Coca-Cola – not to be drunk by stupid people.
A thirty year old woman died in New Zealand in February 2010. An inquest was heard on the issue in Invergargill on Friday. At which point it was revealed that she drank around 7.5 l of coke a day.
Now – I don’t know many people who can drink 7.5l of any liquid a day – in fact to do so is pretty bloody dangerous – even if its water.
But the mind boggles about how you manage to down that much fizzy drink.
Oddly – it left her seriously ill for at least a year before she died, from Hypokalemaia (not enough potassium) and heart issues, presumably from the sheer gob smacking amount of caffeine she was consuming.
What makes this truly sickening is that the family are blaming Coca Cola for the death, and want warnings on the drink to prevent someone else dying from not somehow being aware that getting all your calories from 7.5l of ca coke a day is dangerous.
The court heard Ms Harris had a poor diet and was a heavy smoker, with a 30-a-day habit.
But her family is convinced her Coca-Cola consumption played a part in her death – and they say the popular drink should carry warning signs.
It just defies belief that someone drinks that much coke, and smoke 30 fags a day can’t claim to have known that this was a stupendously bad idea. And the family – well there are warning signs all over fag packets that smoking them with KILL YOU. She still lit up and smoked them. A warning sign on the coke bottle would have been similarly ignored.
Since she had been unwell, she did not eat breakfast, ate only snacks at lunch and often went without dinner.
All her teeth had been removed because they were rotting, prompting a dentist to remark about drinking too much Coke.
Mr Crerar asked Mr Hodgkinson if he knew that not having a balanced diet was bad for a person.
He replied: “Yeah, I suppose so. It’s different being able to afford it with eight children. We ate what we could, when we could.”
If you can afford to (literally) burn around $30 a day on smoking – you have absolutely no excuse for not being able to afford to feed your children.
Mr Crerar also suggested that even if Coke bottles had warning labels on them, Ms Harris may not have heeded the advice, as she was a smoker and all cigarette packets carried health warnings.
I think the real reason for trying to blame Coca Cola here is summed up by :
The family were hoping to obtain compensation from Coca-Cola for the children, who were now in care.
Says it all really. Its also worth knowing that it looks like Mr Hodkinson has previously been reported as sending death threats to Coca Cola and it’s staff. Hope they throw the book at him! And not a single damn cent!
Air New Zealand – good customer service win!
So we head out to the airport for our midday flight to Auckland on Thursday.
We got to airport with an hour to spare and had time to grab a relaxing coffee from wishbone and eat a packed lunch.
And that’s when things started going kablooie.
Wishbone appear to have skimped on their coffee cups and while carrying an americano and an earl grey tea the lids flew off and scalding hot beverages flew all over my hands and the floor.
Not a happy bunny. Now wishbone were hugely apologetic and gladly gave me a refill on the coffee. I should bloody well hope so. But that was it. They even offered to mop up the spill but they didn’t actually do it and we ended up cleaning most of it with a stack of napkins. Meanwhile 2 hours later and despite thankfully having a bottle of lavender oil to hand my hand was still bloody painful. It seems scalding hot coffee and eczema are not a good mix.
You will note no offer of a free triple chocolate muffin with extra sprinkles and dipped in fresh chocolate? Yeah me too.
Anyway then we moved onto the gate lounge for our flight. For the first time we were using Air New Zealand’s mobile mPass system where your phone carries the boarding pass.
Hubby went first and duly got his price of paper with a seat number. Modern technology notwithstanding you still need a piece of paper to hand to the staff on the plane to prove you are the person they just let onto the skybridge and someone has somehow snuck on in your place. I then went through and the red lights started flashing. Apparently Air NZ has me listed as a standby. Which I wasn’t. I was told it would be sorted and asked to sit on one side and wait.
And wait.
As everyone else boarded.
Another family who also had issues with the mPass system got their tickets and boarded
We waited.
The girl who asked us to wait has now scarpered (this is bad customer service). We have no idea what is happening and I start looking suspiciously at our plane to see if it is leaving without us. And I grumbled a bit.
