WHEN YOU WISH UPON A STAR YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE

The simp (but a dangerous one), Minnie Mouse-voiced Finance Minister Nicola Willis gave us, in the 2025 Budget, her version of  “hope for the future” and “genuine growth.”

Yeah Right!

I muddled through some of it which I guess was appropriate because that's what the mouse did too.

Oops, sorry, wrong image

Here we go

I didn't see a lot of 'hope for the future and 'genuine growth', instead, I read of a lot of hopeless floundering and questionable forecasts. New Zealand is hiccupping at about 2% growth at present, a figure that this 2025 Budget can only reduce further by a cowardly approach to economic stimulation and pandering to the higher earners with unaffordable tax cuts.

The National led coalition government’s promise is to reduce Crown debt and shrink the size of government, hoping that an improved economy will make up for any pain incurred. This sounds like that Donald Trump led and Elon Musk (DOGE) executed cost cutting that has become a fiasco in USA or, in keeping with the Disney theme - Fantasyland. In actuality ,government spending is essential for economic activity when investment in plant, employment, planning, marketing and the building of core infrastructure is needed.

This coalition government isn't interested in meeting its obligations to stimulate economic activity during bad times and has only made token attempts to stimulate growth that would have flow on effects of productivity and employment. It prefers to, like Trump's administration in the USA, blame the previous government even though it's now almost two years since Labour held the purse strings.

Minnie Mouse, sorry, Nicola Willis is wishing on stars and hoping that the Reserve Bank will keep cutting interest rates, even in the face of inflation and unfairly expecting non governmental agencies and the private sector to provide investment, employ more New Zealanders and get the job done without government assistance. Once again - Fantasyland. 

Have a read of the 2025 Budget if you dare but be careful when getting to the sections on defence spending, pay equity, rail freight and commuter rail upgrades. the cutting back on the previous government’s goal of spending 2% of GDP on research and development, halving of the state’s Kiwisaver contributions to 25 cents for every dollar saved, to an annual limit of $261, worker’s minimum contribution to the Kiwisaver scheme to rise from 3% to 4% of their wages over the next 3 years, plus further cuts and more savings. There is more, much more (or less whichever way you want to look at it).

🎵 When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing
Like a bolt out of the blue
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true 🎵

TIP(S) OF THE MORNIN' TO YOU

 Morning all!

Well, Richard anyway seeing that Robert is laying low (whoever low is).

I'm back in the study (The Old Girl's office) today so it's more comfortable to write a blog post having a decent desk to work on, the larger computer to use and a nice view out to Mount Manaia.

Mount Manaia from the opposite side

All this makes for an interesting post that I know some, if not all of the readers are looking forward to reading. Here's a few tips on some weekend activities for you.

Did you know that nowadays, many drivers don't know how to change a car tyre? This along with other aspects of car maintenance seems to be a thing of the past with now, metrosexual males joining most females in not knowing how, or not being bothered to do the job. Someone I knew used to say about car maintenance - "If you don't look after it it will only let you down later." Changing a flat tyre yourself is a practical skill that every driver should have.  It's easy really. To change a tyre safely, you need to find a flat, level surface in a safe location, apply the handbrake and use wheel chocks if available. Next you loosen the wheel nuts, jack up the vehicle, remove the flat tyre, mount the spare, lower the vehicle, and tighten the nuts.

When crouching down in the dirt or gravel, watch out for ants. You don't want ants. Ants can be a nuisance, especially if they invade your home or garden. You don't want to carry any home with you in your shoes, socks or trouser cuffs. 

Ant infestations are a problem not only for you but also with your neighbours. Infesting your neighbour's home and property with ants can end up with you fighting with your neighbour. If he's bigger than you or armed this can be a big problem. It's better to circumvent this and watch out for ants.

"Move over buddy"

When back home - hopefully ant-free and now with a replaced tyre and a car in good mechanical condition you can, if you live where I do,  look out the front windows to check out if there are any whales in the harbour. It's not unusual to see orca here when they are hunting stingray and they come in quite close to the shore while navigating the deeper channels. I've never seen other whales in our bay though. These rarely come right in to the harbour but I have seen humpback whales and Southern right whales at the entrance to Whangarei Heads out by the Hen and Chicken islands.

