Home Blog Page 45

Changes to the Water Supply Legislation

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
17

One of the challenges of working in a trade is the constant red tape. I know that it happens in all industries, but within the trades, especially licensed trades like plumbing and electrical, red tape can be annoying and sometimes inconsistent.

In QLD, the state government is wanting to reduce red tape in the water sector by employing unlicensed persons to install and maintain water meters. Currently the legislation requires licensed plumbers to do this work.

What I don’t understand is laws are put in place to ensure the community engages with a licensed plumber for all their plumbing needs because firstly it’s law and secondly, you can void your insurance should an unlicensed installation go wrong. So why is the State Government keen to change legislation that protects the community? Especially when it’s at the meter that provides potable drinking water to each resident in QLD?

I signed a petition at Keep Plumbers on tap to protect plumber’s rights in relation to this new change the State Government is trying to push through.

I received a response from my local member saying that the Government is looking to reduce costs of maintaining water meters because a handyperson is cheaper than a licensed plumber. (It was worded more affluently than this). The letter continued to detail how the Government had already supported licensed plumbers by reducing red tape by removing plumbing approvals for some installations and introducing the Form 4 initiative thus saving residents on approval fees.

I understand that our current State Government is looking to reduce costs because of the budget deficit, but I don’t think compromising on the state’s water supply as the best way to go about it. Once one law is changed, what is the potential of future laws being changed to save money and thus undermining the plumbing licensing industry?

Health and safety must always come first and all Queenslander’s deserve their water meters to be installed and maintained by a licensed plumber.

Currently the Water Supply Services Legislation Amendment Bill has been submitted to Queensland Parliament. I’m now waiting to hear the outcome.

What do you think? Would you feel comfortable knowing that the water supplied to your house was being maintained by a handyperson rather than a licensed plumber with experience and expertise?

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for I Blog on Tuesdays.

Main Image Source

I’ve been blogging for two years PLUS a Giveaway!

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
19

February is my blogaversary month which means I have been blogging for TWO years. I’m only a little blog and my readership has slowly increased, but sometimes it just stagnates which means I haven’t lost any readers, but I haven’t really gained a lot either.

I used to worry about the figures, but I’ve been little for so long, that I actually don’t let it bother me. Every week I have one person either email me, call me or speak to me directly about how my blog has encouraged them or made an impact on their life that week. And that makes writing a blog worth it. That and the fact I actually enjoy writing and love the ability to share about my life and be a positive witness in the blogosphere.

The thing is, there is so much work involved in maintaining a blog. Whether its coming up with a new topic for a blog post or maintaining social media platforms and commenting on other blogs, the blogging business isn’t a fly by your seats kind of role if you want to make money. There are days where I actually feel stagnant and unable to do anything because I get so overwhelmed by what needs to be done and the amount of effort that is needed to ensure quality posts or pictures are produced.

I don’t want to waste anyone’s time and there are so many blogs and business’s with an online presence that are eager to get your attention. But for me, I have settled with just writing from my heart and some people will relate and others won’t. I’m not out to win every reader on the net. I view my time and my gifts with an eternal view in mind.

I will continue to share about my faith. I won’t hide it. I won’t conceal it. But I haven’t posted an Inspiration from the Carpenter post in months and there have been a few good reasons on why that is which I will share soon. They won’t disappear. They are one of my favourite posts to write.

If I review my year of blogging from February 2013 to February 2014, I can honestly say I have grown as a blogger and have had some amazing opportunities come my way. Here is my year in review:

This year, with another baby being added to our family, I’m again going to be limited with my time in focusing on building my blog. I am just going to focus on doing the basics well.

Will I be at Problogger Conference this year? I am hoping to. I will have a 7 week old baby, but I have organized to have Esther and Magdalene babysat while Jacob and I will come down to the conference. I will get Jacob to look after the baby in the hotel room and I will leave the conference when needed to feed. Hopefully my baby will be a good sleeper and a predictable feeder. I’m buying my ticket and will be booking our accommodation in faith that this will happen!

To celebrate my two years on the blogosphere I am running a giveaway. I have one $100 Wish Gift Card to giveaway to one of you, my loyal readers. This post is more of a behind the scenes post for my readers and other bloggers who might be struggling with the same things I have. I’d love to hear what you like about The Plumbette. This is no pride building exercise. I love honest critiques about my writing and what I share and how I can be better. Enter via the Rafflecopter below and leave a comment in the comments section or if you don’t like Disqus, send your answer to my email.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions

These terms shall apply to all giveaways and competitions run on this site, www.theplumbette.com.au

1.            This is a game of skill. Each valid entry to be judged on creativity and originality, not by chance.

2.            There is one prize: One $100 Wish Gift card.

3.            Entries open from Friday 28th February 4pm Brisbane Time to Wednesday 12th March 12pm Brisbane Time.

4.            Prize is not transferable or changeable

5.            Prize sent out by The Plumbette will not be replaced in the event it is stolen, lost or damaged in transit.

6.            Entry is via Rafflecopter.

7.            A valid email address must be included in your entry.

8.            Entry into any giveaway or competition is deemed acceptance of these Terms and Conditions

9.            Entrants must be Australian residents and aged 18 or over

10.          The winner will be notified by email and has 5 days to reply and claim the prize. The winner will also be announced on Facebook. This giveaway is not endorsed by Facebook.

11.          The decision on the winner is final and no dialogue will be entered into otherwise.

12.          These terms and conditions are subject to change at anytime without notice

Wordless Wednesday – Fifty Shades of Pink and Purple

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
13

Magdalene turned one last Thursday and I can’t believe that a year ago she looked like this

50 Shades of Purple

 

We started the day quite early opening presents, because I had to work . Of course Esther was a big help in doing that for her sister.

Opening Presents

I invited all the family over for dinner and we had pizza. Esther made Magdalene’s Birthday cake with her Grandma so that I didn’t have to stress about baking a cake after work.

eating pizza

Birthday Cake

 

I held a small party at our house on Saturday afternoon. By small, I mean I only invited 6 close friends (and their families) which ended up being 27 people including adults and children. It was the perfect size party at our home.

Party Food

 

Most parties have a theme. Mine was green and pink and ice cream with a cupcake cake. I got a friend to make the Birthday cake and again, this meant less stress in the morning.  Although I got stressed dealing with buying a new car. But that will have to wait for another blog post.

Cupcake Cake

Keeping it real… this is our family photo before singing Happy Birthday. My white fridge is busy with magnets. I keep looking at it thinking it doesn’t fit in with our modern kitchen. But it’s us.

Family Photo

 

And this last happy snap is Magdalene trying to work out how to put on her tiara which she got as one of her gifts from the party. In our house it is certainly Fifty Shades of Pink and Purple.

Princess

And I love it.

Have you been to any memorable First Birthday Parties? Do you get stressed about the organizing or go with the flow like I do?

I’m linking up with Trish from My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

 

Whirlwind

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
20
carpenter

Life has flown like a whirlwind in the past week and a bit. We celebrated Magdalene’s first Birthday with a family dinner on the night of her special day and a small party on Saturday. I managed to only invite 6 families because that’s all my pregnant body and brain can cope with at the moment.  ( I will share photos on the blog tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday)

On the Thursday of Magdalene’s birthday, I had to work. It was finishing off a bathroom reno that had been started last year.  I had to sit down for half the job because the heat was not doing me any favours. And I’m still suffering from morning sickness. It’s starting to ease but I still to throw up at random times which has meant a lot of mad dashes to the toilet or sadly catching the contents of my stomach with my hands because it comes up unexpectedly.

