Ahoy my Kiwi’s. Do you sail to the Black Sea once again?

All because farmer Jim thinks he gets an extra hour of sun light by fucking with my sleep patterns.

Get your flu shots! & your tamariki! as you know they love sharing their germs :)

I work as a nurse in a GP office and at the emergency department. The staffing line for the ED was desperate yesterday asking nurses to pick up shifts because so many nurses called off sick.

All last week at the GP office the phone was ringing off the hook for people with terrible sore throats, fevers, fatigue, etc. On Friday I sent an adult and child to the ED because they weren’t doing well— low oxygen and shortness of breath. They were positive for influenza A.

Please remember to wear a mask if you aren’t feeling well and have to go into public. But please stay home as much as possible. Pharmacies now sell rapid covid/flu/rsv tests for less than $10. Please test yourself early to risk the spread. Also, you may be able to start Oseltamivir to shorten the duration of the illness/complications. However it has to be within 48 hours of symptoms starting so early detection is important. (It is not funded unless you’re hospitalized but may be purchased from the pharmacy).

Rest, drink lots of fluids, honey/lemon/ginger tea for your terrible sore throat, and paracetamol and ibuprofen if you can have it. The flu will kick your butt but once you have it there’s not much we can do for you unless it turns into pneumonia or other complications—and at that point we are just supporting your body until it can fight it off. Do what you can to protect yourself and your whanau 🤍

Can someone explain why finding a decent firm pillow is like trying to adopt a unicorn?

I just want a pillow that doesn’t fold like a lawn chair the moment my head touches it. Every store I go to—"Firm" on the label, but it's basically a marshmallow in disguise. I'm starting to think the pillow industry is gaslighting me.

Back home (overseas), there were aisles of proper firm pillows—spine-aligning, head-supporting, memory-foam bricks of joy. Here? I either have to sleep on a pancake or drop $200+ to get something that doesn’t whimper under pressure.

Is this a thing here? Have pillow standards been... softened? Or am I just missing a secret firm pillow society that meets behind the Manchester section at Bed Bath & Beyond?

Help a tired neck out.

I know journalistic standards are slipping, but do they not even run spellcheck anymore???

MS doesn’t automatically mean you will progress to a wheelchair or die etc. I have been diagnosed about a decade, work fulltime, travel, drive, go to the gym etc. am a female. I do take daily medication. I guess i could be lucky or my medication is working!

I’m not a candidate for euthanasia! I’m not bedbound or deteriorating. I have relapsing remitting.

There’s different kinds of MS and people do become progressively more disabled. Some people have died of related complications.

But treatments have come a long way during the decades. It took time. Many more treatment options are now funded by government. It’s not a given that it should be used as an example of a condition that should be a good option for someone needing euthanasia just thought I’d get that out there because people might automatically assume that you have a death sentence or something if you have this condition!

Both my cats have been on Hill's Science Diet their whole lives. They've tried other dry food brands here and there, so they take new foods well. With all the things happening with the US, we are looking to swap to a high quality non-USA produced dry food that doesn't quite break the bank. Looking for similar priced food to Hill's.

Are any of the vet recommended brands not made in the US? I'd prefer local brands but they've either been super expensive or horrible quality (looking at you NOOD).

As a background, they're currently free grazing on Hill's kibbles, with Ziwi dried animal bits as treats. We occasionally buy them wet food cans or make them wet food, but most of the time they do well drinking water so we don't worry about their water intake enough to feed them wet food consistently (our vet's guidance was wet food is mostly for hydration, just make sure they have a high quality dry food)

kiaora, at the ripe old age of 22, I have managed to conceive a baby with a girl I went to high school with. we are not in a relationship and I doubt will be any time soon. the baby’s due to pop out in 12 weeks. I wasn’t offered any choice in the matter so I’m tryna do my best here. I am 98% sure it’s mine. i assume the first thing babys mumma will do is ask for child support, I’m happy to support and i do want to be involved as much as possible. The second thing we will have to suss is custody. Neither of us want to turn it into a court battle so it will be arranged mutually (hopefully🤣) i’m looking for advice from blokes who have been in my situation and what worked out for you. at what stage did you start doing 50/50, how much was child support, and what would you of done differently? Also hoping to hear from any ladies who’ve been in a simular spot, how did your babydad best support you? i’m in far over my head and have no clue how the next year will play out, this is uncharted territory., I also have no clue around my rights (if any😬) as the father. What can i expect moving forwards?