To say the least of it. This morning at the market, I scored a DVD copy of Blazing Saddles. I love that movie. At 12, we went & said goodbye to an old family friend who passed away at the grand old age of 93. I had known Sam since I was 14, & have worked the farm as a lad, shot rabbits there, swam in the river, listened in awe to Sam's stories about the old days of pack horses & bullock teams, got introduced to garlic, (boiled mutton in a garlic white sauce) by Sam's old Mum, & been royally drunk on the sherry that they used to brew & sell commercially. The grape vine is still there to this day. It is near 100 years old & has featured in a national magazine, though I don't remember which one. Rest in peace Sam, it was a pleasure & a privilege to have known you & to have called you a friend.
This evening, me old mate Hawkeye rang. He actually timed it right for once, so we had a great old chat for God knows how long. Its always good to talk to him. He has mellowed so much over the years, & is one of the few old Fire Service buddies that has consistently kept in touch. After he hung up, Leong rang. haven't heard from him in literally years. He is coming down tomorrow & would we like an accupressure massage. Do bears shit in the woods? Leong & his wife are Malaysian. She is a sweety & Leong is very full on & intense. Just absolutely chock full of enthusiasm for what ever he is into at the time. We are looking forward to their visit. They are staying for tea, so I will probably do something dreadful with some fish, coconut cream, curry powder, fresh vegetables & rice. It will be interesting to say the least. Will keep you informed.. Later All...
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Of Air Plants & Brussel Sprouts.
It must be our weekend for meeting nice people. You see, thanks to a friend, who shall remain nameless, although I can probably THINK of a few names relating to a recent transaction involving peanut butter jars for storage, Herself has developed a fascination for Air Plants. I know why, its because she has run out of garden space & flat surfaces for pots & so is planning to nail these puppies to vertical surfaces where ever she can.
Anyway, I phoned through on our local radio's Sunday morning garage sale for her & got a response from a nice lady out at Ngatea, the upshot being this bloody great bag full of the damn things that can be split up & attached to all sorts of groovy surfaces. She didnt want payment for them either, which we found really nice. While we were there, we got to chatting, & it turns out that the gentleman of the house is a cabinet maker by trade who contents himself with a bit of restoration work these days but has built some pretty amazing pieces of furniture that he was happy to show us. He also used to collect gemstones & work them & has some pretty amazing mosaic pictures that he has made from various gemstones. Turns out we have a few acquaintances in that field from days gone as well. Also, herself works with their daughter in law up at our local hospital.
Turns out that he grew up on one of the Channel Islands between Britain & France, & was a lad during World War 2. Hence the Brussel Sprouts. You see, him & his friends used to fire them at the German fighter pilots with their catapults as they overflew the island on their way to attack the mainland. I don't believe that they actually managed to hit any, but they were that low that they could see the pilots in the cockpits. I can only imagine the amusement that this must have occasioned these young men on their way to kill or be killed. He also used to steal his Dad's cigarettes to swap with the German POW's for their badges. The island was also on the flight path for the V1 buzz bombs, with gun emplacements all over the island who used to try in vain to shoot them down.
Some older folks that reminisce can be quite tedious to listen to, but this particular gentleman was absolutely enthralling to listen to. We came away with a sense of regret that we couldn't stay longer, but we had to get home. I still had a boat to scrub down & put away & Herself had tea to cook. And a shitload of Airplant to sort out.
Next time we go out over Cooks Beach, if the weather is right, we will probably go out to the Great Mercury Islands. Yesterday's trip has shown me that they are well within safe range if we don't piss about sight seeing like we did yesterday. Thats if the weather is right of course. I'm looking forward to it.
Anyway, I phoned through on our local radio's Sunday morning garage sale for her & got a response from a nice lady out at Ngatea, the upshot being this bloody great bag full of the damn things that can be split up & attached to all sorts of groovy surfaces. She didnt want payment for them either, which we found really nice. While we were there, we got to chatting, & it turns out that the gentleman of the house is a cabinet maker by trade who contents himself with a bit of restoration work these days but has built some pretty amazing pieces of furniture that he was happy to show us. He also used to collect gemstones & work them & has some pretty amazing mosaic pictures that he has made from various gemstones. Turns out we have a few acquaintances in that field from days gone as well. Also, herself works with their daughter in law up at our local hospital.
Turns out that he grew up on one of the Channel Islands between Britain & France, & was a lad during World War 2. Hence the Brussel Sprouts. You see, him & his friends used to fire them at the German fighter pilots with their catapults as they overflew the island on their way to attack the mainland. I don't believe that they actually managed to hit any, but they were that low that they could see the pilots in the cockpits. I can only imagine the amusement that this must have occasioned these young men on their way to kill or be killed. He also used to steal his Dad's cigarettes to swap with the German POW's for their badges. The island was also on the flight path for the V1 buzz bombs, with gun emplacements all over the island who used to try in vain to shoot them down.
Some older folks that reminisce can be quite tedious to listen to, but this particular gentleman was absolutely enthralling to listen to. We came away with a sense of regret that we couldn't stay longer, but we had to get home. I still had a boat to scrub down & put away & Herself had tea to cook. And a shitload of Airplant to sort out.
Next time we go out over Cooks Beach, if the weather is right, we will probably go out to the Great Mercury Islands. Yesterday's trip has shown me that they are well within safe range if we don't piss about sight seeing like we did yesterday. Thats if the weather is right of course. I'm looking forward to it.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
I'm Tired..
