Where did that week go?
Time has just flown by, and I can't believe that we are at the end of yet another weekend!
Things have been incredibly busy at work, in both good and bad ways. It is good in that I am being given more projects to do, and people are learning that it is my job to help them, but bad in that I am not having a chance to sit and look back over things and consolidate them; I'm always moving on to the next bit and hoping that I'm not making too much of a mess of things! Next week I've got a number of training courses, and I hope that they will help put things in context and give me a better idea of where I need to be coming from. I had a very interesting meeting with my equivalent in a different agency; the agency had run a similar procurement project a few years ago, and he had a number of lessons learned that he wanted to share. I've since learned that I need to take his opinion with a little pinch of salt (his reputation isn't that great across the sector), but it was definitely useful information.
We've also had a little bit of turmoil as a press release from the Minister regarding efficiency savings was interpreted by the media as massive redundancies - fortunately, we have a very good CIO who took the time to have meetings with the IT group and explain what was really meant and to allay any fears (she did point out that, with the savings that had already been found by the finance team, if they did have to have redundancies, then at most it would be six people, and she had already had (by show of hands) far more than that from people looking for early retirement!)
The social side of the week has also been very busy; we had the general Sci-fi meeting on Wednesday, which was, as always, good fun. Then Thursday, I was out with hockey - we didn't get a great practice in as it got dark, and it turns out that the pre-season pitch only has two floodlights on them, both at one end. So we had to finish early, which is a bit frustrating when you've paid a train fare to get there! Fortunately, someone was able to give me a lift home (which was even more appreciated when I realised how far out of their way they had gone!), which was a good thing, as I'd just watched the last train for an hour go past when they announced that they were cancelling the rest of the practice. This week's practice will be at a closer, and better, pitch.
Friday was interesting - we had a spectacular storm which blew in from the South Island - it really was a case of the sky suddenly going black - we were able to watch it rolling across the city. Thunder, lightening, hail and tornadoes (though I didn't actually get to *see* the tornadoes as they just over the hill and hidden by the low lying clouds - the damage they did was incredible, though, including lifting roofs off of buildings "like paper" according to one news report - fortunately in that case, a school, the kids had been let out for the day about half an hour earlier, and there was pretty much no-one about, meaning that no-one was hurt. In fact, across the whole of the two islands, there was very little injury given the scale of the storm). I was working late anyway, and quite thankful of allowing the worst of the rain to blow over. However, the storm had done its damage, and when I got to the station, it was bursting at the seams with people. I ended up standing next to a perfect stranger, and asked him what was going on - it turned out that a tree had come down across the lines. This had taken the power out further up the tracks, and the train company were trying to work out what to do. We got chatting, and, after a while, I (very cheekily) asked whether I could borrow his mobile (and pay him for the text) to let John know that I was going to be late - knowing KiwiRail, we could easily have been there for a couple of hours, but I didn't want to risk leaving the platform to look for a public call box, just in case they put something on while I was gone. The announcement then came through that the company could get us to Petone, which was only about half the way to my stop. They were then going to try to sort out replacement buses (but given that it was Friday rush hour, it might take some time) Ashley then said that as his car was parked at Petone station, did I fancy a lift home? Now all the rules of common sense said that I should have declined (particularly as he knew that I didn't have a phone), but common sense wasn't soaking wet and absolutely shattered from a long week at work (and didn't have a husband at home waiting for his birthday pizza!) And, to be honest, he was a very nice bloke, and we had a great chat all the way home. So, no worries :-) And another indication of how nice the Kiwis are as a race!
The birthday pizza that I mentioned came from a fantastic company called Hell Pizza - www.hell.co.nz - their pizza names include the seven deadly sins, the seven circles of hell as well as various other amusing names. For me, however, the big intrigue was that they do dessert pizza. This turned out (once I'd scraped all the toppings back on - the delivery guy had held it on its side!) to be a sweeter pizza dough with chocolate and vanilla custard and various cooked berries. It doesn't sound like it should work, but it definitely does!
Whilst we were eating our pizza and enjoying "Bill Bailey's Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra" (much worth watching - I definitely recommend, even if Mr BB had a few tuning problems with his singing...), there was a thunderous knocking on the door, and it turned out to be our neighbour's son. He had a plate of nibbles, meat and dips in his hand and passed it over saying "Mum said to give this to you, I don't know why." Very bemused, I thanked him, and (as we were very full from pizza) we put the food in the fridge for another day!
On Saturday, we were invited out by one of our Sci-fi friends to go and watch another of his friends flying model helicopters with his aviation group. Whilst this had the definite potential to be a "boys and their toys" day, it was really great fun. The skill of some of the fliers had to be seen to be believed (and I do actually have some videos of these on the camera. Unfortunately, none of the films are very good on their own - they need a bit of editing. Which means that I need to find a decent Linux video editor, or wait until we get a *ptooie* Windows PC. So, you will get to see them, it just won't be straight away!) - they were throwing the model helicopters (worth scary amounts of money!) through the sky (and very close to the ground), both right way up and upside down, and, aside from one which didn't get into the air due to a bust giro (in itself costing over $1,000...), nothing crashed or got broken. And we also got a free lunch out of it (the club is sponsored by one of the local supermarkets, who provided a veritable feast, including burgers, buns, crisps, fruit and drinks...) Alex then took us round the Porirua shops again, which was even better now that we had a bit of disposable income to spend! I've picked up some lovely fluffy wool and have just started my next knitting project (having not quite finished my last one...)
Sunday was another early start - I'd been called on Friday by the coach for the 2nd hockey team asking whether I wanted to play in a friendly match - a mixture of both the 1st and 2nd teams. I definitely wasn't going to say no, so was at the pitch just after 9.00. The match itself was great fun, but very difficult, with the ball spending a lot of time down our end. It was very interesting to start to get a feel for the different ways of playing, and realised how much I'd got used to the Bristol Ladies' defence tactics (here, there is pretty much no marking until the players are in the D, which makes me feel a lot less secure, as the team seems to often be on the back foot once the ball does get closer to goal!) But I saved more than I let in (and was only cross with myself with one of the goals), and think that I didn't do too badly given that, aside from a couple of practices, I've not played since September. And, on that part, the 1st team coach didn't think I'd done too badly, either, as she asked afterwards whether I'd mind subbing for the 1st goalie if she couldn't make matches. Like I'd say "no" to that!
