September miscellany
By the numbers…
People blink as many as 15 to 20 times a minute, far more than needed to keep our eyes lubricated. So why do we do it?
Posts by Paul Smith
Tomorrow, tomorrow…
Warning: the following may contain traces of nuttiness and wishful thinking but… is there a populist revolution brewing out there?
Now we’re past 60…
- People call at 9 pm and ask, “Did I wake you ? “
- You can live without sex but not your glasses.
- You get into heated arguments about pension plans.
- You no longer think of speed limits as challenge.
Moving on…
It’s been a year since he passed on, lying in the sunshine of his bedroom, grinning as he pursed his lips and persuaded the ladies watching over his last moments, to give him a kiss.
Quality TV? Fly to Oz
Friends joke that they knew we’d come home crowing about Oz; how much sunnier it was – and all those beaches.
They were right – and wrong: Eight days in Melbourne and we saw the sun only when our Air New Zealand flight lifted off the tarmac. Beaches? Sort of. Great long strips lacking the intimacy of ours, with their Pohutukawa blossoms and streams meandering their way into the sea.
We did however return with something unexpected – memories of a vibrant public broadcasting industry.
There, but for the grace…
She didn’t wander through the mall and its shops as most people tend to do. She strode towards the supermarket followed by a man who did exactly the opposite.
June Miscellany
Since 2001 JAFAs have quite rightly called it None Tree Hill. Some even grew accustomed to the sight of the shorn iconic cone in their midst. Most people assumed that a tree would be planted soon after the Monterey pine was attacked for the second time in 1999 by Maori activists. Not so. All it took was a mere 15 years of PC tip-toeing over protocols and types of trees.
For Boomers – a journey to the HOP:
2007:
‘The Super Gold Card recognises the valued contribution our seniors and veterans have made, and continue to make to New Zealand society’. Ahh… warm fuzzies. Makes you feel proud doesn’t it? Included. Accepted. Institutionally respected and acknowledged at the highest levels. Free to roam, off-peak that is.
2016:
‘Why you’ll love your AT HOP card…’ says the AT handbook about the change from Gold to HOP card in Auckland. You can simply tag on, helping everyone board faster, and tag off. This speeds up the bus journey too, helping to make the service more punctual….(at a price).