WYSIWYG NEWS - 1 December, 1996
Brian Harmer
----- WYSIWYG NEWS ---------------------------------------
Copyright - Brian Harmer
*****
A week or two ago, someone wrote and suggested that I put some
pictures on the Web of the view from the front lawn of our
house, which I have so often described. That's a good idea, I
thought, but first take the pictures. I have, so now I have
put up four pictures at
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~bharmer/mypics.htm
The pictures can be printed and put side by side to give a
panorama from Kelson in the North round to the Eastern Hills
and Lower Hutt City, and across Petone to Eastbourne and
beyond to the harbour mouth.
Meanwhile, here and now, my view is somewhat obscured by
scaffolding. We decided to lash out and have the house
professionally painted for the first time, thereby avoiding
the terrors we experienced last time of painting the upstairs
gable from a wobbly two story ladder with its feet at the edge
of a steep drop a further six metres to my neighbour's house.
The truckload of scaffolding and planks that the painting
contractors ordered must be costing an arm and a leg on a
daily basis, so I'm keeping an anxious eye on the very
changeable weather at the moment. Today, Saturday, for
example, started out flat calm, with warm sun and no clouds.
Down on the Hutt River (see the fourth photo in my series), a
pair of kayakers were the only disturbance on the otherwise
perfectly still water. (See... I avoided "glassy and "mirror")
Mary and I resumed painting the inside windows (No not the
glass bits!) and got quite a lot done. Since this is enamel
paint, we needed to leave the hinged windows open for a while.
We just finished the windows in the lounge, when the sun
disappeared behind a wall of clouds and the wind has been
attempting to slam the windows shut ever since. We had to
brave the tacky paint to refit the metal stays so they would
stay put. That Murphy fellow, the one whose law it is, never
knew his father!
Oh - apologies to those who received unwanted characters in
last week's post... I have a new version of my mail package,
and set a parameter wrongly. I believe it is now fixed. And
for those who wondered, it was the principal who got "creamed"
at the assembly as reported somewhat incoherently last week.
On with the news
Monday, 25 November
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
POLICEMAN ARRESTED
------------------
(This item was foreshadowed in last week's WYSIWYG - BH)
Police all over the country are embarrassed by the news that
the person arrested in the case of the Satanist who tortured
and attempted to kill an Ashhurst detective, was the victim
himself.
The story originally put out was that Brent Frederick Garner,
32, a detective, was alone in his house, having sent his
family away when he began to receive threatening letters.
According to Detective Garner, he was surprised by an intruder
who bound him hand and foot and tortured him, carving patterns
in his back. He was then doused in petrol and left to die when
the intruder set the house alight. Detective Garner said he
managed to dive through a window, and survive to give a
description of the attacker. The police committed a huge
resource to tracking down a well spoken English motorcyclist
who was according to the death threats received, a Satan
worshipper. Occultists in many areas were questioned.
The news finally broke that behind "Operation Venus",
suspicions about the story had caused the police to mount a
backroom "Operation Mars". With assistance from the insurance
assessors police eventually confronted Detective Garner with
the belief that he had lied. Faced with smarter colleagues
than he anticipated, Detective Garner confessed that the whole
thing was a scam. It had been his intention to collect the
insurance on his house, and after providing for his wife and
two young children, to abandon them in favour of his current
girlfriend, a police employee from Palmerston North.
Mrs Garner was devastated, though apparently this is not his
first extra-marital adventure. She is faced with the prospect
of her husband in jail, and insurance policy being void, and a
huge mortgage debt on a house that no longer exists. After
adopting a strict "letter of the law" policy to begin with,
both the insurance company and the bank have bowed to public
condemnation and have both indicated an intention to alleviate
Mrs garner's position.
Police officials have apologised to the public of New Zealand,
and expressed their embarrassment over the dilemma of the
$12,000 in public donations sent to help Detective Garner
before the fraud was discovered.
Mrs Garner has won a degree of public admiration for her
courage in what must be a distressing situation. She has
indicated her intention to divorce her husband, and to "cease
being a victim".
