Day 78 (Sunday)

The Eastern States of Australia moved to Daylight Savings Time yesterday - except for Queensland, which is where we are. That should have been the end of it, especially as we saw it as one of the benefits of moving to this side of the border ... never again would I have to worry about moving clocks backwards or forwards to get to the right time. I know there are all sorts of ways of remembering which way the clocks go at which time - for example Spring forward, Fall back - but that really only works if you know which way is "forward" and which way is "back". I can't even get it if you need to move a meeting forward or back - is it earlier or later. I never can tell and am therefore grateful for electronic calendars which do the adjustments themselves - all you have to do is know what the current time is. Enter DST. We needed to be up early yesterday and I had set the alarm for 6.40am; the next one for 6.45am; and the next one - on a separate device - for 6.50am. By some strange fluke of fate, I woke up, unassisted, at 6.53am. How on earth could I sleep through not one, not two, but three alarms! But, I congratulated myself on being able to at least wake up within good time - rather than after the time we were meant to have left for the airport. I rushed through the morning ablutions, knowing that I just had time to get ready and make S a cup of bed tea before sitting down to my 7.30 Skype session with T. On my way to the kitchen - 7.25, still on schedule - I put on my watch (the first time in a couple of days) and realised it had stopped at 6.25. Ah well, they do say you should change the batteries of smoke alarms at DST start and end, so this was just another thing to do. It was then that S asked me what I was up to - and I was glad she asked, because that meant she was awake already and I wouldn't have to do it hurriedly when I came back with the tea - and did I know that the iPod had reset itself to Daylight Savings Time. It was actually only 6.25 now not 7.25. A quick check of the iPhone confirmed it ... I had hurried through the morning - where I could have been sleeping in - to be an hour earlier than I needed to be. DST 35 - Me 0 ... with 35 being the number of years I have lived in states which do DST and I still not "got" it. As S paraphrases each year, from the film "City Slickers", even the cows (now horses) have it before me! And if I can't get that, I'll probably never be able to work out why the alarms didn't go off - an hour earlier?

It was great to pick M and her mother up from the airport on their return from their overseas visit to family and friends and faraway places. She has been missed by the kids and all at Latimers - and Pearl especially gave her the warmest welcome - as dogs are wont to do. The others were a little more standoffish - which is perfectly understandable ... they are cats!

M & A had arranged a "light lunch" to welcome the returning travellers and while it was simple it was simply wonderful. We can't say the same about the weather though because it continued to rain, and then it rained some more. I thought the reason for it became a little clearer when we passed a church on the way back to Latimers. The sign out the front announced: "Jesus Reigns".

Mini MasterChef wasn't on when we tried to tune in tonight. A quick look at their website revealed nothing ... I couldn't tell if it's continuing - which is probably a "yes" because there doesn't appear to be a winner listed on the site. We'll try again next week.

The Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony will be telecast late this evening and at this stage I'm not sure if Latimers is going to stay up for it. We have failed on the two other main sporting events here in Australia this weekend - we watched neither the replay of the final of the AFL in Melbourne yesterday (following a draw last weekend) "very boring after the first quarter" or the final of the NRL in Sydney today "very boring after half time". We are, however, contemplating our own sports events in the backyard including water skiing if it rains much more. Do they make floaties for tractors?

The excitement of the day though was fitting a new wiper assembly for the windscreen - and buying a new multiwrench to replace the one which dropped into the side panel of the car yesterday. How many times have I seen mechanics in movies, working under the hood, and they put their tools on the top of the side panel - and they stay there ... rather than sliding into the hole where the hood's strut lives when the hood is down. It came as a complete surprise when it happened - but I could still see it so it was going to be relatively easy to fish out ... except neither S nor I had small enough hands. The wire coathanger that I bent out of shape and then into a small hook only helped me knock the wrench, until that point balanced on one end, over and into a place where I couldn't possibly get it. That part of the car chassis seems to be self-contained and away from any vital moving parts - either engine or wheels - and the hood would still go up and down ... so I'm not going to take to it with a can opener at this stage. It will be interesting to see if it clinks as I drive.