AmeriNZ Blog

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 10

2026-05-17T22:25:06.228+12:00

On May 17, 1986, a new song began a three week run at Number One on the Billboard “Hot 100”: “Greatest Love of All” (video up top) by American singer Whitney Houston went to Number One this week forty years ago. The song, originally titled “The Greatest Love of All”, was first released as a single in 1977 by George Benson, and I think I may have heard his version somewhere around that time. However, I certainly know I heard Houston’s version—it was almost impossible to miss it at the time.

Houston’s version by released March 18, 1986, and was the seventh and last single from her eponymous debut album, Whitney Houston, which was released in February 1986. As was more common than not for me in 1986, I didn’t buy the single or the album.

Something else that’s not unusual for me is that I wasn’t particularly fond of this song—Houston’s performance was great (I’d already liked some of her earlier songs from that debut album), but I thought the song lyrics were too self-centred—even self-obsessed. Even all that time ago, I wasn’t a fan of the “you must love yourself” ethos—I didn’t even really understand what, precisely, gurus meant by that. So, I certainly didn’t consider love of self to be "the greatest love of all". But, hey, it was the 1980s, wasn’t it? Anyway, my dislike was the song, not the performance. That’s happened from time to time, but it is kinda rare for me.

Probably like a lot of people (maybe most people?), I thought Houston’s life was tragic, with so many “if only…” thoughts about her life. And yet, things were what they were, and she did produce some awesome music over the course of her career.

“Greatest Love of All” reached Number One in Australia, Number One and Canada (Platinum), Number 12 in New Zealand (Gold), 8 in the UK (Gold), and Number One on the USA’s “Billboard Hot 100” and on their “Adult Contemporary” charts. The song was certified 2x Platinum in the USA.

The album Whitney Houston reached Number One in Australia (5x Platinum) and Canada (Diamond), 3 in New Zealand (2x Platinum), 2 on the UK’s Albums and also Dance Albums charts (4x Platinum), and it was Number One on the USA’s ”Billboard 200” chart and their “Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums” chart. It was certified 14x Platinum in the USA.

This series will return in three weeks, on June 7, with the next new Number One from 1986. It’s not a one-week hit.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1986” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 1 – January 18, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 2 – February 15, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 3 – March 1, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 4 – March 15, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 5 – March 22, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 6 – March 29, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 7 – April 19, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 8 – May 3, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 9 – May 10, 2026

Fortune’s favour

2026-05-13T16:36:00.000+12:00

Maybe fortune favours the bold, as the saying goes, but maybe it’s simply persistence that wins the day. I’d like to think so, anyway.

Back in March, I wrote about a failed project to help Leo: I bought some steps to help Leo get up onto the bed more easily. At the time, it seemed like a good idea, but he wouldn’t use it, which I talked about in that post. But, contrary to what that post implied, I didn’t give up.

I recently moved the steps back to the foot of the bed, but rather than being parallel to the end of the bed as before, I turned them so they were perpendicular to the foot of the bed. I thought that in that position, when viewed from in front of the steps, they’d appear to rise easily from the floor to the bed top, and so, be less intimidating for Leo.

While I’d thought about doing that back in March, the reason I didn’t do it is that I felt it would stick out too far, maybe even creating a tripping hazard for me (I walk past it every twice a day, in the morning to open the window blinds and later in the day to close them for the night). I thought the tripping hazard had become minimal because I’d cleared out some “stuff” that had been stored in my bedroom for “quite some time”, and that meant there was more room at the foot of the bed. It was worth a try, I thought.

A couple weeks or so ago I moved the blanket box over a bit and dragged the steps to the side of it (see the photo up top). However, Leo still seemed uninterested in the steps. As I did in March, I tried to encourage him up the steps, placing his paws on the steps for him, and I did that a few times. That much worked, but he never initiated the climb on his own. I decided to regroup—and chill out.

I thought that maybe he just needed more time to feel comfortable with the steps and so be willing to use them on his own terms. Over maybe a couple weeks, he didn’t use the steps, preferring to jump up, awkwardly and seemingly with much effort.

Then, it suddenly changed.

The night before last, I said to Leo, as I do every night, “let’s go to bed,” and as is our ritual he walks slowly, looking up and me expectantly. I then ask him, “aren’t you forgetting something?”, and he runs back into the living are to grab Brown Dog, his favourite toy. Then we can go down the hallway to the bedroom at the other end of the house, Leo trotting ahead of me, tail wagging.

Two nights ago, he entered the bedroom, and started to veer right, which usually means he’s about to climb under the bed (he always goes under the bed from that side). However, he simply walked up the steps and then climbed them to get onto to the bed. I was shocked, and may even have gasped a bit as I put my hand over my mouth as I muttered a (nearly) silent, “oh my god!”

I praised Leo effusively, and he looked up at me with one of his, “what are you carrying on about? looks. I understood my notes from him and left him to play with his toy while I got ready for bed—wondering all the time if that had been a simple accident.

Last night we did our nightly ritual again and, as I’d hoped, he climbed the steps onto the bed. I cannot express how happy this made me: I started the whole thing to make his life a little bit easier, and seeing that he appeared to have adapted gave me all the feels. Nothing will change that, even if he doesn’t continue using the steps—but I have a feeling he’s worked out that the steps are a much easier way to get up there rather trying to jump up. It did make me think that maybe I should come up with a similar solution to help him get up on the sofa, but that space is much smaller and tighter than the bedroom is. More thought is required.

One thing I didn’t bother to mention in March—or at any other time, for that matter—is that for both me and Nigel, our dogs have always been allowed on the furniture, including the bed. I’m well aware that some people are against that, perhaps even strongly so, and such folks may harbour quite negative judgements of people like me. I couldn’t possibly care less. Both Nigel and I always considered our furbabies to be family, but after Nigel died, having the dogs sleeping near me every night was comforting, and now, after we also lost Sunny and Jake, I appreciate Leo’s presence even more. Many nights I wake up, then reach over to pat Leo before I go back to sleep. After so much loss and the change that demands, having Leo’s reassuring presence is pretty damn important.

And, that, in a nutshell, is why I launched this little project in the first place, and why I persisted after the initial failure. Leo has been so vitally important in my journey to learn how to create a new life for myself that there was never any doubt that I’d find a way forward.

This isn’t just about a plan coming together, or that persistence was a vital ingredient of the success. Instead, it was always about doing that I could to make my little guy’s life a little bit easier. It the very least I could do.

But, yeah: Maybe fortune really does favour the persistent.

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 9

2026-05-10T23:05:00.001+12:00

Forty years ago this week, on May 10, 1986, “West End Girls” (video up top) by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys went to Number One. The song was originally released in April 1984, but it was re-recorded for their 1986 debut studio album, Please, which was released in March 1986. It was the first single from the album.

I was taken with the song from the beginning, and I thought the video was interesting because it was so different from other videos of the era. I htink, but I’m mot certain, that I may have bought the albumn Please, but I’m not certain about that, because if I did it was 40 years ago, and I left it behind 30 years ago, and I simply don’t remember. This is a recurring theme.

I didn’t know until I started researching this post that the lyrics were partly inspired by T. S. Eliot's 1922 poem The Waste Land (which I referred to in a blog post earlier today). I also read at the Wikipedia link about the song (above) the answer to a question I’d long wondered about, but never remembered to investigate: Who was the female back-up singer in the song? Her name is Helena Springs, and she worked extensively with Bob Dylan. Mystery (for me…) solved.

“West End Girls” (1986 version) reached Number 5 in Australia, Number One in Canada (Gold), Number One in New Zealand (Platinum), Number One in the UK (Platinum), and Number One on the USA’s “Billboard Hot 100” and on their “Dance Club Songs” chart. It also hit Number One on the Cash Box “Top 100” chart. The song wasn’t certified in the USA.

The album Please reached Number 10 in Australia, Number 3 in Canada (Platinum), Number 2 in New Zealand (Platinum), Number 3 in the UK (Platinum), and Number 7 on the USA’s “Billboard 200” (Platinum).

