Southerly: Now I Am Permitted
105 Responses
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Awesome to hear you've finally reached a point where you can slow down. I look forward to reading more husband and wife exploits.
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BenWilson, in reply to
Yes, when it's 37.5 tonnes of anything, one tends to think the ergonomics through. When it's just operating a tiny little mouse, it doesn't seem so urgent.
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David Haywood, in reply to
Long term solution regular stretching and twisting exercises for the back that create more space and strengthen the muscles that support the spine.
Thanks Bart, I shall investigate this option! As of now I shall abandon this chair for a while, and proceed to do something stretching.
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
read this hair-raising piece
What seems so sad about this whole saga is that after the initial humane response, there seems to have been a progressive shift to a mode where the people responsible (they're responisible because they took money to be responsible) for correcting the damage are doing everything in their power to avoid that responsibility.
If I were a cynical person I might suggest that some rich bastards are simply doing what they always do and avoiding if at all possible any situation that requires them to pay anything. While at the same time using the disaster as justification for charging more. A cynical person might describe that as disgustingly greedy profit from other people loss. An even more cynical person might suggest that some politicians are being persuaded to support that greed. A cynical person might suggest that the inspectors being employed are being encouraged, perhaps even by bonuses, to minimise costs. Luckily such cynicism is far too extreme to reflect reality.
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
and proceed to do something stretching
Much better than wibbling on the floor :).
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Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to
At the UoA there’s big signs on all the science block toilets saying tradesmen are not to use them. Are they especially punishing on toilets for some bizarre reason?
Yes, and are tradesmen considered to be something to put up with? I know someone who would feel deeply offended to be considered a nuisance using a toilet belonging to the peeps for whom he is renovating for.
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Sacha, in reply to
simply doing what they always do and avoiding if at all possible any situation that requires them to pay anything
insurance market functioning exactly as intended. not fit for purpose
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Sacha, in reply to
you can pick it up and give it back to the person responsible
I'd be insisting they fix the problem themselves
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Thankfully, I'm not in Canterbury but I can relate to plumbing. In Wellington tree roots get in little cracks in sewer pipes, and with the nourishment they soon grow very fat and hairy. Every few months you need to get someone in to do something to clear the pipes enough to flush toilets and not need a plunger to stop the shower from flooding the bathroom, Eventually, they suggest getting another more expensive company with a camera. That person gives you a DVD of the 20 or so metres of pipe buried in concrete under your house and finds the roots and cracks are fortunately in more accessible parts under a deck and deep under the driveway. They spray flourescent marks and suggest someone else to do the work. Several weeks later in a gale force northerly storm that company comes and digs trenches and lays new pipes. The next day the shower empties straight on to the lawn, and the toilet overflows..
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Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to
lol
the account not the actual issue. -
Geez David. Glad you're over at least one more hurdle. It’s been sooo bloody hard, with trip-wires and debt-mins and barbed-wire barricades in every direction. Hope you get some plain sailing soon.
We’ve had an easy run, insofar as we have a very liveable house.
Been waiting to be contacted, and get a scope of work, and some repairs done- with a vague sense that ‘plastering all the cracks and repainting’ was going to be expensive, but not entirely necessary. What’s necessary is getting rid of the drafts, and replacing a large beam that’s moved and made a gap between window and beam which is currently ‘sealed’ with duct tape; making sure the house is still water-tight, and remains so; getting the front door re-squared and hung; and fixing cracks in the stormwater drains.
So we just got an email on our ‘current status’ and when I could finally open the link, it sez we are in the ‘under $15k” category and will be sent a cheque some time before October so we can ’get on with organising our own repairs.”
Way to clear up a bunch of claims in a hurry.
But now I’m on the phone to EQC, wanting to know how they got this ’scope of work’ (from a brief half-hour walk-around two years ago, which did not touch on anything structural); and can I see it please.
Apparently to see it, we have to wait until ‘settlement’, settlement being the arrival of a cheque in the mail, which we can not cash and ‘dispute’ if we choose.
Sigh.
Still, it'll probably be enough to wrap the whole house in duct tape. -
Raymond A Francis, in reply to
Great to see you back and this is the very best news ( Selwyn District consents rather than in the bogus Chch ones)
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linger, in reply to
currently refurbishing cardboard box
Connecting one of those to David’s toilet would probably have provided a better outcome. Well, out fall , anyway. (ETA: but yes, a bucket, even better.)
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BenWilson, in reply to
Medium term solution, sit up straighter.
Occupational therapy is quite a subtle business. It might be safer to say "try making some adjustments to your working ergonomics". Sometimes being more reclined is actually better, if the chair has lumbar support, and your arms are rested. Quite small changes to the various heights and distances of things most commonly used can translate into tensions disappearing, pains going away.
