The last few weeks have bought bad news all around, seems to
be a non-stop Roller coaster ride, even after moving out of the ‘other’ house,
with the issues there.(check my prior Blogs)
...............Relocating last day of January this year, and
up till now, has been a bit of a lie apparently. It seems the month of October
has bought about a darker cloud over me.
I had grown accustomed to being let down by the ‘professionals’
of Christchurch, but more was to come!
The weekend of my birthday on the 13th Oct, I sat
down with my neighbour and she said “Have you heard the latest?”. It seems,
that when the major Road Works were being done in our street (they started the
day I moved in the street), the Council workers/Contractors had ‘forgotten’ to
connect her pipes to the main laterals in the street, so Waster water etc was
backlogging, in her ground tank. Independent contractors were called out to
take a look when the neighbour noticed something was wrong. Using the
underground camera thingy, the contractor found that it just kept going and
going when inserted under, no pipes connecting at the other end. When the
Council were rang about this by the contractor, they looked into their ‘systems
database’, and said there were no problems (This will haunt me for a while,
knowing that they relied on technology only, total denial). The denial was
obviously temporary, as the next day, on the Monday; they had the Road Cones
back out and work started on sorting her pipes.
When I got home from work that night, my son said some
person was knocking and knocking, and finally when he answered they said they
needed to do this and that with our property, something to do with the pipes.
He had no clue what the person was referring to. I found papers from SCIRT,
given to my son, that I had to sign to allow work to be carried out on my
property as well, as the Council had forgotten to connect my bloody pipes as
well, and was in an even worst state than my neighbours.
The Contractors came and ripped up my short driveway: man my pipes were deep. They did say that the
main road laterals were re-laid too high, and they were sorting something so it
would fit. As he put it ‘Lets say, your shit will flow” J.
I must admit one of the guys was pretty hot, loved the
accent. They were nice fellows and it was their job.
I do wonder though, on the day the Council were coming in to
lay the tar seal, after the trench was filled back in, ‘why the other guys used
that damn noisy concrete cutter to make a square shape connecting to the trench
markings’, by only taking the tar seal off, then having it replaced same day.
Maybe Im paranoid, but I was aware that the Council were trying to keep this
issue quiet. Maybe it was a decoy mark. Who knows, but I documented each day of
the ‘before, during and after’, and a camera cannot tell a lie. I must admit, I
sneakily snapped some pictures of the workers J
I am disappointed that the unmarked driveway now looks like
patch work, and have had no visit from Council to check everything was put back
right. I wonder who will get down and scrub all the lines and markings now
apparent, what a lovely selling point. My neighbour had a new tree planted as
the prior one was destroyed with the works, and they checked with her that all
was as it was before. All I really wanted was a follow up call to check that things
were put back to the condition they were before, before they torn up.
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Sure enough, it came! Early afternoon I received a call from
my ONE TIME lawyer, who was hired when I purchased the new house. He said that
he had Good news and Bad news? The good news was, he had transferred all
documentation of the house, sorted things with the bank and other relevant
persons, and everything was getting sorted.
(I had been aware that the new Insurance company had said
there were some issues with the Insurance policy#, which came after they lost
the Deed of Assignment).
I was like “Huh?” Then the lawyer said, ‘The bad news is,
you own the wrong house!”. Holy crap, surely someone in that highly held
position couldn’t have put me through this. But, when I bought the house, the
lawyer hadn’t checked the Title, so all year I have owned the back house. What a
damn joke!
I went in later that day to sign the ‘new’ papers, at his
cost of course. He stated that once the Title was sorted and transferred, he
would send out the papers and I would be the proud owner of my current house.
Arggghhh! I said I don’t want the bloody thing now..................
Im still waiting on
the papers to arrive..............I find it virtually impossible to convince
myself that ‘professionals; in CHCH do the best by you, no matter how hard I
try.........
This was the black icing on a flat cake that was crumbling.
Surely, is there anyone who really cares?
More was to come unfortunately......
Last Friday 25th I visited my ‘other’ house to
check the mail, and found Green stickers on the front window and my front door,
stating that Power had been removed from the property. Seeing this I wondered
who made the order, as I certainly hadn’t heard from Arrow about the pending
demolition of the house.
Backtracking to January this year, when I relocated
(mentioned in my other Blogs), the demolition of my home, was to be in a ‘couple
of months’ as per Insurance at that time. Later in the year, due to financial
reasons, along with ongoing burdens and broken promises, I followed up again on
why the house still didn’t have a demo
date yet. I did work out there was hidden agenda as to why, but this would
never be admitted to.
Insurance would not supply
me a document to state the house was uninhabitable, although the pipes were
completely blocked, so of course, the City Council are still charging me full Rates.
