Rip It Up and Start Again

Close your eyes and let’s go on a journey…..no wait, that isn’t going to work. Okay, so keep your eyes open and just imagine a time when things were a lot simpler; before the internet became all controlling and smart phones were but a glint in Steve Job’s eye. Are you there yet? Good. 

Welcome to the year 2000 and to my job as an engineer for the client on a construction site. I won’t name names, but let’s just say it was a square in Leeds in the United Kingdom. It was an interesting project but progress was slow. Partly this was due to the large number of underground services - being a city centre location the ground was naturally riddled with cables, pipes and other hidden paraphernalia. We also had to install a huge number of new underground services, including nine large diameter ducts that would carry video, data and power across the site. I could go into more detail - and you know I want to - but I appreciate that not every reader is going to be so enthusiastic about such engineering matters. 

Anyway it was very slow going. The situation, however, was not helped by the Contractor going about things in a somewhat haphazard manner. They quickly became behind programme - probably the only thing they managed to do quickly - and everything became a struggle. They couldn’t have picked a worse project to demonstrate their inability to deliver - the site was literally on the door step of the civic centre and right in the political heart of the city. Eventually summer rolled around and the Clerk of Works - for the ease of reference let’s call him Mike - took his annual two week break in the sun. One of the great things about taking time away from a construction project, is seeing what progress had been made in one’s absence. Not this time….

Well you can imagine the surprise on Mike’s face when, on returning to the site after a fortnight away, progress had actually gone backwards. I forget the specifics, but essentially a fault had detected in the material used for the construction of the paving and months of progress had to be ripped up. Used to slow progress on this project, Mike took it all in his stride.

“Well I must say this is a first…..there’s even less paving laid than when I left two weeks ago. I guess I should be pleased I wasn’t away for longer in case the whole job got taken up.”

He spent the next few days walking around the site, inspecting the work that had been done and shaking his head. In the days that followed he could regularly be heard singing the Orange Juice song “Rip it Up and Start Again”.  Eventually the project did get completed and it has since been a hailed as huge success - funny how the issues and drama experienced at the time have all been forgotten - but boy did it take some effort to get there.

So why am I telling you this? Well, I thought I’d seen the worst of lackadaisical construction, but I’ve got to say that New Zealand would give the boys from Leeds a run for their money. Before I go too far, I’m not suggesting that all New Zealand projects take an age to complete, but my goodness many of them do. 

By way of an example, last year a new pedestrian crossing was installed on my route to the office. This gave me an excellent opportunity to see what progress was being made twice a day; once in the morning and then again on my way home. Often it was difficult to determine what exactly had been completed. A bit more kerbing? Nah. Maybe some paving? Hard to tell. There were plenty of construction vehicles on the small site but the activity was at odds with the progress. It’s not like it was in a difficult location, and to help half of the road had been closed. A job that would have taken two weeks in the UK, and that is being generous, stretched out to a couple of months. There wasn’t even any electrical work to complete. And the kicker was that the quality of the workmanship was very poor. One could forgive a project that took a long time if the final product was professional and polished. Not this though - the kerbs that had been laid looks like they had been done blindfolded and the paving was already starting to rock. 

And this is just one example.

In the 10 years I have been here, I have searched for a reason as to why things are the way that they are. Is it the more laid back pace of life that’s rubbing off on the crews? Is the warmer weather making things difficult? Maybe the pool of resources is too small or insufficiently skilled? Is there not enough time given to training the workforce? Could it be that the client organisations don’t provide enough supervisory support to make sure projects don’t linger? 

I suspect it’s a mixture of all of the above. Any road up, there’s no sign of things improving anytime soon. It’s just the way it is and it’s what everyone has become used to. In some ways I am glad of that. It gives me a reason to recollect on past projects, people that I have met and worked alongside and never fails to bring a smile to my face and place a song in my heart…..”Rip it up and start again…”.

Can you see nearly ten weeks of work in this? No, me neither

Look at the state of that kerbline. After me….”Rip it up and start again…..”

A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood

With the date of our departure from these shores rapidly approaching, I suddenly feel compelled to document things that I was in danger of taking for granted. 

It has been a wonderful summer so far, mostly settled weather since early January and very little rain. Hardly any. Beautiful mornings such as today are becoming predictable but welcome. So, with the bulk of the house decorating completed, I took some time out to take in a walk around the neighbourhood. 

