What to write ?

well its been an eventful weekend. Yesterday, we went down to see Tish & uplift these..

Why did Tish have them ? Because we're too stingy to have our own credit card & because Tish is just an absolute wizz at getting really good tickets for concerts. Quite aside from that, its always good to have an excuse to go see Tish & the kids, Oh, & don't forget Nushie & Loopy. I have this private theory that Thomas is just a figment of Tish's fevered brain, because we never see him> Nushie however, considers herself a star of stage & screen

And you must admit that there is a certain rugged individual beauty there. Also to be visited are Tish's spawn of her loins. We are always assured of a dignified but enthusiastic hug & a welcome from Ads, & a wonderful smile & an unreserved hug from H.

Tish, as usual, had some more goodies to cram into my puter, so while she was doing that , H took me for a drive in the little Brmm. She is progressing nicely with her driving abilities & I should be off tranquillisers altogether sometime in the next week or so.

On the way home, we stopped of at the Forta Lisa (sp) restaurant for another very tasty meal. While there, we got to talking to a very nice young chap who, it turns out, is the head chef at the vector arena. Got some wonderful insights into up & coming events, but Herself assures me that if I do go to any more events after these two, it will be minus some very sensitive parts of my anatomy. Now you know that I like my music a lot but there are limits I can assure you.

Was cold last night. Tigs came in about midnight & made straight for her favorite spot in behind my knees under the blankets. She didn't budge until well after I got up. Managed to actually get my self imposed chores done today. All the tools back in their places out of the boat, & all the gear stowed back where its supposed to be in the boat. The fire got lit early, the dog got bathed, the groceries got got & the 3 leaking tap washers in the house got replaced with no major drama. I say this, because normally, something breaks or strips or I don't have the right gear or washers to do the job, but it all went well today.

At the moment I'm reading a couple of crap Clive Cusslers yarns. Very light weight. You always know what to expect with Cussler. The obligatory cameo appearance of himself in his book,(ego ego ego) & the good guys always win. Our local library has come up with a winning idea. They are now totally on line, so you can search their title base, renew & reserve books all online now. Only thing you cant do is read em online. You still have to get up off your arse & go get them. Well, thats about it from me. You'll hear from me if anything exciting happens.. Later

So I'm gonna be a Grand Dad

Not that I don't consider myself to be one already, Herself's daughter has two beautiful littleys, check em out for God sake.. Who couldn't be more than happy with a couple of cute little tackers like this ?

But my eldest son rang me at about 10.00PM last night. He rang me to tell me that his lovely wife is pregnant looking at February for the happy event. Tell me that there isn't anything special about the first born to continue the blood line.. Tell me all you want, but I wont believe you. I'm absolutely over the moon with joy. Have been floating on a cloud all day...

So, big deal

So herself & me have got good tickets to go see the man... So big deal... You'd think that i would be excited at the first chance I have had in my life to see someone that I have listened to & admired since I was 18. Someone that I have virtually all of his legit albums, most of his bootleg ones & a few that have never been released to the general public.. You would think that I had been babbling about it to everyone I met. You would also think that I would be eternally grateful to Tish, who gave of her time, effort & credit card limit, to get not only Dylan tickets, but also Steely Dan tickets.

Uhm well actually, excited doesnt really cover it.. Not sure just how good it feels, but it feels bloody marvellous at the least WOOOOHOOOOOOO.............DYLAN HERE WE COME.....................

FLASH !!!!!!!!!!! AAAH AAAHHHH

As you might have guessed, this is Flash. He lives at the tea rooms at the Te Aroha Domain, where the hot springs are. His exact position is extremely difficult to define, but I suspect that it lies somewhere between General Mangler & Quality Control Officer. His name imparts a certain irony, because the lovely ladies that Flash allows to care for him assure me that he aint no speed king.

He was quite difficult to get a picture of, because the moment the squatting position is assumed for the purposes of photography, Flash assumes that one is there to pay homage to his delightful self & so does his level best to smooge the camera lense.

