Racing the Typhoon

Checking in at Registration…

Sophia: George! When did you fly in?

George: I didn't fly. I came by ferry.

Sophia: By ferry? From Tokyo? A long trip?

George: It definitely was. Twenty-one hours.  Departed Yokosuka nearly midnight.

Sophia: How was the voyage? Rough? 

George: Well, typhoons send waves up from the south so some big waves rocked the ship during the night. We raced past some container ships. Some motorcyclists were aboard and their bikes were double-lashed down.

Sophia: Did you get seasick?

George: Woke up a bit queasy so I took an anti-seasickness candy. Grape-flavored.

Sophia: And did it work?

George: Worked for the nausea. But the side effect made me take a six-hour nap. And by the time we arrived at Shin-Moji, the seas were calm.

Sophia: Calm before the storm. Nice timing to get in ahead of the typhoon. My flight was the last one to land today. A lot of cancellations tomorrow. Tomorrow could be rough.

George: It's supposed to lose some steam.

_____________

Voice-over

The conference went ahead, the keynote showed up but some presenters didn’t make it. The typhoon did weaken. Braving a tempest brings confidence of conquering a challenge.

Braving a tempest: Go or no go?

A weather warning…

Ricardo: A typhoon? Steven, you're on two wheels. What are you thinking? Is a bucket list item really worth risking that?

Steven: Well, if a bad system moves in, I’ll pull over, find a local onsen, and wait it out. Part of the adventure is adapting. Play it by ear.

Ricardo: I suppose you can always hole up somewhere. And I get it that you’re taking a ferry to avoid the nasty roads. Why don’t you just take slow trains?

Steven: When you’re in a train, it’s kind of passive. On a bike, you feel the temperature drop when you enter a forest, you smell the ocean. It's immersive.

Ricardo: Immersive is one way to put it. Specially if it rains. Navigating is what would drive me crazy. The signs outside major cities get incredibly confusing, and if your GPS cuts out in the middle of some mountain road, you're going to be hopelessly lost. 

Steven: It’s a concern. But getting lost can enter the itinerary. Take a wrong turn and end up at a hidden roadside shack serving great udon. Local people can be very kind.

Ricardo: What about the ferry? And getting seasick if the weather turns bad. 

Steven: Well, if I don’t get sick it could be a nice rest.

Ricardo: The cost? Wouldn’t a train be cheaper?  

Steven: Nope. Fare for the bike and me is like twenty thou and a bed for the night, the train nearly double and no bed. I’m sure there’ll be moments where I say what possessed me but it’s all about the challenge.

Ricardo: Well, stay safe out there.

Road trip and sea trip

_________

Voice-over

Typhoon 30 is heading for Okinawa between Friday and Saturday. Departing Yokosuka at 23:45 on Friday night, the eye of the storm is still way south. However, long before a typhoon arrives, it sends massive swells rolling up the Kuroshio Current. For a long-distance car ferry cutting straight across the open ocean toward Kyushu, the atmospheric pressure drop and sea conditions suggests a wild crossing.

Battery Sulfation and Pigtail Harness

Mobike will not go…

Andrew: Battery is flat and won't hold a charge. Bike is only two years old. Shouldn't the battery last longer than that?

Orlando: Depends how the bike is treated. Has the motorcycle been sitting unused?

Andrew: Yeah, well, it did sit for about three months straight while I was traveling. 

Orlando: A lead-acid battery sitting will sulfate. That is, sulfur crystals build up on the lead plates, harden, and reduce the battery's ability to hold a charge.

Andrew: Hmm. The bike sits around around a lot. How can I prevent the battery from going flat?

Orlando: Couple of options. The simplest is disconnecting the negative wire from the battery terminal when you leave, which stops the electrical drain. A better option is using a small battery tender attached to a pigtail.

Andrew: Disconnecting the wire makes sense. But a pigtail?

Orlando: A short wire harness that connects permanently to the battery terminals. The other end has a quick-disconnect plug that peeks out from under your seat or side panel so you don't have to remove the battery cover every time.

Andrew: Oh, convenient! So I just leave that harness attached all the time, and then what do I do when I store the bike?

Orlando: Exactly. When you park the bike for a while, just plug the battery tender directly into that quick-disconnect plug. The tender will monitor and automatically maintain the charge without overcharging it, preventing sulfation.

___________

Voice-over

Use it or lose it. A battery can be gone in three months if unused. Could go a dozen years if under constant use.

