Mike's Notes
A curious mix of chance and trying hard; who would have thought? I am very grateful to all those who helped me along the way.
I learn by the seat of my pants, making lots of mistakes, never repeating them. Being self-educated is great. So is listening, asking questions, reading print books, learning to use tools to make things, challenging every assumption, "strong opinions, weakly held", subject to change as factual evidence emerges via robust Science. We are all capable of doing this.
We are all smarter than we give ourselves credit for.
Resources
- https://www.blog.ajabbi.com/2025/12/just-magic-working-on-globe-for.html
- http://www.redworks.co.nz/search/label/Court%20Theatre
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_to_Coast_(race)
References
- Reference
Repository
- Home > Ajabbi Research > Library >
- Home > Handbook >
Last Updated
09/08/2026
I have been very lucky
Mike is the inventor and architect of Pipi and the founder of Ajabbi.
I have been very lucky. I have had a lot of people in my life who were a good influence on me. (I get rid of anyone who sabotages or is a bad influence)
My grandmother Bessie showered me with attention and love, gave me endless things to pull apart to see how they worked, and took me to meet very clever people in a small-minded backwater town.
Family holidays in wild New Zealand, next to rivers, beaches, forests and mountains, which ignited a lifelong obsession with the patterns of nature, the why in my life.
My best friend right through school; he was the brightest kid in NZ.
My remedial "Cabbage Maths" teacher, Mrs Campbell, who took me from the bottom of a class to the top of the school with 98% by teaching me maths visually. That's when I learned the problem was not me; it was the way I was being taught, so from then on, I taught myself everything by reading 20 books a week, drawing notes, and having a go.
My high school science teacher, Mr Morgan, let me play in the chemistry lab, doing experiments after school unsupervised for several years, and taught me the scientific method on my very last day at school, the most important thing I learned in 12 wasted years.
The wise old tradesmen took a skinny kid from sweeping the floor to being able to make anything by learning on the job, trying hard, and having my butt kicked when I deserved it.
Nelson Mandela taught me to have the courage of my convictions and never give up.
The sculptor Neil Dawson and the set designer Tony Geddes taught me how to work authentically and in the flow.
My blind friend Grant, who made and gave away $60 M NZD, taught me, while he was cutting down bushes with a chainsaw, determination, quiet courage and human decency.
The magnificent 50,000 working people of South Christchurch, who trusted me to lead a volunteer residents' army doing recovery work for 3 years after the Christchurch Earthquake, teaching me humility, what honour is, and valuable leadership skills gained by trial and error in the moment.
My beloved Tracy, the bravest woman I have ever met, the only paraplegic to do the Coast-to-Coast Iron Man, who married an undomesticated autistic male and made me a much better man. Her unwavering devotion, encouragement and loyalty made all this possible.
They all shaped me; I can't thank them enough. May their memories be a blessing.
