Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Hokey Tokey~!

What the hell is wrong with my apostrophy key?

Oh and I have another important question....why the fuck is someone from Radio NZ looking at my blog?

We're currently living in a motel. My car was written off by the insurance company this afternoon due to flood and sewage damage.

My friend and I 'evacuated' the contents of my Nana's liqour cabinet the other day, and i'm comforting the poor distressed bottles now. All is right with the world, until the hangover sets in anyways.

Saturday, May 21, 2005

Motherfuckers!

~coughs~

Yes, well I think I have every right to be stressed and emotional at the moment.

We are currently homeless and will be that way for about 6 weeks. The insurance assessor came yesterday and the news wasn't good. The carpet needs replacing (not surprising considering the sewage), the gib needs taking off and the pink batts pulling out, the whole area needs cleaning and sanitising. The everything needs drying out with big fan dryers before its all renovated, carpeted etc.

My Nana had a stroke about 13 years ago and is immobile, confined to a wheelchair. She lives next door to us and her house is in exactly the same condition as ours. I had her with me at my friend's place until yesterday. Then I made the hard decision to put her into a nursing home until things are sorted. She was very disoriented (tried to go down steps in her wheelchair) and needed 24 hour supervision, besides the place we're at isn't wheelchair friendly. At this stage it looks likely that I'm going to send her to Australia to Dad for him to look after her.

The big clean up hit full gear at our 2 houses today with a contractor arriving to remove the carpet and underlay and strip out the walls to 1 metre. A big skip arrived and we got rid of the 5 waterlogged beds, assorted drawer sets, cupboards, electrical appliances etc. A friend helped me take a vanload of washable things (bedding, curtains, clothes etc) to a commercial laundry.

there's another 100 mm of rain forecast for Tauranga in the next 48 hours. We moved all that is left and is in okay condition up high so if it does flood again the damage is minimized.

The big mission for tomorrow is finding a more permanent place for Nicole and I to stay for the next 6 weeks. Insurance will pay for a motel or rental accommodation. I'm leaning towards finding a motel with cooking facilities. I'm just not sure how using the net would work. My friend Teresa and I will do some research tomorrow.

Timeline of events

Between 9 and 11am on Wednesday, 98mm of rain bucketed down in Tauranga - a one-in-150-years event and more rain than Tauranga usually receives in all of May. This historic deluge brought heartbreak and destruction on a scale no one was prepared for.

9am

Grant Williams tried to dodge the rain as he ran from his house in Welcome Bay to his van in the driveway, lugging paint, brushes and other handyman essentials.

He and wife Robyn had decided to go to Matamata to work on a rental property they own there.

They debated whether they should make the trip because of the rain.

"We were thinking the drive might kill us," Grant recalls.

But the 38-year-old had taken the day off from his job as an Affco salesman especially, so they decided to go. They dropped their daughters, aged 10, 7 and 5, off at Selwyn Ridge School before nipping home to exchange Robyn's Toyota Estima for Grant's Ford work van.

Robyn ran around locking doors and windows and made a quick trip to the loo. She closed the front door of their 6-month-old house, with its spectacular views of green hills and sea, not knowing it would be the last time she saw it whole. She and Grant were on the road by 9.15am.

The Bay of Plenty had awoken to torrential rain on Wednesday morning. Already homes and businesses in Mt Maunganui were flooded and a heavy rain warning was in place. Between 8am and 9am, Tauranga received 36mm of rain - the MetService issues warnings for anything over 6mm an hour.

Keeping stock of the situation was Brian Hodge, group manager of city services at Tauranga District Council or, in layman's terms, the man in charge of the city's stormwater, wastewater, water supply, roads and parks and reserves.

Flash floods had hit Tauranga and the Mount just two weeks earlier. Then, as now, stormwater drains were unable to cope with the volume of rain.

The council rates floods and other civil emergencies on a scale of one to five, level one being the lowest. By level five, a state of emergency is declared. The flooding at Mt Maunganui had prompted a level 2 alert at 8.30am.

Hodge, sitting in his office at the council building in central Tauranga, kept a close eye on reports filtering in from the Fire Service and council staff outside.

"We were aware the situation was becoming worse rather than better."

