Lovely day today. It reached 24.8C yesterday, yay! And starting Sunday, 24, Mon 27, Tues 26, Wed 25… Aaaah, Spring ist sprungin’

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Look what I’ve bought:

I found it on eBay, GBP15, with postage and GST about A$45. I couldn’t resist.

In case anyone is wondering, my nickname is Bull, hence all the references to Bull’s Roar, bulldust and so on. I was given that nickname when some kid put a boiling hot teaspoon on my leg under the table in my first few days at boarding school when I was 14. Apparently I roared like a bull. It’s stuck with many of my old school friends and I don’t mind the name.

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I’ve often thought about this: you might know your own name, but you can’t actually prove who you are. Not unless you were tattooed at birth with an identifier, or had your DNA taken at an early age so that it could be matched now.

I have my original 1947 birth certificate that I’d wave if I were challenged, but some other person could steal that from me and assume my identity. I have lots of photos of myself going way back, but my name has been added by me so it doesn’t prove anything beyond doubt. Just a thought.

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I’ve had two calls on my mobile phone (my “handy”) this morning. One was from Greenpeace. I’ve responded to some of their appeals in the past and made a few donations, but I don’t want any more involvement than that. This call was from a young sounding guy who started massaging me and I could tell he was leading on to ask me for a donation. As I said, I’m not a big supporter of Greenpeace because I think they go too far at times, so I just said “Sorry, I don’t want to continue this call” and hung up. Damn, I don’t want calls like this. I usually give my phone number as 0499 999 999 or similar, but they’ve got my real number. Grrr.

Then the second one was from Telstra – “Your internet connection is going to be cut off…” I hung up on that one too, but damn, they’ve not only got my landline number but now my mobile as well. Damn, damn, damn them. It’s a plague, a fungus getting through the cracks.

The caller number showed, so maybe I could block it, but there’ll be a next time. Pests!

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I’m installing my new Epson Ecotank 7700 printer, and wow, ten big bottles of ink. There seems to be two of each of four colours and black. The black ink bottles are about 250ml and the colours are about 150ml. I will be very happy with this, I think. I’ve found it has a CD printing tray as well, which I didn’t see in the specs. I use that frequently and definitely want it. Hooray!

Along with shifting the desk and replacing a blown halogen downlight that’s been nagging me for some time, and being able to do away with a long USB cable to the printer (wi-fi connection) and tossing two old printers, satisfaction.

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I ordered two 2TB hard drives, the spinning type, from Amazon and I’ve had two emails from them in the past week saying they are coming with DHL delivery, but not when.

Then this morning I got another two emails saying they will be delivered today by DHL. Well, I need to go out and at 3.15pm nothing has arrived*. There’s no tracking on DHL’s emails so I can’t tell where they are or when they’ll be here.

This is yet another poor service from DHL. I’ve had a few bad experiences with them and I wouldn’t use them in a fit. Not happy.

*PS 3.30pm: DHL has just dropped off my two packages, but they’re not the hard drives, they’re two copies of the Croft History 2nd edition I ordered for my USA cousins. I ordered three – where’s the third?

I need to post them on to the USA so I don’t want to open them. But I’m too tempted.

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From Crikey.com.au today: Emirates check in According to a tipster, the foreign staff sacked by Emirates in Dubai midyear are having a very tough time leaving the United Arab Emirates by the deadlines set by the government-owned airline.

Under UAE law, the staff must sell up all their assets — and it’s not exactly a seller’s market: if they can’t settle their debts, they are threatened with jail. The UAE has no bankruptcy laws, so anyone who misses car or credit card repayments, or defaults on their mortgage is at serious risk. It’s why the country has, for example, thousands of abandoned luxury cars.

According to our tipster, Emirates is not helping with their departures. Nor, they say, does the Australian government seem particularly interested in helping these people get home.

It’s a pity people go there just to earn the big money, then find themselves in this kind of trouble. What a nasty place where you can go to jail for such minor reasons and be denied legal or consular aid. Nasty people. Stay away!

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OK, now I can go out. I need a big sink plunger and a new sink P trap. My bathroom basin has been clogged (slow draining) for ages and I’ve removed the existing plastic P trap to clear it. But the seal is damaged and I can’t get it to re-seal. It’s cheaper and quicker to buy a new one.

But, Oh my legs!! I’m trying to work way low down under the bench and my muscles, the ones I’ve got left, are protesting loudly. I hate getting old.