AND SHE'S STILL DOING IT

Wow!

Jacinda Ardern still impresses me and it's a joy to see her 'perform'. 

I watched her being interviewed by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show and was proud to see such a great ambassador of our country being showcased. Her intelligence and humanity is so at odds with leaders like Donald Trump. In many ways she is our Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) of whom I spoke of in my previous post.

As a follow up to that post I've included the Jacinda Interview and, as I did when comparing AOC's speech to US Congress with the blithering rambling of Trump, included the embarrassing performance by John Key when he appeared on the David Letterman show some years ago.

Impressive.

Compare that with this idiot ...

Thanks Jacinda/

KEEPING IT IN BALANCE

 Yesterday I posted about Charlie Kirk and how the Right is using his murder as a means of taking more power and repressing more freedoms and dissent. They are even suggesting that the 'influencer' is a martyr and deserving of sainthood.

Give me a break.

Here Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) puts some reality into it in her Congress speech.

And yes, to balance it out here's an outtake from what the deranged yet manipulating Donald Trump said in his long, rambling and largely incoherent 'eulogy' at Kirk's funeral. 

You make your mind up about which version will stand the test of time.

TIME - AS IN TOO MUCH ON MY HANDS AT PRESENT

I had the prospective house buyers' building inspectors around this morning to do an appraisal as one of the conditions in the conditional sale. This is the one that concerns me the most, not because there are any major problems with our house but, being old there are lots of small things that can give buyers with cold feet a way out.

The other conditions I'm less concerned about are the geotechnical report, insurance assessment and finance confirmation which I'm expecting to be rubber-stamping more than anything.

The inspectors this morning gave away nothing but I know that, as they were thorough, they will make some negative comments about the plumbing, window frames, floorboards and guttering. I decided not to worry about this but instead to offer back some money for any repairs or alterations - hopefully not more than a few thousand. I don't expect anything major and structural but ...

Meanwhile The Old Girl and I have done what we said we would never do - look at prospective places to buy before we have the money in the bank. Here are three of them:

Frederick Street, a very large apartment on two levels with 2 garages and great views. We could afford this but the body corporate is a whopping $38k a year and, with over $8k rates on top of that the weekly outgoing would be over $800. Hey! We could rent something for that and keep the capital in the bank.

This Hill Street townhouse is very attractive but time has been against us. It was on a deadline sale that ended a few days ago. The real estate agent told me that it has a conditional offer on it but if that goes nowhere he will contact me. I don't have my hopes up but we would really like to buy this.

This Buller Street (just off Vivian Street) old villa is magnificent.  I think we could afford it but, like the Hill Street townhouse timing is against us. This is a sale by tender that ends on 6th October. Our house sale might go unconditional on 3 October. "Time is Tight" as Booker T and the MGs said.

Hey Ho.

IF THE RIGHT WING REPUBLICANS IN USA GET THEIR WAY ...

 ... the far right 'influencer' who was shot dead recently will be canonised and be the next and most likely leading American saint putting devout old Liz Seton out on her ear.

American religious idiots including a bloody Cardinal would you believe are getting hysterical about wanting to canonise Charlie Kirk and are rewriting his history already.

For those of you who've been living under a rock Charlie Kirk was a radical right wing activist who founded Turning Point USA, a political organization designed to rally young conservatives.

Here's a snapshot of some of the things that he was known for:

• He was critical of gay and transgender rights and the separation of church and state.
• He encouraged students and parents to report professors whom they suspected of embracing gender ideology.
• He founded TPUSA Faith to "unite the church around primary doctrine and to eliminate wokeism from the American pulpit.” 
• He was a strong supporter of gun rights.
• He believed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a destructive force in American politics, calling its passage a “mistake” that he said has been turned into “an anti-white weapon” and called Martin Luther King an awful person.
• He was repeatedly accused of antisemitism, including by fellow conservatives and was a proponent of “replacement theory,” positing that Jews are trying to replace white Americans with non white immigrants. That ideology motivated the gunman who killed 11 worshipers at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.
• Conversely he called Islam a danger to the United States, railing against what he saw as the religion’s “conquest values" that “seek to take over land and territory.”
• He was a self-declared supporter of free speech yet critics have argued that his promotion of free speech was tinged with hypocrisy, pointing to Turning Point USA’s “Professor Watchlist,” in which students were asked to list professors with leftist positions. and Turning Point USA was known for its free speech advocacy.
• He frequently dismissed concerns about climate change, saying  incorrectly that there was no scientific consensus on global warming.

