This email has been delayed because Xtra (my ISP) had a considerable problem with their email. Any email sent to me in about last 24 hours never made it.
The weather has been very wet. We've had hail a couple of times, too.
LOCAL NEWS
The big news this week is the "trawler tragedy" in Foveaux Strait (the water between the bottom of the South Island and Stewart Island). So far, three are missing, three have been found alive, and three have been found dead. Don't give much for the chances of the missing ones.
A distressed man absconded with a woman North West of Auckland, the main highway was blocked while armed offenders negotiated. In the end, the used a "distraction device" (a firework, much like a jumping jack) and stormed the car, apprehending both offender and victim without injury to anyone.
It was the week of getting off. A hunter who shot his buddy in the back of the head was found not guilty of manslaughter (although I just can't see how) and an Auckland bouncer was found not guilty of murder (he kicked a patron to death who was misbehaving outside a nightclub. I have to say these results both confound and confuse me.
Then, there was a guy who raped and abducted a woman got ten years with no parole. He pleaded guilty.
Funny but sad story was about a man having a haemorrhoid operation, who released some gas on an unplanned basis and it resulted in a fireball which burned rather delicate regions and blinded the surgeon temporarily. Got to admit that was funny.
Weta Workshop were in the news after successfully fitting an artificial leg on a kiwi. The leg looked pretty cool.
WORLD NEWS
The miners got out, finally, on Tuesday about 6:30am our time. We all breathed a deep sigh of relief, blissfully unaware that the media circus was about to get worse, not better. We have since found out some of the details we didn't have a week ago.
Two people were killed and four injured by a model aeroplane crash in Hungary. That has to be some sort of a record. The plane had a 2m wingspan.
REAL SPORT
No soccer due to bad weather, fields are really wet. Hannah had practice on Sunday for the tournament team though.
Thankfully, her water polo practice has moved to 7pm, we were never going to make 6pm.
Rory has decided to see what is involved in a swim squad. Kind of sad in a way because I guess it means I won't be swimming with him much any more. He gets evaluated this afternoon after his school training.
This coming weekend is going to be very busy, Rory has two water polo trials on Saturday and Hannah has a regular game and a tournament all day Sunday.
SPORT
The Crusaders crushed the Brumbies 33-3 in their last round robin game and are top qualifiers, this snuffed out the Brumbies won't make the semis as a result. The Hurricanes beat the Waratahs 19-14 in Australia, pushing the Waratahs to third and now have to play the Hurricanes at their home ground in Wellington next weekend. The Blues lost at home to the Chiefs. The Blues lost to every other New Zealand side in the competition (while the Crusaders beat every other New Zealand team).
Liverpool completed another last minute recover in the FA Cup final to beat West Ham (I think it was West Ham) in a penalty shootout after equalising at 3-3 in extra time. The goalie saved three of four shots in a penalty shootout. So much for the goalless draw….
Kayaker Ben Fouhy has set a world record in the K1 1000, not sure where or why.
England is thumping the 'Lankans in England in a test.
Golfer Michael Campbell was doing pretty well in British Masters (not a major, but a reasonable one), at end of third round he was second, but finished fourth I think.
MY SAD LIFE
It was Ben Grant's 2nd birthday on the 11th. That means Paul has had two years experience as an Uncle. Welcome back to Roger who has escaped these dreadful emails for a while after his email server decided it didn't like me. He has been in Japan.
I rang Tony Clare about the encyclopaedias, and he said they had gone to the dump. Terrible shame. Then a couple of days later he rang back and said that Ross & Kath have got them. Guess I have to go visit them.
Friday afternoon, Rory went to the hand clinic. He needs to do more exercises but it is certainly improving. He should be okay for trials this coming weekend. He is very not-focused and we have to continually remind him to do the exercises. Diana says the clinicians continually wonder why this hairy lug of a youth needs his Mum with him at the Doctors and then they find out he is a third former and decide maybe that is okay.
My Mum is now officially a pensioner, turning 65 yesterday. She seems to be coping okay with it. I gallantly fought all urges to purchase jellimeat, ear trumpets, and walking sticks. I decided to track down a coin that was minted in 1941 (the year of her birth) for the occasion, it was considerably harder than I thought it would be. Diana and I trekked around eight stores, and finally struck gold (well, copper, actually). Once I had the thing, it needed a good polish (Diana didn't believe that I could find the brasso that fast, let alone that we actually had some). I then realised it needed to be mounted somehow, so Rory and I experimented and finally settled on a perspex thing. We couldn't bend it (tried boiling water but not hot enough) so we found a piece that was already bent. The finished product was made using tools that I inherited from both my grandfathers (one being Mum's father, of course, a brace and bit that I suspect is considerably older than me, which we used to make the hole to sit the coin in. I used Pop's bench grinder to help tidy it up after I cut the piece out with a manual jigsaw, as an electric one would have shattered it). It is the first time I have made someone a gift for a long time.
Me and the kids made Mother's Day lunch yesterday. Again, round flat food was in evidence (as were quite a few jars) as we made crepes stuffed with gay food (eggplant, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, artichoke, and a bit of ham). We had already been to soccer training and been swimming by lunchtime, so I was knackered afterwards (I have become the goalie coach, so training was pretty busy). It went well. I even used the flamethrower that Judy gave me for my birthday to melt the cheese and scorch the crepes. It was the first time it has been used constructively.
Brett, on our tour of antique shops I found a store full of semi-cool 70's style furniture on Manukau Road near Market Road, you should check it out, I think you may find it interesting (not a huge amount there but nevertheless, if you are passing, it is at the end farthest from the lights on the side opposite from the Chinese takeaway and model store).
Jack and Claudi arrive from Germany today. They are heading for Dargaville but we hope to see them next weekend.
No painting this weekend, weather prevented it.
On our travels on Saturday morning, we dragged Rory in to the barber. He handed Rory a card, Rory was confused. He looked at it and it was a business card for another hairdresser. That was pretty funny. Rory's hair has not been cut for a very long time, and desperately needed a tidy. As Rory left, the barber said "See you in six months, Rory". It is certainly considerably better. Even Rory had shown surprise at how bad it was when he saw a photo of himself from behind.
MORE ON MILK (believe it or not)
Ross thinks I should freeze the correct amount in the cup and keep that in the freezer. Not sure whether he was joking or not. Gavin reckons milk goes funny when frozen. He may be right.
ANYWAY, now we are trying to source cheaper milk because we spend around $50 a week on the stuff. We are trying plastic bags of it from the Mad Butcher, which will save us about $1.20 per two litres, which equates to around $18 per week. Doesn't sound like much but it also means less rubbish with the plastic bottles which makes life a bit easier.
Oh well, that'll do for now. The email is back up.
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