Poor Veitch........

I've given up......I can't stand to read one more story about how hard Veitch is taking it.......what a terrible situation he is in.......with, at most, one line mentions of the victim and more than some implication that she is orchestrating the whole saga.....so what if she is.....Veitch made his choices now he gets to live with the consequences........gee maybe he missed the point....money doesn't much change anything....maybe a little less writing a cheque to have it go away and more checking in...... How strange it is for the NZ media to finally wake up to their own narrow minded bias (well no, mostly TVNZ who lost their golden boy)......, the NZ media turned on their own and now they are startled and horrified at their own ability to destroy peoples lives. Go figure. I'm speechless but not surprised.

Busy busy busy...having fun

The last few weeks (months for that matter) seem to have flown by. My working day is very full and challenging. This week I was on point to put the Statement of Work (the contract) for Cisco together for TechProse. I wasn't completely alone of course! It was a new thing to learn and my first exposure to how this all works in the US. Fortunately I get on well with my boss (and her boss) so I didn't have to try and "guess" a number to work to. It was a good experience as one of the things that was really challenging about immigrating was letting go of all of my industry knowledge; I knew how rates worked in NZ, I had networks of people (even if I didn't know it!), I understood the work ethic of it all, how the media and design agencies worked etc etc. I am having to re.establish and understand all those things in a country that is, surprisingly, more culturally distant from New Zealand than I might have expected.
I have also been having some fun. Two weeks back I met the new landlords and, over a vino and some great converstation, signed a year lease on my new home. Very exciting, I am looking forward to moving on Aug 1; it feels like my next "grown up" moment.
I have been scouting bikes and I am heading out later this morning to San Jose to another bike shop. Someone has suggested that I should also try getting a quote online as often you get a slightly better deal as the sales people on line are less concerned with the bottomline number than their sales quota. Worth a try as I know what I want and the accessories.....given I am going for a new bike the risks are the same as buying it off the shop floor...maybe.
Marcia (a friend of Michelle's who I have been getting to know) is coming along to check out bikes with me too (K&B have been giving great advice on bike gear as well). Marcia has a Yamaha VStar 1100 (a bike I've thought about too.....although not the 1100). When I get some time up on my bike the two of us are planning a road trip to LA to visit Michelle. It's that type of adventuring that buying the bike is all about for me.
Last weekend (as well as bike shopping) I headed to Oakland to visit a friend from work (my old boss). We have kept in touch and I had a really pleasant afternoon eating lunch and chatting with her. As I drove back I was chuckling about how I didn't think twice about driving an hour and a half each way for lunch - did I ever do that in NZ?

The Veitch Story

This is startling. Not because domestic violence is startling but because of the way it has gained momentum and that employers responded, the police responded and the public responded. The Tui Board sums it up.

Fireworks

Okay not my pic but this is what Seabright beach looked like for July 4. Fireworks are banned in Santa Cruz (mostly ignored). Given the California fires fireworks were supposed to be "strictly" banned. Police were posted at all the entrances to the beach and searching people.......yeah not so much success on that front. There were hundreds and hundreds of people on the beach and standing around the dunes. People on the beach put together some very clever displays; huge fun. Before going down to the beach I headed off to a friends beach house in Aptos (about 15mins away) - spent a couple of hours with them celebrating the day. Something really nice was driving through the suburbs and seeing the number of flags out. Very colourful and patriotic in a strangely comforting way.

Independence Day

It is Independence Day..........So I have the day off work, yay!