GET (UN)KNOTTED!

 I played tennis this morning but gave up after an hour because my back was sore and I had difficulty turning my head. The problem is a kind of knot in my upper right back just below the shoulder. I looked it up on-line and found this:

Muscle knot treatment

• Rest. Allow your body to rest if you have muscle knots. 
• Stretch. Gentle stretching that elongates your muscles can help you to release tension in your body. 
• Exercise. Aerobic exercise may help to relieve muscle knots. 
• Hot and cold therapy. 
• Use a muscle rub. 
• Trigger point pressure release. 
• Physical therapy.

Well, I'm not resting any more than I usually do. No doubt I'll nod off this afternoon while reading or watching TV.

I have tried stretching but find that lying flat out on the wooden floor helps better, The problem with this is it scares The Old Girl when she enters the room as she thinks that I've 'kicked the bucket'

I did get some exercise playing tennis and after that went to the golf course (see below).

I don't know about hot and cold therapy but do know that a hot bath with Epsom salts helped yesterday.

I don't know what a muscle rub is but suspect that The Old Girl will thump me if I ask her for a rub.

Ditto for "trigger point pressure release". It sounds rude.

I'm not going to go to get physical therapy. This would involve waiting around for ages for a physiotherapist who will then put a hot pack on your back and tell you to: - do all of those other things listed above.

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

I bought a set of golf irons and bag last night on Trade Me. My current clubs are OK but I've broken the 4-iron and lost the 8-iron. I've been looking to replace these but buying them individually, even second hand, is expensive. The set I bought - 2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9 irons plus sand wedge and pitching wedge cost $53. They are of good quality - Dunlop Maxfli but are old. The bag is nice quality leather although a bit worn.

I picked them up from the seller after tennis and went to the golf course to try them out. At home I have about a thousand golf balls but in this bag - nothing. I had to find a ball first to try out the clubs. I took an 8-iron and walked down to my favourite stream where, sure enough I found two good balls. I used these to hit two damned good 8-iron shots to the 4th green with one landing and rolling onto the green and the other embedding itself just next to the green. The course is extremely wet after all the rain we have had and it was muddy and slippery. I slipped over due to the fact that I was still wearing the flat-soled tennis shoes and managed to wrench both knees - my bad one and the other one (don't tell The Old Girl!)

Although I only hit two balls and only used the 8-iron, I'm happy with the clubs.

With my back giving me gyp and now some knee pain I'm going to have a long soak in a hot bath laced with Epsom salts and Radox. See: HERE

No doubt I'll nod off.

NEW NEIGHBOURS

A few months ago the house next door was sold. The new owners, who live somewhere up north visit it every second weekend otherwise it remains empty. This of course is surprising as it sold for 1.3M even though it is a bit ramshackle. I know that this doesn't compare with ex PM John Key's house which sold for 27M four years ago and is still empty and apparently is going to ruin. See HERE but it does seem to be a waste.

When the owner does visit he disappears inside for a couple of days and does things. Unknown things.

WHAT'S HE BUILDING IN THERE?

There is always tapping sounds and thumps and bumps. I'm tempted to peer in the windows at night to see what's going on but have seen enough American horror films to dissuade me from doing that.

What's he building in there?

AUCKLAND - THE SERIES. PART TWO

 The Old Girl had to work in Auckland this last week so we took advantage of the fact that her work was paying for the cost of a hotel and parking and I went with her. We stayed at the Travelodge in the Wynyard Quarter down by the water. It was pretty good and our room had great views of the city.

On Tuesday night we went to the opening night of The Marriage of Figaro at the Aotea Centre. As usual NZ Opera did a marvellous job with great sets, good orchestra and outstanding performances. Mozart  operas aren't my favourite as they tend to be very long and, while being musically proficient lack the 'oomph' of the Italian ones from Verdi, Rossini and Al.* Before the opera we dined at the Federal Delicatessen which never disappoints.

