Anzacs and my move...

Okay, so Friday is Anzac day in NZ (quite similiar in many ways to Remembrance Day back home). I've learned a few things courtesy of stuff.co.nz- one of the most interesting is as follows: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4493976a11.html

"POPPY DAY: One of the oldest national appeals, usually on the Friday before Anzac Day. Poppies became the symbol of sacrifice and remembrance after French woman, Madame E Guerin, suggested artificial poppies be made by widows and orphans of dead soldiers. They could be sold to benefit veterans and destitute children of northern France. In 1921, 350,000 small poppies and 16,000 large silk poppies were bought by the New Zealand Returned Services Association. The ship delivering the poppies was delayed and instead of Poppy Day being held on Armistice Day (November 11 when World War 1 ended) it was held the following year on the Friday before Anzac Day."

So the poppies here continue to come out before Anzac day.

I'm a week and a half away from my move over to Nelson. Last weekend I was in Nelson trying to line up a place, and I'll be moving on Saturday the 3rd with my new job to start on the 5th.

Do I have thoughts on my exit from Blenheim? I'm ready to move. But I'm also a little terrified about the move back. Will it be as great as I remembered in Nelson?

We went out the Abel Tasman way on the weekend and did a short walk. It was a nice day and tons of families in particular were out with the kids.

Weather has definitely cooled though. It was down to -2 the other day!! The leaves are turning their autumn (not "fall") colours... Winter is coming. I'm really thinking the flat in Nelson is going to be much, much warmer than the current cottage I'm living in. It has big sliding glass doors and it is BRRRRRR cold already. Wake up, breathe out, and see that frost on your breath.

Taxes and times...

Funny- NZ has a 31 March tax year, but that doesn't mean I need to file a tax return. From the IRD website (the NZ "CRA").
"Most people don't need to do anything
Most people who earn salary or wages pay the correct amount of tax and don't need to do anything at the end of the tax year (31 March)."
Not unless you work multiple jobs, or earn less than $9880, etc.

There are several tax brackets, and only 1 level of taxation- NZ not having provinces like in Canada. The tax system is immensely!! more simple.

There is not even a basic personal amount- and not the heaps and heaps of deductions allowed under the Canadian income tax system. There are several exceptions- you can get rebates for child care, housekeeper, and donations.

Employers deduct PAYE (pay as you earn) off every pay cheque at rates specified by government. These basically result in the "right" amount of tax being paid by the end of the year if you work full time on salary. Simpler- and less administration! Even the banks take off PAYE on your deposit interest.

I did my calculation and it was within $10.

The corporate tax regime also seems SO VERY much simpler...

If you're interested check out www.ird.govt.nz

We've turned quite cool this past week with lows in the 7 degree range overnight. We put our clocks back last weekend so its again light in the mornings when I get up- but with the days getting shorter that will soon change.

Time marches on and my time in Blenheim is drawing down. I only have another 3 weeks in my present job, before my move.

Until next time...

Moving on...

Announcing- changes in my locale... I’ve accepted a term maternity leave cover position in Nelson, starting in just over a month!

When I moved to Blenheim I thought it was going to be my new home, like Nelson had been, however in my one year here it never came to feel that way. There are things I do like about Blenheim- it is sunny most of the time, rivalling Nelson for the most sunshine hours. There is the yummy kebab shop- Akbabas. There is the fact that traffic is not crazy most of the time- unless you’re waiting at one of the roundabouts after work. There is also the close proximity to Picton, and the sounds. I’ve appreciated my opportunity to live and work here, but I’m very eager to make the move back over the hill to Nelson- and rediscover it again. I’ve lived here longer than I lived there- and I wonder what it will be like when I return. I have a sneaking suspicion it will have changed more than Blenheim has in the past year.

I’ve been busy working on my correspondence law. I’ve submitted the first assignment, and there is one more to go before the exam in June.

I was hoping to do a camping trip in the South Island, but the coming change in work means I won’t be able to take time off. We did visit Whites Bay near Rarangi on the weekend. It has a cool looking hole in the rock and I’d be keen to visit again when the tide was lower. The surf and save club was out when we were there, practising their manoeuvres.

The NZ housing market appears to have slowed, which is good. There was a big news article a week or two ago saying that people would need to save a minimum of about $120K for a house deposit on even the most basic house, for a house purchase to be affordable. Milk, and dairy related products seem to be up. I just paid $1.779 / L of petrol today.

My march so far...

I thought the change of seasons had happened, but it's been really warm for the past couple of days. On the weekend a few friends and I attended the Havelock Mussel festival, where I did not eat any mussels. I did however manage to find a cheeseburger that tasted yum- like a good Canadian fair cheeseburger. Last time I tried that here at a festival I got a 2 pieces of bread with no sauce, and a thin burned burger. This one was good! :) We watched the mussel opening- those guys are fast, and the team event, and listened to the bands. It was a beautiful day to be outside, although the nasty sandflies managed to connect with my ankles. In som ways, they are worse than mosquitos.

Time changes here on 6 April, so its still a while. Its quite dark in the mornings.

I haven't progressed at all in the half training, having taken since my oral surgery off. Now I am finding it hard to be motivated, to go for a run in the am in the dark. Not sure how to change this, unless I get a gym membership. Maybe I'm only a fair weather runner.

I was up in Wellington last weekend for the weekend and took a "white knuckle" flight on Sounds Air. Its a tiny plane, it must fit about 12 passengers. We sat right behind the pilot- a quite young-ish looking fellow, which made me a tad nervous! Anyhow, the views of the sounds and the Straight as we flew over were beautiful- and it was a smooth ride save the normal bumps landing in windy Welly. The way back was on the Ferry- my first trip back across the straight on the water. Also a lovely day weather wise, (other than the wind) so it was nice to sit outside.

