HUMOUR

Nothing to do with this:

 

The more astute reader will wonder why such a poor pun was used in this post about humour. Well, I'm glad that you asked whoever you are. The reason for this post is the rather tragic decline in the standard of wit in the other guys posts recently. With Robert that's a given, I know, and the rude reader might suggest that he is witless. I wouldn't say that myself but do suggest that he, as a Catholic Christian doesn't have much of a sense of humour - which is strange seeing that the whole religion thing is laughable.

The other regular poster, Richard, once had a keen wit but it seems to have dulled. He ... look, I'd better give you an example. In his latest post he wrote this for some reason - I guess that he's not shy:

"I was asked to heel someone yesterday. Now they look like part of a foot.

Peter is storing furniture in Oldlands when he finally comes to Wellington. Storage units in Newlands were all full.

All men are being encouraged to grow a moustache in Moera, but some people say it's a bad decision. A mo era. Hey, they spell 'error' differently in that suburb. Actually, they spell a lot of things differently when they write blog posts.

Okay, enough humour for one day."

It takes a lot of gall to write stuff like that or a lot of something that he's full of.

I think that we need to have a look at what humour is.

The Oxford Dictionary has this:

humour
/ˈhjuːmə/
noun
noun: humour; noun: humor; noun: cardinal humour; plural noun: cardinal humours; noun: cardinal humor; plural noun: cardinal humors1.
the quality of being amusing or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech.
"his tales are full of humour"
The ability to express humour or amuse other people.
"their inimitable brand of humour"

The dictionary also suggests that 'humour can be: 

a mood or state of mind.
"her good humour vanished"

Which I can identify with after reading those other guys' posts .

Going back in time 'humour' can have different meanings again:

ARCHAIC
an inclination or whim.
plural noun: humours; plural noun: humors
"and have you really burnt all your Plays to please a Humour?"
 
HISTORICAL
each of the four chief fluids of the body (blood, phlegm, yellow bile(choler), and black bile (melancholy)) that were thought to determine a person's physical and mental qualities by the relative proportions in which they were present.

verb
verb: humour; 3rd person present: humours; past tense: humoured; past participle: humoured; gerund or present participle: humouring; verb: humor; 3rd person present: humors; past tense: humored; past participle: humored; gerund or present participle: humoringcomply with the wishes of (someone) in order to keep them content, however unreasonable such wishes might be.
"she was always humouring him to prevent trouble"

ARCHAIC

adapt or accommodate oneself to (something).

"in reading this stanza we ought to humour it with a corresponding tone of voice"
Phrases
out of humour — in a bad mood.

Here's an interesting graph (I know you like graphs) that show the decline of humour over time with the indication of some resurgence in recent times.

This could also, with different dates, represent the decline in Wellington area humour from 1981 to the current date with an extrapolation of what is likely to happen after mid November 2025.

I trust that this has been of interest to you.

No need to thank me.

THE SECOND POSTER FOR SUNDAY

Not this

More like this ...

... as I'm feeling really tired today.

It's really hot and I've been up since 4AM (watching the All Blacks beat Scotland). I've also been sorting and packing stuff for our imminent shift. I tell you - I'm over it but know that this is just the first in maybe a series of shifts until we find our ideal home in Wellington. I wish that we hadn't sold now.

Did I mention that it's hot? It's also muggy as we have had bouts of rain from showers to heavy all while the temperatures are in the mid to high 20s. Bummer!

Tomorrow the movers come to pack up everything that we haven't boxed along with the furniture.

On Tuesday they come back with the container truck to load and take everything away.

On Wednesday the cleaners come to do a thorough house clean (which hasn't stopped The Old Girl from cleaning everything in sight).

On Thursday I wait for confirmation of settlement (money in the bank) and will hand over the keys and head down south. As it will be likely the afternoon I doubt if I'll make it much past Cambridge before stopping. I might stop overnight there or in Rotorua. The Old Girl is flying to Wellington on Thursday morning as she has to be at work on Friday. I'll likely arrive in Wellington on Friday afternoon.

On Monday17th the moving company will deliver all our goods to Kiwi Self Storage in Newlands and, once it is all safely stowed away I'll be able to relax (don't do it, when you want to go to it).

I'm looking forward to next Tuesday.

