A PARALLEL UNIVERSE

 I discovered this book from a post by the author on Neighbourly recently and bought it on-line from Amazon Australia.

It's quite a good read about growing up in Christchurch in the late 1950s and 1960s. Many of the memories that Cheryl Nicol writes about are similar to mine:

• Her father's shed that contained just about everything you might need.
• Family holidays in a packed car and caravan.
• School milk.
• Family visitors.
• Single channel television.
• etc.

I was born in Wellington but had relatives in Christchurch and generally in mid and south Canterbury so can easily picture some of the places she mentions.


Nicol was born in 1955 only 3 years later than me and Richard so her experiences are not that much different to ours.


It's a view of New Zealand that is long gone. Times were tough but there was more community spirit in those days and people just got on with life - the No. 8 wire mentality.

RUGBY'S THE WINNER BOYO!

 I woke early this morning to watch the live broadcast of the All Blacks vs Wales game which was great. Even Robert The Unempathetic Sinner would have enjoyed it.

I watched it in the small lounge at the end of the house because it was early (5:14 AM) and I didn't want to wake The Old Girl. I get carried away sometimes when watching rugby and yell out when a good try is scored. It used to make our dog Rosie jump and once I scared hell out of The Old Girl's godson who was watching with me.

****SPOILER ALERT ****

The outcome was predictable with the All Blacks scoring seven tries to Wales' one with a score of 54:16 but it was still an exciting match to watch. Here:s an outtake from the commentary:

"The ball bounces short of touch and is scooped up by Beauden Barrett. He runs and passes to Jordie Barrett who evades a tackle then another and makes 20 metres up field. Jordie Barrett passes to Beauden Barrett who passes out to some other player. The other player sends a pass to Jordie Barrett but this is intercepted by Hugh Williams. Williams passes to James Williams who in turn passes to Steve Williams. Williams sees a gap and deftly chips the ball ahead but Jordie Barrett races across and intercepts the kick, quickly passing to Beauden Barrett ..... "

Anyway, I'm happy and celebrated with a 'fry up' for breakfast which is way out of the norm for me.

My back is still sore (sciatica probably) and I'm still taking the muscle relaxant and painkiller tablets. I can't drink alcohol while taking these and, I guess after 10 days I'll feel better because of that.

Rugby was the winner again.

LIGHT READING

 I've been planning to read all of Shakespeare's plays for a while now. Whenever I watch quiz shows like Eggheads or The Chase  I often get the answers wrong when the question is about characters in the plays, especially the more obscure ones.

Yesterday I took out the  'The Globe Illustrated Shakespeare' tome

This thing is massive - 22 cmx 30cm and 12 cm thick. It's going to take a lot of reading to get through it.

While digging it out of the bookcase I noticed this:

It's hard to miss it really but it's been hiding amongst the big old books on the bottom shelf - hey, there's an idea for a new series - 'Books in our 'library'. This is fairly substantial being 32 cm x 26 cm and 6 cm thick. It is a first edition, published in 1921.

Treasury of Catolic  (sic) Doctrine with Biographies of Illustrious Saints Containing Teachings of the Holy Catholic Church as Interpreted By the One True Church Founded By Our Divine Saviour

          - Biblio.com.au 

It's a bit battered, having been referenced a lot over the years. The front 'Presentation' page has my dad's name in it.

I don't know when it was given to dad. His family was mainly Methodist. Maybe when he married mum (Catholic family) he was told by the priest to brush up on the Catechism before he was allowed to wed. Anyway, this book was our 'family bible'. It will be quite useful for looking for quotes to lambast educate Robert with.

The second page in has a kind of statement about what the tome is about:

I particularly like this bit which is written in capitals.:

"CATHOLICITY THE SAFETY OF THE COMMONWEALTH," "SOME ALLEGED DANGERS CONSIDERED," AND "WHY CATHOLICS INSIST ON CATHOLIC SCHOOLS," 

Yes, definitely presented to dad before being allowed to marry mum in the late 1940s.

