Hello 21st Century!!!

Wow, after being in the 19th century for the last 2 months, I'm happy to say I'm back online! To be honest I was starting to get used to not having any internet at home but I sure am glad to be back now!
But just cos I wasn't around doesn't mean I didn't think about you all!

Just a quick update to say that I'm still alive and will spend the next few days trawling through my emails so I'll reply eventually.

Love
S

Disconnected

Sorry everyone for the lack of updates. I've moved into town and still haven't got internet. Also can't access internet from work - only intranet and selected websites.

I've never dealt with such awful an awful landlord before, who is more two faced than Janus and able to twist everything around. Absolutely no respect for other people's time because the world revolves around her.

I'll be moving again in 6 months!

Hey but you know what, it's spring now and summer soon, so at least the next 5 months is going to be swweeeet as!

Will update as soon as I get connected again!

Buses suck, Trains are better

I think the title summed it up nicely!

Football/Soccer Fever

Monday morning was a strange site, the motorway to work was eerily quiet and free flowing, not a traffic cop anywhere. Walked into work and it was so still and quiet, I did a double take and wondered if I somehow mixed up Sunday with Monday. Alas no, it was World Cup Finals! Hardly anyone came to work until 9.30am after Spain's win. A carrot knows more about football (soccer) than me but I did baske (slighly) in the glory of the All Whites :-) Who would have ever guessed that a small nation like ours would ever stand amongst giants of the football world. Go the mighty All Whites - still unbeaten!

Mind like a Goldfish

Ops. I totally forgot. Yes, completely forgot I had a blog to update until one minute ago when reminded by a special reader (yay! I have readers! - or possibly just one reader. Oh well.)

Now what's happened in last 3 weeks? Well mostly a lot of moving, mum, flatmate and I had to help all and do a lot of cleaning etc. I can't believe there's so much STUFF! We've all got WAAAAYYYYY too much "stuff" in general. Everytime I move, I swear I didn't buy half the stuff but somehow it's ended up with me. We need to get back to real basics and just rent (or live without). Stuff doesn't equal happiness/success. I'm sure you'll agree when you start moving!

I signed a permanent contract with the company last week, and had to ask my manager to announce the fact that I'm now permanent (so sad to have to ask!). Now work is going well. Can't say it is the most creative job ever but I'm injecting it with my sense of flair, creativity and style (that's what I tell myself everyday). Unfortunately am on a floor with no kitchen and with all ladies (except for 3) so have joined the social club to meet others starting this week.

House looking a bit cleaner from the tidying and cleaning effort, though it's never quite enough!
Haven't done anything on the business so must get on with it. No updates there.

Discovered that I am getting more and more forgetful nowadays. If I don't write things down, I'll repeat myself or forget completely.....Does anyone know a cure for this? Thanks in advance.

Japan on hold

It was always known to me that by coming back to NZ, I might not leave again. As you may have known, I've been wanting to go to Japan for some time but the application process has been more than laborous, and worse of all, unsure. I have found a job in a decent company here so will stay at least for the next couple of years - to the joy of my parents. I'm sorry to be disappointing my friends out there who had plans to visit Japan. Be sure that you're most welcome to visit NZ and I'll definitely let you know if I'm moving there soon.

Corporate Life 3

The dangers of Corporate life: Being stuck in the toilet/stairwell.

It was my own fault really, for not having my swipe card on me all the time. Being late Friday night, just about to leave, I went to use the loos (=toilets) and found myself locked in the stairwell as there was no way of getting out without the electronic card...

Now who's the bright spark who invented a building where you are trapped in its bowels if you should be a little forgetful, and then just to tease you, install buttons that look like bells that do absolutely NOTHING! ha ha ha what a joke it must have seemed like to the architect.

To add salt to the wound, after half an hour of banging on all the doors from levels 9 - b2 and back, I was let out only to find that there were colleagues who heard "someone banging" - but didn't bother to go and investigate the noise!