Tuesday afternoon
I'm just beginning to see
Now I'm on my way
It doesn't matter to me
Chasing the clouds away

MY RIDES NOT HERE YET BUT WILL HAVE TO BE BOOKED SOON

As you know we are moving to Wellington soon and will be looking for a 'permanent' place to live.

When I say 'permanent' I don't mean the dictionary meaning:

permanent
/ˈpəːmənənt/

adjective
lasting or intended to last or remain unchanged indefinitely...

... as, sadly, The Old Girl and I won't be lasting indefinitely, in fact, we only give ourselves a decade before we shuffle off .

"For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, / When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, / Must give us pause"

          - Hamlet 

We are looking for a townhouse close to the city that will suit us in our dotage. Because we (I) don't want to live in a rabbit hutch, the townhouse will have to be of a reasonable size, say three bedrooms with an attached garage. The Old Girl doesn't want a garden or any sort of grounds to have to look after hence the townhouse instead of a house or cottage. Downsizing from our current 5 bedroom house to even a 3 bedroom one has had to mean getting rid of lots of furniture and stuff.

Downsizing to a city like Wellington, instead of say, a town like Eketahuna though means that what we have got from selling our large house in Whangarei will probably only buy that rabbit hutch especially as we (read she) want to live in or within walking distance to the city centre.

 

The desirable areas like Oriental Bay, Mount Victoria and Thorndon are proving to be too expensive for a large townhouse and the less desirable areas like Te Aro, Mount Cook, Brooklyn and Newtown haven't yet shown us anything we want.

This has led to us sitting down and thinking about what we really want.

Initially we (mainly The Old Girl) wanted an apartment in the inner city giving us access to all that the inner city has to offer in terms of music venues, restaurants, shopping, cinema and theatre. All good but, having rented an apartment in Cuba Street we've discovered that an inner city apartment also brings noise (inside and outside the building), inconvenience in bringing stuff in or taking it out, lack of storage and having to run the gauntlet of drunk, crazy, aggressive and foul-mouthed 'homeless' people. I'm pleased to say that she has pretty much given up on the apartment idea unless a super duper one pops up but I can't see that happening.

I suggested the townhouse option knowing that she wants a low maintenance property, with no gardens and that is a 'lock-and-leave prospect should we travel in the future. This opens the door to cottages though as long as they are not too big and don't have the grounds that need looking after. We've looked at a couple of these and would have made offers if the timing had been right.

Should no close-to-the-city townhouses or cottages come our way over the next few months we then might consider suburbs a short bus ride or cheap Uber taxi ride away from the city. Suburbs like Brooklyn, Newtown, Roseneath and Island Bay come to mind and some might have nice views like we are used to.

However - back to the shuffling off theme. We really only want a place to live in for say a decade before we are dead or infirm. To this end we shouldn't compromise on the location and the facilities that a townhouse has to offer and also not worry about the resale in the future. The worst house in the best street idea or, to use another cliche, you're not looking at your own house when you are inside it.

 Long-term renting is one option or, secondly, taking a risk.

There's a decent sized townhouse for sale in Kelburn, close to the cable car and university. The location is ideal. We could buy it within our budget and there doesn't seem to be a lot of urgency because potential buyers are put off by it being a 'monolithic cladding flat roofed dwelling'. These are the ones that have had water issues over the last couple of decades -  the proverbial leaky homes. The property files tell me that the townhouse was re-cladded in 2009, 10 years after it was built suggesting that it was the result of a legal claim and settlement. The building report highlights some minor remedial work being necessary. The real estate agent suggested re-cladding in cedar wood to put it in a higher price bracket for future sale. We are going to see it next weekend if it hasn't been sold and If it looks suitable we will get a detailed engineering report to see if the damned thing will stand up for another 15 years. After that who cares. As long as the issues are cosmetic and aesthetic (flaking and cracking stucco can be a bit unsightly) and not fundamentally structural allowing leaking then we would be happy.

Hey ho! Another adventure.

I know that I've used this Warren Zevon song before in a post but I like it.

Mind you, in a similar vein this Bob Dylan song's good too.

OKAY, YOU ASKED FOR IT

As you know I promised you a doozy of a post today - a 'WOW!' one.

The trouble is, writing a good post for readers of the standard of the current ones is like casting pearls before swine (whatever that means).

I looked at what the other bloggers have written recently and how those posts have been received and saw that Robert liked Richards's latest.

Oh well, if you can't beat them then join them.

Fry Day.

 Actually, yesterday was Fry Day for me because I fried some eggs for lunch.

