15 posts tagged “rongotai”

They no longer look this nice, thanks to some strong winds on Sunday. But they grew to a beautiful size, considerably larger than last summer’s.

Roses in spring 2009 1

3 comments

Roses in spring 2009 2

2 comments

Roses in spring 2009 3

The ones down the bottom are around last year’s size—compare them to the ones that stretched further up.

Roses in spring 2009 4

Today was glorious: a chilly, cloudless day in Wellington.

Cloudless in Kilbirnie, winter 2009

View to the north

   Even tonight was lovely. These were taken just over an hour ago.

I quite liked this one. If you look at the centre of the shot, you’ll see a French flag. While I might think, ‘Vive la France! Vivent les Alliés!’ others might take exception after the All Blacks’ loss to France over the weekend.

Wellington Road, facing west

After today, I count eight red-light runners in Kilbirnie alone for this week. What gives? Has the law in New Zealand changed so that red lights are now advisory as they are in Beijing and New Delhi?
   Oh, in terms of race, of these eight I counted four Caucasians and one Polynesian; the others I didn’t notice because I was too busy braking or tooting my horn.
   I know there’s a proposal in Wellington for red light cameras. Are some stunt drivers being paid to drive SUVs and vans (as many of these runners are large vehicles) to make us accept that there’s a need for them?
   A word of warning to those who run red lights: if I have a green and I judge that the gap allows me to proceed safely, I’m going—and you should learn to stop on a red. One Mercedes ML driver last Wednesday learned that the hard way, but think of that as a test of your ABS.

The cloudless view outside my office about 10 minutes ago. I have got to take my hat off to digital photography for these of-the-moment blogging shots. Temperature: 26°C, around 77°F, I believe.

Outside my window in mid-March 2009

4 comments

That autumn weather is coming in. I had to wear a scarf today. Here’s what the clouds were doing to the north yesterday: to the naked eye they almost looked CGIed in the scene. Doug, our photographer who was visiting us, called them ‘doom clouds’.

Funny clouds to the north

I have called Fairfax about this. I have called Fairfax’s distributors (PMP) about this. For goodness’ sake: either put my papers in the letterbox or tube, or chuck them over the fence. Are you people such goddamn wimps that you can’t even do a proper overarm throw on to the property?
   Legally, I do not need to do a thing about this. I have made multiple calls to two of the companies concerned, and I think the Council should fine them for littering.
   PMP is a joke, anyway. I have been calling the number printed on the front page of The Wellingtonian since last year (910-2100) and the voice says I can leave a message. Sorry, I cannot. The outgoing message goes round and round, non-stop, and there is never a beep telling me I can start recording.
   No one has ever picked up the newspaper’s line—guess no one works there after hours—and I have left several messages.
   I imagine these two companies are not alone. One of the papers looks like APN’s City Life, and I guess they have another distributor who is also too lazy to come down the path and deliver it and has particularly wimpy, loose-armed staff. Maybe the Irish bosses give complimentary Guinness each week and the distributor is too squiffy?
   At the end of the week I give it a tidy-up and dispose of their mess.

Bad aim

The sky was cloudless a few days ago:

Cloudless sky over Kilbirnie, with moon in centre

Cloudless sky over Kilbirnie, February 2009

1 comment

   But this was weird today. No, you are not seeing a special effect. From where I was, it appeared as though there was a halo around the sun. The sun didn’t look as big to me as it does in the photographs below, but the shape of the clouds ending and leaving a perfectly round circular spot above us is pretty accurate.

   Here’s a shot without the sun shining directly into the lens:

Sun halo 1

When I got back to Wellington, I expected blue skies and sunny days and iced coffees with my friends. This was my first day back:

Rainbow on the north side

1 comment

There was some sign of Christmas cheer in Wellington: carollers were singing at the airport, including my old friend Jim Lynch (bald guy in the back row with a beard); and a Christmas tree—not a terribly huge one but one is better than none for the season!

Carols at Wellington Airport 1

Wellington Airport Christmas tree

To the perps of the Kilbirnie Post Shop robbery: you bastards threatened my friends. Bet you aren’t that big without your gun.
   I’m surprised you got out of Kilbirnie with our judder bars everywhere, without destroying your suspension before getting to the Mt Vic tunnel.
   Oh, and you delayed my post today! I could have got the package from my post box—if it’s important I will think even less of you three.
   God help the three of you because you’re going to need Him.