THE CURMUDGEON
* You pick the prefix.
Richard, according to his latest blog post has been undergoing fusion.
Tomorrow I get to spend the morning in hospital for my second fusion of a new drug they're trying.
He doesn't say if this is an infusion or an effusion but at least we know that he's got confusion covered.
I think that he meant infusion but if it is in fact nuclear fusion, should we all be worried if he morphs into another form?
... my mother would say to me whenever I was being cheeky to her and, she was right - I do miss her.
"When exactly are you going to Wellington?" the tennis group woud ask me when I was being cheeky to them or annoying them with devastating spin shots.
Do you know what? They miss me as said in a group text message this morning along with a group photograph of them. "We think of you often here" the writer said.
 |
| The tennis group sitting around missing me |
There you go.
Yes, sorry about that. The title does read like one of those juvenile word 'jokes' that emanate from 'The Nui' like:
OK - a nice bit of irony there making light of a horrible event.
This of course is like reading one of Richard's posts where the horrible event - his post usually - is made light of by him with some kind of Wainuiomata joke. It would be a stretch to call it irony over there as that would normally be what someone named Ronald says when introducing himself.
Transient global amnesia is a temporary short term memory loss that occurs suddenly and is not caused by another neurological event such as a stroke or epilepsy. During an episode, the person becomes suddenly confused about where they are and what they are doing there. They may ask the same questions over and over because they cannot remember the answers they were just given. Otherwise, they are alert and seem to be thinking normally - well, as normal as someone like Richard of RBB thinks. Here's what the old TGA joker wrote on his blog this morning:
"I've decided that today is New Year's Day.
Happy New Year!
Why have I done this?
Well, why not? It's just a date.
These four dates represent the four
days I got rid of.
So, this year, 27/12/25 was New Year's Eve."
The Christmas lillies are flowering with some of them having just 'popped out' while we had 'popped out' for a walk this morning.
I love these and used to buy them a lot for The Old Girl but for some reason they've been hard to find over the last couple of years. These came from a grocery shop on upper Willis Street. They are beautiful to look at and have a wonderful scent. The supermarket ones rarely have a scent.
We went to Noel Leeming this morning to buy a couple of fridges in the Boxing Day* sale.
The weather was and is atrocious with teeming rain which necessitated getting the car out to drive to Tory Street. It's the first time out for the car for a few weeks. We got drenched just going from a close carpark to the shop and, appropriately, the store had The Rolling stones Gimme Shelter playing!
Lovely.
We've been 'living out of' the small fridge in this apartment which is very limiting - trying to keep fresh vegetables, meats, dairy products, wines etc. in a manner that it's easy to find stuff to use. In Whangarei we kept a larger, 'spill-over 'fridge in the second kitchen to store wines and larger items and have been missing that.
With the very big discounts on offer today we decided to buy a large Fisher and Paykel fridge/freezer for the kitchen ...
... and a side by side Samsung upright freezer and fridge for the garage.
It will be great being able to select frozen meat, fish and vegetable items from the freezer without having to kneel down and fossick through the bottom drawer and to have wines and other drinks easily accessible in the fridge side.
Thanks Mr Leeming.
These will be delivered after we take possession of the townhouse in a couple of weeks.
Happy birthday Jesus I guess as it's Christmas Day and reportedly the day of his birth which seems appropriate to interview one of the witnesses to this supposed event. Welcome Shepherd number one!
SHEPHERD NUMBER ONE: Yer, ta guv. How can I help you?
THE CURMUDGEON: Well Shepherd number one, you do know that it's Christmas Day and you ...
SHEPHERD NUMBER ONE: ... you tryin' to be funny guv?
THE CURMUDGEON: What? No ... I ... er
SHEPHERD NUMBER ONE: Just because I'm a lowly shepherd you think I don't know what day of the bloody week it is. I've got a mind to ...
THE CURMUDGEON: ... sorry Shepherd number one. I didn't mean anything by it I ... look, can I drop the Shepherd number one thing? What's your name anyway?
