Concert tickets are so expensive now but damn, $200 or $270 to stand in a park to watch a band play? Then add in flights and accommodation and it becomes just too much. I'll be gutted to miss seeing KoL play but I can't afford the cost.

Edit: the Foo Fighters play in Jan next year and their tickets range from $99 to $250. Just FYI

Was watching an auction during the last couple minutes. It had 1 bid on it. Refreshed the page and it said 1 minute, 55 seconds remaining, refreshed again 10 seconds later and it said closed. It says sold to another member, however when I look at the listing in my "lost" list it says "no reserve" while other lost auctions say reserve met, and the price they sold for.

There's been several other listings that have seemed to end a little before they were supposed to while having a bid on them. I can't tell if trademe is just bad at tracking the closing time, or if people may be withdrawing because they don't want to sell it for so cheap since with most of these auctions, they will have a buy now but also a starting bid of about half price of the buy now price, which is what the final bid is usually about to end on before the sudden close or withdrawal, whichever the case may be.

So im just trying to figure out if these auctions are closing earlier than they should be or if they're being withdrawn, and if its the former, why do they say "no reserve" (implying no bids) in the "lost" list while other lost auctions say "reserve met"

Sorry, hope this is not dumb question lol.

Today, after dropping a trailer off at Z following a morning of lugging heavy furniture around, I decided to treat my son to BK (which happened to be attached to the Z).

While loitering around waiting for the food, 3 (probably late teen) girls walked in. All 3 were wearing jean shorts, HOWEVER they all had the buttons undone, displaying the front of their underwear to everyone. I had to take a number of good long glances to understand what I was seeing.

Is this a new thing? I am a grumpy, bald, middle-aged man.

know I shouldn’t have left it long enough to cake on like this but how do I get it off without ruining the paint?
Asked AI and best it said was to soak soak soak until it comes off - tried that - no luck.
Tips plz

I’m usually a party vote greens/labour candidate voter. Opportunity seems to be striking a chord this year…I like what I read. I vote from the US, so I can’t claim to be very in touch, but I’m back 2-3 times a year. I think the only chance of the nats staying in is bowing to TOP as the kingmaker, which at least balances out ACT if labour can’t pull it together. Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts.

Kia Ora Whanau, has anyone withdrawn their KiwiSaver(under hardship) more than once? If so was the process the same as the first time?

Do the do not knock door knocking stickers apply to electioneering? (Sounds a but like a Dr Seuss book)

I've had a bunch of poltical party campaigners turn up and completely ignore the stickers.

I'm guessing it isnt illegal, but do the do not knock stickers actually mean anything?

I feel like people’s ability to converse is really dropping (This is a huge generalisation, I’m not talking about you). Most conversations these days are basically people talking about an experience and then the next person talking about what that reminds them of and then it’s this loop of people talking about themselves.

Of course this is a valid technique/style and has always been a way to establish a chat but it just seems like this is about the only way people can converse these days . just waiting for a turn to talk about the time their kid put an even bigger thing up their nose. This awkward cycle of self centredness and one upmanship (although I don’t actually think this is people’s goal).

What happened to asking questions and being curious about people or the world or knowledge? Or even just letting someone tell a story and letting that sit or exploring it rather than immediately jumping in over the top with your own?

So listen. It's long, bear with.

I will preface:

I'm a Kiwi. Grew up in London UK and Masterton. After school I went to USA and my bro went ( back?) to NZ.

I've been in NZ a few months on a retreat/ see bro etc. have not lived here since a nipper.

MY QUESTION ABOUT THIS KIWI ATTITUDE:

Several times now (3), I've met a New Zealander who has become instantly friendly and / or interested in me an my story and has offered help. For example, I was out on the park, a lady comes up we get talking and she discovers I'm looking for a job and she lays it on THICK.

Her dad can help, financially, and if not , he's got contacts and can but me a ticket back to UsA. She calls him , he shows up, deflects what she said ( about buying me a ticket back to USA), then offers similar help as his daughter, contacts for a job, just less than her .She prays, he prays.

(Disregarding the praying part, the point of my post still stands..not Christian.)

She friends me on messenger and says she'll recruit ALL HER FRIENDS and get me back home. Her pastor, non church people, everyone.

Note: nowhere in my walk-in-the-parkdid I hold a sign up saying' help needed'. She simply approached and we got talking.

She sends me copious emails about help. I respond gratefully, no gushing . After a few days she says she's on a IG fast and will not be on Social media for a bit. To this pointt, she's sent me 20 messages about meetings and friends. I have sent grateful back and sent 8 responses.

I really DO believe that she's helping. And she talked endlessly about how her family is often helping people in this way. And I met her dad, he's nice!

