Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Christchurch: Square Two

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  • andrew gunn,

    I've just made the mistake of reading the Herald's "Your Views".

    God's trousers...

    Christchurch • Since Apr 2009 • 45 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to andrew gunn,

    I've just made the mistake of reading the Herald's "Your Views".

    God's trousers...

    You fool!

    There was a reason I didn't link to it.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Russell Brown,

    When will people learn?

    Mind you, you still comment on Kiwibog, let alone read it.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to nzlemming,

    Mind you, you still comment on Kiwibog, let alone read it.

    Hardly ever either, these days.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart,

    Pop quiz. Is this:

    Key said the Government had a "clear picture" of what land would have to be abandoned but refused to name these areas or put a timeline on when the information would be available to the public.

    more "10 000 homes will have to go, a number which I just pulled out of my arse", or actual... I don't know what to call that. Idiocy?

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen, in reply to Emma Hart,

    Pretty sure the management course has a section on waffling about bad news in incoherent manner so that you can gauge reactions before you actually decide.

    So if there is huge fear/panic/outcry about Key suggesting thousands of homes will be abandoned then they won't, but if he gets away with the waffle then they'll go ahead and do it and claim they announced it earlier.

    Logic suggests that massive reaction to Key's comments now might be worthwhile.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Ross Mason,

    The liquifaction parts of Chch seem to have lowered themselves towards the centre of the earth...again. I know David H acknowledges that the engineering can be designed to "cope". His chassis idea has merit compared to putting down 9m(!!) piles under a "simple" house as I saw on tele the other night.

    But how many times need this occur? It looks like there will be a few decades of these bloody things banging away. How much and how many times need you truck in fill to raise your plot of land to keep your arse out of the shit? Who the f%^k pays for this? Think New Orleans.Over a couple of centuries and it is below the Mississippi. In less than 100 years global warming sea rise has a good chance of flooding those liquified places. Maybe it might, just might, be useful to think about moving.

    In Wellington, if it wasn't for the 1855 earthquake we wouldn't have the best cricket ground in the world, an instant highway along the harbour or a tract of land to pipe the sewer out to sea. We went up. Chch - or parts of it at least - are fast(?) going down.

    You have drawn the short straw this time. the rest of us - and our decendents - will pick the slightly longer one next time.

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    I suspect Emma has probably never owned a key, for her a hairclip will surely do. "I've lost the key" is just a ruse ...

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to andrew gunn,

    I’ve just made the mistake of reading the Herald’s “Your Views”.

    Next time, smack in the face with nearest piece of cast iron kitchenware. Hurts less. Faster healing. Better odds of avoiding permanent brain damage and existential despair.

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

  • recordari, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    Logic suggests that massive reaction to Key’s comments now might be worthwhile.

    For once John Key has something to learn from the leader of the opposition. When you have nothing worthwhile to say, say nothing.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Isabel Hitchings, in reply to Emma Hart,

    "If the bastards won't hand me a soundbite on a plate I'm gonna make some up some really juicy shit so I sound like a big man who is in the know"?

    Christchurch • Since Jul 2007 • 719 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    Next time, smack in the face with nearest piece of cast iron kitchenware. Hurts less. Faster healing. Better odds of avoiding permanent brain damage and existential despair.

    And if course, I had to go back and read it again. The hot, burning stupid-- it flows freely.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Mr Mark, in reply to Jolisa,

    Around here we were wondering what happens to the balloon-dinosaur when it bumps into the giant, invisible, Spiny Norman

    I'm thinking Doug. I'm thinking Dinsdale. I'm thinking John Cleese as a 6ft 4 transvestite with an improbably high-pitched, middle-class accent and a deep, dark five o'clock shadow ?

    Wellington • Since Dec 2009 • 128 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to recordari,

    For once John Key has something to learn from the leader of the opposition. When you have nothing worthwhile to say, say nothing.

    Let us hope the Leader of the Opposition has actually learned that and isn't just fortuitously out of reach of a microphone...

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • andrew gunn, in reply to Russell Brown,

    Once is a misfortune. Twice...

    Christchurch • Since Apr 2009 • 45 posts Report Reply

  • nzlemming, in reply to Mr Mark,

    But 'e was a gentleman, was Dinsdale, and he knew how to treat a female impersonator.

    Waikanae • Since Nov 2006 • 2937 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Emma Hart,

    John Key: spouting more than a Bexley sand volcano. Surely he didn't MEAN to say that. Or maybe he did. Is it some sort of double bind game to force the party poopers to pay up? Just don't force the populace to think FFS; our jelly brains just get angry when that kind of thing is dangled.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    Trauma has so many levels to it, and so many repercussions. I am thinking of my dear friend who I went down to Chch to see recently. She had, unbeknownst to me, just broken up with her fiancee, and was feeling sad but determined not to go there again. We had a conversation whilst I was down there about how he was the sort of person who needed clear instruction about their relationship status. "But what if there's another earthquake?" she asked me. "Who do I turn to? " And along comes the earthquakes yesterday. Who is she forced to turn to to get into her house? Whose house did she have to go to last night for a hot shower and a hot meal? I am hoping against all hope that she holds strong.

