Since Monday was a holiday, I'm counting today as my second day of being unemployed. During this time I have sort of organized my room before I leave, filed for unemployement - yes I'm going on the dole, drip feed, whatever you want to call it, had an eye exam where I found out contacts aren't the best thing for my vison defect, and have watched a lot of the NFL network.
I have to say two commercials on the channel stick out. The first being the preseason predictions for the NFL. Among my favorites are the 49ers taking the NFC west, Ricky Williams (healer) having one thing on his mind (football), and Roethlis-something. THe other being one of those commercials thattugs on your heart strings. THe commercial features a Fountains of Wayne song - All Kinds of Time. It a montage of quaterbacks through the years doind what great QBs do. Here are the lyrics. I'm a sucker for football.
"All Kinds Of Time" by Fountains of Wayne
The clock's running down
The team's losing ground
To the opposing defense
The young quarterback
Waits for the snap
When suddenly it all starts to make sense
He's got all kinds of time
He's got all kinds of time
All kinds of time
He's got all kinds of time
All kinds of time
He takes a step back
He's under attack
But he knows that no one can touch him now
He seems so at ease
A strange inner peace
Is all that he's feeling somehow
He's got all kinds of time
He's got all kinds of time
All kinds of time
He's got all kinds of time
All kinds of time
[Bridge]
He thinks of his mother
He thinks of his bride-to-be
He thinks of his father
His two younger brothers
Gathered around the widescreen TV
He looks to the left
He looks to the right
And there in a golden ray of light
Is his open man
Just as he planned
The whole world is his tonight
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Friday, January 14, 2005
Something about those little pills (and shots) they kill a million brain cells
I finally made my appointment to get shots and pills for my upcoming trip. The woman I talked to wasn't very happy about me not knowing where I was going and how long I was going to be there. Sorry about being a free spirit. Anyways I will have vaccinations for the following :
Hep A and B even though I know I got vaccinated for one of them a few years ago. {Shrug} What do I know, I'm no doctor.
Rabies
Japanese encephalitis (can't remember if she said pills of shots)
Malaria pills - now what kind of concerns my about this is she said some people get sensitive to light...Like vampires? hissssss
Typhoid pills
My first series of injections are next Thursday. Wooo
Hep A and B even though I know I got vaccinated for one of them a few years ago. {Shrug} What do I know, I'm no doctor.
Rabies
Japanese encephalitis (can't remember if she said pills of shots)
Malaria pills - now what kind of concerns my about this is she said some people get sensitive to light...Like vampires? hissssss
Typhoid pills
My first series of injections are next Thursday. Wooo
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Shake it up
The end is nigh. After Friday I will no longer be employed. Over the past two weeks I've been emotionally up or down. So down in fact, last Saturday I didn't leave the house. I think the reason for my moodiness is the result of coming back from the beauty and freedom I felt in New Zealand followed by dealing with my dad's medical condition, coming back to a job for the final two weeks, and the torrential rains in the Bay Area. My mood has lightened in the past couple of days. The rain has finally stopped, and I've had a chance to talk to a lot of people over that time about the future.
As it stands right now San Francisco will not be my place of residence after January. I don't know whether I'm coming back to SF or not. This will be a decision I make at a later date. My plan right now is to pack up my place and spend the month of February with my family and be with my dad while he recovers from surgury. After this I will be leaving the country again. This is as much information as I know right now.
As it stands right now San Francisco will not be my place of residence after January. I don't know whether I'm coming back to SF or not. This will be a decision I make at a later date. My plan right now is to pack up my place and spend the month of February with my family and be with my dad while he recovers from surgury. After this I will be leaving the country again. This is as much information as I know right now.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
What's up you say?
Happy New Year everyone. The last few days in New Zealand were a blur, mostly because I was driving like a maniac to get back to Auckland to catch my plane. I passed through the Catlins and stood at Slope Point - the southern most point on the south island - and stopped off at some nice waterfalls on the way out. I ended up in Dunedin where I wrote my last post.
I was planning on going to Mt. Cook, but would've possibly been snowed in there so I decided to head north. I stayed at the best backpacker in Akaroa - LeBons Bay. Yes better than the Moana Lodge. Only 18 people a night stay there. Gary, the owner, takes guests out on his boat (weather permitting of course, which it did not for me) to see the dolphins. He and his staff cook dinner (for a small fee) and the guests eat together. It's an hour and a half from Christchurch on winding mountain roads with tanker trucks coming at you, but it's well worth it to be at his place. Oh, and you get dessert too.
I tried to schedule a dolphin swim, but again that didn't work out. After coffee with a Swiss couple I met at LeBons I headed to the Villa in Picton. Barry was there in a Santa hat and told me there was going to be a tree trimming party that night with wine and cookies to boot. Good times, good energy.
