Well - what can I say. Seems the folks in the dessert have heard about the New Zealand spraying program (if you remember - designed for clearing the skies for the tourists so they can take true blue dome day photos in their fav holiday spots)!
Then they took the idea and reversed the idea!! Good on them!! Not that this particular idea has been round for a few years . . . . .
No royalties from the project will be forthcoming - so that is a bit of a bummer . . .
Have fun!
News from around the world are not great.
Apart from a virus running rampart there is the annual rainfall season and many places have experienced floods! Germany / New Zealand and China are the most recent places where there has been a decent rainfall creating "downstream" issues. There is nothing funny about rising waters - it is a menace in many respects! Trying to "dry out" a house is different from drying a few clothes! Of course people need to blame someone - anyone or something for their misfortune, and they shout from the roof - "Global climate change!"
Yeah right! Nature will do what nature wants to do. Has done so for millennia and will do for the next few millennia!
Today's news-piece from our sometime honest writers ---->
If you get to the bottom of this article you will find the last
paragraph - expressing the very thought I had for the last 50 years!!
snip --- China routinely experiences floods during the summer, but the growth of cities and conversion of farmland into subdivisions has worsened the impact of such events. --- end snip
Well duh - IF you build houses in what is historically known to be a flood plain - why are you peeved when there is a flood flooding your precious dwelling???
W H O S fault is that then!!! Have a good look into the mirror, and leave Climate change alone!!
Have fun!
It has been a very long time - still remember the black and white films starring Don Camillo (the village priest) and Peppone (the communist mayor).
Recently I discovered the (in German) films via YouTube! It is required watching of course!!
Then I came across the books which have at long last been translated into English! Thanks to Amazon and a credit card and international posting (which given recent Covid19 mailings IS indeed remarkable) they arrived here in less then 7 days!! yussss
The books themselves are a collection of stories - each duly published in the news paper way back in 1946 - short stories that can stand on their own. The films took all of them and made them into a long storybook - weaving them through time and place.
The thing that always has attracted me is that at times Don Camillo has "conversations" with Christ on the Cross as well as Mary (you know - the mother of said Jesus)!! The dialogue is thoughtful and at times thought provoking.
"When you share your last crust of bread with a beggar, you mustn’t behave as if you were throwing a bone to a dog. You must give humbly, and thank him for allowing you to have a part in his hunger.”
------------
“It is right to hate sin, but not to hate the sinner.”
--------
“No, Don Camillo; you didn’t exactly steal it. Peppone had two cigars in his pocket. Peppone is a Communist. He believes in sharing things. By skillfully relieving him of one cigar, you only took your fair share.”
--------
“When God gives you an inch, don’t take a mile.”
-------
"When things do not go well, finding a way of making them go better always seems less important than finding someone to take the blame." <----- love this one - so true even nowadays!!!
-------
As he passed by the altar, the Lord frowned down at him.
"Lord," said Don Camillo, "Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted." "Don Camillo," said the Lord, "for some time now you've been skating on thin ice." "With God's help, no ice is too thin," said Don Camillo.
-----
Don Camillo hastily put on the leather harness with the support for the foot of the cross, lifted the enormous crucifix from the altar and adjusted it in the socket. Then he sighed: "All the same, they need not have made this Cross quite so heavy." "You're telling Me!" replied the Lord smiling. "I had to carry it all the way up on that hill and I never had shoulders such as yours."
-----
“What should I do?” Don Camillo had inquired.
“Anoint your back with a little oil beaten up in water and hold your tongue,” the Lord had replied from above the altar. “We must forgive those who offend us. That is the rule.” “Very true, Lord,” agreed Don Camillo, “but on this occasion we are discussing blows, not offenses.”
“And what do you mean by that? Surely you are not trying to tell me that injuries done to the body are more painful than those aimed at the spirit?”
“I see your point, Lord. But You should also bear in mind that in the beating of me, who am Your minister, an injury has been done to Yourself also. I am really more concerned on Your behalf than on my own.”