Augustus

Gen Z don’t read books?

Gen Z: But I’m Gen Z and I read. Books.

Boomer: Glad to hear it. Encouraging. Books are good, they have heft.

Gen Z: Can you suggest a good book?

Boomer: I can suggest one I’m reading at the moment. For me, with my memory, I only recall the book I’m currently on. I can remember the title at least. Augustus.

Gen Z: The Roman emperor? 

Boomer: Exactly. This is a good one. By Allan Massie. Not just a historical account. Gets inside the head of Augustus and interprets his motives and dilemmas. And as the book and his life progress, his losses mount. Like happens to us all.

____________

Voice-over

Brilliant 1986 account of Augustus’ maneuverings and workarounds to deal with setbacks and blowups, while the spectre and reality of loss close in.

Catastrophizing

Nurse Cleo dials down the panic…

Odette: Ouch. Odd. A spasm—almost like an electric shock stabbing me under my arm. Do you think that could be a sign of a heart attack?
Cleo: What side was it on?
Odette: Left side.
Cleo: Are you having any chest pain? Shortness of breath? Pain travelling into your neck or down your arm? Any dizziness or feeling faint?
Odette: No. None of those. Just that one horrible little electric stab under my arm.
Cleo: Well, you have been sitting at that computer for several hours since lunchtime. Given that, could be something related to your posture. Maybe a compressed nerve or muscle fatigue.
Odette: So ta feeling like an electric shock doesn't necessarily mean heart problems?
Cleo: No. Nerves can can get twitchy when you are hunched over your keyboard. You can irritate a nerve or tighten the muscles around your shoulder and upper chest.
Odette: Mm. Makes sense. 
Cleo: Try getting up every 30–60 minutes, even just for a few minutes. Roll your shoulders, stretch your arms and neck, walk around, and change position regularly. And adjust your chair, screen and keyboard so you're not reaching forward or hunching your shoulders. But if the pain becomes persistent or severe, or you develop chest pressure, shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness, or pain spreading to your arm, neck or jaw, don't assume it's posture—get urgent medical help.
__________
Voice-over
Odette reacts the way many of us do. Catastrophizes. She imagines the worst from a spasm. OMG, a heart attack. Cleo, a with medical background looks at multiple possible causes. Discounts the major because the symptoms don’t add up. Leaving the lesser serious, a nervous spasm, with its simpler remedies.

White Birdwatching Rabbits

WHITE RABBIT, WHITE RABBIT, WHITE RABBIT. October’s elderly rabbits live on an estuary. Volunteer Birdwatchers for the Department of Conservation. Counting migratory species, travelling in threes to give luck to the birds on their journeys. They said nice place you have and I said, well the view is good, the birds sing, the house is JUST robust enough to see us out. Not everyone appreciates it, maybe a bit too nostalgic for many urban folks.

The Butcher's Tale

Margaret Thatcher was a grocer’s daughter…
George: I was just reading an article about Naomi Eaton, the movie star. Seems she grew up in the same town as you.
Rupert: Yes, though she was a bit older than me.
George: The article noted she passed away at the relatively young age of 60 several years ago. Did you ever know her or run into her?
Rupert: I didn't know her personally, but I remember her family because her father was the local butcher.
George: No kidding! Where was the shop?
Rupert: Right down the road from our house. My mother used to send me down there sometimes to buy sausages.
George: Fascinating. Do you have any memories of the shop?
Rupert: Her father was always draped in his blue striped apron, with rows of sausages hanging from ceiling hooks. And he had tattoos covering his forearms. Maybe from his time in the Navy, dunno.

George: I always had the impression Naomi came from an artsy kind of family.
Rupert: Well, my mother knew her mother, and she was the one who encouraged Naomi to take on roles in the local repertory theatre productions.
___________
Voice-over
Maybe the father also gave Naomi a boost. André Simon observed people in food preparation are like actors; they must be fit and strong, since acting and cooking are two of the most exacting professions. Rupert recalls the shop almost as a personal theatre with the butcher standing behind his counter performing.

