New Zealand - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

[davetapson]

I'm in the process of a broadband switchover and the Saffer in me prepared for the worst, tried to organise it all before hand. I went about setting commencement date for new ISP and notifying current ISP of cancellation and scheduling them to stop their services a few days after commencement (to ensure overlap just in case).

Years of dealing with Telkom, Vodacom, Cell C and the likes, and having to notify them 20x to cancel a service had me fearing the worst with the ISP's ere. Hopefully it all goes smoothly.

Reminds me of when I moved from one town to another in the UK and phoned BT to have my phone number moved. Used to Telkom taking 6 weeks or whatever...

 

Me: "Hi, this is Dave, please can you move my line from A to B?"

Them: Sucking of teeth.  "Ah mate, I can't do it before midnight..."

Me: "Don't worry, I'll live with that..."

[Wayne Potgieter]

Reminds me of when I moved from one town to another in the UK and phoned BT to have my phone number moved. Used to Telkom taking 6 weeks or whatever...

 

Me: "Hi, this is Dave, please can you move my line from A to B?"

Them: Sucking of teeth.  "Ah mate, I can't do it before midnight..."

Me: "Don't worry, I'll live with that..."

 

Another example.

 

I go off to apply for my NZ drivers Licence, fully prepared for the armageddon and mad max style license centres in RSA.

 

Go to the AA, fill in form, get eyes checked. Card in mail 4 days later.

 

That took 4 days to process my application, print a card and post it 600km away.

 

First world living!

[davetapson]

Another example.

 

I go off to apply for my NZ drivers Licence, fully prepared for the armageddon and mad max style license centres in RSA.

 

Go to the AA, fill in form, get eyes checked. Card in mail 4 days later.

 

That took 4 days to process my application, print a card and post it 600km away.

 

First world living!

 

Haha, yeah. The amount of stress we pile on our shoulders for no reason.

 

My experience...

 

My SA license was for heavy vehicle (long story)...

 

AA: if you want to convert this to NZ heavy vehicle you need annual medical?

 

Me: Jet lagged, haven't arranged to find a doctor yet, don't know how, have family in tow etc, can't be arsed - just want a license... "Ok, just make it normal vehicle then."

 

AA: "Can I do that?"

 

Me: "Yes."

 

AA: "OK."

 

They are so trusting, unlike us.

 

Same thing, license in post couple days later.

 

Heard another story of a saffa who was livid that the bank had dared post his bank card to his post box.

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by davetapson

[patham]

 

 

Also, apologies to our Aussie friends on this thread. We're spoilt brats complaining about 150Mbps connections while you guys are subjected to NBN. Just feel comforted that although we get way better internet here, we're totally shafted on the cost of groceries

 

Thanks for adding the post-script note for us. When I saw your original mail with the speed test ( a mere 20x better than what I can get) I was going to shoot off a response using emojis for swearing, tears of frustration, and whatever else could best depict the concept of third world connectivity.

 

I shall now enjoy my reasonably priced, locally grown, tropical fruit instead 

[patches]

Thanks for adding the post-script note for us. When I saw your original mail with the speed test ( a mere 20x better than what I can get) I was going to shoot off a response using emojis for swearing, tears of frustration, and whatever else could best depict the concept of third world connectivity.

 

I shall now enjoy my reasonably priced, locally grown, tropical fruit instead 

 

I have an Aussie friend that lived here for many years, but then moved back about a year ago. One of the fist things he sent was a picture of how cheap mangoes are

[GrahamS2]

I have an Aussie friend that lived here for many years, but then moved back about a year ago. One of the fist things he sent was a picture of how cheap mangoes are

And I, having spend a few years living in KZN, shudder at the price of mangoes here. Every time we walk past the fruit shop I tell my partner that the cost of 2 Kensington Pride's ($3 each) would get you a whole punnet of mangoes in KZN 

[patham]

And I, having spend a few years living in KZN, shudder at the price of mangoes here. Every time we walk past the fruit shop I tell my partner that the cost of 2 Kensington Pride's ($3 each) would get you a whole punnet of mangoes in KZN 

 

To dwell on the dark side, you should also be telling your partner that for the price of the punnet of mangoes in KZN you could practically pay a hitman to take out the farmer who grew the mangoes in the first place.

 

Some things are perhaps too cheap in S.A.; I try not to compare apples with oranges.

 

But in relation to the QLD mangoes in particular, I have heard they all get grown in north Queensland, the big supermarkets ship them to their centralised warehouses in NSW and Victoria, and then ship them back up to Queensland to match local demand. Hence you pay for them to travel needlessly. The independent grocers at least buy locally, but just price match the supermarkets. But if you buy from the local grocer at least you are not contributing to a massive carbon footprint.

[davetapson]

At least the weather is better for this lock down.

 

Start of lock down last year was 6 weeks of absolutely perfect weather.

[GrahamS2]

To dwell on the dark side, you should also be telling your partner that for the price of the punnet of mangoes in KZN you could practically pay a hitman to take out the farmer who grew the mangoes in the first place.

 

Some things are perhaps too cheap in S.A.; I try not to compare apples with oranges.

