Citywide plywood enhancement fashion trend

We have a new look!!!

PLYWOOD!!!

It is the in thing in Christchurch these days and, not wanting to be left behind, we have joined the citywide plywood enhancement fashion trend!!

After the removal of the chimney and part of the front of the house we travelled through some different looks….

Half pink batts half plywood .... mmm, I'm not sure about this.

Pink batts. But it really wasn’t working for me—I have never been a ‘pink’ kind of girl.

Half pink batts and half tar paper. Not that was kind cool. A little risqué, a little revealing, a little …well, face it, slutty! (We don’t live in an area where ‘slutty’ is going to go down terribly well!)

Full tar paper. Have to admit, I thought that worked kind of well. But, again, it just didn’t feel right!

Half tar paper half plywood ... mmm, not sure I like this either.

Half tar paper and half plywood! Aha! Now that was just downright chic! We had white, black and beige across the house and, as you fashion folk know, that colour palette worked well. In fact, we liked this one so much we trialled it for the entire weekend. (Which is a really nice way of saying the tradesmen had reached knock off time and would be back on Monday, but did his best to whack up one large sheet of plywood before he left.)

On Monday the tradesmen arrived back and set to work and did an outstanding job (and I mean that sincerely). By days end we had a whole new look going on … and I like it! In fact, I love it! And it is just as well I love it because I’m going be living with this for quite some time!

I love it!!!

I think you will see that the look works well, it fits the house nicely, it is subtle, coy, a sort of ‘you don’t really notice me until you stop and pay attention’. It’s a bit like wearing red stilettos with long jeans. Only as you walk do people see the ‘teaser’, and if you sit down (at a nice café—seriously I love a good coffee!) and cross your legs and the jeans ride up the boots a little…well, let me just say that I have had people pull the leg of my jeans higher just to see the boots.

But, back to the house … I will point out that we paid for the pink batts, in case any fellow Earthquakians reads this and thinks EQC will let them put pink batts in a wall that did not previously have pink batts. They won’t. This was an emergency repair job, and they are not supposed to leave a property ‘better’ than its original state prior to the quakes and aftershocks. We did not have pink batts before the damage to the house, and so they would not put them in for us as they repaired the house. I asked for them and am paying for them, but otherwise we would have gib-board and then plywood and then winter…and this house is cold enough in winter without that added chill factor.

I don’t really know what we are going to do with the front of the house when the full repair goes through (as I said, what we had done was an ‘emergency repair’ due to the instability of the chimney and the front of the house after the June 13 ‘twins’ – one decent 6.0 or better would have taken it all down, so we could no longer leave it).

To conclude....

Plywood is the new trend – if you don’t have it, you’re nobody!

Fluro is the new black—there aint nothing sexier than a workman in a fluro vest walking up your driveway, because you know he’s here to fix something!

Hardhats…well, combine that with the fluro and need I say more… (*tiger growl*)

We don’t look at the latest Mercedes or BMW and think ‘Wow, I would love one of those’, we look at the utes and say ‘I wish I had bought one of them!’

When our husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend (not all in the same bed of course ... although...) rolls over and makes the bed shake we almost scream 'Earthquake!'

The great chimney battle

The proverbial 'before' shot

As I began writing this the jackhammer was taking my chimney down layer by layer. I was rather proud of my chimney, as it appeared to be not giving up without a fight! It was, as we have observed, a very well built chimney, and this is perhaps the reason it separated from the rest of the house but did not actually fall down!! 

We have—the house and I—lived through the earthquakes and aftershocks on very good terms. I, for my part, have been intensely grateful that the house remained standing! When the September 7.1 hit (the first quake which set all of this off) it was so violent I was certain may house was being destroyed, that all of the exterior block-work and stucco was being shaken off the house. When I inspected the house in daylight it still stood strong, and the only evidence of the earthquake was step cracking through the mortar, and the cracks down each side of the chimney which, at that point in time, were not too bad. She has been through a lot (I don’t know why I call it a ‘she’), and so yes, I am intensely grateful! How much more can she take? She’s like me, way too stubborn to ever give up!

Poster shot -- pity it wasn't summer....he'd have been topless!

