Hmm "Am I Self Righteous or a Hypocrite"? LOL I put that as an either or ... but on the weekend I was accused of being both ... Ouch that hurt, but like all things it got me thinking. I think we all are, from time to time, at least to a small extent, and I certainly leave myself open to being accused of both because I take a public position on things. The truth is this: I am certainly a long way from perfect and I have a lot to be embarrassed about and a little to be ashamed of. I have done lots of stupid things, made lots of mistakes and have hurt a number of people along the way. I regret these To View More >>

Well we retired our second (backup) appliance last night. Old even for a fire truck at around 30 years, but amazingly on only 60,000 km. As a fire station in a semi urban, semi rural area she has operated on station for the last 8 years as rural fire fighting appliance. I heard someone recently describe her as a "man's truck", a stubborn beast that had to be "driven". Despite no power steering, no engine braking, and the belching of black smoke, she was really great fun to drive. I think it's funny that at times like these I realise how sentimental I am. On one hand she's just a hunk of old metal To View More >>

SPEAKING OF LOVE: We were out to dinner the other evening and the conversation turned to relationships, and more specifically how many people don't know how their partner 'needs' love expressed to them. It seems a lot of people our age are having relationship issues, breaking up etcetera, and a debate developed as to whether people 'weren't loving the other person' , or maybe, 'weren't loving their partner the way that person needed to be loved.' Is there a difference, and should it matter? I'm pretty clear on this, but that's another story. Anyway, knock me over with a feather, my wife Sonya To View More >>

Following on the theme of film making, here is a short film released at the Cannes 2008 Film Festival. A beautiful story of a blind man and his sign. Sometimes, someone just has to help us to see ... Hat tip to The Pirate's Dilemma To View More >>

With great sadness we have said goodbye to two family members over the past few weeks. The first farewell was to to my Auntie Rita, who passed away after a long but brave battle with cancer. She is actually my Mum's Auntie, but always felt like a Grandmother to me. A beautiful woman that everyone loved from the moment they met her. My first memory of Rita is when, as kids, we visited her family in Wellington. She made us "Spiders", a messy mix of Coke and Vanilla ice cream ... and instantly became my hero. My last memory of Rita is of a woman, her body failing her, surrounded by a family loving To View More >>