On the way to the deli we walked past the Grand Hotel and saw a brand new white Ferrari Portofino parked in the forecourt. We agreed how much of a wank it is for someone to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a car that's too powerful to drive around city streets. After our meal we walked past the hotel again and saw this:

The goose of a driver must have accelerated too much and ran into a small Toyota. What a laugh.

On Wednesday I had lunch with Tony and Mike. We went to the Wintergarden Cafe in the Auckland Domain where we had very nice tomato soup and a good catch up. Very nice. In the evening The Old Girl and I dined at a Wynyard Quarter restaurant. The food was excellent. Richard will be pleased to know that I had red wine with my fish dish. A Central Otago pinot noir went well with the John Dory on top of beetroot risotto. As I said to The Old Girl - "No One will notice if I spill my wine into my meal as the risotto is already red." Ha. ha. (We have our little laughs). Central Otago pinot noir actually has beetroot notes so it was appropriate. The wine wasn't chilled.

On Thursday night Tom and Janny invited us to their house for dinner where we had a great evening and a catch-up while eating delicious Moroccan -style food and drinking French wine.  Lovely.

On Friday night we caught up with other friends at Mezze in Vulcan Lane. As I said in the previous post it seems to have changed hands as the wine list was rubbish and my favourite dishes were no longer on the menu. That was a bit naff I thought as I'm a regular there, going at least once a year!

We had been expecting rain and associated bad weather in Auckland but were treated to nice days and lovely clear evenings. I took a couple of pics after the opera.

That's all for now but I can write more if you want.

* et al - that was a little joke there.

AUCKLAND - THE SERIES. PART ONE

We've just arrived home from new Zealand's largest city. We got about the central city by using the Link bus and Uber.

Here's a map of the route to assist.

We were staying in the Wynyard Quarter.

We visited friends and dined out which was all very pleasant but the wine list at Mezze was very disappointing. I think that the place has changed hands. 

It wasn't as cool as I was expecting so I was able to get about in just shorts and tee shirt. Maybe this was why, at a bar in Queen Street, they served my red wine chilled. Sheesh!

I just finished this post and then checked Richard's blog. In a comment on his most recent post he said this:

That was quite prescient really.

QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY - FULL OF PISS AND WIND AS YOU WOULD EXPECT.

Northland has been experiencing a vicious storm over the last couple of days.

Last night we had 125km winds that shook the house and sent anything not bolted down scattering. No deck chairs were damaged though, you will be relieved to know.

Twice during the night I had to go outside. The first time was to secure the basement doors which had been ripped open by wind gusts.

These very doors - wide open!

I had to don my trusty yellow slicker with the hood.

The Old Girl scoffed when I bought this a while ago from the Kathmandu store.

"We live in Northland, not North England" she said. Well, the last laugh is with me as this kept me dry as I battled the wind and rain last night.

Later I had to go outside again as there was a very loud and repetitive thumping and banging sound. It was pitch black so I needed a powerful torch and went all around the house. A few years back a similar storm tore the roof off a neighbour's house so I made a careful check of ours. I couldn't see any problem but realised that the sound was from the bay. The sails from one of the yacht's moored there had been torn loose and were flapping. The owners were out repairing it this morning.

I'm going to install new and hardier bolts on the basement doors today if and when the wind and rain subsides. We're off to Auckland tomorrow for a week and I don't want this to happen again while I'm away.

HE AINT HEAVY ...

 

"Socialism is a political, social, and economic philosophy encompassing a range of economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production. It includes the political theories and movements associated with such systems." - Wikipedia.

Yes, I know that it's a very short explanation and it does go around in a circle but it was just the opening statement of Wikipedia's analysis. If you want more - look it up yourself. Hopefully, in the expanded version Wikipedia might get its head out of its arse and explain what Socialism is really about, devoid of political references.



Socialism's roots are ......... very numerous and date back a very long time. Trust me. I won't bore you with copying and pasting a lot more from 'the web' but suffice to say, Socialism isn't a new invention and only has some passing connection with Communism regardless of what stupid right wing Americans, the Catholic church and most right and centre right political groups around the world including in New Zealand say.
The main difference is that Socialism has democratic ideals whereas Communism wishes to force 'equality' authoritarianism. Communism is a political doctrine and Socialism is an ideal way of living.

