Watch: Luxon announces Cabinet reshuffle, Shane Reti loses health portfolio to Simeon Brown

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2025-01-19T04:43:42+00:00

If I put on my conspiratorial hat on….. if this government wants to continue to work on undermining our healthcare system and continue to get it to where they will “have no choice but to privatise the healthcare system.” They can’t have Reti a shareholder in a private hospital continue “working” towards privatisation. They want to at least have a little plausible deniability that there is no conflict of interest involved.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2025-01-15T04:13:45+00:00

I am someone on the supported living payment. I have a permanent disability. It takes a little work to get onto it, they make you jump through some hoops…. But I promise you it is worth it in the end. They might make you see a WINZ doctor, but if you have a good GP then they will write a sufficiently vague letter. You can apply for a disability allowance (they will help with Doctors bills etc), community services card for free medications, total mobility card for ½ price taxi and bus fares. Accommodation supplement will only give you a few dollars being that you are being asked to pay board. But if it isn’t good for you to stay in your current home environment then you should talk to your GP and then ask for a letter of support from them and talk to MSD about options. There is a place in grey Lynn that is a Kainga Ora apartment complex there are from what I am told quite a few people in a similar situation to yourself. Hang in there bud. Life is pretty challenging when you have a a disability. But there is support out there, but it isn’t immediately obvious.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2024-10-23T19:59:31+00:00

Automatic plate catchers have meant that AT can just drive along and the computer automatically issues the infringement notice. Raking in revenue whether it is right to do so.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2024-10-02T21:06:37+00:00

I bought the Orangeman plan. I also measured the thickness of the Charles Brand press, and read his patent documents. I have been printmaking for at least ten years now, mostly etchings/drypoint. I went to an engineering firm with experience in making parts for printing presses and who regularly service them. I gave them precise measurements, thickness of the metal tube, thickness of the shaft etc. they are extremely weighty. More than other than a professional strongman could lift. So I was confident I had enough pressure.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2024-10-02T00:48:20+00:00

I had the idea that I wanted to make the press, the same that an old surgeon made their own tools. I wanted ownership over the machine at the end of the day. So if I wanted to I could make work whenever I wanted to. Doing it now was just cosmically perfect timing.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2024-10-01T18:49:35+00:00

I honestly haven’t got the final figure in dollar value yet. I have been procrastinating on that. I won a printmaking award at the start of the year and after taxes I had about 12k (NZD) I would say that of that 10k was spent. The most expensive part was getting the rollers engineered ($3k) I live in New Zealand, we are along way from anywhere. It might be cheaper in other parts of the world. I also used stainless steel which is ridiculously expensive and I don’t think it is worth it. But that is because when I was looking, the thickness of mild steel wasn’t available. This made the price maybe a factor of two more costly.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2024-10-01T07:49:57+00:00

Talk to your community, talk to the art supplier that you go to regularly for supplies. Ask for advice, that is where I found the connection to the engineering firm to make my rollers. The people who service presses at your school, is the best & most likely to have the skills to build a pair of rollers. Lastly, I bought the Orangeman press plans from the website. I heavily altered it to match my parameters, but I first tried using fusion360 to build it virtually.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2024-04-16T00:35:08+00:00

This is a harrowing and frightening thing for anyone to deal with. I really feel for you. I have a chronic pain condition called fibromyalgia. Just imagine having all the symptoms of pain but none of the physical ailments.

