General Chat

I hope to be still here when it reaches 100,000 :-)

as far as I know, that will be a record thread in the history of GR.

Sue will be made a Dame :-D

I thought we might be able to :-)

Hello Sylvia, I am sure we can manage that

only 9 more posts to 87,000

this is 86,991

Hi Tec and Linda


Glad to hear you are feeling better today, Linda xxx



I'm sorry to hear that Amanda's elderly dog has died. xxx

Hello Tec,

I am feeling much better tonight, I just have a thick head - no jokes allowed

Pleased to see that you are up and mobile today Linda - well done, that is progress. Hope the head clears soon.

I too am very sad to see that Amanda's Milo has come to the end of his days, but I'm sure that he had a long and happy life. <3

Been a beautiful day here. Spent some time in the garden. Dosed all my rose bushes with rose food to start them off.

Many people here saw the Northern Lights last night. Some went up onto the mountain to take photographs.

I was really dory to read that Amanda has lost her old dog Milo today

Goodnight Persie, sleep well

I don't think we have any shipping container homes here.

I meant studio apartments are apartments with no separate bedroom. My daughter had one for a while in London. She was tired of sharing with others and wanted to be on her own. She had a studio apartment in quite a posh block,it was very swish and she preferred it to a tattier apartment even if she could get a separate bedroom.

I am feeling a bit better this morning, my nose is no longer streaming, but my head still feels like it is going to explode. At least I am up and dressed today

oops.. I actually came on to say good night as am off to bed

Hope you are feeling better today Linda?

:-) Good night..

Over here a lot of people have built holiday homes and regular homes.. They are not high rise style as in Vancouver.. each is usually on its little plot of land.

Even the police have them for tactical training

If you google shipping container homes NZ and click on images there are all sorts.. Some of them I recognise from articles or seen in my travels.

There is also some extra pictures that have nothing to do with NZ.. just what Google likes to provide..

They look quite swish Sylvia

We call them studio apartments here

BTW ...................


There was a new report out today.

There is a planner who for 3 or 4 years has plotted the value of single family homes in Vancouver


For the first time, he's found that ..................


there are NO single family houses in Vancouver worth less than $500,000


66% of them are worth over $1 million



and a significant number of those (well over half) are worth over $2 million.



His figures are based on assessed values from 2014 ............... and the values have definitely gone up even more in the first 3 months of this year :-(



great for the sellers who bought years ago but not for buyers

re shipping crates ....................

an apartment block for women has been built on the Downtown Eastside in Vancouver ....... ie, the extremely low income area.

12 containers were stacked 3 high, then doors and windows cut, painted, and fitted out. There are 12 units, all specified for women in need.

Each bachelor suite is 280 to 290 square feet in size, and is a self-contained home with wood laminate flooring, a separate entrance, its own bathroom, a small open-plan kitchen, and a European-style combined washer-dryer machine. Bachelor suite here means no separate bedroom.

In each unit, a full container wall has been replaced by a giant window, many with perfect views of the harbour or the complex's central courtyard garden.

There are six units for older women who serve as "intergenerational mentors" to six younger women ............... and there is also a large kitchen in the adjacent building (run by the same coop) where the women can make joint meals.

You can see them on the following link ............


http://www.vancouversun.com/Vancouver+social+housing+built+from+shipping+containers/8739234/story.html



They are now planning a seven-storey-high shipping container housing complex, with its requisite elevator and a new design ............... it will be a family-oriented project that will transform shipping containers into a mix of one and two-bedroom units.

missed everyone :-(


Tec and Linda .......... sleep tight xx

Persie ............. enjoy your day xx



Sue ............... if you look in .......... hope you are enjoying having the grandchildren. xx

Good night.. no coughing during the night Linda, you could wake Amanda up and she needs her sleep.

It's a bit like that here and Auckland is way too expensive for young couples starting out.. and yes State Houses were sold off to tenants here as well without little thought to those that come along after.

My father and one brother who lived further south were the only two that owned their own homes. One brother had a state house rental all his married life. One sister and her family lived in a house owned by a friend of my father's.. she used to cook etc for... One sister went from a caravan to my father's mother's home and it was passed on down through her family. My cousin's lad did very well out of that. And the other sister lived in the family home in Wairoa from when Dad was a youngster.

Goodnight Linda, sleep well, and hopefully feel better tomorrow.

Enjoy your ride out Persie - don't overdo it :-)

Goodnight,
Tec :-)

I am going to sleep now, so will bid you goodnight

I will look forward to hearing about your lunch out Persie

Linda don't even think of going outside :-|

I would love to see the Northern Lights, but to tired to sit up gazing at the sky. :-D

only to see nothing :-D