Accidents - What does it mean?

According to Wikipedia:
An accident is a specific, identifiable, unexpected, unusual and unintended external event which occurs in a particular time and place, without apparent or deliberate cause but with marked effects. It implies a generally negative probabilistic outcome which may have been avoided or prevented had circumstances leading up to the accident been recognized, and acted upon, prior to its occurrence.

However, nowadays, people always try to put someone at fault so the idea of accident may no longer exists as someone always will be found to be the cause of the 'accident'.

Why on earth am I on about?

Well, a few months back some students and a teacher were swept away when a sudden flashflood occurred where the school trip was doing water activities. Now the school board is held responsible as they were told that they did not do enough to ensure that thorough risk management had taken place!

With that in mind, recently our school principal reminded all of us about doing our risk management properly and that if we went to bed and snored away because we had a drink, then we will be liable should a student sneaked out of camp and gets into trouble. One teacher was quick to ask but what if we did not drink but just snored away?! Then he said it was OK!

Then another teacher brought up the subject about being responsible for the students while on overnight trips or camps (very common in NZ) and that there seem to be no more accidents and people are always trying to find fault and place someone responsible for the so called accident and thus accidents do not exist. And with that type of possibility hanging over teachers' heads, many would not like to volunteer themselves for trips anymore as with age, their reaction may be too slow to prevent 'accidents' from happening and thus will be liable should something happen to a student under their care. That is quite a sobering thought, actually!

As teachers, we have to be careful about giving students lifts to anywhere because their parents should give their permission first in case anything happens. I only give lifts to my daughter's friends if I know the parents quite well and vice versa and I do not give lifts to my own students if I can help it knowing the consequences should anything happen. It is a sad world we live in nowadays because people will sue their friends or find someone to fault either to find closure or something to dull the pain they suffer. Ultimately someone innocent may get faulted as a result of a real accident!

National is the New Government!

Well, it is all over!  Or is it just starting again???  We now have a new government just like US has a change back to Democrat.  After 9 years we need a change.  All are predicting the National will have their work cut out for them in that Labour did not let the people know how much debt NZ is in.....

Well,  we will see!

New Zealand goes to the polls, too, this coming Saturday, November 8.

Do we keep Helen and the Labour Party in government.............OR

do we make a change and vote for John Key and the National Party?

Everyone seems to be going to the polls about the same time and New Zealand is no different.  We have been under the Labour party rule for a while now and a lot of people are unhappy with the high crime rates and very lenient sentences.  So will National win and take over the next government?  

As a permanent resident, I found that we are expected to vote if we have at least one year residence in NZ.  So I have to vote this Saturday...

What frustrates me is that the Labour government would dangle some carrot just before the election to gather votes every time.  The last was interest free student loans!  Now is parents' income will no longer impact on students' allowance  just to gain votes from university students!  Then there are there are the ridiculous ads on tv, too!

I am a skeptic in that do they actually carry out their promises???

I still haven't decide on my vote yet although my tween is telling me to vote for the National as they are the ones who understand the education system!  I find it amusing that she is getting into the campaigning and I am sure National would love to have her in the campaign!

Whatever it is, I have to vote on Saturday and we may have a new government come Monday.

Teenagers will be teenagers!

This is my 100th posting!  I have been wondering what to write about and finally something happened in school today which I thought amused me a lot.

I normally put my notes for my students to copy on powerpoint so today was not different.  Only the students were rather restless and noisy so I told them I am not going to wait for anyone who talks but will wait for anyone who does not talk and writes away.  Then some boys objected and I reminded them that they could not talk and write at the same time as 'boys cannot multitask'.... Well, of course I provoked them and got them protesting and calling me sexist!  But my point was proven when the loudest point started arguing with me using his writing hand to make his point and then, I happily pointed out to him that what I say was correct!  He was talking and not writing at the same time!  That was quite amusing as it got more of the boys to quieten down to copy the notes.  

Then another boy said, "I wonder if there was anything boys could do that girls cannot."  I could not help myself and said that I will enlightened them on some biology and that in the future when they and their spouses or partners could not have baby boys, then they should remember that only males have the Y chromosome and they are the ones responsible for not having any boys and not their wives.  It was amusing to me as it took them by surprise and it took about a minute before it click with them to absorb in what I was on about.....

