Sudokuaholics Anonymous 4

As nobody is about I may as well TOPPpppppppp over the page!

Hope everyone in Melbourne area have survived the gales unscathed

Good Maen Sudoluland! A fresh pot of coffee is on, with tea n choccie available.

Looks like a tolerable day in store for us here. Mild temps, mostly sunny, small chance of afternoon rain, and NO WIND! I hope Gail got home and finds her house still intact and power is restored soonest.

Can someone convert the KPH winds to MILES per hour? Kilometers does not compute in this feeble brain.

Well, Melbourne seems to have survived the worst of the storm. It has changed direction and I'm hoping it doesn't vent its fury on us again. It was pretty 'hairy' out on the road early this afternoon with branches flying about... Couldn't wait to get home where I felt relatively safe and sound. We live near a railway cutting and the wind gusts up that at a ferocious speed at the best of times and today was v. scary.

SES [state emergency service]lines are overloaded with SOS calls and as my life isn't threatened by that branch, [only my house..], I can't really call OOO for help...which is what they have advised us to do on the news.

The offending branch is suspended between our roof/gutter and where it has torn away from the trunk and watching it swing with the gusts of wind is offputting. I've sat and watched it from the safety of a neighbours porch and the worst I think it'll do is bring down the fence and flatten my garden.

Have decided that I would be better of sleeping at the other end of the house. I don't want to be in the bedroom just in case if it comes through the window in a big gust.

Another job for the morrow...trying to track down the owner of the tree to get him to do something about it. We had a tree surgeon come in spring to do some pruning on a tree that had been worrying me - after today I can really say it was money well spent. Don't think the upper canopy would have survived today.

Some interesting pictures of the storm damage at....
http://www.theage.com.au/photogallery/2008/04/02/1206850972689.html
http://www.theage.com.a u/news/national/two-die-as-wild-storms-smash-state/2008/04/02/1206851013791.html
Its amazing that there weren't more than 2 killed [last tally I heard]. It certainly puts the damage around my place into perspective.
We are lucky that we haven't been without power but a couple of my friends have been without power for >8hours.

Gath got back to me to say that I had somehow or other cancelled my subscription to the site this morning...at 10:30am. I didn't think that I had even logged on at that stage....mysteries of life and gremlins in the pooter!! I can only presume that I did it when I had finished updating my avatars and smilies etc. Hopeless!!Duh!
Night all.

Thanks Bean for posting those links. We have had no mention of this on BBC website. Take care and hope that the winds are done now.

MizT 120kph works out at 74.5mph

Ruby, our neighbor's dog used to sit and howl when she left. Her vet told her to leave a couple of pieces of "dirty" clothing on the floor near or on his bed, along with the tv turned on low. It worked for her. Our first dog was abused before we got him. He stayed a little clingy, but was the most loving dog. Hubby used to say he'd follow us through the gates of h*ll.

Forgot my manners. Good day everyone.

Rolanda, tried your recipe for shepherd's pie.

Brenda, sounds like your parrot wanted "company." Our elderly neighbor had a parrot that could talk in English and Latvian. He didn't like her to have company and would holler at visitors to shut up.

Was sorry to read about the plane crash and the people's home. I tried looking at a map, but couldn't tell how far away it was from you.

Suzy, how did you get a picture of me for your new avatar?

Bean, maybe in the excitement, you poked the wrong button.

MizT, did you get a lot of rain from this last storm? Our local weatherman said that some of the southern states got hammered.

Hope everyone comes through the high winds with no damage or injuries. Of all kinds of weather, wind is the one I hate.

Well, off to the grocery. Tonight we're having brats, hominy, salad and veggies.

It's a lovely spring day here. I hope the wind-blown in Melbourne are OK.

Good afternoon all! One week to go!! (need a Mickey Mouse smilie!) Had to work this morning so now I have to get a bunch of stuff done before picking up Max for his soccer game. Don't have tome to catch up on the posts, so I hope all is well with everyone! Have a great day!

BTW, it was very warm yesterday, 66F, and humid. Now it's back down to the 30's today!

Good morning SA4's
Stella are you driving to Disneyland/world.. ?
Still early,and dark, have done all the puzzles so will pop back to bed for a little while. Then off to have one of those Xrays where they squash part of your anatomy(just a regular check up.)