We bought a new car on Saturday, which turned out to be stressful because the car we had decided on and budgeted on had sold out Australia wide. A good friend was able to source a demo for us which wasn’t exactly what we wanted, but still covered all our needs.

And while my life was focused around birthday parties and buying a car, I was saddened to read the news of Charlotte Dawson’s passing. I only knew of her, like most Australians, by her celebrity status and the fact that she was subjected to cruel online bullying. Her legacy will be that she fought against the trolls that wanted to bring her down. Her passing was a sad reminder that the world we live in can be so cruel and that people can be so evil to each other. And that good mental health is something to be grateful for.

We never truly know what someone is going through until we take the time to listen and be observant of their behavior. But life can sometimes be so busy or we can be so focused on the needs of our own life that we become ignorant of those around us.

Today’s blog post is going to be short and sweet.  Mainly because I’m tired and also because I have a three year old asking me if she can have egg toast for breakfast. But if I can take a few things away from the events in the last week, they would be this; I need to protect my mind by what goes in and what comes out by meditating on Godly values and to be intentional with my close relationships so that I can be a reliable friend if life crumbles for another.

How has your week been?  I love reading your comments. 🙂

Business Storage

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
10
business storage

Sponsored Post

One of the biggest issues of running a plumbing business from home is storage. A study or bedroom can be converted into an office, and a ute can carry most of your tools, but what about the pipes, fittings and fixtures?

Most times they can be picked up from the retail supplier when needed, but each store has a different policy on what they can keep stored at the back of the warehouse because they also have other customers to consider and need to have space to store their own supplies.

When we did large commercial fit out jobs, sometimes we would win contracts where large quantities of fixtures and would need to be ordered at once (I’m talking 100 toilet suites , 80 basins etc). We would get a cheaper price if we ordered the full quantity at one time rather than the number needed to fit one floor of toilets.

Thankfully our local store manager would draw in supplies as needed from Caroma, and keep a spare floor of fixtures in the warehouse until the next level required to be fitted off.

Had the store manager not been so helpful, I’m not sure what we would have done because you can’t deliver 100 toilets to a construction site, nor will they fit into a standard household garage or store room.

The only solution would be to hire a self storage unit (or two) at Fort Knox Storage and use it all year round to store fixtures and draw upon the supplies when needed. Doing this would mean you would have to insure the contents of the storage unit as anything stored in the facility is your liability.

Some business’s may not get big contracts, but choose to get a better deal on purchasing so many fixtures at a time. They do this so they can offer their customers an economic solution when renovating their bathroom or doing general maintenance like replacing a toilet suite for new.

The next storage issue for our family business was paperwork. One of my pet hates when doing the administration work was archiving files away into boxes. We would store them in the roof of my parents house and when they eventually built a new home, they allowed for a storage room to keep the boxes easily accessible.  These days, paperwork is archived electronically, but it’s always good to have a hard copy of archives because technology can break down.

If you run a business from home, do you need much storage and how do you store your paperwork and supplies?

Linking up for Flog your Blog Friday at With Some Grace.

This is a sponsored post and has been written in accordance to my disclosure policy.

 

Rock my World

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
20

Today is my husband’s birthday. I’m pretty good at remembering dates and details, but the fact that my hubby shares his Birthday with Valentine’s Day was a sign to me that he was a keeper. And after more than 8 years of marriage and over 12 years of being together, I still believe it.

You can read about how I met Jacob here.

Being best friends and doing life together is what makes our marriage work. Jacob was a true romantic from the moment we started going out together. We would celebrate monthly milestones in our first year. I remember one gift he gave me which left me confused at first but then completely smitten. He gave me a small globe of the world with a rock stuck to it. I remember looking at the present thinking, what the? He explained it by simply saying: You rock my world. Awww.

In the years we have been together, we have packed in some remarkable adventures.

In 2004 we went to Uganda on mission to help build an orphanage for Watoto. The week before we left for our trip, Jacob proposed.

Uganda Mission

We got married on April 30 2005. One of the best days of my life ever.

Our Wedding

In 2006 I started my plumbing apprenticeship. Our first overseas trip as a married couple was to New Zealand. We have been to Fiji twice, London, Paris and Hong Kong.

Fiji Goodness

London Eye - Copy

Bec and Jake Paris

We would perform musicals together and tour with a musical theatre group Directions Musical Theatre Company.

Performing

We had our first baby Esther on the 2nd August 2010.

Baby Family Photo

We added another baby, Magdalene on 20th February 2013

Baby Number 2

And we have another new arrival on the 20th July 2014.

Life can be full of ups and downs, but doing life with your best friend is the sweetest part about being married.

I can’t wait to pack more life in these years. Praise be to God for his awesome abundance of blessing on our lives.

Linking up with Grace for Flog your Blog Friday.

 

How to stop water theft

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
22

It’s been bitter sweet telling my old clients that I’m no longer working because I’m pregnant with my third child. Some of the common responses are “but weren’t you pregnant last time you came to my house?” Yes, yes I was. Life is full of surprises. 🙂

Anyway, one of our very loyal clients asked how to stop water theft on their property. They had been hearing the hose tap outside turn on at around 1am during the night and they believed that it was the neighbors stealing their water.

Firstly, when it comes to water theft, assumptions are no good and waking up at 1am to confront the thief could be dangerous and an inconvenience. The client asked if there were any plumbing fittings that could prevent the water from being stolen.

My first response was to turn off the water to the property at the meter each night before they went to bed and turn it back on in the morning for the day’s use.  It will give the thief a surprise when they try every accessible hose tap around the house and find it run empty.

But this strategy is a pain in the butt to keep in place each night and it may entice the thief to steal the water during the day when the client is not home.

The next strategy would be to install anti-vandal hose taps around the house which means the hose tap can only be turned on using a 4 way vandal proof tap key. Again this can also be an inconvenience, but it will prevent water theft (providing the thief doesn’t have access to the key) and will keep the water bill down. Many local councils installed these taps around parks to prevent water being stolen during the drought.

Anti Vandal hose tap and four way vandal proof key by Fix-a-tap
Anti Vandal hose tap and four way vandal proof key by Fix-a-tap

A lockable ball valve could also be installed on the water line, but this also requires a key which is more convenient to hang on a key ring, than a four way vandal proof tap key. Depending on how the water lines run into the house, the lockable ball valve can be installed on the hose tap lines only which means you can stop water going to the hose tap, but still allow water feed the rest of the fixtures and appliances in the house.

A lockable ball valve where the handle is locked into the off position.
A lockable ball valve where the handle is locked into the off position.

If the water theft has become a big problem and a major expense, it’s time to install an outdoor camera to film the thief in action so that you have evidence of the theft taking place. Once you have the evidence of the theft on film and photocopies of your water bill before you realized the theft had taken place and during the time of theft (you should see a spike in the water bill), take them down to your local police station.

Water theft is a serious offence, but the rigmarole in trying to find the culprit can prevent most people from doing anything about it.

The next best thing to do is to prevent it from happening by following my tips. Most homes usually have one hose tap on the side of the house, and another at the back of the house which is usually accessed through a fence, so installing an anti-vandal hose tap on the accessible side and locking the fenced gate or having a dog can deter thieves from entering the back yard.

Your local licensed plumber will be able to discuss what the best preventative measures are for your property. Just be sure to ask them to leave the keys for the taps before they leave!

