Lower than a rattlesnakes arse

"Andrew Ireland and his special-needs classmates are dismayed after an arsonist destroyed their "pride and joy" a much-loved van that helped them participate in their community.

The 19-year-old, who has Down syndrome, was in tears after arriving at Freyberg High School in Palmerston North yesterday to find the van burnt out..."

Crimes like this make you feel like getting seriously medievial on the lowlife scum who would do such things. Arson is a bad enough crime in its own right, but this sets new lows.

The 'Brazen Bull' sounds about right for punishment!

A clip from a gun club newsletter

"...The Napier shooting tragedy has rejuvenated calls by the news media – and Philip Alpers – to implement the contents of the Thorp Report on FIREARMS CONTROL. I wrote to the DOMPOST pointing out that I had an audience with Sir Thomas – who wanted to know how Arms Dealers kept their records, and about The Open Polytechnics Firearms Safety course – and from his comments I came to the conclusion that his investigations were seriously flawed. Needless to say it was too non-PC for the DOMPOST, so I followed it up with another note:

“Sad that you were too PC to publish my letter about the THORP REPORT on FIREARMS CONTROL. The following quote seems to be very appropriate as far as the DOMPOST is concerned
Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end" (Courtesy - R. J. Wiedemann LtCol. USMC Ret)..."

[Bold mine]

Another child dead

Hang on- this can't be happening now-Sue Bradford has fixed the problem!

Technology

I have become the owner of a third-hand MP3 player, now that wife & kids have better ones.

This 1-gig player is worth about the same a large bottle of rum and it leaves all the thousands of dollars of stereo gear I have owned over the years for dead!

Such is progess, I suppose....

Horrible jobs

Insulating ceilings.

That one has to be right up there.

Groveling about in a dusty, cobweb filled space not quite big enough to do anything other than crawl about in, while trying to move bales of fibreglass through gaps exactly 1cm smaller than the bale. Then the damned fibreglass gets into your skin, regardless of what you wear...

I had a bale of this stuff out in the garage and decided I would put another layer over the bedrooms. About five years ago.

It's done now and now I can look forward to doing the underfloor insulation.

That should be on track for about 2014...

(No subsidies were used in the installation of this insulation!)

Think YOU are off for another crappy day at work?

They must be almost all dead

"Military veterans from New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and Britain have won clearance to sue the British Ministry of Defence for radiation exposure during nuclear tests in the 1950s.

Justice David Foskett said in the High Court in London the turning point in the case was cutting-edge research by New Zealand scientist Dr Al Rowland..."

The only time governments ever recognise vets health issues, is when most of them have died...

On the lighter side

From the creator of My First Dictionary-

An online scrapbook of the strange and amusing snippets I unearth during my job at a local history library; and a home for my comic strip experiment- The Wesleys.

Not a good situation to be in

"A Rimutaka Prison unit manager, three prisoners, and two other people are facing a range of cannabis-related offences following a police and Corrections Department bust..."

I'm following this case with great interest. I had heard a few whisperings a while back about serious corruption at a high level. (although you get a lot of that)

If this person goes down- their lot will not be a happy one.

And there will be zero sympathy from me- or anyone else who has worn the uniform...

The Friday Tui

We really need the 'Not Proven Guilty' Verdict

Mindless Prat

"Just days after his hand was nearly severed by a Samurai sword, Matt Durham has confounded his surgeon by discharging himself from hospital and going home.

The doctor who led the 10½ hour surgery says his patient's decision to leave is "absolutely crazy..."

Should have cut his head off- he doesn't seen to use it...

Alac needs a very big drink

"A pub competition offering 50 crates of beer to the winner has concerned an alcohol watchdog group which says it risks promoting excessive drinking.

The competition, being run at The Shed in Rotorua, involves weekly entrants chasing a prize which can either be taken in one hit, or one crate at a time for a year.

Alcohol Advisory Council (Alac) chief executive Gerard Vaughn questioned whether such initiatives breached a national protocol stating promotions involving large quantities of free alcoholic drinks were unacceptable, The Daily Post reported..."

Just try minding your own friggin' business for once, you bloody wowsers!

Did it ever occur to you busybodies that the winner will probably have a lot of help offered to down this prize?

Get Tough

or stop being a bunch of wussies!

Living out of the main centers, we often have to deal with DAYS without electricity. Even when we pay for it.