So, today we commenced a new look, which I am assured with be the tarpaulin look. Quite sheik and mysterious, though this will only be over night. By days end tomorrow we will hopefully have the full plywood look. A fashionable trend across Christchurch these days! Plywood offers so many opportunities! Do I paint to match the house? Do I offer the blank plywood canvas to friends of my daughter’s at Design & Art College? Do I offer it as advertising space? So many possibilities…

I have begged for pink batts to be placed between the plywood and the house as, for some incredibly stupid reason, this house does not have insulation. We freeze in winter, hence my great worshiping of the heat pump – I lay flowers at its altar every freezing day!

Progressing slowly...

As I sat here writing, I wondered if the windows would stay in the house if we had a decent aftershock, or fall out*…as the chimney which stood between them is half down, and the wall above them is also gone. Guess I will find out the answer if we get an aftershock of any significant size. Frankly we barely move for anything under a 5.0—even the cats don’t move for anything under a 5.0! 

At a 5.5 I might look up from the laptop, at a 6.3 I’ll be hanging on to something. Last Monday (June 13) in the midst of the 6.3 I, for some incredibly bizarre reason, swore at the earth and told her to “cut it out and sit still!” I don’t know why I thought that might work, but I was a little pissed off, I was in the middle of making a latte (coffee)! Priorities people, priorities!!

And then the power went out so I could not froth my milk. Heartbreak!!

One of the top 5 toughest to take down! I was so proud!

Normally I am a devout tea drinker, but since my daughter’s boyfriend, Jake, brought round an espresso machine suddenly espressos/latte became a daily necessity! My daughter, Lisa, taught me how to froth the milk, and so we are immensely proud of ourselves when we get ‘a good froth!’ (yes, we are incredibly easy to please!). I limit myself to three coffees a day—I was having five or six but people tell me that’s too many!!!

Gaping wound!

I just deviated off topic, didn’t I…

Back to quakes and shakes…

Don't even think it!

When the builders left to drop off a load of ‘chimney’ and take a lunch break, I had to chase one of our cats away from the remaining chimney as the little ‘toad’ decided—having jumped up the scaffolding—that  she could actually make it into the roof cavity, while it was exposed. This was after she looked down the centre of the chimney and toyed with the idea—I could tell by the look on her face that ‘toying’ was going on—of jumping down into the chimney. That’s the last thing I need, a cat in the chimney or in the roof!!

By days end we had what seriously looked like a bandaid on the face of our house! She looked like she’s been in a fight—and I guess she had, because she fought the builders every step of the way! Round two starts 8.30 a.m. tomorrow morning! **

Down to the last layers!

In Christchurch, at this time, in my personal opinion, builders are gods!!!

The new look. Not sure it's working for me....

 

*  Note: an aftershock of 5.4 did hit at 10.30 pm and the windows did stay in the house!!! Hoorah! And…thank heavens the chimney was half down!

**  Update: The following day the rest of the chimney conceded to go quietly… Perhaps tomorrow we will have plywood…

Earthquakians

We are the ‘earthquakians’ (a terminology I have just stolen from a friend*) and we live in a place that for nine months has absolutely refused to keep still. This is, I point out, not the normal nature of this land, for I have lived here a long time and she sat still most of the time.

I find that these quakes (it is so utterly bad that I am having to use plural) have had an effect on me, all of them (also really really bad to be able to use such a term as ‘all of them’!!) and my sense of humour has developed a ravenous hunger of its own. Mind you, in these times of such stress (so thick in the city you could slice it, wrap it, and mail it to a convent) we need to find stuff to laugh at. A gorgeous friend sent me a funny email and I so appreciated it because if we don’t find something to laugh at we are going to start laughing at really inappropriate things. Take, for example, the state of my house...

My chimney is falling off my house? Fucking hilllaaaarrious!!!!

I think the foundations may have moved cos the French doors won’t close? Pissing myself that I may have a hillock in my lounge!

The cracks in the house are moving? Rolling on the floor giggling that my house is like a transformer – house one minute, self-aware-leggo-blocks the next!! FUNNNNNYYYY!

The front of my house may soon be plywood???? Gads, what deliciously inappropriate art can I commission for it?? What art would both delight and shock my neighbours? WEEETTTING myself at the endless opportunities!!

The east is sinking in liquifaction? Glories BE, that must mean the west is rising, surely?? Fist salute!

You see what I mean? That last one is just completely inappropriate!