This series will return next week, on May 17, with the next new Number One from 1986. It’s not a one-week hit.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1986” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 1 – January 18, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 2 – February 15, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 3 – March 1, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 4 – March 15, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 5 – March 22, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 6 – March 29, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 7 – April 19, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 8 – May 3, 2026

April was a… month

2026-05-10T20:00:00.001+12:00

April may be “the cruellest month” in the Northern Hemisphere, but here downunder it’s in the middle month of autumn—no longer summer, but not yet winter, so maybe it that makes it the cruellest month for us, too? At any rate, this year’s April certainly wasn’t exactly the kindest month.

The first big storm to hit New Zealand was the remnants of ex-tropical cyclone Vaianu, which struck the upper North Island the second weekend in April. Right up until it arrived, we weren’t sure how bad it would be, so preliminary watches and warnings were issued so that people could prepare. Having learned the lessons from 2023’s deadly Cyclone Gabrielle, many local governments declared preliminary states of emergency so they could respond faster to any horrible weather—well, apart from one charming fellow from the corner of the country hit the hardest by Gabrielle who refused to issue a “woke” state of emergency. Bet he’s a lot of fun at parties.

I planned on taking the same precautions I’d done for Gabrielle, and by Thursday the ninth, we were being urged to “take preparation seriously”. So, on Friday the first thing I did was to I put my rubbish and recycling wheelie bins in the garage (they were both empty, so prone to being blown around by the wind). I also put my patio table and chairs back under their cover because the wind was expected likely blow rain under the patio roof, and I felt that the cover would keep the table and chairs dry. That also gave me a place to stash the plastic bag of weeds I’ve been clearing from around the patio (off an on…) for weeks. I also did a quick check of my gutters (especially where the downspouts are) and the drain in my back lawn. I was 99% certain they’re all clear, and they were.

On Saturday, I got together with some of the family for lunch, and it was a mostly beautiful day. When I got back home, I moved the plants and doormat by my front door into the garage (for Gabrielle, I moved them into my entry way because at that time I didn’t have enough room in the garage). And that was it.

It was evening before the rain started, and it frankly wasn’t too bad. That’s because the storm was tracking further east than some projections showed, than that meant we were spared the worst of it. Even so, the entire North Island and the top of the South Island were all under some sort of watch or warning, something I don’t remember ever happening before.

That night, I woke up a bit after 1am and could hear what sounded soft rain. I could’ve thought to myself, “That’s it?! Pfft, why it’s just a bit of ordinary rain!” And that’d be the “common sense” reaction, wouldn’t it? Trouble is, storms have their own ways.

I woke up a couple more times during the night, same sort of more or less ordinary rain. I let Leo outside around 8:30 or so, and the rain had paused. I noticed that all the wood fence boards were thoroughly wet, a sign that the rain had been steady all night: When it’s not steady, parts of the fence will stay dry. I also noticed how warm it felt, warmer than the actual 21 degrees (69.8F). So, yet again, I was reminded that “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.”

After that, the rain started and then paused many times, but always remained “ordinary” in its intensity—nothing like Gabrielle was, or even as bad as severe “ordinary” storms. This figures: Waikato was under a “Heavy Rain Watch” until 6pm Sunday evening, and that was the lowest level of warning.

The rain became a bit more intense around 11:30pm or so, but the biggest concern in the area I live wasn’t the rain as much as the wind: We were under an “Orange Strong Wind Warning” (where Red is life-threatening, Yellow is possible damage, and Orange is between the two). That was scheduled to last until around 3am.

The issue was that the winds change direction and intensify as the storm moves south, because the winds hitting us start coming from a westerly origin. That was expected to happen in the Hamilton area later Sunday afternoon.

As it happens, the storm’s easterly track meant it headed back out to sea more quickly than originally expected, and that, in turn, meant the wind warnings were cancelled well before the original expiry. While there were a few strong gusts, for the most part there was really nothing more than a bit if a stiff breeze around my house.

Most other areas of the country fared reasonably well, though not totally unscarred. There was surface flooding in the hardest-hit areas, and some land-slips and damage to roads, but no one was killed and, apparently, there were so serious injuries. The storm’s track, and rapid weakening, meant it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been, but the warnings were heeded, and people (inlcuding me) were prepared. I hope this can be a model for future cyclones—because, thanks to climate change, there will inevitably be more.

That wasn’t the end of the weather woes, however, because the next week the Wellington region was hit with a huge storm that pretty much stuck over the region. The flooding was extensive, and a life was lost. The storm was so bad that it was compared to the 1976 Wellington Storm [see also: What made Wellington’s deluge so intense?, 1 News].

So, yeah: After the Easter weekend, April wasn’t exactly kind to New Zealand. Cruellest month? Well, that’s probably a bit premature: The year isn’t even half over yet.

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 8

2026-05-03T23:04:00.007+12:00

Back again with another Number One from 1986: Forty years ago this week, on May 3, 1986, “Addicted to Love” (video up top) by English singer and songwriter Robert Palmer went to Number One. The song, released in January 1986, was the third single from Palmer’s eighth studio album, Riptide.

I was familiar with Palmer before this song came out because of the song “Some Like it Hot” [WATCH/LISTEN], which was the debut (and probably the best known single) by the project Palmer was part of for a time, The Power Station. I’ve since acquired the song on compilation CDs, but I’m sure I once either had the 12-inch single or their debut album, The Power Station. I can’t be sure, since I have neither now, but I know I had something.

At any rate, I liked “Addicted To Love” well enough, but, um, that video? I didn’t get it. It was visually interesting and different, but the whole “models looking like bored mannequins faking playing instruments” was a bit creepy, and even in 1986 it felt kind of exploitive. It’s possible, though, that my less than positive reaction to this video is because he had the same basic thing going for three more songs, including the fifth single from Riptide, Palmer’s cover of "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On". On the other hand, having grown tired of the schtick, I was glad to see the turnabout treatment in the video for Shania Twain’s 1999 single, “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” [WATCH/LISTEN].

“Addicted To Love” reached Number 17 in Australia, 2 in Canada, 13 in New Zealand, 5 in the UK (Gold), and Number One on the USA’s “Billboard Hot 100” and on their “Top Rock Tracks” chart. It also hit Number One on the Cash Box “Top 100” chart. The song was certified Gold in the USA.

The album Riptide reached Number 11 in Canada (3x Platinum), Number 7 in New Zealand, Number 4 in the UK (Gold), and Number 3 on the USA’s “Billboard 200” (2x Platinum.

This series will return next week, on May 10, with the next new Number One from 1986. It's another one-week Number One hit, and it’s a song I still like as much as I did in 1986.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1986” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 1 – January 18, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 2 – February 15, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 3 – March 1, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 4 – March 15, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 5 – March 22, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 6 – March 29, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 7 – April 19, 2026

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 7

2026-04-19T23:40:00.001+12:00

Time again for another Number One from 1986: Forty years ago this week, on April 19, 1986, “Kiss” (video up top) by American musician (etc…) Prince, became the new Number One. The song, released on February 5, 1985, was the Prince’s eighth studio album, Parade. That album was the third and final album credited to the band Prince created,The Revolution.

I’ve said before that I liked some of Prince’s songs, and not others, something that’s not even remotely unique for me, of course. I liked the very start of this particular song—but not a lot after that point. Sure I liked the structure and the rhythm, but I’m often not keen on men singing falsetto through most of a song, and, for me, this was one of those times I didn’t like it. It happens.

As it happens, I liked the 1988 version by The Art of Noise featuring Tom Jones [WATCH/LISTEN on YouTube]. However, I think the Art of Noise version sounds much more 80s than the original Prince version did, but maybe that’s just me.

“Kiss” reached Number 2 in Australia, 4 in Canada, 2 in New Zealand (2x Platinum), 6 in the UK (Platinum), and Number One on the USA’s “Billboard Hot 100”, and was their US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and remixes hit Number One on two Billboard dance charts. It also hit Number One on the Cash Box “Top 100” chart. The song was certified Gold in the USA. Also, since I mentioned it above, the Art of Noise cover hit Number 6 in Australia, Number One in New Zealand, Number 5 in the UK, and 31 on the USA’s “Billboard Hot 100”

The album Parade reached Number 11 in Canada, Number 7 in New Zealand, Number 4 in the UK (Platinum), and Number 3 on the USA’s “Billboard 200”, as well as Number 2 on their “US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums” chart. The album was certified Platinum in the USA.

