"...and then i found twenty dollars!"

i did find a dollar at the four square in oban on wednesday, but that's a story for another day.  actually, i guess i just told you the whole story: that's it, i was looking for a candy bar, and there it was.

anyway, i've had a very interesting day yesterday, involving a rough ferry crossing and a lack of dramamine--i'm sure your imaginations can fill in the rest.  after bulking up on band-aids and falafel in invercargill, i got the bus to queenstown and here i am!  not that i spend much time in these sorts of places, but it reminds me of a resort town in colorado.  or what little i've seen of it.  i'm undecided on whether or not i like the place, but at least there's a great burger place nearby. 

stewart island is nice, i'd show you photos, but the place i'm staying at, while it has free internet i can't upload photos.  that's cool with me, and hopefully you guys don't mind because it means you have been spared photos of my left foot's toe-next-to-the-big-one.  i injured it on monday and it's been turning some nice colors of the rainbow, and i'm wondering how about my toenail and it's attatched state (hence the band-aids). 

because i know you love my series of photos dealing with my gruesome and usually variously shaded injuries.  that sprained ankle a year ago is still the best, how my leg turned blue and purple halfway up my calf.

...and then i found twenty dollars?

so i guess i'm another year older.

according to all documentation, today was my birthday.  it's probably the most low-key birthday i've ever had, doesn't quite feel right without the lasagne and german chocolate cake!

i predict a long day ahead of me.

no matter how many times you do it, packing does become any easier.  how do i have so much stuff?  how?!  didn't i just get rid of a number of things?

in a somewhat related query: should i just go ahead and sell my tent now, and not bother with attempting anything camping up north?  what are the chances i will do any?  and what are the chances that i sell it and two days later i want to go?  discuss!

curio bay, and whatnot.

the sky in that second photo just totally amazes me.  i loved the way that the setting sun reflected off of the clouds and into the water.  although it was a little freaky as well, being that it was also really windy that night.  but then when i woke up, i had that amazing view of porpoise bay you see in the photo after.

i'm still working at countdown, i decided it was easier to work a second week now than to try to find work later on, since it always takes awhile.  this weekend was dull, dull, dull though for the most part.  because i slept all day, i had not much to do all night.  i ended up making best friends with youtube, watching doctor who, french & saunders, and quite a number of music videos from mostly kiwi bands that i like.  i also met some canadians who are doing so much tramping!  i'm jealous, they're planning on going to fiordland in a couple of weeks.  the kepler track is one that i would really like to do, i think.  time!  i wish i had the time!

four more shifts, though, and i'm done with work!  and on my way!  that is a start, at least, i'm trying to decide my route, and the most logical first stop is stewart island, but only if the weather is good.  (i'm not going to pay money for a ferry if i'm stuck inside a backpackers all day, i think that makes sense, right?)  otherwise on to queenstown for a day or two, and up to mt. cook!  i'm sort of excited to be going back to the north island, not because i want to leave (of course not), but because i'm ready for a change, and it's certainly different up north.  

and what do i get to do now?  get ready for work.  wasn't i just there?  sure seems like it!

a few more catlins photos

purakaunui bay in the evening, starry night with caravan, sea lions at surat bay, and looking down near jacks blowhole.

i really like that second one, if you click on it and see it larger, you can sort of see the stars.  my new camera has a "starry sky" setting, but alas, the longest the shutter will stay open is one minute.  i think it'd be really cool if i could get it to stay open longer, i could spend hours taking photos of the sky at night! 

we finished work early last night, which we knew we would, but it ended up being only six hours.  fantastic!  i got more sleep that way, and i slept some more this afternoon.  i'd go to bed now (it's not quite 2am), but it took me long enough to get into the whole up-all-night, sleep-all-day routine and i'd really like to keep it that way for next week. i'm getting a little bit bored though, i was watching the rugby match (all blacks vs. wallabies) on tv, but i think that socket is on a timer (as most of them in this house are, annoyingly), because the tv went out before it was even halftime.  ack!  so i'm just dinking around on the internet, and about to find some doctor who on youtube! 

i'm in practice for a job on "deadliest catch".

work is okay, the actual tasks aren't terribly awful, even if a bit monotonous or sometimes frustrating.  (like trying to find a place on a shelf for an item that, it turns out, will no longer be carried, or anytime the tickets are messed up which is more often than we would like.)  and my coworkers are okay, even though there is that one guy who calls everybody "bro" every two seconds.  nor can we forget that i am working eleven-hour shifts.

i do feel a bit zombie-fied though.  perhaps more vampire-like, being that i am only actually out at night.  despite my efforts, i have had approximately six hours of actual sleep since i got up monday morning, 75 hours ago.  there is an occasional giggling fit, and some difficulty concentrating (especially when i went grocery shopping this morning, but that could be because i am tired of looking at food), but for the most part i feel compeletely fine.  hardly tired at all!  it's strange how sleep deprivation works like that!

