Not sure if it's the small car or the big garage or both, but I've not got the hang of parking yet ....
21/02/2012
Garden View
This new place is amazing, every time you look down the Hutt Valley the view is different.
12/02/2012
Game of Thrones
Thank you Ponsonby, but I think I can update my own blog thank you very much! I'm not getting above myself, just go and iron my tuxedo and we'll speak later.
Anyway, I now have a 40 minute train journey each way from Upper Hutt down to Wellington CBD (check it out on Google Earth). So far - touch wood - it's been very reliable and good value at less than five of your English pounds each way.
This extra time means I get to read again, and decided against trying the Harry Potter series and went instead for George R R Martin's Songs of Fire & Ice series, being a little more grown-up. It's interesting reading the source novel for the TV series I've already seen - the characters all have faces and it matches pretty closely with the book.
George is also obviously an Anglophile as the land's races (at least the ones features in the first book) are very British, particularly the Yorkshire-like Starks of Winterfell. Very pessimistic about Winter coming, and probably about the state of their cricket team, too.
Ponsonby
Ah, welcome back to the blog, sir (or madam). If I may introduce myself, my name is Ponsonby and I have the pleasure of updating Master Simon's blog on his behalf.
You see, Master Simon and Lady Christine have been so taken with their opulent new lifestyle that they have decided to take on a butler, namely oneself.
They have asked me to inform you that they are both very happy at the moment, with Master Simon enjoying the 40 minute train journey from Upper Hutt down to the City, and Lady Christine is currently content with pottering about the mansion enjoying the views and lack of noise.
Master Simon informs me that, due to the day being particularly agreeable, they are heading off in their "Mazda Midlife Crisis" -- as he calls it -- on a drive. He tells me they are "going topless", which I dearly hope for the sake of property prices they were referring to the motor car ....
They tell me they are also enjoying temporary custody of their landlady's cat, a female tabby going by the curious name of "Louis". I must say it does nothing for me except rub up against surfaces as I'm trying to clean and perpetually scratch the carpet, the wretched thing.
Apparently Lady Christine is rather vexed that the shipping agents have yet to manage clearing their belongings through customs, which is rather a relief as I'm sure there'll be much more cutlery requiring a good clean.
Master Simon has also been mentioning something about a phantom that is a menace of some order, which he plans to view in 3D - it's all beyond me but I'm assuming he's referring to some kind of release at the picture palace. He keeps muttering cryptically about Jar Jar something, mixed in with rather salty language I'd rather not repeat here.
My my, is that the time already? Here I am nattering away when there are surfaces to be dusted! I think I shall sneak a slice of Lady Christine's divine ginger cake while they are away.
Toodles!
Yours,
Ponsonby.
28/01/2012
Desperately Seeking Silence
Well, we've put up with the CBD apartment as long as we could, but finally had enough of the noisy lifts, the invading mozzies, the 5am bottlebank collections and the shitty aircon. Wor Lass has been pestering the landlord so much he invited us to terminate the tenancy early! The power of moaning, eh?
As luck would have it a colleague's girlfriend has decided to rent out her house for a year. We took a look around last weekend and offered to rent it on the spot!
It's gorgeous, massive enough for regular guests to stay over, is out in the sticks of Upper Hutt (see Google Maps) and -- fingers crossed -- will give us the peace and quiet I need. It's also $100 a week cheaper than the apartment that's smaller than the triple garage we'll be taking on.
With luck we should be moving in next weekend. And sleeping the weekend away, hopefully.
The Tour
Here's the back of the house at sunset, after getting past the locked gates.
The view down the valley of Upper Hutt as seen from the back garden. Also at sunset. Whether it's a real sunset or a Photoshop sunset we're not sure.
The kitchen, as I believe the ladies call it. With a proper Big Fridge and dishwasher that doesn't snap shut like Arkwright's till, unlike the current place.
Lounge Number One, situated next to the kitchen and home to a log burner. Thankfully there's also a shed full of chopped up logs, so I won't need to go out and chop wood myself (stop laughing, Dad, I could if I had to.)
Lounge number two, complete with monster TV and sky. Will also become the Wii Fit room for Wor Lass' shadow boxing sessions.
The entrance hall, which I probably should have uploaded earlier in the tour. Arsed. It's just a hallway and I've only put it on 'cos She Who Must Be Obeyed would shout at me if I didn't. Oh, one thing that is cool is there's a hoover-y thing plumbed in round the house - you just plug the hose into the socket in each room and away you go!
Her Ladyship's room, the only one upstairs, with en-suite and dressing room. Also has a private balcony.
The servant's quarters, where I'll get to sleep (hopefully). There are also two other guest rooms plus a downstairs bathroom and separate toilet.
And here's the house as seen from the back garden, with the kitchen/lounge 1 opening out onto the dick. I only have one dick here, but it's a long 'un so Wor Lass is more than satisfied.
There finishes the tour. I hope you like it and we hope to get as many people as possible staying with us ...
19/01/2012
18/01/2012
Alien vs Predator: Flat Mates
Found on Unrealitymag.com, made me laugh anyways.
17/01/2012
VCP5
Have managed to bring my VMware Certified Professional certification up to date, passing the VCP 5 exam today.
I had prepared hard all weekend and was fairly confident, but nearly managed to sabotage by chances by doing too many weights in my weekend workout and being in too much pain to sleep properly, leaving me feeling like an extra from The Walking Dead.
I filled up on McShame and coffee but it ran out halfway through the exam, and at one point I was struggling to even read the question, let alone interpret the correct answers.
Still, on the scale of 100 to 500, with 300 being the pass mark, I squeaked it with 372.
