Celebrate good times!

I had a fabulous birthday last week! I slept in, went to the osteopath for a back adjustment and arrived at the office to banners and streamers and presents and brownies from my friends. :) Rebecca and I went shopping and I bought this merino wool/possum sweater I've been eyeing for a while. And I got a long-sleeve merino shirt and swimming goggles (I've started going to the pool for laps and aqua jogging). Then we went for a walk to the gardens. I got more presents and managed to goof off until dinner time. 15 of us went out for Mexican...it's not even comparable to real Mexican, nor American Mexican, but it was good. So was the Patron...yum! I had an excellent time! Once I get the photos from Anne, I'll put a few up.

Friday night we hosted a farewell potluck for Johan. Many of my lab members came and I made a new recipe for fish pie...it was delicious! I dropped Johan off at the bus station yesterday. I hope he has a safe journey home! So now we are back to 3 for the next month until Anya from Russia arrives...hopefully mid-June, if she gets her visa sorted. She will be an intern in our lab for 3 months.

Well, it's Sunday...I should do some work and then hopefully go for a jog if the weather holds. I'm going to roast my first leg of lamb tonight...

Meeting the neighbor

Last night there was such a horrendous pounding on the door that I wasn't even sure it was the door. I open the door and there's this strange woman standing off to the side smoking a cigarette. Our exchange goes like this...
Me: "Hello?"
Psyco woman: "Can you keep your comments to yourself?"
Me: "Excuse me?"
Psyco: "Do you think I can't hear you? Keep your comments to yourself!"
Me: "What?!"
Psyco: "Do you speak English or do you only speak American?"
Me: (jaw hanging open)
Psyco: "Fuck off!"
Me: (slamming the door shut as Psyco walks away)
So I guess that was my neighbor, who I've never even seen, let alone met, in the year and a half that I've lived here. She obviously thought I was Deanna with the American comment. Why would we talk about some stranger we've never seen? We hear people knocking on her door every day all day...drug traffic, I'm sure. Even if she could hear us talking from inside our house, we haven't talked about her. Must be the voices in her head...lol! Regardless, it's a bit scary to have a stranger show up at your door and bitch you out for something you haven't a clue about. Deanna says she does this kind of thing about once a year. Hopefully, I can get away with not seeing the woman for another year and a half!

Back to back

I know I promised pictures of my fabulous trip, but I have none.  I was laid up on Deanna's couch in back pain while everyone else was off kayaking.  I woke up hurting the day we left and then after a 10 hr drive I was in severe pain the next day.  Good thing I brought a good book as I read that over the 2 days.  Matt came over the first night and made dinner and brought a movie.  The second night I was feeling a bit better and Dee and I went out for a beer and then to Matt's for dinner.  We took 2 days to drive back and stopped at a hot springs.  It was a proper Japanese bath house and rock pools.  I even got a massage so my back was feeling pretty darn good by the end of the trip!  Oooo and I finally got to try out my new tent!  I love it!  Not too sure how 2 people will fit...it'll be cozy!

Where's the bunny?

So now is the last chance to look at all those photo albums I've got posted. All but the very most recent one will be deleted sometime next month. Kodak has changed it's policy and now requires me to purchase something from their online store in order for them to keep my albums online. I refuse and sure don't have the time to recreate all of them on Facebook. So I've decided to just let them go. I'm a little sad, but oh well.

I went to a hockey game this weekend! Oh it was so much fun. New Zealand Ice Blacks kicked some Turkey butt! I want to go to another one today...it's an International tournament. But I've got loads of things to be doing and work to get done. Tomorrow we leave for a camping and kayaking trip to the Abel Tasman! I should have new pics for you next week!

The best news is that I'll be home in August for a visit! Woo Hoo! I'm so excited. I'll be heading to a conference in Knoxville and then I'll be home around Aug 17- Sep 3...I haven't booked my US domestic flights yet. Warm MN summer! I can't wait!

