JulesFlute's Musings

08:16 am - Two years in NZ

July 23 was the two year anniversary of my moving to NZ. IT doesn't seem
like two years at all! Luckily, the weather was much better this time than
it was when we first arrived.

Of course, yesterday it rained all day and the winds were hideously heavy
and cold. But never mind this.

Second semester is already full on with assignments and write ups to think
about. And, of course, we can't forget that all too fun research. Not!

Cheers,
Julia

08:07 am - Tweets for Today

08:27 Am here 40 minutes early 4 a 9 Am Lecture. #

10:08 pm - Update!

Just a quick update before I head off to bed.

Second semester has started this week. I've got two new classes. One deals
with issues in child psychology, and another one deals with the family.
They should be very interesting to say the least.

I had an interesting experience with one of the heat pumps last night. No
matter what I did, the thing would not turn on! I did everything but check
outside. Well, this morning I called Smith City and was connected to their
heat pump department. I booked in a time for the service person to take a
look at the thing, but then the operator asked if I'd checked the switch
outside. He explained where it was and I ran out and checked. Well,
someone or something turned the switch off. I know sometimes, if a breaker
pops, this may happen. Anyway, all is well and the house is once again warm
and cosy. Man, gotta love those heat pumps!!!

I might investigate some sort of lock box or something that can go around
the switches outside. That way no one but us or people with keys can turn
the switches off. Well, that and maybe a circuit breaker.


Time to close as I'm quite sleepy, and I must be up early for a 9:00 AM
lecture.

Cheers,
Julia

08:10 am - Tweets for Today

20:40 Just found out that if i dont get into the clinical pgm i can do a child and family psychology degree. #

20:51 Jonathan can be on who wants 2 be a million air the nz version! #

08:09 am - Tweets for Today

14:10 Have broken a computer in the lab. Will not start properly. Lol. #

02:13 Naughty company! I told them to make sure and put Jonathan's name on the package. Glad Jonathan's got it though. #

08:12 am - Tweets for Today

09:56 Just had a scary thing. Missed the uni stop by 3 stops.walked back 2 campus. Asked people along the way. #

10:01 Am very proud of myself. I used 2 panick in those situations. Good boy reggie. #

12:01 pm - Tweets for Today

12:04 Wow! The convention has only been going on 4 an hour and they are already taking a dig at the federation. #

12:27 Much better presidents report this year. #

10:30 am - Tweets for Today

10:42 @ blindtwit eat some 4 me. #

12:04 Wow! The convention has only been going on 4 an hour and they are already taking a dig at the federation. #

12:27 Much better presidents report this year. #

08:09 am - Tweets for Today

19:58 am having some hot chocolate after plaing in the snow with Reggie. #

08:10 am - Tweets for Today

01:12 U cakk tiy ub stydui, #

08:16 am - Tweets for Today

11:37 @ blindtwit you poor thing. You need a good sleep. #

01:00 I just got a very lovely fruit and plant basket from Jonathan! IT's very nice, smells great and there's heaps of fruit! He's very nice t ... #

02:12 NFB have just finished vocal elections. They went rapidly due to no one else seeking nominations. Interesting. #

02:41 am - Wow, this should be a good thing to watch

This morning, truck drivers are protesting higher road prices. They're
going to completely mess up traffic in 13 cities in NZ. This,
unfortunately, will occur during peak time in the morning. Check out the
story here.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1
<http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10519742&pnum> &objectid=10519742&pnum=0

Cheers!
Julia

10:32 pm - Update!

I'm on holiday from Uni till 14 July. Even though I'm technically on break,
I still have a Statistics project that needs finishing. One of the girls in
my Stats class and I are working on it together. I'll tell ya, Statistics
will be the death of me!

I took two exams a couple of weeks ago. One was a final exam in Stats, and
the other was a test in Forensic Psychology. I did well on the Forensic
test but don't think I did all that great on the Stats exam. A bunch of us
found the Statistics exam majorly difficult, so I'm glad I wasn't alone.

I did some training on 25 June up in Wellington. The weather was absolutely
crappy, but I did have one major accomplishment that day. Well, actually,
Reggie and I had a huge accomplishment. I learned several routes in the
Christchurch airport but never was brave enough to try them by myself. I
still lack self confidence when it comes to exploring my surroundings.

