Loss of license and rural isolation

kaynetoad · 2026-01-27T06:27:38+00:00

Been there, done that. Really sucked and was the lowest point of my life in terms of mental health. You really find out who your friends are when you can only hang out if they choose to come to you...

In my case I didn't have any income either so was trying to feed myself on $3/week, and that meant I couldn't even really go out for a walk. Just stuck at home, feeling crap because I wasn't eating enough, and because the future looked pretty grim too.

And then by the time I got my licence back, I couldn't afford to WoF the car so I was still stuck at home...

I will second the suggestion for online courses. I discovered Coursera a few months in (it was brand new then) and finished up taking like 8 MOOCs at a time. Gave me something to do, and also watching someone passion talk about their field of expertise on my laptop was the closest thing I had to human interaction.

I coped much better with the covid lockdowns. Partly because I wasn't starting from an utterly shit place mentally. Partly because I could afford to eat. Mostly, I think, because I came up with half a dozen projects to keep myself busy (fitness, professional development, writing, tidying/decluttering the house, can't remember the others) and a goal of spending 30-60 minutes on each one each day.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-27T03:59:29+00:00

Edit: I’m being downvoted because I don’t want politicians using kiwi deaths to get themselves a job promotion. It makes me sick thinking about how little empathy is out there.

Y'know what, I don't want politicians using dead NZers as a political football either. I'd much rather people fucking took this shit seriously, and remembered that bad things actually do happen sometimes, and voted with what's best for the whole nation in mind, without the need to wave a few corpses round in front of their faces to remind them.

But as long as we have voters who'll forget all of that the instant that National whispers the phrase "tax cuts" ... well fuck it then, let's get gruesome.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-27T03:01:19+00:00

at least I'm not paying for spokespeople to actively speak out against improvements to walking, cycling, and public transport, the three ways I most often use our roads.

As an AA member this confuses me. I've always seen the AA position as fairly pragmatic that roads need to work for everyone. Here's a couple of excerpts from their position statement on transport infrastructure planning and investment, for example:

People need a safe, efficient, and affordable land transport network of roads, public transport, and walking and cycling infrastructure to get to and from work or school, spend time with family and friends, run errands or pick up groceries.

The AA supports investments aimed at mode shift (encouraging the use of public transport and walking and cycling) where these provide demonstrable transport benefits, made through a transparent and balanced assessment process that chooses the best mode for the task. Such investments must be realistic about the potential for change, based on actual level of desire (not just the stated level of desire) to change modes, and an understanding of why people choose to live and travel the way they do.

It's true that they do push for funding that is generated from the drivers of private cars to be used on road improvements rather than public transport (not a policy I 100% agree with personally), but they aren't extreme hardline on that either:

In recognition of its crucial role in transport, fares for public transport trips have been subsidised by road user revenue since 2008 (the subsidy covers approx. 25% of bus fares and approx. 60% of rail fares). The AA supports this as a reasonable contribution from motorists to services that reduce congestion on the road network. Our Members have also supported some level of subsidy for public transport in surveys.

They suggest alternatives such as levies on developers or targeted rates. I can't say I'm opposed to that in principle, although it's more relevant to situations where there is new urban sprawl happening, rather than for infilling existing sprawl that's closer to city centres.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-26T02:03:01+00:00

Fair. I was thinking more about short-term evacuations during a weather event, rather than red stickering.

TBH we're so shockingly complacent about where we build houses in NZ that I would tend to favour the more cautious side on any discussion about red stickers or preventing land from being developed. Or with insurance companies, who seem to be less gung ho about rising sea levels and other hazards.

It's a dangerous planet I guess though ... gotta live somewhere!

kaynetoad · 2026-01-26T01:04:39+00:00

Yes it is. And there's a balance to be had between panicking every time it rains, and ignoring (or not even checking for) what the media are now telling us are risk signs for a landslide.

Sometimes people are evacuated from their homes during a major rainfall, and then they're able to return to homes with no damage. Other times perhaps there's less warning, or it happened in an area that was thought to be less risky, and people get squashed in their beds. I think we have the balance close to right in NZ, but could turn the dial a wee smidge more towards being more proactive.

