Auckland Speed Limit Reductions – All stick but no carrot

TL;DR: Speeds limits are being reduced across the board. Driving is increasingly stressful as others will object to you following the speed limit. There are implications if you do receive an infringement. Driving is technically a privillege but alternative transport options for getting around Auckland remain disappointingly poor and impractical for many situations.

Noticed that Speed limits on some streets around the CBD have been further reduced. Now Wellington Street in Freemans Bay is down to a mere 30 km/h.

Entrance to Wellington St, Freemans Bay, Auckland (CBD City side)

I can say that no cars whatsoever were doing 30 or even 40 km/h. In fact I had to pull over to allow a car to pass because they were right on my bumper while doing an already rule breaking 40km/h down Wellington Street. Walking back up Wellington street, I had observed basically every car were clearly ignoring the 30 km/h speed limit.

I’ve come to terms it’s only a matter of time that I’m going to end up with my first ever traffic infringement at this rate (basically not a matter of if, but when). Why? Because the agencies (including NZTA and Auckland Transport) by way of their “Vision zero” programme are dropping speed limits across the board and not just around the CBD. They’re also pledging to deploy more enforcement cameras everywhere and dropping enforcement tolerances and it only takes a momentarily lapse in judgement (e.g accelerating a touch too much in order to move safely into traffic or change lanes while looking over my shoulder to check a blind spot) right at an inopportune time and I will be done for.

The issue as well with infringements is that even if it’s only $30 low level speeding fine without demerits from a speed camera, apparently this still goes on your record somewhere for 5 years and apparently in many cases, you are supposed to declare this to insurance and needs to be declared in other areas as well (applying for a fire arms license, etc) so pays to avoid getting them where practical.

While I’ve continue for decades to express a strong desire to see alternative, more environmentally friendly and safer travel options opened up particularly in car dependent areas such as East Tamaki Industrial, the anti-car and climate activists have been exerting an increasing influence on Government policy and various government to make driving purposely more difficult and attempting to strong arm the motoring public out of their cars before we even have available working and viable alternative transport options that are able to realisitically cater to people’s day to day and household transportation needs in this city.

With the likes of Auckland Transport playing hard ball over Bus lane infringements and being inflexible even to those who have an otherwise squeaky clean driving record, the state will lose the goodwill of the public. Day to day life is already stressful for families as it is and the state to start ramping up the enforcement, widening the net, and pinging people over an increasing array of infractions while being out to disrupt people’s livelihoods is only going to accelerate the erosion of public goodwill and respect particularly if we continue to find excuses not to run the trains.

While I see we are building seperated cycle ways slowly (which admittedly, I’m generally infavour of should they go where people need to go and can be implemented in a cost effective fashion), however until we begin to see viable transport options able to meet Aucklanders’ day to day transportation needs emerge, I will as an individual ratepayer be vigorously and assertively pushing back at attempts by the more ardent climate activists who unrealistically demand we stop driving our cars immediately.

Auckland Speed Limit Reductions – All stick but no carrot

Noble Dental Auckland Patient review – Initial Consultation only

Update 15th March 2024: Since Dropped a note to the Commerce Commission regarding Noble Dental’s marketing,

Personal opinion only as a once-off patient. Self referred to Noble Dental Remuera back in October 2021 for an initial consultation only as part of a wider search for a new dentist after the clinic I used to attend closed down. All Noble Dental personnel appeared to be reasonably friendly and professional throughout the consultation.

While I acknowledge my dental health certainly isn’t in the best state it could be, came away feeling they made it out to be in a pretty bad way overall along with them verbally suggesting that any treatment they undertake for me would be “a gamble”. Other dental clinics I attended (as part of a search for a new dentist to frequent) did make mention of gum issues, but framed it more as a cautionary observation in which to keep watch on as opposed to warranting utmost alarm. In fact, I believe Noble Dental provided the most dire prognosis out of the Dental Clinics I had consulted.

I acknowledge Noble dental are seemingly regarded highly as specialists in this area and they are perhaps more particular in any assessment they make. Though will admit was at least a little taken back by overhearing behind the partition that 5 teeth (despite being free of decay and tested as “vital” apart from one root canaled one) have poor prognoses and would likely end up needing extraction. This appeared contrary to the impression I got when I originally read Noble Dental’s website where they state “We use minimally invasive, advanced technology in gum treatments to save teeth even in advanced cases of gum disease.”

Asked for a copy of the clinical notes during the consultation to be sent to me directly (as I had self referred) to which Noble agreed to do, though did have to chase them up a number of times. These were eventually supplied to me after a month with to their credit a profuse apology for their delay.