I used to be on pre-payed power down in Christchursh (they gave a good discount then) The meter started beeping THREE days before power is estimated to run out. I always used to get ahead on my power, anyway. Get organised and stop waiting for shit to happen!

That aside- are you not well-warned to be prepared for three days without any services? I can easly guess how these types who can't even figure out that food can be eaten cold will get by. Or not.

Having had to live under canvas in temperatures well under zero, I have little sympathy for a bunch of wusses getting a little cold due to their lack of foresight.

Hell, we have taken the kids camping when everything is white and frosty!

The Good, the Bad and Art Deco

I am pleased to report that my visit to Napier itself was entirely satisfactory.

Our hotel, The Tennyson Motor Inn, was comfortable, very well priced ($139 for a premium suite) and located right in the CBD next to a park and in the same block as numerous cafes, bars and eateries. The top shelf of the bar was well-stocked with excellent whiskeys (obviously another fan of Islay was involved here) and there was a good selection of local brews at very good prices. All the staff were most friendly and helpful. Obviously owner-operators.

Saturday morning was spent wandering about the town trying to steer the ball & chain away from the numerous clothing shops. I got stuck in a rather good second-hand bookshop that I will have to revisit.

Much of the afternoon was spent steaming, sauna-ing and soaking at the Ocean Spa. Then it was off for rehydration with more of the local beverages.

Dinner was at Antonio's Pizza and Pasta Parlour (no website) The pizza kept falling apart from the weight of the toppings- a pleasant change from franchise chain pizzas. The coffee and chocolate gellato was outstanding and they even had Grappa on offer, to finish the meal! My diet has gone all to hell this weekend!

Overall, the Napier CBD and waterfront is very well presented and maintained- we even saw a cleanup crew out sweeping and tidying the Clive Square gardens on Sunday morning. A stroll along the waterfront in the evening is most worthwile to take in the illuminated fountains, trees and gardens while listening to the surf. The town was quite deserted on Friday night- the inevitable cretins coming out to be a pain in the arse on Saturday. Nothing that a little car-crushing wouldn't fix. The police should have hung onto those LAV-25's!

It certainly is a character city- the art deco style seens to grow on you with age- I used to hate it- possibly from seeing so many shabby examples about provincial NZ. In Napier it seems right.

I will be back- soon!

Another reason NOT to stay in Masterton

Blacksmiths Motor Inn. The Faulty Towers of Masterton

I can't complain about the service. There wasn't any.

I visited the above website and found this palce to look very pleasant- the wife had attended a conference there and agreed that it was very nice, so I booked a night on-line.

We arrived in the snow (yes- actual snow in Masterton) looking forward to a couple of rounds of drinks by the fireside in the bar.

We found a note on the locked door giving a phone number to call- we had committed the sin of not giving an arrival time (nobody asked) The time was 4pm...

After a few minutes a car pulled up and we were admitted. Here we told that the restaurant was closed. The bar never opened despite there being a couple of dozen 'guests' on site and all that was left of the fire was a smell of woodsmoke. The whole 'reception' area was freezing

We were shown to a room (very nice, I must admit) and left to our own devices. In fact, that was the last time we saw a staff member- nobody showed at the front desk come checkout time, so I tossed the keys on the desk and departed never to return. A conversation with another disgruntled customer informed that this shambles had been going on for at least two days.

If you are reading this (of course you are!) I advise you to seek lodging elsewhere.

I have travelled New Zealand extensivly over the years, staying at everything from camping ground cabins to five-star hotels. Never before have I had the misfortune to encounter staff with such a pitiful understanding of the 'hospitality' industry. A quick look at the images in the above link will show you that this is physically an up-market establishmnet- not some seedy backpackers, so the pathetic service is all the more of a puzzle.

Tommorrow I will tell you of the GOOD parts of the holiday had in Napier!

