So it’s been a few weeks now since work commenced on repairing my home. I’ve been extremely impressed with the speed at which progress is being made – In two weeks my possessions have been packed up, carpet, fireplace and gib removed in the lounge, hallway and three bedrooms, insulation installed in the walls (can’t wait), front deck removed, and the house lifted ~1.5 metres off the ground.

Currently the team are removing the ring foundation, piles and concrete steps, replacing and then lowering the house down again. It’s quite surreal seeing your place lifted off the ground and realising the ‘home’ that once was will be quite different once it’s a home again. I’m using this opportunity to make some alterations to the house which I’m quite excited about, as well as re-cabling for cat6, fibre, satellite, UHF, home entertainment as well as for the front and soon to be new back deck.

While I find myself ‘homeless’ for a while, my mind tends to wander and consider a few things. Every time I travel out of the city and connect with peers and customers, people are always keen to check in to see how things are going. I really appreciate the questions and thoughts of the kind folk asking.

I would imagine that it’s quite difficult to get a sense of perspective as to how things are really going on the ground versus the snippets in the press. We all deal with things differently and are at different points in understanding the impact of these disasters on our friends, family, employers/employees and our own personal home situation.

The thing I’m cognisant of is focusing on moving forward – we can’t change the past, it is what it is, so let’s learn from these disasters as well as the good, bad and ugly in order to make well informed decisions for our future as well as the generations to come. I see this is an awesome opportunity to build a world class city with infrastructure that will enable us create new opportunities for not only Canterbury but New Zealand.

I was fortunate enough to attend TedxCHCH a few weeks ago and really enjoyed the presentation by Art Agnos, the former Mayor of San Francisco during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake – If you have a few moments, have a look.

People who know me, know that once I have a destination in mind, it takes a bit to deter or slow me down. My thoughts go out to those who are less persistent, don’t have the know-how, the elderly who may be simply waiting for *something* or don’t want to ask for help. If are looking for help, please checkout the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority website -  http://www.cera.govt.nz/support-and-assistance.

I’m really fortunate to be in the position that I’m in with repairs underway - there are many that have less clarity around what’s happening, or have seen little or no progress.  If I can be of help to anyone, feel free to reach out.

Nick.