Are people are so wrapped it in their own little worlds that they have no room to care about anything else?

*sigh*

Lesson learnt: It takes a lot of self-restraint to not wrangle colleagues in times of desperation.

Shame on You

"Shame on You" to the gentleman at the Toastmaster meeting I went to tonight, who, being a past International President (of the club) and a verbose speaker, did not have the manners to introduce himself, made no effort to learn anything about me before lecturing a visiting member (myself) about NOT joining more than one club, and to top it off, have the audacity to ask why I have no life besides Toastmasters when I revealed that I like to visit other clubs.

Hey, why put down other people's passions and hobbies? Why do ask people to justify how they wish to spend a perfectly harmless past-time if you only wish to disagree with them?

Sure, it could be that I "misinterpreted", or that it was a joke - but surely as a Distinguish Toastmaster, one would be expected to be an advanced user of words and a communicator who knows his audience. Therefore, with all due respect to your skills in words, I have no other choice than to believe that you really, did mean what you say.

What happened to good old-fashioned manners aye?

Corporate Life 2

I can't remember if I wrote Corporate Life 1, but nevermind, 2 can be the new 1...
I also can't remember (looks like there's a theme here) a time where days go pass and you don't know how or where it went, and what you did. Isn't it odd how we all have the same 24 hours in a day, everyday, everywhere, and yet sometimes we can't account for most of it? There's a special warping power that corporate admin does which speeds up time so that the next time you look up from that spreadsheet it's x hours later, and people's faces start to merge into one and you can no longer tell people apart...

or maybe it's just me, slowly going mad?

Gotta love the free fruit at the office though!

A change is as good as a break

Well I didn't actually have a weekend of lazying about and sleeping in, I went to an internet marketing seminar which had motivational speakers as well, it was really well done and full of very inspiring speakers. By the end of which my head was so overloaded with information it wanted to burst! Who knew going to all weekend seminars could be so much fun? Oh wait, I was at another such event the previous weekend!!!

I've been getting up early and lately been driving as the sun is coming up. I have just say the view is absolutely amazing at dawn. There is a reason why so much artwork, literature and music has devoted so much energy to describe it all. Yesterday the city veiled itself in mist and from the 10th floor of where I work, as the fog cleared, it looked like the miracle of creation in progress!

Get up earlier and appreciate living in the moment, enjoy our wonderful world!

The More You Have To Do, The More You Get Done!

Well, what a weekend it's been! I went down to Wellington for the District 72 TM Conference, and it was great! Made all the better by good conversation, great friends, superb weather and one missed flight.

I'm trying not to sweat about the small things as I learnt from a wise TM, so I'm not going to complain! Let's just say that my usual organised self was a bit tired so I missed my flight :p Oh well, no biggie.

I'm still waiting for the Japan reply for those of you with longer memories. Have heard nothing except that they got my letter of interest (ie: still interested in the job). In the meanwhilst, the day job is providing plenty of challenges and learning opportunities.

As someone else very wise said this weekend also,

the more you have to do, the more you get done!

Well, huray for me then - there's PLENTY on my plate right now! Mum's house renovation, painting, renting, learning about investment, day job, chores, seeing friends, emails, refreshing my Japanese...sleep? May we never be unemployed!

I always have an exciting week!

Gosh it's been awhile! And what a week it has been! I've quit and got another job, and having decided to not waste my life anymore, I decided to do one thing that scares the hell outta me. Somebody famous, or insane, or both once said, "Do something that scares the hell out of you everyday" well since I'm not a thrill seeker, once a day is too much, once every 3 years is a good enough for me.

"What the hell did you do?" I hear you ask.
Well, one thing i never like doing is spend money... and I've gone ahead and invested a small fortune which I hope, with hardwork, will yield some good money. And if not, at least I hope to have learnt something (other than "don't invest again")

I'll let you know in 3 months time how it went, if you'll be good enough to remind me.... Good luck (and hard work) to me!

