The bear gets splinters in his fur!!

Oh Yeah!! 

This bear likes his timber - and especially to work with it!! As a youth I wanted to be a furniture maker (with a 3 year apprenticeship) by trade, and promptly failed in spatial mathematics!! Who knew you needed to add up 2 inches squared by 3 corners and flatten that out into a board?!?!?!  Not me - so promptly changed tack with my second passion and trained as a pastry chef!!

Years later - the passion for timber and stuff still burns brightly - so when our youngest son got seriously ill - I made myself a rock-solid 2 tonne heavy-do-not-move-an-inch work-bench/table!!! So yeah - no more kneeling on the ground and cutting with a loose hand!! 

All that means that several wood working projects later - I still get splinters in my hand and I still hate sanding - with a passion!!!!

I do however buy older slightly damaged goods / furniture (mostly coffee tables)  and then restore them with a view of on-selling them for a small profit - with a bit of luck!! 

Anyhow

Bought this beauty of Trade-me - for a princely sum of NZ $23!! 

Clearly it needs a some loving restoration!  There are traces of white paint and also the front and ONE side only, is covered in some form of Lacquer!! Hmmm  -- do I strip that back or leave it?????

Love the dove-tails - always a good sign

Yeah - nah - 

that is (or better WERE) the bottom legs!! They came off, first thing!! uuuuh - I better had made some for it later - or - hmmmm yeah I could just get some felt/glider legs stuck on

Obviously it was a custom fit-out in its previous home

The naked back - this will need a small covering

I removed the 60's style handles - so that required research on which replacements to make!! These looked nice - and require a bit of router-ring

Fancy stuff - in the end I went with some 15degree cuts along the long edges and sides

OK - my major bug-bear - folks always only oil/varnish ONE side - and leave the rest blank (untreated timber) - so the timber moves with the seasons - UN-evenly - which results - wait of for it - --- in splits.

Here is one being fixed - carefully so as not to change the inner dimensions and make the drawers stuck . . . .

Of course - Purple heart had to be used somewhere in the project;   Hoping that mamabear is  happier with her new bedside table!!

Finished them - oiled and all

Fitting them to the drawers - Would you belief it - even with pre-drilled holes - ONE screw decided to open up a pre-existing fault line in the Purple heart!! Nothing a bit of PVA will not fix - it's just, I could have done without that hassle . . . .

Oh yeah - the beginning of a table-top!! This will need a trim etc - but the sizes would work out just perfect!! Especially if I add in a 3cm wide Purple heart strip . . . . .

WATCH this space . . . . . 

Have fun

The madness of Climate change fear

Yeah - once upon a time Antarctica grew some pretty flowers - and maybe one day it will again.....

Meanwhile in the here and now - it is extremely unlikely

Note the size of that dark spot - it is comparable to Australia in Size . . . .

Today's best "low" temperature on the icy continent!!!

I know I will not be round to see a daffodil growing there - nor will any grandchildren or xx-generation of mine!!

No need to panic about any icy floods washing away NZ . . . . 

Have fun!

7 times 77 -- snowball fights

Let me set the scene:

It is winter - you leaving home walking down the street to catch a bus to go to work.

You do this all 5 working days - when suddenly there is a snow ball whizzing past your ears!!  

WHAT would you do???? 

As good Christian - I turn and smile and wave to whomever has thrown said snow ball.

Next Morning - this repeats so - another turn / wave and smile - right?! 7 x 77 - right??

Next Morning - same story - remembering 7 x 77!!  While this is getting tiresome -- there is nothing more empowering then taking the wind out of the sails of the snowball-tosser.  Letting them know they have no power over you - is indeed the most frustrating thing they can experience!!

At what time do you take a different approach??   Friday???   A Week later?? Three Weeks later???

So after a while I engage in convo - that goes along the lines of - please stop this behavior.  If not, be prepared for a return snow ball with interest - and btw 

A, I have a good aim and 

B, Just because I have chosen so far not to 'retaliate' or fight back (eg toss one in your direction) that does not mean I am a weak person - please do not underestimate this!

So - next Morning - whizz - there goes yet another snow ball!!  Naturally I am good for my word and send one back - bulls eye!! 

Cue the wailing from the other side of the street  - foul play - not fair - you rude person and all sorts of name calling and only I am allowed to - you is not allowed to etc etc.

Well guess what - tough shit - you started this and you were told  - so buttercup suck it up.  Don't want a snowball whizzing past your own ears - don't toss one in the first place!! 