SHEPHERD NUMBER ONE: Ha - it's about time you asked that. Shepherd number one is so insulting. My name is Asher.
THE CURMUDGEON:Asher?
ASHER: Yes, Asher.
THE CURMUDGEON: OK Ash, let's start again.
ASHER: Asher.
THE CURMUDGEON: OK Asher, let's start again. 2025 years ago you were there when Jesus ... what were you doing there?
ASHER: I was abiding the fields and the sheep mate. Like, with my mates mate. I ...
THE CURMUDGEON:...Ha ha - sorry to interrupt Ash ... er, Asher but that reminds me of what Peter Cook once said in a comedy skit. I can't remember the details but he said something like "I can't abide shepherds ... ha ha ...
ASHER: ... finished?
THE CURMUDGEON: Um, yes, sorry about that.
ASHER: (Twit) You're just lucky that Zebulon's not here. He doesn't hold with you fancy-pants making fun of us shepherds.
THE CURMUDGEON: Zebulon? Who's Zebulon?
ASHER: Shepherd number two to you you sonny Jim.
THE CURMUDGEON: Oh - er, I forgot that there were more of you. Who were the others?
ASHER: Justus, Nicodemus, Joseph, Barshabba and Jose.
THE CURMUDGEON: Jose?
ASHER: Yes Jose but he was just with us for work experience he came from a place far away on the other side of the world.
THE CURMUDGEON: The Antipodes?
ASHER: No, Spain. Benidorm I think. Man, could Jose drink. I could tell you some stories about how ...
THE CURMUDGEON: ... er, maybe later Asher, maybe later. What I want to know is, at the birth of Jesus, who else was there?
ASHER: Ah, I thought you'd get around to that although no-one's asked me before. Not important enough I suppose . Well, apart from me Zebulon, Justus, Nicodemus, Joseph, Barshabba and Jose, there was a donkey, a sheep - (not one of ours), a cow, some chickens, a cat I think and ...
THE CURMUDGEON: ... Yes, yes, yes but any people?
ASHER: Well there were some angels but I'd hardly call them people. People without genitals I suppose ...
THE CURMUDGEON: ... You're sounding a bit like Richard but, carry on ...
ASHER: .. some kind of bird that had lights shining out of every orifice, an old geezer named Simon or Simeon, some pious bint named Elizabeth - a real stuck-up cow, and an old dame named Anna.
THE CURMUDGEON: Yes, yes, yes ... anyone else?
ASHER: Um, let me think... oh yeah there was someone else ...
THE CURMUDGEON: ... Yes, yes, yes, who ...
ASHER: ... A sad looking joker who was looking after the donkey. He didn't half look unhappy and was muttering to himself. Joseph I think they said his name was.
THE CURMUDGEON: Oh, and no one else?
ASHER: No, no that's it.
THE CURMUDGEON: And not another woman? A hot one? No-one named Mary Magdalene?
ASHER: Nah mate. I would've remembered.
THE CURMUDGEON: Bummer!
ASHER: What's that?
THE CURMUDGEON: Nothing. I've got to go now.
ASHER: Bloody journalists!
In Robert's latest post, when I commented that I hope that Jesus forgives me for forgetting to get him a a birthday present, this dialogue ensued:
... I've got a head cold.
Or RSV,
I know that it's not flu or covid but ... it's damned annoying particularly right on Christmas.
We've cancelled the Logan Brown restaurant Christmas dinner arrangement as it won't be fair on The Old Girl and other diners if I cough and splutter in the restaurant. This is after all, how I got the bloody virus.
At The Messiah concert the weekend before last some arsehole behind me was coughing and spluttering. I, foolishly, hadn't worn a mask. I'll certainly do so in the future at any public gatherings and on public transport,
Bummer.
I'll stay indoors over Christmas and hopefully will be a bit recovered by New Year. I'he been dosing on lemon, honey and paracetamol hot drinks so my vitamin C levels are high. Looking out the window at the weather tells me that I'm not missing anything outside.
I won't be able to go to church though 👹
sticking with the Little Feat theme:
... sorry, buggy.
I grow old ... I grow old ...
