99.94% pure
ok – so maybe nz is not 100% pure. wednesday night after work i had an appointment to see home for sale so i walked to my rented spot (about 5 blocks from my apartment) and off i went. on…
the bigger the mess
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. high rise is my favourite – high-rise in the lawyers-gone-wild category ford motor…
make a postie happy – give them mail to deliver
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…
it’s a match!
most daily financial transactions in nz are made by eftpos (electronic funds transfer at point of sale). very similar to a debit card that is tied to your bank account and has a pin. unlike a credit card you don’t…
“bonjour”, “ciao”, “HOWDY!”
three immigrant encounters today. first was a snack at a tiny french run crêperie on manners street – crêpes a go-go. french music playing, the family running the stand babbling en francais, and a tip jar that says “pretend you…
i know you are but what am i
just a preemptive strike in case anyone wants to give me any grief. last saturday night i put on my suit, squeezed by bad foot into my dress shoes and went to the ballet – the royal new zealand ballet…
blackish tan
after work i had a hankering for a black & tan so i stopped at molly’s, an irish pub on cuba street. similar to many of the irish pubs in the states they have packed up a pub in ireland…
100% pure
new 100% pure new zealand ad from the tourism nz team. not playing here, but non-stop previews on the telly on launch day. all smiles and sunshine here – oh, and some nice views
we all have our jobs to do – the revenge
this morning i give jackie a call before heading off to work. i got her voicemail so i left her a guilt message rambling on about how i’m by myself in a new country and heading off from my tiny…
rip – uniball micro blue – lot 2005/0407/394723
rest in peace my good friend. ok – first serious maybe-i-gotta-go-home crisis. as some know i’ve got a thing about pens. considering how much we use a pen during the day i just don’t want to use some 10¢ ball…
ok – i guess some folks feel a bit stronger
the biggest homegrown pizza chain is called “hell pizza.” everything about them is quite irreverent – their signature pizzas are names after the 7 deadly sins and their advertising is always pushing the envelope a bit. this one got some…
cutting the (digital) cord
today i called t-mobile and had my us mobile number disconnected. +1.617.230.2942 is silent can’t explain it but this was one of the harder things to do. most of the reason was that i’ve given that number out thousands of…
be prepared
the locals are either very well prepared for any contingency or a just like wearing brightly coloured safety equipment. during my first day i got a thorough briefing on all the safety procedures and the location of all the civil…
maybe if we’re all quiet and turn off the lights he won’t notice we’re home
[ed – some new entries below] w is in australia for the opec (at the opening session w thanked the australian pm for inviting him to the “opec” meeting, then when the press laughed he said “well – john has invited me…
if you make enough predictions one of them will come true
unfortunately this would not have been high on my list of those i was pulling for. first day i moved into my apartment i noticed the very solidly affixed doorstop in the middle of the floor on the way to…