The next page  carries a kind of special offer or discount voucher:

"To fathers and mothers. Every time that thou shall instruct their children in the Christian Doctrine an indulgence of one hundred days."

It's not good grammar I know but, when the content is nonsense does it matter?

It's a kind of bribe or inducement with the reward being a discount of 100 days off hell.  Richard certainly should have instructed his children in christian doctrine because we all know where he's going.

There are nearly 700 pages of drivel but fortunately there are black and white and colour images to break up the monotony of nonsense like this:

"But we may apprehend what we cannot comprehend, as, in eternity we shall see God as He is, but not wholly, for the Beatific Vision is finite. but the Object and Source of bliss is infinite."

Well, to me that sounds like the psychedelic ravings of William Burroughs or Hunter S Thompson.

 I do like this image though which is at the front of the book:

I can't help imagining a caption under Jesus saying "Oh God, another 690 pages to go."

NEW POST - THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON

 

O

IRENA SENDLER - HERO

 

Robert often talks about saints, miracles and the catechism of the Catholic church.

Here's something that he might be interested in. I saw this on Neighbourly today. On reading this notice and looking deeper into the story on Wikipedia and other sources I was on the one hand in despair of how cruel some people are and, on the other i awe of the bravery and  decency of others.

Look at this woman - Let us never forget!
The world hasn't just become wicked...it's always been wicked.
The prize doesn't always go to the most deserving.
Her name is Irena Sendler
She Died 12 May 2008 (aged 98) in Warsaw, Poland
During WWII, Irena, got permission to work in the Warsaw ghetto, as a plumbing/sewer specialist.
She had an 'ulterior motive'.
She KNEW what the Nazi's plans were for the Jews (being German).
Irena smuggled infants out in the bottom of the tool box she carried and she carried in the back of her truck a burlap sack, (for larger children).
She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto.
The soldiers of course wanted nothing to do with the dog and the barking covered the infants' noises.
During her time of doing this, she managed to smuggle out and save 2500 children/infants.
She was caught, and the Nazi's broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely.
Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar, buried under a tree in her back yard.
After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived it and reunited the family.
Most had been gassed. Those children she helped got placed into foster family homes or adopted.
Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize.
She was not selected.
President Obama won one year before becoming President for his work as a community organizer for ACORN
Al Gore won also --- for a slide show on Global Warming.
In MEMORIAM - 63 YEARS LATER
We're doing our small part by posting this message.
I hope you'll consider doing the same...
It is now more than 60 years after the Second World War in Europe ended.
This posting stands as a memorial chain, in memory of the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated!
Now, more than ever, with Iran, and others, claiming the HOLOCAUST to be 'a myth'.
It's imperative to make sure the world never forgets, because there are others who would like to do it again.
Share this posting and be a link in the memorial chain and help us distribute it around the world.
It will only take you a minute to pass this along...

Here's a link to the Wikipedia page:  IRENA SENDLER

ROBERT CAME BACK ....THE VERY NEXT DAY

.....WE THOUGHT HE WAS A GONER ....... 

Robert's post went but then, the very next day it came back.

It reminded me of this song:

THE CAT CAME BACK

I can't understand why Robert keeps changing his blog name and some of its layout. It's not as if there is a blogging world out there screaming for updates and improvements. His blog's not a fashion house or a wine label. It's more like one of those old-style amusement arcades that no-one has closed down yet.....

..... full of rubbish, broken down things (grammar for one), bad smells, graffiti and in danger of falling over at anytime.

To keep the analogy going he needs to bulldozer it to the ground and rebuild from scratch.

With luck he might end up with something looking like this:

*

* Ha, ha, ha, ha ......just kidding.

HORSES' ARSES

 

I saw on the news that Northland has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. 

