So much to do — so little time.
At an age when Jo Millar should be slowing down in a well-deserved retirement, the 85-year-old’s daily schedule is busier than ever.
But the Grey Power Otago president and national secretary says she would not have it any other way.
Everything she does is with other people in mind.
Mrs Millar has been the president of the Otago association for the past 20 years, but she never expected to find herself in the role.
How did it happen?
It happened after she moved from Wellington to Dunedin, and saw an advertisement for Grey Power Otago.
"I thought, well, I've only been down here a little while, I don't know anybody — maybe it’ll be a good way to get to know people."
Then she got invited to the association’s annual meeting, and before she knew it, she was Grey Power Otago’s new president.
"I was prepared to go on the committee, but I walked out of the AGM as president.
"Looking back, I don’t regret it at all.
"I've had very enjoyable, and unenjoyable, times since then.
"You get through ups and downs, but the main focus has always been, what is this organisation for?
"When things go wrong and you think, ‘what am I doing this for’, suddenly someone rings you up or you get an email saying, ‘Jo, thanks very much for fixing up that problem I had’.
"That's what you do it for."
A remarkable debater and voice for the people
Mrs Millar said many people of her generation were reluctant to speak out in public.
They grew up in an era when young people were seen and not heard.
But her father was a very good debater and public speaker, and he shared that passion with her.
"All I could think of was, all these people are in jail."
The upside was, the experience left her with confidence, knowing that she could talk to just about anybody on the planet, no matter who they were.
She went on to gain a Licentiate in Elocution from the Trinity College of London, and not surprisingly, she had a long career in communications with the National Airways Corporation and Air New Zealand.
"My job was at Wellington Airport, plugging in the calls as they came through into the switchboard and sending the messages up and down the pneumatic tubes to the different departments.
"I did that right through until it was all computerised.
"Then I moved into checking in passengers and dispatching aircraft."
It has served her well. She has fantastic people skills.
But at the same time, she does not suffer fools gladly, and she is not scared to say what is on her mind or give somebody "a bollocking".
And it is good to remember those qualities, because she is still sharp as a tack.
"I’m probably a little bit more outspoken than the average person of my generation. A spade's a spade.
"Tell me the truth. If it's not going to happen, then just say, ‘no, we're not interested in doing it’.
"You can't fight lies. That's why I'm very much straight down the line.
"People probably say I can be brash — and I am, but I'm too old to change now."
The driving force
Her aim has always been to be an effective voice for the elderly, and Grey Power is the driving force behind that.
"I wouldn't do it if it weren't for Grey Power and the members that bring issues to the forefront.
"Someone has to stand up and speak about them and ask about them and see if we can get them fixed."
She continues to be an impressive and fierce advocate for the organisation, and is a regular sight at Dunedin City Council meetings, Otago Regional Council meetings, at public forums and on the streets of Dunedin.
"One thing that I will say is that in all my years in this role, although we've had our differences of opinion many times, I've always seemed to have had the utmost respect from the councillors.
"And I’ve also been prepared to say ‘thank you’ when thanks are needed.
"There are little things like the moving of the bus stop from outside Heff’s in South Dunedin which made access easier ... and the new footpath outside the South Dunedin Library.
"It's a lovely, flat, sealed footpath. It's a joy to walk up and down.
"I have said thank you more than once to them for that because those footpaths, although they may look very attractive, sometimes they can be very awkward if you've got any leg problems or mobility issues."
Sometimes she ponders why she is doing the work.
"If I croak tomorrow, I think, ‘what's it going to matter’?
"I look at it this way — I've been extremely lucky that I've got all my faculties, I've got relatively good health, and if I don't use it to the best of my ability, then I don't deserve to have it.
"I think it's important that while I've got this, if I really believe in something, I need to follow it through and do it."
The recent battles
Mrs Millar said some of the highlights of her time at Grey Power included starting a petition about roading in the buildup to construction of the new hospital.
It was instrumental in stopping Dunedin’s one-way system being turned into a two-way system.
"So for me, that's a big plus for Grey Power Otago, that we were instrumental in doing that."
Another "big plus" was stopping council changes to the over-75 parking permits — not once, but three times.
"I quietly, very firmly told them, what they could do with those changes.
"And when George St reopened, the disability parking outside the bank was changed from 120 minutes to 60 minutes.
"I emailed the council and got a very nice reply back saying that that was a mistake and that it was going back to 120 minutes, and that they were redoing all of the mobility parks around the city and making them bright and clear so that they were easily visible.
"These achievements are not great major things. They’re just little things which probably don't mean very much to most people, but they do to the people using them."
Keeping them accountable
Mrs Millar is very familiar with council processes and she is eagle-eyed about making sure councillors follow protocol and have all the available information before making big decisions.
"I don't think that it's a matter of pulling swifties to save money.
"What I do believe, in all honesty, is that it's a conglomeration with a left hand that doesn't know what the right hand is doing.
"I know councillors are saying that ratepayers would rather have an income from that space, but I would rather the ratepayers had access to that building.
"They've put the money into that building and perhaps we should look at the staffing of the city council and make them more reportable, more accountable for knowing what's going on."
She often wonders what would happen if organisations like Grey Power and people like her were not around.
"I fear for what would happen to people.
"I know in the current situation that we're in, on a national level, the ordinary things that are happening to people at the moment are horrendous.
"There has to be groups like ours to make sure that what we've got now is not eroded, because we’ll never get it back if we lose it.
"So we have to fight for what we've got and improve it where we can."
That schedule
Mrs Millar’s daily schedule consists of sending emails, attending meetings and public forums, organising petitions, grant applications, sometimes standing on the street highlighting issues about things like the new Dunedin Hospital, and sometimes there is even time for a cup of tea in between.
But she downplays the massive amount of time she spends working for the community’s causes.
"They just run the place like clockwork and so I usually put my head in and make sure everything's all right — my actual action in the office is tapered right down."
The future
Having said that, it was getting to the stage where she felt it was time for someone else to take over.
"When people talk about me being retired, I just say to them, cut the ‘re’ off and leave me ‘tired’.
"I have been trying to stand down as president of Grey Power Otago to let someone else with new vision come in, but every time I go to an AGM, out I come just from the same old place."
Until someone else was ready to take over, she said she would remain "very happy" with her life.
"I find that doing what I'm doing makes me feel that I'm still of value, that I've still got a purpose.
"And I keep telling them [late family, friends and work colleagues] up there, I'm sorry I can't get to you yet.
"I've still got a few things to do down here — like fixing this South Dunedin Library thing."
