Thu 01: School holidays (2 weeks commence in WA). April 1 is also known internationally as April Fools Day. It was a non-event as far as I was concerned. An early start to the day (at 0455) and finished just after 1300 (1pm). Drove to Denture Professionals in Balcatta, only to find I need a reline of my present denture - that is scheduled for 0730 on Saturday, 17 April. Another 2 weeks won't matter as I have had this problem now for 12 months. In other news: (former) heroin addict Clare Murray died in a Singapore hospital after her 3rd liver (her second transplant) failed. The 18yo thug who blinded a bus driver last year pleaded guilty today and will be sentenced on 6 May this year. I say: bring back the death penalty. On a light-hearted note, a new website has spoofed the There's Nothing Like Australia campaign. I think it's funny. Others may not agree with me. Email me and tell me your thoughts.

Fri 02: Good Friday. Today is the first day of the traditional 4 day Easter break. It is a time police and hospital workers dread as there is a huge spike in the road toll. Most Australian workers get 4 weeks holiday a year - and Easter is usually the last time they can go away as a family before winter sets in. Huge traffic jams yesterday afternoon and evening on the roads as holiday-makers headed for their favourite locale. Me - went to the denture clinic then home to have a nap, make a quick trip to my local shops for sliced meat and essentials then did my washing and hung it on the line. Today I ironed a work shirt (I thought about ironing all 5 shirts, I really did!) then off to work.

Sat 03: Easter Saturday. A quiet morning - I changed the sheets on my bed and did my washing. Ironed a work shirt - and that's about all. I posted off my BAS and picked up my medication on the way to work. A 9hr shift - which was very pleasant - if a bit bizarre at the end (I nearly ran over the 'Easter Bunny,' in my bus. I was doing the 2200 (10pm) 372F (from Darch to Mirrabooka), driving along Finchley Crescent and there he was ... riding a pushbike - without lights - and wearing only the top half of his costume. Even a youngster on the bus noticed that the Easter Bunny looked very drunk and had a really hairy bum.

Sun 04: Easter Sunday. A very important day for Christians. A happy day for children, many of whom gorge themselves on chocolate - until some kill-joy tells them they have to walk 70km to lose the kilos that a 150g egg gave them ... Troy and I went to Bunnings, (a large hardware chain) Malaga branch and got some reticulation supplies. Then we mowed the back lawns, did the edges and trimmed with the whipper-snipper. Blew away the debris with a blower-vac. Result: The front and back gardens look a treat. I like days like today - when I have a sense of achievement.

Mon 05: Easter Monday. My second day off in a row - happy, happy, joy, joy. It's great to relax - but I need to balance relax with earn. I tidied up a bit and helped Troy work on the reticulation. Some of the sprinklers were clogged with debris but now they all work. Tracey, Glenn and I went to IGA and organised tonight's barbecue.

Tue 06: Back to work today. A pleasant, quiet morning (school holidays) and a healthy lunch and nap at number 5. I met the 'Bitch From Hell' on my bus this afternoon. A part-time CBA employee who needs to learn some manners. More about her later (as legal action may be pending). A pasta meal (thanks, Tracey) and an early night. I did get a welcome email from friends on the east coast of Australia - Alison from Murwillumbah Motor Inn, to be precise. MMI is doing a promo with the local Services Club and needed the motel's website's LINKS page freshened up. I was happy to oblige. In return, I have been offered a week's accommodation at the Motel after my two weeks in Thailand in August this year. Thanks, Ali.

Wed 07: Up at 0400 (4am) for an early start today. Quite a good shift with a good low-floor Mercedes bus. Finished just after 1500 (3pm) and came home via Ballajura Shopping Centre. I dropped in to the Oriental Supermarket and picked up some treats.

Thu 08: Another early start - but a split (spread) shift today. A tirning day - with no midday nap. Tracey had a light dinner ready for me when I got home from work. Day off tomorrow so I will have a relaxing day.

Fri 09: It's unusual in my job to get a weekday off. Usually you get both Saturday and Sunday off. I slept in until just after 0700, then checked and found that Troy managed to get himself off to work on time. Tracey left for work just before 0900 and I had the place to myself. Put on the sprinklers and checked they all worked. Did my washing and hung it on the line to dry. Cleaned the kitchen and relaxed. Had lunch with Tracey at Ballajura and posted Maddie's present from Wit. A quiet afternoon - brought in my washing and made myself a light dinner.

Sat 10: Woke around 0700, checked my email and online news. Nothing special until around 12 noon when I visited the new Springs shopping Centre at Beechboro. Ironed a work shirt and got ready for work. Rob has kindly given me an overtime shift today and the same shift next Saturday afternoon.