progress

i meant to write a post about my travels as part of my "project day" that today was going to be, but it turns out i am working this week after all.  night shifts.  eleven-hour night shifts.  until saturday morning.

i should be in bed, sleeping.  i will go soon, but i wanted to show that i have been doing something this weekend at least:

 
defintitely further along than i was a couple of weeks ago, but still not finished yet.  it does't look that great either, there are mistakes everywhere and the side i start my purl rows on is not even close to straight, but i hope that since it's my first knitting project i can be forgiven!  (and that once it's finished it's slightly less noticeable.)  perhaps i will only wear it when i become a lumberjack (to match my plaid), and nobody will notice. 

a political ranting of my own.

don't worry, normal programming to resume soon.

this is just a response i've written about sarah palin earmarking money for the state of alaska, which i read on d's blog:

 

before i begin, i would like to point out that i have no desire to see sarah palin as our country's vp--i have been excited about obama for months.  nor do i agree with her earmarking* of money for wasilla ($500,000 for a youth center?  that's not a bit excessive?  i'd like to see the full list, and how much the city put in, if any), and definitely not the bridge to nowhere**.  nor am i an expert on government or finances.  if i were, i'd have far more money.  i just get stuck on the part about her earmarking money for the state.

 

based on my experience and knowledge of alaska, a lot of the $198 million earmarked for the state would go to genuinely useful programs. rural sanitation probably does not need to be discussed, as it's a pretty self-explanatory.  (do you want to try digging a septic system into the permafrost?)  there are many programs having to do with fisheries which is a main industry in alaska, following oil drilling, and along with tourism.  they've learned what overfishing can do, and have, from what i have seen, been doing a good job of regulating the industry in recent years, and i hope that they continue to do so.   i would certainly support any efforts to be made to keep things that way, and to find newer and better ways to run a sustainable source of income for the state.  along with that were programs like DARE, and things dealing with drugs and alcohol.  a problem anywhere, they definitely have issues with it.  a number of places have outlawed the import of alcohol altogether because of the effect it has had. 

 

another note: according to wikipedia, "Federal subsidies are also an important part of the economy, allowing the state to keep taxes low."  i should have a problem with this, because they do have such a huge income from oil.  it funds a lot of state programs, including the permanent dividend fund.  each alaskan resident, last year, received $1654.  on the other hand, the per capita income from alaska in 2006 was $26,919 (higher than most states, also with a much higher unemployment rate than nationally), but consider the high cost of living in most rural communities: while living in naknek, i rarely saw fresh fruit or vegetables at the cannery, and the cost of those in the grocery store were, for example, between $2.50-$3.00 for a pound of bananas.  the cost of other necessary items, like shampoo, is astounding in a place like that.  i'm not even sure what housing costs.  so $1600 can make a huge difference in the income for many alaskans.  (a round trip plane ticket from king salmon to anchorage, the nearest major shopping center?  at the moment, about $500 on travelocity.)  you can see why a huge number of alaskans are for continuing with oil, and opening up anwr.  that check, it's not just a plane ticket out of town, but an important source of income for some.

 

a lot of people seem to comment on that being a lot of money for so few people, but alaska being so VAST and so much of it being undeveloped/without infrastructure, and fewer natural resources/sources of income, it's not exactly a black and white issue.  i think sarah palin is a hypocrite for calling herself a reformer and i don't agree with all of her decisions,  but i can understand why she made them.  and so going back to earmarking (and really in quite a lot of topics), i don't think that we can talk about alaska in the same way that we talk about other parts of the country. 

 

i guess in the end, that is my point: politics as with many topics is a complicated issue to begin with, and we never really can see every point of view.  especially in a country like the u.s., which being so large makes everything even more so.  and it all gives me a headache.  and i'm glad i'm not her daughter, how humiliated she must feel.

 

*in general i think the way earmarking is done is a crappy way to get money for programs, and that does need to change.  but the end result is what i'm trying to focus on here.

**in talking about, some writers fail to omit the part about the airport being there, just a population of 50, making it sound even more laughable.  *giggles*

 

info from:

http://projects.washingtonpost.com/elections/keyraces/census/ak/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska
http://stevens.senate.gov/earmarks/Approps-StateofAlaska.pdf

 

addendum: i also cringed when i read jezebel calling palin a "moose murderer".  um...a lot of alaskans hunt moose.  as an affordable source of food.  a moose can provide nearly all of the meat for a family for quite some time.  i really just wish people would not make accusatory statements without a little basic research.  although when i read about her being for hunting wolves by helicopter?  that's not so much okay by me.

back, again.

while everyone else is discussing politics, i have been away, content in my ignorance.  i went to the catlins, and part of central otago for a few days, sleeping in my tent (and one night a caravan, which i now want) and just got back in town this morning.  and was promptly given more work at countdown (days) in mornington, a nearby neighborhood.

no time to collect my thoughts!

curio bay, where i camped one night.  the sky looked a bit ominous, and it did rain a little, but it was mostly the wind that was a bit freaky.