Sunday afternoon, after we did our supermarket run, I spent making cheese scones to put on the now empty and washed up nibbles plate from our neighbours. We then spent a very nice half hour or so round at their place chatting - they are a lovely family (even if she says she is having a couple of problems with her teenage son - we certainly don't hear them arguing!), and I think that we are very lucky to have such nice people on either side of us.
And that was last week. It's now Tuesday (I have been writing this post for a couple of days - I hadn't realised that it had got quite so long!), so we've had another orchestra rehearsal. We've only got a couple of weeks to go before the concert, but it does all seem to be coming together now (and I'm now hearing the music whenever things go quiet, which means that it has sunk into my brain!) And my pepper plant has bloomed - when I popped into the greenhouse to get basil and spinach for supper, I spotted that there are a number of open flowers hiding under the leaves. I'll try to get some photos tomorrow :-)
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
No news...
Really, it has been a bit of an uneventful week this week. We are really settling in to our routine now; Monday is orchestra (last week was my second week of 'subbing' for the first oboe, this week she was back. I was a little bit chuffed when the conductor mentioned to her that she had been 'ably covered' by the rest of the oboe section - given that I didn't do as well as I'd have liked on the oboe solos that I was playing, it was nice to hear that he thought I'd done ok!); Tuesday is an evening in, when I check on the greenhouse and catch up on any internetting that I've missed by not being in on Monday; Wednesday is either an evening in, or we are out at the monthly Sci-Fi meeting (though when I pick up TKD again, it will be my TKD evening); Thursday is hockey; Friday is another evening in, and making sure that the greenhouse plants are still thriving (the broccoli is now charging me a toll to go in...); Saturday is our shopping day - up to the Farmers' Market for our fruit and veg, then a stop off at the chocolate shop for a drink, and then the supermarket shop - the evenings are either relaxing or out at various Sci-fi events, depending on when in the month we are; Sunday is a day to ourselves, I do some oboe practice, and occasionally wave an iron at some of the more creased clothes that I want to wear in the coming week!
I've now had my first month at work - I feel like I'm finding my feet a bit now. I know the 'usual suspects' without having to look them up on the intranet, though I still don't recognise a lot of people (my poor memory for faces is really haunting me now - it's not good to introduce yourself for the third time to someone, particularly when they only work round the corner from you!). Both my boss and the CIO are conspiring to push me firmly out of my comfort zone whenever they can - I know that it is good for my career, and I will quickly get used to it, but it is still a little unnerving at times, and I do occasionally long for the safety blanket of admin.
The weather is starting to get colder in the mornings (though I was able to spend all bar one of my lunchbreaks last week out on the harbour, reading my book and watching the waves come in), and it is definitely darker when I get up - I just hope that the corresponding Spring is driving away the snow and frost for everyone back in the Northern Hemisphere!
I've now had my first month at work - I feel like I'm finding my feet a bit now. I know the 'usual suspects' without having to look them up on the intranet, though I still don't recognise a lot of people (my poor memory for faces is really haunting me now - it's not good to introduce yourself for the third time to someone, particularly when they only work round the corner from you!). Both my boss and the CIO are conspiring to push me firmly out of my comfort zone whenever they can - I know that it is good for my career, and I will quickly get used to it, but it is still a little unnerving at times, and I do occasionally long for the safety blanket of admin.
The weather is starting to get colder in the mornings (though I was able to spend all bar one of my lunchbreaks last week out on the harbour, reading my book and watching the waves come in), and it is definitely darker when I get up - I just hope that the corresponding Spring is driving away the snow and frost for everyone back in the Northern Hemisphere!
Monday, 1 March 2010
Tsunami!
Apologies for the lack of a blog update on Sunday – Blogger decided to play around, and would load up the page title, and nothing else *rolls eyes*
So...
The rather overshadowing news of this week was the 8.8 earthquake in Chile which triggered a Pacific wide tsunami warning. It meant we got to see and hear first hand the Civil Defence system which we had been taught about at the seminar not two weeks ago. That same seminar meant that, although we were woken up with the CD warning on the radio news, we automatically knew that, although we are in a low lying area, we weren't in any danger. So it was a case of leaving the radio on and listening for news updates, which happened about once every quarter of an hour or so. I did think I faintly heard the warning sirens in the distance, but it might have been my imagination! Fortunately, as events showed, whilst we did have a tsunami, only the Chatham Islands had anything over a meter high.
It was very interesting to listen to events unfolding over the next couple of hours - I have a short cut link (mainly because I'm interested in the local earthquakes) to GeoNet (link) which also has tidal gauges to monitor tidal waves. You can see the events unfolding here:
Usually the lines are pretty flat (as they have been adjusted to take into account the tides)...
The radio was also quite amusing - at one point they had a reporter up on the hills overlooking Wellington harbour, and he'd obviously been told that they had set aside a three minute segment for him, and he was determined to fill it, even though he had nothing to say!
It is very comforting to know that, even though this turned into quite a non-event here (in Wellington the waves reached 30cm), if it had been bad, the emergency planning was there.
Now, it is just really a hope that the devastation from the earthquake in Chile can be contained and that the death toll does not rise.
In other news, I've had my first full week of "flying solo". All things considered, it hasn't gone too badly. I don't think I've made too many mistakes (only one obvious one, and that was due to me not finding out enough about a contract and relying on other people's opinions - fortunately I was able to clear it up within a very short space of time without too much fuss and bother! Lesson learned for next time...), and I've managed to impress the boss with the fact that I know how to use Excel and Project (he did get very excited when I showed him a couple of pivots that I'd used to get some data out of our unwieldy database, and a series of formula to flag time periods when contracts were expiring) My workload hasn't got too heavy yet, either, which is good, and means that I can work on some longer term projects which will make my life easier in the moths to come.
Orchestra was fun this week - I sat in for the first oboe, and didn't manage to fluff the solos too badly (apart from one piece, which I hadn't realised we were going to be playing, and where every note was an accidental and awkward fingering!)