And waited.
At which time a new staffer turns up and admits they overbooked.
Now we could get annoyed. Or we can force Air New Zealand to drag someone else off the plane and out of my seat. But – bless the guy dealing with it – he had already arranged that we could have compensation and lounge access if we were happy to wait for the next flight an hour latter.
So we took the deal. And are currently sitting in the lounge with a mice glass of Urlar Pinot, some food and $400 in Air Nz vouchers for a future flight. ($200 for me which they also extended to hubby as he also gave up his seat. I thought this was a lovely touch rather than as I’m sure some companies would do hiding behind the old well he chose not to take that flight.)
That is good service!
Sure they should not have screwed up my booking but hey crap happens. To me it’s not so important as a company fronting up when they cock up and making it right. Especially in NZ where most companies refuse to even acknowledge any issue let alone apologise and put it right.
So good on Air New Zealand – I was actually pretty impressed.
Can you emigrate to New Zealand with an Autistic Child?
A question that Ian and Claire Fitch have just found out the answer to is no.
They have been here since 2007 on work visas, and are currently trying to get residency, but their sun is Autistic and INZ have declined them. They have been told they have to apply for a Medical Waiver. They also have a Kiwi Born 2 year old (who will not have automatic citizenship as she was born here after 2006).
They began applying for permanent residency in March last year, but have held off after a medical assessment found Nathaniel, now 6, failed to reach the acceptable standard of health criteria under immigration guidelines.
The couple have since applied to Immigration New Zealand for a medical waiver to enable him to be granted a residency visa and allow the family to stay.
They had been told they have between a 30 and 40 per cent chance of succeeding, Mrs Fitch said. If they fail, they will return to Britain.
This is a crap situation to be in – but I think its worth remembering that this information would have been available to anyone applying when they first decide to come here. Of course the Fitch family may not have known that their son was autistic at that time. The relevant rule is found under the Appendix 10 Health Conditions:
A4.10.5 Assessment of whether an applicant for a residence class visa is unlikely to impose significant costs on New Zealand’s special education services
The requirement that an applicant for a residence class visa must be unlikely to impose significant costs on New Zealand’s special education services is not met if the Ministry of Education (MoE) has determined that there is a relatively high probability that the applicant’s physical, intellectual, or sensory condition or their use of language and social communication would entitle them to Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) funding.
The article shows that they already use $16,000 a year in such funding:
Nathaniel is enrolled in a mainstream class at Taupo’s Hilltop School, which receives $16,000 a year from the Education Ministry under the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme, or ORS, to provide him with two teacher aides and a specialist teacher one afternoon a week.
So to be fair – INZ have made the right call. The thing I would question is why they make this decision in light of the fact that they have been giving the Fitches work visas for the past 5 years and they have the funding anyway. This makes no sense to me at all.
But then when did INZ decisions ever make sense? And its also worth knowing that I do know of people who did manage to emigrate here with autistic children. However at the end of the day – if any of your family have an Appendix 10 health condition – you really need to know that getting into New Zealand is highly unlikely.
Make sure you do your research.
While Ian McKellen works free for Christchurch – ticket outlets still charge.
Ian McKellen is performing a series of charity one-man shows round New Zealand to raise money for the Isaac Theater Royal in Christchurch – which was badly damaged in the Earthquake.
He is even coming to little old Carterton: an article in a local paper says:
In this unique fundraiser, you can ask any question at all about Sir Ian’s work and life, as he retraces his journey from the north of England to the West End of London, Hollywood and to Middle Earth.
it then goes on to say:
All Income (no hidden cost) will go directly to repair Christchurch’s Isaac Theater Royal.
And that we can buy tickets through Dash Tickets – at $50 each
Ok – so we thought lets get three tickets. I mean – how often do you get to see someone like Ian McKellen live on stage – for $50 – and in a small auditorium – which means you will actually be able to see him???
So we went to the Dash Website.
- $1.50 per ticket booking fee and 2.5% Credit Card Fee.
Screw that. That is not “no hidden costs” and I personally thing skimming off the top of a charity event is the lowest of the low.