At 9.30am, as the rain worsened, a level four alert was issued. Hodge's colleague, Alan Pearce, was also monitoring the number of jobs the Fire Service was attending, a key indicator of the seriousness of a weather emergency.

Pearce, training officer for the Western Bay of Plenty emergency management team, knew the situation was bad when he noticed a number of burst septic tanks appear on the log of jobs he was keeping.

Burst tanks indicate large amounts of rain infiltrating the ground.

Pearce knew the time had come to set up the EOC - the emergency operating centre needed for heads of Civil Defence, police, emergency services and local authorities to co-ordinate an emergency response.

He and his team sprang into action, moving computer terminals, projectors, whiteboards and a 2.2m x 4.1m map of the western bay into the circular council chamber room.

10am

Outside, in the streets of the western suburb of Otumoetai, the rain was getting steadily worse.

Builder James King carried loads of timber from his truck to a shop he was doing up on Landscape Rd.

"I was backwards and forwards and I could see the water levels out there were going crazy."

Across the street, he saw a house with water almost up to its windows.

The MetService gauge at Tauranga Airport showed 58mm of rain had fallen since 9am.

Meanwhile, the Fire Service's workload was growing. Calls were coming not just from the Mount but the city and firefighters struggled to keep up. By 10am, they had a backlog of 80 jobs.

Tauranga acting senior station officer Richard Moreland and the crew of four with him in a rescue truck were racing from place to place as fast as they could.

Moreland was conscious of keeping the truck reasonably free in case of a major car crash - a possibility ever more likely with the incessant rain.

His crew were forced to assess the seriousness of each job and move on if necessary, at one point leaving a group of people who had water lapping at their apartment doors.

Moreland says the firefighters installed a pump to drain the water but were unable to stay.

"We all felt really sorry for people. Each person had their own little crisis and was upset."

The ante was upped for emergency services when the first call came of a house being hit by a landslide.

Constable Rick Dent was heading back to Greerton station in the southwest when he heard about it on the police radio.

He turned his patrol car round and headed to Dingadee St in Welcome Bay, in the southeast.

A huge river of mud covering the street signalled he was in the right spot.

People were milling around and a bull mastiff puppy was frolicking in the mess.

"He was loving it, running in and out of the puddles."

Then Dent looked up. The former British Army soldier and United Nations peacekeeper couldn't believe what he saw.

Slammed into the back of one of the houses that had been in the path of the mudslide was an upturned car.

Walking up a steep driveway at the side of the house, he saw another car that had been tossed down the hill by the force of the moving earth.

A huge chunk of the hillside had given way, ramming a phoenix palm through the back bedroom of a house halfway up.

The whole structure was threatening to slide down the hill.

Dent focused on getting the owner, a Scottish artist, out as quickly as he could.

"There's not a lot you can do when nature takes over," he says.

11am

The St John Ambulance area manager for Western Bay of Plenty, Jeremy Gooders, was also moving fast.

Staff in Tauranga asked him to abandon a meeting with St John regional managers in Hamilton, where the clear sky gave no clue of the chaos on the other side of the Kaimais.

"The message was that there was an extremely unusual weather event," Gooders says. Since 10am, another 40mm of rain had fallen.

The Fire Service found itself more and more stretched, nearing a backlog of 200 calls. In Otumoetai, disaster was looming.

The MetService office in Wellington was receiving hourly rainfall readings from the gauge at Tauranga Airport.

But because there is no weather radar in the Bay of Plenty, forecasters had to rely on imperfect computer models to predict what the rain would do next.

Only Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch have weather radar, which allows forecasters to see the exact location, spread and movement of rain to the nearest kilometre.

Computer models are much less sophisticated.

"They're good at picking large-scale events but not so good at picking small-scale events," says severe weather forecaster John Crouch.

And the disaster set to befall Otumoetai was small-scale, at least in terms of its area. All the action happened in three or four short streets.

By 11am, Kris, a drainlayer, was back at the Landscape Rd home he shared with his girlfriend, worried about his house. It had come close to being flooded two weeks ago.

This time the water was worse, flowing fast across the property. "It was a river instead of a lake."