Good Conversation, Bad Food

Fri night was one of those rare occassions where I was invited out and had an excellent time with mostly people I don't know. It was an after-work drinks thing but none of us work in the same office! Drinks started off and ended the evening well, the danger came in choosing the wrong restaurant.

I think that if a restaurant can't serve 8 mains (including 3 steaks) at the same time, they might as well stop trading.

I waited an extra 20+ minutes for my steak whilst everyone else tried to stretch their meal out so I wouldn't have to eat alone! No offer for nibbles, drinks or anything else. In the end it came but wasn't as good as the others' steaks. Kermadec will never have my custom again!

I did look forward to the creme brulee in the beginning but that would have been an expensive end to a terrible dinner anyway...

Sorry for complaining. I feel better now. It's been a turbulant week. I found out that I will have to do the same thing for work again. For the FORTH time. Changes were made without consultation, popular consent, thought nor planning. It's clear that I value my time more than they value the temp's.

I mean, it's not just about the pay is it? I'm proud of my work, and to have to redo it three times when it's not my fault is almost unbearable.

Oh well. Next week's a new week and four WILL be the final number.

Patience is still a virtue

It's been awhile since I did any physical activity. I'm paying for it today and yesterday! My muscles are screaming and I walk like a robot, going "owowow" everytime I stand up and sit down. My own fault I guess, for not doing it regularly.

Anyway, many of you must be wondering about a conclusion to the Japan saga...well, because it IS a saga, you just have to patient. Just like me. In the next week or so, everyone will send back their forms on whether they're still interested or not. From there, they'll have to redistribute the jobs (obvioulsy to those who are still interested) and notify all the successful people. But even if I don't make it, I am apparently still eligible to go if someone wishes to cancel their contract by Dec...

Gosh no wonder they have to have a decent salary to attract ANYONE with a year's freetime and patience to get there!

Office World 2

There are various ways people occupy themselves to get through the work day. Some people mutter and mumble, talking to themselves in a nonchalant disengaged manner, others look disgruntled, 10years older and have the occasional outnburst of swear words, some go walk abouts, visiting other cubiclees attempting to strike up conversation, whilst others linger constantly in the kitchen or the bathroom, yet there are those who are resigned to attend an endless stream of meetings, appearing briefly to gasp for air before disappearing being swallowed by fantastically named identical rooms again...

So all in all, there is a very small proportion of people who actually do some work, resists going insane and bothering others, still yet fewer who manage to go home happy to return again

Why is office life that difficult?
Is it that difficult or just my perception is warped by this particular company?

I'm glad to say that I'm in the last category...though, for how long...?

Life's Lesson No.2

Patience is a virtue.

Or so they say. Just received word back from the Japanese people that I'm on a reserve list, and that they'll get back to me about a position by December 2010 - DECEMBER??? Now, let's just back up a bit and look at the timeline:

Nov 22 - arrive back in Auckland
Nov 24 - Starts writing the application and preparing all necessary documents
Dec 3 - Submits application
Feb 4 - Went for interview
April 10 - receives letter on reserve list
July 28 - Suppose to leave for Japan (if you got the job)
Aug 1-3 - Orientation in Japan
Aug 4 - Arrives at teaching destination
.
.
.
Dec sometime - Will tell me IF I have a job or not. If not, ops, bad luck for waiting around for a year

Does this all sound fishy to anyone? Especially since I haven't received any information on important things like salary, accommodation etc

Patience is a virtue up to a point, right?

An Eventful Week

So much for the end to the long wait for the job in Japan. It appears that I'm now on a reserve list which means someone has to be bumped off in order for me to get a placing. Hopefully there are lots of impatient people ahead of me, and in the 4 months they've had to wait they've already gotten a pretty good job and decide not to go. Anyway more waiting ahead!

I have survived a pretty intensive week with the extended family now gone, I'm back to my "routine". In the end, I did get a nicely written card of thanks for...
- taking them to the beach
- making them yummy food
- 'beating' them for their own good (I did not)
- Teaching them manners (I had to blackmail them by saying they'll never get second dates with their table manners, and not even a first date with their lack of social grace :p)
- Looking after them

So in the end, it wasn't bad at all, and everyone may even have had a little fun in the process...