Its self inflicted & I've enjoyed the process, but that don't change the fact that it's only halfway through Easter An I'm stuffed... We got up early & went fishing yesterday in our usual spot. We were on the water by 0730 AM & back at the ramp by 1100 with our limit of 18 snapper. Today, just for a change, we got up even earlier & went fishing, this time over the other side at a place called Cooks Beach. This is where we fished.
Its called, strangely enough, The Hole in the Wall, & lies off the end of Opito Point, which is the end of the peninsula that forms part of Mercury Bay. Nice innit? The reason that its called Mercury Bay is because Captain Cook stopped there to observe the transit of the planet Mercury in his seventeenth century travels. Of course, there wasnt quite the variety of restaurants there then, so I guess he just had to make do with salt pork & beef as usual. What we found refreshing was the variety of fish that we hauled up. The fishing wasnt spectacular, with a take of only 3 snapper, but this is a pic of herself reluctantly holding a 2 kg John Dory what she caught.
2kg is a fairly respectable one of these & actually, it was more of a joint effort, as it still had my bait stuck in its throat, & it was too heavy for herself to haul in on her own. They aren't really red, thats just the reflection of my shorts. We had it for tea tonight, pan fried with home made chips & a rather tasty ( I made it ) lemon & parsley sauce. We enjoyed it.
Not to be outdone, I caught this, a 2 kg Kahawai. I thought I had a kingfish on at first when I got to see it in the water, it was such a good size, but it was a Kahawai. I caught it on a little keeper hook, which promptly snapped when I grabbed the trace to lift him out of the landing net. Here he is...
See what I mean about the red shorts? Thats my favourite Bob Dylan tee shirt I'm wearing too.
While we were out there, we stopped to pass the time of day with another couple, Colin & Lesley, who were out fishing. They came in round about the same time we did & stopped for a natter & a fish bin comparison. They were impressed with Judes Dory as well. We were going to dig out the thermos & have a cuppa before we wended our way home, but they invited us round to their place. We stayed for a very pleasant hour or so, swapped addresses & parted with them issuing an invite to come & stay for a few days if we wanted. Lovely folk that they are.
The only thing I fucked up with for the whole day was misreading where the bar was & wasn't at low tide to get into the estuary where the boat ramp was. I ended up getting washed sideways over it in about a foot of water. I haven't got any photo's of that. it was a bloody silly thing to do, especially in front of about 6 other boats who ALL knew where to come in. I'm going to bed now. This enjoying yourself is hard work. I've saved the most exciting bit till tomorrow. One of the disadvantages of a Fibreglass boat is that they show salt marks something shocking, so a good wash is well in order. After that, probably 3 hours of Star Trek.. Who knows & Night all.
Its called, strangely enough, The Hole in the Wall, & lies off the end of Opito Point, which is the end of the peninsula that forms part of Mercury Bay. Nice innit? The reason that its called Mercury Bay is because Captain Cook stopped there to observe the transit of the planet Mercury in his seventeenth century travels. Of course, there wasnt quite the variety of restaurants there then, so I guess he just had to make do with salt pork & beef as usual. What we found refreshing was the variety of fish that we hauled up. The fishing wasnt spectacular, with a take of only 3 snapper, but this is a pic of herself reluctantly holding a 2 kg John Dory what she caught.
2kg is a fairly respectable one of these & actually, it was more of a joint effort, as it still had my bait stuck in its throat, & it was too heavy for herself to haul in on her own. They aren't really red, thats just the reflection of my shorts. We had it for tea tonight, pan fried with home made chips & a rather tasty ( I made it ) lemon & parsley sauce. We enjoyed it.
Not to be outdone, I caught this, a 2 kg Kahawai. I thought I had a kingfish on at first when I got to see it in the water, it was such a good size, but it was a Kahawai. I caught it on a little keeper hook, which promptly snapped when I grabbed the trace to lift him out of the landing net. Here he is...
See what I mean about the red shorts? Thats my favourite Bob Dylan tee shirt I'm wearing too.
While we were out there, we stopped to pass the time of day with another couple, Colin & Lesley, who were out fishing. They came in round about the same time we did & stopped for a natter & a fish bin comparison. They were impressed with Judes Dory as well. We were going to dig out the thermos & have a cuppa before we wended our way home, but they invited us round to their place. We stayed for a very pleasant hour or so, swapped addresses & parted with them issuing an invite to come & stay for a few days if we wanted. Lovely folk that they are.
The only thing I fucked up with for the whole day was misreading where the bar was & wasn't at low tide to get into the estuary where the boat ramp was. I ended up getting washed sideways over it in about a foot of water. I haven't got any photo's of that. it was a bloody silly thing to do, especially in front of about 6 other boats who ALL knew where to come in. I'm going to bed now. This enjoying yourself is hard work. I've saved the most exciting bit till tomorrow. One of the disadvantages of a Fibreglass boat is that they show salt marks something shocking, so a good wash is well in order. After that, probably 3 hours of Star Trek.. Who knows & Night all.
Monday, March 17, 2008
We had a good weekend
Arguably, any weekend is good, but we did particularly enjoy this weekend. On Saturday, we had a wander round the Heritage Day at Victoria Park. Most of it was the same old stuff that they trot out for occasions like this, but we did sit & thoroughly enjoy these guys.
They call themselves The City of Sails Chorus, & are a collection of barber shop quartets that have been singing together since 1979, originally calling themselves The Motat Chorus Having formed to sing at the Museum of Transport & Technology. Lovely it was to hear all the old songs.
