Month: July 2008

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Storm will cost tens of millions

During the recent storm in New Zealand the P&O cruises ship Pacific Sun was hit by 7 metre swells and 50 knot winds when it suddenly rolled 600km north of Auckland. Forty-two people on the cruise have received medical treatment.

The storm has continued to lash New Zealand as it has moved down the country towards the South Island. It has been confirmed that the person lost has drowned while trying to cross a river and it seems likely that her husband who is also missing may have also drowned. Some initial estimates of the damage caused by the storm put the costs at millions of dollars.

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50,000 Homes with out Power

The last 12 hours the North Island of New Zealand has been buffeted by winds of up to 150k and heavy rain. There have been more than 50,000 homes without power as tress blew down and crashed through power lines. The speed on the harbour bridge was lowered to 60k and people were told to stay at home and not venture out unless necessary. We are fortunate that there has been now loss of life although there is damage to property. The storm has passed its peek and it is more settled but forecasters are predicting a possible repeat next Wednesday.

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General Election

The fever builds towards the next general election. Each day the news papers are featuring those with political aspirations and what the have or have not done. With an MMP system those who want to gain power are very keen to get the party vote and are keen to discredit those who would take it away from them. To be honest it is getting a bit hard to take and there is a long way to go yet ….months and months. The leader of the opposition had his photo in the main news paper this morning and a story about being one of the richest people in NZ. It won’t make me vote for him. Wel at least it looks kie it might be a decent day. Hope so….

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Rough weather

The weather has been wet cold and rainy for three days. There has been thunder lightning and cold wind. Had to work inside the last few days. Worked on the computer most of the time produced some multimedia resources.
Petrol down again great news

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Just in Time……

Well it looks as if the looming power crisis is off. The long awaited rain has come and the storage lakes are now more than 60% full. It is good that we will not face black outs. The infrastructure will cope and the proposed wind farms will assist in the future.
Petrol is still down and that will greatly assist. The general low… and talk of depression will at least be off – the tip of peoples tongues even if it is only for a short time. Some positive news has been badly lacking for some time.

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Petrol down 4 cents today

For the first time some weeks petrol was down in price. This made the news and there was a lot of DD people at the pumps. The petrol prices have hit people hard in NZ particularly in the country and farming sectors. Costs have been up in food and other areas due to the transport component in each transaction. However the question is will it last? The bulk oil price has been up and down so much it is hard to be particularly hopeful.

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Time

Some say time is in your hands… Others say I don’t have the time… Time waits for no man….One thing I know for sure is that time is finite you realise this as you get older. The other thing that you learn is things that must be done should be done there and then ….if delayed…. they are still there and tasks are often compounded. It also seems that routine makes time drag while variety does the opposite. I believe that there is all the time we need to do the things we need to do…. and there is sometimes time to do the things we want to do. The delimar we face is spending more time doing the things we want to do…… and less time doing things we have to do although sometime we enjoy doing the have to things. Perhaps the answer is to see time as the most precious thing we have and not waste a minute.

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Something has happened

For the last half hour heavy trucks and cars have passed our gate.Few if any ever do so. I think there must have been a major incident on the southern expressway and all traffic re directed through our little town. They all going the same way and heading south. Have checked news sites and TV and radio news nothing available.

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Fine again

Well after three days of showers and rain it is fine again. There is a lot of fog and the airport has been closed. There are a lot of people out and a lot of traffic. Petrol is now $2.19 a litre. It has made me think twice about using the car. It also must impact on prices and milk and cheese are forecast to rise in price.

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Weather to crack up again….

After several days of fine sunny weather the forecast is not good for the next few days. It is to blow and rain once again over the next few days as another low moves on to NZ. It is not as cold tonight and that is a blessing.

Still no letter has been received I find it rather strange as we have had copies of all other letters sent to us.