Have you ever had water stolen from your property or do you know someone who has? Do you check your water bill regularly and compare it to previous bills for any irregularities?

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for I Blog on Tuesdays.

What trades are more suited for women?

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
12

Sponsored Post

I love reading about women who have followed their heart and pursued a career in the trades industry. It’s interesting to read about their thought process as they worked out what type of trade they wanted to pursue. Sometimes the choice in apprenticeship can be limited to the opportunities available.

I recently had an email from a female reader that asked whether a plumbing apprenticeship would suit her because she was thinking of becoming a plumber but wasn’t sure whether she could handle the work.  It lead to me to ask the question, what trades are more suited for women in the workplace? And should such a question be even contemplated?

In my experience as an apprentice, I thought about this question a lot and truly believed that certain tasks were more suited to men. But I based this assumption on my own limitations, not on the skills and abilities of other women in the trades industry as a whole.

I’ve always believed that if you have the passion and determination to give a trade a go, you work hard and believe in yourself, you are capable of achieving a successful career in the trades.

Some of the female tradies that I have had the pleasure of meeting and working alongside with are plumbers, mechanical (air conditioning) plumbers, painters, electricians, carpenters, cabinet makers and building and construction project managers.

When I was a second year apprentice, my dad was impressed to see two female apprentice cabinet makers working on a larger office joinery unit when he had to deliver a sink that needed to be cut into a kitchen bench top. I was with him at the time when he asked the manager what he thought about hiring girl apprentices and his answer was this: They’re slower than our boy apprentices but their attention to detail is excellent and they have never stuffed up a measurement yet.

If we scrapped the whole gender comparison from trades altogether, maybe women wouldn’t need to prove themselves on site. Wouldn’t it be great if an apprenticeship was given to an individual because of their keen interest to give the trade a go, not because of what is between their legs or assumptions made about one’s strength and ability?

That’s why it pleases me to hear about manufacturers like Hyundai Construction Equipment offering their own courses in equipment operation that are not gender specific.

I would love to hear from other tradies (male or female) on why you chose a specific trade over another? If you don’t work in the trades, do you think there are certain trades or parts of a trade that should be left up to our men to handle?

Linking up with Essentially Jess for I Blog on Tuesdays.

This is a sponsored post and has been written in accordance to my disclosure policy.

Stagnant

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
7

I’ve been feeling stagnant this year. I had a lot of curve balls thrown at me towards the end of last year. I’ve accepted them and have run with them but I’ve also felt myself asking what now? which probably sounds silly since I’m having another baby in July, but I’ve always been one to know where I was headed in the future, and at the moment, I’m not sure.

I think anyone can feel stagnant in different seasons of life. There are days where I feel  I just ‘exist’ because I’m being a mum. I’m not getting anywhere fast by being a mum to little kids and having morning sickness (which decided to rear its ugly head again last week). They prevent me from doing the things I really want to do or should be doing. I thought the arrival of a new year would help motivate me to get my act together, but my mind and body have had other ideas.

I don’t enjoy being stagnant. I like to be doing something and I’ve read enough motivational books to know that doing something little everyday helps towards reaching my goals. But how does one get themselves out of a funk when the mind and body have no willpower to do anything?

Often it’s a mind over matter kind of strategy that I would use in this circumstance. I also know that I can be pretty headstrong and can jump into doing something before really praying and seeking wisdom as to whether the opportunity is really right for me and my family.

I can relate to blog posts about mums writing how they have lost themselves since having children and have had to put their dreams on hold or put them away altogether because of the demands of running a family.

But as I poured out my heart to God, I was given a new perspective.

My kids were always part of my dream. It was a dream for my husband and I to have a family. It’s a dream for many couples too. It’s a dream that can’t be controlled no matter how hard we try.

Often I forget that I’m living the dream by being a mum to the children I had dreamed of having back when I was working as a telemarketer, then a sales rep and then an apprentice plumber.

I have other dreams, but my children were one of my biggest dreams.

So while I feel stagnant because I’m not doing much at all work wise, I’m actually doing something everyday. Being a mum to little people and giving my attention to their needs so that they will have the courage, the faith and strength to pursue their dreams.

The world moves at a rapid pace. I’m sure there may be new opportunities I’m missing every day. I also know that I can’t get any day back with my kids. I’m given a new opportunity every day to mother them and love them.

The world can pass me by for now and even though I feel stagnant through wordly eyes, my eternal eyes can see the fruit of this season.

What dreams are you dreaming right now?

Do jobs have a gender?

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
14

I was recently saddened to hear that a building estimator my dad and I used to submit quotes to passed away a couple of weeks ago. My last memory of dealing with this estimator was a few  years ago. My dad had hooked up his water tanks and didn’t charge him for doing the work. The estimator asked me what could he give my dad as a gift to say thank you. At the time, dad had just built his new house and I knew he’d be wanting to get some new appliances so I suggested a Harvey Norman voucher which was exactly what was given.

He was one of the few estimators that would email or call my dad to say thank you for the delivery of his Christmas Basket that we would deliver to all the project managers and estimators we had done work with over the year. And despite his age, he always spoke sincerely on the phone to me, unlike the manager of the company he worked for.

You see, I found age to be a huge factor in the way men dealt with me in person as an apprentice. The younger the male was, the more open they were to having a girl work onsite. The senior male workers were more set in their ways believing that a woman’s place of work should be behind a desk or in the kitchen.

I laughed this week when I took a picture of a Big W catalogue that had included a female model in their hi-vis work wear section. I had one smartie comment on the picture I uploaded on Facebook ‘Glad there’s a woman there too, someone will have to make sandwiches for those guys.’ HAHA. I didn’t take offense to it because it’s the same old same old dig. Interestingly the guy that made the comment wasn’t a senior so he contradicted my theory about age.

In an ever changing world, everyone needs to open their mind to new possibilities in the workplace. The digs and old ideals are lame and out of date. Honestly guys, if you are reading my blog today and still believe a woman shouldn’t be on a construction site you need to get your head out of 1950 and into the current year of 2014.

On the flipside, I love seeing a man have a go in a career that has traditionally been done by females.

At the end of the day, as long as we are all aspiring to do a job we love, no matter what gender dominates it’s workforce, we should let the gender digs slide.

Do you agree? Or do jobs have a gender?

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for I blog on Tuesdays.

Sexually Demeaned

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
20

What a mountain of a saga that has exploded between Mamamia and Sunrise.

In case you have no idea what I’m talking about, have a read here.

I’m not going to go into a feminist rant about whether what Kochie did was right or wrong (I honestly believe he wasn’t trying to demean Sam at all) because that’s just not me. But I thought I’d share an incident that happened to me at Tafe when I was doing my apprenticeship where I felt demeaned and did my best to alleviate the situation.

You see Tafe was full of young, hormonal teenage boys.  If they weren’t teenagers, some of them were mature age men who should have known better.  The porn and zoo magazines were as common as the plumbing workbooks we had to go through.

One particular day in class, the teacher left the classroom and one of the boys had a pornographic film on his mobile phone. Some of the guys in the classroom gathered around to watch the film, which unfortunately was behind where I was sitting. I didn’t care what they were doing because the film was being played with the sound set to silent.

But then one of the mature age students turned the sound on and all I could hear was the woman panting and making ‘oh, oh OH’ sounds. My cheeks burned and I instantly felt uncomfortable. I turned around to the boys and told them to turn it off.

I didn’t have to tell them that I felt sexually demeaned, but they knew that what they were watching during class time was inappropriate. Especially when I was the only girl in the classroom.

