The US Congress Tries to Elect a Speaker

Today is Sunday January 8^th, 2023. Kia ora!

Today it is cold and wet, and very windy.  It is much cooler than it has been. This morning I went to church in Johnsonville. There was quite a good turnout, but they were a tad disorganised!  The Rev. Reg Weeks from St Ronan’s Presbyterian Church in Eastbourne took the service. Apparently a new minister has been appointed, so Rev. Reg will finish there soon.

He preached again about the Magi visiting the infant Jesus, similar to his sermon this time last year for the Feast of the Epiphany.  Again, I found this very affecting. Here is a link to a recording of last year’s sermon, called The Star Gazers: for some reason, the link doesn’t copy across.

After that we had lunch at Kaizen Café in Porirua, one of my favourite haunts.

It’s now Monday January 9^th.

Today started out cold and wet, but it became fine and warm in the afternoon.

The Covid 19  report came out today.  It is as follows: 21,685 new cases have been reported, and 422 people are in hospital, with 9 of them in Intensive Care. There’ve been 53 further deaths in the last week, bringing the total deaths in New Zealand to 2,393. Numbers are dropping, although 2 people with the sub-variant XBB1.1.5, nicknamed “Kraken”, have been detected.

It’s getting increasingly hard to avoid titbits from Prince Harry’s memoir, entitled Spare.  Well, I say, spare me any more details of your ghastly upbringing.  I thought I already knew quite enough about this man-child; evidently not. The revelations just keep coming.  And they’re so mundane, for the most part!  I think that if almost anyone wrote about their past, there would be many things where they’d think well, thank goodness the world doesn’t have to know about that, and thank goodness I’m now adult and a husband and parent myself and I’m dealing with my own children’s questions, like, How come we never see our cousins? Or our Grandpas? Did Harry’s lawyers not see this first, and if not, why not?  Surely Meghan will divorce him after this? It would be so embarrassing to be married to such a stupid person. Goodness knows, we all make mistakes, but how was this person (and his wife) brought up? Personally, I blame Diana. And I feel really sorry for King Charles. and the Prince and Princess of Wales and their lovely children. Thank goodness her majesty the Queen wasn’t alive to have to put up with this drivel.

It’s now Tuesday January 10^th.

Yesterday there was news that Jair Bolsonaro’s supporters had stormed the Presidential Palace and Assembly in Brazil’s capital Brasilia, in an echo of the US’s January 6 2021 insurrection. It was reported that 400 arrests had been made, unlike the US insurrection where no one was arrested on the actual day. Steve Bannon, although he’s waiting for prison, has endorsed this uprising in his podcast. Former president Bolsonaro was rumoured to be in Florida, along with the security chief.

In the US, Kevin McCarthy, having won the speakership after making several concessions, now prepares for the next gathering of Congress.  Many are waiting with baited breath, to see what the next steps will be.

The repercussions from Prince Harry’s memoir continue to spill out, revealing a seriously disturbed youngster who, in his 30’s, is no longer a young man. This is someone who left royal life to flee to California, because he wanted privacy.  He’s now spilling the beans on many irrelevant details, which must be hurtful to his family. Amongst various revelations, he now says that the Royal Family is not a racist institution, despite claims that were made on the famed Oprah Winfrey interview  and despite Harry and his wife accepting an award for resisting such racism.

Oh well, consistency was never the couple’s strong suit. Harry also shows himself to have some seriously childish and perhaps old-fashioned ideas.

I must acknowledge that when my youngest son got married, several years ago, I advised him to shave off his beard. He said that his fiancé quite liked it; I asked him if he would like it to be in his wedding photos. Apart from this discussion, I had very little to do with the wedding, or its arrangements. However, I now await worldwide scorn and vituperation for having dared to express an opinion on such a sensitive and personal issue. I’m only his mother, after all..

Commentators echo me in saying Harry has been extremely unwise to disclose so many “facts”, or, in other words, “his truth”.  Not so very long ago much of what he said would be regarded as treasonous, with very severe physical penalties; often, death, whether you were royalty or not.

It’s now Wednesday January 11^th,

This afternoon I had a hair cut. I have a new computer, which my son set up for me. It’s wonderful!  It’s very fast, and easy to use. I’m very pleased, since I’d had my old one for almost eight years. It was good, but it was time for a new one. People were complaining that my appearance on zoom was very dark, but I couldn’t do anything about it.

So, what’s happening today?  Trump’s CFO, Allan Weisselberg, has been sentenced to five months in prison.  Most people think this is not nearly long enough.  While many people around Trump have gone to jail, if they hadn’t been pardoned, he has not yet been indicted. In Georgia, the grand jury convened by District Attorney Fani Willis of Fulton County has finished hearing witnesses (some subpoenaed) into Trump’s election interference after the 2020 presidential election, and it’s hoped its report will be released.  Trump’s tax returns have finally been released…but there’s so much else going on that they haven’t been greatly analysed yet. There’re now a tad boring, with so much else going on. They show devastating losses, which rather belie his boast of being a good businessman. If anyone believed that.

This morning I listened to The Bulwark podcast with Charlie Sykes talking to Olivia Nuzzi. Another journalist. I found this very interesting; Olivia spoke about Trump mucking around at Mar-a-Lago, watching the movie Sunset Boulevard, again and again. His presentation when announcing his run for the presidency in 2024 was really “low energy”. 

Prince Harry’s memoir continues to cause ructions, as many people admit to rather enjoying the revelations, in an uncomfortable way, while continuing to be amazed at the amount of self-pity and naivety therein. One English writer likened it to reading “Mein Kampf”, although here the ghost writer has done a better job of writing. If he could write so well, how come he didn’t advise the prince not to reveal so much mundane and potentially hurtful detail? For example, if he has been so badly hurt, what about the wives/children/parents/extended family of the people he claims to have killed, from a helicopter, in Afghanistan? Why does he display so little self-awareness? And who is this famous therapist, who has been so useless?  Why is his regard for Meghan so obsessive, while seeming so heartless at times? See, I’ve got involved now, too, much as I have tried to avoid it.

In some kind of karma, the dastardly duo’s California home has been evacuated because of the flooding there.

It’s now Thursday January 12^th.

I have several things on today: a meeting on zoom (it will be interesting to try zoom on my new computer), a meeting with a friend this afternoon, and an appointment. 

Going back to Harry’s memoir, his attempt to control the narrative is contrasted by his frequent lies. There are too many to itemise here, and many others have listed them, but he evidently claimed Meghan booked and paid for a first class seat with Air New Zealand for her father to fly from Mexico to the UK.  How generous, one thinks; but the first problem is that Air New Zealand doesn’t fly from Mexico!  It strikes me that his lying is very like Trump’s: did Meghan actually say the Royal Family were racist? Well, not in so many words, but that was the inference that most if not all people took from what she claimed in the Oprah Winfrey interview.  The hypocrisy is just startling.  Also, apparently years ago the UK’s The Sun newspaper praised hero Harry for his killings in Afghanistan; now he’s being vilified for seeming to brag about them. It’s the “gutter press”, stupid!  So there’s plenty of hypocrisy to go around. Anyone’s memoir is how things look to them at the time: anyone in any family will acknowledge that different family members may have very different views on the same event, especially the death of a parent.  There is no such thing as absolute truth: there are facts. Of course, but one only has to look at different history books to see that facts may be presented from different viewpoints. Twas ever thus.

It also occurs to me that most if not all families are dysfunctional in some ways: I consider myself greatly blessed in this regard, but I have a special needs daughter and four super bright sons: at one stage we boasted from having one teach at Harvard, to one attending Hohepa School: quite a contrast. Everyone, including me, reacted differently to the birth of my daughter.  Within families, we forgive each other, and try to help, in any way we can.  Many, sympathising with Harry,  are saying that the Royal Family is dysfunctional, but what about former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, or Liz Truss? Most people agree that Johnson is a seriously disturbed person. He doesn’t even comb his hair. On another very scary note, Prince Harry is fourth in the line of succession, so he could be our king, one day. What a truly dreadful thought. I know whom I’d prefer, any day. We are all flawed people, all have come short of the Glory of God, but most of us try to live by some moral standards, and seek forgiveness when we’ve knowingly or unknowingly betrayed them. Was it Socrates who said first know yourself?

Within families, we love each other, we forgive each other, we respect each other, and we try not to hurt each other. We are all different, and we emote differently.

In Ukraine, there is very heavy fighting in the Donetsk region, where most of the town names are really difficult to pronounce, let alone remember.  Russia are making claims of success; Ukraine are denying them. Perhaps both sides are exaggerating?  A few days ago, hundreds of Russian soldiers were killed and ammunition blown up in a Russian base by Ukrainian forces. Putin acknowledged this as an upsetting event. More important Russians have suffered strange deaths, some falling out of windows.

This morning I had a meeting on zoom. I was looking forward to this on my new computer, but, silly me, I had to install zoom first. Then, my picture is still really dark, despite my pressing CNTL F9 several times and pulling curtains and turning lights off. This darkness was the problem I had with my old computer. Everyone else on the call looked wonderful!

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

Today is Wednesday January 4^th, 2023. Kia ora!

Last night we watched Bohemian Rhapsody again, this time on TV2. I must say it’s a pleasant change to get some good movies on free-to-air television, since there doesn’t seem to be much on the streaming services. Try as I might, I cannot get the latest series of The Crown on Netflix. Perhaps it hasn’t been released here yet? Privately, I would quite like to watch it.

Today it’s hot again, and I don’t feel great. I don’t plan to go anywhere today.  I ring my cousin this morning, to hear that her husband has Covid 19 too, as does one of her sisters-in-law.  They recently attended a Bible Camp, and many now have Covid 19, perhaps as a result. She and her husband are going to take Paxlovid – their local chemist will deliver it to their house! 

In the US, Republican Kevin McCarthy has lost a third vote to be House Speaker. Three votes!  It makes a pleasant change, dare I say it, to see Republicans in some disarray, as Democrats are being praised for putting their differences aside (really?) when it mattered. Joe Manchin must be having a wry grin, at this point. But Joe Biden is now being seen as a wonderful president, who has an amazing ability to get things done, which make a real difference to people’s lives. There is evidence of much bipartisanship, which speaks to his years as a politician.  Republicans now have control of Congress again, but can they use this effectively? Or even use it? Kevin McCarthy had even moved into the Speaker’s office. Family and friends came along for the show. The New York Times showed a picture of a child yawning.

Actually, I don’t gain any satisfaction from seeing anyone suffer. But while it hard not to find this drama mildly amusing, it really matters, just as Trump’s presidency really mattered. It doesn’t matter as much, but American government means a great deal to the rest of the world, especially while the war in Ukraine goes on, seemingly without any obvious ending. Most  Americans have yet to realise that the brave Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom, on our behalf. Does anyone think that Putin would stop once he’s conquered Ukraine? Or that President Xi doesn’t have wider ambitions? It is naïve to bicker over support for Ukraine: US forces are not on the ground there, but the support of armaments and $$$ from the US and from Europe is huge and means a great deal.

While it is interesting, if rather discomforting, to watch this chaos unfolding, one is reminded that loyalty to others is something Trump doesn’t do:  while McCarthy publicly humiliated himself by visiting Trump at Mar-a-Lago to “kiss the ring” after the January 6 insurrection, despite recordings of his disavowing Trump, to expect Trump to return this loyalty is a fatal flaw. I fear that Kevin McCarthy  will join the cast of thousands that Trump has “thrown under the bus”.  I repeat, he doesn’t necessarily deliver loyalty to his supporters, although he expects it from then.  “Everything Trump touches dies”, wrote one author.

Perhaps they’ll get Jim Jordan as speaker, and wish they had Kevin McCarthy to  kick around after all. “They” includes all the commentators and (not so) wise heads.

