Perin and I got up at 3:30am yesterday to catch our flight to Melbourne. Being the grisled travellers we are, Perin had the rows with no people in them scoped out. As soon as they closed the doors we jumped and each had a row of three seats to ourself. Perin went right to sleep and I watched Date Night before getting a couple hours of horizontal rest myself. It was glorious.
Last time I came to Melbourne, I got the ExpressBus from the airport to the city and it was great. There's a bus that leaves every ten minutes. I tried to buy us tickets for that again, but the girl at the airport desk sold us tickets to a shuttle that were non-fundable. We watched two or three ExpressBusses leave before our shuttle arrived. And then they packed us full and we were the last drop-off. The nice part is that we got a nice free tour of the city before arriving at our destination.
We didn't have a lot of touring energy, so we walked through the casino, got some delicious hamburgers, then checking into our hotel and took showers and naps. Then we headed out. Some hair product company (Schwartkopf) was putting on a live infomercial for thier hair products and having people off the street enter in the "Best Hair in Australia" competition. Perin entered, got her hair didded, and it came out beautifully. She would totally win, but we don't live in Australia and are excluded from competition. Glam shot photo to be displayed later.
We ended the evening by heading up to Chinatown and looking for a hole-in-the-wall noodle and dumpling restaraunt. I remember it from my last trip here, but we didn't eat there because it was cash-only and there was long queue. I wasn't sure we'd find it because it was down some dark alley, but we ended up right at it. Waited our turn in line and then had a delicious feast for very little money.
Then we wandered through the alleys and shops and along the river just watching people and looking and everything. I wanted to talk to Perin about Date Night and all the funny parts, but still not give away the whole movie. She'll have to watch it on the plane home and I'll have to hold my tongue until then. Still tired we called it an early night and went to bed. Today, we're hitting the touristy stuff hard. But first, we have to eat!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
In Consideration of Others
It's birthday season at the Casa de Wehde. Before Perin's birthday we picked up some giant crayfish (lobster-sized) and she picked out some cheese too. In general, Perin doesn't like cheese, but the Port Nicholson we got was mild and she liked it. The crayfish were delicious and we had a great dinner at home.
Perin woke up on her birthday to me making breakfast. But she was in the mood for a bite of cheese that no longer existing in our home. I ate the last bite earlier that morning. It just so happens that I come from a long lineage of competitive eaters, where left-overs are as rare as rocking horse crap, and all food is subject to survival of the least delicious.
Perin was furious (for a few minutes). Finally, a cheese she actually liked. And it was gone. I hadn't even thought about that, her, or her feelings as I popped in into my mouth and savored its deliciousness.
Fast forward to two days ago. It came to my attention that it was Bloomsday where everyone who doesn't drink a Guinness is subject to a leprechaun ripping off their head and defecating down their throat - while they sleep. This concerned me greatly and I discussed this at length with Perin over lunch.
At 4:50pm Perin sent me a text stating that she's grabbing a drink with some people at the Black Harp - the best Irish pub in town. I drop everything and head directly over. Obviously, Perin heard my concerns at lunch and arranged a quick Guinness before heading home, to prevent the cruel and brutal treatment at the hands of leprechauns.
Six minutes later, I run into Perin standing outside the pub. She and all of her colleagues were done with thier Guinnesses and she wanted me to accompany her on a walk back to her workplace to collect her computer and notebook and then drive home. To suffer the wrath of the leprechauns... how inconsiderate!
I tell her this is unacceptable and dispatch her to collect her things on her own while I consume a preventative Guinness. It was a good thing too because we both woke up with heads attached, throat-defecation-free.
And so, who was less considerate? He who ate a bite of cheese, or she who participated in an hour-long discussion of the importance on Guinness consumption on Bloomsday, then invited him to join her group of Guinness consumers, and then told him that they were done and he should skip his Guinness and join her collecting her things from her workplace?