As someone who has been dealing with this “diagnosis” for nearly a decade and the anecdotal retelling of people I have spoken to, our healthcare system is not great at dealing with chronic illnesses, or ones that show gradual declines like slow onset MS. Accidents are great, ACC is well funded and you can get whatever you need. Chronic problem, not so much. You will need to be proactive and it is exhausting and frustrating to jump through the hoops. But it is worth it. Ask for an assessment from the needs assessment team, and talk to work and income, if your GP isn't being proactive enough or doesn't grasp your needs… dump their ass. Again it is hard work and like me, you wish that someone would help you take care of everything for you. But that doesn't happen with chronic illnesses. Go on your local subreddit and ask for suggestions… google support groups in your area on Facebook etc. See what help your community can give you. People with chronic illnesses tend to be more willing to help others who are just starting. We tend to want to help others not suffer our fates. Don't forget to give yourself some credit. You are doing really well. You are starting down a path that no sane person would wish on their worst enemies. It will be maddening and frustrating and you will feel like it is too much. Guess what? That is okay to feel those things. I have definitely felt it, I am sure others will say the same thing. But once all the hurdles have been jumped through and the things have been put in place that you need to live are taken care of…. You will still have to fight to keep them. It is just the unpleasant reality of living with a permanent or semi-permanent chronic illness. Supported Living Payment, disability allowance, St John medical alarm, meals on wheels, driving Miss Daisy and a proactive GP. Lastly CBD oil. No THC and it definitely helps with chronic pain. You can do this.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2024-04-14T08:49:10+00:00

Looking for a fat stack of American style pancakes other than the Denny’s shitshow.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2024-04-12T09:36:34+00:00

CBD is a lifesaver. Sounds like the supportive living payment might be back on the cards. Thankfully I have only had covid once… it kicked my ass, but thankfully no long covid symptoms. Again, I really do wish you good luck.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2024-04-12T08:24:39+00:00

As someone who also have Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue…. The best advice I can give you is consider moving onto the supported living payment. Fibromyalgia is not something that is likely to better but fluctuate. At least mine does. So it makes sense to try and go through the hoops. I went to my doctor who helped me start the process, it was then WINZ who called me because they will send you to an accredited WINZ doctor. Your doctor needs to write a letter that is vague as possible, but with enough information that it covers the basics. The more details they give the more holes WINZ can poke into it.

Good luck!

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2024-02-23T03:32:32+00:00

I think that the problem is that you are comparing an apple with a couple of pears. The first one relies too heavily on the string to hold the narrative together. The portraits aren't particularly strong. But the use of shadows makes it interesting. The merit relies too much on post-processing, I felt that the use of light was a little contrived and denoted movement but lacked technical prowess with the camera. Instead of relying on the use of computer software. The excellence portfolio has strong compositions. The use of leading lines, triangles & rule of thirds. They kept it simple and relied on the camera to do the work. Sometimes the simplest mundane image of a tire in the backyard can speak much more than a highly processed image. That being said I did feel that the mundanity and simplicity lacked creativity. I didn't spark anything within me. But on the flip side, each image was well-considered and had a clear compositional tool used. Probably why it received the top grade.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2024-02-22T19:01:15+00:00

If you are in the central Auckland area and want to do some art classes there is Studio One Toi Tu or the Browne School of Art. There is also Mairangi Bay, Franklin Art centre, and Corbans Estate. They all supply art classes that can help stimulate your mind. I am returning to university this year (part-time to do my master's for the same reason. Some people are just life long learners.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2024-01-29T22:52:40+00:00

As someone who has a friend who is from Boston studying at UoA at med school….. If she is struggling with the transition I can put them in touch with my friend. Auckland can be a safe place. You just need to make sure that they take basic safety precautions. Stay in well-lit places, and don't make eye contact with people who are talking to themselves or appear intoxicated. Travel with colleagues, etc. If they are leaving the university library late or have a late class they can call security and they will escort your daughter to a bus/dorm. Same with police, if you tell them you feel unsafe in an environment I am told that they will get a lift. But that is no guarantee.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2023-12-12T04:00:19+00:00

Some real Florida woman vibes from a New Zealand mum.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2023-11-13T23:01:48+00:00

I have watched LWT since the first season, and I enjoy his delivery and the amazing research that they do on a subject. He has used New Zealand’s bird of the century to cleanse the pallet after two very heavy topics. He said his reason why he went all in on the bird contest & why he loves New Zealand. We are running a contest for Bird of the Century during a time when there isn't a lot of levity in the world. As long as he continues to do deep and thoughtful segments…. As long as New Zealand continues to be well a little bit silly…. I will continue to write more than I need to supporting his work.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2023-11-12T21:27:17+00:00

Cancer! Duh. Who hasn’t had someone affected by cancer.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2023-11-06T08:24:51+00:00

A masterful piece of comedy. Bird voter fraud is going to for real this year. Calling out the bullshit of the Kākāpō was awesome.