Do you have pain in the soles of your feet?

A few months ago, I slipped and fell twice on the morning ice in winter.  I thought all I had was 2 sprained feet (still went to work) but now the pain had gotten worst so I resorted to seeing a Chinese doctor who is also an acupuncture expert.  The first thing she said to me was I had very poor blood circulation in my feet.  No wonder I always had extremely cold feet and could never seem to get them warm so I end up wearing socks to bed as most old houses in NZ do not have central heating.  

Not only did she tell tell me that I had poor blood circulation but also my pain in the heel part on the soles of my feet when I put pressure (like walking!) on them is also due to my sciatica which I had for years.  I did not even think that my falls were that bad.  Anyways, the 2 treatments I had seemed to be working but I still have a lot more to go.  All I am hoping for is the pain to disappear in the near future so I can go back to enjoy my walks while doing window shopping!!!

It has been quite a few years since I had acupuncture done and I do believe they work on chronic aches and pains.  However, I was a bit surprised that now they have also attached some electric current to stimulate the points and speed up the process.  I am not a newcomer to passing electric currents through my body as I had that done for my sciatica years ago.

I cannot wait for the day when I can walk pain free.....

Visit to a NZ sheep farm

Jo-Ann with Mower the Mohair goat with some sheep in the background

Our friend, Winnie, with the mother sheep and 2 day old lamb

In between our competitions we had some free time where we went to a sheep farm as my daughter has never been to a real farm in her young life so I thought it would be a good experience!

She decided after the visit that she does not like farm life as she was all squeamish at the amount of mud, poohs and some dirty animals (after a full rainy day before!) in a farm.  The only spark in that visit was "Mower" the Mohair goat they had!  She was tied up but she hated Murphy the town dog who was there on a short holiday while his 'mum and dad' are off on a vacation.  Mower kept chasing after Murphy each time he passed in front of her so that was really hilarious as Murphy was so hyper jumping into the pond and out despite the cold water.  The 2 black swans in the pond just ignored Murphy while the white duck was more cautious.  

I also learnt that a lot of farmers are switching to dairy farms due to the high price of diary products where each cow is worth about $2000.  However, the sheep farmers do not like the diary farmers as apparently the diary farms are polluting the rivers with their discharge.  Diary farms are more work because of the twice daily milking that needs to be done but the returns are high with the current milk prices.

It is nice to be in Southland as the people are generally friendlier and that was what struck the Aucklanders the most about how life is more relaxed and people are not stressed or in a hurry to get anything done!  The small town of Gore welcomed the 500 odd people who visited Gore during the Figure Skating Nationals as all the visitors are always hungry and in search of food all the time!  The small town does have Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut but too small to have a MacDonald's.  I think the nearest big M is in Invercargill about 45 minutes drive away.

NZ Figure Skating Naitonals

We have just returned from my daughter's NZ Figure Skating Nationals in a little southern town called Gore, famous for its country music and brown trout.

It is amazing how the standards keep improving every year so the competition gets tougher and tougher.  It is also nice to catch up with skaters from the North Island whom we see once a year at the nationals.  My girl came in 5th in her grade but she still maintained her position as the top skater from the south.

This is the first time that we have professional sports photographers taking photos so I purchased my daughter's and it is good to see her shots and she can also see her actual posture and if they meet the standards.....

Pick Pockets

I just received upsetting news about my 80 year old father.  He was out doing marketing with my mother at this Sunday wet and fresh market in Kuching when someone bumped into him and picked his wallet.  The inconvenience for him was not only that he lost a substantial amount of cash but he also lost his driving license and his identity card.  

What is the world coming to?  I mean why pick on the elderly???  They are not rich and they are barely getting by with their small pensions but some ruthless individuals or group of people just prey on the elderly instead of working for their own living!  It is really disgusting and very worrying about what society is becoming nowadays!!!

Common Sense

A friend of mine sent me this article which is SO TRUE!!!

