The WAR!

Around the flat, there is only one thing that is more important then money itself. This one thing causes anger when we don't have it. It inflicts pains in your stomach as you urge for the goodness. It makes all bad days good again. Smiles will spread across faces that in moments previous were creased in a frown.

This is thing is a tube of crunchy, salty, goodness.

It is Pringles.

Yes, Pringles. The chips that once you POP you can't stop.

It all started with my first grocery shopping adventure. I purchased three tubes and were met with a chorus of "OH YES! Pringles" when I arrived home. Well, it has taken on a mind of its own. (By the way, they are NOT cheap. About $3.00 a can)

The Pringles fairy magically delivers new Pringles every 3-4 days (the fairy being myself or Haydn) and we all have our favorites, but in a matter of a day they are GONE (Frazer being the main culprit).
I opened what I thought was a new can last week only to be met with crumbs and a chicken bollix cube. Haha. NOT FUNNY! I happened to come across the missing Pringles in a ziplock bag at the bottom of a pan in our cookware drawer. (Frazer is a prankster) I returned the missing chips to the can and hid them in the towel closet in the hall and left a note in their place that said "You messed with the WRONG Pringles fairy!"

So, last night after a long day at work I went to grab a handful of Sour Cream and Onion....empty can. Salt and Vinegar....crumbs. Check the BBQ flavor....about 5 left. Haydn had just purchased these about 2 days ago. So here is the plan.

Frazer is currently out shooting deer for the weekend. When he comes home he will be starving. He WILL go for what is left of the BBQ Pringles when he gets home Sunday night. What Haydn and I have planned is to cover the chips in red chili pepper (the same color as the chips). HAHAHA! It is going to be great. I'll let you know what happens.

Just the day in the life of a flatmate living at 13a Kingsbridge Place.

P.S. I always keep a can in my car, so I really don't get upset when they disappear. :)

And I thought Santa Ana winds were bad!!

Just wanted to drop a quick note and let you know Windy Wellington is releasing all its fury on the city tonight.
Currently, the winds are clocking in at 140kmp (87 mph) and is only going to get worse (at least 160kmp....100mph). It is seriously crazy. It also isn't the occasional gust of wind. It is a constant GUST. On my way to work this morning, I saw a grown man pushed back about 5 feet and then thrown from his bike in what my flatmates called "a light breeze" today.

The entire house shakes and every time it does I stop and go into "earthquake" mode and my flatmates just laugh at me because I guess this type of wind is NORMAL!

It is really cool, though, to see the big, white, puffy clouds whiz by at abnormally fast speed against the royal blue sky. I sat in my car today in the WRAC parking lot, fascinated by this phenomenon for a good 20 minutes. Really relaxing, too!

Different isn't bad. It's just...Different!

I've been in New Zealand long enough to notice some strange things. Outside of the things I've mentioned already (sun power drying, driving, etc), there is some things I've mentioned in passing conversation to some, but not to others. So, here they are:

Driving:

It is quite the adventure to be driving on the "opposite" side of the road (kiwi's get angry when you say the "wrong side"). It is practically impossible to get lost in Wellington. Their sign system is SO much better then the US. There are two main motorways: PCH1 and the Lower Hutt 2. One takes you up the west side of the island. The other takes you to the east. I try to explain our freeway system in California ("Well, we have the 5 south and north, the 405 south and north, the 22 east and west, the 57, the 91....oh and don't forget the toll road 241") and the conversation often ends up with a Kiwi gone cross-eyed.

They also have sidewalks on their motorways. Yes, SIDEWALKS. With people running, walking, biking, sitting during rush hour. Can you imagine bikers on the 405 at 5pm on a Tuesday evening? They would get ARRESTED!

