Island Life by David Slack

Read Post

Island Life: Symptoms persist

153 Responses

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 5 7 Newer→ Last

  • Gabor Toth,

    It's also why it's hard to buy that really really cheap generic bottle with 400 ibuprofens in the supermarket the way you can in the US

    Grrrr - don't get me started ESPECIALLY when it comes to children's liquid paracetamol (aka "pamol". Anyone who has been parent will know the value of this stuff. However unless you get it on prescription, 100mls containing the equivalent of only about 10 standard paracetamol tablets will set you back about $15 from the chemist. No one as far as I know makes a generic non-branded version of it in NZ (happy to be corrected on this)

    Wellington • Since Dec 2006 • 137 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    How about $30k for an old transit van and say $40k year for the driver to run shuttles across for a year and see if it gets used?

    Offering an insulting shitty option, and then claiming that its rejection proves there's no demand for proper provision, is not cool. Hey, how about boosting commuter rail with disused cattlecars and see if uptake rises?

    Also, they actually did something a lot like your white van man option before, and it failed, because it was slow, unpredictable and just plain rubbish which nobody wanted to use.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Peter Darlington,

    Nah, Steve Braunias is a West Ham fan, he'd be more likely to blow his own head off than someone elses. Lydon's 'No Future' makes more sense though.

    Nelson • Since Nov 2006 • 949 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Grrrr - don't get me started ESPECIALLY when it comes to children's liquid paracetamol (aka "pamol"

    Most doctors that I've seen with my kids are good about asking you "and do you need some pamol? Just in case? How about I give you a script that you can have in case you need it?". You just about have to stop them pushing the print button to not walk out the door with one.

    If your current doctor isn't helping out with those little things, maybe switch.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Jake Pollock,

    I reckon $50k. All it needs is a big white line down the middle of the upstream clipon, a couple of accessways by the Curran St on-ramp and the old toll plaza, and some barricades to close the lane off.

    You forgot to budget for the green paint.

    Raumati South • Since Nov 2006 • 489 posts Report Reply

  • Glenn Pearce,

    You forgot to budget for the green paint.

    and the guy from the council with the video camera filming anyone who strays into the green, whilst parking his council car in the middle of it ;-)

    Auckland • Since Feb 2007 • 504 posts Report Reply

  • Danielle,

    I don't think cocaine works as a nasal *de*congestant, somehow...

    Charo World. Cuchi-cuchi!… • Since Nov 2006 • 3828 posts Report Reply

  • FletcherB,

    A range of generic ibuprofen, paracetamol and Asprin tablets stocked in some pharmacies and supermarkets is Paracare or something like that? I believe they also make a liquid paracetamol for children.

    Not as cheap as it should be (the supermarket own brands have the pills cheaper) but not as expensive as the "name" brands...

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report Reply

  • FletcherB,

    I don't think cocaine works as a nasal *de*congestant, somehow...

    But it does have the benefit of not to making you drowsy... quite the opposite I've been lead to believe.

    West Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 893 posts Report Reply

  • James Green,

    No one as far as I know makes a generic non-branded version of it in NZ

    It depends on the sense in which you apply 'generic'. Paracetamol is long off patent, and 'Panadol' was the name of the original patented innovator brand. Pamol is made by Johnson & Johnson, though. Paracare and Parapaed appear to exist as generics. This is PHARMAC's pricing, not available as retail obviously.
    PARACETAMOL
    Oral liq 120 mg per 5 ml $6.80 per 1000 ml Paracare Junior
    Oral liq 250 mg per 5 ml $7.00 per 1000 ml Paracare Dbl Strength
    Suppos 125 mg $7.49 per 20 Panadol
    Suppos 250 mg $14.40 per 20 Panadol
    Suppos 500 mg $20.50 per 50 Paracare
    Tab 500 mg $137.81 per 15000 Panadol (Manufacturer’s price $1467)
    Tab 500 mg $9.60 per 1000 Pharmacare

    It appears it's the formulation, not the paracetamol that increases the cost. Supposititories and suspensions are both much more expensive, and the pharmacare tablets are ~1c each. I'm speculating, but I'd guess economies of scale, manufacturing processes, and shelf life play a role.

    Limerick, Ireland • Since Nov 2006 • 703 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    and the guy from the council with the video camera filming anyone who strays into the green, whilst parking his council car in the middle of it ;-)

    Ah, that's what those guys are always doing on Albert Street with the cameras! I wondered why the council never mailed me my riding clips.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Beard,

    Vitamin tablets = expensive urine

    Yes. The only sensible way to increase one's vitamin intake during the winter is to switch from olives to a twist in one's Martini.

    All it needs is a big white line down the middle of the upstream clipon, a couple of accessways by the Curran St on-ramp and the old toll plaza, and some barricades to close the lane off.

