21-30th Nov
Well the beginning of the week mainly revolved around working. Yes I know how dull! That said a little birdy had told me how important it was to write something about yourself on a covering letter when applying for jobs. This combined with adding some trite nonsense about my personal interests on my CV appeared to pay off as I had not one but two job interviews. One as an admin assistant and one working as a housing officer. Thank goodness was the cry from me and James as my days of baking were becoming very limited. There was real potential for me to begin making meat pies using the flesh of humans. In other words I needed out!
Fridays rocked around and I went to do some voluntary work on a homestay. Oh the joys of doing manual labour in the garden. Yes there were no animals but physical work has always appealed to a certain aspect of me. Payment… well there was none of that in the cash sense but in kind I was offered the use of a kayaks and bikes. Well that’s a few weekends sorted.
This weekend was however dominated by James reclining in the sun on Saturday and me working at the general election. I also discovered that stamping forms also appeals to me as it was much fun issuing votes all day and then counting them. What’s more we even got the count right the first time.
Sunday. Again sunny (yes I know I am probably developing hated status by all the brits who are entering winter) and first up the farmers market. Yummy cheese, meat and oils were purchased. We even found a friendly butcher to cut us some bacon chops for our next visit. A little bit of homesickness me thinks coming out. Post lunch we met some brits down at the pub and then had an afternoon with this group in our garden. 5 Brits equalled lots of reminiscing about the UK and of course drinking. We may be 12,000 miles away from home but some things will never change!
Post weekend and it was back to work. James trying to make his changes of which a blog will be forthcoming and me baking. With no news from the jobs by Monday evening I was getting worried. Tuesday and all was well. The admin job was offered to me. Of course this meant containing the Housing New Zealand people and seeing if they could speed up the process on their end and if they were going to offer me the job get on and do it. Much toing and fro-ing later and by Wednesday evening I had two job offers on the table. Pay and hours different and just waiting for a conversation with James to see which one I accept. Oh to be wanted again!
Tally HO
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
Saturday, 19 November 2011
Bloody cars, elections, gardening… oh and my bottom
14/11/11-20/11/11
The week went a little like this. Work, gym, home, spooks on the laptop, bed. Not bad as we are on “school” nights but not exactly blogging gold either! That said I did have a rather a stinker of an argument with the garage. Remember last week we needed a new radiator? Well at the time I asked if the car was worth fixing or whether I should just buy a new one and start again. The garage (which had been recommended) said that with a new radiator the car should be fine. The famous last words. Upon collecting it we drove a 40km round trip and the clutch stopped working. The garage lent us a courtesy car and said they would come back to us. Despite the problems occurring in less than 1 hour of leaving the forecourt the garage maintained that they could not have foresaw the problems. I begged to differ and suggested as a good will gesture I buy the part and they install them for free. This did not go down well and in a fit of argument the owner told me to bloody well bring back his hire car and take mine away. Not to be deterred I emailed them with alternative quotes but alas they would not lower there’s. One was not happy but we did find a far cheaper garage who fixed the car. That said our cash flow has somewhat been affected as in we have none left.
Thursday night saw tory our friend popped round for dinner and a DVD. Saturday was meant to be a trip to the beach for surfing but in the end the weather was overcast (oh what wimps we are now) and we opted for a drive out with roger, some lunch and a visit to someone who owned a guest house. Now this is not just any guest house this is a lush garden experience with fabulous rooms. What more they have an outdoor bath. Not hot tub (well they have one of those too) but a proper bath. Over tea we agreed that as I needed entertainment I would do some labouring around the gardens and in return they would let us use the bath, feed me and at some point stay there. Well I was happy with an outdoor project and James with the prospect of an outdoor bath.
Staying on the water theme we headed back to Roger and Rosses for a dip in their hot spa accompanied with a glass of wine before returning for another episode of spooks.
Sunday morning was a proper Kiwi Sunday… gardening! As there is rain and lots of garden things have a tendency to grow. So along with what sounded like half the neighbourhood were out cutting the grass. Post lunch and it was election training for me as next week I am going to be an issuing officer for the general election. Interesting and more money!
One last things… my bottom is much better. I knew you would be thinking about it!
