NZ clothing

I bought a couple of t-shirts yesterday.  They were black (as always) with New Zealand ponga and fern illustrations.  They were in a shop that was very NZ themed and which was promoting and selling New Zealand themed clothing.

The shirts were made in Haiti.

Other shirts in the rack were made in China.  In fact, all the clothing I checked the labels of was made overseas. 

I had  a chat to the store owner while paying.   Business is currently ok for her but mainly in the weekends.  It's also picking up a bit as the weather gets colder.  I asked about the source of the clothing and she said she used to buy more New Zealand made clothing but most of the factories she used to buy from have closed down now.  It's hard to source NZ made items for her particular market and at her price range.

Is this a result of our recession or a result of our in ability to compete with overseas manufacturers or a combination of both?

Day to day stuff

IAt this time of year we upgrade the older computers and I get to deliver new boxes to my happy users.  I also get to do things like turn up at someone's desk and say things like, "You aren't getting a new computer this year but you are getting a new keyboard and mouse", and watch as their faces fall in disappointment.  I am having them on of course but it's fun to let them hang for a minute or so.

Well, it's fun for me at least.

It's probably fitting then that when I got home from work Camille took delight in pointing out I had been wearing my t-shirt inside out all day.  Not a single co-worker mentioned this to me.  I wonder why?