This doesn't really surprise me as we have a high percentage of idiots up here as well going by the input into Neighbourly by uneducated conspiracy theorists.

I'm not sure whether the high percentage of Maori in Northland is the issue or whether it is just a rural and insular way of thinking. It is of concern though that a number of Maori educational leaders are resistant to vaccination (and who bloody well won't be resistant to the virus) thereby putting students, co-workers and family at risk.

I listened to Jesse Mulligan interviewing Prof. Tony Blakely from Melbourne last week.

PROF TONY BLAKELY

In this interview Blakely recounted how, when he was living in Rawene he used to visit the cemetery and was shocked at the number of Maori graves from 1919 of people who died in the Influenza epidemic. He said that the government of the time basically stuffed up in its speed and effectiveness of getting vaccination to Maori and rural New Zealanders. He was complimentary to the Ardern-led NZ government in its efforts to vaccinate Maori, Polynesian and 'at risk' communities. Short of tying people down and stocking them with a needle everything posable is being done.

"Stupid is as stupid does" said Forrest Gump and he's right. It's such a shame that our stupid people are being influenced by others with their own agendas that are at odds with what is good for our country.

MOERA GOTHIC

If we took this picture:

And added this:

We'd be getting close to this:

American Gothic 1930 by Grant Wood (American, 1891–1942)

This familiar image was exhibited publicly for the first time at the Art Institute of Chicago, winning a three-hundred-dollar prize and instant fame for Grant Wood. The impetus for the painting came while Wood was visiting the small town of Eldon in his native Iowa. There he spotted a little wood farmhouse, with a single oversized window, made in a style called Carpenter Gothic. “I imagined American Gothic people with their faces stretched out long to go with this American Gothic house,” he said. He used his sister and his dentist as models for a farmer and his daughter, dressing them as if they were “tintypes from my old family album.” The highly detailed, polished style and the rigid frontality of the two figures were inspired by Flemish Renaissance art, which Wood studied during his travels to Europe between 1920 and 1928. After returning to settle in Iowa, he became increasingly appreciative of midwestern traditions and culture, which he celebrated in works such as this. American Gothic, often understood as a satirical comment on the midwestern character, quickly became one of America’s most famous paintings and is now firmly entrenched in the nation’s popular culture. Yet Wood intended it to be a positive statement about rural American values, an image of reassurance at a time of great dislocation and disillusionment. The man and woman, in their solid and well-crafted world, with all their strengths and weaknesses, represent survivors.

Here are some definitions of and references to 'GOTHIC' as found on the internet:

"The definition of gothic is related to medieval style or the horror and mystery depicted in fiction about the 18th and 19th centuries."

"An example of a gothic structure is the Reims Cathedral in France."

"An example of gothic style is dark makeup, dark clothes and hair dyed black.

adjective"

"Designating or of a type of romance set typically in the 18th or 19th century and relating the melodramatic adventures of the heroine."

"Gothic is defined as an East Germanic language, or an architecture style of the 12th through 16th centuries."

"(typography) In England, of the name of type formerly used to print German, also known as black letter."

"(typography) In the USA, of a sans serif typeface using straight, even-width lines, also called grotesque."

"Of or relating to the goth subculture or lifestyle."

"A novel written in the Gothic style."

"The East Germanic language of the Goths."

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no and no. 

Right, here we go:

"Barbarous, rude, unpolished, belonging to the "Dark Ages", medieval as opposed to classical."

This is what I was looking for as it relates to Robert The Apathetic Sinner.

In the latest version of his blog (A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A CATHOLIC) Robert continues with his Catholic view of the world as we've seen in the earlier versions - misogyny, homophobia, anti-socialism, anti-abortion, reactionary thinking, etc. but has been adopting a disturbing and archaic focus that is more in keeping with the Dark ages rather than the 21st century. He's like the Catholic version of The Taliban

evaluating what he sees and experiences via a filter of the bible teachings and Catholicism's Catechism. From this stems intolerance, meanness and racism - things that are supposedly in conflict with Christian ideals.