(* stole said terminology from  Ms Deborah McKay Loughlin -- she just told me I had to give her the credit!)

Twin Earthquakes, Monday 13th June, Christchurch, New Zealand

Again.

It happened again.

For the third time.

Our city got belted by an earthquake/aftershocks. This first hit at 1 pm on 13^th June, and an hour and twenty minutes later we got belted again, even worse!

This is where they were centred…

Location:  10 km south-east of Christchurch

Focal depth:  11 km

Richter magnitude:  5.5 (later upgraded to a 5.7)

 

Location:  10 km south-east of Christchurch

Focal depth:  9 km

Richter magnitude:  6.0 (later up-graded to a 6.3)

Over the last nine months…

We got belted by a

·         7.1 in September (no one killed – it hit at 4.25 a.m.) 

·         6.3 in February (which killed 181 people - it hit at 12.51 p.m.) 

·         and now, in June, a 5.7  (1 p.m.) followed by a 6.3 (2.20 p.m.)

To put the positive first: the 5.7 sent many people scurrying out of buildings and kept them out when the 6.3 hit. The ‘pre-shock’ (as they are calling it) pretty much saved lives, so we were lucky.

Having been belted by the 5.7 we probably all thought we were okay, that the predicted big aftershock had just hit…

…And I wish people would stop predicting them, stop telling us, just shut up! We know aftershocks are going to belt through our city, we know this, we have been through it for the last 9 months, endlessly hit by aftershock after aftershock. We have done all we can do to prepare, we have food and water and everything we need if we lose power and water. The only thing left we can do to prepare is ‘pray!’ And I tell you I did a whole lot of praying after the 6.3 hit while I tried to find my children (19 and 21 years of age).

I can’t do anything more to prepare! And I know we will get aftershocks….so to all the gurus out there, please shut up! Just shut up! Leave me alone! Just let me believe (no matter how deluded) that it’s going to stop. Don’t friggen tell me there is a 30 % chance of a 6.9 within the next 10 months!...

Rant over … (feeling a teensy bit better now!)

The most frightening thing when the 6.3 hit, was this:  my son (21) had gone to work at Merivale Mall, and my daughter (19) was at college on Bealey Ave. (Husband was out of town on business). And I could not contact my children. That was the most dreadful experience!!

I knew I couldn’t drive to the Mall because the roads would be in gridlock, and so I did the only thing I could do. The Mall is about two kilometres away, so I ran to the Mall – ran, walked, ran walked. When I got there the Mall was cleared, people outside, and my son had already left to see if I was okay at home. So I turned around and ran home – half way there my right knee started to give out, from an old gym stress, so it was a limping run.

A lady called out to me, asking if I was okay, and I explained why I was running, asked her if she was okay, which she was, and gave her a big hug (this is what I term ‘the post earthquake hug’), then turned and kept running.

When I got home my son was here and he was okay. My husband had, by the time, made contact, so we let him know that we were okay and were still trying to reach our daughter! The only choice left was for my son to take the car and drive in to the college - no matter how long it took him to get there through the traffic - while I stayed home in case she had found a way to get home. My son got to college and let me know it was closed and deserted. Shortly after that she arrived home – you have no idea how relieved I saw to see her! As soon as she had her shoes off it was a massive hug. My children were okay. I could breathe again.

My son finally made it home through the traffic, and my daughter’s boyfriend made it round – gave him a big hug too!

My chimney and the front of my house have moved further apart, so we are now having to arrange from the chimney and part of the front of the house to be taken down and made watertight for winter - forget getting it repaired just yet as there is the insurance saga to get through before we can book a builder, and there are thousands of houses needing work, so this will not be quick!

The front of our house is in islands of concrete blocks, sections that move independently and perhaps allow for the house to move and not fall down. Anyway, the contractor has been called and they will assess the house tomorrow and get on to ripping the front down. They have promised to leave us comfortable for the winter - not pretty, but comfortable!! (I wonder if I could get someone to paint art on the plywood that they’ll have to put up?)

The city itself? Well, we lost more buildings, and the big ones that were on a lean are on more of a lean. The Christchurch Cathedral is further damaged, as is the Catholic Cathedral (which was so incredibly beautiful church inside). There’s rubble in the streets again. Buildings that may have been marginal are now to be condemned, or they fell over on Monday!