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
Well, T.S., I'm getting older not shorter but I do like the sentiment.
Years ago, when in Toronto I threatened to buy The Old Girl a grocery buggy. She remonstrated about this saying that only old people pulled those along.
Years later, when in Wellington in 2020 I bought her one of these as she had to walk from Egmont Street to Moore Wilson's in College Street or New World at Chaffer's Basin to do her shopping. At first she again remonstrated against it but after a while started to use the contraption. I didn't.
Yesterday, as I made up a list of things needed from the local Superette - Fresh Choice in Cuba Street, I noted that the items would be too many for a carry bag so I took the old folks buggy with me.
I felt like a really old geezer but discovered that it is a very useful device that takes a lot of effort and hassle out of pedestrian based grocery shopping.
I guess I'll be going out in public in my slippers soon like Richard does.
I'm not a fan of chick-flicks, finding them either overtly bubbly on the one hand or morose and too introspective on the other.
Richard I think, feels the same except for the fact that he does go to see them a lot. He maintains that this is a cunning plan so that Shelley will let him go to see the latest Arnie Schwartzenegger, Bruce Willis, Claude Van Damme or Sylvester Stallone nonsense as a reward if he indulges her. Personally I think the old woofter enjoys the rom-coms and chick-flicks more. Oh well, chacun à son goût.
A couple of months ago I saw that Love Actually, one of the most celebrated chick-flicks had been made into a musical and was going to be performed in Wellington. A rush of blood to the head prompted me into thinking that The Old Girl will like this so I made bookings. The show is today - this afternoon. I'm committed now.
At least it's a parody of the film so I might enjoy it.
*****************************************
**UPDATE**
I have to report a bit of a cock up on the entertainment front.
On the way to the Love Actually show today The Old Girl said to me that she was surprised at my booking the tickets to this as she knows it's not 'my thing'. I told her that it's based on Love Actually but would likely be quite different. She looked at me funny.
Well, what we discovered was that the Wellington Orchestra occupied the stage at the Michael Fowler Centre and played over some of the songs in the Love Actually film which was being projected onto a giant screen behind them. The entire film was being shown. WTF! This made no sense to me. There was an intermission and we went out and didn't return to our seats.
What I thought I'd booked for was the Love Actually musical parody:
Whatta mistakea to makea.
This morning I left with The Old Girl but in Cuba Street when she turned right to walk to work I turned left and walked through Te Aro, Mount Cook, Vogeltown, Berhampore, Newtown and home. It was a fairly substantial walk with a few steep hills thrown in so I was tired when I arrived home.
On the way I spied a few things that are social history and that could become part of a The Curmudgeon's Tours itinerary in the future.
Do you recognise this house in Mount Cook? It was the scene of quite a few social gatherings in the 1970s.
Not this: THE DISAPPEARING SPOON
Robert the discontented bobsled (or something) - a member of this blogging community is a bit like someone's elderly and demented relative who wanders away from time to time. Just when you think he's fallen down a hole or been eaten by feral cats he turns up again, a bit worse for wear but essentially the same - that is: addled, confused and ever so more Christian which I guess is the same thing.
Robert keeps deleting or parking his blog with posts disappearing from time to time - sometimes temporarily and often - forever.
Robert seems to think this is funny but, to the many, a few some of the readers, this is very annoying. I mean, why bother crafting a clever and witty riposte in the comments section, or something that Richard might write if it's not going to be left for posterity for future bloggers to read?
When I revisit an old post of mine to copy the link if relevant into a new post, I look at the comments made at the time of the earlier post. If Robert has previously commented, when he deletes his blog his comments disappear as well. Often his comments are so bizarre, racist, sexist, anti LGBQTist or disturbingly religious that Richard and I comment back to him. When his initiating comments go up in a puff of smoke then our responses stand out in isolation like a ship in a dried up sea.
Sheesh!
Yes, I did go for a walk this morning - thanks for asking.