This series will return in two weeks, on May 3, with the next new Number One from 1986.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1986” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 1 – January 18, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 2 – February 15, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 3 – March 1, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 4 – March 15, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 5 – March 22, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 6 – March 29, 2026

AmeriNZ Podcast episode 424 is now available

2026-04-06T23:30:00.001+12:00

AmeriNZ Podcast episode 424, “A changed holiday weekend”, is now available from the podcast website. There, you can listen, download or subscribe to the podcast episode, along with any other episode.

The five most recent episodes of the podcast are listed on the sidebar on the right side of this blog.

A holiday weekend and some news I missed

2026-04-06T21:56:00.001+12:00

Today is the final day of the four-day holiday weekend for Easter. I’ve talked about these holidays, and thier oddities, many times, but this year several things were different, including one thing I mussed last year. Combined, this Easter weekend was unlike all the others in my 30 years in New Zealand.

Last Wednesday, the New Zealand Parliament passed a Member’s Bill to streamline the rules for bars and restaurtants selling alcohol on the three and a half days a year with unusual sales restrictions: Good Friday, Easter, ANZAC Day morning, and Christmas Day. The Governor General provided Royal Assent the next day, and the new law was in place for Good Friday (and Easter, obviously). To me, the reforms were simply common sense reforms.

There was one other thing that was new this year: This year, for the first time, TV commercials were broadcast on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The thing is, Parliament passed the law back in October, but for whatever reason I never mentioned it. Whatever the reason for that oversight, the first of the three and a half holidays tihe the change was Christmas last year, but I was with family all day and not watching television, so I wouldn’t have noticed anything (though I don’t know whether I would’ve noticed if I had seen TV that day). I also wouldn;t have noticed that ads were broadcast on Sundays because I don’t turn the TV on until 5 or 6pm.

I was glad to see the ad ban removed, even though I think ads are mostly annoying, but forbidding ads on broadcast TV when it didn’t apply to streaming services, including YouTube. There was no reason to force NZ broadcasters to take a financial hit that didn’t apply to anyone else. As it happens, in my post on Easter Monday last year, I talked about mo bill having passed Parliament, and that was actually an update to something I said in a post on Easter Monday in 2024. Yet despite my interest in the topic, I nevertheless seem to have missed the news when the bill finally passed. Oh, well.

This particular Easter Weekend also had to unusual add-ons. The latest school holidays began on Good Friday because that was a public holiday (they’ll end on April 19). The other thing that happened this weekend was that we changed our clocks on Sunday. Apparently, on Sunday NZ parents (as recounted on Facebook) were complaining about their children waking up at 4am demanding chocolate, which doesn’t sound ideal.

So, for many reasons, this Easter weekend was unlike all the others in my 30 years in New Zealand. Fortunately, I think all the changes were good ones. Well, except for sleep-deprived parents having to cope with kids high on sugar. Fortunately, all those coincidence of dates don’t happen every year: Next year, Easter will be on March 28.

The clocks changed

2026-04-05T22:45:00.000+12:00

Here we go again: New Zealand just changed their clocks again, this time back one hour to New Zealand Standard Time (NZST). All of mainland New Zealand is one time zone, but the Chatham Islands are 45 minutes ahead of us. Even so, they do seasonal clock changes the same as the rest of New Zealand, which makes sense. Makes sense? Do these seasonal clock changes make any sense?

I’ve mentioned before that I never used to be bothered by seasonal time changes, but that as I’ve grown older I find them harder to adjust to. Fortunately, I seem to have less trouble adjusting to the autumnal change than I do the “springing forward” thing. However, “less trouble” doesn’t mean it’s easy.

As is usually the case—perhaps contrary to a belief popular among people who know me in real life—I was in bed well before 3am when the clocks suddenly went backwards one hour. All was fine until morning: I woke up, as I usually do, some seven hours after I fell asleep, but that was just before 8am, quite a bit earlier than I usually get up. I laid in bed for awhile, just resting, really, but just before 8:30 I gave up and got up.

My day today was filled with minor chores, since I did this week’s big one—mowing the back lawn—yesterday (and, side note: I think I can now switch to mowing every other week). I spent some time, as I often do, thinking about how I want to prioritise various tasks, things that aren’t necessarily related to any project, but I did decide I should pack up the stuff I’ve been gathering for the op shop, which I talked about this past Friday. I still have what I might call “home stuff” to go through (kitchenware, serving dishes, tchotchkes, etc.), but I expect there’ll be a lot of that, so I’m better off donating all the clothes I’ve gathered together—well, yeah, but maybe I’ll do just one more check of my closet first (because I know I’ll find more stuff to donate).

There was one somewhat unusual thing about this particular clock change this time: The oven. When the power was turned off last Thursday, I switched the oven off at the wall. I used the oven this morning to cook some bacon, and that meant turning it back on again—but it was too early in the morning to re-set the clock using my old man Life Hack—though, full transparency, and all that, the clock hasn’t been right for months because the power was shut off when the derelict air conditioner was removed in December. Well, it's correct again now—even though I found myself waiting around in the kitchen for the better part of five minutes to make sure I didn’t miss my opportunity.

All up, then, so far this particular clock change itself has been a non-event—so far? This coming week will tell.

A project neither planned nor intended

2026-04-03T23:52:00.001+13:00

I’ve had lost of projects over the years, most of which I’ve at least mentioned, but I never could’ve imagined that one of my biggest-ever would be one that I neither planned nor even intended. And yet, this project can change so much.

Last month, I started getting things together to donate to op shops (aka charity shops or thrift stores). It began because I’d never gotten around to getting rid of Nigel’s suits—absolutely no reason, I just never did. But then I started looking for what I could add to the donate pile. I started with shirts that had been Nigel’s, but that I kept to wear. All of them fit, but I decided I didn’t like them anymore, or else I realised the sleeves were too shot for me. That was just the start.

I started looking through my own shirts—ones that had always been mine—and I did that several times, always finding more shirts to add to the donate pile every time I looked. Then I found shorts, pants—all sorts of things. I knew I wasn’t done, but the donate piles were growing higher.

Nigel had put some stuff aside in those plastic zipper bags that you suck the air out of with a vacuum cleaner. Some of the stuff was his, and some was from his partner beofre me, Gary. Nigel wasn’t particularly sentimental about things, but those things he kept meant they were meaningful to him, and I wanted do right by him.

The problem was that after so many years in those bags, the stuff smelled bad. The culprit was the perfume in the laundry powder: Some scents deteriorate over time, and that’s what happened to those items. So, I spent a couple weeks washing, re-washing, and then giving them a special pre-soak before washing them yet again, and they finally stopped smelling bad/odd.

There was one more bag of Nigel’s stuff, things that no longer fit him, but that he didn’t what to get rid of, and that included t-shirts from our last trip to the USA. I went through an expedited process to wash them (I’d learned…), and, after trying them on, I kept most of them. One from our last trip to New York City was a bit too small, so I made that a t-shirt I wear to sleep in, and added one of my too-small sleeping t-shirts to the donate pile.

I then remembered that sometime in my first year in this house I’d put under-bed storage bins under the guest bed. I pulled them out—and it took a rake to pull them close enough for me to grab. Some of it was an instant add to the donate pile, but there were some of my shorts that I didn’t know were there (but wondered what happened to them…), plus a couple of Nigel’s that are perfect for my walking workouts. Even so, a lot ended up in the donate pile.

I know that if I go through my wardrobe yet agin, I’ll still find more things to donate, and this is a good thing, of course, so I’m going to do exactly that. However, there’s SO much more! I have—what’s the word?—“homeware”? “Decor”? Basically, decorative things that I don’t want or, in some cases, even like. There’s so much of that sort of stuff.

I also have excess bedding (chiefly duvet sets) and good quality towels that I can donate—once I go through them. In fact, I found one duvet set recently when I went through the blanket box at the foot of bed what I was working on the ill-fated steps for Leo.