I didn’t talk about the matter again until I told my mum the next day and she was furious. She talked to the Master Plumbers Association who advised that I was in my rights to make a complaint.

But a complaint about what?

Yeah, the guys shouldn’t have been watching that movie, but as soon as I asked them to stop playing it, they stopped. Yes, they should have respected me from the moment they walked into that classroom by not playing it in the first place, but when you’re in an environment where you’re in the minority, you choose your battles. And I knew that this battle was one that would cause more issues than I was willing to put up with.

I do sometimes wonder whether I should have made complaints so that other women who followed after me wouldn’t have the same experiences as me. But there were other girls who had also gone through Tafe before me. Did they have the same experiences as me and choose to move on?

I, unfortunately, demeaned an apprentice at Tafe by saying something that I should have kept in my head. I had one guy who constantly asked me for phone numbers of my single girlfriends so he could call them up. Obviously I said no way and should have stopped at that but instead I added, ‘why would I give you my girlfriends numbers when you could potentially give them an STD?’. EEEEKK!!

He said to me quietly, ‘that’s not a nice thing to say Bec’. And it certainly wasn’t. I still cringe when I think about that conversation, but thankfully he stopped harassing me for phone numbers.

You see you have to be so careful about what is said and done to colleagues or students or anyone that you work with when it comes to talking about sex. Anything about sex should be a no go zone because while the person you interact with may find it funny and not at all demeaning, someone overhearing the conversation could.

I’d love to hear what you think. Have you ever been in a situation where you have felt sexually demeaned?

When life throws a curve ball or two

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
35

This time last year when I was heavily pregnant with Magdalene, I had big dreams and plans for what I wanted my life to be. It evolved around the needs of being a great wife and mum and creating lasting memories with my family. I wrote a list of 100 dreams and goals that I wanted to see come to fruition in my life.

I read over the list last night thinking that I wouldn’t be able to tick off any of the dreams and I surprised myself by being able to cross out 3, one of which I will be doing in March this year.  The dreams I’ve crossed off aren’t super duper exciting (well one is) but they mean something to me and I’m amazed that despite not focusing on my list, I’ve been able to achieve 3 dreams without much effort.

Anyway, 2014 was my year to work hard on my blogs and get direction on where I should be spending more of my time (workwise) and then a curve ball decided to roll into my perfectly planned little life.

Before I reveal the curve ball, I should rewind back to last year.

Work was haphazard when I got off maternity leave in July 2013. Dad and I would have full on weeks with some really big days, to weeks where we wouldn’t have work.  We didn’t mind the quiet weeks because dad was semi-retired and I could revert to stay-at-home mum mode with my kids. But the weeks that were really hard at work, were extremely draining for dad, and I felt out of my depth too with the big days. I just didn’t want to admit it because the work brought in money to make ends meet and provide some play money for my family.

Dad was keen on putting an ad on our local radio station to get more consistent work in the quiet weeks but it was a failed marketing attempt because we got no calls. Not one.

My dad was honest with me and said that he wanted to fully retire out of plumbing in June 2014 and I would have to decide on what I wanted to do. This freaked me out but meant that I had to do some hard thinking about what I wanted and how I would manage working without my dad. This post was where I was at when my dad told me his plans.

In my head I thought I could manage the business by taking the calls, organizing a sub-contractor to do the work and I would follow through with the paperwork. I still had commercial clients that I had to look after and I enjoyed the administration part of work than being on the tools.

But would I even be able to make an income from doing this? I wasn’t sure but put it to the back of my mind.

In November I started to feel really tired. I wasn’t feeling myself and just assumed that it was because the end of the year was looming and it was part of being a mum and having a mind consumed with decisions to make.

I knew things weren’t right when I missed my period and thought I’d better take a pregnancy test.

The test was positive.

I may have said a bad word in my head. As I sat on the toilet with me head in my hands I kept thinking how did this happen?

Jacob walked into our ensuite while I was still sitting on the toilet and asked me what was wrong. I looked up at him and nodded to the positive pregnancy test on the vanity.

‘Oh’ was the reply. Then an ‘Oh’ with a smile and the same question ‘how did that happen?’

I honestly couldn’t believe our luck. And I kept asking how, how, HOW, because we were taking precautions. But instead of asking how and why, I stopped questioning and started to thank God for this unexpected gift from Him.

Naturally I told my dad first and he was surprised and happy and positive that all would work out with the new addition on the way. I had my doubts. I’m a default worrier.

Around two weeks later, my dad told me that he was going to close our plumbing business for good because he didn’t want to work or need to work and I was going to have another child and was worried about public liability because our business was run under his license and he didn’t want to have to keep working without me while I went on maternity leave again.

That was curve ball two and it knocked me. A lot. Because I was pregnant and suddenly unemployed and was unemployable due to being pregnant.

There were mornings where I sat on my bed and cried and cried. This wasn’t part of the plan and what was the new plan now?

It was hard for me to get into the Christmas Spirit because my thought life was consumed with thoughts about what I should do and I felt like a failure because I was going to let clients down by not being able to work for them.

When I was 6 weeks pregnant, the morning sickness started and I visited the toilet more times than I put one in last year. The constant nausea and throwing up sucked. I was forced to take anti-nausea tablets so that I could keep food down and be able to look after my girls. But I only took them when I needed them. Thankfully it’s starting to subside now.

I had my first scan last Monday and it confirmed that all is well with baby number three and I am 14 weeks pregnant. Bub is due on the 20th July but because of my history, will most likely have a c-section around my 30th Birthday. Happy Birthday to me. 🙂

I’m positive about the new direction in my life, even though I don’t know what my plumbing career will look like in the future. There may be some opportunities in the pipeline but I don’t know what would be expected of me and whether I can commit to what they are after. I just have to wait and see.

Isn’t it funny how we can have all the grandest schemes and plans in the world and then life throws a curve ball or two and we’re stuck thinking what do we do now?

Thankfully my faith in God has been my constant and I have had peace in my heart about what this new era of life will bring.

Jacob and I are now in the planning mode of upgrading our car (who knew how hard it would be to find a car that fits 3 car seats across without resorting to a Mini Van??), moving my office into our unused lounge room to create another bedroom and preparing our girlswith the new arrival of a baby brother or sister.

So where does that leave my plumbing blog? Well I’m not going anywhere and I’m not going to be boxed in by my blog title. I’ll still write about plumbing and what I hear from other plumbers as well as sharing about my family and personal life.  I’ve had an unusual shift in readership on my blog last year because I now have more male readers than females (45% female, 55% male). I treasure you all and love your comments and interaction on social media. You all make my heart sing.

But now that my life has gotten a bit more interesting, I hope you stay with me on the journey as I juggle being a mum and working out what I do for work. I know life is going to be busy with three kids and I can’t predict how I will cope, but I do know that curve balls are thrown for a reason and I’m keen to allow them to propel me and my family to a positive future.

When life throws a curve ball or two, how do you react? What curve balls have you had to face in your life? Do share. x

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for I blog on Tuesdays.

Ten tips for running a successful plumbing business

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
19

My dad has recently fully retired from plumbing. Where that leaves me with work is best to be explained in another blog post. But for now, I wanted to share this article with you that I wrote a year ago and never posted.

 

This post came about because a former plumber who worked for us in our commercial fit-out days wanted to be mentored about going out in business on his own.  The plumber asked my dad, what was the secret to running a successful plumbing business?

 

Unfortunately I think he was expecting a formula or some money spinning trick that would make him rich quick.