Anyway, for some reason, after I checked in, I didn't ask for assistance. I
just got my boarding pass and decided right then and there that I was going
to find security. So, off we went, and whadda ya know, we found it! It's
really not that difficult, but there are lots of interesting things dogs can
sniff along the way or get distracted on. E.G. cafes and people! Even if
we had gotten lost, I definitely would have just asked someone for
directions to my destination. There were a few times that I thought I might
be going in the wrong direction, but I stopped and listened and continued.
Anyway, this definitely gives one a great feeling. I had always been
envious of blind people who could just find their way in airports, and now,
I can do it too!

The gates are a bit interesting, though. Instead of being in a line, they
are sort of in a semicircle. I asked someone where gate x was and they
pointed me in the right direction. So, off we went again to find our gate.

I'm happy to say that on both the trip up and the return trip, I didn't have
to sit in the bulkhead! Yea, this makes for a happy passenger!

It's the annual blindness conventions in the States again, and Jonathan is
there now. I wish I could be there, but never mind. Maybe next year. The
good thing is I can hear both conventions online. ACB has streamed their
convention for some time now, but the NFB will be streaming the sessions
this year. I won't hear all of them, but I definitely want to hear the
presidential report and Jonathan's speech.

Jonathan had forgotten how hot Texas could get. Texas is in a major heat
wave currently, and when Jonathan arrived in Dallas, it was 90dgF, 32dgC,
and this was at 23:00! Amazing!!

It's been quite cold here. This morning I awoke to -2dgC. This was
definitely one of those times when the heat pumps came in handy. You do get
a false sense of temperature when you have heat pumps though.

We had rain all day Saturday, and Christchurch even had some flooding. The
rain finally let up late Sunday morning. We're supposed to get more bad
weather tomorrow, but I'm not too sure if we'll get rain or just cold
southerly's. I wish we would get snow!!! I love snow! The mountains have
already gotten a nice dusting of snow, but down here in the city, we haven't
gotten all that much, if at all.

Well, that's all the news from here for now. I'll go and have an early
night, I think.

Cheers,
Julia

03:16 am - A Fantastic Evening!

Even though Jonathan will not be with me on my birthday, he still makes it
special. Last year, for example, we went to Rotorua so I could experience
some real NZ culture and the geothermal pools. Very nice, indeed!

Friday morning, Jonathan came in to tell me that the Julia season was
beginning. When I asked what that was, he said I'd have to wait and see.
He loves keeping me in suspense!

Around 11:00 or so, the doorbell rang and Jonathan answered the door. The
delivery guy said it was a big box, but Jonathan handled it well. Of
course, I had no clue what was in this box, so as is usual for me, I asked
him to bring it into the bedroom. I tried to get the box open, but one of
the little flaps was stuck. Anyway, Jonathan requested I might want to open
the box in another location, so I went into the kitchen. Well, when I
finally got the box open, what did I find?

I found a humongous chocolate smelling cake!!!! Yes, this thing weighed
about three pounds, or a kilo and a half! It's pure chocolate mud! Yum in
the extreme! There were these little chocolate tubular things on each
corner, and the cake said "happy birthday my darling Julia".

I was very surprised to say the least. I was ready to cut into it, but I
had to go to university in two hours. I also wanted mum to see a pic of the
cake. This took some doing, because her router's not connected due to
something going on with AT&T which I can't figure out for the life of me.
We'd normally use Skype for videos and pictures, but since the computer that
was connected to the net was too slow, we had to resort to Yahoo Messenger.
I much prefer Skype, because the response time is way faster and I can focus
the camera better.

Anyway, Jonathan and I indulged in my birthday cake after dinner. I only
had one piece, because it was very rich! The piece I did have was
fantastic, though. Pure chocolate heaven! Today when I eat more cake, I'm
gonna stick one of those tube things on my finger. Wonder if it'll fit.

Last night, Jonathan and I went out for a birthday dinner. Since the
incident at Tony's Restaurant, I've been a bit more lacking in my self
confidence regarding taking Reggie to new places. I know I really shouldn't
be, because in the six years since getting Reggie, I've only had issues
three times. Nevertheless, that thought of being turned away again, just
because of my Seeing Eye dog is still there.

