Stagland's Park

Last Saturday we decided to go find a park to tramp around in.  We looked at several options including the Wellington Zoo.  But Amy remembered that the bank teller told her about this place called Stagland's that was a sort of farm petting zoo deep in Upper Hutt.  Remember that as you drive north out of Wellington you smack in to the Rimutaka mountains so the fringes of Upper Hutt are a maze of steep valleys.  There are several parks here.  We loved the farm zoo park in Overland Park, KS so we thought we try the kiwi version--Stagland's it was.

The drive out was pretty cool if a bit hair raising.  New Zealand has a funny definition of road.  It was all good until we actually made the turn off to the particular valley that the park was located in.  Before long it was narrow and twisting.  There was no center line and often we had to pull off in to the 1-2 foot "shoulder" to let an on-coming car get around.  The speed limit was posted at a ridiculous 70 kmh... HA!  But it was beautiful and there were many beautiful homes along the way.  It is amazing how quickly you find yourself on back roads here.  While quaint and picturesque, they are also unmarked and hard to figure out.

Saturday was misty with periods of heavy mist.  It has yet to really "rain" here.  The mist gives everything a good soaking though so it was pretty wet.  It took about 30 minutes to get there.  It was a beautiful park tucked between several high hills covered with pines.  It did cost $44 for us to get in, but we may go back to get a season pass.  It would be a great picnic destination any day.

There was a well cleared gravel trail around the whole farm.  There were geese, ducks, swans, pigs, deer, ginea pigs and rabbits.  It also had two large aviary's full of exotic birds.  Feed bags were $2 extra.  We discovered that the ducks were very familiar with the feed bags.  We had probably 100 of them following us on the trail!  It was a pretty quiet walk and wecould here the tiny feet scrabbling on the gravel behind us.  It was like having a marching duck army.

The landscaping was done to create many natural looking pools and the Hutt River did run past the farm so it had a lot of natural water formations as well.  It all looked very clean and well kept, but still "wild" without looking like a garden.  It was one of the most peaceful, beautiful places I've seen.

Amy was estatic to pet the rabbits and ginea pigs.  But her favorite was the donkey.  I only had my phone camera so these pictures are not the best.  I need to get a new digital camera for these trips.

The trail wound around to several hidden turns and grottos.  There was a little suspension bridge (only about 6 feet off the water) over the river.  There was a small abandoned section of old sheds that had been part of a small town.  There were a few antiques spread around.

When we finished walking around we hit the Cafe in the park (every thing has a cafe in it here) and had some carrot cake and coffee.  We watched it rain for a whle and then drove home.  It was a shortish trip due to the rain, but we'll go back.

New Zealand Royal Navy

I'll start this entry off by saying emphatically that the NZ armed forces has been among the first to rally to virtually every call to arms in West.  Where the US has been slow to respond, NZ never hesitates.  It has proved that a small nation can tower over larger nations in its ability to sacrifice for others.  I have profound respect for those that serve out of the most extreme desire to do good.  I know that my freedoms have certainly been defended by NZ.  And now it is with good intentions that I poke a little fun at our respective militaries between the US and NZ.

One of the first things I noticed about the NZ military was the recruitment ads.  These are completely different from the US.  In America you see scenes from Top Gun as F-16's race across sunsets and fully geared, yet thoroughly clean troops "play" at field exercises.  It is all very "G.I. Joe" and patriotic.  Now cut to the NZ recruitment ad... Gun ships blow unclear targets to flinders, men *and* women hide in foxholes while debris rains down on their heads and they shout instructions in to comms.  Small squads open up with automatic weapons and then a montage of modern weapons play before cutting back to a soldier in civilian dress on the deck of a Destroyer saying "I love you, Mum."

Holy Shizzle!

Amazing what marketing can do, eh?  From watching the US ads you might not even think you would ever be in danger.  But in NZ, hell, they're warning their Mums that their sons and daughters might get blown up today!  Now that's some balls.  That's telling it like it is!  While not every service man (or woman) will see real combat, at least NZ is out there saying you certainly could.  That would never happen in the US.  The US military never (not even in the recruitment office) talks about shooting people.  Of course we all know what the military is for.  But if you just watched the ads... in the US the military is for college, job training and experience while the NZ military is for blowing stuff up.

So I went to the NZ Royal Navy website to take a peek around.  You know the US military is fairly exclusionary.  No one over 35, US citizens only, no gays, no fat chicks, etc.  But the third bullet down on the NZRN recruitment page is "Join from Overseas".  The requirments are any previous military experience and being a citizen for 10 years in Australia, UK, USA or Canada.  Then farther down they hedge on this and say well... we'll consider folks that were just citizens of those countries for 10 years.  And then more hedging, if you lived here for 5 years, what the hell? Here's a gun.

