For the last few weeks I’d noticed some newly constructed / assembled expensive infrastructure adjacent the ferry departure point…
….nearby where the Sealord Rescue unit is based on Wakefield Quay.
At first glance, it appeared to be the sort of structure that wouldn’t give you much change out a few hundred thousand big ones.
And sure….it got me thinking, what is this all about?
Now Fush & Chups is something I have about once every 5~ 6 mths, and tonight….well…. time was up….I informed my wife that was exactly what I felt like. So after searching on the Samsung Galaxy this evening (“no I don’t have them on fastdial!”) I gave the Fisho’s down at the Quay a call, and booked up a takeaway meal for 20 minutes hence.
Arriving down there after the sun had just gone down, (’twas tempted to send a pic into Jim) it always looks good…..but when I got there…..something else caught my eye.
Unusual visitor to the Quay I thought.......
In the waning evening dusk light, I could make out quite a few extra people, and that much activity down here on a Tuesday night certainly isn’t usual, not withstanding a large ship coming in to dock. No…this Vanguard Rescue boat certainly stood out. It had me doing maths too……printed on its side it said “60- persons.”
Looking around further….no it certainly didn’t appear that any container or logging ship had lost its rescue lifeboat unit either.
Well by now my curiosity was well and truly ………seriously pipped. (Wasn’t helped by the fact that 5 other humans were running around, trying to get “best angles” to take photos) including at least one of those aforementioned folk’s in respective “dayglo’s”…
Although those folks flying on the jet above to Chch didn't realise it....I think this was an important moment for Nelson
So cue the obligatory video……
…and other photos taken tonight…..
…and await the Nelson Mail to report back in the coming days what this is all about.
Sure I could have asked around….but hey, I had a meal of F & C’s waiting….and I could smell it!
But to me….it sure looks like this was going to translate into good news for local folk.
My suspicions are that NMIT have another course, or an extension to a current one planned. One that requires just a bit more “in depth” training.
Ok…but whats the real estate relevance of all this stuff?
Well….actually it comes down to people really.
If you aren’t aware of this, then it probably because just you haven’t read any of my previous blogposts here, where I’ve attempted to try and show outsiders a perspective to the three local, and crucial industries that are said to drive Nelson…….the three “F’s”…..Fruit, Fishing and Forestry.
And employment.
Those with jobs, ones with future prospects, those ones are always keen to “lay down some roots” and in that scenario….real estate is at most times, one of the first, at least some where down the chain ….. the de-facto winner.
UPDATE – AUGUST 11th 2011
As predicted the Nelson Mail has helped me out, and updated the story, turns out it is part of an official NMIT sponsored course, and that Nelsonians will become accustomed to seeing it, (the orange vessel that is) as;
“……..it will soon become a regular sight in Nelson Haven as it is used to train students so that lives will be saved.”
….and just to show that I wasn’t too far off on my costings mentioned above in my blog post….
The boat and davits, made in China and supplied by a Singapore company, have cost the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology about $180,000.
….and regarding the fact that Tuesday night was important down at the port in Nelson….
The boat was lifted on to the davits on Tuesday night. Once its commissioning was completed it would probably be seen in the water about once every three weeks as groups of students went through their training, Captain Walker said.
The Real Estate Agents Authority have just released their latest update.
One of the charts contained within the May 2011 Newsletter to all licensees is this one here;
DATA - REAA NZ
It depicts the fact that 11% of New Zealands Real Estate Agents relinquished their “ticket” this period, and did not renew it.
The Authorities Newsletter highlights this in saying;
1,532 licences with an expiry date of 31 March 2011 have not been renewed. These licensees were sent reminder emails and their employers were also contacted.
Aiding those in need, the REAA compassionately assisted 800 Christchurch licensees in renewing their annual licence, by allowing those licence holders to defer payment of the respective fees and levies until 30 September 2011.
Who can forget Yoda’s immortal words in Star Wars Episode II : Attack of the Clones;
“Hmmm. The Dark Side clouds everything. Impossible to see, the future is”
If you haven’t been hibernating for the last few years, then you’d be aware that after each round of interviews, many employers seek out a PC, and go “googling” or “facebooking” your name, or combinations. Increasing in frequency alongside this is the old detective trick of “looking up“ any writings on/from work associates at previous (or even current) employment locations.
IMAGE CREDIT - Razvan Caliman
Places like Trademe, Linked In, Plaxo, etc actively encourage interviewers to “develop an appetite” for such workmate / schoolmate linkings. Oftentimes its as simple as checking out whom a potential job candidate follows on Twitter or Facebook.
I’ve read comments on some sites like “a workmate is saying so and so” or “he/shes a real wally, a looser” or such.
If either the writer or the intended whom the writer is scribing about, are applying for a job through an interview process, then these comments plus any type of “associated” photo’s are quite illuminating indeed.
In fact from an interviewers point of view, I think the phrase is “time saving.” I’ve heard of one interviewer even glancing over which Facebook Groups a person publicly belongs too.
So along with all the fun of sharing exciting overseas trips, your best friends wedding, and last years family Xmas gathering……..you really should think twice about those “other” photos.
Don’t forget comments either.
Comments?
Check out the box on the right hand side of this page if you are unsure what I’m talking about. (not my page and content varies considerably – some R18)
Maybe the poster thought it was amusing at the time……but dauntingly, thanks to the wonders of the internet, (eg: “mirror sites” in the news this week) those comments will be there to haunt you for a while longer now.
