YOU KNOW - THE DRILL?

 

I went down to the end of our road to this 'garage sale' this morning.

I was looking for a drill - one with a cord. We have cordless ones but I find these to be impractical. The battery is invariably flat when I want to use them and they don't have enough power to drill through hard materials like concrete, railway sleepers and metal.

I immediately found exactly what I wanted - an Ozito 560v, 280w drill driver.

Perfect.

I asked one of the guys behind the display table how much it was. He said to make an offer. I said I didn't have a clue but, as it was to raise money for the owner of the various tools who was going in to a retirement home I said $40. He was surprised and countered with $20 and I bought it.

Spying a large brightly coloured plastic upright toolbox I asked what was in it. He said a nail gun. I said that The Old Girl wouldn't trust me with one of those and he and the other guys cracked up. I told them that she was away so that's why I was buying the drill. They pointed to all the tools on the table and said that now was my chance to do wonderful things around the house. I declined saying that with my luck and skills I'd likely munt the house.

I'm happy with my purchase but it did make me wonder how some people obviously offer really low amounts for items that are being sold to raise money for charity. miserable buggers.

Heigh ho! I've got another week or so before The Old Girl comes home so ... no wall is safe.

LET'S FACE IT - HE'S HAD IT ...

... he's too old and getting a bit doddery.

An elderly man with a failing memory.

Yes he was a contender in the past, doing a damned good job in a thankless occupation and rising to one of the highest positions available - head of department - while continuing to mentor younger people and contribute to the community in his career, profession, art and hobby. ....

..... hold on! Hold on.  We're not talking of Richard of Richard's Bass Bag here - we're supposed to be talking of Joe Biden, President of that USA.

HERE

Joe Biden has had a reasonably good career as a capable - not outstanding- politician who rose to the apex of the position of Vice-President which (only in America) allowed him to run for and win the position of President. OK, the alternative was pretty dire but, 4 years ago he wasn't the best candidate and today - way less so, although, still preferable against the dreadful mess that is Donald Trump.

Now I've mentioned before in posts that USA has some damned good Democrat contenders for the role of President (Harris, Cortez, Newsom to name a few) but for some as yet unreported reason the Democrat machine keeps putting Biden forward. He might have been capable once but now, in his aged state he is not functioning and could be an embarrassment. I'm not the only one who, while watching Biden giving an address on domestic issues or uttering  a statement on foreign policy, crosses my fingers and hopes that the old bugger doesn't stuff things up. Well, no surprises here, that old bugger is now older and yes, he is stuffing things up. Look up the latest on Biden on the internet to see what I mean.

Maybe the Democrats have been playing the long game and are waiting with an ideal candidate to put forward but who has yet to categorically indicate the desire. Read Kamala Harris or Gavin Newsom here.

We live in interesting times.

AN ACHIEVEMENT TO BE PROUD OF

 I have a few caps and hats with feathers in them.

I didn't earn the feathers - I found them.

I'm on the lookout for interesting feathers when on my walks but to date haven't found a kereru one or (I wish) a tui one.

I like the multi-coloured iridescent sheen of them. They are beautiful.

Anyway, as I said, I have some hats with feathers in them.

Recently I've watched films and TV series set in the modern northwest of USA - Wyoming, Idaho, Montana etc. and American Indians feature a lot.

Many of them have 'native' names which I guess they keep as a form of identity. I quite like it. The names are like: Johnny Afraid-Of-Bear; Bill Running-About-In-Woods; Sam Has-Two-Horses; Jessica Little-Deer etc.

Maybe, seeing that I have feathers in my hats I could adopt  a 'native' name to go with them.

Maybe: Peter Likes-Nice-Wines or Peter The-Moaner. What do you think?

Richard could be Richard Makes-Lots-Of-Noise and Robert could be Robert Sees-Things-in-Skies.

Am I one to something here?

NEW POST - THE WINE GUY

 

COLD, COLD, COLD

ON THE BUSES

 

I didn't see these jokers thank Robert's god.

Yesterday we did a 10km walk around Wellington waterfront and streets, enjoying the day and visiting galleries. It was tiring but very pleasant especially when ending up with a glass of Champagne each at Champagneria in Courtenay Place. Taittinger Rose for her and Pol Roger for me.Yummy.

Today I took a bus to Island Bay where I had a coffee and then another bus to Brooklyn. Both were new electric double-deckers and I sat up the front on the top deck which provided great views.

At Island Bay I sat looking at the bay and the southern end of the harbour while waiting for the next bus. Wellington landscape is really beautiful and I miss living here.

The bus from Island Bay to Brooklyn went around the bay to Owhiro Bay and then up Happy Valley Road which becomes Owhiro Bay Road. I was pleased at this as, on Sunday, Richard's Bass Bag Tours was unfortunately remiss at covering this part of Wellington even though I, from the back seat requested it. My request which went unheeded was because my Uncle Vince and family used to live on Happy Valley road down towards Owhiro Bay. Today I was able to view their old property from the height and comfort of the double decker.

On the way to Brooklyn the bus took in part of Kingston which was exciting because back in 1968 two of my aunts - Bridie and Pauline and their families each had new-build houses in Kingston that were a couple of streets apart and had only recently moved in before the Wahine Storm severely damaged the houses by ripping the roofs off. I believe that this makes for an interesting tour highlight* and was more than happy to be taken past there.

At Brooklyn I left the bus and walked back home to Ghuznee street via Central Park.

It's been a good day.

* For a reasonable consideration I can research and write stories and identify places of interest for Richard's (new) Bass Bag Tours.