The Covid 19 report is out today, and as expected, numbers are down over Christmas, although still quite high. The report is as follows: today’s Covid-19 case numbers are the highest in a week – but still significantly less than a peak earlier this month. There are 4578 new cases reported today. That is about half of the highest daily tally two-and-a-half weeks ago. Counties Manukau has the most cases – 641, followed by Canterbury, with 546.

There are 482 people in hospital with the virus, down from a peak of close to 600, in the lead up to Christmas. Waitematā has the most hospitalisations – currently 83.

More than 32,000 new cases have been reported in the last week, but numbers are down from the 43,000 cases the week before. We’re not told how many deaths attributable to Covid 19 have occurred in the past week.

It’s now Thursday January 5^th.

Last night we watched Alan Partridge, Alpha Male on Te Whakaata Māori – another “fun” movie, to use the vernacular. 

Today it’s cooler, and it’s drizzling with rain. When I went outside to get the newspaper, the driveway was wet, indicating it has been raining during the night. It’s a relief actually to have it a bit cooler, and not so sticky.

In the US, the drama continues over Republicans’ refusal (inability?) to elect a House Speaker.  Last night was punctuated by boxes of pizza, howling, and what is known as “f-bombs”.   McCarthy has lost the vote to be speaker 6 (six) times, increasing, not decreasing his minority. So the situation has moved from being amusing to being embarrassing, as we watch what is almost (after India) the largest “democracy” in the world try to elect a Speaker to do really important stuff, like funding the government. Last night Trump said “We’ll see what happens”; today he has apparently endorsed McCarthy, and is “working the phones”. Will it make a difference?  Who knows.  Will Trump continue to lose?  Most commentators aren’t prepared to write him off just yet. Look how he “won” the 2016 Presidential election. The eyes of the world are transfixed, again, by American political antics. Meanwhile, Ukrainians are paying with their lives for the right to even have a democracy.  It’s the kind of ridiculous comparison that “what about-ism” brought about, with Brexit and Trump’s election as president. The democrats meanwhile look amazingly sensible and well organised.

I am reminded of the destructive role of the Tea Party movement, and the decisions of John Boehner and Paul Ryan not to be speaker, despite its being a prestigious position, and despite their having significant support for the role. Nancy Pelosi’s role as Speaker for the democrats looks ever more amazing, as her skill in holding different elements of her caucus together is more and more admired.  Great support for her nominated replacement, Hakeem Jeffries, is also demonstrated. This chaos is being played out publicly, in a manner that we have not seen to date. C-Span cameras are having a ball.

Disgraced New York republican representative George Santos was being ignored yesterday, but he manage to tweet out that he’d been sworn in. Another lie, then. 

At 1:30 pm I learn that the House is holding a vote to adjourn.  Ironically, this vote takes place after the Prayer and the Oath of Allegiance, both of which seem highly ironic in this situation.  Before voting, the quorum has to be established, which it is. But are there enough votes to adjourn?  We wait with bated  breath.

On a more positive note, the Brent Spence Bridge, which connects Kentucky and Ohio, has long been due for replacement, and is now going to be strengthened while a new bridge is built beside it.  This is due to Biden’s infrastructure bill, I think, Anyway, it’s a huge achievement, as Rachel Maddow outlined in her TRMS show on Monday night (we get the podcast here on a Tuesday afternoon).  This is a really big deal, or a “BFD” as Charlie Sykes of The Bulwark would say. I’ll leave you to figure out what the “F” stands for.  There is a clip on Youtube of President Biden, Republican Senator of Kentucky Mitch McConnell, and other important people making a presentation:

I’m sorry about the ads.

It is quite wonderful to see some bipartisanship working to do something that will benefit many, many people. Obama and Trump could/did not achieve this. Biden made a speech: at first, I feared he would make the halting gaffe-ridden remarks for which he is ridiculed so often, but as he went on, he spoke really well. What a moment! And what a contrast to the embarrassing, very public meltdown in the US Congress, where McCarthy has now lost six votes (11:21 am on Thursday 5/1/23 here in Aotearoa) in the Speakership contest. I guess this shows that American Republicans don’t do this kind of simple, straightforward democracy very well – where a majority of votes actually counts – without the help of a very conservative Supreme Court, or a filibuster, or an Electoral College, which are generally tilted to support a weak republican “majority”. 

I think they voted to adjourn.

It’s now Friday January 6^th.

It’s muggy and raining sometimes drizzling.

This morning I cancelled Access’s visit; instead I went to have lunch with a friend.  We had a lovely time, and a lovely chat. 

This afternoon I am catching up with the US politics situation: apparently Kevin McCarthy has now lost 11 votes to be House Speaker, over 3 days. At present (4:30 pm NZ time) the House is voting to adjourn (again).

Evidently Matt Gaetz nominated Donald Trump to be speaker; he received one vote. Even Lauren Boebert didn’t vote for him.  The far-fight members of the so-called Freedom Caucus were initially causing problems, but the differences go wider than that. McCarthy’s vote deficit has widened since Trump endorsed him.  Everyone is saying that not only is this embarrassing, but Nancy Pelosi would never have allowed such a situation to develop. She had really narrow margins at times, but woudln’t allow a vote that she couldn’t win..

It’s now Saturday January 7^th.

It’s a quiet, wet day.  It’s also very dark. It’s overcast, but it is very dark, especially for midsummer!  I have almost all the lights on, and the curtains pulled back, but it is still dark.  I feel sorry for those camping, as although it’s not really stormy here, camping grounds in the Far North, the Coromandel peninsula and the Bay of Plenty are flooded or threatened by flooding. One of the roads in the Coromandel Peninsula has been cut off by a slip. 

In the US political situation, the chaos continues, with Kevin McCarthy having lost 13 votes to be house Speaker, and the House having voted to a adjourn until tonight their time, probably the middle of the night for us.

I am concerned about this situation, as the chaos continues. It seems that the goal of making countries ungovernable is coming true, as we see ongoing chaos in the UK with their strikes, and inflation, and in the US, inability to elect a speaker. It seems that there is no accountability in some of the Tories in the UK, and some far-right republicans in the US. They simply don’t take the business of governing seriously, and it’s a serious business; after all, when you’re elected to government, you are the government of all the citizens of that country, not just the ones who voted for you. This situation greatly concerns me.

It’s also the two-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection. There have been many prosecutions (perhaps 900?), but some election deniers have been elected to congress, and are mainly responsible for the current inertia. Although Trump was nominated by Matt Gaetz to be speaker, and gained only one vote in the subsequent election, the chaos he created (favoured by Steve Bannon and Nigel Farage amongst others) pursues long after him, if he is to be written off. He certainly seems to lose elections, but the focus of some republicans is not to win elections legitimately, but to hold power. I watched an interview on Ari Melber’s The Beat where he spoke to Michael Moore and Timothy Snyder, a somewhat unlikely guest pairing.  Moore, unusually, was the more upbeat one; Snyder echoed a podcast I had listened to reiterating that this kind of unaccountable chaos is just what chaos-mongers want.

This delay is proving frustrating for politicians who need to be sworn in, and to go home, where their families are coping with storms, travel disruption, illness, and other winter ills.

It’s now late afternoon, and I gather that the US House of Representatives has reconvened and that Kevin McCarthy has now lost 15 votes to be House Speaker.  One has to wonder why he continues to humiliate himself. Maybe that’s 14. We are all wondering what concessions he has made in order to obtain votes. Apparently (ABC News) he’s lost his latest attempt by a single vote.

Later this afternoon I learn that he’s won, on the 15^th vote.  That’s some relief, I guess.  I need to digest this news!

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

New Year’s Eve Fireworks

Today is New Year’s Day, January 1, 2023. Kia ora!  I hesitate to wish anyone a Happy New Year; I’d prefer to  say May the Lord bless you and keep you. It’s also a Sunday, so that prayer seems rather appropriate. That  text, by the way, is from the book of Numbers, part of what is known as the Pentateuch.

I have to mention that on Friday evening we watched the Doc Martin Christmas Special.  It was very eventful, but my highlight was seeing the grumpy Doc smile! I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile in this series before now. Spoiler alert: his mother had just died from a heart attack, and he remembered his experiences of Christmas as a child.  His son James also showed some interesting resistance to his Dad. I  was very frustrated that although it was snowing, the Brits did not seem to wrap themselves up against the cold, the grumpy doctor almost dying of hypothermia after falling down in the snow, coatless!  JD always carries a jacket (or 2) in the car; I think it’s a wise precaution, since you never know when you night need one.

Yesterday was quite a busy day. JD wanted to see the film Avatar: The Way of Water, and we’d planned to see it at the Embassy Cinema in Courtenay Place, having lunch beforehand.  If it was fully booked (unlikely), we could go and see it at the Penthouse in Brooklyn, and not pay parking fees, although the Brooklyn screening didn’t have any advice about the movie being shown in 3D.

We were scrambling to get ready, but there was an interruption. JD had an appointment in the afternoon. So some re-planning went on. We drove to Lower Hutt, and had lunch at Tutaki. I had a delicious salmon steak with mashed potato and silver beet.

It became very hot in the afternoon, and I feared I had overdressed. Eventually we found our way onto the State Highway 58, the Haywards road, and it has been much improved. We drove to Pauatahanui, and to the Lighthouse Cinema there, where they were screening Avatar 2 at 4:15 pm. We even had time to buy drinks and ice creams, and for me to visit the rest room.

The theatre was lovely, and there was hardly anyone else there, so we were very comfortable. It was quite cool, too, and I was glad I’d brought a cardigan in my bag. I was even more comfortable when I put a cushion behind my head, hopefully not blocking the view of anyone sitting behind me. An attendant handed us 3D glasses – different from the ones I’d carefully brought from home. We weren’t charged for these ones, but we did have to return them after the movie.  One does hope that they’re sanitised after use.

I’d have to say I found Avatar 2 to be an endurance test. At 3 hours 10 minutes, plus various trailers we had to sit through, it was much too long, and had some maudlin moments. I must stress that these are my reactions, and I’m probably not part of its target demographic segment.  I am not employed as a film critic, either. JD, on the other hand, quite enjoyed it, although not disagreeing with my comments. I remember thinking that he could see the next movie ( a further 4 or 5 are planned) with one of my grandsons, but as I noted hearing two swear words, it’s not a family film. Mind you, if the next sequel isn’t released for another 14 years, the grandsons will be quite old enough to see it, and JD may not even be around. There weren’t any elderly people there – I doubt if their bladders would cope! Apparently it has an R13 rating, which would rule any of my grandchildren out, at the moment. It has some quite disturbing violence, although only one death.

Well, I found it frustrating; from the ridiculous tails, to the tattoos and the peculiar Hobbit-like ears. Compared with J. R. R. Tolkien’s Rings trilogy, this long movie lacked the underpinning of a strong and epic foundation script. I do still think that the Lord of the Rings, the first movie of this three-long-movies sequence, was and remains a great film, and the best of the series.  Cameron’s movie lacked a good scriptwriter. I felt that if I heard “Go go go!” one more time I’d throw up, but of course I had to listen to it many more times.

Cameron’s visions are strange: there were echoes of the war in Vietnam and Space Wars, and the potential ineffectiveness of US military grunt, in spite of the immense noise and the theatre-shaking sound effects.

The women were universally thin, and had very small breasts. The males wore ridiculous loin cloths.  The water was always warm, and the Navi weren’t at danger from being bitten or eaten by sea animals. They never seemed to need showers, sleep, or food, although someone caught a fish at one stage. There were no shops, although alarmingly powerful military force. Was the fish to be cooked and eaten? Who knows. We weren’t told, but there were shades of 19^th century dreams of south sea islands (never mind the humidity, the heat, or the mosquitos).  Nobody needed health care, no one was other than male or female.  There were children, but no old people. So it was a fantasy world, of course.

Then there was some moralising at the end – an annoying voice over, much like the moralising you get in Disney films; not Christian; a kind oof humanism, I suppose.

Like on a plane flight, I tried not to look at my watch too often. When it was almost 6 pm, I thought there was only about 30 minutes to go. Then I worked out the time, and in fact there was 1 ½ hours to go.

