UP AND DOWN

 

Last night I went to bed feeling quite 'off'.  I tossed and turned all night long.

A couple of reasons... not being mentioned on here or elsewhere.  AND my tummy reacted to the upset, so I'm actually not feeling very well right now.

When/if I feel better later on, I will come back and have an update on today's plans.  Which might not be much.

OMG... I just remembered something!

I bought a pottery item from Tony Sly in Raglan a couple of weeks ago, and vowed to NOT unwrap it until I hit my 'magic number'!  And I hit that number last Monday, but the pottery is still sitting in my wardrobe, unwrapped.

I shall unwrap it when I get up.  *yaaa*  There WILL be a photo on the blog today.  😂😊

ONWARD...

9.15 am.   I still have a tummy ache/headache.  Not a fun way to start the day but at least I'm not worse.

I finally got the 'thing' out of the wardrobe...

ABOVE: An utterly gorgeous shallow bowl in one of my favourite colours.  Tony Sly doesn't do this colour very often, so I just had to get another piece.

ABOVE:  I knew it would look perfect on this trolly, with my runner under it, which has that colour in it.   I will be using it for food when we have Christmas Dinners etc.  Otherwise it will just sit there and look beautiful.

Do you like it?  

p.s.  this was my 'reward' for getting to my FIRST GOAL.  The ultimate goal is another 9 kilos away.  Then I just have to learn to maintain it.

I had a bright idea, to go for a walk.  It was a bit HOT

ABOVE:  By the time we got home I was dripping in sweat.  Time for a shower.

ABOVE:  We went in a different direction along the river today.   Heading north ... it was nice to see different areas along the river.

ABOVE: This weekend there has been some sort of speed boat event on the river, so we've been hearing them race up and down all weekend.  Doesn't bother us in the least.

Right, I'm off to get less sweaty...
.

After my shower I made our lunch, then our granddaughter Emily came over.  I met her at the top of 'the hill' as she had jumped on a bus.

We spent a delightful couple of hours with her.

I had found a really neat denim jacket for her in our Recycle Room here in the village:

ABOVE: she absolutely LOVED it!  I also had a couple of other tops for her too. 

Then I had a bright idea, I'd take her down to the Recycle Room so she could have a look for herself.

ABOVE: That was a brilliant idea, she found about 5 tops, a sweatshirt and some cool boots that she literally drooled all over!

ABOVE: Me and Emily.  And I was in about my third change of clothes for the day!  I started out in winter clothes, then into walking clothes, then back into tights and a jumper, and now?  It's so hot I'm in a summer dress.  This weather is a pain in the arse.

Stew has now taken Emily home, and will stop into the pub for an hour or so. I'll walk up a bit later on and bring him and the vehicle home again.

I do believe that will be my third time going up 'the hill' today!  The neighbours will be wondering what the hell I'm doing.  😂😊

8.30 pm.  I didn't need to pick Stew up after all.  He only stayed at the pub for a couple of beers, then came home.  

Since then we have just had a nice, restful few hours in front of the telly.

I'm feeling really knackered for some reason,so an early night will be on the cards.

Catch ya tomorrow.

FREE WEEKEND

 

Well ... we don't have a market on this weekend (or next), so it will be a nice quiet day.

Stew will do 'his' grocery shop, which means Diet Coke and food for his lunches during the week.

He mentioned us going to Mitre 10 to find mini cucumber plants, as they are really yum. We forgot to get some last weekend.

Hopefully we can find some, they are very popular.

After lunch we plan on visiting Bex and the kids, Stew misses out on seeing them during the week.  Steve won't be home as he's enjoying a day playing cards with his mates.  Boy time out and all that.

In between all that I will probably do some sewing.  Slowly plodding away at all those placemats I have lined up.

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  Yaaa, they had those cute little cucumber plants.  And 3 for $27, not bad.  We had to buy another pot for them, and they will go right where they are now.  

In an hour or so we are going to The Lookout for a nice lunch.  

I'm in a summery dress today, and ... it's still cold, wet and miserable.  But I don't care.  Summer IS coming.

And then... I got too cold. So back into long tights and a sweatshirt.  Sad. It really is a miserable wet day. I feel sorry for anyone who has a market on today.  AND its Voting Day as well, Stew cast his vote at the local school this morning.   

Killing time till our lunch arrives now....

5.45 pm.  Lunch was OK, but not fabulous.  We both chose a burger and well, there was nothing wrong with them, but we both agreed ... the only place that makes fantastic burgers is Burger Fuel.