I also had the trials for the hockey teams - not quite the trek all the way out to Trentham, this one was at the hockey club where we had the sign up session, and only a couple of stops up the line. It was a good session - great to get back into the pads again (and these are *posh* pads - not quite top of the range, but getting there! I've never had 100% body coverage before...), and I did manage to make a couple of good saves. And let in a couple of doozies as well... I wasn't good enough to get into the firsts, but then I wasn't expecting to - their current first goalie is amazing! Kerry (the guy who hired me) was watching the trials, and very kindly gave me a lift back - given that my other option was to walk (I wasn't going to wait for an hour and a half for the next train which was going to be a bus anyway), I was very grateful. And he then invited me out for drinks the next evening - he was going to be watching the NZ/Oz 20:20 cricket, and was meeting his mates at the pub beforehand. It transpired that one of the people he met up with was a contractor who had been doing my role a few months ago, and the other was also a procurement consultant. It is nice to know that, even if I don't decide to stay here for the very long term, there are consultancy roles available when I have built up enough experience (as Kerry said - the government will always need to buy things!)
The weekend was spent pottering - we had hoped to get out on the Sunday to a regional park where they were having an open day, but when we looked at the distance on the map, and the fact that the start point for the guided walks was 2km uphill from the road (which was already well over an hour's walk away), we decided to give it a miss! There are some gorgeous purple flowers growing on the tree which sits just into our neighbour's garden.
And the plants in my greenhouse are really getting going, particularly my broccoli
and my pepper.
We've also had a bit of an insect explosion - as well as the cicadas deafening us in the trees outside, these moth like insects were all over our lilies
and this little fellow was buzzing around the greenhouse
Looking at the length of his sting, I decided that the prudent course of action would be to leave the door wide open until he stopped head butting against the glass and flew out!
So...
The rather overshadowing news of this week was the 8.8 earthquake in Chile which triggered a Pacific wide tsunami warning. It meant we got to see and hear first hand the Civil Defence system which we had been taught about at the seminar not two weeks ago. That same seminar meant that, although we were woken up with the CD warning on the radio news, we automatically knew that, although we are in a low lying area, we weren't in any danger. So it was a case of leaving the radio on and listening for news updates, which happened about once every quarter of an hour or so. I did think I faintly heard the warning sirens in the distance, but it might have been my imagination! Fortunately, as events showed, whilst we did have a tsunami, only the Chatham Islands had anything over a meter high.
It was very interesting to listen to events unfolding over the next couple of hours - I have a short cut link (mainly because I'm interested in the local earthquakes) to GeoNet (link) which also has tidal gauges to monitor tidal waves. You can see the events unfolding here:
Usually the lines are pretty flat (as they have been adjusted to take into account the tides)...
The radio was also quite amusing - at one point they had a reporter up on the hills overlooking Wellington harbour, and he'd obviously been told that they had set aside a three minute segment for him, and he was determined to fill it, even though he had nothing to say!
It is very comforting to know that, even though this turned into quite a non-event here (in Wellington the waves reached 30cm), if it had been bad, the emergency planning was there.
Now, it is just really a hope that the devastation from the earthquake in Chile can be contained and that the death toll does not rise.
In other news, I've had my first full week of "flying solo". All things considered, it hasn't gone too badly. I don't think I've made too many mistakes (only one obvious one, and that was due to me not finding out enough about a contract and relying on other people's opinions - fortunately I was able to clear it up within a very short space of time without too much fuss and bother! Lesson learned for next time...), and I've managed to impress the boss with the fact that I know how to use Excel and Project (he did get very excited when I showed him a couple of pivots that I'd used to get some data out of our unwieldy database, and a series of formula to flag time periods when contracts were expiring) My workload hasn't got too heavy yet, either, which is good, and means that I can work on some longer term projects which will make my life easier in the moths to come.
Orchestra was fun this week - I sat in for the first oboe, and didn't manage to fluff the solos too badly (apart from one piece, which I hadn't realised we were going to be playing, and where every note was an accidental and awkward fingering!)
I also had the trials for the hockey teams - not quite the trek all the way out to Trentham, this one was at the hockey club where we had the sign up session, and only a couple of stops up the line. It was a good session - great to get back into the pads again (and these are *posh* pads - not quite top of the range, but getting there! I've never had 100% body coverage before...), and I did manage to make a couple of good saves. And let in a couple of doozies as well... I wasn't good enough to get into the firsts, but then I wasn't expecting to - their current first goalie is amazing! Kerry (the guy who hired me) was watching the trials, and very kindly gave me a lift back - given that my other option was to walk (I wasn't going to wait for an hour and a half for the next train which was going to be a bus anyway), I was very grateful. And he then invited me out for drinks the next evening - he was going to be watching the NZ/Oz 20:20 cricket, and was meeting his mates at the pub beforehand. It transpired that one of the people he met up with was a contractor who had been doing my role a few months ago, and the other was also a procurement consultant. It is nice to know that, even if I don't decide to stay here for the very long term, there are consultancy roles available when I have built up enough experience (as Kerry said - the government will always need to buy things!)
The weekend was spent pottering - we had hoped to get out on the Sunday to a regional park where they were having an open day, but when we looked at the distance on the map, and the fact that the start point for the guided walks was 2km uphill from the road (which was already well over an hour's walk away), we decided to give it a miss! There are some gorgeous purple flowers growing on the tree which sits just into our neighbour's garden.
And the plants in my greenhouse are really getting going, particularly my broccoli
and my pepper.
We've also had a bit of an insect explosion - as well as the cicadas deafening us in the trees outside, these moth like insects were all over our lilies
and this little fellow was buzzing around the greenhouse
Looking at the length of his sting, I decided that the prudent course of action would be to leave the door wide open until he stopped head butting against the glass and flew out!
Sunday, 21 February 2010
And another week gone!
Time flies when you are having fun...
