A depressingly small number of days until Christmas. Our paper didn't arrive this morning, we are disoriented.
LOCAL NEWS
There was an earthquake in the South Island on Tuesday, it registered 7.2 on herr Richter's scale, 33km below the ground. Nobody was hurt. People felt it as far north as Rotorua.
An HIV-positive man who admitted having unsafe sex has been charged now with criminal nuisance when he had safe sex with someone else without admitting his status. It seems this guy gets around, and I have to say that the woman seems guilty of poor judgement. However, this does appear to be a poor use of police time and the courts.
There's been a pseudo-scandal for the last week or two about the SIS supposedly bugging maori activist type people and possibly some MPs. I am not really sure why, they are unlikely to say or do anything interesting.
Been lots about the Mt Erebus air crash this week, it is 25 years since nearly 300 people died in Air New Zealand's biggest accident (and NZs largest loss of life event).
There's been debate about a V8 race in Auckland for weeks, it got knocked on the head, and now other cities want it. I know that I don't care about motor racing, and you could argue I have a selfish view, but I don't really see why I should be upset about it when it would cause traffic mayhem for three or four days in the city. They reckon it would bring $300m into the city but I suspect I lack enough altruism to be bothered about it. Naturally, other cities are poking fun at Auckland for not doing it. Gives them something to do, I suppose.
People in NZ who have had non-custodial convictions can now not mention them after they have been out of trouble for seven years. I suppose that is a good thing, not sure what that means with travelling to US and such, apparently they have had "fading chalk" on the slate in Australia and England for a while.
WORLD NEWS
Iran narrowly escaped the justice of Team America this week.
REAL SPORT
Rory's Water Polo C team drew 8-8 on Monday night with Sacred Heart White. They should have won.
The North Island Intermediate School Tournament started on Thursday. Rory's Year 7 team had two very tough games (like 15-2) in pool play in the tournament and a very close game that they lost 2-3. Their first game was against Bruce McLaren that won the Div 1 final the week before (and they should have been playing in the A competition, it was pretty cheap that they didn’t). They then went into the plate round. They won their first game by default (other team didn't arrive). Then they won their second game against Glenfield, who looked good but didn't really fire. Then we were going to play a friendly against Glen Eden (who's opposition didn't show up either, same team I think) but then we realised we were due to play them the next day so we made it the real game (which gave us Saturday off). We won that game too. We lost the playoff for top team in the plate to the team we lost to on the first day, 2-3 (same result, too). We led until the fourth quarter, so annoying.
Tournament in Tauranga this weekend for the club team.
SPORT
We don't mention cricket.
We mention rugby, because the ABs won their game against France, convincingly (45-6) and we needed some good news.
We mention Man Utd winning 3-0 over West Brom, Chelsea beat Charlton 4-0, at half time Liverpool were up 1-0 over the Arse, they equalised, then Liverpool snuck one in during extra time to get a win 2-1. Chelsea lead table by five points.
MY SAD LIFE
With one lot of water polo finished, Rory had less training than usual (in fact, no training this week at all, only seven games). We went to the pool to swim four times this week, and although they closed earlier than expected one day, he swam nearly 5km this week. I swam 4.5km, which is pretty good. I reckon 182 lengths in a week is more than I do most years. Hannah has been coming now and again, did 55 on Saturday and was buggered, but a pretty good effort.
I finished two books this week. That is quite big news given that I have been reading one since Father's Day in September (A Complete History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson). It was funny because I told Diana I thought I was getting close to the end (on page 573, with about a hundred pages to go), then I looked at the pages that remained and they were all index and references and I was on the second to last page. Then I finished the book I was reading before I got it. Then, on Saturday, I got out another book from the library that I only half read (The Scientests, very long and hard to digest).
My friend Babara is slowly improving. Her fractured leg is the main problem now, but she is having cataract surgery this week (she needs it, believe me, she can barely see).
I heard from Jack this week.
Paul has been to Yosemite with Paul Chambers and Rachel. They are both working in skifields over winter in US.
Ben turned four on Saturday.
It is Charles' birthday on Saturday. It is mine on Friday, turning forty doesn't bother me, I just won't answer any more surveys. I like Judy's idea of changing from birthdays to anniversaries. I don't want hair dye or wrinkle cream for my birthday, in case you are wondering.
The cats both lost their collars this week. Ollie is able to remove his new one easily and Pandora decided she wasn't going to be the only one with a collar.
This next bit should be "Gavin's Sad Life"
Gavin's dog Shushi broke the bottom glass panel of his front door in the week leading up to Guy Fawkes because she is scared of the noise and she forces her way through the cat door (she's too big for it). It cost Gavin $160 to repair it. Then, while he was out on Saturday night, someone let off more fireworks - bang, there goes the door again. Gavin's been working long hours lately (like 55 hours a week) and earning overtime, which has been funding the replacement glass and his dental work. The second time, he wasn't too happy, especially when he worked out how many overtime hours it too to replace the glass panel. On Sunday, I suggested he use plywood or something else, thicker glass or perhaps perspex that would stand up to it better. Anyway, on Tuesday he had it replaced with thicker glass. Tuesday afternoon there was a thunderstorm, and she broke it again (miraculously, with glass everywhere, she doesn't actually hurt herself). The new glass had been in less than five hours (which is less time than it takes to earn the money to pay for the replacement. Poor Gavin was not feeling too happy, so I sent him a text message which went like this:
Glass: $85.
Labour: $75.
Having a friend that doesn't take the piss about his stupid dog: priceless.
I found out later the glass is cracked but intact so doesn't require immediate replacement, although the dog arguably might.
Well, bye for now. I have to install a larger letterbox to handle all the gifts.
29 November 2004
22 November 2004
Some good results all round - 22/11/2004
Welcome to Rory Hughes, residing in Adelaide. I have known Rory since before our Rory was born, and although little Rory wasn't strictly named after big Rory, he was part of the inspiration for the name via a friend of Diana's. Only thing is that I am wondering how soon we have to swap titles, as little Rory is five foot six and gaining fast.
LOCAL NEWS
The dreaded seabed and foreshore legislation has been pushed through parliament this week. I try to insulate you from it all, to be honest I am not sure of many of the details. It seems many Maori feel they should own the whole coastline, which isn't going to happen.
The republic debate has come up again, but again seems like it will take years before action. I really don't understand why it is an issue at all.
Huge news late in the week coming from our courts. Firstly, Donna Awatere Huata was found to have no justification for staying in Parliament after being expelled by ACT. Secondly, on the same day, the father of a (basically brain dead) five month old girl was acquitted of murder. This was a strange case. He had admitted suffocating her, and so I don't really understand how he could be not guilty. The girl was diagnosed as having the brain development of a 14 week old foetus (which qualified her to run for Parliament) but her outlook was not good and would have been better of if she had not survived. It creates all sorts of issues about disabled people, however, and a number of other ethical conundrums. Many groups were not happy with the verdict.