I spent the day after at the house of two gorgeous gals, shovelling the silt (result of the liquifaction which happened all over again), into wheelbarrows and piling it in the street so that the council can come along and take it all away. There are piles of this stuff in many streets!

Are we back to February 22^nd all over again? No, not really. The damage this time was not so extreme, as the movement was more horizontal, whilst the severely destructive February quake was more vertical. The CBD has been cordoned off since the February quake, so the most dangerous place in the city was not full of people, but was populated by builders, demolition workers, building assessors etc. These people were at serious risk, and it is so lucky that the 5.7 sent them out of the buildings before the 6.3 hit!

I was talking to friends last night (after a martial arts class in which a good sparring session helped me to release a bit of stress!) and we joked that we can tell which fault line the aftershocks are coming from by the sound and the feel. We have become quite expert at this…something that, one day, we will laugh about!

When earthquakes and aftershocks hit, we no longer scream “Oh no, it’s an earthquake!”, instead we gasp “Another one??!!!! Seriously??!!” (Often followed by “Are you f****** kidding me??!!)

The Inspirational Cathy DeBuono

Sometimes in life we discover a writer, a poet, a musician, an artist, or an actor/actress who really touches us. 
 
I have discovered that ‘touch’ in Cathy DeBuono. She is intelligent, eloquent, funny, and oh-my-god-gorgeous! But the most stunningly gorgeous thing about her is this: she is comfortable being who she is. 

Her advice in her Vlog What’s YOUR problem? comes from this place of knowing who she is. Why is this important? Because our journey through life is to know who we are, and to love who we are, so that we can love other people. It is not that we cannot love another until we love ourself, it is that can love better and greater when we also love ourself. 

I have not watched all of Cathy’s Vlogs, because I only ‘discovered’ her a week ago, but I have loved the Vlogs I have watched. It is not just that she gives good advice because she is a trained Psychotherapist (with a Masters in Psychology), but that she herself knows who she is, and is comfortable with who she is. She is very ‘present’ and very ‘honest’. I love this! I love that purity of honesty.

Too many people play games, pretend to be someone they are not, live behind facades and designer clothes, and never really show any kind of personal honesty. By that honesty I mean they don't know who they are, therefore they cannot live who they are. Instead they buy into the materialism of society, of trying to 'be' someone, of placing importance on money and fame instead of personal honesty and integrity. I would rather spend an evening with one or two people who are 'real' and comfortable in their own skin, that a room full of plastic people...or, I'd rather just stay home.

Cathy DeBuono is someone to watch, to listen to, to admire, and to respect. Yes, I'm a fan!

She’s given me a lot to think about, and one of those things was that as an actress she is a commodity that she has to market. That made me think more closely about some of the things I want to do in my life. Does it ‘fit’ the commodity that I (me as a writer) am trying to market? To market the commodity, you must know the commodity, and when you know the commodity, you will know how to market it, how to be it, to fully and passionately—absolutely no holding anything back—live it. 

My philosophy is: live with all the passion I possibly can.  

Don’t giggle, LAUGH!
Don’t sip at life, GULP IT DOWN!
Don’t air kiss your friends, GRAB THEM AND HUG THEM TIGHT!
Don’t judge anyone, LOVE THEM FOR WHO AND WHAT THEY ARE!
Don’t be meek, BE PASSIONATE!
Don’t be half hearted, GIVE IT ALL YOU’VE GOT TO GIVE!
Don’t just say…oh I don’t know… “Cathy DeBuono is good”, say “OH MY GOD, CATHY DEBUONO IS FREAKINGLY AWESOME!!” and say it with excitement, passion, shout it, feel it, know it! 

Stop holding back in life. As this person that you are, you have one run, make it count, make it the best it can be. Find people of value to listen to (Cathy De Buono...me!) and dive headlong into life! Don’t judge others, accept them, love them, learn who they are. Seek out people who inspire you, make you think, and even the people who push your buttons—because if no one pushes your buttons you won’t know they’re there! It’s a journey, people, a wild, and fantastic, and incredible journey!

I will leave you with a quote from Eckhart Tolle: "You will find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realising who you are at the deepest level."




(this post is also on my website on the Journal of the Wandering Mind page
www.robynmspeed.com/journal.htm)