"I refer to the order for service connection at the address detailed above and my previous correspondence regarding the delayed connection.
I am pleased to advise that Telstra has now completed the necessary preliminary work to enable the connection of your telephone service(s) to proceed. We have requested that the contractors who completed the civil component (trench work) of the project return and back fill the trench.
To assist you, I have made an appointment to complete the work on 26 March 2013. If this is a convenient time, you or your representative will need to be present at the above address between the hours of 08:00 and 12:00...."

Last Thursday the water tank was delivered.

And as usual not without trouble: South Australia is a dry country (the reason for having two water tanks). In summer it is bone-dry and the soil is like concret. The builder of my verandah had to use a jack-hammer to drill the holes for the posts! But when it's raining the earth is like soft soap. What shall I say - it wasn't raining since 2 months but it was raining the day before delivery! 18.8 mm - a fair amount - so the surface was slippery and not suitable for the truck to drive on. The tank had to be unloaded on the driveway and then rolled to its designated place.
Luckily there was help in form of two four-legged companions.

Since 3 months I wanted to organize the different companies - but they decided to come all at the same time:
1. The person who erected the shed came for doing the verandah, car port, storm water drainage
and the 'whirly birds' on top of the shed.
2. The electrician came with his team for installing the solar pannels.

3. I bought a small combustion heater for the winter - on the property there are heaps of fire wood to burn.

4. Someone brought his dog and cat to be castrated (he asked whether I can do this 3 months ago).
5. The water tank for the house - ordered 4 months ago - was forgotten somehow and will be delivered next week.
Only my good friend TELSTRA is ignoring each and every complaint! The trench is still open.

Every time when I look out of the window I see this open trench. And I'm angry.
So this morning I sent a provocative email to Telstra (as far as I'm able to do this in my pidgin English). A couple of minutes ago I received a call that the estimated time for the connection would be the 4th of April! I couldn't believe it. I told the guy on the phone I will cancel the application. I'm happy with my mobile and skype. "Then we won't close the trench." How sick is this company?

"Are you a fan of the Crows?" was the question of the co-worker at the carpentry where I ordered my new laundry. "Crows?" "Yes, the Adelaide Crows?" I had to look up: http://www.afc.com.au/the-club
...the official colours are navy blue, red and gold... No wonder he came to this conclusion. The linen cupboard in the ensuite is navy blue , the kitchen is red and the new laundry they brought today is yellow. But only by coincidence.

Laundry before:

Laundry afterwards:

I gave up. First I thought I will be stubborn and I will not contact Telstra in regard of my landline. But as I said, I gave up. They won. But this doesn't mean that I do have a connection now. Last TUESDAY I called the service center and after a look into the files they react quite astonished: "Oh, the trench is still open?" "Yes, since October I do have a 30 m trench in front of my property." They promised to take care. On THURSDAY the same week I received a call that the contractor will come on FRIDAY and close the trench. Guess who didn't come? I received another call in regard of my new telephone number. I was offered 5 possibilities, chose the number that was easiest to remember and was told that someone from Telstra will come on the 24th of January (today!) to do the final 'touches'. He was here. Yes, he was here (although he didn't dare to enter because of the dog and only because my chickens made some noise I looked out of the window and was able to stop him from leaving). "The cables in the trench are not attached. This is the work of a contractor. I can't help you." ... to be continued..

Here an easy picture to get used to the play:



And here the difficult part. Picture taken on 29.10.2012:



Picture taken on 17.11.2012 (please ignore the kangaroo-poo eating dog):



As you may recognize - there is no difference! In July I applied for the connection of a landline. As usual: 'No problem. Please keep the reference number for further correspondence.' In August I suggested Telstra to come along when the trench for the power is dug out (23.08.). Amazingly they came in time and put in the telephone cable (leading from the house to the boundary). Then silence. A couple of weeks ago they started to dig another trench. The workmen told me that Telstra isn't allowed to use the electricity pole for their purpose. So they constructed kind of a detour around the power pole.

I forbade myself to get angry. It doesn't help at all.

I was really insistent. One email after the other. Three times the workers came the long distance but did only some insufficient and incomplete repair. At last I offered to pay additional fees for proper work. In my opinion the main thing is the mice won't be able to enter the insulation from underneath.

I assume the company hasn't had a customer like me before - someone who is crawling under the house! An Australian wouldn't do it ever. But now I'm satisfied. Even silicone around the pipes.

Only 3.5 hours wait. At 11.30 a.m. the person responsible for reading and sealing the meter arrived.

A last glimpse back.

Back home I resumed my garden work. A couple of weeks ago I purchased a bag with pine chips for mulching my freshly planted trees. 1 bag - ridiculous. The content disappeared in no time. So I went to a supplier and bought a whole ute load (1.5 cubic metre). It disappeared. Now I thought I will be clever (in German: 'nicht kleckern, sondern klotzen') and ordered a truck load of pine chips!
[Notice the name. There are so many German descendants around South Australia, and especially around my place. The builder of the shed is B. Schutz, the earthmover is J. Launer, a settlement nearby is called 'Stendal' a place in Eastern Germany where relatives of mine used to live.]

Now I'm disappearing! I'm shoveling since 2 days and the mountain of chips remains the same.

And there was something else....


Oh yes.....

No more dragging of big boxes with drinkable water (I miss the crystal-clear Wiener Hochquellen Wasser). The plumber was here and installed an under-sink-waterfilter-system:



And....


Ta-ta...




TV again. Watching ABCnews24 and SBS with DW TV.