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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/profile/blog/belingwe/sort_by/entry_order DESC, entry_creation_time DESC/page/6
Rated: E · Book · Personal · #2102670
This is a blessed spot, spoilt only by the people, in the central North Island of NZ.
Most of the time for me the glass is half empty. On rare occasions the glass is half full as with news of The Donald's activities.
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April 19, 2017 at 6:15am
April 19, 2017 at 6:15am
#909436
I went over to Rotorua with my son to sit his restricted motorcycle license today. It was a slow trip. I went ahead in the van and he followed on the bike. We averaged around 85 kph throughout the journey. He passed and I am pleased for him. We have a 250 cc Suzuki Inazuma. It is much tougher to get a license now than it was back in my day. A five minute trip round the block with the local traffic cop and you had a full license! Those were the days. So at least he has achieved another step in the process and after 12 months he can sit his full license. These past few weeks I seem to be going one step forward and three back. I can't seem to get on top of things. My Army account for the book is well behind and other tasks around the house are falling behind. I have to snap out of it. Anyway this is a beautiful time of year here; with the days as long as the nights. I must say when I took the van over today to give some support it was a nice day and my spirits lifted!
I am concerned about North Korea and hope the situation finally gets sorted out. It is a sad joke that has gone on too long.
April 13, 2017 at 8:31am
April 13, 2017 at 8:31am
#908965
We are in the middle of a 500 year storm. Meaning it happens every half a millennia. I do not set any store by these comments. But many here do. Anyway we are getting a lot of rain and some major flooding in parts of the country. Civil defence staff love these events as it helps justify their well padded salaries and allows them to order people around and shout instructions.
April 5, 2017 at 5:39am
April 5, 2017 at 5:39am
#908410
I have not contributed for a while and I feel guilty. I am also behind with my Cadet Course recollections but the organisers are giving me some leeway because of my cataract operation. The eye is great and I was checked early in the week and have 20/20 vision. I am very grateful. We are in the middle of a huge autumn storm here at the moment. A deluge for sure but still warm.
Over the last weekend we had a 'spirited women' competition. This event involved cycling, paddle boarding and orienteering. It has mostly been my experience that map reading and women is an exercise in utter futility. A few teams did get lost so I suppose we should just be happy it was not a lot more!
March 20, 2017 at 8:03pm
March 20, 2017 at 8:03pm
#907257
Last Wednesday I had an operation to remove a cataract from my left eye. A week on it seems to be a great success. I had a few concerns initially with the eye but it is healing well and vision is near perfect. I had a cataract removed from my right eye a couple of years back and it is 100% as well. I have never looked back.....please excuse the very bad pun. Before this latest surgery I could not even hammer a nail in or hang keys on a hook. It is amazing how these simple tasks are so easy now. Both operations were done through the public system. We do have socialist medicine here in NZ but I certainly am not complaining. These procedures cost around $5000 per eye when done privately. The problem is health is a bottomless pit and it will always swallow up as much money as you can throw at it. I do not have the answers to this but I am very happy.

Our latest political debate is around selling bottled water to the Chinese. It is a no brainer really specially since we are giving it away free. At least we must charge a royalty!
March 12, 2017 at 6:48am
March 12, 2017 at 6:48am
#906553
A battle is going on for our pensions in NZ this election year. Major changes are threatened. Eligibility age going up, pension amount slashed etc etc.The politicos are yapping and stating what they want to do but will the taxpaying workers get a chance to state their case? If history is indicative then not on your Nelly! We are told current system is too expensive but are we getting all the facts?
February 26, 2017 at 12:58am
February 26, 2017 at 12:58am
#905499
It is another very warm summers evening and I should be outside doing odd jobs but I always feel exhausted after my two night shifts at a luxury Lodge just out of town. It is called Huka Lodge and it is where the Queen stays when she visits us. It takes me a day or three to recover. My wife has been down after a brush with pneumonia so at least I managed to hang the washing. Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks but I am not very domesticated. We have elections in September so I have an awful feeling that the Xmas silly season will continue all year.We may well exchange one crowd for another but politicians here are all fools. They are paid more than double the average wage so they have simply lost touch with the bulk of the voters and they do not have a clue as to what is needed. We need a clone of the TD over here methinks.We have Iron Man NZ here in Taupo next weekend so the place will be packed to the gunwales.It is a good money spinner for the town and we took the competition off of Auckland city some years ago.
February 23, 2017 at 4:27am
February 23, 2017 at 4:27am
#905322
As the family and I endure the heat of yet another February we weigh up the pros and cons. February here is a dry month as far as rain goes but it is also hot and humid to the point of unpleasantness. We are situated around 1000 metres ASL so it could be a lot worse. It is also the last month of summer and days are still long as daylight saving is still in place for a few more weeks. All in all it is not so bad as we begin the slide into autumn and winter. We will have a bleak few months ahead before the cycle repeats.
February 6, 2017 at 6:01am
February 6, 2017 at 6:01am
#904061
Well today is Waitangi day, a public holiday commemorating the Treaty of Waitangi signed between Maori Chiefs and representatives of Queen Victoria in 1840. It normally turns into an egg throwing contest...and rotten ones at that! However this yea went fairly peacefully it seems. Anyway we still have a long way to go as far as treating Maori fairly. I may speak more about this in the future.
February 2, 2017 at 6:26am
February 2, 2017 at 6:26am
#903769
I have completed a first draft of my "Life before cadet course story and it has been a catharsis. I enjoyed it more as I got further into it. Post festive season i am cycling more. Usually a 10 km round trip from my suburb to centre of town and return. I am sure I am feeling physically better already and have reduced some of my tablets. So here's hoping I continue to both cycle ....and feel better! Monday is a public holiday for Waitangi day. It commemorates the Treaty of Waitangi and there is usually a stoush of some sort and eggs getting thrown at government attendees at the treaty house in Bay of Islands.I reckon one of these years the government attendees should have their own rotten eggs to throw back!
I see TD is locked in a dispute with our neighbour the Australian PM...so lets see where that leads.
January 25, 2017 at 12:06am
January 25, 2017 at 12:06am
#903102
We are halfway through summer but it seems like autumn, or as the Yanks would say, the Fall. My 17 year old son is off on a leadership camp prior to commencing his last school year at college. The schools are back in a week or so and the busy tourist season will slow down markedly. We will be left with the backpackers and the like. In NZ the schooling system is broken. These days it is not about understanding but rather about obtaining credits by one way or another. External exams have been emasculated to the point they are meaningless. We are going to hell in a hand bucket. We will reap a terrible harvest regards education in the years to come.A chap I know from the soldiers club will turn 100 in March and get his personal telegram from the Queen. I would venture to say it will not be too long before it becomes a telegram from the King. She is over ninety after all. She has been Queen all my life and I am 62. I am a great fan of the Monarchy and am so glad we are a constitutional monarchy.A big morale boost for me has been TD scrapping the TPPA that our govt had signed up to without giving a fig for our citizens. It is disgraceful that we have to rely on TD to get us out of it.

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