The fresh produce is out right now so its a great time to cook with veggies which are in season and cheap. Hurray! :) No paying heaps right now for my favourite peppers and tomatoes.

I tried out my inherited slow cooker a couple of weeks ago. It made a nice lasagna, although I must admit I got terribly tired of eating it before it was all gone. Living where I do means I don't have an oven, and so its nice to be able to get some nice warm oven-y type food.

My first assignment for law is due soon. Perhaps I'll work on it over the weekend, as I don't have anything exciting teed up for the easter holiday.

On teeth, and recovery... and random thoughts

My wisdom tooth checkup the day after surgery was good. I thought things were going VERY well, far better than the terror I'd dreamed about. By Thursday I was feeling not too bad- and headed to work, although I didn't last the whole day. Friday I did work the whole day, despite being told I'd make it for a week. The weekend didn't go so well- at ALL! Saturday was the worst sleep and worst pain I've had in my life. I made it through Sunday and ventured to work on Monday- still very much in pain. I made a dental appointment and after a nasty Monday and Tuesday I found out Wednesday I had a dry socket- hence all the pain! And also probable infection. I've been back another time for a dressing on the socket, and feel so much better than last week. Sore, but recovering- at least for now. Yay.

Not much else new really- I've been pretty tired over the past 2 weeks. I have done no exercise- at all, however due to being on a soup and soft food diet, I was down 5 lbs.

Shorters has been very exciting lately- (the new zealand 7pm soap). The story line with Joey's been going on for months and months, but looks like it may finally be drawing to a close.

I finally finished a puzzle of my FAVOURITE Van Gough- Cafe Terrace at Night. It took AGES, in part because I'm not so fab at puzzles, and part because the mean puzzle designers have the puzzle pieces fitting in spots that aren't the right ones. I felt tremendous accomplishment. :)

I've recently started an online business law course that I have to take as part of the NZICA reciprocity agreement with the Canadian Institute of CAs. It's kind of like CASB, only there are only 2 assignments, and an exam, instead of 8-20 hours a week for 10 weeks each module. So far I've been learning on the structure of entities, and the "corporate veil"- aka the issue of whether courts can read through the corporate veil through to the shareholders, in effect. It does mean getting into some case law- both kiwi and british- so that's been interesting. I also find it really interesting we didn't study anything at all similiar in Canadian business law.

On another note, does anyone know if Canada has a resource management act, where you have to apply for consents to do so much- like irrigate, apply poison, and the like?? It's very much in place here, lots of consents needed.

The days are getting shorter- I must admit I'm not at all looking forward to winter. :)

In the NZ political race, John Key's National Party has been high in the polls. An election will occur later this year. The kiwi dollar is also quite high against the US dollar- highest in many years, I think I remember reading.

Wisdom teeth

Yesterday I headed at 11:20 to the A & E area of the Blenheim hospital , where i was soon called through to a medical bed. They put in my iv thingy (which was a first) and it didn't take too long for the oral surgeon to come through, confirm which teeth were coming out and verify I was the right Kelly- and confirm whether I wanted to keep the teeth (a definite! no). I then proceeded behind the doc and nurse to a theatre, as they are called here. I laid down on this super high skinny table (I say skinny because my arms didn't really even fit on). They put on the blood pressure cup and the green towel and the doc said "do you like white wine? here you go", as the iv stuff started- and he said I would be getting light headed. I seem to think they put a green thing over my head with only a hole for my mouth and only have one or two vague recollections of the surgery. My sense of time really was upset. I think I said ow a few times as they tug- but as they said it didn't really leave a bad feeling. I have no recollection of being taken from the table back down to the bed to lie down and have my iv thing removed, although I remember her taking out the first guaze and putting more in. They gave Phil instructions and he drove me home, but I don't remember the ride even though it was 20 minutes long.Then it was time to take meds and sit with upright head, and I was so very dozy (thanks to the sedative). Slept all right last night, feeling sore today, have to go back this aft for test. Still feeling quite tired as well, but at least those 2 teeth are gone- as is the massive fear of the procedure that I had yesterday!

Of planes and market days

So I had to bring up the plane thing to let you all know I wasn't on the plane. It seems to have made international news, already... http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/nzealand_hijack It was the talk of the office this am. The planes that fly out of Blenheim are quite small. No overhead lockers, and typically one seat on either side of the tiny aisle. And as reported, no security checks. (They reported a total of 7 passengers on this plane, which probably isn't atypical).
The stuff.co.nz article has a bit more detail. http://www.stuff.co.nz/4392665a10.html It was a woman with 2 knives, so says this article, that injured the 2 pilots. (Note- no cabin doors in these tiny aircraft.) I'm sure this will bring domestic airport security under review, if nothing else. But they don't think there is a great risk of hijack. Definitely not a lot of passengers ever flying out on those tiny planes.

The boil water advisory in Blenheim continues. This only affects me at work as I'm not living in Blenheim.

Market day in Blenheim went off today- despite the protests in the paper that nearly prompted me to write a letter to the editor for the first time since my university days. One of the shop owners, and 2 courier drives objected to closing a couple of the core streets off for this one day a year event, which has lots of booths - where food, craft, and all sorts of interesting gadgets are on sale in the run up to the Marl. Wine festival which runs tomorrow. In my view, having an envigourated downtown- even if it is only for a day- isn't a bad thing for a town. Lots of towns have pedestrian only walkways in the shopping district... I'm sure this town can handle it for ONE day!

One week + a weekend away from my wisdom tooth surgery. NOT looking forward to it...

Very much looking forward to the weekend- and it being Friday- starts now. Off I go...