AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Thank you for listening.

Hugs and much sympathy from the quake-free (yet marshy and flood-prone) Waikato. Hang in there. Every New Zealander here and overseas is thinking of you.

Joseph.

Thanks, Joseph.

Ignoring the current bit of Christchurch earthmoving (centred more than 10k from my Christchurch home), my sister lives in Nelson, 300k away from here, multiple hundred metres above sea level and safe (I thought) from floods.

No.

She has a flooded basement and had no power for two days.

Why should Nature be fighting us so much? What have we as a species done (not counting destroying rain forests, ozone layer irregularities, irreplaceable resource squandering and general pork-brained arrogant carbon-based life-form ignorance) to deserve this? Surely when I wake in the morning with my ffordian books on the bookshelf above my bed in neat chronological order, I can expect in the evening something other than what I now see, which I can most briefly describe as not that?

Since the first quake in September 2009, here in Christchurch we've had more than eight thousand aftershocks of above magnitude 2. Today we've had a 6.0 and a 5.8. I'm tired (sick and) of aftershocks.

On the other hand, I personally am unscratched, my family (out of Christchurch) and friends (in Christchurch) are equally unblemished, and all we've lost is stuff. Now, I like my stuff, but I'm happy to be stuffless and unscratched.

I'd say more, but in thinking about just how lucky I am, I've kind of lost my whole train of thought.

I don't think today's bourbon intake has had that much effect (affect? Am I that plastered? I can't believe I'm so confused that I'm confused about that. I really (right now) don't know which is correct. Don't tell me which it is, because I KNOW!) on this post.

Thanks for listening.

Hey, I just hit post before I proofread. Ah, who cares.

MC we all care. Hope that everything settles down for Christmas. It seems that you Kiwis are having a bit of a bad run at the moment - we hope that the New Year brings you a more hospitable treatment from Mother Nature.

MC - and anyone else affected - our thoughts are with you!

mrs. SkidMarks (from Lower Hutt) also sends good wishes.

> Why should Nature be fighting us so much? What
> have we as a species done (not counting destroying
> rain forests, ozone layer irregularities,
> irreplaceable resource squandering and general
> pork-brained arrogant carbon-based life-form
> ignorance) to deserve this?

Why indeed? On that note, I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday about the quakes, and she was saying a lot of people are moving from Christchurch to Australia, where there aren't (quite as many) quakes.

Which is fine.

All you have to contend with then is:

* Bushfires
* Heatwaves
* Poisonous snakes, spiders and birds.
* Floods
* Shane Warne

etc., etc. All in all, a great place to live.

Seriously, no matter where you go, somewhere, at sometime, Mother Nature is going to poop on you, and all you can do is hang on, and help yourself and others get through it. Like I said before, everybody's 100% behind you. Don't ever think your're alone in this.


>
> I don't think today's bourbon intake has had that
> much effect (affect? Am I that plastered? I can't
> believe I'm so confused that I'm confused about
> that. I really (right now) don't know which is
> correct. Don't tell me which it is, because I
> KNOW!) on this post.

Bourbon? Yikes,going straight past coffee or beer, and on to the hard stuff. I don't quite know what to expect if I ever meet you in person. Long overcoat? Stubble on your face? Singing "I Was Born Under A Wandering Star?" Crikey, MC, you're starting to worry me ;)

> Thanks for listening.

Hey, I'm not good for a hell of a lot, but I can do somethings passably. We here all can. Like I say, we're all thinking of you.

Cheers,

Joseph.

P.S. It's effect. You were right first time, so the bourbon didn't quite hit you as bad as you think. (Damn, she says. Gotta have a decent slug next time... :) )

That's comforting. Christchurch may have all sorts of problems, but you're right, we've achieved a universally envied optimal sub-unity quota of Shane Warnes.

I don't quite know what to expect if I ever meet you in person. Long overcoat? It's about 24ºC at the moment. Shorts and T-shirt.

Stubble on your face? I haven't shaved for about 40 years. I get a trim every fortnight or so.