Three actually, two for me and one for S. Then I wandered off to read P's promised afternoon post. It wasn't there. I knew I'd have to settle for Ro's post this morning. It was quite long and all about J and his 'mother' M. There was a lot of AI stuff about them too. I didn't read that bit. M was the mother of J BUT J had been around for a long time before he was 'born'. After all, he is a member of the Holy Trinity - two boys and a bird.

Is dad holding a flute?

P moves back to Wellington soon. The settlement date for his Whangarei house is next week. Ro is coming to lunch tomorrow, with L. I'm looking forward to meeting L. 

As I've told you before, on Saturday afternoon I have a practice with C & D. It is for a gig of C's where he wants to play a suite that he has written. I'm on double bass, so I'm doing a bit of practice on that instrument. I must do some violin today. 

L lives in Feilding. A good outcome of this is that Ro has learnt to spell the name of this town correctly. The town name has nothing to do with this...

fielding

So, why am I calling people by their first name initial? It's something that Ro does. However, with his name, I have to distinguish it from me, Ri. Actually, he normally refers to me as RBB. I should really call him BdB, after his blog name. After all, P has long been known as TC. J! This is getting confusing!

Time to wrap this up.

Ciao tutti.

WOW!

 

A promised new post is coming and it is a doozy. Forget all that claptrap that purports to be posting from those sad old (you're sad Mistah!) other bloggers. Leave them to fiddle about with, well, their fiddles and their religion (do you see the inference there?).

The Old Girl has gone up north to Russel for a couple of days and while I will miss her it means that the study, for the last few days is my domain.

FREE TIME

I have some free time today from doing house moving stuff.

Today the cleaners were supposed to arrive to do the thorough house clean. This meant that I was up very early moving things out of cupboards and off surfaces to make it easier to clean. I also installed the ladder scaffold system to make it easier for the cleaners to clean the chandeliers.

The Old Girl spent her time cleaning!

Cleaning!

She cleaned surfaces, paintwork, window sills, the bathrooms and vacuumed the floors. I reminded her that the cleaners were coming and would do that ... sheesh!

The cleaners didn't turn up. The Old Girl rang them at about 10.30 AM - some problem.

I suggested that they forget it for today and come next Wednesday. I chose this day because the removal people will be taking away all the furniture and boxes on Tuesday so the house will be empty and easier to clean. They had to get back to us. Eventually, after a few phone calls it was agreed (hopefully) that they will turn up early on Wednesday. Sheesh (again) - is this what you get for $900?

I could have gone to tennis as it's a great day here - sunny, no wind, warm etc. But no, I waited around for cleaners.

Actually, I didn't wait around - The Old Girl did. I loaded up the car at 7AM and drove off to the tip at 8 AM with the final load of rubbish and give-away stuff.

The good news for readers of course is that I'm able to post this morning and, if you play your cards right, post again this afternoon. Lucky yous (a colloquialism most likely found in Waiunuiomata). This must be of great relief to you given Robert's threat to be the only daily post with him guaranteeing:

" Yes I guarantee all my readers a jolly good read every morning."

That is if hearing about him having a haircut and lowering the IQ average of Wainuiomata is a 'jolly good read".

Maybe he's referring to this ...

... certainly not this.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING CONTROVERSIAL

 Let's talk about Maori rights vs the rights of non-Maori New Zealanders.

Are you aware that The Waitangi Tribunal has recommended that Maori seeking citizenship for children should be granted it regardless of where that child is born?

The Citizenship Act 1977 provides for four types of citizenship - citizenship by birth, descent, grant, and special grant - but it limits citizenship by descent to one generation.

The Tribunal recommended that citizenship by descent be extended to two generations for Māori!

The Tribunal found that the Crown has breached the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in a number of ways, including by:

Designing an application process in which a Government official is empowered to determine the legitimacy of someone's whakapapa, which breached the principles of active protection and rangatiratanga.
Prioritising location of birth over whakapapa during the citizenship application process, which breached the principle of good government.

TRIBUNAL RELEASES REPORT ON CITIZENSHIP

WTF?

So the average Joe New Zealander, who isn't Maori, who for whatever reason decides to live overseas for a while and have children will find that those children will have to go through the normal process of citizenship application but, if the child has Maori parents all that will be waived?

Give me a break.

KEEPING AN EYE ON THINGS

 Not like these guys:

Jesus when he first spies Mary Magdalene in town.

