A welcome relief from the earthquake posts - here's a light hearted look at me.
Enjoy
A. Age: 44, will be 45 in July but have had heaps of comments since I have lost a bit of weight that I look like I’m early 30’s (which I like!!)
B. Bed size: Super King – love it but I don’t seem to get much between my wife and the dogs, I get only a small section.
C. Chore you dislike: dusting, hate it, always have, always will
D. Dogs: Papillion’s – we have 2, Oscar (black and white) and Rusty (red and white) – they rule our roost
E. Essential start to your day: sugar free V (don’t do hot drinks)
F. Favourite colour: yellow, my car, tee shirts, road ID – if only I could get a yellow bike I’d be set!!
G. Gold or silver: White gold.
H. Height: 6 foot
I. Instruments you play(ed): never have – you might say that I’m “musically challenged”
J. Job title: Company Director – we own a travel agency
K. Kids: never will, not interested, don’t like them
L. Live: Christchurch, New Zealand
M. Mom’s name: Geraldine
N. Nicknames: don’t have one but in the 80’s when you could only put a 3 letter name on space invaders when you got the high score – I’d put “Bob”
O. Overnight hospital stays: Yes. Last one was last year, knee surgery
P. Pet peeves: People who are late (I’m never late) and people who moan about stuff – either shut the f&*%k up or change it – easy?
Q. Quote from a movie: “Goose, it’s time to buzz the tower” – Top Gun
R. Righty or lefty: Righty
S. Siblings: I have a brother 2 years younger than me and a sister 2 years younger than him – sister has 2 kids.
T. Time you wake up: 6.00am weekends as well (we have small puppies) – I am a morning person
U. Underwear: McPherson Men briefs (Elle McPherson)
V. Vegetables you don’t like: sprouts and broccoli
W. What makes you run late: nothing, I always leave plenty of “wiggle” room.
X. X-rays you’ve had: both knees, ankle, back, shoulder, hands, wrists and hip – yeah, pretty much all of me – I had a head on smash on a motorbike (with a car) when I was 18
Y. Yummy food you make: I cook a mean BBQ
Z. Zoo animal favourites: love the tigers
Monday, March 14, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Update
Hi all,
Time for a short update – what a couple of weeks huh?
My leg is covered in bruises from the accident I had last week – (see previous post about the shit-head that drove into me and knocked me off my bike) but getting better by the day.
Pleased to report that Sonia and I are fine (or as fine as we can be given the recent events) but as you can imagine, we are both incredibly tired, stressed and a bit frustrated with the position we are in. I guess these feelings are all natural in these times we are now living.
We have power and running water BUT the city are still advising us to boil all water so as you can imagine, we are all having a great time. The biggest issue for us right now is sewerage – it’s all busted and not working. Now I don’t mind camping one bit but 2 weeks of crapping in the back yard in a hole dug in the back garden is getting pretty old!!
We do have a porta-loo at the end of our street but it seems so far away??
We went to a meeting by city officials yesterday – the mayor, representatives of the fire service, police, health service, social services and a few others were all in attendance to give our local area an update on what we can expect in our immediate future in our local area. About 500 people turned up to the local park to hear what was said and to be honest, not a lot of new info was passed on to us. The main thing we took out of this meeting was that the waste wasn’t likely to be fixed very soon – in fact, they think they are talking somewhere in the vicinity of 6 months.
Hands up anyone who has camped for 6 months?? NOT ME
I shouldn’t complain too much as we still have our house and our puppies are fine (our street is buggered though) but I do feel incredibly stressed and I “pity the fool” (see I can still use a funny reference to the A Team) that rubs me the wrong way because they might just end up wearing all the bent up stress and rage that I feel is currently just simmering under my rather cool exterior. Since the earthquake (22FEB), we have had heaps of decent aftershocks so there are plenty of people just wandering around with a kind of blank look on their faces, everyone looks stressed and tired – here’s a statistic for you, between the Tuesday (day of the quake) and the Friday, 38,000 people flew out of Christchurch. Up until yesterday, they predict that this figure is now close to 60,000 people have left town – CRAZY HUH!!!!
