Tribe

I've no tribe so to speak.

One tribe is the old tribe. The group I was a part of while married. But I'm not really in it. No one calls me. I'm not invited to things. But at the same time, it impacts on me emotionally.  Especially when I hear of get togethers. 

I'm told it takes 4 years for guys to get over the rejection of divorce. So two years of depression and sadness ahead. 

Feeling low as I write this. 

Wondering what to do. 

Kind of buried myself in work and rowing. But that's really a distraction. 

Sometime I've got to work out how to move on. 

It's just really hard. How to get over 25 years of family focus. Church focus. Two tribes now nolonger. But still the echo's of the past. The heart strings tugged by the memories and remains of those groups. A feeling of anger and sadness of time wasted. Effort put in that lead to this. Effort directed to family and being in a group and now I have neither. Jealousy though that others do. 

Oh well. 

1am

I try to connect but when I phone, people don't pick up or if they do, they are busy.  On the flip side, no one calls me anyone. Who wants to talk to a rejected old depressed fuckker anyway. 

2:26am

3:00am watch it tick over. 

4:20am

5:30am

Brigidine Show Must Go On

Arty performance at Bigidine.  We had to queue and sign our lives away and now sitting in little family groups all separated by clear space.  CPC doing the tech. Jemma in the choir and the woodwind ensemble. She's far left with the techo.

Lewis' Birthday

Earlier in the week, Clare contacted me and asked if I'd like to come to visit Warwick for a surprise birthday dinner for Lewis. 

Chris & Dan indicted they would like to come.  So on Tuesday we loaded Chris' new ute with a pile of Bird Radar leftovers and departed for Warwick. We met John at his storage shed and unloaded. 

Then onto the Warwick club for drinks with Lewis and some of his work mates. Initially we could not locate it.  Partially because I had the wrong address but so does Google. It's a descret house with little signage.  We meet Lewis on the footpath outside.  He seemed momentarily confused but soon regained composure. 

Inside the club we were treated to beer and i had a very nice scotch and dry. X3 .  Chris and Dan played snooker on the full size table. Daniel Thomson 's mis spent youth put him in front.  He gave Chris Thomson a break and Chris responded by snookering Dan.

Then onto Lewis' house where Clare had put together a lovely roast. 

After dinner we moved to the lounge and a fire was lit. 

On our way back to Brisbane after celebrating Lewis von Stieglitz 's birthday.

A beautiful roast prepared by Clare McHugh Von Stieglitz, the requisite reclination on the couch where I was introduced to a thing called a "book". No batteries required. 

We stayed over night in Lewis's guest house and now we are braving the early morning fog on the way back to Brisbane.

Brigo Photo Shoot

 

 

 

 

 

 

UTE Battery

 The Ute has a flat battery

Supercheap have two options

Battery Wot

40mo 235  640cca aust made

$199  550cca  aust made

import $125 20mo 500cca  imported

delivery & install woolongabba $50-$60

I get knocked down...

Remember this

I get knocked down, but I get up again
You are never gonna keep me down
I get knocked down, but I get up again
You are never gonna keep me down

Well at the moment it's hard to get back up again. 

Feels like

I get knocked down, but I get up again
I get knocked down, but I get up again
I get knocked down, but I get up 
I get knocked down, but I get 
I get knocked down, but I 

I get knocked down, but 

I get knocked down, 
I get knocked

Most of the time it's a miscommunication and usually it's me who misunderstood. 

Tiida Remote Battery

The remote I have for the tiida is not responding. I checked the writing on the remote and as I read it,  it said I needed a CR2025 battery.  I had to buy a pack of 4. When I opened it,  I find a CR2032 inside.

$12 down the drain

Boyce ct Crockery

Lewis phoned me today to ask me if I wanted mums old crockery from Boyce ct.  Maybe it was my inheritance. Anyway I said 'no'. I did not want to add to the stuff that I will have to move when I leave Magee st.  I asked him to send me a picture and some memories. 

When i read this, I'm reminded how crap my memory is. Also $200 in the seventies is about$1600 Today. Multiply by 8.

Lewis:

For information the crockery we  discussed was purchased by grandpa in 1978. On arriving at Boyce Court he found his daughter using that (quite fashionable in the '70s) grey/black brown etc stuff. 

