Miraz Jordan

Chlöe Swarbrick, one of our excellent politicians, in her Green Party AGM Speech 2025:

human beings are strongest when we define ourselves by who we are and what we stand for, not what we are in opposition to.

We stand for love. We stand for peace. We stand for justice. For people and planet.

We build the world that we want in our daily lives.

It was quite a crowd yesterday in our little house, with 14 people crammed in over drinks and nibbles. Just as well another half dozen couldn't make it as the weather was too horrid to be able to flow out onto the deck.

It was a good get together, and gratifying to help a few neighbours connect.

Clean, tidy and rather empty. Waiting for guests for farewell drinks.

First!

For me, the scariest part of our move north is the 1 to 2 hour drive along the motorway through Auckland.

I tried Google Maps street view but it failed me at a crucial point.

Then I thought to try YouTube and found an excellent video that I was able to run at half speed in crucial parts.

It's a random photo kind of day, like this one of Oshi and Sasha from December 2018. 🐶

In today's Northern Advocate (07 August 2025) I was struck by these two articles. Different countries and all that, but still…

On Page 3 (after 2 pages of ads for fridges):

Census data shows an ongoing trend of increasing homelessness in New Zealand, with 4122 people living without shelter in 2013, 3624 people in 2018 and 4965 in 2023.

On Page 21, a confiscated superyacht:

The 106m Amadea has a helipad, pool, jacuzzi, gym, spa, beauty salon and eight staterooms that can accommodate 16 guests …

The yacht, … valued at more than US$300 million …

The Joy of Tech doesn't always resonate with me, but this … We are better than this!

Sad news today when I heard my little dog friend Willow passed away yesterday, aged almost 15. 🐶

Here she is back in March 2019 in my car with Oshi and Sasha as I took them all to the beach.

I've been taking MyComplete mushroom pills from Flowstate for ages now. After pausing recently I noticed the difference and chose to restart.

However, with changing addresses and skipping a subscription date I ended up in a huge tangle.

Ian helped me promptly, efficiently and with a friendly manner.

Will Harlow gives good tips in this 15 minute video. Implementing many has helped me sleep better. Poor Sleep Ages You Faster — Fix It With These 15 Habits (50+).

For me though, I need to feel warm so the tip about being cool in order to sleep better just doesn't gel. I pile on extra blankets!

I needed to fetch something from Deb's zendo last night and my torch caught this wee swallow huddling above the door in the cold. I wished I could give it a blanket to keep it warm and toasty.

It was a milestone moment this morning when the Op Shop truck took away a bunch of mainly larger items: an old freezer, chest of drawers, huge cabinet, bookshelves and smaller sundry items.

We're pretty much ready for the movers to come next week.

Well! The dirty truth about what's in your socks:

Your socks might say more about you than you realise. In a US murder investigation, forensic scientists used soil bacteria found on a suspect’s socks to link them to the burial site of a victim.

I haven't yet seen that plot device …

The world seems dark and grim. These 5 links are about bringing a little light. 💡

1. Kiwi medical waste company succeeding in Australia but battling Pharmac | RNZ News:

   Now, a Kiwi company … is taking more than 50 types of single-use medical devices and giving them a second life.

   Canterbury-based Medsalv reckons it has so far saved more than half a million devices from landfills across Australia and New Zealand, throughout more than 90 hospitals.

   It collects the old devices, remanufactures them by inspecting, cleaning, testing and repackaging; and returns them.

   Along the way it's saving health care providers a lot of money, and creating jobs, many of them for people with barriers to employment.

   If the whole country got on board, one estimate suggests it could prevent 1700 tonnes of medical waste going to landfills a year - and generate $100 million in savings.

2. Malala Yousafzai and Billie Jean King Partner Up To Promote Women’s Sports:

   International activist Malala Yousafzai recently announced a new venture called Recess that will deploy a partnership with tennis legend Billie Jean King to promote women’s sports across the world, including some planned investment in basketball’s WNBA and the NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League). …

   Following her previous work in promoting equal educational opportunities across the world, Recess will strive to expand athletic opportunities to empower girls, and invest in women’s sports.

3. Wimbledon Balls Become Homes for Tiny Mice:

   What happens to the 55,000 tennis balls used at Wimbledon every year?

   After the tournament wraps up, used balls are donated to the Wildlife Trusts, a grassroots movement of 46 independent charities working to bring back and support wildlife.

   The organisation transforms the balls into homes for one of the UK's smallest – and most vulnerable – animals: the harvest mouse.

4. This is just a lovely story. Go read the whole thing — Andy was New Zealand's biggest milk tanker fan. He had a very special send off:

   Milk tankers were Andrew Oliver's favourite thing in the world. Local tanker drivers knew that Andy - as he was known - wouldn't go to bed until they had made their nightly visit to his parents' Te Rapa farm, near Hamilton.

   Fonterra changed its milk tanker schedule in the entire Te Rapa district of Hamilton so Andy would go to bed on time.

   Andrew Oliver was one of about eight people in the world living with Fryns-Aftimos syndrome and the only one in New Zealand to live with the condition. He was the longest surviving person with the syndrome, making it to the age of 41.

5. Ducks Decide Town Center is Best Sleeping Spot So Humans Escort Them Safely to and From the River Daily:

   Volunteer ‘duck wardens’ are helping a group of mallards safely waddle across town after they chose a parking lot as the best place to roost with their ducklings.

   15 citizens have answered the duck call in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, rotating shifts to personally escort 20 birds to the town center every evening.

Hmmm, on the south side of the river mouth, but not too far from our new home …

Sources quoted suggest wasps or bees.

Wasp warning: Ruakākā Beach walker warns public after being stung 50 times:

A Northland woman is warning people to be wary of wasps after she was stung about 50 times during an “utterly frightening” attack.

Elke Radewald had been walking with her dog along the Ruakākā Beach path near the end of Bream Bay Drive about 11am on July 21 when she heard a buzzing noise behind her.

“I turned around and there is this big black ball coming towards me. It was like in a really bad movie,” she said.