A few years back I found myself in a trendy Auckland café, the sort of place where the menus were printed on recycled paper and the barista could talk at length about the provenance of the oat milk. I’d…

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The other day I was talking to someone about their kids, and they remarked upon the fact that their teenage sons were lacking direction and motivation. They seemingly spend much of their time locked away in their bedrooms, playing…

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It’s been close to thirty years now that I’ve jumped out of bed when the haunting fire siren goes up and headed out with our local volunteer brigade. In that time I’ve seen more than my fair share of…

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It was while standing in front of the bathroom mirror the other morning, razor in hand, that I found myself mulling over the curious contradictions of my career. Perhaps it’s a little eccentric to be philosophising while lathered up…

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I’m a big fan of the Stoics, the ancient Greek philosophers who founded Stoicism. Theirs was a practical philosophy that focused on living a virtuous life in accordance with reason and nature. They believed in self-control and most importantly…

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Last week I told the tale of one old bugger setting the world on fire in a slightly obscure sport. Chris Allington, an overachiever if ever I saw one, picked up a fistful of rainbow jerseys at the world…

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I’ve never been a big fan of either playing or spectating traditional Kiwi sports. After a high school career that saw me achieve the incredible milestone of missing almost every single Physical Education session during my time at Tawa…

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The other morning I found myself crouched behind a tussock, rifle balanced against my shoulder, lining up a shot at a rabbit. Now, before anyone calls the SPCA, let me confess that I don’t take particular joy in knocking…

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I’ve been fortunate to travel widely around the world and one thing that has always interested me is the relative differences in service levels across countries. Visit Cairo and, despite walking around in the midst of squalor, the people…

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I remember a time many years ago when my wife and I were buying a new house. My brother, a lifetime builder with decades of calloused hands and a healthy dose of blunt honesty, came to check the place…

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