Gumtrees

Recently, we had to get some gumtrees cut down on our property... if you look towards the front of the house, it was three gumtrees sitting on the bank to the left of the front of the house. It was a shame because I really liked those gumtrees, but now they are gone. I liked those gumtrees because they made me think of a savoury smell whenever I saw them outside my bedroom window, as well as the gumtrees had a relaxing holiday feel to them.

We had to pay for the gumtrees to be cut down. It cost $6000 to have them cut down. It would have otherwise cost $20000 if it wasn't for the tennis court that enabled the heavy machinery to be wheeled in. They had to be cut down because they were potentially unstable.

But all of this started when a "concerned citizen" wrote a letter to the Hutt City Council saying that the trees could potentially be unstable. Then the Hutt City Council sent an Arbourist in. The arbourist said that the trees were potentially unstable. So we had to advise the insurance companies that the trees could potentially be unstable (so the insurance companies wouldn't cover us if any damage occurred because of the trees). So then we had to get them cut down because we wouldn't be covered by insurance plus we could have been liable for any damage that occurred to anywhere (including the public roads at the bottom of the bank?) or anyone because of the trees, which I'm pretty sure we would not be able to pay for... or someone could have sued us for damage done because of the trees... in the end we got the trees cut down...

And it is very tempting to be annoyed at the original and innocent "concerned citizen" for causing all this... especially because after the trees were cut down, many people were glad because they had a better view of the city, and we think the person who complained was mainly just after a better view.

So why is it that we end up paying for the trees to be cut down when we didn't want to get rid of them, when the people who did want the trees cut down (because they got a better view) didn't have to pay a cent. Lets all be glad that the person who was really concerned about potentially unstable trees around the neighbourhood was bothered to go and write a letter to the council about how unstable the trees were. I wonder what other "potentially unstable trees" he's noticed around the neighbourhood.

I hate being forced to pay for things I didn't want anyway. That just doesn't make sense.

I just feel like we've been ripped off, when this whole thing was a community matter.



There is an old grey gumtree
Standing in the rain of my backyard
I see it and I know
I have sympathy for it
It is standing there alone
No birds around
No harvest of any kind
It’s just a grey old gum tree


I’m alone, without my emotions
There is no feeling to my existence
I’m empty, I’ll fall asleep here
Under this grey gumtree
Which is about to be cut down
Because it is overgrown
It’s just a grey old gumtree
Of course it’s just a grey old gumtree


No one to look after it
No one to trim its leaves
It is so old and over grown
It’s just a grey gum tree


The clouds in the sky
Rain where the grey old gumtree lies
There is no sunshine
It’s just a grey old gumtree


I’m alone, without my emotions
There is no feeling to my existence
I’m empty, I’ll fall asleep here
Under this grey gumtree
Which is about to be cut down
Because it is overgrown
It’s just a grey old gumtree
Of course it’s just a grey old gumtree

Zen philosophy

The other day I was shopping at the warehouse (where everyone gets a bargain) and a book filled up with quotes on Zen philosophy caught my eye!

On the back of the book tho is a quote that says:

"Sit quietly doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself"
(Zen Wisdom. I don't think there's a known author)

Now, I interpret this quote as saying like "go with the flow!" or do nothing and everthing will sort itself out.

But I often do nothing anyway. If you know me, you probably know that I am someone who often does "nothing". But look where doing nothing has got me!!!!:O

So then maybe I will completely ignore this quote of ancient Zen wisdom that was developed from hundreds and hundreds of years of thinking and wondering by Zen philosphers... meanwhile I'm not even a 100 years old. Not that being 100 years old is young or anything;)


Here are a couple of other quotes of Zen ancient wisdom!:

"Do not seek the truth. Only cease to cherish options" (This one sounds confusing.)

"I drink tea and forget the world's noises." (Sounds random but has some sense.)

"Silence is a friend that will never betray."
Confucius

Some parts of Zen philosophy I agree with, but other parts I'm not too sure about.

Caring About Things

Why is it I can't be bothered doing some things. I can't be bothered doing so many things so often. And is it a good idea to care that one can't be bothered to do anything. I hear a continous debate in my mind about whether I should care about particular things or not... Sometimes I care, othertimes, I don't care. But then sometimes I feel guilty for not caring...

Occasionally, I hear someone use the phrase "I don't care!"

Okay, now for something FUN. Let's completely analyse this phrase "I don't care!":

When someone says they don't care, does that mean that they really don't care, or does that mean that they just don't want you to think they care, or does that mean they're just reaffirming to themselves that they don't care because they're uncertain about whether they actually care or not. LOL

One simple phrase made to be so confusing!!!

Oh well, I don't care!

LOL

Ok, I'm going away to some place that's about 5 hours drive away from Wellington (I keep forgetting the name of where I'm going. Waikarkoura or something like that) next week for about 5-8 days implanting seismographs into the ground for my dad's work. I'm getting paid so that's good, but i'm worried about how much work i'll have to do and whether it's within my working capacity. Oh well, only one way to find out!;)

And so today, I was the only one home tonight... so i had to organise dinner somehow. We had hardly anything in the cupboard, so I had to get dinner by other means;) I thought about getting pizza delivered, which, from Pizza Hutt, would have cost about $24 for two pizzas delivered. But instead, I went to the supermarket and bought 2 cans of soup, 2 cans of baked beans, 2 large packets of peanut M&ms, one packet of sesame cracker biscuits, one 2.25 Litre bottle of coke and some barley sugars for $22. What a SAVING! compared with buying 2 large pizzas for $24. assumging there's 16 pieces of pizza from 2 large pizzas, that's like 67 cents per piece of pizza (yes, i used a calculator to work that out;) ) And yes I was very proud ;)