And that’s where I’m at right now: Lots of stuff to pack up to donate, and more to go through. That’s why this will ultimately end up being my biggest-ever project, even though I neither planned nor even intended to start it. Yes, but I’ll feel so much lighter once it’s done!

Powerful again

2026-04-02T23:59:00.001+13:00

Today was the day I was warned about: The power to my house was turned off for some sort of routine maintenance. And then it returned. Still, everything about it was strange.

This morning, I was sitting catching up on news on my iPad, sipping my coffee, and then I got an alert telling me that a personal hotspot was available on my phone. That message told me the power had gone off, because my tablet knew the wifi was suddenly gone (the iPad I have is wifi-only). It was approximately 9:03am.

My house was quiet at the time—but it’s always quiet at that time of day, so that wasn’t enough to tip me off; the alert did. I next went and switched off all important things at the wall (TVs, kitchen appliances, laundry machines, computers, etc.) so that when the power came back on, and in the unlikely event there was a power surge, nothing sensitive would be damaged. The alert from the power company had warned me to do that. I then had the presence of mind to make a list of all the power points I’d turned off so I’d remember to turn them all back on (except of the laundry machines, because they can remain switched off until the next time I need them.

I knew that apart from making a coffee or cooking, there wasn’t not much I couldn’t do today, apart from anything Internet-y on my wifi-only iPad (obviously not important). Yesterday, though, I’d planned on mowing the back lawn today, but I needed to charge the battery, and I forgot to do that yesterday, and didn’t get a chance to charge it before the power was switched off. However, it rained last night, so I wasn’t going to be able to do that, anyway. I’d also thought about doing some washing, and then remembered the power would be off. Ironically, I could do the vacuuming because it runs off 18v batteries—and I did vacuum today, but it was after the power came back on.

I made my breakfast (and Leo’s), which meant navigating the darkened fridge. I had my shower a little while after that, knowing that even though there was no power, the water in the tank would still be hot, and it was. But, then what?!

I thought about doing any number of the things that didn’t require power, but I realised the house was getting a little warm and stuffy, so I opened up lots of windows using the new window screens, really for the first time. It worked well, and helped lower the temperature. Even with teh wondows open, it was so very quiet!

I decided to hand wash some dishes while I still had some hot water, and that went well. And then I had an idea: I’d use my hot tap water, which often feels really hot to me, to make a cup of instant coffee. It was an incomplete success because it was quite warm, but not hot. Even so, caffeine. ‘Nuff said.

My phone was beginning to run down its charge (I didn’t charge it overnight), and I knew I had a solar-powered powerbank I bought not long after I moved into this house, well before I had the solar panels installed. I’ve never used it, apart from trying the torch (flashlight) function, whic told me the power switch was crap. After much perseverence—and reading the instructions—I got it to charge my phone, but at only 5w, it was slow!

While my phone charged, I spent some time doing some chores, but I eventually started getting bored (and I was tired, as usual, from poor sleep caused worrying about whether I’d have enough time before the power went off to get up and have a coffee (I did) and a shower (I’d didn’t). So I sat down and picked up my iPad to play a game that I knew didn;t need wifi. But I accidentally tapped on a different game that I thought wouldn’t work without wifi, and it loaded and played not just normally, it was better than normal. The game normally played endless long ads between levels, and it frequently froze for a second or two, but none of that happened without wifi. I wasn’t planning on trying to play the game, because I thought it needed wifi, but I definitely wasn’t expecting it to work perfectly without wifi.

The power came back on at 1:53pm, not quite 5 hours after it went off, and two hours earlier than we’d been warned about. Which is pretty good. I slowly started switching things back on, starting with the fridge, but I realised I wasn’t exactly sure how to turn the air conditioning back on. I went outside and turned the outdoor compressor back on, and when I came back into the house I saw the control panel was lit up, and the display said that it was off. I tapped the cooling button, and it still had all the settings—maybe it has battery back-up for settings? I learned I really ought to read that manual sometime…

What surprised me the most about today was that I didn’t mind the disruption at all. Sure, I could’ve planned things to work on, and arguably “should” have, but I wasn’t constantly checking my watch, and, in fact, was always surprised how much time had passed since the last time I checked my watch.

So, today was a bit annoying, sure, but the disruption wasn’t a big deal. But it was a day filled with lots of little surprises, too. Maybe the warning we got made a real difference this time?

Opportunities for change

2026-03-31T23:44:00.008+13:00

Every once in a while, I come across an interesting story in a very indirect way, and it’s even better when it’s a topic I’m both insterested in, and that’s also timely. Creating green hydrogen in Australia using some Kiwi can-do is just the sort of thing I might not expect, particularly when it came by way of Facebook.

The video up top is from Australia’s “A Current Affair” programme from Channel Nine. The specific segment, abuot producing hydrogen in Australian using solar power, came to my attention because of a Facebook post by “I Fucking Love Australia”, an unabashedly lefty Facebook Page that often talks about politics, including the dire affect the USA’s Felon in Chief has on the world. The post was also published on the “IFLOZ” Substack, and it was on Substack that I saw the video.

I was interested in this story because I’ve said for years that producing green hydrogen should be a major focus for New Zealand. “Green hydrogen” production is carbon neutral because it’s made from water using solar, wind, or hydro electricity. When produced from fossil fuels, it’s usually called “blue hydrogen”, unless it’s made from coal gasification, when it’s called “brown hydrogen” because it’s usually made from lignite, aka “brown”, coal.

As you may be aware, New Zealand is surrounded by water, and we have ample sources of hydro, geothermal, and, increasingly, grid-scale solar power. The story in the video is about using hydrogen to make fertiliser, but they mention making it to be used as fuel, too. When hydirgen is burned, its byproduct is water vapor, not deadly gasses like fossil fuels produce. If NZ fully commited to hydrogen, we could be self-sufficient in carbon-neutral fertiliser AND fuel for our vehicles, and no idiotic war on the other side of the planet could affect our fuel and fertiliser ever again.

Australia, because of its size and suitability for solar power, could become an exporter of fertiliser from green hydrogen, and help the world turn its collective backs on the volatile Middle East while also helping other countries reduce their carbon emissions. There are so many wins.

There’s one final twist in the path to this particular story. This evening I checked Facebook and saw a post from the IFLOZ Facebook Page saying they were going to concentrate on Substack, where most of their content will be by subscription. They’re doing this, they say, because Facebook has been de-emphasising content from the political left, and that results in declining ad revenue for the content creators, and they had charts to back that up. They also suggested that Facebook is doing it because their future plans will require consent from the current US regime, and so they’re basically turning down the volume of the Left in order to avoid problems with the regime. Whatever the specific reason, many left-of-centre content creators on Facebook have complained about suddenly declining page views, and so, revenue. I have no idea whether the speculations about the motivations are correct or not, but given the current regime’s constant posturing against the First Amendment to the USA’s Constitution, the speculation is at least plausible.

Still, it’s always nice to run across a topic I’m intertested in, no matter how roundabout the course may be. Apparently I won’t have a repeat of this particular path, though. There’ll be others.

I’m a serial mind-changer

2026-03-31T11:59:00.001+13:00

I sometimes change my mind (about any number of things) for reasons like better information, the price of something, or any number of other reasons. Every once in a while I’ll change my mind about something several times. Like about breakfast.

Back in June of last year, I wrote about bran cereal, because I tried a new (to me) one, but decided not to switch brands. However, I later decided that I would switch to the brand, and I talked about that in a follow-up post last November. I’ve now switched back to my original bran.

The fundamental reason for my switch back was the taste: I never actually liked it—it’s more more accurate to say that I tolerated the taste because of the cereal’s somewhat better nutritional profile. As I said last June:

There’s an irony here: Many people I know personally have screwed up their faces at the mere mention of All-Bran, declaring, "it tastes like cardboard", which made me wonder how they knew that. As it turned out, once I tried the Woolworth’s cereal, I understood: It’s not necessary to actually taste cardboard to get the sense that something must taste like cardboard would. To me, the High Fibre Bran was exactly like that

Irony maybe, but the taste never grew on me—in fact, the only actual flavour was the lemon yoghurt (maybe I should say the only pleasant flavour?). I recognised from the very beginning that “Just as I like All-Bran, which many people I know don’t like, it’s logical that other folks may love the High Fibre Bran cereal. To each their own.” Exactly.

