keeping myself occupied is a full time gig

i ordered my new camera from amazon, so i am awaiting it's arrival here via iowa!  i decided to get the lumix, and try something new.  either way, i'd have to learn a new camera all over.  they've really dumbed things down over the last few years it looks like, it's kind of a shame we cater to the lowest common denominator.  it doesn't really encourage people to learn how to do things, does it?

the other thing i've been doing lately besides waiting (and working, and sleeping for insanity hours a day) is enjoying the dunedin film festival.  i was in sydney for part of theirs, but i couldn't decide what i wanted to see other than my winnipeg which i missed simply because i arrived in sydney only a couple of hours before it's last showing, and persepolis, which was screened after my departure back to new zealand.  the one here is not nearly as big, but i've already been able to see persepolis which was as every bit as good as i'd hoped and i recommend, and the band's visit.  i liked the band's visit, it's a visual film, but it's a rather slower paced movie which can be difficult for someone who lacks patience.  depending on how work goes, i might try to see be kind rewind despite my general dislike for jack black because it sounds funny, and i'm definitely going to try to get a ticket for safety last!, a silent film from, i think, 1923.  they are having a pianist come in and play, and it's going to be in the regent theatre which was built in the 1920s.  it's a beautiful building, even if i wasn't going to see films, i wouldn't mind just sitting there and looking at it!  but it'll be a perfect fit, and an amazingly good experience i'm sure.

other than that, i don't know.  i was supposed to work through next week, but the contract is being ended early and tonight is the last night.  this puts a little bit of stress on me simply because i haven't got anything else planned yet.  i'm sure that adecco will be able to help me figure something out regarding work, and there is plenty of sightseeing that i can do around this part of the country.  i'll keep busy!  and it will be nice to be awake for more than about two hours of sunlight daily!

when it rains, it pours

it's rainy and cold here now, even more than before.  it's a bit miserable.  and on top of that, last night the blue screen of death appeared on my phone.  today i took it to vodafone and they will repair it under warranty.  of course, this means that i don't have a phone for about two weeks, but neither do i have to buy a new one.  so that's sorted.  the camera issue is nearly at an end i hope, i've been doing some research and thinking and decided to extend my original price range.  i might as well just go for something nice instead of say, a cheap samsung that i end up hating, and then i can dream of a nice digital slr instead of the leica d-lux 3 that i want so much.

i did read a review that said the panasonic lumix some-number-or-other was basically the same camera as leica's c-lux 2 (the "cheaper" alternative at $400US) but with panasonic software.  so that led me to this camera which has more megapixels than i probably need, but i won't complain about that.  (i wish it also had the 10x zoom, i really can't decide if it's worth the extra money, would i use it that much?)  the thing that attracts me the most to this camera is the wide angle lens.  i think i could really have fun with that. the alternative is this sony cybershot.  it's safe, i will know how to use it, i've been using cybershots for a few years now.  so i suppose i will just have another look around town tomorrow and see what i can and talk to some people, and then make a decision.

but i still don't know what to do about the computer virus.  and i really want to post some photos, too.

you'll have to pardon me.

so far i have made it through two night shifts.  second night definitely easier than the first, but it's very hard to sleep in the day.  too much activity, and too much noise.  plus i think my brain and body are just very, very confused as to what is going on.  the work is easy enough at least, and unless i'm facing shelves (so far most of it has been stocking the freezer section) it's enough to keep my mind busy and myself awake.

it's sort of like, even though i don't have the muscles to be a crab fisherman à la deadliest catch, perhaps in a couple of weeks i will feel like one anyway.  an insane experiment in sleep deprivation.  (so i know it won't get that bad, in about two days i will just pass out with exhaustion and sleep most of the day.)

it's just really weird that i'm just about to go to bed, and other people in the house are getting up.

am i being punished?

last week i did my typing tests for the temp agency, and i did better than i expected, which is to say at least average on most of it.  altough my ten key was lower than i'd hoped.  i blame the fact that there is a distinct lack of  heating around here.  (but my attention to detail was higher than average, and all correct!  that's a confidence booster!)  but here is the job that they had to give me: stocking shelves at a supermarket.  from 9:30pm to 6am.  which is why it is past 2am and i am still awake, even though i'm exhausted, cold, and very bored.  this week will be pretty awful, i think.

this last week was alright though.  i didn't do much, watched flight of the conchords about a dozen times each episode (go on, quiz me on the show), similar with about a dozen episodes of doctor who, and made an effort to walk up the hill as few times as possible. 

i should take a photo of the stairs that are one of my options for reaching the top.  it's worse than the stairs in bowman and at the naknek cannery combined, except my camera, which i have had for 2 1/2 years and 10,000+ photos is on it's last legs.  i can (mostly) manage with the turning itself off and struggling with the electronic issues of it, and even the exceptional rate it now drains batteries if it weren't for the black blobby line that has decided to make an occasional and inoportune appearance.  i've found an inexpensive replacement camera on amazon that would do the trick, but i'm loathe to spend the money, even if it's not much for what it is.  it's a bit of a conondrum really, technically the old one still works, but not very well and not always even athat.  if only it could have held out for just a few more months!  perhaps an early birthday present will be required...hint hint, mom and dad!

