Mark's Stuff

Kirsty, Pia and I took a couple of weeks off to chill camping in Gunbower State Forest near Torrumbarry on the Murray, and fulfilling my duty as a loving father took plenty of pics of Pia, and not too much else (Pics in my gallery), except maybe this local inhabitant chillin’ out too!

Pia still loves her broccoli, and eating in the great outdoors makes life easier for mum and dad coz we don’t have to worry about cleaning the floor after Pia decides that its fun to taste and toss.

Yes, yes, that’s a caravan in the background. We borrowed my parents’ van for the trip. Yes, we cheated. We weren’t really camping. But it was nice to have cupboards, hot water, and a freezer!

And when she’s not eating her veggies, she also loves to suck the goodness out of a juicy chop or steak. Or emptying out a bowl of pasta and bolognaise sauce just to see what happens. Usually ends up with a lap full of food and then a bit of a snack for the dogs.

Of course after tipping a bowl of bolognaise sauce over your head, its bath time! Although not entirely effective after splashing water all around the tub and picking up handfuls of mud to play with. But bath time’s not about getting clean, it’s about getting wet and having fun!

Just to prove that I can take pictures of subjects other than Pia, here’s Dion & Amanda’s son Jett after a covering his tummy with a a couple of slices worth of watermelon juice. Being a kid is all about getting dirty and not caring.

Pia’s not quite old enough to be a legal observer, so on the days when it was just the three of us we couldn’t do any real water skiing, but that doesn’t mean that Pia can’t start learning on dry land. Maybe she’ll start skiing before she starts walking.

Every day the temperature was in the mid to high 30’s, with a couple of days hitting 40, but probably the hottest day we had was the very last day we were up there. Just the right weather to be packing up in. Not! At least Pia and grandma were keeping eachother company in the little shade that was left after all the sunshades were taken down.

(and froop.net’s first video)

One of many presents from Pia’s first Christmas was her very first laptop, courtesy of grandpa. Other presents also included a Tupperware Shape-O, mobile phone, a dial phone, a set of wooden blocks, a fluffy puppy, a twisty abacus thingy, and you’ll have to ask her mum for the rest!

I figure now that since we have the technology, and now also the subject, I should start taking a few vids. Only short snippets, we all know how boring home videos can be!

So to start it off, here’s one of Pia playing with her laptop. Or is she just trying to tell us that she’s finished playing?

One bottle of milk. Shaken, not stirred thanks. Jett visited me this weekend, and we went off to the baby show at Jeff’s Shed. Had to drag mum and dad along too though, coz they’ve got the credit cards! The traffic was a nightmare driving it, but it was okay because I used the time to catch some shut-eye. Looks like the good weather’s starting to come, so thought I should get myself some sunnies. Cool, huh!? I also got some matching pink camo ear muffs for when I get to ride in the boat. Can’t wait to try those out!

During the week I tried some Weetbix for the first time. Silly daddy. What was he thinking giving me Weetbix and not putting a bib on me. Especially when I’m wearing polar fleece! The Weetbix got really mushy after I sucked on it for a couple of minutes, which made it easy for Connie to eat. So I put it on the floor for her. I think she enjoyed it!

Hi Everyone! Dad thinks that he’s the only who knows how to post on his blog. But I’ve been watching him and now its my turn! I’m almost five months old now, and growing big and strong. Well, maybe not so big. I’m only just reaching 4kg now. There’s still new borns that re bigger than me! At least I’ve now grown out of some of my 0000 size outfits!

I get a bit grumpy around dinner time. Mum & Dad always seem to want to eat just when I want a bit of attention. But then they bath me, which I really like. And I’ve been really good and letting mummy and daddy sleep all night until Sam & Connie wake me up in the morning. Just in time for breakfast. Which tastes the same as dinner. And morning tea. And lunch. And afternoon tea.

I like poking my tongue out.

Mum took me to the baby market on the weekend and she bought me a new chair. So now I can sit at the table and watch Mum & Dad eat. Its very interesting. One day maybe I can also eat just like them!

That’s all for now. I better go before Daddy catches me on his computer. I also uploaded some more photos of me!

True to form with my most recent car, a VZ Holden Adventra LX6, its taken only a matter of months before pulling apart the interior panels to add some more electronics.

This effort is nowhere near as obstrusive as the Jeep’s home grown touch screen PC/media player/GPS, and I’ve tried to keep a factory look and feel as much as possible.

The bits that I’ve added are:

• Nokia CK-7W bluetooth car kit
• GME Electrophone TX-3400 UHF Radio
• RFI AP-454 glass mount antenna
• UDC Holden iPod interface

I actually installed the bluetooth kit a few months ago. A pretty straight forward install. I just bought the factory button from a local Holden dealer and attached a new plug into the wiring loom that’s sitting under a panel at the passenger’s right leg.

The 2.5mm socket above the phone button is for the phone charger. Good for those long weekends away! Its a bit unfortunate that the phone is upside down, but I wasn’t bothered trying to find if they also make one the other way up.

Last week I received my iPod interface from Vlad (http://udc.aus.googlepages.com/holden) and took to the factory head unit with a screwdriver and soldering iron to add seamless iPod support.

The only thing I did differently to Vlad’s recommended install was the way I routed the cable. Instead of cutting the cable and running it through to the arm rest compartment, I removed the centre console, drilled a 13mm hole, and threaded the mini din plug that comes with the kit through to the back of the head unit.

The insert to the compartment has only got three sides, which you can sort of see in the picture, It also has a false bottom, so its easy to drill out a hole big enough for the mini din plug through the console base, and then just check out a 5mm hole for the wire in the bottom of the insert. The compartment insert is screwed in from the bottom though, so I had to remove the centre console to get to it.

My Nano fits perfectly, but I’m not sure if the bigger iPods will fit nicely here.

And a close-up:

Last but not least was the CB install. This one was a little fiddly because of the tight space I tried to fit it in. Ideally it would have gone into the compartment above where it is now, but the radio was about 10mm too wide. I was going to take a few more photos of the iPod cable run, but that would mean removing the CB to get the console back out.

The GME Tx-3400 is a remote-head radio, so the main part of the CB is tucked up underneath the glove compartment. That caused the sound to be a bit muffled, so I used the external speaker that came with the Nokia car kit (The car kit audio routes through the radio speakers) and mounted it just behind the centre console. Much better sound!