WELLINGTON STREET RACE A SUCCESS
--------------------------------
Huge crowds flocked to Wellington for the waterfront street
race. As usual, corporate offices which would normally be
deserted on a Sunday were crammed with employees, families,
and guests keen for a vantage point. The paying crowd at
street level is estimated to have been 25,000 on Saturday for
the preliminary races, and 30,000 on Sunday for the main
events.
The track itself was tighter than it has ever been, and the
chicanes caused a few cars to come to grief.
Despite commuter anger at untimely street closures, the event
was judged successful, and a contract for a further four years
is in the pipeline.
EVE RIMMER DIES
---------------
Well known paraplegic athlete Eve Rimmer died aged 59. Despite
a car accident which made her a paraplegic, Rimmer became a
prolific medal winner in javelin, discus and shot put events.
She competed at most major events for paraplegics including
Tel Aviv (1968), Edinburgh (1970), Heidelberg (1972), Dunedin
(1974), Toronto (1976) and Arnhem (1980).
KIWI CRICKET MOMENT OF GLORY
----------------------------
New Zealand beat Pakistan in a cricket match on their home
ground for only the second time in 27 years. The team coached
by recent arrival, Australian Steve Rixon, and captained by
Lee Germon won by 44 runs.
Tuesday, 26 November
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
COMPULSORY SAVINGS?
-------------------
One of the key issues in the negotiations between New Zealand
First and its potential coalition partners is the NZ First
plan to require all New Zealanders to have a compulsory
savings programme to provide for their retirement.
FORGERY PROBLEMS
----------------
In the second case of its type in recent months, a New Zealand
painter with a national reputation has suffered from the
attentions of a forger. Jane Evans was appalled to learn that
three watercolour paintings with her signature forged on them
were sold in Auckland for prices in excess of $5,000. She was
further outraged when the police abandoned the investigation
of her complaint, saying that they couldn't do anything unless
they caught the perpetrator in the act. She finds this
viewpoint absurd, and has lodged a complaint with the Police
Complaints Authority. The other victim was Sir Tosswill
Woollaston who had seven paintings passed off as his work by
an artist he thought to be his friend.
HUMAN RIGHTS ACT IGNORED ON THE GREENS
--------------------------------------
Despite a ruling from the Human Rights Commission that a
tournament for married couples only is discriminatory,
Greenacres Golf Club in Nelson intends to proceed with their
tournament. Couples who are not legally married need not
apply.
MURDER TRIAL
------------
Almost five months ago, Matthew Oates, 34, was disturbed by
gun-wielding intruders who broke into his house. Apparently Mr
Oates went and got a pistol from a place of concealment and
fired at one of the intruders who was pointing a shotgun at
his partner, Sheila Barker. The wounded gunman and his
companions then fled. The body of Wayne Philip Rogers was
found 20 hours later in nearby bush. In the intervening time,
the other two intruders have been convicted and jailed for
their part in the break in. Now the Solicitor General has
ruled that Mr Oates must face a murder charge. Counsel for Mr
Oates say they will seek a speedy trial, and that the charge
will be vigorously defended on the grounds of self defence,
and defence of another. Ms Barker had already been hit several
times by the intruders when Mr Oates reappeared with his
pistol.
Wednesday, 27 November
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
KEPT IN JAIL TOO LONG, LAWSUIT FOLLOWS
--------------------------------------
A man jailed for sexual violation had his conviction quashed
on appeal because the evidence on which he was convicted was
manifestly unsafe. It took the justice department some 22
hours to get this news through to the authorities at Rangipo
prison where he was held. The man is now suing the Courts and
the Corrections Departments for $20,000 for the extra day he
had to spend incarcerated.
FORKED, IF YOU'LL PARDON THE EXPRESSION
---------------------------------------
A seventeen year old youth driving under the influence of
Datura was chased at speeds up to 140 km/h through the streets
of Rotorua. He made a turn into a supermarket car park, and
found himself in the loading dock. Slamming the car into
reverse, he attempted to continue his attempts to escape.
Sadly for him, Mr Merv Birch saw what was happening, and being
ideally positioned to do so, slid the forks on his forklift
under the car and lifted it off the ground. The escapee spun
his wheels in helpless fury as the pursuing police car arrived
to complete the capture.