Not to worry though!!! This time was perfect, as it should be in the first
place. We went to a restaurant called Restaurant Schwass. This is
definitely the most exquisite restaurant Jonathan and I have ever been too.
The menu changes daily, and some of the champagnes are around $500 a bottle.


We made a booking for 18:30 and arrived just in time. The restaurant wasn't
too far by cab, which was a good thing. Anyway, Lee, the maitre'd was very
friendly and welcomed us in whole heartedly. We were quickly shown to our
table, and almost immediately, our waitress arrived to explain the menu and
take our predinner drink orders. This was when we found out about the menu
changing daily.

For our drinks, I had a Cosmopolitan, while Jonathan had a Martini. We had
a very nice bread role with butter and something else. I know it wasn't
olive oil, but the name escapes me at 3:00 AM.

For our entrees, I had a pork bun and Jonathan had the Salmon. The pork bun
was a new dish, but they definitely need to keep it on their menu. IT was
on the lighter side, but the taste was out of this world. There was no
overly powerful pork smell or taste, and surprisingly, the bits of radish
were quite nice.

We ordered a bottle of the
Seresin Estate 2006, from Marlborough. This was a fantastic Chardonnay,
very oaky and smooth.
For our mains, I decided on the lamb and Jonathan had the venison. HE loved
his main, and I absolutely enjoyed mine. I had three different types of
lamb, some parsnips, a nice sauce for the base, and other delights. The
flavours didn't run together at all, and the lamb was very tender.

For desserts, we both had a blue cheese. Normally, I don't like this
particular type of cheese, due to the very strong taste. This cheese had a
very nutty taste and wasn't very strong at all. The cheese was served with
these little thin pieces of bread, which were different from the bread role.
Apple slices were also served. I ate all but one little bit of cheese,
because by the end, the cheese became a bit too strong. So, I let Jonathan
have my bit of cheese.

Both of us enjoyed a Baileys and hot chocolate as our after dinner drink.
This drink is always nice, no matter when it is consumed.

Overall, this restaurant is extremely nice and the food is wonderful. Of
course, I can't speak of the presentation, but the flavours of the foods
were delicious and out of this world. The staff were very attentive,
friendly and courteous.

Go to www.restaurantschwass.com to check out the menus, read reviews and
more. The restaurant has only been open for eight months, but man, what a
place!

Thanks sweetie for my wonderful birthday cake, the fantastic meal and my
binding machine for my birthday. You show me in many ways how much you care
for me and love me.

Cheers,
Julia

07:40 pm - The Link for the Video Again

Well, I tried to show the name of the video instead of just the link, but MS
Outlook didn't like it too much. So, go to
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpm9YsKqoeQ
to watch the video.

Cheers,
Julia

07:35 pm - Reggie on YouTube

When Jim was here, we watched a movie, the Fox and the Hound. I allowed
Reggie to sit on my lap, which I seldom do. Anyway, Jim took a video of
Reggie actually watching TV. From where Reggie was sitting, he could look
and actually see the screen. Anyway, he put it up on YouTube.

You can watch The Dog! <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpm9yskqoeq> if you
wish.
Enjoy!

Cheers,
Julia

12:52 am - Favourites Folder Fixed

I finally fixed my favourites folder. I was about to reformat my computer
very soon, when I plugged my Olympus DS50 into my laptop. Just for fun, I
went to the favourites menu in IE. It worked! I found out, through
looking, that for some reason, the favourites folder was on my DS50. I
haven't got a clue why or how it got there.

I did a Google on moving favourites or something, found what I was looking
for, but lost it again. I remember I had to type some long key into the
registry, but I couldn't find the right key.

I searched again and found the Powertoy programmes. One of them was called
tweek UI. I installed it, ran it, and fixed my folder!!

Yea, now, I've got all my favourites back, and I don't have to reformat my
computer.
Yea for that!!