The week went a little like this. Work, gym, home, spooks on the laptop, bed. Not bad as we are on “school” nights but not exactly blogging gold either! That said I did have a rather a stinker of an argument with the garage. Remember last week we needed a new radiator? Well at the time I asked if the car was worth fixing or whether I should just buy a new one and start again. The garage (which had been recommended) said that with a new radiator the car should be fine. The famous last words. Upon collecting it we drove a 40km round trip and the clutch stopped working. The garage lent us a courtesy car and said they would come back to us. Despite the problems occurring in less than 1 hour of leaving the forecourt the garage maintained that they could not have foresaw the problems. I begged to differ and suggested as a good will gesture I buy the part and they install them for free. This did not go down well and in a fit of argument the owner told me to bloody well bring back his hire car and take mine away. Not to be deterred I emailed them with alternative quotes but alas they would not lower there’s. One was not happy but we did find a far cheaper garage who fixed the car. That said our cash flow has somewhat been affected as in we have none left.
Thursday night saw tory our friend popped round for dinner and a DVD. Saturday was meant to be a trip to the beach for surfing but in the end the weather was overcast (oh what wimps we are now) and we opted for a drive out with roger, some lunch and a visit to someone who owned a guest house. Now this is not just any guest house this is a lush garden experience with fabulous rooms. What more they have an outdoor bath. Not hot tub (well they have one of those too) but a proper bath. Over tea we agreed that as I needed entertainment I would do some labouring around the gardens and in return they would let us use the bath, feed me and at some point stay there. Well I was happy with an outdoor project and James with the prospect of an outdoor bath.
Staying on the water theme we headed back to Roger and Rosses for a dip in their hot spa accompanied with a glass of wine before returning for another episode of spooks.
Sunday morning was a proper Kiwi Sunday… gardening! As there is rain and lots of garden things have a tendency to grow. So along with what sounded like half the neighbourhood were out cutting the grass. Post lunch and it was election training for me as next week I am going to be an issuing officer for the general election. Interesting and more money!
One last things… my bottom is much better. I knew you would be thinking about it!
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Hospital for Luke…
06/11/11-13/11/11
Over the previous week a lump had been developing on my bottom and by Monday this had become so sore I could barely walk. Not one to miss work I went in but before long the parcetmol, codeine and ibrufin were not controlling the pain. A trip to the lovely Dr Alex confirmed I had an abscess and I needed surgery that day.
Before long I was in A&E showing my bottom to all and sundry before being admitted and put on the list. Ever increasing doses of painkillers were not helping so at midnight I was somewhat relived to be taken to theatre, anesthetised and the abscess cut out and drained.
The next day James came to see me before work and ascertained I had not assaulted anyone verbally or physically, my normal trick with a general anaesthetic. Later that day after the ward round and the consultant’s entourage I was ready to be released. Roger took me home and ended up putting me to bed as I tuned white as a sheet and started to shake. Some hours later I was ok though.
The rest of the week was spent in a drugged up haze. Tramadol I have found spaces you out and stops you getting on with things. One moment I was lucid and the next I would be staring out of the window washing the same dish for 5 minutes. Drug addiction is not for me although I can see why a stressed out and board house wife or husband with a brood of children may take the pills. They do take the edge of the daily reality.
During the following days I felt rather old as my days revolved around waiting for the district nurse to pup in and dress my wound. Later James took over and proved to be a far more complete nurse. The procedure (don’t read on if your squeamish) is too heel the wound from the inside out. This involves prodding my wound with a stick to see how deep it is, pushing in a wick to drain out any of the bad stuff and when the outside of the wound heals opening this up again with the same nasty little stick. In all pretty dam horrid!
So in all this week was a right off although James and I did receive lots of visitors brining scones, muffins and DVD’s to keep me occupied. The weekend was akin to James fantasy. I slept for 12 hours a night and wanted to sit on the sofa doing nothing. This of course lasted until Sunday when I declared myself almost better and board and undertook 6 hours of gardening…. I never said I was a good patient!
Over the previous week a lump had been developing on my bottom and by Monday this had become so sore I could barely walk. Not one to miss work I went in but before long the parcetmol, codeine and ibrufin were not controlling the pain. A trip to the lovely Dr Alex confirmed I had an abscess and I needed surgery that day.
Before long I was in A&E showing my bottom to all and sundry before being admitted and put on the list. Ever increasing doses of painkillers were not helping so at midnight I was somewhat relived to be taken to theatre, anesthetised and the abscess cut out and drained.
The next day James came to see me before work and ascertained I had not assaulted anyone verbally or physically, my normal trick with a general anaesthetic. Later that day after the ward round and the consultant’s entourage I was ready to be released. Roger took me home and ended up putting me to bed as I tuned white as a sheet and started to shake. Some hours later I was ok though.