In the November 2025 update post, I said:

I decided to continue to buy it—for now: If history is any indicator, it probably isn’t forever, because Woolworths has a habit of dropping it’s own home-brand products, though for all I know, they may just stop exporting them from Australia to New Zealand. In any event, it may not be around forever, but, for now, it’s my choice.

Woolworths has not (yet?) dropped the cereal, but I was nevertheless correct in guessing that “it probably isn’t forever”. I could get all philosophical and say “nothing is forever”, or wharever, but this is actually just about me changing my mind, then changing it again. Like I said: I'm a cereal—sorry, serial—mind-changer.

Important Note: The names of brands/products/companies listed in this post are all registered trademarks, and are used here for purposes of description and clarity. No company or entity provided any support or payment for this blog post, and all products were purchased by me at normal consumer prices. So, the opinions I expressed are my own genuinely held opinions, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the manufacturers, any retailer, or any known human being, alive or dead, real or corporate. Just so we’re clear.

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 6

2026-03-29T23:55:00.017+13:00

Forty years ago this week, on March 29, 1986, the new Number One song was “Rock Me Amadeus” (video up top) by Austrian musician Falco, the stage name of Johann "Hans" Hölzel. The song was the first single from Falso’s third studio album, “Falco 3”. “Rock Me Amadeus” was Falco’s only Number One hit in the USA.

I have all sorts of trivia about this song, starting with the fact that it was the first—and so far only—German-language song to reach Number One on the Billboard “Hot 100”. The previous highest-charted German-language song hit Number Two in 1983: “99 Luftballons” by the West German band Nena. It was also the only of his songs to be Number One in both the UK and the USA, which I guess is something.

I have my own personal trivia about the song, which I loved because I loved Falco’s work. I first heard of him when I saw his 1982 debut album, Einzelhaft, in a Chicago record shop that had a lot of the New Wave, dance, and “alternative” music I loved. I bought the album and listened to it often. I was drawn to it because I’d studied German (poorly…) in high school, and was instantly fascinated by the album. The second single was “Der Kommissar”, which I liked. I have to add that I was irritated when British rock band After the Fire released an English-language cover of the song, and, predictably, their version did better on the US pop charts. Ganz natürlich.

So, because of my history, both attempting to learn the language of many of my ancestors, and my earlier discovery of Falco, I loved “Rock Me Amadeus” (and the follow-up single, “Vienna Calling”. I think I bought the album Falco 3, but I'm not sure because if I did, neither it nor Einzelhaft came to New Zealand with me. I know—because I still have it—that I bought a 12-inch version version of "Vienna Calling", which included the American Edit of “Rock Me Amadeus”.

I also liked the video (which, as I’ve made clear by now, isn’t always the case, even when I like the song). I particularly liked the surreality of the visuals, especially the folks in biker gear accompanying Falco dressed as Mozart, and mouthing, “Amadeus, Amadeus!, Amadeus, Amadeus!”

All of which means that this week’s song was unusual among the songs in these series of posts: I liked the song, the artist, and the video. That was rare even then,

“Rock Me Amadeus” reached Number 15 in Australia (Gold), 2 in Canada (Platinum), Number One in New Zealand (Gold), Number One in the UK (Gold), and Number One on the USA’s “Billboard Hot 100”, and was also Number One on the Cash Box “Top 100” chart. The song was certified Platinum in the USA.

The album Falco 3 reached Number 9 in Canada (Platinum), Number 2 in New Zealand, Number 32 in the UK, and Number 3 on the USA’s “Billboard 200” (Gold). The album didn’t chart in Australia.

This series will return in three weeks, on April 19, with the next new Number One from 1986.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1986” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 1 – January 18, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 2 – February 15, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 3 – March 1, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 4 – March 15, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 5 – March 22, 2026

AmeriNZ Podcast episode 423 is now available

2026-03-28T22:43:00.001+13:00

AmeriNZ Podcast episode 423, “Nineteen years”, is now available from the podcast website. There, you can listen, download or subscribe to the podcast episode, along with any other episode.

Today is the nineteenth anniversary of the day I uploaded the first episode of the AmeriNZ Podcast. Naturally, I had to do a new episode to celebrate the day—and to update everything that’s happened since my previous episode.

The five most recent episodes of the podcast are listed on the sidebar on the right side of this blog.

A welcome warning

2026-03-26T11:58:00.002+13:00

Most people get warnings, alerts, advisories, etc., and often they can be useful, like warnings of approaching storms, for example. Earlier this month I got an alert about something happening early next month that was important to know about—and that alert was something I can’t recall ever having received before.

This story begins with an email. On the evening of March 7, I received an email from my electricity provider that said:

WEL Networks, is planning to turn off the power in you area for routine maintenance work between 09:00 AM Thursday 02 April 2026 and 04:00 PM Thursday 02 April 2026.

A little background: WEL Networks distributes power from the national power grid to consumers throughout the Waikato region, which includes Kirikiriroa-Hamilton. The company is owned by WEL Community Trust, and the Trust, in turn, returns an annual dividend to consumers in the form of a credit on their electricity bill.

What made the email so unusual is that I can’t remember ever getting one like it. In the past, WEL would drop notices in our letterboxes if there was going to be a planned interruption in electricity supply, but I think that was back when most of the area I live in was still under construction. It’s been a very long time since I received a leaflet about interruptions, and that’s probably why they’re quite rare now. If my electricity supplier hadn’t sent that email, I might well have ended up surprised when the power is switched off in April, with no idea why it was off. Because I don’t get power bills by mail anymore, an email was the only way the supplier could warn me.

When I read the email, I hoped that “9am and 4pm” means sometime between those hours, and not the entire 7 hours, but I have no way of knowing. They also advised, “Before the planned outage, please make sure you disconnect all electrical equipment,” which really just means switching them off at the wall (in New Zealand, power points/wall outlets all have individual on/off switches for each outlet). That’s good advice for sensitive things like TVs and computers, and anything that’s always on, like fridges. When the power has gone out unexpectedly, usually because of storms, I always switch those items off at the wall to protect them when the power comes back on.

Another part of the email was for households where someone “depends on electricity for critical medical support”, as the email put it, and such folks were advised that they can contact their electricity company to see what their options are. I'd have thought that people with critical medical equipment would already have a contingency plan (I certainly would), but power companies are required to help those who don’t.

Hamilton City Council doesn’t send any kind of notices of work being done in the area, like tree trimming, weed spraying on Council land, or, even worse, when the water is going to be shut off for any scheduled reason. HCC hardly ever even posts alerts on their Facebook page, so pretty much everything they do is a surprise, which isn’t ideal.

I was glad that I was sent that email, and it’s even better that we got nearly a month’s advance warning of a power outage (when I say “we”, that’s mostly because I posted about this on our community Facebook Page, partly because I have no idea whether other electricity companies sent notices to their customers, nor whether others read such emails). I added the event to my calendar, of course, so I can remember it’s happening, because I’d certainly be unlikely to remember otherwise. This way, when it happens, I can be prepared—devices fully charged, coffee made before 9am, those sorts of things, because my solar panels don't have battery backup.

So, thanks to that unusual email, I should be set. I guess knowledge really is power.

Update – April 2, 2026: This post has been updated.

A cleaning work-around

2026-03-25T10:00:00.001+13:00

Most people have tips and tricks they use for household chores, especially cleaning. Some people share those on social media, and it turns out that many of those shared things actually work—and others definitely do not. This isn't about an actual tip or tick, but an adaptation I’ve made to make one particular cleaning task easier—even if it might not sound like it does.

As I’ve said before, Leo tracks in grass clippings every time he comes back inside—and so do I, for that matter, but he goes outside several times a day and I don’t. When I mow the lawn, it only takes a couple days before the carpet in the living area is covered with various sizes of clippings, including longer weed clippings that the line trummer lopped off (I leave them where they fall in the hope they might help kill off the weeds; I’ll clean it all up this winter when they hardly grow).

