Our complex doesn't allow charcoal grills. However, if the law is finally enforced, then it just means we won't be getting a large tank for our Road Trip.

The small cans seem to last forever though, so I'm not too worried about it. :)

Forever, or through one morning's worth of bacon for LoTters.

Ooooh, vinyl fencing is nice stuff. I'd love to put that in around our patio. Some of my neighbors have it and it looks great.

At the very least it's a massive improvement over the rotted wood that it replaced. I'd still prefer a quality wood fence over vinyl, but to install and maintain a good one is obviously pricey so the vinyl's a decent 2nd option. Especially when paid for by the association.

The tank I started with was at best 1/4 full and I only had to replace it for the last batch.

You've got to be kidding me right? What next...no Santa?

...or even worse, no eggnog? <hiccup>........</hiccup>

Dear KatieSue,

It took a while for the penny to drop - now I know exactly why they are called "Complexes"...and I think it should be called "The USA of C".

Love and hugs,

The Stoat XXX.

Dear All,

Just so as you don't think I'm pulling the p1ss out of your regulations (as easy as it may be), there is one Ashtrayan one that comes to mind.

I can't remember the exact detail, but it is still illegal to drive a car (anywhere) that is not carrying a bale of hay or fodder under some circumstances. Obviously the regulation was created just as cars hit the roads here...but it has never been updated.

So if you have ever wondered just where the saying "Well that's the last straw" came from, it was Mrs Gwendolyn Briggs of Little Hartley telling her husband to pull into the nearest LiveStock supplier.

Rumor has it that he got the required bale, but ran out of gas shortly after and ended up having to push Gwendolyn and the car the remaining 15 miles. When he finally got home, he constructed a bridle system so that his old nag could pull the car along, fed by the hay...which made Gwendolyn irate, as she hated the taste of horse fodder*.


Love and hugs,

The Stoat XXX.

*An original fractured fairy tale by The Stoat.

What about Prince Leonard of Hutt River?

Dear Kevy,

I thought a man of the world such as yourself would know about this.

"Prince Leonard went on a walk one evening, when an apple dropped on his head as he passed under a tree. The computer was broken but that is quite beside the point. It made him reflect that his walk had been quite constitutional, and in the same moment, he decided to secede from his state (having been hit on the head, I'd have thought he was in no fit state) by using an antique but nonetheless effective constitutional right".

And so (note I started with And - if C.S. Lewis can do it, so can I - Narnia, Narnia, Narnia) the Hutt River Province came into being.

So far, he has a hut, a river, a lion, a witch...of crap, wrong story. It does however have its own taxation laws, governance and people that wear funny bonnets, ride in carts and farm stuff.

I think they are called The Hamish (the "H" is for Hutt).

Anyway, it was a constitutional thing, not a regulatory thing, so don't try to obfuscate.

Hugs from

The Stoat.