Urrrgh, I’m gettin’ seriously sick of this heat.

He is too.

Yeah, 64 today. In my mind, I haven’t changed, but the body is saying “Body says noooo.” Getting very fatigued. Vicious circle – I need to exercise to lose weight and stave off the decline, but I’m too weak and tired to exercise. Hard going.

I’ve had a very nice invitation which says my presence is required at my villa on the 8th of March. This is an auspicious date for the spirits in Bali to confer blessings on the whole three-villa complex. Wow. How can I say no?

It must be auspicious, because when I checked the airfares, I can go and return for $400 total, including a 30Kg baggage allowance going up. That means I can start to transport my stuff. And what stuff!!! I won’t actually need many clothes, so I’ll fill the case with things I’ll want straight away, such as my multi-region Blu-Ray player, speakers, mini hi-fi, a few family pictures maybe, and some camera gear. I reckon I’ll need to buy a safe up there, because the bedroom building can’t be fully locked. That’s because the bathrooms are open to the sky and someone could come over a wall and get in. Unlikely, but…

This trip will also give me the opportunity to find a fridge and microwave oven, and a real mattress. It’ll all work out well, I hope. I’m looking forward to it already.

Barry the salesman says he’s had five enquiries so far (as of this morning) so people are seeing the web ad. There’s a long way to go yet, but it’s encouraging.

Poor Minnie! I can see a visible weight loss already, but that’s because she’s not eating. It breaks my heart. She sits outside waiting for her normal food and it doesn’t come, but she will hardly touch the Euthanasia dry food. Surely it must be reasonably palatable? She used to eat the other “Mature Dog” pellets I gave her, even if reluctantly. The birds loved ’em and they’re feeding on these too. How they get them down their throats beats me.

Book clearing starts now. Ruthless efficiency is our weapon, that and the Spanish Inquisition. No, surprise, ruthless efficiency and the Spanish Inquisition. And a big dumper bin. Want any books or DVDs? Act now or forever regret it.

Another hot 35C day, after another hot day yesterday, and another hot day tomorrow, and every day next week. I’m sick of this heat.

I had the electrician here today and now I’m all legal. The RCDs (Residual Current Detectors) are installed with a mains powered smoke detector in the passageway. He also reconnected the stove and it works fine, and fixed a couple of minor wiring things, so I have a certificate to show buyers. They can even cook a steak on the gorilla while viewing the house.

There it is, my house for sale on the web.

 Barry the salesman has had one enquiry already, with the implication that the buyer may come over from Melbourne to view the house! Wow. That’s what people do these days, I guess. However, it’s very early days and the house will be open on the weekend after next. That’ll show the true level of interest. I’m very happy that Barry is working for me and will do a good job.

Minnie is on the second day of her diet and gradually realising that the dry food in the bowl is all she’s getting. She still just nibbles at it, but she has no choice. Poor Minnie. However, I have to give her three tablets a day, so I put them into balls of dog sausage, which she loves, so that’s some compensation for her. The balls are small, about 50g in total. I hope that’ll be OK.

I’m getting some old Super 8 movie film transferred to DVD by a Sydney company. I’ve had four reels in my cupboard since the 1970s and I’m not sure it’ll be worth the cost, but until I can see it, I’ll never know. The cost? $400. Ouch. But it’ll be better quality than I could ever have got back in the 80s or 90s due to new techniques (full frame CCD scanning), so I hope for nice results. Kodachrome is virtually fade proof, so the film should be good.

All my CD and DVD transfers (either to hard drive or to albums) are done, so now I can concentrate on physically boxing up the debris and taking stuff to op shops, Save the Children Fund book depots, bulk bins or wherever I can get rid of them. My efforts to give them away have met with little success, so out they go.

I talked to the chemist at North Beach today about three monthly pharmacy supplies. It turns out that as long as I have the prescriptions, he can do it by mail! He’s lived in Asia himself, working for the UN, and is fully au fait with what I’m doing. It seems I could just email him with a prescription renewal for three months’ worth, and he could post them to me in Bali. Excellent. It was going to cost me $400 or so every three months to come back, so that saves that cost. Wow. Can be done. Better and better.

