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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Lands of the Southern Cross
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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lamb Chopped:
I'm at 38.6 and SAD is definitely possible and disabling. My father had it at 34. Some people are just more sensitive. I turned down a job in New York just because of the latitude.
That's comforting in many ways. Actually I've just done some comparison and where I am is roughly equivalent to Boulder Colorado, and when I was near there about 18 months ago it was mighty cold and foggy - continental climate while this is maritime so a few differences, but I'll feel less ashamed of SAD!
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shameless self promotion - because I think it's worth it
and mayhap this too: http://broken-moments.blogspot.co.nz/
Posts: 18917 | From: "Central" is all they call it | Registered: Sep 2004
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Oh, maritime! In coastal California we used to get the "June gloom," which the weather geeks usually called a "marine layer." It effectively cut off sunshine from dawn to about 2 pm most days (which sucked when you wanted to go to the beach). Have you anything similar perhaps?
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433
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Posted
I think it's more a west coast effect here, and the weather moves across from antarctica or at best Tasmania, and drops its moisture on the west side of the central ranges. Not pleasant. I last lived on the east side of NZ in '91.
Auckland has the misfortune of straddling both coasts (mind you at its narrowest its only about 15 kms wide there). Wellington sits on the Cook Strait which funnels weather between the islands and their mountains. Canterbury and the region I live, as well as the Malborough region, have the best sunshine hours ... head east of either island and a bit inland to avoid that wet wet wet.
Oh, and then there's Dunedin and the Deep South. ![[Help]](graemlins/help.gif)
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shameless self promotion - because I think it's worth it
and mayhap this too: http://broken-moments.blogspot.co.nz/
Posts: 18917 | From: "Central" is all they call it | Registered: Sep 2004
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
Isn't Dunedin tiger country with all those Presbyterians settled there?
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
I lived in Dunedin for a couple of years in the late 90s - it was cold, and if you lived in a hill suburb, as I was, you could get snowed in for a couple of days unless you had an SUV. The people were friendly though, and being a University town meant there were far more bookshops than expected for the size of the city.
A couple of days ago I was complaining to a friend on my cell phone about how my landline sounds like there is an avalanche happening on it, and my wifi flicks out for a few minutes every now and then, and there was a knock on the door. Still talking on the phone, I answered the door, signalling to the caller that I would be available soon.
He waited patiently, then grinned and said he could solve my difficulties - he was from a new provider using fibre broadband ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif)
That instant was like Cinderella's Fairy Godmother turning up.
I am quite impressed with Pure Fibre. It's Christchurch based and the call centre is here too, but the most user-friendly aspect for me is that I can pay a bit extra and have a tech person come and do the final set up Vodaphone wouldn't do that because (they claimed) Anyone can do it ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
'The trouble with making something fool proof is underestimating the ingenuity of fools' seems an apt quote - which I think comes from Douglas Adams. ![[Overused]](graemlins/notworthy.gif)
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
I feel your technophobic pain. We've just bought a tablet computer, and I was very disappointed to find that the only instructions were things like "charge before use", "do not immerse in water" and "do not drop".
That's a fat lot of good to someone who needs to have what an "app" is explained to her ... ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif)
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
A representative of my current phone and internet company turned up at my door at 6pm today (after dark). I told him he was too late, but he persisted in saying how wonderful his company's offer was. I told him the problem was that his company was a multi-national and I would rather the profits stayed in NZ. That was one point of view that his briefing obviously hadn't covered. I also said that no matter what whizz bang (technical term - Piglet please note ![[Biased]](wink.gif) ) system they had developed, they were still the company that had ignored my needs in the past and nothing convinced me that their service had updated to match their technology, and I thanked him for his time.
Poor bloke, it can't be much fun wandering around on a cold, dark night trying to defend a company that isn't terribly popular, especially if, as I suspect, he is on commission.
Actually I might modify some of my points from tonight's discussion and use them with door-to-door callers canvassing votes for the General election in about 8 weeks time ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zappa:
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
Anyone can do it
Yeah, I'm one of those who are not Anyone, too. ![[Ultra confused]](graemlins/confused2.gif) ![[brick wall]](graemlins/brick_wall.gif)
But you have teenagers. Not as useful as a 5 years old, I grant you, but they have their moments.
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Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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Clarence
Shipmate
# 9491
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
'The trouble with making something fool proof is underestimating the ingenuity of fools' seems an apt quote - which I think comes from Douglas Adams.