It may not meet the spirit of the gospel (remember 7 x 77 - and the holding the other cheek part), though it feels good to have tossed one back - so Target / Bud-Light!! To bad for you!! 

Have fun!

Intrestingly enough - I said . . . . . .

Two written articles caught my eye:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/300889028/academics-dont-feel-free-to-air-controversial-opinions-according-to-survey

https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/131393894/the-free-speech-door-swings-both-ways?rm=a

They touch on things I have been saying all along for ages.

I remember discussing with my two boys a long time ago what constitutes free speech (during the saga of the NBL coach who was forced to sell his interest in the club he owned because of things he has said to his Girlfriend privately - which promptly made it into the public domain).  

I said if you are under threat of job loss or income just because you have a opinion that differs from what others think it should be - then you are not "free" to express yourself.  I did also forecast that this would lead to suppression of ideas and thoughts - and of course of being able to express these in a public way - so now some 20 years later - cue the "Cancel culture"!! The counter-point from the boys was - yeah you can say what you want and have to take the "consequences" of that - even if it means loosing your job and lively-hood!!  I countered by saying that we will end up at each others throats and eventually (Darwinian process) the stronger person will throttle the weaker person - and that is not a good way for society to live in - and I certainly would not want to be in said society!! 

 Guess what - that is exactly were we are now . . . .sadly!  Not surprisingly - now (some) of the "weaker" folks are growing a backbone to counter this to avoid getting completely steamrolled (see the Bud-light story in USA)! Can you blame them???

The underlying feature of all this is that we have moved into a faithless - self-centered - egotistical (it's all about me me me me me!!!!) society - and I will contend that as a result of that, we are all worse off for it!!  

Cancel culture can and does work both ways and some times I think that fighting fire with fire (even if wrong) is still the best way!! The left needs to learn a lesson that whatever they can do, the right can do too and -

here is where it gets peachy 

Jewish / Christian and even other religions have this theme of treating other people the way you want to be treated! That does not always work and sometimes you have to give them a dose of their own medicine! - Swallow that and lets get along with each other.

Having a bit more tolerance of others and differing opinions without getting all hot and steamy under the collar just because they differ - would be a good starting point to fix this...

snip ---- 

While diversity and tolerance are terms that are used in abundance, they’re often uncomfortable. They presuppose differences - meaningful differences. Differences which will elicit a strong response from those sitting on the other side.

But while uncomfortable, they also enable us to live in a society that doesn’t presume there is only one way to raise a child or only one view on how to live ‘the good life’.

What is clear is that if we start introducing moralistic impositions on each other, then basic freedoms, like speech, which we take for granted will disappear.

I am always wary of groups of folks who (mostly in cities and Uni's) thump their chest and say - we talked it over amongst ourselves  and we have decided that this  Issue (climate change / PC Lingo / Trans issues / abortion/ etc etc etc)  is settled now and you non-intellectuals, simplistic (fly over country folks / basket of deplorable's / uneducated nitwits etc etc etc)  just have to accept this as the 'new norm'!

My response: that's nice for you, I think differently to you - shall we have a conversation about this ???  When you say no - - then get lost - who appointed you as the bully in the sandpit!! And take your beer and  . . . .

 

Have fun!

Fair enough?!?!

 

 

Says it all - right?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have fun!

Coronation Quiche - a fuzz about nuthin

Dear Lord - who would have thought!!!

It even has its own Wikipedia entry!!

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/columnists/how-did-the-coronation-quiche-go-so-wrong/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronation_quiche

 

Have to say - Good one, ol chucky - you have managed to outrage EVERYONE!!!!

I mean -- imagine - if he left out, say the vegans - they be outraged for being left out of the outrage!!! 

Everyone - take a deep breath and calm down! The O N LY thing that matters here is that the newly crowned King likes it.  If it is not to your liking because for whatever reason -  suck it up and get lost . . . . . Or are you really that self centered that you think everything revolves round you????   

News flash . . . . .

 It ain't . .

Have fun!

Did Obelix get it right after all?

Did Obelix get it right after all?

Always was and still am a fan of the Asterix books – right from when I was a tiny tot and could barely read!  They have been a large part of my early reading life – to this day! So many colorful characters.

In the story about Cleopatra – at some stage Obelix is tasked in cutting the (poisoned cake) into 3 pieces to be shared with his other two friends. - Which he did.
If you pay close attention  - he’s been asked to cut three pieces......

Ask any child – they have an innate understanding of what is fair or equal.
Let me set the scene:
Imagine two (early school years) siblings living at home – being tasked by their parents (to work together) and mow the lawn and do the lawn-edging on a weekly basis.  In reward they get (earn) a bar of chocolate. They are told to share the spoils of their earnings.  