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

  • Ross Mason,

    I am thinking of my dear friend who I went down to Chch to see recently

    Thanks Jackie, you just reminded me. I have been watching TV1 news and I see the signer is active again at the news conferences. But I suspect TVNZ may be getting angry emails from sign "listeners". Did anyone notice that the sound bite is getting clipped as soon as the voice is finished and in all probablility - judging by watching the signers previously - the sign watchers will be getting only half the mes.......

    Upper Hutt • Since Jun 2007 • 1590 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe,

    @recordari: Actually there is something you can do. One of the churches is collecting gas heaters for those in freezing houses. Here's the piece from the NZ Herald giving details:

    The Baptist Church in Auckland is accepting new or serviced old gas heaters to donate to people in quake-damaged Christchurch homes.

    The heaters will go to residents - particular the old, the vulnerable and those with very young - who live in homes damaged in the September 4 earthquake and subsequent large and destructive aftershocks.

    Aucklanders are being asked to take either new or serviced old gas heaters (heaters only, no gas bottles) to one of four collection points this week. People should contact these collection points for exact times and dates they are collecting the heaters:

    - Liberty Christian Church, 96 Lansford Crescent, Avondale - Sue Hodson, (09) 820 0168

    - Eastgate Christian Centre, 5 Ben Lomond Crescent, Pakuranga - Allan Taylor, (09) 576 1500

    - Manukau City Baptist Church, 9 Lambie Drive, Manukau - Alistair Hall, (09) 278 8998

    - Windsor Park Baptist Church, 550 East Coast Road, Mairangi Bay - Grant Harris, (09) 477 0002

    The organisers ask that donated heaters are wrapped for protection during shipping and that $10 is included to help pay for the freight.

    The Gas Heater Appeal is being backed by Contact Energy, which is providing 1,200 gas bottles plus the first fill free.

    Temperatures in recent nights have dropped below freezing in Christchurch.

    Declaration of interest: My partner has since Feb 23 been helping a coalition of NZ aid agencies and churches co-ordinate local responses for practical solutions to immediate needs. (He wrote the PR release for the Baptists so he's rapt it got in the paper)

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Sonja B, in reply to Hebe,

    In my experience - what kids need most is people around them who love them and are there for them. As a parent dealing with a 12 year old struggling with the transition to a new country and new school system - I'd vote for focusing on what you can do to make the new normal as liveable as possible. When I worked on traumatic incident response for schools and ECE the key focus was to help kids get back into a pattern of normality as that helps them cope. Maybe for some families that will mean moving but for many others being in an environment where the experience is in someway shared will make it easier in the long term.
    My 71 year old mother rather gently commented at the end of her update email this afternoon that she'd rather be in Christchurch than somewhere else when the aftershocks happened (she was in Wellington for the one at Queens Birthday). Even though she had said in the same email "there wasn't so much mess to clean up this time - most of it has already been broken". But it can be very hard for those of us watching and caring from afar who, seeing we can't make it stop at times, just want to have those we care for somewhere safe.

    Brisbane, QLD • Since Jun 2011 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Bart Janssen,

    So if there is huge fear/panic/outcry about Key suggesting thousands of homes will be abandoned then they won't, but if he gets away with the waffle then they'll go ahead and do it and claim they announced it earlier.

    Logic suggests that massive reaction to Key's comments now might be worthwhile.

    Missed your chance - remember they already wheeled out that statement in Feb. Note the flow of news stories in the last 24 hours about how people have changed their minds about staying in their Eastern suburbs homes.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Matthew Reid, in reply to Hebe,

    The Baptist Church in Auckland is accepting new or serviced old gas heaters to donate to people in quake-damaged Christchurch homes.

    I'm just not sure this is a great idea. Unflued gas heaters create emmissions including carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide, which can have serious health effects. They also create a lot of moisture - something like half a litre an hour, which isn't good for already damp houses.

    I know it is very attractive, and very well meaning, to think of a heating solution that does not rely on what is prving to be a somehwat dodgy electricity supply. But I can imagine these ending up in bedrooms with the old, vulnerable and very young, where those emmissions can be most problematic. EECA and the Ministry of Health recommend not using them, definitely not using them in bedrooms and having to leave a window open - not great in winter, or for security.

    Good to see that they're asking to include the cost of the logistics of getting the heaters to Chch along with the donations, but I think that there are potentially better ways to use that money than shipping stuff from Auckland. Apologies - I don't mean to rain on your partner's parade or to discourage worthy efforts.

    South Africa • Since Nov 2006 • 80 posts Report Reply

  • recordari, in reply to Hebe,

    The Gas Heater Appeal

    Yeah, sounds good, but I have similar reservations to Matthew I'm afraid. Will see if there are other ways to contribute along similar lines.

    Keep the ideas coming though. The slush fund is on hold.

    AUCKLAND • Since Dec 2009 • 2607 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe,

    I totally get what you are both saying; I have some reservations myself (not in any way speaking for or against the good Baptists here). BUT it's the flu season, I've just got the mega antibiotics for an ear infection (Russell Brown's beating me, I'm only on the second lot) and I know heaps of people who have been or are down with a bug right now.

    Ventilation is not an issue for most munted houses; we have plenty of gaps to air out dampness. But better to be warm and damp for a few weeks than cold and damp.
    I imagine there will be explicit instructions on use of the heaters.

    However, some people will want to help this plan so I thought I'd toss it in the pool.

    Any damn good ideas welcome.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

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