We made it to the South Island!!
We'd written a post, and saved it to our USB chip so we could cut and paste it, but these computers don't have a USB drive - just a slot to put in your $2 coin for 30 minutes of internet time. Sigh.
Well, we have some pictures already we're looking forward to showing you all, but for right now, suffice it to say we're fine -- a little wet, but fine. If you'd like to google where we are, it's Nelson, New Zealand.
We'll blog more soon, hopefully with pics, but we wanted you to know we are officially out of Jason and Leigh's (Thanks, again, Guys!) and are roaming free in a tiny little Nissan Sunny that has manual windows and (only) an AM/FM stereo.
There's gonna be a ton to share - looking forward to it.
Love to all. Peace.
~BG&D
4.30.2007
4.26.2007
Act III
Welcome back everybody, thanks for following with us so far.
The last shift went swimmingly, and Dizzle, despite his new haircut, was told it was a shame he has to go and if he ever needs a recommendation, they've got his back. We worked with a guy we like named Andrew. We couldn't post his picture for reasons we can't even begin to explain here. Suffice it to say, he's a lot of fun, and we hope he does well.
Ken came by last night. We listened to music and talked and had a few drinks, and then we said goodbye to him, as well. We suppose it'll be a week of goodbyes as well as fun things - that's the way it goes sometimes.
Baby G got her finger redressed for the final time at the Kilbirnie Medical Centre this morning. And folks, no matter how relieved YOU are to hear, it doesn't compare to how relieved SHE was to SEE...
PINK!
Finally, it looks as if it's healing:
The last shift went swimmingly, and Dizzle, despite his new haircut, was told it was a shame he has to go and if he ever needs a recommendation, they've got his back. We worked with a guy we like named Andrew. We couldn't post his picture for reasons we can't even begin to explain here. Suffice it to say, he's a lot of fun, and we hope he does well.
Ken came by last night. We listened to music and talked and had a few drinks, and then we said goodbye to him, as well. We suppose it'll be a week of goodbyes as well as fun things - that's the way it goes sometimes.
Baby G got her finger redressed for the final time at the Kilbirnie Medical Centre this morning. And folks, no matter how relieved YOU are to hear, it doesn't compare to how relieved SHE was to SEE...
PINK!
Finally, it looks as if it's healing:
We may or may not go back to a med stop in Christchurch before we head back, but we'll see how it's holding up. We may just deal with the end of it in Jersey.
Tonight is rugby, and tomorrow is Chinese brunch with a ton of other people, followed by a small going-away get together at the Upper Bourke St. house for homemade PAVLOVA. We're grabbing the recipe, don't worry.
More updates to come, but we're looking forward to hopping on a boat. Then a car. Then a plane.
And we'll be thinking of you through it all.
More to come,
BG&D
4.24.2007
Everybody back to your seats... we're about to begin.
Well, we're coming down to it now, and we had three events this week we were really looking forward to. It has been really nice of Jason and Leigh to put together what will end up being a really fun week -- ESPECIALLY since it's our last week of work.
(As this is written, it's morning on our last day! Yes!)
We'll start by playing catch up very quickly, as it's been a little while since we've blogged, and both of you readers probably care a little about what's been going on...
First of all Baby G's finger is healing... slowly. It's almost back to it's original length, but is still very raw. Did you eat recently? If so, don't look below:
That's right: Dizzle had the camera IN the doctor's office! Like the paparazzi...
So you know, the white bit on top is NOT bone, it is just remnants from the bandage that... stuck. The doctor took it off WITHOUT counting to three, and Baby G almost screamed. :(
We're getting the wound redressed tomorrow a.m., and then once more in Christchurch before we fly out. We'll keep you posted on this issue next probably from New York.
We saw a dance concert last Saturday called Black Grace - Amata. Dizzle is not much of one for modern dance, but thought it was very good. Baby G will be blogging about it more specifically soon. Check out the website when you can, and stay tuned for her post.
Tomorrow night, we are going to see our very first live rugby game! It will be here in Wellington at Westpac Stadium, and will be our "own" Wellington Hurricanes against the Otago Highlanders. Though the 'Canes aren't in contention for the playoffs, we'll still get to see a live professional game, and a lot of these guys are All Blacks - the New Zealand team that will compete for the Rugby World Cup in November. This is gonna be so rad!
As we said, our last day of work is today. We both work together in the coffee-shop with a guy we don't hate, so it should go quickly. Since there have been so many NEGATIVE posts about this job, we thought we should show everybody some of the highlights of our shifts. There were a few people who were really interested in us, and we them. We got pictures.
This is Sring, a guy who's worked in the airport for, like, a decade. He was our Duty Manager for all the 4:00am shifts, and was really cool about us taking our breaks together.
This is Sokha. Oh my God, this woman can make coffee drinks like you've never seen. She really loved us and will miss us. Even though she doesn't speak a lot of English, she smiled every time we saw her. And that made US smile. And that's tough to do before 4:30 in the morning.
This is Grant, one of the evening Duty Managers. 1. If we ever open a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, or B&B, we're tracking THIS GUY down to work for us. Amazing customer service and attitude, plus, a really funny guy. Why he's at this corporate gig, we don't know. 2. We don't care what you do for a living or what your feelings are on drugs; it's hard not to like your boss when he's got a pot leaf tattooed on his wrist.
This is Khareesh. He wears too much jewelry but is a soft-spoken, calm cat. We dig him because he always made us felt like we were really good employees.
Tina & Syjhad. They're a couple, but we couldn't get them in the same shot as these were on two different days. She's Cambodian, and he is the 5th (and probably final) Iraqi with whom we've worked. They both have really good senses of humor and we can't say enough nice things about them. Funniest conversation: Syjhad was telling us about how there was a ton of money to be made in Iraq (because that's where the petrol is) and that everyone wanted to move there... until the "bad things" happened. He didn't want to offend us. What a guy.
Ray, the Kitchen Manager. In two years, this guy will be head chef at a 4-star place. Watch.
Pete, a.m. kitchen. Totally laid back guy. Nothing rattles him and he made the absurd morning shifts much easier to handle.
Finally, Jagruti. The only Indian woman with whom we worked who did not make Baby G feel like crap because she doesn't speak Hindi. She would kindly translate when the other girls were talking, and is a very gentle, sweet woman. She invited us over to her house for dinner, and to a "really good Indian temple in Kilbirnie" should we wish to join them sometime. Her family is strict vegetarian, and don't drink, so any time Jag needed help at the bar, she called us over. Funniest request: "How do I make a doublebourbonnoice?" That was all one word when she said it.
We're going to miss these people, and not the others. :)
Except one, whom we saved for last. This is a picture of us with Ken:
Actually, we're hanging out with Ken tonight. We saved him for last because he's the only co-worker we'd consider a friend after this, and the only one we wouldn't mind offering our homes to should he ever reach the USA. He is also the only one who knows this blog address, and has even commented a couple times! Ken, if you're reading this, you are one hell of a hard worker and one hell of a good guy. Shifts with you weren't work - they were fun (and you reminded us of home at a time when we needed it) because it was familiar and funny, like working with Tom White, Agne, Amelia or Skippy, etc. You made us feel relaxed, and we wanted to thank you for that.