The walk to Ōhinerau / Mount Hobson, is one that I have been doing on a reasonably regular basis since we moved to Newmarket. Considering it’s only a short walk, albeit mostly uphill for the first part, it does reward with great views across the city, the Hauraki Gulf and out to Rangitoto. Definitely worth doing on a beautiful day such as this, so please join me on a walk around our neighbourhood…..

First things first….getting out of our street. I won’t miss this hill. Oh and it’s bin day. 

Looping back around, the path on the right drops down to Newmarket Park. Not for us today. Incidentally, Newmarket Park used to contain a football ground. It got washed away in a storm in the 1930s or thereabouts.

We’re heading into Newmarket Park (no a different one). I love this house on the right hand side. They seem to have fixed an old carriage to the top of their property. 

The streets around here are beautiful, especially when the sun is shining…..

….but a lot of the

Houses appear to be empty. Probably Air BnBs.

As we start to climb, we can look back and see our house. Fourth from the left. See it?

Ōhinerau (pronounced O-hee-ne-row)

Starting the climb. It’s not far to the top but I like to complain!

Once the trees are cleared, the view to Tamaki Makaurau opens up.

Nearly at the trig point at the top. 

It’s all downhill from here….

Cute cottages - look amazing today but bloody freezing in winter though. No insulation and limited heating. Basically expensive garden sheds!

Considering we are only a 30 minute walk from the city centre, it is very green. In fact Auckland is a very green looking city. 

Back home. Time to put my feet up with a cup of tea and a biscuit before getting back to the decorating.

Power to the People

One of the most common questions I get asked these days is “So what are you going to do now you’re no longer working?” Eee, if I had a dollar for every time I’ve been asked that over the last few weeks. Is it still too late to become a rock star? Thought so. Anyway I’ve got my knees to think about.

But it’s a good question. What am I going to do? In the short-term there is the issue of getting the house emptied and ready for sale. It’ll be a bit of work, especially in the heat of the summer, but it’ll get done. No doubt on time and to programme. Yes of course I have a Gannt Chart to follow. I’m not a heathen!

With the decorating completed, it’s over to the estate agent to work their magic. Whilst we wait for the sale to complete (fingers crossed) we have a few months or so to enjoy the rest of the summer. So what should I do with my remaining time in New Zealand? Ideally something outside that is going to keep me entertained (make that distracted). As we are pretty close to the north island main trunk railway line, I could take up train spotting. But what would I do the second day. The paucity of trains doesn’t make that activity an exciting prospect. 

I could divert my energies to collecting. I’ve always had a bit of a compulsive tendency when it comes to gathering and sorting, as my parents and sister will no doubt confirm. You name it, I’ve collected it; football stickers, key rings, novelty erasers, video games, records, cassettes and CDs…..the list goes on.

If only there was something that I could collect that didn’t add to the volume of material possessions that we are about to ship to the northern hemisphere….

Okay so before I type this next sentence, I know how this is going to sound. I may have geeky tendencies…. “Just tendencies - you must be joking!”…..hey shush. This is my blog. Anyway as I was saying, I may have geeky tendencies but I self aware enough to recognise that is the case. So anyways, I started taking photos of electricity cabinets. What? Wait, come back! It’s not as bad as it sounds. Let me explain….

For a good few years now Chorus, New Zealand’s power distributor, has encouraged local artists to help spruce up our neighbourhoods. Bored of boring boxes, they decided to pay local artists to decorate their equipment. And the results are wonderful. And so I’ve started photographing them….Well it’s a hobby I suppose, and it gets me out of the house.

This fabulous piece of artwork is on Parnell Road just opposite the library. See what they did there with the owl and books. Library. Owl. Books. Geddit?

Heading down to the South Island now. Guess where this was from? South east coast. No? Well from St Kilda obviously.

This is probably my favourite. Hope Bassetts don’t mind. I’m sure they don’t and quite like their confectionary being immortalised in art. On an electricity cabinet. It takes allsorts.

Not quite sure what this bird is, or what it’s doing on a street near the museum in Auckland, but love it the sunset. Besides, who said art had to be atmosphericically accurate. Indeed.

The bird theme is strong in Auckland. I think this depiction of a bell bird (I had to look it up) is fabulous. If you want to see it for yourself, it’s just next to the Cathedral in Parnell.

Rotorua. Love, Peace and Joy. Couldn’t have put it better myself.