Ernie's Cousin bites the dust

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It has been another quiet week living under Level 3 here in Auckland. I seem to have settled into a routine of spending the morning at my desk doing work and personal admin, and remote support when required. Lunch accompanied by the daily briefing from the Beehive is often followed by us taking an amble and playing a game of Mah Jong, Rummy-O or Triominos before watching The Chase while preparing dinner. Our evenings are occupied by the tellybox, and this week we have been watching some of our own DVD’s and enjoyed films that we haven’t seen for quite a few years.

The weather has been as variable as ever this week, with some heavy rain and some lovely sunshine, especially yesterday. This might change next week when spring arrives! (You have to give me points for optimism).


Nicky has been feeling a little under the weather, and thinking of going for a Covid test, and then this morning we saw a request which was headlined “Everybody in West and South Auckland should get a test”, and this was heavily reinforced during Nicky’s Church by Zoom session, so off we went. We were home in time for lunch and Jacinda’s press conference to confirm what is happening with our level change tonight, and to discover that she was not pleased at the mis-communication. The headline didn’t accurately reflect the detail of the message, which was much more specific about who should get tested. Anyway, it was done. To celebrate moving from Level 3 to 2 tonight, we had a takeaway from Mt Everest as Nicky had spotted Veg Kebabs on their outside specials board. They were not like any kebabs we have ever had before (in bread or on skewers), they were more like fritters or patties, but were tasty and enjoyable.


Bert the Builder sent us a new schedule this week as the weather has delayed progress, which explains why we have received no photographs. However, we think the slab might have been poured on Friday. We have also received the Regional Council rates bill, which for some reason (probably because it came second) was not as exciting as receiving the District Council’s rates bill.


On Wednesday it was announced that Bonus Bonds is being wound up (NZ”s equivalent of Premium Bonds for those of you in the UK), due to it being seen as a very poor investment by the Financial Services Authority. Draws in September and October are still scheduled, but that may change and the scheme get wound-up. This has big consequences for us, as we have been using Bonus Bonds as a “holding” account for our build fund. Once winding-up starts, all monies will be locked in for a minimum of 12 months. So, I gave them a ring and had a chat with a very helpful young lady who basically said, take you money out now, just in case. So I did.


We have done another jigsaw over the weekend, and had further thoughts and discussions over the design of the kitchen for our new home. Hopefully spring will see some progress.


This weeks photo from the archive is Grannys Bay on the North Shore:



Take care, Rick

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