Yesterday, for the day, we returned to Martinborough (where we worked on a vineyard) to attend ANZAC Day service at dawn. You can read up on it on Wiki, but it was very interesting. We woke up early to walk to the Town Square, where there was a church service that recognized the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who served in WWI & II. It was the first time we'd heard the New Zealand National Anthem (that we knew of), and they sang a song called "God Save the Queen", which is set to the same tune as "My Country 'tis of Thee" and a funny song I can't remember from grade school. It was solemn and a little sad, but it was a very nice way to start a day with friends. We finished up by having a large breakfast, talking and laughing with Andrew and Mandy, Jason and Leigh, and we even got to walk down the block and reconnect with our man Chris, whom we hadn't seen in a couple months. There, we told him why Six Flags is better than Disney, bid him adieu, and came back to Wellington. A holiday well spent.
We have some sad news. While we were North, we learned that Martinborough Beer and Ales has decided to close. Barnsey's company, for whom we worked, has folded. We wish Barnsey, Rona, and the rest of our friends there the best of luck in future endeavors.
One additional post script: This is what Dizzle looks like as of 24 hours ago:
SATURDAY, we're learning how to make pavlova and having a small going away party.
SUNDAY, we're spending the day packing, because...
MONDAY, we out. 8:35am ferry to the South Island, where we spend a week and a half exploring. We'll end up in Christchurch by Wednesday, May 10th to repack and fly to Philadelphia.
The posts from here on in will wither be long and expensive, or short and expensive. We will be doing lengthy stuff from New York, so keep an eye here mid-May if you don't see too much before then. Of course, we'll try.
Tonight, at 8:30pm (4:30am, Thursday, April 26 EST), Act III begins. Everybody take your seats, as this is going to be one wild month.
Peace,
Baby G & Dizzle
(As this is written, it's morning on our last day! Yes!)
We'll start by playing catch up very quickly, as it's been a little while since we've blogged, and both of you readers probably care a little about what's been going on...
First of all Baby G's finger is healing... slowly. It's almost back to it's original length, but is still very raw. Did you eat recently? If so, don't look below:
That's right: Dizzle had the camera IN the doctor's office! Like the paparazzi...
So you know, the white bit on top is NOT bone, it is just remnants from the bandage that... stuck. The doctor took it off WITHOUT counting to three, and Baby G almost screamed. :(
We're getting the wound redressed tomorrow a.m., and then once more in Christchurch before we fly out. We'll keep you posted on this issue next probably from New York.
We saw a dance concert last Saturday called Black Grace - Amata. Dizzle is not much of one for modern dance, but thought it was very good. Baby G will be blogging about it more specifically soon. Check out the website when you can, and stay tuned for her post.
Tomorrow night, we are going to see our very first live rugby game! It will be here in Wellington at Westpac Stadium, and will be our "own" Wellington Hurricanes against the Otago Highlanders. Though the 'Canes aren't in contention for the playoffs, we'll still get to see a live professional game, and a lot of these guys are All Blacks - the New Zealand team that will compete for the Rugby World Cup in November. This is gonna be so rad!
As we said, our last day of work is today. We both work together in the coffee-shop with a guy we don't hate, so it should go quickly. Since there have been so many NEGATIVE posts about this job, we thought we should show everybody some of the highlights of our shifts. There were a few people who were really interested in us, and we them. We got pictures.
This is Sring, a guy who's worked in the airport for, like, a decade. He was our Duty Manager for all the 4:00am shifts, and was really cool about us taking our breaks together.
This is Sokha. Oh my God, this woman can make coffee drinks like you've never seen. She really loved us and will miss us. Even though she doesn't speak a lot of English, she smiled every time we saw her. And that made US smile. And that's tough to do before 4:30 in the morning.
This is Grant, one of the evening Duty Managers. 1. If we ever open a restaurant, bar, coffee shop, or B&B, we're tracking THIS GUY down to work for us. Amazing customer service and attitude, plus, a really funny guy. Why he's at this corporate gig, we don't know. 2. We don't care what you do for a living or what your feelings are on drugs; it's hard not to like your boss when he's got a pot leaf tattooed on his wrist.
This is Khareesh. He wears too much jewelry but is a soft-spoken, calm cat. We dig him because he always made us felt like we were really good employees.
Tina & Syjhad. They're a couple, but we couldn't get them in the same shot as these were on two different days. She's Cambodian, and he is the 5th (and probably final) Iraqi with whom we've worked. They both have really good senses of humor and we can't say enough nice things about them. Funniest conversation: Syjhad was telling us about how there was a ton of money to be made in Iraq (because that's where the petrol is) and that everyone wanted to move there... until the "bad things" happened. He didn't want to offend us. What a guy.
Ray, the Kitchen Manager. In two years, this guy will be head chef at a 4-star place. Watch.
Pete, a.m. kitchen. Totally laid back guy. Nothing rattles him and he made the absurd morning shifts much easier to handle.
Finally, Jagruti. The only Indian woman with whom we worked who did not make Baby G feel like crap because she doesn't speak Hindi. She would kindly translate when the other girls were talking, and is a very gentle, sweet woman. She invited us over to her house for dinner, and to a "really good Indian temple in Kilbirnie" should we wish to join them sometime. Her family is strict vegetarian, and don't drink, so any time Jag needed help at the bar, she called us over. Funniest request: "How do I make a doublebourbonnoice?" That was all one word when she said it.
We're going to miss these people, and not the others. :)
Except one, whom we saved for last. This is a picture of us with Ken:
Actually, we're hanging out with Ken tonight. We saved him for last because he's the only co-worker we'd consider a friend after this, and the only one we wouldn't mind offering our homes to should he ever reach the USA. He is also the only one who knows this blog address, and has even commented a couple times! Ken, if you're reading this, you are one hell of a hard worker and one hell of a good guy. Shifts with you weren't work - they were fun (and you reminded us of home at a time when we needed it) because it was familiar and funny, like working with Tom White, Agne, Amelia or Skippy, etc. You made us feel relaxed, and we wanted to thank you for that.
Yesterday, for the day, we returned to Martinborough (where we worked on a vineyard) to attend ANZAC Day service at dawn. You can read up on it on Wiki, but it was very interesting. We woke up early to walk to the Town Square, where there was a church service that recognized the Australian and New Zealand soldiers who served in WWI & II. It was the first time we'd heard the New Zealand National Anthem (that we knew of), and they sang a song called "God Save the Queen", which is set to the same tune as "My Country 'tis of Thee" and a funny song I can't remember from grade school. It was solemn and a little sad, but it was a very nice way to start a day with friends. We finished up by having a large breakfast, talking and laughing with Andrew and Mandy, Jason and Leigh, and we even got to walk down the block and reconnect with our man Chris, whom we hadn't seen in a couple months. There, we told him why Six Flags is better than Disney, bid him adieu, and came back to Wellington. A holiday well spent.
