What a day !!!!!

It started Ok. I have wanted a relatively straight forward day. You know the sort. all the deliverys on the main road, or not too far off it. Just enough freight to make it look like your truck is full, but not that much that you either have to jigsaw it in, or turn round half way through & go back to the depot for the rest. Well it all started OK. No extra pickups & not too much freight. Only 2 deliverys that were any distance from the main route. Not too bad at all.

Ok, so it was raining a bit, but nothing serious. Everything went fine until we got out towards Inghams Chickens which is out on the flats between Waihou & Te Aroha. Then the wind started getting stronger & stronger. By the time we got to Gordon Road, where our next delivery was, I reckon it was gusting close to 100km/h in a cross wind. all this on a class 2 road. Moby Dick,my truck, is very high, & very long & a curtain sider. Needless to say, this made driving a hazardous procedure. It didnt help matters either that when we stopped to checked road numbers that Joe Cowcockey who had been following me, stopped , got out of his ute & walked back to my truck. "What have I done now?" sez I to my helper. But no, this clown just had to regale me enthusiastically about how I was , "All crossed up & nearly losing it ." No shit Sherlock! did he think I was having a nap while the truck was on auto pilot or something ?

Anyway, we did our delivery & made our careful way into Te Aroha. Herself was quite impressed when I told her that I wasn't game to take Moby over 70km/h.. See, she KNOWS what it takes to make me slow down when I'm working. By the time we got to Paeroa, the wind had more or less abated & the rain had started. Boy had it started. In bloody great buckets it had started. About that time the windscreen wipers decided to go on strike.. All this in a truck that had to go to Auckland tonight. A quick check showed that one of the linkages had come adrift & there was nothing I could do other than drive home in torrential rain with no wipers. See my helper refused to sit on the stoneguard with a squeegee for me.

Damn I was glad to see the depot & sign off for the day. Nice to get home where its warm & dry & my little sweety has a nice tea waiting.. The joys of being a trucky i guess..

Wasting away

I try, God knows I try not to bore you too much with Youtube, but this goes beyond good, beyond superlative even. God its awesome.. May I introduce to you messrs Paice, Coverdale, Hughes, Blackmore, & Lord, Collectively known as Deep Purple. This is DP Mk3, & was recorded in California in 1974... Listen & enjoy....

Our overseas trip...

After a 3.00AM rising & mad last minute packing , self & herself managed to be at the door ready for our very friendly & helpful if somewhat garrilous shuttle driver to take us to Auckland Airport. This is the 737/300 that we flew down in. It took us roughly as long to drive to the airport as it did to fly down.. Damn those birds are fast. Talk about an express elevator to 35 000 feet. yep folks, they still use imperial measurements for flying..




This is where we stayed. Its called Arden Street House Bed & Breakfast. if you want the history of it, look it up on the net. Its run by a very nice lady called Joyce Lepper. A little quirky, but nice..











This is our bedroom. Every room has faux Leopardskin throws on everything & heaps of stuffed tigers scattered around. Excellent selection of books in the cabinets, big warm airy rooms. This is the second time we have stayed there .




The weather was absolutely beautiful while we were there . This is the sunset from the top of the Meridian Carpark




















Gorgeous innit ?

This is ma wee baby boy all togged up ready to get wed & talking to the celebrant.



















And this is the old Flatcat paying homage to the Great Bard himself in the Octagon.. God Dunedin is beautiful. Just so alive in the evenings & everyone is just so friendly. The whole weekend went wonderfully with a a great reunion & reconciliation with my boys. Aside from nearly missing the flight home by misreading the flight time,(My bad) that is.. Nice as it was, its good to be home.. Work tomorrow.... Sighhhhhhhhh.

Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye..

Orf to the thriving metropolis of Dunedin in the wee smalls of tomorrow morning to attend my eldest son's wedding. Dont wait up for me & herself, we wont be home till half past late on Sunday night.. Will give you all the gory details Monday... OOOOOH butterflies in tum.....

God bless Soda stream

Being an afficionado of soda water, either as it is, or diluted with a modicum of whisky, I decided to resurrect my Mum's Soda Stream machine. Now, this machine is an older machine that hasnt actually had a lot of use, but somehow in the shifts, we have mislaid the PET bottles with the bayonet fitting required to use it. No probs thinks I, will just send herself down to Farmers Trading, our local agents, & get her to negotiate the purchase of said items. WRONG... "Sorry, we dont sell them any more, you'll have to buy a new machine.. Wrong answer... Looked up Soda Stream on the net, sent them what I thought was an extremely clever email only to have it bounce as not being a valid address. Rang their 0800 number this afternoon & spoke to a very nice young man. he is going to send me out a couple of 1litre PEt bottles AT NO CHARGE WHATSOEVER. hows that for a bit of lovely old fashioned customer service ? I like it...


AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT...... I took this pic in the mens loo's at our local mall.... Can anybody tell me why we should have a vending machine selling flavoured condoms in the same installation as a machine selling toothbrushes with toothpaste ? I get all sorts of mental pictures here & most of them are fairly disturbing. What do you think ?

To be sure to be sure

This is a house that I saw while doing a pickup in Morrinsville yesterday. Its not a particularly clear pic , but you get the general impression. Its quite stunning, like a gingerbread castle. The owner is a builder & thats his yard in the foreground. You cant really see the house from the road, which is a shame , because its quite something.













This is my baby at the moment, all nine & a half tons of it, looking all clean & beautiful for the weekend. I call it "Moby" as in Moby Dick , the great white whale.





Oh yuss!!!! And a happy St. Patricks Day to ye sorr.. Just a wee Oirish joke for ye before I go.. Why did the Irishman wear two condoms ? To be sure , to be sure.. Later .....

Once upon a Midnight dreary...

Well, more like 3 AM actually, on Monday night to be presact, the early morning air within the Flatcattery was rent by an unearthly, bonechilling scream... Herself never budged... I poked her in the ribs.... Scream again...... "What the fuck was that?" "I dont bloody well know..." So after an unsuccessful attempt to coerce herself to get up & investigate while I cowered under the blankets, I got out of bed..... Scream again..... Lights on as I went.... Lo & behold, when I got to the washhouse, here is one of the Ginger Ninja's with a damn frog, who has managed to climb halfway up the side of the laundry tub. Not unlike the new bride wearing rubber gloves, "I'm not touching the beastly thing..." I persuaded said frog to jump into a bucket with a little water in it & stay there until he got flying lessons out the front door. Then all I had to endure was the stony glare from Fattums caused by her being cheated of her prey

This morning when I got up, I knew it was getting colder. I came out & Chloe was sitting staring pointedly at the fireplace. When I went to get the camera, she gave me a look that said in ya dreams buster & stalked off... Such is life in the Flatcattery.. On a similar note , enjoy this clip

Sometimes a picture is worth 1000 words

At last

No longer will the intrepid Flatcat cower behind the mask of Blogging anonymity.. Yes folks you saw it first here. an exclusive snapshot of me hard at work slaving over a hot keyboard to try & titillate your senses & bump your funnybone.. Yes, this is the quintissential Flatcat, so laid back as to be horizontal

Bobby & Joan

Those of you that are as big a Dylan fan as myself will be aware of the often tempestuous & ultimately illfated relationship between himself & Joan Baez. You will no doubt also be aware of the influence that Woody Guthry had on Dylans early music & the relationship that Dylan had with the ailing Guthry. I had to post this particular Youtube clip. It draws together all the influences in Dylan's life at the time. This clip was recorded from the Rolling Thunder tour which Dylan did with Baez in 1976. This would have to be one of the most tuneful & together duets by Dylan & Baez that I have heard to date. Its a Woody Guthry composition that he wrote as a poem. he died before it was put to music 10 years later by a school teacher called Martin Hoffman, & popularised by Pete Seeger. The Byrds also recorded it on their 1969 album, The Ballad of Easy Rider. Its easily one of my favourite folk history songs & damn these two do it well. Listen & enjoy...

Uhmmmmm...

What can I say about this?? Except that Youtube really does have some strange videos....

If ASH has its way cigarettes are going to be taken off display in retail outlets & stowed under counters, so you will have to get all red faced & ask for them sotto voce from a retailer with that supercilious "I know what YOU'RE going to do look on his face...

And isnt it ironic that these..


That I had to go to the next town to buy as a youth because my Dad personally knew all the chemists in town, are now prominently displayed in supermarkets & much more readliy available than they were ... My my how times have changed..

Twenty Years Huh ?

Herself came with me for a ride in the truck today, not an unusual experience. She likes to give me a check ride now & then & see if I have picked up any new swear words for her to dissapprove of. Anyway, we was bowling along, air conditioning working overtime as it was hot... Yes, the truck I am driving at the moment actually has air conditioning.. Very nice... Anyway, it came over the radio that today was the 20th anniversary of the earthquake at Edgecombe. Now I know quite a bit about this, in fact I can probably bore you shitless on the subject.

You see, I was there. Not during the actual earthquake, my goodness me no. That would be way too scary for me, but I was there the day after as part of a task force that the Auckland Fire Brigade sent down to help with the cleanup, & I have the photo's to prove it. All in all it was a fairly arduous & scary process, as there were heaps of after shocks. Herself got quite used to being asked to wait on the phone for after shocks to finish.

So we started talking about it all & soon came to the realisation that we hadnt been together all that long at that point. We met just after Xmas in fact, but thats a whole different story for some other time. The point? We now have been together 20 years, & we still love each other madly. Pretty neat huh ?

Oh, by the way, was Lou Reeds birthday today, so herself & me might just take a walk on the wild side to celebrate both events... Thats if we can muster the energy of course...