MGTC and MX5NB

A pretty straight example…
Wolfgang: I bought it 25 years ago. It’s been mostly garaged, so it’s aged gracefully.
Björn: Hard to find many NBs this good. Why are you an MX5 fan?
Wolfgang: When I was a kid, I read The Red Car by Don Stanford. It was about restoring an MGTC. The MX5 felt like a modern iteration of that spirit.
Björn: Design concept similar, hmm.
Wolfgang: Yeah, lightweight, open top roadsters. Simple, driver focused machines, not weighed down by excess.
Björn:  No frills. The MGTC had that raw charm, just sticking to the road.
Wolfgang: Had to be a bit careful. They could roll. A friend’s one did. I like the camaraderie of the MX5 community. But I also like the MX5 without any aging creaks and puddles underneath.
Björn: Like you have keeping a TC. Got it. Maybe you could do a remake of Stanford's book, about restoring an MX5?
Wolfgang: If I did, it'd be about the MX5 community, and the garage like yours.
____________
Voice-over
A manual MX5 with rear wheel drive, classic styling, long bonnet, shortdeck just like the MGTC. Mazda studied the old British roadsters when designing it. The MX5 carried that ethos forward.

MX5 engine cutting out

Taking a call…

Wolfgang: Hi Björn, Wolfgang here. My NB is playing up again. Starts up fine from cold, but when the engine reaches operating temperature, it cuts out. Wondered if it might be the camshaft position sensor?
Björn: That’s a common cause. Couple of other possibilities too. Like crankshaft position sensor.
Wolfgang: I thought the fuel pump…
Björn: It’s on the list. Along with fuel injection relay and ignition coil packs. Bring it in and we’ll run a diagnostic.
Wolfgang: I’ll call a flatbed tomorrow and truck it over. Driving it worries me. It might break down and strand me.
Björn: I understand. Smart move, a sudden stall in traffic can be dangerous.
___________
Voice-over
Check back in a couple of days for the diagnosis. Main worry overnight is car thieves.

A Heritage Property For Sale

Cousins talking…

Antonio: The front façade, that classic CT Natusch Tudor style. Properly proportioned, steep gables, timber detailing.

Jocelyn: The front is the strongest part. It’s the kind of house you’d stop and photograph. But once you scroll through the photos… well, the story changes.

Antonio: The interior surprised me. All that rimu. Warm, honeyed, still intact. It feels like stepping into 1893. But then the back of the house… it’s like someone stapled extra rooms on without thinking.

Jocelyn: Yes. The section is narrow, and the further back you go, the more it looks like a patchwork quilt.

Antonio: The price though, half a mill, is tempting. For a Natusch original, that’s almost a bargain. But is this a restoration project or a money pit? The back looks like it would need structural reconsideration, not just cosmetic work.

Jocelyn: And Masterton isn’t exactly booming. You’d have to love the house for what it represents, not what it currently is.

Antonio: True. It’s not a strategic investment. It’s a sentimental one. A heritage one. A ‘great-grandfather built this’ one.

Jocelyn: Sentiment doesn’t pay for rewiring, replumbing, reroofing, and re-everything-ing.

Antonio: I wonder if the front could be preserved, and the back rebuilt entirely. But that’s a major undertaking. And probably wouldn’t be allowed by Heritage rules.

Jocelyn: And you’re not living in Masterton. You’d be managing a heritage restoration remotely.

Antonio: The front is stunning, but the whole property feels like a compromise.

Jocelyn: I agree. If the back were even halfway sympathetic to the original design, I’d say go for a look. But as it stands…

Antonio: …maybe it’s better to let someone else take on the project. Someone local. Someone who wants a challenge.

Jocelyn: So to conclude: not to buy, and maybe not even a look-see. We honor the history, but we don’t inherit the renovation.

_____________

Voice-over

Sentimental value doesn’t outweigh the structural, financial, and logistical realities. The house’s front is a treasure; the back is a burden. Admiration without acquisition becomes the elegant choice.

Black Hawk Landing

Crewman guiding pilot to landing near trees…

S 70A 9

Crewman: Tail clear of trees, 15 feet. Hold hover.

Pilot: Holding. Nose up 8. Blind below.

Crewman: Roger. Start down, easy. Trees tight left.

Pilot: Coming down. Call feet.

Crewman: 30 feet... 25... drift right, come left 2.

Pilot: Correcting left. Tail clearance?

Crewman: Tail's good. Lock pitch. 20 feet... dust rising.

Pilot: Roger. Call drift.

Crewman: Drifting aft! Forward 2, forward 2!

Pilot: Stopping aft. Pushing forward.

Crewman: Good stop. Stable. 15 feet. Blades 10 feet from branches.

