Looking back over the past weeks and to the weeks ahead – to rate the noteworthy, the cringeworthy, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the truly amazing.
Tradies
Each week I sift through the online news looking for inspiring stories to lift the gloom. Truth be told, they’re hard to find. It’s a cliche but the news is generally a never ending downer with the same subjects getting a repetitive cycle of negativity. It’s even worse in an election year and I try as hard as I can not to get caught up in it all.
Not being able to find too much to raise a smile, I figured I’d give some much needed kudos to our tradies. Every day I talk to all sorts of tradespeople, across so many different professions ands sectors. I’ve been doing this for seven years. This is what I’ve learned – and keep in mind – these are generalisations based on my experience.
Firstly – your average sole trader doesn’t work anything close to a nine to five, they don’t just do one job, and when we complain about the weather affecting our plans, it actually induces stress through inability to be on the tools. Prolonged rain? Spare a thought for painters, landscapers, gardeners, renovators, roofers, and builders whose projects get sidelined.
Tradies spend their days dealing with the public and all of the various behaviours and expectations that the public serve serve up. Most handle challenges with grace and positivity, understanding that giving up isn’t an option. Negative experiences exist, but they aren’t the majority, even if they leave a lasting impact.
Most tradies I know aren’t just on the tools, they take care of all the other things required to run a business – hours of quoting, tax compliance, organising marketing, bookkeeping, salary and wages, etc. I would say without question that they work hard and take on board all the anxieties and stresses that come with running a small business.
5 stars to our great, talented, and hardworking tradespeople.
Women’s Word Cup football
I’ve talked about this before but as the tournament has gone on I have enjoyed it more and more. I’ve been a football fan since I was six and I have followed a club and watched tens of thousands of hours of live games. The Premier League kicked off this weekend and for the first time, I’ve felt ambivalent about it. Money has taken over the beautiful game and become too much. Transfer fees and wages are frankly obscene. So it is refreshing to actually watch football played with huge heart and skill, with practically zero theatrics, whining, complaining, and referee harassment that sadly dominates men’s football.
The semi finals will be played early this week and I’ll be glued to the TV. I don’t have a favourite team and I’m not rooting for anyone to win. I just enjoy getting caught up in the drama of tightly fought contests between fantastic athletes – in front of incredible crowds.
5 stars for a tournament that has shone a light on women’s football that with likely increase the numbers of women (and men) playing it – great stuff.
Are the electronically monitored actually monitored?
Last weekend in my neighbourhood in Auckland someone lost their life after a gun battle in a reserve where kids usually play. Armed police swarmed in to maintain calm and begin an investigation. All tragic, pointless, heartbreaking, and sad.
Here’s the thing I’m struggling with. The alleged shooter was located three days later, not too far away and was supposedly on electronically monitored bail. The shooter who killed two people in Auckland last month was also on home detention, with permission to work.
I do not believe that crime has easy answers or fixes and I am not fan of crime and punishment plans that get wheeled out before elections to win votes. On the other hand, home detention is a punishment that I had imagined is monitored rigorously? If you were fitted with a tracking bracelet, wouldn’t that be trackable if you left the confines of your home? Otherwise what Is the point of it?
Community safety is essential and we need very, very good systems in place to ensure we are kept safe. I know Corrections occasionally get a bad rap so I’m going to take that into account.
2 star – try harder