Sunday, instead of being sensible & vegitating in front of the telly for 3 hours of Star Trek, we piled into Sherman & dragged ourselves off to Tauranga to see the Adams Family. This is Nushy having a grape time...
Nushy is the only dog I know that can hold a green grape in her mouth for a good minute & then spit it out still in pristine condition. WE had a great time too, even though I do have the shits this morning from all the grapes I ate. Thanks a bunch Allie....
They call themselves The City of Sails Chorus, & are a collection of barber shop quartets that have been singing together since 1979, originally calling themselves The Motat Chorus Having formed to sing at the Museum of Transport & Technology. Lovely it was to hear all the old songs.Sunday, instead of being sensible & vegitating in front of the telly for 3 hours of Star Trek, we piled into Sherman & dragged ourselves off to Tauranga to see the Adams Family. This is Nushy having a grape time...
Nushy is the only dog I know that can hold a green grape in her mouth for a good minute & then spit it out still in pristine condition. WE had a great time too, even though I do have the shits this morning from all the grapes I ate. Thanks a bunch Allie....
Saturday, March 01, 2008
A question for you all.
What famous 1964 movie contained the line, "You can't fight in here, this is the War Room." And ended with the line, "Mien Fuhrer, I can walk." No prizes for guessing, I found a copy of it at a market stall today & still think that its an incredibly good movie.
Confessions of a late night trucky
I haven't been listening to Dylan much lately. I have thought about it & I think that its because after seeing him live, somehow a disembodied voice is a little anticlimatical somehow. Also we have been hellish busy at work & when I DO listen to Dylan, I like it to be uninterrupted. I actually have 3 cd's here that I haven't even heard yet.
One of our drivers packed a little tantrum & decided that he wasn't going to come to work any more. As its a truck & trailer run normally, the Boss did it a couple of days & then when it became evident that this guy wasn't going to come back, flicked it off to me. I do have my T & T license, & am quite happy to do certain things with it, but draw the line at round town pickups in Auckland. The Boss was going to restructure the whole Auckland thing anyway, so yours truly has ended up doing the late run in the pick of our 6 wheelers. Its a long , low 6 wheeler, good for old crusties like me to get up & down onto the deck of. It also has a syncromeshed 8 speed Road Ranger gearbox, which really makes it a no brainer to drive, but its most redeeming features are air conditioning & a relatively good CD player.
So being in an expansive & generally good laid back mood on the way home last night, I dragged Dylan & the Dead out of my CD case & flashed it up. God its a great album. What a great guitarist Gerry Garcia was. Truly a shame he is gone now. With the advent of tours by every so called artist & group that ever cut a disc & still has at least one member alive & playing, THAT is one band that I might not sell my soul to go see, but I would at least take out a mortgage on it.
Unfortunately, that is what I would have to do, as Gerry & at least two of the other members are no longer with us, & somehow, The Grateful Dead without Garcia just wouldn't cut it. So I will just content myself with CD's & the $9.95 Warehouse DVD that I have.
Anyway, to cut to the chase as they say. The reason I was in a good mood last night ? Well, it was Friday for chrissake, but the main reason was the date. The 29th of February. Herself phoned me after she had finished her thing at the Hospital, & after she had done the groceries & after she had put beer in my beer fridge for me. Its the sorta thing she does you know? Rings for a chat cos she misses me. At the end of it all, she asked me to marry her. I of course accepted with alacrity. I think its pretty special that after 20 odd (Very odd some of them) years that she still loves me & wants to be with me. That makes you feel pretty good inside.
One of our drivers packed a little tantrum & decided that he wasn't going to come to work any more. As its a truck & trailer run normally, the Boss did it a couple of days & then when it became evident that this guy wasn't going to come back, flicked it off to me. I do have my T & T license, & am quite happy to do certain things with it, but draw the line at round town pickups in Auckland. The Boss was going to restructure the whole Auckland thing anyway, so yours truly has ended up doing the late run in the pick of our 6 wheelers. Its a long , low 6 wheeler, good for old crusties like me to get up & down onto the deck of. It also has a syncromeshed 8 speed Road Ranger gearbox, which really makes it a no brainer to drive, but its most redeeming features are air conditioning & a relatively good CD player.
So being in an expansive & generally good laid back mood on the way home last night, I dragged Dylan & the Dead out of my CD case & flashed it up. God its a great album. What a great guitarist Gerry Garcia was. Truly a shame he is gone now. With the advent of tours by every so called artist & group that ever cut a disc & still has at least one member alive & playing, THAT is one band that I might not sell my soul to go see, but I would at least take out a mortgage on it.
Unfortunately, that is what I would have to do, as Gerry & at least two of the other members are no longer with us, & somehow, The Grateful Dead without Garcia just wouldn't cut it. So I will just content myself with CD's & the $9.95 Warehouse DVD that I have.