I am trying to stay as strong as I can but this is proving to be quite a challenge – I have responsibilities and these are to my wife and puppies and our house, we also have a business that employs 5 people so I am also responsible for these people and their families – this is tough as there are so many businesses that have ceased to be in Christchurch and there are so many that face a very uncertain future. People will hold onto their cash and this may have a huge impact on our business but we are back up and trading, we are busy which is good and as the city or the CBD is effectively closed for the foreseeable future, we may be ok – time will tell so wish us luck.
Time for a short update – what a couple of weeks huh?
My leg is covered in bruises from the accident I had last week – (see previous post about the shit-head that drove into me and knocked me off my bike) but getting better by the day.
Pleased to report that Sonia and I are fine (or as fine as we can be given the recent events) but as you can imagine, we are both incredibly tired, stressed and a bit frustrated with the position we are in. I guess these feelings are all natural in these times we are now living.
We have power and running water BUT the city are still advising us to boil all water so as you can imagine, we are all having a great time. The biggest issue for us right now is sewerage – it’s all busted and not working. Now I don’t mind camping one bit but 2 weeks of crapping in the back yard in a hole dug in the back garden is getting pretty old!!
We do have a porta-loo at the end of our street but it seems so far away??
We went to a meeting by city officials yesterday – the mayor, representatives of the fire service, police, health service, social services and a few others were all in attendance to give our local area an update on what we can expect in our immediate future in our local area. About 500 people turned up to the local park to hear what was said and to be honest, not a lot of new info was passed on to us. The main thing we took out of this meeting was that the waste wasn’t likely to be fixed very soon – in fact, they think they are talking somewhere in the vicinity of 6 months.
Hands up anyone who has camped for 6 months?? NOT ME
I shouldn’t complain too much as we still have our house and our puppies are fine (our street is buggered though) but I do feel incredibly stressed and I “pity the fool” (see I can still use a funny reference to the A Team) that rubs me the wrong way because they might just end up wearing all the bent up stress and rage that I feel is currently just simmering under my rather cool exterior. Since the earthquake (22FEB), we have had heaps of decent aftershocks so there are plenty of people just wandering around with a kind of blank look on their faces, everyone looks stressed and tired – here’s a statistic for you, between the Tuesday (day of the quake) and the Friday, 38,000 people flew out of Christchurch. Up until yesterday, they predict that this figure is now close to 60,000 people have left town – CRAZY HUH!!!!
I am trying to stay as strong as I can but this is proving to be quite a challenge – I have responsibilities and these are to my wife and puppies and our house, we also have a business that employs 5 people so I am also responsible for these people and their families – this is tough as there are so many businesses that have ceased to be in Christchurch and there are so many that face a very uncertain future. People will hold onto their cash and this may have a huge impact on our business but we are back up and trading, we are busy which is good and as the city or the CBD is effectively closed for the foreseeable future, we may be ok – time will tell so wish us luck.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Shit
Fuck - as if we don't have enough shit going on - this morning I was hit by a car on the way to work - I was on my mountain bike as the roads are so congested with all the damage from the earthquake.
I am fine, just a little banged up, grazed knee etc - could have been a lot worse.
I'm just very, very frustrated right now!!!!!
All I want is a surf and/or swim.
I am fine, just a little banged up, grazed knee etc - could have been a lot worse.
I'm just very, very frustrated right now!!!!!
All I want is a surf and/or swim.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Earthquake update from Christchurch
Hi guys,
First, thank you to Sis and Jill for your thoughts after you heard about the earthquakes here last Tuesday.
This might be a long one as I have a few photos but I'll start with the story.
Our day normally begins with me dropping the wife (Sonia) off to her to place of work and then on to my workplace, this whole journey takes us about 45 minutes but after the quake the journey in reverse took 4 and a 1/2 hours.
I was sitting at my desk in the office when the quake struck and the office moved about 5 feet back and forth and shook for just over 30 seconds. The official measure was 6.3 - BUT - this one was centred within 10 km from the city centre and only 5 km deep. As of right now, the death toll is 146.
Back to the office, things were falling off the shelves, brochure shelf units fell over, some light fittings fell from the ceiling and as soon as it stopped shaking,
I made sure that the staff got out and away from the building.carpark before we wen't back in to secure a few things, lock the safe and get the hell out.
