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

[intern]

...and governments have never given anything that wasn't first taken from someone else who earned it...

[rad006]

@Intern I hear what you are saying, but lets look at a situation closer to home. Zim, uses the US Dollar. When I went to Zim everything was so flippen expensive. Surely being our neighbors, the cost of labor and to do business is not that much different to SA? Were currencies also not better regulated when you had to back them up with Gold? Although without gold, there was not enough currency to go around... I hate economics hahaha

[mazambaan]

Oh, get a shed already you two.

 

Speaking of sheds, anyone seen Allen Millyard on YouTube? Dude creates amazing motorcycles and engines out of old parts. For EG built a Kawasaki Super Six by sawing up a few 900 barrels, crankcases and heads, then rebuilding the crank and camshafts, welding up the barrels, cases and heads, and...ja, old dudes in sheds, amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhrLg6mZQIo&t=4s

 

(Patches...enjoy the lost productivity on this one mate!)

 

Now that is a rabbit hole. That guy is so smart, well set up and organised - him and his son dabble in bicycles too - see the DH bike he built and they have a back shock out now which sounds amazing - not on his channel but an MTB one.

[davetapson]

Now that is a rabbit hole. That guy is so smart, well set up and organised - him and his son dabble in bicycles too - see the DH bike he built and they have a back shock out now which sounds amazing - not on his channel but an MTB one.

Dang, nothing you can't make as long as you have a gas barbeque and ZX1 oil...

 

The knowledge and skills this guy has wrapped up in his noggin.

 

I'll just mill this, weld this, cut this block in half with a band saw... Humbling.

 

A more normal guy I watched build a boat over the last few months - overcame annoyances and obstacles with grace and good humour...

 

 

https://youtu.be/uVvvqjfOQRc

[mazambaan]

Dang, nothing you can't make as long as you have a gas barbeque and ZX1 oil...

 

The knowledge and skills this guy has wrapped up in his noggin.

 

I'll just mill this, weld this, cut this block in half with a band saw... Humbling.

 

A more normal guy I watched build a boat over the last few months - overcame annoyances and obstacles with grace and good humour...

 

 

 

Another one to eat my time - impressive as my Dad built a little Optimist sailing boat with hand tools only in a home with no electricity and while farming. Even at my age then, 13 or so, I was mightily impressed.

 

Mike Patey with his Draco etc aircraft (etc) are at the opposite end of the scale but still impressive and I cannot resist watching. So much self belief and drive!! eg.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYQTl4TPlwU

[intern]

This makes me so mad, it is so negligent of the officials.

The government is overriding INZ and issuing them instructions, just look at the Avatar debacle.

 

The problem is that they are talking about ways of managed opening of borders but they are doing it by creating an elitist class. If you earn double the median wage ($106k pa), essential to government projects, etc. Meanwhile they are looking at expanding on quarantine, with a user pay model which all are happy to do. Problem is they say it will cost $6k per person for the 2 week quarantine. Do the math for a family of 4 or 5.........

In the meantime they expidite entry for film crew, yacht crews, etc.

INZ has gone mute, they just either don't answer enquiries from agents or individuals or when they do answer there is just no plan. 100's of visa entry dates have expired. People, like myself, with legimtimate jobs that are still viable, with employers begging them to let us in, and still nothing. My job is in the essential services as we do air cleanliness testing and equipment in hospitals, labs, etc, yet it is not "essential" enough. Exception requests sometimes being declined within 10 mins of submission with a nice letter saying its declined with no recourse for why or escalation.

 

Cases I have seen for example of families split up for over 12 months and they still won't let the spouse enter under humanitarian reasons.

 

A person who has been onshore with a working visa for 5yrs goes abroad for a 2week holiday and gets stuck. Now stuck in Brazil/India/South Africa, still having to pay rent, car payments, etc. in New Zealand and yet gets exception to travel declined. It's like they are trying to force this individual to be made redundant. It really boggles the mind.......

