Another week

It looks like I'm finally getting a flatmate, as my friend has indicated she's keen to move in. Yay, I'm looking forward to living with a friend again.

It is really starting to feel like winter. Darkness does that. The weather has been fantastic so far though for this time of the year - temperature wise. Today it was a funny day with rain/ sun/ rainbow followed by rain/ sun/ rainbow, followed by more rain. It didn't feel like normal Nelson winter.

In other news, I'm still uncertain what is happening with me on the employment front. Stay tuned...

My 1/4 marathon is on Sunday. I'm no longer doing my morning runs as I find darkness a bit of a deterrent. I've only been out 2 times in the last week. Hopefully I finish... That alone will be my goal!!

The bank rate has dropped yet again in NZ. It's at a record low 2.5%. Just as well one of my term investments that expired a week or two ago accidentally rolled over. At least I'm still getting 4% on that.

The swine flu is in the news in NZ, as I expect it is in many countries of the world.

I'm now following John Key, the NZ PM on Twitter. I've got several random people following me.

the ongoing canadian banking saga...

This morning I called the 0800 # that you can use from overseas to try and change my internet banking password. The first individual straight transferred me to the password changing process which didn't work. I ended up hearing "beep- beep- beep" in my ear. I hung up and tried again at the 0 800 # and got a different person who knew that changing the password wouldn't work from overseas. This person gave me 2 phone numbers to collect call- and advised that if I dialed them I'd be able to change it successfully. I looked up on the internet to find out that to dial a collect call from NZ overseas you dial 0170- no easy dial 0 for the operator like in Canada. Anyhow, the numbers the person from the bank gave me were not valid. I hung up and tried the 0800 # again. This time the person who answered said I needed to call the 900 # which was toll free. I tried that and hurray- it worked, but I'll be very surprised it if was toll free! I was on the phone for 4 minutes with that guy who was confused about my password changing story as he'd never known the password setting device to fail (he'd obviously never encountered anyone from overseas!) Long story short, I can again access my Canadian bank accounts- or at least the chequing one. The deposit one has gone inactive as I haven't been making deposits into it from overhere. I'm pretty sure I can't do anything on my bank card with that one to reactivate it, but will give it a try.

What a saga...

Time marches on...

Wow, almost time for another month end. Doesn't time fly...

In the news in NZ there has been plenty of talk about a 21 year old Canadian Inuit person who was visiting NZ and became offended when she discovered you could buy candies called "eskimos". The candy makers say the candies will stay. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2348856/Kiwi-confectionery-leaves-bad-taste


The temperature has started to drop and the days are noticably shorter. My lovely apartment is still nice and warm. This is going to be one different winter, I think. Warmer. Warmer. Warmer. I'm still going to get the electric blanket out though, when it gets down to around 0. What a wonderful invention!

I went for a morning run today for the first time in ages. It's hard to get motivated in the dark with the morning smoke from the logburners hanging int he air. I shall have to think about finding a different running route. I registered for a quarter marathon next weekend. I'm not quite fit enough for the half this time around.

Saturday is Anzac Day. According to the experts at wikipedia: Anzac Day is a national public holiday in Australia and New Zealand, and is commemorated by both countries on 25 April every year to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANZAC_Day for more

Poppies are sold mostly on the day just before Anzac day, similar to how people wear poppies around Remembrance Day in Canada.

In technology news, I recently bought a very well priced 8g usb drive for under $34. What a bargain! I've now backed up all my photos, as I haven't printed any since I've been in NZ.

I've now tweeted twice during my time on twitter. I'm following a few like CNN Breaking news, and political ticker. It's still a novelty for me.

Moving forward...

I've been thinking deep thoughts of late, as the employment uncertainty continues. I was unsuccessful in a recent job application, although I did make it through to second interview territory for one position. It's never nice to get those "your skills are unsuitable" letters in the mail. My current job will be releasing the job descriptions of the restructured jobs this coming week. I've been thinking- what do I want in a job, what kind of job would best suit me, and I haven't come up with many real answers....

I joined twitter tonight. My plan was to follow CNN instead of "A", but found out I missed the contest. Darn. CNN didn't win. Anyhow, I haven't tweeted. I don't have any followers. I joined more to follow others, but I'll have to work on the tweets too.

Fiji

So I'm just watching the news and the TV 3 reporter has been made to leave the country. Today the Nelson Mail reported that Fiji's military have been given permission to shoot civilians without fear of being prosecuted. In recent days the constitution has been suspended and the judges who declared the military leader's government illegal have been fired. The Fiji Times has carried blank pages after police censors forced the paper to erase international reaction to recent developments.