GOTCHA SCHEME
-------------
It has been illegal for some time now, to sell tobacco
products to anyone under 16 years in New Zealand. Equally
obvious is that this rule is being flouted, so the Public
Health officials are recruiting a number of 13 year olds, and
sending them into shops to buy cigarettes. If they come out
with the goods, the shopkeeper is prosecuted. The children are
selected on the basis that they must look no older than 14,
and they are told to give their real age if the shopkeeper
asks. The maximum penalty for the offence is $2,000 though so
far, no one has had to pay more than $500.
GARNER SAYS HE DID IT
---------------------
Disgraced detective Brent Garner pleaded guilty in court to
the elaborate fraud (see Monday's news) in which he claimed to
have been tortured. After pleading guilty to eight charges, he
was remanded in custody for sentencing on December 13.
Meanwhile, the public are still sending donations for the
assistance of his family.
RELIGIOUS UPROAR
----------------
Dr James Veitch, senior lecturer in Religious Studies at
Victoria University has outraged conservative Christians by
giving a public speech in which he states that Jesus Christ
was an ordinary human who was "created to be divine by the
Church". The anger was fuelled by the fact that Dr. Veitch is
an ordained Presbyterian minister, and already there is talk
of possible heresy trials.
(I have no wish to engage in any communication on this matter
- BH)
VICTORIA SUED
-------------
Four students who variously graduated from Victoria's MA
(Applied) degree in environmental studies in 1992 and 1993 are
suing the university for $320,000 claiming breach of contract
and negligence because they allege the course was "vague and
poorly planned". They are seeking refunds, as well as
compensation for loss of employment opportunities. Inquiries
reveal that the course was never formally approved by the vice
chancellors' committee. The university is vigorously defending the
course.
(Now there's an article I would rather not have carried... - BH)
(whoops ... an earth tremor just shook the house. Seems like a
small one which lasted only a second or two...07:49 am Sunday)
Thursday, 28 November
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MOTH ESCAPES NET
----------------
Despite a $6 million project of aerial spraying to eradicate
the tussock moth infestation which occurred in Auckland's
Eastern suburbs, a caterpillar was found in a plant nursery
well outside the so called infested zone. Officials are saying
this isolated moth is a "one off" with no signs of egg
clusters nearby, and that it must have been transported from
the original zone.
("whistling in the dark?" - BH)
ASSAULT WITH A FRIENDLY WEAPON?
-------------------------------
An American tourist aged about 30, entered a restaurant in New
Plymouth and was surprised when 30 female police officers who
were partying there to farewell a colleague insisted that he
remove his clothes. It seems the officers were convinced that
he was the stripper they had arranged, and would not be
persuaded that he was not. He eventually fled, naked, to warn
his brother who was outside of the dangers within. Media
sources do not record which way the two tourists ran next.
Friday, 29 November
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PAINT BOMBING
-------------
A man dissatisfied with progress on a complaint lodged with
the Police Complaints Authority burst into the offices of the
authority and hurled several paint-filled balloons around. The
fifteen missiles made a considerable mess as staff frantically
rang the police. They needn't have bothered, as the
perpetrator then went to the police station and turned himself
in.
OUT OF HIS TREE?
----------------
Former cabinet minister, and now mayor of Queenstown, Warren
Cooper was found in the streets of Queenstown late one night,
in pouring rain, hacking at the roots of a historic
"Wellingtonia" tree(Sequoiadendron giganteum). Mr Cooper says
he was shifting roots to stop people tripping on them. He says
he prefers to do these things at night when there are less
people around. "I have these little sort of fetishes" he is
reported to have said.
Arboriculturists said that the Wellingtonia was sensitive to
root disturbance. Mr Cooper says the group which raised the
fuss about his exploits, Eco Action "know nothing about trees"
Mr Cooper apparently finds going through official channels
irksome, and says it is easier to do some things yourself.
When it was pointed out that the tree was subject to a
protection order, Mr Cooper said he was aware of that, but
that you have to keep a bit balanced about these things.