No doubt horrified, he and Nana (& mum?) headed down town and paid $200 for the stuff in question. It was drizzling outside as we unpacked the boxes.

Since then it has seen highs. Breakfast after Church when an entire barnyard gives its all; Roast beef & Yorkshire pudding dinners amid silver and candlelight. 

Lows include decanted take away, reheated Hawaiian pizza and the morning after sight of Big Tabs chowing down on left over left overs.

Jemma 16 birthday

Well it was Jemmas16th birthday yesterday and the day really was a Megan and Jemma affair. 

The day started for me with a miscommunication where I thought I was taking Jemma too get her L plates. Turned out Megan,  Jemma and 4 other people having breakfast together. Then they went to Ipswich to get the L's. 

Dinner in the evening at Megan's with Megan's parents.  No offer of a photo with Jemma and me.  The one saving grace was Ian offering and taking the one photo with me in it.

So in the end I'm left with this empty forgotten feeling. Sadly my depression overshadowing what should be a wonderful celebration.  Although after all this is my blog. My thoughts.  My story.  I don't think anyone else ever wrote even one entry back when it was the Thomson family blog and now we are no longer a family it's my blog.  And today just epitomized my exclusion.  Nothing for me here. 

Jemma Learn to Drive and a new wheel

 With Learner credentials "in hand" and rowing done for the day, we set out for Jemma's second learner drive lesson.  She'd had her first yesterday with Megan.

The first thing to note when a teenager (Dan)  says "sure dad, you can borrow my car" which incidentally we should note I actually own, is the fuel gauge. All pretty good until we were spooked on a corner and with a bit of oversteer hit the curb.  Time for a lesson in changing a wheel.  I sat on the grass and gave advice.  A lady stopped as she was driving by and mentioned that she'd never changed a wheel.

Jemma had to work out how to apply a bit of extra force to loosen the nuts.

On to buying a replacement wheel and tyre

185/65R15 88H  Nissan Tiida 2011
Tyre Mate (07) 3875 2150
new $220 wheel. Cheep tyre $82.

75th aniversery of WW2 VP day

Reposted from Facebook 

Henry:

Just saw the flyover of WW2 historic planes on a cold rainy Canberra morning. 15 August 2020 is the 75th  anniversary of Victory over Japan / Victory in the Pacific (VJ/VP). 

My father few various aircraft including the B24 Liberator. When we were small he had a few of his aerial maps on the wall in his study, although he never spoke of the war. The Long Range Flying Chart is shown with a picture of dad (bottom right) and a small photo of a burial of some of their crew after they crashed in NW WA; only the pilot and dad surviving. 

An interesting map is that of Continental Australia, all in Japanese. Written on the back is that the map was captured at Brunei, 13 June 1945.

Lest we forget.  

 

 

 

 

 

Chris 21st

Chris,Mackenzie 

Sean Erin,

Callan, RwRwandaDan, Damica, Megan 

Winter Racing

WRS 

That's me in 2 seat. 

Crew

1 Mel

2 Frank

3 Tanya

4 Graham.

Wobbly wheel

Something in the front end collapsed and I took it to the repair shop. 

The fellow has not done a good job.  The noises continue albeit different.  I took it back to him on Thursday and he found a loose screw front right side.  The noises continue. I had Brigo rowing so I did not go straight back.  Today Friday is Ekka holiday and the fellow was not answering the phone. I had a look and found another loose screw.  This one on the passenger side.  Tightening it made no difference. 

Sigh

New Phone

After my disappointment with Nokia5.3, thought I would see what waterproof phones exist.

It appears only expensive phones (over $1000) are waterproof.
Given I am likely to drop it in the water or the concrete, I do not see the point in spending big $ on the phone just to get waterproof.