We've been here at home today due to the crappy weather. We were on our way
to Queenstown for Mark's birthday, and just as we were about to land, we
went into a holding pattern. After about ten minutes, the captain came on
and said we'd be returning back to Chch. What a turbulent landing we had,
though! The plane was dipping and rising a bit, and doing some other
things. I forgot now. Anyway, if it was that strong landing back here, I
can't even imagine what it would have been like in Queenstown.

Air NZ were bussing people to Queenstown, but if we'd gotten on the bus, we
would have missed the party. We definitely didn't want to do this. So,now,
we have a credit to return to Queenstown.

Wow, it's almost 1:00 AM, and Hillary is talking in a few hours. Jonathan
will be up to listen, but I'm not sure if I will.

Cheers,
Julia

11:19 pm - Weather what?

Jim's on the long flight back to the States, and is currently over the
Pacific ocean somewhere. HE left safe and sound this afternoon, and Reggie
and I saw him off at the airport. Jonathan would have seen him off, but his
cold has really gotten to him.

Upon my return home, I quickly discovered that I'd lost my keys. I checked
in the cab that I had just vacated but there was no sign of them anywhere.
So, after getting the previous taxicab's number, I ran inside, because I had
the key that lives on Reggie's harness, and phoned Bluestar Taxi's. The
driver had said he'd found a key and had taken it to the Christchurch
central police station. I phoned the station and they informed me that
their lost and found office was closed until Tuesday due to Queens birthday
on Monday.

So, by this stage I was a bit panicked, because I thought my keys were
somewhere at the airport, or worse, on the ground and forever lost. After
phoning the taxi company once again with no success, I decided to look for
my keys. I ordered a cab and sped off to the police station.

The driver was quite helpful and had a few choice words for the driver who
had my keys. I'd deduced that the keys must have been mine, because they
had been turned in around 16:00. We went to the police station and didn't
have any success in locating my keys.

We then went outside and the driver called the other cab to inquire about
the key that he'd turned in. IT was quite difficult to understand him from
my point of view, but the driver didn't seem to have any problem. Anyway,
we were told that the keys did have a dolphin on them, which mine did.

The cab driver went back inside the station to leave my name and number.
When he didn't come right back I began to wonder if they had found my keys.
Well, apparently, the other driver turned them in, not to the station, but
to a police kiosk a few streets away. So, we went to the kiosk and whatta
ya know, my keys were there!!!

I was asked to describe them and I quickly rambled off everything that was
on my keys, from the dolphin, to the penguin, to my newest keychain of the
north and south island of NZ, etc. We left with my keys in my hot little
hand and sped home.

The reason for my subject line is due to a funny thing that happened to Jim
and me while we were out a few weeks back. We'd gone to Tower Junction in
Rickerton to purchase some heels that were on hold for me. After making
the purchase, Jim wanted to look around the shopping centre a bit. He asked
what Bunning's Warehouse was but I didn't have a clue. So, we went in and
discovered that it was like a Home Depot.

I needed to purchase some weather stripping for the front door. When Jim
asked the sales lady if they had any weather stripping, she gave him a
puzzled look and said, "Weather what?" I quickly jumped in and said, "You
know, the stuff you put on doors to stop the wind from coming in." "Oh, you
mean draft stop," she said. Heheheheh! Quite funny indeed. Just another
interesting mix up of words.

I would have normally asked myself, but Jim liked to ask questions using
American words just to see if they were the same here. He found out that
some words are definitely different here in NZ.

Well, goodnight all, and I'll write more later, as it's 23:15 here.

Cheers,
Julia

12:17 am - Finding the Right Bus Stop

Since I can't sleep, I thought I'd write this pointless entry.

Yes, that was twice in a row over the past two days! I didn't tell the
driver which stop I wanted, and just by knowing the turns that the bus made,
judging time, and noticing a certain little hill and bump in the road, I
found the correct bus stop. Today was even better, because I was listening
to the radio on my Nokia N82 and still got it right. Go me!

Cheers,
Julia

09:57 pm - Six Years Today!

Yes, that's right, 27 May, 2002 was when I first found out I was getting
Reggie for a dog. It seems like I've had Reggie forever, even though I know
it's only been six short years. But, my how these six years have gone so
fast in some way.

So, from me to Reggie, happy sixth anniversary!

Cheers,
Julia