I managed to put my neck out. Well not sure if its my neck or my very upper spine, but whatever it was, I’ve been in a lot of pain these last few days. For the first couple of days I couldn’t turn my neck or move my shoulders without a lot of pain. It made things rather difficult. It’s gotten better, slowly, but still not better. The worst part is it is the sorest when I am lying down, so sleeping has been a pain, and it seems sleeping on the side I prefer is the worst for it. So I haven’t had much sleep these last few days and wake up even sorer than when I went to bed.

My mother came down this last week. It wasn’t the best visit. Somehow a chat about game shows turned into a, well, not fight, I couldn’t be bothered fighting with her, but her telling me I was wrong and didn’t know what I was talking about. We were talking about game show hosts and who would host Millionaire. She said she wanted Simon Barnett, and I just can’t stand the man, for many reasons. But I mentioned I didn’t like his attitude when he was protesting the no-spanking law. I should have known not to mention that, but well, sometimes I just don’t want to have to censor myself all the time.

I know the spanking law is rather controversial. I also don’t expect everyone to agree with me. But for, probably obvious reasons, I am very pro a law that says it is illegal for parents to hit their children. Basically the law was to remove an old law that said parents were allowed to use “reasonable violence” to discipline their children. So many parents that were abusing their children and could afford a good lawyer were able to get off charges by claiming it was reasonable force. Of course many people were up in arms because they we no longer able to spank their children. It is illegal to smack an adult, if you hit an adult and they want to, you can be arrested for assault. But children never had the same right. I don’t believe in violence as a discipline tool, I don’t believe it does any good and I don’t believe it is the only or the best option. I just don’t.

But my mother made it known I don’t have a right to that opinion. No surprise there, I’ve never had a right to an opinion that differed from her. So as we sat in the cheap yucky café she took me too, and she told me I was not only wrong but stupid. I don’t have kids so what do I know about raising them. Never mind I helped someone raise her two kids for 18 months, and actually have studied child development. And yes I know that’s different than being an actual parent, but it also means I’m not totally clueless. It also seems children are idiots and the only way to get through them is to smack them, and when parents do that, its not only correct but amusing.

Luckily I don’t think I was the type of company my mother wanted me to be because she took me home rather quickly. Oh and about the crappy café. When my parents use to come down we would go to the pub for lunch. The pubs we would go to were well, basic. A few visits ago I told her I would meet her at the café up the hill instead. I much prefer it than going to a pub. It had really good coffee, and proper food. Anyway, for some reason the place has closed down, so I said go into town and we’ll get something there. Around the octagon (sort of the central point of town) there are a lot of very nice cafés. Yes the food is a bit more expensive than getting a sandwich or a sausage roll.

A little history lesson (this is getting long and complicated). For a while Dunedin was pretty much a backward town. In a lot of ways it still is. But if you went out for a meal, it would be steak and chips, there was no ethnic food, no stylish food. Cafes were non-existent. There were places, but you got percolated cona coffee only and food was basic sandwiches, pies, and cheese rolls. Basically we were stuck in the 50’s. This has changed, we now have some really good barristas, and food options.

But my mother came down on a Wednesday. I get my money on a Thursday so I’m lucky to have even a couple of dollars left by Wednesday so because I couldn’t pay my own way I just went where they wanted. I suggested a couple of places, although I wasn’t sure of the food I knew they made good coffee. But my mother wanted to go to this place. I didn’t know why, but I knew it was of the old style. So we get there and they only have cona coffee, which ok, it had caffeine in it, but when I go out for coffee I want good coffee.

The funny thing was even my mother was disappointed in the food, not because it was the old 50’s style of place, but because they didn’t have as many varieties of sandwiches. She said something about how much it had changed from when she used to go there. I asked when that was and she said before they went to Kurow. Ok, that’s about 15 years ago. Umm, of course its changed, its probably changed hands 3 or 4 times since then. It’s something about my mother, she doesn’t see that the world moves on without her. I think its her borderline issues, where she can’t see that there is a whole way of being, people and life that isn’t all about her.