Be Careful What You Wish For

Last year, in late December, I put a status on Facebook commenting on our wonderful summer. We had had a sunny, mild lead up to Christmas and stunningly hot weather over the festive season. Several 'glass half empty' friends (you know who you are) commented saying it wouldn't count as summer unless it went on unabated for months to come. I replied at the time that the conditions they were wishing for sounded more like drought than summer - and lo, it came to be. It's a shame we can't assign a name to this drought, much like we do to hurricanes, because I could suggest a few appropriate monikers.

Pots pulled out from under the eaves in the hope of catching a little of the promised rain.

And so here we are, living as if we were in Alice Springs. Not allowed to put a drop of water on the garden unless we catch it first in the process of a now hurried shower, we are reduced to the living standards of our poor Australian cousins. There is a forecast of a little rain today or tomorrow, but so far the clouds look less than promising. I hope you lot are happy!

Census

I really think this whole census thing is a lot of bother for nothing. Not as bothersome for us in 2013 as it might have been in the past ...

... but bothersome nonetheless. It seems a very expensive way to collect spurious data. Sneaky smokers aren't going to admit their addiction on their forms, and a lot of people are filling in forms way ahead of census day, both online and off. I thought the whole idea was to get an accurate snapshot of New Zealand on March the 5th. I have not completed my forms yet, because to do so would assume certainty as to my whereabouts on Tuesday evening. Clearly there would have been no point in taking my ticket in last night's Lotto draw if I was assured it would not affect my personal living circumstances by Tuesday (although sadly it did not). And why print all these forms? Why not just give forms to people who are actually going to use them, not to all the online choosers. 

Is this census really going to give us any data that couldn't have been sourced in far easier ways? For well over a hundred years we have been recording every birth and death.

We count everyone who enters or leaves our shores. Surely the government could easily tally all this information and work out very accurately how many people we have, all up. As for the rest of the questions, couldn't a poll of a representative group (say 50,000 to be sure) produce the same results with much less fuss? Businesses and political parties seem happy with much smaller samplings from Colmar-Brunton and the likes.

Still, I suppose it's providing employment to all those enumerators out there - this in itself it going to distort our employment figures marginally and fleetingly - which is why I'm giving mine a little on-going purpose in life by allowing her to return to collect the forms. I guess I'm just a people person!

The Beautiful People

I have joined the ranks of the beautiful people. We don't shop for our food in a supermarket chain store. Heavens no! We head for Moore Wilson's. We circle and queue to find a park.

We trudge between the grocery and fresh departments.

We buy our organic chickens from the caravan in the car park.

We fit in a Cafe L'Affaire brekkie on the way.

And we head home secure in the knowledge we have shopped from the largest possible selection of the finest foods and rubbed shoulders with every budding MasterChef in the Wellington region. Happily, the bargain prices for their range of fresh nuts offsets the outrageous prices for everything else. It's a veritable paleo paradise.

Stupidity

I'm afraid it's pervasive in the modern world. One of its most irritating forms is found in stupid little 'feel good' new age sayings. People who think trite little sentences will inspire change for the positive litter the world and congregate in particularly large numbers on Facebook. I can put up with such people and their nonsense most of the time, but one of their pearls of wisdom particularly grates.

This one is often used to urge children on to greatness. Clearly, if every child in New Zealand set their hearts on a given goal, say being an All Black, then most are going to fail. Children are told all they have to do is dream and they can make 'it' happen, no matter how ludicrous 'it' is. But this is not the only problem with this particular quote. It's just not good science. If one shoots for the moon and misses, then one is probably going to hurtle back to earth at an alarming speed and ultimately burn up on re-entry. The chance of getting to the stars is minimal if one had insufficient thrust to get so far as the moon. Surely, the quote should actually read: Shoot for the stars and if you miss you will land on the moon, if you're lucky. The lucky bit is important, because life is a lot about luck, no matter how you plan and strive. 

All that being so, the really big question is why aim for either the moon or the stars? What is wrong with planet earth? It's really quite a nice place. Just like a simple, anonymous life is a deeply satisfying and worthy one. The modern child seems obsessed with fame, money or power as the measure of success. It's time we had a trite little quote about living a loving, gentle, giving life and finding contentment in simple pleasures. I'll keep my eye out.

Self-Sufficiency

For a short time, we are entirely self-sufficient in tomatoes. One plant, popped in at Labour weekend, is now producing beyond our needs.

So bountiful is the cropping we are actually giving away our fine, practically organic, picking. The secret to our success is the 'no fuss' approach. This involves tying the tomato up once when it is new, then totally losing interest in any further intervention. Remove no laterals and allow the plant to sprawl wherever it wants to. The plant itself is possibly a Guiness Book contender for its size, but modesty prevents us from submitting it.

When I'm Sixty-Four

In my retirement years, when I'm a little older and a whole lot more doddery, I wouldn't mind living here.

Those of you familiar with the sorry state of my retirement savings are probably wondering how this eyesore would be within budget, and I must admit the Lotto Commission do feature largely in my plans. This is the site, however, for the next Ryman Retirement Village which will be built in Petone. It's a relief to know this run down, graffiti ridden assortment of buildings will be replaced by the smart-looking complex Ryman specialise in. It will be good for Petone and be much less intimidating to pass when out walking. The shame is that the site was ever allowed to get to this state.

A long, proud history.

Once upon a time, through a few different names, it was a busy secondary school. No doubt many parents and staff toiled on fundraising tasks to raise the money to make improvements, planted the site, participated in working bees and generally took pride in building and supporting their community school. My parents did the same for our community in Wanganui, helping to establish both a new primary and secondary school. I hope that in some future time their efforts aren't similarly trashed by some number crunching, short-sighted politician.

A Night Out

A night out mid-week would normally be a no-no for the weary teacher, but thanks to Waitangi Day, Tuesday evening was practically a Friday. So, after the staff meeting, it was into Wellington for a visit to Circa Theatre. The show was called 'Kings of the Gym', a comedy and an enjoyable one at that. I suspect a sizeable portion of the audience were teachers enjoying the 'PC vs PE' theme set in a New Zealand high school and peppered with topical references to the new curriculum and Novopay.

Ginette McDonald as the PC principal.

Being an early show at six thirty, we were hitting Courtenay Place well before nine. I've always wanted to try The Bangalore Polo Club, and certainly wasn't disappointed. The food was great and the fitout of the old Coyote restaurant is very good - even the loos are cool.

They were playing some great music from the 70s and 80s, making me think I really must hunt out my Supertramp Greatest Hits.