UPDATE:

In reply to my email of complaint:

> I'm sorry to hear you were so dissappointed with your stay. I accept
> your points as being valid. Unfortunately the Long weekend did creep up
> on us and when we did our rosters two weeks prior we had failed to build
> in that the weekend was a long one - consequently we were unable to
> "regig" staff at the last minute. The room tariffs also were left at the
> special rate of $99, which would have been set at our standard rate of
> $139 for the Sunday of a long weekend.
>
> Normally Sunday is the quiestest day of the week for us and bookings for
> both accommodation and restaurant are few if any - that is why we choose
> to close the restaurant and bar on that day. However I appreciate that
> on a long weekend people who are out and about want to beable to dine
> and have a drink. Given this, I accept your complaint, I apologise and
> we will certainly be more vigilant in the future as to determining when
> the long weekends fall so we can make these services available to
> guests. I also agree that the website is not as clear as it should be
> and I am in the process of getting the web designer to change it as a
> result.
>
> For the dissappointment you have experieced and as a way of an apology I
> would like to offer you a complimentary nights stay with us again, so we
> may have the opportunity to give you a better experience. If you would
> be good enough to email me your postal address I will put a voucher in
> the mail for you (or family or friends) to use at some point in the future.
>
> My apologies once again.
>
[Name deleted by myself]
> Owner
>
>
My email below:

>> A /very/ disappointing stay at your hotel. This trip was a weekend
>> away for my wife and I- our first weekend away without children in a
>> long time.
>> It wasn't just a night's accomodation whilst travelling- we were
>> only 35 minutes from home.
>>
>> The front door locked at 4pm, the bar and restaurant closed- I would
>> never have booked in knowing these facilities were unavailable.
>> The website has proved totally misleading regarding the facilties (all
>> day, seven days a week dining, to mention one fact) While we were
>> advised that
>> The restaurant was closed- no explaination offered- nothing was
>> mentioned about the bar. We mistakenly assumed that this would open in
>> the evening.
>>
>> The fact that it was a freezing night made the matter worse. The night
>> in question was not on we would have chosen to go out in!
>>
>>
>> Then on the Monday morning the reception was unmanned (not to mention
>> unheated) as myself and others arrived to check out.
>>
>> We booked on the strength of the appealing photographs on your
>> website: http://www.tullochlodge.co.nz/
>>
>> To have well-appointed establishment is is no avail if you cannot
>> offer the minimal standards of customer service of having the
>> reception staffed- much
>> less the kitchen and bar.
>>
>> I believe a refund is in order.


I call that a satisfactory conclusion- actually, it is bloody refreshing to get a full & frank apology for a change!

Back on Tuesday

What ARE they thinking at sentencing?

"The sentence of eight years and nine months' prison handed to the killer of police officer Derek Wootton was met with disbelief by his family today..."

Yes, they don't have that on their own!

Five years non-parole for killing a police officer in the line of duty- disgusting- there should be a 'thirty' in front of that number. I say that making allowances for soft-cock NZ sentencing.

In my view he should be visiting the chaplain right now while the scaffold is being erected.

This sentence is a real gob in the eye for the family and all police officers!

Real Policing

Is only really effective with the full cooperation and support of the citizens the police serve.

Here is where police and citizens work actively together.

Here in NZ it's the other way around. Citizens are actively discouraged from doing what should be a duty and a virtue- taking an active role in fighting *real* crime.

(That's crime with actual victims- not motorists 5km over the speed limit on an empty road)

A message to Saint Obama

Fuck you asshorle!
I got real nucrear bombs now!

What the MSM DON"T tell you

"An armed "vigilante" group has been ordered off the streets of Martinborough after a violent clash with local youths.

The self-appointed community night patrol is understood to comprise many local business owners including one dubbed the sheriff of Martinborough and was formed after a spate of burglaries in the small Wairarapa town.

Sources say the group carry weapons, though its members deny they are acting outside the law.

They patrol the small Wairarapa town from 10pm till dawn in cars, by foot and on bicycles, taking registration numbers and watching for suspect behaviour.

The group was shut down by police and disbanded in consultation with its members following an incident early on Thursday morning in which a shot was fired during a clash between night patrol members and local youths..."

Now they don't bother to mention that this was 30 young thugs against 2 'vigilantes'.

This is in a town that has ONE policeman, with the nearest backup at least 15 minutes away. Backup that could deal with a mob of thirty is 45 minutes away- asuming they are not already tied up.

We owe these 'vigilantes' a debt of gratitude- they are actually dealing with a problem the police can't/won't touch.

It's all very well talking about communities taking ownership of problems about town, but when they actually do something instead of beating their gums- the MSM and the judiciary put the boot in, like the cowards they are.

We are fed up with the 'leave it to us' crap from the police. We don't want to let crims have their way and wait for a police note to pass to the insurance company!

Update:

Now the local member of the dick-licking NZ Council for Civil Liberties is passing the blame to all but the young criminals that started the problem. Of course it is all race related!

Update 2:

Another good piece of commentary from a local here: