OT: Has anybody heard from Jeanne? Worried.....

nope, Sunny, havent heard a word. i hope she is ok. she sounded so discouraged. i cant even imagine what about either. let me know if you hear from her.

amy in CNY

Howdy!

2 of her posts showed up before this \/ reply.

R/S

2 posts on 1 Apr but not not 2 Apr. Very worrying, she's really in a funk this time. Resisting all attempts for help (from us at any rate....)

-- Bronnie

If I were house-bound, and someone built a huge light pole right outside my window and blocked one of my favorite relax-and-look-out-the-window views, I think I'd be in a tad discouraged too. Especially after beating the dead-horse bureaucracy and getting almost nowhere for weeks. Yep. I would.

Karen, Queen of Squishies

It's also especially hard being a foreigner wherever you go. I know that pain. I know what Jeanne means about having no family... my family don't even write or phone anymore, no matter how many presents I send on time, cards etc. It's like they just can't be bothered to make the effort anymore. What's up with that? No matter how hard I try to convince myself that it doesn't bother me, it does. Family does matter. And when you feel that you don't have any anymore, it's hard. So I know a little of what Jeanne is going through and I don't have a massive pole in my yard to top it all off. :(

-- Jo in Scotland

here goes, this is a long long long tirade and fully deserved as i'm getting nowhere at all around here. going bonkers not so quietly at all. aaaaaaaaaccccccccccckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

------------------- not 'one' but my very favourite relaxing peace-inducing view. i've now taken to not looking out the window any longer than it takes me to see the damn pole again and get upset. sometimes if i remember in advance i just keep my head down so i dont have to see the pole. i've been forced to look at that one pole for two months now and my days are ruined over and over thruout the day as i go into the kitchen to do anything. dont know about anyone else but i'm in the kitchen often, eating, drinking, cleaning up, crossing thru to do laundry or to get to the loo down the hallway via the kitchen. less laundry is getting done now as as result as well cuz i hang the laundry on the line in the backyard under view of the damn pole. i see that damn pole over and over and over and over and over and over ad naseum.

had a neighbourhood meeting sunday arvo. i seem to be the most passionate about the damn poles in my face. when i get passionate i get louder. if ya dont make noise the council wont pay any attention to ya, they wont do a damn thing as they own the park and they put thru the resource consent themselves. they dont care about us nor do they intend on taking the poles down without some noise and action from us.

at the meeting.... i was told by one neighbour who didnt even see the poles as a problem that i should be quiet and let others talk. i asked if he wanted me to leave. he did nothing to find out what was going on. i had info that i'd found online and thru calls that others should know about. at the time i was having a one to one convo across the deck while two others were doing the same but he picks me to say be quiet to cuz i'm the loudest i guess.

then a few minutes later another neighbour who doesnt see the poles themselves as being a problem cuz he lives further down the street and has none in his face, he is lower elevation and has native evergreen trees between him and the poles.... he says we do things differently here in nz(he did nothing that i know of), not like the national pastime in america where they sue everyone. i told him i have lived here for 31 yrs (that is over half my life now) and have never in my life sued anyone here or there for any reason. i also never said sue anyone here about the poles. i said we might need to take it to the 'environment court' to have the approval for the poles overturned thus making them illegal so they would have to take them down posthaste and start again from scratch. this is not sueing anyone, just asking for the court to rule again on the resource consent process and legality and overturn the original ruling. i was told by the same man i believe and a couple of others that they'll never take the poles down. how long does one have to live here to be accepted as a tax paying, rates paying, birthed three other tax paying citizens in nz, member of the society here to know how things are done here???? for the record folks here sue others all the time too so he either isnt reading the papers or is stupid. i'm thinking the latter has to be it.

i wonder what the hell they were bothering having a meeting for then. these people cant have it both ways. if they believe the poles will never come down then they surely wont as they wont bother asking, telling or taking the issue to the courts. this is not sueing anyone by the way. it is asking the court to consider all the issues and rule that the resource consent approval is overturned etc.

