Internet Challenges

Just before the end of last month we had our unit AGM meeting to discuss anything that may have come up.  I was pleasantly surprised that our unit manager, who in the past hasn’t been very pleasant with me, was quite amiable.  It turned out to be quite a pleasant night.  Mind you she once again emphasised I was not to go into my neighbours garden under any circumstances.  The weeds were calling me to pull them out but I resisted.

My new neighbour Greg, bought Ann’s home and after settlement on the 28 September, was slowly moving in.  There were a few things needing to be done before he moved in, including getting rid of Ann’s old bed and some of the furniture.  The council took the bed and mattress while I arranged for a few guys from church to take her old lounge that Greg didn’t want.  This was ideal for a single lady moving from interstate to join the new church, planted by our church, in Alkimos. Greg was very busy getting his new home ready before the big move.  He removed most of the old furniture, carpet, fridge, washing machine and oven, replacing them with his own which I think came from his mother’s place which he had recently sold. He organised workers to lay floorboards which was a bit more work than he had anticipated as the cement floors are not even.  I found this out when renovating my place in 2016.  This certainly contributed to Greg’s delayed moving in.  In the meantime he put up a small shed in the carport for his surfboards on the day after Laura and Aurelio also put a shed in their carport.  This gave me an idea for what I could use for the pot plant, a hoya, which has sunk into the deteriorating draws which supported it in a corner of the carport. I looked around for something about the same height with draws or doors which would be useful but not take up too much room.  Kathy said she might have something but it was too small.  I looked in several stores and online but there was nothing I liked or that was suitable.  Eventually I used an old metal rubbish bin with had been given to me and put an old milk crate on top to give it the necessary height.  It worked well.  Kathy then helped me transfer the pot from off the old dilapidated chest of drawers onto its new stand in the corner of the carport.  I hope it survives till I find something more suitable.

Continuing on with the poor data saga; my telco contacted me a few more times early September asking for another three examples of up and download speeds on my phone at different times of the day.  Their final call back was to let me know that the technicians were unable to improve my situation and offered to give me a refund for the past two months. I wasn’t pleased with this offer so decided to ask for a reduced monthly fee which they said they were unable to do. They explained that I could have a lower plan but I would not be able to take my 600GB of accrued date with me.  I then explained that I was a loyal customer and that because this was an ongoing problem I thought it was reasonable for me to have a reduced plan plus my accrued data.  After a chat to her supervisor she agree saying that it would take a few days to transfer my extra data so if I preferred to stay on the plan I had till that was done they could then go ahead on the 10^th September.  I wrote down the reference number for my case and hung up.  About an hour later I realised it was the 10^th of September that day and that money would be taken out of my account that night to renew the plan I was already on.  I called back, quoted the reference number and explained to the woman that I would like to go on the new plan today which gave me 25GB which was more than enough for what I needed before the extra 600GB were rolled over.   Later that day it also dawned on me that I had wanted to reduce my plan for over a year as I had accrued so much data from being away over two months of the past three years.  The Lord had answered my prayers once again and given me a reduced plan PLUS my extra data.  The next day I thought I was receiving better coverage and realised instead of having the 5G I was back on the 4G network which confirmed what the antenna guy was saying about reception on 5G was worse than on 3G and 4G. Another blessing.

During this time I had spoken to Greg about sharing his WiFi, he said it wouldn’t be a problem and no he didn’t want me to help out with the cost.  Although he had not yet moved in he eventually installed the WiFi.  I asked several times about it but he said he was having problems with the speed.  In the meantime I continued to use Kathy’s WiFi, sitting outside in her garden or in her spare bedroom.  I had to be very patient not wanting to pester Greg too much but it wasn’t till the end of September when Greg was going away that I asked him again.  It was just before he flew out for a surfing holiday in Sumatra.  I asked if I could please use it while he was away.  He said he was still having problems with the speed as his smart TV was drawing on large amounts of data, slowing it down, so if I saw his daughters visiting could I please not use his internet.  I was so appreciative, what a blessing to have good internet connection after so long struggling with just one bar!  This was truly an answer to prayer. Praise the Lord.

During the first few weeks of September my neighbour Matt was away and the weeds in his garden were choking out things he had planted just before I went overseas.  It was so difficult for me to hold back from cleaning it up for him but I had been told in no uncertain terms that I was not to go into his garden by his landlady. Praise the Lord when Matt returned he was immediately back into the garden pulling out most of the weeds spasmodically over several weeks.  There were so many and different varieties from grasses, daisies to clovers. I was also pleased to see the cockies came to nibble at the grass seeds, while the rest filled up several of our rubbish bins. At the time I was working on the community garden newsletter and decided I’d do an article on common weeds.  I collected quite a variety of photos from Matt’s garden as well as along the road and through the bushland.

Talking about birds, I love seeing the ducks return every year to the swamp/lake in the bush near me.  They have come to know which walkers, joggers and dogs to ignore and which to avoid.  I give them a wide birth as I pass so as not to disturb the little families.  One family which returns every year is a pair of Australian Shelduck, (Tadorna tadornoides) with striking markings. Shelducks nest in large tree hollows, rabbit burrows or large hollows on cliff faces.  The female incubates the eggs while the male defends the territory with loud hoots. Around the neighbourhood and my house, other birds have begun to nest, their early morning calls often reminding me it’s time to get up.

