Hi all,
I think
we are nearly in the same state of unpacking as we were last time I wrote; we
still can't get our cars in the garage and have a bit under half our stuff
still in cartons in the cellar & garage. That's because the wiring in the
office still isn't finished, which is holding up putting the rest of the
furniture in place (so there are still a few cartons of office gear in the
garage not yet unpacked), and we still need some shelves in the linen cupboard
(so the linen remains unpacked), and, while Michael Bender is about to get the
bookshelf completed - so I can unpack the 20-odd cartons of books in the garage
- we won't have time to take delivery of it before we leave for our holiday.
When we get back from and have a dry weekend, we will move Jan's workshop gear
out of the garage & seal the plasterwork outside the garage & in the
entrance way. Unfortunately, every weekend there has been rain at night, so the
plaster is too damp to seal.
Because
we haven't managed to seal our plasterwork, we have decided to flag trying to
get our Code of Compliance from the Council until we get back. The builders are
going to duct in the range hood and install the stainless steel backing for
kitchen hob while we are away. Jan has nearly finished installing the stair
tread covering, and we still have to permanently fix the gas bottle for the hob
outside. And I found out today that Jan will have to get the exterior lighting
installed for our CoC as well. Trying to get that done this week when Jan has
orchestra practice tonight & Underwater Hockey tomorrow night would just be
madness.
However,
the photo voltaics are working well. Despite rainy winter weather, we are
currently shipping power back into the grid, and are generating as much power
as we are using. It will be really interesting to see how much we generate in
summer when we get sun for over fourteen hours each day! If we are going to
feed back more than we consume, we may not add any more cells on the roof. Not
until NZ gets a much better attitude towards paying for private generation,
anyway. There is still a bit of a wait on getting a meter - we are using a
borrowed one until our real one arrives.
The dogs
love the fireplace! Snuggled up close by each night & cooking in the heat
:-)
I have
had a couple of trips to the Salvation Army and passed unneeded things onwards
for recycling, the next trip is tomorrow. I have sold quite a bit of stuff on
TradeMe, and still have a pile of saleable items in my office, waiting now
until we get home from holiday.
We are
still getting a few visitors (we thought no one would visit us, 40 mins out of
town), but Magda has come three times, Dawn & Martin, my folks, Graeme
& Julie Pahl, John & Jo, and Neil Murray have all called in. Jan's NSO
concert went really well, and was very well received by the audience - nice
write up in the Nelson Mail (see image).
We had a
stormy day on Saturday & I took some photos east & west of the sky (see
photos). We get some lovely views up here.
It will
be a busy week for us both still, but we are both working hard to get
everything done so we can head away with clear consciences. Jan is still very
busy at work. He has no idea what will happen to his projects while he is away,
but suspects that things will just not get done. I just sent my moderation pack
off for my Leadership paper, and, once my Applied Management marking is finished,
need to prepare materials for moderation. My Applied Management paper for next
semester has already been set up & sent for printing (phew). However, I
still have to get my report written for the Results Committee, as I won't be at
the results meeting, and get the first two topics reviewed & printed for my
Comms paper, next semester. We get back on the afternoon of Friday the 16th,
and I start lecturing the next Tuesday. Not much time to organise anything in
between!
I have
nearly completed my second-to-last CAT unit; getting some really nice feedback
from the tutor, and being told at the end of my presentation that I had passed
(being told straight after the end of an assessment is a rarity, he told me).
The review panel also gave me some great feedback. I have one more assessment
to do, and that is to sit in on an academic review panel, but I can't do that
until I am back from Europe. I have one more unit to do, and have just
negotiated an independent learning contract for that, to research, write and publish
some management case studies (which I was going to do anyway, so get some
credit for it). All good, then I will be finished - probably at the end of this
year. Yay!
Last
Friday my year as Rotary President ended, and I handed over to my successor, Paul
Rosanowski. So that is one reasonably big thing off my responsibilities list,
which is just fantastic. However, the Chair of the Founders Heritage Park
Committee stepped down last week, and nominated me as his successor, which I
have accepted and the remainder of the Committee has endorsed (which is a much
smaller thing!). I am currently looking for another board appointment, but
haven't seen anything that really does it for me yet, and that I can add value
to.
We leave
for Europe next Monday, for a few days in Paris, where we have an apartment
near Le Louvre. In Germany we have 5 days in Freiburg, three with Rainer &
Regina, then to Ulm to see Uta and Oma Lieselotte, then Andreas & Katrin,
then Holger and family, then to the Edersee for the Schütte family
celebrations, Treysa, and lastly Simone & Michael before we fly out. We
will catch up with most of the German contingent at the Edersee, which will be
fantastic :-)
Magda is
house-sitting for us the entire time we are away (awesome person that she is).
Take care
& alles liebe!
Sam & Jan
