Wish it still looked like this. Freshly laid last year. Very dry now. Spraying with soil wetter, Lawn Rescue and a general lawn fertiliser later, plus better reticulation will, I hope, restore it.

I finally got a reticulation repairer here yesterday and no wonder my system wasn’t working properly. As he said, it doesn’t appear to have had any work done since the house was built in 2004.

First, no wonder there was little pressure. There was a broken joint on the far side of the house which was almost creating a pond. Once that was fixed, whoa ho, almost too much pressure. Oodles of it now. Thank goodness.

Second, the reason the mini sprinklers on the new garden bed I had built last year weren’t working is because they were all blanked off, except one, by the line being connected to the stopper point on the mini sprinkler. One the lines were switched to the open valves, away they went. So why did the landscapers leave my system in a non-operational state last year? Grrr.

Third, two of the popups on the back lawn were blocked, so it was only getting the centre popup at reduced pressure.

Fourth, a popup on the front verge was broken and robbing what little pressure there was from the others. Replace that and clear the others and I have a good coverage again.

Finally, reprogram it for the correct days (I thought mine were Wed/Sat but he swears it’s Tue/Sat) so I’m legal.

He did three hours and only charged me for 2½ so I was pleased. For once I wasn’t left gnashing my teeth at a tradesman. He’ll get more work from me, for sure.

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What goes around … I’ve just booked at the Aquarius Hotel in Sanur for a few nights, and it’s resonant with the Aquarius Hotel in Earls’ Court, London, in 1974. A bit different in style, that’s for sure. There wasn’t a pool at the Earls’ Court place.

That’s the beach at the end of the street above, about 250m. I seriously hope to get up before dawn and set my tripod up on the beach to get the dawn over the ocean and Lembongan, with Agung on the horizon.

That’s directly opposite the hotel entrance. I’ll let you guess where. I suspect I’ll be dropping in there from time to time.

Now, I still have two nights booked at Ubud. Will I try again for Kintamani before Ubud? Still thinking about it.

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I’ve just booked my rental car to get from home to the airport when I leave for Bali. I have no confidence whatever that a taxi would pick me up from here at 4.30am on a Sunday and take me to the airport, nor for less than $100.

I’ve booked a Corolla for Saturday 12th Dec, which I will collect in Adelaide Terrace, drive home (visiting friends on the way), then drop off at the airport on Sunday morning at 6.00am. Cost? $52. Neat solution, I think. Now, nothing could go wrong, could it … ?

I should add that my initial choice was Avis but when I went ahead with the booking at an advertised price of $55 for the day, I discovered that they add another $30 for a “relocation fee”, i.e. transfer from the airport back to the Perth depot. Bloody hell. As if they wouldn’t have any customers picking up at the airport.

Therefore they lost my business. I’m not putting up with a fee being hidden until you proceed with the booking. Get lost, Avis. I went with Thrifty. They add a fee, but it’s only $7 and it’s disclosed early.

Garuda seems to fly regardless of ash clouds. Erk.

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I was supposed to go to Tai Chi this morning but I had another of my nearly sleepless nights. Consequently I was far too groggy to drive at 9am. Pity. I’ll try next week.

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Next episode of Fargo tonight. I missed last week’s but I’ve got it recorded so I’d better watch it early. What a violent show this is!! This is America, glorifying guns and violence as if that’s what makes men into men.

So why am I watching it? Good question. It has a morbid fascination to it, is all I can say.

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I must admit I’m absorbed by Who Dares Wins on SBS as well. This is also tough guy stuff, but much, much gentler, surprising to say. I sure wish I had that toughness.

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But SBS are driving me mad!!!! with their promos. The same promos over and over and over and over again. This is repetitiveness overdone. It’s so bad that I record all the programs I want to watch and fast forward through the breaks later.

As for Channel 7 and Channel 9 competing with each other to see who can show the most episodes of Big Bang Theory, what the … ? Seven showed six episodes last night, I think, and Nine showed three. They even show the same episode on the different channels sometimes. I’ve started keeping a list of who’s showing what episodes. Even I’m reaching saturation point.