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Thursday, December 3, 2009
It really is, I've been writing in this thing consistently for five years now,many people only last a year or two and then forget all about it. I used to give a run down of what had happened in four aspects of my life; faith, love life, living and work. Well two of those have stayed teh same, and i suspect always will. Still ex-jw, still happily engaged to Lucy and getting married may next year. As for living/work, been moving around a lot the past year. Started of in New Zealands North island in Kerikeri, then back to Katikati where i was working on lemon orchards and at garden centres. March saw us take a big tour of both the north and south islands, finally settling in Blenheim on the South. We started of living in a hostel before moving in with one of Lucy's workmates who we stayed with for the rest of our time there. And i worked way too many hours in vineyards!
Back in the UK I lived first with my old uni mate Mike, then with Lucys parents and finally now in our own place just across the hall. Got a cat too :)
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Pandora's litter box is Pandora's box, how did I not notice that till now! Don't open it, all manner of evils lie inside.
Took her to the vet yesterday for vaccinations. She DID NOT want to go back in the box, I literally had to stuff her inside. Tonight we try to feed her the worming tablet again, should be fun...
We had a new washing machine and oven delivered today (neither of the old ones work) and because of socket/plumbing issues neither can be fitted! The new ones are just sitting in our living room. Got to wait for a plumber and electrician before we can get these fixed. Fortunately Maz is paying for everything. And i have a nasty feeling the new oven won't fit cuz I made a screw up with the measurements :/
So for now it's back next door to Lucy's parents to do washing and use the net to look for jobs. And also to use the net to write in lj in order to distract myself from looking for jobs.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Our place is now home to a very cute and furry new resident, Pandora, a long haired, black, turqouise eyed cat with cute little meows! We picked her up from the RSPCA on Tuesday and she's settled in well straight away. The amount of attention we give her (and the amount of worrying Lucy does) it's like having a small furry child. I like having animals around, houses feel too boring and sterile without. She always uses the litter tray and is very well behaved except when she jumps on the bed in the middle of the night and tries to get my attention by pawing at my chin.
We've moved out of Lucy's parents place... and right across the hall into the new one! It still feels too big and smart to be our own place, more like a place we're guests at. It's so close to the inlaws I can still hear half of what goes on next door (I swear Nigel was snoring last night). Sometimes it's useful, like when we need to use the net or the washing machine because ours has leaked all over the kitchen and has had to be stopped with the clothes trapped inside! At other times its irritating, like when Nigel texts us to say we're very vulnerable because we left a tiny bathroom window open (he's paranoid about that kind of thing). Good news with the washing machine not working (or the living room radiator, or the main oven) the landlord has very generously offered us 50% the first month :)
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Lucy’s got herself a new job, office assistant for this French building planning firm in Hammersmith. They asked her if ’19.5K per year’ would be enough?’ Seeing as that’s at least 50% more than either of us have ever earnt it most definitely is! Weird to think there’s a whole load of people out there who’d see that as poorly paid. But there must be, probably all the business men I spend the beginning of every morning and end of every afternoon crammed shoulder to shoulder into a tube train with. I still look at bored middle-aged men in suits and think OMG, is that what I’m going to turn into one day? Of the six and half years I’ve spent in full time employment, four of those have been in outdoors agricultural jobs. It’s the kind of job I like, but there’s just not that many farms in London.
Lots of people my age are already on the career ladder, and good for them, but I just don’t feel ready for that yet. I still feeling like I’m making up for my university days (or lack thereof), at the age everyone else was free to do as they pleased I was in many ways still tied down (it’s a religious upbringing thing). I’m quite envious of the foreign country lifestyle Lee’s living right now, despite the fact I just spent the last year doing pretty much the same thing. We’re in the minority though, lots of other people I know are just working the same mundane jobs and living in same mundane town they always have.