The problem is that those clippings, especially the long ones, fill up the vacuum quickly, or even cause a clog. When I realised all that a few years ago, I’d walk around and pick-up the long pieces—which hurt my back, of course.

Back at our previous house, I bought one of those “grabber” things, with pincers at the end operated by a squeeze handle, and that because of baby Leo: He had a habit of taking his toys under our super-king bed, and leave them in the middle where I couldn’t reach them, and there wasn’t enough room for me to crawl under the bed. I could grab his toy with the grabber, and then hand the toy to a very happy Leo—who would carry it back under the bed sooner or later (he eventually stopped doing that, but if he does it now, he still forgets he did that…).

The grabber has been handy for me whenever I drop something that falls into a difficult-to-get-to place, so it was logical for me to use it to pick up the big bits of grass and weeds—and bits of stuffing that Leo pulls out of his toys. The photo above shows the results of my recent hunting expedition, posed on a source of (most of) the troublesome debris.

When I’m done hunting, I vacuum as normal, and it always goes better and faster than it would if I didn’t do the hunting. Different vacuums might work differently, but the one I use (which I bought around six months ago) is awesome, and my pre-vacuuming chore means I don’t need to empty the dust bin as often.

If this wasn’t weird enough for some people, there’s this: Picking up the larger debris manually is oddly satisfying. It’s quiet (no vacuum is…), and I’m never tempted to move fast as I am when I vacuum. It’s quieter, slower, even more leisurely, than any other cleaning chore that I do, and it’s kind of nice to have that sometimes. Still, even I don’t do it every week, but when I do I never regret it.

To each their own!

A well-meaning fail

2026-03-24T20:54:00.002+13:00

Not every project I take on works out, but all of them begin with good intentions. Recently I tried a project with the best of intentions, but it didn’t pan out. Even so, I don’t regret a thing.

The background is simple: Leo will turn nine in a few months, and I’ve noticed that as he’s grown older, he’s had more trouble jumping onto furniture, like our bed. To be honest, I think some of it is performative, because if I walk over to lift him up, he suddenly manages to jump up on the bed or whatever. Even so, he’s a little guy about to turn nine, and, just like me, he’ll need some minor alterations to things to make his ageing easier.

I thought that there was something I could do to help him, and I designed something, a kind of steps to put at the foot of the bed. I imagined a three-tier thing with storage in each tier. It’d be strong enough for me to sit on, like wooden the blanket box that’s there right now. However, the Garage of No Return doesn’t have enough room for me to build anything, and I don’t know when that will change (note I didn’t say “if”—I live in hope).

It was then that I found a four-tier step system (the bottom of the two photos at left; the blanket box I mentioned is the top half) that I thought would work. It’s a bit smaller than what I designed, but I thought that the four steps would make it easier for Leo. Each “step” is actually a soft-sided storage box, and each step is attached to the next-smaller step using a zip (aka zipper) on the front and back. The zips were a little tricky to fasten, but assembly was otherwise straightforward

And that was the end of the success. Leo wouldn’t step on any step, and wouldn’t jump onto a high one like he did on the old blanket box. I tried to lead him up the steps, but his reaction was as if he thought I was trying to hurt him. He didn’t “get” how to walk up stairs. He’s a smart guy, so this puzzled me—after all, we had stairs in the last house we all had together.

Yeah, well, I often forget how much time has passed since then. He lived in that house for 19 months (beginning shortly before his first birthday, and we moved away when he was 2 years old). I can’t remember how often he went up and down stairs at the old house, but we left that house more than six years ago, and we’ve lived in this one-storey house ever since.

I know that it may have nothing to do with his past, but the small stairs I bought for him may not have felt safe to him. So, I put the old blanket box back with just a blanket on top of it (making the top he jumps onto a centimetre or so lower than it had been).I moved the fancy steps over to the other side of the bed and put some of his toys on higher steps: He’s never tried to get them, not even when I put his favourite toy on it. I think that if the steps were more conventional, he might’ve been more willing to use it—or, at least, not as frightened of it as he seemed to be, but it it what it is.

This means I’m probably back to building something for him. Right now I think it should have a wide lower step for him to step onto, but I’ll have to create a temporary one to see if he uses it. We’ll see. The point is, just as I have various plans to make this house better for ageing me, I’ll make changes to make things easier for an ageing Leo, too. This particular attempt just wasn’t a good one. Oh, well—onward.

Seasonal changes

2026-03-23T23:58:00.001+13:00

By anyone’s reckoning, New Zealand is now definitely in Autumn. The 2026 March Equinox arrived March 21 at 3:46am. Leo and I were asleep at the time, of course, and its arrival certainly didn’t wake us up, and yes, I’m being a bit sarcastic. As I’ve made clear, in this part of the world we use the first of the relevant month as the start of the seasons, and not the equinoxes and solstices later that month.

I’ve also pointed out how the weather changes when it changes, and it has little to do with whichever date one chooses for the start of seasons. This particular autumn has certainly followed that pattern: We’ve had quite summery weather this month, and a few days ago Kirikiriroa-Hamilton hit a very summery high of 27 degrees (80.6F). It’s also been rather dry, as summer is, and not rainy as part later in Autumn can be.

However, there are obvious changes. The photo up top, which I took this afternoon, shows the tree on my street that s been in many of my photos over the years. That tree has an increasing number of yellow leaves, which means we’re not far from seeing the leaves leave. I’m not happy about that—just like every other year, of course.

Still, this particular season isn’t all bad. The cooler weather means the grass—and the weeds—don’t grow as quickly. This makes autumn (and early spring) the best times to clear out weeds, as I still need to do. It also means that the garage won’t be as hot as it is in summer, and that means I can work in there. Meanwhile, the rest of the house doesn’t need cooling quite as much, and doesn’t yet need heating, so I don’t sweat as much doing projects in the house—and it’s getting close to the all-too-brief time when I can open the windows—using my new window screens!

My list of projects to do (or just complete) is still very long—probably inhumanly so. The seasonal weather change may make projects physically easier to do, but it certainly doesn’t guarantee I’ll make any progress on any of them, let alone finish any. And yet: Every day is another opportunity to succeed, and it that doesn’t happen that day, then maybe the next one.

Honestly, though, I really do prefer that tree with it’s summer outfit on.

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 5

2026-03-22T23:31:00.003+13:00

Another week, and it’s another one-week Number One. Wait, another one-week Number One, the week after a different one-week hit? What is this, 1985? Just kidding—I’m actually glad the pace of the 1986 hits has been slower.

Be that as it may, on March 22, 1986 the new Number One song was “These Dreams” (video up top) by the American rock band Heart. The song was the third single from the group’s eighth studio album, “Heart”. “These Dreams” was also the band’s first Number One hit.

There’s an unusual bit of trivia about this song: This week’s song was wittern by Bernie Taupin and Martin Page, who also wrote the song in Part 23 of the 1985 series, “We Built This City” by Starship. They’re certainly very different songs.

Heart is group I really liked, and I liked this particular song, though it wasn't my favourite Heart song. I first became aware of the group because of a lot of TV commercials promoting their debut album, Dreamboat Annie. However, my connection with the band really started when their "Dog & Butterfly" tour (promoting the album of the same name) appeared at my university. There’s a little story about that.

My university’s arena, used mostly for basketball (go the Dawgs!—actually, I went to one game there), had a lot of concerts, too. However, in 1977, many weren’t exactly huge stars, but then they suddenly started programming bigger acts. In my first year at university, they hosted Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, neither of whom I was interested in (though, decades later, I wished I’d seen Springsteen…). The first group I saw was Bad Company, who were promoting their new album, Desolation Angels (which I bought, but no longer have). I went because they were the first group that I was kinda, sorta, familiar with. But when Heart was there, I was really excited to see them. They performed songs from their first four albums.