The rest of the week was spent in a drugged up haze. Tramadol I have found spaces you out and stops you getting on with things. One moment I was lucid and the next I would be staring out of the window washing the same dish for 5 minutes. Drug addiction is not for me although I can see why a stressed out and board house wife or husband with a brood of children may take the pills. They do take the edge of the daily reality.
During the following days I felt rather old as my days revolved around waiting for the district nurse to pup in and dress my wound. Later James took over and proved to be a far more complete nurse. The procedure (don’t read on if your squeamish) is too heel the wound from the inside out. This involves prodding my wound with a stick to see how deep it is, pushing in a wick to drain out any of the bad stuff and when the outside of the wound heals opening this up again with the same nasty little stick. In all pretty dam horrid!
So in all this week was a right off although James and I did receive lots of visitors brining scones, muffins and DVD’s to keep me occupied. The weekend was akin to James fantasy. I slept for 12 hours a night and wanted to sit on the sofa doing nothing. This of course lasted until Sunday when I declared myself almost better and board and undertook 6 hours of gardening…. I never said I was a good patient!
Fear, drinking and relaxing
28/10/11-5/11/11.
So this week was rather short on work and big on having fun. James had a conference in wellington and as he had his flights paid for we decided to make a long weekend of it. James flew down on Tuesday and we spent our first night apart in 7months. It was not right having only a pillow to cuddle but enough of the soppy stuff.
I flew down on the Wednesday and despite being a confident flyer was terrified. The little bombardier 20 seater plane was not the cause it was the wind. Now wellington is known as the windy city so when the local news are talking about just how windy it was you know you’re in for trouble. Upon the final approach the pilot told us to fasten our seatbelts as the approach was going to be bumpy. Never has a man understated the reality so much. The plane lurched up and down left to right and saw me holding onto the seatbelt next to me for dear life. The vomit bag almost saw use particularly was when we were approaching the run way that just out into the water we appeared to be heading for the sea and almost certain death. We did in fact land and the plane, mainly made up of locals erupted into a round of applause.
Safely in wellington Jams and I met and had a coffee before catching up with some friends we met last time we were there. Sue and Shane had kindly agreed to let us stay at their flat. Sues work colleagues thought she was mad as we had only met the once in the pub but she is a good judge of character (or so we think) and decided that we were not axe murders. A supposedly quite night predictably tuned into a long and drunken affair which eventually saw the Irish contingent of which everyone but us were drinking well into the night long after we had gone to bed.
The next day we went shopping. After 6 months in Asia our cloths were literally falling apart. A wonderful day of pottering around the shops ensued and amazingly I managed more than an hour without complaint! That evening we spent chatting with Sue and Shane and the time just whizzed by. Somehow meeting people of the same age and collective understanding of the world lubricated our conversation without the need for booze.
Being always on the lookout for a bargain James had managed to find us a 5 star hotel for hostel prices. Oh the joys of trading my cooking for his internet research. The website secret hotel allows you to book a 4 or 5 star establishment but does not tell you which one until after booking. James of course circumvents this by googleing the description given and working out which hotel we were to stay in. Well done Mr James.
After checking in and enjoying the BBC news we headed off for a couples massage and Jacuzzi. Another bargain from the net of course. An hour and a half later we emerged and fell back into our hotel and reclined for some time before heading out for a romantic meal for two. Oh how nice to go to a proper restaurant three have courses and relax. Beech huts and sea front food we have had a plenty but a night out like home was just the ticket.
The following day we pottered around with Sue, Shane and T before heading to watch the fireworks as it was the 5th November. It felt rather odd standing not knee deep in mud sheltering from the rain but in a pleasant temperature by the sea watching fireworks being shot into the sky from a barge. Being British and Irish we of course took along a beer and found ourselves to be the only ones drinking. Well there is always some truth in the old stereotypes! Later in the pub there was much merriment, giant jenga and connect four and of course drinking. Being budget conscious we headed back to the flat and continued the party.
Again the Irish out drank us and we limped off about 3am. This was not without it’s befits as for we were in a big city and people were still awake. We saw a drag queen tottering into an apartment, a man dressed as a priest blessing the police, an odd man wandering round with a blanket on his head and a collapsed lady in the hotel. What a contact to Napier where the streets are deserted by 10pm. would we live in wellington. NO. The weather is too wet and windy. We like all to wall sunshine in Napier and what’s more wellington is a mere 40 minutes away on the plane. Even better it’s just like a flying bus. Turn up 30 minutes before you fly, show no ID, and put your own bags on the tarmac next to the plane and your away!
