79: Crawling to the conclusion
Delays, illness, vehicle problems, changed work schedules, inclement weather and a certain amount of procrastination have prevented much progress. The longer it takes the more inclined you are not to rush. But to rush also means plenty of visits which would create suspicion on any locals even though the land owner knows and approves of what we do. So as long as we are progressing in some small way we are happy with that. Life goes on and you have to attend to things along the way.
We'll make no bones about it (mainly because we have no bones yet), I admit there was one time I just couldn't go crawling all the way in to commence digging, as I let apprehension take me - it really is a tiny space to work in. You do need some sense of courage, stupidity or both to do what we do. Imagine being inside on the night of the Kaikoura quake. Imagine being far inside a space you can't turn around in and feeling the earth shaking! We haven't been back yet to see if there is any damage from that but I do not expect any as it's not fragile rock but a firm limestone tube filled with clay, rock and dirt.
Extra helpers have been recently recruited, and some home-built equipment is now available to help us progress things further. This allows a greater frequency of visits as a greater pool of helpers are available, although even with that and Christmas approaching it is very hard to pin everyone down to an agreed day. It also means we can move more spoil per visit. Keep in mind, we are not being paid to do this, there is no official backing, and we all have responsibilities, families, and jobs to attend to. There has been three times I could have just walked away. One FB poster even abused us for delays and we will show his post below to make a point.
Thomas Edison said "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."
And that is all we can do - slowly crawling to the conclusion...
*****
On 17th October this year we had Damz Kenealy say on Facebook - and we quote "...lol. Just fuck up and dig your tunnel so we can see if there's any substance to your claims or if you're full of shit. Stop procrastinating."
Now ignorance is free and very well displayed above, but Damien is partially right...it is definitely taking longer than expected. However, if he actually read our blog instead of taking overt offence at certain opinion pieces that doesn't fit what he likes (think Democrat riots), then he would know why it is taking so long. As he's now deleted off our FB feed it no longer matters. But the reference he makes to a delay is a very fair comment. Even we have been frustrated, and yes, sometimes we have procrastinated from being in that narrow hole far underground where you cannot turn around but have to wriggle backwards to get out, and almost needs a pumped in fresh-air supply to be able to work comfortably. The next task then, is to widen it to make it safer.
That aside and for those really interested - we value your following and loyalty to what we are doing. We value all non-abusive comments even if we can all agree to disagree on certain things, for that is very healthy. Opinions are just that, they are based on experience, observation and/or environment, and we are all entitled to them. So we are being as persistent as we can, we have a purpose and we definitely need your patience. Just don't be a muppet like the one above.