It's no wonder that Trump identified with him, that the far right made him their hero and that he was planning to become a Catholic hence that canonisation endorsement from the right wing cardinal. Sheesh!

The big danger now that he's been murdered is that he hasn't been silenced - even worse he'll become a martyr to many and as mentioned the religious idiots will call him a saint. His legacy will be to further create division in USA and to foment fascist ideology worldwide.

Already Trump and the American Right are cracking down on the media and free speech and it's quite telling that Google and mainstream media and internet sites are deleting and burying any criticism of Kirk's grandstanding. As I said, they will be attempting to rewrite history.

I guess that Charlie Kirk would have a different idea on mass shootings and gun control now.

I wrote this earlier in the year which has relevance: HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT

NERDY BOY

If New Zealand ever becomes crazy enough to impose ridiculous tariffs on other countries the way that the Orange Idiot has done in the USA (and I don't rule this out with Seymour and Peters leading Luxon by the nose) then we might have to start up computer production here.

Fortunately I'm experienced in the minutiae of computer and electronic assembly having spent an hour or so on it this morning.

I've been sorting out items to give away or take to the tip and our old Apple Mac desktop machine that won't start up has to go. The Old Girl was concerned that a recycler might access the stored files on it so I decided to remove the hard drive and the memory before taking it to the E-Waste section of the tip.

I removed the screen and the frame to access the innards.

I then removed the hard drive and disabled the memory.

Then I reassembled it ready for the E-Waste place.

Easy-peasy!

Admittedly there were a few bits and pieces left over...

... but the recyclers I guess are only interested in the precious metals installed. Too bad if they want to get the thing going again.

I wonder if I should send my CV in to Apple just in case?

HEY HO!

I've been busy around the house today (with my clothes on - take note Richard) doing a bit of a check on things in advance of the building inspector coming on Monday morning.

Murphy's Law of course dictates that anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

The first thing I noticed was that the HRV control panel had a flashing warning that one of the filters in the two units in the attic area needed changing. I swear that I hadn't seen this before and it has just happened. I contacted HRV maintenance people and have scheduled for then to visit.

After doing some tidying up around the outside of the house - stacking away bricks, cleaning guttering, wiping window ledges and cleaning a couple of windows I decided to look at the basin tap in the spare bathroom. The Old Girl who uses this bathroom primarily and not the main one which I use as she says "you treat it as if you were living in a student flat Matey!" alerted me to the leak before she went back to Wellington a few days ago.

Student flat bathroom. I think that she was over-exaggerating.

The leak was very minor but as I didn't want any issues with the building inspection I got out the tool kit and decided to fix it. Just in case though I looked up Youtube and found an instruction video of how to fix a leaking bathroom tap mixer. Armed with this knowledge I pulled the tap system apart which was really quite finicky. After removing the mixing tap and the casing to expose and to remove the mixing cartridge I discovered that I didn't have the right tool to unscrew the large flange and thus couldn't remove the cartridge which I'd planned to take with me to Placemakers and hopefully get a suitable replacement. The tools I had (grips) weren't making much impression on the flange and I was worried about stripping the thread or worse. Meanwhile, on removing the tap and the cover a tiny screw, locking nut and tiny plastic hinge went flying. Luckily they did not go down the plughole which I'd forgotten to plug. "Thank Robert's god for that I thought" and then, looking around at the strewn tools and the bits and pieces of tap lying around I thought how even luckier it was that The Old Girl had gone back to Wellington.

I then made the sensible decision to reassemble the tap mechanism and leave it. If the building inspector is to comment on it I'll say that I have a plumber booked in to replace it. This was easier said than done as the little pieces that fell out - I didn't know the exact positioning to put them back in. The online video was very unhelpful on this score. After much trial and error, mostly error, I managed to get everything sorted and reassembled. I cleaned everything up and then went down the drive to turn the water back on. Whenever I do this I half expect to see fountains of water inside the house but fortunately the tap was holding. I experimented with it on hot and cold and noticed, after turning it off again that the slight leakage had become even slighter. I decided to leave it and made a mental note to not touch the damned thing or even go near it until after the inspection is done.