i digress.  i was talking about last week!  i had lunch with abbie, and it was wonderful.  she's a very nice person, and it was great to hang out with her for a couple of hours.  and saturday was a trip to the farmers market where i bought quite a lot of fruit*, and a loaf of cinnamon-raison-walnut bread from a local bakery.  a piece of which i think i will turn into toast in about five minutes.  i also got a much needed haircut, battled with my jump drive which has a virus (and i can't get rid of which is why i am lacking photos), and went to the local art museum.  not the most productive week i've ever had, but restive.  which will hopefully be handy in this upcoming week.

and i think i'm going to be giving up on "easing myself" into the all-nighter business.  as i said before, i'm tired, bored and cold.  instead i'm going to try a new strategy: giant thermos of coffee!  wish me luck.

*suddenly i had 1.5 kilos of oranges, about a kilo of apples and the same of pears.  i supose it offsets the half kilo of cadbury chocolate i also bought last week and have nearly finished off already.  although since it's mostly dark chocolate, at least it has antioxidants, so it's sort of okay...right?

the hills are alive, and they're out for blood!

dunedin has hills, and i knew this, but i suppose i didn't quite realize how big the hills here could be.  and how fun it would be living at the top of one.  nice view, but good thing there's free laundry where i'm staying.  no matter how cold it is, i'm sure by the time i get up to where i live, i will be sweating profusely.

(the house i am in is part of a backpackers, but most of the people seem to be here long term.  it's a little bit like bloom county, actually, except that the kitchen is far cleaner.)

this afternoon i am meeting abbie, a friend of sandy's who is studying here in dunedin.  it'll be nice to meet another iowan.  i've met very few americans, and even fewer iowans, and one of them didn't even know where okoboji was.  how this is possible, i haven't quite figured out, but it seems to be possible.

also today my friend vicky is leaving the south island, and going back to the uk next week.  this one is especially hard because she is basically the last person left.  i know i will continue to meet new people, but i met her the first week i was here.  i almost cried when i had to say goodbye, not only because i will miss her and don't know when i will see her again, but i suppose also because of how it represents the passing of time, and my turn will soon be up here. 

speaking of christchurch, i had an acceptable time there.  i never made it to the ngaio marsh house, which was a disappointment, because i called to make an appointment but since it was a machine i never got to speak to an actual person.  and i never got any calls back.  but i did make it to the international antarctic center.  when i was about twelve or thirteen, i read madeleine l'engle's troubling a star, and since then i have had a small ambition to one day visit antarctica.  i'd really like to now, and i think it's an even stronger desire.  i've met someone who went there, and both christchurch and hobart are departure points for expeditions.  i think it'd be cool.  and not just literally!

one of the funny things about the antarctic center is that they have a room filled with ice and is a windchill room to simulate a storm.  i got all bundled up and ready, and then the readout went down to only -2F.  i've been in colder wind chills with fewer clothes!  (granted, in those times i thought my ears would fall off...)

i also went to the market at the arts center and bought a skirt from this totally outrageous guy, he was so funny!  i tried it on (it's got three panels in front with three different completely different tweedy fabrics, with a sort of fuschia-y tiki sewn in with foam to make it puffy) with my magenta-ay striped shirt and knee socks that are multi-colored and he told me i should totally wear it together as an outfit, the clashing went, and then took a photo!  hilarious!  i could definitely put that outfit back together someday and take a photo to share, but your eyes might not appreciate the optical nightmare, lol!

this is a random thought, but i was wondering, did i ever mention the proliferation of grey hair on my head?  it started with just a couple when i was about 17, but en masse* in february, and i keep finding more.  especially above my right ear.  i'm really not sure how i feel about this.  on one hand, i don't want to be grey like my dad, on the other, it'd be nice if everyone stopped thinking i was 18 all of the time.

at any rate, that's all i have to say for now.  i made it to dunedin, and hopefully will find work. unless the hills knock me out dead first.  and if they don't, then i will be in such great shape!

*i really feel i should point out that i have found no more than a dozen total, but it does not mean that they are not there.  just that i have not seen them.

my "fourth"

was spent as my last two were before it, working in a fish factory.  however, after a lot of travelling on saturday i spent my fifth in wellington with maayke watching the all blacks smash the south africa springboks (current world champs).  the game started out fun as it can be in the wind and freezing rain, with a nice little scuffle after one of the all blacks did an illegal tackle, but that was about it.  it wasn't nearly as exciting as watching them play england, but hey!  i got to see the all blacks!  how cool is that?  and there were a few fireworks, some national anthems, and some local sporting...all very patriotic, even if not for the right country!

then after more travel debacles, (including a ferry crossing that had 7m/22f waves) i finally managed to make it to kaikoura and then yesterday to christchurch.  i get to hang out with my friend vicky for a few days now, and at the beginning of next week i will head down to dunedin in an effort to find work for a few weeks.

fireworks, the haka, maayke and i, and rugby!  (although i usually don't know what's happening.)