Family visit.
We left for Sydney on the 30th December and we got just outside Bathurst before the car overheated. I messaged everyone to say we weren't going to be able to make it and then phoned the mechanic to find out when they opened again after the holidays. He was there because he was tinkering with his ute and said that if we dropped the car off he'd check it out.
We didn't know if we were going to have to try and get Ruth's mum to come up for a visit so we could get a lift back to Hill End. It was either that or hire a car but we had the dogs with us.
We got to the mechanic after letting the car cool down and he tested the radiator and it was blocked. We knew it was full of crap because last year when the hose was cracked it boiled a lot. He actually had a new radiator that fit in the shop (the only one he had, I love having a commodore).
He replaced the radiator while we sat with the dogs outside in the shade.
A little while in we saw one of the guard dogs from one of the other buildings had got out of the gate. Ruth took our dogs off towards the garage and I went to see if I could get the dog back in. It was friendly enough though it had a habit of nipping and jumping. Given that it was a cattle cross (possibly staffy) it's not surprising. Apparently she gets out all the time. I couldn't get her back in and the trucks going to the green waste dump next door to the dogs said she gets out all the time but doesn't go anywhere. Problem is Dougall is aggressive while on the lead and if he had a go at her she'd kill him.
I spent about an hour in the sun trying to get her back in the yard or just keeping her away from our dogs. I hurt my back and was so fucking exhausted with that and the stress. In the end it was affordable and we were already out and stressed so we decided to just keep going and visit people anyway.
We didn't know if we were going to be able to get the dogs in before the kennel shut but they stayed open late so we could drop them off. That night I slept on the grandkids bed at Ruth's mum's place and it was missing a slat so it was really uncomfortable but at least tumblr loaded.
On the 31st we went in to Centrelink to get the appointment changed. They had booked it for the 5th (while we were away) and at Mudgee first thing in the morning. We don't go to Mudgee and we would have had to get up ridiculously early to get there by that time. We sat for an hour and a half and then spent about a minute with a guy who wrote down what we wanted, said it was fine and then we left.
We headed to Alisso's place to meet up with her and Random_yayness once Alisso had finished work. We caught up a bit and got ready and then drove to the train station to head in to the city.
We caught the train in to Sydney and got to Lynn's place where we had snacks and cider and caught up. We hadn't seen Lynn in ages. Latter we went to the pub across the road for a few drinks. Everything cleared out by midnight so we went back to Lynn's place to watch the fireworks. Spent a better night there. It was a decent New Years. I had been hoping to spend the night drinking and playing Mario Kart etc at Alisso's place but it was great to catch up with Lynn. The next day we headed back to Penrith on the train and then I drove Alisso and Random_Yayness home.
We went back to Ruth's mum's place and packed everything up. We were to drive up to Newcastle but there was coolant on the ground and Ruth didn't want to drive with it doing that. Ruth's brother came over and checked out the car. The mechanic had said that he'd overfilled the radiator so it would get through the system. Roger said that he thought it was okay and it was just excess coolant. We thanked him and drove up to Mum's. The car handled the freeway (some big hills) without heating up at all and we got to Mum's place before dark.
Mum is fostering kittens. Cute little things. I caught up with mum and played with kittens and the dogs all night. Mum had bought a pavlova so we enjoyed some of that and had left over pizza for dinner.
We didn't know if we were going to have to try and get Ruth's mum to come up for a visit so we could get a lift back to Hill End. It was either that or hire a car but we had the dogs with us.
We got to the mechanic after letting the car cool down and he tested the radiator and it was blocked. We knew it was full of crap because last year when the hose was cracked it boiled a lot. He actually had a new radiator that fit in the shop (the only one he had, I love having a commodore).
He replaced the radiator while we sat with the dogs outside in the shade.
A little while in we saw one of the guard dogs from one of the other buildings had got out of the gate. Ruth took our dogs off towards the garage and I went to see if I could get the dog back in. It was friendly enough though it had a habit of nipping and jumping. Given that it was a cattle cross (possibly staffy) it's not surprising. Apparently she gets out all the time. I couldn't get her back in and the trucks going to the green waste dump next door to the dogs said she gets out all the time but doesn't go anywhere. Problem is Dougall is aggressive while on the lead and if he had a go at her she'd kill him.
I spent about an hour in the sun trying to get her back in the yard or just keeping her away from our dogs. I hurt my back and was so fucking exhausted with that and the stress. In the end it was affordable and we were already out and stressed so we decided to just keep going and visit people anyway.
We didn't know if we were going to be able to get the dogs in before the kennel shut but they stayed open late so we could drop them off. That night I slept on the grandkids bed at Ruth's mum's place and it was missing a slat so it was really uncomfortable but at least tumblr loaded.
On the 31st we went in to Centrelink to get the appointment changed. They had booked it for the 5th (while we were away) and at Mudgee first thing in the morning. We don't go to Mudgee and we would have had to get up ridiculously early to get there by that time. We sat for an hour and a half and then spent about a minute with a guy who wrote down what we wanted, said it was fine and then we left.
We headed to Alisso's place to meet up with her and Random_yayness once Alisso had finished work. We caught up a bit and got ready and then drove to the train station to head in to the city.
We caught the train in to Sydney and got to Lynn's place where we had snacks and cider and caught up. We hadn't seen Lynn in ages. Latter we went to the pub across the road for a few drinks. Everything cleared out by midnight so we went back to Lynn's place to watch the fireworks. Spent a better night there. It was a decent New Years. I had been hoping to spend the night drinking and playing Mario Kart etc at Alisso's place but it was great to catch up with Lynn. The next day we headed back to Penrith on the train and then I drove Alisso and Random_Yayness home.
We went back to Ruth's mum's place and packed everything up. We were to drive up to Newcastle but there was coolant on the ground and Ruth didn't want to drive with it doing that. Ruth's brother came over and checked out the car. The mechanic had said that he'd overfilled the radiator so it would get through the system. Roger said that he thought it was okay and it was just excess coolant. We thanked him and drove up to Mum's. The car handled the freeway (some big hills) without heating up at all and we got to Mum's place before dark.
Mum is fostering kittens. Cute little things. I caught up with mum and played with kittens and the dogs all night. Mum had bought a pavlova so we enjoyed some of that and had left over pizza for dinner.