Howdy. Zak's the name. This is my little space on the web. The navigation links at the top of the page are the gist of the things you'll find, but I throw in some random thoughts and ramblings too.
Imperfection wins the day
Colour matching did the trick. Saved some moolah by just painting the patches and not the whole walls. If you look hard you can see where I’ve done the touching up but that’s ok. I’m embracing imperfection. Means I get progress, and if I make it too good any little nick will stand out right? Felt like a 90s throwback so whacked on some Presidents.
#WeblogPoMo2024
Dusty fans
We’ve all got em. I look at this filth every day. Took all of 5 minutes to clean. Lesson learned.
#WeblogPoMo2024
This wee track goes to a nice swimming or fishing spot along the Kawarau River. It is a sheltered nook with a shallow bank, but don’t go too far or you’ll get swept away. Popular with the locals.
#DesireLine #desirePath #psychogeography
Painting.. or not
Turns out I didn’t have any left over tinted wall paint from the previous owner/builders. Now the quest to figure out what colour was used. Internet suggests I chip off a bit to get matched at the store. In the meantime I sanded back the patches and painted some trim (which I did have leftovers for!). Also found more holes 😑 so patched them up too.
#WeblogPoMo2024
Progress
Think I’m getting past covid finally. Enjoying small walks now without a cracking headache.
#walking #LunchWalk #CovidRecovery
Calendar photos
Each year I try to make a calendar for the fam. These are some photos that’ve made the cut, in no particular order.
Swims under Richardson Mountains, Otago
Ridge scrambling towards Mt Burns, Southland
Ski day, Remarks
Takitimu Mountains, Southland
Lake Sylvan Track, Glenorchy
Macetown lupins, Arrow River, Arrowtown
Takitimu Forest, Southland
Lake McKay, Pisa Range
Takitimu Forest, Southland
Queenstown
Descending Brow Peak, Arrowtown
Another one near Brow Peak, Arrowtown
Remarks
Views from Mt Shrimpton, Otago
Symmetry Peaks, Southland
Views of Lake Hawea, Corner Peak, Otago
Arvo run after work, Queenstown
Somewhere along Cardrona Cromwell Pack Track, Otago
Deep Creek Hut, Otago
Green Lake Track, Southland
Wye Creek and Double Cone
Ridge scrambling Mt Hanley
Miner’s trail, Arrowtown
Green Lake, Southland
#trailrunning
Weighing up how I build the desire lines data schema and what makes the cut.
First one has become quite a heavily used locals track that skirts closer to the river than the main Twin Rivers Trail, giving access to the riverbank on occasion. It is walled by Buddleia for a good part of it which is beaut in flower and provides shade, however it is a pest plant.
The path is mapped in OpenStreetMap as a footway (red dash) and visible from the aerial imagery, however it is not captured in the Google Earth data or the local Council’s data (solid yellow).
This second one saves the day when there’s been a bit of rain.
I think I’ll keep both these in and just build the schema around what’s going on.
#DesireLine #DesirePath #psychogeography #walking #GIS
Not much happening being sick and all. Here’s some slightly chomped radishes that’ll make it into my belly today.
#GardeningNZ
A month of COVID
My first stint of COVID hit me on the 26th March 2024, now a month back. I’ve been lucky to have lasted this long without it. The first 10 days was horrid with throat and nasal issues, nausea, and coughing resulting in a crook neck. It was bad timing too (is it ever good timing?) with Dad and R visiting, lots of public holidays, my birthday, and things ramping up at work. I bunkered down that first period, tested negative on day 10, caught up with Dad and R just before they took off home and started the return to work.
I returned too early, feeling good in the morning thinking I’d be ok until the walk over the hill to the office from my car set off breathlessness and queasiness. The following week I worked from home, which helped, but by the afternoon my coughing would ramp up again and my focus would decline. Concerned I was now using my asthma puffer for the first time in 5 years I visited the doctor and they gave me 3 days of steroids to help reduce any chest inflammation. This helped my breathing which has been OK since.
This week I returned to work again on Tuesday, feeling better again, but I must have triggered it again because by lunch I started to go downhill with coughing and headaches. I took yesterday off and today is another public holiday I don’t get to enjoy. My headaches are bad and consistent now. I will take tomorrow off and have the weekend again to rest.
I guess this is long-COVID. I will visit the doctor again this coming week, and be more cautious. Although I was feeling ok on those returns to work, it was still clearly lingering and waiting for me to exert myself just a fraction enough to put me on my arse again.
I will put a hold on walking and gardening, but keep up my morning Pilates to keep my back and breathing in check. After my biggest year of running ever its going to take a while for me to get back to where I was. That’s OK. It was a good year.
#CovidRecovery