La Pavoni – Europiccola

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dsc_3992_2.jpgSo after years of looking on ‘that auction site’ and visiting the local Distributor, conveniently located in Annandale Sydney (http://www.euroespresso.com.au/), I finally picked up one of these bad boys. The price was right, secondhand and only used a handfull of times I picked it up for about half the retail price – still alot for a freakin’ coffee machine. However considering I will save on my daily coffee costs it should be ok….

So, the La Pavoni Europiccola (http://www.lapavoni.com)is basically the base model in their range of Lever Handle machines, keeping in mind the only differences between the base model and the ‘Pro’ version is the inclusion of a pressure gauge (yes that looks cool) and a bigger boiler. So all things considered I am happy with the base model.

For once I did read up before plugging it in! I tested some crappy old old coffee that I had lying around…and surprise surprise..it was crap! Next try was with some fresher stuff in the freezer, this round tested out the cappucino nozzle thingy – WOW….that tasted better than the stuff I get up the road from my local Cafe!

dsc_3994_2.jpgThis is only gonna get better. However one crucial piece of equipment is required, a decent, and correct sized tamper, the one supplied was a 51mm which is too large for the 49mm basket – maybe one from here! http://www.coffeetamper.com.au/

or I will get one done up from a local machine shop!!

couple of links…

http://coffeesnobs.com.au/

http://www.coffeeitalia.com.au

Spare parts:

http://www.espressoservices.co.uk/shop.html 

http://www.coffeeparts.com/ 

Rainwater Tank Complete

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dsc_3567_2.jpgSo after a marathon effort of installing a concrete slab for the rainwater, the next phase was to establish the 3500L tank on the foundation of get some of the water off the roof and into the tank. SO the tank is about 30-40 metres away on the other side of the house and weighs in at about 70kg, how do you move this bulky item? well do as the romans did, well kinda…. Layed out several planks and slid it along, worked very well and did not damage the tank at all. Positioned the tank on the slab and checked for the correct level, it is so damn level you could gauge the rest of the house of it, on that note its probably the only level thing on the property!

With a little rework of the existing PVC piping and I had rain water flowing into the tank not problems, I will get some more piping and mate a more professional job of it but for now, with rain coming down it should be fine.

Now if your wondering where to purchase a rainwater tank on the mid north coast, Camden Haven Tanks would be an excellent place to start, they specialise in “aquaplate” steel tanks which are BHP (or Bluescope, depending on their name today) steel sheeting with a food grade plastic lining. These guys get the sheet and roll the corrugations and form up tanks to suit whatever size you like!

Camden Haven Tanks

4 Flinders Drv, Laurieton, NSW 2443

p: (02) 6559 7421

Monster Witchetty Grub

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Monster Witchetty GrubWell maybe not quite a monster one but alot bigger than what I have ever seen! to provide some scale to the shell shown, the shell is at least 3.75″ long, that would make for one tasty meal…if I ate grubs….and if I could find him!

Check out this Fact Sheet (Giant Wood Moth and Witchetty Grubs) from

Author: Geoff Monteith
Queensland Museum
PO Box 3300, South Bank
QLD 4101 Australia
Phone: (07) 3840 7555
Web: http://www.qm.qld.gov.au

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The witchetty grub (also spelled witchety grub) is a term used in Australia for the large, white, wood feeding larvae of cossid moths (Cossidae), ghost moths (Hepialidae) and longicorn beetles (Cerambycidae). The term is used mainly when the larvae are being considered as food. The larvae are said to taste similar, probably because they have similar wood feeding habits. Edible either raw or barbecued, they are sought out as a high-protein food by Indigenous Australians. Most often, witchetty grub applies to large, typically 7 cm, wood-eating larva of various Australian moths, particularly the cossid moth Endoxyla leucomochla (aka Xyleutes leucomochla). It feeds on the roots of the Witchetty bush, which is named for the grubs. The grubs feature as Dreamings in many Aboriginal paintings.

