Dog Update

I have been interested in getting a pet, more specifically a dog, for a long time. I would like to have a Boston Terrier, but they are extremely uncommon in New Zealand and I'm not going to import one from the United States.

I have been doing searches for dogs on several websites, such as TradeMe (like Craigslist) and PetsOnTheNet. My criteria: a fairly small, apartment-sized dog; a mild-mannered breed (purebred or mixed, not important); a dog in need of a home (owners can't take care of the dog, "pound puppy", etc.).

I went to the Auckland SPCA one time to see what kind of dogs they had. First of all, the Auckland SPCA is really NICE. There are not that many pets in New Zealand, so they have really large, well-kept pens. They don't have any bars, they have giant windows. Most dogs share pens, too, so they all play with each other. The problem is, all of the dogs at the shelter are large dogs. A lot of people own working dogs, and I don't have anywhere to put a large dog. So, back to the Internet. A lot of the dogs that people are selling / putting up for adoption are being bred for profit. Not ideal. So I keep looking for pets that need homes. Again, a lot of them are large and need to be adopted by people who live in the country.

One day, after 2-3 weeks of searching, I find a young Pug that needs a home. I try to call the phone number, but it doesn't work. I'm not sure what the area code is, so I try responding to the ad by e-mail. I ask if the dog is still available. No answer. I give up and continue looking at other websites.

A few days later, I get an e-mail. The Pug is still in need of a home. I describe my living situation and start to make arrangements for the possible adoption of the dog. I do a lot of research about Pugs, make sure that I can get copies of the vet records, etc.

The dog owner / poster of the ad asks me when I would be available to come to their home to see, and possibly, pick-up the dog. I ask them where they live and they give me the city and neighborhood. I look the area up on Google maps. Bad luck- South Island.

I send the person an e-mail and apologize. I can't make it to South Island, so I won't be able to adopt the dog. The person replies and says that they understand, but if I want, it would be possible to ship the dog to North Island.

I do more research and decide that shipping the dog might work out. The shipping fee is very low ($150NZD) and the dog needs a home. I am finally going to have a dog!

We discuss how to pay the shipping fees. Most people in New Zealand do money transfers through the bank. This is how Jon bought his car from the dealer, and how we pay rent. I buy a couple of dog toys and make a list of other supplies that the dog will need (a bed, potty pads, food, a coat, etc.). I research local vets and doggie daycares.

Then I get an e-mail. "Can you do me a favor?" The dog owner's daughter is overseas at school and needs some money. Could I send the money to the daughter instead? Also, can I provide information for the shipping company so that I can pick up the dog this weekend.

Things don't feel right. For one, the "daughter" is in Cameroon. Who goes to Cameroon- seriously? But I have been preparing for this dog, so I try to convince myself that it's right. Not possible. I do a web search for the account details that were provided and find other posts. Pet scammer. There is no dog. I have dog toys and no dog.

It's good that I didn't give them any money, but I am really sad. I was going to call the dog Booger / Sultana / Tater Tot (I couldn't decide).

If you're looking for a pet (or property, I've heard), look out for the following:
Peter Wartes, wartes222@yipple.com

Western Union transfer details
Receiver name: Darla Wartes
Address: 501 St Theresa's St, City: Douala, State: Littoral, Country: Cameroon.
Test question: who to
Answer: my daughter

















Today has been a sad, sad day.

Kiwi Food

What came first...

Ruffles

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OR
-

(Chicken-flavored) Ripples?

Rice Krispies
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OR
-
Rice Bubbles?

Raisin Bran
-
OR
-
Sultana* Bran

Capri Sun

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OR
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Capri-Sonne

*A white raisin, delicious in scones

Day 31

I've passed the one month mark!! Woo!!

I can't believe I'm on my fourth week of work already... Time sure flies when you're busy!

This past weekend, Jon and I went driving around, north of Auckland. It was the first time we really got out of the city. The New Zealand countryside looks a lot like Nor-Cal, except with wider and better paved roads. The curves aren't as tight, so I think you could drive pretty fast, but seeing as that was only my third time driving on the left side of the road, I didn't... I finally saw my first New Zealand sheep too! They are BIG! The cows and horses seem big too... But I don't think they're fed hormones or anything..?

