imhilien

So New Zealand is currently under a State of Emergency because of Cyclone Gabrielle that's been working its way down the east coast of the North Island for the last few days. There's been a lot of widespread damage; evacuations, power cuts, cellphone towers down. I'm ok, the cyclone has moved away to the point it's stopped raining here but there's still gale force winds out there. People had been advised to stay indoors the last few days and off the roads. A friend of mine here in Auckland had a tree come down in her yard last night, luckily it didn't fall on her house.

The last cyclone that did this much damage was Cyclone Bola in the '80's. Usually cyclones from the tropics up north lose their power by the time they come down here, but every so often there's one that comes down ready to rumble. That's what happened this time. :(

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/weather-news/300806079/live-state-of-national-emergency-declared-as-cyclone-gabrielle-smashes-nz

When a rocket goes up into space, various sections break off and fall back to earth. So I was watching current affairs last night and they mentioned that a section of a Chinese rocket is falling back to earth - but due to some miscalculations, it could possibly land in Wellington, New Zealand's capital, this weekend or early next week. My reaction: WUT. I have friends in Wellington. Peter Jackson lives there!

I wonder if it was meant to land in the Pacific ocean to the east of New Zealand - apparently, there's a rocket graveyard there. What's left of the space station Mir is said to be down there, and if that doesn't sound like the start of a horror movie, I don't know what does. Fingers crossed we'll be alright. The chap narrating this for the show had nervous eyes. I wonder what he knew that we don't. Maybe I'm just speculating.

I recently received a fantasy book I'd ordered online - 'Jolene' by Mercedes Lackey (part of her Elemental Masters series). I had bought the e-book version but I liked it so much I wanted the physical paperback. Ironically, ordering from a Australian bookstore meant that it would get to me quicker than if I ordered it online from a New Zealand place (as far as I could tell). I remember when Borders used to be in town (remember that store?) and they had the full collection of Mercedes' books. I miss those days.

So, in unsurprising news, my city has extended the COVID lockdown for the next fortnight, then will review the situation. I don't think it's going to end any time soon.

I will try and support small business in this time, so in the next day or two, I'll put on a face mask, walk to a local cafe and buy something from their door to take home and eat.

Well, although New Zealand has mostly squished Covid-19, there was a bit of a scare recently when two people were let into the country on compassionate grounds from abroad going down south and it turns out they were infected and hadn't been tested properly. That was an anxiety episode I didn't need that day. Testing at the border has been tightened up apparently and that's where any new cases are picked up these days (they then have to go into quarantine).

I still wear a face mask if I'm going on public transport for a decent length of time and try and keep some distance from people. My book club has started up again, so that's good. Art group is back on, though they clean the place to the nth degree at the moment and make sure hand sanitizer is on each table, which is OK. My board gaming group has started up again, though I haven't been back yet as it's at night with not much ventilation, lots of strangers etc, so I'm still a bit cautious about returning.

I went to the movie 'The Booksellers' the other day with a friend, which was good. It was about the rare book scene in New York (pre-Covid, of course). Was good to see a few book shops came with resident cat. :)

It's definitely winter here now, when I wake in the morning and it's below 5 degrees (40 F) I Do Not Like. About a week ago there were tornadoes in our region that sent a few trampolines flying here and there, ouch.

Still hunting for a new part-time admin job, a process made much harder of course now in these interesting times. Still, some of the job web sites are starting to list jobs again.

Season 5 (part 1) of 'Lucifer' is turning up in August, yay. I do want to see new adventures of my Chaotic Dumba** babies. Two new seconds of S5 footage were made available and the fandom went crazy, LOL.

Here are some fic recs set in the mid-90's when Windows 95 was released (I remember!). However, this version is an Eldritch Horror that wants to be Your Only Friend. 

1. Welcome to Windows 95!
Done entirely in realistic (and creepy) screenshots.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/24073393

2. Re: Windows 95
People talk about their experiences with Windows 95 (Eldritch Horror version) on a mailing list. Things get creepy.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/24853906

People have asked Star Wars star Mark Hamill for pandemic advice and he's said, "You know those places where people hang out? Don't go there."

Here is a link to pictures throughout New Zealand of eerily quiet cities and roads now that we're doing the self-isolation thing:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/120576880/coronavirus-heres-what-new-zealand-looks-like-in-lockdown

The number of people ill in New Zealand has risen to 39 (non fatal). Apparently they had been self-isolating after returning from abroad (it's still not appearing in the community yet, which is good).

The borders have been shut now to foreigners (first time ever).

Libraries, art galleries and museums will be closed after today. Apparently this is only for a fortnight, which will probably mean much longer. I'm glad I've got a good supply of library books and you can still get them online.

I went out to get some things today before I wouldn't be able to. I was good though and wore a face mask and goth looking black gloves inherited from an elderly relative after her passing years ago (it was in the discards pile after the good stuff had been taken, and I had thought why not?). I only saw one other white person wearing a mask - plenty of people from other cultures were wearing them.

I'm guessing that cinemas and malls might be the next to shut. It feels like being in a dystopian thriller right now...

Hope people are safe and coping where they are.

 As I write this, there is a weird, golden twilight outside even though it's the afternoon... the smoke and ash from the Australian bushfires finally reached my city at midday. :(

There's no smoky smell, so that's one good thing. I have a face mask I'm prepared to use just in case.

It's all very surreal and makes me feel more sorry for Australia.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/118593619/australia-bushfires-more-smoke-on-its-way-to-new-zealand

It's being quite wet and stormy at the moment, last night there was an intense hail storm that seemed to go on longer than it should have. I found out this morning that some cars had fallen into the harbour and someone thought there had been a tornado.

I've signed up to Netflix for a 30 day trial so I can see moar Lucifer. Ooh look, other shows too. I had this vague idea that signing up involved downloading lots of software, etc.

The trees that have the first spring blossom (bright pink) are out in the neighbourhood and the native birds have been very happily drinking the nectar (and sounding like they've drunk too much?).

Fossils have been found of a long-extinct native parrot in the South Island that was apparently one metre tall (gulp).

It's been getting a bit lighter in the evenings, so that's good.

Hot weather continues to be hot. Even with windows open, my room is currently 30 degrees C, which I'm ok with. A few days ago it was 100% humidity, which I did struggle a bit with.

There's currently a cyclone in the Pacific islands (which damaged Tonga) and is currently heading down south to us, said to be here by late Tuesday, ugh. Fingers crossed it calms down as it comes into our cooler waters.

Right, so I got up this morning and turned on the TV just in time to see the Team New Zealand boat cross the finish line in Bermuda to win the Americas Cup. Hooray! This will be the third time we've brought the cup home.

Well done, boys, you've done us proud.