Kris was still at the house, standing by the ranchslider talking to his girlfriend on the phone, when a policeman's home from further up the driveway came hurtling down the hill towards him.

The crumpled wreck came to rest a few metres from where he stood.

Within two hours, the lives of thousands of people had been left at the mercy of Mother Nature and her fury was not about to end. In the 24 hours to 10pm Wednesday, 349mm of rain fell in Tauranga.

Down the coast at Matata, the scene was compared to the Boxing Day tsunami. To witnesses, the damage was gob-smacking. For victims like Grant and Robyn Williams, the aftermath was painful and surreal.

When they returned from Matamata, they found their tidy brick house all but destroyed.

The pink, lime-green and star-filled bedrooms chosen by daughters Alexandra, Brittany and Geena had been smashed to smithereens. Pretty bed covers and ornaments that their mother had worked hard to give them had been lost in a mass of rubble.

Williams' voice cracks as he reflects on his family's chances of survival if they had been home when the earth released its fury.

"We've won Lotto with our lives."

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Well the water did come in...

We had at least 1 foot of muddy water flowing though our house. Its unlivable at present. No power, no phone and no water. We got evacuated and are staying at a friend's place at present. I'm physically and emotionally exhausted.

I just want a big hug.

Tauranga Disaster

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Rain

Its been raining constantly here for 3 days now, and really heavily since about 4am this morning. Our house backs onto a park, the park is completely under water with the water running though my neighbor's garage and garden.

My garden is covered with water too. My street is flooded, the cops are turning traffic round. I waded out there a bit, but turned around when I got to knee deep. The storm water drains are spitting water out, not draining it. There's a little yellow mini floating, driverless down the road.

So far the water hasn't reached my house, but if it continues to rain it no doubt will do. I don't know how I'm going to get Nicole from school, whether its safer/easier to walk or to drive.

This is scarey shit!

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Catch the thoughts running through my head?

I am wondering again what I'm doing back in the world of cyber space. Those couple of months without a computer were good. I spent more time with my friends and family, did a major spring clean of my home and was just generally more content. Not saying I didn't miss a small group of people I do consider my friends, rather than just associates, on here. Plus I really missed this place.

Though I must admit I'm finding this place rather confining at present. I had something really important happen in my life last week and something incredibly exciting is going to happen soon. Yet I don't feel comfortable discussing them here. Why? Because my online associates know of this place and I know some of them come here looking for 'the dirt'. Surely they understand that everything I publish here is something I've made a conscious decision to put out to them and whomever else chooses to read it.

I'm not going to bang on about spys and lurkers. This is a public blog, I want it to be read. Just some things, 'heart issues' don't need to be put out there for public scrutiny.

I had another learning curve over the past few days. Religion is one big messy, controversial motherfucking subject! By the way 'motherfucker' is my word of the week, impressive, hmm? Silly me thought I could have an open discussion with people about our beliefs. Anyways what I've learnt is to keep my mouth shut unless I'm prepared to be labeled judgmental for staying true to what I believe. It kind of makes me laugh. Don't people realize that making judgments is how we as humankind make decisions?

We take the information, evaluate it, see how it fits with our morals, beliefs, experiences and knowledge, then either embrace or discard. Is that a bad thing? Of course not! Its how we make decisions that are best for us.

This leads me to another BIG questionmark in my life....BDSM vs God. How does it fit? Does it fit? If it doesn't, which am I prepared to lose? Actually, I know the answer to that one. I want to know how it works.

I also want to know where I can buy a blow up sheep. But that's another story.

So back to why I'm online. I know a lot of it is 'the new house rules'. Which I hate with a passion, but have no control over and have to live with, along with the 'house' in question. So it leaves me bored and alone waaaaaay too much. Ideally I would have a new job, but I really don't see any point looking for one this close. So I guess I'm just biding time.

At the moment I'm doing a bedwetting program though the Enurisis clinic for Nicole. It involves setting my alarm 3 or 4 times during the night and getting up and taking her to the toilet. Not much fun during winter. But the effort and exhaustion will be worth it in the end when my 6 and a half year old doesn't have to wear nappies at night anymore. She was pretty devastated when her friend made fun of her when she stayed the night during the holidays. Kids can be bitches too!