“And was I not a greater minister of God than you are? And did I not forgive those who nailed me to the Cross?” 
“There is never any use in arguing with You!” Don Camillo had exclaimed. “You are always in the right. Your will be done. We must forgive. All the same, don't forget that if these ruffians, encouraged by my silence, should crack my skull, the responsibility will lie with You. I could cite several passages from the Old Testament. . . .”
“Don Camillo, are you proposing to instruct me in the Old Testament? As for this business, I assume full responsibility.
Moreover, strictly between Ourselves, the beating has done you no harm. It may teach you let politics alone in my house.”
------------------------------------
Jesus: "Sie spricht mit meiner Mutter" (she speaks with my Mother)
Don Camillo: "Die Ärmste!" (Poor Mary)
-----------------------------
The underlying message within the many stories told - is that compassion and practicality are far better than religious or political dogmatism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Camillo_and_Peppone
Have fun!
My fav quote from Yogi bear --- "I am a smart bear - sometimes I am so smart - it hurts" next minute he's flat on his face from his picnic basket robbing days - rubbing a sore spot on his head!!
or like this
“I’m so smart it hurts.”
“It’s because I’m smarter than the average bear.”
yogi bear hunting picnic baskets
humpf - well - the other day I did feel rather silly
I used to be able to do this:
In LibreOffice - you used to be able to select a range of cells (some empty some not) and copy them - then select another spreadsheet or file and do a Paste/Link!! Meaning that when you update or fill a cell at the source - it would update and accurately reflect that change made in the destination cell's.
Well for some reason LibreOffice would no longer copy EMPTY Cells.
In MS Excel and Lotus123 (yes remember that good software???) it does copy empty cells! sooo hmmmmm
Research says you ought to be able to do this in Libreoffice - so there is either a bug or some software program no longer providing the function!
WHAT to DO?????
After a lot of trial and head scratching -- I found a work around!!
Select any single empty cell - click in it - push the space bar once and hit enter! This will in effect add an "indent" into the cell - and voila it is no longer empty - but showing nothing - since no text/data/formula etc has been entered into this cell yet! Now copy that cell and paste into your source spreadsheet as far and wide as you want / need too (or indeed the whole spreadsheet) and paste it.
Now you can select your few cells and copy them and do the paste link cmd ( seeing it will recognize the cells now, seeing they are no longer "empty" and of course any future data entered in the source cell will be reflected in the destination cells!!)
YUSSSSS
Where is my picnic basket with Nutella sandwich's !!
Have fun!
Yup - I started the draft on 2 November 2020 - then set it aside for corrections, spelling etc. and to be completed and included in the 15 Calendars we usually post out pre Dec. N e x t day we were informed that Michael is back into the Hospital for a test and yup - they confirmed his leukemia has returned. Thus the rest of our time since then, was consumed with trips to and from the Hospital and many things got - shall we say - re-prioritized!!! We spent Christmas day in his private hospital room!!
The draft never got corrected - so here it is in its full faulty glory....
23 Oldwood St
Christchurch 8053
New Zealand
2 Nov 2020
Ooooooh is it this time of the year again – already???? Seems only like yesterday when I scribbled the last news letter together! So here it goes.
-----
Another eventful year for us but one with more highs than lows for which we are truly grateful. Trusting that you have all had some success in 2019 and wishing you all the best for a peaceful 2020!
Humpf – this was the opening and closing line from our 2019 letter. I F only we had known then what 2020 would bring!!!!! As I type we hear that Europe is going for yet another lockdown thanks to the Virus ex-China!! It would be really weird if Christmas is being canccelled, already a number of Christkindl markets are not happening!! Sighs – where to begin ? ? ? ?
Yes; we had our fair share of the Virus– and thanks to the large moat around our little paradise island we have escaped most of the drama! We too had a 4 week strict lockdown around March / April – then eased off afterwards. Our borders are still closed to returning Kiwis only (and “essential other workers”) - and any incoming persons have to be in a “managed” facility for 2 weeks – AND pay some NZ $ 3000!!! hmmmmm enough of this – lets try and be positive!