"Cor! Look at those knockers."

Richard checking out what Robert's up to.

"Don't be dirty Robert."

No, I've been busy and will be doing another 'tip-run' today but do have a quick look at the other blogs and sometimes, when merited, drop in a comment or two. Not this morning though as the posts are pretty pathetic even for those old jokers.

NO, I WON'T BE CALLING YOU, AL

We've all noticed the intrusion of Ai into our lives with the downside being indiscriminate and unchecked usage in social platforms, communication, media, commerce and even government.

This might have been OK if the idiots dupes academically challenged people who overuse it wouldn't blindly rely on the artificial information that they are promulgating being accurate and meaningful.

No doubt, when watching television or watching Youtube videos and podcasts you will have experienced Ai subtitling, voiceovers and even documentaries that are inaccurate, have bad grammar and often make no sense. The perpetrators of this nonsense don't care, either because they are lazy at editing or, because they themselves are used to inaccuracies, use bad grammar and often make no sense.

Sheesh!

Now, on this holiest of holy blogs - The Curmudgeon, Ai is trying to reach out to me and make friends.

Shee ... oh, sorry, I just said that.

Look at these recent examples:

Although I suspect that was Richard posing as Ai.

Then Robert sourced and printed out a lot of Ai gobbledegook (although, to be fair it was better quality gobbledegook than he normally writes).

I had to answer that - not in a positive way...

 ... which just about sums up my views on Al, sorry, Ai.

NEPO BABIES RULE , OK?

Do you remember when the orange idiot recently decreed that all inclusive and enhancing employment initiatives implemented by the Biden government must go?

"By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section 1. Purpose and Policy. The Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military. This was a concerted effort stemming from President Biden’s first day in office, when he issued Executive Order 13985, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.”

ENDING WASTEFUL DEI PROGRAMMES

Well, it seems that this hypocritical fool doesn't see any contradiction in him enabling his granddaughter to seriously line-jump when it comes to gaining a spot in the exclusive LPGA golf event ahead of many, many more worthy (but less connected) hopefuls.

KAI TRUMP 'INVITED' TO PLAY IN LPGA TOUR EVENT

What a shit family.

 

I'M BACK ... SORT OF

 

"People who aren't used to quality always choose quantity" - is a quote someone once said. Maybe it was me.

Anyway a MOC who obviously the above quote applies to, has been bemoaning the fact that he's been left alone to stew in his own juices to write blog posts for the last couple of days because Robert ... well, you know about Robert's posts ... and I have been 'off air' a bit.

Robert ... well, you know about Robert's posts ...  did manage to squeeze out a dribble before transmission was interrupted and cut out but we know that either transmission will be reinstated or a new channel created soon.

As for me, I've been busy handling everything to do with the house sale and transfer dealing with lawyer, estate agent, new buyers, insurance company, removal company and storage company along with getting things nice in the house which meant getting a plumber and a carpet layer and a masseause in. I've also arranged for a house cleaning company to do a major clean*(Robert will be interested in this - it's costing $900) and a gardener to do a big tidy up of the section. The gardener is a really gorgeous woman of whom Lynn has instructed me to look into her eyes when she's bending down. She confirmed the date that she will be doing the job today and I didn't tell her that I regretted it not being Nude Gardening Day on that date which I'd heard about on National Radio Nude Gardening Day I didn't want her to think that I was a weirdo after all.

Along with lots of other things like transfer of the mooring in the bay, packing boxes, cleaning and clearing the attic, the shed, the garden shed and under the house with trips to the tip, the Sallies and running and managing Free Stuff ads I've been busy ... oh ... I forgot to mention that I've driven twice to Wellington and back over the last fortnight in atrocious weather and driving conditions so I'm bloody tired! OK? But ... mustn't grumble.

I've cooked roast pumpkin and roast potatoes along with a broccoli, cauliflower and cheese bake for my dinner which I'll have soon along with a decent sized glass of pinot noir.

How's your day been?

* Actually, The Old Girl arranged the cleaner, on-line from Wellington but I did show the agent around the house and gave instructions.

ANY OLD IRON, ANY OLD IRON, ANY, ANY, ANY OLD IRON?

In the 19th century, rag-and-bone men typically lived in extreme poverty, surviving on the proceeds of what they collected each day. Conditions for rag-and-bone men in general improved following the Second World War, but the trade declined during the latter half of the 20th century. 