Then I checked out what positions they had open.  I assume this is the entire NZ Royal Navy's list of open jobs... there are 20.  Think about that one for a few ticks... Even if their unemployed rate is pretty low... how many folks can that equate to total? 1000? 2000?  Talk about "the few"! 

These positions are all broken down in to grades/ranks.  They all seem pretty normal until you get to Lieutenant.  The first one on the list is "Warfare".  That seems pretty obvious.  In fact, I would sort of expect all of the postions to have something to do with "warfare" but I guess this guy is the specialist.  That would be a manly title wouldn't it?  "I"m Lt. of Warfare, Curtis Effing Owings."  *grunt* 

Some of the other titles are not nearly so glamorous... Construction Manager, Education, Supply, Doctor... Of course I probably can't do any of these and then I see "Observer".  Observer?  Lt. Observer, Curtis Owings... What does that guy do?  I think I could probably swing that job.  "Watcha doin' Lieutenant?" "Watching you." 

One of these jobs really stands out though.  In the list of Lt's one is called "Mine Clearance Diving."  This job has all the fun, doesn't it?! Under crushing depths, limited air supply, burst lungs, explosives and lots of shrapnel and certain death if you get it wrong... Same pay grade as "Observer".  Now if someone gave me a choice between two equal pay jobs like Observer and Mine Clearance Diving... "Have a good dive, Bob... I'll be watchin'... good luck!"

Ten Thought Tuesday (on Wednesday)

A co-blogger has started doing 10 random thoughts on tuesdays... So I figured why not?

1) People often consider intellectualization superior to emotionalism because when you intellectualize and you are wrong it doesn't hurt.

2) I think folks that constantly prove to themselves that life is crap are really just trying to gain some control over their lives as you can always seem to make your own life worse, but it seems much harder to make your life better.

3) The need to Control might be the biggest problem in Western thinking.

4) Control of anything other than yourself is an illusion.

5) Science has become a religion as equally flawed as any other religion.

6) Just because you do not understand a thing does not mean it does not work anyway.

7) What if the "laws" of physics were not same a billion years ago?

8) When you consider the "real" mass of atomic particles you quickly discover we, the world, and the universe are made of virtually nothing.  In a very real sense, we are only manifested vibrations.

9) A thousand years ago most Europeans were serfs who worked the land, made just enough to survive and gave most of their earning to fuedal lords.  Today most people of the Western Civilization work to pay for their house (ironically taking care of their yard), make just enough to pay their bills and give most of their earnings to a few very wealthy men.  The idea of Progress is an illusion.

10) In a billion, billion years all trace of human exsistance will be eradicated from the Universe.  There will be no historical record, no monuments, no grave markers, no Earth, no grand civilization and no human left to care.  All the "lasting value" of your achievements and any legacy you leave will be lost.  The only lasting value in life is today.

Easter Weekend and a few Kiwi-bits

Easter in NZ is a 4 day holiday.  Yes, you get Good Friday off and I guess just because Sunday was the Resurrection why not take Monday off too.  I guess raising the dead must have been hard.  Whatever the reason, I like 4 day weekends.

There is one wild hare in the Easter ointment.  By law, all retail outlets are to be closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  Yes, the Saturday between is "normal" as is the following Monday.  There are a few exceptions--gas stations and dairies (convenience stores) can stay open.  No big deal.  But let me tell you, that Saturday in the middle rivals the day after Thanksgiving in the USA. Holy cow... it was 30 minute grid lock in the parking garage.  There were folks standing in stalls so that their spouse could eventually work their way over to park.  It was nutz.

All was good until Saturday lunch when we discovered that due to a banking error our account was frozen.  Great holiday.  Bank is closed and no money for 2 days.  I had to raid poor Gabe's piggy bank for cash to get in to the public pool.  Luckily, my beautiful and fabulous wife had cooked a giant hammy feast for us so we had plenty to eat.

The pool was pretty cool.  They have all indoor pools here as it does not ever quite get "hot" here.  Plus I have a theory that the Kiwi's are complete wussies about winter.  But then I wouldn't want to go swimming when it was 50 outside either.  Anyway, pools are big and indoors.  We went to the one in Naenae (kiwi's say this like Nainai).  It had a very large double sized pool with swinging ropes and a zip line, a kiddy play area (complete with outdoor playground) and a single large water slide.  It felt very much like my old highschool gym only someone had replaced the gym floor with a pool.  I think entry was a total of $13 for two adults and Gabe.  We met our friend, Lisa, and her three children there--Sam, Emma and Sophie.  All three are dears.  Gabe loves Sam (he's in the same class) and Emma and Sophie (both much younger) are a hoot.  It was a good time.

