Victims receive only 3% of reparations

From NZ herald
Victims of crime are getting less than 3 per cent of reparation payments owed to them and the system needed an overhaul, National law and order spokesman Simon Power says.

Mr Power obtained court figures that showed 97 per cent or $57 million of reparation owed to victims had not been paid in the 2004-05 financial year.

In 2003-04, 97 per cent or $51m was unpaid, in 2002-03 it was 98 per cent or $47m and in 2001-02, it was also 98 per cent or $43 million.

Mr Power said the figures were a scandal and victims of crime were being violated twice by not getting their reparation.

"They suffer the original crime at the hands of criminals, and then salt is rubbed into their wounds when money owed to them by way of reparation is not paid."

Yeah so a judge orders a the convicted criminal to pay $3000 damages to their assault victim.
But those repayments are never enforced? Why doesn't the court have the authority to take the money directly out of any wages? Or benefit payments? Its pathetic and been going on for years.

I'M OUTRAGED!

John Cleese

I had the pleasure of seeing the final night of his show in New Zealand. Its was lovely. A very intimate show with humour and sadness. A disappointing audience however, there was so much room for audience participation yet no takers. The gentleman sitting next to me actually lent over to his wife about half way through the show and said..." I don't get it." AAAaaarrrgh!
Despite that I was on a high for the rest of the weekend, I had got to see my favourite comedian up close and personal like, and hear anecdotes about his past trip to New Zealand. I'm not sure its a show that could travel the world, it was a bit parochial just like New Zealand really and maybe that's why I loved it so much.
The pictures of his ranch were charming and did you know he names all his cats after cheeses?

Telecom lauches online shopping....and it's shit

I dont like it.

What about this guy!

As police chases ending in deaths are becoming a weekly occurance in this country, I thought that this latest incident was pretty minor, but amazing unlucky.
A man with a broken leg on crutches was in his front garden with his wife when an out of control car came around the corner. It swerved to miss an oncoming car and ended up in their front garden. The wife was able to leap out of harms way, but the man was unable to get out of the way in time and was hit by the car breaking his leg. Again.
Sucks for the weekend bro.

Universal pre-Xmas Car troubles

oh god, I took the car in for a service and a warrent, and LO, behold, the $550 minimum required repairs quote I have in mine hand!
to get a warrent it requires....
Brake Pads,
front suspension bushes replaced
engine mount is worn argh... no wonder there were so many vibrations/
some kind of belt replaced (by the time the mechanic got to this my eyes were watering and there was a rushing in my ears as I saw all the money I had pass before my eyes. but its not the cam belt)
Not to mention it needs a new battery,
Transmission flush,
Power steering fluid,
New Spark plugs,
and blah blah blah
ARGH
just as well I already have a lot of my christmas shopping done.

Damn if only Auckland had a decent (or any kind of) public transport system, I could ditch my car altogether.

Hey I could even walk, I tried that one day. Takes just under an hour. I may well be doing that tomorrow.

Its definately a beer day. Maybe even a 2 beer day.

Service in this country?

Well after a weekend of mediocre at best service, I'm just about ready to never leave the house again, that is if I could rely on the pizza guy to find my house.
It all started with being put on standby for a flight, even when I checked in early and booked my ticket months in advance. No apology, just a vague threat of not being able to get to my destination. Then a restaurant in a popular tourist location not accepting Credit cards and not accepting cash ("oh we're running out of change") luckily eftpos was available.
And then my John Cleese tickets, cancelled and shifted to a later date. And a different venue, and crappier seats, and NO they cant send out new tickets automatically, I have to go in and exchange them Argh, I've already been inconvenienced enough. Sigh. And no apology from the person I chatted to on the phone. Also I paid to have something large and heavy delivered to my house. I was very greatful that the store offered this service as I would not be able to manage on my own. So my item is delivered and there is only one delivery guy and he cant lift it on his own. I end up having to help haul it in, christ I'm 5'1 and a weakling.

Well I'm going to try going to the movies tonight. Hopefully it wont be a complete abortion.