Sheesh!

I'm now not going to fiddle about with anything else before Monday and, if after that Murphy comes visiting again I'll take The Old Girl's advice and "get a man in".

HERE'S HOPING ...

Today I was a bit trepidatious (sorry Robert) re a visit from the prospective buyers of our house.

The sale and purchase agreement has been signed with a two week period during which conditions have to be met:

• Builder's report
• Geotech report
• Insurance confirmation
• Finance agreement

The builder's and geotech reports are necessary to assuage the fears that the insurers have about coastal properties and the insurer's confirmation is necessary for their bank to agree to whatever loan arrangement they are asking for.

Sheesh! It's like one of Robert's babble stories.

The buyers are well off though. They own a farm which they are going to sell but also have pretty high paying jobs (barrister and energy consultant) so finance isn't an issue. The inspectors' reports are the critical ones. Here's hoping ...

As I said, I wasn't sure what they wanted to see on their visit and discuss but my trepidation (sorry Robert) wasn't called for. They brought with them a chilled bottle of a very good NZ Methode Champenoise which we shared while chatting. Apart from wandering through the house to look at artwork we stayed in the kitchen. I hadn't needed to tidy up the attic, the basement and the shed after all (which I did this morning instead of writing interesting posts to keep Richard happy). They are very nice (like me) so, as I said "Here's hoping ..."

They said that they were very flexible on settlement but I opted to go for the 6 week after unconditional option which takes it to mid November. This still gives me some breathing time to get all the packing and clearance done, organising removal people, arranging storage at the other end and to say some 'goodbyes' to people I know up here.

It also means that I might be able to gatecrash one of Richard's Christmas season luncheons whatever theme he's going for this year. Roasted guinea-pig anyone?

RAMBLE ON

 

OK, that was fun. No doubt YouTube will remove it soon.

It reminds me of this old idiot's rambling:

Which in turn reminds me of this:

That's it. Maybe a longer post later.

"YOU LAZY BINT" *

* I said to a young woman in the supermarket carpark today.

I arrived just before lunchtime and the undercover carpark was fairly chocka. After driving around once I spied a carpark a few spaces away from the trolley station.

I moved into the park but had to stop as there was a supermarket trolley taking up a third of it and I got out to move the trolley to the trolley station - where it belonged. 

As I was doing this two young women (I don't know how old they were as nowadays all women look like 'young women' to me) came along and plonked their trolley next to the one that was blocking my parking space which was ... only bloody less than 50 meters away! 

I said:

 "Hoy! why don't you put the trolley away properly?"

They just looked at me, said nothing (probably thinking, as they were born in Waiunuiomata, that there girls are smarter) and walked to their car.

It was then that I shouted out after them, in particular to the one who had been wheeling the trolley:

"you lazy bint!"

This nonplussed them as I doubt that they had heard that expression before or, rather, the word 'bint'. No doubt on their way home they talked about the silly old fart who was talking incomprehensibly.

'Bint' is a word that my dad used often, saying things like "that silly bint" or that old bint up the road". Obviously it was derogatory. He picked this up from his days as a soldier in WW2 in his time spent in Egypt.

It's amazing what memory does sometimes.

Anyway, I feel like I did my job.

 

"IS ANYBODY OUT THERE?"

This stupid government is talking about spending $50 million on attracting major music acts to Auckland. See:

$70 million dollar funding boost

Out of the $70 million investment $50 million will go to secure large-scale international events from 2026 and $10 million to support existing events and attract international opportunities. The rest goes to incentivise international visitors and more cycle trails.


All this just so that New Zealand can compete with Queensland to attract noisy rubbish like Taylor Swift concerts. WTF?

It will be a drop in the bucket with all profits going to the performers and the promoters and will do bugger all for tourism and any increase in consumer spending in Auckland and New Zealand.

That $50 to $70 million though would be a hell of a boost to the health, education and social welfare services that actually need it. What the hell are these twonks thinking?

