Southerly: Refugee Status
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David and Jen have just received the coveted green sticker for their house
Gold star!
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NZ's number one insect erotica author
Not forgetting the otter erotica, too.
Automatically I pictured "auto" in front of "erotica" rather than "otter".
Expecting a story about that?.....don"t hold your breath! ;-)
David:Would be inteersted to know a bit of the soil mechanics that went on aoround the area. Liquifaction? Subsidence? Horizontal movement? uplifting?
Geeky request. You know the sort.
Now for Engineers re Chimneys: Thought. What if a steel frame that went around the top of the chimney and secured the perimeter of the rim was held on by a couple of rods that went down inside the chimney and secured into the base of the fireplace. Add a bit of tension and it should then hold together. Classic "prestressd concrete" suggestion. Assumes a clean drop through the chimney.
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In 4 years living in Wellington, I always thought of earthquakes as entertainment. The house shaking, the low noise. A low risk novelty, like high winds or excessive rain.
I've yet to have them turn into an object of fear, but I'm beginning to suspect that transformation is approaching.
Actually that sums up my feelings rather well pre-earthquake, and post-quake (oops there goes a babyquake now) I find them more curious than annoying. I did love earthquake drills at school and find plane turbulence interesting too.
I am more afraid of things that could be my fault than things that are beyond my control - and the earth will shake the same whether I am afraid or not.
I didn't mind the aftershocks on Saturday or yesterday, but the heightened adrenaline - the sense that everything was different and senses full alert is very wearing. It took me 2 days to relax properly in Auckland, and I was anxious coming back, but now Christchurch is 90% normal, and it's easy to forget that the earthquake happened.
Town has double the number of shops open and traffic seems to have tripled by my estimate.The lovely cooking shop near the whiskey shop was open, and the ladies there were so appreciative that I called in to buy a silicone spatula - they said it helped them feel things were normal.
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What does the advice giver mean by "modern"? If he means post-1980, that's not a particularly large segment of the housing stock
True, but the interviewer didn't question and he didn't explain further.
If theres another big one during waking hours I'll probably be sticking to flooring it and cuddling the low cupboard/bench thing that separates my kitchen from dining/lounge areas, and pulling the dining table up close. Apart from chimney risk - now much reduced - glass avoidance is my main concern here, incl. interior sliding doors, and large windows. I still haven't pulled the drapes back on many of them.
I also suspect I'll be eternally grateful I was already awake, up and mostly ready for the day when that first one hit. I imagine being woken like that has really added to how shocked people are feeling.
If I'd dropped out of bed one way I would have got hit by a heavy mirror, and the other way I would have got hit by a falling bookcase. The great thing about doorways is that they are away from falling objects as well as windows.
This darn quake has been a good reminder to look around the house and decide on the safest places. Despite having a good emergency supply of water, food, cooking and lighting gear etc (thanks scouts!) I hadn't ever walked around considering pros and cons re where to cower, lol.
I am more afraid of things that could be my fault than things that are beyond my control - and the earth will shake the same whether I am afraid or not.
Thats a very good way of putting it.
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Some good news to report today - we're lucky to be living in a country that shares the milk of human kindness. Ranked first equal in the world for generosity, both financial and other forms of giving. (with our Australian neighbours).
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I think I'd prefer to be on all fours, for a lot of reasons. It's a basic recovery position, has stability, can move in every direction, is resistant to shock. It could be painful to the knees on a hard floor, though. Mind you a hard floor would probably find lots of ways to be painful during an earthquake.
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Brilliant to read your account, and to learn of your safety.
But what I really want to know is: what impact does all this have on the character of Darfield Charlie?
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As an Ch-Ch boy, I've finally taken it upon myself to learn some very basic html skills and build a website - a musical medley to provide my Ch-Ch friends with a distraction from the events of the last week.
I hope they don't take it the wrong way...
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near the epicentre on Saturday morning the force of the earthquake was 1.25 times the force of gravity.
Now that might explain how my father, in Hororata, was literally thrown out of his bed.
I was laughing so hard at that image that I somehow completely failed to take the event at all seriously. (Aside from that one blow to his dignity, his only other loss was a toppled bottle of wine.)