(For any fellow nerds thinking of taking the exam I'd just say this - follow the exam blueprint but ensure you refresh yourself on the basics as well, as the majority of questions I had weren't related to new features)
That's taken care of the IT certification for a while, so I'm now switching tack and having another go at getting my head around science - it's a bit shameful as an IT nerd that I don't even understand properly how elastic trickery works. Am starting with the essential physics book "Six Easy Pieces" by Richard Feynman.
12/01/2012
How Was Your Commute?
Here's a picture taken on the 5 minute commute to work. To think last year's commuting involved holding my breath as I drove past the Gilberdyke landfile by the M62 ....
"And When I Dance I Dance Like Me Dad"
They say growing older is a series of small changes, and that you eventually turn into your father. Well, I took another step closer over the Christmas break.
We took the long drive up the North Island, and rather than buy food along the way I packed a chilly bin full of sarnies, cans of drink and even a pork pie, for the journey. So far so Dad-like.
What made my planning extra Dad-like for me - the giant bottle of Heinz tomato ketchup.
Not long now until you find me parked up in a layby eating my sarnies beside a caravan, wearing a hawaiian shirt and sporting a 'tache that Magnum would be proud of!
(Don't tell him, but if I'm going to turn into anyone I could do a lot worse)
10/01/2012
04/01/2012
Ready to Get Thru It
Time to get the emergency kit together just in case The Big One hits.
- Bottled water & cheap-ass fizzy drinks - check
- Cans of cheap-ass food that doesn't need a can opener - check
- First aid kit and blankets nicked from the rented flat - check
- Bog rolls - check (Let's face it, if The Big One hits it will definitely clear any backlogs).
- Cheap-ass muesli bars - check
- Travel fork and spoon - check
- Scaredy-cat Englishman with wind-up torch/radio/alarm/mobile charger - check
We should have enough stuff to survive for a few days in an emergency, even if we can't stand the taste of all the cheap-assed food we've bought.
31/12/2011
New Year in Papamoa
Having a lovely New Year with family and friends Oop North on the North Island.
First we caught up with our friend Katrine in Whakatane (pronounced Facker Tarney) and watching her starring in the local theatre group's variety show. Good performances, just wound up by the lack of punctuation in the Santas Variety Show.
We then heading across to Papamoa Beach to spend a few days with my cool cuzzie Jack and his lovely wife Steph, who always make us very welcome in their gorgeous house. Their daughter Ruby has also been very entertaining, and it's always good to spend time with Mad Uncle Roger and his better half Linda. It's been throwing it down most of the trip, but no matter as the company has been good.
Here are MU Roger and Cuzzie Jack getting competitive over a game of Wii carting, Linda & Wor Lass getting into the Christmas Spirits and Ruby getting cheeky in front of camera.
24/12/2011
20/12/2011
Artificial Hipster
I'm currently working alongside a bunch of hipster kids and trying way too hard to keep up with them, such as :-
- Quoting Rage Comics catchphrases too much -- "like a sir", "haters keep hating", "___ all the things", etc.
- Setting up a Steam account so I can get into training for an upcoming LAN gaming session.
- Joining the lunchtime sushi posse and trying Japanese food for the first time (surprisingly tasty providing you avoid the wasabi).
However I'm drawing the line at wearing skinny jeans and riding a longboard ...
11/12/2011
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Shit. I have a sense of Deja vu with the apartment, even without a hidden nightclub beneath it :-
- Noisy lift next to Wor Lass' room in regular use up to 1.30am weeknights by cleaners.
- Lift also woke us up at 4am Sunday morning - we figure drunken office worker who couldn't make it home went to kip at desk.
- Some kind of fan outside my room starts up at 5am each morning (hence typing this at 5.30am Monday morning).
- Getting bitten to death by mozzies, probably drawn to water tanks on roof.
- My shower has two temperatures - boiling hot and freezing cold - and all the pressure of being pissed on by a budgie.
- The electric oven cuts out regularly so doesn't get particularly hot.
- Toaster has packed in, kettle is temperamental, fridge freezes things at the back and keeps things fairly warm at the front.
We specifically asked about noise when we looked around and were told it has "normal CBD noise levels", so we were prepared for street noise and the like.
Needless to say the landlords are getting a month notice later today and we're outta here....
04/12/2011
Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On
Wellington shook a little last night as a magnitude 5.7 quake hit around 8pm. The apartment wobbled for about 20 seconds, me a few seconds longer. It spooked us a little, but nothing was damaged and gave us a reminder that we're living on a fault line. Time to get that Get Thru It pack together!
Other than that it's all been good so far - the flat is getting more homely now and we're sleeping better, plus Kris has been getting more interest from the agencies than back in the UK, though is still moaning when they don't ring her back. For some reason she can't get her head around the fact that pimps are at best sharks, at worst total incompetents.
One of the many great things about NZ is Hell Pizza, a well-branded chain with pretty un-PC marketing methods. Their pizzas are named after deadly sins or other devilish names - my favourite toppings being Mordor.
Picked up a lazy takeout on Friday and took away a free pen (Kiwi pronunciation "pin") with a syringe design that would have the Daily Mail frothing at the mouth. Even better was the tagline - "Creating addicts since 1996". Love it! (Sis - if I can avoid breaking it I'll pass it on to you when we get back.)
29/11/2011
Happy Birthday to Meeee
Thanks to all for the birthday messages, have had the best birthday in years.
Pressies: Sandwich toaster, book on NLP, new bed (finally arrived yesterday, bliss!).
Birthday meal was garlic bread by Wor Lass, spag bol by The Boy Genius, chocolate cake by New World supermarket, and bottle of red wine by a vineyard in Hawkes Bay.
Today I dine well, for tomorrow I sign up at the gym and start working off that alarming podge.
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