       -Wikipedia  

We younger chaps recall Steptoe and Son as being the point of reference for rag and bone men.

Interestingly enough though, I knew a Wellington rag and bone man who was the son-in-law of a friend of my dad. This was in the late 1950s/early 1960s and he referred to himself as a rag and bone man - not a scrap or second hand dealer. It intrigued my brother and me as we couldn't imagine someone going around collecting old rags and bones. He must have been doing good business though as he drove, not his work vehicle, a massive yellow Cadillac Coupe de Ville.

Dad borrowed it once and we all, mum, dad, my brother, me my three sisters all got lost in the interior and we drove up the Kapiti Coast for a picnic feeling like film stars.

So, why rag and bone men you might ask?

Well, I've been busy yesterday and today listing items on Freestuff and Community Gifting sites. You'd think that it's easy to give things away for free but, not so. 

First the items have to be of quality and useable otherwise it's just a cheap way (no tip fees) of throwing away junk. This is quite different to when I was a kid as getting junk for free was a real treat and we even enjoyed going to the council rubbish tips to fossick for stuff. Actually this continued right up to when I was at university and Tony, Noel, Mike, me and sometimes Richard would make a Sunday afternoon out of it. Sad really and obviously reflected the fact that we didn't have girlfriends who would no doubt have disapproved of this activity.

The problems that I run into with the free giveaway on-line sites is that immediately after listing there will be a flurry of interest with several people requesting the item. To be fair, I confirm with the first person who asks and inform the others that the item has gone. All good so far? No. Twice already the first person who asked and I confirmed with either did not get back to me or then said that they were not interested so I've had to go back to the people I said no to to see if they still want it. To be honest I've got better things to do and might end up taking good things to the tip.

Where's a rag and bone man when you want one?

WORST BLOODY THING THAT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU

Hello readers, it's Lynn here aka 'The Old Girl' just dropping in.

I took the liberty of reading through the posts on this blog and on Richard's blog and have concluded that Peter aka The Curmudgeon and Richard aka RBB are like a couple of silly old men who try to outdo each other on writing silly and time-wasting blog posts.

They remind me of Pete and Dud as you can see in this video clip:

Do you see what I mean?

HERE'S WHAT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR ... THE HUGE POST*

 

* The inspiration for that joke came from Richard's Bass Bag. No need to thank us.

** HOLD THIS SPACE! **

There will be a huge post forthcoming...

... but I've been busy today playing tennis, arranging a gardening clean up and giving away furniture - very heavy furniture that 3 of us (guys) struggled with to get out of the house and on to a trailer and variously munted our backs, shoulders and knees - in my instance sorted by a hot bath with epsom salts - so posting other than this quick snapshot is out.

Stay posted!*

* Richard might be interested in a TV series on The Pony Express titled 'The Young Riders' on PRIME TV.

OH-OH WHAT A DAY THAT WAS

 

Makes sense to me.

Here are some excerpts of the lyrics that suited my endeavours yesterday:

 

Oh well, I'm dressed up so nice
And I'm doin' my best
And I'm startin' over
I'm startin' over in another place ...

Oh-oh what a day that was

Oh-oh what a day that was
Oh, oh a day that was
Oh-oh that's the way it goes ...

Moving in every direction
And if you feel like you're in a whirlpool
You feel like going home.

I took a full carload of stuff down to Wellington and arrived Saturday morning. On Monday morning I left Wellington and stopped overnight at Ohakune. In hindsight I should have kept going north.

At 7am on Tuesday I left Ohakune and headed off north via Taumarunui and Te Kuiti ... well, that was the plan. The weather was atrocious with driving rain making visibility marginal and the roads treacherous. I don't get New Zealand drivers. At the early hours the dawn light was very dim and made worse by the rain. This didn't stop many fools driving too fast for the conditions and WITHOUT THEIR BLOODY LIGHTS ON!

The road to Taumaranui was littered with small boulders from rock falls but the road from Taumarunui to Te Kuiti was much worse with flooding, slips and more rock falls. It was getting dodgy. Just before Te Kuiti the road was blocked by cars with flashing lights and I thought that there had been an accident. They were road maintenance people who told me that a major slip  a little further along had blocked the main road and that I would have to turn back. It had just happened so as yet there were no diversion signs set out. 

