Rain, the Driving Lesson and the Rugby Final

There's more rain...Bertie helps me put the plaster cast of Michaelangelo's ear in the cavity of my walk in robe, and finish pruing the plum tree. Greg puts a ring on the back of my earthquake Portuguese plate, and I pick up shelf brackets for the garage from Neil who is now based against the hill in Halswell. I've had a sick day, feeling crap, and used it to mark and get new tires for the Toyota. Kahu drives Bertie and I to Neil's workshop then on a Marketplace pick up run. He drives to a back section down a long, narrow driveway and nearly hits the fence on the way out. Swears and calls Bertie and I some rude names then walks off. But comes back. Too stressful. Bertie has been giving him lessons without me. It works better. The driving test is only a couple of weeks away.

The electrics not done properly are revealed. Hudson shows me the switch board and tests the connections. That's why the lights in Tina and Jorge's rooms have been going off and on when they shouldn't. Probably lucky I didn't have a house fire. Because he can't buy the part he needs, he persuades a friend who is installing fuse boxes to take the tiny piece of metal from a box he's got then say it's missing. And get a refund for the now unusable box. Oops. 

Kahu's rugby team is playing their final at Hagley. I pick him up and drop him off then go back for the game with Bertie. Sherry and Chris arrive to watch. It's a nail biter and the Shirley boys crash over the line a number of times but the Marist team holds them up and they don't score. The game could go either way but when the final whistle blows, Shirley are in second place. The boys, one and all, are exhausted and soaked. I take Kahu home and feed him before he goes off to work 11 hours at Original Sin. He's got strength.

There's more rain...Bertie helps me put the plaster cast of Michaelangelo's ear in the cavity of my walk in robe, and finish pruing the plum tree. Greg puts a ring on the back of my earthquake Portuguese plate, and I pick up shelf brackets for the garage from Neil who is now based against the hill in Halswell. I've had a sick day, feeling crap, and used it to mark and get new tires for the Toyota. Kahu drives Bertie and I to Neil's workshop then on a Marketplace pick up run. He drives to a back section down a long, narrow driveway and nearly hits the fence on the way out. Swears and calls Bertie and I some effing c's again, the lesson started with this, then storms off. I'm driving away when we spot him walking back. Too stressful. Bertie has been giving him lessons without me. It works better. The driving test is only a couple of weeks away.

Rain, Rain and More Rain

 I go car shopping- a novelty as I actually have money. I'm still wondering how I got it but when I look through my account it's a combination of left over money from buying the house, insurance payout and a tiny bit of accrued rent. It's just there, feels weird. I think about car karma: giving the Suzuki back to Sousa, putting money into Kahu's car, spending thousands over the years on the MG. I start with hybrids at Turners and, after convincing myself they're a good buy, I look at Leafs at EV City. A test drive later and I've purchased an orange model in transit on a ship. Deposit done, I proudly show the specs to anyone who's interested. A new era, too exciting. 

On Friday I go the the funeral of one of my former students, the son of a colleague. It's suicide and Dave is devastated. Only child. I resonate.

Meanwhile life goes on. I tidy the garage. Determined to park my car where it's supposed to go. Nearly a year and a half since I moved in, this is well overdue. I celebrate when I drive in. I have to drive past Tina's car on the apron and manoevre the Toyota safely past. I hold my breath, knowing I'll get better with practice. Hudson arrives to switch two of Rene's speaker attachments to plugs. No mean feat as Rene has made the holes for the wires so small they can't be pushed across, so Hudson and Bertie have to push wires down from the ceiling. To get to the one in the kitchen they take the butenol off the verandah roof. It's exceptionally hard going through the wool insulation and they need an extender to get to floor level. The job is done after a lot of fiddling around. The electrics were not well done and it's costly to fix them up.

Kahu's rugby game is a huge victory and he plays with gusto, throwing himself into tackles and rucks. Fingers crossed in gloves, I watch from the sideline. He's got guts. Another kid with guts is Anjie's Lauren. After many life setbacks she's moved into her own house and throws a real party. Everyone's on board with her achievement and there's a swarm of friends to celebrate. It's an old state house and Bertie's helped with the clean up, proud of his achievements. There's another party at Scoff and Lisa's. 

Sunday is the last day of the hols. Used to be that I would travel back from Alex with a car full of stuff, arriving on dark and dumping bags in a holding pattern in my room. How times have changed. Of course I miss my parents, even though I kissed my holiday choices goodbye. 

School starts and so does the rain. And it doesn't stop. I don't remember water like this, it's continuous and as the ground gets soggy the rain lies in puddles, makes swamps, and swimming pools. I wear plastic bags over my boots so they don't get ruined but I keep biking. It's worrying from a local and a global point of view. In Europe there's a drought and fires. I watch my garden and street disappear under a sheet of water. Nelson gets hit hard and we soar past rain records for July. 

I take Kahu to indoor rugby practice and do framing errands. It's Sharyn's birthday so I cook dinner for her.