Aww Billy looked cute rolling around in the sun playing with his tail. I tried to take a picture but he is too far away and I couldn't make the brightness setting on the cam adjust so you could see him properly. Stoopid thing! LOL Oh well..

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Don't put out anything you can't handle being rejected.

A lession I need to learn time and time again. Thank you to my friend Sandy for giving the feeling a name for me.

The Fountain

I was sitting on my bed tonight waiting for Nicole to finish getting changed when I looked at my mirror and saw a sticker I put there many years ago. It was a sticker from the skate shop 60 Cuba. Seeing it got me thinking about growing up in Wellington. There was a big water fountain in the middle of a pedestrian mall in the city.

When I was a little girl and we went into the city, I used to spend ages watching all the bucket thingys fill up and then flip over to fill up the next level down. We used to cheer when the big bucket at the bottom flipped over. Silly the things you remember, isn't it?


The Cuba Street Fountain Posted by Hello

Sunday, May 08, 2005

My child is my Mother's Day gift

Look at moi, look at moi, look at moi! I'm a mum. I love receiving gifts.

I love receiving a gift at any time: Christmas, engagement, wedding, birth of a baby, graduation, birthday, Mother's Day. But, I know this one will be different.

I no longer have a husband to acknowledge my status as a mother. There will be no gift from my husband this year. My child is financially dependent so she is unable to make a purchase for me. No store-bought gifts for me this year.

But I have a gift.

My child is a gift and she will delight me with a gift and she will delight me with a gift that she sees appropriate for me.

It will be a gift from her heart, a thoughtful gift, something she believes will be of value to me.

It may be a card that she has worked on in secret over the past few days leading up to Mother's Day (do my arms really come out from the sides of my head?).

She may share the cat with me (I don't think so!)

She may treat me to a cup of tea. She will insist I put my feet up while she makes it (all the while I'll be yelling instructions from the sofa to the kitchen).

I know it's quicker to do it yourself but its Mother's Day after all! If I'm lucky this may be followed by a shoulder massage as I listen to her sharing her secrets and concerns (all the while remembering it's not always about me).

There will be an effort of no demanding behavior, no pouting or tantrums.

It will be a day for me, all about me. Me, me, me! Mums don't often get days all about them! It's usually all about our family, children, home, friends and work commitments.

And that's OK because it's a priviledge to have these aspects in our lives, but one day a year for me to be pampered is OK too.

My child may just pray that prayer she always prays.

The one about wishing mummy and daddy would get back together.

She may just reach up and wipe away my tears, again.

And all the while, my daughter is learning about serving. Serving another person.

About loving in a practical way by meeting someone else's needs. About how it is better to give than receive and that commands a blessing.

I hope and pray you are blessed this Mother's Day.

Share it with the people you love.

By Debbie Walker


This was in the local newspaper, it touched me.

-----------------------------------------------------------


The ring Nicole made me out of a coke bottle lid, tin foil, garden twine and sellotape. I shall wear it with pride. Posted by Hello

Friday, May 06, 2005

Whats your seduction style?





Your Seduction Style: Siren / Rake





You possess an unbridled sensuality that appeals to many.
The minute you meet anyone, you can make the crave you almost immediately.
You give others the chance to lose control with you... spiraling into carnal bliss.
A dangerous lover, you both fascinate and scare those you attract.


What does your birthdate mean?








Your Birthdate: November 5

With a birthday on the 5th of the month you are inclined to work well with people and enjoy them.

You are talented and versatile, very good at presenting ideas.

You may have a tendency to get itchy feet at times and need change and travel.



You tend to be very progressive, imaginative and adaptable.

Your mind is quick, clever and analytical.

A restlessness in your nature may make you a bit impatient and easily bored with routine.

You may have a tendency to shirk responsibility


Thursday, May 05, 2005

Murphy's Law

I've been on a bit of a clean out spree as of late. Unpacking and sorting though stuff that I've never got round to doing anything with since we moved into this house about 4 years ago. One of the things that I found was my Murphy's Law picture. Here's what it says...

Murphy was an optimist.

Never eat prunes when you are famished.

Where you stand on an issue depends on where you sit.

Friends come and go but enemies accumulate.

If you try to please everybody nobody will like it.