Phone	Who	$	Waterproof?	Tech
Samsung Glaxy A71	HN	697	Waterproof?	128GB
Galaxy S10	HN	$1024	Waterproof?	Optus Version  128GB
Galaxy S20+	OW	$1299	Waterproof?	Tech
Galaxy A71	OW	$697	No	128GB
Galaxy A71	HN	$697	No	128GB
Galaxy A51	Who	$597	Definately No	128GB
Galaxy A21	OW	$377	Bo	32GB
Huawei P30 Pro	HN	$1399	Waterproof?	256GB
Galaxy S9	mobileciti	$799	IP68	64GB Not at HN
Nokia5.3	HN	$347	No	64GB
Phone	Who	$	Waterproof?	Tech

New Nokia 5.3 Phone - Buyers Regret

INTRODUCTION

Not doing well in the phone world atm.  Had a Samsung A51 that seemed noisy.  For example if I plugged it in to the cigarette lighter charger in my car it would anounce "GPS Signal Lost" and if I plugged it into the wall charger at home, the cellular data would slow right down and the number of "bars" displayed would go down.  A couple of weeks ago, I dropped it in the water in the bottom of my tinnie and that was the end of that.

Figured I would try a different brand of phone. Settled on a Nokia5.3.

Disappointing

ISSUES

1. SD Card - Cant just plug in the old samsung one

First issue was when I inserted my micro SD card from my Samsung, it wanted me to reformat it.  In my world, reformat deletes everything.  I contacted Nokia support and they encouraged me to reformat and promised it would not delete the data.  I decided against that and went and bought a new micro SD card.  Problem remains and from time to time it brings up a notification.

2. No Photo App

Next problem no photo app.  Only google photos. 

3. Storing Photos on SD card

Next problem is that it seems hard / awkward to organise the photos to be stored on the micro SD card.  I have some on internal memory and some on micro SD card.  Google photos seems lost.  Plus if I save a photo from Facebook, I can never find it.  Likewise if I use Open Camera which seems in it's self to actually produce better pictures than the Samsung camera, I do not know where the pictures go. 

4. Recognising the compass Gyro

Had trouble getting 'sky map' to recognise the internal gyro compass.  But there was a setting that had to be changed.

5. Phone Call Screen Lock up

Then one day I made a phone call and the screen just locked up.  I could not hang up despite repeatedly pressing the red end call button.  This happened a few times somewhat randomly.  Then it got worse and the screen would go completely black and none of the buttons would work.  Again this was a bit random and after a few minutes the person at the other end of the call would hang up and the phone would come back to life.  Then the next few calls would be OK and then it started becoming more and more frequent.  A reboot seemed to fix it for a while but it's really anoying. 

Return Phone

Decided I did not like Nokia and took a trip to Harvey Norman to see how much of a fight this was going to be.  We wait and see.  Luckilly though on the way I received a call and the thone did it's thing.  At HN, I was able to demonstrate the problem to a fellow called Andrew.  He made a note in their computer.

I did not want to leave it as I want to copy the photos off.

6  USB - PC CONNECTION

Next problem, here I am with the phone plugged into my pc and it shows up but I can not see any directories.  Bloddy hell this is a half baked piece of crap!

Long chat with Nokia Support,

https://www.nokia.com/phones/en_au/support#contact-us

in the end I suspect the following things fixed it:

Installing C:\Windows\INF\wpdmtp.inf  (right click select install)

Switching on Developer mode

Switching default USB connection to "File Transfer"

Details highlighted in the chatt below in RED.

BEFORE

AFTER

And look, stuff all on the SD card.  I knew I was having trouble getting it to put the photos on the SD card.

=====================//==================

Chat support in English

N

Nokia mobile care

• Hi! How can we help you today with your Nokia phone or accessory?

• connect by usb

Fri, 8:30 AM

N

Nokia mobile care

• Welcome to Nokia Mobile Care. My name is Juan, I'll be more than happy to help you!
  How can I assist you today?

• I have a Nokia 5.3 and when I connect it to my PC. I see Nokia5.3 in the left panel of windows file explorer but I do not see the internal memory or the SD card or any directories.

Fri, 8:31 AM

N

Nokia mobile care

• In order to connect your Nokia device and PC, follow these steps:
  1.Connect phone and PC via cable.
  2. Do not pick any options on the PC
  3. Open "Settings" on Nokia
  4. Scroll down and tap on the last option System - About Phone
  5. Scroll down until you see "Build number"
  6. Tap on "Build number" repeatedly until you see the message "You are now a developer!"
  7. Go back to the "Settings" menu
  8. Scroll down the list until you see "Developer options"
  9. Open "Developer options"
  10. Enable "Developer options" by sliding the switch on the top right-hand side
  11. Scroll down until you see "Select USB Configuration"
  12. Open "Default USB Configuration"
  13. Pick [Charging] option
  14. Then pick back "MTP (Media Transfer Protocol)" or “Files Transfer” (depending on model)
  15. Go back to your PC, now the device's memory should be properly browsed from the PC.
• Are you still there?