Date: Aug 27, 2008 10:08

Subject:  Obituary of the late Mr. Common Sense

(Interesting and sadly true)

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years.  No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.  He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing when to come in out of the rain; why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn't always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.  Reports of a 6 year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot.  She spilled a little on her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason.  He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights, I Want It Now, Someone Else Is To Blame, and I'm A Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realised he was gone.  If you still remember him, pass this on.  If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Noro Virus

Noro virus

courtesy of www.dbtechno.com

For the past month or so Dunedin has been struck by suspected Noro virus where you get diarrhea and also vomiting.  Today I tried to visit a friend whose baby is in the children's ward but was turned away from the hospital with a sudden lock down at the hospital.  Yesterday, I was still able to visit her and her baby but we had to gel our hands before going up into the wards as well as on the way out.

All schools are affected by the outbreak with an average of 100 - 150 students away from our school for the past 2 weeks and teachers are out too with some sort of illness.  My daughter and I are hoping that we will survive through this very very long winter which started in as early as April and still snowing here and there now even though we are supposed to start our spring in September!  The cherry blossoms are out but the weather in Dunedin still hovers around 10 deg Celsius during the day and drops below 5 deg at night.  

It has also been very wet in the past 2 -3 weeks.  Two Saturdays ago, I went to the laundrette for my usual Saturday drying loads but was I surprised to see the long queue!  My usual 40 minutes to dry our clothes was not even enough wait time!  And people were getting grumpy if you used more than one drier!  One man mentioned that it was worst than watching paint dry!  I think I spent close to 3 hours there just to dry 2 loads of laundry!!!  What a waste of time but I had to dry my daughter's school uniform so had no choice!  Luckily, today it was almost empty when I got there at my usual time.

I wonder how long this winter is going to be.....  The only good thing now is that petrol price has come down to just $2 for 91 octane despite the lower oil price.  However, the economist are telling us that the price is not coming down as fast as the Kiwi dollar is weakening against other currencies......Oh well.....

Do you remember everything you see?

I was helping out ice skating club with marshalling this past weekend at the South Island Figure Skating Championship.  A female skater was doing a double jump when she fell to land and thus ended up on the ice.  I saw it happened as I was in charge of getting the skaters on the ice for their warm-up and their programme.  But when someone asked me can you describe what happened?  For the life of me, I could not describe it as it all happened so fast!  All I remember is she fell and did not get up so her sister who is also a skater went in to check on her first when she failed to pick herself up and continue skating.  Fortunately she did not break any bones I think but fell on her hip.  

Now I understand when people said they cannot recall when they saw.  If it happened really fast, it may not even register on your brain later!  I mean we saw it happened but cannot describe how it occurred after that.  I was not even traumatised as it was nothing to do with me but imagine someone who witnessed something terrible and expected to recall everything later!  How can they remember?!!!

Incidentally, Jo-Ann did come in first again in her division but failed to make it on time to the prize giving so missed out on all the photo taking opportunity!

Wanaka - hometown for the wealthy

One of the illusion rooms in Puzzle World

Jo-Ann and Rina in front of Puzzle World, Wanaka

The leaning clock tower at Puzzle World

The outdoor maze

Rina, Jo-Ann and Winnie by the lake with Wanaka town centre in the background

On our last visit to Queenstown, I decided to take an hour detour and take a tour of Wanaka as we have never been there. Always heard that only the rich can afford to live there and apparently there are lots of American retirees who had settled down there. My first impression of the tiny lakeside town centre was that the architecture really reminds me of suburban USA.

I think the main attraction for tourists to Wanaka is Puzzle World where you can go and walk through an outdoor maze, an indoor area with illusion rooms or just sit down, have some snacks and try the puzzles for yourself and decide if you want to buy them. It is quite a good marketing ploy to let visitors try out as it gets people hooked and some people spend a long time day or bring their kids there to play the puzzles for free. There were a lot of wonderful wooden puzzles plus others made of other materials. My daughter and her friends really enjoyed their visit there. So if you are in Wanaka area, you may want to visit and give yourself at least an hour or more if you are a puzzle king or queen!

Queenstown Skyline Gondola

View from the viewing deck in the main building looking down at Queenstown

Looking down at the bungy jump from the viewing deck

Part of the luge track we 'drove' on

Rina, Jo-Ann's classmate on the luge

Jo-Ann on the podium with her trophy

Last week we were back in Queenstown again for my daughter's regional figure skating competition.  We had some free time so we decided to take the cable car ride up to take a bird's eye view of Queenstown and the surrounding area.