So we decided as an alternative to buy directly from the Carterton Events center. A new complex built with our rates money.
- $4 per ticket booking fee (They don’t take credit cards).
- It would actually be cheaper to buy from Dash with a credit card fee!
Now my mum actually bought these – but made it crystal clear to the guy in the office what she though t of them. And got a “what on earth are you going on about” look for her trouble. ManyKiwi’s just really do not understand people who dislike being ripped off with a constant steam of extra fees. Doesn’t stop them moaning about how expensive it is to live here – they just don’t seem to get the irony.
So we have our tickets. Ian McKellen is working for free to raise money for a Christchurch Theater, and the events center / Dash is skimming off the top (and from people who have already paid through the nose for the facilities!). I hope they are bloody ashamed of themselves.
“Well Known Comedian” Sex offender will be re-sentenced.
To recap – this guy can’t tell the difference between a 4 year old girl in nappies and his wife. He pled guilty to performing an indecent act on a child. But in a move that disgusted pretty much everyone in New Zealand, he escaped with no conviction, no jail time. Because the Judge Phillipa Cunningham said he had suffered enough and
“He’s a talented New Zealander. He makes people laugh and laughter’s a good medicine that we all need a lot of.”
The judge said voluntary community work would be a condition of his discharge but it could be carried out using the comedian’s “talents” in rest homes or schools.
“There’s plenty of material around with the World Cup,” she said.
Well, it seems that Judge Murray Gilbert has decided in the high court that that decision needs to be revisited and this guy needs to be re-sentenced. About bloody time too.
Gilbert agreed with Crown submissions that the consequences of a conviction did not outweigh the offending, that the judge did not take into account that the guilty plea meant the man had admitted he intended to carry out an indecent act on his daughter, and said the fact the man was drunk should not have been a factor in the original decision.
There is no information about whether Phillipa Cunningham has been disciplined for her bizarre actions in court. Any judge who allows a sex offender to get off scot free from a sexual assault on a child because she thinks he is funny has no place in a justice system.
But at least her screw up has a chance to be fixed. And a message can be sent that fame, drunkeness and comedic skills do not make it OK to try and sex with a 4 year old in the country.
Perhaps there is hope!
Edited to add:
Reading round a few blogs – it seems that this guy has a job back on TV. So apparently – despite Cunningham’s assertion that the adverse affect on this guys career was enough of a punishment – he really has had none whatsoever.
Sanitarium still bullying shop owners (and consumers).
The owner of a boutique Nelson shop selling British products for expats is the latest retailer to fall victim to legal threats over its selection of breakfast cereals.
Sanitarium representatives last week visited English Bob’s Emporium in Richmond and demanded it stop selling Weetabix, an English equivalent of the New Zealand company’s Weet-Bix.
English Bob’s owner, Bob Wren, said he was threatened with legal action if he did not comply immediately.
Sanitarium general manager Pierre van Heerden said selling Weetabix in New Zealand breached a trademark held by the company.
He added that Weet-Bix could not be sold in England for similar reasons.
Let’s be honest – why on earth would anyone in England want to buy crappy WeetBix when they could get proper Weetabix? The fact that here people will willingly pay upto $2.50 per Weetabix Biscuit in order to eat somethiung edible says it all really.
“We own the trademark in New Zealand and spend a lot of money in marketing those trademarks. So anyone else bringing in products of similar names or similar trademarks are infringing those under New Zealand law.”
Perhaps you could spend the money on making Weetbix edible instead? Problem solved without have to look like a bunch of self important (tax dodging because you are a “religious charity”) bullies. (Sanitarium is owned by the Seventh Day Adventist church and is therefore exempt from paying tax on it’s company profits. Still going to buy their stuff??)
Mr van Heerden said it was “normal trade practice” to protect intellectual property and it did not matter that English Bob’s Emporium was only a small boutique shop.
But Mr Wren has accused Sanitarium of “bullying”.
“They said it sounds too much like Weet-Bix but it’s a totally different product – English people ask me to get this in,” Mr Wren said.
