intern

My approach to saving has always been very simple - I invest in my debt, and I make sure my debt is all in my property. If I had multiple accounts, I'd just get confused; I also think paying bits and pieces into various accounts, or even paying things like rates or holidays or other stuff over time is a case of fooling yourself (and yes man is infinite in his capacity for self-deception). Anyway, it seems to work for me just fine, though I am not by any stretch of the imagination more than 'doing fine'. Right now though, I don't have any debt to invest in, so I do have to find something or somewhere to make money work. While being acutely aware than while it takes a Herculean effort to assemble 10c, it takes just about none to return the cash register to zero again.

Hang in there boet. Bit of a *** year all round so far.

An excerpt which I found noteworthy (emphasis on the last sentence mine): It is also clear that around the world the average age of death of Covid-19 patients is near that of the average life expectancy of that country. This is also clear for New Zealand (figure 1), where the shape of the age distribution of Covid-19 deaths closely approximates the spread of deaths over the same period the year before. A formal test for differences in counts between these data sources shows no evidence of difference. It is very difficult to argue from this plot, that Covid-19 is shortening life spans.

Guys, who still thinks lockdowns are the way to combat the Rona? Read this piece from Simon Thornley (his bio here, he is an epidemiologist) https://unidirectory.auckland.ac.nz/profile/s-thornley And the piece in question: https://www.covidplanb.co.nz/our-posts/is-new-zealands-covid-19-story-past-its-use-by-date/ Note the bits which point out how NON-LETHAL covid really is. If you're under 90, 80 or 70 years of age.

Ten years in and I still feel the outside of the wall. Right up until I'm back in SA. Then I'm fumbling around on the inside.

Project looking great Dave! So you're sold on the impact driver then? Was thinking aboot this on the weekend,I also once wondered what the point of an ID was until I got one. And when you're building a deck or whatever with hundreds of 5mm hex bugle head 100mm coach screws, oh boy do you like that rattle!

Aaah, the old mudblaster...

Re impact driver vs drill - once you've used an impact driver you'll know it is WAY better than a drill. No comparison.

Ryobi, Milwaukee and AEG are made by the same company, Techtronic Industries, started by a German dude called Horst Pudwill. Think about that for a minute. Not content with a silly surname, Horst's parents called him Horst. I'd probably be OK with it, though, what with all those bazillions and all.

Naas one china. Right now it's only 'click' though haha. Hope to remove the burden from you 'soon' though...

Have made payment Patches.

Impact wrench and torch please sir. Will collect when you plague infested aucklanders are released from your gilded cages. IE probably never.

In anticipation of the inevitable second wave, I've sold my house and even my boat ( ) and here we are. There was no way this wasn't going to happen, not with the lax border management for the first 6 or 8 weeks or whatever it was, then suddenly they toiten it up and we have a few cases here and there being intercepted (but nothing got past...uuh)) and then also the workers surrounding incoming folks not using PPE or being tested (Michael Morrah story last week I think). And now look. Auckland locking down. Quo vadis? We can't hide from a heavy flu forever (check out Queensland's stats, by the way, a little over 1000 infections in a population over 5 mil, and ONE death. I'm no mathematician, but that's not a super deadly disease now is it). Now the problem I have is what to do with my 10c. Maybe some shares or something, they look likely to take a vicious beating in the coming days, so maybe I can buy in cheap.

Heh, one of my Safa mates was gobsmacked with how hard hunting is over here. Back in Africa, you drive up in the Hilux, open fire randomly in the bush and head home with 7 different species of biltong. Over here...well, let's just say, you gotta put in a bit more effort than that!

Spotted the Safa

Bloody Wellington greenies!! I sure hope there is some CCTV, this dude needs a punch in the mouth at the very least. But a CIVILIZED punch, of course, we're not savages you know (except for the Dbag).

I need to adventure with you. And your one banana haha

BTW, and this is how bicycle shops should work too. I dropped the 250 off at Tony Rees on Saturday, with only the mechanic in the store. Monday morning 9am I had the 450 in. Tony was there and already knew my other bike was in, and exactly what work it needs (new rear fender...wheelie practice is hell on your fender ) and valve adjustment). That's a sign of a tightly run ship...

Thanks Patches! And PLEASE come ride down here, it's too good not to share! You won't regret it. If the weather's been dry for a bit, we can have a crack in Manawahe, too, which is quite technical. Last time I went on my own and realised I need a couple things before I go again: * Recovery straps and a grab handle on my seat * Basic tool kit * Water * A riding buddy. There were a few occasions where I got stuck, including one where my WR250 was upside down in a narrow donga/deep rut on a slope, and another where it was nose-in on a sharp downhill into a stream. Both required some ingenuity for recovery! Would have been way easier with at least two of the above listed items (the water and the tool kit, OBVS). You can look on Gmaps at Manawahe, alongside Lake Rotoma. Then also check out Coastlands to Thornton and on to Pikowai if you want to see what else we regularly ride...

Sneak peek boys (and girls). Fetched this bad boy on Sunday night. As others have noted, so easy to buy and sell vehicles, takes minutes. And the dude I bought it from brought it down to Rotorua from Whangarei for me, too. It was only in my garage for one night then off to Tony Rees Motorcycles to have the road kit fitted and WOF. As I'm moving house, didn't want the distraction of a gnarly 450 this week. Hopefully I'll be done Friday and so will the bike...yeehaa, gonna be a mean weekend.

Weirdly enough it does take some getting used to. I remember getting psyched up to deal with an IRD query (our tax okes). Call was answered on the second ring and the person who answered had everything they needed to resolve my GST query first time. I was left a bit flabbergasted because the fight I'd prepared for just never happened...and the whole 'ordeal' was over in less than 5 minutes.

Ahh the endless, endless, never to be repeated, endless 'sales'. Everything is on sale, all the time. Clearly we're sheep or they are marketing to the livestock, because we apparently fall for it every time (if we aren't engineers like Patches). It is FAR easier to do business here. For one thing, while you might get nickel and dimed, you will also more than likely get paid. And quite often on time, too. Then of course setting up and administering a business is a fast, easy process which can be done from your desk in minutes. And as you probably know, any dealings with the govt are often as good or better than your dealings with the private sector....

Haha, we obvs think it is better here because, well, here we are. The distant memory of BBBBBBBBEEE bulldust, everyone on the take, etc, is not a pleasant one, though of course we have our own special people here. One thing you will notice though is that outside of corporate, there is a lot of nickeling and diming. People don't like spending money and haggle on price (SMEs). And the market is limited - it has to be, there's only a Brakpan load of us here. But we're a LEKKER Brakpan load. And that's what makes us awesome, right? Right?

BTW Travis, don't know if you've seen Flight of the Conchords. In one scene Murray has a poster promoting NZ...says 'It's like Scotland, but further away'

On the latter part, yes most certainly. Scale is an issue as is distance. These factors are a part of why the cost of living here is astronomical. But on the up side, everyone knows one another. It's like Brakpan on a slightly larger scale.