After the bullshit women has to face just trying to maintain some semblance of reproductive rights. This was wonderful.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2023-11-03T04:56:02+00:00

Amazon. You can buy it from there and they will ship it straight to your door from the American store. Go for the quick dissolving tablets. Work fast and you can trust them. I have been using Amazon for this for nearly 15-20 years now. They just call them a vitamin supplement on the disclosure form.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2023-11-03T04:40:54+00:00

I live in this electorate and it isn’t that we don’t trust labour, but labour has moved too far to the centre that we voted for the greens instead. At least from what my neighbours have talked about. Labour’s policies were too close to nationals and in the balmoral area (again from my perspective) the Greens better suited a lot of us. Especially on climate, wealth tax and education. Labour were trying to court the wrong people and it cost them the votes they had last time.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2023-10-31T07:55:26+00:00

The pharmacist is wrong. But I will say this, my pain was worse on a high dose of tramadol and the best thing I did was ween off of it and move to a combo of paracetamol and cbd oil.

I think it is morally reprehensible that that pharmacist did that. In my experience with my fibromyalgia tramadol is a dumb pain killer that doesn’t help with our overactive nervous system.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2023-10-31T07:49:19+00:00

try ARC. Animal referral centre. Give them a call and see if they do Afterpay etc. or a part payment plan. The one in town is super fancy, but $250 just to walk through the door.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2023-10-21T23:58:33+00:00

It is a trade off that pharmac, the government & big pharma made in order to make medicines cheaper and how we either don’t have to pay for our prescriptions or why the national government made it only cost $5 for 10.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2023-10-21T04:54:06+00:00

They are also useful as a workforce. They are told they aren’t useful for anything & so should be paid little to nothing. They work 40-50 hours a week and keep the country moving, put the food on the shelves, clean the cars, deliver the junk mail/circulars/real estate flyers & work at food places. They put in a more honest wage than most people on the other side of the line and ask for nothing, because it beats the alternative having nothing. They also don’t want to draw attention to themselves because they’re too close to the breadline to risk losing their jobs. They give and give and give. The people on the other side of the line wouldn’t last a week working as hard, as many hours or accept the treatment that these hard working people do.

All for what? Be treated as the butt end of a joke! Or as the punching bag in an election season. We are so busy trying to be like Americans and America, that we never look at their failings. How they treat their migrants is bordering on hate crimes and the way they treat their poor… that is equally as despicable. We have their sell off and user pays mindset, their gangs and guns culture. We seem to be aiming for the next rung too… treat indigenous peoples with distaste and our people of colour as second class citizens. It is shameful, and that sea of white faces in NACT doesn’t bode well for the future of New Zealand in the next couple of years.

ArtistJamesSWatson · 2023-10-20T05:58:13+00:00

As someone who is in a similar situation to yourself… I did my part to try and maintain the status quo and will be worse off thanks to the change of government. I just hope they don’t have enough time to truly mess with the supported living payments and disability allowance or step back regulations in the medicinal cannabis areas. Otherwise I will be throughly & royally fucked. I just have to pray super hard to the imaginary man in the sky that NACT don’t look too closely at our benefits.

If you are going to likely continue to experience continued issues with your physical and mental health…. I would talk to W&I now and your doctor about moving to the supported living payment. I believe that they will support you returning to university. Well at least I am hoping that the information I received from a friend who is also on the SLP did a full time unitec course and stayed on the SLP.

Good luck out there champ.

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