I caught my ferry to Wellington the next day and really wanted to stay for a bit, but needed to head as far north as I could. I toyed with the idea of doing the Tongariro Crossing, but again the weather was crap. Back to Extreme Backpackers where I did some indoor leads to get some exercise. Driving the distance of the past few days wasn't fun, climbing was exactly what I needed. Back towards Bryce's the next day where I stopped off to see some intense waterfall action at Huka falls. Not the biggest waterfall, but one of the most powerful. I was going to head to Bryce's from there, but the sun came out and I passed a sign for Waiotapu. I remember seeing the name somewhere before and decided to check it out. Waiotapu is an intense area of geothermal activity. Thick smell of sulphur, bubbling pools of mud, this place is New Zealand's thermal wonderland.
I finally roll into Bryce's some time after six and he left the key in the door for me. I saw him a few hours later and he was planning on going climbing the next day if I was interested (weather did not permit). Miles came down from Auckland to spend Christmas with Bryce and his family. We had a long talk about fathers and travelling, while drinking a bottle of wine. He also told me he and Sally are getting married this year.
As I said earlier the weather did not permit climbing with Bryce, so I did some bouldering in his cave for a while before the twelve hour flight. On my way out i told Bryce I hoped to come back sooner rather than later. As I was drving away Bryce came out of the shop to wave good bye. It nearly brought a tear to my eye the way he was standing there by the side of the road smiling and waving.
I saw some sights that knocked me off my feet and made me just sit there and wonder how many more places like that exist in the world. I met a lot of like minded people and shared stories with them about the importance of getting out and seeing what the world is all about. Even though I won't remember all of them there's something about the people you trave with that will always be with you. During my conversation with Miles, I told him I thought this trip would sooth my desire to travel for a while, but all it's done is make me want to see more. He knows exactly how I feel. He left England four years ago when he thought he would only be gone for one. There's nothing better than being away from everything you're used. I need more.
I was planning on going to Mt. Cook, but would've possibly been snowed in there so I decided to head north. I stayed at the best backpacker in Akaroa - LeBons Bay. Yes better than the Moana Lodge. Only 18 people a night stay there. Gary, the owner, takes guests out on his boat (weather permitting of course, which it did not for me) to see the dolphins. He and his staff cook dinner (for a small fee) and the guests eat together. It's an hour and a half from Christchurch on winding mountain roads with tanker trucks coming at you, but it's well worth it to be at his place. Oh, and you get dessert too.
I tried to schedule a dolphin swim, but again that didn't work out. After coffee with a Swiss couple I met at LeBons I headed to the Villa in Picton. Barry was there in a Santa hat and told me there was going to be a tree trimming party that night with wine and cookies to boot. Good times, good energy.
I caught my ferry to Wellington the next day and really wanted to stay for a bit, but needed to head as far north as I could. I toyed with the idea of doing the Tongariro Crossing, but again the weather was crap. Back to Extreme Backpackers where I did some indoor leads to get some exercise. Driving the distance of the past few days wasn't fun, climbing was exactly what I needed. Back towards Bryce's the next day where I stopped off to see some intense waterfall action at Huka falls. Not the biggest waterfall, but one of the most powerful. I was going to head to Bryce's from there, but the sun came out and I passed a sign for Waiotapu. I remember seeing the name somewhere before and decided to check it out. Waiotapu is an intense area of geothermal activity. Thick smell of sulphur, bubbling pools of mud, this place is New Zealand's thermal wonderland.
I finally roll into Bryce's some time after six and he left the key in the door for me. I saw him a few hours later and he was planning on going climbing the next day if I was interested (weather did not permit). Miles came down from Auckland to spend Christmas with Bryce and his family. We had a long talk about fathers and travelling, while drinking a bottle of wine. He also told me he and Sally are getting married this year.
As I said earlier the weather did not permit climbing with Bryce, so I did some bouldering in his cave for a while before the twelve hour flight. On my way out i told Bryce I hoped to come back sooner rather than later. As I was drving away Bryce came out of the shop to wave good bye. It nearly brought a tear to my eye the way he was standing there by the side of the road smiling and waving.
I saw some sights that knocked me off my feet and made me just sit there and wonder how many more places like that exist in the world. I met a lot of like minded people and shared stories with them about the importance of getting out and seeing what the world is all about. Even though I won't remember all of them there's something about the people you trave with that will always be with you. During my conversation with Miles, I told him I thought this trip would sooth my desire to travel for a while, but all it's done is make me want to see more. He knows exactly how I feel. He left England four years ago when he thought he would only be gone for one. There's nothing better than being away from everything you're used. I need more.
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