The Star: June 06, 2019
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong> Thursday <strong>June</strong> 6 <strong>2019</strong><br />
news online at www.star.kiwi 25<br />
I WAS reading through some<br />
emails over the weekend and<br />
came across a reminder that<br />
all our wheelie bins needed<br />
to be tagged as part of the<br />
major stocktake that has been<br />
undertaken over the past two<br />
years, with the addition of radio<br />
frequency IDs.<br />
<strong>The</strong> consequences of not<br />
being tagged is that the rubbish<br />
bin won’t be emptied. So I made<br />
a reminder to myself to double<br />
check if there was a<br />
small reflective sticker on the<br />
side.<br />
I write this on rubbish<br />
collection day as I take the bins<br />
out, discovering that only one<br />
of the three had the reflective<br />
sticker that confirms it is<br />
tagged.<br />
So I have been on-line to<br />
the city council website and<br />
submitted a request to have this<br />
done.<br />
It only took a minute to do<br />
(although you do need the bin<br />
number(s), which is printed on<br />
the side of the bin, so make a<br />
Mayor<br />
Lianne Dalziel<br />
Stocktake to track<br />
475,000 wheelie bins<br />
note of it before you go on line –<br />
I just took a photo on my phone).<br />
You can also phone the city<br />
council contact centre 941 8999<br />
and a customer services team<br />
member can fill the form in for<br />
you – remember you will need<br />
the bin number.<br />
<strong>The</strong> tagging system is an<br />
important way for the kerbside<br />
collection trucks to identify if<br />
a bin is on a property where it<br />
does not belong. This will help<br />
identify lost or stolen bins and<br />
reduce the cost of the kerbside<br />
collection.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re are over 475,000 bins<br />
in the collection service – so it’s<br />
possible that quite a few have<br />
been missed. I’m hoping my bin<br />
will be emptied today, but if not<br />
at least it will be tagged for next<br />
time.<br />
•If you want to ask Ms<br />
Dalziel a question, email<br />
mayor@ccc.govt.nz. Put<br />
Reader’s Question in the<br />
subject line.<br />
Tantrum to the power of 10<br />
I GOT TWO pretty decent<br />
sleep-ins this week.<br />
I mean I had to travel to<br />
Australia to get them, and one of<br />
those included being a bit worse<br />
for wear. Still, it was good to get<br />
some extra shut-eye.<br />
However, poor Laura got stuck<br />
inside over the weekend while<br />
I was away thanks to the nasty<br />
weather. If you remember back<br />
to early April when I was away in<br />
Hamilton she copped the same.<br />
It must be a curse or something.<br />
My flight didn’t get in until 1am<br />
on Tuesday morning, so I only<br />
ended up getting about four hours<br />
sleep before a little smiling face<br />
was pressed close to mine to get<br />
me up.<br />
I was stoked, I had missed<br />
Vittoria heaps while I was away.<br />
While I was gone she’s mastered<br />
her little push-car and worked<br />
out how to turn up the tantrum<br />
power to 10.<br />
With average weather striking<br />
again on Tuesday, riding her little<br />
car up and down the drive wasn’t<br />
a full-day option.<br />
Laura was on leave so the<br />
three of us packed up the car and<br />
headed to Lyttelton for a family<br />
lunch out.<br />
Bubs behaved like an angel the<br />
whole time.<br />
After eating we went out onto<br />
a deck area to see the view of<br />
the port when Vittoria spotted<br />
an excellent way to show off her<br />
tantrum skills – some slippery<br />
looking stairs that had toddler<br />
head injury written all over<br />
them.<br />
Not letting her go down<br />
those was cause for a full-blown<br />
meltdown at me, crying and<br />
screaming right beside some<br />
strangers enjoying a coffee catchup.<br />
Good thing I’ve developed<br />
a healthy level of not getting<br />
stressed about what bystanders<br />
think.<br />
When I tried to give her a<br />
cuddle to calm her down, she ran<br />
away for a cuddle from<br />
mum instead and her stroppy<br />
attitude lasted all the way back to<br />
the car.<br />
Still, it was nice to see Vittoria<br />
turn to Laura for a change.<br />
I’m sure, in spite of the tears<br />
and noise, that Laura would have<br />
appreciated that too.<br />
•Former <strong>Star</strong> Media<br />
journalist Matt Salmons has<br />
become a stay-at-home<br />
dad. We follow his journey<br />
weekly.<br />
VITTORIA<br />
& Matt<br />
DELICIOUS: Vittoria getting<br />
in a quick fluffy before<br />
showing off her tantrum<br />
skills.<br />
A warmer<br />
home,<br />
delivered by<br />
Mini–Tankers<br />
Mini-Tankers are the easy way to get your home heating fuel<br />
when you need it. And with every delivery over $50, you’ll also<br />
get your choice of Fly Buys points or Airpoints Dollars.<br />
Just give us a call and we’ll do the rest.<br />
For an efficient, home heating fuel delivery,<br />
call 0800 111 666 or visit minitankers.co.nz
Change language