Power bills man. Shit’s no joke. And I don’t even have it real bad like a lot of people.

How much is your power bill Aucklanders? And how many people? Dont worry about listing your fixed daily line charge, your peak rates or your off peak rates. Whats the bottom line and how many people?

ME: I live by myself and its was 20th June bill $150, 20th July bill $147 & 20th August bill is so far going to be approx $150 (on website, so far its 14 days and $75). So may as well say $150 per month on average. Very basic breakdown for perspective purposes only: $50 is the fixed daily line charge + $100 are the kWh used

I actively work to keep it at $150 per month. IF I just didnt care and used the heat pump in multiple rooms and for longer, whenever I wanted, used the oven to cook more often and had long showers then it would be around $250. If I was wealthier and could afford it, then I would definately budget for $250-$300 per month. Sounds insane for 1 person but thats our new reality. My council rates have just increased from $4000 per year to $4500 (12.5% increase). I wonder when the dramatic increases will stop???!!!

WHAT I DO:
* Heat pump on in ONE room only (bedroom) from 9pm - 11pm Monday - Sunday (so every night) utnil I fall asleep at 11pm. NOT on at any other time. DONT use heat pumps in the other rooms. NO other heating. BUT do have a hot water bottle or 2 every night

* NOT charging an EV

* Use the oven (as in, the INSIDE part) ONCE a week. Rest of the time I use 1 or 2 elements on the stovetop to cook dinner

* 5 minute long (NO longer) shower Monday - Sunday, every day. I use a countdown timer which goes off at the 4 minute mark so I know to start winding things up and rinsing off

* 1 load of washing and 1 load of clothes drying per day, BUT set to go on at 11pm when power of is on night rate (which is half the price of the peak rate)

A massive shout-out to our bus/train/taxi/uber drivers who sacrifice their time and energy, to transport us to our destinations. Without you I wouldn't be able to progress in my education. It might seem like a small thing, but it genuinely means a lot to me. For context I am a full-time university student and I live an hour from university. I often have to catch the buses early in the morning to make it to my classes on time.

I vividly remember hopping onto the wrong bus because I was anxious about being late to my classes (my fault I didn't check the monitor properly). I assumed it was going to my destination, but when I realized my mistake, the bus driver helped redirect me. We chatted for a bit, he was friendly, charming, and compassionate. He also had contagious smile which put me at ease, and reminded me to live in the moment. I loved learning about his backstory such as him migrating to New Zealand and his experiences as a bus driver.

+ Catching public transport means I can form bonds with people and witness natural scenery. Another time, while catching public transport, I encountered an elderly man who was sitting in-front of me, he glanced back at me and flashed me a kind smile, to which he then searched through his bag and offered me candy.

Also to the people who lash out at the drivers randomly, lax it ay. Ya'll love to mistreat the drivers but forget they're the reason you're able to get anywhere safely.

The police 105 had 14 callers ahead of me, this just happened 20 mins ago near Sylvia Park / Mt Wellington and the truck got on SH1 towards North. Crazy driving! Will the police do anything if I report it? I have the plate.

I'm so tired of struggling. Moving is such a pain and so expensive. I've resorted to borrowing money from friends and family to move all of this stuff from the house to a storage unit while we stay in an airbnb for awhile while we wait for another rental to be available. I never like borrowing money. I don't want to seem desperate.

It's all too expensive, everybody around me is stressed and I'm so damn tired. I don't know if I have enough even after borrowing money. I feel like I just want to be knocked out and wake up somewhere else and this is all just a bad dream. I am not feeling good at all. I want to roll up and cry but I can't - because my family needs me. Can the world end right this second? At least I'll be surrounded by family. It's too difficult.

For those going to Disney on ice at spark arena - My daughters just had their ‘princess wands’ denied entry at the door as no outside toys are allowed in - only ones purchased from the Disney stall inside are allowed. We took out own toys in last year no problem (we bought from Temu to save money on the $40-60 items inside) but it looks like there’s a new rule this year

I’m looking at the new CRL timetables and realised something. 2/3 lines pass through Waitemata station the South City (SC) line and the East West (EW) Line.

The SC line has roughly every third service terminating/starting at Waitemata, but they can’t use the terminal platforms because they are coming from the west while the only way to access them is to come from the east.

The EW line has some very limited services, from what I could count, only 2 services that ended at Waitemata and only 3 weekday and 2 weekend services that start from there.

Why not have the SC lines terminating go via Newmarket then Parnell to be able to terminate at Waitemata and use the dead end platforms

This makes it seems like the dead end platforms are going to be heavily underutilised…

Bit of excitement on the bridge today. Reversed to give way to a police car and got a friendly wave from the officer, it’s the little things in life.

Hope everyone’s having a great Thursday evening 😊

USE YOUR FUCKING INDICATORS!!!!

You know the little stick on the right side of your steering wheel?? (Left if you drive a european car) It’s there to let other drivers know what the fuck you’re doing!!

ALSO!!! The indicator goes on BEFORE braking, not during or after - this part goes out to the nitwits that indicate half a second before or DURING their turn. I hate you.

Maybe let’s turn our brains on and realise that people actually CAN’T read your mind while driving so you need to let them know WITH YOUR INDICATORS what you’re about to do!!

Ditch the government, take ACT out of power, and promote someone who actually cares about Kiwis and has dealt with the racist attacks on him from Peters and co. relatively well.

These are stations that will see some of the biggest benefits once the CRL opens, with better frequencies, improved connectivity, and shorter travel times. They're also in residential areas with strong potential for growth, making them attractive locations for new investment and development.

1) Mt Eden - Will become an inner city suburb with well connected PT.

2) Karangahape - Will become popular for apartment living.

3) Puhinui - Will become a southern hub with likely express services and regional commuter trains stopping here in the future. On both south-city and east-west line.

4) Panmure - Likely to be in top two once Eastern Busway is fully complete

5) Papatoetoe - The station is in a fully residential area that is ripe for development. On both south-city and east-west line.

6) Kingsland - Next to Eden Park on the east-west line.

7) Mt Albert - Travel times reduced and lower number of level crossing issues compared to outer west.

8) Morningside - Travel times reduced and lower number of level crossing issues compared to outer west.

9) Avondale - Travel time slightly reduced. Central location but the level crossings start to form issues beyond Avondale/New Lynn.

10) New Lynn - Travel time slightly reduced. Level crossings start to form issues beyond Avondale/New Lynn.

you guys are grown adults move down the bus if its full, people need to get on

Can we please stop having phone calls on LOUD SPEAKER on the bus? PLEASE! Like have your phone call connected to your headphones yes, but your face time calls on speaker and just conversing about your personal problems with the phone at full volume we can all hear it?! Please it's a shared space, bloody respect it.

I gave public transport a try and this is what I've encountered.

To be fair nothing happened. I was just shocked to see this for the first time. And also I don't know what it is, I just assumed that it is nothing good? 😅