There were some pretty good aftershocks as we were all standing in the
I sent the staff home to be with their families and said I'd be in touch (this was Tuesday) and headed to pick up Sonia. She works on the 5th floor of a building and I was very concerned for her safety and all I wanted to do is get to her. I did after a couple of hours as traffic was crazy with everyone getting out of the city. I found her and we just stood there and hugged - it was very emotional.
We then headed home to see what sort of state our house was in and we could not get within 3 blocks of the house. Some roads were impassable and our street was under water.
We had to roll up our pants and wade in. The water was halfway up our driveway and had not reached the house which we were very happy about. We got inside and we had crap everywhere. Stuff had fallen over, all our draws werer open, we have cracks in some of the tiles in the entrance hallway and our puppies were very happy to see us.
That night I got out in the street and managed to clear the drain and shovelled a heap of the silt away - enough to clear most of the water at the end of the street. All that seemed to follow for the next few days was digging and moving the massive amount of silt from the liqufication that had occured - just crazy scenes!!
We were without water, power, sewage or cell coverage for days, got water on Friday and we got the power back yesterday - still no sewage as yet.
So much more to say so will add more later - a very close friend is staying with us for a while as her house is totally wrecked and unliveable. We spent 2 hours this morning getting everything out of the house for her and it is probably due to be demolished in the next few days - so sad. Here is a couple of pictures of the cracks in her house.
So sad for her but pleased that we can provide a roof over her head. She is a very special person that would do (and does) anything for anyone, we are just lucky that we can help her out and she will be welcome to stay with us for as long as she needs. This is her second home but it may take a while for the puppies to adjust as they seem to think that this is their house !!!
First, thank you to Sis and Jill for your thoughts after you heard about the earthquakes here last Tuesday.
This might be a long one as I have a few photos but I'll start with the story.
Our day normally begins with me dropping the wife (Sonia) off to her to place of work and then on to my workplace, this whole journey takes us about 45 minutes but after the quake the journey in reverse took 4 and a 1/2 hours.
I was sitting at my desk in the office when the quake struck and the office moved about 5 feet back and forth and shook for just over 30 seconds. The official measure was 6.3 - BUT - this one was centred within 10 km from the city centre and only 5 km deep. As of right now, the death toll is 146.
 |
| Our back room at work |
I made sure that the staff got out and away from the building.carpark before we wen't back in to secure a few things, lock the safe and get the hell out.
There were some pretty good aftershocks as we were all standing in the
I sent the staff home to be with their families and said I'd be in touch (this was Tuesday) and headed to pick up Sonia. She works on the 5th floor of a building and I was very concerned for her safety and all I wanted to do is get to her. I did after a couple of hours as traffic was crazy with everyone getting out of the city. I found her and we just stood there and hugged - it was very emotional.
We then headed home to see what sort of state our house was in and we could not get within 3 blocks of the house. Some roads were impassable and our street was under water.
 |
| Just around the corner from us |
 |
| This is our street looking right from our driveway |
We were without water, power, sewage or cell coverage for days, got water on Friday and we got the power back yesterday - still no sewage as yet.
 |
| Looking left from our driveway |
 |
| This is the entrance to our street |
 |
| This is lookingup our driveway, you can see the water line |
 |
| Our digging work |
 |
| A spring appeared in the middle of our street |
 |
| Sonia pointing to our street lake |
 |
| our sleeping arrangments in the longe - close access to the table |
So much more to say so will add more later - a very close friend is staying with us for a while as her house is totally wrecked and unliveable. We spent 2 hours this morning getting everything out of the house for her and it is probably due to be demolished in the next few days - so sad. Here is a couple of pictures of the cracks in her house.
 |
| Her garage seperating from the neighbours wall |
 |
| her wall - the whole house moved |
 |
| you can see where the deck and wall has seperated from the house |
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Another quake
Hi guys,
quick post - we had a massive earthquake on Tuesday. Smaller (6.3) than the one last September but this one caused massive damage and thus far 75 dead and 300 missing.
Building are down in the city - we are fine, alive but shaken. Our house is in the east of the city and we are still without water, power or cell coverage. I am at a friend place with power charging the laptop.
Crazy time here and wife very shaken. Understand that the pictures are all over the media but we are yet to see anything. Can't get into our street due to 2 feet of silt with the liquifaction - will post pictures as soon as I can.
