Dancing Medals

Over the last 6 weeks i have put in some serious time and effort to say nothing of money in practicing my dancing. just so I can spend 10 minutes  in front of a dance judge

 I was way more nervous than I thought i was going to be. i was dancing with my instructor rather than the person that i usually dance with ..( she is short and he is tall )
 anyway I am here to tell you that i passed  quite happily, bronze level. (the beginning ) and the judge left some nice comments. it s like a school report card .. comments and a grade.  this was 6 dances; waltz, foxtrot and international tango. for the ballroom, then Samba, Rumba and Cha Cha.
 Yes I plan to do more , Silver level will be next about 6 months away. More work, more time and more money.

Sunsets

Sunsets are differnet in NZ, not quite sure if i can say why, but they are , they dont last as long, thre was barely a 5 minute spread over these photos , and it was gone.
the tree is a large one in my neightbours yead ,by the road
8 37 to 8 42.
Its warm out why does it get dark?

Work Conversation

  I guess I have been at work now long enough for people to start asking about live in Alaska, so I got bragging rights on the temps this week, ( thank guys for the cold weather ). and people are asking about the cultural differences between her and the states. apart from the language...
 what to say..
 American eat out way more frequently than they ought to, is this just a money thing.. ? no I think even those in NZ than can afford to don't .  once a week maybe.
American are germ a phobic, a few germs wont hurt you.. it is OK to go to work with a cold, take the tissues and drugs and go to work....
 Kiwis get 4 weeks vacation/ holiday a year.   so I am taking 2 weeks off at Christmas.due to all the public holidays  I only use 4 days of leave.
 liability law s in the states control what people do way more than Americans even realize. Every day in the train here 10 % of the people stand up before the train comes to a stop,  this would never happen in the states some one would tell you not to, cause you might fall over and hurt yourself and maybe sue the train company. here we have ACC . so our ability to sue is very limited. ( stand up in the train at your own risk...)
what do I miss about the Alaska .. ?
 The northern lights, why is it this year that the light are supposed to be rally good, . thank goodness for web cams.

new haircut

New haircut , it only been 4 months since I got a cut, that is pretty good for me. This haircut is one i actually like ... yeah... !!!
yes there is a little blow wave, but thats ok, and i even managed to get a decent photo. this came from' Glo 'just up the road... 110 Mana espalade. I will be going back ....

Around my Place

 standing in ankle deep water, its very tidal.

the table and chairs I bought in Fairbanks back in september

new place

 well I moved in ,I've been here a month, got my first power bill today, and it was about as expected. I  haven't had to turn the heater on in a  few days. i have bought a whole bunch of stuff. a new TV. a modem,  a barb be-Que
. I have been drooling of a chest of drawers , a tall boy. just made of pine, $269.00  the expensive ones made of other wood start at $800. so pine works for me. the drawers open sooo smoothly.
 isn't it  interesting as to  what make s you excited, drawers that open. i have a set of drawers on a long term borrow, but I don't think i have ever had a new set of drawers.

 Putting together a BBQ isn't as simple as you think, putting the wheels on is a pain, but I got there in the end , then i read the instructions ( I am a girl) and it said funny about putting spices and red wine in the bottom. now i think that sounds like a plan. so on Saturday, I am having a house warming.
 but for now I get to show you some photos of the lagoon that is over the back.
 i will try and post more often,  someone could remind me.

New place

Got to go look at new place and picked up the key. that needs work , it needs bit of a clean and only 2 elements work on top , the oven it's self works, so thats ok. I need to make scones on Sunday. The next door neighbor is james 35 with a 7 year old every other week.
I found a Turkish kerbab cafe for tea. Lots of healthy salads for sides a bit pricy but oh well, I have always liked kebabs .
Tomorrow is moving day, I have yet to sort out Internet so photos maybe a bit slow in coming , facebook is a better place for that .

a place to live

 So Wednesday was OK I went to look at the house on Mana  Esplanade, a nice little sunny place 2 bedroom , a little damp in the bathroom, and there could be more kitchen cupboard space space, but clean. i though it was worth an application , it looked OK good location, 3 doors doors down a alleyway that went to the estuary and across the road access to the beach, a very busy road that is.   peak hour traffic a bitch to say the least .
 the rental agency was a nice lady and she must have liked me. when I said I was interested in it she got to me to fill out an application, which she approved on the spot.... Not even a  reference in sight....
so I have a place to live , yes I get to pay her lots of money 3 weeks rent for bond , and moving day is Sept 10
 i get to get my stuff out of storage , my sheepskins for my car seat
 and my couches and my blanket. i know know why but i just want to curl up on my cream couch with MY blanket and watch TV and have my stuff.