An NZ woman was in the paper this week, because she has been breastfeeding a puppy. Yuck.
Another NZ woman was attacked by a jaguar in South Africa whilst filming a natural history documentary, she should be okay.
WORLD NEWS
The shooting of a wounded man in Fallujah was not good PR for the US. However, stories of guys popping out of doorways with video cameras three times then popping out with a missile on their shoulder suggests they aren't fighting too clean themselves. It is not something the US are going to get out of gracefully.
Margaret Hussan seems to have been killed by kidnappers who haven't got much of a sense of discretion or appropriateness. What a mess.
The test scramjet was way cool, hitting nearly Mach 10 and going about 11,000 kilometres an hour. A plane with those engines would get you from Auckland to LA in about eight hours (one hour flying, one sitting on the runway, one hour standing in queues at each end of the flight, four hours waiting around pointlessly in airports).
REAL SPORT
(sorry it is so long today)
Rory's U14C team played their own club's U14B team on Monday night. The boys were expecting to lose, although the coaches weren't so sure. They got an early lead, 5-1 at the end of the 1st quarter, but were pegged back to 9-9 by the end of the 3rd. In the fourth, U14C powered ahead and won 12-9, a very good result and their first win. Rory asked Henry (who changed from C to B) if he was still happy he moved, which was not very nice but pretty appropriate. Rory scored one goal. They play a Sacred Heart team tonight.
Friday it was announced at school that Rory (& David) won a petanque competition (they called themselves "balls of steel". Rory didn't seem to know there had been one.
Friday was also the big night of finals for the Western Intermediate Water Polo League. Team 3 played first in the playoff for third and fourth, we came early to support them, they were up against an under strength Glen Eden side, and won 7-3. Team 2 then played for the Div 2 final against St Dominics. It was close, I have to tell you that, but they won 3-2 (Rory scored one, and set up a second). The score went 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, it was damn close. The kids were absolutely stoked that they won.
We all stuck around for the prize giving, which meant we got to see Team 1 play off in the final, too. They clung on at 2-2, but then drifted and lost 6-3, I think. So final results for Ponsonby were a 1st and 3rd in Div 2, and a 2nd in Div 1.
At the prizegiving, after handing out the trophies to the two winning teams, they gave out a few personal awards, and Rory was given Most Valuable Player for the whole of 2nd Division! He was pretty stoked, got a medal for his efforts. Matty from Team 1 got Most Promising in Div 1. If there was any doubt about it before, it was eliminated that night, Rory's preferred sport is definitely Water Polo.
He has a game tonight and a tournament over four days for school starting on Thursday.
SPORT
The first test between NZ and Australia started on Thursday. There was a general feeling it was always going to be tough (with our best three bowlers out with injury). There were lots of comments about whether it would last five days. It didn't. The fourth day wasn't pretty.
The Silver Ferns won the second netball test. They lost the third 51-53 and therefore the series 1-2.
The All Blacks played Wales and won 26-25, poor Wales haven't beaten the All Blacks in 51 years. France lost to Argentina, we play them next weekend.
Man Uted beat Charlton 2-0, Arsenal drew 1-1 with West Brom. Liverpool lost 0-2 to Middlesborough, Newcastle beat Crystal Palace 2-0.
The Kiwis lost to Great Britain, again.
MY SAD LIFE
Hannah has a special role in her dance show, in the "We're in the Money" number. Very excited about it.
Pandora got shut in a kitchen cupboard. We wondered why Ollie was sitting, staring at a cupboard, then we heard a noise from within.
Then Ollie went missing on Saturday night, didn't show up for breakfast on Sunday (very unusual, loves his food). No sign of him by Sunday night. We were worried but tried to play it down because Hannah was worried and we didn't want her to be. My theory was he could be stuck in the garage next door, because they were out all day on Sunday. The kids went next door and asked, but the neighbours didn't actually open the garage to check. This morning, still no sign, and when I went to get the paper about 6am, Pandora seemed to be looking for him. Diana went and checked the boot of my car, and came inside disappointed. Just then, I heard a squeak, I sent Diana back out and he was at the back door just before 7am. The garage door next door was open, which suggests I may have been correct. He was hungry but not sure whether to cuddle Hannah or eat. His collar is missing, but that doesn't matter. Hannah is very happy, Diana and I are greatly relieved.
We had lunch with Scott, Sarah, and Judy on Sunday. It's Judy's birthday today (happy birthday).
The swimming continues. Hannah did fifty lengths on Wednesday, Rory did eighty. I did my highest on Sunday with 62 (over 1500m). Been trying to improve Rory's diving (he can't dive for nuts), it is improving.
Rory had to write a personal account for school, due to be handed in this week. He chose to do it on Ross Cole, who died a year ago tomorrow. It was very sad. A lot has happened in that year. The homework is starting to peter out as we get closer to the end of the year.
The winners of the architecture/maths thing at school were supposed to be announced last Friday, but they weren't. Rory thinks he has a shot at a mention.
You still have time to post me a birthday present if you are quick.
LOCAL NEWS
The dreaded seabed and foreshore legislation has been pushed through parliament this week. I try to insulate you from it all, to be honest I am not sure of many of the details. It seems many Maori feel they should own the whole coastline, which isn't going to happen.
The republic debate has come up again, but again seems like it will take years before action. I really don't understand why it is an issue at all.
Huge news late in the week coming from our courts. Firstly, Donna Awatere Huata was found to have no justification for staying in Parliament after being expelled by ACT. Secondly, on the same day, the father of a (basically brain dead) five month old girl was acquitted of murder. This was a strange case. He had admitted suffocating her, and so I don't really understand how he could be not guilty. The girl was diagnosed as having the brain development of a 14 week old foetus (which qualified her to run for Parliament) but her outlook was not good and would have been better of if she had not survived. It creates all sorts of issues about disabled people, however, and a number of other ethical conundrums. Many groups were not happy with the verdict.
An NZ woman was in the paper this week, because she has been breastfeeding a puppy. Yuck.
Another NZ woman was attacked by a jaguar in South Africa whilst filming a natural history documentary, she should be okay.
WORLD NEWS
The shooting of a wounded man in Fallujah was not good PR for the US. However, stories of guys popping out of doorways with video cameras three times then popping out with a missile on their shoulder suggests they aren't fighting too clean themselves. It is not something the US are going to get out of gracefully.
Margaret Hussan seems to have been killed by kidnappers who haven't got much of a sense of discretion or appropriateness. What a mess.
The test scramjet was way cool, hitting nearly Mach 10 and going about 11,000 kilometres an hour. A plane with those engines would get you from Auckland to LA in about eight hours (one hour flying, one sitting on the runway, one hour standing in queues at each end of the flight, four hours waiting around pointlessly in airports).