Once lunch was over we visited the kids for an hour or so.  That was nice.

Then home.  I decided to have a nap.  I lay and listened to jet boats on the river, and masses and masses of thunder and lightening.

It is still thundering right now... it just keeps on going!

ABOVE:  I did get some placemats finished. The Farm Tractors are very cute.

I'm going to make myself an Opti Shake Dessert for my 'dinner' now.  Stew can throw something in the air fryer for his dinner.

10.41 pm, and it's been a trying evening, one way or another.

We tried watching the election results, but it was just annoying.  They were 'calling it' too damn quick, so we turned off the TV.

We will possibly find out tomorrow, or it might drag on for day. MMP sucks, it puts the 'power' into the hands of small idiotic parties.

Does my head in.

Right, time to sign off, catch ya tomorrow.

GET F'D KIWIBANK

 

A month ago I got an email from 'Kiwibank'.  In it they said they had noticed frequent 3rd party deposits and MULTIPLE CASH DEPOSITS AT ATM'S.

And they demanded I provide documentation to show where the money was coming from?  And proof of my address bla bla bla.

I thought it was a scam, I really did.

Why?  Because I have only had A FEW deposits into that account from people buying my patchwork, and as for me putting cash into ATM's?  NEVER HAVE I EVER PUT CASH INTO AN ATM machine.  Like, NEVER.

So of course I thought it was a scam, someone trying to get my information to rip me off.

UNTIL YESTERDAY, when I got another email, saying because I had not provided the requested documentation, they were closing my account, and I needed to get my money out of the account before they closed it!  

I was like... OK, I need to go into the bank to sort this out.  STILL thinking it was a scam of some sort.

BUT NO!  It was real.  And when I asked them to show me PROOF of 'numerous 3rd party deposits', and MULTIPLE unexplained cash deposits into ATM's... they said they didn't have to show me!

So I was like, fine you arseholes, give my all my money (there wasn't a lot in there thankfully), and I closed the accounts myself.

I had been with Kiwibank for over 25 years, and they can now get fucked.

I was/am furious.   I am sure they can see I did not make ANY cash deposits into those accounts.  And nor were there any such deposits on my statements.

Stew reckons they just wanted to close my accounts because they were not making much money out of me.  

Whatever.  It's over.  I am now back to being a one bank person, not two.

And there ends my rant.

When I started WEGOVY, I also bought some Opti Fast chocolate shakes to help speed things up a bit.  But I hate them, they have this hideous taste, and even putting fruit in and blending it all together, it was still hideous.

Then someone told me about the Opti Fast Lemon dessert.

So yesterday I bought some...

ABOVE: I whizzed it up in my blender and put it in the fridge for 5 minutes, as per the instructions.

Then I tried it, fully expecting it to still have that nasty Opti Shake taste.

BUT NO... it was perfectly palatable.  Nice even.  Such a relief, as it gives me a very low calorie option when I feel peckish in the evening.

They cost $5.37 per serve, so you can't quibble about that.

Today I will be going to Pak n Save for what I didn't get yesterday.  Then coming home and going to the craft room to do some sewing with the girls.  As long as it's not raining, I'm not trudging down to the craft room in the rain.  I'd rather stay home.

ONWARD... 

JANICE:  The first person I spoke to was a woman.  When I asked her to answer my questions about why the bank was going to just up and close MY ACCOUNT... she said in a very arrogant and loud way "WE DON'T HAVE TO TELL OR SHOW YOU ANYTHING"!  I was gobsmacked.  I pointed out that surely they could see via my bank statements that NOTHING had been put into my account via an ATM or even over the counter...  after telling me I had done so... but NO.  WE ARE CLOSING YOUR ACCOUNT.

So I went over to the teller and took my money out and the young man who served me there was extremely nice.

NO I was not rude or aggressive to anyone... as if!  I was fully aware it was not the staff's fault.

But when I left the bank... I did give 'the bank' the finger.  I couldn't help myself.  

Shoot me now.

It is now 10.30 and I've done the grocery shopping, and put it all away.  It is certainly cheaper at Pak n Save, I really should go there instead of New World. 😖 

While it is not raining right now, I have opted not to go down to the craft room.  Just my luck it will piss down later on and I'll get caught in it.

Best to just stay home.  

12 midday.

