Twitter's Summer Reading List
I asked my Twitter friends for recommendations of books to read over Christmas. I said that I’ve already consumed the new Expanse novel and the new Philip Pullman (intended to indicate that I …
personal
I'm Going on an Adventure
I caught up with Jesse Robbins at Foo Camp, and he gave me a great line that I remember as being something like: “I’m going on an adventure. The outcome is uncertain, there will be …
Questioning University
There’s a trend now to question the value of a university education. It used to be that simply possessing a university degree gained you access to a Better Class of Job. That is no longer the …
Two Upcoming Auckland Gigs
Our band has two gigs coming up in Auckland and we’d love to see you there! We play The Thirsty Dog on K Rd on Sunday, and the set is shaping up to be a good ‘un: the songs we were playing …
Beetroot
I’ve grown a row of beetroot and now I’m nervously wondering what the hell one does with a row of beetroot. I asked on Twitter, and here are the first 90m or so of responses: @annaraven: …
Business values
I had dinner tonight with my friend Cath Lewis, the awesome real estate agent. She told me that her new company felt right because honesty and empathy were at the top of their values. I think most of …
Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far
I found this list on the web and loved it. The ones that particularly rang true with me: 5. Being not truthful always works against me. 8. Drugs feel great in the beginning and become a drag later on. …
ETech
I’ll be in San Diego for ETech, arriving in San Diego on Sunday and leaving on Thursday. If you’ll be around, look me up. I’d love to catch up!
All Good
I haven’t blogged in a while. That doesn’t mean things are bad. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. Something happened around September, the end of my last trip away for …
The Eyes Have It
About two weeks ago, my uncle Zom got a little carried away with some repairs in the cabin and drove the family fishing boat (“Foam”) onto some rocks. Getting it off damaged the propeller …
Jesus Christ
Before I left for my last trip to the US, I went to a school board meeting where a program called Super Kids was discussed. It’s a kids Christian program that wanted to use the House Of Learning …
House Under Contract
Great news! The house in Colorado is under contract, they inspect tomorrow morning, and then hopefully it’s smooth sailing to closure. This is it: if it falls through, I’m renting it out. …
House Under Contract
Great news! The house in Colorado is under contract, they inspect tomorrow morning, and then hopefully it’s smooth sailing to closure. This is it: if it falls through, I’m renting it out. …
Home Sweet Home
Back in New Zealand after nearly three months away. What a lot of culture shock there was, both in leaving and returning. Leaving: it’s so easy to return to the US, yet so hard. The traffic was …
School Update
In the past month or more I’ve been working hard on making sure William had a good experience at school. I talked to his teachers to make sure that they were keeping their eyes open for bullying …
What Makes a Good Day
Today was unsatisfactory. I worked a solid 8 hours, packed in the email, made a coworker laugh, and made significant progress towards a goal. So why, at the end, do I feel blah? I was so knackered …
Valentine's Day
We took William out of school for the day, drove down to Auckland, and went to Kelly Tarlton’s World (like the Monterey Aquarium) and then to a buffet for lunch. Very luxurious, but you have to …
Weather, School, and Ditch-Digging
It’s been an adventurous week, weather-wise. Being away for so long, I’d forgotten the misty mornings that are classic New Zealand fare. We had a front parked over us for four or five …
Boat and Land
I’m reading Russell Brown’s collection of other people’s essays, Great New Zealand Argument, and at the same time I’m reading The Nationbuilders by Brian Easton. Both tackle …
Schools, Rats, and Parents
It’s been hard to balance life and work here on the other side of the world. Some days the work consumes me and I ignore family (bad Dad!) and other days I’m burnt out and can’t face …
Day 13: Love of a Small Country
Today I sent email to, and got replies from, the acting CEO of New Zealand On Air, and the general editor of Te Ara (the Encyclopedia of New Zealand). I love that these people are so accessible. …
Day 12: Rural Schools
Today Jenine helped out at William’s school, and we learned that there’s quite the gulf between the grouchy old woman teaching his class and the sweet old woman who taught him in Colorado. …
Day 10: Rural Power
I’d forgotten how amazing New Zealand’s weather is. We’re just a thin strip of island in a lot of water, close to Antarctica. The weather’s always shifting: some good stuff, …
Day 8
I’ve been stuck into work, and it’s interesting how the cycle of the day is different here. I only overlap the West Coast of America’s work day for five hours–by 2pm my time, …
Day 5: Doctor
It’s wonderful how easy it is to see a doctor over here. Our local GP, Elspeth, had a busy day but still managed to fit Jenine in. Jenine was dizzy, which was diagnosed as nothing more than a …
Day 3: On Caring
Another full day: we drove to Auckland to collect a fridge we bought on TradeMe, I cleaned the rusty grill, and began the rehabiliation of teh house. I hosed off the front wall and windows, digging …
Day 4: Taking It Easy
Finally we went to the beach today (Sunday). It was good to walk on Omaha again, white sand crackling underfoot. The kids could have spent all day there, and I’m sure they’ll spend many …
Day 1
The problem with flying to New Zealand from America is that if you get a well-timed flight, you don’t really have jetlag on the first day. You get this fantastic feeling of competence, because …
Day 2
I don’t know whether it’s the equinox or the move, but it feels like there’s SO MUCH TIME in the day. I wove flax with the kids, my parents arrived down the road from us …
Day 0
Flight summary follows. Qantas: very good. Kids: great. Sleep: taken where it could be got. Customs failed to care about our coffee: Customs: What are you declaring? Us: Coffee. Customs: Any honey or …
Rollercoasters
We had a great run of a few weeks where the weather and family travels aligned: Dad and I were both back, so we got to do a lot of fishing boat activity. One day we caught a ton of fish (they were …
Development
Yesterday we went to the Silverdale A&P show (Agricultural and Pastoral) with our friend Pam and her two kids aged about 13 and 14. It was a blast, with everything from prize pumpkins (112kg or …