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[Greg]

What did you spend your money on?


I bought a $500 balalaika.  Will arrive in April.


(Keri, if you see this. What did your gov't do to help its citizens during this pandemic?)

[Keri]

For me personally, I don't think I missed a single day of work, I just worked from home. The Govt gave employers special grants so that they could continue paying their workers. It was a pretty hefty financial package. We had a really early intense lockdown and eliminated the virus then set up border quarantine for New Zealanders wanting to come home. Tourism stopped. Then internally things got back to normalish, sports, concerts, restaurants, schools all open. We had one other community outbreak and went back into a higher level of lock down and eliminated that too, then opened up again. Our death toll is 25 population 5 million.

So financially for me and the majority it was business as usual.

[Mervap]

We bought our daughter a laptop computer.....it will help with the remote learning at home.....

[Greg]

Keri,
Thx so much for describing the NZ, and your, situation!  That was interesting to read.
I'll describe our govt's response: Terrible. 


Mervap. Good use of the $.


Personally...I just taught fr home and my income didn't change.  Teaching 6-yr-olds remotely?  We tried. We did what we could. 
There wasn't really much we could do.  I can see college classes online or even middle school, but 1st gr online?  Quite hilarious at times, but as long as they tried to accomplish some reading and math concepts then that's progress.

[Greg]

Keri,
If you ever have time.  No worries.

What happened financially to restaurant workers during the lockdown? 
Also, did anyone lose their healthcare if they lost their job?

[Keri]

No problem Greg, we have a National Health system, so everyone gets healthcare, we still pay for Dr visits but it's generally affordable as are prescription drugs. If you get rushed to hospital it's free.

Our restaurant workers live off wages not tips, we don't have a tipping culture here, so they were the same as everyone else.

We had an election around the same time you did, the sitting Govt got a really convincing win because they had saved us from a covid out break, acted with transparency and in doing so life got back to normalish.

We watched what was happening in the US with horror, it was almost as if everything you could do wrong they did.

[Mervap]

We watched with horror as well, Keri........

I missed no time at all......we are essential workers.....until contract time. :-)

Wife and daughter have been working/schooling from home since last March. They have been doing well....

I look at how this pandemic was handled here and am just horrified.....I have said since day 1 that if Trump had just gone on TV and "declared war" on COVID and enlisted all of us to fight this war by doing 3 things (wash hands, stay apart, wear masks) we'd have done better. Declaring war on things (and people) is something we do a lot of...... *sighs*

[Greg]

Wow.   Those were two interesting posts to read. 
I don't even know what to say.
I'm glad for both of you considering the circumstances.


It's not only Covid that we handled poorly.


btw.  Your internet Beatles friend Greg?  I live in a town you've never heard of probably.
I live in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and our house is about 3 blocks from the shore of Lake Superior. (Mervap you might be familiar with this fr. FB?)


Here's a video of the town I was born in, grew up in, and still live in today.  The music a narration are an abomination.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PGflB8xXtw

[Keri]

Hey thanks for that, 21st Century City with a soul! The narration is kind of tacky, but it has a certain charm. I suspect it doesn't really give an idea of what the city is like.

I'll see if I can find a video on Paekakariki, not my home town though.

[Greg]

Yes..find something.  It'd be interesting to see where you live.
I watched a TV show called Offspring that was filmed in your general area.
I loved it, and just the general feel of the place made me want to move there!
I never will of course, but what a beautiful area of the world.



I just looked at the video I sent.  Omg...the whole thing is pretty terrible except for the visuals.
But you are correct that it doesn't show what it's like to live here.
This is a college town in the north.  We are way up here and isolated from most everything.  It's like an island because it's just many hours away from major cities.
I think we got over 20 feet of snow last year.


Our little city is friendly.  We don't own a house key. I leave the keys in my unlocked car year round.
There are a ton of musicians here. 
I probably have a very, very skewed view because I grew up here, and all my relative have been here for 120 years or so.
I'm a total local.
The hospital and university brings in people from other areas though to live here.


BTW What hourly wage would a restaurant worker make in an average restaurant in NZ?

[Keri]

I thought there would be a good video on Paekakariki but I couldn't find one;

Here's at at least some good views of it.

I live someway back from the sea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zhZW1z9Cwc

[Greg]

Those hills/mountains!  Cool place.  It looks like some of the places here along Lake Superior outside of my city,
I watched a few more videos.  Charming place.
If I had the money I'd absolutely visit. (It's -5 F here today)
It looks like you could be in Wellington in a fairly short time. ? ? ?


I was just looking up stuff around your area.  What a cool country and area you live in.
However, one thing stands out as really peculiar. Ben Hana. Wtf?

[Keri]

I wondered who was Ben Hana? I looked him up and I saw he was Blanket Man, ah yes I knew about HIM! He died in 2012 but he was definitely a feature of Wellington. I commute on the train into Wellington where I work so I saw him a lot, mainly around Cuba Mall, there are some beggars in Wellington, not many although Ben Hana was not a beggar, he just lived on the street, it was strange but kind of human.