That's something that Mallory used to say on "Family Ties".
The Kiwi and I are going to Melbourne for the weekend. We leave Thursday morning at 6 AM. While that's a ghastly hour to fly, it means you are in Australia by 8 AM which rocks. It's like having an extra day. And I have booked us into a hotel the night before so we don't have to drive 45 minutes to get to the airport.
I have tried not to over plan (it's an issue - I'm working on it), however we do have some engagements - dinner at a famous chef's restaurant, dinner on the other two nights with friends. A stop at a spa for massages. And shopping. People plan weekends in Melbourne just for the shopping. Mama needs a new pair of shoes. And clothes. etc. PGL will remember the massive David Jones in the middle of the city. You'll find us there!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
I Call It A Draw
There is a lot to do in Auckland.
That's cool.
All of the stars in the sky are planes.
Not so cool.
That's cool.
All of the stars in the sky are planes.
Not so cool.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Guy Fawkes Night
I'm in Auckland, it's Guy Fawkes Night (sure, he tried to blow up Parliment, but seriously, GET OVER IT!. The Warehouse sells fireworks for God's sake!!!!!) And the air smells like gunpowder.
I have a new job. I'm a contractor. I no longer work in Christchurch. My former employer decided that my position was no longer necessary. Am I bitter? No. Here's why.
1. I've known for a year so it's not exactly news.
2. I didn't want to do that job anyway.
3. NZ has these lovely redundancy rules which give you (I kid you not) 4 weeks pay for the first year's employment, plus two weeks pay for each subsequent (including part) year's employment. I was there for 6+ years, you do the math. Plus I had 5 + weeks of vacation.
4. And, as I take pains to explain, it's my position that was disestablished, not me. I could have applied and obtained a job as a PM at the Uni but no, I thought not.
5. It still smells like gunpowder. Me like.
6. Of course, I'm working at another Uni. In Auckland. But I get a lot more money. And it's just until Christmas when we will revisit our relationship. In the meantime, I'm in an apartment. It's a studio. I have a view of the dockyards. And the smell of gunpowder. What's not to like?
7. The Kiwi is home. Keeping the homefires burning as it were. And working on a Master's degree. Placating the cats. Hillary Clinton was there today. Talking about resilience and stuff. We rock, us Cantabrians!!
8. I had to tell my parents last week what was going on with me. It was weird. They're like "what's new?" and I'm like "oh, you know, nothing. Lost my job. Got another one as well as 26 weeks pay". And how about those Giants?"
9. Still smellin' the powder and hearin' the noise. Lovin' it!
10. Probably all I'm going to say right now.
I have a new job. I'm a contractor. I no longer work in Christchurch. My former employer decided that my position was no longer necessary. Am I bitter? No. Here's why.
1. I've known for a year so it's not exactly news.
2. I didn't want to do that job anyway.
3. NZ has these lovely redundancy rules which give you (I kid you not) 4 weeks pay for the first year's employment, plus two weeks pay for each subsequent (including part) year's employment. I was there for 6+ years, you do the math. Plus I had 5 + weeks of vacation.
4. And, as I take pains to explain, it's my position that was disestablished, not me. I could have applied and obtained a job as a PM at the Uni but no, I thought not.
5. It still smells like gunpowder. Me like.
6. Of course, I'm working at another Uni. In Auckland. But I get a lot more money. And it's just until Christmas when we will revisit our relationship. In the meantime, I'm in an apartment. It's a studio. I have a view of the dockyards. And the smell of gunpowder. What's not to like?
7. The Kiwi is home. Keeping the homefires burning as it were. And working on a Master's degree. Placating the cats. Hillary Clinton was there today. Talking about resilience and stuff. We rock, us Cantabrians!!
8. I had to tell my parents last week what was going on with me. It was weird. They're like "what's new?" and I'm like "oh, you know, nothing. Lost my job. Got another one as well as 26 weeks pay". And how about those Giants?"
9. Still smellin' the powder and hearin' the noise. Lovin' it!
10. Probably all I'm going to say right now.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Earthquake and Other Disaster Movies
Here's another link to an excellent quake site. http://quake.crowe.co.nz/
The first aftershock was less than 1km from my house - literally right down the road. In fact, many of the first aftershocks were right around my house. Depending on your source there have been as many as 1000+ aftershocks in just over three weeks.