(Doesn't sound all that well balanced to me - I just hope his
previous decisions as a cabinet minister were less
idiosyncratic - BH)
THE FINANCIAL PAGE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: 28 November 1996
Brian Dooley
Wellington, NZ
CURRENCIES
~~~~~~~~~~
The currency codes given below conform to ISO 4217, which
can be found at http://www.xe.net/currency/iso_4217.htm.
The rates given are for telegraphic transfer and are
as given in the Wellington Evening Post today.
To Buy NZD 1.00
USD 0.7128
AUD 0.8764
GBP 0.4254
JPY 80.99
CAD 0.9598
FRF 3.6963
DEM 1.0915
HKD 5.5252
SGD 1.0018
CHF 0.9228
INTEREST RATES (%)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call : 9.35
90 Day: 8.80
The prices below are given in cents.
To buy NZ Investment Trust:
21 June 1993 409
Today 580
To buy TeNZ:
1 June 1996 103.7
Today 117.3
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*****
I said the weather was changeable ... Now Sunday...strong
northerly, low scudding clouds and steady rain, dripping off
the scaffolding :-(
See you next week.
Brian M Harmer
email brian....@vuw.ac.nz http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~bharmer/brian.htm
Thou shalt not sit with statisticians nor commit a social science - W.H. Auden
Marion Boulden
Brian Harmer wrote:
> We decided to lash out and have the house
> professionally painted for the first time, thereby avoiding
> the terrors we experienced last time of painting the upstairs
> gable from a wobbly two story ladder with its feet at the edge
> of a steep drop a further six metres to my neighbour's house.
> The truckload of scaffolding and planks that the painting
> contractors ordered must be costing an arm and a leg on a
> daily basis,
Brian,
I don't suppose you'd put your painters in contact with a friend I'll be
visiting up in Kaikohe in two weeks? His house needed painting when I
visited last July, and he's been reminding me that it *still* needs it,
and that "we" might be able to finish before heading down to the
Coromandle Peninsula for a bit of camping. Gee, what we Yanks have to
go through for a little (six weeks, hurrah!) holiday :-))))
Marion
Brian Harmer
On Sun, 01 Dec 1996 05:08:23 -0800, Marion Boulden
<bou...@premier.net> wrote:
>Brian Harmer wrote:
>> We decided to lash out and have the house
>> professionally painted
(snip)
>
>Brian,
>
>I don't suppose you'd put your painters in contact with a friend I'll be
>visiting up in Kaikohe in two weeks?
...
Well, I guess he would be interested.... but the daily travelling
costs ... lets say public service rates, approximately 60c/km (mumble)
daily round trip 1,832 km ....mumble ... paint, say sixty litres -
$1,000, ...labour... say $4,500 for average house... hmmm... three
weeks ... lets say $25,000 ... extra if scaffolding... Hey... where'd
you go?
Peter Metcalfe
On Sun, 1 Dec 1996, Peter Metcalfe wrote:
> On Sat, 30 Nov 1996, Brian Harmer wrote:
>
> > Mary and I resumed painting the inside windows (No not the
> > glass bits!) and got quite a lot done. Since this is enamel
> > paint, we needed to leave the hinged windows open for a while.
>
> You can get oil-based paints which dry faster and don't
> jam the windows when you close them after drying.
Oops. Silly me. You used enamel which implies you were
painting metal windowframes and not wooden ones.
--Peter Metcalfe
Peter Metcalfe
On Sat, 30 Nov 1996, Brian Harmer wrote:
> Mary and I resumed painting the inside windows (No not the
> glass bits!) and got quite a lot done. Since this is enamel
> paint, we needed to leave the hinged windows open for a while.
You can get oil-based paints which dry faster and don't
jam the windows when you close them after drying.
--Peter Metcalfe
Charles Eggen
On Sat, 30 Nov 1996 19:40:32 GMT, bha...@matai.vuw.ac.nz (Brian
Harmer) wrote:
>ASSAULT WITH A FRIENDLY WEAPON?