If you don't spot any whales or even dolphins and are not going to waste your time gazing out the windows then I recommend a bit of home and property maintenance. Are you having trouble with horses, cows, dogs or nosy neighbours sneaking into your back garden? If so then putting up a wire fence is a good idea. Don't go overboard though and, even if you do have some wire left over there's no need to put a wire fence around the bath. That would be silly.

"What's going on over there?"

After your chores are done you can relax and catch up on the news and what that old fool Donald Trump has been doing. Did you know that he plays a lot of golf? I've seen him on TV hitting some pretty appalling shots but, like Kim Jong Un's enslaved entourage, Trump's sycophantic cronies congratulate him on playing great golf, pretend to not see when he cheats and accept the bogus scores he announces. They even award him undeserved trophies. Trump played basketball at college and no doubt his followers did the same thing then. I don't know if he's ever played rugby or would make a good rugby player. If he did he would no doubt cheat somehow and make up stories about how many tightheads he took in a game. If he did I bet he wouldn't give them back. Maybe my pal David Seymour would know.

If you go for a walk afterwards, watch out for dogs. Like those pesky ants, dogs can be a bloody nuisance. There are just too many of them and most are owned by irresponsible owners who don't feed them properly, don't bother registering them, allow them to run around off-leash, take them on tracks where dogs are expressly forbidden and don't pick up their shit after them. Sheesh! Some people. Many of them want to take their mutts into shops, on buses and even on planes. There is starting to be some pushback though and it's great that the government have banned dogs in barber shops.

"Sorry Fido. This is the last time"

Well, that's all for me at the moment. I hope that this has been helpful. I've got to plan my dinner - probably bacon and egg pie tonight. Bye!

SWEET SIXTEEN

I bought a new phone today - an iPhone 16. It's a reasonably large outlay (for me) as I'm not a technophile and generally don't see what the fuss is about these new-fangled machines. The Old Girl has been on at me to upgrade though because my previous one was becoming dated (iPhone 8) and its performance has been patchy since I dropped it in the bath a few months ago.

"You won't have an excuse for not answering when I call you" she said as often I didn't hear the phone alerting me to a FaceTime call because it switched itself off or muted the volume.

I researched phone options for a few weeks before obeying her and was going to buy an iPhone 15 until I saw the King's Birthday deals at Harvey Norman last night. A couple of weeks ago I looked at an iPhone 15 in Noel Leeming and told the assistant that I'd be back in after collecting my car from Toyota after its 12 month service and warrant of fitness. 

(Note, I did not have to pay over $1,700 to make our car warrantable. I guess that, unlike others in this blogging community, we drive our car on roads, top it up with water and oil when required, check tyre pressures and take action when that red light flashes on the dashboard).

 When I got back to the store I asked for the sales assistant but was told he was off on a break. I waited about 15 minutes but, as no-one else approached me I left the store.  Yesterday I went back and, again was at the Apple counter for ages without anyone approaching me so went to the checkout counter to ask for assistance. I was told that all the sales assistants were off on breaks! I went to the Apple counter again and looked at the iPhone 15 I'd decided to buy. The bimbo young woman who had been at the checkout counter eventually ambled over and asked if she could help me with my selection. I told her what I wanted but asked her a couple of basic questions about the phone and asked if the advertised $100 purchase voucher for items over $1000 applied to an iPhone purchase. She didn't know and said that she would ask (one of those invisible sales assistants I guess). I said that I'd look it up on-line and left having no intention to return. At home last night I saw the Harvey Norman deal which offered a $200 discount on the iPhone 16  which is pretty good as Apple products are rarely discounted. This brought the phone down to close to the iPhone 15 price. That's the phone I purchased today. All went well but ...

