I had my first experience of Southland cheese rolls with dinner last night. I can’t say I’m an instant fan. The tomato soup was on another level, however. Delicious.
Pop-up parlour in our village
What becomes possible when we open up a space for community, where locals can connect, collaborate, share and meet?
The Pop-up Parlour in Pukerua Bay is a month-long experiment in community connection.
Porn movie character name
A former boss was diagnosed with prostate cancer a few months ago and had surgery early this year. On a couple of occasions he has mentioned that one of the risks with this surgery is a reduction in sexual function (this appears to bother him).
Today he told me he is recovering OK and is encouraged by the fact that his surgeon’s name is Rod Stud!
I thought he was joking. He wasn’t. (Although the surgeon’s surname is actually Studd, which isn’t quite as funny.)
Blurred vision giving me a new appreciation of web accessibility
We’ve just heard from our power company that it will be another month before they can install a new import/export meter in our switchboard so we can use our new solar power setup and panels. Winter will be just about over by then. Rats.
With the end of winter there is more activity in the garden. It’s starting to look much nicer with our magnolias coming into flower. There are still a lot of weeds, but we will clear them out to give the summer perennials more space. Winter is a sad time in most perennial gardens, but summer is lovely.
Winnie in the garden
🐕Our dog on her early morning toilet visit to the garden. She loves to explore the space around the house. She is called ‘Winnie’ after my wife’s grandmother and is a Jack Russel Terrier, with all the energy and naughtiness that brings! She is currently trying to get the last of the porridge from my wife’s breakfast bowl.
The heavy rain we have been expecting has just arrived. Fortunately, the solar panel installers finished getting the final one up just in time!
Hope can be a dangerous thing when it comes to our health
When you’re face-to-face with serious illness or death, hope in an unattainable cure or treatment can be very emotionally damaging.
I mentioned in a blog post a couple of weeks ago that I was being considered for a newly-funded drug to have another crack at my myeloma. It’s now become available and I am into my first round of 21 days on pomalidomide (tradename Pomilide). I’ve only taken 2 capsules so far, which isn’t long enough for any side effects to show up.
Kids off to Singapore
Travel update: son and daughter-in-law have left Noosa and are on the plane to Singapore, en route to UK. We are expecting to see lots of photos of their market excursions there. Haven’t been there myself, but if it is like Hong Kong (minus the whole police state business) I’m sure it will be a great visit.
Unfortunately our daughter is still in hospital and can’t easily pass on food and market advice from her flatmate who lived there for several years while her father was on a defence posting.
Keeping the health system busy
Our family is persisting in making sure the health system is keeping busy. I had to get one of my regular blood tests today, and when we got home, we discovered our daughter, who lives next door, had been referred to the main hospital ED today by her GP for them to check out a bleeding stomach ulcer. Probably caused by taking anti-inflammatories for her endometriosis. So my wife had to drive her into town, muttering, “I’m truly sick of that place.” Good result, though. The daughter has been admitted overnight and will be seen by the gastrointestinal team tomorrow.
Also, one of our nieces fell off her bike this morning and needed the paramedics to clean up a nasty graze and bruise on her knee. She also has two chipped teeth – harder (and more expensive) to fix than a scrape and bruise! Very grateful she was wearing her helmet.
Choosing who you want in your family
Another night in hospital
🐕Making short work of the human’s porridge pot
Joe Biden stepping down from presidential race
As an outside and largely indifferent observer of US politics, I believe that Biden’s decision not to stand in the election is wise. Given his apparent infirmity, age, and rumours about the amount of support he needs from his staff, it seems doubtful he could manage another full 4-year term.
Endorsing Kamala Harris seems like a good decision. She seems popular with demographics Joe doesn’t seem to be. However, it might be challenging for her to maintain Joe’s support with other groups. Hopefully, she can.
But what a radical change it would be to elect a Black woman of Indian descent!
Parliamentary select committee appearance on community adaptation to climate change
The big OE
It’s the second-to-last day of our son and daughter-in-law’s stay at our place before they head off to the UK on Tuesday for their big OE. Last-minute selling of their car, cameras, and sound recording gear. And confusion about how to pack the bags. Will everything fit?
Everyone is feeling a mixture of excitement and sadness.
Faith in dealing with illness
IT outage
Crikey. You go for morning tea at a friend’s new unit* and then a lunchtime concert, only to get home to discover there’s a worldwide IT armageddon. And you hadn’t even noticed. All I can say is that I’m lucky I’m no longer working for my former employer, which is — like most of the New Zealand government — running almost entirely on Microsoft systems.
(* ‘Unit’: a small dwelling that is part of a group of attached abodes.)