Luxon has his head up his arse

OK HERE WE GO*

 * Yes, I know, that title should have been given to my post about Robert's religion that I titled:

'IT'S TIME TO PUT THIS SILLY SHIT TO BED'.

Never mind eh. I certainly hope that Robert doesn't mind and I guess that being a Christian and, even worse, a Catholic, he's quite used to people poking fun at his 'beliefs'.

Moving on.

I guess the readers (many of them I'm sure and there are at least three that I know about) want to know what I've been up to today apart from mocking the Catholic Church's latest silliness about Nain*. Is that where the word 'naivety' comes from? If so it makes sense. Anyway ...

... today I played tennis in the morning which I had to cut short as I had to get back home to take The Old Girl to the airport for her return trip to Wellington. As I arrived home she called me to join her in a phone call from our real estate agent who had news that the people who viewed our house a couple of weeks ago were planning to make an offer but wanted another viewing on Friday of this week. Their proposed offer is attractive so we agreed to this and I cancelled my (almost) planned trip to Wellington next month. I have a couple of days to get the house 'view worthy' again aided by The Old Girl's list of my failings, transgressions, laziness, dirtiness and inattention to detail (it's a long list) and includes statements like "that toilet is disgusting Matey". Well, at least it's good to have instructions to follow.

I got The Old Girl safely to the airport and tha ... away back to Wellington and returned home to start on 'the list'.

Tonight I'm cooking a pepperoni pizza made with Hellers chicken pepperoni and accompanying that with a couple of glasses of wine:

Villa Maria Black Label Reserve Chardonnay 2022

Villa Maria Black Label Reserve Cabernet Merlot 2019

One glass of each .

Both of these wines are outstanding in quality and drinkability and I'm going to see if they are still available at the bargain prices I bought them at from on-line sellers.

 

 

* Nain was a small, inhabited village during the time of Jesus, a detail supported by archaeological findings. The village is situated in Lower Galilee, an area known for its historical significance and connection to key biblical sites. It is strategically located between Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee, and its proximity to Mount Tabor and the Jezreel Valley provides a distinct geographical backdrop. 

The site of the miracle is believed to be near the gate of the ancient town, which is now associated with the modern village of Nein in Israel. Scholars from Whangarei however suggest that the village was actually named Naive.

IT'S TIME TO PUT THIS SILLY SHIT TO BED

We're not talking about Richard here - he manages to take himself off to bed every night at 7.30 - no, we're talking about the escalating silly shit coming from Robert's blog.

This morning Robert posted some more regurgitation from the Catholic Church:

In today's Gospel at Holy Mass Jesus raises a young man from the dead because his mother has no one else to look after her.

'When he was near the gate of the town (Nain) it happened that a dead man was being carried out for burial, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow."

Jesus says ""Young man I tell you to get up" and the dead man sat up and began to talk...everyone was filled with awe and praised

Nain is a real town. It's now called Nein. (Maybe everybody kept misspelling the name like Feilding). I bet if you go to Nein there wont be a sign beside the road saying "Nobody was raised from the dead here. Nope, didn't happen here". Indeed, you can probably buy little figurines of a man sitting up in a coffin. Luke says there were a considerable number of people with her (the mother).

So really there is no reason to disbelieve this account. You are forced to either believe Jesus is God and give him the respect and honour he deserves, or choose to walk apart from God. You can not just say 'it was made up'. That would indicate you are mentally unstable.

We get this shit a lot on Robert's blog but as I said the nonsense is escalating and the conclusions becoming even more illogical.

Firstly, if there had been someone going about  Palestine over 2000 years ago who had the power to raise people from the dead then the military-industrial complexes of Judea and Rome would have co opted him to help out in their war efforts. There's no way that such a skill would go unnoticed or not capitalised on.

Secondly, if there was a god who created all things and a god's son who carried out this god's wishes why bother with all this resurrection palaver? It would be simpler for the chosen people not to die in the first place.

Thirdly, and the one that I take most objection to is the illogical conclusion that the story is true because the geographical location is correct. That would be like saying "all people who live in Wainuiomata are good golf players". Add to this the bullying statements "You are forced to either believe Jesus is God and give him the respect and honour he deserves, or choose to walk apart from God. You can not just say 'it was made up'. That would indicate you are mentally unstable" and you have Christianity via Catholicism in a nutshell (and 'nut' is appropriate).

