Around a year ago (?) one of my daughters bought a mechanical keyboard. I’d never given much thought to keyboards but had gone through a few over the years. The first computer I used that wasn’t a dumb terminal hanging off a mainframe was an IBM XT. It came with the very solid keyboard complete with key clicks. You knew when a key had been pressed.
My early home computers (mid 1990s through to early 2000s) were also desktops with, presumably, sturdy keyboards, but I can’t remember what they were like.
[The following is the text of a sermon preached in our church on Sunday 21st October 2018]
Redeeming, Restoring, Transforming Love
The Parable of the Wobbly, Secondhand Bookcase
A number of years ago I purchased a bookcase from a Vinnies shop. The bookcase was probably made 60 or 70 years ago and is oak. When I got this bookcase home I found that it wobbled. The glue joints had clearly broken. It was being held together by rusting nails. It wasn’t too stable and so wouldn’t really work as a bookcase because over time it would lean to one side as books were placed in it.
Our last full day in New Zealand was spent in Christchurch. It was fascinating to walk around and see how the city was recovering and rebuilding some seven years after the earthquakes.
We visited Quake City which is a contemporary museum about the earthquake. There is video from some survivors and their stories of loss or escape.
The buildings on the right form part of the Provincial Council Buildings which were damaged in 2011. Apparently these buildings aren't slated for repair or restoration until 2028 because of a shortage of both funds and tradesmen
Just 'aving a Captain Cook, Guv'
Inside the Transitional Cathedral
Some of the 185 chairs in a vacant lot that serve as a memorial of those who lost their lives in the earthquake
The Anglican Cathedral
There are two of these installations in Christchurch. The other stands in the Avon River
For day 15 we were staying in Christchurch but went for a drive to Lyttelton - a port town about 10km south-east of Christchurch. Lyttelton is a busy, active port but also had a selection of boutique and specialty shops that gave the town a really nice feel. We only spent a couple of hours here but could have stayed longer.
Lyttelton is the port town that cruise ships used to dock in on stopovers for Christchurch, but that has ceased since the 2011 earthquake. I think cruise ships are expected to dock from next year.
Day 12 - the three quarter mark through our holiday was the longest drive of our trip - from Murchison to Akaroa. We started in the mountains, with deep gorges, plantation pine forests and snowy peaks followed by a lunch stop in Culverden then through the outskirts of Christchurch and finally winding down to the east coast at Akaroa.