This week has been really enjoyable on a number of counts. I've finished my handover training at work, and am now "flying solo" as the lady who was training me has now left. I actually got a couple of practice days as she was off sick on Monday and Tuesday, which was a nice way of easing into it! (though a little frustrating when people came up looking for her wouldn't accept my help as "Julia knows what is going on, so it's easier if I just speak to her". They don't have that option now!) My boss has already decided to push me out of my comfort zone, just a little way, in asking me to help him sort out a dispute with one of our suppliers. I'm fine with the facts gathering, report writing and recommendation making, it's the sitting in front of the suppliers and telling them that they are being completely unreasonable is what slightly worries me. But I'm sure it will be easier once I get a better grip on what is going on. It's also very difficult for me to get my head round my new "status" - for all of my working life, my role has been administrative, and I've always had in my head that I've been "low down" on the status structure (even when the role hasn't been lowly, I'm still used to being seen as at most a couple of levels up from basic receptionist), and I'm now having to flip to the fact that my manager's manager is the CIO for the whole IT group, and three levels above her is the Minister. But I'm sure that will come once I've got a bit of a better handle on the role.
My enjoyment of the week has also been helped by the fact that I'm starting to get the hang of getting up in the mornings, remembering that I need to be heading to bed by 10pm and keeping my brain in gear all day.
We've also been pretty busy all week, hence a lack of posting until today!
Orchestra again on Monday - as interesting and fun as always. I've now got the first oboe parts, and need to spend some time today actually practising them ready for rehearsal tomorrow! (First oboe is away for two weeks, so I really need to look at the solos that she has - there are a lot of them!)
On Tuesday, we went to a seminar run by the good folks at Settlement Support. This one was on Emergency Preparedness - what to do if the earth shakes or the water rises... Apparently the Hutt Valley is prone to flooding on a reasonably spectacular scale; fortunately, we are far enough away from the rivers that we are only going to be affected in as much that the public transport will go up the swannee and make things difficult to get to work. The tidal waves should stop at the railway line a way back from us, so, again, we will only have problems with transport. Earthquakes may be a bigger problem, but only if they get to house or road/railway destruction levels. But we do now know what we should be doing and what sort of items we need to keep handy, and also how long we can expect to wait before help arrives in the event of a major scale disaster (3 days). And we got fed some really rather yummy pancake rolls and chocolate biscuits :-D
Thursday I had my first practice with the Hutt hockey club - this was quite an adventure! The training wasn't being held at the pitch that I had been to on Sunday last week, so I had a 20 minute train journey up the tracks to Trentham to the pitch there. The weather was hockey-typical (grey, rainy...), and I didn't get a great sense that there would be many there, particularly when I arrived five minutes before training was due to start and I was the only lady there! (The men were training before us, and they had a turn out of eight people...) In the end, there were four of us. Two of the men stayed behind and we had a three on three game, which was great fun - lots of running about and no being able to hide at the back! I even managed to get two goals in, which I was very pleased about (even though our side lost incredibly badly...)
We finished about fifteen minutes before time, as we were all getting a bit cold and wet, and there wasn't a huge amount that we could do with just the four of us after the men left. Unfortunately, no-one was heading back to Lower Hutt, so I had to go and catch the train back again, just as the heavens opened completely. I trudged back to the station, only to see the signs up saying that they are doing bus replacements. Unfortunately, the bus stop is the other side of the station from the shelter, and because I couldn't trust that the buses would be running to a similar schedule to the trains (it taking longer to go by road), I had to keep on nipping out in the pouring rain to check whether the bus was coming. It was made a little worse (for my frustrations at least) that the timetable that we picked up three months ago is now out of date, and the train that I was waiting for now only runs on a Friday, meaning that I had an extra half hour wait anyway. And one of the local drunks saw me at the shelter and decided to come over for a chat. Well, I say "chat" - more of an incomprehensible mutter from his side with me nodding and making appropriate sounds when he stopped! (and before anyone starts worrying, I was in no danger from him - he was holding on to his bags of bottles too tightly to ever be a threat, and I had my hockey sticks in my hands!)
Fortunately, the bus that was heading to Upper Hutt showed up, and the conductor suggested that as they were going to be the next bus heading back down towards Wellington, I might as well get on now and start warming up. I did get another drunk sitting next to me as we started to make our way back to Waterloo (this one so drunk that he was having difficulty taking the few paces up the aisle to fall into the seat), but I was able to ignore him better as I had my book out - he didn't really get the hint and kept on talking to me, but didn't really notice that I wasn't responding very much. It was still a very late night back, and unfortunately, the rail replacement after business hours is going to happen for the next few months whilst they do some major track work (they are bringing in some new trains, and laying new tracks to help cope with the extra volume) So, I'm very much hoping that someone will be going my way next week!
And last night, to round off the week, we hosted the Board SIG (Special Interest Group) for the Sci-fi society. It was very nice not to have to travel to get to the meeting, and was brilliant to have everyone round to show off our place. We played some really enjoyable games - I was playing a new one, which really rather complicated rules - however, once we got into it, it wasn't too confusing - one of those games where it is easier to play than to describe! The party ended up finishing at about half twelve, but it really didn't feel that late. Looking forward to the next one!
This week has been really enjoyable on a number of counts. I've finished my handover training at work, and am now "flying solo" as the lady who was training me has now left. I actually got a couple of practice days as she was off sick on Monday and Tuesday, which was a nice way of easing into it! (though a little frustrating when people came up looking for her wouldn't accept my help as "Julia knows what is going on, so it's easier if I just speak to her". They don't have that option now!) My boss has already decided to push me out of my comfort zone, just a little way, in asking me to help him sort out a dispute with one of our suppliers. I'm fine with the facts gathering, report writing and recommendation making, it's the sitting in front of the suppliers and telling them that they are being completely unreasonable is what slightly worries me. But I'm sure it will be easier once I get a better grip on what is going on. It's also very difficult for me to get my head round my new "status" - for all of my working life, my role has been administrative, and I've always had in my head that I've been "low down" on the status structure (even when the role hasn't been lowly, I'm still used to being seen as at most a couple of levels up from basic receptionist), and I'm now having to flip to the fact that my manager's manager is the CIO for the whole IT group, and three levels above her is the Minister. But I'm sure that will come once I've got a bit of a better handle on the role.
My enjoyment of the week has also been helped by the fact that I'm starting to get the hang of getting up in the mornings, remembering that I need to be heading to bed by 10pm and keeping my brain in gear all day.
We've also been pretty busy all week, hence a lack of posting until today!
Orchestra again on Monday - as interesting and fun as always. I've now got the first oboe parts, and need to spend some time today actually practising them ready for rehearsal tomorrow! (First oboe is away for two weeks, so I really need to look at the solos that she has - there are a lot of them!)
