Wally's tales

Where do we all come from? It’s a very basic question that’s getting plenty of attention these days. People have been asking or wondering about this question since time began. Anyway, all today’s papers journals and news sources are full of this topic, all because Charles Darwin was born Two Hundred years ago. If you don’t know, he was the gentleman who gave us a partial set of facts and answers about our origins. Of course at that time his observations and findings was in direct conflict with the accepted Bible Story of Genesis. He was worried, and rightly so, just how his discoveries would be accepted by the Christian World. In times past it didn’t do you much good to get out of line with the established thinking. Religious Fundamentalists back then were not the kind of people to be trifled with, for that matter even today. More people have lost their lives and ended up on a stake by proposing something different other than the accepted ‘Truth’ as laid down by the various Church Doctrines than any other method. ‘We know the truth, they cry there is only one truth, recant your beliefs, or accept the consequences’.

And what do I believe? Well for a start I don’t believe in the story that the Earth was made over a week as described in Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament. Nor do I believe ‘fully’ in Natural Selection, as proposed by Darwin. For me, to believe that, some of the more sophisticated forms of life such as Brains, Sight, that popped up in the course of Natural Selection as prosed by Darwin’s Natural Selection theory. In my mind it’s too great a leap of faith to have arrived just by chance. One has to wonder, perhaps Natural Selection as proposed by Darwin maybe in my opinion may have got a nudge forward from God, or a like Deity. As by whom, well may you ask as there are plenty to pick from. Man for as long as he could reason, has worshiped who or what they considered responsible for our arrival on earth. Even today there are some 4,300 Faith Groups, all claiming they have the answers, so there is plenty to pick from. Should you want to go back into the past we have Greek and Roman gods which fell by the wayside. As well Egyptian and Aztec Sun Gods. Budderisium, so all men since the dawn of time have spent their lives looking for their creator to worship and pay homage to.

Through our last trip through India and Asia we saw simply dozens of temples, each with a fresh set of values and beliefs. Such as Jainism which boasts of many well educated Indian adherents, all of whom believe that plants and vegetables have souls, because of that, they eat nothing that grows under the soil.

Further to my beliefs, I was brought up a Christian, and I accept their laws on behaviour. I try to carry these out to the best of my ability. I don’t attend Church, as today’s services are composed of in the main the singing of Hymns. I can’t sing more than two notes in tune, so when I do attend a service I just mime the words. I get no pleasure from that exercise. I also resent being harangued for 30 minutes in the sermon, as get the feeling that the minister is talking at me. I accept that two thousand years ago a man called Jesus walked this earth, and met an untimely end. But there are many stories in the New Testament in my opinion that are more or less parables. The fact that there was such a long delay, one to two hundred years, getting the Testament transcribed will have allowed errors to creep in, and the scribes at the time perhaps fudged the facts.

Since his election win, John Key has been quietly beavering away, ridding us of many of the irksome laws that Labour had earlier passed. Many of these were a pain in the butt, and the Green Party had many more in the wings should they retain their position of support. These were part of the price and trade off that Labour had to pay for retaining power. These laws and legislation were all related to deals cut with the Minor Parties, as payback for their support. These quirky and mainly unpopular laws, were what had enabled Labour to form a Government, conversely, these were in main the same laws that got up the noses of the public, and what really what defeated them in the end. Power at any price didn’t go down well with the Public.

School Tuck Shop edicts to what they must sell, was an ‘over control’ as well, and it was proving to be difficult to administer. This also resulted actually in the actual closure of many facilities, as the operators or franchisees faced such loss of income, reached the point where trading was no longer an option, all the while watching their former customers march on by to the nearest Dairy.

The latest law to come under the spot light and revision is the Resources Management Act. If there has ever been an Act that has been misused from what it was designed for, this is it. While it’s principals are exemplary, some of it’s provisions and loopholes were eagerly used and exploited to frustrate many enterprises and delay projects for years, or even hold up something to the point where the proposer, just gave up and abandoned his proposal, rather than struggle their way through expensive appeal, after appeal.