2 weeks-- Sept 10 is moving day.
( yes I will get photos when I move in )

Culture Shock Dancing Style

 In Alaska we dance what ever style takes our fancy it was a small community, so the Latin crowd and the ballroom crowd got to hang out,  most of us know both, salsa  bachatta,  merange perhaps.
 now Wellington is fine for ballroom but trying to find salsa in this own is like pulling teeth, the salsa club closed sometime earlier this year, there is a small salsa crowd that hang out in town on a Sunday night. and bachatta  whats that?
 its not important cause it not an official dance with medals and grading etc
 Am i doomed to never dance a Bachata till I go back to Fairbanks...... that would just hurt.
 I went to a dance from supreme dance school, and danced with a few people i discovered that they are taught routines here, which of course i don't know them, these men don't know how to lead. i am supposed to know the routines , all stuff designed for medals etc. am i going to have to go back and learn beginning dance classes just to lean these dam routines. i had said to myself that i would do competition if  the opportunity ever arose.
 hell you cant avoid it here.
Tango classes on Wednesday are fun, Argentine tango from a man whose from Argentina, fancy that.   just learning to tango like they do, no Medals just dancing....
here ends my tale for today.  ( I'll be in a better mood tomorrow)

House hunting

 Houses to look at this weekend , just to rent for right now  looking around Plimmerton/ Paramata way one tomorrow and and one on Sunday then another one Wednesday.
 rent is really expensive here, i am looking at 2 bedroom ones  and rent is by the week.  $250 on the cheep end and 270 then the one on Sunday is 295. and that is just rent then there. with electric heating in winter, is the power bill.
 that is  not counting the cost of commuting to work which will be 50 a week.
Can I live with this budget  ?.
 The same place in town with no commuting costs would be 350 per week. so if im not in a hurry to move this is why.

Snow In Wellington

Yup it snowed today.. I am so done with snow,
 it sat on the ground a little bit, this morning there was no wind then this afternoon  it was blowing, after they started cancelling schools and closed the Rimutaka hill. in town it may in the ground  but was gone by the time i went home at 4 pm.  Rimutakas is the hills that separate wellington from the Wairarapa  30 ks of  roads
according to the news there were records falling today it was cold 4 degrees was the high, 40 f
People at work were just looking out the window and thinking it was funny. apart from Me.
 The South island is getting slammed with there usual winter storms ( move your sheep to shelter, or risk loosing lambs) August is lambing season. any way this weather is supposed to last 3 days
 I am done with snow!
light well there's 1/ 2 hour more light around this month but it is increasing soooo slowly. we have lambs and daffodills but no warmer weather.

A lady at work justshowed me how to post stuff her from my phone. So this means I can do more stuff. I won't make any promises about the spelling . Sometimes the auto spell spent like stuff. Place names mostly.
Today after Monday is a beautiful sunny day and no wind.

New Job details

first week at work 

 batisism by  fire a long week but  got to pay direct depost of 400,000 today. looks like lots of data entry, the software  has and 10 years of errors and people who didn't know how to  do stuff. somewhere along the line. The people at work are fun to work with, way more  sexual innuendo  that what would ever happen is the USA, cultural difference major. ( not directed at me )

 Dancing has been good this week

 got to go to Practise on Monday and figure out  some  quick step and samba routines, with Sean, who is looking to  find some one to try new vogue dancing with.  Planing on going to a class next weeks to see if i like it . ( look it up on u tube)

 Sean is 6 4 and way good frame but limited number of moves that is  comfortable with . 

 did  a rock & roll class on Tuesday and more Practice on Thursday

 We have just had  6 days of  wind and heavy rain, Today was better today we had a Frost it was 32 f  i had to scrape the ice of the car to go to work,  (oh my god. )

Job

 Yes i have a job, i start work next Monday, it s only 30 hours a week but paying a bit more than what i had in Fairbanks.
 I know I haven't been writing in  a while but  since I don't have to go job hunting i have spent 10 days in wellington house / cat sitting for  friends of my cousins who was in Australia.   the cat was very old  and needed to take her pills every day. so spent  a bit of time running around wellington finding my way around, going dancing and doing some knitting.  yes I am knitting project again,   for the first time in 7 or 8 years.  i have thins really nice cool colour, its a nice teal colour and i am doing a cable cardigan for   me.  its so much easier to be motivated to knit when you are doing it for your self. ( yes i have photos on my phone but they are on my  phone and not the computer.) i got to go shopping for some more work clothes.
 the weather is crappy can now we are past the shortest day not that anyone celebrated it , the temp has dropped just a couple of degrees followed by some good winds howling form the south. and damp wellington is damp. it rains a whole bunch.  the only thing i can say about the weather is roll on November.
 there will be more news on my job when i start work and actually know more about it ..