 

The truth is, there is no secret for creating a successful plumbing business, but there are things that need to be done in order to head into a prosperous direction. The secret to success is hard work, determination and passion. The following list is what a plumber in the commercial world can do to become profitable and successful. These tips can also be used for other businesses too.

Ten tips for running a successful plumbing business

1.  Find and develop your niche. As a plumber, the field is open as to what area of plumbing you want to focus on. For my dad, his niche was inner city tenancy fit out works. And then when I started a family and dad wanted to slow down, we changed our niche to small commercial or domestic maintenance jobs. For various other plumbing firms, their niches may be domestic maintenance, commercial maintenance, new houses, bathroom or kitchen renovations, nursing homes, hospitals, townhouses or even large scale construction projects like new buildings and warehouses. Once you find out what niche you are going to target, you need to find builders, architects and hydraulic consultants/engineers that manage and design these types of projects so you can be on their tender list.

 

2. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket – meaning don’t just work for one builder and expect to get all their work. It doesn’t happen. Sadly there is very little loyalty in the construction industry at the moment because everything is based on price and the plumber that wins the job is usually the cheapest one despite if they have a history of bad workmanship. This will change once the market picks up.

 

3. Price EVERYTHING. Plans are now emailed to you or they are electronically lodged to a website where all plans are available for pricing. This is why it is important to call all the clients in your niche so that you know when projects are open for tender. Make sure your tenders are lodged on time. Late quotes are disregarded.

 

4. Visit a site before the tender closes to see if the job can be installed a cheaper way than how it has been drawn by the engineer. Some sites may not be accessible, but it’s worth the try. You can always organise a site visit with the builder and often site visits are arranged prior to the tender closing. When onsite, check that the nearest waste or water pipe is in the location the engineer      has drawn on the plan. If you find a closer one to what is drawn, base your quote on your findings. Your price will be cheaper than other plumbers quoting because they would have priced to what was on the plan.  Just ensure that the waste pipe you are pricing on is actually sewer and not storm water!

 

5. Qualify EVERYTHING on your letter when doing quotes including – not allowing security guard fees or  alarms if work needs to be done out of hours to not being held responsible to damaging other services if you cut into walls or floors without having been told about their location.

 

6. When you win a tender, ring the project manager or builder for the project and find out when you are needed onsite. It also pays to visit the site to see what the progress is.  The project manager may say that you can start next week, but if you visit site and the onsite construction manager is happy for you to start, then do so. Project Managers like proactive workers.

 

7. Be up to date with all paperwork including council inspection forms and fees lodged and paid in full and safety paperwork (that is now mandatory on all commercial jobs) to be handed to the project safety supervisor before any works are started.

 

8. Follow up on plumbing clearance certificates when a plumbing job has been cleared and email the certificate to the builder as soon as you receive it. Builders hate paperwork and even worse, they hate nagging you to give it to them. If you submit the necessary forms, plumbing certificates, as built plans and manuals to the builder on time or before they nag they will put you on their list of preferred plumbers. Builders will call you and negotiate your price if they prefer to use you than the price they received from a cheaper plumber.

 

9. Keep your overheads to a minimum. Husband and wife plumbing firms are popular because why pay a girl to do your paperwork when you can pay your wife? Having a home office doesn’t mean you have to pay to have a lease on an office too. There are tax benefits on setting up a home office. Check with your accountant on what can and can’t be claimed. I will write another article soon on how to keep your overheads to a minimum so that you can create positive cash flow in your business.

 

10. Have a website. So many plumbing firms still don’t have a website but plumbers need to get with the times and have a website. Potential clients want to see what jobs have been done by your firm and who your clients are. Sending a brochure or profile about your business when you start tendering with a new client is also beneficial. If creating a website is a cost that you can’t afford, set up a Facebook and Twitter account. They are both free. A blog is easy to set up too because you can easily update it as new work comes through. You can get clients to follow your page and it can be regularly updated with pictures of projects that you have finished.

 

Most of these tips can be applied to any business in the trade industry. All these tips were taught to me by my dad, and some I have added myself having worked in the industry in the last couple of years. If they are consistently followed, new work will continue to come through.

I’d love to hear your tips if you run a business? Can you add anything to what I’ve written above?

Why I will never buy a green car

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
4

My family has never had great success with green vehicles. I will never buy a green car due to our terrible odds of keeping it intact.

My first car was a green Hyundai Accent. I loved driving it and apart from the spark plugs that needed to be changed every couple of months in the first few years of owning it, it served its purpose well. But it did get knocked hard a few times.

In fact, the first time my car got damaged was when I had just brought it home and parked it outside our home garage. My dad backed his truck into the side door because he wasn’t used to having a car parked on the opposite side of the driveway. The same door got smashed in again after parking my car in a tight street while visiting a work colleague’s place for dinner. Thankfully the neighbor who backed into my car came and found me and gave me their insurance details.

I had the Accent for five years before deciding to trade it in to get our current car, a Honda Civic. On the Thursday before the Saturday that we were trading in the Accent for our new Civic, Jacob (my hubby) drove the Accent to work and got side swiped by a Brisbane City Council Bus where Turbot Street merges onto Ann Street in Fortitude Valley.

I remember I was working with dad in the city at the time and I got the phone call from Jacob to say that the car had a bit of a ding in it because of the bus. I was kind of hysterical on the phone and asked did he get any details from the bus driver and where was the car sitting now?

He’d left it parked in a secure multi level car park and trotted off to work.

I got dad to drop me off to the car park and called Jacob on my mobile to get directions on where he parked the car.

As soon as I saw the car I burst into tears. A ding? The whole freaking front bumper bar was hanging off and the side panel into the car was smashed!  We were using up most of our savings to pay cash for our new car with the trade in and we didn’t have much money left over for any stuff ups.

I rang Jacob and blasted him to which he said ‘I didn’t think it looked that bad…’

I then dissolved into angry tears not knowing what to do or who to call. A lady passing by came up to me and asked me if I was okay and I blubbered that my husband had crashed my car and she kindly smiled and said… there are worse things that could have happened. I didn’t appreciate her nugget of wisdom. She of course didn’t know that we were trading the car in 2 days time to pick up our new car.

So after I calmed down, I rang my dad. Dad rang our insurance company, and I can’t remember if we decided to pay for the damage ourselves or if we went through insurance and they got money out out of the BCC.

I rang call connect and asked them to put me through to a car smash repairer that was in close proximity to the Brisbane CBD. I was given Mangano Smash Repairs at Woolloongabba. I rang and got the manager and he told me to bring the car in and he would see what he could do.

The manager assessed the damage straight away and advised he would order in the parts that day and try and get the car back to us by Saturday morning in time for the trade in.

Would you believe the car got fixed in a day and I picked the car up Friday afternoon in time for trading in and picking up our new car Saturday morning.

I was so thankful and relieved that our car had been fixed in record time and that the manager put our car as a top priority. Not only did the car get fixed up (thankfully it was the outside shell of the car that was damaged, nothing mechanical), the manager also touched up some of the scratches and dents on the car doors. The car was in better shape than when it had been originally assessed for it’s trade in price.

The jinx of the green car didn’t just start with me. It also happened to my parent’s vehicles.

When I was 16, dad decided to change from a white Toyota Hilux ute to a green one. Later that year it was only by the grace of God that he wasn’t killed early one morning while going to deliver gear to one of his job sites. A black four wheel drive sped through a red light and smashed into dad’s ute. The force of the impact forced the ute to vertically spin in the air and the heavy tool boxes that dad had bolted to the back of the tray forced the ute to land backend first rather than head first.