... the capable sales assistant answered my queries about the phone and advised the advancements of the i- 16 model over the i-15. The only time that he lost me was when explaining the advantages of buying a phone contract with One NZ which would have discounted the phone by another $300. I told him that we have a home broadband, cellphone and landline contract in place with Spark so would buy the phone outright. He said something like:

"Your contract includes a monthly allowance of minutes you are allowed to use for phone calls. An Early Termination Fee (ETF) fee will be charged if you cancel your service before the end of the contract term. The SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module): is a small chip that contains your mobile number and other account information, allowing your phone to connect to the network. Overage charges are fees charged for exceeding your data, minutes, or text message allowance. The fixed term contract will have a duration of 24 months.  You can use your phone for roaming ie. using your mobile phone outside of your service provider's network, often incurring extra fees. Premium SMS: Text messages used for services like voting on reality TV or subscribing to content, which can be more expensive than regular text messages is available. Plan transfer fee, a fee charged for transferring your plan to a different phone or number. will be applicable. Add-ons: Additional services or benefits you can add to your plan, such as extra data or international calling is available. An administration charge -  fees charged for account maintenance, late payments, or suspension of service is mandatory blah blah blah blah ... "

I know a bit about these cellphone contracts and, while the phone seems to be cheaper the lock-in contract and financing is onerous. It seems that the discounted price was available because they wanted customers to sign up for a One NZ contract. I prefer to stick to the non-locked in arrangement we have with Spark and, besides, as The Old Girl works from home and is reliant on good broadband service didn't want to upset what we have.

After buying the phone I asked if it was straightforward to activate it. I was informed that Harvey Norman offer a phone set up tutorial (15 minutes for $49) which I declined. At home it took me about 15 minutes to set up the new phone and transfer the old SIM card to the new phone - for free. That's the cost of a good bottle of wine or, in Richard' case about 8 bottles of that clean skin chardonnay he drinks.

The phone is working well. I just have to be careful not to drop it in the bath!

RICHARD WILL BE INTERESTED IN THIS

29 May, 11:00 PM

Wind upturns bbq at Hamilton house

The winds have caused havoc tonight around Hamilton, downing fences, lifting roofs and sending a trampoline flying into power lines. 

One man sent this image, saying, "Flipped the bbq over on our deck."

29 May, 10:56 PM

WHY DO LITTLE KIDS NEED SO MUCH STUFF?*

 * Richard might know now that he's an official grandfather.

I returned from the South Island yesterday. It turned out to be a long trip.

Having booked an early (8am) flight I had to be at the airport by 7am as I had a bag to check in. I didn't listen to The Old Girl who is a bit cavalier about meeting deadlines and getting to places on-time. To satisfy me she booked an Uber at 6.30am, made all the arrangements and went with me as far as her workplace in the city. I carried on to the airport. 

While I don't have the Uber App on my phone I like the system because the fare is quoted and paid for in advance, the arrival is timely and guaranteed, the cars are clean and well maintained and, for me, the exit is straightforward and hassle free. Gone are the days of worrying about being overcharged, the anxiety about leaving a tip or not and patiently waiting for the taxi driver to fiddle about with change hoping that you are in a hurry and will say "keep it". I arrived at the airport at 6.55am and checked in the luggage, got my tickets and made my way to the departures lounge.

On the way to the airport visibility from the car window was like this:

.

At the airport the view of the runways was like this:

It didn't bode well.

Sure enough, soon announcements were made about flight delays as inbound aircraft were delayed or cancelled. My flight from Christchurch to Auckland was delayed twice which made me worry about my connecting flight from Auckland to Whangarei which was scheduled for only 50 minutes after the Christchurch plane was to land.

Sure enough, soon came the announcement that my flight was cancelled and a text message from Air New Zealand told me that another, 10.30am instead of 8am flight was booked for me along with a 4pm connecting flight to Whangarei. I can't complain about the service and never complain at how weather hampers flight schedules. It is what it is. I arrived at Auckland at midday and had a four hour wait for my flight home. Hey! Having done a lot of travelling over the years I'm used to it and found a comfy seat to sit and read a book.

During my extra 2 and 1/2 hours at Christchurch airport and 4 hours at Auckland, while people watching, I saw many harassed-looking parents herding, cajoling, entertaining, disciplining and generally managing small children. To a T the parents in addition to the wrangling, were hopelessly encumbered with voluminous bags stuffed with childrens' blankets, toys, drink bottles, food containers, pyjamas and other clothing, slippers and what looked like the entire contents of a kid's bedroom. Sheesh!