But when I really look at it settling down isn’t really going to compromise much. I can imagine myself just flitting from country to country but in reality I don’t think I would. I’d do Australia, but that would be it. Getting a work VISA for USA or Canada is pretty damn hard, and I’m not enough of a rebel to hide there illegally. Any country that doesn’t speak English is out, I’m just no good at foreign languages (But Lucy is, which does widen the places I’d consider going for holidays). Not to mention travel is expensive, and by necessity always involves large periods of often boring work inbetween.
So just got to work at making life in London interesting. I was thinking of joining up as a volunteer with the Samaritans, and I'll see what (soft, nonaddictive) drugs I can find in Camden market. Lucy says she wouldn't mind trying some, I'll just make sure she doesn't try too much, with her synesthesia her brain is already wired in the way that other people only reach when they're on LSD!
I was expecting to be wearing warm heavy coats by this time of the year, as it is its the end of October and I still spend a lot of time working outside in just a t-shirt, if this is global warming then bring it on! In other news the farm is still waiting on the hygiene inspector to come round, and what with that and this new fear over ecoli and city farms we have loads of new paranoid regulations. No drinking tea outside in the yard, and we're not even allowed to sell animal food to visitors thanks to that dumb professor who thinks the kiddies shouldn't be touching animals at all.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Did anyone watch ‘Question Time’ with BNP leader Nick Griffin a few days ago. Just wanted to say that all the people who tried to ban him from getting on the program and protested outside, and getting dragged away while shouting ‘the BBC are protecting Nazi’s’, are idiots. I don’t like his views either but this is a democracy and free speech for all means just that, not merely free speech for those who agree with your own ideologies. Have a little faith that the British people aren’t so stupid that just because they hear someone with far-right views they’re going to suddenly agree with them. Predictably enough Nick got given a real hard time by the rest of the panel and the audience, and I doubt anyone who isn’t a BNP supporter would have been swayed by his views. If the protesters had got their way then all they would have achieved is to make a free speech martyr of him.
Been living with Lucy’s parents for two weeks now, and things have been…good. I gather things have been calmer since Harry left, and Nigel and Beth (the soon to be parents in law) have only had one or two arguments since I’ve been here, as opposed to the every morning shoutfests I’ve been assured they had before I arrived. I think they like me, I’ve been on my best behaviour, done the housework, listened to all of Nigel’s stories and laughed along appropriately, he even took me to the working men’s club he visits every night and bought me drinks.
Workwise I’m back on the farm. I’ve always said I like change but in this case I’m just as glad to go back to something familiar with people I know and love. It’s been Fridays to Sundays in the café and a couple of days during the week doing shredding, the compost project has largely been left abandoned since I’ve been away. This is only temporary work, the shredding won’t last for much longer and after that I’ll need more than three days employment to make ends meet. But for now it feels like an exercise in nostalgia, and I wearily realise at the end of the day that I no longer live five minutes walk away, I’m an hour away via the tube. The major downside is with working weekends, Lucy and I only ever see each other during the evenings, which she was so not happy about when she first discovered my working days.
So what comes after the farm? I’m finally admitting to myself it will have to be something better paid. We move into our own place on Saturday and the rent alone will take up more than half of what I’m earning now. I’ve never wanted to be working in some job I’m apathetic about just because it makes more money, but things are different now. Being completely unambitious and living in a pokey little room was fine when no one else depended on me (or atleast were affected by my decisions). God that sounds defeatist, there must be jobs out there I’d enjoy that will pay better, I’ve just got to start looking harder.