By the end of the month we had a lovely week of sunny days after so many cold wet weeks.  I made the most of these dryer days with morning jogs and swims.  During this time I looked into how to warm my toes after swimming.  My beach friends had suggested taking warm water in a keep-cup to pour over both my toes and hands.  I also heard of feet warmers from my sister Kat who had used them when walking through the snow in Japan.  On a trip to buy my pre-ordered Pepino melon and to visit my friend, who works at Dawson’s Joondalup, I called in to the chemist there and found the sold toe warmers.  I was pleasantly surprised and decided to try them out.  The very next day after my swim I first warmed my toes with the warm water then stuck the patches on the bottom of my socks.  Wow!  I was pleasantly surprised again as instantly I had warm toes and consequently warmer feet for the rest of the day. The next day I visited our local pharmacy to ask if they had them or could order them in.  They only had the hand warmers and when looking to order the toe warmers, they found the suppliers were out of stock.  Well I’m not surprise, they work so well.  I then rang around several other pharmacies but none had them till I rang the same company as the one in Joondalup.  They had 10 pkts of 5 pairs in stock.  I asked them to hold 5 pkts for me to pick up as now that I had found them I didn’t want to run out!  Then later a friend from the beach told me he uses heated bikers gloves.  When I had a look online they were not the ones I was looking for but they did have battery charged innersoles for shoes, which although expensive, would save me buying pkts of throw away ones. It looks like I’ll have to do another online purchase, but praise the Lord this would be through an Australian-based company and possibly not this year as I probably have enough to last me for the last cold days of this year.  It seems like I’ve been purchasing quite a bit online lately.

While out buying the packet of toe warmers, I also visited the shopping centre to search for a yogurt maker.  I wanted something to keep my kefir warm to help it ferment, the weather had been so cold, slowing down the process, sometimes it can take up to three days instead of 12 hrs to mature.  Not finding what I wanted, I went online to see if I could find one close to where I was at Innaloo.  I found there was one at a kitchen shop not too far away so headed off in that direction to buy one.  I had a little voice saying I should call and check first but didn’t.  They were out of stock but put through an order for one which would be delivered to my door at no extra cost.  I was also pleasantly surprised when I realised the store had a 20% discount on my purchase.  What a blessing!

It wasn’t long before I tried it out with two different strains of Kefir, one without the beads and one with. The yogurt maker has different settings or you can choose your own length of time and heat.  I started with a pre-programmed setting that runs running for 10 hrs at 42⁰C and the second for 12 hrs at 27⁰C for the Kefir with beads as I thought the higher temperature might destroy the beads, but both worked beautifully.  I didn’t use the containers provided but instead, a glass containers which, when done, I could pull straight out and put in the fridge. This truly has been a great investment for my kitchen.

That week the first two bags of my four free coffee beans also arrived.  The funny thing was that my friend Vi-Lay received the Aust Post email with the tracking number!  This had happened once in the past which I thought I had corrected but, obviously not, although she only received some of my Aust Post, delivery emails the rest come to my email address.  Very strange.  I called Aust Post and was instructed to log into my account and change the email address.  When I did check, the address was correct, it was my email not hers.  So why is she receiving some emails and not the others?  I even tried logging in with my other email address but there wasn’t an account with them under that email address. Next stop to visit a GPO in person.

I caught up with Fay W, for a phone chat recently.  She and I were missionaries in the north of Thailand in 1982.  She spent 41 yrs in Thailand and although now semi-retired living in Queensland, Australia, she still helps run the student accommodation she established for the tribal people who came into the towns for education.  She is now in her 80’s and continues to be a true inspiration.

The end of the month was quickly drawing to a close.  My neighbour Kathy and I went to visit Ann at the retirement village.  Ann was in with a group of people listening to and singing hymns with the visiting chaplain.  It doesn’t take much for me to join in, which embarrassed Kathy who hurriedly escorted Ann out.  We sat chatting with her for a while outside before leaving to visit a nursery Kathy want to look at before returning home.

My sister Jen is back in Australia, suffering the cold in Victoria but she plans to head north with Ralf up the NSW coast to find somewhere warmer where they will housesit while looking for a spot to reinvest and eventually move.  Kat too is moving.  She is leaving Cairns and moving south where she too hopes to find a permanent home near the sea where she can this time enjoy the ocean.

Talking about the ocean this morning when I went down to Hamersley Pool for a swim, I had just gotten out when I saw something in the ocean, just beyond the waves where I had been swimming.  It was the resident seal.  I hadn’t seen him around for years.  While chatting to others watching him in the surf, I was told about a 4 meter Great White Shark spotted not far away at Sorrento Beach just two days earlier.  I’m glad I wasn’t told about this sighting till after my swim.

Photos:  1. My plum in flower    2. Australian Shelduck, (Tadorna tadornoides)    3. A pot of spring flowers    4. Kathy, Ann and me

Prayer & Praise Points:

Praise the Lord for our lovely spring weather; at last it’s beginning to get warmer.

Please continue to keep Gayle in your prayers for renewed strength, wisdom for the church and for good health.

Pray also for her son Joshua who has applied for his Indonesian citizenship and is needing his passport for a trip to Singapore for his Theological graduation there.

Pray also for Bali which is recovering from the floods and for people who have been caught up in the devastation.

Thank you for your continued prayers for Jen on her travels, she is safe back in Australia and now traveling to northern NSW where she is looking for property where she can retire.

Continue to pray for world peace and countries dealing with major disasters, wars and the unbelievable hardships they cause.  Pray for all those caught up in the suffering these events have caused.  Pray that God’s peace may be known by all people especially for those who live with despair, that they will find hope in Christ Jesus.

Please keep my sisters, Tricia, Jen and Kat, in your prayers.  Pray that they will come to know the love of Jesus.