Teeth:
First of all, I want to thank my mum and dad for the 5 years of braces and congrats to myself for suffering through headgear and rubber bands. My smile and teeth have never been more noticed then here in New Zealand. I get compliments all the time on their whiteness, gap-free, and the overall appearance. The compliments usually ends with "....well, you are American." I guess us Yanks, are known for being crazy about our teeth. Well, I don't think that's a bad thing, considering some of the mouths I've seen over here (Dane Cook- "I'm a buck tooth. I like to hang out pass the lips." "Well, I'm a yellow tooth. I look like corn. Don't brush me. Don't brush me!").

Service:

Since tipping isn't common here (YES! No fighting over how much to tip!), service kinda sucks. Sure, you get the occasional Wendy the Waitress with service with a smile but usually they just ask, bring your food, and leave. One thing the US could pick up is when you are seated at your table the host/hostess brings a HUGE pitcher of water. Its really nice not to have to wait around for water. They do, however, go skimpy on the ice (unless, of course, it's a $22.00 long island iced tea....more ice then Antarctica!).

Medical Care:

New Zealand has this great thing called "Accidental Coverage" and it covers every resident, visitor, or immigrant. Basically, if I slip and hurt myself at work the government pays for my doctors visits and bills, my replacement at work, and 100% of the time I miss at work. This happens with any accident: car, road, home, etc. Pretty neat!

Sports:

It is really neat to see a country unified over one sport: rugby (specifically, the All Blacks). In the US, I have been in more then one conversation on why I hate football/basketball, why baseball is amazing, or why California really needs a hockey team. This is a country that doesn't care what sport you are playing, as long as its a sport (they consider underwater hockey a sport *tries to hide giggles*). When Saturday night at 7:30pm rolls around (that's when the All Blacks play), everything stops. Everyone goes to the closest pub, house, or tellie to watch. The local television station also plays the game 3 more times during the week, just in case you might have been in a coma and missed it.

Television:

To say this simply: It SUCKS! It is so horrific. I'm so glad that I have my laptop to stay up to date with my shows (Heroes, Grey's, House, etc.) come September. For example: they have America's Got Talent....but it's the last season (whenever this is on my flatmates look at me and ask "What's your talent, Yank?" I usually reply with a "To annoy you"). They just wrapped up last season of Grey's and Desperate Housewives, they are just starting the first season of Ugly Betty and Brothers and Sisters, and they are just starting season 4 of 24. Also, my flatmates love Dog the Bounty Hunter and the first night we watched it they asked me to explain "white trash" and our bounty system.

Also, it is perfectly acceptable to say the "F-word" on prime time television. This, I have to admit, throws me off. I have been better about not dropping my jaw every time I hear it because it sent the boys in the house into a fit of 12-year-old like laughter just at the sight at my astonished face.

Other:

-I payed for a $2.20 Snickers bar out of a vending machine the other day. Ridiculous. I bring my own chocolate now. (By the way, their chocolate is amazing here. So YUMMY!)

- Everyone carries water bottles here. No paying $1 for a bottle of Aquafina every time you get thirsty. I purchased a bottle of water over a week ago and have been using that since.

-They recycle like CRAZY over here. In our house, we have three rubbish bins: recycle, compost, and other. They have recycle bins next to every public trash can. We could really learn alot from the kiwis.

- They have no idea what "High Fructose Corn Syrup" is here. Their food is all natural. I can actually understand what every ingredient is on the label without going into a fit of pronunciation frustration.

-Kiwis LOVE their ice cream. Don't they know it's winter? And rainy? And windy? Nope. They don't care. They will line up 10 people deep to get to the ice cream man. I have to admit, it's pretty darn good. However, not good enough for the CA girl to eat it (and go numb from temperature) on a daily bases.

- I should have payed attention more in sophomore math class. More specifically, the part about the metric system. I'm horrible at conversions. Celsius, kilos, kilometers, meters, liters....ARG! Makes me go cross-eyed!

-I have to get into the habit of writing the date DD/MM/YYYY. It's really annoying when you see something written as 06/08/2007 and you think "June 8th" and it is really the 6th of August. You should see my time sheets at work. Scribbles everywhere. Opps!

