Ents-r-us

Trees are some of my best friends. I'd sure like to keep 'em around for awhile. And it's good to know there are others that would speak for the trees.

Yes, This IS Still our Travel Blog!

To all of you who are wondering, this is also Jesse's personal blog for speaking his mind about what's going on in the world. You can also still find updates on Jesse and Beth's zany adventures right here. So read some articles while you're at it, and let us know what you think.
Your friends,
B&J

Stuff

Make the new You nothing like the voices say

G'head. You'll find your happier for it.

Who Killed the Electric Car?

the gods have spoken.
Put down your pezzie phones.

" a stunning announcement" (quote unquote)

"There is no doubt demand for oil is outpacing supply at a rapid pace, and has been for some time now," Mr Wagoner said. "As a business necessity and an obligation to society we need to develop alternate sources of propulsion.

"So, are electrically driven vehicles the answer for the mid- and long-term? Yes, for sure."


Now can we all get on the bus???

Good with the Bad

(air) Miles and miles and miles

or nautical?.?.?...

and more....

He saw

into Vlad's soul

or maybe simply his heart

Harold Bloom:

“What we are seeing is…the fall of America”

A Job in New Zealand

Work here is not like what I'm used to.
What I'm used to is I'm sure half my own mental constructs, defined as the manifestations of a severely hyperactive and paranoid work ethic, and half realtime work demands, but they generally added up to a 9-10 hour workday composed of furiously juggling projects and deadlines while trying to keep up with a constant influx of emails and daily meetings, countered by extra-long sneakaway lunches and therapy-type shopping excursions. All of this was somewhat lightened when I was presented with better management, but unfortunately, this only came for me in my career in the few short months before I left on this journey.

So New Zealand work is different. And I'm told it's not just my job that is different, but the style of work in this country, as a whole. "Take it easy" is the mantra, coffee breaks are the rule. So many points to outline; let me count the ways:

1. Tea time, twice a day, which everyone takes. This is really the equivalent of the 2 15-minute breaks that we all know we're supposed to have every day, but that I know I never took in my corporate workday. I always thought standing around chatting makes you look like a slacker. It's so much more legit to surf the internet all day, flipping back to MS Word every time someone comes into your cube.
   
2. Besides the implied teas, the boss holds a weekly tea where we all sit around in the canteen and chat about ourselves. Personal stuff is exchanged, announced to the whole group, like, "how's the home sale going?" or "your arse was wiped in that rugby game at lunchtime." I intend to push these questions to get as much information as I can out of my co-workers.
   
3. ok, and beyond organized tea time, the computer freezes up every 15 minutes or so and forces a "Workpace break" of about 15 seconds. After about 3 of these, the computer goes even further and offers about 2 minutes of pictures and instructions on stretches and exercises you can do at your desk, followed by 3 more minutes of mandatory break time, I guess to catch a quick nap.
   
4. Getting used to not using z's in my words, such as organise and utilise.
   
5. In the kitchen: a stock of plates, bowls, and real silverware, and a dishwasher. And everyone uses them. Free trade coffee and tea, and filtered water (granted, available at most workplaces, but built into the kitchen faucets here).
   
6. Ties and collared shirts for the men, the most cleavage possible to show for the women. It's really nice not having to worry about my bra showing because of my neckline or a shirt that's a little too sheer for once, because just about everyone is worse.
   
7. Working with people named Rowena, Shone, Philippa, and Hamish.
8. I understand there are the occasional cook-offs between the different groups on my office floor. Pot lucks in the states required the admin ordering something from catering, because everyone else brought chips and salsa, or grocery store baked goods. But people are proud of cooking in these parts.
9. Just like what I'm used to, things don't often get done when you ask for help. Unlike the states, everyone is so polite here that a common response is to just shrug and laugh about it, rather than go for the gutteral. I think there could be more going for the gutteral.
   
10. I've seen people coming back from lunch barefoot, and staying that way for the remainder of the workday. Remember, I work for the government.

So, life is pretty good. Or at least pretty interesting.

Off the Hook

Yep, still bouncing off the walls of my cell.
Call Me

Most people like movies right? This is very very important(and it happens to be GREAATTT!:
the Story of Stuff

Dialogue, cont.

Awhile back I made note of having read Jared Diamond's Collapse and also Guns Germs and Steel. I can see, as someone who once considered Anthropology, how many would see Diamond's arguments as simplifications of complex and variable histories. I wonder how much the author weighed this counter-argument, given the obvious evidence at the present moment. Even a robust and hopeful mind bows at the sobering signs in climate, energy and warmongering.
And I think that we are not so old a species, despite the (deer in the headlights) moments that have repeated themselves around the globe and through our short time here on the planet. One that lifts another cup to youth and fecundity as mountains and temples crumble around them.
Old and new in the Times

But Seriously

Disney and DieHard are great. Great myths. Now that Western culture has hoovered the world up and is 'spreadin' democracy' one oil-bearing nation at a time, perhaps we might remember a warning (9\11, Katrina, the Ross shelf, extinctions) in the not- so- distant past. The real one.

