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Year: 2012

Tending the economy

Tending the economy

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An economy is an infrastructure for growth similar to a garden. Economies need regulation (tending) just like a garden does.

Whilst establishing a civilisation we humans have made a choice to order our environment. So its is contradictory that some people advocate an unregulated economy.

A self-regulatory (untended)   garden (economy) will let unwanted plants prosper. Weeds will take over and the most useful plants and fruits die out in untended gardens.

The flipside is also true. A good gardener (economist) will not be heavy handed on pesticides. The garden ecosystem require spontaneous interaction between organisms.

“Market forces” is just another name for greed that must be constrained in a civilised society.

The garden is used as a comic metaphor in Being There.
The terms “Capitalism” and “Socialism” introduce ideological prejudices into viewpoints on money and equity .

Fix the NZ exchange rate by NOT using interest rates

Fix the NZ exchange rate by NOT using interest rates

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We can get the exchange rate down by having a negative balance of payments with the rest of the world.

Unfortunately a negative balance of payment causes debt that has to be paid off!
The solution is to invest in large capital projects and infrastructure that will provide a return on investment.
We go into debt and get delayed payback over one or two decades (the return on investment gradually pay off our debt).  In the first decade our exchange rate will go down and we will stimulate our job market through a negative balance of payments.

The caveat with the above strategy is that we have to be smart when we select capital projects (investments).

The crazy thing is that the current New Zealand  government (John Key and friends) is doing exactly the opposite. The government is hiking up the exchange rate by signalling that we are going to sell our assets (achieving a good balance of payments, but destroying our ability to export).  As a double whammy the income from sold assets will go elsewhere, causing a negative balance of payments in the future.

The only way to have a healthy economy is to have one that produces, and for that we need infrastructure.

Equestria Forever

Equestria Forever

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Equestria Forever is a Brony Forum Reinhard runs.  It currently has a small but dedicated userbase.   Members Discuss the internet hit My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic, as well as normal everyday issues.  It also features community radio (Radio is Magic)  and there is a games section.

We are a friendly, community based forum and new members are always Welcome.

http://www.equestriaforever.com/

Maximum wage

Maximum wage

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One of the things that is bothering me is obscene salaries. Some CEO’s earn more in a day than many people earn in a year.

We can resolve this by legislating that organisations may not pay anybody ten times  more than any wage in their organisation.
So a CEO can earn no more than ten times the minimum wage paid by their organisation.

This may also be the most effective way to lift wages above the minimum wage.

24-29 July (Tuesday to Sunday)- Family time at Craon

24-29 July (Tuesday to Sunday)- Family time at Craon

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It has been great to spend time with the family at the Gite. The house is large, with three bedrooms, a porch where we can sit outside and braai, a large lawn, a pond with frogs and waterlilies and a small splash pool for Liam.

We had a heat wave on Wednesday and Thursday with temperatures in the high 30‘s.

Highlights of the week include:

  • seeing the gardens at Chateau-Gontier – they are on the banks of the canal and are in different geometric shapes. I saw white lavender for the first time. Some of the gardens are planted to look like tapestries or paintings.
  • walking along the Mayenne canal at Chateau-Gontier with Elsbeth while the rest of the family ride along with the bicycles.
  • canoeing on the Mayenne at Chateau-Gontier – we spent an hour and went up to the first barrage and lock.
  • Visiting the Robert Tatin Museum at Cosse-le-Vivien. This is a unique place that the artist took 21 years to create – starting at the age of 60. He wanted to create a place for all people to come and tried to express ideas about a common visual language. The outside has concrete sculptures and a fantastic structure around a pond. Inside the structure are displays of the artist’s paintings and ceramics. Kris and I had a last cycle around the area – circling back to Craon after the visit.
  • Visit to the fortified medieval town of Saint Suzanne – the only stronghold to resist William the Conqueror. We enjoyed walking around the keep, the ramparts and the old town. The old town is beautifully kept with lots of flowers in front of the houses.
  • Seeing the Erves dolmen, near Saint Suzanne – a tomb built between 4700-4000 BC. Only the large megalithic stones remain – they were originally covered by a mound of stones forming a chamber. It is difficult to imagine how Neolithic people moved these huge stones. (we will remember Elsbeth being chased by a herd of cows on the move beside the dolmen).
  • Seeing the castles at Pouancé and Chateaubriant. Pouancé on the French side and Chateaubriant on the Breton side of the border.
23 July – Liam’s Big Ride

23 July – Liam’s Big Ride

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Kris and I returned to Laval in the morning along a different route – this time along the Mayenne canal. The first part of the route was on country roads to find the canal. We did an unnecessary detour of around 10km when we took the wrong road out of Houssay – we had to backtrack to join the canal. However we did find some menhirs and a dolmer during our detour – off the road up a dirt track. The dolmer is a large rock resting on top of two others. The menhirs are just large stones – not as impressive as the previous one we have seen.

We met up with the family again at the Decathlon store in Laval – they had come through by car. Here we bought a third bike for use during our holiday. Kris, Fergus, Liam and I then set off on a ride back down the canal (with Fergus on the new bike). This was Liam’s first long bike ride. The canal is an ideal place to ride with children as there is no traffic to worry about.

We didn’t expect Liam to ride further than our exit point from the canal, at around 25km. The plan was for us to phone Gretel and Elsbeth to come and fetch him in the car when we got there. As we progressed we could see Liam become used to pedaling continuously and he was quickly getting to grips with changing his gears. At the end of the canal ride he was looking very strong and keen to continue – so we decided continue with him.

The rest of the ride was along quiet country roads and the green route (old railway line). Liam did very well to cycle the whole 50km – he kept going without complaining, even though he was very tired at the end.