The plumbers that were at the job site heard the almighty crash and ran out to see that it was my dad who was in the accident. The ute was clearly written off, plumbing fittings and tools were strewn for at least 50 meters or more up the main road. Our plumbers were able to yank the passenger door open so that dad could climb out of the vehicle because there was fuel gushing out of the ute.

Dad was shaken and had scratches and bruises but no injuries. He was in shock and thankfully he blacked out the moment of impact and didn’t wake up until the truck had landed. He does remember all his files that he would keep on the passenger seat flying in front of his face, but that is all.

He was so thankful that he didn’t have either myself or my brother working with him that day because the accident happened on school holidays and had either one of us been in the passenger seat, we would have been dead instantly.

The track record with green cars didn’t stop with my dad’s ute. My parent’s also owned a green Honda Accord. In the garage, my dad would use pipe brackets to hang his big model aeroplanes from the ceiling.

This is a picture of Esther when she was 14 months with my dad. You can see how his planes are hung up from the ceiling using pipe brackets.
This is a picture of Esther when she was 14 months with my dad. You can see how his planes are hung up from the ceiling using pipe brackets.

One night there was an almighty bang. Not much was thought about it. The next day when dad opened the garage door to drive to work he saw his Lancaster Bomber Model had fallen onto the Honda creating a huge dent on the dash board.

So it’s safe to say that we will never buy a green car again. But after writing this post, I realised all these accidents were caused by human error.

You can care for your car by making sure it’s safe to drive on the road and has the best oil like Castrol Magnatec in its engine, but it’s other drivers on the road that could be the cause of your accident.

My dad always taught me after his accident to always anticipate for the other driver. Give way when you can all the time, don’t drive too close, don’t take off straight away when the light turns green and stop when you need to stop.

I’ve loved reading all your entries into the Driving Safely giveaway. There is still time to enter the giveaway as it doesn’t close until the 20th January.

I’d love to hear from you… have you ever been involved in a major car accident or have a light hearted car incident to share with me? This is the last of my posts in relation to cars and oil. Huge thanks to Soup and Castrol Magnatec for allowing me to review their product.

This post is not sponsored, however I have been given free product and information on car care and will be given a $150 voucher for my opinions. All opinions are my own.  This post has been written in conjunction with my disclosure policy.

The Fanny Pump Call

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
9

Before I became a plumber I worked for a transport company in their sales and marketing team. I was the telemarketer but I also assisted with the running of the sales office. I would always have calls come through from customers wanting to get a quote on the cost of freight for their parcel.

Every account had different rates so I would have to look up the account name to get the list of their scheduled rates per destination.

I took some funny calls.  I remember one call that I had in the first couple of months working there. It was an older guy wanting to get a price on the cost of freighting a pump to Sydney. I asked for the necessary dimensions and weight of the pump and then asked if he had an account with us. He advised that he did and the rest of the conversation went like this…

Me: So can you tell me what the account name is?

Customer: Fanny Pump

(I suck my lips together to stop a giggle from escaping my mouth)

Me: Fanny Pump you say?

Customer: Yeah, Fanny Pump. Our head office is based down south and our account was set up there.

Internally I’m thinking what the heck is a Fanny Pump and what does it do?

Me: Okay, just let me put you on hold while I work out the price for you.

So I typed Fanny Pump into my computer to bring up their special schedule of rates and of course there was no such account.

Maybe I was spelling fanny wrong? So I typed in every possible fanny I could think of.

F-A-N-N-I-E  no

F-A-N-N-I no

F-A-N-I-E no

F-A-N-I no

F-A-N-Y no

I started to stress and thought I’d have to suck up my Christian pride and get the customer to spell fanny to me.

Me: Sir, are you able to spell your account name because for some reason I can’t find your account.

Customer: That’s strange. We’ve been sending freight with you for years. It should be under the name F-A-N-I space P-U-M-P.

Me: Okay, that’s weird because I typed that in before and your account didn’t come up. Let me spell it back to you:

F for Fred

A  for –

Customer: No, it starts with an S. S for Sam, A for apple, N for Nelly and I for Idiot.

Okay, he didn’t say I for Idiot but I bet he would have thought it!!

My cheeks burned after the penny dropped with the spelling and I found the account quite quickly and worked out the price.

If you say it out aloud F and S sound the same. Especially on the phone!

Anyway, a few years later I came into contact with my first Sani Pump. It was specified on a commercial job where there was no way for the shower waste to run back to the main sewer stack in a high rise building, so we had to install one of their grey water pumps.

Every time I saw Sani Pump specified on a job, I would smile and think back to when I first got acquainted with their name.

Have you ever had an embarrassing moment while talking to a client on the phone? Do spill so I don’t feel so bad about my experience!

Driving Safely

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
20

Congratulations Jennifer Houston – You won the $50 voucher 🙂

It’s this time of year that we see our worst fatalities in car accidents. Christmas, Boxing Day, Easter and long weekends are notorious for a spike in deaths from car accidents and most of the time, the accidents could have been avoided.

Thankfully, I read in the Sunday Mail yesterday that there was a decrease in car fatalaties by 40% in Queensland these Christmas holidays compared to last year.

Driving safely on the roads is paramount any time of the year, but it’s when our brains are busy thinking about what needs to be done that our minds can subconsciously slip into thought mode rather than concentrating on the driving task at hand. And traffic will increase on our roads today as many venture back to work so concentrating on the road is really important.

The first thing that needs to be done to ensure safe driving practices is to check that your car is safe to be on the road. Regular maintenance is a must on any vehicle. Here are some tips from Castrol Magnatec to keep your car running smoothly and some checks that you can do to ensure your vehicle isn’t an accident waiting to happen.

Car Safety Drive Safely

  • Check your tyres are properly inflated. Tyres that are too inflated run the risk of bursting and your car will use more fuel and it will be harder to steer. Check the manufacturer’s instructions on the correct pressure for your tyres. Every tyre size and type is different and will require a different pressure, so don’t go by what you’ve always filled them up to on previous cars.
  • Check that there is sufficient tread on the tyres and that the spare tyre is useable.
  • Check water, oil and fluid levels at home in your car. If you have no idea how to check these items, ask your mechanic or someone you trust who knows what to check and look for. There are good tutorials on the internet on how to do this, but the mechanic that services your car will know where everything is under the hood so you know what to check.
  • If there is an issue with your car like a strange noise or a rattle or anything that doesn’t sound or feel right, get your mechanic to look at your car as soon as possible. Small issues usually turn into major issues and can be avoided by being intuitive about your car.
  • Make sure your car is up-to-date with its service schedule. If your car’s service is due before or when you are going to be on your road trip, book the service before you go.

Filling up your oil using Castrol Magnatec is a great way to ensure that the engine will peform at it’s best. You can read about the benefits of using Castrol Magnatec here.

Our car is still going strong using the Castrol Magnatec oil sent from Soup. We’ve topped up our oil and made the necessary checks as per the list above.

Soup and Castrol Magnatec have generously organised a give-away for one of my readers. The winner has a choice of either a $50 Wish (Woolworths) gift card OR a $50 Coles/Myer gift card.

All you need to do to enter is either comment below, comment on the Facebook post link if you don’t like to comment via disqus or email your answer to bec@theplumbette.com.au, What is your safety tip when driving on the roads any time of the year?

If you want to like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter or Bloglovin, that would be nice too but not essential.