Huia
I work for a technology company that writes enterprise software which is designed to be intuitive and foolproof. Unfortunately, though our own product is pretty good, the expectation is extended to all the third party software and equipment we use in the business and I am going to put that quote up somewhere at work to remind myself the next time someone says we shouldn't need training or change management.
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I scraped my knees while I was praying - Paramore
Posts: 793 | From: Over the rainbow | Registered: May 2005
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
... whizz bang (technical term - Piglet please note ) ...
Duly noted. ![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
So I decided to sit outside with my book, in the sunny courtyard today, while I had a cuppa. Cue several hundred freaking loud screechy cockatoos who decided our nature strip was the perfect place for a clan gathering. The decibel levels rose steadily as more and more arrived until it drove me insane and inside.
If ever they do a remake of The Birds I know what bird they could use...sigh.
As for technology, we have not been able to log on to the internet for several days. An hour on the help line to the service provider had them checking the huge amount of traffic on our line. We have now been allocated a different Wi-fi channel and hey presto, we can connect. They also tweeked our modem remotely and all seems back to normal.
I would not have even thought of these solutions and if home users are expected to be able to manage such things themselves I will become an ex-computer user very quickly.
BL. Now SAD AND Incompetent!
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
Cockatoos would be the stuff of nightmares to me. They are not as numerous as a couple of years ago. They threw a fret work style candle holder from my balcony table, ripped out hyacinth plants and ate the bulbs. I hope they were ill, how did they know there were bulbs out of sight?
They swoop around the area downstairs and hang by their beaks from the wires across main road. Then they do acrobatics, swinging 360 degrees around the wire. The car dealership over the road is covered in an open mesh type of metal cladding. On cold days, they hang from this over the road. I think it must be warmer there from constant traffic. All the while, the screeching goes on.
I have several photos taken of them on balcony rail. I am away from them by about half an arm's length. The look in the the eye says,"what do you mean you will get the broom?. I dare you."
You have my sympathy.
[ 02. August 2017, 05:59: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Banner Lady:
So I decided to sit outside with my book, in the sunny courtyard today, while I had a cuppa. Cue several hundred freaking loud screechy cockatoos who decided our nature strip was the perfect place for a clan gathering. The decibel levels rose steadily as more and more arrived until it drove me insane and inside. [...]
Sorry, BL, just Europeanly curious:
Would it be an option do scare them away by generously and forcefully dousing them with a hosepipe? Directed water jets full blast might just work? - Them beasties in such numbers certainly sound (sic!) ghastly!
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Be it as it may: Wesley J will stay. --- Euthanasia, that sounds good. An alpine neutral neighbourhood. Then back to Britain, all dressed in wood. Things were gonna get worse. (John Cooper Clarke)
Posts: 7354 | From: The Isles of Silly | Registered: May 2004
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
Never thought of that. They are superb flyers, coming within a few centimetres of people, trees, buildings and so forth but rarely connecting. The noise of a flock is deafening.
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
Add in some honking ibis, squabbling sea gulls, meddling pigeons and there is an avian battleground. I was woken the other night by sea gulls having a violent argument downstairs. As noisy as mating koalas or a treeful of possums. I do not wear hearing aids to bed, so to be woken by the gulls is not a usual thing.
[ 02. August 2017, 12:19: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
It is also now magpie mating season. FYI Wesley J, magpies and cockatoos are neither small nor shy. They are insanely territorial so the air battles in our leafy neighbourhood have begun. Magpies are quiet and swoop viciously. They aim for the head and their long gimlet like beaks are best avoided as they will draw blood if they can.
Cockatoos screech and scold, and they are fearless clowns. If you aimed a hose at them they would likely fluff out their feathers and enjoy parrying with the spray. (It has been a very dry winter). They are the size of chooks so I reckon I would need a water cannon to shift them. Even then they would simply relocate to one of the huge trees nearby and continue to give an earful.
Having a tin roof is interesting too. The thumping and skittering about they do can be alarming, but at least it is only a few at a time. It could be worse - at least we don't have bats by the hundreds. I hate having to clean up the large bird droppings but they are not as acidic as bat droppings. That stuff can eat through the duco on a car.
