Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Thirlmere is a great rail museum and just like Maldon heritage railway it doesn't run steam in the hotter months for obvious reasons.

The problem we have here (NE Vic) now is our line was converted to standard gauge recently by ARTC and we can no longer have the usual assortment of steam excursions from Melbourne now as they still run on broad gauge down there.
FYI...A clue on the station is,
a major train accident happened here 50 years ago.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Violet town Victoria.
Just for record Maldon is a damn nice place i spent 10 days there in January

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Sorry ... didn't realise you were in Victoria.

Zig Zig on the way up to Lithgow has been closed for a bit as well .... I think they are working on it to re-open it at some point too.,

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Went and had a look at the MkIV Focus at my nearest Ford Dealer.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

VT, Give the man a lollipop.
Yes Melbourne bound Southern Aurora flew through three sets of points with a dead driver and crash head on with north bound freight train. Very nasty, hence the new memorial gardens and one of the original carriages now here being restored as a exhibition.
Maldon's great,
another funny story... when we arrived my GF wanted to check out the tiny bakery so I went and asked at the station what the terrain was like for mountain biking along the railway line to Muckleford as I already checked over some maps of the forest. Train wasn't running but the track maintenance guys said jump in with us as we need to go and inspect the line, you can see for yourself.
So I went on a merry jaunt through the countryside on this little 4 wheel diesel cart stopping and looking at every cross over and bend in the line. Meanwhile the GF was wondering where the hell could I have disappeared to in this little town until she asked at the station, had they seen me.

Mechan1K,
Always enjoyed the Maitland Railway Heritage Festival usually around this time of year and Clarendon truck and steam rally.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Meat pies. So i told my new apprentice to meet me at a train station which is nothing unusual. He had 2 options, be a bit early or just be late. Obviously i dont care how he gets there but dont be late. I had a good run in and was earlier then i said and he rocked up early. The planned pickup point was a bakery to grab something before work. Running early i canned that. The new bloke was a bit miffed at my decision, but in the car i was explaining that at another place they do next level mexican pies. They sound horrid, chilli beef, black beans, sliced tomato, guacamole and sour cream in a pie. But they work well. My first was a dare that backfired because it was brilliant. Everything just melds together. Anyhow, we get there and the young bloke orders and gets the last one. Clearly they arent a bad thing if they sell out at 6:30 am. So i went with the tried and true steak and mushroom. The young bloke tried to backflip and trade pies but im not having that. I didnt say its good if its crap. So we setup on the picnic table that is the bonnet of my ute. He takes a bite and gives me a look. Takes another bite and lifts his eyebrows, takes a third for scientific reasons then does the good head shake and says this is amazing. Clearly i said they sound like there is alot going on but it just works well. And $6.50 for an average pie is steep, but when its engineered within 2 thou of taste tolerance, its got to be good. Otherwise the pie engineer made some miscalculations and the pie technicians stuffed up.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

I was able to return the favor and help out my local mechanic who has got me out of trouble more than once, in the past.

He was rebuilding an early Falcon 170 motor for a customer and was getting very frustrated because he was unable to source a rear crankshaft seal for it, seems like they are no longer available in Aust. I was able to put him in touch with a friend and fellow forum member, Cobra269au, who imports performance parts for early Falcon sixes and eights from the US, who was able to supply him with a new neoprene seal, much better than the original packing.

He was most grateful.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Geeze, Your right that sounds horribly.
What happened to the good old meat pie, if I want a pizza, I'll go to a pizza place, if I want Mexican I'll order Mexican food, If I want Indian tandoori..............
Why do these boofheads have to mess with a winning recipe.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

The missus reckons it sounds good.

Not sure I'd attempt one, Think I'd stick to the proven chunky steak

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Mate the only reason i ever tried one was it was a dare from a collegue because they sounded terrible. But sometimes it pays off stepping out of the comfort zone. The mexican pie goes hard. Has a little bit much vitamin f in it though, but thats only an issue to those around me afterwards.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

temptes seriously to go on long drive to try these out. Love genuine mexican food.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Frenches forrest is a trek even for me. So i only bother when im working out that way.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Islamic Jerry Springer

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

But....This also made me feel good today...