Is that really necessary? When we travelled as children we had none or next to none of that. What's going on?

The Auckland to whangarei flight was on-time but when closer to home the view out the window looked like - you guessed it - this:

On landing the airport runway looked like this:

I was concerned that the pilots might have to turn around and fly back to Auckland and I guess they would have if I'd been on the last flight of the day (7pm). Fortunately they gave it a try and, dipping down to ground level there was a brief break in the mist and low cloud enabling them to do a quick touchdown, It was very well executed and I made sure to acknowledge that to them as I was passing the flight deck on exiting.

It was raining yesterday and most of today but I'm happy to be home and hey! I have the study to myself again.

MISSED

We missed out on taking the gondola ride because of the heavy mist that clouded out the hills around Christchurch.

What should have looked like this ...

... turned out to be like this all day.

Never mind. After driving to the top of the summit and deciding that it made no sense to take a gondola ride where we couldn't see anything, we decided to complete our driving tour to ...

New Brighton.

Then to Sumner:

And on to Lyttelton ...

Before returning home to Mount Pleasant:

Thank Robert's god for Sat Nav as we couldn't see where we were going and would have become hopelessly lost without it.

We're back home in comfort now and enjoying a nice cuppa. We'll head out again before 5PM to return the car and stay in town for dinner.

AND WE BATTLE ON ...

 

... unlike some of the other blogs around here.

Robert's one has ground to a stop as if it hit a bump in the road ...

... and Richard's blog has gone out of business:

It's just as well that THE CURMUDGEON INC.ⓒ shows resilience - even while on holiday and living in isolated locations.

Also, fortunate for readers, we have lots of interesting  posts to come relating to our adventures so please stay posted. Soon I (The Curmudgeon) will be heading out to take The Old Girl on a little driving tour (Richard's Bass Bag Tours eat your heart out) to New Brighton, Sumner and Lyttelton to check out the pier, the red rocks and the quaint second hand shops. We'll have lunch at Lyttelton and ... oops! I'm nearly giving away the contents of the future posts. Sorry about that. Anyway, as I said, stay posted. There's no point in visiting those other bogs I mentioned.

OUR WEEKEND

 I just got back to Christchurch after a 4 hour drive from Aoraki Mount Cook.

We stayed 2 nights at The Hermitage Hotel which I'm happy to say is still functioning well. It was scheduled to close down, maybe for ever in 2020 when COVID impacted so many businesses but a NZ company bought it, saved everyone's jobs and is keeping it going unlike the fate that has befallen The Chateau at National Park.

View from the bedroom.

.

View from the bedroom balcony

The views were, as you'd expect, stunning. Mountains and particularly Aoraki Mount Cook have majesty and a palpable presence. We lucked out with the weather with Friday and Saturday being brilliant - blue skies, sunshine and no wind. The 'adventure staff' commented on how unusual this was for the time of year. This meant that after a pleasant wander around the village on Friday afternoon, a glass of wine in the bar and dinner, we had ideal conditions for the late evening stargazing trip we took. Now I like the night sky and have been using my telescope watching the stars and planets for years up in Whangarei but the night sky at Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is exceptional. The professional guides gave a running commentary on the constellations and the telescopes they had were way more powerful than the one I've been using (recently sold). I learnt more in a couple of hours than I have in a lifetime.

On Saturday morning we took the Tasman glacier/Lake Tasman tour. A bus ride and a decent hike took us to the jet boats on the glacier lake. Again, the professional commentary from the guide/driver was very educational and great fun. She manoeuvred the boat within touching distance of floating icebergs (big chunks that have calved off the glacier wall at the head of the lake). We were able to see and touch these and hold huge and heavy ice chunks that were as clear and shiny as glass crystal. Zooming along in the boat was exhilarating and we'd come to a sudden stop near the icebergs and the driver would have to inch forward using a prod to discover the underwater (greater %) of the ice so as not to sink the boat. The glacial water is impenetrable and varies from 60 metres to over 200 metres deep. Did I mention cold? It was '3-layers' cold but, as I said we lucked out with the weather as it was blue sky, sunny with no wind so, pleasant. The backdrop of the various mountains including Aoraki/Cook and Sefton beyond the glacier was breathtaking. She took us as close to the glacier wall towering above us as safety would allow given that 'calving' is unpredictable. The huge, hundreds of tonnes 'bergs' that we'd been inspecting had apparently only fallen off within hours to a day at most. Having them fall on a boat or near it causing metres high waves is too dangerous.