the council processed the resource consent on a non-notified basis. the council did not get any neighbours approval, consultation or notification on this at all. the council admitted they didnt consult in anyway at all. the council says they saw no adverse effect on the visual amenity of the neighbouring residental propertys. across town in another park, who wants the same tall poles up, have had 2 public meetings. the council said it was an oversight by the 1st project manager (who left midway thru the project) to consult with neighbours. the council then says the 2nd project manager was not aware of the lack of consultation. the council says it is normal policy to consult with neighbours on a project such as this. the council they says they apologize for this oversight. (that does not help me at all, tho might make some idiot at the council feel better hopeing he has fobbed us off with that lame excuse/apology) the council sent someone round to view the poles from the street. that is twice the distance from where i stand in my kitchen. that is perhaps 3 times the distance the neighbours on the downhill side view the pole from their windows. they are about 2 metres lower elevation than my kitchen and closer to the pole as their house is set back further on their section, the same length front to back as mine. they might well have a worse view than i do being lower and closer. so how can the council person who viewed it from the street still see it as a 'minor' issue when he hasnt seen it from our perspective at all. who do i shoot? oh darn i dont own a weapon, none at all, nothing, nada, being more of a pacifist here in the sunny south pacific. gotta love the humour, pacificist in the pacific. omg. ok now i'm losing it again. i cant shut up around here, i'm frigging upset, stressed, annoying pissed off etc. and no doubt telling it all here has left most of you going off for a cuppa or anything else but reading my tirade. i'm alone in the universe here. j.

"Karen, Queen of Squishies" wrote in message news:L1yIj.101681$yE1.42677@attbi_s21...

Jeanne, I read your "tirade" all the way through to the end. I have a lovely view from my kitchen window too. If someone ruined that view with a huge monstrosity it would break my heart. I don't exactly know what you're going through because it hasn't ever happened to me. But when I try to imagine how you must feel I really sympathise with your frustration and fury and helplessness.

I wish I could say something that would actually help you. But I don't know what you can do that you haven't already tried. The neighbourhood meeting sounded like it might be really helpful. If all the neighbours acted together they might get somewhere. How infuriating and upsetting that instead they were dreadfully rude to you! That's not what I've heard about Kiwis, but I suppose there are a**h*les in every country in the world.

Keep talking to us, Jeanne. We do care about you and we've been so worried about you. I hope you get somewhere with your campaign. May I suggest you go and see your doctor and tell him or her what you told us? Now don't get me wrong - if you can show a court that this pole has had a serious negative effect on your physical and mental health, that might count for something. Think about it, OK?

also there is another meeting for a 'neighbourhood watch' group at the home of the 'be quiet and let others speak' man who cares nought about the poles at all, tomorrow night. do i go and tell the whole neighbourhood, some of which live across the street and didnt come to the sunday meeting at all, what i really think of his rudeness on sunday? do i go and shut up and let it fester inside me while he is running the meeting at his house. do i not go with an apology and who but to whom? do i not go and dont even bother apologizing to anyone? the next door neighbour uphill who had the sunday meeting at his home is from croatia originally and knew i was upset after the meeting...i was the last one to leave having the need to tell someone what i was feeling at the time, his wife was out front saying goodbye to others at the time, i'm sure he told her what i said. i'm sure they both understand what i feel but as it is my problem probably figure i'll soon get over it. he did ask on monday arvo when i went into the laundryroom, hollered at me from their deck so i opened the window, asked me if i was ok. i said no, i'm still upset and went over all that again. again he gets it but thinks i need to let it go. easy to let it go when you've got family and folks to support you and men can 'let it go' much easier than women...the world runs that way. hard to let it go when i feel my character and who i am was assassinated. i am an american in nz and he challenged who i am, what i do and how i do it. regardless of the fact i've been here 31+ yrs, over half my lifetime now, brought up three kids here, pay taxes here, vote here, damn it to hell, what do i have to do to prove i like it here enough to stay? maybe i wont stay, tho i cant go back to america as when i am there, i'm asked where are you from. so now i feel as if i have no country, no alliance, no where to go, no family, nothing. see why i'm going insane and not so damn quietly at that. so what to do about the neighbourhood watch meeting tomorrow night two doors down the street??? :( j.

