a community event
is a fine thing -especially when the weather clears…
You really can’t
beat Welly on a good day.
It’s been a stunning week. No wind, sunshine. Fabulous. Just the sort of weather to start painting the deck. The quintessential Kiwi summer task. There is nothing more pleasant than painting away on the deck although struggling under the deck and onto ladders is a different matter.
And yep. I do have a big deck, thanks Ed. And everyone else who finds this amusing. I’ve heard a few tales about Aussies and Kiwis and our mispronunciation of decks and other related topics.
Oh! latest internet confrontation? Dickensian.
I have taken self off 2 dating sites now and working up to deleting them all.
But as I keep saying I’ve made a few good friends.
Back to that deck.
Enua manea
It was good to spend New Year’s Eve in North Canterbury and to have a lovely New Zealand meal of lamb with a bottle of good Rivola, 2003. And to see the moons in the clear sky.
It was also good to go to Rarotonga to see the sun and participate in the creation of the umu kai.
Rukau, takahi, puke, pork, chicken, utu, pawpaw, salad, pineapple, kumara, potatoes, pumpkin…………all cooked with aroha and enthusiasm.
The dvd of “how to create an umu” is my next creative activity.
Not much else to say
Arrevederci NZ and ~hello England. Enjoying the warmth both physical and metaphysical of visiting old friends, eating a lot and drinking good wine.
Very nice.
And visiting Sissinghurst. (Too hard to rotate the image but you may get the picture. 
Warm sunshine, a drive through forests, green England to the big garden where the English were at their best: pleasant, helpful, thoughtful. And the garden? Oh yes. Stunning.
Some good some bad….
Cuba Street, 2009
It was grand to get to the Carnival this year…even if I missed the big event. Lovely Welly day ..everyone out enjoying themselves. Good music, good sunshine, good food. Good Wellingtonians.
However, I’ve been having some bureacratic troubles of late involving yes….it has to come. Call centres.
The first involved needing to get some advice from a call centre related to my bank….and yes I have let the bank know. When you hear an accent (from the Indian subcontinent perhaps?) and the nice young woman clearly isn’t sure where your city is….you get worried. And yes, the advice was wrong so the poor women in the main branch in town got, I’m afraid, an earful. However, I have to say that the lovely people at the New Zealand Embassies/Consulates in Japan and Korea were helpful, pleasant and generally wonderful. (Don’t ask).
The second involved my poor wee Mac which has not been behaving as it should. I’m pleased that the Apple Mac support site has information in plain English so that I was able to identify a way (perhaps not the best way, but a way. Have you ever tried to get support from a Microsoft site????) to at least find out what the problem might be. Of course when I solved that one I changed the settings so needed to call my ISP provider. Those of you who recall my problems with my last ISP provider (Telstra Clear actually) may shudder. This one only needed 2 calls, as opposed to the 20 plus last time. The problem was that the first young man I spoke with ( South East Asian accent with a touch of the USA) had me linking to the laptop, shoving cords in and out and failed to listen to my request to provide me with the settings. He concluded our ‘conversation’ with advice to get the Mac checked. So armed with the case number and resolve, I called again. Another Sth East Asian accent (this is important ‘cos we aren’t sure where these people are and whether or not they understand the culture). I worry that call centre staff see my account and my age and gender and make assumptions. This one at least listened to me and yes, indeedy I had changed the settings. Five minutes later, settings secured, I completed the call and answered the 2 minute questionnaire on the success of my call.
Mac happier, yes will get it checked and at least I can now write blog posts and send and receive mail!
Must be time for another glass of wine.
As an aside, I watched again Desperate remedies, from circa 1990, by Peter Wells and Stuart Main. It’s still fun, the frocks are still gorgeous and Cliff and Kevin still look good. As of course does Jennifer. Worth another look.
Return to theme
Mana Island
This of course is the lovely Mana Island which was shining in the sun on Saturday when I ventured for a swim in the sea at the lovely Titahi Bay. It was ‘all good’ although cripplewise a bit fraught due to the large numbers of children on bodyboards. I was not certain that I was nimble enough to escape them. But cripple wise – not too bad.
There have been two themes developing as I drive, both of them recurring.
The theme of dependence and independence keeps coming back to me. Before Xmas I was trying to make a lunch date with fellow cripple. It became fraught as we struggled to fit ourselves in between appointments and caregivers. And there were a few conversations over Xmas on this theme. For people in the health system (and it’s worse I suspect for those in the mental health system) there’s that reliance on caregivers and the slow taking over of independence as we rely on our physios, surgeons, chiropractors, ACC caseworkers and the plethora of health workers. It’s fantastic that they are there but it can take over your life……and I’m sure there becomes a time when it is your life. Which leads me to the gratitude I feel in being able to drive. Singing to yourself in your own car is a valuable and important aspect of modern life. It helps you stay connected to your community too (as long as you keep the windows shut when you sing).
And the twin theme is that of being over connected. I recently started playing with Yahoo and some social networking sites and have been amazed at how readily I can find people, how readily the net can search for possible friends and how over in-touch we can all be. It’s fun to play, and certainly provides an opportunity for contact with acquaintances but…It also makes me think about my work, and how slow educational institutions are at keeping up with these networking opportunities.
Dave Pollard will have discussed this topic (connectedness) I’m sure and my blogbrowse found this about neediness. I’m not sure that I am saying we are all needy, as I think this social networking lark is about playing as adults, and that’s always fun. It’s good to feel we can play verbally and visually, and Facebook has provided a way to stay in touch. I was more alarmed at the speed with which I could find people, and that people I might wish to know were suggested to me on Yahoo.
Maybe this theme needs more thought. I like being connected, and as a recently incarcerated cripple the net was a blessing. And still is. This theme connects with that of multiple identities and who we are.
I think I need to explore this more…..
Oh and….in case anyone thinks I am just a little over enthusiastic, here’s a mixed review of The Crying Light.
Oh, and yes my Samoan brother, let’s try again for that lunch date.
Von Tempsky has a home
the beans are in, the sun shone all weekend and there was no wind! The voyagers are safely home too. I drove to the gym by myself today (and drove yesterday with chatty (thank you) companions).
I wonder how the (sustainable) gardeners in H town are doing! Things sound pretty rural in north Canterbury, and the same in Taranak!