Sun 11: A bit of a forgetful day today - but not this bad! Quite pleasant weather in Perth - mild, with sunny days and maximums in the low 20s. Wet weather is forecast for the coming week. Perth is expecting 14ºC tonight and 22ºC tomorrow. Nothing much to report today, apart from a computer crash this morning (my laptop's wireless was down). I used our LAN to connect and an hour later managed to download the appropriate drivers and install hem. Phew! I had visions of putting it in for repair and losing it for a week! Some people have a life - I have a computer. Shocking (but not unexpected) news in Bangkok, Thailand - with around 20 people dead and 850 injured after rioting between Army troops, police and Red Shirt protesters who are attempting to overthrow the government. The riots will not help Thailand's tourist image, but I am still going there on my next holiday.

Mon 12: The rain has arrived in Perth. Time to switch off the reticulation controller for a while. A fairly routine day at work - with the exception of a road-rage incident on Wanneroo Road, Hocking, on my first trip of the day. Lunch with Mum and Ian - joined by 'polite company.' A good nap and some home-made pumpkin soup and wholemeal toast. Much appreciated. I thought I had my roster sorted out - but more last minute changes.

Tue 13: Songkran Festival starts in Thailand. In theory, Songkran festivities have been cancelled (at least in Bangkok and surrounding areas as a result of the recent riots and deaths) so it will be interesting to see how many tourists cancel their holiday bookings to Thailand as a result. The overnight rain (more accurately called drizzle) extended today - with heavy falls of rain this evening in some areas. Locally, my street was the scene of Perth's second drive-by shooting in 72 hours.

Wed 14: Today was a better day than I thought it would be. I got a good, deep sleep at lunchtime and the second half of my shift was quite reasonable. I need to be up a bit earlier tomorrow morning to finish paperwork - so I will try for a very early night tonight.

Thu 15: I got a lot done today. Up early to pay bills then off to work. A 23yo Renault bus for the morning part of my shift. Met at Kingsway shops by Jason, from Path Transit's driving school - who spent the morning with me and conducted my 4th driving assessment (I passed with 10/10). Then off to Stirling Medical Centre for my influenza injection (again paid for by my employer - Thanks). That was fairly painless - but I did experience an ache in my left arm later this afternoon. On one trip this afternoon, John, my dental prosthetist, phoned and cancelled my appointment for this Saturday morning. It has now been rescheduled for 0600 on Monday morning. In other news, just before midday, one of the planes practicing for this weekend's Red Bull Air Race crashed into the Swan River, near the Coode St Jetty. The pilot was quickly rescued and taken to Royal Perth Hospital. He is okay.

Fri 16: Today was a borderline TGIF. A reasonable start to the day - then I checked my Lotto coupon for last night's $AU15 million super draw - to find 15 winners - including one fromn WA (Western Australia). Was it me? I mentally spent $AU850,000 then checked and found out I had won ... nothing! Not really an anti-climax as the odds of winning first division are 1 in 64 million. I had a good nap at lunchtime then a good second half. I tried a few times to get through to Nay in Thailand last night (but couldnt even get a line into Thailand). It took a few attempts this afternoon - but I got through. Very tired this evening - even though I don't start work until mid-afternoon tomorrow, I am having an early night tonight.

Sat 17: Groundhog Day In other words (for those who don't have the time or can't be bothered clicking on the links), a repeat of LAST Saturday. Slept in (no alarm clock), breakfast of oats, ironed a work shirt, changed and washed my sheets and pillow cases (bedding, in other words). Killed time until it was time to go to work.

Sun 18: A fairly nothing sort of a day today. Unless you are planning to fly either to or from Europe. Only a handful of airports are operating in the biggest shake-up for air travel since September 11 2001. Cause: One Icelandic volvano spewing ash. Slept in until 0900 (after having a nature-calling break at 0600). Breakfast of oats again, ironed a work shirt for Tuesday, helped Tracey and Amy clean the house and spent some time online. I have an apointment with my dental prosthethestist (John) at 0600 tomorrow, so an early night tonight is on the cards.

Mon 19: I deliberately kept this morning free so I could get my denture relined. I arrived at Denture Professionals before 0600 for my appointment at that time. Waited 1 hour in my car in 16ºC temperature - but no appearance by John. He phoned me just before 0800 - apologising profusely. We have rescheduled to 0600 (again) on Monday week (Anzac Day public holiday).

Tue 20: I am still on a (natural) high after an enjoyable weekend. A quiet day today - the biggest news was the magnitude 5 earthquake at 0817 which damaged buildings at Kalgoorlie-Boulder (about 6 hours east of Perth, WA).

