Okay, okay! I’ve been slack updating my blog, so I should give an update of all the different tasks I’m doing and where I’m up to with them.

Tea Hedge

• After planting the tea hedge it was realised that the area gets too wet and the plants would drown.
• I’ve started building a small retaining wall around the hedge location so I can fill it with dirt and raise the tea plants above the pools of water that form.
• I have installed 3 of the 3m sections and 1 of the 1 metre sections of the retaining wall.  I still have to install 2 more 3 metre sections and a 1 metre section.
• After completing the retaining wall I will need to dig up all the tea plants and add approximately 4 or 5 cubic metres of soil.
• To complete the retaining wall I had to purchase 22 x 3 metres sleepers, 52 x 150mm screws, 60 x 75mm screws, a chainsaw (to cut the sleepers) and a post-hole digger (’m not going to manually dig 600mm into pug soil).
• I still need to adjust the over-flow pipe on my tank so It does not fill the tea hedge area.
• The wall should be completed this Saturday (although I will not have the dirt by then).

Concrete Removal

• The concrete removal hasn’t progressed much lately.
• About 1/3rd of the concrete has been removed.
• A further 1/3rd has been broken, ready to be removed.
• I hope to have this done either Sunday this week or Saturday next week.

Ensuite

• The ensuite is slowly progressing.
• The electrician, unfortunately, found full-time work in the area and has not been able to do the wiring as yet.
• After the electrician has done the wiring I will install the other half of the roof and the cement sheet walls.
• I currently have the majority of parts to do the plumbing in the ensuite, this will be started as soon as possible.
• I will begin with the waste-water pipes, then proceed to the cold water pipes.
• Hot water installation will be combined with solar hot water installation.
• Window frosting will be installed after I have painted the ensuite, which will happen after the cement sheet is installed.
• Floor tiling will happen after the painting, and then I will just have to put everything in place.

Robe

• I’ve worked out what color to do the robe.
• I need to buy the wood to build the robe next.
• I will do this after I have completed the ensuite.

Waste-water System

• The waste-water system plans are currently with the council and should be approved this week.
• The waste-water system will be installed once I have completed the backyard and ensuite.

has to remember to pick-up his coffee plants, update his tax details and work out a way to get about $5,000 ASAP!

In February 2008 I purchased a Daewoo Electronics Fridge from Chandlers in Lismore.

The fridge has run well for 1 year, but it is now making some nasty noises; noises that Daewoo has said could be due to a faulty part in the fridge.  As the fridge is only 1 year old it is still under warranty (it comes with a 2 year warranty and I paid the extra for the 5 year extended warranty).

I called Castel Electronics (the Australian distributor and warranty provider) and logged the fault.  After a couple of days they called me back and said they have no-one who services my area and they have been unable to find anyone who can assist.  They then told me there would be a $55 call-out fee for a service agent from Lismore to attend my house to investigate the fault.

I decided that this sounded like a rip-off and tried calling a local fridge repair company (I looked it up in the yellow pages).  They recommended I call a person in Casino who is often in the area.

I contacted Russell Kennedy (from Kennedy’s Appliance Repairs) and he told me he is an authorised service agent for Daewoo, he also told me that he is in my area twice a week and that there is no call out fee.

Since then I have tried contacting Castel Electronics twice.  The first time the person I needed to talk to was unavailable so I left a message for him to call me back.  I missed the call at 18:15 whilst I was riding my motorbike home in the rain.  I then called again today and was told he was once again unavailable.  I wonder when I will get a call back this time!

Basically I think it is showing poor customer service for this company to have been unable to locate a local repairer (when I was able to do so with just 2 phone calls and no more than 15 minutes of my time).  Additionally, having only one staff member who is able to handle my warranty situation is also poor and reflects badly on Castel Electronics.

I don’t think I will buy another Daewoo product again!

Well I had an interesting weekend!

Dad rocked up late on Friday night so we chatted for a bit before disappearing off to our beds.

Saturday we came into Lismore, collected some stuff from the Tender Centre and had breakfast.  We then spent a bit of time doing some odd jobs around the house and relaxing before draining the last of the petrol out of my housemate’s car and then installing half the roof in the ensuite.

Dad left early on Sunday morning to fly back to Melbourne.  Later on Sunday, one of my housemates turned up and let me know that they were moving out.  I’d kinda guessed this.  So while he packed some of their stuff I mowed the lawn and then being completely exhausted and dehydrated I collapsed on the couch.

For the coming week I’m planning on cleaning the house a bit more; the electrician is due tomorrow (Tuesday) to get some of the stuff done in the ensuite and robe area and then I’ll try and get soem more of the renovations done later in the week.