And I just had a phone call from the Manager of the KIWIBANK Investigative Team down in Wellington.  He had received my email this morning.

He starts by saying "MRS HARVEY, WE ARE SO SORRY"... then continues with...  The Bank has made a MONUMENTAL ERROR, and the person who sent you the first email asking for all the 'documentation, proof of transactions, bla bla bla made a mistake and sent it to YOU, instead of the intended recipient!

I was never supposed to get that email!!!

I was never supposed to have my account closed.

And the woman who dealt with me and my enquiries yesterday also made a mistake, by telling me I had no right to see or be told WHY this was happening.  Or even trying to check out what I was saying was TRUE.

So there ya go.  I told the man I would like a follow up email detailing what had happened, and the apology in writing.

Cos I like this sort of shit in writing.

I nearly cried actually, I was so relieved that it wasn't my fault, I had done nothing wrong at all.

Which I knew, but I was made to feel so 'bad' when I left the bank yesterday.

SAGA IS OVER.  And I'm still not going to re-join Kiwibank.  

Audrey:  I was not calling an unfamiliar phone number to possibly get a scammer on the other end!  A resident here in my village did that recently and got scammed out of her life savings!  Luckily for her, the idiot then went on to pay a personal bill with HER money and subsequently got caught.  But back to me... I do not click on any links or ring unfamiliar numbers.  When I think it looks like a scam I hit 'DELETE' immediately.

In hindsight, I should have gone into the bank in person to check it out.  Like I did yesterday... and see how that went?

Just in...  

Hello Christina,

 

Thank you for your time today.

 

I am writing on behalf of our AML & Sanctions Team to sincerely apologise for the way your account review and subsequent closure were handled.

 

We have identified that an error was made in our assessment, and transactions were attributed to your accounts that did not occur on them. We recognise that the information we requested was not intended for you, and this may have affected your decision to continue your banking relationship.

 

I appreciate how serious and distressing this situation has been, particularly given the nature of the concerns raised. You should not have been placed in a position where you felt that your account activity was being questioned.

 

I am also very sorry to hear about your experience when you approached the branch for an explanation. Regardless of the circumstances, you should have been treated with courtesy, respect and empathy when raising your concerns.

 

We take responsibility for our error and for the impact it had on your experience with Kiwibank. We are reviewing what occurred so that we can understand how the incorrect information was associated with your accounts and strengthen our processes to reduce the risk of this happening again.

 

I appreciate that an apology cannot undo what happened or the frustration and distress this caused. However, I want to acknowledge clearly that we got this wrong, and I am genuinely sorry for the impact on you.

 

Please feel free to contact me directly either by reply email, or you may call my cell phone below.

And that's the end of it.  I shall email Whetu back on Monday, thanking him for his email and clarifying, in writing, that I did nothing wrong.

It is now 5 pm and I have been sewing for a bit this afternoon.  Not too much as my left shoulder/arm is rather sore today.  Well it is most days now.

When I next see the Dr I shall bring it up again and see what can be done, if anything.  Except injections!  lol

8 pm.  It's been a bit of a day eh?  A bit of an ongoing sage re: The Bank.  But it is 100% done and dusted now.

I went for a late afternoon walk in the rain, it was lovely.

We have had a thunderstorm this afternoon, but not torrential rain like last night.

Just enough to water the gardens good and proper.

Time to sign off for the day, I'm looking forward to a reasonably early night.

Catch ya tomorrow.

ONE THING AFTER THE OTHER

 

I have a little list of things to get done today.

First up is my walk.

Then I am going to The Base for a few things, and Pak n Save for some groceries.

After that I will be going to our local Sports Club to VOTE.  Might as well get it done and over with before Saturday, when the hordes will be voting.

Once all that is done I'll come home and continue working on these:

ABOVE:  I started 9 kitten placemats yesterday, so today I will sew the backing fabric on and they will be done.

Then I'll move on to another lot.  

I wonder how long it will take me to get all 59 new placemats made???

And yes, it is Guy Fawkes Day, and we will be doing.... NOTHING.  I have no intention of wasting money, or adding to the chaos/noise and terror for animals by getting fireworks.  Hopefully no damage is done to homes/vegetation or animals.

I'm pretty sure that is all I have on today.   Catch ya later.

ONWARD...

ABOVE:  I was looking at my zoo photos last night and noticed .... a sparrow flying over the giraffe.  I thought it was awesome.