It was an awesome ride and the view was breathtaking!  There was also a small platform where people could bungy jump and a cliff where people can jump off and parachute down and my daughter's favourite was the luge rides.  

I hope you enjoy the photos......

I brought a miracle to my friend!

I have been thinking of my friend who is in financial trouble and decided to visit her just now and I bought some baby clothes, diapers, baby food and some firelogs for heating.  When we showed up in her house with the firelogs, she was so touched and revealed to me that she did not know what to do as she was on her last 2 pieces of fire wood and less than 20 pieces of coal which was supposed to last her until the next pay out on Wednesday!  She just cannot believe that when she prayed to God for help for wood for her burner that God sent me with 2 boxes of firelogs for her.

It was really surreal because originally I did not plan to visit her this evening but decided to do so at the last minute.  She had a major accident a couple of years ago and has 6 slipped discs and cannot carry heavy loads so even if she could afford to buy the firelogs, she could not carry the box to her car or from her car to the log burner.  That was the main reason I decided to buy them for her and deliver them to her up to the log burner!  Low and behold, I did not know that my decision was the miracle God gave to her when she prayed for help (as we are still in the middle in winter)!  And I am telling you it feels really GREAT(!!!) to know that I brought a miracle to my friend!!!  PRAISE THE LORD!

God's Will

Sometimes in our lives we are bombarded with surprises and shocks that we cannot even think would happen to us!  Just beyond our wildest imagination!  And this happened to me last week which makes me thankful for what God has blessed me with in the past 40 odd years of my life.

It was really strange but during one of the many Cadbury events I attended with my girl last week, that of all the places I chose to stand, I selected a spot which is opposite to the house of one of my friends that I have not been in contact with for the past 2 years.  I do come across her shopping once in a while but not really get together to meet or chat.  I found that she has a big change in her living conditions and life in that she was separated from her husband.  For the life of me  I could not forsee that happening as they were such a happy family together when I last saw them.  But circumstances change and when we are forced to make a decision where lots of sacrifices have to be made, it is really hard but I admire her strength and have decided to give her whatever support she may need as a friend.

I never thought that I had to face up to my own opinion on pro-life even though I have heard or read or seen on tv dramas of how people have to make extremely difficult decisions.  My friend was drugged and raped and she had no recollection at all until she found that she was pregnant.  There was great pressure for her to abort (which she could not do as well as for medical reasons) and was also pressured to give up her baby upon birth.  Because of her decision to keep the adorable baby, she was disowned by her own family and was separated from her husband before her baby was born.  She had been a homemaker so now she is living on the minimal welfare that she gets.  I feel really angry for her that her family abandoned her because of her decision and at the same time grateful to my own family for not abandoning me in my times of need.  To top it, she has been harrassed by the baby's father to give him the baby or compensate him with money as he knew that her husband is doing well financially!  And to add insult to injury the church she used to go to has also told her she is not welcomed  as only one of them can attend so she chose to let her husband continue with his worship as he was one of the elders.  Meanwhile she really needs the spiritual help which she is not getting so I hope to support her there.  Despite all her 'nightmare' she still believes that GOD is helping her get by day to day.  To that I salute her and hope to help her out whereever I can.

I just pray that she will have a light to the end of her black tunnel right now as she struggles to everyday life as well as court cases.  I just felt that God has brought me back into her life when she needs help and moral support.  It also makes me realize that some of my problems at work are so minor compared to some of the problems my friend is facing!

Cadbury Chocolate Carnival!

The girls, Winnie, Jo-Ann and Rina, at the bottom of Baldwin Street - World's Steepest Street!

The 'well beaten Jaffas at the finish line!

Just before the finish line!

Half way down the street!

The start with the 'orange wave' coming down Baldwin Street........

For the past 7 years or more, Cadbury in Dunedin has been holding an annual chocolate carnival every July school holidays and this year was no different, except my daughter decided she was going to take part in as many of the free activities as possible!  Of course, there's lots of chocolate freebies given out in most of the activities, too!  So chocolate overload for the young ones!

We started with going on a Sunday trip to the Royal Albatross Centre at the Otago peninsula, a very nice and scenic drive (unfortunately my girl erased all the photos by mistake the next day!) where we saw several species of sea gulls (alas! no albatross!), a few seals and some black swans and ducks.  Then it was onto a treasure hunt in the Otago Musuem which she did with a couple of friends and they enjoyed the hunt very much.  

