Ow

So I worked out for an hour and a half on Wednesday night. This after three weeks of inactivity. I hurt very much now.

Creative Tracker

I have been inspired.

Have you ever met someone who is amazing in practically every right? Someone who is intelligent, driven, ambitious, nice, beautiful, and downright tall?

Yep, you guessed it, my big sis JQ.

So, JQ has a secondary blog where she is tracking her writing progress. Now, mind you, this isn't just a blog like I used to do "I wrote three sentences today, yeah for me, and then I had ice cream to celebrate" this is a blog where she is tracking all of the amazing things that she does and all of the contests and competitions that she has submitted her work to.

So, I thought, maybe I, too, could be creatively driven if I wrote down what I do, as a motivational technique. Then I thought I would start up a new blog to track it, keep them separate. (And for those of you who think I have a second blog up and running already, you're wrong. I don't. Really. Look into my eyes....)

But then I thought that I should just do a self-check every once in a while and blog about it. That way you guys can tell me if I haven't done anything in a while! (I will yell at you and probably cry, but you could be right!)

Here is the update for today:
Reading - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, J.K. Rowling
Just Finished Reading - The Naked and the Dead, Norman Mailer
Photography - Did some product photography for work yesterday and I have five engagement photos to print up sometime in the next few weeks.
Writing - Haven't really. Last thing I wrote was a poem and it was...murky.
Kung Fu - Have to go back tonight. MUST GET BLUE SASH!!
Piano - I played the first dozen or so measures of "The Storm" the other day. Made me miss it.
Bass - It's pretty.
Guitar - SPF plays so well...
Inspiration - My sister.

I'm BAAAAAACK!!

Okay, I have been back for a while, but I have been REALLY busy. It's crazy, actually. I have been working to put everything in order from the trip as well as trying to keep myself running (figuratively, not like wamez...) and trying to get back into the swing of things.

Things don't want to be swung.

The most important of these is Kung Fu, which I will attend tonight for the first time in almost three weeks. I am petrified that Mr. N is going to be terribly disappointed, but that is probably because I am disappointed in myself. I did, count them, TWO slow motion kicks the entire time I was gone. I should have done about a dozen a night, for a light workout. Sigh.

It was busy, though, and trying, as you already know. But, hey, I guess this is life as a traveling business person. (I love you Dad. I had no idea.)

Oh, yeah, and I did some product photography for my company yesterday. It turned out okay.

Last Day as a Kiwi

Hello, all. This is my last day as a Kiwi!! I am headed back to the states in an hour and forty minutes. (In that my host is driving me back to the airport at that time. The actual plane doesn't leave for four hours and four minutes. Oh well. I made it!!

I will have many pictures to show and many happy things to share. Talk to you all soon!!

Me

Where O' Where Has My Dear Summer Gone?

I think it is actually getting colder every day. I was fine at first, but now I find myself wearing my new wool scarf inside EVERY building I enter. I get very cold in some of the plants that we are visiting. Like I mentioned previously, no insulation. Sad.

On the whole, though, things are progressing nicely. I have one more night in lovely Auckland, and then I leave tomorrow for the hellatious flight back. No worries. The beds here have been murder on my back, so the sooner I get back, the better. I might just stand on the plane whenever there is not a "fasten seatbelt while seated" sign on.

I love my new laptop. The local television is bizarre to say the least, and they pipe in a lot of US TV shows, so I get bored at night pretty easily. But, my saving grace has been my new little DVD player capable laptop. I am catching up on all my Full Metal as well as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and tonight a special treat, GALAXY QUEST!! I just wish I had brought more. I might catch a little Run Lola, Run as well, we shall see. It is actually cheaper for me to eat in my room, I discovered last night, and I get MORE FOOD!! So, tonight I will undoubtedly be dining again in my room with no one but Teddy to keep me company. (The Hilton provides a Teddy Bear in each room that you are welcome to take home for a mere $35.00.) I haven't touched him, but we talk a lot.

So, of the NZ TV that I have watched, NZ Idol is perhaps the most depressing. It is American Idol New Zealandized, and it is exactly the same with the one glaring exception that these people have funny accents. WHY?? What is the attraction to Reality TV??? Why does the world support it? Sigh.

Of the American shows brought over that I was most surprised to see? Invader Zim.

I can't wait for Serenity to come out. Hey, did you know they are playing all of the episodes of Firefly on the SciFi channel between now and the release? Check it out on your local listing and WATCH THE SHOW!!!

Yep.

Yeah, I kind of figured.