Damage report:
Drains leading to septic tank have moved and there is some water seeping up top. Waiting for the Earthquake Commission inspector to visit and approve the repairs. Will involve pulling up the concrete pads behind the house and the back deck. I have DVDs of our drains. Come on over to watch them - I'll provide the popcorn.
Several cracks where the ceiling and walls meet that weren't there before.
The house seems (for lack of a better word) "bouncier". We're going to have a builder out again to check the foundations. A lot of damage happens in the subsequent quakes so might be a good idea.
Damage to psyches - extensive. We still haven't moved all of our emergency supplies out of the front hall. There is a moment whenever a truck or train goes by that everyone stops and works out whether it is another quake or just a truck. Sometimes it's hard to tell. The dog has hit his head on the coffee table numerous times as he likes to sleep under there and every time the house starts shaking he jumps up. Formerly aloof lady cat now sleeps on or next to the bed every night. Waking in the middle of the night now involves lots of turning on of lights, and I have to admit I now take a flashlight to the bathroom. And just when you forget...another aftershock pops up.
All in all though, we are extremely lucky. Some people have lost their homes and may be forced to rebuild on the same land, but are afraid that they will lose money because no one else will want to live there. And they don't want to live there either.
At least we're ready for the next big one!
The first aftershock was less than 1km from my house - literally right down the road. In fact, many of the first aftershocks were right around my house. Depending on your source there have been as many as 1000+ aftershocks in just over three weeks.
Damage report:
Drains leading to septic tank have moved and there is some water seeping up top. Waiting for the Earthquake Commission inspector to visit and approve the repairs. Will involve pulling up the concrete pads behind the house and the back deck. I have DVDs of our drains. Come on over to watch them - I'll provide the popcorn.
Several cracks where the ceiling and walls meet that weren't there before.
The house seems (for lack of a better word) "bouncier". We're going to have a builder out again to check the foundations. A lot of damage happens in the subsequent quakes so might be a good idea.
Damage to psyches - extensive. We still haven't moved all of our emergency supplies out of the front hall. There is a moment whenever a truck or train goes by that everyone stops and works out whether it is another quake or just a truck. Sometimes it's hard to tell. The dog has hit his head on the coffee table numerous times as he likes to sleep under there and every time the house starts shaking he jumps up. Formerly aloof lady cat now sleeps on or next to the bed every night. Waking in the middle of the night now involves lots of turning on of lights, and I have to admit I now take a flashlight to the bathroom. And just when you forget...another aftershock pops up.
All in all though, we are extremely lucky. Some people have lost their homes and may be forced to rebuild on the same land, but are afraid that they will lose money because no one else will want to live there. And they don't want to live there either.
At least we're ready for the next big one!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Tales from Earthquake Alley
Nothing like a big freaking earthquake to get your creative juices flowing.
We're awakened from a deep sleep at 4:35 am Saturday morning. I stumble out of bed. The Kiwi is yelling at me and I can hear but when I try to respond all I can get out is "get the dog" and a lot of other unintelligible noises. I am trying to get to the door but I keep getting thrown into the walls, the bed, etc. I finally make it to the door and we're hanging on for dear life. You know how on TV you hear people say "It felt like it went on for several minutes" or "It felt like a freight train coming through the room"? I now know what they mean. There was this massive roar the whole time and the house was shaking in all directions, but it seemed mostly side-to-side. Then there were several more really big ones within a few minutes. It was also incredibly dark as the power shut off early in the quake.
Naturally, the emergency supplies are somewhere else in the house. Although my legs are shaking and I'm babbling, I do have an incredible recall for where everything is in the kitchen. So, I head down to the kitchen to get the flashlights. The first thing I do is run smack into the hall door because it had closed during the quake. Then, I get to the kitchen where I run face first into an open cupboard door - most of the contents of all the cupboards ended up on the kitchen floor. So, I grab them and run back to the other end of the house. Then we take turns going to the other parts of the house to get stuff such as the dog leash. This is in between aftershocks. To see how frequent and big they were, check out this page: http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/
Also in between aftershocks we get dressed. We don't take these clothes off for two days. Literally. The dog is hysterical, so I take him out front on his leash. In the days following I wonder how smart that was as we have power lines running along our property and big trees as well. And it was DARK. I can see that our elderly neighbours must be ok as I can see flashlight beams from inside their house.