Counterstrike Source Common Commands

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gg_aim_ag_texture2-m0009.jpgfps_max Frame rate limiter.
cl_allowdownload <0/1> Client downloads customization files. Default: 1
cl_allowupload <0/1> Client uploads customization files. Default: 1
cl_autowepswitch <0/1> Automatically switch to picked up weapons (if more powerful) Default: 1
cl_c4dynamiclight <0/1> Draw dynamic light when planted c4 flashes. Default: 0
cl_c4progressbar <0/1> Draw progress bar when defusing the C4. Default: 1
cl_cmdrate Max number of command packets sent to server per second. Default: 0

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Sydney Park

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sydney-park-brickworks-1-lowres.jpg

Sydney Park has long been a frequently access park for me…..plenty of space for everyone and never too crowded… Shows what can be achieved with our waste land…..

Always a favorite spot for photos also!

Quoted from http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/

”

The City of Sydney’s biggest park is not yet 20 years old. Much has been achieved to transform an industrial history of clay extraction and waste disposal into 44 hectares of parkland and a vital asset for the growing communities of the southern districts of the City. With development continuing in the southern districts, there is a growing community need for access to high quality open space.

The 2003 Master Plan prepared in conjunction with the Plan of Management has largely been successfully implemented and now represents the existing situation.

The Detailed Master Plan, builds on the foundation of the Plan of Management, addresses the need to establish a

meaningful vision for further improvements to Sydney Park as part of its ongoing development.

Future works to the park will establish an improved park landscape of greater environment stability and with wider recreation opportunity, so the park can cater for the growing numbers and diversity of users.”

Sometimes the most unexpected images are the best!

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dsc_2563_2.jpgNikon 12 year old or so 105mm manual Micro lens! I love this lens, I have learnt more using this lens in the past week then I have ever using any automatic lens!

This lens must be used with a tripod or else you need to be in good light or pop out that flash…that said it’s great way to also learn about how to use the manual flash modes!

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GF gone away and its time to party…

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Well i should be partying da nites away but have unfortunetly been spending alot of time do work stuff at home…probably lucky shes not here… 🙂 never get any work done.. and when i am not working i am playing Doom 3, pretty damn awesome..playing it is actually scary!!!

Hopefully in the coming weeks i can get organise to get some specs…been along time since i had them…but nice for a change.

Had a excellent swim the other day after finishing up at Mascot, pumped out 20 laps in just over 20 mins, really had the rythm…

Flying side of life…has com to an absolute grind halt…the aircraft is in for the 50 hourly and to get carby heat cable fixed…darn thing busted just before i was to go solo for the second time….last few flights have been pretty rough due to the extended time off from flying…when it comes back i will definitely look at going 1-2 time a week…specially once this CASA212 and lear projects are over!!!

anyway after a solid week the RSi is setting in!! 🙂

If one more persons asks for help with there stupid computer i am going to go insane!

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Spent half my saturday helping goair with their kickass computer system, all was going well until this stupid Delll server kept crashing when the modem was plugged in and used… probably had something to do with the fact that they say they say they do not support dialup modems with the truemobile router…figures…

Did i mention saturday was a beautiful day…and i spent most of it inside playing with that darn computer system.

Dropped off the cargo nets to grant, since i knew he would be working a saturday! Grant made the comment that the amount of work seems to be decreasing…probably due to the fact that everyone is leaving the airport due to the predicted increase in landing fees (60 bucks a tonne – that makes it one very expensive cct).

Got home around two and decided to get going to the pool. was very nice, getting busy again, which is good for the pool since they had nearly a month where no-one was there due to the heater being busted. pumped out 32 laps, which was good, hopefully get back to two sets of 20 laps soon….just gotta make sure i go twice on the w/e and once during the week and it’ll be sweet as.

went home and cleaned the bloody house…and attempted to fix that daft washing machine….

mental note for saturday: if someone asks “do u know much about computers?” reply with ” nope, dont have clue”! that will save me alot of time and heart ache!