Albatross videos from the fishing trip

The mollymawks, they run across the water when taking off or to get to the fish scraps thrown overboard by the fisherman.

This is a short one of a Royal albatross flying by the boat...oh so exciting!

They can ski on the water before landing...they do this to get closer to the boat and fish.

And watch 'em go wild for a fish that's thrown overboard...

End of summer...sigh

Yikes, I haven't been on here in a while.  The last part of February was full of bbq's, beaches, roadtripping and fishing.  And lots and lots and lots of fish dissections.  I posted a new album.  I went to Tunnel Beach a few weeks ago.  It's this beach where a tunnel has been carved out of the cliff to get down to the beach.  Had a great picnic there enjoying the view of the southern ocean.  Then I went to Queenstown to meet up with my cousin Gina and her husband Joe.  They had been traveling in Australia and spent a few days in NZ.  Anson and Rebecca went along for the trip.  We stopped at a couple wineries on the way up...Black Ridge (one of my favs...mmmm 2001 Riesling) and Gibbston Valley which also has a cheese factory, where we got some cheese, bread and an olive/feta/sundried tomato mix for lunch.  We also stopped that the first bungee jump ever and watched a couple of crazy folks jump over the river.  Then on to Qtwn, where we had dinner with Gina and Joe.  I was soo happy to be around some chatty people!  The next morning Rebecca, Anson and I went for a short hike by the lake and then headed back to Dunners and the rain.  We stopped at one winery, Wooing Tree where I bought their Beetle Juice Pinot Noir.

The fishing trip the following weekend was great!  Same fisherman, but his jet boat motor blew so we had to take out his catamaran and drive that all the way up the coast to fish around Karitane.  We caught barracuda, trumpeter, blue cod and I caught a red cod.  I took lots of bird videos and photos again...we had 3 Royal albatross around that day!  Since we were on the catamaran and had a long trip back, Alan cooked us up some fish (luxury boat with 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and a full kitchen).  I got to drive and even help jib!  As we got back to the harbor there was a sailing race on and the 2 leaders were just rounding the pin as we entered the mouth of the harbor so we got to sail along side them.

Else I've been crazy busy with dissecting fish in the lab and teaching...I decided to be a demonstrator (TA) this semester.  I'm doing a small amount for a couple of courses and then a regular dem for a 1st yr course of 1750 students!  The labs are close to 100 students.  I'm one of a team of demonstrators!

Oh and we had a lab social and went ten-pin bowling (I'm learning that there are many kinds of bowling).  I sucked!  But we all had a good time.  We are having a bit of an Indian Summer this week.  And I'm helping with fieldtrips the next couple of days so I'll be mucking around with students outside!  Yay!

Parallel Universe

So I must be living in a parallel universe where people are allowed to destroy a city without any consequences. I was on my way to meet up with some friends to go to dinner and a movie last night. A couple of blocks before reaching my department, I had to stop in the middle of the street as a mob of 100s of toga-clad students just came running across the street in-front of traffic. I sat there mildly amused watching them pass while I missed a couple green lights. I get to the street my office is on and the road is closed so I can only go straight. I end up in the cross fire of an egg-throwing war between a couple groups. Haha, my truck is getting pelted with eggs as a couple are taking refuge from fire behind my truck. Then one of them opened up my back door and as I start swearing another came running by, hears me swearing and shuts it. I turn the corner and get to the next stop light and across from me another group is trying to rock a city bus back and forth at a stop light...like they're really going to tip it. And further up the street I see another 100 or so run across the town center octagon. I tell my friends that it's not safe to walk to the movie so we decide to meet at my house and get pizza. I headed home to wash the truck...which I figured out tonight that I didn't get it all cause there is egg in-between my door seals...my door was "egged" shut!

