the new pad

note the homemade curtain to hide clothes.


note the jack-a-lantern-flour-bag and home-made cushion


note the wine cozy shaped like a kimono

love letters

it's not the most romantic thing i've ever written, but we finished our 100 page fiance visa application today.

here's a breakdown of what love is... legally speaking...

wow. in deed.

wellington hosts the international wearable arts award show every year.

it is an event that always restores my faith in humanity. i love that one person's dream of being creative with fabric has caught on to a huge 10 day festival.

the show is fun, amazing, inspired... and there was a mini completely covered in mirror bits that dangled from the ceiling like a disco ball.

sweet as.


a stunningly beautiful butterfly.


a kid won the children's division by making this. how much help did he get from mom?


sonic is all grown up.


what do you mean i can't use the drive thru?


this is wood. (hope she doesn't smoke).

flour cozy

we go through lots of flour, which is why i thought a 20 pound bag was a good idea even though we don't have any cupboard space.

since you can't buy flour cozies very easily, a flour-a-lantern seemed like a good second choice.

high speed broadband internet ISP review wellington: woosh

Internet Review: Here is my story signing up for Internet through Woosh.

Sept 14th: Registered for Woosh. Was told I would have Internet within 8 (business? calendar?) days.

Sept 21st: Received a letter saying Internet would be working Sept 18th. It wasn't.

Sept 22nd: Contacted Woosh and they promised a tech would call within 24 hours.

Sept 23rd: The Tech never called. I contacted Woosh and they told me my install has been re-scheduled for the 24th.

Sept 24th: I changed my schedule to be home in the afternoon, but the Internet wasn't working by dinner time. I called Woosh and asked to speak to a Manager. I was told that wasn't necessary. Their computer system told them the final part of the install would take effect at 11pm.

Sept 25th: It still wasn't working the next morning. I decided to leave Woosh. The tech told me the install technicians have been striking, so my service might not be faster with another company. Decide to talk to competition before canceling Woosh. I contacted Vodaphone, Telestar Clear and Telecom. They all use the same network and same technicians (i felt stuck with no real competition)... the other companies claim "haven't had significant delays" (which is probably the different between talking to the competition's sales staff and my vendor's support team).

Sept 25th, second call: Woosh can install it on the 28th. Decided to tough it out for another week. To cheer me up, the Woosh technician told me he's had to schedule some people for October 8th. Very reassuring. I ask for a manager again and am told everything's scheduled. There's no need to worry. But I did get my first week of internet (which I couldn't use) for free.

Sept 27th: Woosh finds this post and a technician contacts me. (I got much better response time from Woosh after that)

Sept 28th: The scheduled technician never shows up.

Sept 29th: A technician is supposed to call to arrange an install for the 30th. The technician never calls.

Sept 30th: I am supposed to be installed today, but nobody shows up.

Oct 1st: A technician is supposed to call before noon. He doesn't. So Woosh contact the technician for me and arrange a time for the 2nd.

Oct 2nd: The technician calls and installs my Internet.

the internot

new zealand has no idea what the internet is or how it has revolutionized business. it's a digital third world waste land.

you have limited competition to pay $90/month to for a paltry 10 gigs of traffic and the technician who fails to connect the internot to your apartment still tapes his business card to the exterior door of your sixty-unit building and then wonders why you haven't returned his call in a week. (but he only wonders that to himself. you have to call the company who calls the company who calls the company who calls the technician to figure that much out)

i think i'm less angry and mostly sad that they just don't get it or how software development could revolutionize a country with a geographic encumbrance to export manufactured goods.

a day in the dumps

it's not your typical tourist destination, but yesterday i went to the wellington landfill because they have a "tip shop"... a used junk shop at the face of the dump.

landfills and scrap yards are just like the movies:
* huge, ugly, mean guard dogs that growled at me (check) (and check a second time)
* crazy man with 3 teeth missing and a scragly beard that calmed the dogs (check)
* birds ominously circling overhead (check)
* a faint smell of vomit that got stronger with each step (check)

the hillside around the dump was covered in gorse (prickly stickly hedging the english brought over) and pretty much every gorse plant had a plastic bag flying from it like a proud garbage flag.

the tip shop was disappointing (no USB keyboards or VGA cables)... and i certainly wasn't interested in buying barwear from it. but if i ever need a bike....

all in all, a huge success. visit your local tip today.

milk department

i bet your city doesn't have a municipal milk department.

now i bet you don't feel so cool.

coolest logo

 

Cool logo alert. (The R for Rabbit is a rabbit)

urban art

 

Urban yarn art => :hearts in chain link fences

park benches

 

I can never decide which park bench to sit on...

wanted

For those of you who are upset by the delay in postings, you have noone to blame but the law. I got kicked out of a food court for plugging in my laptop. Sometimes I don't feel wanted here.

tongs

How many tongs do you really need at a hostel?

muffin internet

in NZ, i can either pay $4/hr for internet... or i can buy a muffin for $4 from a coffee shop and get a free hour internet.

muffin internet has its novelty, but i think i miss home internet.

09.09.09

Today's date: 09.09.09

I love dates with patterns. (That's why I returned from NZ on 08.08.08 last year)

it takes more than love to keep you warm

sleeping on a 1.5" foam mattress in a hide-a-bed, i've needed the following sleep gear to combat the 44F indoor temp:

• 2 pairs of socks
  
• 2 pairs of pants
  
• 2 shirts
  
• 2 sweatshirts (one with a hood)
  
• Hot water bottle
  
• Electric blanket
  
• Wool blankets as sheets since there are no sheets
  
• Sleeping bag spread out over Tash and I
  

we made an offer

UPDATE::WE GOT THE PLACE AND MOVE IN ON FRI!







we made an offer on a tiny studio right in the middle of town. it has sucky windows and is small... but its fully furnished, available immediately and convenient to everything.

water

 

on the plane, i sipped my water looking out at the blue atmosphere, clouds and oceans. there's a lot of water on this here earth.