Anyway, to cut to the chase as they say. The reason I was in a good mood last night ? Well, it was Friday for chrissake, but the main reason was the date. The 29th of February. Herself phoned me after she had finished her thing at the Hospital, & after she had done the groceries & after she had put beer in my beer fridge for me. Its the sorta thing she does you know? Rings for a chat cos she misses me. At the end of it all, she asked me to marry her. I of course accepted with alacrity. I think its pretty special that after 20 odd (Very odd some of them) years that she still loves me & wants to be with me. That makes you feel pretty good inside.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
A night at the Opera
Those of you who know me will know that I am definitely not an opera fan. I don't go much on musicals that you need a plot synopsis to understand what is being screeched about. It isn't that I don't acknowledge the years of dedication that it takes to be able to sing that loudly & memorise all those words in Italian or German or what ever, I do. I just don't see the point is all. Everyone criticises Dylan for his lack of diction, but at least he sings in English & if you actually LISTEN to him, you can understand him. Herself on the other hand is an opera buff.. She loves the damn stuff. We have reached an accord where she is free to listen to it as long & as loud as she likes, so long as its while I'm not home. We have reached an accord where she does that, & I listen to some of my more eclectic music under the head phones, generally while she is watching Miami CSI or some other programme that I find particularly mind numbing. You see, the monotone delivery that American actors seem to affect at the moment bores me shitless, But thats a whole other blog post in itself.
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, our world renowned opera singer, has caused discord in the Cathouse. You see , I find her comments regarding Hayley Westenra's style of singing extremely offensive. Herself, on the other hand, apparently believes that KTK has a direct link to God & can do no wrong. For the record, Westenra's style of singing doesn't really appeal to me either. Given my druthers, I would rather listen to a bit of down & dirty Joplin, or the dulcet tones of Joan Baez, or even a bit of hard rocking Stevie Nix.
I rate KTK's comments about on a level with kicking a Labrador puppy. Westenra has that "cute " factor that has little old ladies dribbling over her left right & center. OK, so the old Dame may not particularly want to share a stage (read limelight) with her. Maybe she is scared that Westenra may get a better reception than her, I don't know. The whole deal smacks of a large meal of sour grapes & professional jealousy. I mean here's KTK with all these years of training & a huge overseas career, (remember all the denigratory comments re her NZ heritage?) versus a kid from the South Island that was discovered by a country & western singer & has proved to be a huge local success, selling heaps of music.
Dame Kiri is welcome to her opinions, as are we all, but under the circumstances, I think she would have done her public image a lot more good had she just quietly refused the concert without the gratuitous comments. Kind of ironic that the whole deal was rained off anyway. Even Herself, after seeing the shitstorm that the whole deal has created, is starting to grudgingly admit that Kiri has screwed up badly on this occasion. Now THAT really IS something...
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, our world renowned opera singer, has caused discord in the Cathouse. You see , I find her comments regarding Hayley Westenra's style of singing extremely offensive. Herself, on the other hand, apparently believes that KTK has a direct link to God & can do no wrong. For the record, Westenra's style of singing doesn't really appeal to me either. Given my druthers, I would rather listen to a bit of down & dirty Joplin, or the dulcet tones of Joan Baez, or even a bit of hard rocking Stevie Nix.
I rate KTK's comments about on a level with kicking a Labrador puppy. Westenra has that "cute " factor that has little old ladies dribbling over her left right & center. OK, so the old Dame may not particularly want to share a stage (read limelight) with her. Maybe she is scared that Westenra may get a better reception than her, I don't know. The whole deal smacks of a large meal of sour grapes & professional jealousy. I mean here's KTK with all these years of training & a huge overseas career, (remember all the denigratory comments re her NZ heritage?) versus a kid from the South Island that was discovered by a country & western singer & has proved to be a huge local success, selling heaps of music.
Dame Kiri is welcome to her opinions, as are we all, but under the circumstances, I think she would have done her public image a lot more good had she just quietly refused the concert without the gratuitous comments. Kind of ironic that the whole deal was rained off anyway. Even Herself, after seeing the shitstorm that the whole deal has created, is starting to grudgingly admit that Kiri has screwed up badly on this occasion. Now THAT really IS something...
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Nice ladies & little dirt bags.
It's not often that I am sorely tempted towards physical violence towards children, but today I would have gladly made an exception. You see today, I had an afternoon run up to Coromandel. I had one of our better little trucks to take & the sea was an absolute picture. I had a stop to do at one of the oyster companies, & when I went in to see where they wanted their stuff, the nice Maori lady was shelling oysters. On making suitable appreciative noises, she proceeded to give me 2 or 3 still in the shell.. Bliss... So after the last two days of hell runs to Auckland, I was a very happy little camper. Even more so as she came out with a little pottle that contained about a dozen raw oysters. Very nice they was when I got home & had them to the accompaniment of lemon juice, black pepper & a cold beer... Herself is bracing herself & hoping that they don't all work. Anyway, they tasted good & all was well in my little world
That was right up to the point when i was exiting a service lane after another delivery, & this green Toyota king cab ute came round the corner ahead in front of me. "No problem really" thought I, as we both had plenty of room so all was cool. Right up to the point where this arrogant little shit aged about 10, glared at me out the window & flipped me the bird. Did I mention that the whole uteload belonged to our major & very vocal minority group? I think it is very sad that the Maori youth of today is being preprogrammed into a conditioning of hatred towards anyone with European colouring. I also found it very sad that time, social conditioning & the fact that 3 of his extremely large cuzzies were also in the ute prevented me from going after him & smashing his nose into a bloody pulp.
That was right up to the point when i was exiting a service lane after another delivery, & this green Toyota king cab ute came round the corner ahead in front of me. "No problem really" thought I, as we both had plenty of room so all was cool. Right up to the point where this arrogant little shit aged about 10, glared at me out the window & flipped me the bird. Did I mention that the whole uteload belonged to our major & very vocal minority group? I think it is very sad that the Maori youth of today is being preprogrammed into a conditioning of hatred towards anyone with European colouring. I also found it very sad that time, social conditioning & the fact that 3 of his extremely large cuzzies were also in the ute prevented me from going after him & smashing his nose into a bloody pulp.