Sheesh!

MOON DAY*

 

* The names of the day of the week were coined in the Roman era, in Greek and Latin, in the case of Monday as ἡμέρᾱ Σελήνης, diēs Lūnae "day of the Moon"

It's been a bit of a grey day here.

We went into town and gave blood (but not our bodies as it wasn't Communion) and are just generally lounging around.

My playmate goes back to Wellington tomorrow so I'll have the house - and the study - to myself again. I'll make some flight bookings for a visit for a couple of weeks in October.

I wonder what those old boogers bloggers will be up to? Hopefully I  can pay them a visit.

I note that Robert is keeping fit with lifting weights:

That's impressive. It just goes to show how healthy eating, church attendance and keeping away from sin can give the body tone.

Talking of tone, Richard seems to get his exercise wrestling with big things like this:

I guess that experience he had in the 1970s has come in useful.

The Old Girl's using the exercise machines at present. I'll wait until she's finished and then go and do some rowing, cycling and stepping. I hope that we can get a place in Wellington to accommodate these when we finally buy a place there.

SAD BAG

 

Yes it's a sad bag alright but not as sad as this one: RICHARD'S (SHAKY) BASS BAG

"Sorry about the quality of this selfie - I'm a bit shaky"

Being short of ideas for a post he decided to 'bag' your favourite and mine - The Curmudgeon's latest post!

"Here's the price you pay for one mistake
So get off the streets it's Shakey Jake".

 

Those poor old bloggers are just lucky that I'm here to help them to lift their game.

If you're wondering about the whereabouts of the other old blogger Robert, well, he's on holiday. See here:

Shaky and not stirred

Those guys know how to have fun alright.

THINGS THAT PISS ME OFF* NUMBER ONE

 * Yes, I know, this might be quite a long series. 

The trouble is though, that I forget what things piss me off. I mean, there are a  lot of them and when one comes around again or a new one arises I think "I should write a blog about that" but because I don't carry a little notebook around to jot things into like that old and pedantic ex-schoolteacher who lives down in Wainowwherearemymyslippers, the blog-post thought disappears.

Anyway, 'THINGS THAT PISS ME OFF'. I'm in the study at present (The Old Girl is still in bed) so can access things on the 'big' computer. I was strolling through Youtube music clips and once again came across one of these stupid fucking American ones where some twonks 'discover' and listens to a piece of music for the first time and just has to share their fatuous impressions of it. Sheesh!

Look at these idiots:

Talk about oversharing. It's like Richard describing his toilet habits or Robert his romantic liaisons.

HALF BLUE

Those other bloggers professed that they were half Irish yesterday. They didn't say which half so I'll leave that up to your own imagination. Now they are saying that they are half blue.

To explain: Richard is performing music he refers to as 'almost blues' whatever that means.

I once had an Elvis Costello album titled Almost Blue and which had the title track on it:

This Chet Baker version (click "watch on Youtube") is beautiful and matches the wintry day we are having up here. It's soulful and nostalgic.

Maybe Richard was thinking of that and it's a wintry day in Wellington.

Robert said that he's off to Taupo today to sit by the lake which he romantically describes as a giant caldera that's due to explode once more. Maybe, if he doesn't dress according to the likely very cold weather there, he'll be almost blue as well.

That would go well with the half Irish thing as the Irish and the Scottish are fair skinned people living in a very cold climate and have to sunbathe just to turn white. Here's what Billy Connolly said about it:

"SO I HEAR THAT YOU'RE HALF IRISH NOW LADS"

 

Robert and Richard seem to have discovered that they're half Irish. Good for them. It explains a lot.

THIS IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT

I gave my neighbour Rod a ride to tennis. He has a shangeye and doesn't drive while using it. When you're in a confined space with Rod, you have to talk to try and stop him talking. He doesn't listen though because Rod is only interested in shangeyes and what you can kill with them. "My grandson is a brilliant shot with his shangeye. Really accurate. He shot a bush rat yesterday that was in the garden. He thinks it was a bush rat but his neighbour is complaining that her cat is missing. Never mind. My grandson is a really good shot." While it's not worth responding to Rod you can make up answers in your head like "who gives a fuck about your grandson?" or "hey! Watch where you're firing that thing" or "what colour cat was it?". You know, stuff like that. It makes the drive to tennis more bearable.