His pedigree is about what you would expect. A wild stray from the delightful native bush that comes right to the rear of the tearooms, he was seduced by honeyed words & delectable food into adopting the good life, gladly (We surmise) paying the price of enduring deworming, defleaing & desexing. Not necessarily listed in order of importance or impact.

Anyway, if you happen to be anywhere near Te Aroha, check out the Hot Pools & particularly the Tea Rooms. You will be certain of a warm welcome at both places, specially if you mention at the tea rooms that you read about them in Flattie's blog

Happy Birthday Bonzo

Shame you had to leave us. We really miss you you know. The rest of the boys kind of lost heart after you self destructed. I suppose though, its a bit like Neil Young says, "Its better to burn out than it is to rust" damn but you sure did that man.. Its a shame the rest of the boys kind of lost heart & disbanded the group after you left us, because man were you boys going places. Do you know that you are still revered today & that even the young ones are digging your music ? Yep, no bullshit man..




This clip is 7 odd minutes long & it doesnt go right to the end of the track, but this is Bonzo doin what he did the best. Its off The Song Remains The Same, & is memorable to me because of the appearance of his son, who now fronts his own band called , strangely enough, Bonham.


Lastly, this rare clip from 1980, showing a modest man of few words being interviewed by Billy Connelly. Happy Birthday John Bonham, we miss you

I've been neglecting you

Tough shit. I've had a busy week or so one way & another. I know it was Bob Dylans birthday the other day. He's very lucky. he also shares it with Queen Victoria & my brother in law. He should be quite excited to be in such exalted company.

He should also be excited by the fact that I intend to invest quite a lot of money into checking out his live performance in August, God & Tish's magical abilities to book tickets online willing of course. He is bringing with him an Irish band called The Frames. They have an interesting history if you care to look it up on Wikipedia. They are also reasonably competent musicians.

Certainly a bloody sight better than that clown Kanye West that opened for U2. Well, winter draws on & I have me winter drawers on.. I love winter nights with herself & I in front of a fire. Lighting the fire is the one thing that actually allows all the cats in the house to co exist.. Funny critters is cats..

Today we christened Top Dog

You know, my new boat. Twas a beautiful day, & we caught some wonderful fish, some snapper up to 4 pounds.. Sounds better than 2 an a bit kg's dont it ?


This is my young friend Hami, who we took out with us. The Kahawai that he is holding up tipped the fishing club scales at 2.7 kg's, & has given him the club record for this species so far. If nobody else betters it , he will get a prize in October at the official end of the season.; Damn but that fish put up a fine fight, jumping out of the water & all . Quite a thrill for him to land it unaided & a thrill for us to watch it all. We had a wonderful day, with me pulling the plug (figuratively speaking) & heading for home at about 2.00 pm. Even then it was so nice that we motored up to Tapu & cruised along the coast for home.. First of many great days we hope..

ya gotta love him

Even though Andy Rooney is American, & some of what he has to say here is only relevant to Americans, I think a lot of this is good old common sense.......



Andy Rooney said on "60 Minutes" a few weeks back:

I don't think being a minority makes you a victim of anything except numbers. The only things I can think of that are truly discriminatory are things like the United Negro College Fund, Jet Magazine, Black Entertainment Television, and Miss Black America. Try to have things like the UnitedCaucasianCollege Fund, Cloud Magazine, White Entertainment Television, or Miss White America; and se e what happens...Jesse Jackson will be knocking down your door.

Guns do not make you a killer. I think killing makes you a killer. You can kill someone with a baseball bat or a car, but no one is trying to ban you from driving to the ball game.

I believe they are called the Boy Scouts for a reason, which is why there are no girls allowed. Girls
belong in the Girl Scouts! ARE YOU LISTENING MARTHA BURKE?

I think that if you feel homosexuality is wrong, it is not a phobia, it is an opinion.

I have the right "NOT" to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird, or tick me off.

When 70% of the people who get arrested are black, in cities where 70% of the population is black, that is not racial profiling; it is the Law of Probability.

I believe that if you are selling me a milkshake, a pack of cigarettes, a newspaper or a hotel room, you must do it in English! As a matter of fact, if you want to be an American citizen, you shoul d have to speak English!

My father and grandfather didn't die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come over
and disrespect ours.