Another weekend happening- I went and got my first New Zealand hair cut! I just walked down the street until I found a place that had time to cut my hair... The first two shops that I went to were booked for the day... The third place I went had no customers... I should've taken that as a hint, but I really just wanted to get a haircut. The entire family and extended family and neighborhood was hanging out in the shop, looking up stuff on the Internet, singing Michael Jackson songs, talking on the phone, etc. I think they were Brazilian- really nice people, but not the best English-speakers ever. Normally, I wouldn't mind, but it was a second sign of how my hair would turn out. The lady dangled pieces of hair in the air and then cut at it and if pieces got cut, they got cut, and if not, oh well. My hair is surpringly straight, considering. She did a really nice job blow drying my hair. She asked me if I wanted it to be straight or curly... I told her I had a perm and she said "ok, curly", but my hair was straight when I left. I'm not sure what happened. I also tried to get her to cut some long bangs, but now I have really awkward "I'm trying to grow out my bangs" bangs. Oh well- it will grow back!

Sunday was the first day of 'Dinner Club' too- busy weekend! Man, this was the first weekend I got out and did something other than trying to move or moving!! Once a month, Paul, Jonti/Katie, Jon and I are taking turns hosting dinner. This first one was at Jonti and Katie's place. Jonti made a very traditional New Zealand meal of lamb roast with homemade gravy and veggies (green beans, kumara, parsnip, carrots, potatoes, pumpkin). He also got these funny little self-icing cakes, which he topped with custard, chopped bananas, and shaved chocolate. Custard in New Zealand is so different than custard in the US! It is kind of runny, and the custard we had was eaten hot. I'm cooking next month... I was thinking baked beans, some kind of protein, corn bread, and trifle.

The phone (land line) and (better) Internet got installed last week, but it still doesn't work. Someone was supposed to come fix everything today, but I tried picking up the phone and it didn't make any noise, so I'm guessing it still doesn't work. Plus, I'm still using the slow wireless connection.

In other news, it seems like a dog might actually be happening! Wait and see...

Kiwi Foods

Middle bacon








Weet-Bix - A breakfast staple

It absorbs milk like a sponge and tastes like soggy shredded wheat.






Burger Rings













Wattie's tomato sauce flavored crisps*

'KIWI AS'









*Kiwi English for 'chips'

Day 27

It has almost been a month! Not a lot has happened, but everything that has happened has been crazy!!

1. I am looking for suggestions. The 4th of July is coming up quickly. People at work like to point this out to me on a regular basis. They want pumpkin and pecan pie, but I told them that isn't really a 4th of July thing... They also thought that pumpkin pie is a savory pie, so they wanted to eat it with tomato sauce. Anyway, so I need some ideas of what to bring to work to surprise everybody with a disgustingly patriotic display.
2. Car troubles. Jon bought a car a little while ago. Pretty cool Subaru wagon... Got it inspected- all good. Clutch seems iffy, but the inspector said it's fine. Turns out it isn't fine. We bring it to the dealer and he says it was a used car, so you get what you get, but he will take it to his shop and get it repaired at a good price. He gets the clutch replaced and Jon asks to have it covered. The guy says no, but he will split the cost since it was inspected and the inspector didn't catch it and Jon said that I might be buying a car from him sometime soon. And the dealer said he would get Jon dealer rates on his 10ok (km) service. Fine. So the clutch seems to be taking awhile to break in... And then the diff starts getting crazy. So Jon takes the car to a mechanic that was recommended to him by my manager, Jonti. The shop takes a look- the fly wheel was never machined. So Jon takes the car to the shop and they say that the dealer said not to do it because it would be cheaper. The dealer says the shop told him it wasn't important and wasn't worth the extra cash. So the dealer is taking the car to another shop to be repaired on the basis that he didn't know the job wasn't done right and that he thinks I am going to buy a car from him. (I would if I didn't think I'd have to deal with this crap!) So he loans Jon a red BMW 318i. (I've gone to work with Paul at this point because I can't be sitting around waiting for the dealer to get in to give Jon a car.) The Bimmer has no petrol, so Jon goes to put some fuel in. The dealer told Jon: leave the car on while you're filling it up. There are two reasons he could have said this: 1) he wanted Jon to explode and blame him for being stupid, leaving this all behind him 2) ...the car won't start. Jon is at the gas station, an hour late for work, asking for a jump. So Jon gets to work. We stay late at work and then try to leave. Keyword here: try. The car won't turn over. So I go running around the parking lot (barefoot) asking people if they have jumper cables (jumper leads). No one has any or the don't know what I'm talking about since I'm not using the right word or they want nothing to do with the crazy barefoot American girl. Finally some guy helps out and we go home. This morning, Paul came to pick us up, then we went to pick up Larry. Larry told Paul he MIGHT walk to Starbucks in the morning, so the whole drive we have to look out to see if Larry is walking somewhere. We go to Starbucks- no Larry. We wait a few minutes to see if he'll show and then decide he thought it might rain, go to the hotel, find Larry, go to work.