This confuses me.

***************

The bad weather continues here up north with rain and high winds. We've had this since Wednesday night. So much for the start of summer.

HEY HO, HEY HO ....

Robert seems unhappy in his work, or, in his current workplace. He wrote, in his latest post:

That's a shame and, in my usual caring way I responded to one of his gripes in a comment:

" This suggests an extremely unhappy situation which in turn must mean that you are putting negativity into your workplace. I suggest you confront your bosses and co-workers properly, face to face in a manly way and get it resolved, otherwise leave. Your accusation of corruption by management doesn't carry weight when you freely admit that you "do as little as possible".

OK, that might seem a bit heavy handed and even unfair but, in most of life's situations you have to make a stand and take some personal responsibility for your circumstances. It is tougher nowadays I know, especially in this Covid world where there is so much uncertainty and little job security and guarantees of new employment so, if Robert does take my advice I certainly hope that he has prepared a soft landing for himself.

***************

I was thinking about this and of my particular work experiences and the things that I've done when jobs have ceased to be enjoyable. I've basically been unemployed now for 14 years, at least, I've not been employed in 'career work for the last 14 years, I 'retired' in 2007. I have during these 14 years worked for a few different companies in part-time work and on contract but have had no feeling of commitment to it.

I've been lucky to have enjoyed most of my working career and it has only been when the companies I worked for underwent structural and ownership changes that the enjoyment factor left and... so did I.

My first serious employment started in 1981 when I moved to Auckland. Before that, in Wellington I was doing casual work post university which I enjoyed but it wasn't a career. From 1981 until 1994 I worked my way up in a large wine, beer and spirit company in increasing positions of responsibility in sales, marketing and management. I loved this job, the people, the brands and the international travel and connections. Being a very large company however it was subject to mergers and takeovers with bigger New Zealand and international companies taking shares in it. This brought management changes with one particularly fuckwit of a chief executive who I had no affinity with at all. I was heading up a division of this company and made it known to this guy that I had no respect for his business ability or the way he dealt with people. Needless to say, when the opportunity for a redundancy came up I took it willingly and moved on.

I was quite good at what I did and was known in the industry so, after I resigned and before I had left the company, I was head hunted by another company which I joined in 1994 and stayed with until 2007 - again a 13 year stint. I really enjoyed this job which was a combination of sales, marketing and management and had fabulous global brands to work with and I did a lot of international travel. The people, experiences, contacts, product and challenges were great and I'm happy with my contribution. The rewards in salary, bonuses and share options were outstanding and made it easier to sit back over the last 14 years. Like that beer, wine and spirit company though, the wine company I worked for was taken over twice by major international players. 

The second owners, an American company were the worst. This giant company over the years has destroyed many outstanding wine companies from big ones down to family enterprises in New Zealand, Australia, USA and Europe in a drive to commercialise and commodify the wine industry. Shit is good and cheap shit is better could be their by-line. The chief executive who I liked and had worked directly for in the first 11 years of this company, was replaced by a yes man to the Americans. The American chief of Australasian operations he reported to, based in USA was an outstanding arsehole. He and I didn't see eye to eye. When I was on business in California in the USA  in 2007 I took a side trip to New York where he was based and had a meeting where basically I disagreed with everything he had to say. I knew what I was doing because - I had a prepared soft landing. This was due to the chief executive who I liked who, prior to the American takeover had written into his own and his direct reports contracts a very generous redundancy clause that effectively provided 18 months salary plus all benefits on leaving. Sure enough, not that much longer afterwards a 'restructure' of the company provided an opportunity for me to take a new position or activate the redundancy. Knowing that the Americans hated these redundancy clauses  and, taking a new position would leave me unprotected, I took the redundancy. I have no regrets at this as the company had radically changed and all of the good people I liked in New Zealand and internationally had or were, moving on. After I left the company had  a big turnover of marketers and ultimately all marketing and international sales operations were moved off-shore. 

