling lingerie!

At the local Anglican church, after a mid-week meeting, some folk talked with the Vicar about the lack of undies available in Inglewood. The Vicar, Rev.Husband, approached the Council about supplying a bus to New Plymouth, for the purpose of purchasing panties. The Council agreed, and so the Bloomer Bus (for biddies to buy briefs & bras) was created! A television crew went along for the ride. If any one leaves me comments on this, I'll happily email them the Video (I have the add of both my regular readers ;)

FRIDAY 2nd NOV 2K7

Goodness! There seems to be someone interested in what I've been up to....how nice!!

FAMILY COURT

Well, for one thing, I went to Family Court as a witness for the...er...Accused? What it was, was that a good friend of mine, Jeff, had been accused of all sorts of unsavoury acts by his estranged wife. Things looked bad for her, seeing as Jeff had 5 winesses to back him up; and she had, er - Zero! Anyway, it was a landslide victory, which Jeff & his Mum celebrated with a glass of Red; I celebrated with a bottle Jeff bought me - Monty Python's Holy Ale!

It was a LONG day....we got to Court before 10am...I said to the Lawyer, "So, we'll still be here at 4pm?" He quipped, "No, no. You should be in & out by 2, at the latest." Well, 6 hours later, we were still waiting...! We had lunch at The Bard, an English (style) pub. They had Old Speckled Hen ON TAP! I was about to order some, but Jeff admonished me, "No beer before court! AFTER court!" I reluctantly agreed....

This was all in Christchurch, one of our biggest cities; about 160km north of here.

TODAY: Kindergarten Disco with Bubbles

This afternoon, I took all three of my kids to the Kindy Disco, it was complete with police lights - supplied by a policeman I know! I spent over 30mins on the BBQ, cooking sausages & onions.
Later, I danced with my daughter, and played selected songs on the stereo ~ Barbie Girl; Kiss Me; Hippy Hippy Shake; Girls Just Wanna Have Fun; etc.

There'll be more blogging later...you can encourage me to blog, by writing comments....I'm close to achieving my goal ~ the Next Level on TV Trivia, so I may be doing more blogging anyway :)