Making progress

I feel I had a fairly productive weekend - I started assembling the six 'cube' bookcases I bought from Aldi 18 months ago, and so far things are going OK (the first two packs went together easily and the finished product looks even better than I expected). Next weekend I'll need to assemble and then cut in half two of the remaining bookcases, so that the resulting 'L-shaped' bookcases can fit either side of a large, teak carved panel that is the feature piece of our lounge room. I visited the local hardware 'superstore' today to buy the few planks of DAR lumber I'll need for installing the wood carving and putting ends onto the four half-bookcases, a small tin of varnish/stain, a paint brush, some removable picture hooks and an el-cheapo jig-saw for cutting the bookcases... total cost just under $150! The timber was quite expensive considering it was only cheap plantation pine (and full of knots), whereas the jig-saw for less than $20 was a bargain. I paid the hardware store $4 to have the timber cut up into the required lengths as I'm not sure exactly where my circular saw has gone. I'll varnish the raw pine pieces after work this week and should be able to assemble, cut-down and install the corner book cases around the teak carving next weekend. That will leave one more weekend to finish off the project while DS1 is still visiting my parent's farm.

I've made progress with a couple of my other goals - sticking to my diet (lost 2kg in the first week - mostly water I expect), and also making it down to the air pistol range yesterday and shooting a decent score (533/600). Not quite 'A grade' (540), but close enough considering I hadn't done any target practice for nearly 12 months.

I also finished off my 'final' draft of the application for an AAO student fellowship position and sent it to my MAstron lecturer at JCU for some review.

All in all, decent progress on 3 of my 12 goals. I've decided to change on of my goals though - after installing Quicken 2008 on my 'new' laptop on Friday, today when I launched Quicken a message popped up saying that it had been previously installed on a different computer (my old desktop), so I'd have to phone the Quicken support (toll charge) number to be able to use it on my new PC. Instead I've uninstalled Quicken and decided to track my expenses using an excel spreadsheet this year. It's much easier to keep a spreadsheet on my USB stick so I can update it at home or at work than try entering everything in Quicken at home, and Quicken was over-kill for my needs this year anyhow.

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Swimming pool maintenance

I finally finished installing our new pool fencing and safety gates last weekend, so it was time to get the pool cleaned up and start swimming again. The old candle filter was on it's last legs, so we decided to replace it with a new sand filter. The pump had also been performing poorly, but that turned out to be easy to fix -- there was a small tree nut stuck in the impeller! Tomorrow my dad will find out if the old salt chlorinator can be repaired with a new electrode, or if we need to replace the whole unit. If it needs replacing I may defer the capital expense and continue using chlorine granules until next year. The new pool filter cost around $1,000, which isn't too bad as it has a ten year guarantee (and should last longer). Unlike the candle filter, which required new diatomaceous earth every couple of months, the sand filter only requires regular back-washing. Apparently the sand will need replacing in about ten years time.

Next weekend I'll work on building the new sandstone steps leading down from the pool area to the newly enclosed play area. Once that is done I can finish levelling the play area, lay new turf and assemble the kids play set/gym. Oh, and put up the Christmas lights ;)

Subscribe to Enough Wealth. Copyright 2006-2008

More Home Improvements

Years ago, when I was single (and had more spare time and money), I subscribed to various editions of leather bound 'heirloom' books from Easton Press. Altogether I bought approximately 200 books, which cost around A$100 each.



Since buying our current home seven years ago I've intended to convert our lounge room into a 'library' by building some book cases into one half of the room, but haven't got around to it yet. The books are currently scattered around the lounge room in various locations.



Last week I did manage to get one step closer to starting work on this project by buying six flat packs of DIY 'six cube bookcase' kits from Aldi for A$100 each.



These bookcases will provide more than enough storage space for my leather bound books, and for display of some of my collection of coins and other 'collectibles'. I plan to stack two of the bookcases on top of each other to make a 4x3 cube unit 1.6m high on each side of an alcove in the lounge room. I'll then cut the remaining two kits in half to install 1x4 cube units either side the large teak wood carving I bought in Singapore twenty years ago. The wood carving isn't as deep as the bookcases, so I'll be able to mount a flat screen HD TV above the carving and run the data and power cables behind the carving. I'm not sure if I'll leave the cube bookcases 'open' or enclose each cube with tracks and sliding glass doors or hinged glass doors. I can probably leave the glazing for 'phase two' of this project ;) In any case, I won't be starting on this work until after I've finished installing the new pool fencing and done this year's tax returns...

Subscribe to Enough Wealth. Copyright 2006-2008

More spending on house and garden

After we'd settled the purchase of our home six years ago and moved in, the final paperwork from our solicitor included a note that there was some council paperwork missing (a building compliance notice of some sort) because the wooden gate and fence around the pool didn't meet current standards. Since then the latch on the pool gate has broken off and some palings on the side have started to fall off.

So I finally bit the bullet and ordered some replacement metal pool fencing that I'll install myself over the next few weekends. The 10 panels (1.2mx2.5m) and three gates, plus posts and fittings, cost a total of $2,572.20, delivered to a Sydney depot from the factory outlet in Queensland. Aside from buying some bags of rapid-set concrete mix and a manual post-hole digger for around $80, I should have all the other tools needed to install the new fencing and gates. I'm not sure how much time and effort installing the fence and gates will take ;)

I bought the simplest fence design ("flat top") as it looks neat and simple and costs less than the more ornamental designs. Although the cheapest option is unpainted ($67 per fence panel) or standard satin black finish ($77), I decided on the "precious silver pearl" finish that was on special for $85 instead of the usual $99 per panel. The cost of the finish and design isn't a signigicant part of the total cost - the self-closing child-sage gates cost $242 each!

I could have replaced the existing wood fence sections and gate with just five panels and one (or two) gates, but the extra sections allow us to enclose the new swing set on a flat area of grass adjacent to the pool enclosure and street frontage. The boys will be able to play on the swing set without having to worry (too much) about them running into the street or falling into the swimming pool.

Unfortunately this won't be the end of the current round of required spending. Next spring I'll have to pay around $700 for a new pool filter as the existing filter has finally fallen to pieces. Without a working filter the pool isn't usable this summer, so I paid $66 for a three month weekend family pass to the nearby public swimming pool. Of course it would have been cheaper to just fill in and grass over the pool and use the public swimming pool, but I've always enjoyed having my own swimming pool (although the maintenance and costs are less alluring).

Subscribe to Enough Wealth. Copyright 2006-2008