A short cut is the longest distance between two points.

Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Leakproof seals - will.

Self starters - will not.

Interchangeable parts - won't.

There is always one more bug.

Nature is a mother.

Don't mess with Mrs Murphy!

90% of everything is garbage.

If you're feeling good, don't worry, it never lasts.

You will always find something in the last place you look.

The chance of a piece of bread falling with the buttered side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet.

No matter how long or hard you shop for an item, after you've bought it, it will be on sale somewhere cheaper.

No one's life, liberty, or property is safe while the parliament is in session.

The other line always moves faster.

In order to get a loan, you must first prove you don't need it.

Anything you try to fix will take longer and cost more than you thought.

If you fool around with a thing for very long you will screw it up.

A $300 picture tube will protect a 10c fuse by blowing first.

If it jams - force it. If it breaks, it needed replacing anyway.

Any tool dropped while repairing a car will roll underneath to the exact centre.

The serviceman will never have seen a model quite like yours before.

When a broken appliance is demonstrated for a serviceman, it will work perfectly.

A pipe gives a wise man time to think and a fool something to stick in his mouth.

Everybody should believe in something - I believe I'll have another drink.

Build a system that even a fool can use, and only a fool will use it.

Everyone has a scheme for getting rich that will not work.

In any hierarchy, each individual rises to his own level of incompetence, and then remain there.

You will remember that you forgot to take out the rubbish when the garbage truck is two doors away.

The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that's the way to bet.

There's never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over.

When in doubt, mumble, when in trouble, delegate.

Anything good in life is either illegal, immoral or fattening.

It is morally wrong to allow suckers to keep their money.

A bird in hand is safer than one overhead.

Golden rule: whoever has the gold makes the rules.

If it moves shoot it.
If it doesn't it probably works here.

Nature always sides with the hidden flaw.

The light at the end of the tunnel is the headlamp of an oncoming train.

Celibacy is not hereditary.

Never sleep with anyone crazier than yourself.

Beauty is only skin deep, ugly goes to the bone.

To know yourself is the ultimate form of aggression. (Freudian Psychology)

Never play leapfrog with a unicorn.

A smith & wesson beats four aces.

If everything seems to be going well, you obviously don't know what the hell is going on.

If more than one person is responsible for a miscalculation, no one will at fault.

In case of doubt, make it sound convincing.

Never argue with a fool, people might not know the difference.

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Walls

No, silly, not what you think. However, I have recently been found fantasizing about walls.

Er. Let me explain.

Walls are just hot. Push me up against them and I switch into subbie, wet, horny mode almost immediately. Shove your cock against me, and it's even better. It's dramatic without the over-violence, it's cliched but still damned hot, and it also gives support for rubbery knees without needing to sit or lay down.

Doesn't even matter if I'm facing the wall, or have my back to it. There are benefits to both.

Back to the wall: All my sensitive bits, with the exception of my neck, are available for easy access. The pressure against my back is hot. Solid, giving me nowhere to move. Bonus point for pulling my hands to either side of my head and pinning me there. Whew. Warm in here, or is it me?

Front to the wall: I can't see his hands as easily, kind of like being blindfolded without the smeared eyeliner. He can touch me any darned way he likes, shove my legs apart, tease me from behind, and my ass fits into his crotch in a rather lovely way. Spankings also are quite lovely in this position, allowing me to crowd the nice cool wall in contrast to my burning tush. If the height thing is right, he can even flip up my skirt and take me from behind. Yummm. Bonus points also for pinning my hands to the wall in this position. Who needs rope? We've got a wall...

There's nothing sexier, in the whole entire world, than getting shoved against the wall of the elevator, trapped within a man's arms, and kissed and fondled for the duration of the ride.

However, it's not just about the public walls, really - although I will admit a passing fancy for alleyway walls, and other public place walls. My hallway, my bedroom, my dining room...
There are so few good movies out there that explore power exchange. BDSM porn is useless to me, in most cases, since it's incredibly contrived and the actors so rarely enjoy their roles or the activities they're performing. What's more, the eroticism just isn't there in most cases. And for me, BDSM is about eroticism. Power exchange isn't matter of fact: it's erotic. Devastatingly so. I crave the ability to see that on screen.
Most people who haven't read or played much with BDSM find it incredible to believe that BDSM is so heavily psychologically charged, that you can actually learn things and even work out issues you've had for years within the limits of a loving BDSM relationship.