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
[ 02. August 2017, 13:46: Message edited by: Banner Lady ]
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
Well, the election here has just become more interesting with the Labour Party dropping its leader in favour of Jacinda Ardern, the previous Deputy leader. It appears that money is now flowing into Labour Party coffers, they have more volunteers, and even the current PM is telling his party they will have to work harder to ensure a National Party victory. While the Maori Party, currently in coalition with National, have said that they are willing to work with Labour.
The election will be on September 23.
My bias: While I think Jacinda would make a brilliant PM, I don't think there is enough time to turn things around as Labour has been trailing in the polls, however I hope to be proven wrong.
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
Grandson, 12 last week, had orientation for introduction to next year of high school. Son took him yesterday afternoon. He saw hydrogen being made with reactions from sulphuric acid, did other experiments and dissected a heart. He was thrilled to win an enormous jar of marshmallows which he took to school to share today. How to win friends and influence people, both for him and high school.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lothlorien:
Cockatoos would be the stuff of nightmares to me. They are not as numerous as a couple of years ago. They threw a fret work style candle holder from my balcony table, ripped out hyacinth plants and ate the bulbs. I hope they were ill, how did they know there were bulbs out of sight?
They swoop around the area downstairs and hang by their beaks from the wires across main road. Then they do acrobatics, swinging 360 degrees around the wire. The car dealership over the road is covered in an open mesh type of metal cladding. On cold days, they hang from this over the road. I think it must be warmer there from constant traffic. All the while, the screeching goes on.
I have several photos taken of them on balcony rail. I am away from them by about half an arm's length. The look in the the eye says,"what do you mean you will get the broom?. I dare you."
You have my sympathy.
The black cockatoos in Darwin were amazing. Total vandals, who would sweep in and smash a tree to smithereens by stripping bark, small branches, leaves and gumnuts, squawking like banshees, and then exit cheerfully ...
A major difference between the two countries if that NZ birds are (mainly) mellifluous but drab, while many Oz birds like rosellas, Major Mitchells, black and sulphur crested, et cetera are beautiful but raucous.
I'm sure there's a metaphor there somewhere.
There are many exceptions. Incidentally NZ's fantail (piwakawaka) is native to both countries - but less shy in NZ. The NZ riroriro, ubiquitous but hard to see, is the grey warbler in Australia, again native to both countries, same song (different accent?). The NZ magpie is imported though. Sadly the peewee never made here. Rosellas (eastern, not crimson) have arrived here in recent years ... swallows too, though recent decades more than years, and more likely to have got themselves here under their own windblown steam.
[ 03. August 2017, 08:29: Message edited by: Zappa ]
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shameless self promotion - because I think it's worth it
and mayhap this too: http://broken-moments.blogspot.co.nz/
Posts: 18917 | From: "Central" is all they call it | Registered: Sep 2004
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
The black cockatoos I am thinking of are enormous. More than twice as big as a Major Mitchell or sulfur crested cockie. Very capable of the damage you describe. There is also a similar size white one , also very destructive.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
Kea, the NZ Alpine parrot can be fairly raucous, and are the larrikins of NZ bird life. They are also well known for stripping windscreen wipers and any other rubber off cars.
Kaka make a fairly piercing shriek too, and I know they too can be destructive having watched one rip a tree apart on Ulva Island (a small island off Stewart Island).
I don't know if kakapo (the rare nocturnal parrot) make much noise apart from their booming, which they use to attract a mate and can be heard in the next valley. Apparently they make a bowl in the floor of the bush which magnifies the sound.
I like the dark green if the kea, with each feather outlined in dark brown and the surprising flash of orange under their wings when they fly.
I definitely have a soft spot for parrots, but I think that would probably change if I had them around me in large flocks causing havoc.
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Zappa
Ship's Wake
# 8433
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lothlorien:
The black cockatoos I am thinking of are enormous. More than twice as big as a Major Mitchell or sulfur crested cockie. Very capable of the damage you describe. There is also a similar size white one , also very destructive.
That's the ones ... and yess I'd forgotten those cheeky NZ parrots.
The Crow and Raven (almost indistinguishable) are other raucous Oz birds (let me add I love all these birds dearly, and mmiss them). The butcher bird is mellifluous but a brutal killer. The southern kookaburra is raucous, mephistophelean and a brutal killer. The northern kookaburra less raucous, but no less of a killer.
And so it goes on! I miss em ... though I'll be back amongst them praise be in a few weeks time.
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shameless self promotion - because I think it's worth it
and mayhap this too: http://broken-moments.blogspot.co.nz/
Posts: 18917 | From: "Central" is all they call it | Registered: Sep 2004
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Galloping Granny
Shipmate
# 13814
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Posted
Huia noted quote:
Kea, the NZ Alpine parrot can be fairly raucous, and are the larrikins of NZ bird life. They are also well known for stripping windscreen wipers and any other rubber off cars.
My memories of the Milford Track walk include a reminder as we retired for the night at one of the lodges that if we used the toilets in the night we MUST NOT FORGET TO SHUT THE DOOR ON LEAVING. Well, someone must have forgotten, because the kea (pl) who wake earlier than humans, had draped all the surrounding landscape with toilet paper before breakfast.
Imagine, not just the cost, but the work and time wasted removing the litter.
I was looking for a post of Loth's that I was too busy to comment on at the time but no luck.
You suggested that NZ 'slip' might be Oz 'mudslide' (like the ones that entomb whole villages in some countries).
Not really: ours are all rocks and occur where cuttings have been made for main roads and have been stable for decades or even generations.
Climate change's exceptional rainfall, possibly exacerbated by tectonic earth movements, has recently caused huge rockfalls. In the capital alone some hilly suburban streets were blocked. as well as main exits from the city – State Highway 1 had three lanes blocked, while the immediate alternative, also up a gorge, was still unusable several days later, while a connecting route between SH1 and SH2 further north was also blocked, not sure for how long.
And the Manawatu Gorge, where SH2 crosses to the east coast, now has so many and such huge slips, that 'They' are scratching their collective head and trying to convince themselves that they will have to upgrade the alternative route now being followed, which will be over the hills, hence longer and windier and through a major wind farm.
The railway goes through the gorge on the other bank but was wisely laid through a number of tunnels, as I remember well from going to and from boarding school in the 40s in old carriages whose windows didn't shut properly, hence choking fumes and smuts in the eye.
GG
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The Kingdom of Heaven is spread upon the earth, and men do not see it. Gospel of Thomas, 113
Posts: 2629 | From: Matarangi | Registered: Jun 2008
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
Birds are fascinating, and I acknowledge that we really are the interlopers in their landscape - but I'm not fond of 'em in huge numbers.
Living with a few kamikaze currawongs and claxon cockatoos nearby is fine - but great flocks of 'em is tiresome. Particularly as the spots of warm sunshine are rare at this time of year - so I resented the loss of it moreso than I might usually.
The leaden skies and icy winds are back today and I don't think it has got into double figures yet. Snow nearby again, and an icy caste to the clouds, but TP is happy because it has at last rained a bit.
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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Galloping Granny
Shipmate
# 13814
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Posted
The 'immediate alternative' in my post above has had a further landslide calculated at another 100 tonnes.
GG
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The Kingdom of Heaven is spread upon the earth, and men do not see it. Gospel of Thomas, 113
Posts: 2629 | From: Matarangi | Registered: Jun 2008
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
Coldest day in Melbourne since 1970. Blizzards forecast for Rowen's area. BRRRR.
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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MaryLouise
Shipmate
# 18697
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Posted
Very cold here in the Cape, but not nearly as bad as the chilly Antipodes. Woken by raucous hadedas (the African ibis) flying over the house. I do find them lovable birds though, even if they are annoying.
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“As regards plots I find real life no help at all. Real life seems to have no plots.”
-- Ivy Compton-Burnett
Posts: 646 | From: Cape Town | Registered: Nov 2016
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Rowen
Shipmate
# 1194
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Posted
Yeah, folk.... Quite Brrrrrrrrrrrr here. Staying warm is a top priority! Frosts stay around until lunch. The more it snows up the road, the colder it is here.
But we survive. And we like to complain!
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"May I live this day… compassionate of heart" (John O’Donoghue)...
Posts: 4897 | From: Somewhere cold in Victoria, Australia | Registered: Aug 2001
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Galloping Granny
Shipmate
# 13814
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Posted
It was 12° in my bedroom and felt chilly when I got up, though I'm as warmly dressed in bed as during the day, so that I don't freeze getting up in the night.
A lovely sunny day, with my solar night-light charging all day on te window-sill.
