competition :: great meter read out

kongratulations to UNDERBLOG for his closest guess
aktual answer: BK won by 353%.... blame three meals instead of two, lots of frying, and lots of lighting. plus, supermarket attached to dominoes has no fridgeables.


this is a potentially confusing graphix summarizing the readings.

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>> the great meter read out <<

/description
classifikation :: competition
participation :: mandatory
overview :: i officially kataloged two commercial gas meters at 7:30pm wed oct 24th [local time]. your job is to predikt which meter has the higher reading in one amerikan week.

/voting
method :: leave komment explaining who will win and by what percent.
deadline :: 11:59pm central daylight time, tuesday oct 30th.

/winner
revealed after 1:30am central time, thursday nov 1st.

/play
until the competition endline, present inquiries about either business via komments and i'll provide best possible answer.

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/meter BK
burger king [amerikan chain] and chow noodles [local eatery]
tory street & courtenay place

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/meter DOMINO
domino's pizza [amerikan chain] and han yang asian market [local grocer]
elizabeth street & cambridge terrace

new zealand is nothing

if not polite.

lost

i walked the library and photographed every book with "lost" in the title. considering i only walked 1 of 3 floors, that people were actively reading books and that many were checked out... finding 5/1168 is quite an accomplishment... perhaps i found 95% of the books on the shelf.


on my journey, i noticed "life" was a more common book title. the catalog backs me up:

full deck of cards

while carefully packing my suitcases, right up to the 40kg limit, i neglected to count the number of cards in this playing deck. it appears you have to choose between black jacks or jokers. thankfully, that doesn't matter for casino. i'm showing that game to my flatmates tonight.

plimmerton day walk

i did my first day walk: 915am > 115pm, coastal walk headed north from plimmerton


our first stop near gorgeous rock outcropping


instead of backtracking, i did the red arrow downward descent and twisted my knee somehow. today i'm housebound. skype anyone?

dream snippet :: golden girls

the golden girls and bill cosby were on a panel discussion about sex.

after the discussion, sophia was out back of the hotel, above an open grave, smoking. paparrazi were hiding in the bushes hoping to catch the moment she died and fell in her grave.

dentistry

i figured out why the english have such bad teeth... and why i will be flossing extra-er well for the next eleven months...

building techniques

the kiwis rarely start building from the foundation and work their way up [amerikan way]. because they are on the upside down part of the earth they sometimes build from the top and finish the foundation last:



or...


finish one side completely before going on to others.

labour day

it's labour day.
my second of the year.

i've been unemployed for both.

i realize that

but what does a hokey or pokey taste like? and does it go well with the chicken dance salad i've made?

the muffin man

with boxed mixes starting at $4.00, people actually bake in new zealand. my flattie makes muffins for lunch. this one looks like a frog puking.

all juiced up

with no place to go.

i have literally spent all day browsing the internet. she's finally connected and i missed her so.... the way she told me phone numbers, addresses and appointments.... how i could order something and have it arrive while i'm gone... and all the heart-felt, meaningful comments i've always dreamed of having on my blog...

rope's end

it's missing an apostrophe, but all in all a pretty appropriate sign for me to live near.

waited by the door ALL DAY for internet people to come.... only to find out my flatmate told me the wrong day: it's tomorrow [as in "the internet is coming tomorrow" not as in "today is tomorrow" unless you're reading this from the central time zone in which case my today is your tomorrow]

although, a guy did come to the door today and said, "don't worry mate-i'm not hear to sell you broadband or anything..." then went on about neglected kids.... little did he know i really wanted the broadband... he should start "i've got broadband" and then once your interested say "kids suffer"... i like to think that me getting broadband will help children somehow...

flora and fauna report

a gnarly treed "grieg" forest


a gnarly treed "grieg" forest

tired of weeds in your yard? pull one and exchange it for a NZ native plant. i yanked fennel and a geranium to get toe-toe and wineberry. your tax dollars at work.

departure gate

location :: san fran departure terminal
caption :: reviewing old photos on my camera

news ::
! my $1.50/liter shampoo from "the warehouse" doesn't lather...
! orange juice here is made from an apple base (70%)...
! and strangely, that lathers...

cultural xchanges

in america :: "mcdonalds"
kiwi translation :: pub-lick-toy-lets
definition :: when you need to use a bathroom, these are provided free of charge. they're all over downtown and they're ace.

---

today was a "wasted day".... dealing with smoke detector batteries... cleaning the gutter.... setting the clock on the over (the only clock).... doing laundry since it got really hot to air dry clothing.... grocery shopping (tandori dinner!).... but i never got to the library to read or write. however, that's what tomorrow and it's 70% chance of rain is for....

*** SIDE DISH ***
if i had known floppy disks were $3 a pop here, i wouldn't have thrown out $150 before i left minneapolis.

but if i had known you could buy them from a wall dispenser, i never would have come.

*** ENTREE ***
went to a farmer's market and decided that's how i need to buy fruit and veggies from now on. it was all so fresh, cheap and friendly [sound familiar?]. with candy starting at $1 [usd] per bar, my chocoholism will be supplanted with fresh produce.

i'm slowly accumulating "tramping" gear. tomorrow is "tramping club". where i "hope to sign up for a one-day walk."

*** UTENSILS ***
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz1234567890,.<>?/=+\|-_~`!@ #$%^&*()[{]}

where i live

my house [not pictured] from afar.... at the top of the "livable line"...

above it :: a beautiful forest park [with lord of the ring filming location--calling all hobbit costumes]....
below it :: a beautiful city.... and hip "uptown" area...
beneath it :: a fault line

photo taken my first day here. walking around the city, i knew that area was where i wanted to live.

surprises today to be fixed :: 2
>1. clothes take 6 days to air dry. spent the night ironing some undies since i had not accounted for that
>2. no fire alarm... they're not common in this quakey town built of wood. to be remedied tomorrow.

view from flat

official flat specs :: version 001
flatmates :: three kiwis
subgenre :: two lawyers, one surveyor
location :: top street of mount, overlooking downtown [5 min walk to
start of city, 5 min walk to huge park at summit]
bedrooms :: 3
baths :: 2
flat bonding activities :: potluck with 7 kiwi friends, movie night,
game nigh [twice], a "transportation themed party" where i went as a
cardboard box with stamp and address.
room details :: see attached narrative

i live in a diningroom with glass windows and curtains, surrounded by
good will furniture. but i open the curtains (while they're at work or
after 10pm bedtime) and i get this spectacular view (click for a big
version--it's ha'awsome). officially my room overlooks the livingroom
(where i monitor the kiwis in their natural environment), but the
livingroom is entirely windows so i have this view for all practical
purposes. i love it at night. the view is one reason i chose the flat.
the other was sam's copy of "risk." (sam has become infatuated with san
juan, but i'm going to make him try another american game next time we
play so he doesn't burn out).

KFC

kfc :: accepting reasonable trades for chicken since 1975

p.s. found a cafe where i can use my computer, so images will now begin. yes, i realize my first image is of the corneal.