Slight change of plans... one of my dear new friends here has talked me into attending Coffee & Chat this morning.  Something I was phasing out of my weekly go to's.  So everything is pushed back a bit... but will still happen.

Let's hope it's not a pain in the arse (and ears) again.  

So Coffee & Chat was OK today.  No jabber jaws, and mostly pleasant company. There was a birthday morning tea 'shout', and I had  NONE of it.  I did bring home a couple of pieces of slice for Stew, he likes to be included.  lol

Lots of TICKS ... I got all my jobs done, except going to Pak n Save.  That can wait till tomorrow.

I felt rather shaky and needed food, so I'm home now and cooking my lunch.   At 1 pm, so not too late in the day.

This morning I was wearing 3/4 tights and a lightweight jumper... but when I was ready to go out... it was getting warm. So I changed into this:

ABOVE:  This gorgeous linen dress.  I am thinking it's the start of 'summer dresses' time.  I just have to get my summer slip on jandals out now.

4.25 pm:  I really should look in the mirror before leaving the house!  I just realised I went out and about wearing two entirely different earrings! What a twat.

And no one at C & C said a thing!  Nice people.  

Though a heads up would have been good I think.  lol

7.40 pm and we have just arrived home from the pub.  

When we were about to set off on foot for the pub, it started to rain.  So we went in my car.  Thank goodness we did that!

Because by the time we got up to the pub is was ABSOLUTELY PISSING DOWN!  Torrential rain, some thunder too.

I think it rained more in the next hour than it has rained in months!

When I left the pub to visit the kids, the rain was so heavy I could hardly see to drive, and the roads were flooded.

ABOVE: This was near Steve 'n' Bex's home... the water was up on the footpaths, and there were whirlpools as the water tried to get down the drains.

Luckily, it settled down after an hour or so, and the water drained away eventually.

At least I didn't have to water the gardens today.  😊

We are now going to enjoy the remainder of the evening just blobbing out watching the telly.

Catch ya tomorrow.

FOR THE VERY LAST TIME

 

When I went to Weight Watchers last night we all found out, at the end of the meeting, that our lovely coach, Andrea, is LEAVING permanently.

My immediate thought was... well so am I.

The meeting will (after next week) be run by Andrea's 'replacement'.  And I don't enjoy that person's meetings, having gone to one a while ago.  

I see no reason to attend a meeting run by someone I don't 'jel' with, or enjoy listening to.

Andrea has been the only WW coach I have enjoyed since leaving Palmerston North.

So, it is a very easy decision to just up and leave Weight Watchers.  I was only going for the enjoyment I got out of the meetings.  

I am doing very well ON MY OWN.... and will continue to do very well I am sure.

Also, Andrea is a 'friend' of mine on FB Messenger, so I can still keep in touch with her via that.

I will be sad not to see the ladies who I have gotten friendly with at the meeting, but hey... none of them became 'friends' outside of the meeting, so ... yeah.

Moving on... this morning I am being picked up by Bex and Lily, and we are going to the Zoo!

That will be such fun... I like the zoo and have not been for bloody ages.

I need to pack something for my lunch (in case we are there that long).  Probably just crackers/cheese and chutney.  Better than nothing.  

In other news, our garage window is ready to be picked up.  Steve will sort that out, and then work on scheduling the installation between himself (the builder) and a bricklayer.   Just a little bit exciting. 

And on that happy note... I'm out of here... 

ONWARD... 

1.15 pm.

ZOO TRIP:

ABOVE:  We three girls had a wonderful time at the zoo.  Saw enough animals to make it interesting.  Lily was like a little dynamo... go  go  go!  And talk about a little poser!  So cute.

She was certainly very interested in some aspects of the zoo... like the rhino poo!  😂😅

We spent almost two hours there, and by the time we left it was starting to get very hot, so going in the morning was a good idea.

Lacy had just finished cutting out 69 placemat battings when we arrived home.

ABOVE: And there we have another 'family poser'... aka the photo bomber.  She knows just where to stand.  😊

Lacy had already done the Hakarimata Summit Track before doing my batting!  So she was ready to go home and have a rest.

And now... it's time for me to take a break.  I might get into Crabby Quarters a bit later on.  We'll see.

Oh shit, clearly I've forgotten to update since lunchtime!

Well... I did some sewing.  I watched TV.  I did a jig saw on my laptop.  I might have yakked with Stew for a while.  And that's about it.

Time to sign off for the day, I'm watching Coronation Street right now, then heading off to bed.