New Haircut

Got a new haircut today, all for the job hunting stuff and looking tidy, it s lat shorter than i thought, but i need to be tidy, maybe I'll like it better tomorrow. if i had white hair i'd look like my mother.
now I have had 2 haircut inside 3 months this is probably a lifetime record. its usually 8 or 9 months or longer between my haircuts... oh well it will grow. and $2.00 cheaper than my last one.
the job hunting progresses frustratingly.. just got turned down on job where i was the top candidate but then they changed the criteria and hired someone they knew.

So its either time for some chocolate or some new clothes.. office clothes of course... now chocolate would be cheaper... but....

New Car

At long last last Thursday my car arrived, it had left Auckland on Monday as promised, but someone forgot to tell me it would be 2 or 3 days for delivery. so a frustrating 3 days later on Thursday the car arrived. its a cool looking car. http://www.toyota-allion.com Toyota Allion

yup from Japan 2002. My face book page has some other photos , if you are that way inclined

Absolutely spotless interior. still working on figuring out the radio. i can seem to program the channels to the stations that i want.. minor details. someone will come along that will help. spotless engine, pressure washed of course. i can't remember seeing that cleaner engine.

the auto winder for the windows doesn't work for the other windows , on the drivers side. but works on the other windows. ( does that make sense)

What else have I done. went for a drive last weekend to the Wairapa, that's over the hills from upper Hutt.. find a map... they have Martinbrough the home of good wine. and lots of rolling new Zealand farm land. you might get lots of pictures like that.

Otherwise its job hunting, I am now listed with 6 different agencies, cause that's where the interesting jobs are coming from, not many companies list jobs by themselves. Finding my way around downtown.

the job hunting

I have spent the last week solidly job hunting , i have managed to apply for 2 jobs every day, working backwards from 3 different web sites. I have signed up with 5 different recruitment agencies.

everything ( well in accounting fields) seems to come through the agencies On Monday i applied for 4 . last Friday I called work and income ( the local unemployment offices to see if i was eligible, it looks like i am as long as i am seriously looking for work. email proof etc. there is a 2 week stand down period from the time i first called .. last Friday. it would have been only one week, but i earned too much last year. So on Tuesday I will have to go in a fill out the from with all the info. ( did I really bring home all the the right paperwork ? )

I went into town Wellington ( a 50 km 35 miles commute.. 55 minute train) yesterday to meet with an agency who said that he would be surprised that I didn't find work in 2 or 3 weeks . well that was nice but he didn't have anything to offer me. (they did high end management accounting.. ) the train trip into town is really quite pretty.

This photo is from down town around the wharf the other photos are on the phone still.

please bear with me as i get better with the i phone skills

Cars

Friday afternoon I went to test drive nice blue Allion listed at 12900 2002 .. yes cars are expensive here. since it was a nice car. i thought i would make an offer , but the sales man didnt like my offers of 8 or 9 ,000 and even 10 . so i walked away...

last week in Auckland there was the same car for 10 990 so i committed on friday to a car , put my credit card on the line and am currently awaiting paperwork that i need to sign. car will be shipped down monday... their expense.

its silver 1800 cc its has a snow control, so when i drive the desert road it will be interesting. so see how that works, considering its Japanese the dash is all in English. some cars i drove weren't..

i will get photos when the car arrives. My thought is how often will I loose the car in a car park with all the silver cars here( its about the resale value)

more another day

Wellington

OK OK I am sorry not posting in a week.

