Some Other Good Things

Wednesday June 17

Well tomorrow finally came a day later, funny how often that seems to occur! I'm able to spend the time writing this because my work normal remote connection is U/S at the moment and I'm waiting for an alternative that one of my colleagues is fast-tracking.

Some of you may remember that  few weeks ago I hurt my back - no specific cause just a fair amount of pain which eventually went away, mostly after I had a really good massage from Nicole. Anyway about a week ago I started to get some quite severe pain down my left side from my buttock all the way down my thigh, calf and under my foot which eventually developed a numb spot.  I put up with it for a while thinking like most males that it would go away if I ignored it but it was sufficiently annoying and painful for Ros to say that I needed to get my back checked as it was obviously something impacting my sciatic nerve. Saw my GP and was sent off for a CT scan which occurred yesterday. Earliest I can see him is Thursday afternoon so I'm living on panadeine and neurophen and not moving around or sitting or sleeping much. That's just to let you know that I'm a bit over my body even though I recognise that the current situation may have something to do with it. 

The good thing is that I'm just going with the flow and dealing with it a day at a time or sometimes its 5 minutes at a time.

Last Weekend

While Cait and the kids were here helping with Ros' shed, mulch etc., Ros got a call from one of our friends we haven't caught up with for a while. Shona a nurse and former work colleague of Ros invited us over for a meal, shower and stay over if we wanted and not to forget to bring the washing.  We immediately cancelled whatever we'd been planning to have for dinner and said we'd be there at about 6:30.

It was a fabulous evening, no pressure, pleasant conversation, hot showers a great dinner and several glasses or more of good wine. Eventually drifted off to bed and managed not to sleep for a good part of the night due mostly to the sciatic pain. Woke up in the morning feeling decidedly whacked!  Geoff went off for a ride and Shona and Ros went for a walk and coffee and I took some more painkillers and flopped slowly back into bed.

Three hours later I woke feeling almost human and while not pain free, it was not grabbing at my gizzards. We had planned to wander around and have a look at some of the display homes to get an appreciation of  what you got for the $$$ but due to the lateness of the hour,  we settled for lunch and a quick departure as we had a meeting to attend in St Andrews at 3:00 according to me and 4:00 according to Ros. 

While Shona was organising lunch, Geoff took me out to the toolshed and put together a bunch of metric spanners for me. I subsequently managed to leave them sitting on the bench and even though Geoff chased us for about 1500m, I was obviously not focussed on my wing mirrors and he gave up and brought them over yesterday morning.

It was a perfect way to spend the weekend and we were most grateful to be reminded that Kiwis living in Australia have lost none of their friendliness and ability to create and share a relaxing environment. 

The St Andrews Recovery Committee Election

We arrived about 10 minutes late (it was 3:00pm) and just managed to find space in the crowded Community Hall. The whole process was extremely well managed and facilitated by a woman from Panton Hill whose name I didn't manage to find out.  There were a number of  potentially complex issues which were dealt with in a most professional and inclusive manner and at the end we had been through the background and creation process, met all the candidates, added a new one from the floor endorsed the creation of an incorporated body and elected the Committee.  This was followed by  afternoon soup, tea, coffee, cakes , biscuits and date loaf as well as a multitude of other goodies. All in all a most satisfactory conclusion to what has been for the people involved quite an intensive period of work.

The next step is a public meeting next Sunday to discuss what it is that the community needs.

We came home picked up a few things and I drove Ros over to Cait and Nicco's as there is school in the morning and I don't want to get up too early. Didn't want to stay for dinner as the day was catching up with me and my pills were back at the farm, so Angus the dog who has settled into his role  as Landrover guardian and I climbed aboard and dieselled off home.

And finally - Jan phoned up and offered me dinner which she brought up and ate with me. 

What a great end to the weekend.

The Building Commission

Last week on Thursday mid-morning I received a visit from a team from the Building Commission, Anne, Kate and Dean their photographer. They  were in the process of updating their Temporary Accomodation Booklet and wanted to meet with people like us who were in temporary accommodation on site and  tell it from their perspective rather than just some bureaucrat's idea of how it should be. 

As our site is very visible from the road they decided to drop in and see if anyone was at home. I had previously met Anne at one of the first Bushfire Standards Seminars that the Commission had presented some months ago and she remembered me because of the questions I'd asked about the barn.

We spent some time talking about our experience and what specific issues I had relating to rebuilding and also living on the site. I talked about the fact that most people including us, even though reasonably insured had not really considered the possibility and costs associated with total destruction of the property and the need to start from scratch including all services. As things stand we look to be anywhere between $50K to $150K short of what it may ultimately cost.

I expressed my frustration despite their best and positive intentions that Council's Planning and Building departments did not seem to be able to agree on apparently simple things like the size of sheds that didn't require planning permits. And when they did, it was something ridiculously small like 10sqm. I can have 50 of the bloody things as long as they are not joined together! 

While I was very pleased to be in the process of receiving $50k from the bushfire fund it seemed that it left an awful lot of money for infrastructure/councils etc which didn't seem to have been the intention of the people who had donated it. I'm grateful but another $10-15K  in the form of a barn or shed would, together with a relaxation of the current rules about living in same temporarily, would have made our lives a lot easier. 

I also raised once again the issue of  centrally provided shower and toilet blocks that council seems to be totally disinterested in. 

New Logo & Website

I'm sure there were a few other things but they've got lost. Throughout this discussion Dean took a bunch of photos including one of me washing up and also of the general site.  

It turns out that he's the creative director of a company called KissChasey and works at www.logoloco.com.au (worth a look) and when he learned that I'm just kicking off the Little Wood Consulting Garden design business, offered to design a logo and business card gratis. 

The outcome is fantastic - and inspired me to put it on my website which until yesterday was just a name and one thing led to another so now I have a functioning website which courtesy of Mr Google is "free".  It's here for you to have a look at - have to say I'm pretty pleased with the result and would like your feedback - good or bad.

 http://tinyurl.com/2335LittleWood

Cheers