More than the rest of the Entire World combined?!?!?!

How could the world hate the U.S.?!?

BuffaloBeasts 50 Most Loathsome

Hee hee!

A Merry Christmas For Us

WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS WORK VISAS!

Yesterday morning, Jesse was given his work visa and permit, which will allow him to work in any profession in New Zealand through January 31 of 2009. We didn't let ourselves do anything more than hope it would all work out, and here we are now, sitting on the other side of our efforts, knowing that we can work here legally, living in our own apartment, proud owners of a couch, refrigerator, and some cookware, Wellington library card-holders, and any number of opportunities awaiting us in 2008. Mind you, it's cost us almost our entire savings of the past 5 years, but I feel like we're finally on our way to the futures we have wanted for ourselves. With jobs in sight, we can start saving once again, making our way toward a more progressive life in the place where we hope to live it out.

That said, we've been reminded of Peak Oil, and are getting on with thoughts on our 5-year plan once again. Or, I should say that I am finally in line for getting on with the 5-year plan. Or even further, we've taken our first step in this 5-year plan and are ready for whatever may be next. I see a primary next step being the acquiring of life skills that would be useful in this future we envision, and saving money from our jobs so that we can someday soon purchase land, build our house, all that good stuff. Jesse's seen the necessity of life changes as a result of Peak Oil in mind for several years now, but I've held off on getting too involved until this big first hurdle, this move, was conquered. It was a question whether it ever would take the first step, and now that we have, i feel ready for anything. Bring on the cobbling!

Read more about Peak Oil here.
(Survey says if that's not for you, try this)

Work!!!

Beth got her work permit and visa! We're promised Jesse's on Monday. All our deliveries and fixes and installations came through by Friday, and we dare say we have a working household now. It's only today, then, that I'm starting to let myself believe that we are set up for a year of life in Wellington, New Zealand, with income,with an interesting place to live, and with each other, mended many times over but still hanging on and a little giddy.

There was a big earthquake just north of us last night. We'll hope for some lasting power in this land of volcanoes and fault lines.

Very December

Well, it's sure not winter here. Not exactly summer either. But that's beside the point.

Dance let us down, Auckland was not quite It either.....

In a few days we'll have been a month in 'Welly' and (as I hear someone blaring CCR's House of the Rising Sun), and it's high time the dam broke. It's been tough-really tough. Tough of course in ways unforseen. Windy, lonely, and windier.

But now it seems a cusp is afoot. We're undergoing medical exams. Armed with x-rays. Undergone the roughly six weeks of cellular recombination and Kiwi roughage that makes a new person. We have contacts, a bank account, a coffee press and even friends. This is weird!

After weeks of walls, walls, walls. It appears that things may evolve. Bets has her choice in IT. Suitors are clamoring. In the next few days, she can make a choice on her career here in NZ, and we should land an apartment. This would automatically award her a work visa, begin Jesse's work visa award from Immigration, and preclude our address! Cowabunga!

There are alot of good reasons why this should take place. The fact that everyone takes off for the summer here, especially before Xmas, but likes to get something done beforehand. The fact that IT is in demand. The fact that we have worked so hard, for weeks, against a steep learning curve. The fact that we've had help and advice from really good people since here. And the fact that we had so much support from friends and family in the States.

In the interest of avoiding a jinx, I'll stop short of predicting success. But for the first moment in quite awhile, it looks rather dandy.

Regards,
J

When not otherwise involved, there's beer

This is Mata (maori: "raw") Manuka Honey Ale, a gold medal winner in 2007. Easy summer drinking.
Bennetts has been shortlisted as Betsy's favorite, which is also good because they brew in the Welly suburb of Island Bay. Not unrelated to the fact that they make a kicking Honey brew.
Emersons is perhaps the most celebrated Kiwi brewery, out of the southland of Dunedin. They import the hops from USA ("stonefruit, pine, citrus and geranium"and "sweet bisquity"). Their American Pale Ale brought a tear to my eye, I'm not ashamed to say.
This is James Cook Spruce Beer. Suprisingly clean, yummy and (newly) Xmas-y brew. Refreshing!!! And historical.

Bets and I've been touring Kiwi beers. This is Moa Noir. The Moa is a extinct flightless bird, and Noir is a mild, balanced and yummy (coffee and chocolate) beer that is pretty fine.

Of course there are clunkers here in Eden, which explains the month it took till I mentioned beer. All is forgiven. Cheers!

The streets of Wellington, signs

Pics, of late

On the rails, the Overlander (and Mt. Tongariro) into Wellington

Random as radon

Jesse and Lettuce

The cluttered apartment (Aitken at Mulgrave), Wellington

What better reminder than fires in California, diesel soot in Polynesia, and “bugger another” rain in Auckland to enjoy the days while you can?!?

Polynesians in Fiji (especially women) know how to laugh. But that require oxygen. They just need that container of catalytic converters, pronto please.

Indo-Fijians are apparently able businessman, but the lack of clean water can’t be helping the dismal beer and rum they’re turning out.

$2 in Kiwi Lettuce!