NEW POST - THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON

 

DRESS CODE

NEW POST - THE RELIGIOUS CURMUDGEON

 

WHEN I COME MARCHING IN

OF TOURS AND UNDERPANTS

 I thought that I would have to rebut the fake news that Richard would write on his new tour and the gift I gave him but it turns out that he didn't write anything. See the 'post' he published:

There's nothing much there to rebut not even a photo of him wearing the underpants which would have been a bigbuttal not a rebuttal.

In this case then I won't write anything.....

.... just kidding.

On Sunday The Old Girl and I met up with Richard the tour guide for Richard's (new) Bass Bag Tours and his partner Shelley who he sticks in the back seat "because she worries about my driving around Wellington's narrow roads and it's better that she can't see what I'm doing."

We met at an Italian restaurant (no surprises there) with only one hiccup - we got lost in trying to find the place. This was rectified however by Richard leaving the restaurant to wander around Petone streets to find us, his inaugural customers, for the revamped business.

Lunch was superb and free owing to the fact that Richard's (new) Bass Bag Tours provided a voucher that covered the cost of a no doubt expensive meal including wine. I was about to point out that, in normal businesses, it should be customers presenting the vouchers not the operators but figured that he will only learn from experience. EmpIrical knowledge that is, something that Robert might eventually figure out in his blind approach to religion. In mitigation I presented Richard with a gift of a pair of underpants. This seemed to embarrass the old guy who hastily hid the underpants from observers. Why this was I don't know and figured that it was a by-rote response from past experiences of having to hide his underpants. He needn't have worried as they were brand new and still in the plastic wrapping with tags (not dags) attached. When leaving home on Friday evening a courier parcel had just arrived containing three pairs of Swanndri underpants. I buy these on-line because they are extremely well-made from quality materials. I thought that Richard might like a pair so packed one in my suitcase.

After dining we were about to head off to get the bus to Wellington. I quietly nudged The old Girl and told her "if Richard mentions a (new) Bass Bag Tour make an excuser that your auntie died or that you heard a tsunami warning - anything to get out of it." Unfortunately she chose to ignore my advice and so we were shovelled into the Richard's (new) Bass Bag Tour vehicle which as yet does not carry any signs. This is a new albeit smaller vehicle than was used in the Richard's (old) Bass Bag Tours but more comfortable. Richard's partner was duly shoved in the back "because she worries about my driving around Wellington's narrow roads and it's better that she can't see what I'm doing". I joined her in the back and The Old Girl who gets car sick sat in the front with Richard who had donned his metaphorical Bass Bag Tours hat.

In summary of the tour let me say that the company was excellent and the service polite and gracious. While meandering a little bit with wild diversions the experience was fulsome and included an unexpected drive to the top of Mount Victoria with its magnificent 360 degree views of Wellington city and environs. This was far superior to Richard's (old) Bass Bag Tours which at best took in Petone Heights (Moera) as a highlight.

A major detraction was in the tour guide's commentary which was more of a mumble, exacerbated by the fact that I had forgotten to wear my hearing aids. As a result I had to interject offer suggestions of items of interest - ideally before we approached them as the old guy had a habit of mentioning points of interest long after they had gone by. I also had to suggest additions to the tour like where my uncle Owen lived on Mt Victoria which was added to the itinerary and where my uncle Vince used to live in Happy Valley Road which was ignored.

In all this reviewer concludes that Richard's (new) Bass Bag Tours is better than Richard's (old) Bass Bag Tours, a review of which can be found in a previous post in this blog.

Here is the current rating (out of 5)

Conviviality: 5

Value: 5

Quality: 4

Commentary: 1

Local knowledge of places of interest: 2

Knowledge of Wellington streets: 3 (but this seemed to be limited to the old delivery path of Murray Robert's truck drivers).

Ambience and comfort: 5

Overall: 4

COMING SOON -THE TRUTH ABOUT THE NEW RICHARD’S BASS BAG TOURS AND …

 …. THE REAL STORY ABOUT THE SWANNDRI UNDERPANTS.

WOKE

 

OK, I'm alright with that. I don't like the way that right wing American conspiracy theorists have put a negative spin on this and, to them, 'wokeness' is liberal indoctrination and a way of reversing American history (as they perceive it).

I think that I'm generally woke. I'm sure that Richard is as he is a reasonable person who has liberal ideas. I suspect that Robert is still asleep.

I flew from Whangarei to Wellington yesterday evening. When the plane arrived I recognised a lot of Maori dignitaries and important people disembarking to, I guess, drive to Waitangi for the early  meetings prior to the celebrations on Tuesday. No doubt it will be pretty volatile up there given the negative attitudes to Maori and The Treaty as voiced by leading members of the coalition government.

On the plane down there were also a lot of important looking Maori - one in particular who had a police protection squad waiting for him on landing at Auckland,. It's unusual to see police armed with pistols in holsters in New Zealand unless there is a particular threat or operation going on. I wondered why these Maori were going the other way, away from Northland when Waitangi Day is a few days away but overheard a couple saying they were meeting others in Palmerston North. Maybe they were going to be part of the pre-Waitangi hīkoi.

I became aware that many of my fellow travellers were speaking Maori. This sounded nice but I wished that I could understand it. I'm a very lazy student so it's probably not a good idea for me to try to learn Te Reo at my age. When I was young at school  though, we were taught French and Latin and I studied French at university. How I wish that things in New Zealand were more enlightened in the 1960s and that St Pat's gave us the option of learning the Maori language.