I walked with The Old Girl along the wharves to her place of work and continued on along Waterloo Quay and then Thorndon Quay and back to Cuba Street - 8kms. I was checking out a place to cross the railway lines from Thorndon and found steps that go up to the pedestrian area and walkway that connects the 'Cake Tin' with the railway station. This will enable me to walk from Hobson Street, along the wharves to Oriental Bay and from there to Evans Bay - a pleasant walk I plan to do frequently.
On our walk we both complained about and remonstrated with, dickheads who rode their bikes and scooters way too fast in between the pedestrians. What's wrong with these fuckers? Why don't Wellingtonians complain and lobby the council?
When walking along Thorndon Quay I spied and entered an E-bike shop and talked to the owner about suitable bikes. After complaining about the cyclists, The Old Girl and I discussed the possibility of buying bikes once we get settled in the new place. The guy was very helpful and suggested some ideal bikes for us:
I went for a walk along Oriental Bay Parade to Evans Bay today (8kms). It's a nice walk on the flat and will be my 'go to' walk twice a week in the future (a bit further from Hobson Street). I'll get the bus back from Evans Bay or Kilbirnie.
As I said, it's a nice walk but not in a southerly wind. Brrr! I'll have to check the weather forecast before leaving - particularly the wind direction. To make things worse, halfway along the Evans Bay side it started to rain so I got soaked by Wellington's finest - ice cold rain blown in from Cook Strait.
Along Oriental Bay Parade I spied a house where a group of us from Victoria Universitygathered one afternoon to have some beers and to irreverently 'welcome' Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips, and Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales. Queenie attended the Commonwealth Games in Christchurch and the then New Zealand Day events at Waitangi. This was in February 1974. We gathered on the balcony of this house ...
... to watch the royal prats slowly go past along Oriental Parade. Fortunately none of us threw anything more solid than a few catcalls and raspberries so we were not - 'detained at Her Majesty's pleasure'.
I don't remember, and probably didn't know then whose house it was - probably a student flat.
You actually read it here years ago when I wrote a Curmudgeonly Inventor post about this idea.
Unfortunately I can't find the post - maybe the nifty Nipponese deleted it when they stole my idea.
It was similar to my instant cooling idea, see: HERE
You see, it pays to read my posts.
I admit that it's clever and the technological advances in robotics and Ai are interesting but, like most technological advances things rapidly get dumbed down.
I'm already sick of the Ai imaging and artificially created videos that are polluting the internet and it's getting so you have to check the credibility of anything written or screened now to ascertain its origins.
I started to watch a new Netflix series last night. This is a Western tiled The Abandons. As it has a good cast and directorial 'chops' I decided to give it a go. This 'go' lasted all of 5 minutes because most of the filming was Ai generated pap. Sheesh! It was worse than reading one of Robert's posts.
No, Handel didn't create two Messiahs.
We're going to the 2025 performance on Saturday night at The Michael Fowler Centre.
When talking it over with The Old Girl the other day and her asking when we last saw this performance I said that I thought it was last year.
Fuck! It was actually 2020 - 5 years ago. See: HANDEL'S MESSIAH
Time flies - or it certainly seems to at my age.
 |
| Let me see if I got this right: Robert is on the left, TC is on the top right and Richard is at the bottom. |
Fortunately I've bought a house in the cathedral area of Wellington with St Paul's Anglican cathedral just around the corner and Sacred Heart Catholic cathedral a couple of streets away. It's like having neighbourhood laundromats or carwashes where I can get a scrub up or two before the big day on the 25th.
 |
| St Paul's |
 |
| Sacred Heart |
... but in this case a good one.
This morning after walking with The Old Girl to her place of work I continued on from Lambton Quay to Hobson Street. I wanted to check out what the walk is going to be like for her on a daily basis from home to work. I also wanted to explore the Thorndon area and check out the side streets.
I was very pleased with the walk - not too steep and quite quiet traffic-wise other than Murphy Street which feeds off the motorway. The Parliament grounds are nice - quite serene really and I can see myself spending time there in the future. It's interesting to see, by the flags on display, which visitors are there. There is always activity as well. The security guys were putting up traffic control barriers for some arrival. A protestor chap came along and set up a double sided sign protesting GMO and the proposed Gene Technology Bill. One of the security guys came over to him and they had a long discussion that ended with them shaking hands and the protester packing up his signage and going away. From where I was sitting it looked quite convivial - something not to be seen in American politics.