Finally the movie was finished, and we drive home, finding our way onto the Transmission Gully highway.  There were two motorways to negotiate, and it seemed counter-intuitive to actually get there, heading in the right direction.

We got home and had salad for tea, and then watched La Dolce Vita on Te Whakaata Māori.  I explained to JD why it’s so different from Avatar. There were fireworks being let off outside, seemingly very close to our house, but JD went outside to check and they were in a park quite some way up the road.  I couldn’t wait for the movie to finish, and went to bed.

This morning I went to church in Wadestown. It’s suddenly much cooler today; I had planned to wear a summer dress, but had to change my plans. It’s not raining, but it’s not sunny either; it’s not raining but seems as though it’s almost raining.

The service was strange, to me, although I didn’t know what to expect. The hymns were unfamiliar; the lady doing Prayers for Others spoke mainly in Te Reo Māori. I don’t have an issue with this, but I doubt if many in the small congregation were fluent enough to have some understanding. In this situation, I think one needs to speak in Māori and then translate, so that there is more understanding.  What really surprised me though was a bible reading from Matthew’s Gospel 2, which referred to the Magi as magicians!  I would not call them Magicians with today’s connotations.  I have never thought of them as sorcerers or magicians. So that was amongst the strange things that happened this morning.

Next Sunday morning we are to go to Johnsonville Uniting Church, which will be different again.

It’s now Tuesday January 3^rd. It’s very hot today.

Yesterday was a very quiet day. In the afternoon we watered indoor plants for one son, who is away camping, and then we went grocery shopping again. New World Thorndon was much quieter than usual.  It was nice to go there and buy more lettuce, bananas and beans and another avocado. We miss them now if we don’t have them, although they’re not as cheap as they were.

In the evening we watched the latest remake of the movie A Star is Born, starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.  We’ve also been watching the Tammy Wynette series on Prime Television, and I am so weary of talented men raising very talented women to stardom, and then being jealous of their success and quite paranoid about it, this paranoia fuelled by alcohol and drugs.

This morning I walked up to the local New World store. I managed to find perhaps the last packet of croissants baked today, carefully hidden behind ones baked on 01/01/23 or 02/01/23 It was very busy, although sadly lacking in check-out operators, with a queue for self-service checkouts. There were no packers, and no one serving at the few items (less than 10) checkout. It’s very unusual to have to wait here, and there’s usually no rush, but I was later home than I had hoped, and had to go almost straightaway if JD was going to drop me off on his way to his next appointment.

As we were leaving, my cousin rang me. She sounded very croaky. She informed me that she has Covid 19, although her husband is still testing negative. She is feeling very tired indeed. She has resisted it thus far.

In town JD dropped me off at the Railway Station.  That’s good, I thought, it’s a nice hub/transport interchange. Silly me! I made my way up to the bus departure points, only to be confronted by a Waste Land. There was an Airport bus, but the pavement was unusable – please cross to the other side of the road. I cautiously walked along uneven ground, where the former footpath has been torn up along to the new Stop A. There was no information board there. I walked to the next bus stop, and caught a bus heading for Kilbirnie. I was surprised to see that many places, shops and cafés, were closed.

The bus driver was grumpy. The bus sign said “Bus stopping” as it drew up to the former David Jones stop, but he refused to open the back door until asked, and then grizzled at the passenger who was alighting.

I was going to get out at the next stop and go to the Smith the Grocer café if it were open, but although someone had pressed the Stop button, the driver drove on past the next stop without stopping.

It did stop outside Unity Books, which was closed.  I was getting mighty nervous (and hungry) by this time. I thought Pandoro would be open, but it wasn’t, neither was Neo, another place where I’ve been, and they’ve fitted me in with a smile.

But there was somewhere open: a bar/café on the corner of Manners Street and Willis Street, where there have been several cafés, and several closures. Although there were a lot of leaves in the entrance, it seemed to have plenty of customers but several spare tables, and was quite roomy. The woman on the counter was having a long conversation with a gentleman customer, but eventually she took my order, for a BLT (thankfully without fries), and a long black coffee.

The coffee turned up quite soon, but it was very strong and rather bitter. I did get a glass of water, however. After what seemed like a long time my lunch arrived. It was very good, although I didn’t really need the hummus (pumpkin flavoured?), with delicious tomato slices.

There were lots of people in town, and I’m sure shops and cafés would have done a roaring trade.

I then walked down to Farmers in Lambton Quay, where, if it was open, I was hoping to change a shirt JD had bought. This was the excuse for going to town. I was almost there, when I realised he was ringing me. Suffice to say Farmers was open, I was able to exchange the shirt, and JD picked me up to drive me home.

It feels very strange today. It’s still a public holiday, whatever that means: perhaps it’s a public holiday for public servants, and for banks. Last week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day one expected things to be closed. This week? There were many people in town today, and hardly anything open.  I guess hospitality outlets are still short-staffed, and their staff are trying to get a break.

In China, millions of people have Covid 19.  There’s a new subvariant doing the rounds, called XBB 1.5, and it’s very infectious.  Thousands of  Chinese people are flying all over the world, and many of them are infected when tested on arrival. Some countries are imposing testing restrictions, which is all very well, but begs the question of what happens then?  Do infectious arrivals go into isolation? If so, where?  Also, there are shortages of some painkillers and antibiotics. Paxlovid, the anti-viral drug, has gone on the market there and been snapped up right away. Yet again, three years later, the Chinese virus is infecting the world, and there’s not much we can do to avoid it. 

Covid 19 is still a serious disease here. Last week alone there were 78 deaths here. It would be most interesting to know how many of those hospitalised, in Intensive Care, or even dead, have been fully vaccinated.

In Ukraine, more Russian soldiers have been killed, and more rockets rained on Kyiv and other cities. It seems that Ukrainian forces have considerable successes, and yet this doesn’t reduce the brutality of Putin’s attacks on cities and on infrastructure.

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini!  Ngā mihi nui.

Ukraine will create its own Christmas miracle, says President Zelensky

It’s now Monday December 25, 2022; it’s Boxing Day. Kia ora!

I am very tired today, but we don’t have to do anything. The rubbish and recycling (bottles) are being collected, as usual; presumably the fact that it’s a public holiday doesn’t interfere with the contractors engaged to do these tasks. JD has expressed an interest in visiting Boxing Day sales; we’ll see if that desire persists.

It’s another beautifully fine, warm day – even better than yesterday. This morning I took another RAT test – it’s negative again, thankfully.

Some remarkable things have happened. President Zelensky of Ukraine has called Ukrainians’ resistance a miracle, saying “Ukrainians will create their own miracle this Christmas by showing they remain unbowed despite Russian attacks that have plunged millions into darkness”.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-12-24/ukraine-will-create-its-own-christmas-miracle-zelenskiy-says-in-defiant-message

President Zelensky is Jewish, but Christians celebrate a Christmas miracle that occurred over 2,000 years ago, when our Saviour Jesus Christ was born. “The word became flesh and dwelt among us”, John 1: 14. John’s Gospel is rather more intellectual than the preceding three.

I also watched King Charles’ III Christmas address, which I found very moving. He spoke about his visit to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, and he spoke from St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle where his mother, the late queen Elizabeth II, was recently buried.  After he spoke, the choir sang O Little Town of Bethlehem. The town of Bethlehem is currently occupied by Israeli forces.

Here is a link to a piece about the speech from the UK’s Guardian newspaper:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/26/kings-speech-tories-compassionate-conservatism

Moving to US politics, the huge report of the January 6 Committee has been released, and I’ve so far listened to an Emergency podcast from the Lawfare team discussing and evaluating different sections of it.  This has been very interesting, especially learning that Trump wanted to march on the Capitol with his fellow (armed and dangerous) protesters, stating that the National Guard would protect him – this being the same National Guard that he would not call out to protect people such as politicians and police or even his own Vice President. Opinions are divided, with criticism of the FBI that the unrest was  foreseen and not acted upon, and the lack of testimony from the current Director, Christopher Wray. There are also several typos in the released report, although it’s acknowledged that the January 6 Committee worked under significant time pressure to achieve what they did. Benjamin Wittes, with his wry sense of humour, is upset that he’s not on Roger Stone’s friends list, unlike many well-known names involved in the January 6 2020 insurrection.

Transcripts of their interviews are to be released; so far, the transcript of Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony has been released, and it’s even more shocking than her televised testimony, revealing the pressure a Trump-associated lawyer put her under not to testify truthfully.  When others say “I don’t recall”, it now seems very suspect indeed.

The Skullduggery podcast also released its final episode, interviewing both Congressman Jamie Raskin and Judge Michael Luttig.  It’s very sad that this will be their final episode; I do hope they’ll come back in another guise; I do find Michael Isikoff, while provocative, a most interesting commentator, I will surely miss these three. I doubt that Michael Isikoff can remain quiet for long, however.

It’s now Tuesday December 27^th.

Last night we watched the Call the Midwife Christmas special, and then the first episode of Litvinenko on television one. The CTM episode was pretty cheesy, but had some lovely moments, like the beautiful thalidomide child Susan being included in the Talent Quest;  her dad going to Al-Anon, and Miss Higgins getting papers and an allowance for the young teenage mother who’d been abandoned by her “fiancé”.

This is a quiet and strangely boring time, after being very busy before Christmas.  It’s very welcome to get more sleep now, and not have to get up early.  Today we went shopping, having established from the Dompost that Boxing Day shopping was somewhat less than expected. JD had indicated that he wanted to take advantage of the Boxing Day sales.

We went to the Big Save Furniture store in Porirua.  I had given JD permission to buy a new recliner, and two and a half years later, he was happy to take up the challenge. Sadly, the prices have risen in that time. However I think we good a good deal, with a recliner operated by a hidden lever, that won’t take up a lot of room, and should fit in well with existing décor. We were the only customers in the shop! 

We also went to the North City Shopping Centre, and to Dress Mart in Tawa. The latter was perhaps the busiest;  no where was crazy busy and we didn’t have trouble driving around or finding car parks.

We did not go supermarket shopping, so still we will be without green vegetables or lettuce, although we have heaps of food. I do miss my greens, but I hope we’ll be able to get some tomorrow.  I tried to eat some fresh apricots at lunchtime, but sadly, they’re not as ripe or as soft as I like them.

There have already been several tragic water deaths in New Zealand, as well as some road accidents.

It’s now Thursday December 29^th.

Yesterday I had an appointment to see my doctor in the afternoon. So why did you come she asked me. I came because she asked me to.  There were some lab results, and I had run out of some of my medications.  I did not go into my frustrations at her and the medical centre. I may still change doctors.  No one takes me seriously! It is so frustrating.

After this debacle, I collected my scripts, bought a diary for 2023, and we went shopping. New World in Thorndon was pretty quiet. They didn’t have salads, but they did have potato-topped pies.  I couldn’t find the Havarti cheese slices I like, but we got most of what I wanted.

Yesterday the Covid 19 report came out, since Monday and Tuesday were public holidays.

There are 32,010 new cases of Covid-19 in the community and a child under 10 has died with the virus, reports the Ministry of Health.

The ministry also reported a further 78 deaths, including the child, related to the virus for the period between December 19 and Christmas Day.

As of midnight on Sunday, 413 people were in hospital with the virus, including 15 in intensive care.

Of today’s reported deaths, four were from Northland, 23 were from Auckland region, eight were from Waikato, 11 were from Bay of Plenty, one was from Lakes, three were from Hawke’s Bay, one was from Taranaki, seven were from MidCentral, two were from Whanganui, six were from Wellington region, one was from Nelson Marlborough, nine were from Canterbury, two were from Southern.

Six were in their 50s, six were in their 60s, 15 were in their 70s, 30 were in their 80s and 20 were aged over 90. Of these people, 40 were women and 37 were men. Of the community cases reported today, 9660 were reinfections. The seven-day rolling average for new community cases recorded each day has decreased to 4,565.

