Two Americans emigrate to New Zealand from Colorado,
USA.
We talk about
our life in Nelson, New Zealand.
November 2008 | Blog home | January 2009
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It's a few days past now, I know, but remember, we WORK on the last Thursday and Friday of every month as if it was a regular week! My idea - and this could be revolutionary - is that we get to have BOTH the holidays of the country we live in AND the country we come from!! How's that sound?
We decided to host a Thanksgiving party on the weekend, but it had to be kiwi-ised, so a BBQ. We bought a small little BBQ and Don cooked meat and veggie items while 15 of our friends came over. I ventured into the baking world and made two pumpkin pies - from scratch because you cannot buy anything ready made here! They turned out very well, after I did a practice run a few weeks ago. Don wants me to make him one weekly now, but it was about three hours worth of work, OY.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, belatedly. We hoped you enjoyed your day and ate plenty of good food.
And of course I am jealous that most of you had a four-day weekend last weekend, but I am really, really looking forward to the Christmas and New Year's holiday this year as Don and I have two whole weeks off and we'll be visiting a new location in New Zealand, relaxing, doing a whole buncha nothin' except laying around on the beach ... for the record there's a beach at home too which is wayy cool. Stay tuned on the vacation, there should be some good shots and things to talk about!
I know some of you US history buffs are keen to remember this day in history, 7 December, the invasion of Pearl Harbour. Others, in fact probably most of you, are really looking forward to Christmas - presents and time off work. A few more are already excited about New Year's as well.
But Don and I now have a new holiday in December, one that will be celebrated for years to come with drunkeness, revelry, bonfires, fireworks, and even the odd bout of lewdness. Anyone is welcome to join in, party always at our house, and in our wee office near the computer and the router. From now on, the key holiday at the end of the year that we will look forward to is...
5 December, Broadband Day.
The new day of infamy, the day Angela and Don were returned to the world of the living. The day Telecom saw fit to reconnect us to the world. Yes, we have our broadband back.
Only four months, four days, and 17 hours after we lost our world status as broadband holders, we would be invited back with nothing more than a brief voicemail message. Still, it felt good.
It would be appropriate to start the festivities early on the 4th of December, as that is now known as 'Notification Day,' the day I received a missed call on my cell from a number I recognised. I waited in anticipation, however, to check said voicemail because I wanted to complete my bike ride after work. I was pretty sure who called when I saw the familiar Canterbury based number, but I couldn't be sure until I dialed and checked. I extended my suspense until after I got home from that windy, blustery evening ride that I'll never forget, I picked up my cell as I sat in front of the computer and dialed my voicemail. "Hi this is ??? from Telecom regarding the broadband service at ########## and we want to let you know your connection is available and you should have service by 7pm on 5 December." A Friday, appropriately enough, as there would have to be cocktails mixed and poured.
I hung up, and a smile crept to my face. Of course I immediately contacted Telecom on my land line - which is going to enjoy the break from the tedious work it did during 'The Dialup Months of 2008' - and set up my new billing and broadband programme. 10GB per month, it's like a dream I've not yet woken from. The smile still sits upon my face all these days past.
The irony in all of this was that for the first time I accepted Telecom's request for a phone survey after my call was complete. I was eager to be nice, feeling gracious and all. But they disconnected my call and my survey opportunity. Oh well, their loss - and believe me, they could use a good bit of feedback. Too bad they didn't realise I was in a generous mood. Maybe they surmised who it was on the other end of the line and opted out in a preemptory strike after my many calls during The Dialup Months of 2008. Whatever.
Thus, henceforth 5 December will be an official holiday known as Broadband Day and Don and I will dance a jig with some version of a feijoa vodka martini in our hands, for this new holiday will officially launch summer, open the door to Christmas and New Year's, and mean that Don must purchase yet another gift for me.
I'm reaching now for things to write because all that is on my mind is that in one week I leave on HOLIDAY!!!! Two weeks off, I feel as if it will be heaven no matter where I am, but we will be in a lovely spot on the North Island that I'll write about in the new year.
**Have to share with you this house that sits across the street from the base of our hill. I can see it on walks, as I drive by, it is ever present in my line of vision as it sits in its state on the opposite hill - which is the hill we used to live on, but we were on the front of it.