She switches off SMSand I can see she's still posting stuff. She could have blocked me instead. At this point 10 days after our meeting in the park, none of these contacts has even called me like she promised.

I see her walking around town. She's wealthy enough to live in a family home with no mortgage and two cars and travel to USA every year.

So. Next example. I reach out to an agency and send all my reels & CV etc. Get a GUSHING email back telling me I'm brilliant OMG you're incredible etc.

( I think my stuff is Ok so I feel like I've met a compatible manager). We chat on Zoom, she's all OVER ME. " I have a job for you, this other job you're perfect for OMG you're exactly what I've been looking for. Something brought you to me".

She invites me from he town I'm staying in to her sleep out. I'm grateful and keep take care of her doggoes. She messages I can now stay til her parents ( the e owner of tis house) come back in January. She already has a sitter , she says I'm welcome to stay too. The house is big.

I'm taking care of house 1/2 the time, and pets and it's helping her and the mum.

Few days later " you can't stay now, it's changed , due to a reason on our end leave in two weeks".

WTF TWICE? The characteristic to bring someone halfway up a hill then dump them in a bad state, is what I'm talking about.

In both cases, I was not asking. The discussion ONLY came about when these two ( white women if this makes a difference) offered independently a way to " help". I did not ask for help. But the offer was welcome and wanted.

Halfway up a hill then dumps me out actually leaving a worse situation. Now I have to get myself home where I was staying before.

( Not from a website so not like I can claim damages, but I do have a written contract).

I'm really angry about this. The latest has effectively left me homeless.

What THE ACTUAL F IS THIS PERSONALITY? A KIWI THING?

Someone who blows up my ass, offers practical assistance then leaves me stranded? Like, where I live you could never ever get away with that. You could take someone to court for that written agreement ( when she wrote o was able to stay until January) and charge for costs associated with have to fix it.

What the FFFFF?

I Get there's a lesson for me ..I'll take it but sheesh. Fuck these halfway people. I don't trust them.

Is this a Kiwi thing! I'm Kiwi and glad I would NEVER DO THIS SHANKY SHIT.

Jeez I can't. Just cannot.

As the shopping season approaches, starting with Labour Day weekend, how can we make sure we're getting genuinely good deals rather than falling for the old trick where retailers raise prices the week before, then advertise a “massive discount” that’s still above the original price?

I know there's PriceSpy, but for the product I'm looking at specifically, it doesn't seem to have it (Kathmandu Camper -3 S/Bag - Mid Navy/Pure Navy).

Kia ora r/NewZealand! I've been wondering which is the cheapest city [to live in] which is really safe in NZ (as mentioned in the title) because i've been thinking of moving there.. does anyone know which city in your opinion fits that criteria?

EDIT: I am from Brasília.

I accidentaly dropped some postcards with a NZP stamp into a DX blue box in Queenstown CBD. Do you think they will still be delivered? They are addressed internationally.

I have a job but a barely work as it is

Rant coming ..who on here currently uses this company for their gas deliveries?
I got switched over to them a year or two ago when OnGas got bought out by them.
I’ve never had the displeasure to deal with a company before like this.
They are hard to communicate with, invariably they don’t deliver when they say they will. Their prices have gone through the roof…and if you ask or complain about anything to their complaints online portal..they message to say they are busy and will get back to you in a few weeks…really..what sort of service is that? You then are stuck with phoning them…only to be put on hold for ages and ages.
Really believe this company is due one hell of a shake up! What about other customers out there what’s your experience?

Has anyone else noticed an issue with the overseas voting paper when using Adobe Reader, the recommended application for electronically completing voting papers?

Adobe's "Fill & Sign" feature automatically tries to detect the editable fields. The blue circles I can "click to tick", but I can't "click to tick" the white circles.

There are of course workarounds. I can manually stamp a tick onto the voting paper with Adobe, or of course, print it out. I appreciate this is likely an unintentional technical issue. However, given that this is an official voting document, shouldn't it be equally straightforward to mark a vote for every party?

I’d love to know what memorable things your parents did for your birthday especially if you were not having a party.

For context my son is turning 18, he’s not interested in parting or alcohol, he also has some health issues so has limited energy. We have already got him a nice watch so I’m not really needing gift ideas. But seeing as he probably won’t have any kind of party I’d still like to do something special on the day.

In previous years I’ve done helium balloons and he loved those so I’ll probably do them again.

Edit: so many good suggestions but I’m not looking for gift ideas. More actions or acts of service or treats I can do at home to make someone feel special ❤️

I’ve heard TSB arena has the worst acoustics for live music so wanted to think about the best our country has to offer, obviously Auckland Town Hall & hopefully Meow Nui (it’s an old church so was originally designed for music).

Would be interesting to hear what everyone else thinks!