GG
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The Kingdom of Heaven is spread upon the earth, and men do not see it. Gospel of Thomas, 113
Posts: 2629 | From: Matarangi | Registered: Jun 2008
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MaryLouise
Shipmate
# 18697
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Posted
Middle of winter and I bought a new double-door fridge that purrs away and dominates the kitchen. It makes ice and dispenses chilled water etc, so hope I shall appreciate it more this summer.
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“As regards plots I find real life no help at all. Real life seems to have no plots.”
-- Ivy Compton-Burnett
Posts: 646 | From: Cape Town | Registered: Nov 2016
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
Sounds like the Nth Island is falling apart GG. A friend, more knowledgeable about history than I said that, during the war, the US who of course had troops stationed here before they went to fight in the Pacific, offered to put a road tunnel through the Manawatu Gorge, but the plan never came to anything.
I've taken to wearing a merino Beanie to bed, covered by a neck gaiter which I wear up over my neck and head so that only my face is exposed to the cold. It looks like the headwear of an old order of nuns, except both are striped, the beanie purple and black the neck gaiter in two different shades of turquoise. If I ever have a burglar he will probably die laughing.
Tonight's low is meant to be 6c, which is much warmer than it has been.
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
... If I ever have a burglar he will probably die laughing ...
Serve him right. ![[Devil]](graemlins/devil.gif)
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
SMH announces the death of Betty Cuthbert . She attended Ermington Primary School where my dad taught for many years. He taught her. A natural athlete, ungainly in style, she won four Olymic gold medals for sprinting over two Games.
Her family ran a small nursery which dad patronised well. We walked past it on our way to and from school. No punnets of seedlings like today. He would ask for a dozen petunias, or whatever. Mrs Cuthbert would take a trowel and a twist of newspaper, shovel some in from a concrete trench, and charge him a pittance. There could well be fifty seedlings in the pack.
I distinctly remember his excitement at her first gold medal. Dad was not a sports follower at all, but he actually used the telepohone to ring through a telegram to her. Her picture still hangs at the school, alongside the ubiquitous photo of a young Queen Elizabeth.
The nursery is still there, but specialises in camellias.
[ 06. August 2017, 22:46: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
Speaking of camellias - my early flowering one is out, as are the blossom trees on the Port Hills. Having said that, the worst snowfall I have experienced in Christchurch was in late August, so I am not raising my hopes, well trying not to.
Georgie-Porgy Fat'n'Fluffy goes into durance vile (a.k.a the cattery) tomorrow, while I race around madly packing and cleaning the house so I can go to Wellington on Thursday. I thought it would be a simple birthday visit, but as I posted on the Aging Relatives thread, things have got a bit more complicated
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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MaryLouise
Shipmate
# 18697
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Posted
Camellias, clivias and horse magnolia out in sheltered gardens, no sign of apple or peach blossom yet.
Poor Georgie-Porgy. I hope your trip goes well, Huia.
Waiting for this afternoon's secret ballot in Parliament on the No Confidence Vote in President Zuma. Harder to unseat a corrupt tyrant than anyone would think possible.
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“As regards plots I find real life no help at all. Real life seems to have no plots.”
-- Ivy Compton-Burnett
Posts: 646 | From: Cape Town | Registered: Nov 2016
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
It sounds like a large minority were in favour, but not enough to oust him, despite it being a secret ballot. I wondered how secret a ballot would be in those circumstances. If it were here I think results would leak out, but I may be being cynical.
The mud is flying here in the election campaign, I'm hoping it gets people out to vote, but I'm not holding my breath.
Even if the result is other than what I might wish, I think it's important to get a representative result (my middle brother says I'm naïve, but so be it).
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Huia:
It sounds like a large minority were in favour, but not enough to oust him, despite it being a secret ballot. I wondered how secret a ballot would be in those circumstances. If it were here I think results would leak out, but I may be being cynical.
The mud is flying here in the election campaign, I'm hoping it gets people out to vote, but I'm not holding my breath.
Even if the result is other than what I might wish, I think it's important to get a representative result (my middle brother says I'm naïve, but so be it).
Huia
I'm sure people get out to vote, but it's so secret they don't get to know who they are voting for.
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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MaryLouise
Shipmate
# 18697
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Posted
Well, it would seem the ballot in Parliament was secret enough, but President Zuma is still there.
And today is Women's Day in South Africa, too depressing to think about in the light of soaring rape statistics.