We have some sad news. While we were North, we learned that Martinborough Beer and Ales has decided to close. Barnsey's company, for whom we worked, has folded. We wish Barnsey, Rona, and the rest of our friends there the best of luck in future endeavors.
One additional post script: This is what Dizzle looks like as of 24 hours ago:
SATURDAY, we're learning how to make pavlova and having a small going away party.
SUNDAY, we're spending the day packing, because...
MONDAY, we out. 8:35am ferry to the South Island, where we spend a week and a half exploring. We'll end up in Christchurch by Wednesday, May 10th to repack and fly to Philadelphia.
The posts from here on in will wither be long and expensive, or short and expensive. We will be doing lengthy stuff from New York, so keep an eye here mid-May if you don't see too much before then. Of course, we'll try.
Tonight, at 8:30pm (4:30am, Thursday, April 26 EST), Act III begins. Everybody take your seats, as this is going to be one wild month.
Peace,
Baby G & Dizzle
4.16.2007
VT
We were in the USA for the sniper, the Lancaster, PA shooting, Columbine, Flint, etc.
Our prayers are with the families of the students who so needlessly lost their lives today in Virginia. Even from across the Pond, we're feeling the sorrow from here.
With love,
Baby G & Dizzle
Our prayers are with the families of the students who so needlessly lost their lives today in Virginia. Even from across the Pond, we're feeling the sorrow from here.
With love,
Baby G & Dizzle
4.15.2007
We Gave Notice but Paid No Interest
We gave our slightly-less-than-two-weeks-notice at the airport yestedray. Booyah.
Well, That Happened.
On “The West Wing”, you frequently see extras or visitors to Bartlet's White House with a badge around their neck bearing a red letter “A”. I'd imagine in the ACTUAL White House, you'd have to wear something similar – so security knows you're allowed to be there and whatnot.
The other night, we were watching the show, and Baby G asked me, “What's the red 'A' for?”
To which I replied, “Adulterer.”
This was mere hours after I was given a free set-up. During a momentary lapse of academia, Baby G actually asked me a question that was so brilliant, such a freebie, such a GUARANTEE of humor no matter HOW I answered, I had to do a double-take to make sure I'd been asked it. Ladies and Gentlemen, in your life, you will very rarely get this opportunity. This is like watching your odometer switch over from 99,999 miles to 100K. You'll laugh, or at least smirk, when thinking about what YOU would say if someone said to you:
“How do you spell 'RELIEF'?”
Of course, you know the answer.
Thinking of you all,
Dizzle
The other night, we were watching the show, and Baby G asked me, “What's the red 'A' for?”
To which I replied, “Adulterer.”
This was mere hours after I was given a free set-up. During a momentary lapse of academia, Baby G actually asked me a question that was so brilliant, such a freebie, such a GUARANTEE of humor no matter HOW I answered, I had to do a double-take to make sure I'd been asked it. Ladies and Gentlemen, in your life, you will very rarely get this opportunity. This is like watching your odometer switch over from 99,999 miles to 100K. You'll laugh, or at least smirk, when thinking about what YOU would say if someone said to you:
“How do you spell 'RELIEF'?”
Of course, you know the answer.
Thinking of you all,
Dizzle
I Believe that Children are our Future...
There are, in fact, Americans that travel overseas. Quite a bit of them, in fact. Our friend Miriam has danced in Australia and has backpacked much of Western Europe. Jamie's been to Israel. Scott used to live in the Czech Republic, David's been to Asia, Patrick learned Spanish in Guatemala, the other Patrick met his WIFE in South Korea, etc., etc. The list goes on and on. So it would be silly to have a blog based on the differences between American culture and that of a foreign land.
That said, however, this is Dizzle's first overseas experience (first time ever being west of the Mississippi River!), and the first real long one for Baby G. Because we're spending so MUCH time here, there are certain things that we find slightly amusing, or downright... well, foreign for lack of a better word. We are not making fun, we are simply allowing for some of the nuances to come to light. When you're in a country that is NOT yours for a period of time, it's the small details (“The little differences”, Pulp Fiction) that can really make one smile or cringe. Just when it seems like you're getting used to it, like you've got the majority of it all 'sussed out', you come to something so monumentally off the wall, you simply HAVE to share it with someone.
So. Have we ever told you about the children here?
The other day, Dizzle was working at the coffeeshop part of the airport food court, and a family came up for lunch and coffee. They were a little indecisive, but there wasn't yet a line behind them, so nobody was in any rush. When, item by item, they'd finally gotten to the end of the order, the mom said to the little boy, “Do you want something to eat?” The kid yelled, “I WANTED THE CAKE!” Now, Baby G and Dizzle aren't parents, and so the whole world of parenting is unknown to us. They may have all been having a bad day, or were nervous to fly or something, but Dizzle still thought he handled it well by GLARING at the child as he set down the slice of cake, never again making eye contact with the mom. He wasn't telling her how to parent – on the contrary – he was having a private, psychic conversation with the kid and telling him he was a little brat who should probably start saying 'please' and 'thank you' or, sooner or later, he'll end up with his cake shoved in his face.
When we were both exploring up North, we stopped at a campsite for the night, just to pitch the tent for a few hours and get some sleep. We were next to a campervan with a very nice family from Auckland who offered us beer and soda. We'd clearly had quite a long day and were looking forward to getting to sleep. And we would have, too, if the couple's two young sons hadn't been, we swear to God, HITTING OUR RENTAL CAR WITH A TENNIS RACKET. And the parents said NOTHING!
Right now, in current events here in NZ, the main three stories are: the policemen who've been forcing themselves on women and videotaping it; the murder spree of a paroled man named Burton, who was caught shortly after he was released to begin with; and a potential law on the books banning parents from smacking their kids – even a little. Everyone here has an opinion about all three of these things, but the one we've been paying almost NO attention to is the last one. But as soon as we hit one of these little punks, we'll probably start.
Dizzle's sister, Claire, and all four parents will probably read this post and laugh. They'll all smirk and say things like, “They'll understand how it is when they have kids.” To this we say two things: 1. So? You might be right, but we're NOT parents yet and so nanny nanny boo boo. :P And 2., just because we don't HAVE kids, doesn't mean we aren't FAMILIAR with kids. That's why we mention it at all. Believe us, if this were a couple isolated instances, we'd never mention it. We would just go, “Ah, well, I guess kids are kids everywhere,” or something. We are saying that there are a lot of little demon midgets running around in this country and if you ever end up visiting here, don't be surprised. That's all we're saying.
Don't get us wrong, the well behaved kids here are SO cute. The little almost-Euro accents being so polite and adorable... it's quite heartwarming. Like something out of a Roald Dahl book, or a movie starring that kid from Kindergarten Cop. Those kids are all right by us, and we look forward to them.
The other kids, the ones it will soon be illegal to smack, need to be shipped off to someplace where their days are spent learning to be polite and respectful of other people's space. But no tennis or cake.
They'll understand why when they're old enough.