JUNE, hope you survived the aquashing X Ray today. Not my favorite thing to do.

Bean, thanks for the links to the photos and story. Scary wind. We had one 24 hours of winds that hard, one of the big, fast moving hurricanes several years ago, and was still gale force winds of up to 90 MPH when it arrived here. WITH lots of rain. LOTS of trees went down around here, back then too.

Hope every one is recovering and ready for the clean up from the damage.

should be Squashing X ray

If men had to endure the squashing x-ray, a new procedure would be invented pdq.

to my fellow SA4ers
I've got some time today (hubby's back at work - phew) so I've brought along the drinks and snacks -


I hope I've brought enough for everybody - help yourselves,

What a bad scary time they've had in Melbourne. We've been fine in Brisbane - just nice autumn weather - fine warm days, cool (not cold) nights. We had a cooler, wetter summer than we've had in years but with the extremes in weather being experienced everywhere - you do wonder - what are we in for? And when?

Ooh Bean - sounds scary.

When we moved in here there was a magnificent gum tree in our backyard which slopes up from the house. I loved it and it attracted the birds, however during one severe thunderstorm, it lost quite a big branch which just missed the house by inches - right next to the guest bedroom where our grandies sleep. We reluctantly had to get it chopped down. We have planted a replacement native tree in it's place but I miss that glorious dangerous tree.

Stella - love your Disneyland avatar - hope you have a wonderful time there.
My daughter (who went to Disneyland when she was 19 - leaving her Mum in Oz worrying constantly) and her hubby are going to take their kids there next year. They'll be 10 and 8 so should enjoy it. From Australia, it's an expensive exercise.

I'm all alone here - so I might as well CP

SA4ers
Just a quick gday from my sister's pooter. Power is out and they don't know when it will be restored! The worst thing is I am missing you all terribly, the best thing is I can't do any STUFF!
WOOHOO!

Gail - every cloud has a silver lining.
It's good not to have to do STUFF!

Everyone! Just popping in to say hello and try to catch up a little. I hope everyone who has experienced the extreme winds is safe and had no damages as a result! June, I'm do for my squashing Xray later this month. By the way, my husband had to endure it once. He has a health issue which could contribute to breast cancer, so when he developed a lump, they wasted little time in scheduling him for the test. P.S. He is fine and did not need to endure said test again.
Sorry I keep missing all of you! Stay well!

Oops, I'm DUE for the annual squashing, not do. Sorry.

Hello Julie - I would imagine it would be more excrucuating (spelling?) for a man than a woman. At least we have fleshy bits to be pushed, pulled and squashed.
I'm due for my next in May.

Hi, CynB! I'm not sure if it's any less uncomfortable for a man. A friend who is only slightly endowed complains, as does a friend who is extremely endowed. It just isn't a comfortable test, and the more "flattened" we get, the better the image, I've been told. I saw on Easy that Mymare also is looking forward to the procedure. At one time October was being pushed as mammogram month, at least in Illinois. I'm surprised how many of us have them in April & May.

Shall we talk about something more comfortable and pleasurable - say, perhaps, the chocolate couch?

Julie, here in Qld (not sure about the rest of Australia) as soon as you turn 50 they offer you free mammograms, every 2 years or sooner if there's been a problem. I turned 60 in January so this will be my 6th one. So far so good. No history in our family so far but I wouldn't like to be the first because I didn't get it done. Uncomfortable, but over quickly and forgotten.

Yes, Julie, have a cuppa and a slice of chocolate couch!

Hi, again, CynB! I had my first around mid-40 and intended for it to be my "baseline." They found something suspicious, so was called back, but turned out not to be a problem. Since then, every 2 or 3 years I seem to be called back, and once even had a biopsy. It's always a false alarm, thankfully. The hospital now has one digital machine, so they usually schedule me for that one, as they can tell immediately if they will need more views. It's much less nerve-wracking! In the US, patient and insurance share costs, with each insurance company determing how much is the patient's share.

Thanks for the cuppa and slice of couch! I opted for green tea, as I thought hot choccie with the couch might be too much.

Has everbody seen this little awareness test?
Enjoy....
http://www.dothetest.co.uk/