I'm going to enjoy watching the events and look forward to going to the public galleries of the debating chamber when the House is sitting. From there you can watch the MPs answering questions, debating the issues of the day, and voting on legislation. It's better than Robert's Mass any day.
Yesterday we signed up for Thorndon Medical Centre which I discovered is just around the corner from where we are going to live. I was surprised at how easy it was to enrol as I thought that there was a squeeze on GP registration at the moment. I was also surprised at how quickly we were able to get appointments having been used to month-long waits in Whangarei.
The streets are tidy and well maintained as you would expect with the embassies in the area, top-notch schools, Cathedrals (Anglican and Catholic) and the fact that it is the Parliament-precinct.
I talked to a traffic warden about parking and learnt that Hobson Street has all residential parking which means that by having proof of residence and payment of an annual fee of $199 we will be able to park at any time of the day. I note that the current owners always seem to use the carpark right outside the townhouse and use the garage for storage. We will be able to do the same and, when victors come they can park in or right outside the garage and we will use the residential parking spots of which there seem to be plenty. It's a quiet street as well.
I believe that we have made the right choice.
The more observant reader will have noticed the addition of a new feature to the right of this blog. This is the Yell Counter.
Keep an eye on this as, depending on events, it will be updated daily.
This morning I walked with The Old Girl to her place of work (actually she made me do this) and back to get my daily walk kms in - 4km this morning. It's a beautiful day and we walked along the wharf walk to Customhouse Quay and Whitmore Street where her office is located.
This was before 8am and road and pedestrian traffic was light making for a very pleasant walk. All too often though our way was interrupted by some dickhead scooter and cycle riders who rode far too fast amongst the walkers. Why would they do this instead of riding on the road? Because they are c***s I guess. I had to three times yell at them to "slow the bloody fuck down there are people walking here" etc. but they ignored me.
This prompted me to create the yell counter. No need to thank me.
I'll head out again later and maybe take the ferry to Days Bay. Richard no doubt would call this Day's Bay and Robert, Daze Bay.
Chow!
I applied on-line today to Thorndon Medical Centre for acceptance as a patient.
I tell you, patience is needed when filling out the forms. As a quasi-Luddite I find it difficult when, having started entering details on an on-line portal, there is a requirement for information like: vaccination history, health history, proof of ID, proof of address etc. that necessitates jumping to other websites. Sure, I know that tech-savvy people can jump from tab to tab dementedly like a fire walker or a Catholic trying to validate crazy catechism constructs but I invariably manage to close down the portal I was entering data into and have to go back and start again. Sheesh!
I think that I managed it properly and certainly hope so as with my medical conditions I'm dependant on my drug prescriptions. As part of enrolling with a new medical practice, officially leaving a current provider is necessary.
Now I've had bad experiences in the past in changing banks, telecommunication providers and electricity companies where some over-enthusiastic employee 'pulls the plug' too early. I certainly don't want a plug pulled early when my health is concerned.
I was going to then start the process for The Old Girl but after the lengthy struggle that I had entering my data I thought it best that I left it to her to do it herself.
I must practise my Italian.
Apart from reading the odd, very odd, post from Richard where he bangs on about pianos in Italian, I haven't had occasion to use the little Italian I studied years ago...
 |
| A little Italian |
... other than when dining in Italian restaurants or reading the cooking instructions on pasta packets.
The Old Girl and I did an intensive course before a trip once but she's much better at speaking it than me.
I saw this yesterday:
"Non voglio il salame nel caffè e voglio sapere dove sono i bagni della stazione ferroviaria. C'è un vecchio protestante che possiede una sala qui vicino? Quanti pianoforti possono muovere gli scimpanzé contemporaneamente?"
Having a carpark in a parking garage beneath the apartment block we are living in I'm reminded again how large modern cars are - unnecessarily so.
