Randomness of it all!

right now i'm in bed with laptop on me trying to type with one hand so's i can keep my other one warm. Was just thinking how weird it was that i can remember each post i've put up, and the situation surrounding it. Totally cool - i don't remember a huge lot of my life cos it goes by so bloomin' ... ooops, just sneezed on the screen ... fast, so it's nice to be aided in remembering things i've done, thought or said.

Had a nice date this evening with a very nice guy. Went to a chinese restaurant but it was the simplest looking place ever! food in buffet style at the front, bottles of juice lined up at the side. for a moment i was glad it wasn't anywhere fancy (i don't do fancy) and then i realised it wasn't just a buffet (serve yourself) it was also a 'cook yourself' place. It's got to be the most intersting food place i've been. i've seen places where you choose the raw food and take it to the chef to cook it for you, but this one had built in gas BBQ at every table and you got the dish which allowed you to fry or boil. Absolutely fantastic!

Anyway, just wanted to mention that cos it was really interesting for me. Very nice date :-)

Back to School

Back to school today after a two week break. What a great start - got up early, nice morning, got everything i need, early to school incase there's a meeting, get set up for lessons and stuff... then the principal wants a word. I'm never sure if that's good or not.

So he asks me what i forgot. I'm thinking if i'd forgotten anything then surely i'd have no idea?! He tries to help. '14th of July', 'been talking about it a lot last term'.

Nope - i'm completely blank!

And he doesn't even tell me what i must've 'forgotten', tells me to go and check the previous weeks notices from before the holidays.

I'm looking for something on the 14th - Ah yes, the TAP Conference. (somehow, i remember asking one of the other teachers what that was).

The principle then kindly informs me that the school has the right to take up to 10 days of my days off (holidays) and replace them with compulsory meetings/trainings/prep days. The 14th of July (TAP conference) was one of those.

What a start to the new term - on a bad foot straight away. Not to worry, i'm on fixed term contract and my visa's through so if all else fails i'll have plenty notice and time to kick back and enjoy freedom (Alright, that's not going to happen but you just never can tell...).

Missed an 'important' Conference, and ended the day with a question about the science lesson i'm supposed to teach tomorrow, which i'm sure would've been covered if i'd only been at that Conference! Felt like a fool.

Sum GREAT Films!!

nah! i didn't see any great film this evening.

Quick reference to my flatmate: the geek - We decided to get a DVD and munchies, invite some friends round and make a night of it. So three of the guys go to the video store to get a decent film. i'm thinking we're probably not going to get a chick flick so that's great. might get an action film or maybe a comedy. Great - i can cope with that quite happily.
So they come back with two films i've never heard of: 'Anchorman' and 'Munich'.

The first was major slapstick comedy. I could cope with it, but made mental note never to watch it again. The second was unbelievably ...umm... Wrong!!! Just wasn't right that films like that are made. Something about athletes taken hostage and killed - the action is over in the first ten minutes. And then this guy is told to go kill the 11 guys who were responsible for the original killings.
It's set in the 70's with weird shirts and tight jeans. It shows a pregnant woman having sex, a guy getting his face blown out but staying alive and having to hold it together. More unneccesary deaths which aren't explained at all, Stabbing of people in the head...URGH!!!!

And i'm bored stiff - really not my type of film AT ALL!
I asked one of the guys who chose the films ('cos they're both really pants) and i'm told Dan the Man - the Geekster himself - was the one who chose them.

Mental Note - NEVER...EVER...let him choose a dvd for a flat night in.

(are you seeing how shallow my life is at the minute??!! i'm LOVING it!)

Maggoted

Today was a weird day - not feeling great but can only stay in bed for so long before feeling the need to move.

Went to town, got some food at the supermarket, picked up drill and other crazy stuff that my sister needed for the farm. I was craving cake and custard but decided to make the cake myself seeing as i'm pretty good when making sweet stuff and fresh out the oven is always lovely!

