We went to Patricks Road very early so that the kids could get their presents without having a long wait. The presents all went down well, particularly the Gameboys Kelly and Ross got, the neon guitar Al gave to Max and the remote controlled flying saucer Al gave to me.
Kelly's Gameboy had come with an American power supply with the wrong kind of mains plug and the wrong input voltage. She ran the battery down before supper time. Al and I promised to go to EB Games tomorrow to get an Australian power supply.
The Davidsons came round after lunch bearing lots of festive food. We talked a lot, ate a lot, drank a lot and Jean and I finally went back to the Motley in the evening after a very pleasant day.
When we got back to Lawnton we found the Plovers had abandoned the eggs.
When I got up, I checked the Plover's nest assuming that they had been washed out in the storm we had had in the afternoon but when I looked, the eggs had gone and there was no sign of broken egg shell. Presumably someone or something had stolen the eggs. The birds show all the signs of grief, revisiting the nest regularly and keening and mewing.
In the morning, we went to Nundah to visit Al and to Toombul to try and get a new power supply for Kelly's Gameboy. The guy in EB Games said that there was no Australian mains power supply available for the model of Gameboy that Kelly had. I bought a 110V step down transformer with the appropriate US socket from Dick Smiths. When we got to Patricks Rd, Al set the thing up for Kelly. It worked for a few minutes and then karked it. I checked the step down transformer and it was producing 130V. I checked the output of the Gameboy power supply and it was 0V. I guess the 130V was too much for the circuitry in the power supply which was rated at 110 - 115V and it had failed catastrophically.
I went to Brookside to try and buy some stuff to fix the problem and decided to check with the EB Games place there. They sold me a USB power cord for the Gameboy because they were out of stock of the appropriate mains powered unit. This was not what I had been told at Toombul EB Games shop but I was happy to have a solution to Kelly's problem. I also visited the Dick Smiths store at Brookside. They were happy to take the step down transformer as a return and I bought a 6 - 12V plug pack and an appropriate socket so that I can make up a mains powered unit using the plug from the broken American power supply.
We went to the cinema with Sarah and Penny who wanted to check out "The Chronicles of Narnia" for suitability for viewing by their children. The film was pretty good though it had some problems with continuity of the plot. I also suffered from being too close to the BIG screen and the SOUND system.
Jean suffered from another bout of collywobbles so we went back to the Motley and veged out for the rest of the day.
Late in the afternoon, Jean's headache got worse and we had run out of strong painkillers so I went searching for a chemist that was open late on a public holiday. I tried all the likely places for several miles in every direction without success and was returning to the Motley when I came upon a 7 day 8am till 8pm chemist in the most unlikely place.
Another Brisbane summer's day.
Jean still wasn't well so we veged out all day.
Jean still wasn't well so we veged out all day again. I rang for an appointment with the doctor and we have to wait until tomorrow morning.
It was even hotter than yesterday and we finished up with his and her fans going. It is a great pity that the sir-condition let us down when Jean is not well and the weather is so hot.
Jean was much better and we cancelled the appointment with the doctor. It was still very hot and Sarah and the kids were going to the Gold Coast to visit so we veged out again.
The new arrangements at the Showground are that the caretaker mows the large expanses of grass but the residents to mow the grass on their own sites. Somebody had got the lawnmower from the caretaker so I got in the queue to use it. When it came to my turn, the thing fuel tank was empty. The caretaker's jerrycans were also empty so I had to go to the servo to fill them up (the caretaker paid). I got the mower working and mowed all around the Motley and the adjacent spaces. After a fairly long stint of hard work, I needed another shower and a good rest.
I had had a late night working on the computer but woke up a sparrowfart nonetheless.
We went to Brookside with Sarah and the kids to have some lunch and buy Sarah's Xmas present. I picked up my new glasses which are a bit odd because they have metal frames rather than the plastic ones I have worn for many years. I guess I'll get used to them. The view is certainly better without the scratches the old ones had.
We were both feeling a bit under the weather so we returned to Lawnton. We were invited to happy hour because Dave and Jude Lattaway were coming down from Burpengary and we had a very pleasant interlude before retiring to the Motley. I went to bed half way through the film we were watching. Happily all the New Years fireworks were far enough away to not wake us up.