Read more about fiji here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/2331684/Journalists-kicked-out
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/2330449/Rudd-condemns-Bainimarama
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/2328523/Good-Friday-coup-brings-further-confusion-to-Fiji

Troubles with internet banking.

So yes, I forgot to say when I was updating my bookkeeping I thought I should also update my Canadian bank account to record the 10 cents of interest I expect I've earned, and the much more substantial bank fees. ... But upon trying to log on, it said my password was incorrect. I haven't logged in for over 6 months. I managed to call the 1800 # since NZ is a country outside of Canada and the US that it works from. The individual on the phone indicated its an ongoing problem dating back to about January- that because I'm trying to login from a foreign IP address its blocking me out. They went through the password update portion, however it didn't work given that I'm using an overseas phone. Oh joy- so now my password has changed, and I can't get the 6 digit # that it has changed to. The kind fellow on the phone did speak to his supervisor who was livid this technical problem hasn't been corrected. He said to call back in about a week- and to know that because of me, the problem would be actioned. Isn't that nice. Luckily, it wasn't an urgent need to see my bank transactions. We'll see if its working in a week, I guess.

Master chef Kelly? And my easter update

Easter means 4 days off, with both Good Friday and Easter Monday being stats in NZ. Friday and Sunday are those "special" stats where most stores are forbidden from being open and the radio and tvs don't play commercials. Monday is a normal stat with the shops being open. I really needed easter. The 12 hour work days from last week were getting to me.

Having the whole weekend in town and to myself means that I got time to sleep, but in addition to that:
1) go on a fly killing mission. I think I've managed to kill all the flies in my apartment- save one lucky one that keeps eluding me. His days ARE numbered, however.

2) Clean up fly poo. Yuck... I've made a good dent in the stuff on the windows and the like- IHaven't made any effort on the ceiling at this point. I can't wait for fly season to be over. (Does it end? It seems to be going, and going, and going.)

3) Complete other misc house cleaning tasks that had fallen off the board when working long days

4) laundry, laundry, and more laundry! I'm all caught up once I pull in the sheets later today. Yay.

5) Get back in the running mode. Tomorrow I need to do a longer one than I've been doing - wish me luck.

6) Listen to the radio. I love music. Ah. :)

7) Get some reading time in. I just finished the Great Gasby- I've been meaning to read this for a while. My review: I loved his finishing few pages- that was some good writing. Not really a happy ending story though so don't hold out for that.

8) Watch chick flicks!! Last night I watched Made of Honour with Patrick Dempsey. I have to say- watching him in Greys has made me a fan. I've still got another few in the cue for tonight/tomorrow including An Officer and a Gentleman and Mama Mia. Now- I must admit I was almost in the mood to get Braveheart (Which is definitely on my favourite movies list- even though I've only seen it once), but it is a bit more involved than movies I normally watch, so I thought I'd keep on the chick flick theme this weekend and we'll keep that for another time

9) Me time- time to chat with the family back in Canada, and hang out, and just be. Ooh, and catch up on my bookkeeping. For the tax year ending March 31, would it would excite you to know that I spent almost as much servicing my car as I did on petrol. Crazy! (Given that I drive a 3L car.) Ooh the servicing prices... That included getting a couple of new tires, and I can't remember what else. I dropped my spending at Akbabas Turkish Kebabs dramatically from the prior year spending only $315.90 there. When I lived in Blenheim I had a kebab every Friday- and sometimes mid week at well. I'm not as impressed with the kebab shop here, although in Blenheim it also depended on who was making the kebab. She made a much better kebab than he did, in my opinion.

10) I made perogies!! Thanks to mom for sending via email a recipe that didn't take hours and hours to complete. It was a simple recipe with only mashed potato, oil, flour, eggs and salt for the dough. I had to scour town to buy a rolling pin. I found a $50 one at Briscoes but that was out of my price range with the minimal amount of baking I do- although it was red and would have looked great in my kitchen... but not enough to justify the price. I had no luck at the Warehouse and thought I'd have to shell out the $50, but luckily I found one at Spotlight for $9.99 (it was the last one, and its spot was super high but luckily someone had taken it down and placed it within my reach). So that was that. I boiled up my potatoes, mixed all the ingredients, rolled out the dough (initially not putting enough flour and making it far too sticky to roll effectively. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way. ) After re-rolling and cutting "circles", I stuffed them with potatoes mixed with cheez whiz and fried onion. And then I cooked up a few for a reward. They looked surprisingly like "real perogies". Except they were totally not uniform in size or shape, and I didn't do a great job keeping them together so some of them lost bits as they cooked, but all and all I was quite impressed with my first effort. I have a few more in the freezer ready for a convenience meal in the future. Kiwis really don't know what they are missing, not being able to buy them in the frozen section... But boy did I make a giant mess of my kitchen. Anyone have tips on easier ways to clean a yucky, sticky flour covered counter (err, bench?)

