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

[IceCreamMan]

Reminds me of the time we went to NZ. At the time I used to suffer from gout severely so used to travel with a few syringes and ampoules of voltaren. Flying via Sydney to Wellington was a 24 hour ‘fun’ affair with a 9 month old. Arriving at Wellington around midnight and I get selected for a search. Unboxed Ampules and needles found. It became even more fun.

luckily we had Internet in those days (2008) still took a couple of hours to sort out. 

 

 

[davetapson]

14 hours ago, IceCreamMan said:

 gout

 

 

Enalapril combined with SAB...?

[patham]

18 hours ago, IceCreamMan said:

Reminds me of the time we went to NZ. At the time I used to suffer from gout severely so used to travel with a few syringes and ampoules of voltaren. Flying via Sydney to Wellington was a 24 hour ‘fun’ affair with a 9 month old. Arriving at Wellington around midnight and I get selected for a search. Unboxed Ampules and needles found. It became even more fun.

luckily we had Internet in those days (2008) still took a couple of hours to sort out. 

 

 

I think I would be too squeamish to self-inject. However, having had one excruciating gout experience (ankle & below but mainly the big toe) I would have had no reservations in doing so. I reckon that if I had Patches' level of home DIY woodworking gear I would have just amputated the offending limb at home with only a disprin- it could only have felt better. I sent the Mrs off to get emergency steroids, but in the rush she locked herself out the house. I think it took me 10 minutes to walk the 10 steps to let her back in. 

I have huge empathy now for anyone who has experienced that - its no joke. And I have sworn off the offending dietary item - fresh OJ. 

A colleague had a gout episode when he was in the middle of nowhere QLD, on a cattle station which was base camp for studies for a green fields mine site development. The horse steroids the owners scrounged for him worked a charm ! 

 

[patham]

On 8/20/2021 at 7:48 PM, IceCreamMan said:

Have you moved money to NZ yet? 

Rand taking a lil beating currently. 

 

The cross -rates may still be relatively OK. The AUD and NZD have also dropped recently versus the USD.

[IceCreamMan]

1 hour ago, patham said:

I think I would be too squeamish to self-inject. However, having had one excruciating gout experience (ankle & below but mainly the big toe) I would have had no reservations in doing so. I reckon that if I had Patches' level of home DIY woodworking gear I would have just amputated the offending limb at home with only a disprin- it could only have felt better. I sent the Mrs off to get emergency steroids, but in the rush she locked herself out the house. I think it took me 10 minutes to walk the 10 steps to let her back in. 

I have huge empathy now for anyone who has experienced that - its no joke. And I have sworn off the offending dietary item - fresh OJ. 

A colleague had a gout episode when he was in the middle of nowhere QLD, on a cattle station which was base camp for studies for a green fields mine site development. The horse steroids the owners scrounged for him worked a charm ! 

 

Gout is the most debilitating ailment i have ever had. Its off the charts painful and its relentless. After years of struggling with it i eventually threw in the towel and went onto puricos and now very rarely have an episode. Only twice in 8 years ot so and both times were my fault. 

In my case, i went hi tech and invested in home blood test machine etc etc to determine which foods kicked it off and it just seemed no matter what i ate i was vulnerable to attacks. 

Puricos for the win. (Allupurinol here)

Edited August 22, 2021 by IceCreamMan

[Beer4Recovery]

Is it worth it to take electronic devices over from SA, or just buy new in NZ? Like a TV?

 

Had suggestions to buy new in SA, then take over to NZ. Does NZ use different power adapters?

[patches]

10 hours ago, Beer4Recovery said:

Is it worth it to take electronic devices over from SA, or just buy new in NZ? Like a TV?

Had suggestions to buy new in SA, then take over to NZ. Does NZ use different power adapters?

Same voltage. Different plug. For TV's I'd rather get one here as they have FreeView Tuners built in. Those enable one to watch around 20-odd free-to-air digital TV channels and have access to On-Demand streaming content.

SA TV's generally don't support this and you'll need to buy a decoder.

Not sure what TV prices are like in SA now, but in NZ the key is to keep an eye out for sales. Prices fluctuate weekly. Websites like pricespy.co.nz help one track the trends and see if they are actually getting a good deal or not. Seen here as an example:

 

[davetapson]

16 hours ago, IceCreamMan said:

Puricos for the win. (Allupurinol here)

My experience with gout is that all common wisdom is wrong.

My worst case got set off by over concentrated electrolyte solution on a training ride.  Oh, and that SAB products are a real problem, but I liked Windhoek, so ok.

I eventually determined it had mainly to do with my hydration state, and if I had not been drinking sufficient water, I'd get it.  I'm not a fan of water, so that' like, well, I've only drunk tea, coffee, beer for a week or so.

That and that I was taking Enalapril Maleate for blood pressure, and that raises uric acid slightly, just enough to tip me over.  Stopped that, and haven't had gout since.

I hate drugs.  I always think that it might fix one thing, but then causes another...

[Slowbee]

8 hours ago, davetapson said:

I hate drugs.  I always think that it might fix one thing, but then causes another...

Tend to agree. But them pain killers at the right time are lovely.

 

[davetapson]

So how is it that they won't send a new Milk Frother (yep, crisis) because 'Not Essential' yet my daughter's boyfriend gets cupcakes delivered to her same day...?

[patham]

8 hours ago, davetapson said:

So how is it that they won't send a new Milk Frother (yep, crisis) because 'Not Essential' yet my daughter's boyfriend gets cupcakes delivered to her same day...?

Because real coffee afficionado's drink it black  - that's why. Ergo - the frother is not essential as the true addicts don't need one in the first place. 

 

The one thing that grates me about coffee-culture in Aus, is that the coffee snobs all have their best local, whom they claim to have the best beans and roast etc. When you ask how they take it, and they reply flat white -  what they are really rating is the damn milk and not much else!  

[davetapson]

I buy coffee from a place around the corner that is rated 2nd best in the country (I don't know who first best is) and, yep, well...

But, you start giving up buying coffee out, because home coffee is just so much better.

 

[IceCreamMan]

Another attack in NZ... ????

[davetapson]

On 9/3/2021 at 11:00 PM, IceCreamMan said:

Another attack in NZ... ????

Six people stabbed - quiet night for just about any non-salubrious place in Gauteng.

Guy taken down in 60 secs, in a populated supermarket, with people running around screaming, with no collateral injuries.   That's pretty impressive.

Outcome sounds like relief, both for those having to deal with him, and himself.

 

(Now waiting for knife buy-back scheme...)
 

Edited September 5, 2021 by davetapson

[davetapson]

But, more importantly...

So our normal coffee guy is closed because covid, so we're drinking coffee pod stuff we can buy in the supermarket.  So far, all flavours have been different grades of horrible compared to normal guy.

What's worth drinking in Nesspresso style pods..?

[Wayne Potgieter]

3 hours ago, davetapson said:

But, more importantly...

So our normal coffee guy is closed because covid, so we're drinking coffee pod stuff we can buy in the supermarket.  So far, all flavours have been different grades of horrible compared to normal guy.

What's worth drinking in Nesspresso style pods..?

I am a total coffee snob, so be prepared for an outlandish reply.

 

Nespresso sucks. I cannot stand it. We have a Breville Oracle machine at home and have our beans delivered to the house on a subscription service, Now this has ruined ALL coffee for us when we travel, but thankfully suits really well in lockdowns. It has become such a problem, that when we last whent on holiday in easter, we took the machine with us.