Watching TV with aged relatives over the last few days, as that is what they still do, it became obvious to me what a miserable existence we have left our elderly with in this aspect. Unable to do such things as subscribe to Netflix and listen to podcasts, instead they are subject to the banality of terrestrial free to air TV, or as I like to…
Fish
It’s been a curious start to a new Government and a curious end to an old year. 2023 – don’t want to see that one again. I know, its only mid-December and we haven’t even got to Christmas, let alone New Year’s Eve, but honestly, what a clusterfuck this election has turned out to be. Cerberus, the three-headed dog, is turning out just as dysfunctional as…
Enough of politics – let’s get back to building. Although building is itself a political act (read Henri Lefebvre for explanation) and our attitude towards constructing buildings also involves those of a political persuasion, it can also be non-political and just plain sensible if we stick our heads together. We don’t yet know what Cerberus the three-headed dog, aka the Coalition of Chaos are going to…
At last we have a Government, and some clearly defined roles. To me / to the Construction industry, the big story is not the purile banter of who will be Deputy Dawg and whether it is a co-share or a one-after-the-other share of the role, it is who will take the roles that define us as an industry. To start off then, and just to note…
Far be it from me to say that negotiations are dragging on, but things are slow ! Post-script: Winston, the consumate politician, has been leading all the shots so far – he has renegotiated the negotiating room to Auckland, to a hotel that no doubt the Taxpayer will be ultimately paying the bill, made sure that Luxon and Seymour are coming to him on bended knee…
Farewell to the Toomath’s Buildings then. Designed by architect William Crichton, completed by 1901. Survived years of neglect – did not survive a group of vagrant youths setting fire to it. Well and truly gone now, a digger has smashed it into pieces, without a hope of the building ever coming back. Could it have been saved? Well, yes, probably, but not once a fire had…
Thanks to Greenwelly for alerting me to the substantial report on the WCC website, which is both exhausting, and fascinating. There will be a book in there somewhere, on how a project could go so wrong and spiral way out of control. So, there is an indication of where the project has been going wrong – but also, it seems there have been so many changes,…
I have no idea why, but we appear to have elected someone who likes to use his thumb. Perhaps over-use his thumb. So, i think it only right to feature the Thumb in all its glory. See if you can find a photo of young Christopher without a thumbs up. They’re rare… Don’t believe me? Read on… And if you think I’m barking up the wrong…
As I write, and possibly while you read, we are still on Voting Day, although this awful weather will probably keep many people away from the voting stations. I voted, walking to my local school, and there was only 2 others there voting in the seats in front of me – from memory, last time, there were dozens of people. This time: crickets chirped and tumbleweed…
In all the fun and fuss over things like the Election, the country’s love affair / hatred of Winston (there is something very 1984 about Winston being the BiG Brother watching over us / controlling our every move), we (well, me) may have taken our eye off the ball. Well, not the ball, but the Hutt. It seems that the Hutt has fully adopted the MDRS…