I don’t really have any friends down in West London (apart from Lucy obviously), not now that Mikes gone to America and all the farm people are too far away to really hang out with. But that’s fine, money’s going to be tight for the next few months and not having friends ask you down the pub all the time is going to help with the saving. Not that in all honesty I ever really worry much about money. It may sound naïve to say I don’t need to worry about finances, but that’s the truth. There’s money in both my mum and dads families, and if ever there’s an emergency I can just borrow and pay it back at my leisure. Plus what they’re giving us towards the wedding looks like it will nearly cover both the wedding and the honeymoon. Here’s an odd thing, have you noticed how no one ever thinks of themselves or their families as rich, even those that blatantly are? It reminds me of the time my mum said our house was just modest, or my Dad said we didn’t have much money. They’re not rich rich, and aren’t extravagant in their spending, but to be fair I’d definitely say that our house was big and the family well off. I think it’s a mixture of people taking whatever they have as the norm and not wanting to appear immodest. I noticed the same when Lucy and I were visiting her ex’s Ben and his family (yes that’s right, we were both visiting her ex and his family, sounds odd but they’re still real good friends and we all get on without any tension at all). Anyway his brother makes a comment about some of the stinking rich kids he knows, despite the fact he went to private schools and the family lives in a massive house.
Anyway, I think that’s all the latest news and musings, roll on Saturday when Lucy and I will have our own place and we can finally share a bed at night again. Plus this house eats possessions, I’ve already lost a shirt and jumper and my boxers keep disappearing and reappearing. Will still have to come here to use the net though.
Monday, October 12, 2009
After New Zealand coming back to a normal life in England was always going to be an anti-climax. The first time I moved down to Ealing was four and half years ago, it was the first time I'd lived outside of Leicestershire and London was this great new fresh exciting place, now it's just a case of 'meh, back here again'. With harry still staying at Lucy's family house there wasn't any room for me during the night for the first week down here, but i was saved from staying at the YMCA by my old uni mate Mike lending me his spare room, fortunately he lives just down the road from Lucy. Harry moved out on Saturday to study bees in York and since them I've moved into his room.
Got the wedding date already, sat 1st may, after a certain persons fretting in NZ of needing to organise things from there, once we moved back we got the places for the ceromony, flowers and reception (to be held in a pub) sorted very simply in a matter of days. :)
So far as work goes I've been to one temping agency about possible work in the post office, I've done it before and thought it was crap, but beggars can't be choosers. Tomorrow I'm back at the farm cafe for a day helping peter in the kitchen, with more days possible . I love the farm, but admittedly the cafe was always my least favourite and stressful of the jobs there. Never really had an aptitude for kitchen stuff and this is going to be a steep learning curve, wish me luck.
Nervous...
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Today I was at Ealing Broadway station to catch a train to a job interview to find the police and ambulance outside and lots of lines had been cancelled as someone had suicided/had an accident and killed themselves.
Later that day Lucy and i took a walk down to a pub on Ealing green to inquire about using it as a venue for weddings and found another ambulance outside taking in a possibly dead guy.
Perhaps time to stop visiting things in Ealing Broadway for the day...
Sunday, October 4, 2009
The last full day in LA I tried to forget all about the accident with a trip to universal studios (wisely taking the bus and train this time). First stop was the Jurassic Park ride, as a long time JP enthusiast that’s a definite must do in my life ticked of :) Then there was the Mummy ride (Lucy wisely refused to go on it), Backdraft (Lucy hiding in my shoulder), and an animal actors show. The Waterworld show was ace, stunts, fire, people swinging from the rafters and plunging into the water and even a plane crashing! Then there was a tour of the studios and a special effects demonstration. A good end to the holiday.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=323743&id=724645071&l=286bc0252a
Being tired of spending so long on buses, we decided to try the car that Gretchen had very generously said we could use. It was totally nerve racking, getting used to driving on the right, being shit scared of left turns, trying not to annoy the horn honking happy drivers and paranoid about wrecking someone else’s car. I’m a panicky easily flustered driver when driving in a new place for the first time and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without Lucy to guide me and lend a second set of eyes to watch the road. But we made it to Manhattan beach and back in one piece.
So the next day we decided to drive to Universal Studios. We were nearly there and I was stopped on a slope. Suddenly the car starts rolling forwards. Instinctively I slam down my feet to where I think the break should be, but one year of driving an automatic had left me unfamiliar with a manuals controls and I must have hit the clutch instead. I pulled up the handbrake but it did nothing.
