So...six weeks on. Winter is coming. Infrastructure is still what is commonly known as 'munted', but we got the house more-or-less watertight. (This is in the east. The west is still an entirely different city, weirdly clean and intact.)

At this point, I need to go back to hiatus or flounce or whatever it is I was doing. Ongoing RL issues are still...ongoing, and compounded by various quake-related things. I'm still contactable via e-mail, PM, etc. if you need. I just wanted to let people know I was safe.

Google assures me that 'mensiversary' is a real word, so here we are, one month on from the Christchurch quake.

There's a lot of frustration in the city, and some murmurs from parliament that I hope are just cherry-picked/misleading reporting. So here are some things that make me smile, in a grim sort of way.

- The women behind Smash Palace are coming down for three days and offering to turn people's broken china into jewellery, no charge.

- MetService now includes dust cloud risk as part of the weather forecast for Christchurch. (Refer to my post re alluvial deposits.)

- Exploding toilets.


eta HOW COULD I FORGET

showusyourlongdrop

showusyourlongdrop

showusyourlongdrop

Kia kaha; awhina mai, awhina atu.

Well, I knew I'd been lying awake for awhile but I thought it would be something like 2am, not... seven. Sleep fail.

I guess I'm pissed and frustrated about this memorial in a few hours. I don't even know if I want to go anymore, and I'd rearranged a lot of plans to make sure I'd be able to attend.

I wanted to grieve for my friends and grieve for my city, and stand with people who were doing the same. I wanted to pay tribute to what's been lost and what's been learned and what we've shown we can do. But the politicians and the bureaucrats have different ideas about what's important, and the memorial they've planned is not the one I want or I need.

I've seen the programme described as an Anglican church service, and that's pretty apt. Despite the fact that many of the people who died weren't even Christian, that many of the people who live here and are dealing with this aren't Christian.

Since the earthquake, Christchurch, particularly in the southern and eastern suburbs, has been about community and helping each other and caring about each other. It has been about finding common ground, and that's exactly what I needed out of this memorial. Common ground, a goddamn connection with someone, anyone. Not a selfish, narrow memorial that spits in the face of everything we claim to value.


Fuck you, Bob Parker. Fuck you, John Key. Take your goddamn Bible readings and go choke on your crocodile tears.

Saw a road cone in a subsidence hole in the road (as opposed to next to it, marking it), so that just the wee orange tip of the cone was poking out. It was strangely adorable.

Tomorrow is the public memorial service; bring on the obligatory Dave Dobbyn appearance.

Status continues to be quo. Or as people round here call it: 'the new normal'.

Tsunami not a concern to Chch. Maybe ten centimetres of water? The main force wasn't aimed at the South Pacific so NZ (primarily top half of North Island) and Pacific Islands got off blessedly lightly.

A couple people in Japan I haven't heard from yet [eta: safe], also some in other countries around the Pacific. But since they are still releasing names of Christchurch dead it doesn't feel much different.

I do not need anything right now; there are millions of people far harder hit than me.

Still much the same. All kinds of thoughts whirling round in my head but not sure how to put any of them into some kind of meaningful form. They've released more names of the dead, and many more remain missing.

Thank you. All of you. For your support, messages, donations, and love.

He aha te mea nui o te ao?
He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!

What is the most important thing in the world?
It is people! It is people! It is people!

Nothing really new to say. Barring any major developments, I'm dropping down the frequency of these updates.

We will rebuild.

In ten minutes it will be exactly a week since the earthquake. This is my current status:

Cracks in the house are widening and lengthening.
Cracks in the nearby roads and footpaths are widening and lengthening.
It has been announced that the local supermarket will not reopen. At all.
I haven't had the heart to walk down and see the local school, my old school, which is reported as being one of the most heavily damaged in the city.
The little library I showed you here now looks like this:



People I know are among the confirmed dead.


We do have electricity.
We are (currently) physically abled and can walk to the nearest port-a-loo, water tanker or medical facility.
Hundreds of thousands of people are still alive.

I have mixed feelings about this post.

The Prime Minister, John Key, has called for two minutes of silence⁽¹⁾ at 12:51pm Tuesday 1st March, exactly one week after the quake that struck Christchurch and devastated my hometown.

On the one hand, I tend to consider those kinds of things a waste of time; give us money, give us port-a-loos⁽³⁾, give us this day our daily bread (turns out most of the large bakeries were in Christchurch, whoops, sucks to be the South Island); two minutes of silence is not, in the larger scheme of things, terribly practical assistance.

