Friday of bows and gas.

 The Hot Water Cylinder Guy installed my Infinity A26 as promised. There does seem to have been a problem with the electrical connection. He left a chord lying on the deck for me to plug it inside. Not a biggy. Obviously need an electrician to wire it into the outside switch. I poked his chord through the window and into a socket in the kitchen. Works good as gold blasting methane and CO2 into the atmosphere at an enormous rate. Hey, me and Kylie have infinite hot water at mains pressure. Poor TC has gone cheap with a candle in his closet arrangement! I'm sure his misses will love him nevertheless.

I drove into Wellington and talked to Alistair and his lady friend about rehairing my violin bow.  They seemed incredulous. "It has to be sent to Auckland, the postage..." only people with top notch carbon fiber bows do that evidently. I took my bow out and showed him. "Hmmm Brazilian wood...the nut isn't silver....it is bent.....hang on...". He went out back and brought back a box of bows. Two looked identical to mine, one was $125 and the other $180. I said that I think the cheaper one would do fine. I paid and put it into my case. The conversation then went to what to do with the old bow. Alistair was adamant that it would make a fine tomato stake as he applied rosin to the new one for a considerable time. I asked him if I should take that long normally. He replied in the negative. He just wanted to saturate the hairs for me.  His lady friend recounted that she knew someone who could turn it into a letter opener. She seemed to like talking to me, she was very nice, about my age. I left and drove home thinking that I'd done my duty. RBB said to fix it and I had. It wasn't until I tried playing with it that I thought "wow, what a difference". RBB was  right. I needed a new bow! $125 well spent. Later I looked it up ...

"Reviewers and string specialists highlight that its stronger, straighter wood density makes it much more responsive to advanced student techniques, such as bouncing or spiccato bow strokes, compared to lower-grade hardwood student bows. It yields a warm, defined, and full tone across the strings. Because of its solid craftsmanship, the stick is durable enough to be rehaired down the line, giving it a longer playing lifespan."

A good buy.

Thursday...hot water cylinder update.

 I've been using "The Cylinder Guy" to fix my old kaput Infinity Gas water heater. 

It's a franchise but the guy servicing my area, Craig Stevens, has been really good. He gave a full explanation of my options and has been prompt in arranging the replacement. A plumber came around the same day to 'skope' the existing unit.

021 02937702

It's costing me $3,106.75 gst inclusive.

Estimates I had online suggested up to $5000.

It will be installed tomorrow morning.

Of course there is an option of heat pump water heaters for several thousand more. If you have a mortgage you can get a 1% loan over three years at ANZ. Craig pointed out that since I am paying line charges anyway for my gas stove top; changing to electric would make sense to buy an electric range for cooking too and cancel the gas. More dollars. More hassle. I decided to stick with gas. Power savings take a long time to recuperate the installment cost and at my age ....

I'll report back tomorrow after the installation. 

Martes

 

Magandang hapon. Today is Martes (Tuesday) in Filipino. I do find the Phillipines quite fascinating. I watch a lot of Youtube videos about it. I'm trying to add a new word every few days. "Magandang hapon" is my phrase for today. "Good afternoon". Just think of a harpoon! 

Two big events today. I GOT A WOF! Ok so it cost $690. Who cares. I HAVE A WOF FOR ANOTHER YEAR. No small feat for a 2007 vehicle. Of course it is a Toyota! If the body doesn't rust their engines run forever. Of course (too) the future will be electric. The internal combustion engine is incredibly inefficient. Only a small amount of the potential energy actually gets to move the wheels. Is it as low as 25%? Anyway it is small, but on the plus side there is a century of refinement. The electric vehicle? I've heard some horror stories.  Whole editions of cars being unsaleable in two years. 

Charging them seems a bit number 8 wire, and weird, poke a chord out the window? I think there needs to be some legislation on properly installed outdoor electrical docks. 