So, I go back inside and we sit in the doorways and wait. As soon as there is the tiniest bit of daylight, we go to the other end of the house and sit in the doorway of the kitchen. When there is sufficient light, the Kiwi goes out to the laundry and finds the camp stove that we bought a few years ago for when we get snowed in and have no power for many hours. The Kiwi makes coffee with bottled water (yes, we have bottled water. Not because of earthquake preparedness, but because our town water supply has been contaminated with eColi off and on for nearly a year. So, we only use bottled water even though it is safe to drink.). Having a hot drink does help. Then the Kiwi springs into action while I sit blankly in a chair. Somehow we only have two things break - a ceramic cat and an antique beer bottle that was out in the laundry. Everything else just sort of bounced out of the cupboards or off shelves. Even our margarita glasses just bounced on the floor. The Kiwi put everything away.
The office (where I am now) was a mess as all the books fell on the floor. The computer fell over on its side. The TV fell backwards on its stand but just stayed propped up against the wall. One picture fell off the wall. One. It really looked more like the house was ransacked than that there was an earthquake. Bizzarre.
One of the cats took off when I took the dog outside. She didn't turn up for several hours. The other cat came out of the bedroom a little shook up but otherwise wondering why we were up so early.
We walked around the house and checked for signs of damage. Nothing apparent. We decide that we should have someone check just in case, and not to use the fire place inside until it has been checked as well.
I decide that there is no way I want to be in the house all day. It's a gorgeous day, so we drag the chiminea out of the garage (where, again, other than a few things which have fallen over, no damage). I put chairs out in the middle of the lawn and light the chiminea and sit out there all day. The Kiwi decides to work in the garden. Only the Kiwi would be up on a ladder after a 7.1 quake trimming bushes. I busy myself communicating with friends via text and cell phone calls. Our phone only stopped working for a few minutes early in the morning. I was able to call my parents who had already heard to tell them we were ok. We end up getting most of our news from a mobile Facebook application on my crackberry. The kids were posting helpful articles and people were checking in with each other. We sit outside drinking wine and making a list of things that we really should put into our earthquake preparedness kit.
I talked to the neighbour behind us (the taxidermist with the animals) who said he went out to his front yard during the quake and could barely stand up. He also saw the explosions at a power substation and then the subsequent flashes as the power went out through the town. I did make a trip in the car Saturday afternoon to Leeston as I had heard their supermarket was open. It wasn't. Hardly any visible damage on the road to/from there.
We made BBQed chicken and vegetables cooked in a foil packet for dinner. Saturday night we went to bed early as we had no power. We slept in our clothes and put our emergency supplies in the doorway so that we could grab them if we needed to get out. We didn't get much sleep as there were heaps of aftershocks. There were several early in the morning that caused me to sleep on top of the covers with my jacket on they were that bad. Not that I slept much.
One kind of cool thing is that Saturday night and Sunday morning people from the community response team knocked on each door and gave everyone a couple of bottles of water and an update on when the power and water would be back on. I just marvel at how people were able to spring into action right away to help others when all I could do was sit in a chair and watch the world go by.
Sunday morning our water came on although we had to boil it for 5 minutes prior to drinking. We now have an elaborate system of boiling water and moving into approved containers, while having some other containers which have tap water ready for boiling.
The best part was Sunday afternoon when the power came on. The fire siren in town sounded and I said "The Power Must Be On!!" because it didn't sound at all during the original earthquake because we lost power so quickly. We immediately started boiling water on the stove, and I turned on the TV (Yay! TV!!) "to make sure it was ok". We could then fire up the computer and get internet access again. The Kiwi started vaccuming. The Kiwi did remark that my inability to come inside dissolved as soon as I had internet access. I make no apologies for being a nerd.
The Kiwi also started baking bread as soon as the power went on. The Kiwi's bread rocks. I took some over to the neighbour's house Sunday afternoon to check on them. They were ok.
The University where I work didn't sustain much structural damage but there were more than one million books knocked off the shelves in the library (and the shelves are munted - it will be weeks before it will open again). The University is closed all week (and classes delayed for another). I got called into work on Tuesday morning to answer phones in the Security Office. They needed someone who wasn't afraid to say no to Academics who insisted on coming in to their office to feed the tadpoles. I told the HR Director that I had nothing to lose since they had already sacked me the previous Monday (more on that later). I went up into the Registry Building (where HR is located) and had a look around. Just stuff on the floor but not any damage to speak of). Weird driving into town - you can't tell that there is much damage in the areas I drove through, just looks like there was a bad storm really. However, other parts of town are apparently devastated.