Office World 1

Whose idea was it to have these open offices with semi partitians anyway? You only get a false sense of privacy and you're affected by noise and smells etc that you won't get with traditional offices. What's interesting about being a temp is that you get to hear all the office gossip without being involved in any of the political battles!

Lately, I've been feeling like a meerkat (Suricata suricatta), bobbing up above the partitions at random intervals to check out the environment. Hehe you can imagine a scene where everyone has head down working away and suddenly a loud noise and all those heads pop up and look around suspiciously...it's just like going to the zoo - except you DO get to feed the animals!

:-)

YAY for Snail Mail

There is truely something magical about hand written letters. I will treasure each and every one for ever!! Especially since it's now a really rare thing indeed. I was in a Toastmasters Area Conference last year and there was a speaker who gave a speech on the art of letter writing; using fine instruments, quality paper and (preferably) neat handwriting....

~*~ Life is just that much more wonderful right now ~*~

And Yes, if you have recently sent me a letter from Finland, I have just received it :-) Thank you very much! I look forward to replying it though I do not have your Finnish postal address.

The Shocking State of Things

I have my cousin and his two boys age 11 and 7 staying over the Easter holidays. It's lovely to have family over since my family is all over the world so it is really hard to get together. I even suggested a full big family reunion in Jan 2012, so that everyone has enough time to save up and get all the holidays etc.
Now for those of you who know me knows that I'm not a fan of kids or babies, and these two were exceptionally good - until their father is out of the room! Gosh, the moment his back is turned, the things that come out of their mouth is unbeliveable. Not only was there general disrespect like calling me fat and asking personal questions, the swear words came rolling out, as well as sexual terms which they obviously learnt from their friends at school, racist and homophobic remarks. I also learnt first hand why TV/movies etc aren't good for kids - it's because they can't distinguish what's "pretend" and what's real life. They believe whatever TV/movies present.

Actual conversation on day 2:
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No, we broke up"
"So did you have a boyfriend?"
"Yes that's right"
"So did you have sex"
"Um...we were living together"
"EWWW so you did. How many times"
"None of your business"

Day 3
"Do you have a husband" - asks the same 11year old
"No. You know I don't"
"Oh yeh. Cos otherwise you would have a different surname"
"um, no, if I did, I would have introduced you"
"Nah, you'll have a different surname"
"Why?
"Cos you have to change your name when you marry"
"No I don't"
"Yes you do"
"Why do I?"
"So it shows that you're the man's property"
"...(getting angrier)...why? NO way. That's crazy. I don't HAVE to change my name. Why do I HAVE to?"
"Cos men are more important than women!"
"...(loses it)...where the hell did you get that idea from?"
"Well cos on TV, it's all men, and they do actions"
"That's not real life is it? Since when have you become an actor and are you now starring in a film?"
"...."

Day 3 later at the dinner table
"Haha I own you" -points finger at me
"wha??"
"You're a loser cos I kicked your arse so now I own you"
"What? What did I lose at and you can't own me"
"I've just decided I do"
"I refuse. And I just decided that I own you - do you even know what that means?"
"You can't refuse. Only I can refuse"

What can we do??? What can I do??? I guess it's harder for kids these days with so much bombardment of media available at their fingertips, it's hard too for parents to keep track of what gets to influence their kids. I really don't know how kids can become decent adults without respect for other people, feeling a sense of entitlement, that they're the centre of the universe, and without consideration for other people.

It's hard for me to believe that kids are our future. I really hope that there is a turning point somewhere otherwise the future's going to be pretty bleak...

Would Jesus be happy to be resurrected in this day and age?

