department of doing

i've just found it
really i have
i finally found the one company in the world
that i would love to work for

www.departmentofdoing.co.nz

they do anything their clients want done

brilliant
stunning
ingenius

now i have a goal

library

my new local libarary is state of the art
4 shiny new floors of all sorts of stuff
including a while floor where you can borrow dvd's at $2 a week

so my question is why would i go around the corner and pay $10 for a couple of nights for the same dvd?

in the news in nz

a government minister when he was a teacher 20 years ago stuffed a tennis ball i a students mouth
police investigating the case recently said that while he did the crime it's so long ago they couldn't be bothered doing anything about it

the new all black haka that was specifically writtedn for them includes a throat slitting gesture (even though there is nothing even remotely violent in the words of it)

in maori culture at formal gatherings women can only speak after all the men regardless of age or status have had their say (maori culture is really interesting and very very complicated, i think i'm going to buy a book)

another rich guys helicopter crashed 3 weeks ago in nz and it took two weeks to find it, the big discussion is that aftre a couple of days the authorities called off the search and it was his fanily that resourced the rest of the search.

oh and
tonnes and tonnes of nz sport
the all blacks
black caps
silver ferns
black sox
they all have silly names

in local news
the christmas parade is next saturday

email

some body sent me this as part of an email



Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but
rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, wine in the other, body
thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming
"WOO HOO what a ride!"


i like it

on weather

well you see it's same everywhere isn't it?
rain is rain
sun is sun
wind is wind
right?

well no it's not
you can have hot sun
and dry heat
wet rain
and not so wet rain
breeze
winds
gales
snow


basically there is as many different types of weather as there
are countries

so what's my point?

it's raining here
and new zealand has
very wet rain

brasil

so in a major shift from expectation
i've spent most of my first two weeks in new zealand
learning about brazil

obviously this is a bit surprising but it's a fact
my boss and guide through my time in nz so far is from brazil
and she has very kindly been showing me around
and introduced me to her friends
who are also from brazil

so last night i end up in a late bar/club
dancing with people from the land of samba and salsa (it's funny when the musc starts they do to )
and today
i was invited for lunch with the gang and got to sample
authentic brazilian cousine
bobo i think is what it's called
creamy coconut sauce with shrimp and peppers and i thinkg i heard somebody say tapioca
very nice i have to say
similar to some Thai dishes I've eaten but lighter

and i even got some to take away to eat tomorrow, thanks dani

anyway
so far new zealand equals brazil
bring it on
i say

on love

yeah i'm a sentimental old fool but what the hell

it's knowing you're never alone
that there is somebody who sees your side of the world the same way
it's knowing where home is
it's knowing what to say
and knowing it's ok to say nothing
it's about there not being a road too long
or a time too short
to be worth it
it's about friends
and people
it's giving everything you have
and wanting to give more
it's about effortless
and
being the hardest thing you'll ever do
it's love

eating alone

now before you get worried by the title this is not a sad post

since arriving in nz i've had to eat alone
i've eaten in my room
in mc d's
in a couple of cafes
etc

and

i like it

now eating at home alone isn't very exciting
so forget about that
but sitting in a quiet cafe eating a steak and cheese sambo while
struggling through a sudoku puzzle
and listening to the radio coming from the kitchen
life doesn't get much more peaceful

i like that pace of life

i've always loved that feeling of comfort
belonging
and taking ones time

i got that today
and decided

i like this place

boys will be boys

two stamp collectors did the biggest trade in the history of philatily today
one guy swapped a set of 4 really really rare stamps that he bought for $2.9million for a single even rarer stamp.
you can read the details on any news site
but i like this story because

yeah there is a huge amount of value involved but it wasn't about money
he didn't try and buy the stamp off the guy who had it
he went and bought something to swap with him
cause it wasn't about the money
it was about completing his collection

it's nice when rich men can be just like young boys

waiter rant

of all the websites and newspaper columns that i read on regular basis
one particular person gives me more laughs
gives me more things to think about
and gives me more pleasure than anybody else:

the waiter

www.waiterrant.net

it's not updated everyday but a couple of times a week
read it an enjoy
the guy has something

joy

just a quick one
on the importance of joy
now i know people will think i'm being a bit stupid
obviously joy is a good thing
but i just want you to stop and think for a minute

crossing a bridge
hair blowing all over the place
blue sky providing the background for the clouds racing passed

reflection of the sun in the window of an not so pretty bulding

a little brother and sister holding hands while walking down the street with their mammy

a text from a friend
not saying anything just checking in
cause you know friends care

a smile from a stranger

knowing who to tell when you see something particular on tv

these are some of the things that bring me joy
and i just wanted to tell you guys
to stop and savour your own joy when you experience it

on nz

well i'm here
or there if you're reading this from home
i'm in new zealand
palmerston north to be exact.
as i said it's a couple of hours north of wellington

so it took like 4 months to fly to nz or well it seemed to take that long anyway
flew dublin london 1hour (plus an extra 1hr 20mins on the tarmac due to stupid ground crew)
london to hong kong 11hours 15 minutes (good food on the plane, nice airport)
hong kong to Auckland 10 hours 45 minutes (food not so good but had 2 seats for myself!!)
Auckland to wellington (and a fire in wellington airport meant we had to sit for ages waiting to get off the plane, silly fire)
and then a 2 hour drive to palmy

only comments on the journey are these
firstly traveling for 87 days isn't that bad at all
i didn't get dvt or cramp, the movies were good and i slept a good bit
take off from hong kong.... wow
flying in over Auckland.... wow (kinda reminded me of postman pat, it's all hilly)
Auckland to wellington... hugging the coast all the way absolutely beautiful

so i'm in palmy anyway
it's bigger that i imagined
and a bit like all those cities and large towns you see in american movies
all the roads are 4 lanes and there are really nice old buildings right next door to warehouses
i have to say it's growing on me
the people in shops and stuff are so nice
even in the golden arches
they ask you how your day is going so far
it's nice
it means you get to talk to people even though the nearest person to me that i know
would be about 5000 miles away in Bankok (hi andy and laura)
thats nice

i have a mobile phone that people from ireland can't text to!!!
how weird is that?
i think if i text an 087 number they can reply to that text within 24hours but other than that
it won't work
crazy kiwi's

anyhow
that's about it for the minute
i'll post again soon