Our house and fireplace got inspected Tuesday and we got the all clear. We think the pipe to the septic tank is cracked (as have most others) so tomorrow the plumber is out to see us again to confirm.
One cool thing about NZ (ok, there are many) is that part of your homeowner's insurance goes to the Earthquake Commission. Each homeowner is covered up to $100K for property damage and $20K for contents. So, even if our septic tank has to be replaced it will be covered. Of course, if you lost your whole house that doesn't sound like much but still...
Anyway, hope I didn't bore you too much. It's good to get it all out. We are now very sensitive to loud noises such as trucks and trains (as are the animals who now all sleep with us at night. On the bed) and we dread night time because the aftershocks are scarier in the dark especially when they wake you up. Oddly, the animals all like each other much more now. The cats and dog are very intimate now in a way that they weren't prior to the quake. Even aloof Miss Padma (who only really let me pet her) sleeps with us on the bed all night.
I AM looking forward to having a shower today. But I will wait until the Kiwi gets home. Just in case.
We're awakened from a deep sleep at 4:35 am Saturday morning. I stumble out of bed. The Kiwi is yelling at me and I can hear but when I try to respond all I can get out is "get the dog" and a lot of other unintelligible noises. I am trying to get to the door but I keep getting thrown into the walls, the bed, etc. I finally make it to the door and we're hanging on for dear life. You know how on TV you hear people say "It felt like it went on for several minutes" or "It felt like a freight train coming through the room"? I now know what they mean. There was this massive roar the whole time and the house was shaking in all directions, but it seemed mostly side-to-side. Then there were several more really big ones within a few minutes. It was also incredibly dark as the power shut off early in the quake.
Naturally, the emergency supplies are somewhere else in the house. Although my legs are shaking and I'm babbling, I do have an incredible recall for where everything is in the kitchen. So, I head down to the kitchen to get the flashlights. The first thing I do is run smack into the hall door because it had closed during the quake. Then, I get to the kitchen where I run face first into an open cupboard door - most of the contents of all the cupboards ended up on the kitchen floor. So, I grab them and run back to the other end of the house. Then we take turns going to the other parts of the house to get stuff such as the dog leash. This is in between aftershocks. To see how frequent and big they were, check out this page: http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/
Also in between aftershocks we get dressed. We don't take these clothes off for two days. Literally. The dog is hysterical, so I take him out front on his leash. In the days following I wonder how smart that was as we have power lines running along our property and big trees as well. And it was DARK. I can see that our elderly neighbours must be ok as I can see flashlight beams from inside their house.
So, I go back inside and we sit in the doorways and wait. As soon as there is the tiniest bit of daylight, we go to the other end of the house and sit in the doorway of the kitchen. When there is sufficient light, the Kiwi goes out to the laundry and finds the camp stove that we bought a few years ago for when we get snowed in and have no power for many hours. The Kiwi makes coffee with bottled water (yes, we have bottled water. Not because of earthquake preparedness, but because our town water supply has been contaminated with eColi off and on for nearly a year. So, we only use bottled water even though it is safe to drink.). Having a hot drink does help. Then the Kiwi springs into action while I sit blankly in a chair. Somehow we only have two things break - a ceramic cat and an antique beer bottle that was out in the laundry. Everything else just sort of bounced out of the cupboards or off shelves. Even our margarita glasses just bounced on the floor. The Kiwi put everything away.
The office (where I am now) was a mess as all the books fell on the floor. The computer fell over on its side. The TV fell backwards on its stand but just stayed propped up against the wall. One picture fell off the wall. One. It really looked more like the house was ransacked than that there was an earthquake. Bizzarre.
One of the cats took off when I took the dog outside. She didn't turn up for several hours. The other cat came out of the bedroom a little shook up but otherwise wondering why we were up so early.
We walked around the house and checked for signs of damage. Nothing apparent. We decide that we should have someone check just in case, and not to use the fire place inside until it has been checked as well.
I decide that there is no way I want to be in the house all day. It's a gorgeous day, so we drag the chiminea out of the garage (where, again, other than a few things which have fallen over, no damage). I put chairs out in the middle of the lawn and light the chiminea and sit out there all day. The Kiwi decides to work in the garden. Only the Kiwi would be up on a ladder after a 7.1 quake trimming bushes. I busy myself communicating with friends via text and cell phone calls. Our phone only stopped working for a few minutes early in the morning. I was able to call my parents who had already heard to tell them we were ok. We end up getting most of our news from a mobile Facebook application on my crackberry. The kids were posting helpful articles and people were checking in with each other. We sit outside drinking wine and making a list of things that we really should put into our earthquake preparedness kit.