REAL SPORT
(sorry it is so long today)
Rory's U14C team played their own club's U14B team on Monday night. The boys were expecting to lose, although the coaches weren't so sure. They got an early lead, 5-1 at the end of the 1st quarter, but were pegged back to 9-9 by the end of the 3rd. In the fourth, U14C powered ahead and won 12-9, a very good result and their first win. Rory asked Henry (who changed from C to B) if he was still happy he moved, which was not very nice but pretty appropriate. Rory scored one goal. They play a Sacred Heart team tonight.
Friday it was announced at school that Rory (& David) won a petanque competition (they called themselves "balls of steel". Rory didn't seem to know there had been one.
Friday was also the big night of finals for the Western Intermediate Water Polo League. Team 3 played first in the playoff for third and fourth, we came early to support them, they were up against an under strength Glen Eden side, and won 7-3. Team 2 then played for the Div 2 final against St Dominics. It was close, I have to tell you that, but they won 3-2 (Rory scored one, and set up a second). The score went 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, it was damn close. The kids were absolutely stoked that they won.
We all stuck around for the prize giving, which meant we got to see Team 1 play off in the final, too. They clung on at 2-2, but then drifted and lost 6-3, I think. So final results for Ponsonby were a 1st and 3rd in Div 2, and a 2nd in Div 1.
At the prizegiving, after handing out the trophies to the two winning teams, they gave out a few personal awards, and Rory was given Most Valuable Player for the whole of 2nd Division! He was pretty stoked, got a medal for his efforts. Matty from Team 1 got Most Promising in Div 1. If there was any doubt about it before, it was eliminated that night, Rory's preferred sport is definitely Water Polo.
He has a game tonight and a tournament over four days for school starting on Thursday.
SPORT
The first test between NZ and Australia started on Thursday. There was a general feeling it was always going to be tough (with our best three bowlers out with injury). There were lots of comments about whether it would last five days. It didn't. The fourth day wasn't pretty.
The Silver Ferns won the second netball test. They lost the third 51-53 and therefore the series 1-2.
The All Blacks played Wales and won 26-25, poor Wales haven't beaten the All Blacks in 51 years. France lost to Argentina, we play them next weekend.
Man Uted beat Charlton 2-0, Arsenal drew 1-1 with West Brom. Liverpool lost 0-2 to Middlesborough, Newcastle beat Crystal Palace 2-0.
The Kiwis lost to Great Britain, again.
MY SAD LIFE
Hannah has a special role in her dance show, in the "We're in the Money" number. Very excited about it.
Pandora got shut in a kitchen cupboard. We wondered why Ollie was sitting, staring at a cupboard, then we heard a noise from within.
Then Ollie went missing on Saturday night, didn't show up for breakfast on Sunday (very unusual, loves his food). No sign of him by Sunday night. We were worried but tried to play it down because Hannah was worried and we didn't want her to be. My theory was he could be stuck in the garage next door, because they were out all day on Sunday. The kids went next door and asked, but the neighbours didn't actually open the garage to check. This morning, still no sign, and when I went to get the paper about 6am, Pandora seemed to be looking for him. Diana went and checked the boot of my car, and came inside disappointed. Just then, I heard a squeak, I sent Diana back out and he was at the back door just before 7am. The garage door next door was open, which suggests I may have been correct. He was hungry but not sure whether to cuddle Hannah or eat. His collar is missing, but that doesn't matter. Hannah is very happy, Diana and I are greatly relieved.
We had lunch with Scott, Sarah, and Judy on Sunday. It's Judy's birthday today (happy birthday).
The swimming continues. Hannah did fifty lengths on Wednesday, Rory did eighty. I did my highest on Sunday with 62 (over 1500m). Been trying to improve Rory's diving (he can't dive for nuts), it is improving.
Rory had to write a personal account for school, due to be handed in this week. He chose to do it on Ross Cole, who died a year ago tomorrow. It was very sad. A lot has happened in that year. The homework is starting to peter out as we get closer to the end of the year.
The winners of the architecture/maths thing at school were supposed to be announced last Friday, but they weren't. Rory thinks he has a shot at a mention.
You still have time to post me a birthday present if you are quick.
15 November 2004
Goodbye Yasser, hello unknown warrior - 15/11/04
It rained yesterday for the first time in about two weeks. It's raining today.
LOCAL NEWS
Massive amounts of fuss in the media this week for the return of the "unknown warrior". Not an obscure league player, but the body of an NZ soldier from Belgium from the First World War. He arrived in Wellington, laid in state for a day, and was then interred in the National War Memorial in Wellington with much ado on the 11th of the 11th (Armistice Day). People cried, he was awarded a number of medals and an RSA honour (the guy could have been a deserter or an army bureaucrat for all they know). While I guess it is a nice symbol of the sacrifice made by the few for the many, it feels very orchestrated. Interestingly, there are some I know who felt that it was an important thing to do (Peter Smith has an Uncle who never returned).
The driver that survived when Possum Bourne was killed was sentenced to 300 hours community service and a $10,000 fine.
The Kawerau College school yearbook was recalled by the head master after discovering that some of the ambitions of the students leaving school included drug dealing and motor cycle gang boss. The editorial process seemed to have been somewhat lacking.
Five drivers involved in the excessively fast motorcade driving the PM a while back have been charged with various offenses including speeding and dangerous driving. Helen's assertion that she failed to notice the speed is bollocks. They averaged 128Km/h and it was not a 100Km/h zone the whole way so they must have been going over 140 in places. You'd notice.
A fourteen year old south Auckland girl has been missing for a week.
A man was run over by the car he just bought at a car fair on Saturday. He had just handed over $2000 when the vendor tried to leave the scene in the car he had just sold to the victim. The purchaser jumped on the car and was thrown from it.
The Northerner, an overnight train from Auckland to Wellington, has taken its last ride. After 95 years it is no longer, due to competition from cheap air fares.
A battle is erupting between Dick Hubbard, the new Mayor, and the deputy Dr Bruce Hucker who seems to have got enough councillors on his side to control every committee and vote from here to election day. Things are not comfortable at the council.
Labour held their conference over the weekend, and the polls seem to be favouring them. I am not sure there has ever been a three-term Labour government.
WORLD NEWS
Yasser Arafat's passing suggests the dwarf thing failed. Meanwhile, most people want to know how come his wife was so young.
Fallujah continued to be fought over all week. They seem to have control and are just cleaning out pockets of resistance now.
REAL SPORT
Team 2 had to play Team 3 in the semi-final, the nightmare scenario as playing your mates isn't fun. Rory had some divided loyalty because he has played so many times for them and many of Team 3 will be in his team next year. Diana said Rory should play for Team 3 but he didn't want to. The kids in both teams were very excited, much more so than normal. It was never going to be pretty.