• yes
• the second part does not line up with what i see

Fri, 8:36 AM

N

Nokia mobile care

• What is happening?

• im in developer options, I don't see "usb configuration", I do see usb debugging, i see default usb configuration,
• in default usb configuratin i have a file transfer,
• usb tetherin midi, ptp

Fri, 8:38 AM

N

Nokia mobile care

• Did you already try a soft reset? It often helps with tackling such issues.
  It’s easy: Press the Power button and Volume UP button simultaneously for at least 10 seconds, release them when you feel the phone vibrate and you see "Powered by Android" on the screen. This is a safe and quick way to reboot your device, so no need to worry, you won’t lose or erase any data. Just keep in mind that the device should not be charging. 
• Please do that and try again

• Doing that now.
• unplugged cable

Fri, 8:40 AM

N

Nokia mobile care

• Thaks

• ok it's back

Fri, 8:41 AM

N

Nokia mobile care

• Please try the procedire

• Developer Option>Default USB Configuration
  no charging operation
  Options are
  File Transfer
  USb tethering
  MIDI
  PTP
  No Data Transfer (Selected)
  
• I have tried File transfer but the phone no longer shows up in Windows

Fri, 8:45 AM

N

Nokia mobile care

• This is really unusual
• May I please know the IMEI number of your phone?
  You can find it on the box or by dialing *#06#. You will receive a 15 digit number starting with 35xxxxxxxx...

• 355792101220385

Fri, 8:46 AM

N

Nokia mobile care

• Since when are you facing this issue?

• I only tried for the first time just now
• I only bought the phone 2 weeks ago.

Fri, 8:47 AM

N

Nokia mobile care

• Please try by plugging the phone to another usb port

• It also dows not show up in the windows>control panel>device manager
• So when I unplug and plug into a different port, the device manager refreshes the contents so it sees the phone leave and come back again but it's not these. There are no big yellow question marks which show up in device manager if you don't have the driver

Fri, 8:50 AM

N

Nokia mobile care

• Let's try this
• On the PC:
  
  Go to C:\Windows\INF > Type "wpdmtp.inf" in search bar provided to the right of the address bar in Windows 10. > Once you found it, just right click on it and select install. It will take a very few seconds. > Connect your device to the pc.
  
  
  Windows 10 N, and both N and KN versions do not have the Media Feature Pack installed by default, which needs to be downloaded from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/mediafeaturepack
  
  Installing the correct package totally solved the issue. I thought I would drop you some lines in case it is helpful for you for future issues.
• Please try the procedure and check if the issue is resolved or not, and let us know to assist you further

• doing it now

Fri, 8:53 AM

N

Nokia mobile care

• Thanks

• I assume it has done that.
• So now I see Nokia 5.3 on the left panel of windows file explorer. and in file manager but not as a disk drive.

Fri, 8:57 AM

N

Nokia mobile care

• I understand
• Please try this
• Reset network settings:
  go to settings > system > Advanced> Reset options> Reset Wi-fi, mobile & Bluetooth  
• On the phone
• And try again
• First unplug the phone

• done

Fri, 8:58 AM

N

Nokia mobile care

• Please try again

• Developer Option>Default USB Configuration
  no charging operation
  Options are
  File Transfer
  USb tethering
  MIDI
  PTP
  No Data Transfer (Selected)
  
  Should I try File Transfer?
  

2 minutes ago

N

Nokia mobile care

• Yes please

• Done it - solved - thank you

a minute ago

N

now

Nokia mobile care

• Awesome
• If you have any other questions, please let us know, we will be more than glad to assist you further. 
• Thank you for contacting Nokia Mobile Care!
  ¡Have a wonderful day!
  
  At the end of this chat you will receive an opportunity to rate me on our current conversation.

  ¡I would really appreciate if you are Satisfied with my service give me the 5 🌟!

  ¡Thank you!

