there are a lot of loopy letters in the cursive version of my signature. over the years my signature has digressed to some number of elongated loops crushed together with varying degrees of horizontal distance. on the rare occasion when i want it to be somewhat legible it has around nine loops but most often its between two and four, and mostly all on top of each other.

in new zealand they always compare the signature on the back of your credit card with the one on the sales slip. this is causing me some amount of difficulty because the version on the back of my credit card is the formal, pretend someone can read it version while my day to day signature, as one lady referred to it, looks like a swatted fly on a page. i have even been asked by a separate clerk “could you make a signature that looks like the one on the card?”

you have to pass this sign to enter the wind swept black sand and driftwood beach at patea. of course i did and i wasn’t on the beach long before i came across an older local lady walking her dog. i asked about the sign and got this explanation.

“the surf has taken a few people off the river wall and its not very safe to swim here because the undertow is very strong.”

i told her how much i liked the beach with its gnarled drift wood, remnants of some steel construction and surf pounding cliffs in the distance. with the greatest sparkle in her eye she replied

“yes, its kind of wild isn’t it.”

i love the new zealand thirst for adventure.

there are many possible explanations for why the folks in new zealand appear thinner than their american counter parts. having recently returned from the grocer and not yet fully recovered from the tab, i’d offer up “can’t afford groceries” as a leading candidate.

in response to a recent message i sent indicating we had moved over seas a friend wrote:

“i looked up the ip address from your e-mail, and apnic does list it in new zealand.”

i can’t decide if i should be impressed with my friend’s tech savvy or troubled by their suspicion.

hmmm, makes you wonder if that sudden spike in web log traffic from new zealand might just be me proxying web requests to create doubt that i could still be living in the guest bedroom of my in-laws.

we don’t get to keep the awesome house we’re in now because of some nonsense about the owner returning to wanganui and wanting to move back in.

so, we’ve had the unexpected pleasure of working with new zealand realtors. while there is no joy in finding a fourth place to live since we left our house on the 15th of august there is humor to be had working with the realtors here.

they must not have the same liability and discrimination laws we have in the states because the realtor i met with yesterday warned me off one house saying “its a dump in a bad neighborhood” and second with this “the old lady who owns the place is intrusive. the current tenants are moving out because she came over and told them to close the blinds because she thinks the sun is bleaching the natural wood banisters”.

so, at least from the realtor isn’t blowing smoke up my arse perspective, its a pleasure.

artificial flavoring in new zealand means you are about to enjoy something that tastes artificial.

there may be a hint of the flavor you were expecting but mostly its the synthetic artificial taste you’ll remember.

another interesting fact about our combustible car is the model name – some translator at toyota probably lost their job on this one…

i’m really bummed the heavily favored new zealand rugby team was upset over the weekend by france in the rugby world cup. i was looking forward to learning a thing or two about rugby and hanging out at a pub to join the locals in enjoying their national past time.

but, the new zealand loss did bring with it reminders of home. they sacked the team’s head coach the very next day and claimed that the officiating team in france was partial to the home team.

sour sportsmanship every american sports fan could appreciate.

i thought about routinely posting some of the slang i learned in new zealand but the official new zealand immigration site has already provided definitions for chunder (puke); full tit (going very fast); root (sex) and up the duff (pregnant) so most the humor has already been
had…

today’s ire is reserved for ‘data allowances’.

apparently, its still the practice in new zealand to ration bandwidth in internet service plans. even more ridiculous than the ‘data allowance’ is the fact that 10gb is the top tier for a non-professional plan.

we weren’t in new zealand a week before i discovered the ceiling. i found it when my fine isp throttled my connection speed down to a dial-up rate.

the bluetooth to cell phone to internet business i had going in washington is looking real phat by comparison…

i’ve updated the new zealand and washington travel galleries since they will be travel logs as much as image galleries – so take a look and let me know what you think or if you see any problems.

new features include: download full size images; post comments; image details (from the camera); and lots more future commentary from yours truly.

on the mornings of annual school field trips to six flags i remember springing from my bed to the windows to check the sky. the field trips took place in spring and while april showers are good for may flowers they are horrible for roller coaster rides.

that same level of disappointment in rain came on days with little league play off games; float trips and any other time i was swimming in a pool.

after a week of traveling and discovering that new zealander’s don’t believe in clothes dryers but rather prefer a clothes line i’m now having that same sensation with the laundry…