We had the A team plus Bob out there in the first quarter, and Rory scored a couple of goals. By then second quarter, we were up about 6-2 and Rory had scored the first four of them. Third quarter, Rory was off and the team struggled. Poor defence and not enough passing, Team three scored and it was 6-3. Fourth quarter, Rory came back out and we scored four more times, final score 10-3. Rory got six goals, and at least three assists. He missed one sitter, but was devastating otherwise, possibly the best game he's played. Chloe got 3, David 1. He looked very good out there. Not that he was under any pressure, he had a lot of family there watching (Sarah, Nanny, and Granny all came as well as the rest of us). Diana was absolutely stoked, we all were, but very pleased to see him show what he can do, and that the training pays off (he has either played, trained, or swum every day for the last three weeks now).
We have the final this coming Friday and his development squad plays a game tonight against the B team from our own club (he is in the C team). Got news last Monday that we have a tournament on the 5th in bloody Tauranga.
SPORT
The ABs beat Italy 59-10. Not sure anyone cares.
Australia beat NZ 54-49 in the netball, reversing the results of the clean sweep earlier in the year.
NSW was all over the Black Caps in a warm up cricket match, not a good sign. First test starts on Thursday.
Arsenal beat Spurs 5-4 in what must have been a heck of a game to watch. Chelsea won 4-1 over Fulham, Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 3-2. Man Utd beat Newcastle 3-1.
MY SAD LIFE
Wednesday night, after dancing, Hannah came to the pool with Rory and I. Rory set a new personal best by swimming sixty lengths (1500m), I swam 40 lengths (1000m), and Hannah (who's previous best was 12) did 32 lengths (800m). We were all knackered but happy. Sunday afternoon, we went again, and did even more. Rory did 80 lengths, Hannah and I did 50. Given that Hannah is only swimming twice a week she is doing very well, she can be quite determined.
Both the kids had athletics at school, neither qualified for inter-school but both did pretty well. Hannah made the 200m final, Rory came fifth in the 100m final (I saw him race in a heat and he did it in 13.59 seconds, which is pretty quick but not sure how credible the timekeeping was).
Friday afternoon, I picked the kids up about an hour early from school, along with Rory's friend Jared (all supplied teachers with notes) and took them to Big Boys Toys to see the Honda Asimo walking robot. We also played with automatic weapons, a bazooka, the kids sat in the driver's seat of an armoured car, we played Halo 2, and scored the usual selection of stickers, posters, and condoms (remember the time we went, Koos?). Not only was it fun, but it was really fun because they missed school for some of it which made it even better. Naughty, I know, but the kids have been working hard and it was a good treat for them. It is really busy on the weekend and a weekday is heaps better.
It was Caitlin, Nanny, and Helen J's birthday on Saturday. It's Allan's birthday today, and Emma turns 18 tomorrow.
We saw lots of people over the weekend, it was quite social - in between the homework. Rory had to finish a maths (vaguely) thing on designing an apartment block. Rather than let him make futile sketches the size of a large postage stamp on grid paper for hours (he did a couple) the family constructed it from Lego. I suspect his work will be over the top, but we shall see. When we hauled it to school, the kids in his class seemed to make the right noises, while we saw a number coming to school with an A3 coloured piece of paper.
The Goodins don't have enough to fill their empty lives so they are tidying the house for sale, listed on Friday.
Oh well, just back from a walk, we got rained on a little, better do some real work now.
LOCAL NEWS
Massive amounts of fuss in the media this week for the return of the "unknown warrior". Not an obscure league player, but the body of an NZ soldier from Belgium from the First World War. He arrived in Wellington, laid in state for a day, and was then interred in the National War Memorial in Wellington with much ado on the 11th of the 11th (Armistice Day). People cried, he was awarded a number of medals and an RSA honour (the guy could have been a deserter or an army bureaucrat for all they know). While I guess it is a nice symbol of the sacrifice made by the few for the many, it feels very orchestrated. Interestingly, there are some I know who felt that it was an important thing to do (Peter Smith has an Uncle who never returned).
The driver that survived when Possum Bourne was killed was sentenced to 300 hours community service and a $10,000 fine.
The Kawerau College school yearbook was recalled by the head master after discovering that some of the ambitions of the students leaving school included drug dealing and motor cycle gang boss. The editorial process seemed to have been somewhat lacking.
Five drivers involved in the excessively fast motorcade driving the PM a while back have been charged with various offenses including speeding and dangerous driving. Helen's assertion that she failed to notice the speed is bollocks. They averaged 128Km/h and it was not a 100Km/h zone the whole way so they must have been going over 140 in places. You'd notice.
A fourteen year old south Auckland girl has been missing for a week.
A man was run over by the car he just bought at a car fair on Saturday. He had just handed over $2000 when the vendor tried to leave the scene in the car he had just sold to the victim. The purchaser jumped on the car and was thrown from it.
The Northerner, an overnight train from Auckland to Wellington, has taken its last ride. After 95 years it is no longer, due to competition from cheap air fares.
A battle is erupting between Dick Hubbard, the new Mayor, and the deputy Dr Bruce Hucker who seems to have got enough councillors on his side to control every committee and vote from here to election day. Things are not comfortable at the council.
Labour held their conference over the weekend, and the polls seem to be favouring them. I am not sure there has ever been a three-term Labour government.
WORLD NEWS
Yasser Arafat's passing suggests the dwarf thing failed. Meanwhile, most people want to know how come his wife was so young.
Fallujah continued to be fought over all week. They seem to have control and are just cleaning out pockets of resistance now.
REAL SPORT
Team 2 had to play Team 3 in the semi-final, the nightmare scenario as playing your mates isn't fun. Rory had some divided loyalty because he has played so many times for them and many of Team 3 will be in his team next year. Diana said Rory should play for Team 3 but he didn't want to. The kids in both teams were very excited, much more so than normal. It was never going to be pretty.
We had the A team plus Bob out there in the first quarter, and Rory scored a couple of goals. By then second quarter, we were up about 6-2 and Rory had scored the first four of them. Third quarter, Rory was off and the team struggled. Poor defence and not enough passing, Team three scored and it was 6-3. Fourth quarter, Rory came back out and we scored four more times, final score 10-3. Rory got six goals, and at least three assists. He missed one sitter, but was devastating otherwise, possibly the best game he's played. Chloe got 3, David 1. He looked very good out there. Not that he was under any pressure, he had a lot of family there watching (Sarah, Nanny, and Granny all came as well as the rest of us). Diana was absolutely stoked, we all were, but very pleased to see him show what he can do, and that the training pays off (he has either played, trained, or swum every day for the last three weeks now).
We have the final this coming Friday and his development squad plays a game tonight against the B team from our own club (he is in the C team). Got news last Monday that we have a tournament on the 5th in bloody Tauranga.
SPORT
The ABs beat Italy 59-10. Not sure anyone cares.
Australia beat NZ 54-49 in the netball, reversing the results of the clean sweep earlier in the year.
NSW was all over the Black Caps in a warm up cricket match, not a good sign. First test starts on Thursday.