An Oldy but a goody
Got sent this one from my old mate Hawkeye. Its an oldy but a goody, so I thought I would share.
>
> HELL EXPLAINED BY CHEMISTRY STUDENT
>
> The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington
> chemistry mid term.
>
> The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it
> with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the
> pleasure of enjoying it as well :
>
> Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs
> heat)?
>
> Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas
> cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant
> .
> One student, however, wrote the following:
>
> First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need
> to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which
> they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets
> to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how
> many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that
> exist in the world today.
>
> Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their
> religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these
> religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can
> project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are,
> we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now,
> we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law
> states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the
> same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
>
> This gives two possibilities:
>
> 1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter
> Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell
> breaks loose.
>
> 2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell,
> then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
>
> So which is it?
>
> If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year
> that, "It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into
> account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be
> true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen
> over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it
> follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct
> ... leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being
> which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."
> THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+
>
> HELL EXPLAINED BY CHEMISTRY STUDENT
>
> The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington
> chemistry mid term.
>
> The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it
> with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the
> pleasure of enjoying it as well :
>
> Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs
> heat)?
>
> Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas
> cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant
> .
> One student, however, wrote the following:
>
> First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need
> to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which
> they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets
> to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how
> many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that
> exist in the world today.
>
> Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their
> religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these
> religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can
> project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are,
> we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now,
> we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law
> states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the
> same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
>
> This gives two possibilities:
>
> 1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter
> Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell
> breaks loose.
>
> 2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell,
> then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
>
> So which is it?
>
> If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year
> that, "It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you," and take into
> account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be
> true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen
> over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it
> follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct
> ... leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being
> which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."
> THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+
Sunday, February 17, 2008
I've had a good week
Monday, I did an early run to Hamilton, Tuesday I went to Whitianga, Wednesday was Whangamata, Thursday was Whitianga & Cooks Beach, & Friday was Coromandel. All this & I got paid for it as well. Saturday was unadmittedly a selfish day. I tore the manky old user unfriendly stereo out of Sherman & replaced it with one I bought second hand some time ago. I've been a little scared of this job as dammit, there are a lot of wires hanging out the back of new car radios.
But I managed it without blowing up or setting fire to Shermy & it works beautifully. I also took the CB set out of Herself's car & mounted that in Sherman as well. Another job I have been promising myself to do as well, but I couldn't do it until I replaced the stereo, as they both go in the same hole in the console. I put the original little cubby hole back in Herselfs car to fill the space. Now we are both happy. Me for obvious reasons & herself because she now has somewhere else in her car to shove essential crap. Never known anyone who carts as much essential crap round as her. I guess if you want to be pedantic about it, that could include me I guess, but hey....
Today, we went up to Auckland for Renee, my Grand daughters 6th birthday& had a lovely time. Here is a couple of pics of her & her cake.
Clever old sausage isn't she ?
But I managed it without blowing up or setting fire to Shermy & it works beautifully. I also took the CB set out of Herself's car & mounted that in Sherman as well. Another job I have been promising myself to do as well, but I couldn't do it until I replaced the stereo, as they both go in the same hole in the console. I put the original little cubby hole back in Herselfs car to fill the space. Now we are both happy. Me for obvious reasons & herself because she now has somewhere else in her car to shove essential crap. Never known anyone who carts as much essential crap round as her. I guess if you want to be pedantic about it, that could include me I guess, but hey....
Today, we went up to Auckland for Renee, my Grand daughters 6th birthday& had a lovely time. Here is a couple of pics of her & her cake.
Clever old sausage isn't she ?
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Memories are made of this...
Got sent this link by a dear friend in the States. OK, so it is, of course, American oriented, but the music is great & if you an old fugitive hippy like me, its a groove...
http://objflicks.com/TakeMeBackToTheSixties.htm
Thanks a heap for the link Kathy...
http://objflicks.com/TakeMeBackToTheSixties.htm
Thanks a heap for the link Kathy...
The Chances of anything coming from Mars
Are about as likely as Hollywood doing a remake of a classic story & not butchering it badly. I came home last night after a 15 hour day at work, yes its absolute bloody madness there at the moment, to a wonderful tea. Herself had really excelled herself. Steak, homemade chips, sweetcorn, & beans picked freshly from our own garden, all helped along the way with 2 or 3 really cold beers.
Afterwards, while relaxing (blobbing out actually) on the sofa, I saw a leader for, "Tonight's Blockbuster Movie on 2, War of The Worlds." "Oooh," thinks I. "Lovely way to finish a stressy day seeing as I don't actually have to get up in the pre sparrow fart hours for work the next morning,"Gotta watch this." Turns out that its the Tom Cruise "What if" version... What if we shift the whole story to the US & modernise it. This means we don't have to spend big bucks on sets, & lets make TC an estranged crane driver with two kids to a remarried ex wife, Blardy blardy blah...
Dammit, I may be old fashioned, but H G got the story right when he wrote it. The original worked then , & it still works now. Ok, so I knew what was coming, because I had already wasted money going to see it on the big screen, but that was before I went to see Jeff Wayne's musical version. Now there was a version that ROCKED, but I think we have already been there . I guess I'm spoiled now forever.... Sighhhhhhh.