I'm sure that not all those in the industry hate their jobs. Perhaps they are all eventually worn down by dealing with consumers, people who expect to be humoured and pampered every time they leave the house so they don't have to feel bad about buying things they don't need and cant afford.

I didn't start out being the shitty customer. For years I have been polite, and friendly to retail, restaurant and other service industry staff. I think the shift starts when you realise you are paying a company for service and that you don't want to pay for a shitty attitude.

So hey, I'll be taking my business elsewhere, not that it makes much difference in this consume consume consume

Stomach ulcers caused by Helicobacter Pylori.

Stomach Ulcers are dangerous and now theres a cure. That is if your ulcer is being caused by Helicobacter Pylori. Long term infection can lead to gastric cancers. However this nasty bacterium can be rid of with a treatment of antibiotics and stomach acid ihibitors. This is often refered to as triple therapy.
However this serious dose of antibiotics and the infection can mean your stomach is left in a rather tender state. A useful therapy following this treatment is Aloe Vera juice with manuka honey. Take morning and evening on a empty stomach, and once things are feeling better move to once a day. Works a treat.

I ran 5km without miracle shoe juice.

Yes, I really did. Duathlon traing is going sweet, I'm fitter than I've ever been. But im still eating burger and pizza and anything else I can get away with. mmmmmm food. Ribs, lollies, popcorn, pizza, burgers and beef jerky steak Bars. Yum! So to reward myself for my most excellent effort I purchased season 1 of Angel on DVD. Seasons 1 and 2 are the best, it got a bit melodramatic after that. Even for Whedon.

New Orcon 2mbps Account

Ah speedy. More downloading power than I care to shake a fist at. So I had to change my email address. Always fun trying to remember the ba-jillion websites that use your email address as a login. And I've installed Thunderbird. Much nicer (prettier) than Eudora.
I shared my joy of this new speed with my colleagues. They wern't impressed. I am now the geek.

Friday, beer, chocolate, beer, chicken, beer, beer.

A rest day from training for the duathlon. This is where I wreck 3 days of hard work by drinking Summer Ale and eating Tim Tams.

Buy me a motorcycle. Honda Magna please. All Silver. thanks

mmmm shiney. oh well, My old wee bike limped into the Garage, passed the warrent inspection and limped home again. It only died once at the lights and lurched its way up the hills. Protesting no doubt at being left to gather dust all winter. So summer is here and once again I give all motorists the chance to kill me before Winter rolls around. Remember broken bones and crippling bone infections dont count. To make things interesting I'll continue to wear a black helmet and jacket, however I will still have my headlight on.

Glum Cyclist, Danger to all!

As if Mexican Day at the cafeteria wasn't bad enough. (yes why these balloons and crepe paper are very mexican I am in the spirit already!) But my coworker has accused me of being glum. While the nachos did look festive I apparently have been drowning in the salsa of life.
Sure, occasionally I've thought myself boring and introverted. But Im quite happy.
Perhaps I need a Badge. With a smiley face on it.

Advanced Serenity Screening

On Sunday I managed to catch an advanced screening of Serenity.Its a continuation of the doomed TV series FireFly. What's it about? Well think cowboys/space smugglers/thieves/humanitarians vs Evil galactic government conspiracy. The crew of the firefly class ship "serenity" are harboring wanted fugitives. Sexy Simon and his sister River are on the run from the Alliance. River was something of a child protege and was kidnapped by the Alliance. Evil experiments ensue, river comes close to loosing her mind and Simon daringly rescues her, but now they are on the run and the Alliance is desperate to get River back, but is it because of what she is or what she knows?
Anyway fantastic movie, Hopefully it will renew interest in the TV series,

http://forums.prospero.com/foxfirefly/start

Mmmmmm deep fried health

So in an effort to make the Cafeteria a healthier place to eat all sweets, chocolate and sugary soft drinks have been removed. Doesn't stop them from serving deep fried fish and chips every Friday or sweet and sour pork on Thursday.... OR pork spare RIBS!!!! mmmm love those ribs.
So now the hospital staff will be free of diabetes but long live the coronary.