I guess this is the problem, Sanitarium think they simply make a Weetabix product – so we should buy theirs and be happy. But it just isn’t the same. That’s like saying their “Marmite” is the same as proper Marmite. I loathe Marmite an in any form, but anyone who loves the stuff will tell you that there is no comparison.
Sanitarium ordered Weetabix off the shelves of the English Corner Shop in Auckland’s Onehunga in 2010.
I blogged here about this – when Sanitarium were bleating about how Kiwis wouldn’t buy their crap in the supermarkets unless it was discounted. I think, again, that perhaps Sanitarium are missing the bleeding obvious. Perhaps people just don’t like your products???
Intellectual property expert Anna Kingsbury said the trademark law aimed to protect consumers from being confused.
“If you go to a shop with imperfect recollection wanting this product and you’re confronted with a product that looks similar, that’s marked similarly, is there a potential that the consumer would be confused?
“We don’t want consumers to be confused, we want them to buy the product they intended to buy.”
But as this case involved a small British shop trying to sell imported British products, she said, “it seems kind of heavy handed to say you can’t buy it”.
So basically – Sanitarium are blatantly misusing a law to force people to buy their products. They aren’t even being honest about all this?
Well, I’m shocked! 
I think it’s also worth knowing that various Pak N Save branches also stock UK Weetabix – and as far as I have seen have not been threatened with legal action. Which just goes to show that like most Bullies – Sanitarium only threatens the little guys. They really are contemptible.
EDITED: Due to the popularity of this post and some of the comments, I actually started looking into this a bit more. Not fast enough for some people it seems – but hey – I do actually have other work to do occasionally! I now know more about Weetabix than I thought I ever needed too.
: Weet-Bix Vs Weetabix Part 1: The History.
Weet-Bix Vs Weetabix Part 2: The taste test
And the day was saved by…
Yesterday’s debacle at Jaycar in which I failed to buy hubby a present was about to ruin my whole day. I really dislike shopping at the best of times (which let’s face it is an absolute bonus for someone who likes budgeting). But having to deal with knobheads certainly doesn’t improve the situation.
Especially when I am then faced with having to go grocery shopping in a bad mood.
However – I went to Moore Wilsons Fish counter, and ending up being served by the friendliest guy! Which considering that I actually know sod-all about fish and he knew considerable amounts – was in total contrast with earlier. And it kinda really helped to be having a laugh over something as innocuous as Tuna Steaks. Which were delicious by the way!
And to top things off – I popped into the Photo Warehouse on Victoria St to attempt once more to get a Laser Pointer. Now – they didn’t have one – however – they did know what I was talking about, and thus felt no need to try and pretend that they did, and that I didn’t. Funnily enough they suggested that Jaycar might have them! I filled them in.
And thus – the day was saved. I still have no laser pointer – but at least the silly little twit in Jaycar didn’t ruin my whole day. Good service – it’s actually not that hard.
Do I have a neon sign above my head…
saying please patronize me and treat me like I’m a bloody idiot???
Days like today I am tempted to check in the mirror. Is it just me? Does asking what seem to be simple and pretty sensible questions in shops ( like will that key ring laser pointer in Jaycar be strong enough to point to stars with) have to result in a barrage of snottiness? In being asked totally pointless questions designed to show off your superior knowledge and attempt to make me look stupid? Which by the way merely proved you are not nearly as smart as you think you are Mr know it all in Jaycar. Did you really have to be obnoxious and tell me that said Powerful Laser Pointer would be “considerably more expensive”. As if I was so utterly thick not to have realised that your shitty little keyring penlight may be cheap tat and getting something worth buying might cost me more than $17.90.
Such as $93.00 USD from Think Geek with shipping. Minus the attitude. And extra cool points for having both red and green (or Sith and Jedi) options.
FYI. Astronomers use laser pointers to point out constellations. We do not need to “bounce them off something” in order to be able to see the laser beam. Neither do we need to know the atmospheric conditions. Im still not sure what the hell he was wittering on about here: how exactly am I supposed to know what the fricken atmosphere is gonna be like on any given day I may want to do some stargazing? Why is it relevant? As long as we have some atmosphere – we will see the beam. If we can’t see the beam, we have bigger issues to worry about – like dying because the atmospheric conditions are that that there isn’t one.
