The Mycroft Chronicles

What happened and things Removing the silt pile The John B Lewis soccer complex  (known to the soccer crowd as "JBL") is a couple of miles from here - something like 6 acres of soccer fields covered in astroturf along with the associated buildings, never quite enough parking space and so on.  About a year ago the Swannanoa River flooded it, dumping a fairly large amount of silt on it - I didn't realise how much until today.  The picture on the right shows a digger on top of about half the pile. The fields were last laid in June 2017 at a cost of a million and a half or thereabouts after another flood so the local soccer association (ABYSA) was understandably reluctant to do the whole thing again.   JBL was donated to ABYSA by the Lewis family about 20 years ago as a memorial to their soccer playing son.  It is in an area prone to flooding but does an immense service to the upmarket shopping area at Biltmore Village  by grabbing a load of the...

OK - I have to chuck one of these in from time to time.  This morning I went to Cancer Care for the usual blood tests and infusion of Zometa - a wonder drug that, if it runs true to form, will leave me feeling 10 years older for the next 3 days.  I feel 10 years older anyway as I can't shake my jetlag.  I put it down to having no incentive to shake it - no 8 a.m. class to teach or meeting to go to.  I had a wonderful hour and three quarters sleep last night and I don't think Susan did much better.  There was a well-timed article in this month's AARP magazine on how to sleep better so I will skip the choc cake, beer and TV near bedtime tonight and see if that helps (he said, guzzling a large glass of iced caffeine). I have decided to let my old blog - meandmymarrow.blogspot.com - pass peacefully away as I really don't want to maintain two blogs and it is a pain in the bum switching google users.  Maybe I'll write a python program to back up my blog or print...

It appears to have been low tide all day today which meant a perfect day for hanging round on the beach, in the sea and stuff.  Not that it was all fun and games as Dave's car got broken into when he left it by the road outside Puhoi because it had a puncture and a non-functional spare.  Everyone was terribly philosophical, apparently the insurance company was most understanding and it was "lesson learnt" all round.  Very grown up.  Though I wouldn't be the owner of the balls of the cretin who did it if Dave catches up with him. Up early this morning for a wander along Red Beach at low tide with Murphy.  The sea wasn't too inviting but, as the tide was out, we had plenty of beach and rocks to explore. From the deck here, it looks like the tide is always in  and, with a strong wind behind it, we could hear it washing into the cove (but not as thunderously as on previous occasions).  The bach I am staying in is remarkably well equipped, ri...

I had a great day at Rainbow's End with Nonie and the boys yesterday.  I took loads of photos with my phone, not wishing to risk my camera and not giving a toss what happened to my phone.  I uploaded 48 of the better ones to somewhere with my phone - buggered if I can find them but there's some good generic pictures on the Rainbow's End website.  OK - found them and updated the phone drivers - nerd day today. The place I am staying here is on top of a cliff in Red Beach, north of Auckland.  It has no internet access, hence my sporadic blog entries.  I can use the internet through my cellphone but if I do that I pretty soon want to hurl the darn thing in the sea (not much of a throw). I also can't persuade my PC to read the photos from my phone which doesn't amaze me.  I will email them to myself so I can get them on my laptop when I get to the airport.  Maybe. (I ...

Today I drove down from Red Beach to Waihi to stay with George, Cassie and Amy for a couple of nights.  I woke up at 5 a.m. ready to roll but thought it inappropriate to do so, largely because I wanted to collect my camera from Nonie and suspected a knock on her door at 5:30 would not win me any friends.  So, having confirmed my suspicions that a large amount of bacon cooked in a pan with a criss-cross pattern in the bottom would stick, I packed some food in one bag and some clothes in another and watched the sun come up.  Finally convinced that the north Auckland rush-hour was over (wrong!), I set out to her place of work in Albany only to find she had yet to arrive. So I treated myself to a cup of coffee from the kiosk and waited 10 minutes for her to roll up, with camera. OK - time to hit the road, Jack.  Bit of logic involved - first, find the motorway.  Pretty easy.  Then drive south to a major exit and get off to buy gas.  Wrong!  Not even ...

Moving on Yesterday was military exercise time as I decamped from Waiwera (where the hot pools look pretty perma-closed, incidentally) and headed for my favourite camp ground in Red Beach.  My "tent" is a well-equipped 1000 square foot cottage on top of a cliff overlooking  the Pacific.  Two nice bedrooms (one of which has a closet that gives George the creeps), a big living room, a small but functional and well equipped kitchen and similar bathroom.  Also a garage which is a bit of a luxury, even if I do have to choose which wing mirror I can live without when I back in.  The military exercise came in the shape of help from Nonie & George who packed my stuff (except the clothes) at Waiwera and unpacked it all this end.  Made for a very smooth move especially as I was able to get in here earlier than the allotted 2 p,m. We have, of course, christened the cove below which was relatively packed yesterday.  Someone has done some work on th...