On the other hand, it makes some people feel better.

So, if you would like to participate, you can find out when that is in your timezone here, or you can do it at 12:51 your own time, or hell you can even close your eyes and think of Christchurch right now if it will help you.



(1) IDK why it's not the standard "minute of silence"; I guess to emphasise how big⁽²⁾ this disaster is for us?
(2) In terms of loss of life, this is currently at fifth place in NZ history; expected to end up at least third but may end up first. Per capita, it's equivalent to 2,119 deaths in the UK, or 10,518 deaths in the US. In terms of cost, it's estimated at 7-8% of GDP, compared with the 1% of GDP of Hurricane Katrina. The airport has put on 20 extra flights per day to cope with the numbers of people evacuating and I can't be bothered looking up the numbers to translate that into Real Country Equivalencies but just take my word for it that it's a lot.
(3) I am so not kidding about the port-a-loos. Send them all.
(4) I have not cried, for the sole reason that if I start I'm not sure how I'll stop. I've got shit to do, okay; there's a city to be rebuilt.
(5) Shut up; I like footnotes.

Christchurch was built largely on reclaimed swampland, on an alluvial plain. What this means is that, in an earthquake, the ground basically turns to quicksand. Water was forced up through whatever cracks it could find or make, causing fairly large-scale flooding, and when it drained it left behind silt in deposits commonly referred to as sand volcanoes:



Friday there was rain, but other than that the weather has been largely warm and dry. This means that much of the deposited silt has dried to a fine dust that clogs the air. In my part of town it's not advisable to walk around outside without a face mask on.

The weather forecast is predicting a Nor'wester, which means big dust clouds and possible wind damage to weakened buildings.



For anyone following the "I hope they go to jail for a long time - with a cellmate." debacle, I did get a reply from the Minister. It's...somewhat lacking: "I have never made any such suggestion around sexual abuse and I am frankly appalled that anyone would seek to accuse me of it." (Several other people have received the same word-for-word statement.)

Asked if she was saying the NZ Herald misquoted her. Am awaiting further reply.

Post-earthquake, there are various issues with scams and burglaries. There is a lot of public outrage about anyone taking advantage during this crisis.

Police Minister Judith Collins compared the actions of looters etc to "people who rob the dead" (NZHerald, source), which pretty accurately describes the public feeling about this, but it's the next quote that really got my attention.

"I hope they go to jail for a long time - with a cellmate."

Her meaning is pretty fucking clear. The Police Minister just publicly wished for the rape of criminals.

There is no excuse for rape. Not ever. No "she was asking it", no "well, they stole an emergency generator". NO. This is not fucking okay.

(Eta: as a sidenote, Judith Collins has contact details. Just as a, you know. Point of interest.)




This counts as my quake report for today. As you can see, I'm still alive and I still have power.

I can't believe I didn't think of the Women's Refuge when I was making my last post. In September last year, after the "Big Quake" (if we'd only known...), domestic violence skyrocketed. Now, with a quake that makes last year's look like soccer practice, I can't imagine the strain on the system. So, uh. If people are wanting to donate, that's also a super good organisation to choose.

DID YOU KNOW: that this is New Zealand's first ever national state of emergency?
  - that the national census has been cancelled, and has only been so twice before - the first being in 1931 during the Great Depression, the second being 1941 during World War II?
  - that the confirmed death toll has risen to 123 145?



Spent the day out in the community doing what I can. Neighbours down the road had surplus bread and donated us some. Directed some more people to where they can find water supplies, an open grocery store, etc, etc.

One of the aftershocks today was just 2km deep, and three following were at 4km. Quakes that shallow are... unpleasant. Not quite sure which are worse: the quakes that come hurtling out of nowhere, or the quakes that give you half a second to get good and tense before the whole world shudders and rattles around you.


Random pic of the day:

Having power back on is the best . thing . ever.

I know that some links are floating around for people interested in donating. I'd just like to point out that I wholeheartedly do not endorse the Salvation Army, as they have a history of denying aid to people who are openly gay. I know that they're heavily involved in the relief efforts and are doing good work here, so money that goes to them is going towards helping us, but personally I cannot support them.

The Red Cross, on the other hand, is also heavily involved in the relief efforts here and I recommend them as a good organisation to donate to, if people are wanting to help. At the moment, money is needed more than food or blood.