Now it is bedtime and I'm tired as!! :)

New Word: Tramp(ing)

Kiwi English:








American English:

Day 19

Things have been incredibly busy here in Auckland. I haven't even had a chance to go sightseeing! Someone asked me if I had done much sightseeing and I said "Yes- I've been downtown a few times" and then I realized... Wait a minute... I haven't seen anything! (With the exception of Skytower which I see... 7 days a week... And the bridge, which I saw by accident... Missed the motorway exit.)

My SECOND week of work is almost over. I can't believe it! I've been doing a lot of training and exploring. F&P is HUGE!! Coming from the itty bitty office in Irvine, I had no idea what to expect. We have two main buildings that are broken down into blocks and color coded so that you can find things/people. I am in the orange block with the rest of Quality. I sit in the same pod as Paul and Lewis... NO PRESSURE! My co-workers are pretty cool. Some of them are kind of goofy, but then, so am I! The Customer Care team is from all over the place! A few people were born and raised in New Zealand... South Africa, Fiji, England... Pretty cool! So I've been reading procedures for all different divisions of the company. I've gotten to spend time in the OSA and RH investigations labs and will be going into the Neonatal lab (and possible the OSA Interface lab) next week. It is pretty cool! I get to rip stuff apart and do electrical tests and what not... I've also been learning how to do my own job (go figure!), which is pretty interesting. The Customer Care department gets to work with all of the various groups, so I get to meet all sorts of people. Pretty cool. And I'm not tired of the cafeteria food yet!!

On Monday we got to work and noticed a squashed car in one of the three reserved parking spots in front of the Stewart building (right outside of the window near my desk). It was big news in the office! Jonti and I made a game out of watching people's reaction to the car as they walked into the building. It was good fun. In the middle of the day Mike, Lewis, and Paul (3 of the 'big boys' at F&P) went out and stared at the car. It was extra awesome because the window was down so it got filled with rainwater. Poor broken car.
It got towed away this afternoon, so that's a bummer...

I really don't have much to say beyond work. I haven't done much other than trying to get situated and working, so I don't have any stories. =/

Paul had a great idea to start a monthly dinner club, so Jonti, Katie, Paul, Jon, and I are going to be dinner club! The last Sunday of every month we are going to visit each other and cook dinner. It should be a lot of fun, but there is pressure to make something good! I'm pretty sure it is going to get out of control...

Friday may or may not be a bonus round for the Quality team bake off. Jonti keeps telling people that I bake good cookies which sucks because now I'm going to have to bake good cookies! I hope there isn't actually a bonus round this week... It would be wrong not to participate. >__< Maybe I will pretend I don't know and wait for the next bonus round?? Ideas please...

Day 13

Last week was spent car/apartment hunting. Finally found a place and signed for it this week! It is a one bedroom townhouse (I guess) on the edge of Ponsonby (Pon-snobby?) and Grey Lynn. It is fully furnished and has a gas stove... And it's pet-friendly! YES!! New address to come.

Last Friday I had lunch with my co-workers at Cock and Bull (don't see restaurant names like that in the states...) and Monday was my first day at work. There are, I believe, 10 people in my department, not including my manager, Jonti. Everyone has been very welcoming and I have been very busy all week! I gave everyone in my group a box of Jelly Belly jelly beans and a Converse shoe keychain. The jelly beans were a BIG HIT! Apparently Jelly Belly is very expenisve in New Zealand and very few people have ever seen them. They were all very excited that the flavors "taste like real fruit!" and they spend the afternoons discussing their favorite flavors.