We did manage to get away again for a few weekends in our Bear-mobile – including a chilly midwinter camp and a long week round trip that included two nights at Ross!! We give thanks for this ability as it is acting as a mental circuit breaker from all the bad news in 2020! We feel like being seasoned campers now, and are looking to take “our trainerwheels” off eg – selling it, and do an upgrade in the near future – a permanent bed would be nice! One of the downstream effects from this Virus-Year has been less, or no international tourists and at the same time an increase in Kiwis touring in their own country – so there is less then normal tourist traffic and still enough to make things busy!
Reinhold has gone nuts and bought on the cheap a few dilapidated and severely neglected Rimu (nz native timber) coffee tables and then spend some of his lock-down time restoring them. He has sold 2 back, making some small gains in $$ - which will go towards buying a new power tool to complete the woodworking setup. His other creations involved making a few crosses (pics as always on FB) many of which have found new homes! Yes Margit – yours will be here waiting for you to take home – I am not posting it!!! Two other major woodworking projects were: making a very special Rimu coffee table and a larger CD book case for us; oh - and a special stepping-stool for MB so she can reach the upper shelves in the kitchen!!
Pam has been very busy working from home during the lock-down (which brought it’s own marital challenges) and then back at work. Her workplace bought a new accounting software and its implementation is as long and as tedious as Tooth-extractions! She certainly has and is working LONG hours! Her reward for this is a brand new (it had only 5km on the clock) company car!
A black shiny new set of wheels!! She is also very happy having splashed out in January for a new couch – one she found that would let her sit down on it and her feet touching the floor (turns out – it is the ONLY one in NZ that will let her do that) – and – due to virus and lock-downs it took 6 months for delivery!
Michael continues his journey in Hanmer working as a sales person in a hardware store. He is more or less medically speaking on the good side – fingers crossed! Jonno of course lost his job at Milford and had to be here for lock-down – then went to a limited job in Queenstown for the ski season. He now plans to do the Te Araroa walk (https://www.teararoa.org.nz/) - all of 3000km down the spine of NZ (from the very top of the north to the bottom of the south)! Mid winter we said goodbye to our cat who had deteriorated and was not happy! Her ashes are now with Max’s ashes and awaiting interring as I type. Thus we are pet-free at the moment!
The Dermatologist and Anesthetist as well as the Radiologist determined that a full and complete skin replacement was needed - so swing into action. After several hours of carefully chipping away at the layers of old dead skin - a Botox specialist was required to *stitch* together several deep-seated tissue traumas! At this point the patient was doing well!! Before the final skin graft would be applied a special sterilizing liquid cleansing solution was applied revealing a deep seated rooting problem. 2 round ring stains were discovered that are only visible once a final skin graft would have been applied. A meeting was called between all medical staff as well as their lawyers and after several hours of consuming low coffee drinks - urm - several hours of debate - it was decided to call in some overseas expertise - which eventually revealed that the only way to remove the deep-seated flesh-trauma would be a bone deep skin/flesh extraction and as you can never successfully match and re-seal it, it was decided to leave these 2 beauties for eternity! It goes begging the question what might have caused this damage!! Suggestions came freely from the imaginative staff -- the husband having a celebratory drink upon learning he was going to be a father??? The teenage girl having her first drink and kiss of her life??? Granny celebrating her granddaughters graduation from Uni?? Santa Claus not being careful where he put the empty cup of hot milk, which was left behind for him at Christmas time?? Sadly ongoing investigations have not revealed any further clues as to how these stains came to be. It was decided not to take a DNA sample and send off to some foreign lab! Eventually the final skin graft was applied.
The legs came back bionically enhanced and were surgically re-attached to the main body (taking care that all the toes point inwards) --- and success - the patient lives yet another day/week/month/decade or century! The successful new owner will have the freedom to spin his own creative story on the two rings and their past history, once the auction has ran its course and the patient has left the Restoration Clinic!! The staff wish him well on it's future endeavors!