If you need a prime example then you need do no more than google “Candidate’s racy Facebook photos showed ‘lack of judgment’: B.C. NDP leader “ (NSFW)
The Real Estate Angle
I guess by now you are wondering what the heck this has to do with real estate.
Turns out…….lots.
If, after visiting 3 – 4 property managers to find a place to rent / let, then patiently waiting some days for an answer…..and finding out you missed out, yet again……perhaps those photos and that “colourful” language you used on what you thought was a private page just, may not have been such a good idea after all.
Landlords and Property Managers looking to find out a “little bit more” about any potential person who they are going to entrust with their 2 year old 3 bedroom $450,000 brick home…..well you too could do yourself a big favour by employing exactly the same methodology. All landlords would like to have a long term tenant who keeps the grounds tidy, looks after the inside of the home, treats the floor coverings like they would their own, etc.
From the look of some of the photos posted on sites like Facebook…..then it’s not surprising that upon seeing these, a potential future landlord may just have “second thoughts.”
Ringing in my ears is something I was told many years ago which still rings true to this day…..could almost be an interviewers mantra…..
watch what a person does not what they say
Sort of a counter intuitive (“reverse”) meaning of the following phrase “actions speak louder than words” really?
In the end….you don’t want to be disheartened with the whole rental thing…….its your retirement next egg after all…….and the last thing you want to be doing is running an advertisement like this;
….because it got too much and you just want to sell up, and investigate another type of investment.
Could definitely save some “heartache” in the long run.
You read that right, NZ now has a new beer named after the suburb where I grew up, live and work in.
Not just that, its brewed by none other than the next generation of the McCashins.
If that name might sound familiar too you, there is a reason.
Practically every Kiwi bloke has heard of, or tasted a beer called “Macs” that was also originally brewed in Stoke, Nelson.
NZ PM of the day Hon. Robert Muldoon with Terry McCashin at the Official Opening ....some time back...(click for more info)
TV3 reports that “We were warned by the then Prime Minister to be careful. He said, ‘do you know, young men, that you’re going up against the two big breweries in the country?’
We knew,” says original Mac’s brewer Jim Pollit.
RELEVANT FACTOID:
Terry (McCashin) has been credited as starting the craft beer revolution in New Zealand. When he opened the brewery in 1981, the only other breweries were Lion Nathan and DB. In fact it had been so long since anyone else had applied for a brewing licence, that no one knew where to find the application forms.
Dean McCashin, (Terrys son) though, is reluctant to reveal what’s in the new creations.
“Just family recipes,” he says.
PHOTO CREDIT: McCashin's Brewery
Going by the photo attached to their latest Press Release, I’d say it would also appear that a previous work colleague of mine, brewer Sam Wilson, might just have something to do with mixing those final ingredients too?
If you’re curious how its going don’t forget to check out their Facebook page here and see what others think…..
And in case you are asking, “Yes”, yet another advantage of living in Nelson is that local residents can drive down to the shop and buy their summer family reunion picnic needs in keg form.
Sustainable construction materials is now a well known factor that many new build owners are considering or even requesting.
Now in light of recent events in Canterbury, seismic qualities are also going to be uppermost in the minds of many people considering a new build in New Zealand.
STIC stands for the Structural Timber Innovation Company.
Ok, so WHO then is the STIC?
STIC is a New Zealand registered company with seven shareholders:
Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA) and Foundation for Research Science and Technology (FRST).
The Foundation is matching all industry investments in the programme dollar for dollar.
Ok, then WHAT then is STIC?
Here’s what they say on their website;
Structural Timber Innovation Company (STIC) is a research consortium developing and commercialising new technologies that will enable structural timber to compete more effectively in the building and construction market.
Interestingly enough, when I was looking at this site a few months back, I did note the 2~3 short videos that illustrate the different seismic tests.
above menu at bottom left of STIC home page
If you look over the list of consortium partners you might have noticed local major business Nelson Pine Industries Ltd.
As I have mentioned numerous times before our Nelson region has three major industries underpinning our local economy, the so called three “f”s. That’s Forestry, Fruit and Fishing, so it makes plain sense that they are there.
When STIC published their last news letter back in May 2010, it included this;
Test Building Survives Earthquakes!
A 2/3 scale pre-stressed LVL timber building has been designed, specified and constructed at the University of Canterbury. The building has been subjected to rigorous earthquake testing for 9 months and after more than 30 simulated earthquakes it remains structurally undamaged. This building has demonstrated the many advantages offered by this newly developed rapid-construction type of timber building. To see video clips and more information go to www.stic.co.nz or www.stic.com.au
Listed under a summary of the overall benefits offered through use of the STIC building and construction systems, in the Structural integrity section is this comment:
Building structure able to sustain a major earthquake (Richter scale 7.0 – 7.9) without structural damage and able to return to original position without permanent offset or tilt
This additional NZ$80 million plant was commissioned back in March 2002 with the official production start of the LVL line, where veneers are laminated by hot pressing into a beam form. And to place the factories raw material needs into some perspective, I’ll let them tell you….
The Nelson-Marlborough region is one of New Zealand’s major forestry areas, with about 16% of the productive land area planted in production forests. Harvest predictions are for 2.5 million cubic metres per year by 2005, of which Nelson Pine will use about 1 million cubic metres.
Worth a look I’d suggest just to keep yourself up to play.