no one in the neighbourhood wants to call in the media yet. we have a tv program here that would love this one on the show. they love challenging the powers that be when they can see it is wrong. but 'follow thru proper procedure with our complaints. the neighbours say. for what? so far council has agreed they did not consult. they said they were sorry for that. they said they cant change the approval (aka they aintagonna do a damn thing). they said if we want to argue the decision by the hearing that 'we' have to take it to the high court. noooo, not in my uneducated but from what i read online opinion.

take it to the environment court (this is not sueing) this is asking for a new ruling on the resource consent. this cost $55, why we'd have to pay for that when it is the council who did wrong and has fully admitted it, i dont understand. we should be able to pass on all the paperwork and the letters/admissions from council to the judges on the environment court to read thru and make a ruling at no cost to the citizens of auckland. then, as i'd think is obvious as they admitted normal procedure was not followed (oversight by any council employeed is still the council responsibility), the approval on the resource consent should be over-ruled and therefore the poles would instantly become illegally placed and require immediate removal and then proper procedure aka consultation and required approval from the neighbours be sought. i'm not gonna approve the poles as they are now to be returned and again in my face. so they'd have to come up with a better alternative. how about telescopic poles that only go up when in use...that is only at nighttime when i'm not looking out my window or wouldnt be bothered by them then....i asked about this on day one during a phone conversation with the resource consent office and was told that they'd be too expensive. well would be less expensive if they'd consulted in the first place now that this might well necessitate court appearances, removal of poles, consultation, reapplying for resource consent, making new poles and installing new poles. gawd how i hate idiots. i dont give a flying you know what if the first project manager missed consultation nor that the second one didnt notice there'd been none got from neighbours. it is the councils ultimate responsibility to gain approval if this is (in their wording) normal procedure and they have done just that across town at the other park in a current ongoing process. why not with us??? idiots idiots idiots and the poles will not be left unchallenged while i'm alive and kicking. idiots. j.

Maybe you need to get a life and get out of the house for a while. Volunteer at a hospital, school, etc. Help your DH on his deliveries. Start sewing up all the fabric you bought, and quit looking at the da** pole for a while. Yes, It's probably an eyesore, but look at all the people in this country that are loosing their jobs and homes at an alarming rate, and be glad you have a home!!!! Just because things aren't going your way, chill out for a while! Gen

I get character assassination as well. Some folks hate Americans. That is the way the world is. I just say, "I didn't get to pick where I was born. Did you?" Another gem is, "I'm a dual national, and just as British as you, thanks. At least the UK government thinks so".

However, you are bigger than this little man who has to insult others in order to get his way/"win points" in the conversation, etc. How sad. The other folks at the meeting didn't try and put you down because you weren't born in NZ. So at least he was in the minority... and it's not like the others joined him and said, "oh yes, let's pick on the foreigner".

It looks like you've done a lot of research online. Everything you have found backs up what I know about this sort of procedure in common law countries - just finished a course on Public Administration. The treasure is... they admitted that they did not consult the public first. They admitted that through various problems with the 1st and

2nd managers, proper procedure was not followed. That is gold dust in a civil court action. I know that you are not going to court, but the same applies. Let's say you take it to this environmental court. Getting the other side to admit that they didn't follow procedure is fabulous. So what if it's $55... your peace of mind is worth that much at least.

Maybe you can't ignore the guy who made you feel bad, because that is just you and the way you are. Okay. We like you for the way you are, so we won't give you that sort of unsolicited advice. Deal with that lame brain however you see best. But, if it were me, I would keep busy with pursuing this thing in your environmental court and getting the pole out, proper procedure followed, and then if the damn pole returns, have it come back as telescopic. It is worth talking to the folks in the city who did get the telescopic poles - find out how much it cost, etc so when the council whinges about cost you have figures casually to hand to refer to.

Anyway, do your homework and the pole will be gone soon. Not as soon as you'd like, but sooner than if you give up, eh?

-- Jo in Scotland (go, fight, win!!!)

