Crikey, it comes around suddenly, doesn’t it? But what beautiful weather we’re having right now. About 27º – 29º day after day, and soft breezes. Nice cool sea breeze.

I finally got the Honda MDX air conditioning re-gassed yesterday. That’ll be $150 please, plus $10 for replacement Schrader valves.

But then the guy noticed oily residue on one of the compressor hoses and found a joint was leaking. I give him credit, if he hadn’t noticed it, my gas would have just leaked out again. The joint was behind the front grille and it took him a full half hour to fix. So that was another $50. Ouch. Still, had to be done, and it sure is nice to have the cold air again, after a couple of summers of procrastinating.

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I had a busy week last week: a lunch with mates on Tuesday, where I came away wondering just who my “mates” are. It’s our 60th high school anniversary next year and I would like to invite a lady who is an ex-NSHS student (from the 1980s). She’s a Federal Member of Parliament, no less.

So I mentioned this to one of my longest-time friends sitting next to me: “How would you feel if I invited XXX XXXXX to the runion next year?” There was about 5 seconds of silence, and then he said, “Where do you draw the line?”

What!! What???!! I was embarrassed and offended. I should have said, “Why does there have to be a line?”, but being meek and mild I let it pass. Then he said, “What if we invited Norman Moore?” He’s a former Head Boy at the school and a very prominent former Liberal Party member of the WA parliament.

This is the point: my choice is the Labor Party member for Pearce, and they think I’m going to turn her visit into a Labor recruitment drive, a political rally/soap box speech. What?! I am fucking furious about this.

This is the second time I’ve had this crap, and that means I’ve decided I’m pulling out of the committee. I’m not going to put up with this bullshit any more. Unfortunately, many of the ex students are country people and farmers, which means they are ultra conservative, anti-Labor.

I’m fuming.

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Ha ha. I hang my head in shame. I’ve become somewhat used to Facebook ads which, if you fall for the sales pitch and buy, turn into an endless series of reassuring emails that tell you, “Your product has been packed”; “Your item has been despatched”; “Your item is in Customs”; “Your item is in transit”, and so on and on. I have a strong suspicion that these are prepared emails that their computer just selects every couple of days and sends to give you the impression that all is well.

Trouble is, the item never comes. Eventually the emails stop and you’ve lost your money.

So when I was getting emails in the past week of the identical look and feel as the scam ones, I thought my $27 purchase of a sushi maker was a lost cause.

So I lost my temper and sent an email to the company, saying “BULLSHIT!!” and accusing them of being a scam. That was last Thursday or Friday.

Well, you guessed it – my sushi maker arrived on Monday! Erm, colour me enbarrassed. Pleased, but feeling a bit silly. So yesterday I sent an email apologising and explaining why I was rude. Luckily they took it in good spirit (this is a USA company) and all’s well that ends well. I’ve learnt my lesson once again, don’t do things in a fit of temper.

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Even though I can’t get Ozempic, semaglutide, at the moment (supply problems), it still seems to be having an effect. I’ve lost 9kg since April, a kilo this week. Whacko. This is the easiest and most successful weight loss since my big 28kg loss in 2007/2008.

I still feel a bit tummy upset with loss of appetite, which is what you’re supposed to feel. Therefore I’m not eating much and losing weight.

Supply is supposed to resume at the end of this month. I hope so.

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I’ve just received my 17th camera, a Sony Alpha 6100 digital. Yeah, a bit extravagant, I agree, but I get bored otherwise 🙂

It’s a 24Mega pixel body with exceptional auto-focus capability, 12 frames per second fast shooting if you want it, 4K 60fps video, in a style like the older Leica cameras:

I bought it for a reason: I have three Zeiss Contax lenses from my film days, lenses which are legendary for their sharpness and image quality. But they are oddball auto-focus lenses. They don’t have a focus ring, being designed to be auto-focus on the Contax G bodies only. I’ve had them for twenty years and since I don’t shoot film any more (too expensive, too difficult to get processed etc), they sit on the shelf unused. To be honest, I never got a decent photo with them on the Contax bodies anyway.

But a couple of years ago, a Chinese company brought out an adapter to take these lenses (28mm, 35mm and 90mm) and fit them to a Sony E-mount body with full autofocus and electronic control (aperture).

Of course, I couldn’t resist and bought the adapter. So I had to buy a Sony camera to take it. I blundered! I bought a Sony body on Facebook Marketplace, an Alpha 3500, for $150, complete with a Sony 18-55mm lens. (And made a long but pleasant drive down to Mandogalup to the owner’s house. She was a real enthusiast because she was replacing the Sony with a Canon R5. That’s an expensive – $2,000 approx. buy. Plus new lenses.)

But I didn’t realise, that model is not suitable for this adapter. It’s a perfectly good camera, autofocus and everything, but it doesn”t talk to my adapter. Duh! Anyone want to buy a good Sony camera?

So here we are two years later and I’ve recovered from my blunder and bought this one, which should work with the adapter and give me AF with my Zeiss lenses. I’ve just been charging the battery and I’m about to find out.

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Plus, I’ve finally bitten the bullet and ordered four new tyres for the Mitsi Verada. My mate, who borrowed the car and kept it for 16 months (!), returned it with the rear tyres completely shot, illegal in fact. It’s been sitting out in the laneway for about three months as I’m too scared to drive it. if the cops saw it …

So Friday, the RAC are coming to fit new tyres on all four wheels, with balancing and alignment. That’ll be a big relief! But there’s another problem – the LCD display of kilometres and trip distance etc in the speedo display has gone almost blank. There’s only a strange character, no distance indication.

I’m 90% certain that the car’s “computer” (ECU) needs resetting and I’m pretty sure I’ve found out how to do it (Mitsubishi Owners Club on the web). It involves disconnecting the battery for 10 mins or so, reconnecting it, then going through a sequence of gear shifts and it should reset itself. Should. Hmmm. Wish me luck.