Arsenal beat Spurs 5-4 in what must have been a heck of a game to watch. Chelsea won 4-1 over Fulham, Liverpool beat Crystal Palace 3-2. Man Utd beat Newcastle 3-1.
MY SAD LIFE
Wednesday night, after dancing, Hannah came to the pool with Rory and I. Rory set a new personal best by swimming sixty lengths (1500m), I swam 40 lengths (1000m), and Hannah (who's previous best was 12) did 32 lengths (800m). We were all knackered but happy. Sunday afternoon, we went again, and did even more. Rory did 80 lengths, Hannah and I did 50. Given that Hannah is only swimming twice a week she is doing very well, she can be quite determined.
Both the kids had athletics at school, neither qualified for inter-school but both did pretty well. Hannah made the 200m final, Rory came fifth in the 100m final (I saw him race in a heat and he did it in 13.59 seconds, which is pretty quick but not sure how credible the timekeeping was).
Friday afternoon, I picked the kids up about an hour early from school, along with Rory's friend Jared (all supplied teachers with notes) and took them to Big Boys Toys to see the Honda Asimo walking robot. We also played with automatic weapons, a bazooka, the kids sat in the driver's seat of an armoured car, we played Halo 2, and scored the usual selection of stickers, posters, and condoms (remember the time we went, Koos?). Not only was it fun, but it was really fun because they missed school for some of it which made it even better. Naughty, I know, but the kids have been working hard and it was a good treat for them. It is really busy on the weekend and a weekday is heaps better.
It was Caitlin, Nanny, and Helen J's birthday on Saturday. It's Allan's birthday today, and Emma turns 18 tomorrow.
We saw lots of people over the weekend, it was quite social - in between the homework. Rory had to finish a maths (vaguely) thing on designing an apartment block. Rather than let him make futile sketches the size of a large postage stamp on grid paper for hours (he did a couple) the family constructed it from Lego. I suspect his work will be over the top, but we shall see. When we hauled it to school, the kids in his class seemed to make the right noises, while we saw a number coming to school with an A3 coloured piece of paper.
The Goodins don't have enough to fill their empty lives so they are tidying the house for sale, listed on Friday.
Oh well, just back from a walk, we got rained on a little, better do some real work now.
8 November 2004
Holmes leaves TVNZ and Koos appears on the radar - 08/11/04
I have to say that stories of woe involving greed seemed to dominate this week.
LOCAL NEWS
The Melbourne Cup was Tuesday. The only day a year that zillions of Australasians give a toss about horse racing. I still didn't. Didn't watch it, didn't join a syndicate. The Goodins went to it. It rained.
The huge news locally this week is that Paul Holmes has left TVNZ after 15 years there. He has gone to Prime for more money (now $1m a year, although nobody can be sure how Prime can afford him). The great news is that TVNZ has lost their most expensive person, and maybe they will realise he wasn't the reason for the ratings. He has become a self-indulgent continuity announcer and it was time he moved on. It will be interesting to see if Prime get higher ratings when he starts in the new year, I have doubts. TV3 are making noises about having a go at the timeslot, which they have largely ignored since they started (they originally ran "The Golden Girls" every weeknight, with expected results, then tried "Hogan's Heroes", currently it is the Simpsons.) They stopped just short of not transmitting at all from 7-7:30 weekdays.
Following on from Holmes departing, Martin Devlin moved from Radio Sport to Radio Pacific (the station I do my thing on). I think he was probably disappointed with the coverage he received compared to Holmes.
Really nasty incident on Northwestern Motorway near here on Wednesday. A guy stopped his car on the side of the motorway then hid behind the bonnet of the car. He then stepped out in front of an oncoming truck. It was pretty clearly deliberate, but a pretty inconsiderate way to do it. Police found a dead 4yo boy in the car, later it became a girl. It was a truck from Gavin's work that hit him, the driver was not a happy camper. Adding to it all, the motorway was closed until around 8:30pm, disrupting all traffic. The overflow affected roads all around, and made it very difficult to get anywhere (it took Diana half an hour to get about four kilometres on way home from dancing with Hannah, then Rory and I had to go along all sorts of back roads to get to the swimming pool in Mt Albert).
A local lawyer is among a select group of depressingly greedy morons that got entangled in an example of the dreaded Nigerian Scam via some dear old lady who thought she was bona fide. He lost $400,000 in a bad property development project so decided to invest another $1.2million in an effort to recoup his losses. Clearly, he had never heard of the concept of throwing good money after bad. Part of me thinks they don't deserve to be named, because of the amount of public humiliation they would suffer, another part wants to know so I don't end up engaging such an obviously thick lawyer. Greed is an interesting thing, isn't it.
More dodgy dealings from John Tamihere this week, including an interest-free loan of $100,000 which was later forgiven. There seems to be an extensive laundry list of exceedingly marginal, if not strictly illegal, events where he got financial advantage from the Waiparera Trust. I think he has blown it big time and should be ejected from Parliament. You cannot do anything where there is any scope of fraudulent activity or tax evasion and expect to be an elected representative of the people.
And again, another example, this time for former personality Matthew Ridge. For the second time, a property development company of his has gone into liquidation, owing about half a million dollars. People have done things for him personally, or for another of his companies, but because the invoice is made out to the liquidated company they dip out. He revealed his true colours when he left Manly for the Warriors in the Super League days and didn't care about the contract, he felt it was enough that he would get more money at the Warriors so he just left. Selfish and with little regard for ethics and the law.
A man was found dead on Narrowneck Beach near Takapuna after fireworks festivities. They reckon he fell out of a tree. Another man died in guy fawkes celebrations in Wanganui, I don't think it has ever been quite this fatal.
A 22yo disqualified driver died when he tried to evade police but failed to evade a traffic island whilst not wearing a seat belt so he didn't evade the effects of gravity either.
WORLD NEWS
Ohio didn't want Kerry, so America didn't get him. This has been the best publicity for the state in many years.
Yasser Arafat is not in good shape, and has been in and out of a coma and according to some brain dead. If the brain dead part were true, he should have had a meeting with GW, they would have been well matched. There has been little news for a couple of days. I wonder if they are hollowing him out for a dwarf and a miracle recovery.
Big nasty train crash in the UK when a high speed train hit a car. Sounds like the driver was like our man on the Northwestern Motorway, and wasn't bothered about hurting other people or killing five others.
The murder of Theo Van Gogh in the Netherlands could mean a backlash against Muslims (it was a Muslim that did it). He was a descendant of Vincent, and a film-maker.
REAL SPORT
No water polo this week, but Rory has been swimming every day (now 14 days in a row, although he swam twice on Saturday the second time was just fun). I did 26 lengths yesterday, which was good. Felt I could do more, so I am improving. Rory's Team 2 has a semi-final this Friday, we don't know who they are playing yet.
