Forgot to mention 2 things last week, Monday was the Queens’ Birthday ‘Bank’ holiday, strange they celebrate it here but not in the UK. This one was a bit special because it was a Remembrance Day for the Kiwis who fought & died in Vietnam, I had no idea they were involved, rather strange too, since we weren’t. Apparently they had the same problems as in the US i.e. they were forgotten about and not thanked or recognised, until now that is.
Second thing is that Erola had a ‘home visit’ from an acupuncturist, though here he only applied acupressure and gave her a sort of massage/manipulation. Since I have given up with the chiropractor, he had a look at me too, and seems to have at least identified the cause of my problems. It looks as if all the excess knitting(!) has caused tendons in my neck/shoulder to become inflamed. Went to his office on Friday and actually had acupuncture, I have had it before a long time ago, so was not alarmed! It seemed to work for a while, but I’m back on painkillers again now. It can’t be good for me! Will try & visit him again after my holiday.
I am busy planning a week touring the North Island, I have booked the Overlander train on Sunday 22nd, to go to Hamilton, for $49, a bargain! It does leave at 07:25 in the morning though, fortunately I think Ali will get me there in time, Junior gets up very early for Church on Sundays. Then I stay in Hamilton for one night, pick up an Avis car (of course, I have found my staff letter and put it with my holiday stuff!), and travel to Rotorua, Whakatane, East Cape, Gisborne, Napier and then back via southern Waiarapa to Wellington. I want to visit Cape Palliser on the southern tip of North Is, hopefully to see some seals. I can’t really afford it, but it seems silly not to see more of the country when I’m here for so long. I didn't tell Erola till Wednesday, on Tuesday she came home in tears, having had a bad day with ‘Nicky Noodle’, the child she thinks has Aspergers but the parents ignore both her and him apparently. She said how grateful she was that I was there to talk to, so I couldn’t tell her then I was going away could I? I am trying to persuade her that she definitely does need another ‘flatmate’ when I leave, for monetary reasons, but I think she’d prefer to go back to living alone.
Second thing is that Erola had a ‘home visit’ from an acupuncturist, though here he only applied acupressure and gave her a sort of massage/manipulation. Since I have given up with the chiropractor, he had a look at me too, and seems to have at least identified the cause of my problems. It looks as if all the excess knitting(!) has caused tendons in my neck/shoulder to become inflamed. Went to his office on Friday and actually had acupuncture, I have had it before a long time ago, so was not alarmed! It seemed to work for a while, but I’m back on painkillers again now. It can’t be good for me! Will try & visit him again after my holiday.
I am busy planning a week touring the North Island, I have booked the Overlander train on Sunday 22nd, to go to Hamilton, for $49, a bargain! It does leave at 07:25 in the morning though, fortunately I think Ali will get me there in time, Junior gets up very early for Church on Sundays. Then I stay in Hamilton for one night, pick up an Avis car (of course, I have found my staff letter and put it with my holiday stuff!), and travel to Rotorua, Whakatane, East Cape, Gisborne, Napier and then back via southern Waiarapa to Wellington. I want to visit Cape Palliser on the southern tip of North Is, hopefully to see some seals. I can’t really afford it, but it seems silly not to see more of the country when I’m here for so long. I didn't tell Erola till Wednesday, on Tuesday she came home in tears, having had a bad day with ‘Nicky Noodle’, the child she thinks has Aspergers but the parents ignore both her and him apparently. She said how grateful she was that I was there to talk to, so I couldn’t tell her then I was going away could I? I am trying to persuade her that she definitely does need another ‘flatmate’ when I leave, for monetary reasons, but I think she’d prefer to go back to living alone.
Went downtown to check out the wood pellet fire, but decided to stick with the gas one. Will still work in a power cut because has battery back-up, whereas the wood pellet one has electronic ignition so doesn’t. Power cuts do seem increasingly likely, unless lots of rain falls in the next week or two to fill up the hydro lakes. Decided to go to the South Coast again, because the sky was blue and I wanted to see snow on the Kaikoras across the Cook Strait, but it was very hazy so not possible. Watched the surf crashing in though, & had a nice lunch at ‘The Bach’ restaurant where I took Tricia & Hils for coffee in May. Wellington really is a beautiful city, I will miss it.
Got lots of paint charts so I can decide my colour schemes, it’s not easy. Resene is the local paint, they have so many standard colours it’s impossible, I am enlisting Ali’s help. I am also having a glass splashback in the kitchen, which can be matched to any colour, so had to get a kitchen plan from Wayne. Not as detailed as I’d like, but may be OK. I was supposed to get the site plan on Friday, but didn’t, it HAS to come next week, otherwise, after all this, I am seriously considering pulling out. If I don’t have detailed plans when I leave it will be impossible to continue. And the fall in house prices is worrying me a lot, and my ability to remain solvent. This year is not a problem, when I return to the UK in June next year I will definitely need to enlist the help of my children, could well end up on Emma’s floor, & I’m not joking! I will have my old-age pension by then, but even with the Avis pension it’s not enough to rent somewhere and also eat. I knew this of course, which is why the ‘grand plan’, I just hadn’t though it through properly, & with all the delays I don’t think I can sell the house till 2010. However, depending on the house price situation, I may try & live in it for 6 months (for tax reasons) in 2009 and then sell it, but NZIS will probably prevent that. It’s all so complicated, sometimes I just want to curl up in a ball & forget the whole thing!