Sorry about the obvious Americanism but I kind of like what this is saying.

I was educated in the Catholic religion which, in New Zealand, at the time (1950s and 1960s), meant that we had a pretty good education from primary school through to college. Apart from the Christian Doctrine, which was crap and basically stupid  and which every intelligent pupil should have seen through, the nuns, brothers and priests taught us well and took a lot of care in ensuring that we met and exceeded the required educational standards at the time. This (apart from that silly Christian Doctrine and Catechism stuff) was usefully bound up in instructions relating to care, responsibility and conscience. I see this as a form of ethics and with which I try to lead my life.

I was also brought up in a working class family that didn't have much wealth but shared what it had with the wider family (predominantly Catholic so there were a lot of them). We had a form of family based socialism going on I guess and I have happy memories of spending school holidays with relatives all about the country - helping out on farms (before farm owners became millionaires) and in other enterprises. Similarly relatives from other parts of the country (and the world) would camp at our place when needed and mum and dad were often helping out others where they could with money, goods and labour.

My parents always voted Labour and this is something that I've followed. Labour, a left leaning political party and ideology in New Zealand has generally been a viable alternative to National which is a right leaning party and ideology. There have been parties and ideologies further to the right and the left but, fortunately, these haven't gained much traction and momentum. New Zealand is really a centrist country politically speaking. There isn't, fundamentally, a lot of difference between the centrist-right National and the centrist-left Labour. Both political parties, when in or out of government, have the needs of the public in mind. The differences arise in the wants of the public and so, naturally, those members of the public whose wants are perhaps more based on wealth and wealth acquisition will support a party that leans to the right (National). A smaller but significant proportion of them also support parties that lean even more to the right. The lesser privileged in society, who either don't have wealth or are not driven to its acquisition will naturally support parties that are left leaning (Labour) and those that are even more left leaning will contest what Labour advocates and/or give support to even more left leaning parties (that often don't have much of a presence in governance.

Is this a good thing?

Well, I think so.

New Zealand, as in New Zealanders have in our short history shown the world that we are sensible and reasonable people. We don't put up with being bullied and don't like bullies. 

The fact that a small population can get governance that broadly satisfies most people year to year without a  50:50 party split as shown by the Republican/Democrat divide in USA or the authoritarian ruling by most world governments attests to our reasonableness. Hey, I intensely disliked John Key as prime minister but that was probably because he's a dick and I hated Robert Muldoon. Muldoon though, even with some of his 'think big' projects and anti-Labour stance (remember that Labour/Communist political campaign he endorsed in 1975 to abolished the superannuation scheme that everyone would now admit would have benefitted New Zealanders if it had gone ahead). HERE was basically a socialist. His heart I believe was in the right place but he lost it a bit (gin?) and ended up staying too long and imploding the National party. The follow-up Labour government in the mid 1980s was a breath of fresh air to me and I really liked David Lange but his deputy, that weasel Roger Douglas brought the government down and his free market plans were disastrous to New Zealanders. Under the banner of a Labour government this fool enabled crooks, charlatans and chancers to burgle our resources. These pricks ended up as billionaires and some even got bloody knighthoods. Bastards!

Anyway, why this topic of Socialism?

Robert, a follower of this blog, for reasons best known to himself but I suspect it stems from his affiliation to the Catholic church, dislikes Socialism. He is one of those that confuses it with Communism and can get a bit vitriolic when talking of the Labour government and prime minister Jacinda Ardern. He says things like "our socialist state" see below:

It seems that the Labour government can't do anything right in his eyes. It is damned if it does bad things (to him) like taking a pro-abortion stance, endorsing same-sex marriage and promoting equality for GLBT people. It is also damned if it tries to support the most underprivileged in our society and has plans to put more money and services into the hands of those who most need it.

