Daily Archive for September 18th, 2007

the bigger the mess

Published on September 18, 2007 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , .

the nz police and land transport nz (their dept of transportation) are sponsoring a series of attention grabbing safety ads – all with a shocker at the end.

They Drink We Die 2-1

Seat Belt

high rise is my favourite – high-rise

in the lawyers-gone-wild category ford motor company has filed suit to take this one off the air – death-lurks-around-corner. they claim that depicting a ford in the ad gives the impression that the car is not safe. sigh. firstly i’m quite sure that most kiwis are able to understand that the ad is just an ad (and that land mines do not actually pop out of the road based on your driving speed as depicted in the ad). secondly i don’t expect that many viewers focused on that the car was a ford – but given all the hubbub, they will now. lastly nothing like a gigantic american company filing suit against the nz govt to block a public safety ad. idiots.

plenty more – a new one runs about every two weeks to keep it fresh. some other favs:

  • under-pressure (i can totally relate to this one. being late and putting my life at risk for something dump like a project status meeting)
  • mate
  • indicator (another one that hit home. how many times have you grown impatient waiting to turn and finally pulled out when there really wasn’t enough room?)
  • same-cop
  • lure

make a postie happy – give them mail to deliver

Published on September 18, 2007 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , .

i was having a few issues getting mail delivered (all mail gets delivered to a sister hotel and they didn’t know who i was and were returning it), and realizing that i’m likely to have several addresses in the next year i decided it would be best to get a po box and have a stable address that was all mine. there is a post office half way between the apartment and work so it’s easy to stop off for a quick check. 5 minutes and $190 later i’ve got a new home for my mail.

my address:
antony foster
po box 11377
te aro, wellington 6142
new zealand

i haven’t yet seen any postal vehicles other than bicycles and motobikes. in upper hutt i saw these 2 posties – one having an ice cream with his family and another zooming by on their bike.

Img 0412

now to answer some questions / concerns on how much it costs to send something to nz. details from usps.com below but 1lb will cost between $10.10 and $55.00 depending on if you have some time or “absolutely positively need it there overnight” (can’t happen actually given the dateline – minimum is 2 days).

an important restriction to keep in mind to avoid customs duties is that any “gift” under NZ$100 is allowed duty free.

in the facts & figures category i can set the record straight on some other numbers i’ve heard:

  • flight from los angeles to auckland, new zealand is 12 hours and 45 minutes. the return journey (with the wind at your back) is under 12 hours. the flights between auckland and wellington are 45 minutes and take off every hour.
  • distance from los angeles to auckland is 6,499 miles
  • new zealand is part of the oceania, australasia, australia or zealandia continent depending on who you ask.

Us To Nz Postage-2

Us To Nz Postage 2