He posted on this dickhead government which is trying to buy favour with the right (not minded) gung ho fools who behave like petrol heads. See: HERE
At long last we saw some responsible action arising from decades of road speed reviews and analysis of the causation of crashes where local councils were given the right to review and change the current speed limits where necessary. I live in a semi-rural area where the roads were never designed for 100kph driving and the seaside 'villages' with children and holiday makers frequently crossing the roads make 50kph unsafe. The long discussed changes where community input was canvassed finally came into effect - before the election - with the official roll-out of signage being 15th December. Over the last month new signposts and signage have been erected and have been masked awaiting the 15 December deadline. As far as I know this is still going to happen regardless of the National/ACT/NZFirst changing of the laws which I think only covers new proposals going forward. It is still a bit muddy though as expected when a chimps tea party is responsible for dismantling all of the previous Labour Governments rulings.
Neighbourly/Facebook is running red hot up here with the speedsters at first bemoaning the changes and now, hopefully falsely, claiming a victory. Our roads here are dangerous. They are narrow, windy and poorly maintained. They were never designed for the zoom machines and behemoths that Richard mentioned in his post. The drivers of these things tail-gate and bully others on the road and rant about little old ladies doing 60kph in 100kph areas. Now I've been driving these roads for the last 15 years and sure, occasionally there are slower drivers and yes, some of them are older drivers but it is no where near what these idiots are claiming. Tossers!
Here's an example of the sort of shit that the petrol heads write. This was in a discussion about the changeover on Friday:
This idiot has commented before, complaining about slow drivers, speed cameras, drink-drive stops and any sort of regulation. He drives one of those small-willy muscle trucks and no doubt is a tailgating bully. I for one would not shed a tear if I saw his machine upside down in a ditch out here.
Richard wondered, in a recent post or a comment on someone else's post, whether I'd be on Neighbourly starting trouble again.
"I wonder if TC will be on Neighbourly starting trouble again and I apologise for the arrow on my nose."
Well, he needn't have wondered (except for that arrow on his nose) because, I was.
On a walk on the weekend I met a woman walking her dog on a track where dogs are clearly forbidden and have been for the last 10 years. I reminded her of the rules that are in place to protect kiwi and reintroduced native birdlife. Her response was like something Robert would say to justify Catholicism.
Here's the sign that has been defaced
As expected this generated many responses ranging from the rabid and irresponsible dog owners who don't want to be governed by regulations, through the more reasonable dog owners who are just confused and need to know the regulations and why they are in place, and to the outright dog haters.
All good stuff. My job was done.
One goof I wish to mention made a silly suggestion that the signs should be higher to deter defacers from, well, defacing them. I had to respond to this.
As you can see by the 'conversation' it was like a schoolyard argument.
I detest this 'Karen' thing that's leapt into our vernacular. It's yet another cultural invasion from the bloody Americans and I just wish that New Zealanders were mature and intelligent enough to resist it.
I'm a hobbyist social historian which is why, to The Old Girl's chagrin, I've followed the rise, fall and rise of Donald Trump in the USA recognising that this, in our lifetime is a chronicle of one of history's greatest fools and charlatans and future generations will marvel at how it was allowed to happen. In a smaller and localised way Neighbourly (now owned by Facebook) chronicles the day to day views and opinions of our, well, neighbours, This is actually scary. The rise of social media platforms has given a 'voice' to people who were once invisible and the world-wide-web and various internet communications has brought international news and information (and fake news and conspiracies) to them like never before. Have they always been there? I guess so but slumbering or in some kind of hiatus and relatively safe to others and only raised to action - good or bad- by instigators, provocateurs, revolutionaries or governments - again, good or bad. Anyway it's worrying and I like to keep an eye on them.
Richard to fashion is like oil to water, Robert to open-mindedness or Nicola Willis to responsible budgeting.