Now you know how this plays out.  The older sibling (being deemed more mature or wiser or just by being older) will usually do the task of splitting the bar of chocolate up and do the handouts! You KNOW and can always see it on the (usually younger) sibling’s face if they think they have been swindled or robbed of their “fair share”.  (as a sideline – educationally this works by saying one does the dividing up and the other gets to choose first, which share/half they pick!!!)
Assuming they both worked hard and equally on the task at hand, you would expect a 50/50 split?!

Now lets assume that one sibling is not doing its task or only doing a half task or none at all or is perhaps handicapped and thus not able to pull equal weight  - how should the bar of chocolate be broken up – still at 50/50???  75/25??? 
60/40??

Further – lets assume that the older sibling is of an enterprising nature and goes and canvas’s the neighbors and after some time and with a lot of hard work gets to mow 6 lawns of other peoples properties (thus earning 6 or more bars of chocolate) – while the other sibling sits at home and is not involved in this enterprise at all.  How should the enterprising sibling share in the spoils of her hard work (if at all)????  

Will there be an incentive for the non-working sibling to be involved in mowing the neighbors lawns,  I F  they get half of the spoils regardless???  How about the motivation off the other sibling to go out and be enterprising, if there is an expectation to give away most of that “income”.  Where is the fairness in that?  (We see this playing out in China with the ‘laying at work” attitude and of course saw it in old Soviet Union where the attitude was – ‘We pretend to work as long as they pretend to pay us’!! )

You will notice the original direction from the parents – there is an expectation of ‘Sharing’, but no qualification on how.  The discussion here really is:  fair vs equal.  Equal is (as per Obelix) always straight forward.  I often say to my wife: “May I have the bigger half” and the standard reply always is: “There is no such thing as a ‘bigger half’ “  Obelix was just told to cut three slices – no qualifying on how big the three should be, and of course there were only three pieces! Job done.

Recently the NZ Government commissioned a report on who pays how much (income) tax – focusing on 311 ‘rich’ families and predictably it has created a lot of discussion.  
My takeaway on that is, unless you say “equal” tax (eg. a flat rate of 10 % or whatever number you want to use and is paid by EVERYONE)  you end up in a discussion on what is “Fair”!

Everyone's understanding of what is ‘Fair’ differs greatly.  We need to settle on what is ‘FAIR’ soon, or there will always be a part of our population that will be envious of the other few enterprising folks. (which by the way is listed in the Ten Commandments and deemed to be not a good idea – to be envious of your neighbors cattle/sheep/wife/land etc etc etc)

 

 

Will the sibling be envious of the other, who gets to eat 6 bars by itself without sharing??     You bet.
Will it get inspired to go out and be just as enterprising as the other sibling???                      Perhaps 

How much will the enterprising sibling be motivated to be successful, if the other demands a ‘share’ regardless on how much contribution happened?? 

What will influence that decision?  A social conscious / love/concern for the sibling and its willingness or abilities – or lack thereof??  
 

Food for thought.

Now please – let me have my share of lunch . . . .



Have fun!

Down under being a banana republic - who would have thought?????

  

Yeah - this is going to be a very frustrating rant!

Let me break down the images - although they speak volumes in their own right!!! 

So I had ordered a product from a firm in Australia - our next nearest country neighbor and with modern planes etc - how long would you think delivery should take???  2-4 business days??? Maybe a few more??? I mean - a flight from Melbourne to Auckland is about 3hours and 25 minutes - or close to it - winds depending!!!

So - lets break this down by days

Thursday 13 April 5.14pm

• Item was sold / wrapped up and issued an order for to be picked up by a courier on Thursday 13 April 5.14pm

Saturday 15 April 2.09am / 2.10am

•  Item is at Melbourne international airport - guess it took  33 hours to pick up / drive across town to deliver to airport in order to fly out

Monday 17 April 8:30am

• Item has shifted warehouse in Melbourne airport - awaiting a flight.  Funny I was sure they had a DAILY if not more then one a day flight from Melbourne to Auckland. Turns out - it was picked up by an airline on the following day

Tuesday 18 April 8.11am

• Did it miss the previous days flight????? Anyway according to the Shippit tracking site - it is airborne!! Wohoooooo 
• So to re-cap - from hitting the sold sign to being Airborne (leaving Melbourne/Australia) - has taken 5 days! We shall make an assumption and guess that the postal agencies do NOT work on weekends (they may well do - who would know?) - so that is then a reasonable timeline - yes?!
  