Afterwards, while relaxing (blobbing out actually) on the sofa, I saw a leader for, "Tonight's Blockbuster Movie on 2, War of The Worlds." "Oooh," thinks I. "Lovely way to finish a stressy day seeing as I don't actually have to get up in the pre sparrow fart hours for work the next morning,"Gotta watch this." Turns out that its the Tom Cruise "What if" version... What if we shift the whole story to the US & modernise it. This means we don't have to spend big bucks on sets, & lets make TC an estranged crane driver with two kids to a remarried ex wife, Blardy blardy blah...
Dammit, I may be old fashioned, but H G got the story right when he wrote it. The original worked then , & it still works now. Ok, so I knew what was coming, because I had already wasted money going to see it on the big screen, but that was before I went to see Jeff Wayne's musical version. Now there was a version that ROCKED, but I think we have already been there . I guess I'm spoiled now forever.... Sighhhhhhh.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Paradise is twice as nice
This is the view from where herself & I had a picnic lunch in our boat today. A lovely little bay on the seaward side of Whanganui Island. As you can see it was lovely & sheltered. We had a wonderful day. came home with 10 nice pan sized snapper, & I had a real adrenaline rush when I hooked up on a Thresher Shark about 6 ft. long. This is what they look like although this pic doesnt do the colour of the beast justice.
It was the most amazing shade of violet on top. It was making huge leaps out of the water & stripping line off the reel with the most amazing ease. I tightened the drag in the hope that it would either bust off or chew through the line but no. When I finally got him close enough, I could see that he was hooked in the corner of his mouth & no way was he chewing through. In the end, after about 6 runs away from the boat, I finally got him close enough for herself to cut the trace down by the hook. He sat & rested for a second or two before quietly swimming off. I suppose I could have gaffed it & got my hook back, but he really was too beautiful to hurt any more. Herself managed to get a shot with my camera of it, so when the film is developed & if it turns out OK, will post it here .
Sunday, January 20, 2008
I want a breeding pair of these..
No, seriously, I really do. Then I can call one Morris, & the other one Minnie.I'm reading Jeremy Clarkson's latest book at the moment. Its called "Don't stop me now." Its an entertaining read, being a series of car reviews in a fairly humorous style. In his one on the Ford Ka Sports, he mentions a couple of ads that have since been pulled, but I found em on You Tube & they are bloody funny. Here they are...
Sunday, January 13, 2008
On being a new Grandad
Ok, so as most of you already know, I already have two very cute little grandkids that i love dearly. They are, however, from Herself's side of the family. Doesnt really make any difference to the way I feel about them. They are our grandkids & I love them dearly.
But at round 9.30 pm on the 9th of this month, my eldest son's wife had by caesarian birth a wee baby girl, 5 weeks early & weighing a mere 4 odd pounds. Damn but there is something special about that 1st blood grand child. Here she is.. Anna Jayne Leslie. The living proof that miracles do still happen.
What else ? Oh yeah! we went fishing yesterday, come home with 6 snapper. Tea was whole fish wrapped in tinfoil seasoned with lemon grass, parsley & butter. Eat your hearts out. Today, I got bored & for the first time in 12 years made a pizza. Everything from the base upwards. That tasted pretty good as well..
But at round 9.30 pm on the 9th of this month, my eldest son's wife had by caesarian birth a wee baby girl, 5 weeks early & weighing a mere 4 odd pounds. Damn but there is something special about that 1st blood grand child. Here she is.. Anna Jayne Leslie. The living proof that miracles do still happen.
What else ? Oh yeah! we went fishing yesterday, come home with 6 snapper. Tea was whole fish wrapped in tinfoil seasoned with lemon grass, parsley & butter. Eat your hearts out. Today, I got bored & for the first time in 12 years made a pizza. Everything from the base upwards. That tasted pretty good as well..
Saturday, January 05, 2008
To the dump to the dump, to the dump dump dump...
Well , OK it's a refuse transfer station actually, but that really doesn't go terribly well with the William Tell Overture somehow. Anyway, we had a trailor load of green waste thats been sitting around for a week or so nicely drying out. Add to that the current lot of lawn clippings & herself's final mad frenzy of weeding & you sorta get the idea. So, there we were unloading next to this guy with a tandem axle trailor & considerably more stuff than we had, & we got to talking to him as you do under such conditions. Our dump is a very social place to go to pass the time of day.
Turns out this guy is an Aucklander. Among other things he told us, it turns out that he has worked for the same company up there for 32 years. He is a supervisor. What he actually supervises is a bloody great machine that puts foil covering on packets of food product. Personally, I can't imagine ANYONE doing a job that mind numbingly boring for that length of time. I've had jobs that were similar, but they were part time jobs when I was in the Fire Service & i didn't last much more than a week at them.
It turns out that with the advent of Kiwi Saver, they all cashed in their company super & started up with Kiwi. not a move that I think that I would like to make, but its not my choice anyway. He & his wife have bought an old house about 20 minutes drive down the coast. Its a bit run down. The previous owner had it rented out for the last 5 years & hasn't done anything to it, so you get the idea. So here he is with his 4th trailor load of green waste. His good lady wife (bless her) is more concerned about clearing the section, while he has been trying to rejuvenate the bathroom.. A lot of rotten timber that necessitated stripping the weatherboard from the exterior to replace timbers. The house is the original farm house for the area & still has the original kauri plank, scrim & wallpaper interior that was common in that era. His plan is to completely reline with gib, tidy everything up & retire down here . By the time he has done all that, he'll bloody well need to retire. At least he has family that can help him. I suppose that all this work during the holidays makes a pleasant change from watching foil covered packages spew out of a machine.
