patches

Had me a quick gander at the local pricing here. Mid and top spec models available now. Entry level on pre-order for mid-August. *exchange rate is roughly 10 ZAR to 1 NZD With my only eBike experience being a entry level rental eMTB for a touristy trail ride with my wife (non-cyclist), I am definitely not qualified to advise. But, here in hobbit-land, most MTBing is hilly, twisty forest single track. 15km on these trails feels like 50km of what I was used to (but that may just be my appalling fitness). Hardly any XC bikes out and about. Most riders are on 140mm - 160mm bikes. Trail and enduro styles of riding capture the majority of the market, so eBikes are becoming more prevalent as riders chase the thrill not the burn or the clock. I think this "mid-eBike" will be well placed to entice a few fence-sitters over to the assisted side. Hell, if I had the money, I would buy one, I think it's one of the best looking eMTBs out there!

I wish NZ would hold the government and politicians as accountable as they hold the All Blacks and their coach 😅

Aaand I'm back on to Solar Opposites (with Season 3 now out) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8910922/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 Very similar style to Rick & Morty (thanks to Justin Roiland). In some ways I prefer it to the more recent seasons of Rick & Morty as they try too hard to be insane, or try carry a joke to long. Personal preference (like I prefer American Dad to Family Guy for similar reasons), but enjoy all of the above. Worth a watch for those who have not seen it before but like a bit of odd sci-fi-ish humour.

I live in an area where I've had 2 power outages in 6 years. The longest was about 1hr. The other was 10min. Without getting into the great emigration debate (as those threads can turn toxic and get shut down very quickly), I can say that whilst 1st world countries bring 1st world services, they also bring 1st world prices and 1st world problems. And whilst 1st world problems can be objectively trivial, they have the potential to bring as much anxiety, unhappiness, frustration and anger as far bigger issues. That's the beauty of being human. The ability to soldier on through hardship with a smile, or blow small things totally out of proportion. But yeah, load shedding sucks so kudos to those on here making their own plans.

So after hypocritically stating that I'm selling off my Ryobi tools to reduce down on battery platforms, I went and invested in a new one for this... Bosch GEX 18V 125mm Random Orbital Sander. Influenced by Project Farm's shootout (and other reviews) the Bosch seemed like a top contender. I like its lower profile, and on control, dust collection, vibration, and noise it seemed to smash the competition. It also hooks up nicely to my little Makita 2x 18V dust extractor The cheapest way I could find to get onto the Bosch Professional 18V platform was to buy a brushless hammer drill kit with 2x 4.0Ah batteries. and a charger. I should recoup some money though the sale of the unneeded drill, and the free 40M laser measure claimed through a Bosch promotional offer. Looking around the garage now, I realize I need to do something about battery and charger storage. 7 platforms 7 chargers 18 batteries

New nail gun day today. Upgrading the 18ga Ryobi brad nailer with a Milwaukee version (trying to cut back on them battery platforms). Brushless motor (more power), bump-fire mode and reduced hammer marks and here it is, dwarfed, next to the big-boy nail gun

Yup Labour Day, October 24th is the next one. So 4 months between Matariki and that one.

I very nearly made more terrible financial decisions yesterday. Bunnings (big box hardware store in Aus and NZ) currently has a deal on a 9 piece AEG cordless tool kit. Usually the kit is $2,000 (approx R20,000), but at the moment that have it for $1,600. 20% off for tools that would cost well over $3,500 if purchased individually) PLUS, one gets a free 10" mitre saw and stand (valued at $850) via online redemption. If I didn't have most of those tools and hadn't just sold one of those exact mitre-saw stand combo's, my wallet wouldn't have survived the window shopping.

The bad... It's that time of year when it's the long-weekend drought. No public holidays for 4 months (unless you live in Hawkes Bay or South Canterbury). I may need to make my own long weekends. 17x 5 days weeks in a row sounds terrible! haha

Just finished watching The Terminal List (Amazon). https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11743610/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 I wouldn't say it's groundbreaking as it's the generic "former special forces commander gets wronged and wrapped up in a conspiracy and goes out for vengeance" story line, like half-a-dozen other shows/movies. It was enjoyable easy watching, but not sure it deserves and 8.2 rating.