In some cases it was used as a blatant restraint of trade by a competitor, stopping any idea or ambition of commencing a similar business on main street, which clearly is not what the law was designed for. Property Council Chief Executive Connal Townsend said, ‘For nearly 20 years, projects and developments that could have provided thousands of jobs and added to our Nation’s wealth had been chocked to death by never ending objections, and counter objections’. Appeals, and consultations. Thank goodness for Prime Minister Key bringing a little common sense to this expensive red tape operation. I hope at the same time those who bring these many these mischievous and vexatious appeals, are prepared to pay a little more too. It has been proposed that filing fees be increased to $500. It will interesting to see the detail of the Bill, if John Key can get it passed through Parliament. I don’t how he is doing it, but the usual hostile press, TV reporters, are giving him a free run. Maybe he is moving too fast and of course, the commentators must think we are all on holiday, as they have been for the past month or so.

There are subtle signs that things are changing in New Zealand, I have noticed the odd placard sign on the street advertising a Carpenter available for work. Able to commence work immediately. Normally you couldn’t find a carpenter here for love or money. Another strange thing that’s noticeable is that there is a spate of new fences being professionally built and other small domestic work being carried out on homes here. I pass on my way cross town at least eight new fences being constructed, that are clearly the work of tradesmen.

I think too that shortly we can expect the migration flow to Australian to stop, and reverse, as jobs over there dry up. It will effect many of those employed by the mining sector enterprises, who are already struggling with cancelled orders. What effect this will have on our housing and job markets here we will just have to wait and see.

I had a cardiac specialist’s appointment today, the various tests I had to undergo were prolonged and concluded about 4:30pm. Unfortunately this time puts me right into the middle of Christchurch peak traffic period. I didn’t think the medical procedures would take so long, and keeping me so late. I wasn’t even feeling ill to have these exams, it was just a routine check up. Anyway, I would have preferred not to be travelling down Papanui Road and into Central City at this hour of the day. At this time it means you meet up with School retrieval runs, plus early commuters, all hell bent in returning home. Adding to the congestion there are many schools in this area. All travelling on road at this time seem to be grumpy, and a very short tempered lot.

My tests must have been important to take so long, anyway when I left I was some $850 lighter. What exactly are these tests? I hear you say why are they so expensive. I don’t know but they didn’t seem all that different to the tests the medical centre in Queenstown used to carry out. I can’t really complain, these are the people who are extending my life.

Well the details of the test are,

A follow up Consultation 19^th Dec $150

Then an Echocardiogram $340

Bruce Protocol $210

Second Follow up 4^th Feb $150

As I exited St George’s Hospital, I discovered that I had escaped yet another charge, that was for parking on their site. They have now introduced toll gates in and out, you are issued with a time ticket on entering the Area. but the official ‘Take’ commences next week. Also, I would have still been standing in a queue outside St Georges Hospital had not some kind person let me join the traffic flow by making room for me. I was grateful for this gesture. I will never meet them to offer thanks, but it’s something I practice too whenever I can, after experiencing this curtesy in Australia.

Having lived in small towns most of my life, never having to bother with such things as traffic lights and all the other controls that abound in Cities. It’s been quite a shock to get used to peak traffic and ‘grid locks’. Not that locals take much notice of the many rules anyway. Compulsory Stops, for example, without exception they just cruise through those. Round Abouts, there is a protocol, but not many know what it is. No one bothers to signal. Show any hesitation and you will be ‘Cut Off’ in a flash. And how is I’m such an authority? Well I had to learn the road code again at 80 years of age, when I resat my drivers licence, and again at 82. I nearly failed my first test, I stopped at a compulsory stop a metre past the yellow line. ‘I will have to fail you’. Cried the examiner, ‘Why did you do that’? I replied, ‘Because there was a tree blocking my view and I stopped where I could actually see any on coming traffic’. ‘You should have still stopped on the yellow line then moved forward’. You have to admire the way these examiners cling to the official line, no matter how stupid it is. I passed, but more than a little annoyed with official attitude. I returned home and immediately wrote a testy letter to Ruth Dyson, Minister of Transport, inquiring why were we, the ‘Oldies’ being picked on. Statics relating to accidents show we are no different than any other age group. Why do we have to be retested every two years? It’s not because of the number of accidents we are involved in? Figures do not support this. Actually as a group, the Police have more accidents. Shouldn’t they be retested also? Anyway, she replied with a polite note saying she was pleased to say the requirement of retesting would shortly be looked at, and it’s since has. She wrote again when the requirement for retesting was actually repealed. I was pleased about that. But I must have got under her skin for that to happen.