The allocated carpark spaces are invariably too narrow and short to cater to the behemoths that some people drive. The interesting thing is that the brands of a lot of these behemoths were once considered small or compact cars. Is this an American-influenced thing? I know from experience that many European countries produce smaller and more manoevarable vehicles - metro cars for city driving. I think that it's time that in New Zealand we considered doing the same.
In the wide open spaces where long distance driving is the norm like USA, Australia, Africa etc. big and powerful vehicles make sense. The same trying to get around narrow and windy Wellington streets and to fit in to car parks in buildings that were built when cars were smaller is just ridiculous. Most of these things never get out into the country and are more vanity purchases than essentials.
We have a small car - a 2016 Toyota Corolla which is bigger than the earlier models of Toyota Corollas. The 2025 version of this is way bigger again. Why? When we move in to our new house that has a double garage I can see us parking the car there and very rarely taking it out given that the supermarket and other shops are within easy to medium walks away which is of course one of the reasons for making our move. If we do buy another car in the future we will be checking out all the very small cars but, looking at options today as I walked past a couple of dealers the very small cars are becoming harder to find unless we buy an older model. Maybe one like Richards' Nissan Micropene is the way to go.
In the lawnmower shop next door to our apartment block I looked at motor scooters - electric ones and thought that, when it's time to retire the Corolla, a his and hers pair of motor scooters might be a good idea. What could go wrong?
 |
| Not these |
 |
| Maybe these |
As the other old codgers wrote Christmas Letters I felt obliged to do the same.
Here it is ...
... "NOT" as Richard would say. Are you mad?
Here's some better things instead.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRVXc7OE6PP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
... and generally we hope that it doesn't happen to us.
Friend Rod from up north sent me an email today in which he said:
Those people who bought your house still haven’t been seen. Yesterday there was a major sewage leak near the hall. Swimming banned until 10th December. Today on my walk watched all the rubbish from 3 sacks floating from the wharf towards your place. Going to ring Council. You got out exactly the right time. I have put a clip of the rubbish on Facebook.
I guess that I'm glad too that the sewage overflow didn't occur when we were there and I don't like the idea of the rubbish bags floating from the other direction.
The sewage plant is at the eastern end of the road by the hall that Rod mentioned and the wharf where the rubbish bags have come from is at the western end of the road. Our 'old' house is in the middle.
I'm glad that the new owners haven't moved in yet and hope that the water quality is improved before they do.
As I said ... shit happens.
Now, The Religious Curmudgeon has been a bit quiet recently - maybe Kierkegaard has had something to do with that but tonight he has surfaced with a a timely reminder of how silly religion, and especially the Catholic version of Christianity is,,.
See Here: SHARING IS CARING
Not this ...
... as I'm not a doughnut. 😉
I've been back in Wellington for a couple of weeks now and already find myself acting like a Wellingtonian. As I walk about everywhere, I find myself jaywalking, 'running' red lights (pedestrian ones) and dodging traffic - all the things that a couple of weeks ago I was complaining about. Maybe I'll get a bike again and annoy Richard when he's bimbling along in his Nissan Pene Minuscolo or whatever he drives now.
The walking will be good for me as it will help me to keep fit and lose some weight which I've recently put on. My broken and sore toe is limiting but I'm still managing at least 5 kms a day. Today I've done over 9 kms because I walked to Thorndon and back.
I revisited the Hobson Street townhouse that we looked at a couple of weeks ago and walked away from because it is a monolithic cladding house. At the time it was on a fixed price basis with the owners looking for offers above the rateable value. As they did not get this (due to it being a monocled house) they have reduced the asking price. Today, after revisiting, talking to the owners and the real estate agent and fortuitously the builder who earlier this year did the recladding on one side of the house and who had arrived to day to do some resealing and paintwork I, after also reading the building inspection report, made an offer below their new asking price. The estate agent will submit that to them and we will wait to see the outcome. They might tell us to bugger off but, if they don't and our lawyer finds nothing to object to we may have a place to live in Wellington - city fringe. It's a really good street with top class schools and some embassies so security is pretty good. If anything we'll be the worst people to live there (I'll have to hide my beaten up old Toyota Corolla).