There is an article in today’s Dompost about the Honourable Grant Robertson’s achievements as Minister of finance. He’s also been Deputy Prime Minister. Here’s a link to the story:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/130872334/morgan-godfery-topperforming-minister-but-you-wouldnt-know-it

There’s to be a General Election here late next year, and there is a definite feeling in the right-wing media that the Labour Government has done its dash, and it’s time for a change.  I guess people just forget how awful a National government can be, although it was interesting to see Act’s David Seymour claiming that Christopher Luxon as leader of National wasn’t conservative enough. Or some such.

I personally think Labour have done a good job, especially of managing the pandemic, but the long lockdown in Tamaki Makaurau (aka Auckland) last year did a great deal of damage. The government’s strategy has been to delay the impact of Covid 19 here, and in that they’ve succeeded, with vaccines available now and a milder strain of Covid 19 prevalent.  Their main focus seems to be how much strain is there on the health system?  This is summer; we’re “living with” Covid 19, and for many people it now seems to be a milder illness.

In China, on the other hand, all their strict Covid 19 rules have quickly been relaxed, and millions of people are now infected, with many dying. There ar e queues of hearses at crematoria.  Their vaccine is not particularly effective, and many older people have resisted it, so now, exposed to the virus like never before, it’s spreading wildly. There are fears that a new strain may be forming there. Given that Covid 19 started in China, and the authorities’ management of it has been severe, it’s difficult for me to feel too much sympathy for people there. Of course, I’m deeply sorry for the many people affected by Covid 19, and their government’s drastic policies.  I’m sorry that they’re so badly affected by Covid 19 now. I’m thankful that we no longer need to be as scared of it, given that we have vaccines and anti-viral treatments, although 78 people died last week.

It’s now Friday December 30, the eve of New Year’s Eve.

Yesterday was very hot. I went into town to get a blood test. It’s nice to go when it’s so quiet!  This morning my cleaner came from Access. I didn’t cancel after all because the cleaning really needs to be done.

There’s a shortage of eggs in supermarkets evidently. That seems strange, given that there were plenty of eggs at New World in Thorndon when we went there on Wednesday. 

This is a strange time; a time I call the “interregnum”.  It seems a bit weirder and lonelier than usual; I do find the heat (Ha! Ha!) hard to take, although it’s chickenfeed compared with the heat overseas, or in Australia. But it gets very sticky here sometimes.

I plan to go to church in Wadestown on New Year’s Day. JD has promised to drive me there, and bring me home, as I pick there won’t be much in the way of public transport on New Year’s Day. I’ve no idea what they’ll do, but it’s a nice church (when I’ve been there previously), and they have padded seating. Furthermore, I remember it’s opening, back in 1957, on a fine sunny Sunday. Women wore hats, back in those days!

In Ukraine, Putin continues rocket strikes on cities that are supposedly not in the “war zone”.  Putin has offered sperm freezing for free for Russians who enlist to fight in Ukraine. That seems such a cynical move, as though it’s near certain that those who enlist will ne maimed if not killed. 

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

Today is Saturday December 24, Christmas Eve. Kia ora!

What a strange time this is. This morning we learnt that one of our sons has diagnosed positive for Covid 19. I learnt last Sunday during a Church service that his daughter had diagnosed positive. Since then his son has had Covid 19 too (again), but he himself was hanging out – until today. We were supposed to have a family gathering at his house – tomorrow. 

This morning Santa made a special early delivery to his house. I dressed up in my red raincoat and Santa hat, and delivered a hamper with Christmas goodies.  We spoke to them outside, where it was hot and sticky, and the children opened their presents.

After that we went shopping to New World in Thorndon. It was busy there, but not as busy as before the Covid 19 pandemic.  Stone fruit was plentiful. We bought salads, bread, lettuce and raspberries.

Tomorrow we are planning to have a picnic with my other son who lives locally and his partner and children. I had a negative Covid 19 RAT test this morning; I’m hoping that tomorrow we, the rest, will all be all right.

Late this evening we are to go to a Carol service, and then church is on quite early tomorrow.

It is a very strange time, marked by bursts of extreme fatigue, activity, and anxiety, and then periods where nothing much happens. I’m now thinking what do I need to do that I haven’t done as yet, now that I may have more time to do things I had previously thought unnecessary.

I am sending Christmas wishes to many folk, for whom I have email addresses. I should have composed a newsletter, but it’s too late now, and I don’t have everyone’s email address. Previously, I haven’t sent wishes unless someone messaged me first.

It’s now Christmas Day, Sunday December 25.

Last night we watched a movie on Te Whakaata Māori about Charles Dickens writing A Christmas Carol. Christopher Plummer was a very good Scrooge, but I found the movie quite scary, and a bit maudlin towards the end.

Then we went to a candlelit carol service for Christmas Eve at 11:15 pm. This was a lovely service. We sang many carols to the accompaniment of the magnificent organ. I felt at the time that this was one of the things the church does best. I whispered to JD (who came) that one could almost imagine oneself in Nȏtre Dame, or the magnificent cathedral in  Toulouse where we went to mass in the early 1970’s.

Afterwards we went home and I slept really well.

This morning Christmas Day dawned fine and warm, with a slight breeze, but thankfully not too hot, a beautiful day.

This morning there was to be a church service at 9:30 am, 30 minutes earlier than usual.  I did get there on time, but didn’t have time to ring or message anyone first.  There was a lot of talk about the shepherds visiting the new born baby Jesus, before the Magi came.  An angel had appeared to them. This reminded me of one of the two Christmas plays that are performed at Hōhepa Hawkes Bay each December: the Paradise Play, and the Shepherds Play. I have seen them both, and found them very moving, especially the Shepherds Play.  I really miss these events now that Covid deprives us of such gatherings. My daughter’s birthday is early in December, and usually we can attend one of the plays. The residents really enjoy these plays. As the minister said this morning, although the story of Jesus’ birth is an old story, it becomes new for us every year.

This year my son in the UK tells us that ambulances will not go to people who’ve broken limbs, or to women in labour. At last night’s service I wondered about Mary giving birth to hr first born son; who helped, I wonder?  Even if the birth is “normal”, it’s still quite painful and messy, usually. Perhaps the innkeepers’ wife knew a midwife, who could help. We’re not told. I had five children, and I was very glad to accept experienced medical, sometimes specialist, assistance with each birth. I find the lack of compassion in the UK just astounding, where the Tory government seem tone deaf to these very human situations.  They seem to concentrate on ambulance drivers as being the focal point of industrial action, whereas the problems go much deeper than that.

After church I talked to several people, and then waited for JD to pick me up. There was no morning tea this morning!  When we got home, there was quite a lot to do: first we rang our daughter; then I needed to wrap more Christmas presents, pack up picnic stuff, and fill the thermos flask with proper coffee. I also needed to get changed out of my pretty dress which I had worn to church.

Actually I needn’t have taken much food, although much of what I did take complemented the beautiful food our son had brought.  We went to Battle Hill Farm Park – a beautiful place. Our son had found a good spot, with a table under cover. There was virtually no one there apart from us – we were quite private. We sat around a spacious table, and enjoyed the food and drink: a wide spread of delicious things to eat.

After lunch we went for a walk to feed the eels. There are big eels there, and they’re very bold!  There are ducks too. 

After this someone had taken our previous spot, so the cars were moved and we had dessert (yes!) at another picnic table: a delicious chocolate brownie and cream, with some left over strawberries. There were M&M’s in the brownie too.

The children unwrapped their Rubik’s cube game, which didn’t need batteries, and proved to be quite a hit.  After this, we drove home, through the complicated roundabouts that connected Pauatahanui with the Transmission Gully highway. This does seem unnecessarily complicated – you certainly need someone to navigate as well as drive. Roundabouts are complex:  you certainly need to know where you’re going.

The messages and photographs continue, as it becomes Christmas Day around the world. I feel like the Very Hungry Caterpillar: I’ve eaten rather too well, and just feel like eating a lettuce leaf now.

In China, Covid 19 is rampant, after authorities have relaxed their very strict quarantine regulations.  They’re not highly vaccinated, and haven’t been exposed to Covid 19 like we in the West have been; we’ve learnt to live with it, frustrating as it is; but it’s good to be free to go places and do things again.

That’s it for now. Despite Covid 19, I still think we’re better off here, as we feel for the US suffering a dreadful storm and outages; the UK suffering strikes, inflation, and a “winter of discontent”; the Chinese suffering from Covid 19, and the poor Ukrainian people, suffering extreme cold and outages of power and water, as well as rocket attacks. I’m sure there are many others suffering at this time, as we celebrate the Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour, the wonderful birth of Jesus Christ.

Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

The Peak Peka to Otaki Expressway is now open

Today is Monday December 19, 2022. Kia ora!

What a strange time this is.  My son is not going to come from the UK for Christmas, and a granddaughter has Covid 19 (again! She just had it barely 6 weeks ago!). Plans, travel arrangements  and family gatherings are thrown into chaos and restructured, yet again. Actually it doesn’t really matter for JD and myself, but of course we’re hugely disappointed that our son and his wife won’t be coming for Christmas, and I do feel sorry for the children at this time.  For a number of my friends, family members have already arrived.  Sadly, not for us this time. Perhaps later. We don’t have the dreaded MIQ lottery any more, but things are by no means back to normal.  Travelers tell horrific tales of travel delays and cancellations, expenses and problems, to say nothing of missing luggage.  And then there are the local Covid 19 figures, still terrible here, and in Australia.  JD and I are due to fly to Australia mid January, and we’re wondering about risking our checked luggage. Travel was certainly not problem-free in pre-covid times, and one certainly expected to stand in queues, but it seems to have grown exponentially worse, with flight cancellations, missed connections, and missing luggage now regular events. And then there’s Covid 19!

Today’s report from the Ministry of Health was worse than last Monday’s. It goes as follows: there have (officially) been 42,740 new cases of Covid-19 and 64 deaths of people with the virus over the past week, the Ministry of Health has announced. There were also a total of 581 people in hospital with the virus, including 15 in ICU.

Of the 64 people whose deaths were reporting today, three were from Northland, 19 were from the Auckland region, seven were from Waikato, two were from Bay of Plenty, four were from Lakes, four were from Hawke’s Bay, one was from Taranaki, five were from MidCentral, three were from Whanganui, two were from Wellington region, one was from Nelson Marlborough, 10 were from Canterbury and three were from Southern.

One was in their 30s, two were in their 40s, one was in their 50s, five were in their 60s, 12 were in their 70s, 28 were in their 80s and 15 were aged over 90. Of these people, 33 were women and 30 were men.

So it’s still a torrid time, especially for those with Covid 19, or with someone close to them infected. Still many transport services are cancelled.

This morning I was to catch up with a good friend at a café in Johnsonville. I caught the bus, and met her. We were able to sit outside; fortunately it wasn’t cold, despite the sliding doors and a hammer outside. It was so good to see her again! Afterwards I went home where JD made an omelette for lunch.

On Tuesday morning I wrapped up most of the Christmas presents for our son in the UK and his wife, and posted them to the UK – which is quite a mission!  Afterwards JD and I went shopping. I had been thinking we didn’t need much food, but now that our plans have been thrown into disarray, I bought lot more food, including fresh croissants for lunch – they were delicious, too! And now there’s a postal (The Royal Mail) strike in the UK, so goodness knows when my son and his wife will get their package.

It’s now Friday December 23^rd, we’re  getting very close to Christmas.

JD and I briefly visited our daughter in Napier again. We drove north on Wednesday: a rather difficult trip. We had lunch in Shannon, where it was awful: most of the food had gone, and it wasn’t particularly clean or friendly, although busy. I would have liked to stop at Otaki, but we queued there and hoped the traffic wouldn’t be too heavy for the rest of our journey. When we got to Napier we had a brief rest, then went to have dinner at Portofino. It seemed very quiet there but we enjoyed our meal.