40 years on .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUbcaE44cSw...

classic it is ...can't watch it without feeling good .

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Discussing job options with another company!..well sister company.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

When I was back in Thirlmere during Winter last year

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7865/...94c4d986_c.jpg

You get to go up and down the line in the old passenger cars/booths. Good times.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

We have a running joke at work, i wont get into it but long story short one place we work has a pig. And we say one bloke hates pigs. The new apprentice grew up on a farm so thinks nothing of slaughtering livestock as he grew up doing it. So he beleived my story of how this other bloke hates pigs and said he wants to off it. I said if you are working on that site under him and he dissapears he is either on the bog or yelling at the pig. So we go for breakfast with this bloke and farm boy starts explaining that slaughtering a pig is the same as other farm animals and getting into the nitty gritty. Mind you the other bloke was smashing a plate of bacon. I started laughing at the look on that guys face of whats this guy on about. Farm boy askes what im laughing about and i just said ill tell you later. Anyrate out of earshot of farm boy the bloke we joke about hating pigs asks me what the hell was that all about, so i explained it was for my entertainment. He says bluntly to me 'you're an idiot'. I reply 'or maybe im the smartest bloke you know'. His response to that was 'maybe, but you're still an idiot'.
Now ive only worked with farm boy a few times and he made only 1 major error. Nothing work related, hes good on the tools, but he said to me in the past 4 days he has learnt more from me then in the 8 weeks with the other boys. Thats a big mistake. So yes everything i teach while working is factual and correct, i go into depth. But it also means that so far the 2 myths ive told that i have backed up with false evidence, he beleives. Neither are job related, but its such a fun game to me.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Picking up my beautiful AU Sportsman fairlane after just over 2 weeks of not seeing or driving it while it has some major surgery performed, ie, removing rocker cover, sending head away for "fixing" as it was just at the beginning of starting to leak coolant. So, took the opportunity to just about rebuild my engine & change/replace anything and everything that needed changing. My God! It is now 18 years old or thereabouts but I tell you what people, I am SO GLAD I spent the money and hung on to it! It's a brand new car and goes better than the day I bought it! 😁 I got so many years out of it and hopefully, I will get just as many more! Couldn't find anything that I liked to replace it with and couldn't bear the thought of anyone else driving my gorgeous fairlane.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

I left work 30 minutes ago.

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Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Woke up this morning with a heartbeat.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Took advantage of the beautiful autumn whether and played a round of golf with the old man.

Haven't played in over a year and no records were broken, but it was just so nice to be outside at this time of the year.

It's funny how golf is so frustrating and yet so addictive. Get it right, and all you want is to keep playing. Get it wrong and all you want to do is scream abuse at the little white ball.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

I always found golf interesting. So i was a junior member of a golf course growing up, and to me, anger makes you shank your shot. Take it easy and let the club do the work worked for me. Obviously not just a gravity drop of the club. Being angry or trying to hit the skin off the ball to me atleast always meant id hook it or slice it. Oatlands was a nice place, the fairways were better maintained then royal Parramatta publics greens when it existed.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Did some laps at the pool. Took all the tension out of my shoulders.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

My 20yo Son put down a deposit on his first house build today.

2 bedroom townhouse in a new estate not far from home.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

The budget - hopefully swaying those away from Bill Shorten , the country cannot afford him

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Every year at steamfest they have a race of 4 Steam trains from Newcastle to Maitland. I work on the rail and trains don't interest me as a hobby, but seeing 4 steam locomotives side by side, under full steam while dragging old passenger carriages is pretty impressive.
What sort of ruins the experience is the diesel electric locomotives connected to the rear of each of the steam train

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Golf is fantastic because it is a competition against yourself in the company of others.

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Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Waking up Friday morning knowing the weekend is nearly here.

My work makes it feel like I work Monday, Tuesday and Friday and then have a day off. But perhaps that is a function of age (which doesn't make me happy).

