Raining Bricks

22 February is a date that will never be forgotten by Cantabrians. This is certainly true for us all at Carter Price Rennie. We are very pleased to say that we are all shaken but accounted for, as are our immediate families.

We chose the part of town that CPR resides in due to the “energy” and wonderful character buildings.

Sadly it did rain bricks on that day and the city has lost many buildings that we considered treasures.

Christchurch as we knew it has gone…but we have the opportunity to now build an even better place in which we live, work and play.

The Carter Price Rennie Team at Christmas Lunch

101 uses for recycled bricks!

Post earthquake our offices are surrounded by piles of bricks. What to do with this useful resource has led to some discussion at morning tea. We were particularly pleased to find a use for the festive season. Has anyone else got some ideas to add to the list?

1. Christmas tree bucket fillers/ hold-it-up equipment
2. Backyard BBQ’s or Pizza ovens. Not in CHCH of-course due to open fire ban but we could export them!
3. Alfresco courtyard
4. Garden seat
5. Bookcases/ shelving units
6. Gym weights
7. Mob/ Gang emergency supply kit.  You never know when you might need something to sink….

All in a good cause

Here at CPR we are thrilled to work with a number of charities and one of those that we work with has some news worth sharing right now.

The Sumner Lifeboat launched their new vessel, Blue Arrow Rescue, in early December with suitable fanfare.  The new boat was designed specifically with the Sumner Rescue service in mind.  It will be able to provide rescue services for the greater part of Peagasus Bay and Banks Peninsula.

An open day for the public is planned for the new year where Cantabrians will be able to see the boat up close.  In the interim you may well see it in action – saving lives.

The Earthquake Show continues

A Hiab Truck, over sized building blocks and plenty of men in high-vis vests made for an interesting distraction yesterday.

A new barrier between CPR and our unstable neighbouring building.

Silver lining – opportunities from the quake

Carter Price Rennie ‘Soapbox’, November 18^th 2010

Acknowledging the very real effects on all our community – even those who were away, our three final 2010 Soapbox speakers focused on the economic, design and social opportunities arising from the September 4 quake.

A balmy evening in mid November gave us all a chance to chinwag about our own experiences at the re-established (post quake) C4 Coffee HQ on Tuam St.

Ridgway Projects Infrastructure Finance Specialist Richard MacGeorge talked about the opportunity for local authorities in Canterbury to increase lending, rather than relying on rates to finance the rebuild.

Families Commission Chairman and Research First Principal Carl Davidson discussed the resilience we’ve all learned and what might be possible to achieve with those newly-found skills.  Carl’s speech is available here.  Carl also sent us a copy of a paper by Colin James which you might find interesting.

Architect and Athfield Group instigator Barry Dacombe is also fronting the huge Fletchers contract with EQC for repair work.  He suggests there’s not only an opportunity to cut through red tape and speed up the rebuild process, but also to plan better streetscapes.  Fletchers has been contracted to fix 50,000 homes but Barry says that already that figure had been well exceeded and it was looking more like 80,000 homes would require major work as home-owners were finding their repairs were more extensive than they first thought.

Office Window Soap Opera

Things have been a bit different over here on the happening side of town post September 4th. We’ve seen cranes swinging, miles of hire fence, more fluro orange than Mardi Gras and are still watching traffic negotiate two very large shipping containers strategically placed on Madras street.
Needless to say the CPR office window soap opera has been full of drama the past couple of months – and we love it.

The latest edition to our neighbourhood seemed to arrive out of no where last Friday.  From a cream wall of bricks to this work of art in a day:

Car Park Art

I’m still in search of the artists full name.

whats next? watch this space.

Carter Price Rennie's newest intern

Night time activities

We have a cat – Horse. He is black and white and just like the Horse from Footrot Flats is a highly successful hunter.

On a fairly regular basis Horse likes to contribute an offering to the family table. It is usually fluffy or covered in feathers. He announces his arrival (mouth full) and then places the gift next to the bed – right where you put your feet when you get out of bed in the dark! I’m bestowed this honour. Not sure why.

The husband, half asleep, turned on the light so we could congratulate Horse. It was a large rat. I made appropriate noises of being impressed and elbowed the husband to deal with it. The husband misread the instruction and turned out the light.

In the dark the following occurred…..

Scuttling noises
I sit up.
Cat meows.
I elbow husband again.
“It’s alive”.
Husband turns on light.
Rat makes a run for the dresser, with cat in close pursuit.

In our house most chores are pretty evenly shared. However live rodents are clearly a mans job.

I established a safety barrier of pillows around myself and rolled the husband out of bed.

Husband arms himself with burglar bat (from under the bed) and with remarkable agility joins the pursuit (naked). Then he sees the size of the rat, and joins me on the bed to consider options.

When the rat began jumping it become clear to me that remaining in the room was stupid. I made a suitable excuse and exited. As the rear guard defence it seemed appropriate to be prepared. I donned sneakers and grabbed the broom and guarded the small gap under the door “just in case”.

For approximately half an hour there was quite a bit of activity, sounds of furniture being moved, lots of cursing at the cat, and at times some very fast footsteps…….. Then silence. Husband concluded that the rat had made it to the open ranch slider and had escaped into the night.

Back in bed, lights out.

Scuttling noises.

Lights on.

Rat found climbing up onto the bed!!!

I exit again – very quickly and take cat with me. Clearly he is of no use!

More cursing, furniture moving and fast footsteps. A significant time period passes. I consider a cup of tea.

Finally all clear given. Total time since present presented 1 ½ hours.

Back into bed. Lights out.

Baby cries.

FACEBOOK – GRUMBLING OR DEFAMATORY?

Law firm Lane Neave recently issued this interesting tit-bit and kindly let me steal it!

Facebook comments are one of the new problems employers are experiencing with social media.

Employees who have had a bad day or who feel aggrieved about their workplace can now post comments on a Facebook page inviting numerous comments from others. This can be wide reaching and damaging for an employer if the business is able to be identified.

There are a number of situations where employees have been dismissed for putting comments on Facebook and several employees have also been caught out by calling in sick and then later advising via Facebook they were having a great party or that the skiing was great when they were supposed to be recuperating.

Publishing commentary and comments on Facebook can easily become a public announcement and employers should not fear disciplining staff for online indiscretions. However, the Council of Trade Unions has warned employers that they need to differentiate between their workers grumbling to friends and running a defamatory website.