I’m watching Grand Designs on TV at the moment, and recording it, but it’s an episode I’ve already got, Midlothian. I’ve realised the episodes on TV now are just repeats from 2-3 years ago… t’was ever thus.

I’ve heard from Bali, and there’s a ceremony being held on 8 March to bless my villa by the Balinese spirits. How about that? I should be there! I hadn’t planned it, but maybe I could go? I’ll check airfares. What a strange feeling – to think of visiting my other home on the spur of the moment. Wow!

Malam.

Another hot day! Will it never end? Sure, it was only 31C, but it feels cooler in Bali, I reckon. The forecast gives no end in sight. Over 30C for the next week. I’m running the aircon much more than I used to, and since power charges have risen so much, I shudder to think what it’s costing.

I took Minnie to the vet this afternoon. I must admit it’s been a while since she’s been there. She doesn’t mind going – it’s all excitement and lots of people to pant at. She’s a noisy dog! She pants noisily with excitement. There’s nothing wrong with her sight or hearing. Every movement, every sound makes her prick her ears up and look intently at the source.

Anyway, she’s 41Kg. Oh dear. I knew she’d put on weight, haven’t we all, but that’s a bit too much for a dog. The vet checked her over and she’s got a strong heart murmur, meaning a valve is not closing cleanly. It will be improved if she loses weight. Crumbs, it’s a worldwide epidemic, isn’t it? Humans are the same, including me. We’re all getting too fat. This is how the world ends, not with a bang, but with a BLOOP.

The local vet can’t do rabies vaccinations – I have to go to an “export vet”. Where? Dunno. Ask Google, or phone AQIS. Since I’m driving one of their old cars, they might be gald to see me.

The vet says Minnie has an adenoma on her bottom that needs to be removed (it’s already been done once and grew back! Can’t I get a refund?) and needs the warts on her head and neck removed, so I have to take her back in two weeks. But mainly, they finally, after 12 years, forced me into buying the dry dog food that almost rhymes with euthanasia. He insists that she has to lose at least 10Kg in the next month, or she may not get through the vet inspection in Bali. She also has a lot of retained fluid, just like me, and has to go onto a diueretic, just like me.

I’ve resisted this dry dog food tooth and nail for as long as I’ve had dogs. This dog food is imported from the USA and is labelled “Processed in USA”. That means the ingredients come from Mexico, I guarantee. But a 12Kg bag costs $117 !!!! That’s as expensive as human food such as good quality chicken. And why does it have to be imported from the USA? I can’t believe no Australian food is good enough. This is a vets’ racket! They all do it. I can’t remember a vet visit where I haven’t been heavily pressured to buy this imported fool’s gold.

But this time it all happened too fast and before I knew it, for a 20 minute consultation, with a vaccination and two lots of tablets to give her, plus a 12Kg bag of “Euthanasia” I had to pay $357 !!! No wonder the vet was telling me that he went through a divorce with his former wife where she got a share of a $10 million settlement.

So we came home at about 6pm and Minnie was too tired to do anything but flop. She looked at me to give her the meaty bone I usually give her, but I had to be cruel and tell her to “wait”. Then I doled out 4 cups of the Gold Nugget dog food. She wouldn’t even sniff it. No thank you, she says. I waited a while and pointed her at it again and she ate a little bit, but wasn’t interested in more than a couple of nibbles.

Well, I guess that proves the point. If she’s not hungry enough to even attempt it, then it won’t hurt her to go without. She’ll eat it if she’s hungry enough. This is the way to weight loss.

15 mins later: she came in and looked longingly at me, but I shooed her outside. She’s eaten most of the bowl, so that’s good. Sorry, Minnie! I’m being cruel to be kind. Someone needs to do that for me – put a padlock on the fridge and keep the key hidden.