Our motel was very comfortable. It’s a bit dated, but it was roomy, quiet, and very clean. The spa bath was very comfortable – I could recline and enjoy the gentle waves.

The next morning we bought a newspaper from Whitcoulls and then had coffee and shared a Portuguese custard tart before picking up our daughter from  the Hōhepa workshops at Clive.  We made our way to Birdwood’s Café, with me carefully following the Google Maps directions. We had to drive through Havelock North, which was very busy indeed. Somehow my phone’s directions took us though the carpark for the New World supermarket there! There were several roundabouts to negotiate, always tricky. Eventually we were in Porter Drive, which became Middle Road, which we wanted.

We drove out to the café, which seemed very busy, so much so that we couldn’t park in the carpark, but had to drive into extra parking in a field.  Then we were there! What a lovely venue it is. We walked past four very fine geese, who were walking in parade somewhere else; and to the café. We were seated under an awning, and obviously this area could be closed off and heated should it be required. The day was cloudy, but quite warm, and we were very comfortable.

We had a lovely lunch there. The best part for me was the rhubarb and caramel layer cake, but our daughter’s hazelnut layered sponge with chocolate ganache looked pretty amazing too. Our cakes came out on fine china plates, too.

After lunch we went for a walk.  Birdwood’s is wonderful – like Te Papa, it absorbs a lot of people.  I heard frogs croaking, and as I drew near to the source of the noise, they disappeared into the water. We played outdoor games, too.

We eventually made our way to the car, and set out to drive back to Napier, again marvelling that it seems no great distance back to Havelock North, although it seemed quite a way to get there.

We drove through heavy rain, and went back to our motel for a rest, and games.  Rather than going to a busy, understaffed restaurant for dinner, we went to New World in Greenmeadows where we bought salads, rolls and ice cream to take back to eat at our motel.  Our daughter has a wonderful appetite! Then we took her back to her home.

Today we travelled back to Wellington. It was a fine, sunny day in Napier, but we drove through heavy rain between Woodville and Shannon.  Other than that, we had a good run, with little traffic. We stopped for lunch at a café in Woodville. They  had air conditioning running, and the table where we were sitting was really draughty. JD was not prepared to move, but he did get my puffer jacket from the car. That helped! Of course, we’re supposed to have the air circulating, but we wanted to sit inside, rather than outside where it wasn’t that hot. Everywhere is short-staffed, and the cracks show almost everywhere. 

Driving home went smoothly, apart from the rain. When we drove through Ohau, we saw a welcome sign: SH1 Expressway Open!  It was supposed to open today, and so it did. We got onto it just north of Otaki, bypassing Otaki and Te Horo, joining up with the expressway that previously reached to just north of Waikanae.  Once on the new extension, it was truly wonderful.  The expressway/SH 1 has a most interesting and varied vista; it’s far from being boring. We got home a few minutes before 3 pm, having left Ahuriri at 10 am and stopped for a leisurely lunch on the way. I would pick that the new road, including the Transmission Gully highway, has shaved several minutes off the journey time. There was no stopping for re-sealing, or any roadworks.

I have been listening to several podcasts lately, given that I didn’t sleep well in Napier. Thank goodness I wasn’t driving.  JD is a safe driver, although not a smooth one, having a tendency to swing around corners which I find really annoying. However he does drive safely, and I’m thankful for that.

The Rest is History podcast historians, Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland, covered all the countries that were playing in the World Cup held recently in Qatar.  Human rights issues aside, it turned out to be a great tournament, with some fascinating results and upsets. I found the episodes about Germany (The White Rose movement and the execution of Sophie Scholl), and Denmark (where most of the 6,000 Jews were saved from the Nazis in World War II) to be the most interesting.

Now they have turned their very knowledgeable attention to this time of Advent, and done two episodes on the birth and life of Jesus Christ; or, in other words, the “history” and the “mystery”.  There is very little documentary evidence about Jesus apart from the four Gospels, which are thought to have been written well after his death.  The first episode begins with the passage from Luke’s Gospel about the birth of Jesus; the second episode ends with Tim Holland quoting the last verse of John’s Gospel, chapter 21 verse 25: “and there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they were written one by one, I suppose that not even the world itself would contain the books written”.

I’ve also listened to podcasts from Lawfare and from MSNBC about the unanimous decision of the January 6 Committee to make criminal referrals, and their final public meeting, before their report is released. Predictably, I suppose, MSNBC think all outputs are quite wonderful, and the lawfare crew are much more critical.  It also now appears that Trump’s tax returns can be made public (i.e. a committee of Congress has received them, after a legal decision, and has voted to make them public). The most shocking thing about this is that the IRS never audited Trump’s tax returns while he was president, as they’re legally obliged to do; this despite Trump claiming that his tax returns were under audit, and this claim was never refuted!  Also, in another own goal, Biden apparently received a “shockingly gracious” letter from Trump when he became president; presumably Trump signed it even if he didn’t write it, but it would seem to be an acknowledgment that Joe Biden was the rightful new president and had won the presidential election.

I’ve also listened to The Rest is Politics podcasts, with Alastair Campbell and  Rory Stewart. They’re always interesting, but I tend to go off to sleep and have to listen to them again!

President Zelensky of Ukraine has travelled to the US and addressed the American Congress. Despite his halting English, he received several standing ovations, and his speech is being compared to Churchill’s when he travelled to the US during the Second World War, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.  Churchill was rather desperate to get the US involved in the war, in spite of a strong American trend of isolationism. The attack on Pearl Harbour resulted in some really intense fighting against the Japanese in the Pacific, as well as helping to defeat the Nazis in Europe.

I think the Ukrainians are having a terribly hard time fighting Putin’s quite unnecessary invasion; I feel they’re fighting on our behalf, and all power to them, suffering as they are.  The Russians seem determined to take out utilities in Kyiv, resulting in significant power cuts, as local authorities strive to conserve power. It’s also very, very cold there.

I’m pleased we went to Napier again – the third time in a couple of months. It was sad not to have more of the family there, but Covid continues to wreak havoc here, and we’re by no means back to “normal”, whatever that means.

This Christmas will certainly be different, but we’re alive, and not being bombed or attacked. Slava Ukraini!  Ngā mihi nui.

It’s now Wednesday December 14, 2022. Kia ora!

It’s a week of final things for the year – my exercise class on Monday mornings, my weekly hymn singing sessions, and my Thursday singing.  All finish this week.  This morning we had a lovely hymn singing session. We sang, All Poor Men and Humble (I think I last sang this at wellington Girls’ College), the beautiful O Holy Night, Hark a Herald Voice is Calling, and Good Christian Men Rejoice to the beautiful tune of In Dulci Jubilo. What do the women do, I wonder?

Afterwards we had morning tea together. Although it rained during the night, and was cooler this morning, it became very hot and sunny.

Afterwards we got some documents signed by the JP at the Johnsonville Community Centre, and I posted a card to my friend’s bereaved husband.  Her funeral is to be held locally on Saturday morning at 10 am; we are due to go to a wedding at 1 pm. I am caught deciding what to wear for each occasion, what the timelines will be, and where we will park.  JD has no worries: he’ll wear a black suit, and I guess he should wear a tie, too.  That will do for both. All the time, covid numbers are rising, and we are hoping to see our daughter again before Christmas, although we won’t be there for Christmas.

It’s now Friday December 16^th.

On Thursday we had our final singing session for the year, with a catered lunch to follow.  I was expecting to go shopping with JD afterwards, but the plan changed. Instead, I bought him some food for lunch, and we went home. I was due to be in Khandallah again by 4 pm, where I met a friend. We shared a cup of tea and I caught a train and a bus home. Many trains were cancelled, so I had to wait for a while. It’s nice and warm, at present, although drizzly, so it’s no harm to wait for a bit.

Everyday I get floods of email alerts of trains being cancelled, on the Johnsonville and the Kapiti lines; they’re not always replaced by buses. Thankfully I’m not greatly inconvenienced by these delays.  At the Khandallah Station, all three Snapper (sic) machines reject my card; on the bus, it’s fine.

Today was complicated. Someone was due to come from Access to do some cleaning, so I was rushing around changing sheets and towels, emptying the rubbish, loading and starting the dishwasher, and generally tidying up. I was due to be in town 10 minutes before 2:15 pm for a bone density X-ray, so timing was a bit tight. I had to complete a questionnaire, and provide a list of medications, but thankfully I was able to do this and put the sheets in a folder, so I was quite organised.  JD had assured me he would drive me into town, but I didn’t know if the lady from Access would be gone in time, since she’s often late. I really wanted her to come, since next Friday is no good and then it’s the “silly season”. For some reason. Access have not sent a newsletter asking what services are required over the festive season. We also had lovely but unscheduled visits from two sons and two grandsons – I regret that I was rather busy!  Nevertheless, it all worked out all right. I even had time to have a cup of coffee and crackers and cheese before the cleaning lady came. She was very efficient, so we had plenty of time to drive into town. I hadn’t realised there would be so many snags: a stop area in Middleton Road, and the right hand lane closed in Featherston Street;  nevertheless,  despite the traffic, JD was able to drop me off in Lambton Quay close to Pacific Radiology. It’s always tricky finding the right building, but I did. There were several people in the waiting room, but I didn’t have to wait long. The lovely lady who X-rayed me had similar issues with balance and double vision: what a treat to meet someone who looks quite normal, but has trouble with loud noise, vision, vertigo, climbing or descending stairs, crossing roads etc. It was good to share some of our experiences.

Afterwards, I had a club sandwich, a long black coffee and a glass of water, before going shopping at Farmers, where they had 20% off women’s clothes.

Afterwards, I caught a bus home, although I had to wait a while.

Tomorrow is another busy day: we are due to go to a funeral at 10 am in Johnsonville, and then a wedding at 1 pm.  Still, I’m sure it will all work out all right. I have to say that I’m pleased my duties for today are over.

It’s now Sunday December 18^th.

Yesterday (Saturday) was a most interesting day.  It was hot during the night, and wet – not raining heavily, but drizzling.  I didn’t sleep much, agonising about what to wear to each event, assuming I’d have time to change in between. One cannot be late for a funeral, or a wedding (or so I thought).

We got up early: I finished my breakfast by eating leftovers from the day before, and showered, washing my hair, and dressed. I also put makeup on, although the lighting was really poor. We left home a bit later than I’d planned but found a carpark quite close by the funeral home.

The service was in the funeral home’s chapel, and was taken by a reverend, although it wasn’t a religious service.  There weren’t many people there: of course, it’s a busy time, there’s no where obvious to park, it was quite early, at 10 am, and it was being livestreamed. I was grateful to see several friends there, and sat beside one of them. There were no hymns, readings, or prayers; some beautiful classical music was played, however.  The service was mainly tributes, of which there were several gracious ones.  Although my friend who had died was a very private person, several people spoke highly of her ability as an artist, an academic, a cat and a book lover, and a keen gardener. At the end the Reverend gave a kind of blessing/commendation except God was not mentioned. My friend whom I sat beside is a Christian person, and it was good to talk to her.  Beautiful music is played, including Beethoven’s 7^th Symphony, and Pachelbel’s Canon.

Afterwards, we didn’t stay for refreshments, but headed back home for a quick turnaround. I changed into a summer dress and jacket, and put on more bling. We had a cup of coffee and crackers and cheese, which was just as well, since we would not eat again for quite a while.

On our way to the 1 pm wedding, trying not to be late, our youngest son rang from the UK.  He is supposed to travel here for Christmas (and his fifth wedding anniversary).  There are problems with that plan, but I won’t detail what they are.

We got on our  way again, finding the isolated function venue; we got there a few minutes before 1 pm, and saw several care parked there already. As it was still drizzling, and might well be raining when we left, I took my raincoat, putting it over my shoulders.

We got inside, and apart from a welcome sign at the entrance, there were no decorations; no wedding cake; no obvious place to put the present we’d carefully chosen, wrapped, and brought; and nowhere to hang my raincoat. There were two sofas, occupied by elderly ladies, a grandmother and an aunt. There seemed to be no other chairs. Two young women behind the bar were offering glasses of champagne with a strawberry inside. JD asked about hanging my raincoat, and was advised to hang it near the restrooms.