That said, however, this is Dizzle's first overseas experience (first time ever being west of the Mississippi River!), and the first real long one for Baby G. Because we're spending so MUCH time here, there are certain things that we find slightly amusing, or downright... well, foreign for lack of a better word. We are not making fun, we are simply allowing for some of the nuances to come to light. When you're in a country that is NOT yours for a period of time, it's the small details (“The little differences”, Pulp Fiction) that can really make one smile or cringe. Just when it seems like you're getting used to it, like you've got the majority of it all 'sussed out', you come to something so monumentally off the wall, you simply HAVE to share it with someone.
So. Have we ever told you about the children here?
The other day, Dizzle was working at the coffeeshop part of the airport food court, and a family came up for lunch and coffee. They were a little indecisive, but there wasn't yet a line behind them, so nobody was in any rush. When, item by item, they'd finally gotten to the end of the order, the mom said to the little boy, “Do you want something to eat?” The kid yelled, “I WANTED THE CAKE!” Now, Baby G and Dizzle aren't parents, and so the whole world of parenting is unknown to us. They may have all been having a bad day, or were nervous to fly or something, but Dizzle still thought he handled it well by GLARING at the child as he set down the slice of cake, never again making eye contact with the mom. He wasn't telling her how to parent – on the contrary – he was having a private, psychic conversation with the kid and telling him he was a little brat who should probably start saying 'please' and 'thank you' or, sooner or later, he'll end up with his cake shoved in his face.
When we were both exploring up North, we stopped at a campsite for the night, just to pitch the tent for a few hours and get some sleep. We were next to a campervan with a very nice family from Auckland who offered us beer and soda. We'd clearly had quite a long day and were looking forward to getting to sleep. And we would have, too, if the couple's two young sons hadn't been, we swear to God, HITTING OUR RENTAL CAR WITH A TENNIS RACKET. And the parents said NOTHING!
Right now, in current events here in NZ, the main three stories are: the policemen who've been forcing themselves on women and videotaping it; the murder spree of a paroled man named Burton, who was caught shortly after he was released to begin with; and a potential law on the books banning parents from smacking their kids – even a little. Everyone here has an opinion about all three of these things, but the one we've been paying almost NO attention to is the last one. But as soon as we hit one of these little punks, we'll probably start.
Dizzle's sister, Claire, and all four parents will probably read this post and laugh. They'll all smirk and say things like, “They'll understand how it is when they have kids.” To this we say two things: 1. So? You might be right, but we're NOT parents yet and so nanny nanny boo boo. :P And 2., just because we don't HAVE kids, doesn't mean we aren't FAMILIAR with kids. That's why we mention it at all. Believe us, if this were a couple isolated instances, we'd never mention it. We would just go, “Ah, well, I guess kids are kids everywhere,” or something. We are saying that there are a lot of little demon midgets running around in this country and if you ever end up visiting here, don't be surprised. That's all we're saying.
Don't get us wrong, the well behaved kids here are SO cute. The little almost-Euro accents being so polite and adorable... it's quite heartwarming. Like something out of a Roald Dahl book, or a movie starring that kid from Kindergarten Cop. Those kids are all right by us, and we look forward to them.
The other kids, the ones it will soon be illegal to smack, need to be shipped off to someplace where their days are spent learning to be polite and respectful of other people's space. But no tennis or cake.
They'll understand why when they're old enough.
4.11.2007
How to Eat in New Zealand for Under $100 a Week
“If I check 'McNuggetted' [when asked how he'd like his chicken prepared], d'you think they'll let me have two different dippin' sauces? I like hot mustard for the first bite, but I like to chase it with a little honey on the second bite. You know, it's like having a small meal followed by a tiny dessert every ten to fifteen seconds.” ~Randy, from My Name is Earl, Episode: “Joy's Wedding”
Did we ever mention to you that during the week-and-a-half we were exploring the North Island, we lived off of peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches and trail mix? There were a couple of meals where this wasn't the case; at Robyn's, on The Rock, and with Ricky, but by and large, we had a LOT of PB&J and trail mix. Also, oranges.
April is officially the month of the chicken nugget. We have been going to the supermarket once a week and getting items that are used to make primarily four meals:
1-Chicken Nugget Sandwiches
2-Chicken Nugget Salad
3-Chicken Nuggets, and
4-Pies
To anyone out there who likes to cook, we are publishing four recipes for you, so you can have what we're having. Feel free to print and save.
Chicken Nugget Sandwiches
Ingredients:
6 Frozen Chicken Nuggets
4 Leaves Lettuce
1 Tomato, sliced
4 Slices $0.99 Bread
4 Slices Cheese cut from wicked big block.
What to Do:
Bake nuggets in oven for 15 minutes on 200-degrees C (or, 400-degrees F), turning each one over once halfway through the time**. While these are heating, lay bread out and top half the pieces with cheese, the other half with lettuce and tomato slices distributed evenly among the two slices. Lay hot nuggets on top of the cheese, three nuggets to a slice. Close bread together and enjoy!
Serves 2. No Seconds or Leftovers.
Chicken Nugget Salad
Ingredients:
6 Frozen Chicken Nuggets
½ Head of Lettuce, cut up
1 Tomato, diced
¼ cup Cheese, shredded or diced
¼ cup Croutons
¼ cup Salami, diced
2 Eggs, hard boiled
Salt & Pepper and Dressing to taste
What to Do:
Clearly, from the number of ingredients alone, this recipe will be far more complex than the last one! It is actually very simple. Bake nuggets in oven for 15 minutes on 200-degrees C (or, 400-degrees F), turning each one over once halfway through the time**. While these are heating, unshell and slice up the eggs. Put eggs, salami and cheese in a bowl and set aside. Mix tomatoes and lettuce in a large bowl. Watch UK Who Wants to be a Millionaire? or scare the dog while waiting for the nuggets, which can feel like a lot longer than 15 minutes. Hopefully a rugby game is on. Dice up the nuggets and put in bowl with eggs, cheese, and salami. Two minutes before eating, combine all ingredients in larger bowl, season, and serve. Use only one fork and pass the bowl between you as you eat.
Serves 2. No Seconds or Leftovers.
Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients:
A Bunch of Frozen Chicken Nuggets
Ketchup
What to Do:
Bake nuggets in oven for 15 minutes on 200-degrees C (or, 400-degrees F), turning each one over once halfway through the time**. When done, scoop onto paper plate with ketchup (or, if none is available, 'toma(h)to sauce' would be fine) and enjoy.
Serves Many or Few. Seconds and Leftovers Depend on if you Have a Microwave and/or Free Time.
Pies
Ingredients:
1 Frozen Pie per Person, any kind. The best are steak and cheese, mince, and chicken and vegetable, though egg and cheese was good, too, the one time we had it.
What to Do:
Bake pies on cookie sheet in oven for 20-30 minutes at 200-degrees C (or, 400-degrees F)**. Enjoy.
Serves up to 6, the Number of Pies in the Package From Pak-n-$ave.
**Apparently, by law, none of the food in New Zealand shall be permitted to come with heating instructions on the label or packaging. These temperatures and times are all estimates and may vary by oven.
It should be noted that this is not a sad thing – we actually crave dinner every night!
Happy dining Everybody!