 Lets switch over to the NZ post site - which ultimately ought to deliver this! It would indicate that the actual flight took place on 17 April.  There is a 2 hour time difference so that is understandable - BUT a whole day?????

Anyhow lets assume that it has indeed left on the 18th (lets give credit here) - it would seem it has arrived in Auckland on 20 April 12:48pm (noon)! That just asks the question - a two or three day flight that usually takes only about 3.25 hours?!?!?!?!  What the hell . . .  OR more likely - it has been sitting in a depot and not been scanned in - probably still sitting on the tarmac.

Thursday 20 April 12.48pm 

• 
  As you can see - it claims to be "unloading" (eg some random dude has to take it out of the cargo hold and put it on a trolley for it to be wheeled to the Customs warehouse/hall/office)  by Customs - and is pending a border clearance! That was nearly a week ago - I know we had an Anzac holiday yesterday - still - they work round the clock so the weekend days are also "working" days - so that is already FIVE working days and still counting for it to be "Pending border clearance"!!   
• To recap - from leaving Melbourne and arriving in an Auckland customs hall it has taken 2 or 3 days - depending on when the actual flight took place!  So how long would it take to UNLOAD the cargo?? More to the point:
  

•  What on earth are they doing there??  Dissecting it??  Drowning it in ant/spider/ snake -- venom for 6 weeks????   Reading it? Are we so short staffed from the Pandemic two years back, that we have just ONE able body-worker trying to process a mountain of parcels??? Has it fallen below a crack onto the back of a book case floor - mysteriously vanishing from earth?  Gobbled up by mail eating aliens???

 Worst thing - NO-one can  be contacted or asked or any communication on this.

        Then it gets worse - the Shippit info when first logged in said delivery to be expected by Thursday 20 April (that would have been a week - a reasonable timeline given it goes over a weekend ?!?!) - it now reads as Saturday 13th May!!! 

1 3th M A Y ! ! 

That is still 18 Days or more then 2.5 Weeks (3 days short of three weeks) away!!   I'd be quicker cycling up to Auckland and claiming it in person!!! 

        So lets do some Maths here, and count the days - from the day the internet confirmed the Sale of the product, to anticipated delivery day is - - - wait for it - - - 

- 31 DAYS or a full MONTH.

You can row on a paddle board quicker across the Tasman Sea . . . . .

        I know we live at the bottom of the earth (from a European perspective) and are technically a Pacific Island nation. This however - is almost worse then being in a banana republic!! At least it will eventually be delivered and does not require some form of bribe . . .

Sighs

Lord - please give me a healthy dose of Patience - I am very much in need of it!!

Have fun!

The merits of having faith

 

 

Many years back - I had to write an essay that was centered around the topic of Faith - who had it - or not and what is it! - I do not remember it all.  It is of course an annual hot topic around Easter - well - for those of Christian persuasion anyhow!

However it is also a topic beyond simple religion. 

 

I contend there are three types of Faith:

•  Blind Faith
•  Skeptic Faith
•  No Faith

    Blind Faith - pretty obvious here - you just believe whatever your higher ups dish up - so for religion it is undying faith into the cause. This can equally be applied to Politics (think faith into "the Party doctrine") or Science (faith into Health advancements or Climate change or Evolution etc). Or indeed you trust blindingly your older sibling who tells you that this course of action (for example -- touch / pee on the electric fence and will not hurt one tiny bit) - is all right?!  Simply no questions allowed - be quiet and belief!

    Skeptic Faith of course is the one where you turn round (like Thomas) and say: "unless I can put my hands into the wounds of our Crucified Lords hands - only then will I belief that he is risen"!  Essentially it is an evidence based faith - and it applies to all institutions.  Show me the Money / Proof / Evidence before I invest something of myself into whatever you proclaim to be truth!

    No Faith is actually a misnomer - as essentially there is no such thing - in its essence!Even an agnostic person is a person of faith - who isbelieving in  - well nothing! Not that they will ever admit to that in itself. No faith is often used and expressed within/by the religious communities - describing people who do not accept the religious doctrines (Christian/Muslim/Jewish/Hindu etc). Of course the Climate dogma people will also use this if you even dare to question their particular "dogma"!

Cue Gallileo ---> One of the most famous examples of the clash between religion
and science is the trial of Galileo. He supported Copernicus' view that the Earth orbited the sun, a "heliocentric" theory which the church declared contrary to Scripture. Galileo was warned to abandon his support for this theory and instead embrace the traditional "geocentric" notion that the Earth was an unmovable point around which the universe revolved.