No batteries included in Sale!
https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=2807170200
Have fun!
We humans - social animals that we are, have many traits similar to other social animals! Sheep roam freely - yet if they are sensing a threat - they bunch up in a tight big circle!
As humans we have done similar through out history. During the settling of the American Wild West - the wagons would be circling ever tighter until they formed a makeshift defensive wall against Mr Nasty out there!
Moreover we have always built defenses that protect our living places - once we stopped from hunter-gatherer to agricultural based living! We have big fences (in early days mostly wooden) that keep Mr Nasty (human or animal) outside, while we wait securely inside for the threat to pass.
Of course no defensive system is ever completely foolproof and can be overcome. No matter how big or tall or thick a defensive wall one builds, there is always a way around, over or under it!
One of the defensive matters cleverly built around medieval times was a moat! Most people did not know how to swim - so a 10 meter wide 5 meter deep water *bath* - possibly filled with flesh-eating *things* (and most certainly unhealthy to your life by just stepping in) was a genius idea at the time! In case of a external threat to your life / town - you simply retreated behind the wall and once all where safely inside you raised the draw-bridge and just waited it out! There are many many samples of Moats and towns/ castles that can still to be found in Europe!!
The only major flaw in this system is - that occasionally there is a Mr Nasty outside who has determination and patience on its side! The choice for those safely stashed inside the moat would eventually come down to one of two things - Starve - or give up!
Let me explain! Once safely inside - you can live of your stored food for x nr of days - (simple Math's of x nr of people inside and their daily rations required versus how much is stored away - and no online ordering / delivery of McDonalds - recently so graphically used by the book/film *The Martian* )! Of course - Mr Nasty outside has a similar issue - can they wait long enough (or have more food resources)!! History will tell you that almost always the outsider has a better chance - samples are Salzburg / Peking / Stalingrad (perhaps) and their sieges which all eventually led to surrender and be conquered!
Alternatively - a human marooned on a sandbank being stalked by a hungry (and VERY patient) alligator has no chance of escaping alive, unless there is an outside influence!
Most of the places have just living places - a room to bed down! Thus they were totally dependent on stored food resources. Even the livestock (if you had any) would need to be fed and watered at some stage! Try that on the gravel path leading forth and back between whatever buildings that were inside the moat.
New Zealand of course is blessed with a V E R Y large Moat - being an island in or near the Southern Ocean. To go by boat (cruise) to Sydney will take approximately 14-16 days - boat speed depending! Sailboats of course take much longer!! Our *drawbridge* currently are our airports - and they are half up = letting some of the *locals* in but keeping everything and anyone else out!
The major advantage we have is that there are enough agricultural spaces that we can feed the local population - if only seasonal in some respects (Fruit / Veggies)! We will not starve!! There will be other things that we will have to leave outside our *moat* - manufacturing products (cars / PC's / furniture etc etc) or they will take much much longer to arrive in! So no yearly upgrade of your Car / TV ! You may have to wait 3-6 month's for delivery!
Unfortunately our current *Mr Nasty* outside is a Virus (Covid-19) that takes no prisoners and only needs a human host - it does not care about colour / race / age / nationality etc just as long as it can go forth and spread itself far and wide!
So New Zealand will need to make up its mind soon - how long do we keep up our *drawbridge* - live in isolation from the rest of the world (at least we will not starve) - or do we bite the apple and lower our *drawbridge* and run whatever risk may still be lurking outside! Either way - some will get sick and some will die from it! You can count on that happening either way. Suicides are up / divorcees are up / unemployment no doubt will rise / Cancer patients treatments delayed or cancelled altogether (which will lead to premature deaths no doubt)
So really the only question is - - ??? which is the lesser evil here ??? . . Unfortunately as a country we cannot have a side by side test comparison - it has to be one or the other! The best we can do is comparing ourselves with the only Nation (Sweden) that has gone down a different path in dealing with this!