On Tuesday, we went to a seminar run by the good folks at Settlement Support. This one was on Emergency Preparedness - what to do if the earth shakes or the water rises... Apparently the Hutt Valley is prone to flooding on a reasonably spectacular scale; fortunately, we are far enough away from the rivers that we are only going to be affected in as much that the public transport will go up the swannee and make things difficult to get to work. The tidal waves should stop at the railway line a way back from us, so, again, we will only have problems with transport. Earthquakes may be a bigger problem, but only if they get to house or road/railway destruction levels. But we do now know what we should be doing and what sort of items we need to keep handy, and also how long we can expect to wait before help arrives in the event of a major scale disaster (3 days). And we got fed some really rather yummy pancake rolls and chocolate biscuits :-D
Thursday I had my first practice with the Hutt hockey club - this was quite an adventure! The training wasn't being held at the pitch that I had been to on Sunday last week, so I had a 20 minute train journey up the tracks to Trentham to the pitch there. The weather was hockey-typical (grey, rainy...), and I didn't get a great sense that there would be many there, particularly when I arrived five minutes before training was due to start and I was the only lady there! (The men were training before us, and they had a turn out of eight people...) In the end, there were four of us. Two of the men stayed behind and we had a three on three game, which was great fun - lots of running about and no being able to hide at the back! I even managed to get two goals in, which I was very pleased about (even though our side lost incredibly badly...)
We finished about fifteen minutes before time, as we were all getting a bit cold and wet, and there wasn't a huge amount that we could do with just the four of us after the men left. Unfortunately, no-one was heading back to Lower Hutt, so I had to go and catch the train back again, just as the heavens opened completely. I trudged back to the station, only to see the signs up saying that they are doing bus replacements. Unfortunately, the bus stop is the other side of the station from the shelter, and because I couldn't trust that the buses would be running to a similar schedule to the trains (it taking longer to go by road), I had to keep on nipping out in the pouring rain to check whether the bus was coming. It was made a little worse (for my frustrations at least) that the timetable that we picked up three months ago is now out of date, and the train that I was waiting for now only runs on a Friday, meaning that I had an extra half hour wait anyway. And one of the local drunks saw me at the shelter and decided to come over for a chat. Well, I say "chat" - more of an incomprehensible mutter from his side with me nodding and making appropriate sounds when he stopped! (and before anyone starts worrying, I was in no danger from him - he was holding on to his bags of bottles too tightly to ever be a threat, and I had my hockey sticks in my hands!)
Fortunately, the bus that was heading to Upper Hutt showed up, and the conductor suggested that as they were going to be the next bus heading back down towards Wellington, I might as well get on now and start warming up. I did get another drunk sitting next to me as we started to make our way back to Waterloo (this one so drunk that he was having difficulty taking the few paces up the aisle to fall into the seat), but I was able to ignore him better as I had my book out - he didn't really get the hint and kept on talking to me, but didn't really notice that I wasn't responding very much. It was still a very late night back, and unfortunately, the rail replacement after business hours is going to happen for the next few months whilst they do some major track work (they are bringing in some new trains, and laying new tracks to help cope with the extra volume) So, I'm very much hoping that someone will be going my way next week!
And last night, to round off the week, we hosted the Board SIG (Special Interest Group) for the Sci-fi society. It was very nice not to have to travel to get to the meeting, and was brilliant to have everyone round to show off our place. We played some really enjoyable games - I was playing a new one, which really rather complicated rules - however, once we got into it, it wasn't too confusing - one of those games where it is easier to play than to describe! The party ended up finishing at about half twelve, but it really didn't feel that late. Looking forward to the next one!
Sunday, 14 February 2010
What a week!
Well, I make no apologies for the lack of posting this week - I've been exhausted! This whole going to work lark is a lot tougher when you have gotten out of the habit of getting up and thinking all day...
In spite of the tiredness, it has been a good week. I'm finding my feet within the Ministry, though I despair of ever knowing who everyone is (there are about 300 people in my building, and there's another MoE building round the corner). There also seems to be far too many Peters around! It took me till Wednesday to get set up with a login and email - I have a phone number but no phone, which is interesting!
The office that I'm working in is lovely; just five minutes from the train station, and I'm right up on the 12th floor. My desk is in the corner of the office (right by the CIO of the whole division), and, aside from one building, which is slightly lower than us, I have an unimpeded view of the harbour and the sea. Great efforts are being made to not spend the whole time staring at the view, but I do have to admit that it happens on occasion!
I'm getting a good handover from the lady that I'm replacing, but I think that it is going to take me a while to get used to all the systems and processes (particularly as a good chunk of them do seem to be bureaucracy for bureaucracy's sake), and the computer systems that they use, both the main database and the internet links, are shocking - I've not had to wait 20 minutes for a web page to load in a very long time! (and given that the main database is only accessible over the web, it's not as though I'm only using the internet for personal use...)
It is also very intriguing that their personal use of internet policies aren't consistent - Gmail is banned as it is a webmail (which I understand), but Yahoo and Facebook aren't. Still, I'm not going to complain too loudly, as it is nice to be able to look at Facebook on my lunchbreak, particularly when it is raining. When it is sunny, though, it is much nicer to head out to the harbour and eat my sandwiches looking out over the sea...
There is also a little bit of office politics, as is usual in a company of that size. I am doing my best to steer clear - we shall see how easy that gets when I'm dealing with people more regularly :-S
Outside of work, we have also been very busy; our second orchestra rehearsal on Monday. The second oboe has already said that she doesn't want to play first at any point, so I will have to practice both first and second parts in order to be able to stand in for the first oboe when she is away. I've also been landed with a huge dilemma - the orchestra has an annual workshop weekend where they work in sections with members of the Wellington Symphony Orchestra to put together a concert over the weekend. Unfortunately, this year, it happens to be on the same weekend as NatCon, the NZ national science fiction convention. I don't have to decide straight away, but I want to do both!
On Wednesday, we had a sci-fi meeting in town - a semi-serious presentation for the first half, and then some silly games for the second.