Naturally, a Blind Faith (ying / yang here)  can be seen as a strength if used in a "correct" setting - or seen as a hindrance to any future progress!! Your way of life - your reality, will depend and change with whichever side you tend to adhere to.  Of course it is possible to have all three happening at some stage in your life - or even concurrent!

As I am a "realist" I tend to question things more often then not - particularly when it comes to "have faith in future outcomes" - such as climate predictions! I know I lost some folks here at this point - and if you still with me bear with me and lets change some words and consider this:

If you have a neighbor/friend/relative who has for the last 50 years faithfully come to you every Saturday - or at least once a month and said: "We have all the data in - the horse is fit - the track is hard and fast and dry and the weather is looking great - no rain forecast, the Horse is injury free and in the form of its life and all the scientific evidence from our various Track Experts points to this particular horse in this particular race on that day to be a winner with the odds being 1500 - 1 - you need to trust me and put some of your hard earned cash on this bet!! "

Now - you can have blind faith and say "yup - ok here is half of my monthly income"  or you can sit back and say - ok when was the last time you had an actual winner??  What -- in the last 50 years NONE of your "predictions" have come true - then would you still be prepared to put your $$$$ into that bet - put the house on as its a "surefire" bet and risk everything???  

Would you?????  And if you did - what will that say about you??

Have fun!

Al Gore looks - well -

Yeah - Dude ----

 

So do you remember the claim from Al Gore's Film - that by 2020 the Midwest of USA will have snow free winters and why would you invest into the ski-industry????

Guess who's got egg on his face now . . . . . . .

Snip ---

This weekend the tourism industry celebrated the US state’s biggest seasonal snow dump on record.

At Alta, one of America’s oldest ski-only resorts, visitors were treated to 19m of snow this season.

This was possibly too much snow. This weekend more than 1000 visitors were trapped in the ski village at Alta and neighboring Snowbird by an avalanche warning.

 

End snip ----

 make that 19 meters !!!

 Buahahahahaha

 

 

Have fun!

Lies - damn lies and statistics

Check this out.......

All data is from the NZ Met Service

 

It is true we had ONE day at the high as shown on their map - all of 33.9c - in fact we  had a lovely week being in the 30's bar one day!!

So the way they present this graphical image is that - LOOK - Feb 2023 - had a higher then the 10 year average temperature - GLOBAL WARMING they scream from the roof tops!! Your fault for eating cows and driving smokey cars they scream!

So add all the highest temperatures for each day in month of Feb 2023 - and average them out to be in line with the 10 year average high temperature 

(you know - comparing an apple with an apple) for ANY meaningful comparison and you get - drum roll please:

23.7C!!!!

Check this against the 10 year high which sits at 31.4c!

 

HOWEVER

to really compare a granny smith with a granny smith you need to take all the daily highs (for Feb) and average them out and then compare that with the previous (monthly Feb) years or even a rolling ten year average for Feb

it goes like this

		Whitianga	Chch	Dunedin
February	2013	23.9	22.4	19.4
February	2014	23.4	21.7	18.4
February	2015	24	22.8	18.4
February	2016	25.5	25.1	22.8
February	2017	24.7	22.5	20.2
February	2018	24.3	22.9	19.6
February	2019	24.4	24.5	21.1
February	2020	26.6	24.3	20.6
February	2021	23.4	22.9	19.7
February	2022	24	20.4	19.1
February	2023		23.6
	avrg for last 10 years	- - - - >	23

You will see that some years are warmer and some are cooler.  -- 2022 was the coolest so far at monthly average of 20.4c - and 2016 at 25.1c - a 5 degree Celsius range of up or down!  NOTE that 7 years (yes make that SEVEN years) are below the rolling average of 23c!

Liars --  So sick of these lies being told!! 

 

On the upside - Should there be a real warming planet -- I would be quite happy for a 4 degree Celsius rise -  it would mean New Zealand could grow its own coffee and pineapple and many other tropical fruits and of course our winter heating bill would be greatly reduced!!  Alas - by the time this is likely to be happening (year 2590????) I will no longer be round by then - old dude that I am . . . . .

 

Have fun!

My scratching post

Firstly - thanks to Debra for filming this!! 

Secondly - this bear knows EXACTLY how I feel once I find my own scratching post (door -jab actually) in our home - it has two runners and = suffice to say - there has never been a back scratch as blissful as this . . . . 

I can just hear the going --- uuuh yeeah oh yeah oh yeah - soooo gooooood

enjoy

Have fun!