I've been reminded that experiencing a place as a tourist, a traveller, and a immigrant will give entirely different perspectives. I think we've had all of the above recently, and variations of each--middle class dodo, hobo, and unwanted unwashed everyone. Yet mostly since entering New Zealand it's been as potential emigres; the hat we've donned. And that has been a newfound profound and confounding new tangle.

Today appears to be the beginning of a stretch of 'fair' weather, the first in over two weeks since we've been here. And being as we are in such a city as Wellington, I aim to takes pictures of this lovely place. Earlier in the week, Beth and I took an afternoon away from the jobsearch and climbed Mt. Victoria(where apparently they filmed many scenes from Lord of the Rings) which is right in the city. We were greeted not by Orcs, per se, but by winds steady around 50+ miles an hour. And a view of the harbor, the straits, etc. It was great!

Now that fair weather has dawned, one of us has been made lame by muscle spasms. In a twist (sorry), it's not J but Beth who has been in bed now for over 15 hours, as well as uncomfortable pain. So our grandiose plans for enjoying ourselves all over town will have to be scaled back. Luckily we remain in a cozy quiet room near the 'beehive' (Parliament, etc) with a kitchenette and all we may want. I am grateful.

Beth will have all the care and sympathy that similar circumstances a dozen or so times a year would bring forth from her hubby. We'll live to bungee another day.

The Wonders of the Tea Hour(s)

Ah, tea time.

I thought it was a quaint, dainty, and annoying thing; an English custom taken on by many of its colonies with excess preciousness. But in fact, I have come to love tea time, and have an understanding of why it has caught on in so many places. Tea occurs twice daily, and most people seem to take both, at 10am and 4pm. Tea consists of three main items: tea or coffee, an indulgent pastry, and sitting. And why the hell not take a break with a big old piece of cake twice a day? I've found that I happen to meander into bakeries most often around these hours anyways, and now find myself among company. These people have built a tradition, basically a twice-a-day party, around what I've thus considered my daily hours of biggest weakness. Faaaantastic.

Consequently, there are coffee shops everywhere, literally stocked full with home-baked, luscious pastries. Even the delis have gorgeous bars, muffins, and cakes. It seems everyone is competing for the best pastries in town, and I am loving it. Nowhere else have I been with so many delicious options everywhere. My favorites so far are a vegan/organic coffeehouse called Cuba 178 (or something like that) on Cuba Street, with amazing cakes towering three layers high, including a great vegan chocolate cake, cheesecakes, and some kind of mystery coconut/passionfruit cake today, and mocha coffee milkshakes (thick shakes hereabouts). I think a milkshake qualifies as tea, don't you? Also, a cozy basement place downtown off Lambton Quay with melt-in-your mouth lemon muffins served with cream and yogurt on the side. It helps that the cafe mochas here taste like hot chocolate with a little coffee drizzled in, so I can actually order some kind of hot drink that I like, rather than just pretend that I'm participating in tea hour by taking the opportunity to wolf down yummy sweets.

New Zealand, At Long Last, 1.11.07

Flying in to New Zealand, Beth got all tearful finally seeing the land below. At last we were here. Conversely, Jesse elected to be concerned. Months and years of plans, hopes and expectations were to be put to the test. Little were we prepared for the struggles that awaited us. After one week in Auckland, we are quite discouraged and wondering how much longer we want to do this. Luckily(?) we take turns being bummed and\or resilient. Auckland is terribly expensive (think NYC or Frisco and then some on some items--gas is near $6 a gallon). Apparently it will be cheaper outside this city--even in Wellington, the capitol. We’ve been applying for jobs, searching for apartments, trying to decide which town to put ourselves in, all while dealing with really pricey edibles; rainy, cool weather; the inability to do any work or trade without a work visa; and an approaching high season.

Uncle Mike’s friend, Warren (a Kiwi) who is here with his family from Mexico, has given us hope in his and his family’s kindness and optimism, and hosted us for a warm dinner one evening.

Yet it's plain we’re simply on our own without anyone to really help and spending, spending our savings on what feels very futile. Dep't of Immigration is close to impregnable; you can’t talk to them by phone because they don’t answer. As yet no one will entertain giving us a job because we don’t have a work permit.

Political and economic news from the States is a worry, as well.

We’re taking the Overlander on the 12 hour voyage across the north island to Wellington over the weekend. Blown by the wind as we are, we hope for things to become clearer, and soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Things we miss: Family and Friends, good beer, exercise, free WIFI, cheap goods, and entertainments

Things that are better here: Air, courtesy, variety of vehicles, korean pancake snacks, tea time, pastries, cafe mochas

Things that are just plain weird: kebabs, pronounced like "babs", not "bobs", everywhere; slightly off takes on sports that we know: netball is women's basketball played in little skirts with a basketball net without a backboard, lower than the usual height we recognize, and cricket; hundreds of varieties of yogurt in the grocery, and not one box or bulk box of granola; palm trees with snowy mountains at 5000 feet; a nation healthier than most parts of the world, that is based on meat and dairy (but the women here don't seem to be as afraid as the thighs as others), magazine covers (think 80's mode "I'm Excited!").