MK forum

Oh, YES, you Kiwis fly with the best of them!
You are amazing!

Speaking of things that fly.

The lovely Mrs Bemused, K9 Bemused and I used to live in a lovely suburb overlooking the sea. We had a huge section of land and life was pretty good. Then we had the Feb 2011 earthquake and the house was wrecked and we were told to leave along with most of our neighbours due to boulders roaring down the hill and into the houses.

All except one individual who "bravely" fought the authorities for the right to stay. Now boulders tend to go down gullies and his house was in line with a gully that saw one boulder go through the our land, over a fence and through the roof of my immediate neighbours place and through his roof onto his bed (about 7 ton).

Then this happened today, wonder if the "brave" neighbour will move now.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/8216018/Van-sized-boulder-hits-home

And what on earth does this have to do with Fanda Eagles? Ummmmm, some times it takes a lot to move someone or something, but eventually the inevitable happens.

Oh, YES, I get it!

This guy is crazy!

"Are you concerned, for your own safety, with these boulders crashing down around you?"

"No, I don't know why, but I'm not."

"Are you moving?"

"No. But from all reports, this house shook, and there was a cloud of dust."

Where have I heard this kind of thing before?

"Triber? Are you concerned? About all these reports of child abuse in your mission that haven't been dealt with in the right way?"

"No. I don't know why. But I'm not.'

"Are you going to leave?"

"No. But from all reports, this stuff shook the mission, and there was a cloud of dust. But I'm busy right now. Show the next chronological picture please."

Sheesh!

Nice Analagy.

These boulders come down without warning, they travel faster than Lance Armstrong can cycle and they snap 25 year old pines clean through. The one that went through our neighbours roof bounced twice in 200metres, simple engineering would suggest it was moving at speed and altitude.
Meanwhile a group of neighbours are asking the authorities to put up a fence that will catch these boulders, so they can move back into their houses. Ummmmm, even the great engineering skill of Mrs Bemused would struggle to design a fence that reliable or high enough.

Staying in the path of one of these beauties is like playing Russian Rulette and the more time spent in the zone, the more spins you get.

Update:

And how long does it take a politician to use a natural disaster to drive home his personal view? About 24 hours.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/8220906/I-told-you-so-says-Brownlee-on-rockfall

Warning for organisations with a mess on their hands, there are those at top level who will use anything for political gain, be prepared.

Bemused was your house red tagged?

Our house was destroyed in the earthquake (I was in it at the time, rather scary). It took 3 days for the authorities to decide that it was not safe to live there and we were evicted and never returned. We slept under a table in the safest part of the house till we moved. The only person to now live in the depopulated part of the street is the man on the video clip. He is in my opinion, a complete nutter. He has been told to leave but refuses.

What is interesting is what happens in a natural disaster. People react very differently. Some people who lost everything, immediately helped others. Some who had little damage, looked after themselves and declined to help others. The media goes after the sensational aspects of the event and will find the first person who is willing to talk to air their version of events, this is often completely inaccurate. Politicians will promise the world will be put right, but then suffer amnesia.

And now I have a dilemma. I cycled over to have a look at this latest boulders path down the hill. It was pretty obvious where it went, as there are big trees snapped like tooth picks. However there was a tree down that the boulder cannot have been responsible for and there I found another boulder that has been held up by the trees. The reason I found it, is because I know that hill intimately, after 30 years of making it into a forest. This boulder is in a line considerably closer to the man in the clips house and will come down with the next shake, rain or just because it feels like it. So what do I do? I'm wasting my time arguing with someone who still thinks he is not in danger, so do I let nature take its course and possibly improve the gene pool? Do I inform the media, who will swarm all over the place and make a sensatonal story of it? Or do I call an expert?