Back to 1986, I have to admit that the video for “These Dreams” didn’t grab me (apparently a common thing for me in 1986… or, always?). I mean, it was okay, I guess, but it wasn’t one I was excited to see replayed. I was similarly indifferent to this song, and to me it was a pleasant background song with lead vocals by a singer I enjoyed. But—and even I’m surprised I thought this way—where were the rocking vocals I’d come to know Ann Wilson for doing? However, I think that in those days I probably would’ve listened to her sing the phone book (not a literal fact). Let’s just say my tastes are, and always have been, varied, shall we? Yes, let’s. The larger point here is that I really liked heart, and I thought this song was okay. That’s very often good enough for me, and while I remember very little of it (it was a long time agao…), I know I enjoyed it.

“These Dreams” reached Number 27 in Australia, 6 in Canada, 62 in the UK, and Number One on the USA’s “Billboard Hot 100” and “Adult Contemporary” charts, and it reached Number 2 on their “Mainstream Rock” chart. It was also Number One on the Cash Box “Top 100” chart. The song apparently didn’t chart in New Zealand, but it was nevertheless certified Gold, and the linked Wikipedia article doesn’t provide any sales certification information for any other country. No idea what that means.

The album Heart reached Number 37 in Australia, Number 3 in Canada (6x Platinum), Number 19 in the UK (Gold), and Number 1 on the USA’s “Billboard 200” (5x Platinum). The album was certified Platinum in the USA. The album didn’t chart in New Zealand.

This series will return next week, on March 29, with the next new Number One from 1986, and it's NOT another one-week hit! But it IS one I liked a lot.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1986” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 1 – January 18, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 2 – February 15, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 3 – March 1, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 4 – March 15, 2026

Fueling the rising costs for everyone

2026-03-20T22:31:00.001+13:00

Fuel prices are rising throughout the world due to Tr*mp’s war against Iran, and obviously New Zealand’s fuel prices are rising fast, too. A couple days ago, an economist predicted that petrol prices could pass $4 per litre (roughly US$8.81 per US gallon). I think our prices will probably reach that point in maybe a week.

Here's why I say that: Late yesterday afternoon, I used the Gaspy App to look at prices at around 50 petrol stations within a relatively short drive from my house. The cheapest price for 91 was $2.93 per litre (three stations), and the highest price was $3.26 per litre. This evening, the cheapest price was $3.14 per litre (one station), and the highest price was $3.40—that’s around 24 hours later. It will keep rising.

Despite being late to take the situation seriously, the current NZ government is starting to talk about “worst case scenario” solutions. They claim NZ has seven weeks of fuel supply, counting both what’s here and what’s on the way, but experts in the industry estimate it’s actually around five weeks. One specific—and big—problem is that around 47% of NZ’s refined fuel comes from Korea, and they’ve talked about suspending exports, and if they do, this situation could get serious fast.

The government’s first step will be to work with partner countries overseas to try to find alternative sources of fuel, and they’re talking about temporarily relaxing fuel standards (I think, but don’t know, that they mean things like allowing higher levels of Sulfur in diesel). They also are working on a series of escalating restrictions on sales (to prioritise essential users, like emergency services and truckers shipping food to supermarkets) that they could use, if that becomes necessary—along with security guards at petrol stations.

I’m extremely lucky in that I don’t need to drive much or far, so this shouldn’t affect me for a while. Sales restrictions, if they happen, would obviously affect me, too, but, like everyone else, rising prices will increasingly mean I won’t drive anywhere unless I have to.

However, we'll all share the pain of fast-rising fuel prices because EVERYTHING we need to buy will become more expensive, including groceries, which are already at too-high prices—and, of course, farmers need fuel to grow and harvest our food (plus fertiliser may be hard to obtain). We’ve also been warned that because of all the uncertainties, there could be fuel surcharges added to anything delivered directly to us. Could? Make that there will be.

Related to that, I realised recently that this situation could mean that the guy who mows my front lawn may raise his prices. However, he recently cut back to mowing every other week, so even if he raises his prices, I should still be paying less per month than when he was mowing weekly. Like I said, I’m lucky.

No one knows how this will play out, or when the war will end. It certainly doesn’t help that the USA has a government that doesn’t have a clue what it’s doing, and the Republican politicians clearly have no idea whatsoever how to bring their war to an end. So, things right now are serious and getting worse, but they're not yet dire—emphasis on yet.

New Zealand is as vulnerable as any other country, and our own “Coalition of Chaos” government hasn’t exactly been inspiring confidence that they know what to do. Even so, I’m not willing to jump on the panic wagon about all this. First, there’s absolutely nothing I can do about the cause of all this turmoil. All I can do is manage what’s within my control, and I’m definitely doing that.

But, seriously, isn’t it about time we finally got to have some precedented times?!!!

Huge improvement

2026-03-17T15:31:00.001+13:00

I’ve been very busy lately. With all sorts of things going on, plus a few not going on (rest days, in other words). In general, though, I’ve been busy enough that I haven’t had time for lots of things, including, obviously, this blog. Among the things I’ve been doing are some that I would’ve talked about here, and so, I decided, I will. Today I’m starting with what I think is an enormous positive change.

Every year, I have to get a WOF (Warrant of Fitness for my car. A WOF is basically a safety check—brakes, indicators, headlights/tail lights, no rust, tyre condition, etc. Every year I’ve hated doing it because the whole process can easily take at least an hour and a half—last year, it took an hour and forty minutes, which at the time I thought was pretty “fast” for them.

As I mentioned in last year’s post, VTNZ (where I get my WOF) started offering online booking, this year I decided to try to book an appointment—for the next day. I wasn’t exepecting much—I was trying for the very next day, after all, but I had to go that day regardless because my WOF expired that day. I was surprsided (maybe even a bit shocked) that I got an appointment for 11:40am that day, a perfect time for me (I avoid appointments for anything before then, if I can).

I got there at 11:35 (delayed by traffic slowing down for a sudden downpour), put my car in the appointments queue, and then went inside to pay. There it went south quickly (I still say their computer OS must be CP/M…). One clerk was really fast, the other not as much, but both were bogged down by customers renewing their driver licences.

After waiting in the queue for around 20 minutes, a clerk asked if anyone was there for a booked appointment and then said my plate number. Fortunately, I was next in line, anyway, because folks would’ve been annoyed if I was called before them.

By this time, the guy was nearly done checking my car, and I was gone a few minutes later—less than half an hour after I arrived. HUGE improvement! I took the photo up top standing just in front of my car (not in the photo, obviously) looking over to the pedestrian entry and the two lanes used for non-appointment WOF checks. At the time I was waiting for the guy to finalise the WOF by putting the official sticker on the inside of my windscreen.

After that exctiement, my next stop was to pick up a few things at the supermarket I moaned about early last month, and even that stop was much better than last time I went there. All in all a pretty good day.

This particular story is about how something I’ve dreaded doing for years was suddenly massively better. That doesn’t mean I’ll actually “like” taking care of that particular chore, of course, but the fact that I’ll no longer need to waste so much time doing it is huge. Sometimes, it really is the small things that make the most difference, and this improvement was huge.

Because I’m a giver, here are previous posts where I talked about getting a WOF, at least in part:

My car is fit – 2025
It was about change, not coincidence – 2024
The other real life – 2023
Sunday chores – 2016
Discovery in ordinary life – 2017
It is fit – 2013
Just a day – 2011
Testing day – 2009

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 4

2026-03-15T23:55:00.002+13:00

Mid-March and this is the first one-week Number One song of 1986. There were more.

On March 15, 1986 the new Number One song was “Sara” (video up top) by the American rock band Starship hit Number One for one week. The song was the second single from Starship, after 1985’s "We Built This City", which I talked about in my ”Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 23” post. The song was also the second and final Number One single from their debut album, “Knee Deep in the Hoopla” (“ We Built This City” was the first single). There would be one more for the band, though.

So: While—obviously—many people loved Starship, others, um, did not. I was mostly on the fence about the group, but, to be completely honest, I actually stopped paying attention when Grace Slick left the group. Be that as it may, I thought this song was pleasant enough, though it didn’t exactly grab me, either—but, then, many (most?) pop songs don’t “grab” me, so that’s not unusual. I guess you could say of my “relationship” with Starship, “It’s complicated.”