Yummy Things In Life: Recipe no. 1

Had a very beautiful lamb roast today with lots and lots of orange vegetables followed by great muffin experiment! Easy and lazy dinner - Horay! Preparation time, lamb 2 minutes, vegetable cutting 10 minutes, muffins 10 minutes. Total 22 minutes. Total cooking, around 1.5 hours
How to make a beautiful lamb roast.
1. Need a leg of fresh NZ lamb
2. Put on roasting rack+tray with water on bottom
3. Oven with fan 180 degrees for 1 or more hours
4. Lots of patience!!! In the meantime, cut up roasting vegetables like pum[kin (the sweet kind), sweet potato (kumara in Maori), carrots and 2 potatoes, toss in some oil and roast!

Recipe for Banana and Cream cheese muffin/ muffin s banánem a pomazankovy sýra / muffin z banana i śmietany ser (like Lucina or Philidelphia). It might work with tvaroh but since I don't have any here, I can't experiment. Let me know if it works or not :-)

1. 1.5 cup high-grade or normal wheat flour
2. 1/3 sugar
3. 2 teaspoons baking powder
4. 1 or 2 ripe banana(s)
5. 2 big spoons of cream cheese
6. 2/3 cup milk or more
7. 1/3 oil
8. 1 egg

• Mix dry ingredients (1,2,3) together
• Mix 4 & 5 well in separate bowl
• Mix 6,7,8 into dry ingredients slowly
• Add 4 & 5 and mix well. Result should be a mix that is "soft" but thick, that you can spoon into 12 muffin trays. If using metal trays, put some paper cups or use lots of butter to grease them first.
  
• Bake (with fan on, if you have) at 180 degrees celscius for 15 minutes until golden.

Enjoy!

Life's lesson No.1

Don't be a greedy-gut!
No thanks to my good unruly-haired friend, I discovered extremely tasty organic dried fruit, which on first appearance is good for one's health. Well let me tell you once and for all that this isn't the case.
Like all things in life, things should be enjoyed in moderation, moderation, moderation.
I am today resting in bed nursing my ill stomach. Serves me right. I have learnt my lesson!

There goes my dreams of endless wealth and eternal youth.... *sigh*

Appropriate or Not?

This will be an interactive blog because I'd like you to vote on the following issue by leaving your comments.

When at job interview/first days at work, is it good to point out obvious grammar mistake on uniform? You will wear it whilst operating in a posh/exclusive area.

I had this dilema and chose to ask for clarification. So, it didn't work out. I am actually quite thankful as amongst other reasons, the interview never once smiled at anyone, including existing staff, during both interview and training session.

Anyway, your thoughts on the above dilema? Comments please.

And if you're wondering about the obvious grammo, it is similar to below

Today s special. Buy 1 get 1 free. *

*words have been changed to protect the company.

In praise of being good

I got praised the other day. For a job well done. Doesn't that feel great when someone takes the time to tell you when you've done something well? We, or maybe just I, often forget to show appreciation for all that's good around me, a form of thanksgiving maybe, or positivism, whatever the name may be, I'm determined to do it more often - everyday, in fact.

Starting now. Thank you dear friends and readers for taking the time to read this blog, for thinking generous thoughts, doing kind deeds, for not yelling at the screaming child in the seat behind you, for recycling, for working hard, caring for others, speaking softly on the phone, having the right change for the bus driver, saying thank you and please and for being understanding.

Most of all i just want to say that you do a great job of being YOU, it's a job noone else can do! YAY for ourselves! *imagines a warm and fuzzy group hug*

Happy St Patrick's

Well Happy Birthday Pat! Usually I think of you around this time of year as I see the greenery going up. This time, thoughts of you have certainly brought me a lot of luck as there seems to be dozens of jobs out there for me. I went out to several interviews today and I know right away that when I meet them, they usually like me. The trick of course, is to get to the interviews. I have rewritten my CV but I don't know if that did it, or maybe it's just that there are suddenly more jobs materialising.

Strange isn't it? How it's bad one week but the next it's much better...