I'm going to try to commit to writing more.  I mean "writing" like writing stories/books.  I have a hard time focusing on single topics, but what I think I'll do is give myself permission to skip around and write short snippets in the hopes that it will increase my general writing stamina.  Possibly, I'll be able to string several common threads to together in to a better product.  It can't hurt.  I may post here or not.

Kiwi-bit... I've discovered that kiwi's have an insane facination with multi-level charts.  Apparently 2 dimensions is not good enough.  A really good chart must include at least 3 dimensions or more.  For example an org chart grouped both by columns *and* rows with the each band color coded for yet some other designation and sometimes bubbles around groups of rows/columns in yet more colors.  They will spend hours (seriously, hours) explaining to you the meaning of this 4 dimensional chart.  They will end up with "so there is our organisation, any questions?"  I thought perhaps it was just my boss.  It isn't.  Kiwi's love multi-layer organisation... don't ask me... I have no idea why.

Stuff... New Zealand news

http://stuff.co.nz

The Life Chaotic

http://thelifechaotic.wordpress.com/
A friend's blog

Plain White Ts - Hey There Delilah - Official (HQ)

I've been diggin' this song lately.

iPod Go

Well I got my iPod up again. I am somewhat challenged since I can not quite afford the networking bits I need to set up my 2nd computer (the one with iTunes). Remember the days of "sneaker net"? You know, back in pre-history when you had to walk your disk (uphill) to another machine--a whopping 512k a *minute*. Okay maybe it was 10. Whatever, it was the dark ages.

Today's version uses cross-trainers and a 2 gig thumb drive. Amazing to think that I wear shoes made from NASA developed polymers and carry more data in my pocket than the whole world had ever known up to about the Library of Alexandria. Anyway through the miracle of modern technology I have Avril Lavigne to listen to.

I am sure that many of you are concerned about my lack musical appreciation. You are right. I just can not be musically cool. I blame my parents. Avril is just a kid, but it makes me think of my kids and remember what it was to be a kid.

Mobile pics

It was a pretty sunrise. This shot is from my harbour walk in to work.

I'll start uploading random pictures here from my mobile phone.

Moods of the Bay

I've been noticing the dramatic differences in the harbour on my walks through Wellington.  Every day is a composition of waves, boats, hills, houses, sun and sky.  I don't have any easy means to capture each morning.

Today was a new look.  I always look across the water back to the rising sun in the morning.  The clouds were thick on the horizon over the hills.  The water below gray and mildly choppy in the steady stout breeze.  The sky overhead was clear and the sun created a glowing, gold crest along the edges of the clouds it would soon rise above.  I was lucky enough to witness the moment it broke through.  It was like God turn on a light.  Dozens of folks, mostly unaware as to why, suddenly reached for sunglasses or shaded their eyes.  I was surprised how many did not even pause to look.  The sun rose over the clouds and lit the tops of the waves across the bay.  Dull windows sparkled in reflection.  Shadows created contrast from muted grays and half tones.  It was, of course, beautiful.

On other days I have seen the bay virtually smooth with only the tiniest ripples like dark hammered metal against a pale sky.  Always the high hills are jagged silhouettes between sea and sky.  Sometimes they are shrouded in mists. On one rainy day the far side of the bay disappeared in the fog.  The ocean faded to gray about 200 meters off the shore and even though I knew the hills were there, it felt like you would just drift out to the ocean in the mist.

Sometimes the sun sparkles across the whole bay.  Sometimes it strikes a beam across the water.  Once it shone like a bright light on a frosted mirror--fuzzy and diffuse.  It is amazing how many variations you can see in just a few weeks and all in the same season!  I look forward to seeing what else will be displayed on this canvas.

Ode to my Cappuccino

I've become a complete cappuccino junkie.  It is sooo good.  There is a bakery around the corner from my office.  Most bakeries also make various coffees.  This one makes the best damn cappuccino I've ever had... The perfect brew is a large, with 2 sugars and chocolate on top.  I don't know what kind of bean they use, but after 2 of them I actually get nerve tremors.  So I stick to one a day and I have to force myself to skip days.  I'm trying to hold the line at 2-3 times a week.  See how that 2-3 provides a little wiggle room?  Amazing how 2-3 can provide miles of slippery justification.

My bakery (yeah, it's mine now) also makes bacon & egg pie.  At first this was merely good.  It is now quickly becoming mandatory with cappuccino.  A little fat and protein.  It's a health regimen--I swear.