On a minor note, discovered that my favourite charcoal-grey sweater that I put on to go out to supper at a restaurant last night is FELTED with dog hairs from my small white half-Pomeranian rescue dog. How could I not notice before wearing it in public?
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“As regards plots I find real life no help at all. Real life seems to have no plots.”
-- Ivy Compton-Burnett
Posts: 646 | From: Cape Town | Registered: Nov 2016
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Huia
Shipmate
# 3473
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Posted
I found a book in the library about making toys for long haired cats by felting their fur. Maybe you could do the same with a dog's hair.
I'm off to Wellington before dawn tomorrow, I think the forecast suggests only one day without rain, but it may be a degree or two warmer.
Huia
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Charity gives food from the table, Justice gives a place at the table.
Posts: 10382 | From: Te Wai Pounamu | Registered: Oct 2002
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Ian Climacus
Liturgical Slattern
# 944
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Posted
Best wishes for the birthday travels Huia.
To my shame I did not know of rape stats in SA, Mary Louise.
Heading back to an earlier conversation, the songs of the magpies around here cheer me up no end. But as BL wrote the time of attack is near, if not here, and they do seem to see me as a target. I even carried meat while riding my bike once to throw at them, but they did not care!
My doctor encourages me to get out in the sun in winter. He also encourages social activities, so he insisted my going to a 6 course degustation meal with each course accompanied by a gin from a local distillery on Saturday night with friends would be a good thing. And it was. Sunday morning was a write-off though!
[ 09. August 2017, 09:04: Message edited by: Ian Climacus ]
Posts: 7800 | From: On the border | Registered: Jul 2001
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
Ineptitude runs rampant. And stupidity and other similar words. Both at Federal and NSW government levels. We already have a massive mess with new railway lines in the metropolitan area. Now there is more of the same. Trains don't fit stations, now they can't run on much of the Blue Mountains line as they are wrong size for existing tracks. One would think the premier would have some idea. After all, she was the Minister for Transpoort once. In that time, she was very concerned train guards wore long trousers so no one could see their knobbly knees with shorts.
[ 09. August 2017, 22:31: Message edited by: Lothlorien ]
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ian Climacus:
My doctor encourages me to get out in the sun in winter. He also encourages social activities, so he insisted my going to a 6 course degustation meal with each course accompanied by a gin from a local distillery on Saturday night with friends would be a good thing. And it was. Sunday morning was a write-off though!
I daresay! I drink very little in the way of spirits except gin. I just don't like them. Two G&Ts one hot summer day was enough, more than enough for me. Then I checked the label for alcohol stats. That would explain it. Still, I enjoyed them.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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MaryLouise
Shipmate
# 18697
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Posted
Lothlorien, you have no empathy for anyone who has a train journey ruined by the sight of knobbly knees?
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“As regards plots I find real life no help at all. Real life seems to have no plots.”
-- Ivy Compton-Burnett
Posts: 646 | From: Cape Town | Registered: Nov 2016
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
MaryLouise, guards on trains here have their own little cubicle with a door each side of the train. They stand in doorway to check platform and to press bell to alert driver to take off. A glimpse of knobbly knees would be momentary.
I was in one train where the guard seemed to have imbibed more than he should have. I think this is a sacking offence. He sang sea shanties through the intercom in train. When I reached my destination I could. see he had board shorts and an appallingly loud Hawaian shirt. I doubt he would have lasted much longer without Transit Police or similar stepping in.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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MaryLouise
Shipmate
# 18697
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Posted
I was joking, Lothlorien. When I think of train journeys on which I've endured long delays, inedible food, dirty compartments etc, the last thing that would worry me is a glimpse of knobbly knees. Though drunken sea shanties could get annoying...
[ 10. August 2017, 09:29: Message edited by: MaryLouise ]
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“As regards plots I find real life no help at all. Real life seems to have no plots.”
-- Ivy Compton-Burnett
Posts: 646 | From: Cape Town | Registered: Nov 2016
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Lothlorien
Ship's Grandma
# 4927
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Posted
I knew you were joking. I wrote to Our Glad when she was Transport Minister and said much as you have said. Actually received a reply, not pro forma letter. From a lackey. One would think her experience as minister should have been some help,but new lines etc are just one big muddle and mistake.
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Buy a bale. Help our Aussie rural communities and farmers. Another great cause needing support The High Country Patrol.
Posts: 9745 | From: girt by sea | Registered: Aug 2003
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