Sunday morning and we had a rude awakening at 7.30am. Housekeeping tried to clean our room and not satisfied with seeing us in bed rang to find out if we were indeed in the room. As you can imagine one was not happy. When waking at a sensible hour I went to see the manger. No matter that we were not paying full whack we expected a five star service and to be fair to the manager his response was gold plated 5 star. He found out why we had been woken (our room was checked out on the system accidently), apologised and offered us a free taxi to our next destination.
After a lazy Sunday on Sue and Shanes couch we hit the airport and flew home. Total bliss…
So this week was rather short on work and big on having fun. James had a conference in wellington and as he had his flights paid for we decided to make a long weekend of it. James flew down on Tuesday and we spent our first night apart in 7months. It was not right having only a pillow to cuddle but enough of the soppy stuff.
I flew down on the Wednesday and despite being a confident flyer was terrified. The little bombardier 20 seater plane was not the cause it was the wind. Now wellington is known as the windy city so when the local news are talking about just how windy it was you know you’re in for trouble. Upon the final approach the pilot told us to fasten our seatbelts as the approach was going to be bumpy. Never has a man understated the reality so much. The plane lurched up and down left to right and saw me holding onto the seatbelt next to me for dear life. The vomit bag almost saw use particularly was when we were approaching the run way that just out into the water we appeared to be heading for the sea and almost certain death. We did in fact land and the plane, mainly made up of locals erupted into a round of applause.
Safely in wellington Jams and I met and had a coffee before catching up with some friends we met last time we were there. Sue and Shane had kindly agreed to let us stay at their flat. Sues work colleagues thought she was mad as we had only met the once in the pub but she is a good judge of character (or so we think) and decided that we were not axe murders. A supposedly quite night predictably tuned into a long and drunken affair which eventually saw the Irish contingent of which everyone but us were drinking well into the night long after we had gone to bed.
The next day we went shopping. After 6 months in Asia our cloths were literally falling apart. A wonderful day of pottering around the shops ensued and amazingly I managed more than an hour without complaint! That evening we spent chatting with Sue and Shane and the time just whizzed by. Somehow meeting people of the same age and collective understanding of the world lubricated our conversation without the need for booze.
Being always on the lookout for a bargain James had managed to find us a 5 star hotel for hostel prices. Oh the joys of trading my cooking for his internet research. The website secret hotel allows you to book a 4 or 5 star establishment but does not tell you which one until after booking. James of course circumvents this by googleing the description given and working out which hotel we were to stay in. Well done Mr James.
After checking in and enjoying the BBC news we headed off for a couples massage and Jacuzzi. Another bargain from the net of course. An hour and a half later we emerged and fell back into our hotel and reclined for some time before heading out for a romantic meal for two. Oh how nice to go to a proper restaurant three have courses and relax. Beech huts and sea front food we have had a plenty but a night out like home was just the ticket.
The following day we pottered around with Sue, Shane and T before heading to watch the fireworks as it was the 5th November. It felt rather odd standing not knee deep in mud sheltering from the rain but in a pleasant temperature by the sea watching fireworks being shot into the sky from a barge. Being British and Irish we of course took along a beer and found ourselves to be the only ones drinking. Well there is always some truth in the old stereotypes! Later in the pub there was much merriment, giant jenga and connect four and of course drinking. Being budget conscious we headed back to the flat and continued the party.
Again the Irish out drank us and we limped off about 3am. This was not without it’s befits as for we were in a big city and people were still awake. We saw a drag queen tottering into an apartment, a man dressed as a priest blessing the police, an odd man wandering round with a blanket on his head and a collapsed lady in the hotel. What a contact to Napier where the streets are deserted by 10pm. would we live in wellington. NO. The weather is too wet and windy. We like all to wall sunshine in Napier and what’s more wellington is a mere 40 minutes away on the plane. Even better it’s just like a flying bus. Turn up 30 minutes before you fly, show no ID, and put your own bags on the tarmac next to the plane and your away!
Sunday morning and we had a rude awakening at 7.30am. Housekeeping tried to clean our room and not satisfied with seeing us in bed rang to find out if we were indeed in the room. As you can imagine one was not happy. When waking at a sensible hour I went to see the manger. No matter that we were not paying full whack we expected a five star service and to be fair to the manager his response was gold plated 5 star. He found out why we had been woken (our room was checked out on the system accidently), apologised and offered us a free taxi to our next destination.
After a lazy Sunday on Sue and Shanes couch we hit the airport and flew home. Total bliss…
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