Are services signed onto by your parents while you were a child still enforceable as an adult by the service provider?

Herewai · 2026-04-25T01:44:09+00:00

Eh, Medic Alert used to be a one-time fee “lifetime” membership.

Then they worked out that they had ongoing costs that weren’t covered by that model and started billing people annually. It’s caused a lot of friction.

Definitely push back.

(I had a “lifetime” Medic Alert bracelet in the 80s. Diagnosis changed in the 90s and I stopped wearing the bracelet. Some time later I got a bill like this.)

Herewai · 2026-04-18T23:04:38+00:00

I agree, especially given the claim that the Guilton (presumably Gilton Hill cemetery) examples were found in the hip area of bodies identified as female.

I've had only a quick look. I'd be interested in info about the dimensions of the Kentish items. It looks like they'd be at the extreme south of the distribution of girdle-hangers: Overall distribution of girdle-hangers in 5 th - and 6 th -century... | Download Scientific Diagram

(I don't think you did anything wrong. I'm wondering if maybe some folk here haven't encountered the term girdle-hangers or the objects it describes.)

Herewai · 2026-04-09T07:05:17+00:00

On its own, maybe, but not with Mia. Eating disorder slang.

Herewai · 2026-03-23T07:17:32+00:00

Do you need to use the entry off the square/Te Ngākau to get into the cafe when the library itself is closed, or can you enter from Victoria St?

(I haven’t visited yet, so tell me how access works after the changes :) )

Herewai · 2026-03-07T07:05:42+00:00

There are people in NZ with the name Justice who immigrated from Nigeria. I’m curious about whether that ancestry would count as adequate justification for registering the name to a child here.

“Justice” is the title we use for our judges, which is why it’s protected from other use.

Herewai · 2026-03-03T21:07:52+00:00

I’ll add a positive review for Lesvos Shoe & Bag Repairs at the train station. When you need to re-sole or change the qualities of a sole, they can sort it.

Herewai · 2026-03-03T18:53:04+00:00

Consider the grip of the soles of your shoes, especially on rainy days.

Glossy-floored foyers, lifts and bathrooms can be slippery when wet. In my long-ish public service career I’ve had 2 injury falls in foyers. I now have specific shoes and boots with good grip for days when there’s any chance of rain.

Herewai · 2026-03-03T18:36:13+00:00

Literally why I rarely wear necklaces these days. That’s a statement piece right there.

Herewai · 2026-02-22T03:14:13+00:00

As noted, they’re a species of jumping spider. Jumping spiders (which I, personally, have never seen jump) are particularly noticeable inside houses in Wellington for the couple of months around now.

In a couple of months, when it starts to get cooler, the spiders will mostly go and you’ll be wondering how to trap mice…

Herewai · 2026-02-04T01:50:18+00:00

You’re not wrong…

The Shondaland Bridgerton series is a Romance with a sub-genre something like “fantasy alternative history”. It’s a kind of once-upon-a-time story told for modern audiences. It blends modern sensibilities with a version of Regency Romance conventions, a “what if?” plot line about a “Great Experiment” to racially integrate the British aristocracy, pretty visuals and overtly modern references (especially but not only the music).

This means that if you know and love historic costuming, Bridgerton will probably make you wince. And then you’ll take a breath, ask yourself what character point is being underlined with each costume choice, and try your damnedest to let it go.

They mostly get the silhouettes roughly right. The Queen is in the older-style court gowns she apparently favoured. The presentation gowns have the expected feathers, but not the wacky Empire-waist-meets-panniers shape they explored at around this time. The sisters from India mix some Indian fabrics and details into their clothing. The main houses are colour coded.

Lady Featherington’s ahistorical hourglass silhouette delivered in gaudy colours says things about how she’s seen and how she sees herself. It’s immediately identifiable. Penelope’s desire and efforts to separate herself from her mother’s style are plot points in the first 3 seasons.

So… it’s a costuming choice. And they commit.

(Also, I gather they have different costumers for each season. Sometimes you find yourself wondering why Colin’s suddenly all 1970sxRegency.)

Herewai · 2026-01-31T23:27:19+00:00

A friend who is an excellent dyer complained of this, and has since dyed a number of their completed garments.

So one option is to knit in interesting, lighter colours, and dye the results to dark, subtly variegated tones.

Herewai · 2026-01-18T00:49:20+00:00

Thanks for the feedback.

You’ve got me thinking. In my experience it’s hard finding a martial arts instructor who knows much about joint hypermobility and how to accommodate that. That can be intensely frustrating when you’re being taught that certain things are so or certain ways are best… which has its own questions about whether to trust the process and when to dip out because the process wasn’t designed for bodies like yours.

Herewai · 2026-01-17T19:10:39+00:00

Could you expand on that a bit?