I talked to the neighbour behind us (the taxidermist with the animals) who said he went out to his front yard during the quake and could barely stand up. He also saw the explosions at a power substation and then the subsequent flashes as the power went out through the town. I did make a trip in the car Saturday afternoon to Leeston as I had heard their supermarket was open. It wasn't. Hardly any visible damage on the road to/from there.
We made BBQed chicken and vegetables cooked in a foil packet for dinner. Saturday night we went to bed early as we had no power. We slept in our clothes and put our emergency supplies in the doorway so that we could grab them if we needed to get out. We didn't get much sleep as there were heaps of aftershocks. There were several early in the morning that caused me to sleep on top of the covers with my jacket on they were that bad. Not that I slept much.
One kind of cool thing is that Saturday night and Sunday morning people from the community response team knocked on each door and gave everyone a couple of bottles of water and an update on when the power and water would be back on. I just marvel at how people were able to spring into action right away to help others when all I could do was sit in a chair and watch the world go by.
Sunday morning our water came on although we had to boil it for 5 minutes prior to drinking. We now have an elaborate system of boiling water and moving into approved containers, while having some other containers which have tap water ready for boiling.
The best part was Sunday afternoon when the power came on. The fire siren in town sounded and I said "The Power Must Be On!!" because it didn't sound at all during the original earthquake because we lost power so quickly. We immediately started boiling water on the stove, and I turned on the TV (Yay! TV!!) "to make sure it was ok". We could then fire up the computer and get internet access again. The Kiwi started vaccuming. The Kiwi did remark that my inability to come inside dissolved as soon as I had internet access. I make no apologies for being a nerd.
The Kiwi also started baking bread as soon as the power went on. The Kiwi's bread rocks. I took some over to the neighbour's house Sunday afternoon to check on them. They were ok.
The University where I work didn't sustain much structural damage but there were more than one million books knocked off the shelves in the library (and the shelves are munted - it will be weeks before it will open again). The University is closed all week (and classes delayed for another). I got called into work on Tuesday morning to answer phones in the Security Office. They needed someone who wasn't afraid to say no to Academics who insisted on coming in to their office to feed the tadpoles. I told the HR Director that I had nothing to lose since they had already sacked me the previous Monday (more on that later). I went up into the Registry Building (where HR is located) and had a look around. Just stuff on the floor but not any damage to speak of). Weird driving into town - you can't tell that there is much damage in the areas I drove through, just looks like there was a bad storm really. However, other parts of town are apparently devastated.
Our house and fireplace got inspected Tuesday and we got the all clear. We think the pipe to the septic tank is cracked (as have most others) so tomorrow the plumber is out to see us again to confirm.
One cool thing about NZ (ok, there are many) is that part of your homeowner's insurance goes to the Earthquake Commission. Each homeowner is covered up to $100K for property damage and $20K for contents. So, even if our septic tank has to be replaced it will be covered. Of course, if you lost your whole house that doesn't sound like much but still...
Anyway, hope I didn't bore you too much. It's good to get it all out. We are now very sensitive to loud noises such as trucks and trains (as are the animals who now all sleep with us at night. On the bed) and we dread night time because the aftershocks are scarier in the dark especially when they wake you up. Oddly, the animals all like each other much more now. The cats and dog are very intimate now in a way that they weren't prior to the quake. Even aloof Miss Padma (who only really let me pet her) sleeps with us on the bed all night.
I AM looking forward to having a shower today. But I will wait until the Kiwi gets home. Just in case.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
This is Fun/Bizarre
Go to any one of our blogs on Blogger. Click the link at the top of the page that says Next Blog. It's a random blog. They seem to be linked to the previous blog. I clicked on one from someone who says she is Mormon. The next six blogs were about religion. Another blog was about the history of AIDS. The next few blogs were about a nurse, Aspergers Syndrome, then led to a series of blogs about people who had twins. Then I went from my blog to (three blogs later) to one called 'liberal catholic sports music'. Blogolicious!!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Crowded House
I was thinking about this yesterday and how I didn't update you on my only recent concert experience. We made a pilgrimage to Auckland in early April to see a one-off show with Crowded House. It was in the Auckland Town Hall which is on Queen Street and features a large pipe organ (I mean REALLY large). I'm not sure why they did the show except that they have a new album coming out in June and they were filming a video.