Did we ever mention to you that during the week-and-a-half we were exploring the North Island, we lived off of peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches and trail mix? There were a couple of meals where this wasn't the case; at Robyn's, on The Rock, and with Ricky, but by and large, we had a LOT of PB&J and trail mix. Also, oranges.
April is officially the month of the chicken nugget. We have been going to the supermarket once a week and getting items that are used to make primarily four meals:
1-Chicken Nugget Sandwiches
2-Chicken Nugget Salad
3-Chicken Nuggets, and
4-Pies
To anyone out there who likes to cook, we are publishing four recipes for you, so you can have what we're having. Feel free to print and save.
Chicken Nugget Sandwiches
Ingredients:
6 Frozen Chicken Nuggets
4 Leaves Lettuce
1 Tomato, sliced
4 Slices $0.99 Bread
4 Slices Cheese cut from wicked big block.
What to Do:
Bake nuggets in oven for 15 minutes on 200-degrees C (or, 400-degrees F), turning each one over once halfway through the time**. While these are heating, lay bread out and top half the pieces with cheese, the other half with lettuce and tomato slices distributed evenly among the two slices. Lay hot nuggets on top of the cheese, three nuggets to a slice. Close bread together and enjoy!
Serves 2. No Seconds or Leftovers.
Chicken Nugget Salad
Ingredients:
6 Frozen Chicken Nuggets
½ Head of Lettuce, cut up
1 Tomato, diced
¼ cup Cheese, shredded or diced
¼ cup Croutons
¼ cup Salami, diced
2 Eggs, hard boiled
Salt & Pepper and Dressing to taste
What to Do:
Clearly, from the number of ingredients alone, this recipe will be far more complex than the last one! It is actually very simple. Bake nuggets in oven for 15 minutes on 200-degrees C (or, 400-degrees F), turning each one over once halfway through the time**. While these are heating, unshell and slice up the eggs. Put eggs, salami and cheese in a bowl and set aside. Mix tomatoes and lettuce in a large bowl. Watch UK Who Wants to be a Millionaire? or scare the dog while waiting for the nuggets, which can feel like a lot longer than 15 minutes. Hopefully a rugby game is on. Dice up the nuggets and put in bowl with eggs, cheese, and salami. Two minutes before eating, combine all ingredients in larger bowl, season, and serve. Use only one fork and pass the bowl between you as you eat.
Serves 2. No Seconds or Leftovers.
Chicken Nuggets
Ingredients:
A Bunch of Frozen Chicken Nuggets
Ketchup
What to Do:
Bake nuggets in oven for 15 minutes on 200-degrees C (or, 400-degrees F), turning each one over once halfway through the time**. When done, scoop onto paper plate with ketchup (or, if none is available, 'toma(h)to sauce' would be fine) and enjoy.
Serves Many or Few. Seconds and Leftovers Depend on if you Have a Microwave and/or Free Time.
Pies
Ingredients:
1 Frozen Pie per Person, any kind. The best are steak and cheese, mince, and chicken and vegetable, though egg and cheese was good, too, the one time we had it.
What to Do:
Bake pies on cookie sheet in oven for 20-30 minutes at 200-degrees C (or, 400-degrees F)**. Enjoy.
Serves up to 6, the Number of Pies in the Package From Pak-n-$ave.
**Apparently, by law, none of the food in New Zealand shall be permitted to come with heating instructions on the label or packaging. These temperatures and times are all estimates and may vary by oven.
It should be noted that this is not a sad thing – we actually crave dinner every night!
Happy dining Everybody!
4.08.2007
End of Act II – Intermission (or: “The Empire Strikes Back”)
**The following was written March 31st. It had not been previously posted as I asked a few people to weigh in before publishing. We're feeling better, though idle for another couple of weeks. Baby G's finger is healing nicely, I was just freaking out for a minute and needed to get this off my chest. Enjoy!**
The following was written by Dizzle. Baby G may write her own narrative, but for the moment, you're all stuck with me.
One thing I learned in college was the format of a three-act play. Supposedly, one of the major parts of telling a story is that the first third, or Act I, is an introduction to the characters and the beginnings of their conflict or story. The second third, Act II, generally ends on a down note, and the audience is left going out for a cigarette or coffee at intermission wondering if the heroes will resolve everything by the end. Finally, and obviously, Act III is the ultimate resolution, stereotypically with a happy ending (not THAT kind of 'happy ending'. The kind from 'Jedi'). The “Star Wars” trilogy follows this format, and I've heard George Lucas was inspired by the old pulp-style superhero stories that followed this format closely. You can even see it sometimes in other movies or TV shows. Commercial breaks are timed in such a way to be conducive to this type of story-telling.
Well, since the very beginning of Baby G & Dizzle's Kiwi Experience started with a post called “Prologue”, I feel it's appropriate to pause for a moment and update you on the state of our “heroes.” I'm not afraid to tell you, it's been a rough couple weeks. We have come this far away from home (the first time *I* for one have ever set foot out of my home country) in part to think very seriously about our future. Those of you who know us well, know that we have a tendency to over analyze and become slightly panicky about the more negative developments in our lives. Also, we've spent the better part of the last four years (since we graduated) sort of idle in the restaurant business. This is not necessarily BAD work, but we have needed to decide if it's really what we want to be doing with our lives.
The downhill slope started a few weeks ago. One of my best friends, a guy by whom I've been inspired to be a better person, lost his dad to a sudden heart attack. I've known him most of my life, and I'd even go so far as to say his parents had a hand in raising me. This buddy of mine and I lost touch when I was a teenager, mostly due to the fact that we lived far away from each other and teenagers are more concerned about garage bands and acne than they are keeping in touch with one another. In late 2005 he moved nearer to where Baby G and I were living in Washington, DC, and we were blessed with a chance to reconnect. I learned that he had become a very good man. He is kind, funny and compassionate, and that's great, but I've heard that said about me, too. No, the thing about this friend of mine is that he is LAID BACK, something I've never been. I admire that, and have been trying to channel him throughout this trip to New Zealand, in an effort to become a better man – someone who is more able to handle a more “roll with the punches” mindset. The loss of his father shook him up, and so when I called to express my condolences and offer anything I could do for help, he sounded less like how I remember him and more like he had a lot on his plate. Don't get me wrong, he obviously IS going through a lot right now, and my heart goes out to him. I'm just saying that hearing his voice like that; sad, stressed, out of sorts was something for which I was ill-prepared. Dude, if you're reading this, know that you are missed and loved by both Baby G and I, and feel free to call us anytime if you need to.
Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker had just learned about his own lineage and has left Dagobah to confront Darth Vader.
The beginning-middle of March found your protagonists looking for work. I was offered a job managing a pool hall in what ends up being a shady neighborhood after dark, and had to turn them down as public transportation doesn't run as late as I would've been getting out. Baby G could've stayed at the university answering phones, but the office is (for some reason) flea-infested, and she's been having trouble understanding the Kiwi accent over the phone. So we accepted the only job we'd been offered as a team: the airport food lounge. It's essentially the same as what I imagine working at McDonald's would be like: scooping fries, working the register, pouring the occasional soda. We are VASTLY overqualified for this work, but because we could be hired together, we figured we'd just do our best to help each other to laugh through it. We looked at the finances and figured we'd only need to stick it out for about six weeks in order to make enough money to explore the South Island for a couple weeks and then head back to the States. Some of the shifts for work start at 4:00am, as there is a lot of commuter air traffic to places like Auckland, Christchurch and Sydney, so BG and I had to swiftly alter our sleep schedules as best we could to still be able to wake up at the brutally early hour of 2:30am.