I’m nearly finished the job of compressing all my music CDs and DVDs into albums or onto hard drives. I reckon there are more than 1200 CDs and about 250 DVDs. Now I’m copying all my CD-RWs of photos to hard drive, and filing all the manufacturer software CDs and DVDs that make a computer work. I’m almost finished! All my cabinet shelves are empty and I can take the cabinets to the op shops. Now for the books. What a job this is, but it’s a cleansing as well, so it’s all good in the end. Like an enema…

Later: Well, how about that? When I searched on “export vet”, it produced a list of vets in WA who are qualified to deal with animal exports. In the list is VetWest at Carine Glades. That’s only 5 minutes away and where I took Minnie when I first got her in 1998! Full circle. Ain’t that amazing?

I can even remember the day. Minnie was just a puppy – you know, the kind of beautiful Labrador pup featured in the toilet paper ads. She really was gorgeous at that age, only 4 months old. I bought her from the pet shop at Warwick Grove shops — $500 – that was a lot then , and still is.

I was so excited that I took her to work at Channel 7 one day – I can’t remember why, but I cradled her in my arms and took her to all the offices to show the ladies. Everyone went, “Ooooooh!” No-one can resist a beautiful Labrador puppy.

Then I can remember taking her to this same Carine Glades vet. She was in the back seat of my car and was a bit annoyed. She barked LOUDLY. Why am I being confined like this??? I want to get out and run around!!!

I had my Border Collie, Boopsie then, and I bought Minnie because Boopsie was too lonely. She was only about 18 months old, and she used to run away and hide under the lounge when I went to work. She didn’t want to be left alone. It breaks my heart even now when I think about it. I used to call her Little Dog, because she was small enough to fit under the kitchen cupboards.

I can remember the day I brought Minnie home for her. Boopsie was nearly two years old, so, very senior, and I had Minnie in my arms. I slowly lowered her down, worried about how Boopsie would react. She sniffed the newcomer for a few seconds and seemed OK, so I put Minnie down on the floor. Immediately, Boopsie began to play with her and they hit it off. Minnie played too, so it was fantastic. Minnie was really immature at that stage, only 4 months old, so Boopsie was her mentor, as it is in dog world.

Minnie’s name was always Minty, by the way, because she was white, lozenge shaped and I needed her. For my overseas readers, there’s always been an Australian advertisement that goes, “It’s moments like this you need Minties.” Well, I needed this white, sweet dog, so she became Minty. But that got shortened to Minnie.

Boopsie was always top dog. No way would she allow Minnie to have any authority (how about the human parallels?) and it even resulted in serious dog fights at times. Minnie still has a scar on her nose from a fight. But if Boopsie got on her nerves too much, Minnie used to growl so heavily that it reminded me of The Hounds of the Baskervilles. She let Boopsie know in the strongest terms that she wasn’t going to be bullied. Boopsie still tried it on, but she knew the limit.

My eyes are filled with tears as I write this. I’ve been advised by two people I thought were friends that I should have Minnie killed if I’m going to Bali. Yes, KILLED. They say “put down”, but they mean injected with a drug to make her die. Seriously.

Some people hate dogs, and some people have told me they hate my dogs in particular. All I can say is, there is something wrong with you. You know who you are. Anyone who could kick a dog… how could you??? DOG = GOD in my opinion. Chien au Dieu.

Chien au Dieu. You don’t understand.

Yep, the purple and green “Zoo Property” For Sale sign is on my lawn for all to see. No doubt the right side neighbours are celebrating.

The newspaper ads are being prepared this week and will appear soon, I’m not sure when. The schedule is to have the house open for inspection for two hours next Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th, and the same the following weekend 26th and 27th. I have to p–off while the house is open, but that’s no problem. I don’t want to be here. I asked if I need to get the professional cleaners in, but no, buyers will be told up front that the house is a “renovator’s dream” or a Bob the Builder project, so too bad. All I need to do is tidy it and green the front lawn as much as possible. No problem.

Pentax Australia, take a bow! The new Pentax camera I bought early last December had noticeable spots on images from the word go. I assumed I’d been careless and let dirt get inside, so I wasn’t going to do anything immediately.

But a notice appeared on Pentax USA that they’d found a manufacturing defect in their sensors which accounted for the spots. I contacted Pentax Australia and to cut a long story short, today I called in to their Perth office with my body. Camera body too.

