I’ve spoken briefly about my health and the health system, but I haven’t spoken about being made redundant by AUT. Redundancy is a shitty process, but AUT still managed to make it about as bad as it could possibly have been. Not just for me but for all of those made redundant. Hundreds of us. […]
Category: Uncategorized
This is where you’ll find the stuff that doesn’t fit anywhere else …
RymanHealth ‘Senior New Zealander of the Year’
In early December, I was contacted by the people who run the New Zealander of the Year Awards and informed that I was, once again, a semi-finalist (top 10) for Senior New Zealander of the Year yet again. I must admit I was really chuffed as it’s a nice acknowledgement of the work I do […]
I Love Travel!
This weird life of mine! It feels as though I’ve been a few times round the block which is a bit crazy considering I was eighteen years old before I ever climbed onto a plane – Ōtautahi to Whanganui-a-Tara in 1963, a return trip for my girlfriend’s sister’s wedding – and fifty-two before I left […]
China and Korea without moi
I love travel, but this year I didn’t go anywhere. Unless you include Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. I don’t, which is not to say I don’t like Te Whanganui-a-Tara – I do – but flying in or out of that city isn’t my idea of a great way to spend even a few terrifying minutes on any given […]
The All Blacks v The Wallabies
Early in the year, Cadbury ran a promotion celebrating volunteers. This involved submitting the name, a brief CV, and a photograph of the person you were recommending as a top volunteer and Cadbury would turn this into a cute, animated cartoon video featuring that person. This seemed like fun, so I submitted details for both […]
Health
At my age, and discounting mobility, I have say I’m blessed with extremely good health. Please note the qualifier ‘at my age’. I have a karate friend in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Eiko Hanshi Renzie Hanham. with whom I went to school. We shared a number of courses over the years and sat next to each other in […]
Hikoi and Hui
It’s been a challenging year with many of the things I hold dear under serious threat from the current government, and internationally. Not least among these is the status of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. A couple of years ago, Cushla and Finn began to explore their whakapapa – Ngāpuhi nui tonu – leaving me as […]
My Māori Whānau
It feels like my life has been spent standing alongside my Māori brothers and sisters, just as my father did. It’s been an absolute joy because, in Aotearoa, Māori are desperately disadvantaged in every measurable metric and in most others too, always have been and now, in 2025, absolutely nothing has changed. Sadly, under this […]
Self care
I keep getting told by people I love that I should do more of this, but unfortunately, I suspect it’s too late. I’m not good at it and I never have been, but the plan for 2025 includes a bit more of a focus on looking after myself, that way I might, through being a […]
Work
Thanks to the shambles that accompanied the mass redundancies at my most recent workplace it’s been difficult – nigh impossible – for me to get a job. Not actually because of the redundancy but because of the psychological damage that redundancy does. It took me at least a year to recover and my sense of […]
dykiegirl 