 

I personally have a 2yr old and 3yr old, everytime we put a jacket on them to go walk around they block, they jump up and down because we are going to New Zealand. Our 8yr old just mopes around, all exacerbated by the fact that they can't really do anything as we are on lockdown. No school, no friends, cooped up in a 1st floor apartment because our house is already sold. Living out of hand luggage because all our possessions, toys and bicycles included, are sitting in a warehouse to be sent across for us. Even this is on hold as we have no forwarding address as yet.......

 

Yes, this is a very personal post but it is very frustrating, and I do understand having to tighten the border, but New Zealand has always toted themselves as a compassionate state, where is the compassion.

 

 

This goes to the very heart of why a managed 'command and control' economy is always - always, always and always, without exception - an unmitigated disaster. You cannot have bureaucrats deciding what is and what is not an 'essential service'. All jobs are essential, or they would not exist.

When you create these command and control situations, you also prepare fertile ground for corruption, because sometimes all it takes for a bureaucrat to determine than your case is a special one, is the right sort of encouragement to see things the 'right' way.

 

Best wishes Steven, your situation is highly unfortunate and regrettable, I do hope it works out for you sooner rather than later.

[intern]

Dang, nothing you can't make as long as you have a gas barbeque and ZX1 oil...

 

The knowledge and skills this guy has wrapped up in his noggin.

 

I'll just mill this, weld this, cut this block in half with a band saw... Humbling.

 

A more normal guy I watched build a boat over the last few months - overcame annoyances and obstacles with grace and good humour...

 

 

 

I love Allen's approach: 'I'll just give it a go...' and then he whips out some genius level mechanical engineering with a bloody hacksaw and a 1926 file!

[intern]

@Intern I hear what you are saying, but lets look at a situation closer to home. Zim, uses the US Dollar. When I went to Zim everything was so flippen expensive. Surely being our neighbors, the cost of labor and to do business is not that much different to SA? Were currencies also not better regulated when you had to back them up with Gold? Although without gold, there was not enough currency to go around... I hate economics hahaha

 

Everything is expensive in Zim because of an even more fundamental economic principle, that of supply and demand. The cost of doing business there is radically different to, say, South Africa or New Zealand or anywhere else. While I am not entirely familiar with the Zim situation, I doubt there is much credit, I doubt there is much confidence that a customer (if you can find one in the first place) can pay, and I know getting goods in and out is far from fast or easy, unless, apparently, those goods are cigarettes. There is also massive corruption which drives up the cost and risk of any exchange of goods or services.

 

Currencies today are backed by governments which in turn are backed by national productivity (and stability), which is more valuable than gold. Also, any currency is only valuable so long as (enough) people trust its value, and so long as the government appropriately controls the supply. Zim has some form here, as we all know.

 

BTW politics and economics are intricately interwoven and have an intimate impact on every aspect of our lives/society. You don't have one without the other (see 'Political economy' - the study of production and trade and their relations with law, custom and government; and with the distribution of national income and wealth.

 

More worthless views from a self proclaimed knowledgeable gimp more often described as opinionated.

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

This goes to the very heart of why a managed 'command and control' economy is always - always, always and always, without exception - an unmitigated disaster. You cannot have bureaucrats deciding what is and what is not an 'essential service'. All jobs are essential, or they would not exist.

When you create these command and control situations, you also prepare fertile ground for corruption, because sometimes all it takes for a bureaucrat to determine than your case is a special one, is the right sort of encouragement to see things the 'right' way.

 

Best wishes Steven, your situation is highly unfortunate and regrettable, I do hope it works out for you sooner rather than later.

 

Thanks man, I do agree with everything you have said.

They are citing quarantine facilities not having capacity.

I understand the need to have things properly in place, it is just a bit frustrating when you hear things like this but then also read about how badly they bodge some of these things too. Like not monitoring, releasing people haphazardly, etc.

Also it smacks of sitting on your hands when you have a tourism industry that could assist in accommodating people needing quarantine, with government assistance and monitoring. These BnB's, hotels, etc could be earning a living as almost all people waiting to be allowed entry, are also willing to pay for these services.

 

We are also hoping for a sooner rather than later, solution.

[intern]

Thanks man, I do agree with everything you have said.

