I know that it has been awhile since I posted on this blog. I guess I've been weary of earthquakes on many levels, including thinking and writing about them. Later this week, I'm going begin introducing you to some of the people in my life. They will share how the earthquake has affected their their families.
Waiting. Maybe some of you were waiting for me to post, wondering what was taking me so long. (Okay, use your imagination that it was possible for someone to be out there waiting to read my blog!) Waiting is something you must understand to get a grasp of what life has been life in Christchurch.
I think this whole city has the feeling of 'breath holding' about it. We are waiting for so much, both collectively and as individuals. As a city we wait to hear what buildings are being destroyed, when streets in the CBD will open, and how the city planning is progressing. Some individuals are still waiting for sewage to work in their area, to see how electric outageous are going to affect them this winter, and for an assessment of their house.
My family and I are waiting, for content insurance payout (there are some things I could really stand to replace right now!), for non-rumour information about the future of our street, and for our insurance to finally come up with a sum for our rebuild.
I know that these things take time. I know that alot is being done in all these areas that we simple can't see...but the waiting takes its toll.
Oh, the not forgotten 'Waiting'...every day, we wait for an aftershock. We have been rather quiet for a few days...but that just means I feel I'm waiting for one that will be truly SHAKY!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
5.3
Another 5.3! It woke us up, violent and scary at 3am this morning. It was too much like the very first. Across the city, once again, we were all talking earthquakes. They dominate us, worry us, and keep us from sleeping. Even the evening news was once again focused on Canterbury and the earthquake. Maybe there just wasn't enough news to go round.
I think we just have to get used to it, no not the shakes, we are already used to that, even if we hate them. The news. Everytime news is low, I have a feeling they are going to pull up our earthquake and dissect it. Today's news is that because of the natural disasters in Christchurch, Australia and Japan, our insurance is going to go up by 50 percent! But we've been told that we need to be pleased we can still get insurance for earthquakes. Okay, really pleased!
Hurray, I have earthquake insurance...I just hope I never need it again.
I think we just have to get used to it, no not the shakes, we are already used to that, even if we hate them. The news. Everytime news is low, I have a feeling they are going to pull up our earthquake and dissect it. Today's news is that because of the natural disasters in Christchurch, Australia and Japan, our insurance is going to go up by 50 percent! But we've been told that we need to be pleased we can still get insurance for earthquakes. Okay, really pleased!
Hurray, I have earthquake insurance...I just hope I never need it again.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Silent Victims of the Earthquake
I went to a funeral yesterday. The man who had passed on was an old man, a man who had had a good life and a family who loved him. I've only known his since the earthquake. His daughter is the lady who was our hostess after the renter was destroyed. Her parents also came to stay at the same time. As our life settled into a new routine, this old man struggled on, never able to return to his home, not because his house was destroyed, but because his health was.
He suffered the first stroke in the first week following, like aftershocks, more strokes followed the first. It became clear that recovering from health and the earthquake was going to be a slow process, and as it turned out, impossible.
I wonder how many silent victims of the earthquake there are. People whose names we will never know, who would have lived a little longer if it hadn't occurred. The family and friends may know they were victims of the earthquake, but no one will acknowledge officially that they are.
A disaster of the magnitude we have had here in Christchurch produces a fair bit of unsung pain.
He suffered the first stroke in the first week following, like aftershocks, more strokes followed the first. It became clear that recovering from health and the earthquake was going to be a slow process, and as it turned out, impossible.
I wonder how many silent victims of the earthquake there are. People whose names we will never know, who would have lived a little longer if it hadn't occurred. The family and friends may know they were victims of the earthquake, but no one will acknowledge officially that they are.
A disaster of the magnitude we have had here in Christchurch produces a fair bit of unsung pain.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Life Goes On
It has been a while since I've written about life in Christchurch. That's probably because there is just not much more to talk about. I could write again about over crowded services, busy, broken roads and the stress of making lists of things lost, but it would bore me to write it again, as much as it would depress you to read again.
Life now goes on in Christchurch, and not having anything to update is actually rather depressing. It means that it feels that nothing is happening. We were told that some information about areas that would not be re-built would be out in mid-May, that was quickly changed to the end of May, hopefully. Our insurance assessor told us he would try to have some firm figures for the rebuilding of our home in a couple of weeks (coming up a month ago). I got a call from the company they used to assess our home, they said sometime in late June they would have more information for us. There are times that I think that, though life goes on, it will never get going.
We hope that something is happening under the surface. Maybe, behind the scenes, things are churning away, and one day it will seem that everything comes together all of the sudden. That's what we hope for, and today hope is all we have, because there is nothing else to report.
Life now goes on in Christchurch, and not having anything to update is actually rather depressing. It means that it feels that nothing is happening. We were told that some information about areas that would not be re-built would be out in mid-May, that was quickly changed to the end of May, hopefully. Our insurance assessor told us he would try to have some firm figures for the rebuilding of our home in a couple of weeks (coming up a month ago). I got a call from the company they used to assess our home, they said sometime in late June they would have more information for us. There are times that I think that, though life goes on, it will never get going.
We hope that something is happening under the surface. Maybe, behind the scenes, things are churning away, and one day it will seem that everything comes together all of the sudden. That's what we hope for, and today hope is all we have, because there is nothing else to report.
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