h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well, the five months without rain and scorching, often 40deg C temps was broken today... not just broken, but smashed.

We had a city wide (50km radius) major storm come through , (in two waves) this afternoon/evening, hail the size of golf balls, torrential rain, (an inch in just over 1/2 hour, and another inch in the second storm) along with gale force winds.

This created havoc, with smashed windscreens and windows, roof tiles being smashed through, trees falling, and just general mayhem with power outages, train failures, and tunnel flooding and what not.

Made for a fun night at work.....I work in a hardware warehouse. We now have no tarpaulins, 'cept the very expensive ones) out of smaller sheets of plywood, plastic rolls have been decimated, mops, buckets and brooms have walked out the store, batteries and torches have also been well and truely picked over, also tealight candles and matches, along with holders.

We had power coming and going, when the storm was going fully we had water cascading in the doors as the drains couldn't handle it, you also couldn't hear anything other than the hails smashing the roof, a down pipe above where the concrete powder bags are, busted.........several $1000 of concrete will soon be a hardened mess, even stock we had tarped in the yard got wet, as the rain was sometimes horizontal with the wind driving it in all sorts of places.

Riding home was fun....not, at least the rain had stopped, but the roads where covered in tree debris, and glass, also several major intersections had no working lights.

But at least we finally got rain! biggrin

I'm glad you've finally had some rain, but I'm sure everyone wishes it had come a little more gently... It must have been Perth's turn; Melbourne copped it a couple of weeks ago.

Do you have a garden/plant nursery section as part of the store? If so, I assume that copped a hiding.

My big news, as I've mentioned here and there about the site is that tomorrow I have to make my 'best and final' offer on a house. My finances will be stretched to the absolute limit if I get the place but it will be worth it - even if it is in Gungahlin. The area's coming along in leaps and bounds (if you can use that metaphor for buildings) and I'm reasonably confident it will turn out well. But my nerves are frayed, wondering what's going to happen and if I'll get the house or not.

I am sure you will get it, I will keep my talons crossed for you *hugs*

and in further news, my former flatmate (and fiance) are now homeless, that storm flooded the flat to knee deep, wrecking the laminate floors, the carpets, fridge, stove, lounge suite and probably the chipwood cupboards as well, and my elliptical walker I just finished paying for last month

I hope the real estate can find them somewhere else soon (and will let them out of lease and return the bond)

I never thought about the poor garden section I will make enquires tomorrow

Bloody hell. I didn't know the storm had destroyed homes - I thought it wasn't that extreme. Blimey.

Speaking of destroyed things, I didn't get that house. Some parasite of an investor offered more than half a million. The agent is shocked. I'm gobsmacked. It was not worth that much.

I'm getting drunk. Boag's Classic Blonde. Nice beer, more complex than blondes usually are. But who cares how good it is, I just want to dodge reality for a while.

oh bugger about the house

parts of Perth have been declared disaster areas, and so far there is an estimated $100 million or damages, panel beaters are saying it my be up to 2 years to get the 25000 damaged cars all fixed!

There are no other houses right now that look like good options for me. How tiresome.

Lucky old panel beaters, to have a guaranteed source of w*rk. Pity about all the damage - I can't see a bright spot apart from the fact that the water's useful.

I kind of like Gillard. I don't like her politics, she is clear and honest about what her politics are. Rudd was too fake for me, and spent too much time weaseling out of traps that he thought were being laid, caveating everything he said. Gillard tells you what she thinks – she's still careful with her words, but she doesn't let that get in the way of communicating.

I find Abbot (even though i can't stand him) to be a bit the same – you're never in doubt what he really thinks.

It should be a great campaign – two politicians who genuinely believe in something, and aren't afraid to tell people what that something is. An election campaign based around policies not politicians. Has potential to be a once in a generation affair.

The upcoming times could be very interesting.

In other news, winter has finally arrived in perth!, thank glod for that wonderful doona I have



p.s glad the move went well

Yes, Gillard's politics aren't exactly a complete match with mine, but she's a highly effective Minister (unlike some I've had dealings with) and I'm convinced she'll be a good PM.

I think Rudd should leave politics and go into the corporate world. Surely he'd be welcome on the board of any major mining company...

And yes, whatever one thinks of Abbott/People Skills/Papal Skills/Crusader Rabbit/Captain Catholic/the Mad Monk, at least his opinions are clearly displayed. (And who was it that said one nickname means people like you, more than one means people hate you?)

My mother is delighted that Gillard's taken over. It's nothing to do with the first-woman-PM thing; it's because now there's a clear choice come election day.

don't know if you got my MSN message

if you wanna pick up some cheap paint that is very good quality, keep an eye on your local Bunnings. Bunnings has deleted the entire range of Nippon paints

9am Tuesday morning, the entire firm got sacked!

might be best to choose a dulux, or BP colour though, as shortly we may not be able to match nippon colours in those paints, part of the 3 year 'exclusive to Bunnings' was that the other companies couldn't match their tints to nippon colours, even though nippon was allowed to match other companies colours, so I don't know if the other companies have picked up the nippon range and held it back or not.

The scuttlebut is that Taubmans have done a deal with Bunnings the included getting rid of Nippon (who have had a major impact on Taubmans). They got their range halved when Nippon was brought on board, now they get it back again........payback is bitch!

Sorry, I haven't been on MSN the last few days; I find it a time thief and I've been trying to get other things done.

Anyway. Paint. I haven't picked colours yet, and probably won't finalise things until December at this rate. Sadly, I guess this means I won't be using Nippon. Drats.

I'm making progress, though - bookshelves delivered last weekend, new washing machine coming today (combined washer/dryer), lawn poisoned succesfully... The curtains are still on order, though, and I don't want to pick paint until I've seen the curtains in place and I can see how the light falls, etc.

ohh sounds like alot is happening this weekend

can totally understand about the curtains, they can make or break a room, so yes, it is better to wait

The new washing machine is a startling thing - so hi-tech, so quiet and so bloody heavy. It does the job, which is the main thing.

I'm desperate for the new curtains to turn up. They'll completely change the look of things.

combined washer/dryer sounds rather interesting, does it automatically dry the clothes straight after washing them, or is a manual kinda thing?

It's a manual thing - you can set a drying cycle as part of the wash, or you can leave it out. It's brilliant. I've tried both options now and there will be more experiments soon.

ohhhhhhhh that sounds fun

Good clean fun, one might say...

This weekend, by contrast, I'm going to start ripping the garden apart. There's so much to clear out before I can start putting in the things I want. It's tiring just thinking about it.