The atmosphere was decidedly cocktail party-like. The main floor was general admission and no seats, just standing room (so it really looked like a cocktail party from where we sat). We sat up on the last row in the balcony, which sounds like far away but in such an intimate hall wasn't really. The hall has a bar and the pre-show atmosphere was equally cocktail party-like except that you were paying $9 for a glass of wine.
Anyway, the show was great! They would play one of their classics followed by one off the new album, and there was much singing and dancing up in our two seats (and all around us). They even played my favorite Split Enz song "Message to my Girl" which I was stoked about. They were filming a concert DVD to be released with the album and everyone had these funny little bear masks that we were instructed to wear at certain points, so I'm sure it will look really odd.
They did lots of the "Crowd Sings Acapella" moments and I have to admit that Kiwi audiences both sing tunefully and are able to keep the beat (Americans are always rushing).
All in all, the most fun I've had at a show in many, many years, and Neil Finn still sounds awesome. It's also amazing to hear how many great songs they have written all over the years.
In my head, this was a much better post. Do you even know who Crowded House is???
The atmosphere was decidedly cocktail party-like. The main floor was general admission and no seats, just standing room (so it really looked like a cocktail party from where we sat). We sat up on the last row in the balcony, which sounds like far away but in such an intimate hall wasn't really. The hall has a bar and the pre-show atmosphere was equally cocktail party-like except that you were paying $9 for a glass of wine.
Anyway, the show was great! They would play one of their classics followed by one off the new album, and there was much singing and dancing up in our two seats (and all around us). They even played my favorite Split Enz song "Message to my Girl" which I was stoked about. They were filming a concert DVD to be released with the album and everyone had these funny little bear masks that we were instructed to wear at certain points, so I'm sure it will look really odd.
They did lots of the "Crowd Sings Acapella" moments and I have to admit that Kiwi audiences both sing tunefully and are able to keep the beat (Americans are always rushing).
All in all, the most fun I've had at a show in many, many years, and Neil Finn still sounds awesome. It's also amazing to hear how many great songs they have written all over the years.
In my head, this was a much better post. Do you even know who Crowded House is???
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
He Fixed It!
The external monitor attached to my laptop has such a large amount of "wavyness" that I feel like I'm on a boat in a storm.
After months of trying, our desktop support guy fixed it:
After months of trying, our desktop support guy fixed it:
Friday, March 19, 2010
Guess What I Saw Today?
Here in NZ we have a celebrity chef who has become famous for hosting a show about NZ cooking. It's a great show and I love watching it. He also does advertising for a supermarket chain. I see his cardboard cutout visage every time I visit the local supermarket.
He also happens to work for the University.
I work in an old house on the edge of the campus. We have our own parking lot out the back (parking, much like Universities in the U.S., is a scarce resource here). There is a garage behind the house that is used to store various items from around campus, so from time to time trucks arrive to drop off or pick up said various items. It can be amusing due to the wide variety of stuff they drop off. Because we have so many people on the team at the moment, I often park in front of the garage. And also because I'm the boss so I get the closest not really a parking space. R.H.I.P.
Today I had to move my car so that Celebrity Chef could offload a giant (we're talking big assed) chandelier into the garage. He was accompanied by what was probably a grad student with an old dog. We had a pleasant and meaningful conversation about how many chandeliers he intended to move and that he wouldn't be going back and forth all day.
I just found the whole exchange oddly amusing. And I guess that's what I love about NZ - our Celebrity Chefs move their own chandeliers.
He also happens to work for the University.
I work in an old house on the edge of the campus. We have our own parking lot out the back (parking, much like Universities in the U.S., is a scarce resource here). There is a garage behind the house that is used to store various items from around campus, so from time to time trucks arrive to drop off or pick up said various items. It can be amusing due to the wide variety of stuff they drop off. Because we have so many people on the team at the moment, I often park in front of the garage. And also because I'm the boss so I get the closest not really a parking space. R.H.I.P.
Today I had to move my car so that Celebrity Chef could offload a giant (we're talking big assed) chandelier into the garage. He was accompanied by what was probably a grad student with an old dog. We had a pleasant and meaningful conversation about how many chandeliers he intended to move and that he wouldn't be going back and forth all day.
