Shouts From Down Under

...on the third stroke, it will be three. Am. Precisely.

Is it Bestseller O'clock yet?

Why do we feel the most awake when it's time for bed, and most creative in those hours when intelligent humans have retired for the night?

Tonight for tea (dinner / evening meal) we ate pumpkin soup. It was very delicious, with plenty of chilli to give it some zing. (Hot peppers)

Shower update; still not tiled, but the waterproofing is finished and dry.
This weekend should see some dramatic change as our son does the tiling for the shower section in the corner. Once it's grouted, we'll fix the frame-less shower screen to the walls, fit the mixer tap handle, fit the shower rose, and the soap holder and little shelf for the shampoo etc. We'll also fit a couple of chrome hooks to provide for people's loofahs / washing accessories to hang.

A random bit of advice next up.

We are vacuum cleaner repairers, having run a business doing this for 14 years. If you want to save yourself some money, get said vacuum cleaner out of the cupboard ASAP (not to vacuum the floor this time) and remove the overflowing paper dustbag (if it has one), emptying the plastic dust bin (if it has one) and removing whatever intake and exhaust filtration it boasts to it's hardworking, underpaid sucky name.

Next. Get the filters and using someone's air compressor and the dusting facility (with eye protection and a dust mask and all of this at your own risk of course - for those people ready to sue the socks off someone for a frivolous $$ making reason - I'm sure there's none of those among dirt poor writers or they / we wouldn't be here) blow out said filters until they are unblocked and appear to be reasonably clean.

Use your noggin (head) people. If it's obvious they are stuffed, taking your model and serious number and brand name, go and buy some new ones at your local vacuum cleaner parts shop, or off eBay.
Then, after comparing the old with the new to make sure you've got the right ones, stick the new ones in the vac and test it out on your carpet or whatever. Don't chuck out the old ones until you are sure you've got it right. Then do throw them out. Nothing worse than old parts sitting around the place eh.

The reason this WILL save you a wad of money, even though you've spent some on filters and maybe a new pack of paper dustbags, is that your vaccy will now have its suction motor cooled properly, with the suction air able to flow through to the motor, and through the electric motor field windings. Without this cooling air, many motors will overheat and eventually burn out.

In Australia, motor burn out is usually covered in your household and contents motor fusion insurance policy but not always. Some Ins companies carry on like turkeys about this and try to diddle you out of your claim.
We had one such mob demand a detailed invoice for an old lady's vacuum cleaner and they then queried my replacing the filters, saying only the motor was covered.
News for them was that the filters are part of the motor cooling system and vital for its reliable and continued function. Anyway, I was suitably outraged on behalf of the elderly client. But it did no good. They ripped her off anyway.

So here's the tip. Don't wait til your vaccy is stuffed and smokin'.
Give it a quick 10 minute bit of attention every 3 months and you'll extend it's sparky life for a lot longer than a strangulated oven environment.

Sparky