So, to continue on with the shortwave story, I did actually find Radio 
New Zealand Pacific a couple of nights ago and then again the next 
morning. In the evening it was on the 19m band and in the morning it was 
the 49m band. Apparently, the signal is relayed at several points around 
the Pacific, so it may not have come to me direct from NZ.

Also, I notice that there's a story on Radio New Zealand's shortwave 
service on Port 70 News (it's the story without a title!). Thanks to 
whoever contributed it!

                 *               *               *

A few days ago, I decided that it was time to trim our cedar hedge. I 
planted it back in 2008. We have a picture of us with all the little 
trees, which were about 18 inches tall when planted. I think the tallest 
had reached about 17-18 feet by the time I did the trimming.

The aim was to keep the hedge about 12 feet tall, and I thought a lot 
about how to get up there to do it safely. One idea was to create a 
tripod scaffold. The yard isn't level, so a tripod seemed to make the 
most sense. Then I remembered the orchard ladders at my grandmother's 
house when I was a kid. I looked them up and decided to make one. The 
inspiration is here: https://www.instructables.com/Orchard-Ladder/

A pic of the ladder I built is posted in my phlog directory[1].

The key to using the ladder on unlevel ground is to put a level across 
one of the rungs. Then you can move and rotate the ladder until you find 
a level spot. After that, the support leg can be put out to any distance 
and you're still level and secure. It made the hedge-trimming job so 
easy.

If you're wondering about the vertical piece near the center of the 
bottom four rungs, the instructables tutorial explains that its purpose 
is to add rigidity and strength to those rungs. The stabilizer piece 
spreads your weight over all four rungs as you climb, which helps since 
those rungs are quite wide. Mine is fastened to the rungs with carriage 
bolts. At the top of the ladder, the leg pivots on a half-inch bolt. I'm 
sure an old-school carpenter would have used a dowel, but I trust a 
steel bolt with a nylon lock nut more than my ability to assess the 
strength of various types of wood or to secure a dowel properly.

[1] gopher://zaibatsu.circumlunar.space:70/1/~visiblink/phlog