>-------------------------------
>
>An American tourist aged about 30, entered a restaurant in New
>Plymouth and was surprised when 30 female police officers who
>were partying there to farewell a colleague insisted that he
>remove his clothes. It seems the officers were convinced that
>he was the stripper they had arranged, and would not be
>persuaded that he was not. He eventually fled, naked, to warn
>his brother who was outside of the dangers within. Media
>sources do not record which way the two tourists ran next.
>
>Friday, 29 November
Now, I have visited New Plymouth and thought I had a wonderful time,
but obviously I didn't get to the right places. Next time I will spend
less time in the parks and more cruising the restaurants. Another
example of the Ugly American not accommodating the local customs.
Chuck
Marion Boulden
Brian Harmer wrote:
>
> On Sun, 01 Dec 1996 05:08:23 -0800, Marion Boulden
> <bou...@premier.net> wrote:
>
> >Brian Harmer wrote:
> >> professionally painted
> >
> >Brian,
> >
> >I don't suppose you'd put your painters in contact with a friend I'll be
> >visiting up in Kaikohe in two weeks?
> ...
>
> Well, I guess he would be interested.... but the daily travelling
> costs ... lets say public service rates, approximately 60c/km (mumble)
> daily round trip 1,832 km ....mumble ... paint, say sixty litres -
> $1,000, ...labour... say $4,500 for average house... hmmm... three
> weeks ... lets say $25,000 ... extra if scaffolding... Hey... where'd
> you go?
>
> Brian M Harmer
Cost is no object... the bill will be his, not mine ;-)
Marion
Lyndon Watson
In article <32a18ca7...@news.comp.vuw.ac.nz>, bha...@matai.vuw.ac.nz
(Brian Harmer) writes:
> A week or two ago, someone wrote and suggested that I put some
> pictures on the Web of the view from the front lawn of our
> house, which I have so often described. That's a good idea, I
> thought, but first take the pictures. I have, so now I have
> put up four pictures at
> http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~bharmer/mypics.htm
> The pictures can be printed and put side by side to give a
> panorama from Kelson in the North round to the Eastern Hills
> and Lower Hutt City, and across Petone to Eastbourne and
> beyond to the harbour mouth.
Thanks, Brian. Those familiar views arethreatening me with nostalgia
formy time as a resident of Belmont and Maungaraki.
Just one point - you haven't mentioned Nae Nae! There it is, just
visible at the left-hand end of the second (Eastward) shot, and you
don't even mention it. You can't conceive of Lower Hutt without Nae
Nae. Or should it be "Naenae"?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lyndon Watson L.Wa...@csc.canterbury.ac.nz
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Harmer
On Sun, 01 Dec 1996 18:58:06 GMT, c...@efn.org (Charles Eggen) wrote:
>On Sat, 30 Nov 1996 19:40:32 GMT, bha...@matai.vuw.ac.nz (Brian
>Harmer) wrote:
>>ASSAULT WITH A FRIENDLY WEAPON?
>>-------------------------------
(story about policewomen and tourist stripped - omitted)
>>Friday, 29 November
>
>Now, I have visited New Plymouth and thought I had a wonderful time,
>but obviously I didn't get to the right places. Next time I will spend
>less time in the parks and more cruising the restaurants. Another
>example of the Ugly American not accommodating the local customs.
Despite reading this story in both Wellington Dailies, I think this whole
thing has a sort of "alt.folklore.urban" feel to it.
I enjoyed the idea though.
Brian M. Harmer
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~bharmer/
David McLoughlin
Brian Harmer wrote:
> paint, say sixty litres -
> $1,000, ...labour... say $4,500 for average house... hmmm... three
> weeks ...
You have someone who'll paint your house for $4500 labour? What a
treasure. We've been painting our house board by board for a decade, like
the harbour bridge, in an attempt not to go bankrupt hiring tradespeople.
David & Margot McLoughlin
Auckland
Brian Harmer
>You have someone who'll paint your house for $4500 labour? What a
>treasure. We've been painting our house board by board for a decade, like
>the harbour bridge, in an attempt not to go bankrupt hiring tradespeople.
>
>David & Margot McLoughlin
>Auckland
^^^^^^^^
I think I see the problem :-)