As you know, last week I didn't drive Rod to tennis. If I had I would have mentioned it in my blog seeing as you readers find what I write to be so riveting. The people at tennis didn't know nor care whether I'd given Rod a ride to tennis but I think that they were secretly pleased because he rode his bike to tennis. When Rod rides his bike he can't fire off shots with his shangeye and so is safer to have around. Quite a few of them gave me a nod and a wink and I think that it was due to me not giving Rod a ride to tennis. Or, that's what I think it was about. I checked to see that my flies weren't open though just to be sure as a couple of the old dames at tennis are a bit frisky. They tell me that I play very well, almost as well as their nephews, cousins, children and grandchildren but I don't really believe them. I think that they are just sucking up so that I don't give Rod a ride in my car to tennis. They admire my tennis racket as well and say things like "Wow! That's a big one" or "you can serve me anytime you want you know". You know, stuff like that.

On the local Facebook pages (formerly known as Neighbourly) that I check for local news there's a tennis coach who advertises lessons. He posts videos of him playing and teaching kids to play. He says that you don't need to have your eyes open to play as by using Zen techniques a good player can just sense where the ball will be. He also advocates taking the strings out of your racket to make the stroke more fluid and unaffected by wind resistance.

Personally I think that he's full of shit (or marijuana) so will not be following his silly advice.

Quite a few people up here don't really like Facebook and Zen tennis teachers and their ilk because quite frankly they prefer to live in their own alternative life-styles living in the bushes. They listen to odd voices in their heads and some even profess to believing in some god who created the world. Many of them also believe that Donald Trump is a saintly person and deserves to go to heaven so there you go. I don't have much truck with them because they are even worse than Rod and don't just have shangeyes - they have guns and like to call the shots. They are not unlike those rednecks and anti-establishment people in and around Otorohanga and Waitomo in that regard.

So, what if people don't like my particular style of tennis playing, the one where I basically hold my position and use cunning spin shots to devastating effect without the use of Zen, god or any religion? "Tough cookies!" I say.

FOR ROBERT

This will make Robert's day. A US politician who he admires for his anti-abortion (and probably anti-women) beliefs has told the world of his greatest wish:

He can join all the other crooks liars and charlatans who have disguised their transgressions with religious puffery - assuming (and I don't) that there is such a thing as a god, heaven, angels and virgin mothers.

Trump, should he get to heaven would no doubt want to rearrange things and redecorate because he believes that he's a great builder:

Just think how Robert's heaven would look once 'the Master Builder gets his tacky little paws on it:

"You can't have too much gold"

**BREAKING NEWS**

Wainuiomata might be without a bugler at the Remembrance ceremonies this November:

Yes, you heard it here (since no one reads Richard's blog posts) - Richard is spitting the dummy rather than spitting in his green trumpet and may not turn up on the day.

I guess that the 'Nui' organisers will have to make other arrangements.

MISSED IT*

* No doubt the 'wit' from Wainuiomata would have written that as 'Miss Tit'.

Oh well, he's getting there - halfway now.

The moon eclipse was yesterday and I missed it as I was unaware of the event. It's a pity as I was awake watching world cup rugby highlights on my iPad but hadn't yet opened the bedroom curtains.

Someone else from McLeod Bay where I live was up and about though and took and posted this photo on Facebook:

The next blood moon, visible from New Zealand, will be late in the evening on March 3, 2026. I guess I'll be in Wellington to see that. Maybe Richard will have fully qualified as a wit by then.

BENEDICT ARNOLD ...

 ... sorry, I meant Stuart Nash...

... not this guy:

Benedict Arnold was an American-born British military officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defecting to the British in 1780. General George Washington had given him his fullest trust and had placed him in command of West Point in New York. Arnold was planning to surrender the fort to British forces, but the plot was discovered in September 1780, whereupon he fled to the British lines. In the later part of the war, Arnold was commissioned as a brigadier general in the British Army and placed in command of the American Legion. He led British forces in battle against the army which he had once commanded, and his name became synonymous with treason and betrayal in the United States.