Jeanne Perhaps your energy would be better spent developing the very plan you say needs to be done. In every protest or endeavor to "right" things, someone is the lead. Make the lead person, yourself. Perhaps you will have others join you in the cause. Perhaps not. But in the end you will have done what you can to correct the situation. So what if no one [else]wants to call in the media. You do it. So what if no one [else] wants to write out the protest and steps to take. You do it. It will be constructive use of your anger and emotions.

Having a pity party is a lonely affair, no one comes. Get your self in gear and tackle the situation head on.

Ginger in CA

I understand that it is an eyesore, but sometimes it just isn't worth it to fight something. It becomes an obsession, and you let it take over your life. It can make you physically sick. Go shopping, take a trip, clean out a closet - anything to take your mind off this. You will wind up paying for it healthwise if you don't let it go.

Sherry Starr

i'm on call with the second van if needed for any reason. i dont need to nor do i like shopping. walk'n round a mall i've had enough of thanks all the same, lol. help him with his deliverys, eeeeeeeek. he'd never have that.

did 15 yrs volunteering from preschool thru primary school. too tired after the last 8 yrs of stuff to deal with. i'm knackered. it is a good idea, i'm just too tired. being home was ok til 2 months ago, now not so much. looking into my backyard is not so nice anymore. shrug, j.

much more to me than just an eyesore. it totally dominates what was once the 'calming peace-within' view it was for me. my health was already not great, after 6 yrs of hell. i dont need to shop, cleaning, ewwwwwww, little energy any longer to take much of a trip. no worrys tho, i've got the view out the living room still. of course that is of the street, light poles and cars going up and down it all day. the back view is just one less thing to enjoy here but hey, lifes good, eh. i'm alive, i can breath, i can walk, i can eat, i dont have any bad diseases i'm aware of, kids all healthy that i know of, want for nothing, mortgage free, got enough stash, got enough money for anything i might want/need, so i should just dance the night away in the sand under the palm trees in the south pacific. me obsess, ha ha!!! (laugh like the crazy kid on the simpsons). j.

much thanks for your understanding and support, Jo. still unsure if i'm going to the meeting or not. cant decide if i really care to be in the home of that rude man. now if i can recall the first line if i ever need it again. i'm still a us citizen only tho a permanent resident here for 31yrs. more trouble that its worth to go thru the rigamarole. i vote, i pay taxes, i get public health care, can run for office but can not be prime minister, bummer, oh well. snorfle. i have contributed to society in my own way. i'll get rid of the pole or die trying, if it takes that long. they are wrong, they admited being wrong, precedent with same poles across town with public consultation, along with them thinking we're all stupid will get the poles, as they are now, down, then changed if they really need them. our female speaker of the house of parliament has put an appeal to the Environment Court here against a RC for a building next to Parliament that is to be 27mts high (max allowed there is 22mt). from the newspaper article that is her main objection. granted that RC has not gone thru yet and ours is thru and the poles up. that doesnt deter me from my goal. just gonna take me a bit longer. i'm going to email her as soon as i can write a coherent letter about it. hugging my hug a lot lately. :) jeanne

"Johanna Gibs> I get character assassination as well. Some folks hate

i am in a funk for sure, Bronnie. there really is nothing anyone can do from afar. for that matter, what could anyone do here? shrug. i'll get there or die trying. jeanne

"Br> 2 posts on 1 Apr but not not 2 Apr. Very worrying, she's

that is what i'm doing, Ginger. want to get it right tho, so going at my own speed. got some more things to find online now. j.

"Ginger in CA" wrote... Jeanne Perhaps your energy would be better spent developing the very plan you say needs to be done. In every protest or endeavor to "right" things, someone is the lead. Make the lead person, yourself. Perhaps you will have others join you in the cause. Perhaps not. But in the end you will have done what you can to correct the situation. So what if no one [else]wants to call in the media. You do it. So what if no one [else] wants to write out the protest and steps to take. You do it. It will be constructive use of your anger and emotions.

Having a pity party is a lonely affair, no one comes. Get your self in gear and tackle the situation head on.

Ginger in CA