After this expedition (several hours) we had lunch and then went for a 3 hour hike including the walk to Kea Point. This track took us closer to Aoraki/Cook and the head of the Muller glacier just below Mount Sefton. Here's a pic or two:

Mount Sefton

Muller Glacier

My knee being rested after the walk.

Sunday (today) was our return home day and we didn't mind that the mountains were obscured by cloud with a threat of rain and gale-force winds. It had snowed overnight so there was greater snow covering. We headed back to Christchurch after a hearty breakfast.

Now - this adventure sounds expensive and I admit that it wasn't bargain basement cheap but in our country we have the ability to get to places like this in a few hours and generally within a holiday spending budget. The expeditions were very professionally run and ridiculously cheap when compared to similar excursions overseas. I purchased a two night luxury accommodation package that included dinners and breakfasts for way less than the 'off-the-rack' price. The rental car (4WD/AWD) I booked for 5 days only cost $400. We did this as The Old Girl's 70th birthday celebration (her birthday was in January).

How was your weekend?

THE GOLDEN WEATHER DOESN'T END ...

 ... in Christchurch during the late Autumn and early Winter months.

The weather is great here - blue skies, sunshine and no wind. The Old Girl says that it's been like this for the last month. I packed my bag with warm clothing but it looks like this will only be needed when we go to Aoraki Mount Cook on the weekend. Three layers aren't needed at the moment. Yesterday I walked into town wearing shorts, tee shirt and a sleeveless vest and that was enough. Today we will  wander into town in the early afternoon but as we will be going to see a film and have dinner afterwards I'd better wear longs and have a jacket in my bag just in case as it will get cold when the sun goes down.

Last night we went to the new Court Theatre to see the first production that they have put on there - Bruce Mason's The End of the Golden Weather. The production and acting was superb with Ian Mune taking the role as narrator. The setting was in depression-era New Zealand and as you probably know is about a a boy's loss of innocence - discovering that politics and life's harsh realities offset the simple childish pleasures of living by the seaside in relatively secure and comfortable New Zild egalitarian bliss. It is disturbing and relevant to today's geopolitical uncertainties. Go and see it if it 'comes to a town near you'.

WHAT IS TIME?

 

My time has gone slow this weekend.

The weather hasn't been great although not as bad as Wellington's at the moment though.

"Still, I can get my Abm7 Db7 Gbmaj7

(G#m7 C#7 F#maj7) progression going."

It has kept me indoors so no kayaking, golf, walking, gardening or pottering about.
Also I've been feeling 'a bit under the weather' which has made time seem to crawl along.

Never mind eh. I'm off to Christchurch on Tuesday for some time with The Old Girl. We have an 'action packed' itinerary of travel and adventure plus theatre, restaurants and some greater Christchurch exploring so no doubt I'll be complaining that time is going too fast.

It's all relative really.

AUTO BIOGRAPHIES?

 It must be a slow day down south because Richard's latest post is about one of the silliest and low-brow American TV comedy series My Mother The Car from the 1960s. No doubt it was his favourite.

He rightly wondered if reincarnation was a thing if Robert would come back as a 1956 Vauxhall Velox. I think he's spot on with that although I thought that he was a 1955 model.

I now wonder what car Richard would be should he be reincarnated as one and the most fitting one would be a Nash Metropolitan.

I imagine that I'll come back as a 1952 Maserati A6.

THERE'S A SUCKER BORN EVERY MINUTE

 

Donald Trump touts himself as being a great businessman and dealmaker. Well, I guess we all know that's not true and he's a windbag but this latest fiasco is breathtaking.