Stuart Nash is a New Zealand politician (great-grandson of Sir Walter Nash, 27th Prime Minister of New Zealand in the Second Labour Government from 1957 to 1960). He was a member of the House of Representatives for Labour from 2008 to 2011, and was re-elected in the 2014 election. In October 2017 Nash entered the Labour Cabinet with portfolios of Police, Revenue, Small Business and Fisheries. In the second term of government Nash was handed the Economic Development, Tourism, Forestry, and Small Business portfolios. In 2023 he was sacked from Cabinet for breaching confidentiality by emailing donors about policy discussions and Nash confirmed that he would not be contesting the 2023 election. Nash has now declared his allegiance to NZ First, telling the party’s members Labour has “abandoned” working people. On Saturday he was a guest speaker at NZ First’s annual convention, rejecting the Labour party and declaring his support for Peters’ economic nationalist party, which is in coalition Government with the National Party.

Yes, I can see why I confused these two people.

THE LAST RIDE*

THE LAST RIDE

As it was such a stunning morning I went to golf.

I've just resigned from the golf club, as in notified them that I wouldn't be renewing my membership on October 1st. This means that my membership is valid until the end of this month.

As I haven't played much over the last few months I thought that I'd get as many games in as I can over the next few weeks. I played badly. Very badly - like crap!

Never mind. It was a lovely walk - walk being the operative term as I stopped hitting (and losing) golf  balls after the first three holes and meandered my way back to the carpark.

When there, and about to load my clubs and trundler into the car I noticed that my seat was missing. WTF?

I retraced my path and fortunately not far away found my seat.

** Recreation of the discovery**

I don't often use the seat for sitting on but it has a lift up lid and in the box I keep my phone, tees, golf balls, sunglasses etc. so, it is important.

Here's a pic showing where it should be located:

I trust that this has been of interest.

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

 

"I didn't get where I am today by using acronyms. Begone social media trolls!"

BUSKING

 

WILLCOMMEN

Robert hasn't mentioned attending Mass much recently so I'm not sure if he is still going several times a week.

I hope that he's still holding onto his faith as per one of his favourite songs:

“Sectare fidem” is our rule
We’ll hold our faith while we have breath.
Loyal to home, Church, Crown and School
St Patrick’s sons we’ll remain till death."

Mind you, if he's still attending this arcane theatrical event where the attendees believe that the Eucharist is not a symbol, but the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ and that to receive Jesus in Holy Communion requires preparation beforehand by attending Confession and total adherence to everything that the Catholic Church teaches - there's something he needs to know - he'd better get there early to secure a good seat. Whew!

"Why do you say that The Curmudgeon?" I hear some of you readers ask.

Well, get this:

POPE LEO CONFIRMS POPE FRANCIS'S RULING ON LGBQT CATHOLICS

"We are looking to be more welcoming and more open and to say all people are welcome in the church.” Pope Leo (as Rev. Robert Prevost) previously said.

No doubt LGBQT Catholics will be flocking to Masses - and why not? It's good theatre and the main characters, the priests, altar boys and other attendants all wear frocks. What's not to like?

One of my favourite songs is that 'Willcommen' one from the excellent film Cabaret that I posted above.

FORTY YEARS AGO

It was my sister's 40th wedding anniversary on the weekend. I went to Edinburgh in 1985 to attend. Here's a pic of my brother in-law helping me into my kilt for the occasion.

Mickey Mouse is keeping an eye on proceedings.

The Old Girl suggested yesterday that we should do the Ghan train trip in Australia to celebrate. We like train trips. As this one is so popular she said that booking a couple of years ahead is necessary. I'd better get on to it as I won't be popular if I do my usual and leave it to the last minute.

"The Ghan is an experiential tourism-oriented passenger train service that operates between the northern and southern coasts of Australia, through the cities of Adelaide, Alice Springs and Darwin on the Adelaide-Dawin rail corridor.

... its scheduled travelling time, including extended stops for passengers to do off-train tours, is 53 hours 15 minutes to travel the 2,979 kilometres.  The Ghan has been described as one of the world's greatest passenger trains."

        Wikipedia