The video for the song also didn’t grab me—and that, too, isn’t unusual, of course. I’ve always considered music videos to be their own art form, and when they’re good, they’re pretty awesome. Most music videos are not pretty awesome (obviously?), but the ones that are get repeat views from me. This video, however, was not one of those. Oh, well.

“Sara” reached Number 10 in Australia, Number One in Canada, 16 in New Zealand, 66 in the UK, and Number One on the USA’s “Billboard Hot 100”, as well as on their “Adult Contemporary” chart, and it reached 12 on their “Mainstream Rock” chart. The linked Wikipedia article doesn’t provide any sales certification information.

The album Knee Deep in the Hoopla reached Number 34 in Australia, Number 16 in Canada (Platinum), Number 43 in New Zealand, and Number 7 on the USA’s “Billboard 200”. The album was certified Platinum in the USA. (There’s no chart information for the UK, which usually means it didn’t reach the bottom rung).

This series will return next week, on March 22, with the next new Number One from 1986, and it's another one-week hit.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1986” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 1 – January 18, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 2 – February 15, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 3 – March 1, 2026

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 3

2026-03-01T23:54:00.004+13:00

It’s been a slow and relaxed start to this year’s series, hasn’t it? Here we are in March and this is only the third Number One of the year. Last year seemed so frantic by comparison, what with ALL those one-week hits. At any rate, there was a new Number One song this week in 1986, and it’s one I thought—well, let’s leave that for a moment, shall we? On March 1, 1986, “Kyrie” (video up top) by American pop rock band Mr. Mister hit Number One for two weeks. The song was the second and last Number One from Mr. Mister, after 2025’s "Broken Wings", which I talked about in my ”Weekend Diversion: 1985, Part 25” post. “Kyrie” was also the second single from their second studio album, “Welcome to the Real World” (“Broken Wings was the first single).

As with most Number Ones, this song was definitely on the radio a lot at the time, but that didn’t help for me: I absolutely loathed this song. I liked the sound well enough, and yet… Okay, here’s the thing: As the son and grandson of Lutheran preachers, I was well aware of what “kyrie” means in Christian use: Kýrie, eléison; Christé, eléison; Kýrie, eléison. which roughly translates as "Lord, have mercy; Christ, have mercy; Lord, have mercy." In Lutheran liturgy, the Kyrie was a particular part of Sunday services. At the time this song was popular, I still considered myself a Lutheran, though I’d probably already left the church mentally, BUT I was definitely already a committed secularist, and, at the very best, very most charitable, I felt this song was inappropriately proselytising, and I didn’t like that—at all. For historic context, this was the same era in which self-proclaimed “christians” were by far the most strident (and wealthiest) opponents the LGBT+ communities faced (not unlike these days…).

I was surprised when I researched this post and learned in the Wikipedia article linked above that “According to [co-composer and lead vocalist Richard] Page's statements, he was initially skeptical about singing the Christian text Lang had written because he didn't want to make a ‘religious statement’”. So, even he realised it was religious. What I also learned, though, is something I was oblivious to:

There is a myth that singer Richard Page wrote "Kyrie" while lying in a hospital bed after being assaulted. It was John Lang who had been assaulted three years before the composition; Lang has stated that the incident has nothing to do with the song.

Well, okay then. I guess. Personally, I don’t think that any of that cleared up the religiosity (or lack of) in the song, and that was always the sticking point I just couldn’t get past, even though I liked the sound of the song well enough. Once again, this is an example of something that wasn’t the first or last time such a thing would happen.

“Kyrie” reached Number 11 in Australia, Number One in Canada, 30 in New Zealand, 11 in the UK, and Number One on the USA’s “Billboard Hot 100”, as well as their “Mainstream Rock” chart. The song was also Number One on the Cashbox “Top 100 Singles” chart. The linked Wikipedia article doesn’t provide any certification information. Also, I see that it charted worst in Australia and New Zealand, arguably the least religious countries I write about—though I stress that may or may not be relevant.

The Welcome to the Real World album reached Number 17 in Australia, Number 2 in Canada (3x Platinum), Number 21 in New Zealand, Number 6 in the UK (Gold), and Number 1 on the USA’s “Billboard 200” chart. The album was certified Platinum in the USA.

This series will return in two weeks, on March 15, with the next new Number One from 1986, and it's also the first one-week hit of the year.

Previously in the “Weekend Diversion – 1986” series:

Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 1 – January 18, 2026
Weekend Diversion: 1986, Part 2 – February 15, 2026

About that ‘hidden’ video

2026-02-19T23:40:00.000+13:00

The video above is Stephen Colbert’s interview with one of the Democratic candidates for the US senate seat in Texas, James Talarico. Colbert said that CBS wouldn’t permit the interview to be broadcast because the regime’s FCC said it would enforce the “equal time” rules on talk shows, which had always been exempt. Essentially the rule means that if a candidate is interviewed, all other candidates for that office must be, too. The FCC commissioner was quite open about the fact that this is about politics, though he framed it as about shows being “political”. His ire was apparently raised when ABC’s “The View” had Talarico on without any of his Democratic opponents. It's important to note that another Democrat runing for the Seante in Texas, Jasmine Crockett, has been on Colbert's show several times.

The first important point is that talk shows have always been exempt from the rule, and suddenly changing the rules is—odd. The second thing is that CBS itself disputes how this all came about. They deny it was the FCC “ordering” anything, but instead, about its “guidance”.

The interview was uploaded to the show’s YouTube Channel, which Colbert suggested was because he wasn’t allowed to broadcast it. CBS later claimed it was to avoid the “equal time” rule (the FCC has absolutely NO jurisdiction over streaming services, including YouTube). It’s worth noting that the YouTube video up top has had around three times the average viewership for the broadcast show, and the millions of views on other social media are on top of that.

So, what really happened? We weren’t there, we don’t know. Here’s what Colbert said to his audience before the interview:

The next day, CBS issued a very different story about what happened, apparently trying to blame Colbert, and issuing a startement without even showing it to him in advance. He responded on air:

I tend to believe Colbert over CBS, mainly because he’s earned the right to be trusted, and the spokespersons for the oligarch owners of CBS have not. Maybe that will change? Well, anything is possible, I suppose.

Let’s suppose that the FCC didn’t strongarm CBS (even admitting the current regime is absolutely capable of having done exactly that). But, IF they didn’t, why would CBS kill the broadcast of the interview? To suck up to the Republicans’ God-King. CBS is now owned and controlled by a far-right billionaire family that unreservedly backs the regime (danger enough), however, what could be behind it is that those oligarchs are currently trying to buy Warner-Discovery which would give them CNN, too (another huge danger; Netflix’s bid excludes CNN). If their offer is accepted, the regime will need to approve it, and that obviously gives the oligarchs a strong incentive to censor Colbert.

That raises a new question: Why would the regime want Talarico silenced? Because they consider him a huge threat to Republicans holding the Senate seat in Texas, and if Democrats win that seat, that may well win control of the US Senate. The incumbent Republican is unpopular, and his chief opponent is a crackpot extremist (IMO). Either Republican could be in danger of losing to a Democrat, and Republicans would fear Talarico the most because they’d consider the other main candidate, Jasmine Crockett, easier to defeat (because they automatically dismiss all they Black people, Black women in particular). Having said that, Talarico does indeed speak to a certain type of Texas voter, those that are more ostensibly more conservative than most Democrats, but they're not part of the red hat cult. Those folks are also some flavour of Christian, and Talarico speaks to them better than even the Republican candidates (not hard to do for genuine Christians…).

As the saying goes, I don’t have a dog in that fight, however, I do have a “position”: I will happily back whichever Democrat wins the primary. There are things I like about both candidates, but I know very little about Texas voters and wouldn’t presume to say which one is more “electable”. Anyone can have an opinion on the race, of course, and I do, and beyond firmly believing that either Democrat is far better than any Republican. But I think that the Democratic voters in Texas have to make their own choice. I know that I wouldn’t want anyone from out of state telling me how to vote.

I’m just glad that Democrats have such strong candidates. I hope that’s replicated across the country, because it’ll take a massive “Blue Wave” to save the USA.