patches

Oh dear... well there was the next (current-ish) iteration of this (as seen below) that added Bosch Professional and Makita 40V, but got rid of the AEG 12V and Ryobi (althogh I still have that for my small hedge trimmer, which I don't use very often, to my neighbours frustration). Then I decided to sell a kidney and jump onto the Festool 18V platform via one of their "Energy Sets", which come nicely packaged in a Systainer... so that lives in there... until I As for trade-offs... the only major one has been money, and maybe charger organization/storage as a minor. Nearly every other aspect is positives, like: Not limited to one brand and their range when eyeing out new tools - So back when Makita didn't (and still doesn't) make a gasless framing nailer, or Milwaukee didn't make a track-saw, I could mix and match to get what I need Can buy best-in-class-and-budget - Like Festool jigsaw is head-and-shoulders above the rest for accuracy, so traded in the AEG for that, but Festool drills and impact drivers are crazy expensive with no real performance benefit, so budget dictates Milwaukee. Plenty of batteries (and chargers) to go around - with the ability to charge 10 batteries at once, and a stock of about 19 batteries for 19 tools (as seen below). My battery/tool ratios are a little off, particularly on the Milwaukee 18V and Makita 40V, but I still don't have to spend too much time swapping batteries between tools when busy on a project. The trickiest part of the whole thing is not drawing too much attention from my better-half as tools appear to reproduce and multiply 😅 The fortunate thing though, is it's easier to sell her on tool expenses as I usually couple them with the promise of some project round the house that I need them for. Can't quite to that with my MTB and dirt bike spend 😅

Nice work, keen to see the results! Speaking of labour and pizza ovens.. ...a few years ago my wife was keen on a woodfired pizza oven (I'm a simple Pizza Hut $5 pizza man). So me being me, did some googling and presented her with a the most "designer" looking option I could find. A beautiful, but pricey, Danish option from Morsoe. She went for it. I was then tasked with building the rest of the outdoor kitchen around it (including casting a concrete counter top, which as you say, minimal tools, but very rewarding). Fast forward a few years, and add living about 1km from the ocean and the cast iron went from this... to this (despite being "marine grade" and having a special coating "tested on offshore wind turbines")... I tried to hit up the importer for warranty, but they said "yeah nah mate!, you need to maintain that sucker" (which I missed when I glossed over the instructions). So then came the labour of loathing as I had to sand back the whole thing and recoat with heat treatment. I used one of those 3M rust remover pads in my drill. Was a lifesaver Here it is almost restored to its former glory. I couldn't quite get the looking like new, so I just sanded, coated with rust converter, and threw a concrete paver on top to cover evidence of my past neglect. Short-story-long, and all expenses and efforts included, this thing produces the most expensive pizzas and labour intensive I have ever eaten! 😐 But it's still worth it! Oh, and get yourself one of these little guys if you don't already have one! Super useful for fanning the flames to get that oven up to temp!

Dammit, I need to get out and about on the bike! The other day I was shuffling things around in the garage and had to move the MTB's and dirt bike out. The levels of dust and cobwebs on them is unacceptable!

😅 The charging station needs some rejigging. I've sold off most of my AEG powertools and with them one of the chargers, so a bit of space freed up. The charging station is added to the long list of garage projects, which are at the bottom of my wife's list of round-the-house projects, haha 😅

Nice! Yeah, one-handed recip saws are super useful. Like you say, a dream for trimming trees, and that's probably where mine gets 80% of it's use, so the Diablo (or equiv) pruning blades make quick work taming that foliage.

Maybe she means sokkie dancing? Is there an underground sokkie scene in Brizzie? 😅

Had an accident a few weeks ago where I slipped and ended up on ANOTHER battery platform. This time for ze Green German cutting machines. Which now brings it to 8 different battery platforms... I know, I have a problem 😶

Such a mixed bag! Mine was about a 3 month process in total: Applied for Citizenship - early August 2023 Granted Citizenship - early September 2023 Attended Ceremony - early October 2023 (and applied for passport as soon as I got home) Passport Issued - early November 2023 Possibly a quicker process as I was the only person on the application. But still, loads of variation in some of those time frames you guys are experiencing. As for SA passport renewal, after reading @davetapson,s account, I may just leave that for future me to deal with 😅

Looks awesome! Reminds me of some South Island batches (kiwi for holiday home) I've stayed in. Very cool!

Out with the old (left). In with the new (right). Now to set aside some time to actually make something 😅

Just got back from a 10 day visit to the in-laws in Aus... which means I get to go 2 varieties of tool heaven! (Total Tools and Sydney Tools) 😍 I was very restrained though and kept my haul to just these 3 items... Knipex Carpenter's Pincers (got a bunch of nail removal in my next project, so thought I would do it properly), Titebond 3 (my favourite wood glue, and no, sniffing it doesn't do anything), and some Makita splinter-guard for my 3m track saw rail... ...and therein lies a clue as to why I was so restrained in tool heaven... it was because I'd already blown my tool budget on a new track saw, and the new splinter guard is to calibrate the old track to the new saw... ...and I betrayed team teal to join ze Germans The Festool TS 60K. I decided to "upgrade" my Makita 40V cordless track saw to something with a bigger cut capacity, a little more refined, and with some extra features. Going from cordless to corded is a bit of a downgrade, but as 95% of my work happens in the garage and connected to a dust extractor, having a power cord is not a major.