Not cycling related... not even running related (as I am far too lazy), but decided to purchase some new "work shoes". I wear tekkies most days as I walk to and from the bus stop and run around the hospital. I only change into more formal shoes or safety-boots if I'm attending big-boy meetings or wandering around construction areas. Ashamedly this is the 2nd most expensive footwear I have ever purchased. MX boots being first. I know these are an overkill for walking shoes, but I just liked the look 😅 (I better grab my flame-suit for when the running thread peeps see this, haha) On Running Cloudace

Yeah, my wife spent a lot of time looking at her phone or iPad during those scenes (it's her defence mechanism), but overall enjoyed the humour and drama of the show. I think what made matters worse is that we haven't had kids (yet), so some of those scenes may have had a birth-control effect on her 😅

Just started watching this last night: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13111040/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 2 episodes in and I'm really enjoying it. Anyone else watching it?

We have some close friends (originally from Perth) moving back. Family, house prices, and salaries are the biggest drivers. He's an engineer but decided to leave consulting and do his teachers degree, and although teachers salaries here are vastly higher than SA , they are still a fair bit lower than Australia (especially for graduate teachers). Being from Perth they also struggle to get their heads around the $1.2m+ house pricing in Auckland. they've showed us what $800k in Perth gets one and it's almost tempting. (That said, the mental jump for us Saffers is way bigger. Imagine a R12m house in an SA equivalent suburb... seems completely absurd and out-of-reach). They have admitted that as a city they prefer Auckland, and Perth does feel isolated from the rest of Aus. But after a 5yrs "OE" they are returning home (for a bit). My wife (Aussie) has hinted at the prospect of an Aussie stint for us, once I get my NZ citizenship (aka 2nd class Aussie residency). But that would more likely be to "Seed-nee' (the kiwi pronunciation) as he family is there, and anything more than 3hrs away means we may as well stay in NZ (borders remaining open and all that).

I asked my wife (she's the head of global mobility for a large NZ corporate) and she said (as suspected): "no immigration issues if the individual isn't physically working in Australia", and that "tax implications are dependent on the individuals remuneration arrangement with the employer". (Disclaimer: She's not an immigration adviser so takes no responsibility, hahaha) Considering the massive uptake in remote working in the last 2 years, and the generally higher salaries in Australia, this is a whole other avenue of poaching NZ based talent.

Motorcycling IS NOT allowed... This morning I put my motorcycle registration on hold to for 3 months to "winter" the bike and save myself $100, during the rainy(er) season. So for me, and for the next 3 months, motorcycling is not allowed. I'll have to live through your posts!

I forgot to mention 2 of the best parts of this purchase... Got 15% off retail, as the big-box hardware store next door had it for $4 cheaper and the one I was purchasing at has a policy to beat the competitors pricing. Getting a free stand (worth $350) through a Makita redemption offer, unique to the store at which I purchased. With deals that good, how can I not make terrible financial decisions!

Recently finished watching this one: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8681148/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 We really enjoyed it, even if there were some times that one has to look away (we're not ones for too much blood and gore, especially if medical). Highly recommend

Anyone else noticed the increased advertisement efforts to lure kiwis to Western Australia? Not just a tourism campaign, but to live. Higher salaries, lower housing prices, and cheaper cost of living does make it attractive. Oh yeah, and they have Mochachos in Perth! Almost tempting, if the landscape wasn't so flat and beige and it didn't "feel like Randfontein", a term a friend used on our trip there 2.5yrs ago. (No disrespect to anyone from Randfontein. I lived in Klerksdorp once upon a time so cannot judge).

haha Just yesterday I was looking at the daylight hours graph, wondering how much we gain each week until glorious daylight savings times are back. https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/new-zealand/auckland Weather wise though... it's likely that the worst is yet to come. August (even parts of September) can be downright miserable in the AKL.