I really needed to sit down, so JD moved a chair from a stack out on to the veranda. And there we waited, and waited. There was music being played through a boom box – very loudly, at times.  A bower was being erected, with a tarpaulin over the top, which kept being blown away.  Some people were on their second glass of champagne by now. Eventually other chairs were placed on the veranda, and everyone sat down, who could find a chair. We were in the front row, but were unwilling to give up our seats by now. My new pretty dress was being spotted by raindrops. Many people had their cell phones out, ready to film the wedding party.

The groom arrived, in a black suit, and four groomsmen, wearing cream trousers, white shirts, braces, and bow ties.  Most garments appeared to be rather tight.

Still, we seemed to wait a long time for the bridal party to appear. The music was very loud indeed, and it stopped and started as the wait continued. It was 2:40 pm when they finally began the marriage ceremony.

Eventually the bridal party arrived: two little flower girls, wearing tiaras, carrying baskets of rose petals, and wearing cardigans: I don’t think that was part of the plan, but it was quite cold by now. JD had a woollen jersey on under his jacket; I wished I had a cardigan on under my jacket. I was very grateful to be wearing the jacket, which was lined and had three-quarter length sleeves.

There were five bridesmaids, wearing burnt-orange full-length dresses, carrying bouquets.  Finally the bride appeared, on the arm of her father. I felt to sorry for her – her dress was a bit too long, and she, like the bridesmaids, had to lift it so as not to trip over it. The dress had a long train, with a lace bodice; she was wearing a tiara, and a veil held somehow on the back of her head.  There was a bit of a Crazy Rich Asians vibe. There was a celebrant, and a reading from 1 Corinthians 13 about love. There was a short homily, between the snapshots and stoppages for photos. There was some language confusion, and the celebrant confused things himself. Eventually the rings were produced, and then the paperwork. But it was evident that they hadn’t had a rehearsal – over what to do with the engagement ring; what to do with the bride’s bouquet; what the flower girls were supposed to do. Eventually the newly-weds came back inside, followed slowly by the couples formed by best men and bridesmaids – there wasn’t really a good line up of the wedding party that I could see.

All this time, the music was really loud – mostly Elvis’s I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You; but the real ear-splitting sound was a woman shrieking, firstly when the first ring went on, and then frequently.  I said to JD that my ears would never be the same again. But I couldn’t get out, either – it was like being on an aeroplane, you just have to put up with the crying babies, until they mercifully don’t have the energy to cry anymore.

Eventually we went back inside, where some tables had been set up, and chairs were slowly being moved to the tables, so some guests could sit down if they wished. We were served drinks, and mercifully, some food: spring rolls, felafel, grilled chicken on skewers, and delicious hot sliders.  I kept thinking there would be a sit-down meal, as there had been for the engagement party, but this was not the case.  There was loud, fairly hectic, music.

After a time we discovered that some food had been put out nearby (there was no Grace, no formal announcement). This consisted of corn chips, warmed ciabatta, beetroot hummus, and types of cheese – blue vein, camembert and another.  There didn’t seem to be nearly enough food for everyone. There was still no cake, and no speeches, although evidently more formal photographs.

I looked at my watch and it was 5 o’clock, so we’d been there for four hours. I was really cold by now, so we made our exit, having excused ourselves from our table companions – a lovely couple; we hardly knew anyone there. On our way out we did not see the newly weds, so although I felt embarrassed about not saying goodbye to them, I felt it was time to go, even though we’d missed the speeches and the cake. I hope the bride and groom enjoyed it all! I have been to Chinese weddings, Maori weddings, and Kiwi weddings. This was not like any wedding I’ve ever been to.

After getting home, we changed into warmer clothing, and I had more coffee to warm up.  One of my sons brought us soup for our evening meal – a most welcome gift.

This morning I went to church, where the theme is aroha.  There seemed to be a lot of people away already. While there, I got a message to say that one of my granddaughters has tested positive for Covid 19 (having had it a few weeks ago). My first thought is for her, but then her whole family may get it again too. There were various family events to take place over the next few days: now the timetable is further messed up, as we stand by and wait for re-planning. I had hoped not to do any cooking this Christmas, but I may have to cook after all.

Ah well, at least I got through last week and all its demands. I tried to log in to Manage My Health to see my bone density X-ray results, but I did not succeed – they must be messing around with it again. I took a Covid test yesterday morning, after having a head ache during the night and a bit of a sore throat, but it was negative, and I feel better now. But, who knows, I may have been exposed to Covid via my son, whom I think I kissed on Friday morning.

In Ukraine, brutality continues. There is to be no Christmas truce. The Ukrainians make amazing gains, but they are countered by Putin’s rocket attacks. People are still cold and hurt and hurting.

I am trying to stay away from the Harry and Meghan Netflix show, but I have been listening to a British Scandal podcast series about John Lennon and Yoko Ono. I have to say that I’m quite upset, as once again an American woman (although Ono was Japanese) wanders into a British setup that is doing quite nicely, thank you – after all, who would dare criticise the Lennon-McCartney set up?  They were already extraordinary musicians, but various things, and mainly Yoko Ono had a huge part in the break up of the Beatles.  One thinks of Wallis Simpsons romance with the then King Edward VIII, later Duke of Windsor.  These American women seem so self-assured to the British, and yet most of them were unable to say No to Harvey Weinstein, or Bruce Epstein, or other predators.  They don’t have trouble saying No to the British Royal Family. That’s a strange thing, I think.

That’s it for now, What lies ahead for our whanau? Who knows.  Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

The Archangel Gabriel

It’s now Thursday December 8^th, 2022. Kia ora!

I haven’t written for a few days, but they’ve been eventful ones. Last Friday afternoon I rang the motel where we were due to stay in Napier, to check that they had our booking. It was just as well that I rang, since they didn’t have a booking for us!  They did have something left, with a spa bath and a walk-in shower.  It was quite expensive, but there didn’t seem to be anything else available. I was quite upset that I had had quite a run-around in managing this now non-existent booking, through several travel web pages.

Last Saturday we were to go to a party on the old Haywards Road, now State Highway 58. But first I needed to post a parcel to my eldest son and his family, overseas.  The post shop in Khandallah was due to be open until 12:30 pm; there was a Christmas parade in Johnsonville starting at 11 am, and some street closures. I’d been putting off posting the parcel, seeing things needed wrapping, and the detailed customs form to be completed.

We duly made our way, through back streets, to the post shop in Khandallah, where there was a queue.  I tried to address the parcel, and complete the customs form. JD had stayed in the car, but he managed to text me our eldest son’s phone number.  Between my difficulty in writing clearly, and the tiny spaces on the form, and the need for haste, I found all this very difficult. When I was ready to go to the counter, the woman in front of me had a debate whether to send her parcel that day (Saturday) or the following Monday. Eventually I managed to post my parcel, the shop staying open until 1 pm. If I hadn’t posted it then, I don’t know when I would have done so.

The journey to our friends’ lifestyle block near Haywards was interesting. We took the new Transmission Gully highway to the Pauatahanui turn off, but the road layout had changed. It was all quite confusing; we headed down a road that turned out to be closed, and eventually took the highway to Lower Hutt.

The next morning I went to church, where the service was a little unusual. The theme was Peace – highly appropriate. There was a quiz, but I didn’t manage to log in properly on my phone.

Afterwards, JD picked me up and we headed off to Napier. We stopped for lunch at my favourite café in Otaki. Some things were different: I suspect it has changed hands. My favourite croissants weren’t available; instead I had a sausage roll and a Florentine biscuit with my coffee.

We  got to Napier, and I found the way to our motel, where we hadn’t stayed before. We were in a roomy unit away from the others, although there was some road noise from time to time. The unit was very roomy; although there wasn’t a sofa for JD (although there was room for one). There was a luggage rack, a roomy wardrobe, a large bed, and a roomy bathroom with a spa bath and shower over bath. There was a roomy kitchen as well. We were very comfortable there, although I couldn’t get internet access. Fortunately, my mobile phone had some internet access; after it ran out, I bought some more data with the stored credit that I had. This enabled me to listen to podcasts during the nights, since I didn’t sleep that well.

When we got there we watched Country Calendar on television one, since they were featuring Hōhepa Hawkes Bay.  Between the many advertisements, it was a very good programme, with a glimpse of our daughter!

We went to Ahuriri to get something to eat: at the first pub we went to (where we’d had good experiences before), the tired person on the front desk said they weren’t taking any more customers: they’d had a really busy night, and had only one chef on duty. So we went to the Thirsty Whale, where they were really busy, but gladly fitted us in, upstairs. I had the Fish of the Day which was gurnard, and was delicious, with lovely vegetables and a baked potato.

The next day we were due to pick up our daughter for dinner. We bought a newspaper, and had morning tea: a long black coffee, and a mini-doughnut.  Then after doing some shopping we went to Taradale to inspect the new Hōhepa Shop there.  We bought some candles, but they didn’t have any Weleda products yet. Then we had lunch at the Bay Espresso there.

We also saw our daughter the next day.  It wasn’t as hot as when we were last in Napier, at the end of October!  To our relief, our motel was quite cool.  We wrapped and left birthday and Christmas presents for our daughter, and I bought the Weleda products I wanted for Christmas presents at the Hōhepa shop at Clive.

On our last night we had dinner at Portofino, having their delicious bruschetta, and then our mains.  The next day we drove home, but first I had to go to the antique centre in Tennyson Street. We got some pearl earrings there – just what I wanted.  It was a rather long, hot dusty drive back to Wellington. Contrary to the weather forecasts, it was hot.  We had a nice lunch in Dannevirke, but there seemed to be a lot of resealing going on. Nevertheless, eventually we got back to Wellington. We are very thankful for the newish Transmission Gully/State Highway One and expressway.

On Thursday morning the group I sing with were due to sing Christmas carols on the steps of the Town Hall.  It was a bit of a rush to get there, but we got ourselves duly arranged (with me strategically leaning against a concrete wall), and Andrea playing her keyboard.  We were singing with gusto, rather well, I thought, with some locals applauding, and then one of our number had a fall.  Poor thing!  We all felt so sorry for her. Someone rang an ambulance, and several people went to help her. The rest of us had morning tea, and then did some more singing, inside this time. JD came to pick me up, and I had to go early, seeing there had been some confusion about when I needed to be picked up.

The next day was cold and wet. Our art group met for the last time for the year – only 8 of us.  Afterwards I had another appointment in Khandallah, and then there was to be carol singing in the church carpark, followed by a free sausage sizzle.  As it was still raining off and on, sometimes heavily, we sang carols inside the church, with a very professional accompaniment from the Wellington Brass Band.

On Saturday we went shopping – to an antique shop in Tinakori Road, again. There are so many beautiful things there!  Although the traffic was heavy again, we got a carpark almost outside the shop.

Afterwards we went to the New World supermarket in Thorndon. It was pretty busy there, but there were plenty of raspberries!  Cherries are still very expensive. We got the usual things: coffee beans, lettuce, bread, salads, cheese, wine, tonic water etc. In the afternoon I tried to watch “A Spy Among Friends”, an adaptation of the book by Ben Macintyre, on television one on demand.  Unfortunately it was very dark on my computer, so it was hard to watch this series.  I do find Damian Lewis rather annoying to watch, but the guy playing Philby is quite good, in my view.

It’s now Sunday December 11^th.

This morning the church service was at 9:30 am, not 10 am, because there was a village fair. Although I’d set my alarm, I was running a bit late; only to find that Ganges Road had been closed! So I had to cross the road, and make my way up to the church, between stalls and the many people who were there already. I got to church during notices; I went to sit down, but the woman reading notices had left her bag on the pew, so I had to find another seat. No worries, there was plenty of room, and many people came in after me.  The Advent theme was Joy.