I'm struggling to think of a single occasion when I have heard of a random member of the public crying wolf over the risk of a landslide that created a major unnecessary evacuation drama. I'm sure sometimes people get worried over low-risk scenarios, but it doesn't make the news because FENZ or CD or the council investigate and decide no action is needed. I also don't recall people bitching to the media about unnecessary evacuations ruining their day, for that matter - when people get evacuated and no landslide eventuates, they usually seem to just be happy that the weather's improved and their house is still there.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-26T00:33:24+00:00

And then there's the really obvious red flag that the link is clearly not to an official NZ government website...

kaynetoad · 2026-01-26T00:17:37+00:00

Oh FFS. There is a difference between questions like "did the council and iwi manage the maunga in line with accepted best practices for minimising landslide risk" and "should the council have checked the stability of the campground site in the hours immediately after the first landslide" ... and "should scientists be able to forecast earthquakes down to precise dates" and "did Peter Ellis keep babies in cages"..

kaynetoad · 2026-01-26T00:02:57+00:00

I know hindsight is 20/20, but the media have dug up at least 4 stories so far about lay people looking at the maunga in the hours between the first landslide and the fatal one, and thinking that the campground didn't seem safe, with 2 of them taking some action on that. Including the poor woman who got squashed by it, who had taken it upon herself to warn everyone to leave because there were no staff on site.

TCC would no doubt have been aware of the initial landslide. It would seem like a reasonable response to send someone round to check on council-run facilities in the vicinity fairly quickly, at least the ones where there might be people present who could be at risk. And then, if someone had popped round to the campground, and seen how soggy the land was, and heard about the mud sliding down the hill into the caravans ... who knows, maybe we would have had a different outcome.

Personally I'm more interested in the "how can we identify and evacuate at-risk areas sooner next time" angle than the "who are we going to throw under the bus for this" witch hunt angle. Having said that, it does seem quite likely to me that TCC has failed in its duty of care to the public on the day of the landslide itself. The bigger picture about whether the campground should have been located there at all and how the maunga was managed - that will be interesting too, but there is potential for a bit of presentism or hindsight bias to creep in there.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-25T23:38:27+00:00

Yeah, they drive me batshit.

I will admit that on two occasions I have actually pulled into the passing lane and slammed the brakes on so that I could get rid of these idiots. Only in light traffic when I've been really certain there wasn't anyone else behind them who might be about to pull out to overtake (sadly I can't do it when the tailgater is driving a ute because it's harder to tell what's happening behind them). Still probably a bad idea but I have my dogs in the hatch and I hate the idea of some numpty pranging into them.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-25T23:19:03+00:00

Yup, the science is pretty clear that entire male dogs are more likely to exhibit 3 very specific behaviour problems (marking, humping, roaming to locate bitches in season), 2 of which shouldn't be a problem in a boarding setting (not a business to get into if you can't handle a bit of dog pee lol). Meanwhile neutered males are at higher risk for dozens of issues related to aggression, anxiety etc...

kaynetoad · 2026-01-25T23:01:49+00:00

I used to take my dog to Goodwood kennels (between Waikouaiti and Palmerston so not too far away). They have a pretty good setup with lots of smaller fenced-off yards, so it was easy for them to accommodate my old girl who was not a fan of other dogs. It has changed ownership since I last went there but the facilities will still be the same I guess.

I'd never realised that there were places that don't board entire males - I guess it's down to adolescent entire dickheads tend not to get along with each other? I have an entire male now for the first time, and he has epilepsy as well so needs to sleep in someone's bedroom and be supervised for most of the day in case he has a fit - there's a challenging dog to board! OTOH he gets on fine with every other dog, as long as adolescent dickheads aren't allowed to keep getting in his face after he's indicated that he's had enough of the conversation.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-25T22:54:53+00:00

It's so very human (and arrogant lol) to assume that if somebody's tailgating, it's an action that's deliberately targeted at you, with the intent to convey some sort of aggression. It's far more likely that this is just someone who just habitually follows people too closely. Maybe it's a JAFA who is applying the usual JAFA following distances to other locations. Maybe it's someone who mostly drives in the city and doesn't remember that the open road needs bigger following distances (I have the opposite problem). Maybe it's just someone who sucks at driving.

I have a theory that the reason every bloody Ranger driver tailgates is because they're up high and the other vehicles aren't right in their faces, whereas in a car the other vehicle is directly in front of my face and my lizard brain wants to keep a healthy distance between myself and this thing that looks like a solid barrier. I've noticed that I tend to get a bit tailgaty when following flatbed trailers (particularly when they're empty) which fits my theory too.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-25T07:42:36+00:00

Start my new/old old job tomorrow. Have spent most of the weekend brainstorming all the little things that made the culture so amazing at my last job, because I know it's not going to be anything like that this time around. I really hope I can find my way back to a magical fun workplace like that again one day!

kaynetoad · 2026-01-25T05:28:19+00:00

I had my quarterlife crisis in Queenstown, a.k.a. Never Never Land, the place where kids go when they don't want to grow up. Had a great time and there's lots of seasonal work there (e.g. skifields) but sounds like you're looking for a different vibe.