The one group here that really do annoy me and they are the cyclists. About 20% of these have a death wish as they weave in and out of the lines of cars. Especially at the crossroads controlled by lights. Then they weave up to the front of the queue while the traffic is stopped, then when on the ‘Green’, everyone moves off at their speed. We spend millions in making roads which could be a ‘double’ carriage way. Then they mark off a metre or so on each side for the ‘occasional’ cyclist to use. Overseas they have cycle lanes but they are not carved off the existing highway. Another annoying habit it that a cyclist can turn into a pedestrian in a flash. They leap off their bikes when they come to a crossing, then commence walking claiming the ‘Right of way’. Also with the cycle lanes, people can and do park on them, a cyclist is then forced to go around the vehicles. This means at times they are obscured from view, if you are not careful you can have a cyclist on your lap when you open your door. Several have been killed by this action, being thrown into the path of another passing vehicle.

All my life I have been savings oriented, fat lot of good it has done me. I started off by buying a very large Life policy which at the time I could ill afford. This was to take care of me in my old age and dotage. Fat chance, I hadn’t taken into account meddling politicians. These folk by their muddling generated sufficient inflation to take care of my policy and rendered it’s value, as far as I was concerned, next to useless. The generous sum I had arranged to be delivered to me at sixty years of age, had now been reduced to a pittance. This didn’t stop the ‘suits’ to stand up and tell the Nation. ‘What we need to correct the current financial situation is for all to get more involved with saving’. I agree as a Ethnic Group we have a dismal savings record. Really why should you even bother to save? Just carry on Boozing, Gambling, perhaps Wild Women, and generally spending up large. When you require it the State will rush in and save you, even give you a Card that ensures you don’t pay for anything in the Health Area. Including a place in a retirement home, as well many hospital benefits. Save an ‘Nest Egg’, you Silly Billy, the State will soon rip this from you until you too reach the destitute status. Anyway after the Insurance debacle I took a deep breath, and started out again, determined not to make the same mistake again. I’m now convinced no matter what direction you take, every route is full of traps and hazards. Those who chased higher interest returns with Financial Companies, ended up with little or nothing as the Institutions they trusted their money with, one by one fell over and all their money just disappeared. Meanwhile the principals sailed off in their high priced yachts. Or pointed at their wife and million dollar mansion, stating, ‘Sorry I have no money. Unfortunately for you, it’s all in my wife’s name, or a family trust that can’t be broken’.

This brings me around again to the people in charge of our Money and Country. What qualifications do you really require to be a politician? None really, normally you are required only to look the part, as well our system is flawed by ‘List System’ which has allowed some unlikely candidates who would never have the slightest possibility of ever obtaining a seat in Parliament if they had to arrive under the system of having people actually voting for them. They with the list system they have bypassed this obstacle, and just slid into a position of power. In the past when you looked over the calibre of what arrived via this path to govern us, were breathtaking inadequate. Truly, this adopted election system is absolutely outrageous.

I have some money invested in ‘Bank Fixed Deposits,’ up until recently the interest stream was sufficient for us to live on and it was safe. With the Reserve Bank coming in with their low rates to protect the Business World and Trading Banks to save them from their stupidity, while this is fine and generous for them, but what about the folk in retirement who are relying on this interest and a reasonable income stream. We didn’t stuff up the current situation with stupid behaviour and suspect loans. Anyway are the banks passing on this largess to Card holders? So far they have shown no inclination to drop their rates from 21% pa. which is close to usury. I have also regarded the people who rack up huge debts with their cards, and pay this expensive interest as the idiot fringe, and they are completely irresponsible in most things. I don’t know what action should or can be taken, to protect these folk from their weakness and stupidity.

One sector of our troubled public have received an unexpected bonus. Any that went in over their heads, borrowing to the hilt to finance additional homes, have had a lifeline tossed at them in the form of these reduced interest rates. Seeing we haven’t seen the worst of this yet, and the result will be that many are going to lose their employment. When this happens, some of these folk can still fail as you also need a money stream to service any loan. I can see these things without the aid of any crystal ball.