Plane right STRESSED

Its been a little while, but its been more than a little frantic... My resolution for this distinct lack of blogging is to make SURE I blog daily from here on in, starting March 1 (now)!

So, whats been happening I hear you ask... Well...a mate J and I picked up our new camera lenses, Sigma APO 50-500mm F4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM (1 x Nikon and 1 x Canon). We went straight out to use them as well, and we are BOTH happy as pig(s) in mud! They really are very good! They were listed at $2,199RRP, but I managed to secure them at $1,650 each. BUT, as we are about to go to Auckland NZ, we can claim back to GST which is a further $165 saving! So they end up being a VERY good price!

Iron Maiden G-STRX

Iron Maiden G-STRX

We also headed up to the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) Base up at Williamtown, which is also a commercial airport! There was joint AU and US exercises happening, so a lot of fighter jets which was moving WAY to fast for me, (I must be getting old)! There was also a couple of commercial movements, but being a regional airport, they were very few and far between! But it was a good day. J and I picked up another mate, K, who had a car accident the other day and has written off his car. He ran into the back of a semi trailer at 95klm/hr after being blinded by an illuminated speed sign! Both the truck, passersby and the Police all agreed it was not his fault... There wasn’t much left of his car, he was feeling very low, so I extended the invitation to come up with us and get away from it all... He really appreciated the invite, and to get away from his troubles!

We met up with N whilst up at Williamtown, and he came back down with us as we were going to the Wings over the Illawarra Airshow on the Sunday. We went to La Mono again for dinner (M and I are on a La Mono free week at the moment) which was also fun!

Saturday, I reorganised the living areas, putting the cane lounge back outside and the dining table back into the front room, and bringing the leather lounge from the front room back into the living area. It is a lot bigger now out there, and I like it better as it’s not as crowded with furniture! After this was all done, we then headed over to Cronulla for breakfast. I had not been over there since last going with L, so it had been a while! Breakfast was good, and after breakfast I bumped into my cousin S, who only lives one block back from the main street!!! We then left to meet up with J, who had been mowing lawns and helping is Nan in the morning, at the airport for a little more spotting for the afternoon peak hour of heavies departing for overseas!

VOZ VH-VPH

RX VH-ZLO

QF VH-TQY

Sunday was a very early start as we had to meet up with J and his dad for the drive down to Wollongong for the airshow. There was a small ‘glitch’ in the day as when we went to leave, his car wouldn’t start, but after we ‘clutch started’ it, we were off. The airshow was great, a lot of older heritage type planes, but a good all round mix. Avalon in Melbourne has a show this coming weekend which is more commercial stuff, but this was a good show! I have loaded up a lot of pics to both Flickr and to Facebook from the day. I also got a trip up in a helicopter, which gave me a good overview of the airport (there was a NOTAM that stopped us going straight over unfortunately). When it came to coming back home, all of the troubles started... J’s car wouldn’t start, another clutch start, but when it fired, there was a bit of smoke, a rattle from the engine, but it seemed to be going and the rattle cleared. There was also a couple of gremlins in it as well, electric windows didn’t want to work, and as we drove up, it started to get other things as well; ran roughly, low power... I was a little worried, and as we were driving, I was in the back seat searching on Google on my phone for issues. It is in at the dealer today (it is only a couple of years old, 80,000klm), and under warranty, so they were having a look at it. They have identified a battery problem, changed the spark plugs and have flushed the injectors and it should be ready tomorrow... They are also charging an exorbitant amount for it (being a dealer NOT a normal mechanic), and he's a little stressed about it... All will be OK tomorrow J, the little blue Maz will be ready!

RAAF DC3

RAAF Hercules

RAAF Hercules

More photos in the slide show below...

Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.

Talking about stress, I am also a little stressed by another special friend... She has a lot on her plate at the moment, Uni, Work Sporting etc... In fact, I am not long home after catching up and having a chat... ALL you have to worry about is the fact that you mean a lot to me, and that if there's anything, AND I MEAN ANYTHING, then let me know and I will help... OK!!!

Hoo roo for now...

------