Merry Xmas Mr M.

T’was just before Xmas and all through the city

Road cones wore tinsel and tried to look pretty.

Behind closed doors, away from prying eyes

The councillors voted on the CEO’s pay rise.

‘Market forces’ they cried, and then, ‘Competition’

Although surely they knew it was a poor rendition.

Cloistered, conceited, and out of touch with reality

Perhaps they need reminding of basic morality.

At a time when our city’s been brought to its knees

The mayor and his cronies just do as they please.

When the CEO’s salary is brought into the light

It tells a sad tale in times that are tight.

Familiar faces, new places & tiny spaces

It was a good weekend :)
Saturday night we went out to see some of our favourite Loony performers putting on three One Act plays in A Night of Theatre.

L-R: David Ladderman, Sophie Ewert, Tom Trevella

They might have been familiar faces but in order to see them, we had to go somewhere new. That's one thing about the earthquakes and their effects on various buildings - we've been to some interesting places in order to watch all kinds of performers and performances. This time we were headed to the Old Boys' Theatre at Christ's College, which seems to have withstood the quakes rather well.

EQC phone home

This post could just as easily been called 'Dances with numbers'... as, just like the movie, the story is quite long. But I'll do my best to get to the point this side of Xmas.

A while back, EQC was doing a big promotional push to encourage people to submit the details necessary for their contents claim to be paid out. "In by October 24th, paid by Xmas", they proclaimed. Which was fine by us - the only contents claim we had submitted was for the carpets & curtains in our demolished home. The proof required by EQC (or so we thought) was the certificate of demolition, which we'd submitted after the house was bulldozed in July.

12 days of (Canterbury) Christmas

Hat tip to the CSO, who performed their version during the Cantabrian Christmas concert. (I've altered a few things to suit the photos I've taken...)

THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS, SHAKEYTOWN STYLE

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

A visit from the EQC.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

 Two sticky doors, 

and a visit from the EQC.

Do not pass go, do not collect $200

If life were like Monopoly, we'd be on our way to jail for about the fifth time, hoping it doesn't take too long to roll a double. Unfortunately there's no similar quick fix in real life, and Monopoly money won't pay the bill either.

When our house was being demolished, we thought we were doing the right thing by leaving the driveway intact. Our house planning involves an internal access garage right on that line, and it kinda made sense. It might've worked, but it seems the customer isn't always right. This building game is not one we've played before, and the playing field keeps changing - as do some of the rules.