Sunday 24^th October 2021, Morayfield.

Yet another period of nothing written down, it seems as if I am too busy, but nothing is different than usual. I suppose I have been a little busier at the Museum with Don, our President, away for a few weeks and things that are happening like freight deliveries from Melbourne being directed to me rather than the Vice-President. We take it our stride though. I am trying not to be so busy at the men’s shed though with not doing several jobs and deliberately leaving them for somebody else to do, e.g., dish washing, everybody happily makes their coffee or tea and then leaves the teaspoons on the sink for washing. I have been coming along and filling the sink with washing water and washing the spoons ready for the next group, but now that has ceased, yet the spoons seem to get washed sometime. Then we get a surprise busy day one Saturday when our local Bunnings store calls our sizzle man at 8:00am and asks if we could be ready in an hour to do a sausage sizzle at their store because someone cancelled. We do get these calls, it has happened before, because they do know we can do it and are fully prepared for it, we sold the first sausage before 9:30am, and it was quite a profitable day for us.

Another Men’s Shed newsletter being 038_Newsletter.

Sunday 12^th of September 2021, Morayfield.

A somewhat normal week, or two, since last report, with the exception of what I would have to call one of the worst shopping experiences I have ever had.

I had to send a small package to Melbourne and rather than wrap it I thought I would go to the Post Office and put it in a post bag, and Caboolture Post Office was the choice because of the better results Linda has had from that shop. I will add at this stage that I had partially inserted into my box a list of addresses for the package, one being the ‘TO’ address, one being the ‘FROM’ address, and the other being the ‘RETURN TO’ address with the intention of this list to be inserted into the package for the benefit of the package receiver, and I had another copy in my pocket for my information to address the package. I arrive to find that I had to talk to the teller through a Perspex screen, a mask and with her having a foreign accent, and with all this I found it impossible to hear and understand a word she was saying. She removed her mask only to make her voice more audible, but still not understandable. In the meantime, another teller came to assist and took me to the shelves to select a bag, then upon returning I continued to try to deal with the original teller while the second started to package my box. I noted that the second teller found my address note and commenced to tear it into sections. Asked what she was doing she replied that she was using the notes to address the package, but I had noticed that she was using the ‘RETURN TO’ address as the ‘TO’ address which would have resulted in the package being delivered to Brisbane instead of Melbourne. Now the fun started: – I now found it next to impossible to try to talk to teller number one, I think trying to sell me extra insurance, while trying to explain to teller number two what the notes were for and that I had another copy for the purpose of addressing the package. You would have thought from their response that I was trying to tell them how to do their jobs, and probably was, only then having to literally raise my voice in insistence of what my requirement were, and only then would they stop and listen. Now once everyone calmed down, we were all prepared to discuss the matter, but in the end after leaving the shop I was still wondering if the correct ‘TO’ address was actually placed on the package, but as the package arrive where it was supposed to all ended well.

At this current time with NSW and VIC in lockdown we, QLD, have had yet another scare, but with having been able to track the source of the cases we have so far been relieved of our own lockdown.

Another Men’s Shed newsletter being 037_Newsletter.

Sunday22nd of August 2021, Morayfield.

Only been week and I thought of it this week. Apart from COVID and the changes bought around due to it, it has been a usual week. The shed is progressing as usual and as we are now getting quotes on preparatory work for shed 3, I dare say it will not be too far away till we start its construction. The museum is the same with the exception that the boys have relocated an old Keith Switch telephone exchange that has been restored to working order. Being the first telephone exchange installed in Sydney this will only add to the stories within the museum.

Apart from this we are still working on several things around the new house. Linda is concentrating on her plants, except for the palms out front, that seems to be my job. Speaking of which I have been seeking out suitable tools for the cutting of these palms and have come up with what I think suitable. I borrowed a small electric chain saw from the shed and although the blade would have been a good size for getting at the stumps it was too heavy, had to be held two handed, not good for holding fronds out of the way, and I had intended running it off the generator, but the power rating is 2200 watts, and the generator is only 1k. I bought a fold-up hand-held pruning saw which seems rather suitable. I didn’t cut any new/existing palms due to there being some long stumps previously cut off that I could practise with.

We are still very much thinking of the family in Melbourne, in lock-down, and wanting to get up here to visit for a holiday.

Friday 13^th of August 2021, Morayfield.

So much for trying to report weekly. I guess I have been rather busy with the intermittent COVID lockdowns and getting to know the rules each time to determine what we have to do to open the shed and the museum.

July was one of the busiest months I can recall us having at the shed since being there. We finally got to hold our first market day, delayed mainly by whether and the council building our new road and pathways. It turned out to be quite a busy and profitable day. What made it busy was us having two sausage sizzles at Bunnings that week as well, one being the same day as the market, and the other the Monday before. Moodloo Men’s Shed had obtained the sizzle on the Monday before and asked us to provide staff to fill the positions needed, so we did. We had circulated earlier that if other organizations were in this position we would help for a share of the profits, that we the other have a win and we also have a win. We also held our own sizzle at the markets as well, so the onion cutters were extremely busy that week, I know because I am one of them.

We also had a couple of members pass away during this month, which in itself made the month a bit more difficult We have had to come to the realisation that most of the men at the shed are elderly so death is the one thing we must all expect to happen.

The last couple of the shed newsletters are actually dedicated to the memory of those members who passed, so here are Issue 035, and Issue 036.

Wednesday 16^th June 2021, Morayfield.

I suppose that the delay in reports again could be understood due to us moving into the new house. The move did go well, apart from getting ripped off by the real estate agents, and we are now quite settled in. We are becoming more dismayed at the previous owners the longer we are here as we keep finding things that they neglected or just ignored in their maintenance routines. We have been rather busy overcoming these obstacles which are the things you do not find until living in the place for a length of time. Now that we are settled, I should think about getting back to regular reports, and that is all I can think of for now.

I am including the men’s shed newsletters I have missed lately, 033_Newsletter May 2021, and 034_Newsletter June 2021.