There is such a thing as a free lunch

Hey

Here I am at K-town McDonalds - because it has the cheapest Internet - and you can buy an hour card, and use as you please, ie 5 minutes here, 5 minutes there etc. Im feeling quite smug at the moment, as I managed to win the game they have - the "drop the coin in the water and try to catch it on the platform" which wins you 2 cheeseburgers. I have been giving it a go whenever I come in with my spare 10 cents - I figure probability and learning would mean I would win before I had spent $4 (the price of 2 cheeseburgers) on it. Obviously my stance on gambling has loosened a little. The trick I figured, is to use the biggest platform, and have it slightly to the left under the hole.

Since my last entry -
For Easter I just veged out in Hamilton. I didn't bother going to Papamoa because I knew I would be going there the following weekend, and the thought of extra driving didn't turn me on. So I just relaxed, caught up with friends over dinners etc, and hung with Suzanne and Bevan. While home I organised my car to get an alarm and a stereo put in - so now it is a pleasure to drive, with decent sounds, that I virtually never have to change (MP3s on shuffle- nice) and central locking finally (after 7 years - its a sad story).

The following weekend of course I went to Papamoa for a wedding on Saturday, and then had to go to Auckland for another on Sunday. After the wedding on Sunday I drove back to Kaitaia, getting home at about 3am - so I was rather stuffed for most of the week. I must point out that Auckland City Council needs to sort out its stuff, and provide some carparks on Queen Street (I tried to stop to try a Mushroom melt from Wendy's on the way down, and ended up wasting half an hour and was still unsuccessful).

Last weekend I went with a friend (my probable future flatmate) and his brother and sister-in-law, and another friend to the beach (that backs onto their Grandparent's farm and did a bit of snorkelling, and some fishing. The water was calm and clear, so it was pretty good. Previous to now, I haven't been big on fishing because of the return on investment ratio it offers, and that you stand around waiting, however after seeing how many fish the others caught (I didn't catch any myself) my stance has softened.

On Tuesday I went to a feed put on by the BNZ. Technically I think it was supposedly for their big $ clients, but I had a personal invitation from one of the guys that works there (we had had drinks together for my workmate's leaving on Friday) so I took him up on his offer (probably surprising him). It was rather good - I didn't need tea after that.

Wednesday was Anzac day, I surprised myself and work up at 5:30 and went to the Parade/Service. For the rest of the day I spent playing Pirates! (while at home for Easter, I found the PC version of Pirates! awesome. It was my favourite game on the Commodore 64 and the Amiga, so I am stoked.)

Today I had big clean-up, finally catching up with the cleaning that had gone on the to do list because of the couple of weekends I had to go south. After that, I went and checked out the second-hand book store that I never have enough time to do at lunchtime, and then visited the Warehouse, and came here.

Work is going Ok, getting a bit more interesting I guess, but also busier. I think I will do something a bit more hands on in future - something I enjoy, running my own business - encouraged by a reading diet of recent of Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, and TV diet of the Apprentice, the Dragon's Den, and Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares.

Return from the desert

Hey,
Here I am with my first entry for my new site.

What have I been up to for the last 2 months?

Well, not a great deal to be honest, but I will try and summarise it, and make it interesting.

So anyway - last time I wrote I had just got a job, and was starting it on the 5th of March.

So before starting work, I had been working at Mum and Dad's business, working on their website, and trying to get myself sorted to move up. I made a trip up in order to find some accomodation, but was not successful. However, Murphy's law, a couple of days after I came back, one of the real estate agents rang me up with a one bedroom flat. Anyhow after seeing photos of it through the email, I accepted it.

So, a month ago I moved north, and started work. In the first 2 weeks I was lucky enough to be out of the office 3 times. However in the subsequent 2 weeks I have been stuck in the office.

At the end of the second week, I was sent to a course in Whangarei. So I made the most of it, and spent the weekend there. However I made the mistake of turning my fridge/freezer off inadvertently (I turned off my stove, which the fridge was plugged into). It was St Patricks day on the Saturday, so I had a bit of fun.

Since then, I managed to do a trip up to Cape Reinga, via the beaches I could find, and then the following day I travelled north east a bit, up a Penninsula, and checked out the beaches there. The best thing was, I discovered several nice places to snorkel in the future, but also I found several cheap DOC operated campsites. Nice.

Cape Reinga was cool, you can definately see the Tasman and the Pacific where they cross. On the way back down I stopped at the Te Paki sand dunes - to slide down them on my body board. After nearly passing out after climbing them I slid down the biggest ridge I could find. However it took a bit to get going. As I was walking back to my car I met a Danish girl, and 2 Argentinians. I gave them a couple of go's on my board, and then the Argentinians went and climbed the sand dune and me and the Danish girl talked for a while. Unfortunately Im not what the Japanese call "Fast hands" so I didn't get her number or anything.

Other than that its been rather lonely up north, Im slowly meeting people, and slowly hanging out more with those I have met. In the last week two different people have asked me to go flatting with them - which I will probably do, so its cheaper, and not so lonely.

Anyway, home in Hamilton for Easter, possibly going to Papamoa sometime to see the folks and the beach.