My hot water infinity heater finally gave up the ghost and stopped. I've been talking to Mr Hot Water Cylinder or some such. One of his boys is going to come around and 'skope' my setup. It sounds affordable at just under $5k. The new big thing is heat pump hot water cylinders; but they are another $2k or so. Mr Hot Water Cylinder suggested that since I already have gas online for my cooking it is probably better to stick with gas. I agreed. Did you know that only the North Island has piped natural gas? Down south they have to use bottles!

That's all. Pie, spuds, onion and peas with okra (not the whales).

Oh yes I did some practise. No new strings attached. I think my E needs to be replaced with one of RBB's throwaways.

Lunes

 Magandang Umaga.

After doing some gardening on Sabado I drove up to Feilding and attended Mass at St Brigid's with my darling. We went for lunch at the Orlando Country estate afterwards. There were no tables available inside so we sat out near the golfing range. Some of the youngins were jolly good. It's a tricky range as the 'basket' they aim at is  on an island in the middle of a lake. I presume they drain the lake after hours to recover the multitude of balls that go into it.

My drive was uneventful apart from observing a police checkpoint on the Haywards Road where they seem to be pulling over SUV 4 wheel drives. You know, those big things whose drivers think that the outside passing lane is an unlimited speed zone.

Better run...speaking of which a group of New Zealand's best athletes couldn't pass more often through a group of South African's best, and so were deemed to be losers. I don't agree. The criteria is not representative of reality. Or maybe it is. The object in war is to dispatch the enemy commander by breaking through their defences!

Paalam.

Sabado

 Hello brothers. Kumusta ka? Mabuti. 

Magandang umaga.

Because I watched a few touristy Filipino videos a few months ago the Youtube algorithms pump numerous at me about the Philippines. Some of these give interesting historical insights. 

Have you noticed that Filipinos have Spanish surnames. There are far more than you would expect even though they were a colony of Spain for 400 years. The reason is twofold. China has a long trading history there, long before the Spaniards or Portuguese. The Spanish didn't like the Chinese and the native Filipinos didn't have surnames. So in 1849 the Spanish governor gave everyone a surname from a Spanish word. This eradicated the Chinese names and made it easier to collect taxes off the indigenous peoples.

There is a lot of flooding there too. This is not just because they get the brunt of the typhoons nor is it rising sea levels. The Philippines is sinking because of excessive extraction of water from the ground. They don't seem to have the infrastructure we do. Most families have wells. But in the larger populated areas like Manila and Cebu the water table has lowered and suburbs are sinking about 10cm a year. 

Better get ready for Mass. Don't feel the need for confession today...

Magsaya pero huwag magkasala. 

Friday 11th September

 Jesus once said "Can a blind man guide another? Surely they will both fall in a pit.".

"We must embrace self-reflection. If we sow evil we cannot expect a good harvest." Bible diary.

I listened to a woman who nearly died in the Nepal Glacier flooding. Before she was resuscitated she spoke to Jesus. She was an atheist but was completed overcome when she experienced the love emanating from Our Lord. She said Our Lord was disappointed with the Eastern religions but that soon they would all be replaced by a rise in Christianity. Even in China.

Have fun and don't sin ; then you will find peace maybe.

Happy Birthday Mary

 Today is the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. Born to Joachim and Anne without original sin. Hence we get the Immaculate Conception, which is a dogma all Catholics must accept. 

I've started listening to "Journeys to heaven and hell" by Bart Ehrman. It wasn't what I expected being more a discourse on humanity's writings about the afterlife. It began by examining Homer's Odyssey. There is a chapter where Odysseus goes across a river and after offering sacrifices goes to Hades. It's a sad place full of souls who seem quite miserable. Next Ehrman talks of Virgil's description of the afterlife in what sounds like the Roman copy of the Odyssey. Is it the Aeneid? TC would know.

Better go and face my demons. 

Have fun and don't sin.