Wowzers

I popped by the Sprig after work today to say goodbye to Kiran/Tony who are moving back to Welly. I noticed the fish and chips shop next door was not on an even keel. There apparently was some sort of gas leak- the roof was partly lifted off and apparently the owner was also injured. I couldn't believe the extent of the damage. It happened earlier this morning, and hadn't been cleaned up. Read more here:
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/blast-rips-through-fish-and-chips-shop-2633303

Further to my last post

Last post, I forgot to talk about how, when camping in Picton, I encountered a lovely fantail. It followed us for about a good 20 minutes on the Black Jack Walk, fluttering around all the time. I really like those birds! I also forgot to mention I also heard the call of the morepork for the first time that I can remember. Like the chickadee, it's call is like its name. This past weekend I had the good fortune to see dolphins when we were out fishing. They were on a hunting mission or something, rather than being playful, but they still did several very cool dives in unison as they went on their hunt. I LOVE dolphins. :)

On the work front, we get more details on the proposed restructure at work tomorrow. I'm keen to see what will happen. It is better to know that not to know.

We put the clocks back on the weekend which delighted me. I like the morning light better than the evening light, as its again light during part of the morning run. I'm behind on running this week, with it being month end at work I've been getting up at 6 to head into work instead of to head for a run.

I'm loving the heat of my waterfront apartment. It doesn't feel at all like a typical kiwi home- being double glazed and with insulation. I expect winter will be surprisingly warm by kiwi standards!

Month end again... already?!

Why did the month roll around so fast?! It seems like it was just month end , and here it is again. More late nights, and deadlines. I guess I had a week off so catching up for that meant I was really busy in between- even when I'm normally less busy.

I haven't had any texts in the past several days from Mr. Random fellow. I first heard from him months ago when he text, thinking my mobile number belonged to someone else. I text back indicating he had the wrong number. He continued to text, and even phoned once. I was sure when I talked to him on the phone he realized he had the wrong number. The texts started again last week when I got a couple in several days. One came at 1:19am. Yuck!! But now I haven't had one in a few days- so here is hoping he has realized he has the wrong number.

I'm still waiting to hear more finalized new about the proposed restructure at work. Initial indications were that accountants could be impacted. I will know more in the next week or so. In the mean time, there have been a number of accounting positions advertised in Nelson. Stay tuned on what's going on with me on the work front.

I started on some new hay fever antihistamines yesterday. They are prescribed and hence are on the subsidy. Yay. It'll only $3 for 3 months supply- whereas I was paying about $15 per month over the counter for the brand I was using before.

Tax cuts kick in today in NZ. I'm supposed to be benefited by something like $18 per week. I won't complain about that. For your interest, the NZ Prime Minister makes $393,000.

Last weekend I spent Earth Hour sleeping. I was tenting in Whites Bay between Picton and Blenheim. It was dark at 8:30 when earth hour began, hence no power was used by me. Plus- camping near winter has the advantage of getting a good sleep in. It doesn't start to get light until around 7:30. I got lots of sleep that night! And it only got down to about 9 overnight. Not bad for camping in the equivalent of a NA late September! (PS- I could comment about the whole Earth Hour thing being a bit of a symbolic gesture, but not being a scientist, I won't start the argument about whether burning and manufacturing candles is more efficient than having a light on.) FYI- NZ power consumption did reduce by around 3.5% for Earth Hour.

I started going for my morning runs again after 2 weeks off while my family visited. My legs are sore, but I've managed to knock about 4 minutes off my 5 kms time. I'm really focusing on trying to extend my stride. (I say this because a fellow passed me one morning taking steps at just the same time as me, but he was blowing by me!) I am also trying to not focus on running but to let my head be in the clouds somewhere instead of focusing on each step. This is where I was 2 years ago when I did my first half. I'd actually go for a run as stress relief. After 2 months of getting back into regular jogs- I hadn't been there, until this week. Maybe the 2 weeks off actually did me good. I think I'll enter either a 10km or half marathon in Nelson in about half a month. I need to pick up the training if its to be the half! Regardless, my goal will to be to finish, not to get a good time.

Until next time...