Have you seen the cost of building materials in NZ lately?! 😂😵 hahaha! Plenty of news articles about builders paying over 6x the retail price for Gib (plasterboard). Nationwide shortage caused by a monopoly that is failing to meet demand. The big construction companies are panic buying the majority of what is available and smaller builders are paying exorbitant prices for whatever they can get their hands on as they are stressing about penalties for blowing out the programme on their projects. Luckily for my projects, I have 4 sheets in my garage that I bought over a year ago. I'd be screwed if I didn't buy them back then. A year ago developers were pushing housing prices up at an alarming rate as zoning laws were changing and an 800sqm piece of land could now be used to develop 5x higher-end townhouses selling for $1.75m (about R17.5m) each (literally happening 5 houses down from us on our street). The hyper-inflated prices locked out plenty of conventional buyers. But now with the building material costs and shortages, the developers are scared to take on new projects, so housing prices are cooling again. Anyway, brief status update on the Auckland housing market, but yea, building is k-a-k expensive at the moment, haha! In Feb 2020 (before all hell broke loose) we looked at a piece of land in the Southern Alps (about 1hr from Queentown). It was 4Ha block with a 250sqm shed/garage/workshop on it and not much else. The vendor planned on building a beautiful 300sqm house, but decided to sell after building the shed (which had a bathroom and power), and casting the services and concrete pad for the main residence. (architectural plans were included in the sale). Price wasn't too bad either, about $500,000. Less than half the median house price at present, and land alone would be worth 1.5x that in today's money. I tried very hard to convince my wife about the merits of the property and how we (or atleast I) could live in the shed, store all the building materials there, and oversee the project. Sadly she didn't bite. I continue to dream!

True! At some point it will be cheaper to buy a new house than keep upgrading tools 😅

Aaand I caved and ended up on yet ANOTHER battery platform (Makita 40V). That brings me to 6. The new addition. Makita 40V 216mm Sliding Compound Mitre Saw (as used by Scott Brown... just for Hairy). Decided it was time to go cordless and compact. I like the idea of the forward facing rails, so can be placed with back pretty close to the wall. Has the AWS chip, so will autostart my cordless vac. LED drop shaddow for cut line (which I prefer to laser on the 36V Makitas), and weighs in at under 16kg. The compromise is cut capacity, but 70mm deep x 312mm long is pretty decent and will do 90% of what I need, and I can just rotate thicker pieces. So now just to sell the 254mm AEG corded mitre saw, which has served well for 2 years, but needs to free up some garage space.

Yesterday, after having a Sausage McMuffin from my local Maccas (Kiwi & Aussie term for McDonalds), I impulsively walked over to the VW dealership next door and ordered another bike carrier, expecting it to take a few days like last time. This was around 10:30am. To my surprise they called around 2pm to say the carrier was ready for collection. I collected, installed, tested, and tadaaah! Due to the narrow width of the racks and the width of our bars (running 800's on my bike), I had to face the 2nd carrier backwards. This did pose some issues with the auto boot opening, and the spoiler hitting the bike's front wheel. But some shifting and fiddling and it looks like it'll work! So yeah, now I can transport 1x cycling buddy to the trails. Now just to figure out a pricing plan to recoup the R3,500. At 6 rides a year, my ROI might have to extend into 2-3 years... Just kidding! Looking forward to the first trip already!

Yeah, the XC40 only shares its platform with newer and more expensive cars (Volvo C40 and Polestar 2). On the towbar front, there are generic options available here (approx. R10,000 equiv.), but all are the tongue mount and although removable, they are still pretty visible. I’d prefer the gooseneck type that becomes invisible when removed (so yeah, me being fussy 😅). Vs The other issue is the electronics. As the wiring links into the ECU somehow, Volvo seemed to indicate that generic options may void warranty. It was the sales guy speaking, so he may have been bluffing. As for the weld, rivet and strap option Hairy… I value my life and have only been married a year with no current plans for divorce 😅