You are Deb and you could drink whole milk if you
wanted.

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What the Heck Day is it Part 2

Sorry for the delay in blogging. I have been very busy with work and not able to get to a computer with internet access for some time.

At this point, three audits down, two to go. We had a very difficult one today, uncooperative supplier that rapidly turned into a shouting match between my trainee and the Supplier. I had to interject and stop the whole thing. I was furious, but you'd never know it through my calm and rational smile. I TRAINED HIM NOT TO DO THAT! So, during lunch, I had to lecture him on appropriate behavior and response to a situation like that. He looked totally crushed and wouldn't speak to me for the ride back to the Supplier, but hell, THAT IS MY JOB!! I am so mad right now I can barely see straight. It should never have gone that way. I am doing very well at keeping my head about me and trying to practice all of my auditing skill in not screaming at him. Mistakes happen, I get that, and I hope he learned, but these three audits have been rather trying because he is a very slow learner (I think there is too much of a language barrier) and making the job very difficult. I am starting to think that I will have to recommend that he not audit solo. I don't think it would go very well, especially if there is conflict.

BUT THAT IS THE BORING WORK STUFF!!

On to the fabulous tales of New Zealand.

On Saturday, my one day off, I went on a fabulous tour of the North Island, South of where I am staying in Auckland. I went to the Waitomo glow worm caves and saw the worms glow. (They are actually big bugs that "glow" in their "worm" or pupal stage.) Cool.

Then we went to the Agrodome where I met a REAL LIFE SHEEP SHEARER!! Oh, and I fed real live sheep, deer, and EMU!!! (You all should know how much I love the EMU!!! Actually, you may not know...it is a long story...I will share sometime.) At any rate, I was feeding the EMU way up high on account of how tall they are and a sheep got mad at me for not feeding it and kicked me in the shin. As my hubby said later that day "Good thing you have been doing all that shin conditioning in Kung Fu." Amen, brother. Not even a bruise!! Oh, and STEVE the SHEEP SHEARER was SOOOOO pretty. He was very nice to me and we talked a great deal about sheep. He was quite good. Sheared his whole sheep in a minute and a half. It was crazy. Did you know that sheep wool is covered in oil? Yes, but did you know that the oil is Lanolin? They told us that STEVE's hands were very soft...I didn't investigate.

After that it was on to the Rainbow Springs, where imported Rainbow trout are a big attraction. (Um, okay.) They take very good care of them and then release them into a local stream where they spawn and thrive. (Um, okay.) BUT the really neat thing about Rainbow Springs is the Kiwi enclosure. I have seen Kiwi enclosures before (they have one at the San Diego Zoo) but never before seen an ACTUAL KIWI!!! The one that we saw was running all around and having a grand ole time. He (or she?) was fantastic. Strange, fat little birds.

Then onto Rotorua. A land that the local Maori deemed "A foul, evil smelling place." Reason being, hot springs and geysers. YEAH! They were steamy hot, which was great, they heated fabulous rocks in the area, which my butt loved (as it is even colder the more south you go) and they had boiling mud pools which were FANTASTIC because it reminded me of the Bog of Eternal Stench. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE!!! HEE HEE HEE!!!!

Then, on the way back from Rotorua, we passed by a little attraction that may hold some interest for some of you...HOBBITON!!!! That's right, folks, I have been to Hobbiton and you haven't. Okay, to be fair, I have driven past Hobbiton, and you haven't. Okay, to be SUPER fair, I was twenty minutes outside of Hobbiton and saw a sign for it...but now I know it still exists. Our guide told us that, of all of the sets built for the trilogy, Hobbiton retains the most of the original set. It was a nice sign.

And that brings me to today. It is still pretty cold, I am LOATHING my job at this point, but I still feel exceptionally lucky to have been sent to this exotic and wonderful land for audits and training.

Much love!

It's Cold, But the Chicken was Good

It is cold here. It is colder today. Did I mention that they don't insulate their buildings? I don't know why, but it makes it cold inside as well as outside. People wear their jackets all day long.

However, the food is relatively inexpensive (I think, I am still trying to work out the conversion.) I had excellent, top of the line chicken last night for I think $40.00, including a glass of local wine. Really good chicken. The chicken was crusted with Parmesan and heptuleishalksih....something that the waiter told me was high class seaweed. I didn't think such a thing really existed, but it was good chicken, so who am I to argue.

We shall see what today holds. I am going to train my host some more, lunch, undoubtedly, and then we shall prepare for tomorrow's audit. That is if he doesn't want to go gallivanting off and enjoy the countryside some more.