I’m interested in astronomy not bloody fortune telling! And if I was trying to tell the future so that I could let some jumped up knobhead know what the atmospheric conditions will be at some unspecified point – what the bleepity bleep would I doing wasting my time in a shop that sells electronics???
Seriously – I have no idea who you are. I have no idea why you felt the need to try and put me down. Did you have an issue with the fact that I have breasts perhaps?? I was trying to spend money in your store. A damn site more money than $17.90.
THIS is why we buy via the internet, from abroad – so we don’t have to deal with arseholes. Perhaps local retailers should think about that next time they complain about the loss of business to the internet.
Seven restaurants later…
Today is my Dad’s Birthday.
We decided to take him out for a meal, only problem is he’s a bit of a fussy eater. If it isn’t Steak (cooked to shoe leather) and chips (possibly with onion rings) he really doesn’t want to know. We booked in at the Greytown Hotel (1)- we have eaten there before and the steaks are really good, with the added bonus that the rest of the food is quite yummy too (I recommend the bacon and mushroom soup if it’s on).
Only problem is as we went at Sunday lunch it turns out they only do a roast or bar meals (they neglected to tell us that when we booked). Neither of which any of us wanted. We had already booked a second table (for pudding) at Cuckoo, but couldn’t eat there as it’s mainly pizza – which is not in any shape or form a Well cooked steak.
So, we headed off, stopped in at Cuckoo to cancel the table but said we still might pop in later, and drove off to Martinborough. Mum and Dad have eaten before at Apache Jacks (2) (TexMex but apparently can and do cook a mean steak). Its a family restaurant – so was full of kids – but ho hum. Major problem then was that they were booked up with a private function.
Argghh!
So we popped over the other side of the square to try out the Martinborough Hotel (3). Which was closed this weekend due to new owners taking over.
Trying not to lose patience – hubby went to check out Cool Change (4) (previously EST which was well known and recommended for fairly posh food), but they were only serving AntiPasto and sharing plates and no steaks.
Trying not to lose it entirely at this point (and wishing that my dad was not so averse to Garlic anywhere within a mile or two of his dinner which may at least have given us the option of a winery restaurant), we headed to Reload (5). (changed its name a few times over the years). Steak on the menu – spaces at the tables – open – and willing to serve us!
Finally!
So we ordered our usual mix of “oh my god who are these awkward buggers who are incapable of just ordering off the menu without needing swapsies” steaks, hold the chips/salad/sautes/well done/medium/charcoal. Bless the wait staff in any restaurant who serve us with good grace! Five meals duly arrive – exactly as we ordered them – even Dad’s steak was cooked to the required level of show leather. No mean feat.
I had the Reload Breakfast (Steak, Bacon, Eggs, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, hold the toast and hash browns. I can heartily recommend – its a breakfast and a half! And they gave me Kransky Sausages in place of the toast and hash browns!
Now we decided we wouldn’t stay for pudding – and would stick to the original plan of heading back to Cuckoo. SO we paid up and headed off.
Only as I was driving round the square to head out of town, I was being followed by a truck flashing its lights at me. Which was a bit annoying. New road rules and all I thought – I’m driving perfectly! Only it was the guy from Reload – chasing me with my cardigan that I had left behind.
And THAT is what I call excellent customer service!
Anyhoo – on to Greytown and Cuckoo (6). Which had a power cut.
So, laughing at this point because it was either that or just give up, we took off for Carterton to try and get to Wild Oats (7) before a Meteor struck.
Thankfully they were open, had some cakes, and served coffee.
and 4 hours after heading out for lunch, we finally made it home. Stuffed but exhausted.
More Kiwi Parking
Just can’t bring myself to write a serious post today, so here’s a photo we took way back when we came here on our Honeymoon. I thinks it’s taken somewhere on south Island.
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