I know, I know, The Old Girl say's that when I get dressed up I still look like "a bag of busted arseholes" - her expression which I must admit is a bit harsh, but we actually aren't talking about clothes fashion or looks here. We are going to talk about different ways to improve sustainability and .... get ready for it ... maybe the old ex-schoolteacher from Waidoesitmatta was on the right track all the time!
I don't need to tell you how Richard, for years now, in his blog posts has been banging on about drinking clean-skin chardonnay ....
..... actually I probably do as no-one reads his posts but he does mention it in his comments on my popular posts so maybe you saw it there. Anyway, in his mostly unread posts he always uses a picture of a chardonnay bottle (see pic above) that, maybe (?) denotes a clean-skin chardonnay. He gets a bit confused due to his extreme age and on one occasion in his youth indulging in a psychedelic substance. I think that flashbacks are getting to him. I'm sure that the 'clean-skin' chardonnays he imbibes don't have labels on them. The more unkind reader might suggest that parsimony is the reason for this but I prefer to think that the old guy was on to something (not on something - that was in the past).
This leads me to tell you that today I read in the Grapegrower and Winemaker magazine, an article titled 'Labelling wines without labels'. That's a conundrum that can 'blow your mind (I'm not referring to Richard's psychedelic experimentation here) but one that Robert should easily get his head around given his experience in convoluted and twisted logic as promulgated by the Catholic Church.
The article stated that wine producers are looking at different ways to improve their sustainability from embracing organic practices through to using alternative energy sources. Label design can help to reduce costs and shrink wine businesses' carbon footprints. Essentially reducing printing, paper and the associated chemicals involved can make a huge difference. To the nth degree, eliminating the paper label altogether is the best solution. An Australian Barossa Valley company has released a wine branded 'crate' that has no label but all the mandatory information is printed on the capsule (screw-cap) that was going to be printed anyway. It took some fiddling and discussion to get it right given the regulatory and retail demands of wine bottle identification but they seem to have cracked it.
All the regulatory and marketing information is printed on the cap.
Hats off to this company and hats off to Richard as well for being a pioneer. Who said that Wainuiomata is where the girls are smarter?
"That's an unusual title for a post" I imagine you readers saying and wondering if it meant that The Curmudgeon lost his spectacles, Robert took up drinking again or it was just another day in the life of Richard.
Well, Collins Dictionary via the internet had this to say:
When a thing blurs or when something blurs it, you cannot see it clearly because its edges are no longer distinct.
Which, for an established and reputable institution, is a bit naff really and I didn't need to look it up. I could have given you a better explanation than that .... but I won't. I'll give you instead another cartoon:
No! What this post is about is the fact that blog characters of the blogs in this community are being borrowed, adapted and misused by others.
I know, I know, I've been guilty of this in the past 'borrowing' Richard's alter egos for fictitious interviews and using Robert's fantasy religious beings for the same and even more nefarious purposes but things have got out of hand in the last few days with Richard resorting to this:
Oops! Sorry, that's intended for a future post.
Richard resorted to pretending that he was one of my associates 'The Curmudgeon's Agony Aunt' and wrote this:
This is low, even lower than I go (imagine a limbo gif here which can also be a pun directed at Robert).
Or, it could be bad news - it depends on your personal point of view.
The Old Girl will be working in Wellington from mid January to mid February. I've booked to go down for a week in early February. This means that I can hopefully catch up with Richard and Robert and others if they are around and not on holiday.
If the New Richard's Bass Bag Tours is up and running then, good but if not I can set up an alternative The Curmudgeons Inc.ⓒ Tours which will have the advantage of, well, not being the New Richard's Bass Bag Tours I guess which means customers will be picked up at the correct rendezvous, be informed of the itinerary, be provided with maps, snacks, beverages and entertainment and be taken to interesting places in the greater Wellington (and maybe Wairarapa) region.
