TIM HAZLEDINE: Scraping Paint and the Meaning of Life

Raise high the roof beams, carpenter! Ralph Lattimore and Tim Hazledine admire the view from the new barn, Wanaka, February 1995

Tim Hazledine

Mon, 29 Jun 2020

When I’m down in Wanaka, up on my nifty portable scaffold, scraping loose paint off the weatherboards of my barn, I feel sorry for rich folk who can’t afford to do this. Why can’t they? Because their time is too valuable. An hour on the scaffold is an hour not running your company or billing your law firm’s clients or doing dental implants, and if you are such a person this means your paint scraping is costing you hundreds of dollars an hour in lost income.The ‘opportunity cost’, as economists call it, i...

Subscribe to BusinessDesk

Stay informed on business, government and financial developments across New Zealand.

Deeply researched, twice-edited and fact-checked news
Annual subscribers also receive a complimentary subscription to The Wall Street Journal
Personalised email news alerts, plus gift up to 5 stories a month to non-subscribers

You can cancel anytime with two clicks, an email or a phone call.
Find out more.

We are serious about journalism.

Already a Subscriber ? Sign in here.

Name {{ registerForm.errors.get('name') }}

Email address {{ registerForm.errors.get('email') }}

Phone Number {{ registerForm.errors.get('phone') }}

Job Title {{ registerForm.errors.get('title') }}

Password Minimum password length of 8 characters.
Require at least one upper and lowercase, numeric, and special character. {{ registerForm.errors.get('password') }}

Repeat password {{ registerForm.errors.get('password_confirmation') }}

We had trouble validating your card. It's possible your card provider is preventing us from charging the card. Please contact your card provider or customer support.

Credit Card

Cardholder's name

{{ __(plans[index].name) | capitalize }} {{ plans[index].attributes.old_price | currency }} {{ plans[index].price | currency }}

All subscriptions auto renew but are easy to cancel.

I Accept The Terms Of Service

{{ registerForm.errors.get('terms') }}

Tax: {{ taxAmount(selectedPlan) | currency }}

Total Price Including Tax: {{ priceWithTax(selectedPlan) | currency }} {{ selectedPlan.type == 'user' && spark.chargesUsersPerSeat ? '/ '+ spark.seatName : '' }} {{ selectedPlan.type == 'user' && spark.chargesUsersPerTeam ? '/ '+ __('teams.team') : '' }} / {{ __(selectedPlan.interval) | capitalize }}

Retail

Retail outlook 'tough and unpredictable': Warehouse Group

The group's operating earnings dropped from $28.9 million to $1.3m.

Gregor Thompson 11:29am

Primary Sector

Mohawk Industries looks to take Bremworth private

A strategic review was kicked off in February under its previous leadership.

Riley Kennedy 9:20am

Mohawk Industries looks to take Bremworth private

The Quiz Free

QuiznessDesk, Thursday, Oct 02

Can you get them all correct without cheating?

The Quizmaster 9:15am

Sponsored

Fiji’s exclusive side revealed

Private islands and 5-star luxury, closer than you think.

Tourism Fiji

Sponsored

The double edge of AI in cyber security

Artificial intelligence has the potential to become both a lifeline and a liability for modern organisations, as a revolutionary tool capable of spotting threats at lightning speed, but also the ultimate weapon in the hands of cybercriminals.

Spark