On Monday we went to Baldwin street for the Jaffa race where 30,000 Jaffas were rolled down the world's steepest street.  Tickets for each numbered Jaffa were sold for $2 each and over $70K were raised in the 1 -2 minute event!  It was quite a site looking at a sea of orange Jaffas rolling down the street!  This race is only unique to Cadbury Dunedin which has been doing it for the past 7 years and last year they rolled 20,000 Jaffas but this year it is increased to 10K! Cadbury Dunedin produces about 80% of NZ Cadbury products.

Exploding Pyrex

I had a scare a couple of days ago.  I accidentally left my delicious apple crumble (so said my guests!) on a stove top that was still on!  I will always double check from now on!  Fortunately no one was nearby when it exploded!  Took about an hour to clean up all the mess!!!

Truckers' Protest but petrol price is up 6 cents!

Despite the nation wide truckers' protest in New Zealand in the main street in 14 major cities and towns on Friday 4th July, the price of petrol is up 6 cents today to $2.19 for 91 Octane!

Since our unemployment rate is still low at 3.6%, the government wants all Kiwis to think that we are still okay!  But anyone with a brain can see that price of consumer goods have all gone up and a lot of households are suffering as a result.

Winter Break is here!

It really is a winter break as it even snowed on our first day off from school!  We are having our 2 week well deserved break!  The past 3 weeks have been setting exams, marking exams and then writing reports for each and every student we teach including those in our form or tutor group (sort of a pastoral group each teacher is responsible for apart from the subject classes we teach).  

So we get the usual, "Thank you for the good report" as well as "You are mean" for those who did not get a glowing report.  I think in NZ reports do not always tell the truth about what is happening as we must be very PC (politically correct) about everything so we cannot be too frank but instead have to be a master at creative writing.  I learnt quite a few good sentences from more experienced colleagues.  My favourite is "So and so communicates very well but often not on the topic in hand" - which means your kid is a chatterbox which cannot be used of course!  

At least now I have a well deserved shot break before the next 10 weeks of Term 3!

Prayer Reflection

Life has been really hectic lately with mid year reports due and also there was the mid year exams so lots of papers to mark and then lots of comments to write.  Then my girl had her club championship today so I ended going to Sunday mass in a different parish which cater mostly to the university community.  While I was there I say this beautiful poem by Joy Cowley, a very famous author of children's books, in the weekly bulletin which I thought I'll share with you.

The Heart of Stone by Joy Cowley

There are times when I've cried out,

"God, give me back my heart of stone

and a ladder so that I can climb

up to my head and live there

with doors and windows shut on feeling.

God, God.  I'm tired of all the hurt.

For a little while, let me live

a second-hand life.  Let me tread

the safe path of other people's ideas.

Just let me  drop this awesome responsibility

you have given me, to grow

through love and pain."

Then I remember what it's like 

to exist with a heart of stone.

How cold and dead I felt inside,

and how divided the world was

when viewed without love in my heart.

Remembering, I poor myself before God

and whisper into His waiting,

"My God, there is no going back.

It has to be a soft heart,

one that is always vulnerable

to love and wounding

which is life,

which is growth,

which is You.

Keep within me, my God

the heart of flesh

Up again!!! This is ridiculous!

picture from www.raymond.cc

I have not filled up my tank but driving by a petrol station just now, I cannot believe my eyes!  Up again in the same week!!!

It now costs $2.13 per litre for 91 Octane!!!  How are we going to survive this?!!!

Our fortnightly paycheck is getting smaller with the ever increasing fuel costs!  I think soon we will be seeing restaurants closing as if they raise their prices, they will get less customers and the domino effect will be they have to close down if they do not get enough business.

Petrol Price Up AGAIN!!

Just one day after we got back from Christchurch, price of petrol went UP AGAIN!!!

91 Octane is now $2.07, up 6 cents!  Analysts blamed it on the rise of oil price worldwide as well as the Kiwi dollar dropping in value!  But the weakening dollar is always good for exporters as they have been suffering for a while with the strong Kiwi dollar.