    Oh Rich, Rich, would that it were so. Proper urban cycle facilities to encourage a sustainable mode of commuting would be vastly more useful than a rural "Great Rides" cycleway for tourists and weekend shits & giggles, but the latter just requires money to be thrown at it. Your suggestion, while vastly cheaper and to many people much mroe sensible, requires sacrificing a much scarcer resource: road space. Under the previous government, that would have been controversial and politically unpopular with motorists; under this one, it's tantamount to sacrilege.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report Reply

  • James Green,

    I don't think cocaine works as a nasal *de*congestant, somehow...

    <buzzer> You're thinking of re-bound congestion. If you look at a nasal spray, it will say don't use for more than 5 days (or it will cause worse congestion than you already have). Same with coke. As an aside, Cocaine's current legitimate medical use is for nasal surgery.

    Limerick, Ireland • Since Nov 2006 • 703 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Campbell,

    surely all you need for bikes on the bridge are some honking big magnets, and some (wooden) boxes to leave them in on each side for cyclists to pick them up and drop them off

    Dunedin • Since Nov 2006 • 2623 posts Report Reply

  • James Green,

    If they try to sell you vitamins, you could always ask about the potential for them to kill you. But it seems mostly Vitamin A & E; the evidence is not so good for Vitamin C and selenium. Curiously, they note that it appears make safer getting them from fruit and vege.

    Limerick, Ireland • Since Nov 2006 • 703 posts Report Reply

  • James Green,

    Lest I forget cycling. Couldn't they just get some more of those concrete things made that they use for the centre median?

    Limerick, Ireland • Since Nov 2006 • 703 posts Report Reply

  • Sam F,

    Let's get ambitious. Can we rig some sort of self-powered gondolier system, where you strap your bike into a safety cage with linked rollers under the back wheel and pedal yourself along below the bridge? Great fun in a strong breeze...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1611 posts Report Reply

  • Jake Pollock,

    Two things, in addition to the green paint for cycle lanes.

    1) When I saw that picture of Phil Spector, I thought it was Steve Braunias.

    2) What does Deborah Hill-Cone think of the Lake Road cycle lanes?

    Raumati South • Since Nov 2006 • 489 posts Report Reply

  • Rich Lock,

    I don't think cocaine works as a nasal *de*congestant, somehow...

    I understand that after some years of prolonged use, it can be quite effective, in the same way that scorched earth policies are quite effective at weed control.....

    Which Devonport pharmacy are we talking about, though?

    The snobby genteel one in the high street? Or the new grungy, sleazy one by the supermarket that I keep thinking is the $2 shop?

    back in the mother countr… • Since Feb 2007 • 2728 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Litterick,

    Let's get ambitious. Can we rig some sort of self-powered gondolier system, where you strap your bike into a safety cage with linked rollers under the back wheel and pedal yourself along below the bridge? Great fun in a strong breeze...

    Clearly you have thought about this issue at length.Me, I want a tunnel, a transparent one laid on the harbour bed; so we could watch the fishes while we cycle. It would be like Kelly Tarletons or, on a bad day, Jaws 3-D.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report Reply

  • David Slack,

    The snobby genteel one in the high street? Or the new grungy, sleazy one by the supermarket that I keep thinking is the $2 shop?

    I have yet to try the new one...

    a transparent one laid on the harbour bed

    Please refer to Island Life edition 42.

    What does Deborah Hill-Cone think of the Lake Road cycle lanes?

    I shall make it my business to find out. She turned out to be quite the tree-hugger recently, so you never know.

    Devonport • Since Nov 2006 • 599 posts Report Reply

  • Bart Janssen,

    a transparent one laid on the harbour bed

    Jumps up and down shouting "see, see"

    I told you it was a winning idea!

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 4461 posts Report Reply

  • Rob fergusson,

    For a cycle lane on the Bridge to work it would need to connect to Esmonde road on the North side to provide a useful connection to the Bays - going through Northcote is too indirect, slow and hilly for cycle commuters

    Since May 2009 • 1 posts Report Reply

  • Lucy Stewart,

    As an aside, Cocaine's current legitimate medical use is for nasal surgery.

    A friend of mine was prescribed it after having had a nasal feeding tube in for...not sure how long exactly, but at least several months. Presumably to numb the discomfort. God knows that if anyone deserved to be on the good stuff, he did.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2105 posts Report Reply

  • Heather Hapeta,

    how fortunate for you to have DebHC in your neighborhood I'm sure she must raise the tone & don't think she would be sucked into talking those tabs.

    however when my kids where tiny (60's/70s) Dr's always said to give them yogurt to stop the trots that anti-b's often bring on with chn . so how knows!

    New Zealand • Since Mar 2009 • 9 posts Report Reply

First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 5 7 Newer→ Last

Post your response…

Please sign in using your Public Address credentials…

Login

You may also create an account or retrieve your password.