Have any of you ever had a job you absolutely hated? I mean, a job where no one with whom you work speaks English, and though the work itself isn't difficult, you can feel your sanity slowly slipping away each time you open the greasy hot-food case or some other comparable task of banality? If you have, then you understand what we're going through for 40 hours a week. Combine the mindlessness of the work with the lack of adequate slumber, and you're looking at a ZombieDizzle.
Ordinarily, these two things would be a bit of a downer, but manageable for 6 weeks. As long as we didn't lose any more sleep, didn't get sick, and didn't receive any news from home that might make us homesick during this stretch, we'd be fine, right? Keep our heads low, our mouths shut, and get the work done. Get paid, take off, have learned lessons and become better people in the process, right? RIGHT?
Sounds about as promising as Han Solo, Chewie, Leia, R2 and 3PO heading off to Cloud City to go see their good friend Lando to discuss the dark times they've witnessed over good food, company and wine.
On our third day of work, Baby G had an accident. We were both working in the espresso bar, and she had a line of customers. She apparently had gotten a few orders for hot chocolate, but had run out of mix and needed me to find some. When I got back from across the food court with the chocolate, my Baby was running her hand under water. “Are you okay?” I asked her, and she sort of gritted her teeth and nodded and told me to go help the customers. The next thing I know, Baby G is gone, and after about ten minutes of making coffee for people, the duty manager, Grant, came over to me and told me to “knock off early”. He asked if I knew what happened, and I told him I didn't. “Well,” he said, “[Baby G] got her finger ground up in the coffee grinder and so Moni is off to get his car to give you guys a ride to the ER. Go ahead and clock out; she's in the lounge.”
I sprinted to the employee lounge to see my love crying and shaking and bleeding. Not necessarily in that order, but doing plenty of all three. One of our coworkers, Momoe (or something), a thoroughly unpleasant Samoan, asked what happened and (I swear to God) started LAUGHING when I told her. Before either BG or I could clock this chick in the face, we heard Moni's keys as he ran to get us, so we decided to split and meet him in the hallway.
I know most of you already saw the post regarding the injury, so I won't bore you with the gory (anyone?) details, but suffice it to say, it was a horrible night. She didn't need stitches, but whenever we tell people that, they make a face like, “Oh, phew, at least it's not that bad.” It's better to say she didn't RECEIVE stitches. She NEEDED them badly, but unfortunately, there wasn't enough SKIN to stitch. Seriously, you can see the inner meat of her finger when they redress this thing. It's really gross and there is no way she's very comfortable. They told us at the hospital (the kids in the waiting room, Moni's girlfriend, and the drunk 16-year old are either stories for another post, or for the next time we see you in person. We can't give it ALL away, can we?) that she should get a new, clean bandage in 3 days, and that we should go to the clinic down the road. Sadly, that plan didn't work out for us as she bled through that thing in, like, 20 hours. So we went to the clinic to get it redressed, and they informed us we'd need to come back to have it changed every day for awhile. I pretty much bitched out the doctor for the entire New Zealand medical system and how confusing this was for us. We were both (Baby G and I, not me and the doctor. Sorry.) understandably scared, and a little lonely. My girl doesn't do too well with doctors as it is, so to have to attend one every single day for God-knows-how-long was pretty rough. I didn't sleep too much that first few nights, and was starting to lose my shit by the third day.
I did, however, keep going to work, as the company was paying for BG's missed wages up to the first week, but we'd worked out our return budget with TWO full-time incomes. Wanna watch time move really REALLY slowly? Go to work at the above-mentioned job worrying for 8 hours about the person you love. Time's funny that way, I guess.
Figuring out New Zealand's medical system has been a trip in and of itself. I won't go too far into it, but from where BG and I were, it seemed we shouldn't have to pay a DIME because this injury occurred at work. It doesn't work that way here, though. Apparently, we pay the prices of the FACILITY where she's getting the redressing done. So, at this clinic that was referred to us by the ER, they were charging us NZ$43 a visit and telling us to come back every day for awhile. Thankfully, BG got the idea to go to a GP here in our suburb and they have thus far been very cool and are only having us come in once a week and charging us less. Since Workman's Comp isn't a thing here in NZ, we're going to be out of pocket some, but this is much less of a concern than Baby G's healing, which, after a week now, is finally coming along. Thank God. The point is, it has taken a lot of questions to every doctor, nurse, manager, and receptionist to sort any of this out, as no one really knows what to do with two Yanks on a working holiday visa if one's gotten her fingertip cut off in a coffee grinder. We're still working on this as I type, but last week was by far the worst time it's been here.
Baby G got many emails of support during this time, which I know made her feel much better and lessened the pain some, but from what she tells me, she was pretty freaked out those times that I had to go to work. There was some news from home, also, that was more business-oriented than anything emotionally supportive, and so she had to nine-finger-type her way through some of that on her own. Not easy.
Remember when I said “As long as we didn't lose any more sleep, didn't get sick, and didn't receive any news from home that might make us homesick during this stretch, we'd be fine”? Well there's the hat-trick. We got all three in one fell swoop.
But, hey, Luke lost his whole HAND, right?
I guess BG saw in my body language after the third or fourth day that I was pretty close to the edge, because she asked me if I was okay. I hadn't known it, but I was pretty far from okay. I was walking around like a dead guy due to fatigue, and was starting to feel the pressure of some of the more everyday things like customers at work, housework, and emails to the States regarding tax-time. It was then that we really sat down and had a long talk about what the next step should be. Neither one of us has been very comfortable in our own skin lately, and we hadn't yet really had the opportunity to address it with one another.
Things are looking up today. We went into town and continued pumping each other up, trying to calm each other's nerves and raise our self-esteem. Baby G asked if maybe it would help to blow off some steam in this blog, and so that's what I'm doing. I asked if it would be inappropriate to blog about my feelings, but she reminded me that we know of several people who do just that, and that it's not egocentric since the people who read this blog are smart people who care about us and should be in on these things.
My dad said something early on in this trip, and my buddy Paul echoed it today on the phone. They both mentioned that though the blog and pictures look good, when is the other shoe going to drop? Six months is a long time to be in a foreign country for the first time, and believe it or not, I think it was comforting to THEM to know if things were looking slightly unsavory. Like a reality-check, you know? To know that even Baby G and Dizzle, “anonymous” main characters of this travelogue, can be slowed in their adventure. Well, guys, and to anyone else out there wondering the same thing, the shoe's dropped. We're looking up now, and actually feeling pretty good knowing we have tickets home, newfound ambition for our lives, and that we're closer than ever to each other, but for awhile there, man, did it get dark.