‘OOHHHHHHHH FUUUUCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!’
I hit the SUV infront, not fast but it was enough to crumple our bonnet, and push back the lights and radiator. Fortunately the SUV had no more than a scratch and the guy in it was pretty chilled. Being still drivable, I drove the car back to the house and started organising repairs. Gretchen had left the number of her mechanic Toolsie (such an ace name for a mechanic!) and he came over to have a look at it.
Good News – It’s fixable, and could all be repaired by the time Gretchen was back.
Bad news – It cost $1000, that’s over £600 when I had a look at it in English.
Taking a walk down to the bank later that day I passed a billboard for a new TV show called ‘Crash’. The tagline read ‘In LA there are no accidents’.
Yes there fucking well is. That billboard is now just taking the piss.
So I was able to get $1000 from the bank (thank god for credit cards). All the dollars I’ve saved over the past half year by slaving away in the vineyards, all those little savings we’d made, all of it (and more) just undone in a couple of seconds by fumbling the cars controls.
Still, it could be a lot worse, Gretchen wasn’t angry, no one was hurt, the other car wasn’t damaged at all. The only damage is financial but it comes at just the wrong time, I’m now starting my time back in England with hardly any money and no job. Fortunately my parents have enough money that I can just borrow from them and pay them back whenever’s convenient, so I don’t need to worry too much, it’s more annoying than worrying. The car accident was just a big shadow over what was otherwise a really good holiday in America.
We arrived bleary eyed into the hot LA sunshine just after midday, and took a taxi to Gretchen’s house in Venice. Gretchen is the mum of Alice who used to volunteer at the farm, and she’d generously offered us the use of her house while we were in LA, even though she was out visiting the other side of America while we were there. Nice house, even with the generous scattering of cat hair from her three cats. Nice garden too, complete with hummingbirds :). That afternoon we took a jetlagged walk down to the beach and along Venice parade, which is kind of like (London reference) Camden market on the sea.
Los Angeles is huge and sprawling, and takes ages to get round with public transport. The first bus we got on lasted for one stop before it broke down and we all had to get out! It’s also a lot grubbier than cities like London, a haze of pollution sits over the city permanently and it has more than it’s fair share of homeless people. The first full day we went to the La Brea tar pits and a big art museum next to it (compulsory holiday pics coming up)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=323718&id=724645071&l=09c4e5b175
The next day we went to Griffith Park and took a look round Hollywood (not as flash as you might think).
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=323729&id=724645071&l=02e1717710
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=323307&id=724645071&l=3a06ac49d4
We took ages waiting in between buses in an area everyone was surprised to see tourists in (no disguising our English accents). It seems tourists round here never take the bus, or walk anywhere, infact NO ONE in LA walks anywhere. Our wait was made less boring by witnessing an accident between a car in which the lady was allegedly on her phone and a lad on his bike (the kid was alright) and the ensuing police questioning that followed.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Well still three nights and two full days left until we get on that plane leaving from Blenheim airport, but as I'll be busy closing down bank accounts/packing/taking walks in the hills etc, I'm going to take the chance to write this now. I probably won't write another LJ entry until after Los Angeles when i'm back in England.
The last week has passed without much happening. The skies have been as blue as ever, and I look at the mountains and feel I should make the most of every last minute spent in this country. We went on one last walk up the Wither Hills and I took a much longer day trek along the queen charlotte track (standard scenery photoes shown below)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=316756&id=724645071&l=dba13cbd15
We went to the D'urville Friday for last drinks with Lucy's workmates. Dan the barman makes some amazing cocktails.