They are citing quarantine facilities not having capacity.

I understand the need to have things properly in place, it is just a bit frustrating when you hear things like this but then also read about how badly they bodge some of these things too. Like not monitoring, releasing people haphazardly, etc.

Also it smacks of sitting on your hands when you have a tourism industry that could assist in accommodating people needing quarantine, with government assistance and monitoring. These BnB's, hotels, etc could be earning a living as almost all people waiting to be allowed entry, are also willing to pay for these services.

 

We are also hoping for a sooner rather than later, solution.

 

All the best. Things are not looking good right now, though, as the incompetent government is taking drastic actions to cover their litany of failures at even the simplest of tasks which were supposed to restore us to some sort of normalcy.

 

At the current rate - with around 2400 returning New Zealanders released without testing, and with the winter solstice just been, it's highly likely we'll have another covid outbreak; with the precedent of 'lockdown being necessary' (remember, around 22 grannies succumbed, most already in 'Heaven's Waiting Room' - which is what we used to call Amberfield in Howick when I was at school there) to prevent widespread death and destruction, the government has snookered itself into taking the same action again should that eventuate.

 

It's a *** situation. A very *** situation.

[davetapson]

I love Allen's approach: 'I'll just give it a go...' and then he whips out some genius level mechanical engineering with a bloody hacksaw and a 1926 file!

Same with the guy who built the boat "well, I don't really know how I'm going to do this, but if I don't make a start I won't get it done" and then off he goes.

 

Important part of a 'can do' attitude.

[davetapson]

 

 

We are also hoping for a sooner rather than later, solution.

We got caught out with last minute snafus that took 6 weeks or so to resolve, so feel some of your pain.

 

We had taken the kids out of school as they had started school holidays, and by the time we finally got them in to school here, they'd missed about three months of school. It's caused some issues.

 

Let's hope they pull finger.

 

Problem with Jacinda is she's good at responding to crises and a good communicator, but she's crap at getting things planned, organised and done. The health minister is a frkn disaster and she's not doing anything about him.

 

So at the moment the world thinks we have great leadership, but, yeah, well.

 

Not bad compared to some I suppose.

[Wannabe]

Yeah, you could have had our bunch in charge. 

[intern]

Yeah, you could have had our bunch in charge.

 

Oh my gaaawd. Ours are useless, but yours are a whole new level of special. Sterkte.

[patches]

Facebook Marketplace brosef...that is all! Also, you shoulda posted the items right here, people like me with AEG power tool collections may well have saved you some dosh...

 

My redemption claim on my tool kit arrived. 1x AEG Quickstack toolbox and 1x AEG 9Ah battery. (Total RRP around $550, not bad AEG!)

 

I plan on keeping the battery, but as I already have an AEG quickstack toolbox, this one is up for sale.

 

It's up on TradeMe (as I don't use the Face book that much). But if any Hubbers are keen I'll let it go for $200 ($40 off my BuyNow price, and $89 off the Bunnings Price).

 

The only catch is that you'd have to collect (Milford, North Shore) as it's awkward to ship.

 

This is the toolbox in question.

 

 

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/aeg-quickstack-3-piece-modular-storage-kit_p0034499

 

If anyone is keen, hit me up in the PM's!

[intern]

My redemption claim on my tool kit arrived. 1x AEG Quickstack toolbox and 1x AEG 9Ah battery. (Total RRP around $550, not bad AEG!)

 

I plan on keeping the battery, but as I already have an AEG quickstack toolbox, this one is up for sale.

 

It's up on TradeMe (as I don't use the Face book that much). But if any Hubbers are keen I'll let it go for $200 ($40 off my BuyNow price, and $89 off the Bunnings Price).

 

The only catch is that you'd have to collect (Milford, North Shore) as it's awkward to ship.

 

This is the toolbox in question.

 

 

https://www.bunnings.co.nz/aeg-quickstack-3-piece-modular-storage-kit_p0034499

 

If anyone is keen, hit me up in the PM's!

 

Send me your bank details on PM. Not quite sure when I will collect, but I will take that off your hands thanks