Singing "I Was Born Under A Wandering Star?" Even after a Christmas drink or two, I wouldn't inflict that on anyone.

Crikey, MC, you're starting to worry me. No worries, mate. I've never broken my self-imposed restriction of having a drink only when I feel like one.

The quakes have quietened down now. Only a hundred-odd aftershocks since 2 pm Friday, and nothing for the last couple of hours. 9,362 quakes since September 4, 2010.

A very merry late December to all.

Random things make me think of my ffriends, but be sure that when I hear about earthquakes, especially when "Christchurch" is in the same sentence, I am wishing you well and sending what good karma I can spare. I don't have much good karma, but what I can spare is yours... and I'm sure the rest off the fforumites are wishing you well, too. Please keep us posted. Try to enjoy putting your books (and everything else) back on the shelf for what is probably the 20th time...

Cats are COOL. They are survivors!!!!.

Today in Christchurch we had aftershock quake number 10,000.

Ten bleeding thousand aftershocks of above 2.0 Richter, not to mention the mind-bogglingly larger number of shimmies and shakes of lesser magnitude.

That's a lot.

It's a persistent, consistent, continuously continually mind-numbingly large number of children-terrifying, adult-annoying, building-crumbling, road-warping, city infrastructure-destroying, mind-numbingly terrifyingly series of Oh dear God, when will this stop! powerless to fix events.

I don't like it.

I'd like it to stop, fairly soon, if not right now yes please that would be nice I'd like that just do it I don't like this stop it I've had enough. More than enough.

<Begin (or possibly continue) selfish whine>I really don't give a stuff that the rest of the world has had tsunamis, volcano eruptions, terrorist bombings, natural disasters and the presence of Shane Warne to contend with, I just want a bit of peace and quiet, a full night's sleep, the knowledge that I'll have a working phone, an Internet connection, a toilet that flushes and a bookshelf that hasn't fallen on my head in the night when I wake up in the morning. </Begin (or possibly continue) selfish whine>

Oh, and while I'm wingeing about things that aren't possible, I'd like to be able to remember how to solve the Rubik's cube, because I used to be able to do it in under five minutes about 15 years ago but I've forgotten how to do it now, and I was just given a cube as a present so I'm interested again and the processes both of trying to remember and re-trying to work out solutions that I once managed to work out without any outside help have made me very aware of age-induced brain fade.

Aaaahhh, that's better.

Thanks for listening.

Oh, (sudden sidetrack) and in order to distract the grandchildren, I've just bought them some Hexbugs. (Google them, then buy some for your kids/grandkids/yourself.) I had LOTS of fun doing the trivia questions, and managed to achieve fifth in the world! on the daily leader board trivia questions. It was fun!

Hey, we just had another aftershock. Somehow, as a result of that I just lost my entire train of thought and interest in writing this.

It's possibly relevant that (once again, or (acceptably) still,) I'm not entirely sober.

All together now, "Alcoholics unanimous," Oh, Hell, I'll just wait for the next quake before I finish...

Peckers must be kept up in situations such as this(even if bookshelves can't be) We're all thinking of you!! If you want a holiday from mighty movements you can come and stay with us where the only earthquakes happen when the cat misses its tray

Hex bugs - the perfect toy for the post apocalyptic world in which you seem to be living. Ghastly things - look and behave like cockroaches.

What amazes me is that without your posts I would be utterly unaware of the continuing problems in Christchurch. I imagine that there will be a documentary at some point, but in the meantime, nothing. That strikes me as really rather shocking.

I can only conclude that Hex Bugs have taken over NZ, causing a media blackout. They have, in addition nobbled all the Rubik's cubes in NZ, making them unsolvable. Man hours that should be spent fighting off the bug's terrifying plan to dominate the world are actually being spent on an unsolvable puzzle and a curiously addictive website.

On the plus side, they haven't taken over the FForum yet and because of your posts, I do know and do care and like you, wish it would stop. What became of your elderly neighbour?