Then Saturday, after a reasonably early start to get the vegetable shopping done, we had a lovely day with one of the sci-fi members - he was over our way getting sausages from our local butchers (these are apparently the best sausages in Wellington - when we have a bit more money, I'll be getting some to see for ourselves!), so he treated us to a coffee, and then, as he had his car, drove us round a couple of shopping centres, including a very nice bulk buy shop (similar to Macro) which I'm sure we'll be visiting again!
And today, we had a small lie-in, and then we were out up to the hockey club to get me signed up for the new season. This came care of Kerry, who had hired me, who is also president of the club and who spotted that I played in goal when living in Bristol. The people at the hockey club are really nice - its a mixed club of all ages and abilities, and they have multiple teams as well, so I should be able to find something that sits with my limitations as a goalie. Plus, as they do have a number of people who play in goal, they do specific goalie training, which, aside from a one day coaching session, I have never really had. They didn't have any goalie kit there today, though they do supply the kit for practices and matches, so I had a good run-around on the pitch, and came to the realisation that four months or so without any major exercise does not do good things to the fitness levels! Fortunately, as well as the hockey, and the TKD once I have the money to cover the club fees and insurance, the job comes with free membership to a local gym, so I'll be able to get there during my lunch break, once I've got myself a bit more settled into the job. And I may even join the local squash club if I've not completely exhausted myself!
In spite of the tiredness, it has been a good week. I'm finding my feet within the Ministry, though I despair of ever knowing who everyone is (there are about 300 people in my building, and there's another MoE building round the corner). There also seems to be far too many Peters around! It took me till Wednesday to get set up with a login and email - I have a phone number but no phone, which is interesting!
The office that I'm working in is lovely; just five minutes from the train station, and I'm right up on the 12th floor. My desk is in the corner of the office (right by the CIO of the whole division), and, aside from one building, which is slightly lower than us, I have an unimpeded view of the harbour and the sea. Great efforts are being made to not spend the whole time staring at the view, but I do have to admit that it happens on occasion!
I'm getting a good handover from the lady that I'm replacing, but I think that it is going to take me a while to get used to all the systems and processes (particularly as a good chunk of them do seem to be bureaucracy for bureaucracy's sake), and the computer systems that they use, both the main database and the internet links, are shocking - I've not had to wait 20 minutes for a web page to load in a very long time! (and given that the main database is only accessible over the web, it's not as though I'm only using the internet for personal use...)
It is also very intriguing that their personal use of internet policies aren't consistent - Gmail is banned as it is a webmail (which I understand), but Yahoo and Facebook aren't. Still, I'm not going to complain too loudly, as it is nice to be able to look at Facebook on my lunchbreak, particularly when it is raining. When it is sunny, though, it is much nicer to head out to the harbour and eat my sandwiches looking out over the sea...
There is also a little bit of office politics, as is usual in a company of that size. I am doing my best to steer clear - we shall see how easy that gets when I'm dealing with people more regularly :-S
Outside of work, we have also been very busy; our second orchestra rehearsal on Monday. The second oboe has already said that she doesn't want to play first at any point, so I will have to practice both first and second parts in order to be able to stand in for the first oboe when she is away. I've also been landed with a huge dilemma - the orchestra has an annual workshop weekend where they work in sections with members of the Wellington Symphony Orchestra to put together a concert over the weekend. Unfortunately, this year, it happens to be on the same weekend as NatCon, the NZ national science fiction convention. I don't have to decide straight away, but I want to do both!
On Wednesday, we had a sci-fi meeting in town - a semi-serious presentation for the first half, and then some silly games for the second.
Then Saturday, after a reasonably early start to get the vegetable shopping done, we had a lovely day with one of the sci-fi members - he was over our way getting sausages from our local butchers (these are apparently the best sausages in Wellington - when we have a bit more money, I'll be getting some to see for ourselves!), so he treated us to a coffee, and then, as he had his car, drove us round a couple of shopping centres, including a very nice bulk buy shop (similar to Macro) which I'm sure we'll be visiting again!
And today, we had a small lie-in, and then we were out up to the hockey club to get me signed up for the new season. This came care of Kerry, who had hired me, who is also president of the club and who spotted that I played in goal when living in Bristol. The people at the hockey club are really nice - its a mixed club of all ages and abilities, and they have multiple teams as well, so I should be able to find something that sits with my limitations as a goalie. Plus, as they do have a number of people who play in goal, they do specific goalie training, which, aside from a one day coaching session, I have never really had. They didn't have any goalie kit there today, though they do supply the kit for practices and matches, so I had a good run-around on the pitch, and came to the realisation that four months or so without any major exercise does not do good things to the fitness levels! Fortunately, as well as the hockey, and the TKD once I have the money to cover the club fees and insurance, the job comes with free membership to a local gym, so I'll be able to get there during my lunch break, once I've got myself a bit more settled into the job. And I may even join the local squash club if I've not completely exhausted myself!
Sunday, 7 February 2010
Quiet week
Apologies for the lack of posting this week - we haven't really done a great deal since Monday - trying to save money!
I'm really looking forward to starting work tomorrow, not just because I know that it is going to be a fun job, with a good atmosphere and colleagues, but also because I am really needing the brain stimulation and the reason to get up in the mornings! Having said that, I have really enjoyed this last week, where I've let myself lie in as needed - the knowledge that the temp agency wasn't going to call to give me a last minute assignment helped in me ignoring the alarm clock...
We discovered our local Chinese supermarket on our walk to orchestra on Monday, and so we detoured there yesterday as part of our weekly shop - I think that John regretted offering to carry the things that I bought - I topped up on all the bottled stuff that I've been missing (dark soy, rice wine and rice wine vinegar, Thai green curry paste etc...), and it was really rather a heavy shop! Still, enough to keep me happy for a while.
Whilst we really didn't do anything yesterday to celebrate Waitangi Day, we did go over to one of our local parks to join in the celebrations for Te Ra o Te Raukura, which celebrates the Raukura, the white feather that people of Taranaki descent wear, and the passive peace resistance movement. In reality, though, it was more of a summer fete - we missed the traditional Maori singing and the haka, and just ended up wandering around the various stalls (mainly food, but a lot of health and community based ones, as well as a couple selling arts and crafts) and listening to a couple of local bands (mainly Reggae for some reason). We had mussel fritters for lunch - quite literally mussels mixed into an American pancake style batter, and then cooked in a griddle. They were really tasty, though they could have done with a bit of chilli sauce to liven them up a bit! Then an ice-cream for pudding - the sellers had a very clever machine which combined the Mr Whippy style ice-cream with frozen fruits - the fruits were placed in the tip of a metal cone, and then the ice-cream was squeezed through so that they mixed together - very tasty!