I'm getting very annoyed at all of the 'improvements' that banking and retailing technology is bringing my way. Here are just two random ones that have managed to get up my nose recently.
Last week I was downtown with the car and wanted to buy something in Lambton Quay. I was short of time and didn't want to go all of the way back to the apartment carpark, walk back to Lambton Quay to make the purchase, walk all the way back to Vivian Street to the apartment carpark and then end up being late to meet up with the Crown removal people. I found a carpark only to discover that to use it I had to use a 'Paywave' card or, if I could find one of the rare machines, use coins. I couldn't find one of these rare machines and if I did I had no coins. Who keeps cans nowadays? I have had Paywave disabled on my debit and credit card as well as, patently it's fucking ridiculous. You might as well get a thousand dollars from a money machine and drop it on the footpath. Sheesh! I then went all of the way back to the apartment carpark, walked back to Lambton Quay to make the purchase, walked all the way back to Vivian Street to the apartment carpark and then ended up being late to meet up with the Crown removal people. Sheesh again!
What the fuck is going on? Have I missed something from having lived out in the sticks for the last 16 years?
I've found, over the last week or so that many Wellington retailers are only using Paywave eftpos machines and that they are not set up for swiping a card. I've walked out of food stores because of this and today, when buying a hat the shop assistant had to scrabble under the counter to find an old fashioned 'swipe' eftpos machine. Sheesh yet again!
While Paywave (contactless payment) is a secure and convenient technology with built-in encryption, its primary "dangers" relate to the financial impact of potential fraud if a card is lost or stolen, and the surcharges often passed on to the consumer by merchants.
Security and Fraud Risks
The main security risk stems from the fact that low-value transactions generally do not require a PIN or signature, making it easier for a thief to use a lost or stolen card. Unauthorized Transactions: A person who finds or steals your card can make multiple small purchases (up to a certain limit, e.g., NZ$200) without needing your PIN.
Accidental Scans (Highly Unlikely): While a concern for some, banks and security experts state that accidental "walk-by" purchases are highly unlikely as the card needs to be very close (within a few centimeters) to a payment terminal to work.
Customer Negligence: If a card is lost or stolen, banks typically cover the losses if you have taken reasonable care of your card and reported the loss promptly. However, if negligence can be proven (e.g., waiting a week to cancel the card), you may not recover all the money.Data Vulnerability (Minor): Contactless transactions use unique, encrypted codes that minimize the risk of data interception or reuse, making them less vulnerable to traditional card skimming than swiping a card. Apple Pay and Google Pay add an extra layer of security by tokenizing the transaction, meaning the merchant never sees your real card number.
Financial Dangers
The other significant "danger" of Paywave is the surcharge often applied by merchants to cover the fees they are charged by banks and card networks (like Visa and Mastercard). Extra Cost to Consumers: These surcharges can sometimes be as high as 4% and mean you pay more for the convenience of tapping your card. You can usually avoid this fee by inserting your card or using a different payment method like standard Eftpos or cash.
Potential for Price Increases: If surcharges are banned by regulation (as is being considered in some regions like New Zealand), businesses may simply increase their overall product prices to cover the costs, meaning all consumers (including those paying with cash or standard Eftpos) end up paying more.
Summary
The technology itself is secure, but the primary dangers lie in the easewith which an unauthorised person can use a physical card for small transactions and the potential for unexpected surcharges. You can protect yourself by treating your card with care and checking for surcharges before you tap.
We're still looking for a house to buy in Wellington. A couple of promising prospects turned out to be duds in that they, both being monolithic cladding townhouses, had histories of leaking and having to be reclad at the cost of hundreds of thousands. "All good" you might think - "they've been repaired" - but the research I've done suggests that cladding repairs can only be guaranteed for twenty years and the ones that we looked at were repaired about 2008. We moved on.
A third townhouse we looked at, in Kelburn, has an impeccable record and has cedar cladding with no history of leaking (built in the early 2000s).