Lastly, I want to say "Congrats" to my grandparents and welcome to the 21st century. They just received their first computer and learned how to send email. The following picture was taken by my sister, while I was webcaming with my g'rents. It was quite entertaining.

I also want to send my love and congrats to my next door neighbors on 20th street: Emily and Gary Frye. Baby Quinn William was born Saturday, August 4th at 1:38pm. He weighed in at 7lbs and 3oz, and measures at 20.5 inches (He is adorable from the pictures I've seen). YAY! Congrats! Hey, whenever you want some sleep and he's crying at 3 in the morning just go knock on our door. I'm sure my dad will be happy to help. :)

Well, thats all for now. I get tomorrow morning off. YAY! Sleeping in!

Cheers!

I admit it!

Whew! Long day! I taught for a straight six hours (in the water) at WRAC today and then headed off to Raumati for coaching and then a swim meet. I'm exhausted. But I did get to coach water polo at WRAC and it made me smile (and made my bosses happy..."You are a really good at coaching polo." Ummm, duh!)

I had another ISSUE on Monday. On my way to work, someone honked at me to tell me I had a flat tire. ARG!! Something else to give out on me. I made it to WRAC in one piece where I had to call Jim because I had no idea what to do, let alone the time to do it. He showed up and took my car to get new tires (all four) and I was stressed out about how I was going to pay for it. I've had the car for a week and now it needs new tires?!? I was really missing home and called my Dad, crying, at work. (Sorry, Dad) It was a moment of realization that I know all of one person in an entire country, I'm 7,000 miles away from everyone I love in the world, and I haven't been hugged in over a month. I was just feeling really helpless, vulnerable, and alone....and I cracked.

When I went to pick up the car, I found out Jim payed for the tires since I'm renting the car from him it wasn't my responsibility. It was still a big stress a majority of the day. First my camera, then my tires...what NEXT?!? (By the way, I still don't know what I'm going to do with my camera issue. I'm still trying to figure that one out.)

My flatmates were really awesome about my "Crazy" moment. I used Frazer's office at WRAC to call my Dad, so I could get a little privacy and since I haven't been payed from WRAC (I needed to get my tax information filed with the government which takes awhile), I'm a little low on funds, they offered to wave this weeks rent. I'm not in any danger financially (I don't want to dip into my emergency fund...but it is there), but it was a really nice gesture and it helps to that these people I've known for barely a month have accepted me and my pit-falls. (FYI: I get a nice, fatty check from WRAC next week. My tax info went through and I get all my hours on one check. WHOOO!)

So, I openly admit that I am homesick. I'm feeling alot better today...back to my old self. But it has hit, just like I knew it would. I'm thinking off you all and I love and miss you.

Oh, and I'm sick of being COLD! And my laundry is currently on day four of trying to dry.

The Most Expensive Disposable Camera EVER!

So, I'm angry and bitter. Last night at dinner I pulled out my trusty Canon Powershot SD500, which I received as a great Christmas present a year and half ago, and it stopped working. The lens would retract and then beep at me a couple time and then shut down with E-18 error across the screen. I LOVE my camera. I have NEVER dropped it and I keep it in a padded case and in its own special pocket of my purse.

I come home to do some internet research and find out this is a common occurrence in Canon cameras!!! I spent the whole night trying to fix the thing. Doing what all the forums said to do: turn the lens clockwise/counter clockwise till it snaps back into place, run a toothpick around the lens, use an air compressor to get out all the dust, charge the battery, push on the lens, and whack it on a hard surface at the padded AV port. The thing just wouldn't work. I called tech support here in NZ (thanks for the info, Duff) and after an hour they said they could fix it......for around 200$ and they can't guarantee the work. So it could happen again. I went to a local camera store a town over (they also work with Canon) and they quoted the same.

THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING!!! I'm on a trip of a lifetime and my camera dies.