22 July (Sunday) – The End of our Ride – Family Reunion in Craon

22 July (Sunday) – The End of our Ride – Family Reunion in Craon

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Gretel, Fergus, Elsbeth and Liam arrived in Craon from UK on Saturday evening. We cycled down from Laval (55km) to join them on Sunday.

Our departure was delayed by Kris’s bike breaking a spoke again on the outskirts of Laval – the second in two days.

The route was along another one of the Voie Verte cycle routes – along an old railway line again – nice and shaded and away from the traffic.

Kris and I stopped at the small supermarket in Craon to get a few supplies before meeting up with the family. We had a wonderful surprise when we suddenly saw Gretel and Fergus, also just entering the supermarket! So we shopped together and followed them back to the Gite (holiday house).

The first thing we saw was Elsbeth waiting at the gate, looking very well, and Liam riding around on his bike. He seemed happy with the Meccano gift and I was impressed with his dexterity in putting the motor together and making a simple model – a grass cutting device.

We had a wonderful family evening chatting over a braai. We all missed Lilette’s presence – she was unable to join us due to delays getting her British passport.

20-21 July – Stopped in Laval

20-21 July – Stopped in Laval

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We spent Friday in Laval making arrangements and doing chores. Kris’s bike needed a new tyre, as his rear tyre had worn through to the canvas. We also had the chain changed on my bike. Once again we had good service from Declathon, with the mechanic doing extra checks and adjustments for us.

We researched a train to Paris, to catch our flight home, and decided on a hire car instead. We also bought a gift for nephew Liam. Kris’s bike also broke a spoke in the afternoon. So it was a busy day.

We spent Saturday exploring the town of Laval. It is a city with a bit of everything for the tourist – including an old city, a river, remains of castle ramparts and a chateau.

The highlight for me was the Laval Museum of Naive Art. The museum was created in homage to painter Douanier Rousseau, who was a native of Laval, and boasts that it has Europe’s finest collection of Naive Art. Many of the paintings showed scenes of Laval or French countryside, though there were also some gorgeous naive paintings from Eastern Europe, done on glass.

I was thrilled to see two paintings by Séraphine, as I was so moved by the French film about her life (it is a must see – ref http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9raphine_%28film%29)

 

19 July – A Train Track and a Canal

19 July – A Train Track and a Canal

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Today was the last long ride of our tour, before we meet up with Gretel and family at Craon. We rode 85km to Laval, the city closest to Craon.

Once again we were well served by the Voie Vertes (green ways), being off road for most of the journey. We traveled for around 20km on country roads to the start of the Voie Verte. On the way we stopped at the small town of Céauce and bought a sausage in a baguette from an outdoor market – it was just like boerewors and delicious.

The next 20km were along an old railway line. The railway tracks are still in place in parts. People can hire rail cycle cars to ride up and down the tracks at Saint-Loup-du-Gast. We turned off the track here to look at the town, as it boasts that it has won awards for its street flower decor. It was very small but pretty.

We stopped again at the city of Mayenne to look around. The city is on the Mayenne river with a bridge and Chateau overlooking the river. We explored the outside of the Chateau and the church. We enjoyed the river views from the ramparts while eating our midday snack.

The next part of the ride from Mayenne to Laval was all along the Mayenne canal. What is notable about the Mayenne canal locks is that three of them house restaurants or bars. One had lots of people seated at tables outside it when we passed. Two of the locks had old flour mills attached to the weir (‘barrage’ in French). A number also had micro power generators attached to the weirs.

The road was very sandy and we arrived covered in grit. Coming in along a canal is a good way to enter a city. We just had to cross a bridge and we were in Laval. We spent a bit of time at the Office de Tourisme finding accommodation. Most of the bed and breakfasts could not accommodate us for three nights. Eventually we found one, which is nice but not good value.

We have now done more than 5600km since we started in mid May.

18 July – a Norman castle

18 July – a Norman castle

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This morning we were warned over breakfast that the route to Domfront would be up and down. Obviously the people issuing the warnings were not cyclists. There is a Voie Verte (Green Route) cycle path about 70km long all the way to Domfront on an old railway track. Although the countryside was hilly, the track was graded the whole way. Furthermore the vegetation next to the track creates a green belt all the way to Domfront. So we had a lovely ride on a quiet shaded track with no cars. We only stopped a few time for restorative traditional shortbread biscuits and peaches.

We arrived in Domfront around 1pm. The medieval castle and town are on a hill, which involved a long hill climb in low gears. We are now in Normandy and this is a defensive position looking out over Brittany.

We arranged our accommodation about 10km out of town at the Office de Tourisme. The lady there was personable and was doing a tour in English from 3-5pm, so we decided to join this tour after buying our food.

The tour was very informative and entertaining. She first took us through the castle, which is all in ruins – part of the keep and battlements remain (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Domfront). Then we went through the old city learning about the architecture of the different houses – the oldest are timber framed. Quite a few of the city walls and towers remain, some of them are now part of houses. We were also shown where the Americans mistakenly bombed streets in the second world war. The town is known for underground cellars which interconnect.

We rode around 4km out of our way struggling to find our accommodation (in all we did 92km). We eventually back tracked to the town of Torchamp and got directions from a local elderly couple. Once again the Office de Tourisme directions were inadequate.

The accommodation is a very cute cottage next to the river and the hosts house. She has a lovely garden full of flowers along the banks. The cottage is like a dolls house. We very much enjoyed our breakfast the next day (as we were given eggs) and chat with our hostess, although her English is limited. Her husband farms in the area, they have 40 cows (compared to NZ where most herds are over 200).