tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post8560826381318903708..comments2024-03-29T10:51:27.752+13:00Comments on Not PC: LIBERTARIANZ SUS: Rock on!Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-21857316139428757712009-10-20T23:55:07.354+13:002009-10-20T23:55:07.354+13:00The big day I turned 5, my mother was taking me to...The big day I turned 5, my mother was taking me to Waiouru School; up the hill to the row of old pines beyond which sat the classrooms. The central plateau then commenced one of it's geological convulsions. With a roar the ground began undulating in waves across the Rangipo Desert from the volcanos. Pine needles, cones and branches descended in the creaking racket as the trees waved and smashed together. Obviously worried about the other younger children left alone in the house she tried to grab me and run back down the slope. I thought simply she had changed her mind about me going to school, and, having none of that, I bolted the other way. <br />Perhaps it was an omen. My flight towards education has profited me little, I don't do what women want, and if there is trouble around I seem drawn to it--at the double. <br /><br />GeorgeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-520659497380085442009-10-20T13:56:11.018+13:002009-10-20T13:56:11.018+13:00You're welcome to all that come my way for the...You're welcome to all that come my way for the rest of my life, KG!<br /><br />I understand the fascination (for those who haven't experienced it), but I hope you never do strike a big one. It was terrifying.<br /><br />Having no warning at all is the crazy thing with quakes. One second everything is normal and the next it's not.<br /><br />After the terror of Mother Nature's tricks, the aftermath that can stretch on for weeks of trying to do the usual things with limited or no essential services is stressful. That's not a word I use often, but it fits in this case. The destruction is just awful.<br /><br />I came back to NZ six weeks later .. that's what I'd ironically gone into town that morning to organise! .. via a few days in Hawaii. As noted, the shaking continued throughout, albeit much less noticeable (thank God) and sometimes not at all.<br /><br />So I'm lying on Ala Moana beach shortly after landing at Honolulu and I felt a sharp jolt. Thought I'd started to imagine them, by that point -- going dotty!<br /><br />Until some people told me afterwards that one was definitely recorded out of the blue that afternoon.<br /><br />Obviously a conspiracy! ;)Susnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-85903024658811927602009-10-20T13:28:39.084+13:002009-10-20T13:28:39.084+13:00That's a fascinating account Sus--I'm stil...That's a fascinating account Sus--I'm still looking forward to feeling a significant earthquake. (we felt the Aceh 'quake but we were 70kkm from Darwin, out in the bush and I thought the washing machine was out of balance. Not very exciting stuff at all.KGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01940428991630766942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-5663640702801536892009-10-20T09:23:41.978+13:002009-10-20T09:23:41.978+13:00Your last comments remind me of this riff from lat...Your last comments remind me of this riff from late comedian George Carlin, in his <a href="http://www.armageddononline.org/george-carlin.html" rel="nofollow">'Saving the Planet' sketch</a>:<br /><br />"<i>The planet has been through a lot worse than us. Been through all kinds of things worse than us. Been through earthquakes, volcanoes, plate tectonics, continental drift, solar flares, sun spots, magnetic storms, the magnetic reversal of the poles...hundreds of thousands of years of bombardment by comets and asteroids and meteors, worlwide floods, tidal waves, worldwide fires, erosion, cosmic rays, recurring ice ages...And we think some plastic bags, and some aluminum cans are going to make a difference? The planet...the planet...the planet isn't going anywhere. WE ARE! . . .<br /><br />"You wanna know how the planet's doing? Ask those people at Pompeii, who are frozen into position from volcanic ash, how the planet's doing. You wanna know if the planet's all right, ask those people in Mexico City or Armenia or a hundred other places buried under thousands of tons of earthquake rubble, if they feel like a threat to the planet this week. Or how about those people in Kilowaia, Hawaii, who built their homes right next to an active volcano, and then wonder why they have lava in the living room.</i>"Peter Cresswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.com