Thankfully, all I got was eggs. Students were throwing vomit and feces out their windows at other students and onto cars. Other cars were smashed up, store windows broken and garbage bins upheaved. Click here for the news story and photos. Only 3 people arrested!!! No one will be expelled...they want to act like this doesn't ever happen here, but it does every year...it just was a bit worse than normal. Any other civilized city in the world would not allow this shit! But this town just cleans up the damn mess! I am flabbergasted that the students can run over this town, be aggressive and destructive in such shear force of numbers that other residents can't even go to a damn movie cause it isn't safe! It's disgusting!

Getting my sanity back...maybe

The field course was fun. And very relaxed. The students choose very low-identification projects and thus didn't need much assistance in the lab...mostly just designing their projects and driving the different pairs to their study sites and I checked out the equipment. We were practically fighting over the chance to drop off or pick up a group of students. So I read a lot, went on some walks, went birding a couple times. After working so much for the last couple of months I didn't bother bringing any work with me so read a lot! I can't say enough about the phenomenal food we had while there...homemade soups, desserts galore, scones, lasagna, chicken, steak and mushroom pie...oh my! I've posted an album.

I've decided that I will absolutely not work on weekends for the rest of February (the last of summer). So for the first weekend, I went hog-wild at the farmer's market and then I tried out the physio pool on Saturday with a friend. It's 95F! It felt great on a cool day. I went to a barbie (bbq) at Rachel's on Sat night. Sunday I went to tunnel beach, this beach were some rich dude had a tunnel blown/carved out of the rock/cliff down to this tiny beach. A bunch of us went out for Mexican last night. Oh how I miss it! There's one place to go in this city and it's expensive. I had a plate of nachos with beef for $25! And that's without guacamole! Then we tried to go to "He's just not that in to you" but it was sold out! Crap. That was disappointing but we'll try again next Tuesday night (cheap night).

Not much else happening in my life but fish dissections, fish dissections, fish, dissections.

A day off!

So yesterday was my first day off since the beginning of Dec.  Now I didn't work all day every day for that couple of months...there were some days where I just came in to feed my fish and walked back out the door.  The last week was like hell.  I had a 2-day workshop, was training someone on helping dissect fish, field work, ended my experiment, euthanized fish and revised my first manuscript!  So my first paper on my Master's research will be published in the Journal of Parasitology.  It feels great to have that done.  One more to go from my Master's work...

Ahhh, but yesterday was fabulous.  I didn't do much of anything.  Slept in (until Wayne came knocking on the door for his mail, damn him!), then watched a movie in bed, took a nap, did some gardening and watched some tv.  All in all it was the best day I've had in a very long time.  If the wind hadn't been so horrendous, I would have also headed to the beach, but getting hit by sand hurts.  Oh, and yesterday was my quitting-smoking anniversary...6 YEARS!!  I can hardly believe it!  And in the last couple of months I've had more cravings than I've had in the last couple of years!  It must be the stress.  

I'm off to go pack for a week-long field course that I'm helping out with and we leave tomorrow.  We head to a camp in the Catlins, an area of native forest and beautiful rugged coastline with great beaches.  Too bad the forecast isn't great so those beaches won't be as enjoyed as they could be.  4 professors, 3 demonstrators (same thing as a teaching assistant...that's what I'll be doing), 2 cooks and 30 students.  They have lectures for a day and a half and then have to do their own projects...so basically I help them with equipment and experimental design and critical thinking...I'm so looking forward to it!

working working working

So I've gotten to the point where I'm working so much that I'm not being very productive.  But deadlines and live animals do not wait!  I have one week to finish revising my paper that was accepted for publication.  I have my fish to take care of daily...this is a constant stress as I worry my fish will all be belly up before the end of my experiment.  And I will be helping with a field ecology course in the Catlins the first week on Feb.  During which I will leaving my fish in the hands of a couple of labmates...scary!  Robert has promised me we can drive everyday to find cell phone reception so I can check in on my fishes.   After so many weeks, the chances of a disease hitting my tanks increases...a constant worry!  I can't wait until it is over!  Then maybe I can take some weekends off this summer!