Here is a story in pictures:

( They had just finished sealing up all the cracks in the road. Whoops.Collapse )

( We don't know whose letterbox this is. It is a long way from any houses and the closest ones still have their letterboxes.Collapse )

( This is the library I went to when I was a tiny smallcaps. The fencing was in place because the September quake cracked the building. Cracked.Collapse )

( People lining up for water.Collapse )

Just got some internet access - I and family are safe and alive. Have enough bottled water for now and are in walking distance of one of the distribution sites. All necessities are covered.

I DRANK SOME MILK AND I THINK IT WAS OFF AND NOW I HAVE GUMMY TUMMY.

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD:

Thank you, anonymous gifter! I suspect it was someone I've been talking icons with, so I uploaded a new icon in your honour.

Also because, hello, karaoke.

FYI, if you are hoping I'mma be all up in y'all's comment sections being lulzy, that's not going to happen much. I'm mostly going to avoid reading comments because I can't vet who will be in there and what kind of things they might say.

I apologise in advance if I screw up and start arguing with internet strangers in your space. Feel free to tell me to STFU and go have a mug of hot chocolate.


(As for what reminded me I need to take this tactic - well, someone thinks my friends are legitimately bad people for letting me near their children, because I have PTSD and no good parent would allow someone like me in their home.)



eta: if, like me, you like Torchwood (although not unconditionally), and mash-ups, and crack vids, you might like this!

(The youtube version is a little choppy on my computer; the dl at source is smoother. Vidder warnings: "Some violence (including male on female)")



Sauce.

Hello. I guess I am coming back for a little while to see how it goes. I will do my best to keep my personal shit from resulting in crazed internet rants. That said, I do have a lot of personal shit, and I understand and won't have my feelings hurt if people want/need to remove me from their flists. Now would be a good time since I'm going to attempt to sort out my own flist and comm memberships over the next couple of days.

(I just left a bunch of comms and I am already tired of clicking that button. I just want LJ to automagically make all my decisions for me.)



I feel like there was something else I wanted to say here but IDK.


eta: image heavy comments section due to gif spam.

This is several months past relevance, but I did not have the emotional wherewithal to have this discussion at the appropriate time, and I don't think it should go unsaid. Comments are disabled because I'm not up to hosting any conversation, although I will attempt to respond to any PMs in good faith. (I can't promise it will be prompt, because my own wellbeing is taking priority at the moment.)


On Friendship

If someone is upset, and posts about it, I do not actually expect their online friends to question them about it. If someone is venting about something that has happened to them, I don't have a problem with their flist taking them at their word that those things happened.

Yes, even when the other parties are on livejournal too. If your friend says, "ugh, smallcaps said something really horrible about me," then unless you are also friends with smallcaps I expect you to assume that, in fact, smallcaps said something horrible about your friend, and offer your sympathies.

(If you are also friends with hypothetical user smallcaps then there's a strong argument for going, 'hang on, this doesn't sound right, let me get the other side of things'. Yes, I have screwed this up in the past; I am not pretending any moral high ground, here.)

If it later turns out that there is perhaps more to the story, I do not think that people should be apologising for simply taking their friend's words at face value.



Now, to many readers it will be obvious that I am not talking about a hypothetical situation; of course I'm talking about a very specific situation involving different livejournal users entirely.

In this situation, the post was not "someone on the internet was mean to me". The post was, "someone on the internet was mean to me and here are some bonus highly offensive statements because I'm upset".

Then the internet provided some details that suggested that in fact the 'meanness' situation was rather more complicated than first presented.

Personally, what I didn't really want to see next was a flurry of apology posts from people who said they had learned their lesson and would get all sides of a story next time a friend was upset.

No. No. What the hell. Why are people apologising for trusting a friend?

The apology post I wanted to see, and never saw*, was "oh, I'm sorry I didn't call my friend out on those bonus highly offensive statements".

That's all. That's what I'd like some people to think about. I don't expect anyone to run around fact-checking (which may or may not even be possible) before they comfort a friend. Just. Think about what you're signing your name to. "Hey, I'm really sorry that happened to you, but uh that second part is really offensive by the way." It's easy to say and there were plenty of examples.

Apologise for not saying that. But don't apologise for offering sympathy in the first place. It only makes me feel like you completely missed the point of what was "hypothetically" offensive about it.



*Disclaimer: there may have been posts like it off my flist or after I stopped reading my flist.