As a side note, two other reviews coincidentally or otherwise were originally found linked to an individual offering “Public relations for local dentists” and who I firmly maintain feel should have made disclosures of this potential conflict of interest upfront in his reviews. Upon accepting the PR person’s offer to let me sight his invoices to support his claim that his dealings with Noble were genuinely and strictly 100% patient/dentist, the individual back pedals with a curious story declining to do so along with his reviews disappearing.

Paid $490 for the initial consultation and Full Mouth X-ray which appears to be inline with what other periodontists in Auckland charge. Quoted around $7,000 for treatment which includes quadrant cleaning and perioscopy which I have decided not to go ahead with.

Have since settled into using another dental practice for regular routine treatment and ongoing monitoring of periodontal condition. That said, I wish to stress that this review is my personal opinion for the initial consultation only and does not in any way reflect or refer to the quality of Noble Dental’s treatments nor is this intended to throw shade on Noble or their expertise.

In an apparent attempt to explain the link of some of their reviews to a Public Relations entity, Noble Dental (or may be their PR agent?) has replied with…

 

 

Noble Dental Auckland Patient review – Initial Consultation only

Auckland Light Rail – My own thoughts

Dropped in to the Auckland Light Rail marquee at the Balmoral Flea Market to try and get a better understanding as to what this project is all about. The current focus they have advised is that the project most certainly is going a head and we are now choosing between “Light Metro” and “Modern (street level) trams”.

Promotional brochures can be found here.

Overall, they’re a friendly and approachable bunch manning the stand and were found to be willing to at least provide their take on any questions and concerns I had about the project.

They were at pains to note that this project is not about trams alone, but a transport and urban building project initiative combined where development will be intensified along the Tram routes. Continue reading “Auckland Light Rail – My own thoughts”

Auckland Light Rail – My own thoughts

ProductReview.com.au Australia

This blog post originally documented in detail some personal concerns I had regarding the validity of ProductReview.com.au’s claims, in particular it’s claim of “independence” made via their trust centre if they also happen to supply paid services to the businesses being reviewed on their site.

The matter originated from coming across what I feel were some fairly sizeable anomalies in terms of a significant surge of suspect 5 star reviews (that were too large to simply casually ignore) on a listing during what was intended to be a casual visit to the site.

Will look to refer this to the ACCC and NSW Fair Trading in due course purely to get their opinion on the arrangement. Right now with the COVID-19 situation worsening globally together with the fact this matter is in another country and really does not affect me personally in any direct way, have decided to put any such follow up on ice.

 

 

 

ProductReview.com.au Australia

Drowning does NOT look like drowning

An interactive website I found that provides information on recognising signs of drowning in a child along with the opportunity to practice recognising these signs.

URL: http://spotthedrowningchild.com/

The key take away here is that… Drowning does NOT look like drowning

Quoted from the site… “Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.”

Recognise Drowning in a pool

The Youtube videos utilized on the site are from the Lifeguard Rescue (Channel)

Drowning does NOT look like drowning

Lawrence Vic Pty Ltd – Trading as SIXT Car Rental Vic and SA

Update 9th January 2022: Lawrence Vic Pty Ltd used to be trading as a Thrifty Car and Truck Rental independent franchise up until late 2021. They have since rebranded to be SIXT Car rental Vic & SA.

It is sincerely hoped under their new banner as SIXT Australia – Vic & SA that Lawrence Vic Pty Ltd will use this opportunity of a clean slate to continue to improve their business practices and move on from some of their former practices observed and experienced as a past customer of theirs.

Known SIXT Locations in Victoria, Australia which are operated by Lawrence Vic Pty Ltd

  • SIXT – Avalon Airport, VIC
  • SIXT – Bayswater, VIC
  • SIXT – Blackburn, VIC
  • SIXT – Clayton, VIC
  • SIXT – Coburg, VIC
  • SIXT – Campbellfield, VIC
  • SIXT – Dandenong, VIC
  • SIXT – Footscray, VIC
  • SIXT – Frankston, VIC
  • SIXT – Geelong, VIC
  • SIXT – Hoppers Crossing, VIC
  • SIXT – Moorabbin, VIC
  • SIXT – Pakenham, VIC
  • SIXT – Preston, VIC
  • SIXT – Richmond, VIC
  • SIXT – Tullamarine, VIC (Not the Airport one)

Lawrence Vic Pty Ltd also operate…

  • SIXT – Mount Gambier Airport, SA (South Australia)
  • SIXT – Repairhub (Derrimut, VIC)
  • Direct Vehicle Warehouse (formerly Thrifty Vehicle Sales)(Dandenong, VIC)

SIXT Car and Truck rental locations in Victoria not operated by Lawrence Vic Pty Ltd…

