Year of the DOG

Yes 2007 is the year of the dog as far as we are concerned. After having had to have our cat Steiney put down last year (at a good age of 16) my wife decided it was time to look for a new cat. Also her birthday was coming up!

She went - she saw - we got a dog!

He is a Shitzu-Poodle cross and is no bigger than a cat. After much soul searching and advice (which was ignored) have decided to call him Rhett after Rhett Butler from Gone with the wind. We thought it was an odd name but looking at Google there are a number of dogs around the world with the same name.

As for the current situation of the shooting, almost up the road from us, what can I say except once again the so called support services let us down. Why we don't have consecutive sentences and a long term (10 - 30 years for some) ban on driving starting from the time thay get out of jail is beyond me. The major problem is that when we let them out on parole we cannot keep track of them. The electronic bracelet must be used for the worst cases.

SeniorNet will be underway shortly so back to the grindstone! Won't mention the weather or the Black Caps - all bad.

Almost Xmas

Almost Xmas. The countdown begins. Charity raffle I am involved in is nearing its end and we will all be having a break over the Xmas period both from this and SeniorNet. Have recently found some more music sites which has enabled me to pick up a few more unusual tunes from the 1950s & 60s.

Aim is to try and write a Blogging course for SeniorNet over the Xmas break.

Nearly Xmas

Nearly Xmas and an update at last. However been busy with visitors from Oz and other happenings at both Rotary and SeniorNet.
The All Blacks did OK in Europe and as for the Haka. If they (the Welsh and any others) want to set the rules then - tough. As they say it is for the players and we set the rules as to when we do it and if they want to change them and we don't agree then we don't do it. What we mustn't accept is that because they are the hosts they say when we do it and that we MUST do it. The choice is ours whether or not we do it.
Found some great music sites recently which I visit at least once a week.
Weather - unbelievable - almost as unbelievable as the 2nd Ashes Test result.

Returned

Nothing written as we been overseas (Hong Kong UK Spain Portugal and Morocco) for past couple of months. Great trip and while in HK visited Macau for the first time and found it very interesting and different from HK. Morocco was an enjoyable place - although it is probably amongst the more liberal and democratic Arab states, it is still quite backward in many aspects. Never saw one woman in a burka - they must all live in London!!

Weather, especially in the UK, was good. Expensive of course by NZ standards. The other half took thousands of photos - the beauty of the digital camera.

Rugby - All Blacks - team selected is almost what I would have selected. Pleased to see Nic Evans in as I beleive he is the second best First Five in the country. Wellington Lions - not in same class as Waikato.

ALMOST LEAVING

Almost away on holiday but a slight hiccup with the latest security problems. However we are told they will not affect us.

Read an interestiing article that one of the problems of the "Liberal secular democratic" countries is that the barbarians play upon our decency. For example, we try to limit civilian deaths as best we can while the barbarians just don't care no matter what they say.
Sometimes it seems half the world is mad.

Rarotonga and wet wet wet

Went to Rarotonga for 8 days which included a friends wedding. Good experience but an expensive place to visit. Warm at 27 degrees but it rained most of the time which was a real bummer. However, it cleared for the wedding which was good news.

Stayed in Auckland for a few days and visited an old school mate who I hadn't seen for 50 (fifty) years!!! We had a great time reminiscing. Stayed at the Quality Inn while in the City of Sails but won't use them again. Booked at the Wotif site and it said they provided a free continental breakfast. Turned out the word a meant one meal for two people. What!!!

They knew immediately what site we had booked through and upon my return I see they have now changed the wording to clarify the offer. Still it was pathetic.

Away again shortly so no updates for a while.

Up Up and Away

We are about to be away with first stop Rarotonga after a few days in Auckland where I will meet up with an old school mate I haven't seen for almost 50 years!! Then back home for a short time before taking off again to Europe.

Will miss a bit of Rugby but will cope I hope. Don't know what happened with the Boks but being ever the pessimist I wouldn't take them lightly next Saturday.

Finally bought an MP3 player so I can now listen to my wonderful music without driving others mad.

With our trip, no updates for a while.