Tangential to this story, others who worked with me were recently (and for a long time) mislead. My manager was informed by a large vendor of ours that one of my colleagues was no longer allowed to represent them. He could perform no service directly for them, as a consultant, nor as an independent contractor. My manager was informed of this with no explanation as to why this decision was made.
After some inquiry and analysis, my manager was able to discover that this co-worker of mine had filed for bankruptcy, changed his name, and had been charged with felony fraud but had only been convicted of forgery. Due to fraudulent activities at numerous companies before ours, the police were looking for him, and they had border stops out. But the co-worker had been in and out of the country multiple times (for work that was completed to the end-customer's satisfaction).
He had stolen laptops from work and resold them, claimed expenses that did not incur, and as part of his successful history of womanizing, was sleeping with an HR executive from the company. When the police became involved, the executives of the company were informed they couldn't tell the HR lady because she might tip him off. The delicious irony of not being able to tell the HR executive anything!
Regardless, my old colleague has gone into hiding and the police have yet to find him. His fraudulent ways do not take the considerations of others into account. And so, this is by far the most scandalous event that I've been personally involved with in New Zealand.
And all of this reminds me a visit to the veterinarian in San Francisco when Perin's cat Cleo was sick. Cleo didn't like going to the vet and was uncomfortable and scared. When the vet picked Cleo up, Cleo meowed and unleashed a huge poop - which fell straight into the vet's white lab coat pocket. Perin and I couldn't stop laughing! And in considering the vet's displeasure, that made it even more hilarious.
And so dear readers, always consider the feelings and emotions of others. Especially if it's hilarious.
Perin woke up on her birthday to me making breakfast. But she was in the mood for a bite of cheese that no longer existing in our home. I ate the last bite earlier that morning. It just so happens that I come from a long lineage of competitive eaters, where left-overs are as rare as rocking horse crap, and all food is subject to survival of the least delicious.
Perin was furious (for a few minutes). Finally, a cheese she actually liked. And it was gone. I hadn't even thought about that, her, or her feelings as I popped in into my mouth and savored its deliciousness.
Fast forward to two days ago. It came to my attention that it was Bloomsday where everyone who doesn't drink a Guinness is subject to a leprechaun ripping off their head and defecating down their throat - while they sleep. This concerned me greatly and I discussed this at length with Perin over lunch.
At 4:50pm Perin sent me a text stating that she's grabbing a drink with some people at the Black Harp - the best Irish pub in town. I drop everything and head directly over. Obviously, Perin heard my concerns at lunch and arranged a quick Guinness before heading home, to prevent the cruel and brutal treatment at the hands of leprechauns.
Six minutes later, I run into Perin standing outside the pub. She and all of her colleagues were done with thier Guinnesses and she wanted me to accompany her on a walk back to her workplace to collect her computer and notebook and then drive home. To suffer the wrath of the leprechauns... how inconsiderate!
I tell her this is unacceptable and dispatch her to collect her things on her own while I consume a preventative Guinness. It was a good thing too because we both woke up with heads attached, throat-defecation-free.
And so, who was less considerate? He who ate a bite of cheese, or she who participated in an hour-long discussion of the importance on Guinness consumption on Bloomsday, then invited him to join her group of Guinness consumers, and then told him that they were done and he should skip his Guinness and join her collecting her things from her workplace?
Tangential to this story, others who worked with me were recently (and for a long time) mislead. My manager was informed by a large vendor of ours that one of my colleagues was no longer allowed to represent them. He could perform no service directly for them, as a consultant, nor as an independent contractor. My manager was informed of this with no explanation as to why this decision was made.
After some inquiry and analysis, my manager was able to discover that this co-worker of mine had filed for bankruptcy, changed his name, and had been charged with felony fraud but had only been convicted of forgery. Due to fraudulent activities at numerous companies before ours, the police were looking for him, and they had border stops out. But the co-worker had been in and out of the country multiple times (for work that was completed to the end-customer's satisfaction).