I think the police should have every right to shoot your sorry ass if you threaten them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the word "freeze" or "stop" in English, see the above lines.

I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you are qualified for any special loan programs, government sponsored bank loans or tax breaks, etc., so you can open a hotel, coffee shop, trinket store, or any other business.

We did not go to the aid of certain foreign countries and risk our lives in wars to defend their freedoms, so that decades later they could come over here and tell us our constitution is a living document; and open to their interpretations.

I don't hate the rich I don't pity the poor.

I know pro wrestling is fake, but so are movies and television. That doesn't stop you from watching them.

I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make
more. If it ticks you off, go and invent the next operating system that's better, and put your name on the building.

It doesn't take a whole village to raise a child right, but it does take a parent to stand up to the kid; and smack their little behinds when necessary, and say "NO!"

I think tattoos and piercing are fine if you want them, but please don't pretend they are a political statement. And, please, stay home until that new lip ring heals. I don't want to look at your ugly infected mouth as you serve me French fries!

I am sick of "Political Correctness." I know a lot of black people, and not a single one of them was born in Africa; so how can they be "African-Americans"? Besides, Africa is a continent. I don't go around saying I am a European-American because my great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather was from Europe. I am proud to be from America and nowhere else

And if you don't like my point of view, tough...

Shoes & Ships

On Saturday morning , we went to Hamilton. Just for a change... You see, I was silly enough to mention to herself that a company called Boating world was having a closing down sale. I thought that looking at boats for sale was a good idea, but changed my mind as I go to Hamilton every day anyway. Herself, with her usual persuasive charm, changed my mind for me & we went. We didnt find a boat there, but herself did find a couple of grotty old chairs that she insists will look wonderful recovered & given pride of place in the spare room. Me, I'm not so sure, but we have them. After that, we invited ourselves round to a work colleagues new place for a cuppa. Herself being herself, didnt wish to go empty handed, so we called into the New World Supermarket just up the road from the boat place.

In Thames, we only have Pak n Save, where unless you know the operator, your service is indifferent at best, with the girls acting as if they are doing you a favour just by being there , let alone providing a pleasant shopping experience. Not so at this particular New World. The youmg lass at the checkout chatted away to us as if we were long lost cousins & not Mr & Mrs Joe Soap that she has never seen before & in all likelyhood will never see again. I was that impressed that I found the supervisor & remarked to her about it. You see I believe that good service should be commented on as well as bad. I think the supervisor was having a crappy day, as her face positively lit up when she realized that I wasnt there to whinge.

So we went over to Melville , had our cuppa with my workmate & headed home via Morrinsville. On a whim , we decided to have a mooch through a large boatyard in Morrinsville. They not only sell & service boats there they make them. Its an old family firm & very successful. We had a good look round the yard & saw a few possibilities. Right up to the point where we saw this...

Its a Haines Signature Class Bermuda Renegade. 15 foot of very nice boat. You see , Herself is sick of getting wet every time we go fishing & with her poor old body being as it is needs to stretch her legs & walk about a bit. So we bought it. Its powered by a 90 HP Yamaha 2 stroke motor for the technically minded, nicely set up with a power winch for the anchor & hydraulic tilt on the motor. Its going to be cleaned & fully serviced over this week. We get to pick it up next Saturday morning. Weather permitting, we will be fishing Sunday. We cant wait.........

On Anti Smacking

Has there been anything else newsworthy over the last month or so ? I doubt it. For what its worth, here is ole Flattie's 10 cents worth on this subject. I speak with some authority on this. you see, I have seen the dark side. I probably would have been prosecuted under the new law, & quite likely would have run foul of authority under the old. Its not someting I'm proud of. The guilt feelings will probably last a lifetime. Its not really me, as i am not by nature a violent person. There were reasons for me being like this. I'm not going to use them as justification, nor am I going to pour my heart out regarding them. just suffice it to say the cause was there & I have to live with the effect for the rest of my life.

Any legislation only really affects law abiding citizens. Thats why we still need a Police Force. If it were possibile to legislate crime out of existence, then we wouldnt still need the Police to pursue & apprehend the perpetrators of crimes like rape, murder theft assault etc., etc., etc., All this legislation does is enable us to punish the guilty ones.