So here are the last pics from my not-so-trusty camera:

Some of the Swim School kids being silly copying the aqua aerobics instructor.

It was really funny.

Jo and I (She's one of my co-workers from WRAC. She makes the job alot more humorous).

My fantastic uniform (in the water). Please note the bike shorts.

I deemed them the "Lance Pants"

So that's all for now. I'm really grumpy but that won't stop me from trying to figure out a solution for my now Amish camera ways.
Cheers.

I now re-name you!

The shortest blog yet!

Just wanted to let everyone know Jim renamed my car today.

She is no longer named "Putt-Putt", despite its appropriate fitting.

Jim: "So how's Dorothy?"
Casey: "Dorothy?!?"
Jim: "Yea, your car."
Casey: "Its name is Putt-Putt"
Jim: "No. I own the car and you aren't in Kansas anymore."
Casey: "Hahaha! Dorothy it is."

Bubbles! Bubbles! Bubbles! Bubbles!

Do you remember Caddy Shack and the scene with the Baby Ruth? We had that happen last night at Raumati. But it wasn't a candy bar of chocolate goodness. It was a gift left by a 2-year-old. A magical gift that equaled my long day (Tuesdays are usually 7am-10pm) resulting in standing in the rain to tell parents that were dropping their children off that the pool was closed and going up stairs to the Waterfront for a nice long dinner at a NORMAL time and then coming home and being in my pajamas by 7pm. Thank you bowel movement gods! THANK YOU!

Today was remotely uneventful in the teaching area, but I did get my first kayaking lesson from one of my co-workers, Aaron. It was amazingly fun trying to get my 6-foot frame into a tiny, plastic boat and even more entertaining for those around me why I tried to keep my balance.

WRAC has this SPECIAL machine in the 5meter pool (16.5 feet deep) called the "Bubble Maker." You hit a button on the deck and from the bottom of the pool raises a HUGE mushroom shaped bubble that's about 8 feet across and 6 feet deep. (It changes size and strength depending how long the button is pushed....2 second push is the norm). THIS THING RULES! It throws the kayaks around like toothpicks in the ocean. It teaches the kids not to freak out when they flip and how to get in and out of the kayak. So after the class, my boss and a few others came over to watch me play in the Bubble. I took my life vest off (we have to set "good examples for the kids") and dove down toward the bottom of the pool just as Aaron hit the button. The thing launched me (6 foot tall, 175 pound, strong swimmer) head over heels about three times and tossed me like a rag doll to the surface. I haven't laughed that hard since I've been here. It was really funny. I dove down again (feet first) and the button was pushed (this time by my boss, Ali) and the Bubble launched me a good 2 feet into the air and then flipped me backwards as Ali hit the button sending another Bubble my way which pushed me, like a slide, across 15 feet of water. It was quite hysterical and it's a good thing I was in the pool because I peed my speedo from laughing so hard. (And yes, we did get into trouble for hitting the button too long....OPPS. I guess a 5 second push swamps the gutter system and backs up the filters). Next time the Bubble Machine is on I will take pictures and try to get video. We are going to have a "training session" in a month or so, basically it's an excuse to play with this awesome toy!

On more personal stuff, for some reason my Ipod on shuffle likes playing songs that remind me of home, memories, and people. For example: Mexico by James Taylor=Mom, Dukes on Sunday by Buffett= Dad, My Humps= Duffi (strange but it makes me laugh thinking about dancing on her couch), Country music reminds me of all those nights at Incahoots, etc. Also, the rain still sucks, but I'm dealing. It's annoying because I need to do laundry but how does it dry if it's always RAINING?!?

Tomorrow morning I have off. Everyone together now.....aaaaaahhhhhhhhh, FINALLY! I plan on sleeping in, having a leisure breakfast with tea, and laying around in my jammies till I have to go to Raumati.

Night Night. Time to go dream of giant bubbles :)