I thought it would have to go to Melbourne head office for assessment, but no, they knew about it and just gave me a new body over the counter! Camera body, that is. New body? I wish!!!

I’ve been so busy I haven’t even opened the box yet, but I’m sure it’ll be fine. It’s easy to spot (pardon the pun) – all I need to do is take a shot of a white wall or white sheet. The spots will be obvious, or obvious by their absence. No worries. Thanks Pentax. Good service! Good recommendation!

Malam. So tired.

I’m not sure if my Bahasa is up to speed yet, but the heading means House for Sale. I was recommended (strongly recommended) to a friend of a friend who sells houses and he came here today for preliminary talks.

All I can say is, you have to trust someone and make a decision at some stage, so I’ve given him the go-ahead. He came across as enthusiastic and knowledgeable and didn’t try to snow me, so he’s coming back tonight with the papers for me to sign (authority to sell).

That rumour that you can’t sell a house without a stove? Just that, a rumour! I pulled the stove out a couple of months ago with the intention of putting it out for the junk collection, but I had to put it back last week because I believed the rumour. I needn’t have bothered – you don’t have to have a stove to sell a house. But it cleaned up nicely, so it doesn’t matter.

An electrician is coming on Thursday to install two RCDs and two smoke detectors, so I’ll get him to reconnect the stove, too.  This is probably going to be a waste of money because anyone who buys this house is probably going to demolish it, but the law must be obeyed.

How about this? The sales guy is entered into a yacht race from Fremantle to Bali in late April! He said he’ll come and visit me in Bali, so it’s a good incentive for him to get my house sold and for a good price, so that I can afford to pay for beds and furniture when he visits!

He also has long experience selling cars, so I took the opportunity to pick his brains about mine. Good news here too – it looks as if I should be able to get about $1500 more for it than I would have expected, not just by his estimation but by comparing it with similar cars for sale in Perth on the web. All contributions welcome.

The CD/DVD transfer process continues. Wow, I haven’t got a count yet but it must be well over 500 (see below). I’m finding CDs I’d forgotten about and will welcome hearing again.

Back in the 1980s when CDs first came on the scene, I remember that it was considered a measure of your hi-fi status by how many CDs you had in your collection. I think 50 was a lot then. How times change.

I’ve given up on trying to transfer (rip) them to hard drive – it’s too slow and too big a job. Instead, I’m taking only the disc and inner paper sleeve and putting them into CD “wallets” which hold 100. I can’t fit 100 as the paper bits make too much bulk, but there’d be 80 or so in each wallet and I’ve done five, so there are 400 in those alone, plus seven plastic boxes with about the same number in each – that’s 560, so that’s nearly 1000 already. I’ve still got five shelves to go! I’ve bought all BigW Karrinyup’s stock of the wallets, so I’ll have to go wider afield.

Later, 9pm: the salesman has been back and I’ve signed the papers, so the For Sale sign is up on the front lawn. This is a turning point in my life. Strange feeling.

My phone is now working (as of about 2pm today). Same number, different network, that’s all. I hope it will improve all the distortion, dropouts and fading you and I have been experiencing. If not, I’ll buy a new phone or swap networks or both.

Busselton thunderstorm, 1991

What??? department again.

I went to Bunnings today to buy a couple of small things, but mainly to get some cardboard boxes for all my packing. As you know, Bunnings has a whole wall of boxes for customers to use for their purchases. I’ve always assumed they want to get rid of them, because they must pile up at a huge rate.

So I loaded up my trolley with as many boxes as I could carry.

I walked out past the sentry lady (the Bunnings employee who checks you’re not stealing anything!) She looked at me with a sceptical leer and said, “You’re lucky it’s me. If it was the other lady, she wouldn’t let you out.” Yok yok!

What??? What have I done wrong? Was she saying I wasn’t allowed to have these boxes? I just said, “I’m moving” and kept walking but I was made to feel uncomfortable. I had been accused of something, what, I don’t know.

I’m the customer, dammit! She made me feel bad. What’s going on here? Looks like I’ll have to make a complaint to find out what I’ve done wrong. But how dare she?

