Category: signs of the times

They shoulda stayed home

I’m just back from New Zealand’s big health IT conference.

The conference took place against the backdrop of big layoffs announced by the data and digital section of the national health organization Health NZ… the place I worked until the previous round of cuts a few months ago. Since this is mostly a nationalized health system, those layoffs affected this conference as follows:

** You and/or your team are on the chopping block, or

** Your main customer is on the chopping block.

The cost cuts are not confined to data and digital people… one particularly silly little incident made national news a few weeks ago when a proposal to remove Milo (sort of like Ovaltine) from the wards was floated.

The Milo canister in the picture only stayed up at the Health NZ booth for a few hours, but the message was heard by all.

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Election Face, Part 2

When I took this picture a few weeks ago, it was a novelty… how and why is there a Trump sticker on a New Zealand light pole? And blech, of course, because that’s what I think.

But it’s less funny now, isn’t it? As an example: Is it reasonable to fear that my Social Security benefits will get wiped out for posting this picture? Probably not… but it doesn’t feel as unreasonable now as it did then.

And I guess that’s what bothers me the most about the whole thing… here’s someone who knows he can shoot somebody in the face in the middle of Madison Avenue and get away with it. And for whom taking revenge seems to be an important activity of daily living. And who is President — again — with the support of a majority of voters. So if he did want to change the rules for John’s Social Security benefits because John said something he didn’t like… who would stop him? He should’n’a posted that picture, people would mutter as they averted their eyes.

I bet this is a little taste of how Black people, and the children of illegal immigrants, and women, and lots of other people, feel all the time.

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Gimme an O… no, an A

Passing through the Singapore airport recently, let’s say I wanted to eat some wonton noodles. As is my wont. There are plenty of restaurants to choose from.

But I won’t judge anyone for wantin’ the wanton noodles… after all, the heart wants what the heart wants!

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Sydney quick quick

I had a 48-hour trip to Sydney earlier this week, a follow-up to the recent Melbourne jaunt. I stayed in a neighborhood I didn’t really know, although not all that far away from places I’ve been before. I got out for a couple of early morning walks… here’s some pics.

I saw a lot of architectural old-meets-new juxtaposition. I bet an architectural walking tour of Sydney would have really good examples of every style building from the 1880s to now.

The ibises are one of the most obvious reminders that you’re not in, e.g., Chicago.

Dead umbrellas.

This photo only works if you can zoom in to read the small sign on the door.

Street furniture. Someday I’ll look up why cities used these glass blocks, always now turning violet, in their sidewalks. Is it just to let in light to the basement?

This little plaque was part of a series on The Goods Line, which is a very cool space I walked along.

And finally… me helping one of the students in my class. Here’s what I look like in my usual habitat.

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It can’t hurt

It seems unlikely that the all-powerful, all-knowing creator of everything would give you special attention if you built them a shrine on the corner of your house in San Bruno.

But then again, I guess it can’t hurt to ask.

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Not where you’d expect it

We’ve been taught to believe, thanks to our exposure to Hollywood movies, that in order to find platform 9 3/4 you have to bash yourself into a brick post and hope that the magic works for you.

But in the Wellington train station, things are slightly easier. There’s a big sign. You still have to pay attention, because platform 9 3/4 is not where you expect it, but rather tucked somewhere between platforms six and seven. Even so, I find it quite generous of the Wellington Wizarding community to be so helpful.

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O Lord, give me a sign

It’s been a good week for signs. Lee found the top one on a walk. The middle one is good bumper sticker material.

The bottom sign isn’t funny or ironic or anything. But it’s a thing that is true all over Auckland and should be signed more often. It’s been a hard transition from the US where the pedestrian gets the right of way a lot more often. In NZ, pedestrians have priority only in marked crosswalks. Everywhere else, you’re on your own.

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Get a job

I saw this tableau on my way home last night… nobody around it.

I believe it is now widely accepted that telling a homeless person to “get a job” is unhelpful and inappropriate.

Is it more or less hateful to throw down a textbook on multivariate data analysis?

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Metaphysical help 5¢

I’ve done my share of consulting engagements where the deliverables were poorly defined, but this shop seems like it might be operating at a whole different level.

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Communist Propaganda

  • Mostly, Vietnam seemed like other developing countries I’ve been to, which isn’t actually all that many.
      • Things seemed grubby and chaotic, and I didn’t understand how things could work, but they basically did.
      People really want our money, which makes sense because they obviously need more than they have. Still, nobody stole anything or menaced us.
  • But one thing stood out for me, since this was the first real People’s Republic I’ve been to… the propaganda billboards displayed around town. They were caricatures of themselves, as if they’d named their intelligence officers Boris and Natasha.
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    Ngockin aroung Ngunguru

    We are up north this weekend visiting ex-boss Tom at his family farm in Tutukaka. But the hotel there wanted way too much for a room, so we found an Airbnb in Ngunguru, the ngext towng over. Pronungciation has beeng a topic. There’s no hard G, so no gurus in Ngunguru.

    Anyway…

    Ngunguru sits on an estuary. There’s a few hundred houses, a mix of second homes, retirees, and some people who make the commute into Whangarei. Pretty sleepy.

    The next morning we went for a walk around. Despite there being nothing to see, we saw a lot…

    The jandal fence.

    The time capsule.

    A whole series of funny little ant-themed pictures on the sidewalk.

    The blue car that drove off the road.

    A funny sign at the golf course and sports complex clubhouse.

    And more. Would you want to spend your remaining time here? I don’t think I would, but it’s always a nice surprise to find some of the “more than meets the eye” stuff that surely exists everywhere.

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