Had a great time hanging out with Catherine, Dad was in town so spent some time looking at t cars in Albany, drove a Allion and an Opa. both Toyota's. different cars have different names in different countries, so i don't know what to compare them to. the Allion is like a corrolla and the Opa is a pretend station wagon- a very short rear end. But i wasn't going to buy the first car i test drove... its against my religious principles..or something

Dad drove me down to Mum's ( new Zealand spelling now) on Sunday.. we cris-crossed the north island. stopping in with my primary school principal that i haven't seen in 30 years . then passes by the school as well. the weather deteriorated and rained heavily. stopped for fish and chips ... wrapped in newspaper( cultural thing number 2 .. has to be wrapped in news paper) then I got to drive from Turangi to Whanganui. ... in a manual car on the wrong side of the road in pouring rain and in the dark. yes it was a slow trip. got to see Mother .!!!!

in Whanganui caught up with some of mums friends got in some much needed exercise.. found the local swimming pool that doesn't have 1/2 as much chlorine as the AK pools.( my hair was soft a couple of hours later not fried).

got my storage stuff to be shipped to wellington i found a handy storage unit for 105 a month.

stuff came down on Thursday so mum drove me down to Wellington to supervise its unloading. they weren't the most gentle with other peoples stuff. so that was probably just as well. so It is all safely in storage, and i didn't have to lift any of it.

Slept at Jenny's place last night and got to unpack. Here I stay for an unspecified length of time till i get a job.

this morning I thought i would see if there were any jobs on Seek. since I hadn't looked at mothers. she has dial up and no wireless. there were 3 i applied for. I was about to step out the door to go car hunting some more. there was a call from a agency who had listed one of the jobs wanting to know if I could come into town to meet her on Monday. ummmm let me see now i can do that. then when i was about to step out the door again there was another call from one of the other jobs i had applied for this morning... lets just say i have a busy day on Monday with employment agencies

Today was a productive day.!

Catherines View

photos in new zealand, this was leaning out the window this morning , i thought this view was stuning there was fog and we woke up to a beautiful day

and this was me in the kobe gardens in Seattle sunday morning

Closing

i get to close on the house tomorrow at 12 pm check in hand by the end of the day.

then there is the last power bill and the water bill.

the contractors are so close to being down, light fixtures are done, i need a fridge and a stove, a toilet or 2 and carpet.

and a PLANE TO CATCH FRIDAY

New Computer

i have bought myself a new computer .. well a second hand one . a friend of mine had 4 computers and was selling 2. so i bought the one i had been playing with while i was staying at his place in march . so now i have a laptop and i have spent the evening changing settings and figuring out how to go online and stuff, this is my first laptop so some of it is. these little wee mouse things i have4 days to think about a wireless mouse

one of my old roommates i have no idea who left and power strip that was all in Japanese, so i looked it up online and discovered that it works in nz and Argentina. well i am not moving to Argentina for japan.

AND the computer has a little adapter that does the 240 - 110 thing so this computer will work just fine in NZ. all i need to figure out is the going online wireless stuff. i am pretty sure that i am not the first person to take a computer so i am thinking it should be reasonable simple .

4 days to go.

i still havent found out when we are closing on the house.

Good news

Sorry i have been ignoring you all. just waiting to hear news my self. life is coming together slowly but surely.

Yes I leave work on Friday , I have been training the new girl this week and that is going well.

today i met with the real estate agent and went over the last few things, they will schedule closing. probably for next week.

The house is going well, all the painting is done. not exactly the colours i would have chosen but what do i care. (Pale blue in my bedroom) .They were laying floor and there is a new plywood floor on top of my old stuff, laid by a professional this time and the was another guy laying vinyl in the basement. and they were starting to put the kitchen cabinet back in. and all the paperwork looks like it is coming together as well . wonders will never cease.

Yesterday I listed my car for sale , as i didn't know how long it would take . i had a military gent come look at it tonight and he wants it tomorrow, and i have emails from 2 others if he doesn't.

15 % less than I wanted..but ... cash talks..

s this evening I need to plot and plan my week without a car, how many friends do i have? can i go dancing this weekend careless. I dived out this evening to a book store to make sure i have something to do next week when don't have much to do.

the only uncertainty is that I ordered a pair of(dance ) shoes online and it s coming slow mail. tracking has it still in Seattle shipping ground.

more soon.