Time will tell - do we have that time???
Have fun!
From the other day - just ONE plane in the sky!!! Sad to see
hmmmm wonder If I can extract them and put up as a list here . . . .
:) Seems I can
Enjoy
Help Me Make It Through The Night Loren Allred
Besame Mucho Thalia
You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine Laura Pausini
Don't get around much anymore Tony Bennett
Someday Meghan Trainor
Quando Quando Nelly Furtado
Pennies From Heaven Paul Anka A Song For You Chris Botti
Baby (You've Got What It Takes) Sharon Jones
Comin' Home Baby Boyz II
La Vie En Rose Cécile Mclorin Salvant
Nobody But Me Black Thought – The roots
Something Stupid Reece Whitherspoon
How deep is your love Kelly Rowland
Just in Time Tony Bennett
After All Bryan Adams
Nevertheless (I'm in Love with You) The Puppini sisters
Whatever It Takes Ron Sexsmith
Stardust Naturally 7
I Won't Dance Jane Monheit
Baby It's Cold Outside Idina Menzel
Wonderful Tonight Ivan Lins
Alone Again (Naturally) Diana Krall
All Shook up Elvis Presley
It Had to Be You Barbra Streisand
Crazy Willie Nelson Crazy Jon Batiste & Stay Human
Christmas Duets!!
Jingle Bells The Puppini Sisters
Frosty the Snowman The Puppini Sisters
Mis Deseos/Feliz Navidad Thalia
Home Blake Shelton
All I Want For Christmas Is Yo Mariah Carey
Jingle Bell Rock Carly Jephson
Winter Wonderland Rod Stewart
Santa Claus is coming to Town Ariana Grande
Silent Night Childrens Choir
Silver Bells Naturally 7
White Christmas Shy’m
White Christmas Kelly Rowland
White Christmas Shania Twain
White Christmas Kelly Pickler
Cuddle up Cozy down Christmas Dolly Parton
Rule the World Gary Barlow
Chestnuts on Fire Leon Bridges
PS - there is a new Elvis Presley CD release were they Digitally "married' him with Michael Buble - the song being "Fever", and while it is a lovely rendition - I am not sure if that should be included as - well - as the King is no longer with us!!!
If you find another song that should be included in this list - please let me know
Update 11 March 2024 - more songs have been created or found online
Elita Gary Barlow
Fever Elvis Presley
Gotta be patient Barenaked ladies / Sofia Reyes
Home Gary Barlow
How can you mend a broken heart Bee Gees
Soda Pop Robbie Williams
Crazy Jon Batiste & Stay Human
Drivers License BBC Concert Orchestra
Bring it on home to me West End Gospel Choir
Quizas, Quizas Lucho Gatica
Spicey Margarita Jason Derulo
What next??????
Have fun!
snip -- Let's begin with the story: the local tyrant contracts the ancient Greek polymath Archimedes to detect fraud in the manufacture of a golden crown. Said tyrant, name of Hiero, suspects his goldsmith of leaving out some measure of gold and replacing it with (cheaper) silver in a wreath dedicated to the gods. Archimedes accepts the challenge and, during a subsequent trip to the public baths, realizes that the more his body sinks into the water, the more water is displaced--making the displaced water an exact measure of his volume. Because gold weighs more than silver, he reasons that a crown mixed with silver would have to be bulkier to reach the same weight as one composed only of gold; therefore it would displace more water than its pure gold counterpart. Realizing he has hit upon a solution, the young Greek math whiz leaps out of the bath and rushes home naked crying "Eureka! Eureka!" Or, translated: "I've found it! I've found it!" 
What bugs me is that Policy is being made based on this 'faulty' logic/belief, A policy that is costly and not needed (by the 'guilt' ridden western countries) - WHEN at the same time those efforts could be much better directed, to, for example, to raise Africa out of its poverty and give that continent a decent chance for life!