SPORT
Black Caps looked to be blowing the first ODI against Bangladesh (94/5) then Cairns stepped up and made 70-odd quick runs and got New Zealand to 224. Bangladesh were all out for 86 after Kyle Mills took four early wickets. They struggled to get a small total (146) in the second match, but got there with a couple of overs to spare. The won the third and final one last night without too much bother, scoring 250 and the Bangladeshis got 167.
India managed to get Australia all out for 93 in their second innings in Mumbai to win the last test, but still lost the series 1-2.
Fulham beat Newcastle 4-1, how the mighty have fallen. Arsenal drew with Crystal Palace and Aston Villa are looking good. Man Utd drew 0-0 with Man City and got a man red carded in the 89th minute.
Kiwis were leading Great Britain 12-2 at half-time but managed to lose the tri-nations league test.
MY SAD LIFE
I finally got a new toner cartridge for my laser. You have no idea how happy that made me, I have been out for about a month and couldn't get one anywhere. Pathetic, isn't it. I've printed about three pages since.
My friend Barbara, who I mentioned a while back, is still recovering from her bout of illness. She shifted into Rehab Plus on Wednesday, where Judy went whilst getting over her back operation. It's just down the road from us. It was funny going there, it is very familiar to me.
Hannah got her Jazz result and was disappointed. She does well but wants high honours every time. She did as well as her friends, but that was not enough.
Jim, the guy next door that gets on very well with Pandora, had a burst pipe in his ceiling during the week. The next night, after a day of running dehumidifiers and things, the entire ceiling in the lounge and dining area collapsed. His house was a real mess, and will be for a while.
The trailer for the new star wars movie came out this week. I was asked to do an interview about it but refused.
We managed three walks this week, which was good. Twice we stopped at the lake and walked around three times on the way home from dropping off Rory. Somehow, being dropped off by two parents is exceedingly embarrassing, compared to only one being in the car. The concept that the parents have a life and are on their way somewhere is secondary to the fact that it somehow appears that he needs two parents to get him safely to school.
I actually heard from Koos (after hearing from both Peter and Heidi). Peter supplied a confirmed Koos sighting. Heidi wonders if he thinks she is still eating puffins in Greenland. Koos supplied less information than Peter, but at least I know he does continue to exist. He even rang last night and we had a chat.
Allan is back from Columbus, Ohio. He went to a big air force museum where they have a number of old "Air Force One" aircraft (he didn't realise there had been so many, neither did I). Apparently it is close to where the Wright Brothers flew (them being the first to fly, not Richard Pearse).
We went to a little do for Kath's birthday on Saturday night. It was interesting seeing the older kids, four of them aged 12-13, that stuck together like glue. Hannah didn't come, she was at a sleepover. They went down to the soccer club for a while. They are all starting to assert their independence, it is interesting to observe the changes in behaviour. At one point they were all mooching around the tv watching "transformers", a little later I noticed with was Thomas (6) and Fletcher (3) and Rory was still there watching. I made a little gesture and he looked around and realised they had all left and he hadn't noticed, he disappeared quickly.
It is Kathryn's birthday today.
Better go, have to play with my new notebook.
LOCAL NEWS
The Melbourne Cup was Tuesday. The only day a year that zillions of Australasians give a toss about horse racing. I still didn't. Didn't watch it, didn't join a syndicate. The Goodins went to it. It rained.
The huge news locally this week is that Paul Holmes has left TVNZ after 15 years there. He has gone to Prime for more money (now $1m a year, although nobody can be sure how Prime can afford him). The great news is that TVNZ has lost their most expensive person, and maybe they will realise he wasn't the reason for the ratings. He has become a self-indulgent continuity announcer and it was time he moved on. It will be interesting to see if Prime get higher ratings when he starts in the new year, I have doubts. TV3 are making noises about having a go at the timeslot, which they have largely ignored since they started (they originally ran "The Golden Girls" every weeknight, with expected results, then tried "Hogan's Heroes", currently it is the Simpsons.) They stopped just short of not transmitting at all from 7-7:30 weekdays.
Following on from Holmes departing, Martin Devlin moved from Radio Sport to Radio Pacific (the station I do my thing on). I think he was probably disappointed with the coverage he received compared to Holmes.
Really nasty incident on Northwestern Motorway near here on Wednesday. A guy stopped his car on the side of the motorway then hid behind the bonnet of the car. He then stepped out in front of an oncoming truck. It was pretty clearly deliberate, but a pretty inconsiderate way to do it. Police found a dead 4yo boy in the car, later it became a girl. It was a truck from Gavin's work that hit him, the driver was not a happy camper. Adding to it all, the motorway was closed until around 8:30pm, disrupting all traffic. The overflow affected roads all around, and made it very difficult to get anywhere (it took Diana half an hour to get about four kilometres on way home from dancing with Hannah, then Rory and I had to go along all sorts of back roads to get to the swimming pool in Mt Albert).
A local lawyer is among a select group of depressingly greedy morons that got entangled in an example of the dreaded Nigerian Scam via some dear old lady who thought she was bona fide. He lost $400,000 in a bad property development project so decided to invest another $1.2million in an effort to recoup his losses. Clearly, he had never heard of the concept of throwing good money after bad. Part of me thinks they don't deserve to be named, because of the amount of public humiliation they would suffer, another part wants to know so I don't end up engaging such an obviously thick lawyer. Greed is an interesting thing, isn't it.
More dodgy dealings from John Tamihere this week, including an interest-free loan of $100,000 which was later forgiven. There seems to be an extensive laundry list of exceedingly marginal, if not strictly illegal, events where he got financial advantage from the Waiparera Trust. I think he has blown it big time and should be ejected from Parliament. You cannot do anything where there is any scope of fraudulent activity or tax evasion and expect to be an elected representative of the people.
And again, another example, this time for former personality Matthew Ridge. For the second time, a property development company of his has gone into liquidation, owing about half a million dollars. People have done things for him personally, or for another of his companies, but because the invoice is made out to the liquidated company they dip out. He revealed his true colours when he left Manly for the Warriors in the Super League days and didn't care about the contract, he felt it was enough that he would get more money at the Warriors so he just left. Selfish and with little regard for ethics and the law.
A man was found dead on Narrowneck Beach near Takapuna after fireworks festivities. They reckon he fell out of a tree. Another man died in guy fawkes celebrations in Wanganui, I don't think it has ever been quite this fatal.
A 22yo disqualified driver died when he tried to evade police but failed to evade a traffic island whilst not wearing a seat belt so he didn't evade the effects of gravity either.
WORLD NEWS
Ohio didn't want Kerry, so America didn't get him. This has been the best publicity for the state in many years.
Yasser Arafat is not in good shape, and has been in and out of a coma and according to some brain dead. If the brain dead part were true, he should have had a meeting with GW, they would have been well matched. There has been little news for a couple of days. I wonder if they are hollowing him out for a dwarf and a miracle recovery.
Big nasty train crash in the UK when a high speed train hit a car. Sounds like the driver was like our man on the Northwestern Motorway, and wasn't bothered about hurting other people or killing five others.