She goes off to milk the one cow that needs milking and i set to with making dinner. Wasn't bad, even if i do say so myself :)

Then pudding: I decide on fudge brownies cos i'm a bit of a brownie addict. Ingredients include butter, vanilla essence, sugar, flour, eggs. That was pretty much it, mix it all together, chuck it in the oven and: Viola!! it would be ready.

Get on making the custard - i'm not quite sure what went wrong but there seemed to be an awful lot of pretty huge lumps. not only that but the custard here must have some serious colouring cos it was a nice bright yellow colour. (Reminds me of other not nice things that aren't supposed to be eaten), Not my favourite colour for food.

Tried adding milk and the lumps spread a bit more evenly but no way i could eat it now.

Never mind, there's cream in the fridge - that'll go nicely with warm brownies. I check the oven and the mix is bubbling noisily in the bottom of the oven. I'm sure i've never seen any kind of cake mix do that before!

Remove the cake, gather a couple plates, a fishslice...i'm really looking forward to a nice gooey piece of chocolate brownie.

Manage to scrape out some of the stickymess for me Sis but it's looking a bit interesting and not easily slicable.

I'm on to pulling a slice out for me when i spot what i think looks a tad like a small, see-through caterpiller. I see eyes looking up at me. Is it a maggot?

I make noise enough for my sister to see if it's a maggot or just some chocolatey substance, but my fear is confirmed: it is indeed a maggot. Obviously trying to escape from the sticky mess it found itself bound into and not lucky enough to make it out alive.

I'm glad that one made it to the surface - i might have tried a whole slice and eaten a few hidden maggots if this one hadn't been discovered (great big massive thing it was too :-O ). Of course, i don't need to tell all that my sister carried on eating hers heartily, bugs an' all!!

Moral of the story - don't use flour where the owner says, 'this one needs used up.'

I was really glad for that big bar of chocolate we picked up seeing as I no longer had neither cake OR custard to finish the evening with!

Driving Rain

Today i drove.

Actually, if you're thinking i drove a long way today maybe i shouldn't begin my post with that statement. i drove a long way on Tuesday. From the Coromandel down to Wanga...wotsit. I'm really not good with these names yet. (somewhere near Hawera).

Today i only drove a couple hundred km. Not a huge amount really.

I really have nothing much to say but once i get started i normally don't stop. On occasion, the reader gets a bit of a laugh too so that's not bad. in fact, maybe i should use this thing instead of sending emails to people...then i'd only have to write something once. (that would work if i actually emailed people in the first place).

Back to my driving thing! so i'm towards the bottom half of the north Island. we've had fantastic weather recently up north but after a couple of hours here visiting family, the rain starts. And keeps on going... and on ... and on ...
Not only rain but wind too.
If there's any kind of weather i hate, it's wind. a breeze i can cope with if it's warm but wind is the worst thing us humans are expected to bear!!!
i'm on to my third day here and the rain is still pouring. It's managed to stop a couple of times for a significant space of time, such as 3 hours. Stopped once when we were in Hawera on the way to the cinema and started up again 15 mins after we'd left. Today it was good enough to stop for an hour, half of which was spent inside a shopping centre.

I love driving but driving through some deep water on the road, i realised i was no longer driving my lovely 2 litre diesel engine Rover, but instead have to think about my 1.4 petrol engine nissan. That means i can no longer go ploughing through flooded roads like i used to. Instead, i'll be one of those unlucky cars on the side of the road whose engine got too much water in them and cut out.
Woe is ME!!

I'm home safe after a long drive around the coast and down the county but part of the main road just down the way is closed 'cos it's flooded a tad too much. I'm wondering if i'll be able to make it back to Auckland if this rain keeps on going. Also for consideration - how long will it take me? if i'm flying through flooded roads it'll take me twice as long seeing as there won't be any speeding involved.

I think for me, the only option is to enjoy the sound of the rain, be glad i changed all the tyres before i came, surf the net and eat all the food in the house. That sounds like a great holiday to me!