See the red square? Of course you do! The house is in the middle of it, but I kind of think it looks like a compound with a run down bus in the top left red corner next to other run down cars and a clearly etched out dirt driveway and dirt tracks. Across the street, on my hill, we have a development of lovely houses, some very high end (my house is modest but lovely) with indoor pools and three 
stories, ya know, the stuff you're used to in the States (LOL). But all of us drive down the street and look at the 'compound' and this house - it's pretty funny. I know we all have this kind of neighbour in our cities and towns, but I gotta say this house is pretty unique with its foundation and pilons! It's like a spider web down there, clearly man-made, added to in a piecemeal way over time like a lovely oil painting!! Except for the parts that look like they've fallen off over time.
**Don is now famous in his own right. Watching the news the other night we learned that Google Streets has finally come to New Zealand - so of course we went to look at our house and the house we're renting on holiday. Don used it before in the States to see our Colorado house - depressing! Our current house here in NZ wasn't very exciting, the photos were taken before we lived here. Apparently it took Google 12 months to drive a photo van up and down every street! So we looked at our old rental - take a look for yourself if you're interested: 29A Coster Street Enner Glynn Nelson New Zealand should do the trick.
**Our Christmas party at work was last Friday and for me it was simply a night off of cooking with some free drinks. We each get two free drinks and then they cost, so that's a nice balance, being a government organisation and all. Unlike what we're hearing on the news, our party didn't get shut down or scaled back from what I could tell, but it was pretty modest to begin with! The best part of the night is vegetarians eat first because they partition out the food, so I get to eat early AND avoid the very long buffet line that often takes others half an hour to get through. The bad part is I have no one to eat with cuz they are all in line!!
**My department also holds a Christmas party, a team building/celebrating type event. I put my hand up this year to help plan it and my boss joined me. We came up with this great idea together and then, as it usually turns out when you team up with your boss, I ended up doing all the work after the theme was decided. But that's okay, I didn't really mind as it's good to be king and make all the rest of the decisions! I am holding 'The Amazing Xmas Race' tonight -YES! just like the TV show, sorta. Our 15 or 20 department staff will join up in teams and have to complete tasks and solve clues to find their next clue, etc etc, all to earn points toward real prizes. And I don't have to participate, just sit back, drink my wine, and see who wins!
I'm sorry, but this story is just classic. What a fitting end to ... whatever you call the last eight years. And to receive such a tribute from the very people he is so proud to have liberated. Goodbye, George, Good Riddance!! The below is trimmed out from cnni.com - in the off chance you haven't had the pleasure of hearing the story. With some commentary thrown in.
Iraqi journalist throws shoes at Bush in Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A man identified as an Iraqi journalist threw shoes at -- but missed -- President Bush during a news conference Sunday evening in Baghdad, where Bush was making a farewell visit.
Bush ducked, and the shoes, flung one at a time, sailed past his head during the news conference with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in his palace in the heavily fortified Green Zone.
The shoe-thrower -- identified as Muntadhar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist with Egypt-based al-Baghdadia television network -- could be heard yelling in Arabic: "This is a farewell ... you dog!"
While pinned on the ground by security personnel, he screamed: "You killed the Iraqis!"
Al-Zaidi was dragged away. While al-Zaidi was still screaming in another room, Bush said: "That was a size 10 shoe he threw at me, you may want to know."
Hurling shoes at someone, or sitting so that the bottom of a shoe faces another person, is considered an insult among Muslims.
What a great insult, and what a pathetic comeback. There's no dignity in this man is there, he couldn't even find a dignified way to accept that a man had just insulted him and thrown TWO shoes at him. Laugh it up, fuzzball.
The official said al-Zaidi is being tested for alcohol and drugs to determine if he was fully conscious during the incident.
I think it was probably the most sober and sane thing the guy ever did! He'll be okay with a bit of torture now just to have had the chance.
Al-Zaidi drew international attention in November 2007 when he was kidnapped while on his way to work in central Baghdad. He was released three days later.
Ahh, now it all makes sense. That's called freedom, buddy, see, we brought you that, you should be more grateful (George would say). Freedom to be kidnapped.
"So what if the guy threw his shoe at me?" Bush told a reporter in response to a question about the incident.
"Let me talk about the guy throwing his shoe. It's one way to gain attention. It's like going to a political rally and having people yell at you. It's like driving down the street and having people not gesturing with all five fingers. ...
Sounds like he sees this thing all the time, doesn't he. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Here's a funny interpretation.
