The path ahead

Did a little shopping this morning for daughter C and her two boys who remain in self-isolation. C and Mr H continue to test negative on the RAT; the GP has asked them to come in for more testing as she is concerned by Mr H's symptoms. The symptoms seem as explicable by the stress he is experiencing, poor chap, as by Covid. There is no temperature.

BUT, that is the bugger with omicron; it can present in very different ways. Good that they have an excellent GP. One of the very best.

Due to concern that if I try to bring the BBQ from the beach house down to Titirangi, it will actually collapse in pieces, we decided to leave it there and get a new one for the new home. Went to an outlet store, and was able to get exactly what I think will result in most cooking being done with it and therefore outside, keeping the inside of the house cooler and with less cooking smells inside.

Rather than struggle with a flatpack in the car, and then become stressed out of my mind by the complicated process of putting it together, I've arranged for them to deliver one already made up. The way it should be. We don't expect to put a car together when we buy one, or even a dishwasher, or a stove/cooker.

The violent parties at the so-called protest have ended up getting what they wanted. Police have exrted pressure and some force to move them out of parliament's grounds. The response has been violent, including setting fires, throwing rocks, sprating Police officers with fire extinguisher chemicals, and a stated intention to set fire to the Law School, which is nearby. 

Most of the others, both the misguided and those misleading others, have departed before it was too late and they also ended up being arrested. Voices For Freedom is a group said to be established by (self-described) "just three mums". These three women would describe themselves as "influencers", which to me means they are being paid by others than their target audience, to convince the targets of things that are of dubious truth. They usually claim thousands of followers, and then promote products and ideas for ... who knows exactly who.

At the same time Putin's bullying army is attempting to annexe Ukraine for Russia. Yesterday I read about Putin being the world leader of the Christian Nationalists. Putin has displayed the same attitude towards truth and facts and reality as Trump continues to show in his campaign to become President again. Many of the background supporters of the activities in Wellington over the last three weeks (including bankrolling them) are part of this same rigid group.

Just as many of us in the Health sector have been  working to avoid returning to business as usual, because we now know the importance of working smarter, New Zealand/Aotearoa cannot afford to return to such tolerance of intolerant people.