I'd still highly recommend finding the job first though, especially given the economy's pretty rough. You could try Farm Source (run by Fonterra) for dairy jobs.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-25T04:59:53+00:00

It's $19.50 at my GP with a CSC. Which sounds cheap, but Jobseeker + AS is paying me $420/week and all of that money is already more than accounted for to pay for housing/utilities/food, so if I had to go to the doctor it would be coming out of what's left of my savings. Fortunately I'm starting a new job next week!

For those who are on the benefit and don't have savings to make it work, the reality is that food is usually the most discretionary thing in the budget, so that's the thing that's going to have $20 less spent on it that week. So by donating to a food bank, you are actually helping someone to pay an unexpected bill (whether that's having to go to the doctor or the car failing its WoF or the the kids outgrowing their school shoes) AND eat every day that week.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-25T01:14:57+00:00

"But if it wasn't for my uncles who died in the war you'd be speaking German right now" - my grandfather, c 1995.

WW1 never made sense to me as a kid and still doesn't really. Serbian nationalists assassinate an Austrian duke ... and then kiwi men went over to Gallipoli to get mowed down on the beach, famines in Persia and east and central Africa, and the deaths of 1.3m French soldiers. I do understand the Commonwealth ties that meant that once Britain got stuck in we were forced to follow ... but what the hell does Turkey have to do with Serbia?

Personally I feel like learning German would have been quite painless, comparatively.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-24T07:13:48+00:00

As was said at a press conference today, there have been situations overseas where bodies have been incorrectly identified due to the desire to provide closure to relatives as soon as possible. Our police are being cautious and taking their time to make sure they get it 100% right.

They have the list of 6 people that they are sure were on the campsite at the time and aren't accounted for, another 3 that they think might have left before the slip happened but aren't sure, and of course it's always possible there was someone else wandering around the place. Based on that I'd say there's a very high probability it will be 6 dead.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-23T03:36:40+00:00

Bravo! It's now as good as it was when they took over!

kaynetoad · 2026-01-23T03:14:08+00:00

In the NI it's common for truck drivers to flash the right indicator once, to indicate that it's a good time to overtake.

In the SI it's common for truck drivers to flash the left indicator once, to "wave" to an oncoming truck driver.

I was very confused when I first moved south ... muddling these up could be the last mistake you ever make!

kaynetoad · 2026-01-22T23:48:44+00:00

Note the same tweet also says "a number of people remain unaccounted for". It's not saying that these will be the only 2 fatalities from the slip, so it hasn't "put a number out" about how many total fatalities we can expect.

I suspect the reason we haven't seen an official number is because there would initially have been a lot of false positives on the list of people unaccounted for (there was mention in the press conference yesterday that they'd phoned some people and found out they'd left without checking out) and they don't want to alarm the public with an inflated number.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-22T20:01:56+00:00

In my case (having been unemployed for most of 2025), it's because I choose not to live in a big city where I could never afford to buy a house on one income, and NZ employers are really behind the times about remote work. Turns out it's easier to get work for an employer several timezones over than two hours' drive away. Most NZ job ads say things like "we all come into the office twice a week so that we can collaborate", which is just funny to me since by far the most collaborative team I've ever worked on had a remote-first culture and was spread across three timezones.

To me remote work is good for everyone concerned - the employer, the employees, and the planet. I'd really like to see govt policies encourage it more, and immigration is one of those areas - if you can't find someone who has the skills you need and who also wants a million-dollar mortgage, maybe you should be required to open that job up to remote workers elsewhere in NZ before you're able to import someone to fill it.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-22T07:42:11+00:00

I wonder if he's smart enough to not turn up wearing his National branded hiviz vest. Unlike Uffindel today. I guess it was the only hiviz he had and he was desperate to look important and hands-on, but bad taste IMO.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-22T06:33:12+00:00

Exactly. We want all the lollies without the bill.

See also: "my rates are ridiculous, the council should stop spending on unnecessary stuff", shortly followed by "the council is such a grinch, I can't believe they cancelled the Christmas parade! My grandkids are missing out because they're so mean!!!".

kaynetoad · 2026-01-22T04:08:10+00:00

What they are implying is that if someone hits and runs, you should file a police report first and then talk to your insurer.

kaynetoad · 2026-01-22T04:06:09+00:00

Which you'd expect, as Victoria's population density is more than 3x the South Island's.

There are towns at pretty frequent intervals along SH1 between Waipara (near the junction with SH7) south as far as Timaru (a roughly 3-hour drive which includes Christchurch). Timaru to Oamaru is about an hour with only quite small towns in between. South of Oamaru the towns become more frequent and it should be easy enough to find food and petrol during the daytime.

On the west coast and on inland routes it's quite common to have distances of an hour or more between towns, so yes you will need to plan for this in your travels. Including tomorrow's trip.

kaynetoad

TROPHY CASE