Just because its illegal, it isnt going to deter Joe Blow from coming home inebriated or what ever & taking his frustrations out on his family. All its going to do is cause even more guilt feelings among the average caring parent, who feels the need to administer a little more disciplinarian action than time out or whatever. I think Sue Bradford must have been dropped on her head as a child because she seems unable to distinguish the difference between a tap on the bum & full scale assault & battery referring to any form of corporal punishment as "bashing"

In a world gone PC crazy, this is just another nail in the coffin of common sense. I am pleased that the Police have been given discretionary powers in this amendment. It will allow them to ignore all these bleeding heart touchy feely cardigan wearing pillocks that want to interfere in basic family functioning & get on with their real job. The apprehension of real criminals. Ones that cause real harm to honest folk... End rant..

Quote of the week

From a lady by the name of Linda Mc Callum, co owner of Havoc Pork as said on tonights Country Calendar..." I never knew anything about pigs until I met Ian.."

Thoughts on ANZAC Day

My Dad was never real big on ANZAC Day. I think I remember him going to a dawn parade only once. He thought that much of his medals that he used to use one as a key ring. His opinion was that if they couldnt be bothered engraving his name on them then they didnt really mean much. You had to get him quite drunk to even talk about it, although the few friends he retained from this era were dearly loved. He had a lot of issues relating to the war, which really are nobody's business but my familys. Suffice it to say, that the short time he was in the Military embittered him for life. he was invalided home with amoebic dysentry & really bad dermatitis, both of which affected him for life. His company went on to be slaughtered at Crete, so I suppose it was a very mixed blessing.

I view the continuing closures of RSA's with mixed feelings. Our own one here in Thames is now a computer training center. Had I been allowed to join as a Service member , I would have. You see I do hold a commissioned medal for long service with The Fire Service, but even though I have risked life & limb for country, this doesnt qualify me to be a service member. The vcan be a bit fussy I fear.

Anyway, my Anzac day commemorations consist of quietly sitting & listening to these two songs...

Lest We Forget...

Damn I love this....

Somewhere around there are folk with waaay waaay too much spare time on their hands.. Enjoy it.. I know I did...

Recovery time

It has sort of been a time of recovery for me lately. I think that at last I have recovered my relationship with my eldest son. Time will tell on that one. We went to say goodbye to some dear friends who are moving to the South Island a little while ago & she gave me back a text book on Huna that I lent her about 5 years ago. I value the wisdom in it hugely. She found it too deep & didnt finish reading it.

We did our usual wander round the markets this morning. Herself, as is her wont, cast an eye over the book stalls, & came up with another gem, one which I also lent out & never got back, Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintainence.Needless to say, we bought it. Now all I need is to find a book by Carlos Castenada called The Teachings of Don Juan. I lent that one out too. As far as I know, its now down in the Chatham Islands.. Fat chance of getting THAT back.. Other than that, a busy week. For us, a short week only means cramming 5 days work into 4. Hopefully things will settle a bit now that the Financial year & Easter are over & done with. Who knows........

Talkin 'bout Cats

This is Bin Garden. She holds the position of Rodent Control Officer at Te Aroha Garden Concrete Products. As her name suggests, she was found in one of the bins there at about the time it was fashionable to vilify Osama Bin Laden. She is much loved & has had a series of name changes since, but I think the original is best












This is Chloe. She hold the position of Reclining Buddha or is
that a self inflicted Half Nelson. She maintains a feline presence in our lounge. Very much in to cheese, fish & bacon. We inherited her from my Mum...


















This is Tigs, one half of the Ginger Ninja's showing her delusions of granduer by parking her fat ass in the dogs basket & comandeering his bone.
















This is Fattums, Tig's sister, the other half of the Ginger Ninja's in her favourite spot in my rock garden. She aint a very happy puddytat at the moment as she is at the vets with a badly abscessed shoulder. We miss her















And this is Mister Dog, whom we also inherited from my Mum. He really doesnt have buckleys chance against the cats & has real identity crises

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 ?