Industries depending on petrol prices are calling for the government to drop some tax on the petrol.  Apparently there are 5 different taxes on petrol plus the GST of 12.5%!

We the consumers are just suffering the consequences as it has a domino effect on the price of everything else!!!

Disney Ice show in Christchurch

Jo-Ann and Winnie in front of the ice rink stage in Westpac Stadium, Christchurch

'Gabriella and Troy'

Troy and his mates after his winning goal!

We just had a busy weekend with a long drive to Christchurch and back to Dunedin. Normally it takes me about 4 1/2 hours to get to Christchurch but Saturday's trip took about 5 hours due to the sudden snow storm along the way about 2 hours away from Christchurch. It was quite a journey driving from a cloudy sky through to heavy snow in Timaru where everything was literally white as in postcard picturesque scene and then out of the snow when we were about an hour's drive to Christchurch. It also snowed in Christchurch but not enough to stick overnight.

After 24 hours in Christchurch, we drove back and all the snow was gone except for some small patches here and there outside Christchurch. But Boy! I had a hard time holding on to my steering as we had gale force winds along most of the drive back and I could feel the wind trying to push our Rav 4 off the highway! Today, my shoulders are aching from all that stressful holding on to my steering! Jo-Ann did take a picture of the snowstorm but unfortunately she deleted the picture by mistake!

Well, our trip to Christchurch was to watch the Disney on Ice -High School Musical show. The show was well choreographed and the lip sync was impressive, too. As for the skating, my daughter and her skater friend were analysing the jumps after the show and concluded that the male skaters were more impressive with their triple jumps. There were some spins but nothing really outstanding from a skater's point of view. But to them, watching triple jumps was thrilling as there are not many skaters in NZ able to land triples!

Finally! She landed a double salchow!

This month has been a milestone for my daughter, Jo-Ann. She finally landed a double salchow without the use of a harness. She actually landed one at the beginning of the month, 'lost' it for about 2 weeks, got sick and then landed another one again!!! I was not around to see the first one but did see the second one but did not video tape it so I downloaded one of Nancy Kerrigan's with step to step instruction of a double salchow. It always amazes me how the ice skaters defy gravity and twist their bodies in the air two, three and even quadruple times during their jumps! And if they make a little mistake, it will surely end up with a fall and hopefully not a bad one. Some days skaters can land their jumps with no problems while some days, they keep falling so much so that they had to give up and stop jumping for the day.

How to maximise filling your vehicle with petrol

I received this in my email today so I thought I will share it with all of you in this day of high petrol/gasoline price!

Tips for filling your vehicles:

1. Only buy or fill up your car in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold.  Reason:  All service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground.  The colder the ground, the denser the fuel, when it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening  .... your litre is not exactly a litre
2. When you're filling up, do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a Fast Mode.  Reason:  In slow mode, you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapours that are created, while you are pumping.  All hoses at the pump have a vapour return.  If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapour.  Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less for your money.
3. One of the most important tips is to fill up when your tank is half full.  Reason:  The more fuel you have in the tank, the less air occupying the empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine.  Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof.  This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.
4. If there is a fuel tanker pumping into the storage tanks, when you stop to buy, do not fill up.  Reason:  Most likely the petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

Compiled by Ramesh Patel and edited by yours truly.

Price of Gasoline is UP AGAIN!!!

This is getting ridiculous!!!  I had to put petrol in my car today and had a chat with the station attendant and she said she thought her customers were going to lynch her yesterday when the price went up to $2.01 per litre!  Apparently some of her customers knew the price was going up before she knew it was going up!

To top it that, the New Zealand Labour government came up with the annual budget presentation informing the public that there will be a personal tax cut for us this coming October.  However, the media is calling it 'a family block of cheese' for us!  Why?!  Because it ranges from NZ$16 - NZ$22 per week.  So guess which one am I getting? Yeah the lower one of course!  Sigh.......   Critics say it is just a last ditch effort to gain some votes with the upcoming election where the National party has been predicted to win in these times of high inflation and high interest rates! To me, the $16 will just cover the price of petrol increase in the past year!

Price of Oil is up again!!!

picture courtesy of www.cartoonstock.com

With the price of oil constantly going up, nowadays, even the radio stations are into it!  How you may ask?  Well, listeners who spot a sudden increase in price will call in and everyone will be rushing around to hopefully find a station that has not up its price yet!