There's hope for us all!

xxx Cheers to you, my friends around the world (in all languages)

Volunteer

The other day, thinking I'll go do something for the community, I went down to the CAB (Citizen's Advice Bureau) and tried to volunteer my time. The lady there turned around and said "Why don't you go get a job?" (as in, you lazy good for nuthin' attitude). She didn't bother asking me what I could do, or when... Well, there's nothing more hopeless than having people misunderstand your good intentions. *sigh* what's the world coming to?

Joke of the day

Why are vampires and job hunting the same??

- Because they both suck the life out of you.

Advance Australia

Ahh Australia! Not to be confused with New Zealand. All the bad and dangerous stuff's in Australia like world's poisonous snakes (yes plural snakes), poisonous spiders, crocodiles, dingos, tasmanian devils, stinging jelly fish, sharks, stonefish, even the humble kangaroo. What? Kangaroos? Cute Skippy bouncing around? Dangerous...? NO way! YES way. Make no mistake, they can get very aggressive and they are BIGGER than you. One kick (or be in an automobile accident with one) and you're likely to soon meet your maker. I kid you not. Go to New Zealand. It's better there. The only things likely to kill you are stupidity, the weather and car accidents. On a similar note, here's a great promo advert which some of you have already seen but sure makes you laugh. Enjoy!

Mottos for everyday life...

This made me smile on a recent trip to the Auckland Museum. Whilst enjoying the austerity of the Veterans' Memorial on the 2nd floor, amongst the Latin inscriptions of honour and king and country was this little gem of a motto... Always Attack
Not sure if this is good advice though.

Small works of art

I just love the new New Zealand passport! The latest version (and every year they seem to have a new one) is so pretty, which 4 different colour pages and each page its own design. Best is the beautiful giant silverfern that runs all the way down the front and back covers - sure to stand out from the crowd.

Just feel sorry for all those customs officers who must be wondering if there's a fraud epidemic since everyone coming off the plane would have a different version....which reminds me of a certain car ride where there were 1 Pole, 1 US-Jamaican, 3 Kiwis, each with dissimilar passports and of a different Asian origin...I feel for you Mr Polish Customs Officer...

Hope you all like the fish that is swimming round your mouse on my page :-) thought they looked quite cute! They'll also follow your pointer around hoping to be fed. A few flakes will appear upon clicking.

Friend-face

Has anyone seen the IT Crowd, season 3, episode 5 's introduction? It's called Friendface - a hilarious take on the internet social networking phenonmenon that seems to be enveloping us all currently.

This post is for the anti-facebooker in me. I've received yet another invitation to be so and so's friend on facebook, bebo, hi-5, friendster... you name it, and even a dutch one whose name I can't remember. No matter how many times you click on the "do not send me invitations from xyzwebsite again"

What's with the focus on the quantity of friends rather than the quality of friends? Everything's becoming easier and faster today to prioritize the convenience of keeping in touch. Isn't that just a euphemism for lazier and more shallow relationships? More facts photos and tweets about the minute details of every day life does NOT equal deeper relationship or knowing someone better.

Don't get me wrong, online networking sites are a great tool as they do help people keep in touch and I salute those who use it wisely with the best of intentions. Though somehow for me, when I don't make the effort, it doesn't feel as hard-won or as precious. The value of something is defined by how much effort (not necessarily money) was spent.

Studies have been done (somewhere sometime I'm sure) that home cooking is enjoyed more than takeaways (generally), growing things in your garden makes you appreciate the good old vege and fruit, physical training, despite the sweat and grunt and pain, is more pleasurable (and effective) than taking a diet pill. Hence the following equation for my technically minded friends.

[if IE^=V^, then P>IE] where V is Value, IE is Input Effort, P is Pleasure

For those of you who are disappointed that I haven't decided to put my life on the web, just think of all the things we could talk about the next time we meet!

In the meanwhilst, of course there's still email, MSN, Gtalk, ICQ, Yahoo!, Adium (for the Mac users) Skype, the telephone, mobile (SMS, MMS), and the humble pen and paper.

xx Sandy