I find myself a bit hesitant in putting stuff like this up, feeling like I did after he invaded this country and you couldn't say anything about anyone let alone George. Mostly it's gone, but still, a small hint of fear remains. I bet I'm already on a watch list. But maybe that will be over soon, in a few weeks.
Everyone else does it, why not us! Here is our list of the BEST 8 THINGS OF 2008 living in Nelson. Looking back, we really didn't do too much this year, it was a bit of a sleepy year! I'm guessing because of the world economic crisis and the exchange rates everywhere, we're likely sticking close to this part of the world again next year, but we'll definitely get out a bit more than this year.
Angela winning the poker tourney - okay so there were only 8 people over to our house for a poker tournament with a $25 buy in, but it was good friends and a great time and best of all I took the table at the end of the night $100 first place prize! I never win ANYTHING, let alone poker!!
Cycling with boyfriends and shopping day with girlfriends - Don managed to cycle through winter all year round and raced and rode and put in thousands of kilometres this year with lots of his buddies. Doing what he loves is why we moved here, and he continues to get out on his bike tons. For my part with my friends, Jade and I surprised Kate for her 40th birthday with a day trip to Wellington that was a total blast. We had such a great time, another highlight to the year - to say nothing about the amazing milestone of turning 40!! An aside shout to Jade for having little baby Hunter, all in a year's work.
Getting a new car - for Don this was a biggie, he didn't like our old Tillie after about a year of driving her, and she was breaking my knees having to get into her just inches off the ground. She did her job well enough while we had her, but it was time to move on and since then we've been diesel-ing it around town riding high and having that SUV feeling back while doing our environmental part.
Getting our broadband back (of course one of the worst things was losing it in the first place!) - this one is so recently painful in our minds, it seems fitting to add it to this spot. My jaw doesn't drop often, but when I thought I was going to have to live without broadband for up to 18 months, the world began spinning. Getting it back was equally sweet.
Visit to Australia's Gold Coast - TRAVEL! it was so nice, getting out of the country, seeing a new place, we thought we'd be stationary for about 3 - 4 years while we were here in case we didn't settle in good finances, but we did manage to get ourselves off the island. Bonus is the duty free selection is wayyyy better it seems. Three bottles per person liquor, plus even more bottles of wine!
Joe and Deanna's visit - It is really wonderful to have people visit from the States, friends and family. When we caught up with Joe and Deanna (Don's parents) it was like we had seen them just a few weeks ago! We had a great time with them, showing them lots of local things and sending them off to see Golden Bay for a couple of days. Unfortunately for them they don't like the cold and came to us in the middle of winter, so we had the heaters running nonstop all over the house and that didn't really make a dent in their chill! It's tough coming from a dry climate to a more humid climate, it really makes a difference. Our monthly electric bill during the time of their stay of about 5 days - this is NOT a complaint but a hilarious comment on how much the heaters ran in our house LOL - was $400, we'd never gone over $250 for a month!! Too funny, but that's the price you pay to have family come, it's all worth it!
Don changes jobs - again, on the top of the list because of its long term effect. Don moved to a job at Council from working for a local employment agency where he had a great year of trying something different, but now he can be lazier and has come to relish the slower pace just as I do. Come 5pm, off the clock!
Moving to our current house - We feel this one is tops because, if all goes according to the way it is supposed to, we've rented a great house that is warm and spacious for the long-term, so no moving for awhile. We found out just a week ago that our prior house, for which we were going to be kicked out at the end of Nov 2008 for an unknown reason, is back on the rental market starting in January. That means that the owners wanted to remove good, long-term tenants who were taking care of that house ONLY so that they could come and spend the Christmas holiday in it. That's it!!! SHORT SIGHTED, but we are NOT complaining, it was a great move for us and SUCKS for them.
We never get snow which totally rocks; Angela had Kraft Macaroni and Cheese all year long thanks to Star, John, Lindsay and Gareth; book club was a grand success and even spread into movie night; getting a housekeeper again is soooo awesome; making actually good-to-eat pumpkin pie means it feels like Thanksgiving all year round.
And here we bid you a fond farewell for the rest of the year. Don and I wish a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Our best to you and yours for a joyful end to the year no matter what you are doing or how you are doing it!! The blog is taking a break while we are away, but join in again come January when we will gear up to spend another year showing you the wonderful, wild, quirky, kiwi, lovely place we call home - Nelson and New Zealand.
DnA