No matter what else I heard about states of emergency and so forth, that initial comedy set the tone for me.
And hopefully that goes some way to explaining why David and Jen didn't even get a concerned text from me -- let alone pikelets, cups of tea, or a bed -- until three days after the event. I feel quite bad about that.
(But they can expect some conciliatory muffins to enjoy soon in their newly green-lighted house.)
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o cripes - not only Canterbury Cheesemongers ( whanau buys there regularly, spreading the goodness westwards - guess what my birthday present was this year?) but also maybe Dux de Luxe....
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How did the Dux & that Chch arts centre block fare?
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My first thought, curiously, was to hope that we were near the epicentre of the earthquake. If it had been centred any distance away -- Wellington sprang to mind, of course -- then I knew that anything at the epicentre must have been utterly destroyed.
Thanks for thinking of us! I was lying in bed in Wellington thinking 'This isn't good, it's not a big shake but it's going on far too long to be centred here.'
Would one be right in thinking that Darfield Charlie would usually be too munted at 4.30 am on a Saturday to notice anything short of a collapsing building anyway?
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How did the Dux & that Chch arts centre block fare?
The Dux was open on the weekend, but has been shut since. Haven't actually heard much about the Arts Centre, which I'm assuming is good news.
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Emma:
You must have been busy or something saturday morning because I distinctly remember Sideshow Bob waxing lyrical on TV1 or TV3 about the fact that the Arts Centre glass was still there in one piece...so to speak. Ooh Ahh. He was beside himself with joy.
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I'm thinking about visiting Mitre10 and buying a shedload of door frames. Then I could make a tunnel of doorframes over my bed, and thus be protected against all seismic disasters. Reckon I could survive an 8 or 9 under that lot?
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Make that big doors, and a nice triangular tunnel, internally-braced - hey ,why not go the whole hog though? A wooden semicircular tunnel? On a flotation pad? Or - yes! A dirigble! Tethered to the ground of your choice, but open to the skies - off you float at the first hint of an 8 or 9
(This would be My Serious Choice...) -
I could make a tunnel of doorframes over my bed
Do you have one of those 800mm wide beds? kinky.
Thanks Emma.
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Making houses entirely of doorframe would seem the obvious solution.
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Drove past the Dux and it had a sign out saying they were open, but the Arts Centre was taped off.
I suspect much of it is fine and this will be used as a ploy to place a carpark on the site.
It was the building codes and regulations that saved lives, lets stop this National folly of cuting cnrs.
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Building regulations, plus spending a bit extra to build everything right. Thank you to all those people and organisations who invested over the decades, one building at a time, in preventing deaths today. We owe you. And that's community in action.
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Ummm...yes Sacha. Even if Chch local bodies regarded Chch as a "safer haven" than the rest of the country and seem to have, shall we say. been a little more hestitate to force folk to either reinforce or dismantle some of these buildings.
But thank anyone/anything you like for the timing of the damn thing!!!!
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It was the building codes and regulations that saved lives, lets stop this National folly of cuting cnrs.
And don't for f*&ks sake, mention leaky homes and Nats in one breath will we.
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To be fair, leaky homes cuts across many govts - and it was Labour who dissolved the department responsible so there was nothing left to sue.
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How did the Dux & that Chch arts centre block fare?
A friend who works out of the old chemistry building said that was the only undamaged one - she was allowed to go grab some papers, but is still working from home. I haven't heard that any of the damage was very serious, but I expect some extensive structural checking will be needed, which is probably why it's still all cordoned off.
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...about the fact that the Arts Centre glass was still there in one piece.
I think that might have been our green-house lookalike Art Gallery he was talking about... I did find it odd that they set up their CD centre in (and under) the soaring glass-lined foyer of the art gallery...
A friend who works out of the old chemistry building said that was the only undamaged one
I've heard that a few chimneys fell down at the Arts Centre
- Great Hall chimney went thru roof apparently but the wood beams
saved it from more serious damage, and various towers shifted a bit...
I used to have an office on the top floor of Old Chemistry bldg (which they wanted me out of for some development that never went ahead, and has now sat empty for two years) It hasn't been earthquake strengthened, and I wouldn't have wanted to be in it during that quake, great to hear it survived okay though...
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