As we were over that side of town, I suggested that John came up into the Hayward Reserve, as he'd not actually been there. Sadly it was nowhere near as peaceful as normal, as the strains of the Reggae music floated up into the trees. I wondered what the birds and cicadas made of it!
We did get spotted by a Piwikawaka, though he did sit with the sun behind him, so the picture I got isn't brilliant:
We also spotted a cicada in full view - normally they hide away, but this one had probably only recently hatched:
The forest was full of mushrooms - I think that the heat after so much rain had really brought them out. Unfortunately, only one of the photos that I took came out - the camera was having much more fun focussing on the leaves behind...
We also heard a grey warbler, or Riroriro to give it its Maori name - we didn't see it though. This is the bird that I have heard every time I've been out there, and yet not been able to work out what it was (it is a lot harder to do a search when you don't know what the bird looks like, and the links don't all have the song on them). The song is amazing - whilst each one follows the same general theme, the individual songs are all unique.
We didn't spend very long in the reserve, as it was very hot, adn we didn't have any water with us. However, I'm glad that we came out when we did, as it let us get this photo of a Monarch butterfly
which I am very pleased with.
It has now been three months since we arrived in New Zealand - at times, it seems like we've only just arrived, and at others, it feels like we have been here forever. I think that we have really managed to settle in well, without hitting major culture-shock - there have been ups and downs, of course, but many more ups than down! It will be interesting to see what happens over the next three months (and beyond)!
I'm really looking forward to starting work tomorrow, not just because I know that it is going to be a fun job, with a good atmosphere and colleagues, but also because I am really needing the brain stimulation and the reason to get up in the mornings! Having said that, I have really enjoyed this last week, where I've let myself lie in as needed - the knowledge that the temp agency wasn't going to call to give me a last minute assignment helped in me ignoring the alarm clock...
We discovered our local Chinese supermarket on our walk to orchestra on Monday, and so we detoured there yesterday as part of our weekly shop - I think that John regretted offering to carry the things that I bought - I topped up on all the bottled stuff that I've been missing (dark soy, rice wine and rice wine vinegar, Thai green curry paste etc...), and it was really rather a heavy shop! Still, enough to keep me happy for a while.
Whilst we really didn't do anything yesterday to celebrate Waitangi Day, we did go over to one of our local parks to join in the celebrations for Te Ra o Te Raukura, which celebrates the Raukura, the white feather that people of Taranaki descent wear, and the passive peace resistance movement. In reality, though, it was more of a summer fete - we missed the traditional Maori singing and the haka, and just ended up wandering around the various stalls (mainly food, but a lot of health and community based ones, as well as a couple selling arts and crafts) and listening to a couple of local bands (mainly Reggae for some reason). We had mussel fritters for lunch - quite literally mussels mixed into an American pancake style batter, and then cooked in a griddle. They were really tasty, though they could have done with a bit of chilli sauce to liven them up a bit! Then an ice-cream for pudding - the sellers had a very clever machine which combined the Mr Whippy style ice-cream with frozen fruits - the fruits were placed in the tip of a metal cone, and then the ice-cream was squeezed through so that they mixed together - very tasty!
As we were over that side of town, I suggested that John came up into the Hayward Reserve, as he'd not actually been there. Sadly it was nowhere near as peaceful as normal, as the strains of the Reggae music floated up into the trees. I wondered what the birds and cicadas made of it!
We did get spotted by a Piwikawaka, though he did sit with the sun behind him, so the picture I got isn't brilliant:
We also spotted a cicada in full view - normally they hide away, but this one had probably only recently hatched:
The forest was full of mushrooms - I think that the heat after so much rain had really brought them out. Unfortunately, only one of the photos that I took came out - the camera was having much more fun focussing on the leaves behind...
We also heard a grey warbler, or Riroriro to give it its Maori name - we didn't see it though. This is the bird that I have heard every time I've been out there, and yet not been able to work out what it was (it is a lot harder to do a search when you don't know what the bird looks like, and the links don't all have the song on them). The song is amazing - whilst each one follows the same general theme, the individual songs are all unique.
We didn't spend very long in the reserve, as it was very hot, adn we didn't have any water with us. However, I'm glad that we came out when we did, as it let us get this photo of a Monarch butterfly
which I am very pleased with.
It has now been three months since we arrived in New Zealand - at times, it seems like we've only just arrived, and at others, it feels like we have been here forever. I think that we have really managed to settle in well, without hitting major culture-shock - there have been ups and downs, of course, but many more ups than down! It will be interesting to see what happens over the next three months (and beyond)!
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
Many Meetings
This weekend has turned into a little bit of a social whirl. On Saturday, after market shopping in the sunshine for once (we actually had four whole days of summer this week - a nice treat for the kids before they go back to school - the summer holidays end tomorrow), I made up some cheese scones (I *love* having my food mixer back!), and we then headed out in the evening for a Phoenix Sci-Fi social. This is a "Bring a Plate" social (and the interpretation of it is that you bring something *on* the plate, rather than just an empty one!) Unfortunately, as we are a bit out of touch (despite reading the local paper, and therefore knowing all about the 94 year old who has just hit his first hole in one in golf, a year after suffering a stroke...), we hadn't twigged that, in addition to the very important Sci-fi event, there were also two other events in the area.
The Trentham Races (The Wellington Cup), which is the equivalent of the Cheltenham Races, in Upper Hutt, which is at one end of our train track, and an AC/DC gig, which was held at the Wellington Stadium, right by Wellington Station. (some unsung genius designed it so that the far end of the platform (at the opposite end to the station) actually leads up into the Stadium itself. On major event days (particularly rugby and football), the fans can just pour out of the stadium and onto a waiting train (obviously getting the right train for their destination!) - when the train is full, then it leaves, and the next one pulls in.