  • SIXT – Melbourne City (operated by Kingmill Pty Ltd – Master Franchise / NRMA Motoring and Services)
  • SIXT – Melbourne Airport (operated by Kingmill Pty Ltd – Master Franchise / NRMA Motoring and Services)
  • SIXT – South Yarra (operated by Christer Aust Pty Ltd)
  • SIXT – South Melbourne (operated by Christer Aust Pty Ltd)
  • SIXT – Brighton (operated by Christer Aust Pty Ltd)

The information has been compiled from what I know as a past customer to NRMA Motoring and Services car hire division (Originally trading as Thrifty, now trading as SIXT) and will likely be incomplete. I’m not employed in anyway within the car hire industry. The information was originally compiled upon request from other fellow Thrifty Car rental customers (back in 2018) enquiring as to which Thrifty car rental branches were operated by Lawrence Vic Pty Ltd and which of those that were not.

Lawrence Vic Pty Ltd – Trading as SIXT Car Rental Vic and SA

Huawei P30 Pro Camera – Hybrid zoom

Update 13 October 2019 – So took the Huawei P30 Pro and compared it to the Panasonic TZ110 and another quick test…

At x5 zoom…
Native zoom for the P30 Pro’s x5 Camera. To my untrained eye, it is fairly similar enough in detail. The TZ110 may be a touch more natural in detail and colour reproduction.

Continue reading “Huawei P30 Pro Camera – Hybrid zoom”

Huawei P30 Pro Camera – Hybrid zoom

Ranger says No

Relatively short Multiday Trip to Tama Lakes, Waihohonu Hut and Oturere hut and back out to Desert Road. Was going to go around to Mangetepopo Hut and complete the Northern Circuit though an updated 11:00 a.m. Weather report upon reaching Oturere Hut, the Ranger advised us not to proceed due to dangerously high wind gusts.

Click photo below to access the gallery…

Mount Ruapehu

Hut Rangers, Doug and Horse, who we met on the trail, were fantastic.

A dip in the Springs near Waihohonu Hut provided some much needed refresh and temporarily removed the pain of my Left foot.

Ranger says No

Keeping in contact with friends and Family at home and abroad

The often used line for people who sometimes quite vigorously defend (their use of) Facebook is that “It helps me keep in contact with Friends and Family far away (or overseas)!”

Here’s the kicker, People I firmly feel were already freely doing that across the Wider general Internet way before the likes of MySpace and Facebook ever came on the scene.

Many people had their own Personal Homepages (at their ISP, colleges or elsewhere) or Personal Blogs and people would find each other by way of any number of search engines of the time, go to their page and flick them an email or sign their ‘guestbook’. (I know I have reconnected with many people I’ve lost contact with this way.),

RSS and ATOM standards were common place where people could subscribe to each other’s blogs or web pages, using any number of RSS readers and be able to keep abreast with articles from multiple sources, be it from their friends’ blogs, News media publication, or elsewhere in one place, (very much, I feel, in the same way how Facebook’s “newsfeed” operates today, but with far more granular control over what you wish to see than the Facebook newsfeed of today ever offered).

Another often used excuse for relying on facebook is “How can I share my photos with my family and friends overseas?”, Facebook is hardly the only medium or tool to do this. Again, your own blog could fill the same role with NUI.NZ as being my living example.

It’s worth remembering that Facebook as a communication medium is entirely controlled by a single corporation whose natural overarching focus is to maximize profits for their shareholders and is not an inter-operable communication protocol with several (typically competing) providers like how Email is structured.

If some people are serious about reducing their reliance on Facebook, are concerned as I am about the increasingly centralization of power to a few for-profit run silos, and are in favour of supporting open inter-operable web standards, I would kindly suggest that a regular Blog could fill that role as the first stepping stone.

Setting up your own personal blog I strongly feel needn’t be solely the domain of I.T. geeks. There are now blogging services which make it easy to get started as it is signing up for a Facebook Account.

There are several different blogging platforms, including B2Evoluation, WordPress, and many others. WordPress as a blogging platform seems fairly okay in my opinion… if you want a quick start, then suggest as an initial starting point signing up for a free account at wordpress.com at least as a stepping stone to get you on your way (it is very easy to sign up, as easy as it is to sign up for Facebook or any other social network).

Once you outgrow WordPress.com and/or you get sick of the adverts, you can then fairly easily move off on to your own self hosted WordPress blog at any web host of your choice once you’re ready.

What ever blogging platform you eventually get going with (Preferably an open source one that allows you to self-host in the future if not now), you can simply post links on your social media profiles (Faceborg, Google+, etc) back to your blog / homepage and have your blog / homepage as your main (web identity) hub and point of presence on the Internet in which to syndicate / share your content from. Much like what I do with on my own Faceborg Profile.

Keeping in contact with friends and Family at home and abroad