He has some driving issues, but I will try and acclimate. I only feared for my life a few times in the half hour trip yesterday. No problem. Except for the cold.

Bugger All

I just realized that I am picking up some of the vernacular in my last blog. Yowzer. I haven't even been here for two full days yet. That is a bad sign.

So far my favorite difference between NZ and the States was a construction sign I saw on the road. It was one of those "Stop Ahead" signs with the picture of the little man holding the stop sign, only it said "Please Stop When Requested."

And last night, when I was shopping for my sister's present (which I may have to keep for myself) I found the PERFECT gift and it was expensive, so I talked to the girl and then told her I would come back later if I wanted it. When I came back, she said "So you went and had a think, did ya?"

Yeah.

Everything here is so nice.

Oh, and they have no guns. I love New Zealand.

Home is Where the Heart Is

So my home right now is San Diego, six thousand, three hundred, and twenty two miles away. However, I realized something. Tahiti, when SPF and I were there, felt like home. Our crazy Christmas trip that was a whirlwind of travel, felt like home on the go. My home is where SPF is. My home is my handsome.

This trip would be fabulous if SPF were here. Not that it isn't without him here, but if he were, we would be hiking in the crater of Mount Eden, exploring the coastal islands, popping into a local pub for fish and chips and a fosters. As it stands now, though, I know that when I get back to the hotel I will probably eat in the hotel restaurant or go exploring just a little, and then head back for a bath and an early bedtime.

Don't get me wrong, I am excited to be here and trying to make the most of it, but from a practical standpoint, there is only so much I can do as a single woman in a strange city. My host has been very nice to me so far and showed me around (with some minor navigational errors) and we have seen a bit. He also tells me that he wants to take me to the beach after work tomorrow so that I can see the coastline, and that sounds lovely. But ultimately, I really want to experience the world with my hub.

Everything else is work.

What the heck day is it?

I am doing well! I slept an indecent amount of time yesterday, but no worries, I think I am adjusted!! The office I am working in with Goodman is very nice and has a window on downtown Auckland, which is fun!! I need to be careful to work and not just stare out the window all morning.

Anyway, that being said, i should get back to work now!

HERE I AM!! HERE I AM!!

Good morning, or afternoon, or whatever the heck time it is where you are. I am HERE!! New Zealand is not nearly as cold as I thought it would be. It is wet, for sure, but the little rain jacket/wind breaker that I bought is working just fine. I bought some internet time from a little juice stand and I have 15 minutes left. It is pretty cool. I think I might come back here at night and blog or email or something.

The flight was okay. It was not a full flight, so I got to stretch out at times. I didn't sleep very well, though, and ended up watching "Crash" and "Hitch" on the way. Crash is something that I am wishing I had seen on a much bigger screen and without the interuptions that occurred at the most inopportune times. Oh well. Ultimately it was an okay flight. If I can find some, though, I am going to buy some Melatonin before the trip back.

SPF - You were right, NZ is at the Southeastern side of Australia. Don't know how I mixed that up, my geography being as good as it is and all.

LOVE YA!!

Hello New Zealand!

New Zealand, I am looking forward to meeting you.

I have all of my paperwork ready at this point. Tonight involves the packing of my clothes and supplies as well as a run-through of the entire trip to be sure that I am not forgetting anything. Anything forgotten will, of course, be remembered and corrected tomorrow.

I am off to L.A. on Saturday for some relaxation time, and then off to NZ at 9:40 Sunday night courtesy of a TWELVE AND A HALF HOUR flight (I am so excited!!)

Anywhoo, I am prepared, I think, and ready to go. Supplier Audits have never scared me, so I am not so concerned about that. Doing five in a row? That is scarier...but oh well. Mostly scary from the "I don't know if I can take this much stress in this condensed amount of time" way.

Anybody want anything from NZ? (Keeping in mind that I can't bring back people...my bag is too small. Besides, I think Viggo left already...)

I love Jon Stewart

Have I said this before? He is amazing. He is hysterical, has a wit like a whip, and can still pull off a serious, in-depth, moving interview on a SPOOF news show. The man runs the gamut of amazing.

I particularly liked his interview of Colin Powell. He did extremely well and wasn't afraid to ask the questions that might push Mr. Powell's buttons. But he is also very professional. And just so, so funny.

There is a commercial on Nickelodean right now asking kids which celebrity they would like to go on vacation with.

My celebrity vacation? Jon Stewart in a scenario where I could really delve into his mind.

Silly kids want to go with Kelly Clarkson...