Posts by Fooman
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Just a few, partially relevant observations:
1. Just spent the past week in the Netherlands:
a) Very suited to cycling (flat!)
b) Lots of cycles (1:1 cycles to car in the rural region, up to 20:1 in central Amsterdam).
c) Helmets not compulsory (see David's earlier blog on this)
d) Of the (approx) 10 000 bicycles I saw, only a handful were the classic 10-speed/MTB designs we get here. Most were old, sit up and beg style bikes. Lots of child seats (front and back), some with a "wheelbarrow" up front for 2-aside children.
e) Not many fat dutch people were observed.
f) People of all ages were cycling - a lot of the blue rinse brigade, more-so in the rural areas.
g) Bus drivers were very cautious about giving way to cyclists on the roundabouts.
2. Also spent a few years in Chch with a cycle as my main form of transport. Used to hoon through Dean's bush, Hagley park, Mona Vale, and avoid the big roads (was hit a couple of times by cars failing to give way).3. Now live in a hillside suburb in Wellington, and do the school run. Time pressures do not suit cycling. Nor does the terrain. I have put on ~15 kg from my "fighting weight" since joining the rat race.
FM
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Hard News: Friday Fever, in reply to Russell Brown,
There is everything wrong with a bit of Foreigner.
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Southerly: That CERA Rumour, in reply to David Haywood,
relevel it after a quake. I'm sure there must be a way -- but I can't seem to find anything about it.
Re-levelling a slab has been done by pumping grout underneath the low side until the facade of equilibrium is recovered
FM
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Southerly: That CERA Rumour, in reply to Shulgin,
So may I ask David, why is your focus on the area you live, do you propose all rivers and streams in Chch be "sured-up"?
Do all rivers and streams in Chch need shoring up?
If there are not enough resources, how would one decide, for example to exclude the Heathcote over a "sure-up" of the Avon? How much shoring-up secures the future of the city? I think as soon as we get specific about location then the glasses become somewhat fogged.
The descision to "shore up" versus abandonment is the focus of the orginal article. You are unaware that the resources are there (if the property was insured) - the cost per dwelling is to be met by the combination of private insurance (i.e. overseas re-insurance companies) and the government (EQC reserves and other spending). The only impact of Heathcote vs Avon would be land value - the higher value sections would be more expensive to abandon (recompense the owner). The glasses do not get fogged with such detail - focus is obtained by such information.
What David has done is to provide a 1st estimate of the costs (based on personal circumstances, and years of boring lectures on engineering management) and extrapolated, using researched data and actual costs to show that, at least one method of remediation is likely to be significantly cheaper in total than total abandonment.
This is the same sort of process that CERA will be doing, in conjuction with engineers, architects, builders, to get the best idea of what can be done, and the financial cost.
As for the snide comments about EasySteel - if they are cheaper than KiwiSteel, or Steel and Tube, or one of NZ Steels Chch distributors, all the better. Not exactly monopoly trading innit?
FM
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Hard News: A welcome return - and pirates!, in reply to Steve Barnes,
| Fourteen international production companies what?
I think you mean Company's
I think I mean there was some sort of article or verb missing or I did not grok the sentence.
**syntax error
PC Load Letter
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Fourteen international production companies, including Endemol and Mark Burnett Productions (Survivor, the Apprentice).
Fourteen international production companies what? I am left in suspense...
FM
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Hard News: Any excuse for a party, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
. But the various palaces and land (5000 acres of Windsor Great Park for instance, worth perhaps GBP10bln) are clearly the property of the UK taxpayer, and should either revert or be paid for.
And checking the crown estate website, it is part of their 6.6 billion pound asset list, and therefore income generated by Windsor Great Park is returned to the UK government. Whether the UK taxpayer gets any advantage from this is another matter...other than the free access and maintenance of the park that they appear to get...
FM
FM
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Hard News: Any excuse for a party, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
Also, that Civil List number is a bit bogus. It excludes the income from various lands, including the Duchy of Cornwall, that the royals insist are personally held, but which were acquired through their positions as monarch and could reasonably be held to be state property.
As far as I am aware, the Civil List (in the UK) is a payment from the UK government to the royal household, in return for the income generated by the Crown Estate - this started in 1760, with various adjustments since.
Wikipedia has the payment to the household at 7,900,000 pounds per annum, plus a cash reserve of ~35 million pounds - is the source of the 37 million pound figure?
As rentals from the crown estate have grown somewhat over the past 350 years, the UK government now gets (according to Wikipedia) 210 million pounds per annum (gross) from this arrangement - a net return of ~2600% on "investment", before any nebulous tourism figures are included.
In fact, there was some discussion as to increasing the civil list to help with the maintenance of some of the residences recently - it was set at 7.9 million since 2001 - see british gutter press. Actually, this has the total cost of the house as being ~40 million pounds, plus security - civil list is not the full cost then but still significantly less than the income received.
Other property held outside the crown estate is unaffected , as noted previously
FM
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Hard News: The file-sharing bill, in reply to nzlemming,
please point me to any GG who has ever refused assent to an OIC
They're not allowed to refuse, are they?
FM
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Hard News: Dreaming of a world without evidence, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Let me guess... is the Paul Adams mentioned on the NZMA page the same God's Little Rally Driver?
FM