Wed 21: Another interesting day in paradise. I caught up on my email before starting work today - only to be deluged again at lunchtime. Motorists coming into Perth this morning were confronted by some bizarrely dressed individuals and groups of people. It took me a while to figure out that today was PROSH Day - the one day a year when students from UWA - WA's first university distribute (for a donation) their send-up paper. It's something that has been going for many years - I remember reading PROSH when I was a 17yo cadet journalist at the (now defunct) Sunday Independent newspaper. A pleasant day at work. Tonight's Breaking News is a bit scary: Future computers will read your mind.

Thu 22: OOPS! That's Capital OOPS and apologies all round. Today's entry ended up on the wrong server and the mirror servers that distribute peter991.com® couldn't access it. So - it's rewrite time (and thanks for all the people who let me know / enquired about my health / asked if I was dead ... A routine day with a pleasant nap. Life seems to be 2 steps forward and 1 step back.

Fri 23: TGIF. Yes - Friday. Finally made it to friday. Considering I had Sunday and Monday off work this week and Friday (today) is only day 4, I dont know what's wrong. I stopped taking multi-vitamin tablets about a month ago, when I came back from holidays - and I am starting to feel very run down.

Sat 24: Up at 0415 for a 0550 start at work today. A tiring day - plus I have a touch of gastro too. So does Tracey. We both had fish last night. Can't think of anything else we both ate. Tracey now has a new (2nd hand) bed, plus we have a spare bed in our spare-bedroom for when Witt arrives next week some time. At least we are organised. Troy has a week's holidays - so who knows what will happen. My car over-heated today - so I need to get the cooling fans checked (they failed to come on). I swapped fuses - but that's not the cause.

Sun 25: ANZAC Day. I didn't attend the Dawn Service. In fact, I have only ever attended one dawn service - in a pram as a toddler. I did get out of bed at 0930. I brought in the washing and tidied the spare room, ready for Witt's arrival. He is due to arrive here from Norseman, next week some time. A fairly quiet day. Early night - ready for my 0600 dental appointment (take 2).

Mon 26: Public holiday. Early to bed - early to rise. I went to bed around 2030 (8.30pm) last night and woke around 0100 today (a nature call). Couldnt get back to sleep - so I got up around 0215. Did a heap of research and planned my day. John, my dental tech relined my plate - but it still acts as a fulcrum when I bite (eat), so there was no charge. Later this year (post-holiday) I will consider a partial lower plate and replacing my present upper. A fairly productive day - a trip to Harvey Norman at City West, then to Bunnings and finally home to work on the reticulation with my son Troy. Spoke by phone with my Thai friend Vassana (who lives in Norseman, WA), made a couple of phone calls and finally off to the land of ZZZzzz for a late afternoon nap. Woke around 1800, much refreshed.

Tue 27: It's the middle of Autumn (Fall) in the southern hemisphere - which includes Perth. The average maximum temperature is 25.7ºC - about what it was today. Tomorrow, Perth is expecting 29ºC. I am looking forward to cooler weather - and some rain (which is forecast for Friday this week). Today I was lucky. My Hyundai was overheating - but Auto Masters in Malaga came to the rescue. I dropped my car off at lunchtime - was given a loan vehicle (thanks) and my car was waiting for me at work when I finished this evening. Top marks to Warren and his team. I have a lot on my plate at the moment and it's great to get a speedy resolution to a problem.

Wed 28: Cool overnight (8.6ºC, unofficially) - but by 1100 (11am), I had removed my sleeveless vest/jumper and was still quite warm. I had big hopes (as usual) for the $15 million Lotto super-draw - but nothing back (apart from that feel-good feeling of 'helping the community.'). I got a bit done after work and made myself a Chinese-style meal.

Thu 29: April is slowly coming to an end. Some months seem to zoom on by - April was a very s-l-o-w month - at least I thought it was. Warm weather still in Perth but I noticed the Weather Bureau is tipping cloudy days with smoke haze and the chance of an evening shower (of rain) tomorrow. That would be nice. A fairly routine day today - but the excitement (is that the right word?) starts next month - to be more precise, on Thursday, 6th of May with the sentencing in the Perth Children's Court of the scumbag who blinded in one eye a Perth bus driver, Gerard Sin. At 0930 on Saturday, 08 May all Path Transit off-duty bus drivers are expected to converge on Joondalup depot for a TWU (union) meeting. There's a lot of unhappy bus drivers - due to cuts in shifts (and take home pay). An anniversary of sorts - I quit smoking 25 months ago today.

Fri 30: The last day of April, 1/3 of 2010 has passed me by. There is still another 16 weeks before I fly to Thailand again - hopefully this time with my daughter, Tracey. Plan A is to finalise everything by the end of next month (May 2010).