What???? department, Case 2:

A couple of days ago I went through Woolies checkout with my groceries. I was putting them on the counter when I became aware that the checkout guy had stopped scanning them and had said something. I looked up and said “Pardon” to find him staring at me. He said, “How are you?” in a tone that demanded I answer. I said “Fine, thanks”, and he resumed scanning.

Take a bow, Zachary. You’ve asserted your youthful superiority, demanding that I answer your query about my health!

What is going on here? I’m tired of these demands that I explain what I have planned for the weekend, or if my day’s been good so far, or that I have a good night or weekend. I had another checkout guy calling me “Buddy” last year.

It looks like I might have to include this when I complain about being charged $1 each extra for three Italian panini rolls which went through as Danish Pastries!

Another day, another rant.

How about this! I’ve just phoned Vodafone’s free number to activate my new pre-paid SIM card. They ask me if I want to activate my SIM from the phone I’m using now. YES. Sorry sir, you are not yet a Vodafone customer. Please activate your account to proceed.

If it wasn’t so infuriating, it’d be funny. It means I have to go back to the shop at Karrinyup to sort it out. I pre-paid $20 on Monday, but I can’t use it… Yossarian, over here…

If you’re trying to phone me, you will not be getting through. SORRY!

The switch to the Vodafone network occurred sometime overnight, so I’m no longer with Virgin. But when I try to activate the new Vodafone SIM for my phone on the web site this morning, it won’t accept the key codes! So at the moment, I can’t phone out and no-one can phone in.

I assume I’ll be able to access a free call to activate the SIM, but I’m too busy at this moment. Grrrr. It always goes wrong. I’ve checked and double checked and rechecked and tried different combinations of those numbers, but nothing works.

I’ll keep trying, and trying, and trying, and trying… very trying.

The heading means News! Fresh!

Pertama [first]:Wow, it’s all moving along. Good news about Minnie. I’d been really worried about leaving her behind, or putting her through quarantine and all those unknowns.

Could you leave her behind? Dear deceased Boopsie at rear.

It looks like I needn’t have worried. The Indonesian Consulate web site tells me that as long as she comes from a rabies free country (of course), and provided she’s been vaccinated against rabies and is in generally good health, with a vet’s certificate, she won’t have to go through quarantine at all.

All I have to do is fill out a form, (giving her name – yes, Minnie Croft …) and address (Villa 3, Jalan Blanjong, Sanur) she just arrives from her flight and I collect her, in the presence of a vet in Bali. She won’t even need to collect her baggage ;-))

What a relief! I reckon she’ll love it up there. As long as she’s with me, she’ll be happy. Without me, she won’t. And neither will I. Simple as that.

Minnie with friends, 2001

However, I’ve just realised that her collar is missing, with her council licence tag. Oh dear. I have no idea when it went missing or where to look. The only problem is that I shouldn’t walk her in public without the licence tag, so a ranger could, in theory, take her away. I’ll just have to ask at the council offices for a new tag.

Kedua: [second] I had the real estate agents here today and the valuation of my house is lower than I had hoped. Not by much, I suppose, but a significant amount. I can’t argue – it’s just the value in the street, and the fact that the market is a bit down.

They wanted me to list this weekend! Oooh, that’s a bit scary. I said, just let me clear more out, first. It’s hard to think that you could actually be required to leave your house of 25 years in a few weeks, but that’s what I’m committed to, so I can’t complain. I just have to buckle down and start packing those boxes. Wish it wasn’t so hot!

I’ve had friends here this afternoon and I don’t think I’ll lack for visitors and company in Bali. We’re all excited, and I’m looking forward to seeing friends up there.

Crispy duck with friends at Yudhi’s restaurant. Fantastic.

I forgot to mention – as some of you may have noticed, my mobile phone has been a right royal pain lately. Fading, distortion, dropping out, terrible reception. I HAVE CHANGED CARRIERS. I’m tired of the virgins I’ve been with – so many problems!

So as from Thursday, I’m with Vodafone, so we’ll see what happens. It was cheap and easy to switch. If the new carrier doesn’t perform, I’ll buy a new phone, or switch again, or both.

More later. Malam.