Afterwards I stayed for a while and met several friends. I missed my bus home, and rang JD, agreeing to meet him at the railway station. That worked well.  I had bought scones to take home for morning tea, sadly from one of the local cafés; there were lots of people at the Village Fair, so I just wanted to buy stuff and get away.

In the afternoon I went to a concert given by the women’s choir Cantate. A friend had asked me to go. I’ll ask her to return the favour when one of my singing groups performs! I enjoyed the concert, although  I felt the oral contribution before each item was a little overdone. Nevertheless, they sang some beautiful numbers, and they sang them well.

On Monday morning I went to my exercise class, it being the last one for the year. For morning tea there were strawberries and ice cream!  I caught the train home.  That evening we watched the final episode of Series 2 of The White Lotus. I feel it’s a kind of porn, but like Succession, I have to watch it. During the evening I learnt that a friend of mine had died. While I knew that she was close to death, and I’d been wondering how she was getting on, it was still a shock to learn of her death. She was a very private person, so I had not visited her at her home, but I had seen and spoken to her at some of our singing and painting sessions. She was a fine water colour artist, and frequently exhibited at water colour exhibitions at the Academy of Fine Arts. We had both enjoyed going to many art films with her: it’s always nice to see a movie together, and talk about it later, over coffee. My friend did not enjoy good health: she was gluten-free, and enjoyed cooking, gardening and painting.  We saw several films together.

This morning we had an engineer coming to our house at 9 am; after that I went to a Bible study.  I really liked the text, which was from Isaiah 7, which echoes in my ears from Handel’s Messiah. I’m not sure about our discussion, though.  It’s a beautiful fine day, which is very nice. Afterwards I made my way home using train and bus – thankfully not cancelled, although many services have been cancelled, mostly due to staff shortage.

The covid report is terrible.  The formal report came out on Monday, but there’ve been interim reports as well. It is as follows: there have been 40,098 new cases of Covid-19 and 35 deaths of people with the virus over the past week, the Ministry of Health says. There were also a total of 514 people in hospital with the virus, including 14 in ICU.

Of the 35 deaths being reported on Monday 12 December, one was from Northland, 12 were from the Auckland region, four were from Waikato, one was from Bay of Plenty, one was from Lakes, one was from MidCentral, three were from Wellington region, one was from Nelson Marlborough, six were from Canterbury and five were from Southern. One was in their 40s, four were in their 50s, three were in their 60s, three were in their 70s, 15 were in their 80s and nine were aged over 90. Of these people, 15 were women and 20 were men.

Of the community cases, 11,142 are reinfections.

The seven day rolling average of cases is 5721. We’re told that there have been 2,257 deaths due to Covid 19.

On Wednesday December 7, reported daily Covid-19 cases topped 7000 for the first time since July. Last week the ministry reported 34,528 new cases of Covid-19 and 40 deaths of people with the virus over the previous week.

Today reported Covid 19 cases topped 8,000 for the first time in what is being called the “third wave”. I’m sure we all thought that three years of this was quite enough, but it hasn’t finished with us yet.  I am increasingly nervous about our planned trip to Adelaide in January 2023. Still, at least we can do stuff, are we certainly are doing things.  It’s busy every day, with several events one could go to, if one had the energy to do so.  Perhaps we’re playing catchup  after all the rain and the lockdowns.

In China, there were quite significant protests against their Zero Covid policy, meaning that huge areas could be locked down in a very strict manner, with people not allowed out even for a walk, or to buy food. While the Chinese have amazing surveillance systems, they’ve now relaxed the zero-covid policy, with its compulsory testing and quarantine.  Now it’s feared that there are many cases of Covid 19 there and that their health system will quickly be overloaded. The Chinese vaccine is not considered to be very effective, and it’s thought that many people, including the elderly, have not been vaccinated.

A brief cover of US politics: Reverend Raphael Warnock retained his seat in the US Senate in the run-off election with Herschel Walker; Walker apparently conceded relatively graciously.  Then there was a shock when Krysten Sinema announced she had left the Democratic Party and would vote as an independent in the future.  It’s predicted that she will vote with Democrats; personally I think it was very unfortunate that Sinema and Manchin chose not to support their Democratic president over some issues.  Now, though, people are saying more and more that Biden is a great president. On the Bulwark podcast former republicans are reveling in Republican disarray, and although they still criticize democrats for not being more like republicans, it is nice to see the Dems getting a bit more credit.  And I repeat, that I never heard a republican seeking to improve people’s lives;  that, however is the mantra of democrats. We in the west can only wonder why the social safety net doesn’t extend further to cover all American citizens.

Oh, and Donald Trump’s business was found guilty of fraud, on several counts, and his Chief Financial Officer Alan Weisselberg is going to jail.  Also, a couple more documents were found in a storage area, while Trump’s lawyers had confirmed that there were no more documents outstanding.  And Attorney General Garland has appointed a Special Counsel Jack Smith who is making strides, so we live in hope that there will be some legal accountability for the dreadful insurrection on January 6 2021, to say nothing of Trump’s presidency.

In Ukraine. Heavy fighting continues. It’s reported that Ukrainian forces have bombed Wagner Group headquarters in Russian-occupied Melitopol; that fierce fighting continues in the city of Bahkmut; and that there is again consternation over the fate of the nuclear power plant in Zaporizhia.  We feel so helpless that there is little we can do other than to pray, to be kind to each other, and to help those less fortunate in our local area.  We can also give thanks that we are able to worship freely, to celebrate Advent and Christmas and Jesus’ birth, and to continue to go about our daily lives.

That’s it for now, Slava Ukraini!  Ngā mihi nui.

The FIFA World Cup Stadium in Qatar

It’s now Sunday November 27, 2022. Kia ora!

It’s been a busy few days. On Friday someone came from Access to do some housework. Of course, I rushed around beforehand changing the towels and sheets and putting the rubbish out. In the afternoon I had to go to Khandallah. I caught the train back to Johnsonville, after walking from the village in Ganges Road to Khandallah Station. There I found that my snapper card did not work: the machine claimed the card had been blocked. When I got to Johnsonville I checked it at the library; it seemed just fine, I then used it without incident on the shuttle bus home.

We went up to the local pharmacy who were having a sale – 20% off everything. Sadly, they didn’t have a nail polish set, one of the things our daughter likes. We have to be careful about fragrances; I don’t wear nail polish, but she enjoys it, and is patient enough to let it dry. We did get some more masks.

On Saturday morning there was a birthday party, starting at 10 am. One of our grandsons turned five, and he chose to have a Frozen party. I found, and wore, a pale blue dress, but I was horrified to find how much weight I have put on! It’s pretty tight now. But it was a lovely party.

After this we went shopping at New World in Thorndon, where we did buy some stuff, although they didn’t have the salads or pies that I wanted. We tried to redeem two books of stickers to get some glasses, as part of the current promotion. Unfortunately, this took a very long time. Both the checkout operator and the packer were confused, even though the nice lady behind us in the queue gave us two stickers to make up the numbers.  Oh dear, oh dear, this took simply ages. I didn’t want my preferred glasses to run out, but I regretted making the decision to go through with this. Meanwhile, the queue backed up behind us, time went on, and eventually we were done. But, not so fast though: the person packing our goods had simply walked away, and although there were plenty of bags, she hadn’t packed all the goods. We did get the glasses to the car and then home without breaking them, however we had to reheat the hot pies we’d bought for lunch in the microwave at home before eating them.

The next day, Sunday, was busy. It also rained most of the day – thank goodness the party was yesterday, when it was fine, although rather windy. Since it was our grandson’s actual birthday, we were to visit his family for morning tea. To save time, I zoomed into my usual church service. It was the first Sunday of Advent, and the theme was Hope. The service went on rather long, and I had to leave after the sermon.

It was lovely to visit the 5 year old, and his family; afterwards, we had toasted sandwiches and a quick rest before going to the Artspace Gallery on the Petone Esplanade where we’d been invited for a celebration of Alan Collins’ 96^th birthday between 3 and 5 pm. Alan Collins is a celebrated water-colour artist, and it was the last day of his latest exhibition. What a fine painter he is! It was a very enjoyable occasion, with drinks, delicious things to eat, and yet more birthday cake. There were people we knew there, and we met more really nice people.  JD had bought a painting of a setting in Eastbourne for his sister’s 70^th birthday (yes, she’s having a party in the new year, and we’re booked to go).

We headed home, but the day wasn’t done yet. There was to be an ecumenical service for Advent in St Benedict’s Catholic Church in Khandallah, at 7 pm, concelebrated by the Anglican minister, our own, and the catholic priest. JD took me to this: I had doubts about attending, not knowing what to expect, but I felt bad about not going to church physically in the morning. JD wouldn’t come in, but it was warm and quite cosy there, although there weren’t many people.  It was a lovely service, with some beautiful singing, by a soloist.  Afterwards there was a very nice supper in the foyer. It was still daylight, so I walked to the nearby supermarket to wait for JD to pick me up. 

The service was quite poignant, too, because this church is to close and the parishioners are to attend the catholic church of St Peter and Paul in Johnsonville. I knew that such discussions were underway between St Andrew’s in Newlands and these two; evidently a decision has been taken. I would just comment that although the Johnsonville church is more central, parking is extremely scarce around there, and it’s in the same narrow street as the Johnsonville Uniting Church. Still, I am working my way through Tom Holland’s book Dominion; there’s a lot of church history here, but I guess the early Christians didn’t have much use for temples, of which I’m sure there were many. 

The next day, Monday, I did go to my exercise class in Ngaio, although I was very tired. It was lovely, and afterwards my friend and I found an easier way to walk to the Railway Station that wasn’t such a climb and didn’t involve crossing two sets of railway lines! 

The weekly covid 19 report was published shortly after 1 pm, and it’s not good news. It’s reported that there are 27,076 new cases of Covid-19 this week. There were also 58 deaths of people with Covid-19 and 328 people with the virus were hospitalised – 10 in ICU.

Of the 58 deaths being reported today, three were from Northland, 19 were from the Auckland region, six were from Waikato, two were from Bay of Plenty, one was from Lakes, one was from Tairawhiti, one was from Hawke’s Bay, two were from MidCentral, one was from Whanganui, five were from Wellington region, one was from Nelson Marlborough, nine were from Canterbury, two were from South Canterbury and four were from Southern.

One was in their 20s, two were in their 30s, two were in their 40s, two were in their 50s, eight were in their 60s, 18 were in their 70s, 16 were in their 80s and nine were aged over 90. Of these people, 24 were women and 34 were men.

Last week saw 24,068 cases reported, and 40 deaths – including one of a child under the age of 10.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, it’s reported that3383 deaths have been attributed to Covid-19. That number seems high to me; it took a long time to reach 2,000 and then 2,500. These numbers are alarming, but there seems to be a milder version of Covid 19 around, for which we are grateful.

In the evening I had a meeting. I hardly ever go out at night, but it was well attended, and it went well. Afterwards someone gave me a lift home.

I wanted to watch The Dissident on Te Whakaata Māori television, but there was a live softball game being screened, and The Dissident didn’t come on as advertised.

It’s now Tuesday November 29.  I decided to have a quiet day at home today, boring as it is. 

There are significant protests: the protests in some large cities in China demonstrate enormous bravery, in the face of rising cases on Covid 19. In one city, 10 people died in a fire, being unable to get out, being barricaded in their apartments.  These protests are major, and continuing, thus defying the Chinese authorities. Evidently the Chinese vaccine is not very effective; one had to wonder about their testing too, since so many asymptomatic cases test positive. The Chinese government is trying to suppress media coverage, but it’s getting though, none the less, and the world, of course, is taking notice.  Huge frustration is evident, as it is in Iran, where protests continue. It strikes me as so ironic that whereas the coronavirus supposedly started in Wuhan, and the Chinese coped rather well with it initially in terms of building hospitals quickly, their subsequent Covid Zero policy and their ineffective vaccine have been incredibly frustrating for Chinese citizens, and have done the Chinese economy great damage.  It’s been frustrating for us, too, of course, but we have had to learn to live with it.

