The latest unemployment figures have just been released for NZ, and they show a very small decline in the number of people out of work. Well, at least on the surface... this TV3 item explains that Christchurch has been excluded from this latest survey and the local figures aren't great.
Since February's quake 858 more people have gone on the dole in Christchurch and 925 people are on an emergency earthquake benefit. There are also more than 6,000 people currently on an earthquake 'job rescue' package that is paying wages for staff of local businesses that are unable to operate.
But there is still more to it than official statistics will ever show.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Monday, May 2, 2011
Fridge of the future
I love bright young minds.
I love the ideas they have, the concepts they explore.
I love that they create or envisage revolutionary things like this fridge...
based on an idea from a science fiction story...
I love the ideas they have, the concepts they explore.
I love that they create or envisage revolutionary things like this fridge...
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Reopenings and Reunions
The landscape is constantly changing here in Shakeytown, with the visual and economic aftershocks of February's quake. Just last week for example, I was buying my lunch at one of the area's landmark food joints - Sydenham Bakery.
They had only recently re-opened and, with access to the front of the building denied, they were trading from a temporary counter at the back of the bakery.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
To be or not to be... a refugee
I have been calling myself an earthquake refugee for months now. To me, it succinctly explains my current predicament - through no fault of my own I cannot live where I want to... my own home. Even though I currently live a mere 400 metres from the home that I own, I am still a refugee within my own city, forced to flee my home due to earthquake damage initially sustained in September.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Claim? What claim?!
Just when we thought we were making progress on our September insurance claim after several weeks of inactivity, EQC made a surprise re-appearance in our lives. We received a letter to our broken home address which started, "We confirm receipt of the claim you recently lodged with EQC. We have asked a loss adjuster to call and inspect the damage to your property and report back to the Commission..."
Um... WTF? What claim??
Um... WTF? What claim??
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Love thy neighbour
It's fair to say that since February's earthquake, most Christchurch residents know their neighbours a lot better than they did before. There's a feeling of camaraderie in the air - we're now looking out for each other by doing things like checking on empty houses and having genuine, caring conversations with people that live nearby. Real communities are being established and strengthened, and people are reaching out to each other for information and support.
This morning our tribe joined with my mum and some of her neighbours for a BBQ brunch. When the kids were younger the focus of the day was firmly on the hiding and finding of easter eggs... but my two think that such childish activities are long behind them now. Which is kind of a shame really, 'cos I used to get quite a bit of pleasure from hiding the tiny chocolate eggs in strange places around my mother's garden. Still, it was nice to sit, eat & chat with family and neighbours... even if they're not my neighbours, they're my mum's neighbours and therefore part of the extended whanau. And it's kinda my neighbourhood too as I spent my teenage years in a house just up the street.
There are so many self-generated community activities happening these days. Our current neighbourhood, or our street at least, is going to have a communal garage sale next month which will be followed by a shared BBQ. I think I can find a few things for a garage sale - anyone want a piano?! Packing and shifting an entire household twice in 6 months has shown me just how much I can live without, and especially now the kids are older, there is plenty of stuff we don't need to hang onto. I predict a few heavy sighs as I sort through all the detritus we currently have in storage but it just has to go. We've even got an old Merc sitting underneath a bunch of boxes that we need to get off the section before the wreckers destroy the concrete driveway along with the house.
But even in these caring, sharing times there will be one or two people who go that little bit far... who go beyond the bounds of neighbourliness and start to become downright annoying.
This morning our tribe joined with my mum and some of her neighbours for a BBQ brunch. When the kids were younger the focus of the day was firmly on the hiding and finding of easter eggs... but my two think that such childish activities are long behind them now. Which is kind of a shame really, 'cos I used to get quite a bit of pleasure from hiding the tiny chocolate eggs in strange places around my mother's garden. Still, it was nice to sit, eat & chat with family and neighbours... even if they're not my neighbours, they're my mum's neighbours and therefore part of the extended whanau. And it's kinda my neighbourhood too as I spent my teenage years in a house just up the street.
There are so many self-generated community activities happening these days. Our current neighbourhood, or our street at least, is going to have a communal garage sale next month which will be followed by a shared BBQ. I think I can find a few things for a garage sale - anyone want a piano?! Packing and shifting an entire household twice in 6 months has shown me just how much I can live without, and especially now the kids are older, there is plenty of stuff we don't need to hang onto. I predict a few heavy sighs as I sort through all the detritus we currently have in storage but it just has to go. We've even got an old Merc sitting underneath a bunch of boxes that we need to get off the section before the wreckers destroy the concrete driveway along with the house.
But even in these caring, sharing times there will be one or two people who go that little bit far... who go beyond the bounds of neighbourliness and start to become downright annoying.
Monday, April 18, 2011
The sound of chit chat
I spent significant periods of time on Saturday with two very different groups, for very different reasons and I can tell you they made very different sounds.
From mid-afternoon until around 6pm, I was working at the CBS Arena for The Wiggles concert. As always, it was a great show by the energetic Aussie performers - they were brilliant entertainers when our kids were little and they can still rock the junior crowd (& their parents) with energy that puts the rest of us to shame. And it was a great show for another reason too - after February's shake, the Wiggles donated all remaining tickets for the 3 Chch shows to local residents. Over 6000 were given away, with people waiting hours in the queue for their tickets.
From mid-afternoon until around 6pm, I was working at the CBS Arena for The Wiggles concert. As always, it was a great show by the energetic Aussie performers - they were brilliant entertainers when our kids were little and they can still rock the junior crowd (& their parents) with energy that puts the rest of us to shame. And it was a great show for another reason too - after February's shake, the Wiggles donated all remaining tickets for the 3 Chch shows to local residents. Over 6000 were given away, with people waiting hours in the queue for their tickets.
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