Inside every cloud, there’s a silver lining. It’s an ill wind that blows no-one any good. It’s always darkest before the dawn. Cliche, cliche, cliche…

It looks as if things are going to work out better than I feared, much better. Too early to say yet, but it looks like the villa in Bali is going to be possible after all, without having to leave my home, and to the great benefit of family members. We’ll know for sure sometime in July/August. Hold thumbs (the South African version of cross fingers).

I went to the Stirling Recycling Centre yesterday, (the tip, in other words, but the part where they separate out whole items and accept castoffs). What a treasure trove! Furniture, electrical, electronic, tools, building materials, books, blinds, you name it. I was thinking, “Why would you buy anything new? It’s all here.”

The problem is you can’t try anything out that needs power. I saw a floor scrubber that would have done nicely, but does it work? I need an inverter, that takes 12V DC from your car cigar lighter and turns it into 240V AC. You only need it briefly, so it doesn’t need to be big or expensive. Hmmm.

Then there’s the furniture. I saw a corner lounge I would have been quite happy to buy, $50, but how to transport it? They have a delivery service, they say, but Trigg is too far they also said. Friend with trailer needed, methinks.

Of course, I saw one of my items there, a low bookcase from 1983 or so. How do I know? My driver’s licence number was there in texta in an inconspicuous place. But it was water damaged, so I don’t want it back.

More exploring to be done there, and they’re open every day, except Christmas and Boxing Days and Good Friday.

I did buy one thing: a book, Footfall by Niven and Pournelle, for $1. Wow. It seems to be an SF book along the lines of an idea I’ve had for ages. We’ll see how good it is.

I’m gradually getting my entertainment corner set up again, with amplifier, Tannoy speakers, DVD recorder etc. Problem is, if I want to have a new floor covering, I’ll have to pull it apart again. Ugh! I’ll try to minimise how much I put in.

I also fixed my TV antenna during the week by lowering it down (it’s about 10m up on a steel pole) and refixing the element that had broken its rivet. But when I got it back up again, I realised one of the guy wires had fallen off. Dammit. So today, three broomsticks taped together and I managed to hook the guywire on again, (after multiple tries!) and it’s no longer wobbly in the wind.

I have an invitation to a brekky with a couple of mates this coming week, but it’s at 9am. That means I’ll have to get up before then. Urrrrgggh.