The give-away ends Monday 20th January 2013 at 12pm Brisbane time.

This post is not sponsored, however I have been given free product and information on car care and will be given a $150 voucher for my opinions. All opinions are my own.  This post has been written in conjunction with my disclosure policy.

Terms and Conditions

These terms shall apply to all giveaways and competitions run on this site, www.theplumbette.com.au

1.            This is a game of skill. Each valid entry to be judged on creativity and originality, not by chance.

2.            There is one prize: A choice of a Wish or Coles/Myer Gift card to the value of $50.00AUD.

3.            Entries open from Monday 6th January 2014 6am Brisbane Time to Monday 20th January 2013 12pm Brisbane Time.

4.            Prize is not transferable or changeable

5.            Prize sent out by Soup will not be replaced in the event it is stolen, lost or damaged in transit.

6.            Additional entries if you share on Facebook or Twitter, but you must comment a second or third valid entry.  Also please leave how you shared in the email.

7.            A valid email address must be included in your entry.

8.            Entry into any giveaway or competition is deemed acceptance of these Terms and Conditions

9.            Entrants must be Australian residents and aged 18 or over

10.          The winner will be notified by email and has 5 days to reply and claim the prize. The winner will also be announced on Facebook. This giveaway is not endorsed by Facebook.

11.          The decision on the winner is final and no dialogue will be entered into otherwise.

12.          These terms and conditions are subject to change at anytime without notice

 

You want to be a plumber?

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0
female tradie

Back when my dad was looking to get an apprenticeship, there were limited choices to what trade you could choose. He was given the choice of being a sheet metal worker or a plumber and he chose to be a plumber so that he wouldn’t be stuck in a shed all day.

Plumbing in the 70’s and 80’s and I’d say right into the 90’s was seen as a pretty crappy job to do. You became a plumber because you weren’t so good in the classroom but you were terrific working with your hands and solving problems. Apprentices would get covered in crap all the time. My dad would re count the story of when an older plumber he was stationed to work with made sure he got covered in effluent and he had to ride a council bus home. Everyone on the bus would inch closer to the windows and screw up their noses when my dad got on because he smelt so awful. My poor dad had to smell it all day while he worked. If a plumber did that to an apprentice now they’d be up for harassment for sure.

I’ve told dad that he needs to write his story because we would all be amazed at how the industry has changed. Plumbing has evolved. Plumbers are starting to be seen as a valuable occupation. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard mums wanting their sons to be a plumber if they’re looking to get into a trade. And tradies are a popular occupation of choice for potential partners when it comes to single ladies choosing their man.

But the message of being a licensed trade is still being ignored or naively forgotten by some in the public. If you’ve read my blog for a while, you know my stance on doing your own plumbing without a license.

But what if you do want to be a plumber? Good on you for making the decision. But don’t think for a minute that it’s an easy occupation to get into or to do well in.

We need more good plumbers, but there aren’t many apprenticeships being offered due to the lack of work but I think this will change in the next year or so when construction work starts on the Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games.

I’ve written a post with tips on Ten tips on getting a Plumbing Apprenticeship. In the mean time if you are keen to get a plumbing apprenticeship it’s best to ring plumbing companies to check if they are putting on apprentices. If they aren’t, you could ask if they require a labourer to dig holes or pick up and deliver gear to job sites. Sometimes you have to think outside the square to get a foot in.

Being a plumber is a rewarding career choice but it can be tough on the body and if you choose to run your own business, can be a nightmare to keep organized with the paper trail. At the end of the day, most industries are starting to get more inundated with paperwork so it’s part of the norm when it comes to work life.

The best thing about choosing to be a plumber is that it is a licensed trade which means no Tom, Dick, or Harry can attempt to do their own plumbing and must call a plumber. Whereas, anyone can do their own tiling or painting.

Plumbing is great if you like variety in work and environment. No day is ever the same. Dealing with customers and other trades onsite can be pleasurable or painful depending on their demands and how well they pay.

So if the New Year is calling you to a career change, go for it. Thankfully the industry is starting to accept more female apprentices too so if you are a female and wanting to pick a trade, choose to be a plumber. The demand for female plumbers is going to increase as more customers request female tradies to work in their home. More demand means more apprenticeship openings.

Let’s hope the demand in 2014 will increase in our favour.

Living Well

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
5

When I started my plumbing apprenticeship in 2006 I remember nervously thinking to myself what was I thinking? I could see the goal and I knew the plan, but I was anxious about doing well. Would I be a good plumber? Would I be able to do what was expected of me at Tafe?

Seven years later I can still remember the fear in my heart and the ball in my stomach as I’d drive into Tafe. In the safe harbor of my car, I’d look at my hands and pray that God would give me Jesus hands, because if Jesus could be a carpenter and save the world, I could be a plumber and overcome mine.

I doubted myself so much during my apprenticeship. I tried to be confident, but it was hard standing out.

I fast forward to my life now and reflect on how grateful I am to have had that experience and how humbling it was to do my best and still not be the best in the class.

Are you nervous about this year? Are you anxious about keeping your job? Worried whether your business will have enough work? Stressed over whether you’re a good parent? I am. I think about how I can be better all the time and so that is why I made some different types of resolutions for this year. They all have to do with how I feel or how I’d like to feel. Here’s my list:

  1. I want to feel healthy and have more energy. This means adding more fruit and veggies to my regular diet. Doing some exercise by walking around the block or doing crazy sports in our lounge room using the Xbox Connect. It’s not about losing weight, it’s about doing the right thing for my body so I don’t always feel sluggish and tired all the time.
  2. I want to be fun and feel JOY. I’m going to break away from routines and be more adventurous with my girls and with my hubby. I’m not sure how to go about this one yet but I’ll let you know once I figure it out.
  3. I want to be generous and feel the excitement and pleasure of giving to others.
  4. I want to feel content and not be stressed about finances. This year is going to be a tight year for us but I also know that it’s going to be a year of overflowing blessing. I’m basing this feeling on not what I see as our current reality, but trusting that God can provide above and beyond all we need.
  5. I want to feel confident. I want to use whatever courage I have to go for opportunities that will increase my small businesses. It’s a priority this year, now that I’ve stopped working on the tools as a plumber.

Sometimes life throws curve balls and I smiled when I read so many Facebook statuses stating this year was going to be better than the last.

I can’t predict what this year will bring. But I can choose to live courageously. I’m going to put away my nerves and anxiety and aim to do well at whatever opportunities come my way.

I encourage you to do the same. Put aside those fears. Don’t look back. Look forward and put your heart and soul into living well.

Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
0

The house has been cleaned. The presents are wrapped. My chocolate mousse has been whipped and my sanity is still intact.

On this Christmas Eve I want to send a special thank you to you, my readers, who comment and share my articles on Facebook and Twitter. Your support, your comments and your encouragement has been a blessing to me this year and I hope that my blog will continue to stretch your thinking or help you make wise plumbing decisions or just generally be a better plumber if you are one.

I’ve found since Facebook has changed their algorithms (whatever that is) not many of you are getting to see my blog posts (only a quarter of you) so if you don’t want to miss a post, the best thing to do is to follow my blog via bloglovin and you will get an email of when I have uploaded a new post.

Changes can happen all the time and I’ve had some changes come into play in my life in the last month or so and they have taken me by surprise but I’m excited and a little scared by what these changes will bring for me and my family. Stay tuned in January as I share these changes with you. I won’t be going anywhere though. 🙂

So from all of us at The Plumbette HQ, we hope you have a Merry Christmas. Enjoy spending time with those you love and please be safe on the roads when you’re out and about. I look forward to what the New Year brings and pray that it will be a prosperous and healthy year for all of you.

