Nico's Journal

Two bills passed into law in NZ this week, to my amazement considering our National (conservative) government.

Same-sex marriage is now law, passed by an good majority (77 to 44) since MPs were free to vote as they wished. Apparently Australian couples are already booking wedding trips here.

And at last we have Mondayisation of two of our holidays, Waitangi and ANZAC days, so that if they happen to fall on a weekend, people get Monday off. As votes were by party, this one was a much more narrow margin, miserly National being outvoted by the other parties.

I just got back from a day out to find that some of you lovely people were worried about me because I haven't posted since the tornado that ripped through West Auckland. It hadn't occurred to me that anyone would be, but I do apologise for not posting earlier. I was busy yesterday and too tired to post in the evening, and then we were away today.

The tornado was one of the more destructive ones, killing three (workmen crushed by the wall they were sheltering by), injuring 27, and making 250 homeless; the SPCA has gone into the cordoned-off area to find pets left behind in the panic to get out and reunite them with owners. West Auckland is the usual place hit by tornadoes for some reason. All we experienced over here in east Auckland was sudden bouts of torrential tropical rain, one of which soaked me to the skin from the thighs down despite my huge umbrella in a just few minutes while walking one block from my car to work--that rain bounces--and the power being out for a few hours.

After all that, it's been a stunningly gorgeous summer weekend. Yesterday I put up the tree of light (not that it actually has any lights what with the shortest night approaching) with the usual glass planets, stars, and the Liberator, and cooked the stodgiest batch of latkes I've ever made. I blame Greg for saying I should add more matzo meal. Eating those things was probably what made me so tired I staggered off to bed early. :-P

Today since it was so nice again we decided to got to Waitomo Caves to see the glow-worms as Greg had never been there and I'd bought two half-price vouchers. This meant that I drove two hours there and two back so yeah, I'm tired once again. On the way down we passed a convertible with a Santa and very unseasonal snowman in the back seat; Greg took photos with his phone. Silently floating on the river through the glow-worm caves was as magical as when I went with my mother and made me think of dwarves and Gollum and adventures.

What else? Oh yes, we took Jasmin and Ashley to the vet for their annual check-up and inoculation. Jasmin has put on 400g though she's still slim and sleek, and Ashley is still only 3kg. They're both in excellent nick though so she's just a small cat; the vet remarked that their fur is beautiful and in really good condition. He was really taken with them both. :-)

Anyway, hugs to you for worrying about me; sorry I didn't post earlier.

Tomorrow (the 26th) at 9:26am the whole country is meant to do The Big Shakeout to practise for an earthquake. The slogan is "drop, cover, and hold": get down, crawl underneath a piece of furniture, cover your head, and hold on to the furniture. I won't be at work, but if I were I wouldn't be able to resist singing Duck and Cover, the 50s song by Bert the Turtle which was meant to make people think they had a chance in a nuclear war. I originally came across this scary little gem in the film The Atomic Cafe which is blackly funny and worth a watch if you come across it.

Earthquakes are easier to survive, but we don't actually have anything to go under at home, both our tables being glass-topped and a potential source of very sharp glittering daggers, our bed having wooden slats that probably aren't roof-bearing, the spare beds too low to get under, and this computer desk has shelves that would stop me getting in very far. Eh, if a Big One happens, I'll cower in a doorway and cling to the jamb, which is what I used to do in Wellington when a worrying one hit.

Axle grease of a certain flavour
There is this black axle-grease stuff called Marmite that we like to eat (sparingly in my case) on toast or bread and it's different from the Marmite they have in the UK. Unfortunately. Because the only factory that made it is in Christchurch and has been closed because of earthquake damage. It will be months before they set up elsewhere and this news sparked off a panicked run on Marmite. Luckily we have an almost-full jar so I didn't bother. Telling people to eat Vegemite instead however doesn't cut it. It's a whole other flavour.

Weathery weather
It's autumn equinox though we never really got a summer this year; it seems like we went from spring straight to autumn, and this week has felt like winter. It's not cold but it's wet, grey, dark, and depressing, a preview of the long months of gloom unrelieved by any bright spots that is our winter. There are of course the usual floods and our house is leaking again. Sigh. It was surprisingly lovely last week though. I think that was summer (and I will post about Thursday tomorrow).

TV
What new things has Vilakins been watching? My sister was saying how funny Modern Family is so we tuned in and caught one character telling another that "I could care less" meant he did in fact care a little. YES! Then they got onto the whole "literally" thing. YES! YES! We were in! We've been eating that program up at one or two a night. I adore Gloria, Manny, and Cameron to bits. My sister was right: it's a very funny show despite the title which had put me off. I do take exception to the "modern" though as each of the three family units has at least one child which seems pretty traditional to me.

We also started watching New Girl which recently started here. I like it; let's hope they keep it up. But what will they call it next season?

There was also the first ep of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency which I loved. It had some great lines, the only one of which I can think of right now is "You stabbed my chair!"

I haven't posted much lately. I've been feeling a bit tired, probably a combination of extremely changeable weather (hot, cold, wet, dry--sometimes all in one day like today), learning a new job, end-of-year rush to get things finished at work before we close down for two weeks, various social outings.

There are various things I've been meaning to post about and just haven't got round to, so here's a brief catch-up.

( Various recent things )

In the news today: a seal pup wandered into a home via the cat door and made itself at home on the couch, not at all fazed by the resident cats and dog. The house owner thought she was hallucinating and called in a neighbour who, yes, says the words in the subject header. Here's the article complete with seven photos. Eventually the DOC (Department of Conservation) put the little guy in a net and a box but that didn't stop him; he escaped into the front seat and turned the radio on. Maybe he hoped he was on the news.

I've been reading and commenting but not posting because I've been getting into a new job (which is still interesting and fun!) and when I get home I only have time to catch up with my flists before Greg gets home and it's dinner and TV/DVD time.

Then yesterday I worked 13 hours in the general election as an issuing officer which is a fun if long day and a nice little addition to the bank account. We had to issue for two electorates as I was working in a polling place on the border of my electorate (Tamaki, a died-in-the-wool National one) and our team finished the vote counting for Tamaki quickly and accurately one hour after closing. However the other team, Maungakiekie, were 10 votes out on their reconciliation and had to recount while we waited around being bored and tired so we could help clean up when they'd finished. And after all that the election returned National. Sigh. Labour had such a good platform; I can't understand why people didn't go for it in greater numbers. The Greens did well though which is pleasing; pity they and Labour together don't outweigh National. Why do people continue to vote for the oligarchy? OK, enough politics already.

So today I'm knackered and not feeling much like trying to catch up on picowrimo but I may force myself to. I should also post photos and various other things I've never got round to but I just want to have a prolonged nap. I was counting on today to hit my 5k target too. [procrastinates badly by cruising Thinkgeek and loading up wishlist]

[Edit] I knew this was my only chance to reach my target before the end of the month so I steeled myself and made an effort and wrote over 800 words. I have done it! I met my target! [Rests on wilted laurels. Or wiltedly rests, whatever.]