What's with all the noise?
Many of you will have been awakened by our siren sounding a number of times between Saturday and this morning (Monday), and be wondering what's going on.
To give you some background, the siren has been out of commission for many months after the tower on which it was mounted was surveyed and found to be a risk. The replacement pole and siren has finally been installed and was up and running as of Friday evening.
When we receive a call at night, up to 7am, a radio signal is sent to the station at the same time a message is sent to our firefighters’ pagers via another network. At the station a timer starts and if the pager message is not received within 30 seconds the siren sounds as a back-up alert. These pager messages are expected to be received within 15 to 20 seconds.
At 4:20am on Saturday morning the pager message was delayed by just over 30 seconds and at 5:10am this morning the delay was closer to a minute.
To make matters worse, there was another delay for the call at 6:40am this morning and at the same time there was an issue with the systems running our Communications Centre in Wellington. The fixing of these issue inadvertently caused the activation of the sirens of a half dozen volunteer fire brigades around the lower North Island, including us and causing ours to sound twice for this call. Fortunately, we were able to silence it before two more potential activations occurred due to the faults.
Please bear with us while we work through the pager delays with our organisation, and we hope not to wake you too often from here on.
Riddle Me That: Ready to Test Your Wits?
If the prisoner tells a lie, he'll be hanged;
if he tells the truth, he'll be beheaded.
What can he say to save himself?
Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.
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Poll: Is it rude to talk on the phone on a bus?
Buses can be a relaxing way to get home if you have a seat and enough space. However, it can be off-putting when someone is taking a phone call next to you.
Do you think it's inconsiderate for people to have lengthy phone calls on a bus? Vote in the poll, and add your comments below.
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67.1% Yes
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30.5% No
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2.4% Other - I'll share below
What's your favourite recipe for gooseberry?
Love gooseberries? Share your favourite way to enjoy them. We're looking for our readers' favourite family recipes for this delicious crop. Send yours to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, and if we use it in the magazine, you will receive a free copy of our December 2024 issue.
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