Merry Christmas!

Main Image Source

The difference a good oil can make

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
7

Being a practical woman and one that knows her way around tools, you would think I’d know a bit about cars. But I don’t. In fact, I’m pretty blaze about cars. As long as it works when I put the key in the ignition and it gets me and my kids safely from A to B and B to A, then I’m a happy girl.

It wasn’t until I was invited by Soup to attend a Castrol Magnatec event that my interest spiked in car care and learning more about keeping our family car in great condition so that we wouldn’t have any problems with our main mode of transport.

I found the event really informative and you can read my post about The difference a good oil can make.

As a result of writing that post, Castrol Magnatec have supplied me with more oil suited for my car and information about how to keep our car running at its optimum level.

My husband is the one that takes our car to get serviced at our local mechanic and because he joined me at the event, he was armed with questions about what type of oil was put in our car and our mechanic kindly showed us that our car was always changed and filled with Castrol Magnatec. Hi fives to our mechanic!

As part of my trial with the oil supplied from Castrol Magnatec, I was to report on whether I could feel the difference by having the oil in my car. And I can honestly say I can’t, because in the last three years since we changed mechanics due to convenience in location, our car has been filled with the good stuff that Castrol Magnatec supplies. To add more substance to my claim, our 7 year old Honda Civic has never had any issues, especially in the last few years, which says to me that getting regular services and having Castrol Magnatec in our engine has kept it running efficiently. That’s the difference a good oil can make to your engine.

Our Castrol Magnatec oil, before being opened for use.
Our Castrol Magnatec oil, before being opened for use.

The difference that Castrol Magnatec has over other engine oils is that it has been created with molecules that give the oil power to cling to critical parts even when your engine is turned off so that when you start your engine again, your car parts are protected the moment the engine roars to life. This dramatically reduces engine wear. Other engine oils don’t have these molecules, so when the car is turned off, the oil drains from the parts and this is why when you start your car you need to warm it up before you drive out of the garage.

But of course, nobody has time for that.

So to keep your engine running efficiently, you need to find out from your mechanic what type of oil they are putting in your car and don’t be afraid to ask them to show you the bottle so you know that you are getting a quality product.

The oil in your car needs to be changed every six months. Our family car gets serviced two to three times a year and the oil is changed twice with our regular service. This is why it’s important to keep up with regular servicing with your car and why there are dates and km’s written on the sticker attached to your windscreen to remind you when your next service is due.

Remember that your car transports your family which is precious cargo and needs to be protected so ensuring your car is regularly serviced, has the best engine oil and good tyres means your family can travel confidently knowing they’re in a safe vehicle.

Do you get your car regularly serviced? Have you ever tried to change the oil in your car or do you entrust this job with a professional?

This post is not sponsored, however I have been given free product and information on car care and will be given a $150 voucher for my opinions. All opinions are my own. Stay tuned for my next car safety post which will include a $50 gift card give-away. This post has been written in conjunction with my disclosure policy.

Wordless Wednesday – Santa Photos and Snow Globes

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
25
Mummy and daughter time. I love this picture.

Esther has had a fascination with Santa this year. When I was at work a couple of weeks ago, my mum took both of my daughters to see Santa and get a photo taken. They waited in line and when it was their turn to sit with Santa, they didn’t want a bar of him. I couldn’t believe it because Esther was excited all morning as I got ready for work because she was going to see Santa.

It wasn’t until a week later and I had to do some quick errands at another local shopping center, Esther eagerly asked me if she could see Santa. So I took her and these are the photos we got. To see our sad face Santa photo, head to my Facebook page here.

 

Esther having cuddles with Santa
Esther having cuddles with Santa

 

Magdalene is still not too sure about Santa
Magdalene is still not too sure about Santa

Esther and I also had fun entering a snow globe with fake snow that could be thrown in the air. It’s a free attraction at our local suburban shopping center in Forest Lake for the Christmas Season. My mum got some great shots of Esther and I in the snow globe.

Excitement from being in a snow globe.
Excitement from being in a snow globe.

 

Mummy and daughter time. I love this picture.
Mummy and daughter time. I love this picture.

 

Posing in the snow globe
Posing in the snow globe

 How have your kids handled getting a Santa photo? I’m linking up with Trish from My Little Drummer Boys for Wordless Wednesday.

 

 

Plumbing Safety During Storms

By
Rebecca Senyard
-
15
plumbing safety during storms

Plumbing Safety During Storms

Summer has well and truly arrived in QLD and we have had a few storms already this season. Preparing for a storm can sometimes be left to the last minute before it hits. I’m sometimes surprised by the lack of knowledge when it comes to plumbing safety during storms, so I thought I’d put some suggestions and hints together on what you can do to be prepared.

Pre-Storm Season

Before the storm season hits, you (or your partner) should get into the routine of spring cleaning your gutters and down pipes. Even gutters with mesh guard need to be cleaned. When leaves are left in the gutters or on top of the mesh guard, they decay and break down into black dirt and this dirt can build up in the gutters and can block up storm water drain pipes. A couple of months ago, dad and I did some maintenance on a house where the water tanks were empty. Upon inspecting the down pipes running into the tank, they were full of black dirt and leaf debris. There was no way that those tanks would have filled during a storm or a good drenching of rain.

To clear down pipes, place your hose down the pipe and turn the water on full bore. We recently had to clean out the gutters on the right side of our house. Both down pipes were blocked and I noticed this when we had a downpour and more water was overflowing out of our gutters than in.

Our blocked down pipe created a nice water feature
Our blocked down pipe created a nice water feature

It’s best to do a quick inspection around the house of any storm water grates that may be covered from over grown grass, garden debris or kids outdoor toys. The grates need to be clear so that the water can run down them freely. To check for blockages, use the hose trick again. If you find that the hose doesn’t dislodge the blockage, you will need to call a plumber with a jet rodding machine to blast the debris out of the drain.

Once you’ve done the prep work around your property, check your insurance and make sure you are covered for storm damage and flood damage. The 2011 floods in Brisbane highlighted how important it is to check what your insurance will and won’t cover. You may be covered for storm damage, but you might not be covered for floods – even though the storm contributed to the flood. Read your policy and ensure you are covered.

During the Storm

During a storm, don’t have a shower or soak in a bath or turn on a tap. Especially if it’s an electrical storm with a lot of lightning. If lightning strikes your house or near your house the electrical current can travel along your water pipe, through the water and earth itself through you to the ground if you are washing your hands or having a shower.

If I know a storm is coming, I bath my girls before the storm hits. I don’t shower during a storm or turn on a tap. Last year, there was an incident where a resident was washing up during a storm and got hit by lightning and was thrown across the room. The resident was lucky, but there aren’t too many survival stories of people being hit by lightning.

My next tip is if you notice water bubbling through your plasterboard ceiling, you may have a roof leak. If you see this happen during a storm, get a knife and cut out the wet plasterboard and place a bucket under the drip. By doing this, you only have to get the hole plastered up once the leak is fixed, not the whole ceiling.

Tarps, ropes, duct tape, buckets, towels, torches and mops are all great things to have handy should the inevitable disaster occur during a storm. It’s best to prepare early because storms are a summer reality in Australia.

Has your property ever been damaged by a storm?

I’m linking up with Essentially Jess for I Blog on Tuesdays.

1...444546...52Page 45 of 52