Visited Erola in the house where she nannies in Camborne, the children, Caitlin & Ethan, see above, are lovely, but Caitlin does have terrific tantrums occasionally & Ethan is very allergic to dairy and other things, it’s an emergency 111 call if he eats anything like that since he can die! I wouldn’t have Erola’s job for anything, and I wouldn’t be Ethan’s Mum either, having to leave him for financial reasons I guess, but it must be so worrying. Went to the Porirua place to see about a storage unit, but I have to have a 4m x 3m one because you can’t drive into the smaller ones, they are internal. They didn’t have one available anyway, so sorted one out later in Plimmerton, 4.5m x 2.6m, so there will be lots of room! Will cost $215 per month, not good but I have to bite the bullet. I don’t think my car will lose in value, because everyone is looking at small cars now because of the petrol price hike, and it might be difficult to find another one in a hurry when I get back early next year.
Sent lots of houses I might like to rent by email to Emma, hopefully one or two of them might still be available by the time she can see any next week. I’ve decided to up the budget a little to try & get 2 bedrooms plus a garage or storage area (one of the houses had a cellar), so that I can get rid of my storage areas in the UK. It’s much easier to sort it all out on site, having lived here for a while there are some things I was going to bring which I now won’t. My Royal Doulton china is an example, posh dinner parties don’t exist, not in the circles I move in anyway, but I may decide to bring it anyway because it fits in the bureau unit I’m definitely bringing!
Saturday we went to Porirua Little Theatre production of ‘How the other half Loves’ by Alan Ayckbourn, it was amateur but really well acted and particularly well directed. If you’ve ever seen it you will know what that means! It is another theatre with tables you sit round and drink wine, eat nibbles, a really good idea we could import I think. I guess we haven’t got the room though.
Got lots of paint charts so I can decide my colour schemes, it’s not easy. Resene is the local paint, they have so many standard colours it’s impossible, I am enlisting Ali’s help. I am also having a glass splashback in the kitchen, which can be matched to any colour, so had to get a kitchen plan from Wayne. Not as detailed as I’d like, but may be OK. I was supposed to get the site plan on Friday, but didn’t, it HAS to come next week, otherwise, after all this, I am seriously considering pulling out. If I don’t have detailed plans when I leave it will be impossible to continue. And the fall in house prices is worrying me a lot, and my ability to remain solvent. This year is not a problem, when I return to the UK in June next year I will definitely need to enlist the help of my children, could well end up on Emma’s floor, & I’m not joking! I will have my old-age pension by then, but even with the Avis pension it’s not enough to rent somewhere and also eat. I knew this of course, which is why the ‘grand plan’, I just hadn’t though it through properly, & with all the delays I don’t think I can sell the house till 2010. However, depending on the house price situation, I may try & live in it for 6 months (for tax reasons) in 2009 and then sell it, but NZIS will probably prevent that. It’s all so complicated, sometimes I just want to curl up in a ball & forget the whole thing!
Visited Erola in the house where she nannies in Camborne, the children, Caitlin & Ethan, see above, are lovely, but Caitlin does have terrific tantrums occasionally & Ethan is very allergic to dairy and other things, it’s an emergency 111 call if he eats anything like that since he can die! I wouldn’t have Erola’s job for anything, and I wouldn’t be Ethan’s Mum either, having to leave him for financial reasons I guess, but it must be so worrying. Went to the Porirua place to see about a storage unit, but I have to have a 4m x 3m one because you can’t drive into the smaller ones, they are internal. They didn’t have one available anyway, so sorted one out later in Plimmerton, 4.5m x 2.6m, so there will be lots of room! Will cost $215 per month, not good but I have to bite the bullet. I don’t think my car will lose in value, because everyone is looking at small cars now because of the petrol price hike, and it might be difficult to find another one in a hurry when I get back early next year.
Sent lots of houses I might like to rent by email to Emma, hopefully one or two of them might still be available by the time she can see any next week. I’ve decided to up the budget a little to try & get 2 bedrooms plus a garage or storage area (one of the houses had a cellar), so that I can get rid of my storage areas in the UK. It’s much easier to sort it all out on site, having lived here for a while there are some things I was going to bring which I now won’t. My Royal Doulton china is an example, posh dinner parties don’t exist, not in the circles I move in anyway, but I may decide to bring it anyway because it fits in the bureau unit I’m definitely bringing!
Saturday we went to Porirua Little Theatre production of ‘How the other half Loves’ by Alan Ayckbourn, it was amateur but really well acted and particularly well directed. If you’ve ever seen it you will know what that means! It is another theatre with tables you sit round and drink wine, eat nibbles, a really good idea we could import I think. I guess we haven’t got the room though.
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