• Will do. Thank you for you patience and persistance and clear communication

now

2020 Centenary Rowing Club AGM

2020 AGM happened Sunday.

In the lead up I  was really worried it would be yet another shit fight.  I was not at last years and there had been some aggressive questioning and at the one the year before there had been a whole lot of bemoaning.  I get that people come to these meetings pushing a barrow of frustration and feel it is the only way to improve things is to ask the questions.  But that is really a symptom of management problems.  I see the same thing at corporate AGMs.  To me a decent company or club would be honest and forthright with information.  Companies with insane executive remuneration are in my view totally immoral and the angst at their AGMs should serve as a warning.  Anyway, back on topic.

In the lead up, my brother Lewis had suggested getting an independent person to chair the meeting.  He said he tries to get a local politician.  So I got onto the federal rep - Milton Dick, who kindly accepted the challenge.  He brought in Jess Pugh who is state and from the same political persuasion.  That made me think that it was only polite to invite Sarah Hutton who is our BCC rep.  I'm on a learning curve here.  I invited the head master and the sports coordinator from Brigidine and they sent apologies but also asked Caitlin Hocking to come on their behalf.  That was really encouraging.  What I should have done was invite the head masters of all teh other high schools in the area especially Kenmore.  At the last minute I managed to remember to invite Rowing QLD.  They sent CEO Ian Holzberger and HP Coach Andrew Service.

In the end everyone was really well behaved.

After the AGM we had a short general meeting.  Jess Pugh spoke about a up to $20k grant and Sarah Hutton spoke about a $10k council facilities grant.

Then we adjourned to the verandah for sausage sizzle and drinks and networking.

2020-2021 Committee

President - Frank Thomson

Vice President - Ros Hall      

Treasurer - Danielle Keymer 

Secretary - Tania Brooks  

General Committee Members -

     Dennis Taylor

     Cody Ellem-Allen

     Nic Freney 

Male Club Captain - Sebastian Jovanovic 

Female Club Captain - Lillian Hall            

Male Vice-captain - William Hall   

Female Vice-captain - Julia Cornish    

Email to club members:

Centenary Rowing Club

Ready Set.... Hi Centenary Rowing Club Members, Clubs work because members and the community make them work.  One of those support things is the venerable Annual General Meeting.  Our 2020 meeting, delayed from earlier in the year, took place last Sunday 2-AUG-2020. We were graced with the presence of all the levels of government.  Sarah Hutton (Council), Jess Pugh (State) & Milton Dick (Federal) as well as Ian Holzberger and Andrew Service from Rowing Qld. Milton kindly took on the role of chairman. All three polies were very keen to ensure social distancing was practiced and that's evident from the photos. As you guys know rowing was the first sport to restart as the Covid restrictions were eased but that was under a very strict set of protocols.  Right from the start we were very keen to comply and so doing it at the meeting was pretty easy. I felt we had a real positive meeting and I am looking forward to a great year ahead, making opportunities for new people to come and have a go and building a channel from beginner through to performance or social rowing depending on each individuals capabilities and drive. I was excited to hear the enthusiasm Rowing Qld have for developing rowing. I believe we can work really well together. A shared vision of growing the club and engaging with schools and the community. It's also great to hear the support we have from all levels of government. We have a great facility and a lovely Park area. I am hopeful we can engage with our local community. Finally I'd like to thank everyone for being really positive.  I felt that meant that we left the meeting thinking rowing.  I would imagine that some though may have questions that they had wanted to ask but didn't in order to "keep the peace".  I really respect that, and I'd ask you to contact me to discuss your questions and I'll do my best to investigate and answer them. On the nitty gritty, We are having a handover meeting from the previous committee to the new committee this Sunday.  Soon after that I hope to get the AGM minutes out so that we can review them while it's still fresh in our minds.  Lets start thinking about what each of us can do.  If everyone does a little then we as a club can do a lot and be a lot.  Lets focus on each persons strengths and give each person our best.  Imagine the benefit we can bring to a person who comes to us. All the best and in time, Frank Thomson President, Centenary Rowing Club. 0414 329 164    frank.thomson@syndetic.com.au  Back Tarnia, Dennis, Dannielle, Ros, Cody Middle Frank (Hat), Milton, Sarah, Front Jess, Lillian, Sebastian, Julia Dennis addresses the meeting High school "club captains" and politicians