The post of his, above, is a case in point. Robert sees himself as a businessman and lines himself up with National. He adopts right wing ideology and anything that lines up with Toryism in the UK and Republicanism in USA. I shudder to think what European political movements he might follow and hope that it's not Fascism. I guess it's the Vatican. While Robert disparages the Labour government's initiatives he's not above accepting the handouts and benefits from social services (there's that bogey-word again). I trust that he will enjoy his 'socialist' heat-pump during the winter months.

TINS TOO

 Well, I think that the TINS post went well. It certainly encouraged some comments.

In my haste I forgot to mention some other tins I have.

I have tinnitus which is very annoying and I guess that some of the many readers also have a touch of this.

In the study I use this tin for holding pens and pencils. I've had it since the mid 1980s and it's very useful along with being attractive.

In the snooker room this little print overlooks the table.

It was a birthday gift from one of my nieces I think as they knew that I like TinTin. I have all of the books in the series and have, over the last 50 years or more re-read them and find enjoyment every time.

Have you read this?

I know that Richard has. Our friend Mike wrote this and in it there are references to Tintin and The Blue Lotus. It's a great book and well worth reading.

Thanks for reading. I'll leave you with this.

TIN WHISTLE

YESTERDAY

 I had a busy day yesterday.

I went for a long walk around the bay. Here are some pics:

It was very pleasant.

Afterwards I finished loading up the trailer (no pics unfortunately) and went to the refuse centre in town.

I'm getting quite good at reversing a loaded trailer now, in between other vehicles backed up to the dumping area.

That's all really. The weather was nice but it is getting noticeably cooler. Today, if I don't light one or two of the wood-burners I'll turn on the heat pump in the lounge. We installed a couple a few months ago, paying full price for them. If we had been subsidised by our 'socialist' government we would be sure to have been thankful for the opportunity and gracious in acceptance.

IT'S A SHAME, REALLY.

 Some people like to blow their own trumpet.

Richard's posts on his Bass Bag post are increasingly seeming like advertisements where he likes to talk about how any comments he receives on his posts. Admittedly the number is quite high but in truth most of the comments are written by himself under his own name or under the names of his alter-egos.

It's a shame, really.

TINS

 I like tins. I much prefer them to cardboard and plastic packets and use them to store things in.

My love of tins probably started when I was a kid and dad would occasionally buy large tins of biscuits. These were either Griffin's or Aulsebrooks.

Sometimes the contents were  all the same biscuit like ginger nuts or cabin bread but we used to love the broken biscuit selection. This was like a lucky dip where, in the tin could be 20 or more types of biscuit - all chipped or broken. It was fun to reach in without seeing and drawing out a surprise.

Later on, the bulk tin gave way to a more sophisticated pack - the sampler.

These were often on offer when visiting the aunts in Wellington but, to me, were a bit too twee and lacked the excitement offered by the older and larger tins.

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

In my cupboards today I have a range of tins to keep foods in.

These RSA themed tins by AFM were on sale a couple of years ago. They contained ANZAC biscuits and were on sale around the ANZAC day period. I bought a couple and use them to keep cakes and biscuits in.

I bought these tins and we use them a lot. They keep potatoes, onions and garlic fresh and out of sunlight. The holes in the tins help in freshness.

The Old Girl buys Illy coffee in bulk, on-line. She's a bit of a coffee nut - I'm not. I buy my coffee at the supermarket selecting whatever is on special - usually L'Affare , Jed's or Hummingbird. I use an empty can of Illy to keep my coffee 'du jour' in. 

While not a tin, this EasiYo container gets a lot of use. I use it to mix and store in the fridge, a concoction of AllBran, apple sauce and prune juice. Yummy! I put this on top of Weet-bix (with some hot water and milk) for my breakfast. "Baby mush" the Old Girl calls it and refuses to try it.

This leads me on to the tin that spurred this post.

I've had this for many years now. It holds a 750gm pack of Weet-bix.

It keeps them nice and fresh and tidy. I love it.