I just found the whole exchange oddly amusing. And I guess that's what I love about NZ - our Celebrity Chefs move their own chandeliers.
Even Here We Are
So yes, it's been a long time since I created any sort of meaningful post. Heck, any sort of post at all. My excuse?
I've been busy.
As my faithful readers will know, I am managing my first major project. It is, at times, challenging for me. On many levels. Not the least of which is my inability to suffer fools gladly, as it were. That's probably the most difficult part for me. I just want to scream "they will do it because IT IS THEIR JOB!!!". I'm having to work lots of hours and weekends to keep up with everything, and my stress levels are at DEFCON 4 much of the time. So, there's that keeping me busy.
I recently attended a week's worth of PRINCE2 training. PRINCE2 is the British Government's version of Project Management. It's much more popular on this end of the world than it is in the U.S. The broader concepts are essentially the same as PMI's, but they use entirely different terminology for everything. Did I mention that you sit two exams in the five days? The first exam (Foundation) is a multiple choice question exam on their terminology and themes. You have to pass this to do the second half of the class, which is preparation for a Practitioner Exam. This is where they give you scenarios and ask questions, and you have to pick the best answer out of several multiple choice options. So, when you receive your pre-reading for the course, they say "if you have 2 or more years of project experience, spend 1-2 hours reading our overview document". If you are new to PM, read ... you get the idea.
What they really should tell you is "If you have never been exposed to PRINCE2 methodology, you should do a LOT MORE READING. I swear it was like trying to learn French in three days. Sure, I knew it was an apple, but I had to know the name of the apple AND the process of juicing it in a particular manner. In French. It was bloody hard! I was up every morning at 5 and awake until Midnight studying for the gosh darn exams. Any way, I passed the first exam and found out yesterday that I passed the second (much harder) exam too. Woo hoo! Now I have a PM certification. Which will help me in applying for the job that I'm already doing.
What else? Our Granddaughter (and parents and Uncles) will be joining us for next week. I now have a car seat in my car. The car smells kind of like baby already. Not in a bad way. Just like ... baby. We are looking forward to the week even if our little house will be full to the rafters.
Going to see Crowded House in Auckland in early April. They're doing one NZ show. Looking forward to it.
Kind of disjointed, but there you go. What I've been doing over the last few months.
I've been busy.
As my faithful readers will know, I am managing my first major project. It is, at times, challenging for me. On many levels. Not the least of which is my inability to suffer fools gladly, as it were. That's probably the most difficult part for me. I just want to scream "they will do it because IT IS THEIR JOB!!!". I'm having to work lots of hours and weekends to keep up with everything, and my stress levels are at DEFCON 4 much of the time. So, there's that keeping me busy.
I recently attended a week's worth of PRINCE2 training. PRINCE2 is the British Government's version of Project Management. It's much more popular on this end of the world than it is in the U.S. The broader concepts are essentially the same as PMI's, but they use entirely different terminology for everything. Did I mention that you sit two exams in the five days? The first exam (Foundation) is a multiple choice question exam on their terminology and themes. You have to pass this to do the second half of the class, which is preparation for a Practitioner Exam. This is where they give you scenarios and ask questions, and you have to pick the best answer out of several multiple choice options. So, when you receive your pre-reading for the course, they say "if you have 2 or more years of project experience, spend 1-2 hours reading our overview document". If you are new to PM, read ... you get the idea.
What they really should tell you is "If you have never been exposed to PRINCE2 methodology, you should do a LOT MORE READING. I swear it was like trying to learn French in three days. Sure, I knew it was an apple, but I had to know the name of the apple AND the process of juicing it in a particular manner. In French. It was bloody hard! I was up every morning at 5 and awake until Midnight studying for the gosh darn exams. Any way, I passed the first exam and found out yesterday that I passed the second (much harder) exam too. Woo hoo! Now I have a PM certification. Which will help me in applying for the job that I'm already doing.
What else? Our Granddaughter (and parents and Uncles) will be joining us for next week. I now have a car seat in my car. The car smells kind of like baby already. Not in a bad way. Just like ... baby. We are looking forward to the week even if our little house will be full to the rafters.
Going to see Crowded House in Auckland in early April. They're doing one NZ show. Looking forward to it.
Kind of disjointed, but there you go. What I've been doing over the last few months.
Monday, February 8, 2010
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