When the Chinese warships were doing live fire drills not far away recently Deb reminded me no-one needs to invade Aotearoa if they want to take us over — they could just cut our cables. Now this:
A new Chinese tool capable of cutting the most fortified undersea data cable …
Via: The new threat to the undersea cables keeping our internet going | RNZ News.
Another good read in a series I enjoy. Straw in the Wind (The DI Callum MacLean mysteries Book 2) by Carol Cole. 📚
I had my suspicions about one character but things weren't as they seemed. A nice surprise.
Based on the sample, I bought The Complete Rain Morgan Mysteries Books 1–5 by Lesley Grant-Adamson. 📚
Book One was OK. Book Two was really boring and annoying. I dipped into Books 3 and 4 and found them unlikeable, so I didn't even try Book 5.
Today Deb and I went to the gym at Paraparaumu instead of Levin. They have HOIST Fitness CPL ROC-IT Selectorized machines which are really cool and easy to use. I liked them better than the machines at Levin.
Just like last Sunday afternoon at Levin, there were very few people using the gym.
Unexpected Chaffinch and Greenfinch
I uploaded these two photos and asked Claude to identify both birds above, like this: identify this bird seen eating flax seeds in Waikawa Beach, Horowhenua, New Zealand. 🐦
I had my suspicions and they were confirmed when Claude replied:
This appears to be a chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), specifically a male chaffinch based on its coloration. The bird has:
- A pinkish-orange/buff breast and face
- A bluish-gray head cap
- A distinctive perched posture on what looks like a dried flax seed pod or similar plant
Chaffinches are common in New Zealand, though they're not native - they were introduced from Europe in the 1860s. They're known to feed on seeds, including flax seeds, which aligns with your observation at Waikawa Beach in the Horowhenua region.
The setting of dried seed heads against the blurred green background is typical of New Zealand coastal and wetland areas where flax plants (harakeke) are common.
And for the second:
This appears to be a greenfinch (Chloris chloris), another introduced species in New Zealand. You can identify it by:
- Its predominantly yellow-green plumage
- Compact, finch-like body structure
- The positioning on the dried flax seed head (harakeke)
Greenfinches were introduced to New Zealand from Europe in the 1860s and have become well-established throughout the country. They particularly favor seeds, including those from flax plants, which explains why you've observed it feeding at Waikawa Beach.
Like the chaffinch in your previous image, this bird is taking advantage of the abundant seed resources provided by native New Zealand flax plants, despite being a non-native species itself. Greenfinches have strong beaks well-adapted for cracking open seeds.
I wasn't entirely sure at first, but by the later part of the book I was gripped. Murder on the Farm (The Malvern Mysteries Book 1) by Kate Wells. 📚
Things definitely didn't turn out as I thought they might.
Cat lovers: this is a very fun 5 minute video. Extreme Cat Hide and Seek with Ralph and Bella | The Kid Should See This. 🐈
Two small shakes in a row to keep us on our toes this morning. Both were shallow and only about 15 Km away. 〜
It's the pheasants that alert us before we even feel the shake. They have a special earthquake squawk.
Every Friday our builder gives us a report on the new house. Now the roof is on, the next payment milestone is watertight, except for the garage. Our builder, Steve, says:
First the guys will wrap, then do soffits, install window joinery, fit cavity battens and have a cavity inspection with Council, install cladding, scribers and flashings. Once this part is complete then the Brickwork will start, half high brick inspection with Council and once passed then the brickwork can be completed.
I don't know exactly what some of that means, but it's good to know. 🏡
Invoice time: Trusses & Roof Stood milestone on our new build achieved. 🏡
This builder's photo shows the north side of the house, where the kitchen and living room areas will be.
Today's sunny start …
Less than 2 hours after emailing BBEdit Support I have a helpful response which has solved my problem:
The OS will generally quarantine files that have been downloaded, but may do so for other reasons; there are various tools for correcting this, but the most straightforward is probably the `xattr` command line tool.
The following Terminal command will remove quarantine from any given file (use the actual File path rather than "/path/to/file"):
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /path/to/file
and once you have done so, this issue should not recur.
Something I very rarely need to do: I contacted BBEdit for support. For years and years I've successfully run all kinds of Applescripts from the Scripts menu within BBEdit to perform all kinds of operations on my texts.
In the last few days though all I get is an error message:
This script file has been quarantined by macOS (application error code: 13312).
Gah!
I hope Support can help me get my scripts running again — I rely on them.
Woke to the unusual but welcome sound of rain on the roof this morning. Real, proper rain. 💦
Our new house now has a roof, as the photos from the builder show. 🏡
Physiotherapist Will Harlow makes excellent videos on strength and mobility for the over-50s so signing up for his special Lifelong Mobility course was a quick decision:
To help people just like you – active, health-conscious individuals over the age of fifty – to regain their strength, mobility and independence...
...then KEEP it that way, no matter your age!
A visualisation requirement led me to abandon a Mandarin course
My efforts with the free Mandarin Blueprint Challenge! ran into problems early on.
For one thing we're engaged in all this stuff around selling our house, which has been pretty distracting.
But the bigger reason is twofold:
- The free course is a very high-pressure sales funnel to the expensive course. Such high pressure is something I do not respond well to.
- The method demands extensive visualisation to help with learning the Chinese characters: create a scene, a person who does something, props they use, an action. These all connect to the Chinese character as an aide memoire.
I'm sure that technique works well for lots of people, but I just can't visualise things: people, places, scenery, things.
You know when you've had a dream and you can sort of remember it in the morning — but not quite? That's what my visualisations are like. Asking me to recall my childhood home, or imagine Sean Connery standing in my kitchen with a stick : nope. "See" a samurai chopping the top off a vegetable with a sword : nope.
So, I've reverted to the Udemy course I signed up for at the same time, and the Learn A Chinese Word A Day website.
We'll see how that goes …
There was a beautiful light at 10 minutes to sunset tonight.
I watched Still Alice — a very moving and powerful film that I wish I had seen before my mother's dementia diagnosis a couple of decades ago:
Dr. Alice Howland, a linguistics professor at Columbia University, celebrates her 50th birthday …. After she forgets a word during a lecture and becomes lost during a jog on campus, Alice's doctor diagnoses her with early onset familial Alzheimer's disease.
So well done!
It's pretty standard stuff, but Deb and I are enjoying watching the TV show Return to Paradise. Set in Australia, it features a quirky but brilliant detective whose impeccable eye for detail and ability to connect clues allows her to solve seemingly impossible crimes.