I am not writing this to sound whiny, weak or selfish. Though I may sound all three of these things, the intention is to blow off some steam by publicly letting you know how we're doing, and that no matter how pretty the scenery, sometimes you just wish you were back at home. THAT emotion is yet another lesson learned.
We've reached the end of Act II, and it's time for intermission. We may blog updates in the next little while, but until April 30th, nothing is scheduled to happen other than showing up on time for this absurd position in airport food service. Don't worry about us – that's not why I wrote this – we feel fairly confident that we'll be partying with the Ewoks soon enough as we near the conclusion. You should come. There'll be a big bonfire and friendly robots and Alec Guinness' ghost might show up. But do us a favor: If you DO decide to come dance to the “Yub Yub” song with us, bring pre-ground coffee, okay?
Thanks. Go hit the bathroom or grab a smoke. We'll catch up with you shortly at curtains-up.
The following was written by Dizzle. Baby G may write her own narrative, but for the moment, you're all stuck with me.
One thing I learned in college was the format of a three-act play. Supposedly, one of the major parts of telling a story is that the first third, or Act I, is an introduction to the characters and the beginnings of their conflict or story. The second third, Act II, generally ends on a down note, and the audience is left going out for a cigarette or coffee at intermission wondering if the heroes will resolve everything by the end. Finally, and obviously, Act III is the ultimate resolution, stereotypically with a happy ending (not THAT kind of 'happy ending'. The kind from 'Jedi'). The “Star Wars” trilogy follows this format, and I've heard George Lucas was inspired by the old pulp-style superhero stories that followed this format closely. You can even see it sometimes in other movies or TV shows. Commercial breaks are timed in such a way to be conducive to this type of story-telling.
Well, since the very beginning of Baby G & Dizzle's Kiwi Experience started with a post called “Prologue”, I feel it's appropriate to pause for a moment and update you on the state of our “heroes.” I'm not afraid to tell you, it's been a rough couple weeks. We have come this far away from home (the first time *I* for one have ever set foot out of my home country) in part to think very seriously about our future. Those of you who know us well, know that we have a tendency to over analyze and become slightly panicky about the more negative developments in our lives. Also, we've spent the better part of the last four years (since we graduated) sort of idle in the restaurant business. This is not necessarily BAD work, but we have needed to decide if it's really what we want to be doing with our lives.
The downhill slope started a few weeks ago. One of my best friends, a guy by whom I've been inspired to be a better person, lost his dad to a sudden heart attack. I've known him most of my life, and I'd even go so far as to say his parents had a hand in raising me. This buddy of mine and I lost touch when I was a teenager, mostly due to the fact that we lived far away from each other and teenagers are more concerned about garage bands and acne than they are keeping in touch with one another. In late 2005 he moved nearer to where Baby G and I were living in Washington, DC, and we were blessed with a chance to reconnect. I learned that he had become a very good man. He is kind, funny and compassionate, and that's great, but I've heard that said about me, too. No, the thing about this friend of mine is that he is LAID BACK, something I've never been. I admire that, and have been trying to channel him throughout this trip to New Zealand, in an effort to become a better man – someone who is more able to handle a more “roll with the punches” mindset. The loss of his father shook him up, and so when I called to express my condolences and offer anything I could do for help, he sounded less like how I remember him and more like he had a lot on his plate. Don't get me wrong, he obviously IS going through a lot right now, and my heart goes out to him. I'm just saying that hearing his voice like that; sad, stressed, out of sorts was something for which I was ill-prepared. Dude, if you're reading this, know that you are missed and loved by both Baby G and I, and feel free to call us anytime if you need to.
Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker had just learned about his own lineage and has left Dagobah to confront Darth Vader.
The beginning-middle of March found your protagonists looking for work. I was offered a job managing a pool hall in what ends up being a shady neighborhood after dark, and had to turn them down as public transportation doesn't run as late as I would've been getting out. Baby G could've stayed at the university answering phones, but the office is (for some reason) flea-infested, and she's been having trouble understanding the Kiwi accent over the phone. So we accepted the only job we'd been offered as a team: the airport food lounge. It's essentially the same as what I imagine working at McDonald's would be like: scooping fries, working the register, pouring the occasional soda. We are VASTLY overqualified for this work, but because we could be hired together, we figured we'd just do our best to help each other to laugh through it. We looked at the finances and figured we'd only need to stick it out for about six weeks in order to make enough money to explore the South Island for a couple weeks and then head back to the States. Some of the shifts for work start at 4:00am, as there is a lot of commuter air traffic to places like Auckland, Christchurch and Sydney, so BG and I had to swiftly alter our sleep schedules as best we could to still be able to wake up at the brutally early hour of 2:30am.
Have any of you ever had a job you absolutely hated? I mean, a job where no one with whom you work speaks English, and though the work itself isn't difficult, you can feel your sanity slowly slipping away each time you open the greasy hot-food case or some other comparable task of banality? If you have, then you understand what we're going through for 40 hours a week. Combine the mindlessness of the work with the lack of adequate slumber, and you're looking at a ZombieDizzle.
Ordinarily, these two things would be a bit of a downer, but manageable for 6 weeks. As long as we didn't lose any more sleep, didn't get sick, and didn't receive any news from home that might make us homesick during this stretch, we'd be fine, right? Keep our heads low, our mouths shut, and get the work done. Get paid, take off, have learned lessons and become better people in the process, right? RIGHT?
Sounds about as promising as Han Solo, Chewie, Leia, R2 and 3PO heading off to Cloud City to go see their good friend Lando to discuss the dark times they've witnessed over good food, company and wine.
On our third day of work, Baby G had an accident. We were both working in the espresso bar, and she had a line of customers. She apparently had gotten a few orders for hot chocolate, but had run out of mix and needed me to find some. When I got back from across the food court with the chocolate, my Baby was running her hand under water. “Are you okay?” I asked her, and she sort of gritted her teeth and nodded and told me to go help the customers. The next thing I know, Baby G is gone, and after about ten minutes of making coffee for people, the duty manager, Grant, came over to me and told me to “knock off early”. He asked if I knew what happened, and I told him I didn't. “Well,” he said, “[Baby G] got her finger ground up in the coffee grinder and so Moni is off to get his car to give you guys a ride to the ER. Go ahead and clock out; she's in the lounge.”
I sprinted to the employee lounge to see my love crying and shaking and bleeding. Not necessarily in that order, but doing plenty of all three. One of our coworkers, Momoe (or something), a thoroughly unpleasant Samoan, asked what happened and (I swear to God) started LAUGHING when I told her. Before either BG or I could clock this chick in the face, we heard Moni's keys as he ran to get us, so we decided to split and meet him in the hallway.
