I think I see the problem.../p>

When I were a lad we used to break down all the time, could fix anything, with chewing gum. When we could aford chewing gum, upper classes would pay us half ha'pney a week just to chew it for 'em. Tell that to the youth of today when whats left of their laptop screen keeps a swichin off randomly in a loverly little town left behind when the freeway took all the tourists away waiting for a new fan and a radiator for there camper van and they won't belive it. Anyone seen the disney cartoon cars? I've seen it repeatedly my Godson loves it, well this place might as well be radiator springs. In my case litterally,

Oh dear laptop screens gone again. Can't see.... Help where's the submit button/p>

Yep the amazing self repairing laptop has died and reserected its self again, nearly. How many more lives has this thing got? I'm in The Corrigated Cafe in Pete's Ridge (filled the radiator up and drove off quickly before all the water had a chance to run back out again). Waiting for a new radiator to come from Sydney. The fan on the front of the engine flew off, a massively over engineered fan if you asked me When it came off the radiator didn't stand a chance. last night the NRMA bloke, having been told by his dispatcher, that my fan belt had gone, sugested I nip up the hill to the "Country Club" and get a snack. I do love these call centers staffed by computer controled automatons. You tell 'em exactly the problem. So that everyone knows the score and the computer sofware, probably with drop down boxes, then wrecks all your decription so a confused bloke in a hi vis jacket turns up with a fan belt. I describe the problem they hear "bla bla bla fan bla bal bla" and behold a fan belt/p>

The country club worried me, I thought golfing trousers members only "hello, nice to see you, could have you killed, I own Devon" in reality this is Austrailia, so it was full of truckers in hi vis jackets saying things like "I was doing a dollar thirty, this fella came passed in the wet doing a dollar fourty at least". I think a dollar fourty is 140 kmh...../p>

Food was good (thai green curry) and beers 3 dollars 70 a schooner. Pretty good. Stayed over night in the car park/p>

Yesterday went (by accedent) to an RAAF base and visited the fighter museam. Not quite duxford. But they've some cool stuff and it looks much better when you have the noise of F18 Hornets taking off just out side/p>

Theve the number 1 aussie buit Mirage I fighter, another, french buit mirage an ausie built Saber, a Glouster meteor, a Mig 21 foxbat (I think tis a foxbat, forgetting my Tom Clancy) a DeHavalnd early jet, which I should remeber the name of but can't and a couple of others, more in a hanger being restored/p>

Nice toy

The also have several gatling guns removed from their mounts, trully scary pieces of kit. Many with their leccy motors wired to a button so they spin/p>

The place was slighly runind by the historic collecion of Japanese airoplane related video games, but at least they were partly drowned out by the Horents taking off. The other thing they appeard proud of was a fiberglass replica spitfire that was too be honest a bit pants. I doubt it would even have fooled a WWII battle of britain movie luftwaffer extra at 30 thousand feet../p>

They have a couple of cockpits you can sit in. Not really designed for the likes of me, there's a reason Tom not-very-tall-really cruise got cast for top gun. Bigger bloke wouln't have fitted. Its no fun being an adult. You fiddle with the dials and try and pretened to be giving them a scientific, educated apraisal, whilst really wanting the just wiggle the stick like a 5 year old and make machine gun noises, knowing that you can't do it cos there's people looking/p>

Going to Bondi today (radiator allowing), the Bondi YHA is cheaper and advatises free surfboards. Hope they have wetsuits too tis a bit nippy down here. Gonna ring up the bloke with the spares, comming from Sydney. Hopfully it won't be a PFY* with a fan elt**. haven't had an apologetic telephone call for a while, maybe he's broken down?

* PFY = Pimply Faced Youth, see BOFH
** One of the previous many deaths of Tom's Zombie laptop was the demise of the B key. Its not exactly cured just in remision/p>