The murder of Theo Van Gogh in the Netherlands could mean a backlash against Muslims (it was a Muslim that did it). He was a descendant of Vincent, and a film-maker.
REAL SPORT
No water polo this week, but Rory has been swimming every day (now 14 days in a row, although he swam twice on Saturday the second time was just fun). I did 26 lengths yesterday, which was good. Felt I could do more, so I am improving. Rory's Team 2 has a semi-final this Friday, we don't know who they are playing yet.
SPORT
Black Caps looked to be blowing the first ODI against Bangladesh (94/5) then Cairns stepped up and made 70-odd quick runs and got New Zealand to 224. Bangladesh were all out for 86 after Kyle Mills took four early wickets. They struggled to get a small total (146) in the second match, but got there with a couple of overs to spare. The won the third and final one last night without too much bother, scoring 250 and the Bangladeshis got 167.
India managed to get Australia all out for 93 in their second innings in Mumbai to win the last test, but still lost the series 1-2.
Fulham beat Newcastle 4-1, how the mighty have fallen. Arsenal drew with Crystal Palace and Aston Villa are looking good. Man Utd drew 0-0 with Man City and got a man red carded in the 89th minute.
Kiwis were leading Great Britain 12-2 at half-time but managed to lose the tri-nations league test.
MY SAD LIFE
I finally got a new toner cartridge for my laser. You have no idea how happy that made me, I have been out for about a month and couldn't get one anywhere. Pathetic, isn't it. I've printed about three pages since.
My friend Barbara, who I mentioned a while back, is still recovering from her bout of illness. She shifted into Rehab Plus on Wednesday, where Judy went whilst getting over her back operation. It's just down the road from us. It was funny going there, it is very familiar to me.
Hannah got her Jazz result and was disappointed. She does well but wants high honours every time. She did as well as her friends, but that was not enough.
Jim, the guy next door that gets on very well with Pandora, had a burst pipe in his ceiling during the week. The next night, after a day of running dehumidifiers and things, the entire ceiling in the lounge and dining area collapsed. His house was a real mess, and will be for a while.
The trailer for the new star wars movie came out this week. I was asked to do an interview about it but refused.
We managed three walks this week, which was good. Twice we stopped at the lake and walked around three times on the way home from dropping off Rory. Somehow, being dropped off by two parents is exceedingly embarrassing, compared to only one being in the car. The concept that the parents have a life and are on their way somewhere is secondary to the fact that it somehow appears that he needs two parents to get him safely to school.
I actually heard from Koos (after hearing from both Peter and Heidi). Peter supplied a confirmed Koos sighting. Heidi wonders if he thinks she is still eating puffins in Greenland. Koos supplied less information than Peter, but at least I know he does continue to exist. He even rang last night and we had a chat.
Allan is back from Columbus, Ohio. He went to a big air force museum where they have a number of old "Air Force One" aircraft (he didn't realise there had been so many, neither did I). Apparently it is close to where the Wright Brothers flew (them being the first to fly, not Richard Pearse).
We went to a little do for Kath's birthday on Saturday night. It was interesting seeing the older kids, four of them aged 12-13, that stuck together like glue. Hannah didn't come, she was at a sleepover. They went down to the soccer club for a while. They are all starting to assert their independence, it is interesting to observe the changes in behaviour. At one point they were all mooching around the tv watching "transformers", a little later I noticed with was Thomas (6) and Fletcher (3) and Rory was still there watching. I made a little gesture and he looked around and realised they had all left and he hadn't noticed, he disappeared quickly.
It is Kathryn's birthday today.
Better go, have to play with my new notebook.
1 November 2004
And the winner is..... - 01/11/04
Nothing too exciting happening this week.
LOCAL NEWS
The Auckland Council has tested dirt in various locations and determined that soil in parts of Panmure, Avondale, and other places are contaminated with chemicals from the days when there was market gardening done in the area. This worries me. Market gardening, where they grow fruit and vegetables for us to buy, makes the soil dangerous to grow fruit and vegetables in?
Two muslim women continue to argue about whether they can give evidence in court in their burqas. Winston Peters came out with something like "if they don't like it, they should go somewhere that accepts that as the norm." in his typically sensitive anti-immigration way. Then Diana said pretty much the same thing to me. To a certain extent, I must agree. You can't have a covered face in a passport or driver's license photo, and you can't enter a country with a paper bag over your head, so it isn't unreasonable that you uncover when giving evidence in court (otherwise, how does one know who is testifying?).
It was children's day yesterday, as well as hallowe'en. I think any day where they get to walk around the neighbourhood and score lollies is a children's day.
Les Mills, 15 year old grandson of the former Auckland mayor of the same name, was carjacked in Herne Bay. It isn't something that we associate with New Zealand, but I don't think we can consider it a problem yet. News of it will probably encourage some copycats.
A woman had her leg broken by a piece of number 8 wire that flew out of a lawn mower as her husband was mowing the lawn. The guy must have known something was wrong with the mower.
There are the usual spate of fires surrounding guy fawkes and the fact that fireworks went on sale during the week. I hate them.
WORLD NEWS
The election in the US finishes this week, we hope. It's gone on far too long. I wish the American people would see sense and elect Ralph Nader. I have to say that it is looking like Bush will stay there, but can't say that Kerry appears to be much better.
The big battle is about to commence in Fallujah. It has been coming for a while.
REAL SPORT
As expected, Team 2 did pretty well on Friday night in the quarter final against Bruce McLaren 2. We had the A squad plus Bob on in first quarter and led about six nil. Rory, Sam, and David were all playing well and they just unstitched them. Final score 16-0. No idea how many Rory scored but at least three. Rory then helped out with Team 3, again, who won 10-6. Team 3 actually plays with some smarter tactics than Team 2, but they need to as they are generally a weaker team. I don't know if Team 2 will play Team 3, don't know who they play next, it isn't for two weeks. Rory played three quarters in both games, so he was happy. Only two Friday night water polo games left(then a tournament).
We drove to Tauranga for Rory's first game for the under 14C team. We really didn't expect to win, as they are barely aware of each others names. They lost 1-5, but it wasn't too bad, 0-2 in first quarter, 1-1 in second, and 0-1 in third and fourth. I just hope the next game is closer to home.
SPORT
The second test between New Zealand and Bangladesh was another walkover. Stephen Fleming is now New Zealands most capped test cricketer, has scored more centuries (8, compare that to the average Aussie batsman), and scored more runs than any other New Zealander (about 5,500, again compare that to the Aussies).
Australia beat India in the third test to take the series 2-0, first time they have done that in India in a long time.
All Black touring squad was named Tuesday, Super 12 squads named Friday, why do people give a toss?
Man Utd lost 2-0 to Portsmouth, how could they. Arsenal nearly lost to Southampton but equalised in the 90th. Chelsea won, Liverpool drew 2-2 with Blackburn.
