8:34 am

Reading the morning newspaper has left me in despair over the way our politicians behave. The country has struggled through the last few years of economic downturn, but standing up in Parliament and asking hard questions of the government is no way for an opposition leader to behave.

Shame on David Shearer for playing politics over such an important issue as the future of the country.

11:14 am

There’s a lot of talk in the US election coverage about leadership. Well they can keep their leadership to themselves, thank you very much. The last thing this country needs now is leadership. Leadership is what got us into this mess.

Leaders make decisions, and the problem with decision-making is that sometimes the wrong decisions are made, often with disastrous consequences. Sometimes doing nothing is the best course of action. Would the Titanic have struck an iceberg if the captain had just kept his ship permanently in port?

2:21 pm

I went to visit a friend today, and he offered me coffee. “Black or white?” he asked me. I froze. How could I possibly make such a decision without knowing all the facts? I asked for grey instead.

3:49 pm

The Pike River report is damning, but why is nobody focusing on the role of Labour in all of this? Instead of taking much of the blame for the lack of sensible regulation in place prior to the disaster, Labour seems more focused on political point-scoring. Would those poor 29 men really have wanted politicians demanding answers of the government in order to prevent a future tragedy? It’s shabby behaviour.

4:23 pm

There’s no need for people to take offence over something John Key said. The trouble with the English language is that words have so many different meanings. How can we be certain about anything anyone says, when every sentence could have any number of possible shades of meaning? Why do other people rush to judge so quickly?

I don’t see what’s wrong with calling something gay. When I was growing up being gay meant you were cheerful and jolly. What’s wrong with being cheerful?

5:12 pm

The skin on my hands is raw. I went to the chemist to get something for the problem, but had to cross the road to get there. I walked to the centreline, then stood there for a few minutes. I was hooted at by quite a number of drivers, something that I found quite rude and distressing, and one fellow even yelled abuse at me. What’s wrong with my just standing here? What harm am I causing by standing in the middle of the highway? And why are people so unreasonable?

I eventually crossed the road, only to find that my local chemist had about 20 different types of creams  and lotions. The woman behind the counter recommended a particular product, but I scolded her for rushing into a hasty decision. How could she be certain that my skin problems weren’t something more serious, something that a bit of lotion wouldn’t help?  It could have been hand cancer and she wouldn’t have spotted it, unless she moonlights as an oncologist.

I couldn’t be certain which product was the best value for money, so I gave up and went home.  I might try again next week. Until then I’ll just have to moderate my hand-wringing.