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Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Putting a deposit on a new road bicycle


https://ivanhoecycles.com.au/bicycle...Disc-2018/8258

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Now obviously i have to work out how sensitive people are to work out what i can say or not say to clients, but i was doing a job today and the lady on reception (lovely person, probably early 50s) was having a yarn with me whilst i was working and she says 'i dont know how you can have an intelligent conversation whilst staying so focused'. So i have worked for her for years and know the line so i countered 'i dont know how you can eat breakfast whilst putting your makeup on driving to work'. Her response was 'been doing that for years'. So i said been doing this for years. She says im only young. So i says my kid is almost 10, how old do you reckon i am. She says she thought maybe 23. So again me being smart i told her whilst im clearly incredibly good looking (tickets anyone) im 32. And then cleared it all up, been the house electrician in that building for 13 years. Its always nice to get along with clients on more of a social level. Yes work is the main objective but when clients are willing to be more social provided its not time wasting as in i still am getting things done, it makes my job less crap.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

My kid wanted me to teach him how to ride a skateboard. So thats what we did today. When i was growing up primary modes of transport were either skateboard or bmx. Riding a skateboard is easy, being good st skateboarding is different. I had a hard time understanding how my kid sort of committed to stacking (i was walking aside to catch him) and asked why dont you bail if you know you're going to stack? This was a foreign concept. Jump off instead of fall off? And it really did boost his confidence and now he rolls around on his own. I did give him examples of bailing, hitting the grass at the end of the path at speed and bailing. Teach through example kind of stuff. But the kid was a tired sweaty mess by the end, but he was happy, i havent riden a skateboard in atleast 15 years, and whilst very rusty, still had fun. My kids board is kind of all the bits i like with the conssesion of light weight trucks and the deck is a tad wider then my preffered, but much more beginner friendly.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Our beautiful little boy who is a year old had his first taste of chocolate.

The look on his face, amazing !

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Getting home from a 40 km ride last night at 9.30 pm to see on Strada that I reached 70 kph on one downhill stretch- then seeing my speed on one of the biggest gradient hills - oh my-:doh

Today buying a portable battery power hub so I can power 240 Volt up to 300 watts for when I go camping.

Got me thinking- I thought ah- when I was younger I could not afford the unit/battery and recharging solar panels and regulators without significant pain- and then it hit me that when I was younger I did not need to power a certain unit I now cannot sleep without and need all this crap....

Life has a way of achieving natural balance....

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Driving the R32 GTR V-spec II in gran turismo 3. A blast from the past.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Had a **** day at work, but tuesdays are the day i take my kid for dinner. So the kid talking my ear off aside, we go with my grandparents and my mum, family thing. My mum is very knife and fork proper. She ordered the beef curry. So thats a bowl of rice, a bowl of beef curry conveniently cut into bite sized pieces, and a couple of roti. She wasnt overly impressed forking rice then the curry beef then taking a bite of roti and i pulled her up. So she is the traveler, im just a bogan with 2 fords and a boat. So mum will knife and fork a slice of pizza, yes its that bad. So i showed her, you rip off a bit of the roti, fork in (yeah, clean hands stuff, shes a clean freak) some rice, add the conveinently bite sized bit of beef curry and eat. She was now really pleased, its almost like the 3 things on the plate were meant to be eaten together..... i did seagul her plate once or twice and it wasnt bad. Just to prove how bad my mum tries to be proper, i have seen her deconstruct a burger and eat it with a knife and fork. My kid did smash the chilli prawn pasta, didnt even bite into the shell on the last bit of the tail, he was sweating a bit but fully committed.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

An older couple around the corner from me, a few months ago he started a little diy on his house but due to his fibrosis was really struggling, a gardener noticed and suggested he pop around to see me and have a chat, that was the first time we met.
Our stars finally aligned today and I was able to finish it off for him, took me about 6 hours, they were both over the moon with the result which made me feel pretty good

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

So this is more about the gesture then the actual object. So my director sat in on a service team meeting which is usually not a good thing, but strangely he didnt go hardline on anything. At the time what was odd is he did this to my 2 other colleagues also, but he picks up my personal phone has a gander then does the same with my work phone. All around things were good condition wise, exept one blokes work phone, but he got given a smashed old phone so that didnt count. So what my boss was doing was seeing if we treated work stuff any different to our stuff. Thats a big issue on the projects team, people not giving a crap and breaking new stuff assuming work will just by another. So us service guys got new work phones, the 3 new projects guys get our old ones because the boss assumes they will just break them anyway. I dont care about the phone so much, my old one was fine for work, it sent emails and made calls which is all i need it to do really, the new one will just do the same. But the gesture was the nice part. Almost like recognition for giving a crap about something thats not mine.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Got the all clear from my GP to travel to Sth Africa and meet up with my daughter and do a safari together.
I recently contracted Legionnaires Disease (that was fun) and it was doubtful if I'd make it, but nearly fully recovered and Xray of lungs cleared me, SA here I come.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Jaydee

Really try to go on one in an open Jeep with a guide - is really something else having a pride of wild lions walking around you.

