Renovating Tip #74 - Fresh Paint Fixes Everything

Following on from this:

As of last weekend, we now have this:


Isn't it pretty! It's a removable hills hoist - the top folds down and you can pull it out of the ground, and hide it away. Helpful for:
A) cyclones, and
B) driving over it to get into the back yard.

I've also learnt that I'm only marginally better at concreting than I am at paving, and I suck pretty bad at paving. Still, with 5 x 10kg bags of concrete holding it in, it shouldn't be going anywhere any time soon. I'm a bit concerned with how plastic-y the new hoist is - doesn't really seem built to last. But considering that the old one was *completely* galvanised (even the crank handle), and even ran wire rope for the clothesline part, anything even slightly younger is probably going to use more modern materials in it's construction. Still, I'm not going to guess how old the old one is, and it still works perfectly...

The line itself is slightly smaller than the old one, which suits us fine. We didn't have that much space to put it in, so this size lets us keep it down the side near the laundry, but without cutting the garden back too badly so clothes don't snag on trees. It's the smallest one they make, in fact. It wasn't until the concrete was all set three days later that I realised that it might not be long enough along the sides for drying queen-sized bed sheets. I still don't know if it will be - I guess I'll find out on the weekend.

Also, on the weekend, we painted the back fence. It's still dangerously decrepit, but at least now it looks less hideous. As Stevie would say - "Good from Far, Far from Good".

What it used to look like:


What it now looks like:


$25 worth of fence paint well spent! We've obviously only painted till just behind the second palm tree - as we uncover more of the garden we'll paint the exposed fence as we go. Hey - I already said it wasn't a good job! We painted everything - the fence, the sheet of iron we attached 3 years ago to cover a large gaping hole, star pickets which hold the iron up, as well as other star pickets that hold the fence itself up - everything got a coat of Ironbark Blue. Trees near the fence and creepers growing on it simply got brushed aside for long enough to slap some paint underneath them, then they got moved back. It's hard to tell from my dodgy photo, but it's really made it so much nicer than it was.

Talking about fences - we've got a visitor for a couple of days:


Max is up staying with us while Trev & Kelli get a new fence put it along the back of their place. Badger's kinda ready for him to go home already though. They mostly get on well, except if there's food involved. Max doesn't particularly want to eat the food, but he'll be damned if he lets Badger eat any. Meal times usually involve dragging each dog to opposite ends of the patio to feed them (something which confuses Badger greatly, as he's a little OCD about where he should have his dinner), and then standing guard in the middle. It's good fun. That said, he's no problem to have, and it's nice to be able to repay our dog-sitting debt, after BAdger has spent so long living at their place every time we're away.

It's Here!

Woo-hoo! That was quick! Superb service from BikeBiz - can't recommend them enough! It even arrived with a little handwritten note saying thanks for shopping with them, and they hope I enjoy the gear! How nice is that!


Love the retro, Italian-coloured packaging! Everything was wrapped up in bubble wrap and air cushions, and the mug even had extra bubble wrap around the outside of it's box as well. I certainly wasn't waiting till I got home to open it all up - just ignore the messy office desk and apple!


And with the tinted visor fitted:


I love it already! Fits perfectly, looks cool, nice and light - everything I wanted. Now I'll have an excuse to ride to work tomorrow!

New Toy on Order

After months of uming-and-ahhing about it, I've finally ordered my new helmet. Should be here early next week. It's a Nolan N41 in matt black - I decided to go something a bit different this time. I've ordered a tinted visor to go with it, and because they offer discounted shipping if the order's over $300, a Yamaha coffee mug to just nudge me over that magic mark. I'm looking forward to getting it - the few places that do stock the N41 only sell the N41 "classic" in white or gloss black. I really wanted the matt black, even if it was a little more expensive. The obvious option was to buy a cheaper gloss black one and take to it with a matt black spray can, but I don't trust my abilities with matt paint that much! It's more than I wanted to spend, but Nolan is a good brand, so it should last a long time.

I tried an N41 on in Moorooka Yamaha's showroom last time I was in Bris, and the Medium size seemed to fit well (I'm a Large in the Arai), so that's what I've ordered here. I don't like ordering helmets or other safety gear online - as a rule I want to try on the exact article I'll be buying, to make sure the fit is perfect. Plus, if I'm going to take up a dealership's (and usually also a salesman's) time, and browse through their selection, then I like to support them with a sale, even if I can get it cheaper online. Part of that's purely selfish though - if everyone bought online, then the dealerships would stop stocking helmets, and then I'd have nowhere to go to try them on and make sure they fit. So it's a bit self-serving as well. However, with only a few dealerships actually stocking the N41's (none up here), and, as mentioned above, none of those stocking the colour I wanted, we had to take a punt.

The old Arai was still perfectly fine on the outside, but the inner lining had disintegrated. It's probably 5-6 years old now, and the recommendation is to replace a helmet at the 5 year mark, even if it's still in perfect condition. The reason being that over time and use, the foam that actually protects your head degrades, hardens and is compacted. The end result is a helmet that doesn't fit as tightly, and that doesn't afford as much protection in a crash. I'm still a bit annoyed that I didn't spend the extra $100 originally and get the version with the removable liner. In that case, I could just replace the liner itself now and keep on using it. But for the crash-worthiness reasons mentioned above, it's probably better that I'm not tempted.

Of course, Jess' solution to the problem of needing a new helmet was to sell the bike. A perfectly rational response, given how much use it gets. However, now I've gone and done this, I may as well pay the rego and insurance on it that's currently due. That should neatly take up what little money we do have at the moment!