Author: Fee Writes

I trotted out for a cafe styled coffee yesterday – just because I could!

Nah, actually had to post some letters, you know those handwritten things you put into envelopes, address, stamp and seal. Thank goodness you no longer use the tongue to stick down the stamp or get a paper cut while licking the flap. Anyhoo, the nearest post box was at the Bayfair Mall. Do you believe that? Postboxes now are sooooo far away – in fact where I work there is no post box within walking distance, none at the Frazer Cove shopping centre, one has to actually go to the Post Office which would be around a couple of kilometers (or about a mile & half) away.

But I’m rambling. I guess you’re still wondering why on earth I’d say “Well Done” to Bayfair when I loathe shopping malls. And, I guess you probably can’t quite make out exactly what the featured image above is all about.

Going into the car parking building and heading towards the entrance I noticed an area had been taken over by, what I hoped, wasn’t a payment station. On closer inspection, I saw that Bayfair has taken the energy to power into the future by installing an electric car charging station. (chat to yourself about how good that sentence was). Talk about embracing a sustainable future – will we see solar panels on the rooftops – perhaps rooftop veggie/herb gardens for all to share? But I mustn’t be flippant – whoever is the Manager there, I applaud his initiative especially as this is Tauranga and not one of the major cities.

Speaking of parking buildings I called into my favourite parking building, (Council owned), in the middle of town … one where if you’re under 1/2 an hour is free and one where there are real people taking your money at the toll both – this meant that occasionally if I was flush, I’d pay a couple of dollars for the person behind. That’s called paying it forward even though it is really paying it behind – oh, go on, have a chuckle. To my surprise when I got there a woman came over to tell me to “take your ticket with you” – “why” I asked, “Because you will pay at the entrance when you come back”.

And when I came back, I saw the kiosk with another woman standing there ‘helping’ and ‘teaching’ people how to use it. So I had to say something, didn’t I!  “So sad to see this, a bit of a backward step on the part of the Council,” I said, “I really liked talking to the people taking the money”. The lady’s response was to agree. She also thought it sucked, (her word). But what hurt the most was when I asked – “did the booth people get other jobs or were they made redundant?” – “Made redundant” was the response and then she topped it off by saying “and I’ve only got another week, then that’s me gone too”.

Ahhh, progress, sometimes progress is not for the good of the people ….  no, wait, let me dig out my catchphrase – it’s all about the money

To leave you on a brighter note – I did see a couple of pirates at Bayfair.