 

But in relation to the QLD mangoes in particular, I have heard they all get grown in north Queensland, the big supermarkets ship them to their centralised warehouses in NSW and Victoria, and then ship them back up to Queensland to match local demand. Hence you pay for them to travel needlessly. The independent grocers at least buy locally, but just price match the supermarkets. But if you buy from the local grocer at least you are not contributing to a massive carbon footprint.

I was in Mackay over Christmas, and I sadly have to report back that they are the same price up there. Even at the front gate of the mango farm... 

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

At least the weather is better for this lock down.

 

Start of lock down last year was 6 weeks of absolutely perfect weather.

 

I am obviously of a biased opinion, but I would say the Covid strategy is not really working.

Yes the numbers are low and deaths are being curbed but it will not stop a virus. 

I saw an article yesterday where they have conducted studies on blood donors in SA, testing for anti-bodies, and using the data they can confirm that at least 50% of RSA's population has had Covid. That puts the recovery numbers into a better perspective.

[davetapson]

I would say the Covid strategy is not really working.

In what way do you think it's not really working?

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

In what way do you think it's not really working?

 

I suppose I see it from the perspective that you are saving lives but at what future expense.

By all accounts the vaccines seem to be doing very little.

Your borders will need to open at some point in time or the country faces financial ruin due to their dependency on migrants.

So I suppose my bigger question is what is the long term strategy?

Perhaps my bias is creeping in but that is understandable I would think.

[davetapson]

 

 

By all accounts the vaccines seem to be doing very little.

I suppose the next question is, outside of South Africa which bought a vaccine that is not particularly effective against the SA version of Covid, why do you think this?

 

My understanding is that they are going to buy the J&J version which will be effective?

 

I'll answer your broader question, but want to know where you are coming from first.

[Wayne Potgieter]

 

Your borders will need to open at some point in time or the country faces financial ruin due to their dependency on migrants.

 

with all due respect, this is an assumption.

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

I suppose the next question is, outside of South Africa which bought a vaccine that is not particularly effective against the SA version of Covid, why do you think this?

 

My understanding is that they are going to buy the J&J version which will be effective?

 

I'll answer your broader question, but want to know where you are coming from first.

 

I can only go off of information in the media where it would appear that most countries are having issues with the side affects and related deaths with the vaccines.

I think will go off topic very quickly because it comes down to personal opinions on the virus itself, the "pandemic" and how it is being handled.

 

with all due respect, this is an assumption.

 

I 100% agree, an educated assumption though, given the information out there. Some of which does need to be taken with a pinch of salt I will say 

 

That being said it has been widely documented that the farming community, for one, is struggling without their seasonal workers.

I know personally of a company unable to complete their scope of work, yet skilled labour is unable to enter the country to assist. This company does work in healthcare facilities, MIQ facilities, etc, so directly linked to preventing and fighting outbreaks........

Edited February 16, 2021 by Steven Knoetze (sk27)

[davetapson]

So here is my understanding, and you can take it from where it comes:

1. the NZ economy is doing way better than anyone expected.  Tony Alexander, who is a respected economist here, says that it is probably due to the cash that normally gets spent out of the country on overseas travel being spent in NZ.  

The economy is buzzing along ok, albeit with some uncertainty in sectors, but nothing like anywhere else in the world.

Property prices have gone ballistic.  Houses are currently selling at 50%+ premium over where they were 6 months or so ago.  More fool us, we put off buying a property, waiting for the 'Covid induced economic slump' hahhahahahahhahahahahahhaha.  Houses we could have bought then are now completely and utterly out of our reach.  Adequate 4 bed house on the North Shore is going to cost you the best part of R20M.  A pile of unlivable junk went for R12M third quarter of last year, and will have gone up in value since then. 

2. there are issues, for sure, but not systemic.  The parts of the economy hit the hardest are also, for want of a better word, the most liquid.  A lot of the tourism is based on mom and pop operators and youngsters or less-settled folk. So that they are in distress, although not great for them, is of little consequence to the economy. 

3. I'm going to assume that the vaccines will be predominantly effective.  My wife is a doctor and nothing that we have heard from the medical side of things rings any alarm bells regarding the vaccines. 

At worst they might not work if they are not effective against whatever strain of virus is around, but you're not going to grow another arm or head. 

I personally assume that the vaccine we will get will work, and if not, they will get one that does.  They're pretty pragmatic about stuff here.

I've got family in the States, most of them have been vaccinated, no one has any issues or concerns.

4. Vaccines have landed here, we're waiting for the roll-out.  I would expect that once we are all (largely all?) vaccinated, and they have some proof that the population is protected against the virus, they will open the borders.  I was going to say 'and life will be back to how we know it' but prior to this little lockdown, we've pretty much been living life as we know it anyway.

There may well be fits and starts and bumps along the way, but that's how life works.

We've lost friends in SA, and the docs on the E. Rand where we came from have been hammered - there have been an number of deaths, including a partner at one of the clinics my worked at when we returned from the UK, or folk left effectively crippled. 

Given the choice of that, or this, there's no question as to which I would prefer.