Take care - no surf or training thus far unless you count 5 hours on the end of a shovel clearing the street each day training??
cheers
Steve
quick post - we had a massive earthquake on Tuesday. Smaller (6.3) than the one last September but this one caused massive damage and thus far 75 dead and 300 missing.
Building are down in the city - we are fine, alive but shaken. Our house is in the east of the city and we are still without water, power or cell coverage. I am at a friend place with power charging the laptop.
Crazy time here and wife very shaken. Understand that the pictures are all over the media but we are yet to see anything. Can't get into our street due to 2 feet of silt with the liquifaction - will post pictures as soon as I can.
Take care - no surf or training thus far unless you count 5 hours on the end of a shovel clearing the street each day training??
cheers
Steve
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Monday Brain Exchange
Jill over at her blog - "Finishing is Winning" is doing her Monday Brain Exchange where she asks us to answer a question that she posts and then link to her blog - she's great, she loves triathlons so go and check out her blog - here's the link - http://onelittletrigirl.wordpress.com/
This Weeks Question: Do you deal with any types of extreme weather where you live? Heat warnings, a lot of snow, frequent tornados? How do you keep your workouts fresh and fun when you are stuck indoors?
My answer in a nutshell is no – we are lucky enough to live in a country where we don’t have extremes – we can train year round outside, but it does get a bit chilly in the winter but you just get rugged up nice and warm - here is a little bit of info about our countries weather from the New Zealand Met Service website.
New Zealand has a largely temperate climate. While the far north has subtropical weather during summer, and inland alpine areas of the South Island can be as cold as -10 C in winter, most of the country lies close to the coast, which means mild temperatures, moderate rainfall, and abundant sunshine.
Because New Zealand lies in the Southern Hemisphere, the average temperature decreases as you travel south. The north of New Zealand is subtropical and the south temperate. The warmest months are December, January and February, and the coldest June, July and August. In summer, the average maximum temperature ranges between 20 - 30ºC and in winter between 10 - 15ºC.
And the second part of the question Jill – treadmills are not fun at all.
This Weeks Question: Do you deal with any types of extreme weather where you live? Heat warnings, a lot of snow, frequent tornados? How do you keep your workouts fresh and fun when you are stuck indoors?
My answer in a nutshell is no – we are lucky enough to live in a country where we don’t have extremes – we can train year round outside, but it does get a bit chilly in the winter but you just get rugged up nice and warm - here is a little bit of info about our countries weather from the New Zealand Met Service website.
New Zealand has a largely temperate climate. While the far north has subtropical weather during summer, and inland alpine areas of the South Island can be as cold as -10 C in winter, most of the country lies close to the coast, which means mild temperatures, moderate rainfall, and abundant sunshine.
Because New Zealand lies in the Southern Hemisphere, the average temperature decreases as you travel south. The north of New Zealand is subtropical and the south temperate. The warmest months are December, January and February, and the coldest June, July and August. In summer, the average maximum temperature ranges between 20 - 30ºC and in winter between 10 - 15ºC.
And the second part of the question Jill – treadmills are not fun at all.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Surf report
Big week this week with busy work and heaps of training - I've got my self a coach (more to follow on this subject later)
BUT
Gotta love it when you look at the surf report for the weekend - looks like I'm getting wet!!
Middle - North East Coast:
Strong NE winds will continue into your Saturday and whip up a solid 3 foot plus of wind swell. Not many options on Saturday as the NE winds will stay strong all day and then clock NW overnight and fresh SW on Sunday morning. Stay off the turps Saturday night as the Sunday dawnie is lining up to be epic. If you sleep in, you will pay the price with NE winds on the cards by lunch becoming strong in the afternoon.
BUT
Gotta love it when you look at the surf report for the weekend - looks like I'm getting wet!!
Middle - North East Coast:
Strong NE winds will continue into your Saturday and whip up a solid 3 foot plus of wind swell. Not many options on Saturday as the NE winds will stay strong all day and then clock NW overnight and fresh SW on Sunday morning. Stay off the turps Saturday night as the Sunday dawnie is lining up to be epic. If you sleep in, you will pay the price with NE winds on the cards by lunch becoming strong in the afternoon.
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