I was advised via email that it would be approx 6-8 weeks. After no contact months
later, I spent three hours compiling info to send to CCC and Insurance with pictures
etc, something that become the norm in Christchurch, fighting to prove the
facts. But the Council didn’t want to know unless Insurance stated it was uninhabitable,
and till then, or house was demo’d, I was to continue paying full Rates. Insurance, emailed
me back saying that, that very morning, a Purchase order had been put through
for the demo, that very day. Coincidence, what ya reckon?
........... That was September. Without going into all
details, and either repeating myself from previous Blog entries, or spending
all night finding the documented dates, we come to the ‘Now’.
30th October: I found out this morning from a
friend, that my house is now fenced off, with Keep out and danger signs. I was
numb! Why I was not advised, or contacted? I had to take a look. So I drove
over there at lunch time, and sure enough the fences were up, couldn’t even get
my hand into the letterbox. But no fence stops me when I have not been
officially notified of the events. Sure I needed the place demo’d to stop incurring
bills, but my life had become such as, revolved around this one main event. Since
moving out, I have been asked, when I would have a house warming. To me it came
apparent I couldn’t move on slightly, till after the demo of my home, which
over time I grew to love, and the longer it has taken, the more torment I felt.
And after it is demo’d, I am meant to advise the City Council, plus other
factors, etc, so much relied on this very event.
Again the ‘professionals’ failed to advise me on things that
affect MY life. Those who sit in their fat chairs have no damn clue the hurt
they have caused. The earthquakes were hard and fast, and repetitive, but these
people, spanning across EQC, Insurance, lawyers, dentists etc, look at us as,
just another person, our lives is of no concern to them, just dollar signs.
I have every right to state these things, experiencing it firsthand gives you the right to
hate, and gain a foresight into the bad hearts, of many people who have ‘Titles’
in CHCH, and splurge on their fat lies night after night.
I managed to make contact with someone from a phone number
on one of the signs at the ‘other house’ and sent him an email today, which he
said he would send to his boss to contact me regarding the demo date and what
was happening. I received a call late this afternoon...............I wont
comment on what was said, and what was not, till this event has occurred............
But I did receive confirmation on the demolition date of my
house, something I find hard to write, as I call it the ‘death of my home’. The
person said this Friday the house would be demo’d. My heart died sank, my home
was going to be officially ‘dead’ on Friday, a day I know will always be known
as ‘D Day’ to me.
My disappointment with Arrow elevated, as they knew how much
I needed to be at the house when ‘she died’, but they had made no contact, and
I had to find out by proactively pursuing a lead.
Tonight I had to go back and get through the fences. When I
moved into the house, I had laid ashes of my close neighbour in the Rose Garden,
plus there were two crosses that symbolised the lives of my old neighbour
Laurie, and the memory of my late father: and they were still on the property.
With the black cloud that has hung over me for the last 3 years, I was driven
by a compulsion that these cannot be destroyed with my house, they were part of
me. Even just a spoonful of dirt, hopefully containing some of Lauries ashes,
was all I needed, along with the crosses. I tried and tried to get to the dirt,
but over time it had grown over, and was all grass and weeds, so I only managed
to get a few spoonfuls. I did get the two crosses, that had slowly sank further
and further into the ground. I shocked myself by overcome the webs, and bugs while
trying to dig with a small spoon, it was something I had to do obviously. Going
inside the house for the last time, man, I don’t know what to say, I could feel
the house crying, and so was I, in my heart.................
So this is it! 1st Nov Friday 2013, I know it
will be a vision that my heart will weep and lock away, the headaches now seem
so trivial. It feels like I should spend the last night of the houses days with
it, but it is not in a state to be fit for this, ...............
I have a place on the river bank on the other side of the
street opposite my house, where I will sit from 8:30am, and watch, as my home is
put out of its misery after its long awaited death sentence. My friend Stew
said he would always be there for me on that day, and yes he will be there to
document the demise, and support me.
Hopefully not too long after this event, EQC will make
themselves known that they are still around, and settle my Land Claim, so I can
become ‘someone’, although on the other hand, my heart is broken. This will
show me my strength, heart, anger, frustration, experienced over the last few
years, all in one massive destructive vision!
My hearts are with those who have lost their homes, their
memories, I applaud your strength, and will take some of that to get me through.
My soul is broke, and the place that has always been my home, Christchurch, has
been broken by those who are meant to represent us, but have failed.
This last weekend has seen me quite sick, hay fever which
developed/started over the EQ period had me in a bad way, and my front tooth broke.
This crippled me: after all the ‘bad things’ that keep happening and let downs,
to lose my front tooth was like shit being thrown in my face.
It has been a bit too much lately, and I am finding myself
asking “What have I done?” I learnt from my late dad, to always ‘Do unto
others, as they would do unto you’, and ‘Karma will always come back, good or
bad’. I lead my life with these rules, so why or where have I failed? I so wish
I could cry in my dads arms, and have him protect and guide me, but I know this
can never be. The strength to be the strong person that I know I can be, feels
like a wasted entity, out of reach. My tears want to come, but my dads strong
arms are nowhere to be felt, so they just wont shed.
Last views from inside the house, looking outside:
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