For the most part though I've just been getting up late and lounging about inbetween trying to sort stuff. I've been trying to fill in tax returns (uurrgghhh!) and a load of other forms necesary to try and reclaim some tax we're owed back, but the sheer complexity of the forms combined with the slowness and general ineptetude of the tax office means it won't be sorted by the time we leave, and it's highly likely I'm going to miss out on what's owed :( Trying to sell the car too, thought we would have done that by now, it's a good deal, but still no luck. Fortunately we can leave it with Corky who can sell it and send us the money later (minus 10% for selling it for us).
Gonna miss Corky, probably the last housemate I'll ever have, from now on it's just me and Lucy together in our own place (which we get beginning of November). It's been good to have someone so chilled and cool to share the place with. Her boyfriend Mills (currently living at the airforce base near Blenheim) has been round lots too. Going to miss Poppy too, sweetest cat ever, hope we get one just like her.
Goodbye Aotearoa, it's been sweet as :)
Saturday, September 12, 2009
I have finished work in the vineyards! Finished work in NZ fullstop now, won't be employed until I'm back in London, and who knows when and where that will be?
The last week wasn't as bad as I thought. I was expecting wrapping to do which is contract and I'm so damn slow it makes it almost pointless. Fortunately I spent most of the time on hourly wage doing wires.
Last night me, Lucy and Corky went to the pub for the first time in months to get good and drunk :)
Current mood:  relieved
Next time Lucy tells me she thinks she'll really hate a film I'll listen to her. As it happened she was miserable I made her watch it and I couldn't enjoy it properly with moaning through it.
She did warn me. Still, we can be happy that in two years we've never had a more serious disagreement than one over a movie choice :)
And I still hold that Sunshine is a real good movie.
Monday of my last week of work, I give James at Odysey a call to see about the work stripping the vines that I'd been told would be coming up.
Except when James had phoned J2 to ask for me Roar had told him that I'd already left and bought a load of Indonesians to finish the job I'd started. Which means one of either two things.
a - He doesn't even know whose working for him, and thinks people have left when they've given no indication of doing so.
b - He knew I was still there but lied because he needed to find the Indonesians a job. Seeing as he expressed no suprise on seeing me later that week I find this very likely.
Either I'm not impressed with.
Therefore I missed out on the one vineyard I'd liked and work that could have got me a good couple of hundred dollars extra. And from chatting to James at the pub last night I know just what a big cut the contracters take of what the vineyards pay the workers (atleast 30%)
Cheers you nob.
Haven't had the chance to update in a while, especially with the keyboard battery dying on me, so here's some stuff from last weekend.
James and Louisa have come aalllllllll the way from England to see New Zealand. I picked them up from Picton Weds night, showed them around Blenheim on the Thursday (not much IN Blenheim, but I still like this town). Friday we set off to Kaikoura so they could take the whale watching trip. I gave it a miss seeing as I'd done it before, taking a cliff walk instead.
Friday night we arrived in Christchurch, it just feels wrong to see a big city on NZs south island, it should be just mountains, farms and small towns. It's a very english city, reminded me of London, and seeing as I'll be back there soon enough I don't need to be reminded of the place! James and Louisa had booked a smart hotel in the middle of town. Not wanting to spend more than I had to, I checked into a youth hostel, maybe the last youth hostel I'll ever sleep in, kind of nostalgic. Nice place too, even Lucy would have approved :)
Had a good look round Saturday, even an average looking NZ city still looks better than 95% of what we have back home, the botanic gardens were real nice. Ate at lots of restaurants. And then it was time to say goodbye. See them on the other side of the world.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=309635&id=724645071&l=bc845e6e1a
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
I burnt the marangs.
Lucy has spent half the day getting things ready for James and Louisa, cooking, cleaning (despite my thoughts that it's not at all necesary). It took her and Corky aagggesss to make the marangs and now I just let them burn. All I had to do was take them out the oven when it pinged. I'd taken them out, I looked at them, thought they could use another five minutes, put them back and...oh fuck they're burned already.
I wouldn't care if I'd made them, it's just all the effort they put in they'll be real disapointed. :(
Current mood:  guilty
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