The Qatar offer of a '400 million dollar' tricked out Boeing to Trump and then the US Defence Department and then, supposedly, the US Government was an obvious and transparent bribe given for favours in return.
Trump however just saw the glitz and gold toilets - see his windy waffle here:

What a fucking goose! Obviously he's done no due diligence other than sticking his head inside - the aviation equivalent of kicking a car's tyres before buying.
The fact is that the Qatar Boeing is 13 years old and Qatar has been trying to sell it for at least the last five years with no buyers coming forward. It was initially designed in 2012 for the former Qatari prime minister, but it sounds like the expensive jet was just more trouble than it’s worth and they don't want it - according to a Forbes report.

Here's an interesting summation from Chris Hayes of MSNBC:

“The Royals have failed to sell the plane, which was put on the market in 2020,” it went on. “Giving it away could save Qatar’s rulers a big chunk of change on maintenance and storage costs. Making Trump happy would be an added bonus.”

But the real kicker was a July 2020 article about the plane in One Mile at a Time by Ben Schlappig, who concluded, “I can’t imagine Qatar will find a buyer for this plane. So one has to wonder who this 747-8 will be gifted to.”

Hayes read the quote and added, “Well, looks like Qatar finally found a sucker to pawn it off on.”

Unbelievable! 

ALL SHOOK UP

 Lovely.

That's what I thought when I saw the Maori Party challenging David Seymour's bill about the treaty with an amazing and very, very watchable challenge in Parliament.

Also, yesterday when I saw Brooke van Velden shock Parliament with - gasp- the 'C' word I thought "lovely" go for it woman. The fact that van velden is an Act MP and a compatriot of that dick Seymour didn't affect my opinion. I thought that what she said and was doing was spot on and matches my values.

OK, I might  be stepping outside of my demographic here - a white, middle class, Labour voting septuagenarian - who is probably expected to be shocked at both of these antics but fuck it! Sometimes institutions, social mores and conventions need to be shaken up.

I wonder if Robert has an opinion on this or will he have to confer with St Faustina?

OK, here it is:

JIMMY'S SHOES

No, not Jimmy Choo

I was going to write another, slightly political post but at least half of the readers have been clamouring for a post about my new tennis shoes.

As you know, I play tennis, badly, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My old shoes were getting a bit battered ...

... even though they were only about 8 years old! It was time for drastic measures.

I bought a new pair on-line from Sketchers. They were on special at $79 - down from $220 which seemed to be a pretty, pretty, pretty good deal.

I think that they're quite smart and marvelled at the deep-cut special until one wag at tennis suggested that they looked a bit 'orthopedic' and another asked if they lit up when I walked. Cheek!

A ROOM WITH A VIEW

 I'm sitting at the computer in the study filling in time before I have to take my car in to town for its 12 month service.

It's a gorgeous day but I haven't gone for a walk because when I drop the car off I'll have a 3 hour wait which I'll use for walking around town, probably walking about 8 kms in a loop.

I've been thinking about where we might live in Wellington if ever we sell our house and make the move. The Old Girl wants to live in an apartment while I'd prefer a townhouse. Apartment living is OK as long as the apartment is roomy enough but generally they are cramped and restrictive. If we do go down that route I hope that we can find one with nice views that is also affordable. The thought of sitting in a study looking at a wall or out a window to another building depresses me. In this study I have a view across some farmland that often has cattle, horses, goats, geese, pukekos and other wildlife wandering around  in the foreground and Mount Manaia in the background. It's most pleasant.

Most rooms in this house have views of either Mounts Manaia, Mount Aubrey or the bay which I will sorely miss.

I apologise for the quality of the photographs but my iPhone 8 is a bit dated and underpowered. Since dropping it in the bath a couple of months ago it behaves erratically as well. Last night as I hadn't heard from The Old Girl by 8 PM I called her only to receive a dressing down:

"Where have you been. I've called several times on FaceTime, normal cell phone line and texted you?" She said.

"Sorry" I replied "My phone had no alerts or messages."

"Well buy a new one." she said. 

OK, while browsing the internet I researched the best deals on an iphone 15 or 16 so might look to buy one of these this morning while mooching around town.