Tickets

Booked my tickets. May 6 to leave Fairbanks, a weekend in Seattle for shopping and to see a friend. the Seattle Auckland arriving in nz may 11. 5 :30 am like always.

the house comes along quite nicely but the contractors want an extra day or 2 . so not sure if we can close before I leave. Maybe maybe not.

i am busy giving away stuff that i don't need, and what is left over will go the the salvation army.

have i got everything done??

i need to wash the car so I can get a photo and get it sold. but washing the car right now is a waste of time. the roads are a pain of LARGE water "Lakes" Puddles is not the word to use. its supposed to be 40 today.

my weekend is busy with catching up the people I won't see again. Job hunting in nz will Monday ...

shall I make lists???

Prices

One of the fun things , well sort of- when going outside, is to walk around the suppermarket and try not to say OMG too much..

pears 59 c a lb here they are 1.99 if you re lucky

mangos 59 c each so i bought 4 here they re 1. 50 each

instant oatmeal 2.30 for what i pay 4 .20 for ouch.

hair color 3.50 .. i can barely buy that for less than $9.00

OMG

and we wont even talk about stores with perfume counters with people.

I am going to kinda complain about how commercial the lower 48 is. parking for anything is $10.00 the coke a cola museum in atlanta was ok. just very commercial they had lots of samples from a around the world but no lemon and paeroa. so you know what i want when i get home.

We can always find free parking in Fairbanks.

so after driving back from Atlanta on Sunday, monday was a lazy day. and me and my good book sat in the sun.... it was 80 degrees and windy... so i will say this really quietly.... yes i got sunburnt. opps .

My friend I went to see, John, was way cool he got to hang out with me while i was going shopping and doing the girl thing. I hope I didn't bore him too much.

It was a great vacation , and am mostly rested, except there was lots of stuff on my desk when I got to work. I got to donate blood today and my blood pressure was 112/ 72

Train

So we were in Augusta Ga and driving back to Charleston on Sunday when we got stopped by this train.......

a Double Decker train, now i am not sure that i have ever seen a double Decker train, the whole dam thing was containers 2 stories high.( so maybe I live in a small town or something.)

anyway this train was moving really slowly, it was really long and I am guessing ( duh ) it was really heavy. we didn't get to see the front of it to see how many engines were on it but John had a camera. (ther were 45 carridges after i started counting. )

this is the only photo that i have from a weeks in Charleston.

you want me to take photos of my shopping?.... well might find some photos from the dancing a the lindy in Atlanta. but i am thinking that might take some work

Useless infomation about Janet. ... when there is a train going by it is compuslary to count the number of carridges. its just one of those strange things that i do.. maybe it kept me entertained when i was a kid..

vacation

Charlston, after spending Monday at work, then going home to shower and take a nap , I caught 4 planes and spent 16 hours getting to Charleston. .. for some shopping and relaxation.
of course it is raining here but its warm 65 ish.
today I got to go shopping , new perfume french of course, ( Americans don't know how to make perfume like Channel.) some new clothes that might even make do for job interveiws in NZ. and a great new book
John has been fun , he was even great to hang out with while i went shopping for girl stuff.
there is lots of dancing in our future so maybe i will get to take some photos,
nothing like some R& r to de-stress. its been raiing so i dont have any issues with geting sun burnt
More in a day or 2

lights

The lights were sooo good last night they made the paper. I was out at 9 30 ish and thought i would try with my camera. and i got these. 60 seconds is a long tine to hold a camera still at -20 so you better appreciate this, the bottom 2 were only 30 seconds. but these are the first photos of lights i have ever got with a camera .

photos of the Fire

Fire

Yes i know i dropped of the face of the earth for 10 days sorry..
Tuesday 22 i was working on the last item for the home inspection. i was thawing the ground with weed burner when a spark got in the wall from some dried grass. heaven forbid i be one to panic , but i do on occasions. i called 911 before the smoke detectors went off.
4 minutes or an eternity later they show up. they made hols in the roof and the wall, it was -20 and put it out fairly fast, and i was back in a smoke ruined house 2 hours later.

The good news is a was really lucky my stuff shipped out the day before. and my buyers still want to buy the house and yes i have insurance. my deductible is 1000 . the only stuff in the house was 3 suitcases of cloths computer and stuff in the kitchen. my boiler was fried and there was standing water in the basement. electricity went out somewhere. but the fire man have a great big diesel machine that put out 100,000 BTU's and kept the house at 95 over night to avoid the frozen house thing.

got the boiler and electricity up and running the next day. and got contractors in. to start the clean/ mitigation its quicker to pull of sheet rock than to try and clean , they have spent 8 days taking out stuff, all the carpet and vinyl that i put in last year.( sob ) all that hard work. but i guess the new job will be done by professionals.
i spent 3 nights at the Regency Hotel courtesy of the American red cross . they are wonderful people. when you need them. then i went to a friends for the weekend to sort out clothes and finish getting the all washed.