Mistycat,

All of us are thinking of at random times. In Adelaide the last decent house rending earthquake was 1953, but we do get the odd rumble in the ground that is not connected to ill fed wombats.

Regardless of Kiwis taking over Sydney I still think it is the Japanese doing 'research' on whales that is implicated.

It's nice to know that you won't get an earthquake above 9.6 Richter because the ground would be liquified and you would all run down the river into the sea.

My wife has a wonderful set of photographs of Cghristchurch from her visit there in 1977.

Keep up the good work in advising us of the current state of affairs, and remember : keep grumbling at the world!

Best wishes

Geg, the old guy over the fence moved into a retirement home late last year. He had regular family visits at his home and I'm sure he'll be fine.

There's a documentary movie currently showing in Christchurch (trailer at www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIlxoV6uG3Q) but I don't know how popular it is outside of the city. I don't go to the movies so I haven't yet seen it.

It's understandable that the topic of Christchurch and its problems doesn't make the news so much nowadays. Although the disruption to city life is ongoing for Christchurch residents, there's nothing really newsworthy happening. They started last week on the demolition of (I think) about 5,000 damaged houses, and on a world scale that's no big news. The Japanese 9.0 quake and tsunami in May last year did rather grab the news focus.

I suppose the fact that I now can't remember if Japan had 20,000 or 30,000 deaths says something. Ho-hum, just a difference of ten thousand lives - somewhere not here. I can't really expect the world to be all that interested in our rebuilding news when I show such a lack of interest in other overseas affairs. I'm more interested in the fact that last week we were told that in mid-February the insurers will come to put sticking plasters on the house's sore bits, and we'll have to be out of the house for at least three weeks. The house is a solid timber frame (which survived well) clad in stone blocks, which cracked in many places. Inside, there's cracks in walls and ceilings and a few sticking doors. All repairs adequately covered by insurance. Premiums have now risen about 300%.

End of ramble. I'm going to play with my Rubik's cube.

Thanks for listening.

Inneresting innit! My sprained thumb is equal to someone down the road breaking a leg which is equal to some unknown person dying in a motor vehicle accident which is equal to 20,000 people dying in a natural event somewhere else on the planet.


Working backward what personal damage would equate to the end of the universe as we think we know it?

"Working backward what personal damage would equate to the end of the universe as we think we know it?"

= Loss of Internet capabilities - unavailability of the fforum.

If the rest of the Universe(s) as we don't know it are also lost, then throw in loss of T.V.

If books go... No, losing just a pack of universes doesn't really cut it.

I think I agree.

All we need now is a direct entry into Library Space.

Hey there.

It's 365 days since an earthquake in my home town of Christchurch New Zealand killed about 170 people. (more or less. They weren't me, why should I bother to be precise.)

I'm old. (I'm 65)

I'm a GUY. (rah rah Rugby, sports, fishing, stiff upper lip, no emotion, nudge nudge, wink wink, manly man stuff.)

I just watched this TV program named Aftershock.

[www.tv3.co.nz]

I'm still bawling my eyes out. (Bawling? What kind of word is "bawling?") bawling bawling bawling. I have a sudden overwhelming urge to say "Pshaw!" (I did mention I was old, didn't I?)

I didn't suffer in any of the quakes. (much)
My house is OK. (mostly)
My friends are OK. (Yes, pretty much all of them.)
After 10,000-odd quakes and aftershocks I don't jump or feel startled when we have yet another earth-burp. (Yeah, right.)

Today (it's about 1:00 am Wednesday in New Zealand, so in about 18 hours from now) at 7:30pm on TV3 I'm going to watch the two hour documentary "When a City falls."

I've run out of things to say. I really should edit this stuff, instead of just pouring it out.

Just how does this relate to the books of Jasper fforde?

Next question, please.

It doesn't relate to Jasper's books at all I look on them as an escape from overwhelming moments. I must admit I felt weepy when I read your sad bit. Heigh-ho and lackaday


Just watched the film. So sad.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/21/2012 09:08PM by old boiler.