Pilot: Copy 15. Continuing down.

Crewman: 10 feet... 5... right above... hold pitch...

Pilot: Holding.

Crewman: Mains down... tail down. Ground. Drop collective.

_________

Voice-over

Patter between pilot and aircrewman landing pretty close to trees. Landing nose up means pilot can’t see, so crewman watching out the door relays guidance.

White Rabbits Meet White Bilbies

 

White rabbits altruistically share their lunar dose of luck with lookalike bilbies. Leader Lapin tells the bilbies: “We come in peace. We like you. Use this luck we offer to stop your species going extinct. WHITE RABBIT, WHITE RABBIT, WHITE RABBIT.”

 

The rabbits may think they have found a cousin. Both have long ears, hop and dig. But it’s just convergent evolution. Rabbits are placental mammals, bilbies are marsupials.

Walking a Horse

Showgrounds equestrian arena…

Brian: That seahorse mark, on his forehead.
Trev: Born with it.
Brian: Does the mark make people think he’s some fancy breed?
Trev: Had a lady ask if he was ‘mythic stock.’ Nah. He’s just a paddock pony with a quirky star.”
Brian: How old is he?
Trev: Three, his first time out on a walk around here.
Brian: Why bring him out today? No one else around.
Trev: Exactly. First outing should be calm. No crowds. No show ponies judging us.
Brian: What’s the hardest part of raising a horse?
Trev: Consistency. People want quick results. Horses don’t. You can’t rush trust. You can touch his nose, slowly does it.
_________
Voiceover
Trev winds up by saying his horse doesn’t swim but likes walking in water. Upright?

Moving to Queensland?

What are the downsides? 
Ken: Well, bushfires for starters. Climate change is making them nastier. And then there’s the sudden flooding. One minute dry, next minute your backyard’s a lake.
Paul: See, that’s exactly what worries me. NZ feels… calmer. Not used to spiders and poisonous animals. 
Ken: I always thought NZers were mostly terrified of snakes.
Paul: Well, yes, snakes too. How often do you actually see one?
Ken: Yesterday. I was on the ride‑on mower, and a red-belly was sliding through the grass right beside me.
Paul: That’s… very close. 
Ken: Oh, that’s nothing. Last week one got inside the house.
Paul: Inside?
Ken: Under the couch. The one you’re sitting on, actually.
Paul: Right. Well. I imagine you have anti‑venom in the house? 
Ken: Oh yes. (picks up an axe lying on the hearth) This quite often stops the venom spreading. 
Paul: …I see.

___________
Voice-over
Ken is brisk, wry and laconic. Very Aussie. Brings on a writhing smile.

Four Seasons: Developing an Alda tale into a Fey play

Back to the original movie... 

1981

Liz: I remember really liking Alan Alda’s The Four Seasons.

Eric: Yes. Three couples, holidays, marriages going slightly wrong, people getting older. No serial killers, no dystopian future, no superheroes.

Liz: And the Netflix Four Seasons series keeps that quality. Comedy, yes, but also about people talking.

Eric: And I think Tina Fey understood that the original film’s great asset wasn't really the plot. It was the ensemble. Exploring those relationships over eight episodes.

Liz: And I liked that she didn’t simply turn everybody into Tina Fey characters.

Eric: Mm. Important. Although she plays Kate, she gives the other actors room. And there’s another interesting thing about the production, the directing.

Liz: You mean the actors directing episodes?

Eric: Yes. Colman Domingo directed an episode, actually directing himself while acting. Tina Fey herself directed an episode. The cast taking over some responsibility rather than simply turning up and performing.

Liz: Tina Fey making it participatory?

Eric: I think so. Her greatest skill isn’t coming up with jokes. It’s creating conversations in which people reveal themselves. Casual dialogue, people interrupting, changing the subject, making a joke because they don't want to answer something, but underneath it there’s something happening.

Liz: Harder to write than a punchline.

Eric: Especially with six characters who have known each other for decades. They need histories. A remark has to sound as though it’s the umpteenth time they’ve had that argument, not the first time the writers thought of it.

Liz: Alda made a pretty good film. Fey had to work out how to make that idea keep going.

_________

Voice-over
In the original Alan Alda Four Seasons we spent time with people. Tina Fey gives you the pleasure, and sometimes the discomfort, of wondering what happens when people like this have to keep living together after something terrible happens. She kept the essence of the Alan Alda film without simply doing a remake of it.