the recipe for removing smoke from clothes is to use TSP ( tri sodium phosphate) along with regular laundry soap and vanilla in the rinse. Yup surprised me too. but it works. ask the American red cross.
I took 2 days off work for all this but I made it to work all this week. i even managed to finish cleaning out the garage and gave away the last of my electrical stuff. i think the cleaning people will be done Tuesday or maybe Wednesday.
life is slowly getting better but it is somewhat trying to say the least.
there are photos around somewhere but i am computer challenged when i am not at work

the Packers

the weather today was crap, I shoveled last night about 5 inches , and went to bed I woke up this morning with blowing snow and another 8 inches blocking the driveway. today is a public holiday so i had a leisure hour to shovel again, i was just sitting down thinking they were snowed in. it was a bitch out there. windy as all hell . they showed up. sorted out everything. and packed all my stuff in 2 hours flat. that included loading the truck. 1 create 1 couch 4 chairs and 2 boxes. paying by 100 lb. it looks like roughly 1400. lbs so cheaper than i thought. YEAH! Yes everything is well packed.

I get to go in tomorrow and finish paperwork and insurance.

I will upload some photos to show you the crappy weather it was to day

sold my computer desk, so now its only the small electrics to get ride of. nobody wanted my boot warmer. so that Ok.. i will use it a bit longer.

food- now- dinner...,.

do i have a plate?

Garage sale

Garage sale 310 Dunbar Ave

I am now 1 hour and a bit into a garage sale, i have never had one before, din't know if my signs were going to work. wow people drive by and want to be nosy. that works for me, from 9 45 i have a $100

people are garage sale staved this time of year. my old non digital tv $20.

this morning I was stapling, balloons to the signs and caught my finger. ouch. looking for band aids but they are packed somewhere... a tissue worked.

who wants my computer desk?

The Foam

I sold the bed and the dresser today, and another spare bed that I 've had from an ex room mate. so this means I am making progress. talked the guy who bought the bed and dresser into buying my weed eater, and a friend inquired about my car. My house is a mess and i need to sell the computer desk

but I am not complaining really.

tonight I get to sleep on the foam single mattress on the floor. i need to pack!

but chatting with friends is important too.

Making decisions shouldn't be this difficult. taking the cushions off the dining room chairs, they are old I can buy them cheaper, why did I put them in a box? . they are old. nope I can give them away.

Packing...

where is the packing tape , wheres the black sharpie??? what the hell is in this box?

the fun of packing. I got quite a bit done this evening, the only cloths hanging in the closet are 20 coat hangers and they are all going on the plane not the container. the old bathroom is clear. and the important paperwork box is down to something 3 inches wide. i thought i was good at not keeping stuff, but when it comes to paperwork , i just work in accounting and you keep everything. I picked up medical records this week. they go on the plane. I have a whole bunch of stuff i get to take into work on Monday and shred.

Some friends are going to pick up some stuff tomorrow.

I don't mind packing for some reason. its unpacking that I hate.

some of my tools are packed , I hope I am not packing those too soon....

Electricians

Its been a busy week now. The home inspections came in on Saturday, Yes there is electrical work to do. AK Electricial came over Tuesday morning to move the breaker box from behind the boiler. I checked on them at lunch time and everything was good.

but by the time i got home at 5 ish they had knocked 2 of the pipes form the boiler which turned into a fountain of water. ummmm . They turned everything off and called a plumber , who bill out at $125.00 an hour. 2 nice copper manifolds later all is well. but hen guess who gets to pay the bill. Yes the manifolds were old , but I didn't bump them and they weren't on my home inspections to be replaced just soldered. I am not the most happy at the cash i have to out lay here. that wasn't my fault.

the Electricians spent 2 days-( 16 hours of billable time) finishing correcting the open grounds and reverse wiring in my system and grounding it. (a 6 foot pole into frozen ground) it was slow and fiddly. I haven't got the invoice yet. that will be the fun time for tomorrow.

today was the appraisal,( or valuation) the bill for that is just part of my closing costs. so that is not so bad.

somewhere this weekend I get to take some copper to the recycle place to sell it. i have nearly 5 lbs.

the weekend will be just packing and selling stuff.

Life carries on in a good direction.