So, of course, I have to mention the cafeteria (canteen?) at work. Every day at 9:30 we have morning tea which is pretty much the coolest part of the day. We all go to the cafeteria and eat breakfast. Some people bring boxes of cereal and wander around the office building with them. A lot of people eat cereal at their desks as well. I like to buy breakfast because 1) it is cheap and 2) there are so many different things to try! Every day there are fresh scones, oatmeal (porridge), sandwiches, soup, yogurt, fruit... I don't think anything costs over $2. There's free tea, coffee, and hot chocolate. I have a box of cereal in my desk, but I've been too busy sampling everything to eat my cereal. Oh- fun fact: the Hubbards cereal guy used to be the mayor of Auckland! Lunch time is pretty alright. There is a good selection of food and it is fairly cheap, maybe $4 or $5 for a plate with meat and vegetables. There are also a lot of dessert things... Cookie bars and cakes... Yesterday my group decided to show me lamington, which I guess is Australian? It is a sponge cake covered in some sort of chocolate and coconut shavings and a big blob of cream. I have no idea what it tastes like, but it is fancy looking! Today I learned that if you go to the cafeteria in between lunch and dinner you can get a discount!! Also, the cafeteria lady gave Jon a whole bag of little mini pizza things. They were pretty tasty.

Two week marker coming up..!

New Word: Choice

Kiwi English: excellent/cool.

American English: a decision.

Weather Forecast for 11 June 2009

Few showers
High: 18 degrees C (64.6 degrees C)
Low: 12 degrees C (53.6 degrees C)

New Word: Dairy

Kiwi English: convenience store/general store/corner store.

American English: a place with cows (and milk).

Kiwi English: 'dairy factory'

Days 05 and 06

I have met some random people in New Zealand!

The other day I was looking at a 1976 Mini Leyland (awesome!). The owners were in some band that just got signed in Kansas or Kentucky or something? They're moving to the states in August and going to L.A. (The Viper Room) and then heading east. Nice people, kinda quirky. Labretta Suede and the Motel 6... Check them out!

Yesterday Jon bought a car (2002 Subaru Legacy GTB) from a professional kick boxer. He lives in Japan and imports a lot of Japanese cars to New Zealand. Super nice guy. Andrew Powerhouse Peck... Chcek him out!

Day 03

Yesterday was a NZ holiday- the Queen Mum's birthday. Funny thing is that her birthday is actually in April, and Australia doesn't celebrate until next week. I don't quite get it, but I don't think anyone is complaining about having a day off. There were a lot of holiday sales yesterday, but there are also holiday surcharges applied (15%) on food at most restaurants.

I am trying to figure out pricing on everything in New Zealand. Some things (ex: fruit) are really cheap, but other things (ex: books) are incredibly expensive. Also, tax is included in the price of everything and there is no tipping... So what you see is what you pay (it makes you feel a lot better when things look a little bit pricey)!

Today was the first day that Paul wasn't around to point things out, so Jon and I went adventuring around Auckland. Jon rented a car yesterday, so today he practiced driving on the other side of the road. It went pretty well, but roundabouts are REALLY SCARY when you constantly feel like you're going to be getting in a head-on collision. We also managed to get a parking ticket (already). I am the QUEEN of ridiculous parking tickets (backing into parking spots, parallel parking facing the wrong direction, parking in my own apartment complex, etc.). We put $4 into the parking meter and got a ticket for 4 hours, ending at 3:38pm. We returned to the car around 3:00pm to a ticket, issued at 2:41pm.
Offense: Parked (more than 2 hrs not more than 4 hrs) in excess of the maximum authorised time.
I don't even know what that means..? There were two signs and one said P240 and one said P5. I think we paid at the P240 meter, but parked in the P5 space? I'm guessing that you're not supposed to do that...

Anyway, back on the subject of work, Customer Care (my group) has been having a bake-off. Today was Paul's turn to compete, so we experimented over the weekend. We made mini chocolate-coffee cupcakes with mascarpone frosting. Paul's biggest fear is that he will win this round and have to make another dessert, but they are pretty fancy, so it just might happen!

Went to the bank today to finish setting up my new account. The banks here are crazy and do all sorts of wacky stuff like try to sell you life insurance. The lady kept trying to sell me all sorts of stuff and I had no idea what she was talking about. Also, banks have lots of crazy fees for their services, but they did give me a free piggy bank, so I'm happy.



Keep left!!













Paul making cupcakes
















Cupcakes