Fierce fighting continues in Ukraine, where the cold gets more severe, there’s a shortage of power and clean water, and it’s raining and muddy.

It’s now Wednesday November 30.

This morning I got up early to go to hymn singing.  It was lovely, as usual. Afterwards I caught a bus into town, and then another No 3 bus up Taranaki St. This was in order to walk to Commonsense Organics at the shopping complex in upper Tory St. I wondered again why there isn’t a bus service to get one a bit closer to Moore Wilsons’, Prefab, or Commonsense Organics.  Marvelling again at the high prices, I bought some Hōhepa Danbo cheese, some gluten-free mince pies, and some Christmas cake, like they had last year. The “cakes” are really Christmas fruit  logs covered in chocolate, and what’s more, they’re vegan and gluten-free. While I really like rich fruit cake, these logs are a good compromise.

Afterwards I made my way to the Warehouse, where I looked at the kitchen tidies. I then carefully made my way upstairs to look at luggage. Sadly, they had none!

After this I really needed a cup of coffee. I went to L’Affare in Tory Street, but they looked really busy. I walked down to Courtenay Place, and along to the bus stop outside the St James Theatre.  Seeing the next bus was 4 minutes away, I walked to Sixes and Sevens in Taranaki St. The food looked amazing, but there was nowhere to sit, and it was a bit cold and windy outside. So I walked to the Dixon St Deli café, where although it was quite busy I could sit down. I  had a long black coffee and a cheese scone there. The scone was pretty bad. I didn’t eat much of it, but it was good to sit down and have my first coffee of the day. Again, I wondered why there isn’t better transport or more cafés, to say nothing of a Wishbone outlet, at this end of town. I caught a full No 2 bus to Lambton Quay, where I got off and went to the Wishbone in the James Cook Arcade. I got nice sandwiches for lunch, and a Thai curry to have for dinner. Then I caught a bus to Johnsonville.

It’s now Thursday December 1.

It’s much cooler, rainy, and overcast. We had a lovely singing session this morning. Thankfully, we weren’t due to sing outside,  that’s next week’s treat. We hope it will be fine and warm, but Ganges Road tends to be a windy place.

Most days I listen to The Bulwark podcast, mainly to keep up with what’s happening in US politics. These folk used to be Republicans, and while they’re not crazy, they tend to despise Democrats for not being more like republicans, and bewail the “good old days” when they could spend hours discussing what it meant to be conservative. They rarely, if ever, discuss any means of making people’s lives better, as in providing a better health care system, clean water for all, reticulated sewerage systems for all, and control of deadly chemicals in certain environments. They do sometimes talk about improving the life outcomes for the unborn, but to my mind these discussions don’t go nearly far enough.

The soccer/football World Cup is being held in Qatar, and continues to throw up surprise results, upsets, and a scary look at human rights, or their repression. Goodness only knows what all this air conditioning is costing, as well as the cost of building the five stadia in the desert, and the container accommodation. The podcast The Rest is History is posting a new episode every day describing the history of participating countries. This too is very interesting.

In the US, Stewart Rhodes, head of the Oath Keepers, and an accomplice, has been found guilty of sedition. That is significant.  So often, it seems to be a case of one step forward, and two backwards, but this consequence is meaningful.  The Georgia run-off election for Senate between Pastor Warnock and Herschel Walker is due on December 6, but there has been lots of early voting. That’ll be interesting.

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi nui.

Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin

Today is Sunday November 20^th, 2022. Kia ora!

This morning I went to church. The weather here has been really weird, with fine, sunny spells interspersed with heavy downfalls of rain. It was nice to get to church early.  It’s Christ the King Sunday, today, and we had Psalm 46 “Be still, and know that I am God”, and Luke 23, where it speaks about  Jesus’ crucifixion, and his grace towards one of the thieves: “Today you will be with me in paradise”.  The Minister pointed out that after crucifixion, everything went quiet; in other words, perhaps the peace we seek came at great expense.

In the afternoon I spoke to my daughter on the phone. She’s doing fine, and seems to have no symptoms of Covid 19, despite being diagnosed positive. She’s also coping well with taking Paxlovid, with no apparent side effects, so that’s great news. She should be testing negative soon.

In the evening we watched the movie Fishermen’s Friends on Eden. I had seen it before, but it was worth while seeing it again.

It’s now Monday November 21^st.

In the morning I rang Pacific Radiology to arrange a bone density Xray. The cost is now $215.00!  That’s steep, but I’d be interested to see if there’s been any change since last time – perhaps in 2019? I’m in a position to pay for this, at the moment, but last time I had one it cost $130, I think.

It was quite a busy day. I wanted to go to my exercise class at 10:30 in Ngaio; but we were also to go to a funeral at Tipene Funerals in Kenepuru Drive. at 1 pm. I was to catch the train back from Ngaio, and JD was to meet me in the carpark near Johnsonville Station. I had arranged that I would change in the car: I had thought this out carefully, and had put a different top, a black silk scarf, shoes and sock liners etc in a bag. In the event, I did get changed in the car. It was a rainy, windy day, although the rain held off at times.  We parked outside Ninness Funeral Home, and walked to Tipene Funerals. Although we were several minutes early, there were hardly any seats left.  People kept coming, and more seats were brought out. We didn’t get an order of service. It was good to be there, although personally I’d make some different choices!  I was amazed how young our friend was.  She had early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

Afterwards we did not join the family at The Borough in Tawa, going instead to Kaizen Café for lunch. They were open, although the kitchen was closed. We had very nice food: I had a quiche, and JD had macaroni cheese. I took my rhubarb shortcake home to have later.

I had watched several seasons of The Casketeers on television, greatly admiring the way Francis Tipene and his wife Kaiora handled funerals with great sensitivity and dignity. They’ve been in Kenepuru Drive for a while, so I was surprised that they didn’t have better facilities, with more seating, and an organ or a piano, and the ability to offer refreshments afterwards. I was checking out this funeral venue, but I doubt if I would willingly use it at this stage.

The Covid 19 report comes out early this afternoon. There are officially 24,068 new cases, there’ve been 40 deaths, and there are 344 people in hospital, including 3 in Intensive Care.

Of the 40 deaths being reported today, seven were from the Auckland region, four were from Waikato, one was from Bay of Plenty, two were from Lakes, three were from Hawke’s Bay, one was from Taranaki, two were from MidCentral, three were from Whanganui, four were from Wellington region, two were from Nelson Marlborough, nine were from Canterbury, two were from Southern. One was less than 10 years old, one was in their 50s, five were in their 60s, eight were in their 70s, 15 were in their 80s and ten were aged over 90. Of these people, 18 were women and 22 were men.

The seven-day rolling average of community cases is 3434 – last Monday it was 3079. Of the new cases, 4874 are reinfections. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 2182 deaths can be attributed to Covid-19.  So we are definitely enduring another wave, although one sees very few masks around these days.

It’s now Tuesday November 22^nd.

First thing this morning we learnt that the Hōhepa Family Day scheduled for Saturday 3 December has been postponed till next year. That is such a shame: while the day’s schedule tends to be exhausting, it’s a lovely chance to meet other staff members without making an appointment to see them, and to meet other parents. It’s been almost three years now that Covid 19 has dominated our lives, our mental health and our relationships; it’s so sad that we now seem to be in the midst of another wave.  Around this time of year, as well as our daughter’s birthday, there used to be a Christmas market, and one of the Christmas Plays.  I am sorry to miss these again.  We had been booked to go there for 5 nights; now we will have to change our schedule and our booking.

I feel a bit flat now after yesterday’s excitement!

It’s now Wednesday November 23^rd.

This morning I got up early to go to hymn singing. We had a good turnout! It was lovely, as always. Afterwards, though, there was lots of drama. Early  this morning I got a message to say that today’s Te Reo Māori class that was to run from 10 – 11 am had been cancelled. That meant that I would have more time to go to a movie Compartment No. 6 at the Lighthouse Cinema Petone.  I found that the movie was on at he Lighthouse Cuba at 10:45 am, so I should be able to make that session, provided I caught the 10 am #25 bus from Khandallah.

I was waiting with several others when a bus pulled up, and the driver had some serious news: there was great disruption in Featherstone St, and all bus services were running late. He’d been on duty without a break for 4 hours. Then he drove away. Metlink wasn’t telling us about this disruption.  A bus stopped across the road, and several people crossed to catch it. A woman said it was going into town, so I got on.  I wasn’t sure what number it was, and I couldn’t figure out the route; I wondered if I could get off in Lambton Quay to catch a #3 bus up Taranaki St. I was worried about the time, too. In the event, the bus stopped at Wellington Station ahead of the Airport bus stop. I crossed the road, seeing a #83 bus to Eastbourne at the stop there. I wondered, again, why this interchange is so risky and difficult. But this seemed to be the best solution, I caught the #83 bus, which was nicely empty. It made good speed to the stop just after Britannia St, at right angles to Jackson St, Petone.

I headed to Caffiend for a long break. I was much too early for the 12:15 pm movie. So I had morning tea: a long black coffee and a cheese scone. The café was steadily busy but not crowded. I had a nice break there, spending time on my phone, and doing some puzzles in the newspaper. I also learnt that Saudi Arabia had beaten Argentina in the soccer world cup in Qatar, an upset indeed, this probably being Messi’s last world cup.

Eventually I made my way to the Lighthouse Petone, in nearby Beach Street. I saw the movie with two other people. In the really tiny theatre that seats perhaps 8 people.

I was glad that JD hadn’t come. I was glad to see the movie, but it wasn’t quite what I expected; I did enjoy it, though, and although it was sub-titled, it was easy to read and watch the film. Afterwards I looked up the petroglyphs of Murmansk – I didn’t know they existed!  It’s good to learn something new, and after watching the movie I feel less need to go on the Trans-Siberian Express.  I thought about various train journeys JD and I have done, and they were all more salubrious than this one!

Afterwards I caught #83 bus back to Wellington. I got off at the Railway Station, and caught a bus to the library at Johnsonville and then the shuttle home. There is great confusion about the changed placement of bus stops.  I had got used to the way things worked; it’s now all changed, and there seems to be no easy way to transfer buses or trains at the Railway Station. That’s presuming one’s bus hasn’t been cancelled.

It’s now Thursday November 24^th.

This morning someone came to paint the other side of the house, so I couldn’t pull my curtains back. It seemed quite warm, but the wind got up and I was quite cold at my Thursday morning singing. There was a good turnout, although I did not actually count how many were there. Afterwards, it was really cold and windy outside.

After  lunch we spoke to one of our sons overseas, and then another son arrived with his daughter. I had left the Christmas presents spread out on our bed – I hope she didn’t look too closely.

In Ukraine, the ghastly conflict continues. As a cold winter approaches, Putin’s missiles have taken out many of the utilities. Many videos show Ukrainian success at blowing up Russian munitions; on the other hand, these limited successes have to be ranged against Russian success in occupying areas of Ukraine, and firing missiles at non-military outlets.

Watching the movie on Wednesday afternoon, set mostly in the Trans-Siberian express, made me think of things that happened in the past, and most probably won’t happen again: in the early 1970’s, we took the hovercraft from Dover in the UK to Calais, and the caught the train to Paris. The train said Paris Nord – I did not realise at the time it meant the train was heading for the Gard du Nord. In that same trip, we stayed in West Berlin, visited East Berlin, and went through Checkpoint Charlie.

In 2106, we caught the Eurostar train from London to Paris; I doubt if that is as easy now, given that the UK has left the European Union; I have been to Nȏtre Dame Cathedral three times, before the fire; it was awesome each time.

I doubt now that I will ever go to the Hermitage Museum at St Petersburg, or visit Lyiv, or Kyiv; however, there are plenty of wonderful places still to visit.

That’s it for now. Slava Ukraini! Ngā mihi.