I've decided that bacon & egg pie with cappuccino is so good that to offset the cost, I'll eat ramon noodles for lunch.  I mean after the healthful benefits of pie, what more nutrition do you need?

My office is a completely open floor plan... not even cube walls.  Therefore I have determined that it may be socially unacceptable to attempt licking the foam out of the cup.  Soft groaning noises whilst licking foam is also straight off the list.  Of course this also begs the question of potentially straying in cappuccino adultery.  My wife has been a bit concerned.

On the off days, the days where I attempt to avoid cappuccino, there is a step down program.  The methadone equivalent for cappuccino is the $3000 Jura cappuccino machine on my floor--which I am woefully unable to adequately operate.  This may be a good thing.  I fear that if I could make myself this happy that I might stake out the coffee machine and defend it with lizard-brain ferocity.  Wholly inappropriate for the telephone company office.  Yet my coffee tweaked reflexes, video game conditioning, and American appreciation of violence would give me a huge edge on these peace-nik kiwi's.  Oh yes... the machine will be mine...

Whoopsie... too much "typing out loud" again... hehe... really, I am all good.  No addicts here.  None.  I'll just go put some normal coffee in my empty (still foamy) cappuccino cup.  Recycling I tell you! Recycling!

Bring back the Cape

I've decided that the world of fashion needs to bring back the cape.  I have have multiple self-serving reasons.

First of all, capes are just darn cool.  Nothing really compares to walking at full stride with a full length cape.  I mean wasn't Darth Vader cool?  The future just can't be complete without capes.

My second reason is actually practical.  I walk about 2 miles a day to work.  Right now, the weather is nice and often I could be comfortable on the walk with shorts and a tshirt, but that won't last forever.  I'll be walking rain or shine, hot or cold.  I favor a backpack and it's just not practical to wear a coat over a backpack.  Alternatively, I need a very weatherproof backpack (to protect my laptop).  But a good cape could quite easily cover a pack, provide warmth and all around weather protection.  I see several folks wearing panchos... and what is a pancho anyway other than a less-cool cape.  Can't you see yourself swinging a cape around your neck?  Flip up the hood and you're perfectly covered... and amazingly cool... but warm.

I really don't understand why capes aren't everywhere.

Capes fell out men's fashion about 1915.  I don't know why... perhaps in the restricted production environments of the post-war era the fabric requirements were just too high.  Today you'll see the odd rockstar or dare devil with a token cape.  These are not cool.  They are too flashy and short--entirely useless.  I think there is definitely room for main stream conservative and utilitarian capes... Someone should really fill this fashion niche.  Preferably before winter... please.

Digital Blasphemy 3D Wallpaper

http://www.digitalblasphemy.com
Awesome Windows backgrounds or just general computer graphic art. The best I've seen and one of the best sites around. One of the few Internet pioneers that I think should be making money at his profession.

Harbor Boats

I walk along the harbour to work each day. These are some of the boats I see on the way.

Wellington Dragon Boat Festival

Start:	Mar 15, '08
End:	Mar 16, '08

There have been teams of rowers out practicing in the harbor nearly everyday. I'm not sure what the event is all about, but there are sure to be lots of long boats with two dozen rowers per.

New Zealand Department of Immigration

http://www.immigration.govt.nz
Official government site for immigration information, forms, and regulations.

Don and Angela: US immigrants living in Nelson New Zealand share their story

http://www.dna-nz.com
A website we used to research moving to NZ.

TradeMe - New Zealand Online Auctions and Classifieds

http://www.trademe.co.nz
The kiwi e-bay site. Price anything (virtually).

Martinborough Fair

On the first Saturday of Feb and March the small town of Martinborough holds a huge craft fair.  I was somewhat skeptical on the "huge" part, but indeed it was damn big.  The town is probably only 1500 residents that bursts at the seams with 25,000 visitors!

There was a ton of cools stuff.  I could easily have spent $500 on random stuff.  Lots and lots of great art... hand carved wood, hand cast bronze, and lots of wool.  We got hats.

There was a lot a food, but it was sooo crowded we didn't really get a chance to check it all out.  They did have something that looked like, but was entirely unlike a corndog.  It was deep-fried on a stick, but it weren't corny in the least.

Still it was a lot of good looking stuff.  I almost latched on to a wool poncho, but I think I definitely would have been mistaken for Clint Eastwood.  However, this may be attempted again later... hehe.  I'm thinking a poncho/cape like thing will work well for the bad weather days on the walk to work.

Anyways... we had a good time and nice drive through the moutains.  Cy'all later