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Aidan, in reply to
Thanks Bart, I shall investigate this option! As of now I shall abandon this chair for a while, and proceed to do something stretching.
<scientist>Surely easier to just carry an armful of pavers everywhere</scientist>
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
If you’re interested you can read this hair-raising piece by a registered professional surveyor.
I would dispute this man's findings on 2 major points.
1. Sutton's answer was pertaining to existing building slabs, not new ones under construction. All buildings move over time, especially those built on unstable ground.
50mm over 10mtrs may seem like a lot but when you consider 5mm over the length of the average builders level would be within acceptable levels due to variations of the finish of the concrete, even on a new building. However, using a laser level over 10mtrs would show this but laser levels were not generally common, even 20 years ago. At this point I should add that drainage slope required for run-off is twice this amount.
2. It would seem to me that a certain amount of the authors displeasure stems from "professional self importance" and not really in the interests of home owners. People trust people with qualifications and after reading this would feel justified in feeling "cheated" when' in fact, their homes are safe as houses, as it were.My own house, in Auckland, has floor levels far worse than those found acceptable by DBH but then it has been sitting on a sloping site since 1926 , and it ain't going nowhere fast.
So be a little more understanding, it is the roof over your head that is the important bit, you can always slip a book under the table leg to fix a wonky floor, not so with a roof.
Good luck to you all anyway,
Cheers. -
David! So wonderful to have you back. And thank you for sharing your story. I thought I was the only one with a badger-ant problem. I hadn't thought of using a maul. I've been using an auger, but the varmints won't keep still.
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Moz, in reply to
I would dispute this man's findings on 2 major points.
1. Sutton's answer was pertaining to existing building slabs,How do you know that - they've refused to release their data. For all I know, except for Brownlee's office, every measurement was made on a freshly poured slab. Or a Dunedin "student special" perched haphazardly on the side of a hill for the last 150 years. And that's a small part of the objection being raised.
authors displeasure stems from "professional self importance" and not really in the interests of home owners.
Well yes, random amateurs are coming in and overriding the judgement of members of his profession.
I read it as less about "but not qualified!" as about "where's your data, and how did you collect it". It appears that the munster is reluctant to release the data for the obvious reason that it's as shonky as some of the houses that it's being used to rate as acceptable.
To me, there's an existing "way to do this" and the munster is throwing that aside to get a result that better suits his interests. Getting the measurements properly would cost money, and the result of doing so would be even more expensive. The more he can get away with drive-by assessments the better for all concerned[1].
[1] all meaning "everyone the munster cares about".
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
How do you know that –
That;s what I got from the article.
To which Roger replied:
“That is the background. The floor levels they found were in many places worse than that without an earthquake”.
Why compare a freshly poured slab to an earthquake damaged one when the idea is to arrive at a baseline for repair?.
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
“professional self importance”
Um the guy has had many years of training and many years of practice. This makes his opinion more valuable thhan that of someone without such training and experience.
Much the same way you tend to take the medical advice of an actual doctor ahead of that given by your painter.
That does not mean he cannot be wrong nor does it say he is a better human being than any other. However, his training and experience mean his opinion in his field of expertise should be considered more useful and valuable.
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When you sit, my guess, again from personal experience, you relax and slouch
Or possibly, sit in a tense, upright position.
I used to have moderate OOS problems, which largely got better when I changed to a funny keyboard and started slouching on my chair under medical advice. Relaxed muscles. Never ever had a problem using my laptop while sitting on my couch, despite being at a 'terrible' angle.
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Roger Lacey, in reply to
How do you know that – they’ve refused to release their data. For all I know, except for Brownlee’s office, every measurement was made on a freshly poured slab.
I'd like to know if the measurements of the slope in the floor of Gerry Brownlee's office were taken while he was sitting at his desk.
Welcome back David.
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
“professional self importance”
Don"t get me wrong here, I am trying to be rational.
I have been in the construction industry for over 40 years but these days my expertise is questioned because I refuse to pay a fee to some self appointed organisation for them to allow me to be "qualified" as a "Master Builder". By the way I have noticed that there are firms with little or no construction experience that tout that title of "Master Builder" when all they do is kitchen and bathroom ventilation.
Pah, Humbug... -
David Hood, in reply to
Long term solution regular stretching and twisting exercises for the back that create more space and strengthen the muscles that support the spine.
I am gradually moving to working at the computer standing. I am lucky enough to have two monitors, and a bookcase next to my desk at just the right height for standing working. Depending on the application I am using I alternate between standing and sitting as comfortable.
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Judi Lapsley Miller, in reply to
Search YouTube for Gokhale method. Been really helping with my back, especially sitting.
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