Monday, October 27, 2008

Peeping Tom

On Friday I was walking home from the Carterton railway station at 11.55pm. I looked up and there was a peeping Tom. Peeping into the window of the "P" house that I posted about some time ago where there was a Police party. I looked at him. he looked back and then he crouched. I was going to ask "what do you think you are doing" But then I decided it was quite obvious what he was doing. He was peeping. In a quick asessment I estmiated him to be about 15 years of age or so. I decided it was best to pretend I hadn't seen him and kept walking. FAST walking. He didn't follow me. I didn't call the Police -becasue by the time you call the Polcie get posted to Auckland office then Masterton and then Carterton I figured it wouldn't be that much good. Hopefully the Peeping Tom will think he had a lucky escape and not do it again. It was a tough call though- but at the time I thought my number one priorty must be own saftety and getting to my house or close enough to neighbours where I could call out.

I'm not sure if this was more scary than Ali depositing a live mouse on my bed in the middle of the night.

My car failed its WOF - the man said "your car is very sick" started to list failing breaks etc. Foolishily I askd "could it get any worse?" Apparently so - over $1,000 to fix. Guess I will be learning what carless days are about for awhile. The novelty may wear off but I've decided fro now a) not to get the car fixed and b) not to buy a new car. Yoyo beat me on my carbon footprint - except its carbon footprint or fix rotten house boards this Summer. Anyway, no car for awhile:-(

Oh, and my grass has weeds. grrrrrrrrrrr have had to resow som patches.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Train taboo

Every now and then I have a brillant train convo. Today was one of those days. On the 6.18 there was Marg and Lani who got on at Waterloo. We ended up having this chat and it was brillant.

Marg is a 60 + lady who hasn't had her free travelling card validated. Lani lives in Featherston with a mother who has dementia. I found out out through the train trip a few other radnom facts. These included how Lani gets people who petend they need 2 seats mto vacate one of them. Like one word for Lani: respect! she gives people the opportunity to make the empty seat available and then if they dont she basically confrfonts them in various ways. Fuck sustainability and use transport to promote social sustainability. This maybe the new theme for my blog
I HOPE SO! f

ps. the best thing in the world is when you have a friend who you can have a 10 minute random coffee rave with. Today at least that I think was one of the best things in the world.

Monday, October 13, 2008

I am growing GRASS

Germination is a wondrous thing. There comes a morning when you are, as you do most mornings, staring forth ...at your bare patches, reflecting as you invariably do, on the baffling way in which the stones which you have removed by the barrowful are replaced from mysterious sources by other stones, when you realise the patch is not bare at all, that it has been brushed with colour, as if a green mist were clinging to it. You hurtle forth, and there, magically appeared among the stones, are the first drifts of the risen grass, blades cobweb thin, hardly enough to be looked at let alone touched.

Yet, there are amazingly energetic in their growth, these pins of green. Each day the tinge strengthens, suggestion becomes reality. It is still a fragile thing, but it has declared itself here to stay.

From: The Grass is Greener - Our Love Affair With the Lawn, Tom Fort. 2000.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

D-clined

Have I mentioned my workplace has an antiquated computer system? Doesn’t do a lot to foster productivity, or my well honed skill of surveillance not having access to Lotus Notes. You try and book a room – it gets routed to the temproay receptionist who confirms or rejects your request. You can see if the room is available before you issue the request. However, I note it is not, “it is not” intuitive. So today, and actually it wasn’t deliberate I requested access to 5 rooms at once on the basis of increased odds or something for a meeting I want to convene to have tomorrow. All were all booked. The correspondence with the “automated” booking room clerk/temporary receptionist went something like this:

email a. This meeting was automatically declined because it conflicts with another appointment.
email b. This meeting was automatically declined because it conflicts with another appointment.
email c. This meeting was automatically declined because it conflicts with another appointment.
email d. This meeting was automatically declined because it conflicts with another appointment.
email e. This meeting was automatically declined because it conflicts with another appointment.

I loved the fact that the automation seemd to be developing a life/voice of its own.

Although of course it wasn't intentional.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Things I observed today

1. A lady kissing a letter as she posted it in the Post box at the New World Metro. It was a beautiful moment and worthy of making into an advertisement for New Zealand Post. I could see her lover in her eyes. You know, like those ads for Air New Zealand. It was nice in an old fashioned way.

2. Listening to a guy on the train describe his weekend events. This inlcuded "Oh yeah, on Saturday I worked for the government" Then there was a silence "you know, I think its call p.e.r.i.o.d.i.c. d.e.t.e.n.t.i.o.n so like you know, I don't get paid for it. Yeah. PD. " And then he and his companion burst into laughter.

3. Another colleague advised they had resign. I don't particulalry like this colleague, but I don't like even more that this means 7 people in 8 months have resigned from my team - no replacements except 2 impending contractors.

4. A lady disappear on TV- how does the magician on NZ has talent do that?

5. I alos met a public health nurse I used to work with at Hutt Valley Health. She reminded me without saying that I am not the person I was in 1990. But I am also not the person I thought I would become. That is, I know for sure, she remembers me as a keen committed ambitous graduate who thought one day I would hold the senior management position or equivalent that she held. Now, I am a disillusioned public servant drifting. Still it was nice to meet her unexpectantly as she now lives in Christchurch in semi retitement but is back in Wgtn doing contract work for the MoH.

6. I met an old colleague for lunch - she is now a manager aspiring to be a group manager/general manager. We were both analysts once.

7. My grass growing - well actually, I can't see my grass growing quite yet - but like the lady that disappeared - I believe it will appear any day now.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

The Warehouse, and the iron

Yesterday I went to the market for my fish, veges and worm tea. I am so into worm tea the lady asked me if I was drinking it. No, I said, I'm feeding my roses for Strongerlights wedding....
Anyway I go to the Warehouse in the hope of getting equipment (the correct bag and filter) to make my vacum cleaner go. When I return to my car there is a note on my window. "Your radiator is leaking - very badly". I look up and there is a massive stretch of oil. I got my car home but now I cant drive it becasue my radiator is leaking very badly.


On Thursday as the train approached Featherston "oh, no I think I have left the iron on". Had this been any day I probably would have got off at Upper Hutt and got the trian back to Carterton. But oh no, this was "project management training day". So, I sat thtorugh project managemnet day configuring various project managing scenarios of how to rebuild my bungalow, and living in the garage while this occured. Then at lunchtime I googled what happens when you leave your iron on. Somebody had left their iron on and like me lived too far away form home just to pop back and turn it off. Their house didn't burn down so I decided mine would't either.

When I got home my iron was on but was beeping off because it had been unatteneded. I wouldn't recommend it for stress levels but would reccomend the SUNBEAM iron for this feature. I'll also be putting a spare key out on my section.

The project management course was weird. Predictable but wierd becasue my manager wanted to talk talk talk. I'm still getting over that when we had to do an exercise where we drew a picture I was the only one who populated my pictrue with people. That for me was very telling.