When making your booking choose between The New Richard's Bass Bag Tours
In a recent post I commented that I would write a post on alter egos and fantasy figures as used by blog members:
Regular readers will know that Richard has a lot of these - in fact, if it wasn't for his alter egos, fantasy figures and imaginary friends he wouldn't get many comments on his blog posts. As Forrest Gump's Ma said - "Stupid is as stupid does".
Now I know that the unfair of you might point out that The Curmudgeons Inc.ⓒ has a lot of subsidiary characters but these are not imaginary friends. They are, in fact, extensions of The Curmudgeon's persona, created to assist readers in understanding the themes of the various posts. In addition each has it's own blog page.
Richard's motley crew* are nothing like this. They are merely the manifestation of a disturbed mind ....
... talking of which, Robert doesn't have a coterie of alter egos but he does refer, alarmingly and constantly to fantasy figures that he absolutely believes in. Here's a list of some of them (there are others:
God
Jesus
The Holy Ghost
The Virgin Mary
Archangel Gabriel
Archangel Michael
His guardian angel
Satan
Various saints, mystics and charlatans.
It may be necessary sometime in the future to conduct exorcisms.
* It's probably a bit unfair to make fun of Wellington's woes as most cities in New Zealand are suffering from the same things - declining 'High Street' retail sales, boarded up commercial premises, the flight of businesses to shopping malls, homeless people and beggars accosting workers and tourists, overabundance of $2 shops, noodle bars and takeaway outlets etc. Certainly my town, Whangarei is declining and Auckland and Christchurch cities are in a worse state than Wellington and, in hindsight, I don't think that Wellington deserves to be called Illington at all but still, as I've said before and Samual Clements said it before me "never let the truth get in the way of a good story."
The main reason for going down to Wellington was to attend a 'family' meeting - a 'High Tea' with the managers of the retirement village in Waikanae that my sister is now (safely and securely) living in.
High Tea but with sausage rolls - yum!
That went very well and I'm pleased with my sister's state of physical and mental health and the great support that she gets in this facility - Charles Fleming which is part of the Ryman Group. To get there I took the train - I like travelling by train - a fact that an old ex schoolteacher who probably knows nothing about mathematics is aware of but mocks me over (more of this to follow) - and I walked about Wellington central city and made my way by bus from Courtenay Place where I was staying to the railway station on the Tuesday of the Charles Fleming visit.
I had noticed the previous evening when I arrived, the number of 'homeless' people with mattresses and sleeping bags set up in doorways. They accost passers by with requests and, in some cases demands for money. I'm tempted to say to them that they, with the various benefits they receive are likely on a greater income than an old pensioner like me but it'd likely go over their heads. As I walked around the corner at the bottom of Tory street, near St James a youngish (30s) woman was packing up her 'bed' (props more likely) - which was a thin mattress and sleeping bag - by rolling it up and stacking it, along with her other props and paraphernalia, into a huge suitcase. I'd noticed this suitcase earlier and wondered why it was there. As she did this a friend of hers came along and asked "where are you off to Babe?" She answered " I'm just going down to my spot in Lambton Quay" and proceeded to board the same bus I did. Now, the thing about this was that along with the suitcase, I'd noticed that she was wearing really good shoes - new Nikes and a new designer baseball cap - both expensive items. She was not a rough sleeper but part of an organised scammer group who prey on the goodness of strangers. This pisses me off because it is dishonest and probably means that any needy and real homeless people miss out. I've seen this before in other places - San Francisco, Chicago and Verona to name a few - hey! I'll give you a couple of links to blog posts I've written on this. No need to thank me: HERE and HERE
Anyway - back to that old schoolteacher Richard. As you know, Richard likes to entertain visitors to Wellington by taking them on a tour of the city. If you don't believe me check out these reliable reports in earlier posts:
Well, recently Richard announced a revamp to RICHARD'S BASS BAG TOURS promising that it would be bigger, better and bodelicious (actually I just made that last description up) so, when he offered the new tour for my current visit I leapt to, accepted with ... mumbled OK.
