Before Anzac Day, someone pointed out to the relevant people (the Whangarei District Council) that there was a tattered New Zealand flag flying on the flagpole by the old cenotaph, near the Rose St bus terminal.
The council has invested heavily in relocating the cenotaph to Laurie Hall Park, and we now have a worthy monument, and gathering place at any time, not just Anzac Day, to honour our war dead.
But somewhere along the line, someone forgot to take down the old flag. It was unfortunate to have it up there when it had been noted, a rotting New Zealand flag is not a great impression for people who see it entering Whangarei.
And also a shame that having focused so much attention on Laurie Hall, the poor old war memorial on Parihaka needs a good scrub.
We wouldn't care about these things if we didn't care about our servicemen and woman.
But jeez it's refreshing for the council to say "human error" was to blame for the flag being left up, after they were told about it.
Someone forgot to take it down. Honesty.
Far more refreshing than some of the spin that comes out of local and central government sometimes.
For example, we asked the Electricity Authority how much a nigh on useless report by an Australian company had cost them. For starters, why are we using an Australian company to provide the report that will underpin a New Zealand electricity reform anyway?
Is it really surprising the report was abandoned because their NZ geography was haphazard?
And the EA's response to our question about the cost of the useless report?
"As we may be seeking bids for undertaking a new cost-benefit analysis we do not wish to be specific about the potential costs ... we can say we have spent much less than 0.5% of the Authority's total expenditure on Oakley Greenwood."
We've been told it was $250,000 for Oakley Greenwood to come up with the report which has been abandoned. That fits within 0.5 per cent of their annual budget.
Getting back to the little things.
Someone has also constructed a turf farm near the intersection of Nixon St and Kamo Rd.
Turf farms grow grass with shallow roots, and you can roll up the grass like carpet, and voila, you lay it on your patch of dirt and you have a lawn.
I can see the logic in growing turf in long narrow enclosures such as a traffic island. But isn't it dangerous for the turf farmers tending their crop?
Hopefully they can harvest their ready lawn without being bowled over by the traffic.
As for me, I'm popping a high vis jacket on and sorting out those blimmin shoes.
Might pop on a bit of Trinity Roots while I do it. Love their song Little Things.
