Opinion: Paul Hickey - Facebook reliance, Titanic Lego, giveaway for garden

If you're planning some tidy up around the yard over Labour weekend, you might want to enter a giveaway with The Hits. Photo / Getty Images

Last week I wrote about our upcoming Halloween event Trunk Or Treat which I was pretty excited about.

But unfortunately, we have had to make the tough decision to cancel this year's event.

In our planning we were hoping for Covid alert level reductions, and this is looking more and more unlikely.

Even with the loosening of event rules, we felt it would be too difficult to enforce the social distancing rules in the environment that the event creates.

This is turn would make the event one which does not have the fun atmosphere we really want to promote.

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When Facebook and Instagram went down last week, it initially astounded me just how many people were totally lost without it.

But during the outage, I wanted to contact somebody, and realised that the only way I had to get hold of them was through the Facebook Messenger app!

It is amazing just how reliant we have become on some forms of technology, and even more so with one particular company's product or website such as Facebook.

The outage seemed quite serious, and did get me wondering what would happen if hackers were successful in getting rid of Facebook altogether.

There are so many people now who just keep all their photographic memories in Facebook albums.

Nice and handy, but in this eventuality it could be a nightmare for you. Would you be caught out?

I do back all my pictures up on the cloud now, and have even started uploading some of my old photos that I have come across in some old photo albums recently during a declutter.

Better to be safe than sorry when it comes to our favourite memories.

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While doing the home declutter, we also found plenty of old Lego blocks, which is a toy that never dates, does it?

I see that Lego is set to release its largest set ever – a 9090 piece, 53-inch (135cm) long, 1:200 scale model of the Titanic.

The replica model divides into three sections to reveal the interior of the ill-fated vessel, including the grand staircase, which sprawls over six decks, as well as a dining saloon and the engine room.

It also includes a recreation of the ship's bridge, promenade deck and swimming pool.

The set will be available for pre-order on November 1 and will cost around $900.

Looks impressive, but I wonder if it will float or sink? I've never tried Lego for water tightness!

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If you are planning some tidy up around the yard over Labour weekend, you might want to enter this great competition we've got running now on The Hits Rotorua.

There are still a few days left to get your entries in for the STIHL Battery-powered Garden Pruner from Stihl Shop Lakelands in Trade Central.

Ideal for pruning trees and shrubs, and cutting up garden waste, and it is designed to be comfortable and simple to use.

The STIHL GTA 26 kit comes with battery, charger, and a carry case, plus we'll throw in the handy holster; all up valued at $370.

Simply share a photo of your backyard to get in the draw! Head to the 'win' page at thehits.co.nz to register, or listen to my show for the easy phone entry to the draw, which is next Wednesday.

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I've got some leave coming up, so this will be my last column until November. Meantime, enjoy the Weekender, listening to Dave filling in for me on The Hits, and if you haven't already; get yourself vaccinated!

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Paul Hickey is the host of the local Rotorua show on The Hits Rotorua weekdays between 9am and 3pm. Listen on 97.5FM or download the iHeartRadio app. Follow The Hits Rotorua and Paul on Facebook and Instagram.