My in My in-laws have a country house in the NSW Southern Highlands. Don't think I've ever visited there and NOT seen a Sydney Funnel-web or 2 😖

Also keen on one of the middle-grounders. If money magically appeared in my account today, the Fuel EXe would be my pick Either that or the new Cannondale Morterra Neo SL, which is a full power, but supposed to be the lightest.

+1 for Oakley Prizm lenses I have a set of Jade Iridium Prizms in my Oakley Airbrake MX goggles, which I use both dirt bike riding, or when I wear a full face on the MTB. My guess is the same would apply for their sunnies The way the Prizm lenses highlight the contours in the trail, is awesome. Here's a rough idea to the application of the different Prizm lenses. Based on this the Rose Iridium are the most versatile. As for actual MTB sunnies, I have some Adidas photochromatics, but I generally don't like wearing sunnies on bikes, so I use safety-squints in stead 😅

Yup, the MTB motivation struggle is real. The best option... leave Auckland! 😅 ...I kid, but there's truth in it. Places like Rotorua, Nelson, Queenstown, and my personal favourite Christchurch, have stronger MTB communities and more accessible trails. That said, my passion for MTB died when I lived in Christchurch. Not because of any issues previously stated, but because I was lazy and the port hills climbs were killer compared to my low-effort Spruit strolls 😅... so I got into dirt biking and had the time of my life. But when I moved to Auckland, that died too (and for similar reasons to AKL's MTB shortcomings). Trails were few-and-far between, often involved a 40min+ commute to them, weren't free, and riding there alone wasn't as fun. So what do I see as the solution in my case (besides convincing my wife to move to the South Island)... the "the answer may surprise you!" [Classic Clickbait Hook] ... it's an eBike! Now before you vloek and spit on the floor in disgust,.. hear me out. Woodhill is fun, but driving when my commute time there and back equates to my riding time, the effort doesn't seem worthwhile. But if I could ride them hills for 3-4hrs, and relishing the flowy descents, I may find the drive and $15/ride more palatable. Also nothing like anew toy to motivate one, haha! Sure, I could improve my fitness and ride longer on my current bike, but getting that time-in-the-saddle while life happens is not that easy, especially when Auckland lacks backyard trails... and I'm not about to go roadie!

This popped up on my FB feed this morning, as a "memory form 8 years ago" Can't believe it's been 8 years since I embarked on my NZ adventure. The photo depicts the novelty of being able to load my bike on a bus as I commute home form work in Christchurch (I was lazy and didn't want to ride up Huntsbury hill, haha) I hadn't bought a car yet, so buses and/or bikes were my means of getting around. Fun times, great memories... some nostalgia I need to hold on to and revisit when I start feeling bogged down by the daily grind.

At first I was about to say "why do you need a tax person, the IRD does all the work for you!", but the I read the second half, and yeah, a lot more complicated than my cookie-cutter tax I have some Saffer friends with financial interest still in SA. They're not hubbers, but I can reach out to them and see if they have any trusted consultants or smart advice.

Started watching Shogun last week. Pretty epic so far. Only downside is there's a fair amount of reading required, (unless one can understand Japanese). https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2788316/?ref_=ttep_ov_i

Wow! That is a thing of beauty!

You can do anything, if you just believe!

Started the Masters of the Air mini series (9 episodes) on the weekend. First 2 episodes are up on Apple TV. Executive Produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, and follows the 100th Bomb Group in their B17 Flying Fortresses as a sort of "next instalment" in the Band of Brothers and The Pacific mini series trilogy (not that that's an official thing). But yeah, pretty awesome so far! Highly recommend for anyone that loved the other 2 mini series.

I made something similar but for my 3D printer itself, and to use up tired old squash balls.

In a bit of a lull at the moment after I finished For All Mankind Season 4 and Slow Horses Season 3. My fillers are The Orville and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Easy watching and pretty entertaining. I'm also kinda surprised though that Disney+ hasn't removed Always Sunny from their catalogue as it's very un-PC 😅

Anyone here used the Fringe Benefit Tax Exemption regarding bikes and eBikes? "Staff discretionary benefit – Bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters Government recently passed a tax amendment bill, implemented from 1 April 2023, to provide for FBT exemption on employee work travel options relating to the purchase and use of bikes, e-bikes, e-scooters and public transport. For example, the exemption enables an employer to purchase a bike on behalf of an employee, and then deduct from the employee’s gross salary the cost of the bike. The employee then owns the bike once purchased, as opposed to it remaining a company vehicle. The bike should be primarily for commuting to work, however, personal use is ok so long as the primary reason for the purchase is for commuting. Note, the exemption doesn’t extend to any accessories, such as helmets, locks, lights etc. New FBT exemptions for bikes and public transport explained | Tax Alerts - April 2023 | Deloitte New Zealand)." I see schemes like Work Ride NZ facilitating this for employers and employees. I'm keen to find out more, as it may be a great way to save on an eBike or commuter.

Not sure if this has been posted on here before, but I found it pretty interesting and I figured @Wyatt Earp might appreciate!