He had stolen laptops from work and resold them, claimed expenses that did not incur, and as part of his successful history of womanizing, was sleeping with an HR executive from the company. When the police became involved, the executives of the company were informed they couldn't tell the HR lady because she might tip him off. The delicious irony of not being able to tell the HR executive anything!
Regardless, my old colleague has gone into hiding and the police have yet to find him. His fraudulent ways do not take the considerations of others into account. And so, this is by far the most scandalous event that I've been personally involved with in New Zealand.
And all of this reminds me a visit to the veterinarian in San Francisco when Perin's cat Cleo was sick. Cleo didn't like going to the vet and was uncomfortable and scared. When the vet picked Cleo up, Cleo meowed and unleashed a huge poop - which fell straight into the vet's white lab coat pocket. Perin and I couldn't stop laughing! And in considering the vet's displeasure, that made it even more hilarious.
And so dear readers, always consider the feelings and emotions of others. Especially if it's hilarious.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Hawaii Revisted
In April, I had the pleasure of meeting my mum for a 10 day holiday in Hawaii. We went to Honolulu for a day of shopping and then off to Maui for a week of relaxation and fun.
Enjoy our photos:
Enjoy our photos:
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| Hawaii with Mom |
An oldy but goody
A year ago Alicia and Bob came to visit. This holiday was adrenalin filled.
For a glimpse into some of the adventure, here is a video of Paul and Bob on the Bungy Swing. Perin and Alicia did the same thing as well.
For some reason, the blog cuts off the side of the video. I recommend for best viewing that you click on the link in the top right of the video where it says "Sky Swing" and it takes you to Youtube to see the full picture.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Holidays, Son.
I wanted Perin to post these, but she delegated the task to me... Her skillz are superb. We didn't even make it to the zoo, but we did get some pictures put together for you.
Our first trip was to Kaiteriteri with our friends James and Antonia (and Max).
The next trip was to Sydney, Australia. No Over Proof Brandenburg Rum* on this trip...
*Over proof. It's a rum with a 150 proof rating or so (Bacardi 151 for example)-- and it's at least 75% alcohol. Normal Rum is 80 proof (40% alcohol.)
Monthly Update
So I quit my last job and got a new one. The last job had me sitting on a floor by myself and I'd see my boss for 15 minutes a day. With the new job, I sit on a floor of 140 sales and sales-support people who all have high energy and are enthusiastic. So the process of going in to work alone is far superior.
However, any company that has 140 sales people is a large organization with much bureaucracy. But I'm still so new, the mind-numbing complexity and bureaucratic hassles haven't crushed my soul yet, because I don't know any better! Anyway, I'm making a positive contribution and I'm quite enthusiastic about being able to close some big deals.
They just released the results from an employment satisfaction survey and it said that employee satisfaction climbs rapidly for the first six months. Then it drops through the floor and plateaus at a very negative bottom for three years. But after three years... then it slowly starts to climb up again. Almost to where you were when you began. Glad they could share that with us.
We had some HR lady come talk to us about "interpreting the results" and said that people are initially excited but don't know how to operate in the company's bureaucracy. And it takes three years to figure it out. And then once you figure it out, you can really start accomplishing things and your satisfaction improves. However, I chose to interpret that as "Who is going to stay three years before they start liking work?" Everyone who hated the company left within three years, and all that's left are people who don't mind.
Anyway, I'll only be there for ten months (eight to go), so it's perfect. Then we're outta here Feb 2011. More on that later in this post.
I completed the ACL reconstruction of my knee and that seems to be going well too. The doctors saw some meniscus damage in the cartilage they had planned to removed at the same time, but it had healed itself by the time they cut me open. That's nice because it will delay arthritis in that knee a little longer.