.

New Zealand, as they had done with Australia and the better USA wine companies and brands became a production point for cheaper commercial wine for the world. Don't get me wrong, this has been successful making them the largest seller of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and other varietals but more on a commercial or industrialised basis. The problem is though that the better and more interesting wines were mothballed.

After the end of my 'career' I took on some contract work and also  at different times worked for three different wine companies in senior sales and marketing roles. None of these proved satisfactory and I left.

In one the owners wanted me to create false sales forecasts and to build a massive and unachievable budget for the following year. I realised that this was because they were looking for tax losses on their vineyard operations to offset gains in the more lucrative property and financial brokering that was the main part of their business. I refused to do this and I left.

In another, which was a single owner business that had no future as it stood. I wrote a sensible business plan for growth and succession planning that the owner totally ignored. I left.

In the third the owners ego wasn't in keeping with the day to day capability of the operations. I wrote a strategic and business plan for the future which effectively cut out my position and called for two replacements. This was accepted and I left, quite happily.

In all three of those companies I wasn't happy with doing the job and took steps to get out. It's of no use, in a job. if you don't like it, to sit there grumbling quietly and being negative it's best to cut and run.

Oh, in the interests of full disclosure I should mention that during this time, my other half - The Old Girl has been going from strength to strength in her job, earns well and keeps me in a position that I like to be kept. She also really likes her job and is not yet considering retirement.

NEW POST - THE TWITTER CURMUDGEON

 

UNDER THE INFLUENCE

THE CURMUDGEON WAS ALMOST INJURED IN WORKPLACE ACCIDENT!

 The beautiful weather of the last few days turned to shit overnight in Northland.

A violent storm blew up in the night with severe winds followed by lashing rain.

The Curmudgeon and The Old Girl were woken about 1AM by the sound of crashing and smashing. The house was shaken by high winds and the sounds of objects being tossed about was heard.

The Curmudgeon put on shoes and ventured out onto the deck in his pyjamas to discover that the old French doors and the sash window that had been removed and stacked against the front of the house had been blown down and....smashed!

An earlier pic of the doors. The window was added later

The Curmudgeon was NEARLY cut when picking up the fallen window and doors and removing them IN HIGH WINDS to the side and rear of the house.

.

If it hadn't been for the fact that gloves were worn an injury could have happened.

This glass MUST be removed today as soon as the rain stops.

There was other mayhem as well. Two saw stools blew over.

The weather is bad today and forecast to be bad tomorrow so no renovation work will take place.

This might be the last WORK IN PROGRESS update until next week.

WORK IN PROGRESS THREE

 Day three of the doors and window project went well today accompanied by another glorious day. It's been like summer this week - hot and sunny and windless (the weather forecast called for rain all week!).

There was quite a bit of work to be done replacing the rotted sill and some surrounding weatherboards of the study window. The builder, Don is a perfectionist and likes to get things just right. "He's not slap-dash like you Matey" said The Old Girl. Bit rude I thought. He's a cabinet maker by trade and has his own art/hobby business making artistic furniture. I always know that he will do a good job and fix those 'unseen' things that others might leave.

Once the sill and surrounds were done we pulled out the old wooden sash windows. Robert I know will view this like ripping the foetus out of a womb but, needs must.

.

The new, double glazed window was heavy even after Don removed the bottom 'sash'. We poked it out from inside and I got on the scaffold and supported the frame while we slotted it into the hole. It fitted perfectly asI knew it would. Don's attention to detail in measuring is very reliable, not like .... well, you know what The Old Girl says about me.

We fitted the lower sash and now have a fully functioning, weatherproof and reliable window.

Here's the view from outside. There will still be finishing touches inside and out with architraves and surrounds.