Hopefully your daughter has more sense than my then 12 year old who was sitting behind me and a male was walking up behind and guide said quiet and no movement.

So I then hear bang behind me turn around and my daughter is not there. In that second my mind raced to what weapon could I grab and sheer white terror. Silly bugger pops up she dropped her water bottle and ducked down to get it😱

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Rain!

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Had to install a camera above the dispatch desk in the warehouse of the wholesaler my company uses. I know the guys in dispatch and the drivers well. So to do the camera install, it was high level, so i had rented a trailer mount cherry picker. So those guys, we talk as mates, speaking crap and all that. I got offered a hand taking the trailer off the car to push it in and declined the offer. Of their 5 drivers they all said i had no chance backing that 90° into the warehouse given the tight space due to the dumpsters and pallets outside. I made the big call claiming i am the trailer king, setting myself up for a potential failure. But no, first time every time. So for the time i was using the lift, whenever one of the delivery drivers came back for more deliveries, id give it to them about what do they get paid for if they cant reverse a trailer. It was all in good humour. They doubted my skills, i dont get paid to drive, they do. But, im the self appointed trailer king. Trailers arent hard to reverse, you just have to counter the direction of where the trailer is heading before it gets out of hand. And they were also impressed i slayed it in a manual.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

.:4:. no offence to you sir but I had a lady driving large 4WD and tandem trailer back right angle into my yard that I with single trailer always have trouble with.
And she knew she was good, hops out with beam on her beautiful face, says...'how was that first attempt eh?'

Being very diplomatic I said...' you have taught yourself well'.

If Id asked after that she would have given me anything

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Im nothing special, i dont doubt that. It was more a competition between myself and persons who get paid to drive as a job telling me it cant be done. I made the big statement, yeah theyre the boys, and it was, well, kind of like they had bets on me, and i kind of did talk it up. But, skill, well experience. Luck maybe a touch. Been doing things backwards since i was 16.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

I took advantage of the Easter/ANZAC break, did more in the last week than the 2 or 3 before it and went home not hating work for the first time in a very long time :lol

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Picked my kid up from school to go for dinner like we do on tuesdays, and pulling into the car park a backpacker waves me down and asks if i have jumper leads. I do, so i offered a jump. My son refers to my ute as man ute because as far as he is concerned it has every tool in it to fix anything. Thats a misconception, same as his misconception i can fix anything. So i roll up to this blokes crap camry and i left my ute running in neutral, so before hooking the thing up got my 9 year old to turn it off. He was so happy to be helping. Hooked the bad car to the good one so i told my boy how to start it and he was so happy to have helped. The bloke who asked for the jump was appreciative, so were his 3 mates, but for the 2 minutes of my time, its just what you do isnt it? My kid on the other hand was so excited helping out, to him it was like i was in my natural environment fixing things.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Got gran turismo 4 from cash converters for $4. I must have played thousands of hours of this game when I was 13.

Pleasantly surprised to see the ba2 fpv f6 typhoon and gt are in the game, along with the vz ss commodore. I got them all as soon as I could. There is also an au falcon race car I desperately want.

Gives me something to do when its raining like today.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Is that the one with the john bowe ford credit au? If it is, im pretty sure i had the ba fpv gtp back in the day maxed out.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

New plugs , new coils. Bring on the 4th gear smoke....

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

Au race car is 450k in game. Pretty sure the same car is in gt3 but it was 1.5m to buy in that game.

I don't know if its the john bowe car though because I don't have it yet. Got distracted with other cars.

Re: What made you feel good today?
 

No work and 50mm of rain.