Richard reported on this in his recent post : HERE
In this he made many outrageous statements, falsehoods and examples of selective memory starting with this:
"I'm going to get in first and tell you the truth.'
It all went downhill from there.
There were so many inaccuracies that I don't have time to report here but will instead pick one which is appropriate as a starter - - the rendezvous. Here's what Richard wrote:
"I rang Peter a little while back and we agreed to meet at a particular place in Tory St., Wellington. I told him I'd be there before 1pm. I got up early and headed to Upper Hutt to do my morning teaching job. Then I dropped my violin off at home and headed towards Wellington. I normally park near Cuba St., but I decided to try for a park in Tory St., as that would save me a long walk. I was very lucky because I found a park right near our agreed meeting place. I put in lots of money so that I could park there a long time - we planned to go somewhere for lunch. I phoned Peter to tell him that I had arrived. "I'm at Waterloo station waiting for a train. I love riding on trains." he told me. [Waterloo station is near the city of Lower Hutt - quite a long way from Tory Street or from Wellington, for that matter.] It had been a hot ride into Wellington, and I certainly didn't need more time weaving through busy traffic, but I agreed to pick him up from Wellington station. It took me a while, but I finally found a park near the station. It appears that the old chap had totally forgotten all about our telephone conversation. I guess that's old age for you. I feel lucky that I'm an awful lot younger."
This was not an auspicious start and a bad look for the revised Richard's Bass Bag Tours. It was in fact a cock-up on the rendezvous front.
For the record I have no recollection of making a firm rendezvous of time and place and was awaiting a telephone call from the old guy to arrange this ON THE DAY. As I thought I had hours to kill I did, I admit, take a train out to the Hutt. On the Upper Hutt train I had a nagging feeling that Richard might ring soon, it was 1PM, so I left the train at Waterloo which was only half way on my journey and waited for a train back to Wellington. That's when Richard rang and, to be fair to him, some of what happened was reported accurately by him. I''ll edit out the lies, obfuscations and inaccuracies for you.
"I rang Peter a little while back and we agreed to meet at a particular place in Tory St., Wellington. I told him I'd be there before 1pm. I got up early and headed to Upper Hutt to do my morning teaching job. Then I dropped my violin off at home and headed towards Wellington. I normally park near Cuba St., but I decided to try for a park in Tory St., as that would save me a long walk. I was very lucky because I found a park right near our agreed meeting place. I put in lots of money so that I could park there a long time - we planned to go somewhere for lunch. I phoned Peter to tell him that I had arrived. "I'm at Waterloo station waiting for a train. I love riding on trains." he told me. [Waterloo station is near the city of Lower Hutt - quite a long way from Tory Street or from Wellington, for that matter.] It had been a hot ride into Wellington, and I certainly didn't need more time weaving through busy traffic, but I agreed to pick him up from Wellington station. It took me a while, but I finally found a park near the station. It appears that the old chap had totally forgotten all about our telephone conversation. I guess that's old age for you. I feel lucky that I'm an awful lot younger."
I did find Richard at Wellington train station. He was lurking behind some pillars and trying to hide behind a fat man wearing a red sweatshirt. It was kind of like the Eiffel Tower being disguised behind, well, the Eiffel Tower but I guess you can see what I mean.
The tour was remarkably like the earlier Richard's Bass Bag Tour tours I'd been on with the only difference that this time he had no itinerary, no plan and frankly was a bit bewildered. I put it down to old age and had to take. control having to direct him through traffic, remind him to keep his eyes on the road (he was ogling nubile young women who seemed to be everywhere) and select an eating place in Lyall Bay.
Nubiles with the '2024' fashion look - shorts and bare legs.
We did have a pleasant late lunch - cheesecake (not the nubiles) and a glass of wine each and a good catch-up.
I enjoy visiting Richard and we share a lot in common although not an understanding of how Bass Bag tours should be run.
Maybe, when I come back down at the end of January he might have sorted things out.
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