The physiotherapist and surgeon were impressed with my leg strength before going into surgery and I've made pretty good progress so far. I have almost full range of motion and I can put all my weight on that leg and walk around the house. I still use a single crutch when I leave the house for balance, but I should be done with that by next week. I'm off all the opiate drugs too, so I'm much less itchy and more regular:) Just Tylenol a couple time a day now.
Before the surgery, I went out to dinner with a bunch of soccer friends and we ended up getting some drinks at the bars afterwards. Which led to dancing whereupon I was attacked by a vicious cougar! She was fifty-ish and telling her I was married only made her more aggressive and she cornered me. Fortunately, my frantic signalling to one of the soccer girls paid off and she rescued me. The cougar was angry then and gave many mean glances after that. It was time to leave.
Most people would have gone home then, but it was my last night out. So my wingman and I went to the karaoke bar where I ended up singing a duet with a Samoan tranny. THEN it was time to leave. So I walked home and went to bed around five in the morning.
When I was younger, I used to think it was stupid that bars couldn't stay open past 2am. Now I believe that's the perfect time. You can feel wild about staying up after midnight, but you can still get [close to] a normal night's sleep. Now I'm of the opinions that bars that don't close are stupid.
Perin and I are focusing on our world trip. The itinerary is now (subject to change of course): Japan, Seoul, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Cambodia (Siem Reap -- Angkor Wat), Moscow, St. Petersburg, Istanbul, Israel, Petra (Jordan), Cairo, South Africa (safari), and then all over Europe. We're working on our plans and trying to save as much money as possible.
Perin's health is good too. We have to look into immunizations and see which ones she can get before we go (which may affect some of the destinations we may travel to). So that's this week's activity.
I'm taking time off from improv while my leg improves. I'm excited to get back to it though. Hopefully in another week or two.
Right now, I'm reading two books - Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and The Decisive Moment: How the Brain Makes up its Mind. First off, Ayn Rand was crazy. That book is a fascinating biography. But the point of this paragraph is that Ayn believed in the all-importance of rational thought. The second book is about how we use emotions to make most decisions, even when we think we're being rational. So it turns out they contrast each other nicely.
Perin and I are off to the zoo today. It's hazy and pretty cold, but it's not raining and it's not windy which means we have really nice weather. They have free wheel chairs, so I'll get one of those. And if we're extra motivated, we might end the day with the planetarium. That's just big talk though; there's no way we doing that after the zoo. We'll probably just get some hot soup and come home.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Doritos, White Island and Blackwater Rafting
The most exciting news I have is that Doritos-brand corn chips just launched in New Zealand. Finally a proper corn chip. The flavors are different than those available in the States, but I'm primarily interested in the unflavored (aka "salted") line. Kiwis get both Good Friday and the Monday-after-Easter off of work as national holidays and I plan to put on a couple pounds making myself plate after plate of delicious nachos.
Perin and I took a trip in February up to Whakatane to see White Island (Moutohora Island) - an active volcano which has formed an island around itself. My first visit to an active volcano (sulfuric acid steam spewing; not liquid hot magma spewing) was pretty badass. In fact, I took the camera away from Perin for not taking enough photographs and went a little crazy. I trimmed them down pretty well for you, so enjoy:
From there, we traveled to Waitomo to the famous black water caves. We crawled into our wet suits and descended into the caves. Here are (far fewer) pictures of the caves:
Perin and I took a trip in February up to Whakatane to see White Island (Moutohora Island) - an active volcano which has formed an island around itself. My first visit to an active volcano (sulfuric acid steam spewing; not liquid hot magma spewing) was pretty badass. In fact, I took the camera away from Perin for not taking enough photographs and went a little crazy. I trimmed them down pretty well for you, so enjoy:
 |
| White Island |
From there, we traveled to Waitomo to the famous black water caves. We crawled into our wet suits and descended into the caves. Here are (far fewer) pictures of the caves:
 |
| Blackwater Rafting |
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