Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Again: Is everyone okay?

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  • Megan Wegan,

    One day that story ought to be aired…

    Not now we know that whole thing about the archiving national library.

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • Dismal Soyanz, in reply to Russell Brown,

    it seems hugely impressive to me, too.

    I'm sure Matthew Poole has something to say on this and is way better informed than me. But as someone who will be at the sharp end of some of the rescue work if - no, when - we get the Big One in Wellywood, the CIMS system and CDEM are things in which we implicitly and literally in the case of ChCh entrust our lives. The fact that our country is highly earthquake prone is arguably one of the big reasons why we have been so organised. Of course we cannot anticipate every possibility but the idea is that we have a system that streamlines the way in which we respond and gives the rescue teams the best chance of being able to do their job.

    Jack Perkins was talking on RNZ today about some time he spent with the USAR team during training out at Porirua Hospital. Great stuff and gave a good flavour to the stuff for which rescue teams train.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2010 • 310 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    Scotch o'clock.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark, in reply to recordari,

    Congratulations, J. Big loves to you, and your wife, and your lovely girls.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark, in reply to Megan Wegan,

    That's actually a bit scary that, along with the fantastic writing, all the shooting shit stuff gets saved too. Who knew?

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    Oh look! It’s wine o’clock!

    Beer o’clock.

    Scotch o’clock.

    Ahhh Obviously.
    Glass…bottle and,… pour.
    Here’s to a great weekend for everyone.
    Cheers … clink!
    And for those who don't partake, try a Pastis. Mostly water , really.;)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Stace,

    I am not personally affected by the earthquake so this is a bit self-indulgent but I wonder if anyone else is

    having trouble concentrating on your work, reading, sleeping, normal stuff;

    having obsessional thoughts about mothers separated from children, dead babies, amputations or being crushed;

    trying to keep family and friends near;

    noticing every creak or shudder in your house or workplace and looking anxiously at the high rise building next door built on reclaimed land;

    finally developing a proper earthquake kit;

    worrying about Ken Ring’s accurate predictions of this earthquake and his prediction for one further north in a month’s time;

    wishing you could turn back time to before 12.50 last Tuesday and change the future to avoid that devastating shake – one that was felt strongly enough in Wellington to take evasive action.

    I wonder how the country is going to get over the collective post traumatic stress disorder? Those of us not in Christchurch didn’t experience it but we saw and heard it.

    But today’s news stories are all about resilience, so maybe that is how the country will get through it.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • David Haywood,

    I’ve finally found a few (sort of) spare minutes to read through this thread. I’ve been both moved and very touched by the comments (another nasty aftershock just then). Thank you Russell and all the PA community. I would happily hug every one of you.

    Dunsandel • Since Nov 2006 • 1156 posts Report Reply

  • Lilith __, in reply to David Haywood,

    David! Glad to see you pop up. Hope your family is all well?

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report Reply

  • SteveH, in reply to Megan Wegan,

    Not now we know that whole thing about the archiving national library.

    Hope you weren't under the impression that it wasn't getting archived before. There's a fair bit up on archive.org for a start. The first rule of the internet is that you can't count anything being deleted from the internet.

    Since Sep 2009 • 444 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark, in reply to David Haywood,

    Hurrah! I, for one, will hold you to it. And tell Bob that kindy's fun, even if he was very self preservative in his hidey hole.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • B Jones,

    Hilary, I'm getting a lot of that, plus a dose of Wellingtonian survivor's guilt - we all know it was meant to be our city that was trashed. Every time my bus rolls under the motorway down Bowen St, I think about how I'll get back over or under it to get home to my daughter.

    But Ken Ring? No. Anyone with half a brain and no conscience could say that Christchurch will have an earthquake, since they've been having them for months. That's not even what he said, and even if he did, he got the size of it totally wrong. It's no more an accurate prediction than the guy on Waitangi Day.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 976 posts Report Reply

  • Megan Wegan,

    Thank you Russell and all the PA community. I would happily hug every one of you.

    Spoken like a trooper. It's good to 'hear your voice'.

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Megan Wegan,

    Not now we know that whole thing about the archiving national library.

    Future generations need to know!

    Also, NatLib attempts to archive the entire NZ Web on a more-or-less annual basis. They recognise that legal deposit doesn't really work online, so they harvest all .nz sites and those they know about in the gTLD space, like this one. Just so you know...

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Andi, in reply to BenWilson,

    They are. They are doing hard work, in a town they probably don't know, for people they have never met. And for are large part, we are zombies..

    BTW. Also big ups to the South Koreans, who kept their Antarctic resupply ship in port (with hospital, power, and choppers) until NZ could take over. Another happy coincidence. But that's Lyttelton.

    Lyttelton • Since Feb 2011 • 5 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to David Haywood,

    Biggest bestest of luck to you and yours moving forward David. I guess this is an occasion when knowing that you are not alone is of no bloody use, but I am sure the collective consciousness of your Town will help anyway.Rather nice thing about PAS peeps is wherever you go in lil' ol' NZ there is surely one to be found. Hope your weekend is full of wonderful surprises that will get you through.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • Kracklite,

    Also, NatLib attempts to archive the entire NZ Web on a more-or-less annual basis.