Anyway, our dump has now put in a weighbridge. This is a much fairer system than the old one. That used to involve some fairly complex calculations involving an eyecrometer. It also involved knowing the guy in the office or not, with resultant wild variations in charges. Now you get weighed coming in & weighed going out & pay accordingly. Thats how I know that Sherman towing my little trailor weighs 2100 kg's. Also, my modest little load was only 56kg & only cost me $2.00. Under the old system, it would probably have cost me nearer $10.00.
New Year , all in all was better than Xmas. I caught up with an old mate that I haven't seen for about 12 years. He used to be a mechanic, which is good, because he sorted out a couple of issues with the motor on my boat which were a little worrying. The highlight of his days fishing was catching a small hammerhead shark. There are heaps of em about at the moment, & weight for weight they are bloody good little fighters & I always carefully let them go. In my opinion, anything with optical problems like that need all the help they can get.
It was Jeff's birthday New Years Eve & his brother in Auckland had made arrangements for him, so we reluctantly bid him farewell. Alison & the kids came up & stayed a couple of nights. Its always good to see them & we saw the occasion in with all the flair, aplomb & dignity that one could reasonably expect. In other words, we ate too much, drank too much, talked a lot of crap, & generally enjoyed ourselves.
Well, thats about it. I am hopeful that I will get some proper holidays a bit later on. I have a Grandchild due mid February, & my baby boy turns 30 on the 28th of Feb. Both events are happening in Dunedin. God, I wish that they were a little bit closer than that. Still, a holiday is a holiday I guess.
Turns out this guy is an Aucklander. Among other things he told us, it turns out that he has worked for the same company up there for 32 years. He is a supervisor. What he actually supervises is a bloody great machine that puts foil covering on packets of food product. Personally, I can't imagine ANYONE doing a job that mind numbingly boring for that length of time. I've had jobs that were similar, but they were part time jobs when I was in the Fire Service & i didn't last much more than a week at them.
It turns out that with the advent of Kiwi Saver, they all cashed in their company super & started up with Kiwi. not a move that I think that I would like to make, but its not my choice anyway. He & his wife have bought an old house about 20 minutes drive down the coast. Its a bit run down. The previous owner had it rented out for the last 5 years & hasn't done anything to it, so you get the idea. So here he is with his 4th trailor load of green waste. His good lady wife (bless her) is more concerned about clearing the section, while he has been trying to rejuvenate the bathroom.. A lot of rotten timber that necessitated stripping the weatherboard from the exterior to replace timbers. The house is the original farm house for the area & still has the original kauri plank, scrim & wallpaper interior that was common in that era. His plan is to completely reline with gib, tidy everything up & retire down here . By the time he has done all that, he'll bloody well need to retire. At least he has family that can help him. I suppose that all this work during the holidays makes a pleasant change from watching foil covered packages spew out of a machine.
Anyway, our dump has now put in a weighbridge. This is a much fairer system than the old one. That used to involve some fairly complex calculations involving an eyecrometer. It also involved knowing the guy in the office or not, with resultant wild variations in charges. Now you get weighed coming in & weighed going out & pay accordingly. Thats how I know that Sherman towing my little trailor weighs 2100 kg's. Also, my modest little load was only 56kg & only cost me $2.00. Under the old system, it would probably have cost me nearer $10.00.
New Year , all in all was better than Xmas. I caught up with an old mate that I haven't seen for about 12 years. He used to be a mechanic, which is good, because he sorted out a couple of issues with the motor on my boat which were a little worrying. The highlight of his days fishing was catching a small hammerhead shark. There are heaps of em about at the moment, & weight for weight they are bloody good little fighters & I always carefully let them go. In my opinion, anything with optical problems like that need all the help they can get.
It was Jeff's birthday New Years Eve & his brother in Auckland had made arrangements for him, so we reluctantly bid him farewell. Alison & the kids came up & stayed a couple of nights. Its always good to see them & we saw the occasion in with all the flair, aplomb & dignity that one could reasonably expect. In other words, we ate too much, drank too much, talked a lot of crap, & generally enjoyed ourselves.
Well, thats about it. I am hopeful that I will get some proper holidays a bit later on. I have a Grandchild due mid February, & my baby boy turns 30 on the 28th of Feb. Both events are happening in Dunedin. God, I wish that they were a little bit closer than that. Still, a holiday is a holiday I guess.
Monday, December 24, 2007
From Hamburger to Ham.
I worked today, unlike those many thousands of folk whose bosses run businesses that hold a non essential place in our community. A courier company has got to keep the wheels turning. In my case, I did a van run to Auckland & picked up a staggering amount of bread, meat & vegetables. Enough to fill a Ford Courier Jumbo in fact. All this to contribute in part to keeping the myriads of tourists that flock to our part of the world well, if not expensively, fed.
One of the drops that I did on the way home was a delivery of bread product to a roadside restaurant that we do regular drops to. In an effort to gee up my somewhat jaded Xmas spirits,(the reason for that is a whole different ballgame, & not one that I want to share at this point) I bid the lady in the kitchen "Merry Xmas," & asked her what her plans where for the day. "Work," she replied. "Surely not in here," sez I. "Nope," sez she, "Home cooking Xmas dinner." "Oh." sez I. "Hamburgers to ham, huh?"
