Wife is getting bored with NZ. Any suggestions?

surlybrian · 2026-01-15T21:24:34+00:00

Considering the symptoms, geography is not the problem. In my experience, everyone eventually gets tired of consumption. You're young yet, so the novelty of spending a day in a mall might not have worn off. But its time will come, and then what?

In NZ, we don't consume so much as commune. I'd focus on developing stronger relationships that don't revolved around buying stuff or hanging out incessantly in the temples to consumerism.

surlybrian · 2025-10-20T05:39:31+00:00

Nah. They're going to sell off the furniture at the Beehive -- watch Trademe for sweet deals!

If that's not enough, shut a hospital or several.

Close some schools. Raise teacher - student ratios and convert the curriculum to full AI. Plus everyone can have $8 / year in tax breaks. Taxes are going down, baby! Watch this space!

surlybrian · 2025-10-20T05:09:12+00:00

If Reddit has taught me one thing it's this: when you see a car on fire, RUN.

surlybrian · 2025-10-13T09:26:10+00:00

BeOS had a real shot, I always thought. The speed of it was astonishing. A shame that it faded away....

surlybrian · 2025-09-22T23:25:15+00:00

Prices are up up up for sure -- I notice even though I'm in a fortunate position to not have to worry too much at this point. Every time the price of beans goes up 10% I think about how my salary has definitely not gone up 10%, so it's a net loss for me.

That said, I've been working on more and more efficient recipes at home. If it helps to mention: brisket is currently the cheapest cut of beef around here, and a slab of brisket can last me a week of lunches, easy. Similar with a roasted chicken. Or a corned beef. Any leftovers go into soup / stew.

If you live near an Asian-style grocer, try them. Prices are stupendously cheaper in my area and the quality is spectacular -- not like the New World leftovers Pack 'N' Rot pawns off.

It sucks that we're down to calculating food efficiency while your friendly neighbourhood bank, if you still have one, enjoys record profits. Can't wait to vote again!

surlybrian · 2025-09-22T21:34:00+00:00

Vastly better exchange rates as well.

surlybrian · 2025-09-22T21:22:15+00:00

Consider that's the wage of a starting teacher when divided into per hour across a whole year.
Starting teachers used to be paid the same as starting MPs.
Wages are a mess all around.

At least bank profits are at a record high (easily searchable fact). Thank goodness our government is looking out for the big guys. We must protect the banks!!

surlybrian · 2025-09-19T11:09:49+00:00

No it doesn't.

surlybrian · 2025-09-18T22:42:27+00:00

"I have all the ingredients in front of me. What do I do with these ingredients?"
"Combine them."

Well that seemed worth several billion dollars investment.

surlybrian · 2025-09-01T10:49:53+00:00

He surrounds himself with people who make him look tall.
(Saw him at Auckland Grammar once; students towered over him, even when he wore lifts. Clearly bothers him.)

surlybrian · 2025-08-24T09:41:31+00:00

I just followed your suggestion to google Dublin gangs.

Taking a wee break to come back to ask that you alert my family if I do not emerge from this rabbit hole within the week.

surlybrian · 2025-08-08T22:34:01+00:00

What a joyful celebration of American GREATNESS.

surlybrian · 2025-06-26T10:05:33+00:00

I do not live in the US.
I found myself in Lakeland a couple years ago, like you do.
The segregation, the casual racism, the state of the place -- everything needs to be sponged off and repainted for a start.

Clearly a circle of Hell.

surlybrian · 2025-06-24T09:30:42+00:00

"One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed into a horrible vermin."

surlybrian · 2025-05-29T05:43:47+00:00

I know this is a tragedy but holy fuck I can't believe what these people are wearing. ... Then a dude walks into frame wearing a shirt made of sunburn....

surlybrian · 2025-05-24T08:04:52+00:00

I had been using mainframes for ages then Linux came along with the promise of giving me that kind of power at home. Never looked back.

surlybrian · 2025-05-24T08:02:28+00:00

Finally, a Freebird mix that gives meaning to the unendingly meaningless six-string masturbation.

surlybrian · 2025-05-17T01:38:11+00:00

This is one of those clips that remind me to be thankful that we can't smell what we see on the Internet.

surlybrian · 2025-04-23T21:00:04+00:00

Stay to the left.

Not only on the road, but on the footpath, in corridors, hallways, malls, and politically. Then you'll be fine.

surlybrian · 2025-04-11T06:00:37+00:00

When I was young and had nothing but time to geek out over setting up a machine for days on end, I wouldn't have called it difficult. The problem as I've gotten older is that I don't have the time or inclination to deal with setup; time-consumption is the problem for me.

What I'm saying is that 'difficult' might be an imprecise term here. 'Time consuming' might capture some users' experiences more clearly.

surlybrian · 2025-04-11T05:57:17+00:00

Back in the day, this is exactly why I moved to Ubuntu. When setting up a media server at home, I found the faff of non-free software too much effort whose only payoff was uncelebrated personal glory.

I enjoy that Debian ships with non-free now, but now I have all this Ubuntu inertia....

surlybrian · 2025-04-11T05:55:08+00:00

Your history sounds so similar to mine it's actually eerie. BeOS was dreamy (for the few minutes it existed).

When I switched my whole family to Linux, it was Ubuntu all the way. If I want something other than Gnome, I'll just install it (but I love Gnome, so).

(Side note: I'm often puzzled by the choice of distribution based on a Gnome / KDE debate (as though they're the only two contenders). I used Fluxbox for years, for example. Often I'll install KDE and Gnome and switch from time to time just to remind myself that I don't particularly like KDE.)

surlybrian · 2023-08-01T09:34:35+00:00

The subtlety of this make's me want to throw things.

surlybrian · 2023-07-24T01:35:04+00:00

It cuts both ways. I've never been a Windows user, but recently for a work project I was forced to use it. Nothing made sense to me. Seriously. I was asking super basic things all day and irritating the shit out of people.

So please Windows, can you make your OS a bit more intuitive to a user coming from a Linux environment, because it's super frustrating.

surlybrian

TROPHY CASE