I have recently taken possession of a new pair of glasses. So what you may think.
Well other than the generally inflated cost of acquiring such things in NZ, despite the arrival of Specsavers to these shores, age is having a negative impact.
The short-sightedness is much the same, the astigmatism is unchanged, but now the long-sighted old man’s eyes canot be ignored. Reading print with my usual glasses has become too difficult, and to now to fulfill all the requirements I have moved onto varifocal lenses-the modern version of bi-focals. As you might gather, more complex technology comes at a price, especially when put in some trendy designer frames.
So, thinning hair, grey in colour of what is left, less resilient achilles, apparently progressive deafness and now failing eyesight.
The viagra though is still in the packet.
Month: June 2009
The Pianist
A walk in the hills
Postings are now coming thick and fast. This is the video from three weeks ago finally out of post-production. Not too long and hopefully sufficiently fun to make the time watching worthwhile.
Emotional Allegiance
Having watched the aforementioned All Blacks v France Test match, and enjoyed the game for its skill and tactics, this morning I watched a recording of the Lions v Springboks Test. During the game I found myself jumping and shouting and swearing.
Conclusion: I have not been living here long enough yet.
Sports events
Hello all again
We are in the build up to the next Test-it being about an hour away. The All Blacks and the nation have had their confidence shaken by last week’s loss in Dunedin. They have a least acknowledged that France deserved to win, though of course there is a frequent chorus that it was the NZ “B” team, giving no recognition for the fact it was the best team they could out on the day. The best team available is not necessarily the best team that may have been available.
So tonight will be interesting to see have far the All Blacks improve with a change of some personnel, and how much France can improve with the availability of some new players. The game is in Welllington, and I can asure you the weather is not pretty. Very cold and wet, and so not a day for throwing the ball around with abandon.
We shall see.
On the rugby theme, we today and on previous weekends, have been asking where in the parents’ manual it mentions standing on the side lines in foul weather, to watch your son play and his team be thrashed on a regular basis.
Today the weather was pants. The pitch had huge puddles, and all were soaked and cold within minutes. However today they played well in losing-about 30-15. It was competitive and they kept going to near the the end. Joe played much better today, giving it some omph at tight head prop and putting in some tackles and getting involved. He did though give away a intercept try when he thought he was the scrum-half when he should have just taken the ball up with some aggression.
The previous two weeks have been heavy loses against good teams, though the attitude was terrible two weeks ago, and has improved since.
Here’s to the hard crew parents for the next few weeks. Looking forward to some dry weather.
Hello to all, after such a quiet period.
It again has been lack of time rather than lack of comment. The swine flu response means that work has been getting in the way on life, with late finishes, fatigue, and poor sleep. The response up until this point has been “keep it out” and “stamp it out”. with border control, tracing of symptomatic travellers, and their isolation and their treatment, andf then cluster control with treatment of cases and isolation of their contacts. Spread within NZ was and is inevitable, and we in Wellington showed community transmision first, by going to look for it. The main focus was on travellers, and so if you only test travellers, then you will only see cases in travellers…..
So the Ministry has now moved to managing the epidemic, which from the perspective of the frontline in Wellington is no before time. It appears there was an unwillingness to acknowledge the presence of community spread, and so delay in moving on with the respnse, and so pushing the frontline, already under stress of limited resources, fatigue, and sense of futility, too far.
So things have changed, and I am due to move on. It has been an worthwhile experience, and enlightening, but thankfully I have some time to finish off other work before I enter the doors of the Ministry of Health.
More news soon.
It’s Beautiful man
A cold night with frost on the ground as a result of the cloudless sky, governed by our current high pressure system. So, we awoke to a foggy day, with a beautiful formation over the harbour with soft sunrise colours.
Polar Blast
My fingers have been so cold of late that I have been unable to put them to the keyboard.
The weather has been ridiculous. Last weekend it was gale force winds and rain, with rain during the week. This weekend has seen an increase in the intensity. Yesterday we had rain, hail, sleet and snow. Yes flurries of snow! We live by the sea-this should not happen. Our latitude is the equivalent of Spain!
Anyway, must not moan.
I have managed to watch the first B&I Lions game in South Africa. Of course, being New Zealand, I had to sign up for the rugby channel, as simply having the sports channels is not enough. It was not good for the blood pressure, as I forgot that I had told myself previously that I would watch sport just for the aesthetic. I would not become emotionally involved, as it has never worked; there are always painful outcomes.
Today is a national holiday-Queen’s Birthday. Not sure what that is all about. Anyway, as it is holiday time we went for a walk-A new one over by Eastbourne. The “we” was M&D, plus the boys. Eleanor was out with her mates having an unsuccessful meet up with some boys, who apparently, preferred some alternative easy bimbos. No sh.. Sherlock.
Happy birthdays to the May babies.