Selling stuff

well I week has gone by, Contract. Home inspection was last Wednesday. Got the results on Saturday, not to bad considering the age of my house. yes there is electrical work to do. yes it is way more than what I can do, so today I hunt for electricians that do residential work. after 6 or 7 phone calls, I found someone. they were going to consult there schedule. and were supposed to call me back this evening. ( they haven't so I wont mention their name just yet.)

the appraisal will be this Friday. so everything is just booking along in an awful hurry.

The buyer was trying to be smart and renegotiate the price, but my agent and i decided to stand firm. Not sure what this electrical stuff is going to cost. Everyone needs to Cross their fingers for a good appraisal, and hopefully my bathroom with pay off.

then I need to fix the leak in the boiler, but my friend who looks after my furnace will do that in a jiffy.

oh and packing... yeah.... how much stuff do I want , I am hoping the packers can make it on the 21 , but the lady I talk to is on vacation till the 14 ...

I think I have sold my bbq set and the sewing machine. someone wants the bed downstairs. The moving sale needs to be the 19th

that leaves me 3 days to clean and do dump runs before closing and finish packing on the 28th .

Keys and money on the the first...

dancing ummmmm

swimming ummmmm.... we shall see.

more flowers

I looked at my blog and iInoticed something missing. another post about my flowers. these guys grw fast and they have cool colours this was the little one. the other one didnt quite have anough sunshine and didnt last long. the buld at safeway said this was white... well sort of. but its really pretty anyway. ther is more light now so i shouldnt have any problems. the sun was back in the house the other day.

Contract

I am now under contract to sell my house. life is wonderful. I had a offer late Saturday Afternnoon and spent most of today with counter offers, agreement was reached.

so now I get to plot and plan my way to move home . New Zealand. it will be nearly winter to winter , but that is ok. tonight I set down and make lists. can I do it in 10 weeks ?moving and job hunting.

watch this space....

and if you don't think i am excited think again.

Talk back radio

sometimes I get homesick and i turn on the radio to NZ talk back radio to see whats going on. the other day the subject was unemployment and getting jobs.then they had the adds

the one that caught my attention was the one for the Vasectomy clinic. and there was this mans voice declaring most enthusiastically

"and the best part about it the is homework you have to do afterwards 24 times"

what can I say, would the USA have a vasectomy clinic ?

that surly would not happen in United states.

Here lie the cultural differences.

Shoes

last Friday we got our end of year bonus, and i have always said that bonuses should be spent on something special, not groceries etc. Most of the time I have managed this.

For the last couple of months i have been looking at some more dance shoes( there is no such things as too many dance shoes). Friday after work I went shopping on line, so with a bonus burning a hole in my pocket. I got these from dance4 less.com i thought they would arrive on Friday since we had a public holiday but yesterday Wednesday there they were. I took them to dance class just to try them out, comfortable dance shoes. I am sure they will get worn on Friday when I go dance as well.

Yes there is a smile on my face. New dance shoes will do that for you.

Christmas decorations

I took down the tree yesterday, and looked at the Christmas decorations. yes i want to take them home. no they are not worth very much so if they break well soo...

glass balls that is ..

so I packed them,.. did I wrap them well enough? only time will tell. I put them back in the boxes they came in , and no I probably didn't pack them well enough but I am going to try,.. just for shits and giggles.

and no comments from the cheep seats either.

I will have to declare them at customs, for they are one of the listed items. so that means unpacking them somewhere. Apparently according to NZ customs, spiders like to live in Christmas decorations, assuming that you store them in the garage and it's a warm one. So no they are not sitting in the garage.

No I'm not bringing the tree. I thought about it until I read the customs list. I cant be bothered unpacking that..

Flowers in Winter

In the first week of december I went shoping,- Safeway, and they had these cute looking bulb things. They were supposed to be for gifts but .. so Igot 2 planted and followed directions. Now there is not alot of daylight in Fairbanks this time of year, but one can poke and hope. ( thats poke them in the soil and hope they grow) I put these in the window, where the sun pretends to shine of about 15 minutes a day.

And yesterday I got this. I was very impressed. This moring it was even better looking. and just now this evening the red one os looking even better.

the second one will be white, you will get to see more in a week ish. I will go out tomorrow and see if i can get the name of these things, ( sorry Mother) in the mean time they are just flowers.

New years day

good morning , how was your sunset today
Photos taken at 3 pm new years day.