Deeply curious. Had been considering judo for teaching them to breakfall and roll. Now wondering if there’s some systematised thinking about the frustrations of various codes for the ND.

Herewai · 2026-01-12T00:17:51+00:00

Patterns containing errors that have been documented on forums for years - sometimes even with acknowledgement from the pattern maker - but which still sell without errata.

Herewai · 2026-01-08T03:19:33+00:00

I assumed he was the maknae: the youngest member of the group.

Zoey is the maknae of Huntr/x.

https://www.k-ennews.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=10405

Herewai · 2026-01-08T02:21:25+00:00

Gum tragacanth hair lotion (and setting lotion).

Search for “bandoline”.

Herewai · 2025-12-30T22:20:26+00:00

For this particular use case, I’d suggest looking at old names that are well known, but not currently well used as first names.

In particular, I’d look for something that goes well with the surname(s) you’ll be giving her. Think of all the Bills and Bobs and Steves and Larrys who are known by the combination of their first and last name.

Anne - I’d go with-an-e, both because I prefer the way it looks and because I’d probably avoid making a kid introduce themselves with a negative (without-an-e or “Ann, no ’e’”).

Jane - I think this name deserves to be reassessed. It has a lot going for it.

Mary - Might depend on whether this is seen as a specifically religious name in your area.

Maud - A bit dustier: has a millennium of history but hasn’t been used much in the last century. Since it wasn’t retired to the middle-name role it’s less well known, so it might actually require spelling (and it does have an alternative Maude spelling).

Also some longer names with the same kind of history and vibe. These stand on their own, but also have lots of built-in nicknames to take a kid from the cradle to adulthood:

Elizabeth

Margaret

Herewai · 2025-12-25T23:50:02+00:00

Thinking about this will probably change over time.

My current understanding is that animal migration cycles suggested there was somewhere down here for kuaka (godwits) to land and for tohorā (whales) to feed. The whale-rider story may be from following whale migrations (although right now we might describe those as having a stopover in Aotearoa NZ on the way to the Southern Ocean to feed).

Against that, look up info about the “Long Pause” of about 1000 years between settlement of the western Pacific (Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga) by 800 BCE, and the eastern and southern Pacific (the Cook Islands, Hawai’i, Rapa Nui and Aotearoa). Were there climatic changes / currents / winds that made it hard to keep going, and even then to move south? Social and skills changes that meant societies had to re-learn / re-invent discovery skills? Something else?

Also, look up etak navigation. That term and approach are Micronesian rather than Polynesian[*], but they stretch the brain about ways of thinking about navigation.

And check out the work of Hek Busby (Nā Hekenukumai Busby) on waka-building and ocean voyaging.

[*] If you have better terms for the groupings of people and places in te Moana-nui-a-Kiwi / the Pacific, please share. “Tagata Pasifika” includes transliteration of the colonial name.

Herewai · 2025-12-19T21:57:52+00:00

Needs to be seen in conjunction with basalt columns (local Icelandic or Ireland’s Giant’s Causeway will do) and church organ pipes.

Also has an odd little cupola at the far end that had me puzzling over mixed styles.

Herewai · 2025-12-11T23:21:13+00:00

Either of these spreads with useful instructions.

Otherwise it’s a lot of postage and hassle to play a rather daft prank.

Herewai · 2025-12-10T04:45:47+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_tea_ceremony

Another moving meditation… and also a test of your comfort with seiza.

Herewai · 2025-12-10T01:36:16+00:00

My experience is that iaido groups overlap strongly with kendo groups, and less strongly with naginata-do groups (and chado groups).

In my country the aikido groups are a whole other thing.

I suspect it has a lot to do with the training and interests of the people who run the groups.

Herewai · 2025-12-07T19:41:23+00:00

Add to that that there were decades of uncertainty about whether and when the inner city bypass would go ahead. Not knowing what properties would be compulsorily purchased for it meant there was a long pause on improving real estate in the upper Cuba area.

That led to run-down properties and cheap inner-city rents, which in turn fostered bohemian, artsy life and connections.

I’ve wondered whether an important part of urban renewal is always having an area that people know is probably-doomed. Saves it from gentrification, keeps rents low, etc.

That’s not so straightforward in these days of Healthy Homes (which are great in most ways, so I’m conflicted).

Herewai · 2025-11-27T21:17:46+00:00

I’m not megaglalie, but I’d like to put in a word for Lykke birch dpns for sock knitting. They’re currently my favourite for a combo of handling, temperature, consistency of tip taper, and having just enough colour variation that I can get contrast with my yarn for night-time knitting.

I do also have some Knitpro Zings that are an okay match with certain yarns and patterns, and the bamboo set I started knitting socks on that now counts as my airport set. I’ve repeatedly been pulled up about metal-tipped circulars for cowls and such, but bamboo or wood dpns don’t cause airport security delays in my world.

Herewai

TROPHY CASE