I had a problem with the double-linked gearshifting system on one of my early motorcycles and decided, one Sunday afternoon, to solve it.
I sort of took it apart and put tighter nut and bolt anchors on parts of it and put it all back together.
Having to ride home all the way from work using third gear the following day, after the whole thing came apart, was a problem I could not solve, however.
So if ever there is a problem with the plumbing I back off and leave it to the experts ... yes, I call my doctor (insert groans here).
But there are some problems simmering about the place and accordingly there needs to be some solving done.
There are clearly problems, issues, controversies and items of discussion floating around on the verbal waters of the as-yet unbuilt Ruataniwha Dam.
Now this is all about storing and using water, but while some people are all for it others are dead against it.
May I step up and attempt to solve this issue, this dilemma, this problem?
For I think there's a lake already there ... it's just that you can't see it.
So here's what you do.
You get in the blokes who have lots of big drills lying about, given they aren't in any great hurry to drill for oil and gas, and you take them and their kit down to Central Hawke's Bay and start drilling for water.
Because apparently there's a lot of it down there under the surface and being in that geographical position means there won't be any cow poo or other foul flotsam floating about in it.
Pump it up, pipe it to the farms that want it and the job's done.
And you won't have to re-mortgage the port to do it.
And crikey, they might even offer to buy it.
Okay, now let's sort out the vacant shops in Napier.
There are already several thousand fashion shops and things already in place in the CBD, and we're good for cafes, and the big stores have the edge, so how about some closer-to-home art?
Art is good.
Art is creative, and the art of children is fun, imaginative and occasionally inspiring.
So, council, lease a vacant store and make it a gallery ... for the work of children.
They don't have to be for sale or anything - just put the pictures up and line up the plasticene and cardboard statues and just let people come and see them.
At the same time, create a lounge, a rest spot, for young mums to sort the tiny ones out when required, and put in play zones for toddlers and comfortable chairs to rest up.
It might even encourage people to come into the retail centre.
And that big empty spread of building down the bottom end of Emerson and Dickens St which links the pair ... put in an ice-skating rink and adjoining eating spot ... with icecreams of course.
The temporary one on the parade a year or so back went ballistic and the weather is no issue for these places.
And you could use one of the other nearby vacant spots to set up a medical centre where the dinged ankles, knees and wrists could be stabilised for the journey to the expert bone people.
Wow, I'm on a roll now.
It's all about practical use of practical places ... this is what problem-solving is all about.
So then, this whole Trump thing and the prospect of him taking the reins of the US ... no I think there are some problems that can't really be solved.
- Roger Moroney is an award-winning journalist for Hawke's Bay Today and observer of the slightly off-centre.