The ballot for tickets to games in next year's Lions Tour opens today. Chances of getting tickets are pretty slim. I wonder if some are entering the ballot with a view to scalping the tickets.
MY SAD LIFE
Diana and I actually managed to go for a walk on Thursday morning. It was good, we fed lots of ducks, geese, and swans (but only those with babies). The geese hissed at us but interestingly would not eat the bread, letting their babies eat first (neither the ducks nor swans saw the need to make any sacrifice). I think more highly of geese now.
Hannah is the only year 5 with a bunch of year 6s performing in a hip-hop thing for the end of the term at school, she is very pleased.
Gavin's Fire Fighting interview was supposed to be today, but they cruelly postponed it to Friday. Cruel, because he was ready to do it today, and because told him on Sunday morning and woke him up when they called. There were no fires the night he spent at the Fire Station.
Rory's enthusiasm for swimming (because of water polo) has meant that I have started going with him to the pool to swim. Hannah came along yesterday. Rory did forty lengths, I did twenty, Hannah did twelve. We had a lane to ourselves (the advantage of being a group on our own). I have been to a pool every day for the last week (but only swum twice myself). I will probably go swimming tonight at training as well.
As the local children visited for Hallowe'en we gave out the garlic jelly beans and some of the other flavours (grass, sardine, etc). This is the first time our kids haven't gone trick or treating for a long time. I think they have largely grown out of it (they only do it for the lollies, not really surprising). I suggested they say "No, trick AND treat" as they hand them out.
Rory's homework load seems to be back to normal, after a week or two of low pressure it's back up there. It seems to dominate any spare time he (and we) have. He is getting better at getting it done, but still takes too long.
I have resorted to talking to Johan to find out what Koos is up to. I bumped into him at water polo practice on Thursday night and had a good chat. I assume Koos has changed his email address or that he can't find his keyboard.
Work has been weird, mostly quite busy.
LOCAL NEWS
The Auckland Council has tested dirt in various locations and determined that soil in parts of Panmure, Avondale, and other places are contaminated with chemicals from the days when there was market gardening done in the area. This worries me. Market gardening, where they grow fruit and vegetables for us to buy, makes the soil dangerous to grow fruit and vegetables in?
Two muslim women continue to argue about whether they can give evidence in court in their burqas. Winston Peters came out with something like "if they don't like it, they should go somewhere that accepts that as the norm." in his typically sensitive anti-immigration way. Then Diana said pretty much the same thing to me. To a certain extent, I must agree. You can't have a covered face in a passport or driver's license photo, and you can't enter a country with a paper bag over your head, so it isn't unreasonable that you uncover when giving evidence in court (otherwise, how does one know who is testifying?).
It was children's day yesterday, as well as hallowe'en. I think any day where they get to walk around the neighbourhood and score lollies is a children's day.
Les Mills, 15 year old grandson of the former Auckland mayor of the same name, was carjacked in Herne Bay. It isn't something that we associate with New Zealand, but I don't think we can consider it a problem yet. News of it will probably encourage some copycats.
A woman had her leg broken by a piece of number 8 wire that flew out of a lawn mower as her husband was mowing the lawn. The guy must have known something was wrong with the mower.
There are the usual spate of fires surrounding guy fawkes and the fact that fireworks went on sale during the week. I hate them.
WORLD NEWS
The election in the US finishes this week, we hope. It's gone on far too long. I wish the American people would see sense and elect Ralph Nader. I have to say that it is looking like Bush will stay there, but can't say that Kerry appears to be much better.
The big battle is about to commence in Fallujah. It has been coming for a while.
REAL SPORT
As expected, Team 2 did pretty well on Friday night in the quarter final against Bruce McLaren 2. We had the A squad plus Bob on in first quarter and led about six nil. Rory, Sam, and David were all playing well and they just unstitched them. Final score 16-0. No idea how many Rory scored but at least three. Rory then helped out with Team 3, again, who won 10-6. Team 3 actually plays with some smarter tactics than Team 2, but they need to as they are generally a weaker team. I don't know if Team 2 will play Team 3, don't know who they play next, it isn't for two weeks. Rory played three quarters in both games, so he was happy. Only two Friday night water polo games left(then a tournament).
We drove to Tauranga for Rory's first game for the under 14C team. We really didn't expect to win, as they are barely aware of each others names. They lost 1-5, but it wasn't too bad, 0-2 in first quarter, 1-1 in second, and 0-1 in third and fourth. I just hope the next game is closer to home.
SPORT
The second test between New Zealand and Bangladesh was another walkover. Stephen Fleming is now New Zealands most capped test cricketer, has scored more centuries (8, compare that to the average Aussie batsman), and scored more runs than any other New Zealander (about 5,500, again compare that to the Aussies).
Australia beat India in the third test to take the series 2-0, first time they have done that in India in a long time.
All Black touring squad was named Tuesday, Super 12 squads named Friday, why do people give a toss?
Man Utd lost 2-0 to Portsmouth, how could they. Arsenal nearly lost to Southampton but equalised in the 90th. Chelsea won, Liverpool drew 2-2 with Blackburn.
The ballot for tickets to games in next year's Lions Tour opens today. Chances of getting tickets are pretty slim. I wonder if some are entering the ballot with a view to scalping the tickets.
MY SAD LIFE
Diana and I actually managed to go for a walk on Thursday morning. It was good, we fed lots of ducks, geese, and swans (but only those with babies). The geese hissed at us but interestingly would not eat the bread, letting their babies eat first (neither the ducks nor swans saw the need to make any sacrifice). I think more highly of geese now.
Hannah is the only year 5 with a bunch of year 6s performing in a hip-hop thing for the end of the term at school, she is very pleased.
Gavin's Fire Fighting interview was supposed to be today, but they cruelly postponed it to Friday. Cruel, because he was ready to do it today, and because told him on Sunday morning and woke him up when they called. There were no fires the night he spent at the Fire Station.
Rory's enthusiasm for swimming (because of water polo) has meant that I have started going with him to the pool to swim. Hannah came along yesterday. Rory did forty lengths, I did twenty, Hannah did twelve. We had a lane to ourselves (the advantage of being a group on our own). I have been to a pool every day for the last week (but only swum twice myself). I will probably go swimming tonight at training as well.
As the local children visited for Hallowe'en we gave out the garlic jelly beans and some of the other flavours (grass, sardine, etc). This is the first time our kids haven't gone trick or treating for a long time. I think they have largely grown out of it (they only do it for the lollies, not really surprising). I suggested they say "No, trick AND treat" as they hand them out.
Rory's homework load seems to be back to normal, after a week or two of low pressure it's back up there. It seems to dominate any spare time he (and we) have. He is getting better at getting it done, but still takes too long.
I have resorted to talking to Johan to find out what Koos is up to. I bumped into him at water polo practice on Thursday night and had a good chat. I assume Koos has changed his email address or that he can't find his keyboard.
Work has been weird, mostly quite busy.
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