We’ve found ourselves in an escalating war of pleasantries with our neighbours across the road. I seem to recall they started it by dropping off a plate of homemade fried dumplings, to which we returned fire with some chocolate muffins.

Since then there’ve been weekly transfers of plates across the street laden with savoury and sweet treats, not to mention free lemons from their tree (while our freeloading little bastard stubbornly refuses to fruit).

However in the past month they’ve taken things up a notch with two separate salvos of cheesecake, followed – before we could even retaliate – with this amazing platter of home-made sushi. That’s three of their plates sat waiting for return.

Needless to say we’re not taking that lying down, the pride of Britain is at stake!

The Duchess is out of her sick bed and in the kitchen right now whipping up a lemon cake to return fire, and planning a swift follow-up of scones with cream and jam before they can even clean their plates.

That will teach them!

All I can say is it wasn’t me that warranted this warning…

Today we replaced the faded vinyl tiles in our utility room with some fresh and slightly blingier ones. Although they don’t match up as well as they should they look pretty good.

Last weekend was the big Upper Hutt music festival, featuring

• some Aussie bands (couldn’t tell you who, I didn’t get there in time to see them due to Sunday working and not being arsed)
• a local boy done good (Jon Stevens, who took over INXS singing duties after Michael Hutchence passed away)
• plus a couple of 80’s British bands.

I arrived for 5.30pm and caught the backend of Jon Stevens‘ set – good voice in a traditional shirt-open-to-the-waist club rocker way, and welcomed by the crowd as he grew up in Da Hutt before heading over the Ditch.

Back in the 80’s Tom Bailey was 33% of The Thompson Twins who had a fair few hits and played the US leg of Live Aid (with pre-fame Madonna on backing vocals). He lives in NZ now and occasionally tours with a brilliant all-female band; they really made the songs come alive and entertained the crowd. I particularly loved “You Take Me Up” that took me back to ringing Dial-A-Disc back in Hull.

The headliners were Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark — OMD to most — who had a string of hits from 1979 right up to the 1990s. Andy McClusky had a great line in banter and some vintage Dad dancing moves and both he and Paul Humphrey’s vocals were great, plus their big hits all got the appreciation they deserved. However their longer time slot meant the middle third was padded out with half a dozen deep cuts I didn’t recognise and couldn’t get into, so ducked out to refuel on chips and rose.

However I made sure I stuck it out to the end to catch their masterpiece “Enola Gay” from close to the stage, which had the crowd singing at the tops of our voices (yes me included, since nobody could hear me) to round the show off on a high.

They get the size and organization of the event just right, it’s a quick drive from home and finishes by 9pm – what’s not to love?! Bring on the lineup for 2026 so I can know whether to grab another ticket!

The Duchess with her new favourite toy.

They’ve renamed Upper Hutt to Bogan Town for the week ahead of a music festival this weekend.

Given that the typical bogan has a mullet, listens to heavy metal, wears a black vest, has dodgy tattoos and teeth and drinks the cheapest beer he/she can buy I don’t think I’d fit the demographic (apart from the heavy metal and dodgy teeth) so I’ll give that one a miss.

I’m currently reading a book on a Japanese concept called Ikigai about finding your purpose and leading a long, fulfilled life. You can read an introduction here – https://www.calm.com/blog/ikigai

After a difficult week at work and home I’ve been feeling quite down over the weekend and wondering why I have rarely if ever felt a sense of fulfilment in this – or any previous – job in IT, and whether it’s even a reasonable expectation in the modern office environment. I’d suggest I sit in the “profession” section of the Venn diagram, and once AI fully kicks in I suspect I will get squeezed out of the “What you can get paid for” circle too.

Have I wasted my life going down a career path that suited my skills but that I never really wanted? Is there a multiverse version of me that opted to go into journalism and writing and loves what they do? Or would they have felt just the same about having to file newspaper stories of minor traffic accidents and school fairs?

To try and break me out of my ennui Wor Lass decided we should get out of the house and spend some time together, even if it’s just wandering round the shops, so that’s what we did.

Even though we only visited the local mall it did pick me up a bit, then I stumbled across something that redeemed the whole weekend – Post-It Notes!

I know that’s a really pathetic thing to get excited about, however they are one of my small obsessions. My daily routine involves filling in a large Post-It note as I start work, listing each the tasks I need to complete that day, in order of importance, and that helps me prioritize and stay organized. If I don’t have a Post-It note list made up I feel lost all day.

New Zealand has always been poor at stocking genuine branded Post-Its, typically selling the generic cheapos that don’t stick properly or have completely the wrong shade of yellow (yeah I know!). I’ve spent hours on previous trips to the UK seeking out the right size of Post-It note and stocking up on them when I do. But today I found some – and in UPPER HUTT! – AND they were cheaper than they are in the UK!! Naturally I grabbed a handful, which should last me a year at least. Another little obsession is good quality pens – they must be black ink, have a comfortable grip, and have a satisfying on/off clicker. I treat myself to a pack of those so I’m never without something to write with, and to top it off a new roll of proper Sellotape that doesn’t split or come loose within a few hours like the cheap stuff.

I might not have found my ikigai just yet, but least I can look at my stationery drawer and feel a little spike of happiness.

Well the pergola was nice while it lasted. It’s now been taken over by this monster and we can’t leave the house any more. Please send food parcels.

Can’t believe our little furbaby is 9 already! Thankfully she is still full of energy and (touch wood) healthy, hoping she stays that way for many years to come.

She’s not a fan of getting dressed up though!

At last, some sport on ESPN I could actually participate in – spreadsheets!

Pasting the link for a news page as it has the best video and fun to watch for the theme music alone.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/360564940/hype-and-intensity-microsoft-excel-world-championships