I turned around and drove back to Taumaranui as I knew that just past there was a secondary route to Turangi. I didn't experiment with any of the minor side roads  which was just as well as I later learned that on some of these flooding isolated communities and evacuations were necessary.

I made it to the secondary road which got me to Turangi, having to drive carefully as conditions were getting worse. As it turned out I turned around and retraced my steps just in time as not long afterwards another slip blocked the road nearer to Taumarunui. I might have been stranded in the middle.

The long drive from Turangi to Whangarei, with the added abortive drive to Te Kuiti and back took 10 and a half hours with just a half hour stoop at a supermarket, petrol station and cafe. I could have, in better conditions, driven all the way from Wellington to Whangarei in that time. I think it's the longest continuous drive I've made and I was exhausted last night. The car performed well - good old Toyota and I'll treat it to a check-up before the next drive.

 I will be making another trip in a week or so and, if the weather is good might do the trips in one go without an overnight stop.

STEEL WOOL

Sorry, that image isn't of steel wool but I can see why you might get confused. It's of a Moeran christian careering at full tilt towards oblivion.

Here's the image of steel wool:

For an explanation go to the comments in Riccardo's Basso Bagno blog's latest post (if you dare)

Robert the Moeran christian (it's a very small society) in his latest post said a lot of silly things - I know, I know, you are asking "so what's new" but hey! Stay with me. This latest post from his is a doozy.

Robert said:

"Evidently the local elections have come and gone. Hang on while I get another coffee. Yelling comes from the street "Why are you doing this to me?". Lots of F words. A women is yelling at a young man attired only in shorts (he's doing the swearing) as they walk up the middle of the road. He yells back in the incensed righteous way of drunks. So it goes. The problem with local elections is that we have zero feedback about performance. I believe we need more scrutiny of council members. An independent body that rates their performance or looks into prospective representatives qualifications and past behaviour. That's partly why I didn't vote. The envelope sat in my lounge. No one said when the elections were. So I just left it and left it. Now it has been. I'd just be ticking random people anyway for the afore mentioned reason. K told me that Margaret Cousins (former deputy mayor) was pleased with the new Mayor that was elected. She is kind of conservative in her preferences. That is good. A smallish city like Hutt can't afford 'think big' projects. Another problem is one never knows if projects are local, regional or Government funded. Do I blame our mayor for the ridiculously expensive Eastbourne cycle/walkway or the huge project underway to safeguard Hutt against a 1 in 500 (maybe its 200) year flood?"

In the interests of making you all suffer like Richard, sorry Riccardo, and I had to do by reading his entire blog post I decided to copy and paste entire swathes of this diatribe dialogue. No need to thank me.

I feel that I must point out some key statements in his dia ... dialogue:

"That's partly why I didn't vote. The envelope sat in my lounge. No one said when the elections were. So I just left it and left it. Now it has been. I'd just be ticking random people anyway for the afore mentioned reason. "

OK, there's a lot there and I recognised it when I first read this stuff and the entire post which, believe me, contained a lot of other stuff that needed ranting remonstrating over. The trouble is though that after a tiring drive through bad weather, exacerbated by a couple of glasses of chardonnay (delicious Craggy Range Hawkes Bay Kidnappers) I think I've lost the plot.  I still think that what Robert wrote was nonsense in that, with regard to the local elections, there has been ample information sent out by post, by major news media, by local newspapers and by social media shit like Facebook that I know that Robert subscribes to. The information on the regional electorates has been adequately promulgated. The issues have been discussed in the various media and opportunities to attend local meetings have been provided and lobbied for. I've been to some in my local area.

The information regarding the candidates pedigrees, current activities, intentions and political associations is all available and, to help voters, has been summarised in the documentation that came with the voting papers. The dates of the elections, the timing for getting votes in and the procedures have been spelled out personally and directly to the voters via the mail-outs and ad nauseam through social media, mainstream media and local newspaprs. What more does Robert want? Guidance from the Holy Ghost, Mary or Jesus? Sheesh!

I'll leave it To Riccardo, sorry, Richard to put it more succinctly in his morning post that wasn't fuelled by chardonnay" 

"Actually, Rob didn't vote in the local election. Maybe the task was too difficult?
Here's what they expect you to do:
Get a letter from your letterbox.
Open it.
Check the voting form.
Read about the candidates.
Tick a few boxes.
Put the information in a supplied envelope.
Pop the envelope into a postbox.