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Wo ho ho and a bottle of.....sherry?

My Nana gave me a bottle of sherry for Christmas. Fuck knows why...I dun much like the stuff, but anyways. So I felt like a drink or two last night. First time I've really drank at all this year. Shocking, I know.

Anyways so I was in stormirc wwe chat, being my 'happy' self and some twit called 'Scotty' told me to call him. He gave me his phone number and everything. So I did. His dad didn't seem overjoyed that young Scotty was giving out their home phone number to random people in a chatroom, and asking them to call him at 3am. This guy claimed to be 23, I think 13 was probably more accurate. So anyways.. after shouting at Scotty, the dad put him on the phone. I told Scotty that his dad scared me and hung up on him. Fuck, I'm mean sometimes. Hopefully now though the parents will monitor what young Scotty does on the internet a little closer. Giving out your home phone number on the main in a chatroom isn't smart.

But it was hella funny. Almost as funny as the time some random chat guy wanted to cyber me and I told him he needed to marry me first before I put out. So we were organizing our cyber wedding. He didn't seem to mind when I told him I was 56, though he called things off when I told him I had 7 kids.

This morning I have a rip snorting hangover. My body is telling me I need breakfast..I'm not convinced though.

Ohh and good news!! I found that library book!

Monday, May 02, 2005

This life has shown me how we're mended and how we're torn
How it's okay to be lonely as long as you're free
Sometimes my ground was stoney
And sometimes covered up with thorns
And only You could make it what it had to be
And now that it's done
Well if they dressed me like a pauper
Or if they dined me like a prince
If they lay me with my fathers
Or if my ashes scatter on the wind
I don't care

But when I leave I want to go out like Elijah
With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire
And when I look back on the stars
It'll be like a candlelight in Central Park
And it won't break my heart to say goodbye

Online relationships

Today I was reading a messageboard belonging to an 'online couple' (yes I am a nosy bitch :D, but hey if they put it out there for the world to read...) What got me the most was the fact that they have all their little arguments and disagreements neatly chronicled. Of course I'm sure they wouldn't see it that way. But, meh, who in their right mind wants the world seeing all their pettiness? Then they bitch about having 'lurkers' and 'spies'. I really don't get it.

I've been involved in a couple of internet relationships in the past year and a half that I've had the net connected. And one thing I've learnt from them is that you keep your business to yourself. Too many people come online bored and entertain themselves with whatever is readily available. Whether that be the latest yahoo game or messing with someone's head and relationship. They are just another name on the computer screen, who cares right? I know I've been both the victim and the perpetrator in those situations at different times.

I'm not saying that its right, but then again I'm not saying its wrong. I'm saying that's how it is, so wise up and adapt. After the disasters of all of my online relationships, I've been saying for a while that I will never put myself into that situation again. Plus I'm a very physical person and cuddles and kisses with a computer screen? Nah, doesn't quite do it for me. I've come to the realization that any 'net relationship' I became involved in would have to become 'real'.

Hmm...yes, I have stuff to say about becoming real too. But that can wait till later. Right now there is laundry to do, and where the fuck is that other library book that's due back today?

Sunday, May 01, 2005


I made this!! Posted by Hello

“Someone special, who could it be?


This job’s too big for you and me.


We need some help!


But never fear-o,


It looks like a job for a…Higglytown Hero!


A Higglytown Hero!”  Posted by Hello
I will lead as long as you follow.

'I want my Daddy!'

How do you tell an angry 6 year old that her Daddy doesn't want her?

That if he did he would show somewhat more interest in her. That he would make her a priority in his life...ABOVE the drinking, drugs, getting laid and the music. But he hasn't. And thats his choice. Don't get me wrong, from my point of view its good that he isn't bringing his baggage into her and my life again. But the fact remains, he is her father.

I promised myself and his mother that I would never diss him to Nicole. But how can I answer her questions about why hes not in her life when the truth isn't nice?

Click this!!!

Messenger Plus! 3.50