Now, the more observant of you readers would have noticed my use of 'we' when reporting on the 'windowing' activity. I was appointed Number 1 apprentice and was trusted with tasks like holding things, lifting things, passing things and supporting things. I was most pleased. I was also given the important duty of sanding down and undercoating the exposed bits of wood in the frame.

That's a paint brush in case you were wondering.

A job well done today even if I say so myself.

Don did some finishing to previous work done and prepping for jobs to come. He organised delivery of materials (wooden beams and panels) that amazingly were delivered today as Northland has now dropped to Level 2 from the previous Level 3.   

Tomorrow and following days we have two bedroom windows to replace and then tackle the big job of ripping out the front bedroom window set and installing a very large French doors piece.

Meanwhile, I set about doing a bit of tidy-up after Don left, putting off-cuts in in the trailer, sweeping up and bucketing sawdust and vacuuming the study floor. I've mentioned observant readers before and, within that vast set there obviously will be some who remember previous posts and will recall my purchase of the industrial quality vacuum cleaner from one of my favourite Op-Shops.

Remember me?

The Old girl was very impressed at the power of this and I was secretly pleased that one of my "silly and unnecessary second-hand purchases' ) her words. had come in handy.

Now, as for The Old Girl, with all of the intrusive activity in her office (previously my study) she moved some of her computer gear into the dining area where I've had my laptop set up (ever since I got kicked out of the study).

I hope that the study/office is finished soon .

PARALLEL UNIVERSING

We have to interrupt the series on house renovation (sorry Richard) to discuss this book I've discovered.

I haven't acquired a copy yet but I'm looking forward to getting one.

I found this through 'Old School Friends New Zealand' - a Neighbourly site.

Here's a screenshot of an excerpt that Nicol published in Neighbourly: 

I put in a comment ....:

.... and others commented on similar school-day sins and larcenies (Robert would be shocked).

Just click on the screen shots to make the reading of them clearer.

WORK IN PROGRESS TWO

 Richard was appreciative of the report on the windows installation in WORK IN PROGRESS ONE or, at least I think that was what he was saying - it was hard to read with all of the spelling mistakes and poor grammar in his comment.

Anyway, here's an update on the activities on day two.

The builder arrived at 8AM and finished off the installation of the kitchen French doors. The glazier arrived later and installed the tinted, double glazing which now gives us a good view across the deck to the water and, being tinted, cuts back on glare while still providing more light for the kitchen area (the old doors were made with solid panels in the lower half.

.

I helped the builder erect a small scaffold outside the study window.

He spent some time replacing a rotted sill and prepping the window surrounds. The next step will be in pulling out the existing sashed window and installing the (glazed) window. He will use the existing architrave surrounds on the windows and doors to minimise the 'new' look.

When this is done, maybe tomorrow morning, he can start on replacing the two bedroom windows.

Another update tomorrow!

LOOK OUT - HERE COMES TOMORROW

WORK IN PROGRESS ONE

 Today the new windows and doors wee delivered and we've had the builder here all day.

The bedroom triple windows at the left are to go and be replaced by French doors.

An east-facing bedroom window is to be replaced

The second east-facing window is to be replaced

The east-facing study window is to be replaced

He's ripped out the old French doors in the kitchen, rebuilt the frames and wood beneath the sills (rotten and damaged) and fitted the new doors.

These will be glazed tomorrow (the sheer size of the two French door installations meant that transporting and fitting with double glazing in them would make them too heavy and difficult to handle. The three windows came double glazed).

Over the next week the builder will: finish the kitchen French doors, remove the bedroom front windows and install the new french doors, remove the three East facing windows and install new ones.

We have had a real 'summers day' here today making conditions ideal for this sort of work. I just hope that it lasts through the week even though showers have been forecast. Last night it bucketed down. I hope that doesn't happen tonight as the new kitchen French doors have no glass and we have fitted a tarpaulin just in case.

Removing old French doors

New doors fitted awaiting glazing

Tarpaulin overnight