I know most of you already saw the post regarding the injury, so I won't bore you with the gory (anyone?) details, but suffice it to say, it was a horrible night. She didn't need stitches, but whenever we tell people that, they make a face like, “Oh, phew, at least it's not that bad.” It's better to say she didn't RECEIVE stitches. She NEEDED them badly, but unfortunately, there wasn't enough SKIN to stitch. Seriously, you can see the inner meat of her finger when they redress this thing. It's really gross and there is no way she's very comfortable. They told us at the hospital (the kids in the waiting room, Moni's girlfriend, and the drunk 16-year old are either stories for another post, or for the next time we see you in person. We can't give it ALL away, can we?) that she should get a new, clean bandage in 3 days, and that we should go to the clinic down the road. Sadly, that plan didn't work out for us as she bled through that thing in, like, 20 hours. So we went to the clinic to get it redressed, and they informed us we'd need to come back to have it changed every day for awhile. I pretty much bitched out the doctor for the entire New Zealand medical system and how confusing this was for us. We were both (Baby G and I, not me and the doctor. Sorry.) understandably scared, and a little lonely. My girl doesn't do too well with doctors as it is, so to have to attend one every single day for God-knows-how-long was pretty rough. I didn't sleep too much that first few nights, and was starting to lose my shit by the third day.
I did, however, keep going to work, as the company was paying for BG's missed wages up to the first week, but we'd worked out our return budget with TWO full-time incomes. Wanna watch time move really REALLY slowly? Go to work at the above-mentioned job worrying for 8 hours about the person you love. Time's funny that way, I guess.
Figuring out New Zealand's medical system has been a trip in and of itself. I won't go too far into it, but from where BG and I were, it seemed we shouldn't have to pay a DIME because this injury occurred at work. It doesn't work that way here, though. Apparently, we pay the prices of the FACILITY where she's getting the redressing done. So, at this clinic that was referred to us by the ER, they were charging us NZ$43 a visit and telling us to come back every day for awhile. Thankfully, BG got the idea to go to a GP here in our suburb and they have thus far been very cool and are only having us come in once a week and charging us less. Since Workman's Comp isn't a thing here in NZ, we're going to be out of pocket some, but this is much less of a concern than Baby G's healing, which, after a week now, is finally coming along. Thank God. The point is, it has taken a lot of questions to every doctor, nurse, manager, and receptionist to sort any of this out, as no one really knows what to do with two Yanks on a working holiday visa if one's gotten her fingertip cut off in a coffee grinder. We're still working on this as I type, but last week was by far the worst time it's been here.
Baby G got many emails of support during this time, which I know made her feel much better and lessened the pain some, but from what she tells me, she was pretty freaked out those times that I had to go to work. There was some news from home, also, that was more business-oriented than anything emotionally supportive, and so she had to nine-finger-type her way through some of that on her own. Not easy.
Remember when I said “As long as we didn't lose any more sleep, didn't get sick, and didn't receive any news from home that might make us homesick during this stretch, we'd be fine”? Well there's the hat-trick. We got all three in one fell swoop.
But, hey, Luke lost his whole HAND, right?
I guess BG saw in my body language after the third or fourth day that I was pretty close to the edge, because she asked me if I was okay. I hadn't known it, but I was pretty far from okay. I was walking around like a dead guy due to fatigue, and was starting to feel the pressure of some of the more everyday things like customers at work, housework, and emails to the States regarding tax-time. It was then that we really sat down and had a long talk about what the next step should be. Neither one of us has been very comfortable in our own skin lately, and we hadn't yet really had the opportunity to address it with one another.
Things are looking up today. We went into town and continued pumping each other up, trying to calm each other's nerves and raise our self-esteem. Baby G asked if maybe it would help to blow off some steam in this blog, and so that's what I'm doing. I asked if it would be inappropriate to blog about my feelings, but she reminded me that we know of several people who do just that, and that it's not egocentric since the people who read this blog are smart people who care about us and should be in on these things.
My dad said something early on in this trip, and my buddy Paul echoed it today on the phone. They both mentioned that though the blog and pictures look good, when is the other shoe going to drop? Six months is a long time to be in a foreign country for the first time, and believe it or not, I think it was comforting to THEM to know if things were looking slightly unsavory. Like a reality-check, you know? To know that even Baby G and Dizzle, “anonymous” main characters of this travelogue, can be slowed in their adventure. Well, guys, and to anyone else out there wondering the same thing, the shoe's dropped. We're looking up now, and actually feeling pretty good knowing we have tickets home, newfound ambition for our lives, and that we're closer than ever to each other, but for awhile there, man, did it get dark.
I am not writing this to sound whiny, weak or selfish. Though I may sound all three of these things, the intention is to blow off some steam by publicly letting you know how we're doing, and that no matter how pretty the scenery, sometimes you just wish you were back at home. THAT emotion is yet another lesson learned.
We've reached the end of Act II, and it's time for intermission. We may blog updates in the next little while, but until April 30th, nothing is scheduled to happen other than showing up on time for this absurd position in airport food service. Don't worry about us – that's not why I wrote this – we feel fairly confident that we'll be partying with the Ewoks soon enough as we near the conclusion. You should come. There'll be a big bonfire and friendly robots and Alec Guinness' ghost might show up. But do us a favor: If you DO decide to come dance to the “Yub Yub” song with us, bring pre-ground coffee, okay?
Thanks. Go hit the bathroom or grab a smoke. We'll catch up with you shortly at curtains-up.
4.03.2007
A new look
We saw, the other day, when we were logging into Blogger, that there is a new feature that's let's you post videos from Youtube on the main post and people don't have to navigate away from your page to see it. We thought this was pretty cool, as we had seen a great video of otters holding hands, and it was something we thought everyone would enjoy otherwise they have no soul.
Instead, we found we had to "customize blog" template and layout and really get into the inner code of the appearance of the blog. Since we had the day off, and Baby G is feeling much better (thanks, btw, everyone, for the comments and emails!), we decided to check it out.
As it turns out, we were able to get that video of otters on the blog, and all you have to go to watch is click it -- it'll play on bigger screen on the top of the page. We could NOT, however, get Patrick and Erika's going away present to us to go there, nor Scott's first music video, so we'll look into that more and update you accordingly.
In the meantime, we gave the blog a makeover! The colors are now a little more "kiwi" than they were, and Baby G had a good time posting photos on the right for all to view. Also, we were able to add our friend Jamie's webpage to the side, as well. You should all check it out if you have a chance.
We're doing okay right now - taking it easy when we can. South Island countdown in 27 Days.
Happy Anniversary to elisha and Eric!
Congrats on Upcoming Nuptuals to Jake and Jenn!
Love to all!
Instead, we found we had to "customize blog" template and layout and really get into the inner code of the appearance of the blog. Since we had the day off, and Baby G is feeling much better (thanks, btw, everyone, for the comments and emails!), we decided to check it out.
As it turns out, we were able to get that video of otters on the blog, and all you have to go to watch is click it -- it'll play on bigger screen on the top of the page. We could NOT, however, get Patrick and Erika's going away present to us to go there, nor Scott's first music video, so we'll look into that more and update you accordingly.
In the meantime, we gave the blog a makeover! The colors are now a little more "kiwi" than they were, and Baby G had a good time posting photos on the right for all to view. Also, we were able to add our friend Jamie's webpage to the side, as well. You should all check it out if you have a chance.
We're doing okay right now - taking it easy when we can. South Island countdown in 27 Days.
Happy Anniversary to elisha and Eric!
Congrats on Upcoming Nuptuals to Jake and Jenn!
Love to all!
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