Nuthin' much

So apparently, today was Chip in for Christchurch day... not in a 'make a donation' kinda way but in a 'do something nice' for a Cantab person or business kinda way. It sounded like a lovely idea at the time, I'm sure... but did anything actually happen because of it? I saw nuthin' much different because of it although I did wear my aftersocks all day, with short trousers too so you could see them. Made a few people smile anyway :) Although that could have just been the sight of someone wearing 3/4 length pants on one of the coldest days of the year...

So what's been happening round here lately? To say "nuthin' much" would be incorrect, for it's been quite a busy week. We've signed the settlement with our insurance company and are now waiting for the paperwork to grind through the system. Hopefully it won't take as long as the decision to demolish...



There were lots of phone calls made earlier in the week... one to Studylink to get some clarification on my loan/allowance status. Their lines were overloaded and they weren't taking calls, so I've put that off 'til next week. Then to the Red Cross, to find out that the grant we were previously eligible for had been closed off while we were waiting for the demo decision & paperwork from AMI. That bad news was then negated by the next call, which was to the EQC.

Now I know many people have had some very trying times with our disaster insurance organisation, but I'm not one of them. Our original claim made its way through the system fairly quickly and we managed to cancel the claim we didn't make in February. I had a vague recollection about there being a contents payout due if the house was to be demolished, but it had been so damn long since the initial damage & conversations that I wasn't entirely sure. My most recent phone call to the Red Cross hadn't filled me with hope but I rang the EQC number and asked about the contents payout.

Turns out the memory ain't so bad after all - we are entitled to the maximum payout on a contents claim for our demolished house. All we have to do is forward the paperwork from the insurance company (when we get it) to EQC and it will be actioned. After months of financial strain, there is a brief respite looming in the near future. Once all the payouts have come in, we'll be almost debt free. Sure, we won't have a house(!)... but there's still a plot of land that's ours, and a huge range of possibilities out there in the big wide world.

This week has also seen the start of uni lectures for the second semester. A small sense of deja-vu crept in but quickly went away again... after all, I didn't even get to attend a single lecture earlier this year before the quake changed everything all over again. My brain hurts already, just contemplating the concepts I'm going to have to engage with, understand, and write about. But again there are many possibilities, exciting ones, that may lead on to some pretty awesome things.

One day at a time however. I still have a few student essays to mark and a whole lot of referencing to check. Then it's onto the readings for my two uni lectures next week, before preparing for a day of teaching on Monday. Fun stuff tho - complaints about advertising. Next to offensive language, it's one of my favourite aspects of teaching broadcasting.

Hopefully at some stage over the weekend I'll make some time to do nuthin' much, 'cos there ain't a whole lot of that going on round here these days!