The combined events meant that, rather than the two-carriage train being half empty, as it has been every other time we have used it, there were eight carriages, and we still stood all the way to Wellington. However (despite the heat and the fact that the AC/DC fans next to us needed a little bit of education in the use of deodorant), it wasn't an unpleasant journey - the fans standing by us were from Hastings, and didn't often come down to "the big city"!
The bonus was that as the guard couldn't get down the train through the crush, we didn't have to pay for our journey! (I had my wallet out ready to pay - we weren't fare dodging!)
The Sci-Fi meeting, which was on the hills overlooking the Stadium, was good fun. It was a lot busier than the other meetings that we'd been to, and a lot of new faces. It was a little bit intimidating at times - having thought that I'd got to know most of the Phoenix members, I suddenly realised that there were a lot more than I'd already met, and I was going to have to remember a lot more names (I'm not good at names at the best of times!). But it was still good fun, and we got to have some very interesting discussions. We had to leave a little earlier than we would have liked, but had been warned that we would want to get the train *before* the gig finished for obvious reasons!
Then yesterday (Monday), we had our first orchestra rehearsal. Having been to their Christmas concert, and then had to wait all summer whilst they were on holiday, I've been really missing playing in a group. I will admit that I was a little bit nervous when we arrived at the school where the orchestra rehearses. Already knowing that they had two oboes, I was a bit worried about being a "spare wheel", but I needn't have been concerned. Everyone was incredibly friendly - the two oboes insisting that I sit between them so that I could look at both of their music and choose which one I wanted to play (I did opt for second all the way through - I didn't want to get landed with an unexpected solo, particularly given that I've not really played for three months!). We were all sight-reading, which was very nice, if a bit brain aching - it is a lot harder to come into something when everyone else knows what they are doing! The pieces weren't too difficult, but were taxing enough that I'm looking forward to having my own copy so that I can do some practice. Afterwards we stayed behind to have a bit of a chat, and ended up nearly being the last to leave (no change there, then!) The lady who is in charge of the sheet music also plays the accordion, and is going to get me the contact details of her teacher so that, when I've been paid (oh, this pay is going to be stretched out a bit!), I can actually have some lessons before I pick up too many bad habits.
I've started doing some background reading ready for work next week - I'm happy to see that, on the surface, the procurement rules in NZ are very similar to those in the UK, so it won't be quite the feeling of being thrown in the deep end. Maybe just up to my chin...
Another lovely thing is that Kerry, the chap who interviewed me, emailed me to say that he is the president of the Upper Hutt hockey club. He'd noticed that I'd put hockey down as an interest on my CV, and has asked me if I would like to join! So the weekend after next (the one after I start work), I'm heading up to the astro-turf for registration and a couple of warm up games. I'm rather hoping that they will need a goalie - I think I may be a little bit unfit for running around on the pitch!
So, when I start up TKD after pay day (probably mid-March now), I will be back to a full after work schedule!
The Trentham Races (The Wellington Cup), which is the equivalent of the Cheltenham Races, in Upper Hutt, which is at one end of our train track, and an AC/DC gig, which was held at the Wellington Stadium, right by Wellington Station. (some unsung genius designed it so that the far end of the platform (at the opposite end to the station) actually leads up into the Stadium itself. On major event days (particularly rugby and football), the fans can just pour out of the stadium and onto a waiting train (obviously getting the right train for their destination!) - when the train is full, then it leaves, and the next one pulls in.
The combined events meant that, rather than the two-carriage train being half empty, as it has been every other time we have used it, there were eight carriages, and we still stood all the way to Wellington. However (despite the heat and the fact that the AC/DC fans next to us needed a little bit of education in the use of deodorant), it wasn't an unpleasant journey - the fans standing by us were from Hastings, and didn't often come down to "the big city"!
The bonus was that as the guard couldn't get down the train through the crush, we didn't have to pay for our journey! (I had my wallet out ready to pay - we weren't fare dodging!)
The Sci-Fi meeting, which was on the hills overlooking the Stadium, was good fun. It was a lot busier than the other meetings that we'd been to, and a lot of new faces. It was a little bit intimidating at times - having thought that I'd got to know most of the Phoenix members, I suddenly realised that there were a lot more than I'd already met, and I was going to have to remember a lot more names (I'm not good at names at the best of times!). But it was still good fun, and we got to have some very interesting discussions. We had to leave a little earlier than we would have liked, but had been warned that we would want to get the train *before* the gig finished for obvious reasons!
Then yesterday (Monday), we had our first orchestra rehearsal. Having been to their Christmas concert, and then had to wait all summer whilst they were on holiday, I've been really missing playing in a group. I will admit that I was a little bit nervous when we arrived at the school where the orchestra rehearses. Already knowing that they had two oboes, I was a bit worried about being a "spare wheel", but I needn't have been concerned. Everyone was incredibly friendly - the two oboes insisting that I sit between them so that I could look at both of their music and choose which one I wanted to play (I did opt for second all the way through - I didn't want to get landed with an unexpected solo, particularly given that I've not really played for three months!). We were all sight-reading, which was very nice, if a bit brain aching - it is a lot harder to come into something when everyone else knows what they are doing! The pieces weren't too difficult, but were taxing enough that I'm looking forward to having my own copy so that I can do some practice. Afterwards we stayed behind to have a bit of a chat, and ended up nearly being the last to leave (no change there, then!) The lady who is in charge of the sheet music also plays the accordion, and is going to get me the contact details of her teacher so that, when I've been paid (oh, this pay is going to be stretched out a bit!), I can actually have some lessons before I pick up too many bad habits.
I've started doing some background reading ready for work next week - I'm happy to see that, on the surface, the procurement rules in NZ are very similar to those in the UK, so it won't be quite the feeling of being thrown in the deep end. Maybe just up to my chin...
Another lovely thing is that Kerry, the chap who interviewed me, emailed me to say that he is the president of the Upper Hutt hockey club. He'd noticed that I'd put hockey down as an interest on my CV, and has asked me if I would like to join! So the weekend after next (the one after I start work), I'm heading up to the astro-turf for registration and a couple of warm up games. I'm rather hoping that they will need a goalie - I think I may be a little bit unfit for running around on the pitch!
So, when I start up TKD after pay day (probably mid-March now), I will be back to a full after work schedule!
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