This did, at least, raise a smile on her face. She was as busy as. Heaps of traffic on the road, burger orders backed up,hot as hell in the kitchen & just herself & the ditsy blonde teenager manning the counter out front. At least I brightened her day a little I hope.
We are on the road early tomorrow for a two hour drive to spend Xmas with our daughter & the grand kids, so I can empathise with her in that I too will spend part of my holiday doing the same thing that I do for a living, namely driving. It does have its rewards though. i will have herself with me, I will be driving Sherman, & when we get there, I can relax & have a beer or two or three with the obligatory after dinner nap.
So where ever you are & however you spend your day, enjoy it & be safe. Also spare a thought for those who have to keep the wheels turning regardless of how much they want to be with their loved ones. I have been in that situation & could relate some truly horrendous Xmas Eve & New Years Eve anecdotes, but I wont. I prefer to keep those sort of memories in the dark place where wild things roam.
So from Herself & me, have a truly great Xmas & enjoy your special time with your loved ones. I know we will, & thank you all for taking the time to read my ramblings. merry Xmas all.
One of the drops that I did on the way home was a delivery of bread product to a roadside restaurant that we do regular drops to. In an effort to gee up my somewhat jaded Xmas spirits,(the reason for that is a whole different ballgame, & not one that I want to share at this point) I bid the lady in the kitchen "Merry Xmas," & asked her what her plans where for the day. "Work," she replied. "Surely not in here," sez I. "Nope," sez she, "Home cooking Xmas dinner." "Oh." sez I. "Hamburgers to ham, huh?"
This did, at least, raise a smile on her face. She was as busy as. Heaps of traffic on the road, burger orders backed up,hot as hell in the kitchen & just herself & the ditsy blonde teenager manning the counter out front. At least I brightened her day a little I hope.
We are on the road early tomorrow for a two hour drive to spend Xmas with our daughter & the grand kids, so I can empathise with her in that I too will spend part of my holiday doing the same thing that I do for a living, namely driving. It does have its rewards though. i will have herself with me, I will be driving Sherman, & when we get there, I can relax & have a beer or two or three with the obligatory after dinner nap.
So where ever you are & however you spend your day, enjoy it & be safe. Also spare a thought for those who have to keep the wheels turning regardless of how much they want to be with their loved ones. I have been in that situation & could relate some truly horrendous Xmas Eve & New Years Eve anecdotes, but I wont. I prefer to keep those sort of memories in the dark place where wild things roam.
So from Herself & me, have a truly great Xmas & enjoy your special time with your loved ones. I know we will, & thank you all for taking the time to read my ramblings. merry Xmas all.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Xmas lights
Herself, bless her, really enjoys Xmas with all the trimmings. She really gets into the whole deal. I have managed so far to restrain her efforts to the interior of the house, being ever mindful of the high cost of strings of lights, cute Santa's on sleighs, Elves on seesaws, Xmas trains etcetera, not to mention the hazards to aerial navigation all these flashing lights imply. You see, we do live under the flight path of the local airfield & I, for one, don't really fancy the concept of an aircraft, even if it is only a two seater Cessna or something, mistaking my bloody roof for a runway because of them.
The look of disappointment on her face when I said "No" this year was too much for me though. So I worked very hard while she was out the other day & really set things up. Can you imagine the look on her face when she came home & saw this absolute little Wonderland of lights...
The look of disappointment on her face when I said "No" this year was too much for me though. So I worked very hard while she was out the other day & really set things up. Can you imagine the look on her face when she came home & saw this absolute little Wonderland of lights...
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Politically Correct Holiday Greetings
Guarded Holiday Greetings to Everyone
I wanted to send some sort of holiday greeting to all of you, but it is so difficult in today's world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So I met with my team of human rights lawyers yesterday, and after taking their advice I wish to say the following:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the holiday, practiced with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with due respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or of their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
I also wish you all a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make my or your country great (not to imply that UAE, Pakistan, China, Singapore, the US and Thailand is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.
By reading this greeting, you are accepting these terms:
This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal without notice and is without any risk, liability or engagement on my part. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no
promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
Disclaimer: No trees were harmed in the sending of this message; however, a significant number of electrons were slightly inconvenienced.
James [ surname deleted in accordance with voluntary code of practice against nationalist symbolism and gender discrimination ]
I wanted to send some sort of holiday greeting to all of you, but it is so difficult in today's world to know exactly what to say without offending someone. So I met with my team of human rights lawyers yesterday, and after taking their advice I wish to say the following:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral celebration of the holiday, practiced with the most enjoyable traditions of religious persuasion or secular practices of your choice with due respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or of their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
I also wish you all a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make my or your country great (not to imply that UAE, Pakistan, China, Singapore, the US and Thailand is necessarily greater than any other country) and without regard to the race, creed, colour, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.
By reading this greeting, you are accepting these terms:
This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal without notice and is without any risk, liability or engagement on my part. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no
promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.
Disclaimer: No trees were harmed in the sending of this message; however, a significant number of electrons were slightly inconvenienced.
James [ surname deleted in accordance with voluntary code of practice against nationalist symbolism and gender discrimination ]
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
So this is Christmas
and what have you done ?
So begins one of the most haunting Christmas songs that I know. John Lennon sure knew what he was doing when he penned those words. I hope that you are doing more than the mean spirited assholes that left this crap & rubbish with the Salvation Army Shop in Waihi as donations for Xmas presents for kids in need. People may be poor, but they still have pride.. isnt it sad how condescending & self serving some folks can be. Good on ya Sallies for highlighting this...
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