Rob and I both live in 'The Hutt' so I had to go through this process too. I knew of a few candidates, but some I had to read about in the included pamphlet. It was all pretty clear, and I completed the task in a short period of time. It certainly didn't take hours, or weeks. I measured the time it took in minutes."

Well said that man. 

"'ALLO, 'ALLO, 'ALLO"

Yes I did arrive safely in Wellington despite the weather turning foul after leaving Foxton. The motorway through Transmission Gully was a nightmare with severely reduced visibility due to driving rain and low cloud. This didn't stop some idiots (in utes) barrelling along at high speeds.

Talking of speed, I received a speeding ticket at Hunterville today. I know that this is a concept that Richard doesn't understand - speeding - but a police officer pulled me over and told me that he 'clocked' me doing 108kph in a 100 kph area, a whopping 8kph over the limit! I didn't tell him that earlier, around the Desert Road area I'd been doing 120kph as I didn't think this would help the situation. I was worried that this could be a fine of hundreds of dollars but an internet search told me that for 10kph or less over the limit the fine is $30. I can live with that which is what the anti speed campaign is all about I guess.

I've successfully unloaded the car and packed the wine and pantry items I brought down, away in the under-stairs storage area. Luckily this apartment has good storage but I wouldn't like to live here long-term. The Old Girl thankfully has come around to my way of thinking that a townhouse or a cottage close to the inner city is preferable to apartment living. We'll see how we get along now that we have the  certainty of the money in the bank even if it means renting for a while (not this apartment) after the lease runs out in March 2026.

I'm a bit tired so we are eating in this evening and I think that The Old Girl has arranged something tomorrow night. I leave early on Monday morning.

I'll ring Richard tomorrow to see how he's fixed (is he broken? -ed) but don't expect he'll be free for a catch up at short notice. I plan to be back down again in a couple of weeks anyway.

"BEST REVIEW THE SITUATION THAT YOU CAUGHT UP INNA ...

... to be a true player, you haft know how to play
If she say "A night" convince her to say "A day"."

Some people lie so often that's a default setting for them.

Have a look at this famous liar making such a hash of it but, because he's a narcissist, thinks that he's getting away with it.

“You know, I haven’t heard the name in so long. I can say this, that I’d have to take a look at it. I would have to take a look. Did they reject that?” 
“Well, I’ll take a look at it. I’ll speak to the DOJ, I wouldn’t consider it or not consider — I don’t know anything about it. I will speak to the DOJ.” The fatuous fat fool said.

 

Give us a break. This unfolding disaster is his ''Marilyn Monroe', 'Watergate' or 'Monica Lewinsky' affair that scuppered earlier presidents (although Kennedy was assassinated before his affairs properly came to light that would have led to impeachment). For him to say that he hasn't heard Maxwell's name recently and that he was unaware of her current appeal rejection is just stupid. It's the way that children lie when caught out saying things like "I don't know anything about it" or "it wasn't me".

 

ALL FOR NAUGHT(Y)

I tend to think of the Apple Mac desktop computer I use in the study as new even though it's now 10 years old. I replaced the old Mac back in 2018 when I bought the 'new' refurbished one. It was already 3 years old then.

The old Mac sitting in the naughty corner waiting to be taken to the tip

The 'new' Mac unaware that its poor performance means it will soon go to the naughty corner and worse

The new Mac has been getting slow even though I make sure that old files are trashed and that new software upgrades are kept up to date. The problem isn't in the Mac's hardware performance but in the 'advancements' on apps and software that Apple continuously undertake. These 'improvements' are supposed to be to the users' benefit but I suspect is merely a rort to drive the users (read dupes) into buying new equipment.

I looked up the internet to find out the normal lifespan of computers and was shocked. All of the answers came up something like this:

A desktop computer's lifespan typically ranges from 5 to 7 years, but can extend to 10 years or more with proper maintenance and upgrades, while younger computers can be retired sooner due to software obsolescence or hardware failure. Factors like the quality of components, your usage, maintenance practices, and the ability to upgrade individual parts significantly impact how long a desktop will last.

Bummer!

With our computer that has had "proper maintenance and upgrades" it looks like it's ready to 'buy the farm'.

I haven't told The Old Girl yet but will when we get settled in a permanent place in Wellington and can see what money we have left over and what discretionary finances we have for things like eating and breathing! I think this time I'll buy brand new to give that extra 3 years or so which might mean it lasts before I 'buy the farm'.