Pillars of the Community by Susan Grimsdell
We’ve been hearing about fraud in the insurance industry lately. Do you remember way back in the distant past when the trusted insurance guy would come to your house and tell you which insurances were best for you? Did it ever enter anyone’s head to suspect for one minute that the one he chose for you was the one that gave him the highest commission? Well, the insurance headlines are saying – look again. The folks dealing in insurance aren’t quite the decent people they seem to be. Don’t bank on it… Read More
Alphabet Soup by Susan Grimsdell
There’s a whole alphabet to describe people’s gender identities, but there’s another letter that in my view should be included in there. All the letters – LGBTQI – describe one aspect of people – their sexual preferences. What about the way people think and what they like to do (other than sex)? I think we need another letter: M. And it stands for Misfit. Not conforming to the stereotype I’m a misfit. I’m female, but I am just not interested in the things women and girls are stereotypically supposed to be interested… Read More
Christmas blog by everyone
It’s that time of year again folks! The time when Trevor wants us to do a joint blog. His idea this year is to choose a well-known person and select a suitable gift or gifts for them. So here we go with Trevor kicking off. Merry Christmas Mr President! Greetings from Trev It’s Christmas time again Donald; you know, caring, sharing and all that syrupy stuff, so I thought I’d send you a few bits and pieces to reassure you that whilst a great deal of folk may prefer to forget you,… Read More
Truth versus opinion by Susan Grimsdell
When did opinion take over from truth? I’ll give you an illustration. Warrants of fitness Recently, it has been found that some garages in NZ who are authorised to issue warrants of fitness (WoFs), certifying the car is safe in all respects, have been doling them out to drivers without actually checking cars. NZ has an enforcement agency tasked with visiting garages to make sure regulations are being followed. It seems that in some cases, these enforcers have very “kind” hearts, and have been turning a blind eye to breaches, merely reiterating… Read More
Changing words by Susan Grimsdell
I know language changes and there’s no going back once words have either been lost or their meaning changed, but, in a no doubt forlorn bid to change things back to how they were, I want to focus attention on two changes that really bother me. Dying words First of all, I mourn the loss of a once-common word – “died”. People don’t die any more. They “pass away”. They “pass”. I just don’t understand where they’re supposed to have passed to, especially in New Zealand where only a small minority of… Read More