It is now $1.97 for 91 unleaded on Monday 19 May 2008!  

I think people are now just waiting for the price to hit $2 as the price of everything else is steadily increasing as the price of oil increases!  And the current Labour government says they are not reducing personal taxes.  Whatever increase in salary or wages one gets will be eaten up by inflation caused by the ever increasing oil price!

Also, a few more big companies are closing plants or factories creating redundancies!  Crime rate is also on the increase with more jobs lost and less money to go around!  New Zealand is definitely in depression right now>......

Gifts from GOD - see awesome video!

Most of us always take for granted of our normal body by finding all sorts of superficial imperfections which on the whole does not matter compared with people who are missing some parts of their body!  If you watch the following video, you will be awestruck with how these two Chinese dancers overcame their handicaps and performed such a fantastic and wonderful performance and it does give a new meaning to perseverance!

I was mesmerised while I watched how they substituted and make do despite missing a limb so much so that I do not even see anything lacking at how they danced.  At the same time, it strucked me of how God have blessed them with such gifts to make up for the missing limbs.

A big THANK YOU to my friend, Azlina, for sharing this video that I am more than happy to share with all of you.......

 

                                                   

Ecclesiasticus - The Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach

Growing up in a catholic family and in an all girls' catholic school I was really not exposed to the Old Testament as much as the New Testament.  But in the last few years, I have begun to appreciate the Bible more and I find that the book of Ecclesiasicus or Sirach is so applicable to every day life.  This book as I was told is found in the Catholic Bible so if you have not read one, I am sharing with you and how I parallel it to everyday life.

Sirach 1: 1-10  In Praise of Wisdom

    

    All wisdom is from the Lord,

        and with him it remains

             forever.

    The sand of the sea, the drops of

              rain,

       and the days of eternity - who

              can count them?

   

   The height of heaven, the 

            breadth of the earth,

        the abyss, and wisdom

             - who can search them

            out?

   

  Wisdom was created before all

            other things,

        and prudent understanding

           from eternity.

  The root of wisdom - to whom

          has it been revealed?

       Her subtleties - who knows

          them?

  There is but one who is wise,

          greatly to be feared,

       seated upon his throne - the

           Lord.

  It is he who created her;

       he saw her and took her 

            measure;

       he poured her out upon all his 

            works,

       upon all the living according to

            his gift;

       he lavished her upon those

           who love him.

We are always told that people who are old are usually very wise because they have seen it all and experienced it all!  But I totally agree that what wisdom we have is from God and that God can grant wisdom on anyone who believes in the Lord.  For example, you can view this video of this 8 year old preacher boy from Indonesia.  I strongly believe that he was given the wisdom and gift from God to preach the Word at such a young age and he talks with such wisdom about the problems of Indonesia.  Click here to view the video and judge for yourself how such a young child can have such wisdom if not from God!

      

Modern Excuses for Not Doing Homework!

photo courtesy of www.uiowa.com

A few of my colleagues and I were thinking about all the excuses students come up with when asked why they cannot hand in their homework. The old excuse of "My dog ate my homework!" has hardly ever come up if any at all!

Here are some of the excuses given by Kiwi kids these days:

I had a big game last night!
I had to work last night!
I was at my Dad's/Mum's last night so did not have my books with me!
I had an accident and all my books got wet/really disgusting!
Oh! I forgot! I did it honestly! I left it on my desk and forgot to put it in my bag!

And finally, the straight forward and honest but lazy answer(!!)

I couldn't do any of it!

I am sure some other teachers have more creative answers, too!

How much does your child assimilate what they are taught?

I was supervising one of my classes during their internal assessment when one boy put his hand up. I walked to him to see what he wanted and he pointed to a table and one of the columns with the title "Calorie intake" and asked me what the word 'calorie' meant. I tried my best to explain to him but at the same time wondered what he had been taught in his Physical Education and Health classes. Then he went on and asked me what the word 'urban population' meant and I told him (wondering what he had learnt in Social Studies). Finally, before I could walk away, he asked me again and pointed to a column 'literacy rate' and asked me what it meant! This time I was wondering he really needs help and told him it meant read and write! He goes," Ohhh.. "and some of his classmates around him burst into laughter!" I was really not sure if he was trying to entertain his classmates in an assessment or he really did not know at all!!! We are talking about a boy around 15 - 16 years old here......