    Wunderbar, but can you tell me what strategy is employed to avoid obsolescence?

    I hope that it's not just taken for granted that it will be readable decades from now. Clay tablets are easier to read than floppy discs these days.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Kracklite,

    Wunderbar, but can you tell me what strategy is employed to avoid obsolescence?

    I hope that it’s not just taken for granted that it will be readable decades from now. Clay tablets are easier to read than floppy discs these days.

    See http://www.natlib.govt.nz/about-us/current-initiatives/web-harvest-2010

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Poole, in reply to Dismal Soyanz,

    I’m sure Matthew Poole has something to say on this and is way better informed than me

    Not really, actually. I'm watching this one from Auckland, with no insider knowledge currently available. I know one of the Team Leaders for CCC's USAR team (RT 11) and he's been in the emergency operations centre since Tuesday afternoon, but he's too busy for me to even think about trying to find out how it's going.

    One really big plus, inasmuch as there were any pluses from the event, is that September was a thorough test of large-scale, multi-agency response. And it was apparently found a little wanting in terms of getting everyone to place nice when there were three adjacent declared local disasters. That was definitely one of the motivators for the national emergency, taking care of all the little fiefdoms that exist and are fostered, but was also something that, five months and probably countless debriefs and post-mortems down the track, has doubtless been improved dramatically.

    So, really, NZ's been incredibly lucky with how this has come about. We got a casualty-free full-scale incident on which to practice a real multi-agency response and find out where it needed work, and that was sufficiently far in advance of the current situation that the lessons had time to be determined and passed around. With that done, and now with the benefit of a truly unified management structure all the way into the Beehive, we're probably better-placed than any disaster zone in history to handle the response.

    Auckland • Since Mar 2007 • 4097 posts Report Reply

  • Hilary Stace,

    dose of Wellingtonian survivor’s guilt – we all know it was meant to be our city that was trashed

    Thanks B, that is what it must be. And I wouldn't usually believe Ken Ring but before Xmas I had several people tell me there was going to be another big Christchurch earthquake late Feb/early March because he had predicted it. And there was (9 on the mercalli scale someone said - that is a very high up on the jumping scale in Te Papa's Awesome Forces exhibit).
    Gerry Brownlee claims that this is going to be the biggest insurance event of 2011. How does he know what the next 10 months holds?

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Alex Coleman, in reply to Hilary Stace,

    Gerry Brownlee claims that this is going to be the biggest insurance event of 2011. How does he know what the next 10 months holds?

    Que CERRA CERRA, I guess.

    Edit: "Whatever I will, will be"

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 247 posts Report Reply

  • Keir Leslie,

    I/S continues total tone deafness; speaking as a Christchurcher, I don't think that ``John Key is reportedly lukewarm on the idea, so I guess we'll get to see who he puts first: the people of Christchurch, or his rich mates. Time to choose, John...'' is at all correct, and I really don't want to be used as a political bludgeon right now.

    I am not looking forward to this side of things.

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Keir Leslie,

    I really don’t want to be used as a political bludgeon right now.

    Certainly not - and I was stupid enough to scan post-quake commentary on Kiwibog and the SubStandard. Not as bad as I feared, but still way too much troll farming.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart, in reply to Hilary Stace,

    Hilary? No. I have a quote from Ken Ring somewhere which I'm not going to dig out now, where he said that earthquakes were most likely to happen at the full moon, and the new moon, and two weeks either side. And I guess he's right, technically.

    We know what causes earthquakes. We know that. It's nothing to do with the sun, or the moon, or the goats or the gays or the CIA, and if it's Acts of God then fuck does he hate churches.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Lara, in reply to Hilary Stace,

    I'm afraid that I'm also having huge trouble concentrating & keep forgetting what day it is, have no sense of time etc. I do live in Chch but a) didn't even _feel_ the quake (horse riding is a wonderful thing) and b) never lost power or water where I live on the western side of the city. So very lucky. Both of my parents work in the CBD & neither have cellphones so it was horrible not knowing for a few hours before they came home, but they did get home.

    I'm constantly teary, John Key, Jim Mora & Bob Parker make me cry several times a day (when usually they only make me angry), I can't watch the news because it is too sad & my imagination runs amok. I run out of energy within an hour of going outside & I can't stand dealing with the people I live with. It's like all the optimism and resilience I had after the September quake has gone out without leaving a note.

    If I'm feeling like this _I don't want to imagine_ how so many other people in this city are feeling. And I don't want to imagine how people in other parts of the country are feeling.

    On the bright side, I seem to be able to sleep through aftershocks now after 6 months of practice :)

    -end of self-indulgence, normal transmission will resume shortly-

    Christchurch • Since Jul 2009 • 82 posts Report Reply

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