A Catch-up

I am not very good at this blogging business. Could be that my life is so boring I have nothing to write about? There is a lot going on, but not much of it is exciting.

My house has gone from orange to green much to our disappointment.  It is strange how we wanted to be green when all this zoning came in, but when the decision was released my family came to the realisation that subconsciously we had all wanted to go red.  Why? Simply because now we face a long wait which could be 2 years or more to have the house repaired or rebuilt.  Going red would have given us the a much quicker resolution.  Now we wait while the testing of the new foundations we must have is carried out and then there is the drilling that must take place on the property to help decide the required strength of the new foundations. And, of course we will have the delight of dealing with our insurance company.  When our house was first assessed after February 2011 we were told by EQC to be prepared for demolition, but the insurance representative was talking about jacking the house up to carry out repairs on the foundations and piles.

In the meantime we have had more emergency repairs to make the house weather tight to enable us to get through the winter without rain coming through the roof as it was starting to do.  The continuing aftershocks have only increased the initial damage to the house.  A builder told me nobody should be sleeping in one of the bedrooms, but the house is full and we have to use it.  The daughter concerned had to come home last December, but desperately wants to move out again.  However, rents in the city have increased by a large percentage and properties are hard to come by.  Landlords appear to see the effects of last year's earthquake as a profit making exercise.

Last week I received a phone call to tell me the building I work in was being closed at the end of the day and we were moving to a new site.  Going in to pack my desk I found the latest Detailed Engineering Evaluation requires further investigation of the building's floor hence our departure.  Now I am working in a former electrical warehouse located in what is left of the CBD.  There are no windows and from my desk I look straight at the roller door.  At least it is blue which happens to be my favourite colour. During lunch I can sit outside and watch several tall buildings being demolished and admired the cranes being used for this.  We may be there for 6-8 weeks or 6-8 months.

There is no certainty still and things can change from one day to the next.  It is hard. I thought our ability to cope would improve as time goes by, but it seems that the endless uncertainty and stress is not helping.  As a family we talk about how our lives have changed and keep changing.  Talking helps us cope.  At work we try to support each other and conversations have become more personal as we express our feelings.  Laughter is important and we try to make the most of any opportunity to make someone smile.