It just goes to prove that what teachers always say is true, i.e., 'One ear in and one ear out!'

It is always so gratifying when a student you have taught from the previous year or years who comes to you and said,'Oh yes! I remember you taught us that last year!'

Figure Skating Camp

End of dance classes with their dance teacher

With their two Russian coaches, Fanis and Maryna

Well, Jo-Ann has completed her 5 days figure skating training camp in Queenstown.  She also met up with some of her friends and made new ones in the process.  I think it will be more fun for her next time she goes to competition as she knows her competitors as well as their capabilities.

Their camps included 4 - 4 1/2 hours of skating everyday, a hour of dance, and hour of technical class and an hour of off ice training!  Very intense of full of calories burning everyday!  Now she is winding down with lots of sleep and also eating junk food!  Not allowed at camp, of course!

Next skating event, club championships next month......

Giant Pumpkins!

Giant pumpkins at Millers Flat

Lots of giant pumpkins!

The 204 kg NZ record size pumpkin!!!

On my drive out to Queenstown, I passed this shop which caught my eye and I thought I'd stop on the way back to take some pictures.

I found out that it is a shop selling pumpkins including giant pumpkins and decorative gourds.  Thought I'll share some of the photos with you including that of the biggest pumpkin in New Zealand, all 204 kg of it!!! 

Found that these pumpkins are not for eating but restaurants purchase them for decoration over the winter months.  The unsold pumpkins will be fed to the sheep later on.  These pumpkins were planted in November last year and harvested about this time of the year.

We did not buy any pumpkins but bought some apples and walnuts instead.  Jo-Ann had a fun time cracking and eating walnuts yesterday and today!

Winter comes early this year!

A really beautiful rainbow on the way into Dunedin.....

Snowing as we drove from Alexandra to Millers Flat

Friday 2 May morning looking at downtown Queenstown to your left 

Picture taken on Friday differs from that on Wednesday, see previous post...more snow covering the mountains in the background

Well.. we are back in Dunedin but what a drive back.  It started snowing at the lower levels on Friday morning and was still snowing on our drive back for about 2/3 of the way until about one hour from Dunedin where it started to rain as well as raining hailstones.

We are supposed to be in autumn but it looks like winter is here early this year!  Our winter months are supposed to be June, July and August!  Looks like we are going to have a long and cold one, too!  We had a nice long summer, too!  Oh well.....

It did snow last night in Queenstown!

 View from the garden of backpackers on Wednesday, 30th April, 2008

We were told that it was going to snow last night (we are in the middle of autumn season now) but we only got poured buckets early this morning!  But surprise!  Looking at the hills beyond it did snow up top as you see a sprinkling of snow on the peaks but none on the ground though.  Yesterday there was no snow on the peaks at all........The ever changing weather in New Zealand!  Of course, a lot of people blames the climate change for the unpredictable weather...

Living in a Backpacker hostel!

And I really mean living in one unlike just passing through!  I just found out last night that a lot of the people in the backpacker hostel I am in are actually living in it for several months or more or even a year or so!  Why?  There is just no cheap rental accommodation for these young people who came to NZ on a one or 2 year work and holiday visa so they live in a backpackers where they rent a bed for about $26 per night with free utilities and also free wireless internet and kitchen with all the utensils and all the other things in a normal kitchen.  I saw one guy making pizza last night.  Most of the people come from Ireland, Great Britain, Europe and South America and most are waiting for the winter ski season where there will be more jobs.  Most of them like to stay in Queenstown where an American described to me as very similar to Colorado where he originates from.  

I can never live like they do i.e. share everything with everyone and put up with everyone.  I hear interesting snippets of conversations where they look for jobs as well as any possible rental accommodation coming up.    They probably can do better elsewhere but they just want to stay around Queenstown where everything is expensive as most properties here start from at least half a million NZ dollars.  This is the first time I learnt that people actually live in backpackers!

Queenstown Skyline Gondola

It is always nice to wonder around downtown Queenstown when we have such a nice and beautiful day.  Above is a view of the Skyline Gondola or cable car ride, just a little off from downtown and you can ride back down or luge your way back down.