I share here a few memories from a long time ago. We all have family, a history and memories, good or bad. In a world full of evil, hatred, conflict and confusion it is important to flick back over some of the positive things we remember. Enjoy a few of mine . . .
I have been reminded of my mortality again recently, more than once – a neighbour has been carted away to a hospice and his NOK says that his family and son don’t want to engage with him; a client died at his own hands recently, another mate was born in 1930 making him 92 and my father in 1929 making him 93, and there’s now a good eight contacts of mine who have gotten ill after getting the Jab – heart attacks, blood clots, iron deficiency, snivels and more. When are people going to wake up? Are they ever? The trouble is that they usually all say things like, “Lucky I got the jab ’cause it could have been a lot worse!” rather than even considering the possibility that the Jab actually took their immune system down and they ‘got it’ BECAUSE of the jab! My website www.jabquestions.com actually gives answers . . . like this one:
My daughter shouted me a trip to Auckland for 2022 Christmas greetings. She’s now married and partying up in an old factory downtown. It’s all done up now of course and is just around the corner from Saatchi and Saatchi who have also done up another old factory. The old factories were our description of these places some 48 years ago as they were pretty much abandoned even way back then. Good on ’em I say!
As a teenager I came in from Titirangi, first on the bus, then by Vespa motor scooter, then by way of a Honda 360 motorcycle to work for Dad in the family business, Warbies. When I was a child he rented space in the CML building 3rd floor, then the 4th floor in Queen Street, then in Chandris House in Albert St where I worked with him, then in the Four Seasons Plaza – photo above. I could talk all day about the experience of working for Dad. His social skills (or his lack of them) meant that he was a great teacher – he taught me what not to do! He did though make the odd comment that stuck and he did show me the importance of paying your bills and on time. Some of these gems are that, “You don’t have to be THAT good [in business] to be better than the rest!” and “Nobody ever calls [phones] you back!” both snippets that have been proven to be true ever since, making this many decades of truth derived from experience in New Zealand.
Mum too shared that when the wind blew along the washing line (from the East) that the rain would stay for 2 days whereas otherwise it would blow over in a few hours, and that you were wise not to trust men with moustaches! She’s gone now but the memories remain.
Grandad (Smith that is) wasn’t one for talking overly but he did try desperately to reach out and love his son David, my father. He also slipped across to the mechanics next door at Wharton & Howard to chat every now and then. I’m told that it was to escape from his wife (Dad’s mother). Ho Hum! They say that evil skips a generation and repeats and that does seem to be true. Apparently grandma Smith’s old house has recently been sold for $3.3m – nuts if you ask me, but good on ’em if that’s true.
I’ve had a full life and was just chatting to a mate over a beer yesterday, telling stories about Samoa and the past. My mate’s mate asked how much of what I was gassing on about was true. I guess some of us might talk “a bit larger than life” but everything I said was 100% true. Why BS when real life memories are more exciting than invented stories eh? I’ve got an affidavit from my mate confirming that he was visited by one of the dudes who saw us sharing a beer down at the Cossie Club recently. MY mate told Roy to P*ss off when he looked him up on a Sunday. Even though Roy only did it to warn my mate, he’s really p*ssed at the visit. “Who the f*** does he think he is coming into my house and telling me who I should be friends with. It’s a free country isn’t it?” he asks.
I keep telling these people to call me an arsehole. “It’s what they want to hear! I keep telling them. Don’t try to stand up for me, ’cause you’ll only end up fighting the world! Oh them memories we keep on making them day after day, don’t we? Remember the Rainbow Warrior. I remember when I was walking along Custom St and saw the news ticker flash the news that it had been blown up that night. I was a teenager walking to work at the building shown in the photo above at the time. I’ll never forget that one, but it was decades ago. And the Crewe Murders – 1970. That was more than 50 years ago too!
Our time can be over in a shot. My mate is 92, so he’s not far away from meeting his Maker, whether he’s ready for it or not. Memories are important, today makes some more. Let’s enjoy then while we make them eh?
Onwards, and upwards, well, hopefully assuredly that is.
[…] you remember the hand-held Ring Vices that you designed way back in 1960 and then sold then at Warbies?” and then the memories from the radio orchestra and His Majesties the now gone beautiful […]