News from Nelson - June 2 2013

Hi all,
Another quick note to catch you all up again.

This weekend Jan has his concert, The Grand Ball - he says they are sounding OK, but a bit ragged in places. I will see - or hear - tomorrow night!

I am off to Welly on Sunday for two days, for my next CDANZ meeting. I have just put out my third issue of the CDANZ Ezine, and am starting to get into my stride now. I have some plans for content improvement, but I will have to see how I manage: it does take hours and hours to put together every quarter.

It is the semester break at the mo; I have got all my results in, and am working flat out on preparing my courses for next semester, and my ethics application for my masters. I am hoping that I might get time to work on my new website, which has been in beta for eighteen months (!), but I am not feeling positive about finding the time!

Last Friday night we went to a quiz night with Janet & Robbie, which was really heaps of fun, and raised lots of dosh for the Wakefield School, to purchase one of those folding stages for their hall. We came 7th of 25 teams, despite the quiz masters having some answers wrong :-D

I am looking forward to next week, when the concert will be over, and Jan will be less tired. Four rehearsals in the week leading up to the concert really takes it out of him - the 45 minutes drive home certainly doesn't help, either. He was going to take tomorrow off to sleep, but one of his longest serving staff members is leaving tomorrow, so he needs to go in after all.

At the moment I am writing a case study on Lance Armstrong for use in my research in September. I always thought he was a jerk, but after all the research I have done, I am staggered that international cycling hadn't taken any action when it was so obvious that Lance and many others were doping. Regularly. Consistently. In fact, UCI's inaction effectively condoned drug abuse in the cycling community. For fifteen years. Amazing.

We had a lovely sunrise the other day, unfortunately it blurred, but the colours are nice. Enjoy.

Jan is off to Rotovegas in September (10th to 12th). I think I will be in Wellington on the 8-9 for another CDANZ meeting.

Then I will be in Chch for Thursday, Friday & hopefully the weekend of October 17-20. Hopefully Jan will be with me too, but we still have to work that out.

Jan is in the US in November, as I mentioned last time.

Right, that's all for now. Will be back in touch in a few weeks.

Sam & Jan

Brr - a bit of snow; luckily, far enough away!

Some snow on the Richmond Ranges fell over the weekend. Photos from our place:

Hope you are all keeping warm!

Jan & Sam

Henry, and Henrietta

A comment by a friend today - about Henrietta Lack - sparked an old childhood memory of doggrel ending "Henry, and Henrietta". Apparently it was something my Grandfather used to recite to my mother:

They were wrecked on this lonely shore, Henry and Henrietta
These two and no more, Henry and Henrietta
They had no food, fruit or nuts, Henry and Henrietta
They hadn’t anything to build a hut, Henry and Henrietta
They walked along this lonely shore, Henry and Henrietta
But soon there was but one, no more, Henry; well, Henry ate her.

What is even more amazing is that Google has it nowhere :-)

Top Documentaries

And just another quick aside: we have been watching lots of documentaries of late: some real crackers, in fact. The Shock Doctrine (2009); Inside Job (2011); Side by Side (2012); Searching for Sugar Man (2012); The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005). Check them out if you get a chance.

News from Nelson - June 2013

Hi Everyone,
I can't believe another month has ticked by. I have no idea where the time has melted away to!

Jan & I have both been flat out - Nelson Symphony Orchestra, dogs, study and work. Bonnie has been to the vet several times with a few fairly minor ailments. Fliss is getting so wobbly now she is tripping over her own feet. We have got little boots for her now so she gets good purchase on the floor - and I wouldn't have persisted had she still not been so bright, so keen for her dinner and a cuddle. But we know it won't be long. As soon as she stops enjoying telling us off because we haven't lit the fire quickly enough, or she goes off her food...

The cycle of all things, eh. And I wouldn't miss a minute of it. At least our families are currently fairly well, though I know Tanja is having trouble with her knee following surgery.

Temperatures are dropping, and we have had quite a bit of rain lately. No problems with having enough water. There is a shed full of wood to stoke the fire, and it is very cosy here - sometimes too cosy! I constantly find myself throwing the covers in the night because I have got too hot (and no, it's not the menopause!).

My father had a birthday BBQ at our place on May 26th. Uncle Norman, Mike & Donna came out too, as did lots of my folks' friends - Ralph is an RSA member (Vietnam) and borrowed the RSA van to bring a swag of them out, which was great. We had Ana from Brazil staying that weekend as well. Twenty for lunch worked out just fine. I made black forest gateaux - though only one got eaten. In fact, there was so much food that we made doggie bags up for everyone to take some bits home, because we would never have fitted it all the leftovers in the fridge!

We went to a Chamber of Commerce function at the Suter Art Gallery, about the new development project there. 

Last weekend we went to the basketball (Nelson Giants vs the Bay Hawks) with Sharon & Ian, which was great, preceeded by dinner at Krauts. Herman and Agnes Seifried were there as well, and Jan said to me, "That guy looks familiar - who is he?"!

We caught up with Frits, Kathleen & Amy on Saturday night, which was great. Amy did the dinner (mushroom risotto), Kathleen did the dessert (a light chocolate mousse), and it was just lovely. 

Yesterday I finished my assignment marking, to have a colleague contact me in a bit of a state. Lots of things have gone really badly pear-shaped in their lives, so I am now marking their assignment work this week. What can you do? As I explained to Jan, if I was at the end of my string so much that I asked someone for help, the last thing I would want them to do is say "sorry, mate; I have just finished and don't fancy doing any more"! Nothing wrong with a bit of 'cast your bread upon the waters', I reckon.

I have been to dinner with the Sport & Rec team at NMIT: Jan has caught up with work colleagues. He is also going to the US in November for a week-long industry tour and conference, and to Rotovegas in September to present at a conference.

Jan has been practicing for the next NSO concert (29 June), which should be really fun. It's programme you can really imagine being performed at a grand event, with a little light entertainment - Tea for Two - thrown in:

On the Sunday of that weekend, I am off to Wellington for another CDANZ meeting - the Sunday and Monday, then back home. I hope to catch up with Tina & Jeremy then too. Tina is so busy at work I don't know how she does it, and Jeremy's clown doctoring is going well (see the story below this one for the latest thing in the paper). My next CDANZ meeting will be October for the Career Symposium & AGM in Chch, I think. Then I think I have a conference in Queenstown to go to in November - but I am reconsidering whether I should attend that one as Jan will be in the US then. Julie from CNZ was down in Nelson last week for a meeting, and we caught up for coffee. It is great how you start to roll your contacts out around the country with involvements like this.

We are off to a quiz night this coming Friday night with Robbie & Janet, which should also be fun. We have also been trying to catch up with Glenys & Kevin, but just have not got there yet!

And some other sad news - while we were in the North Island, our neighbour, Kath, died. As many of you know, she had a brain tumour diagnosed when she was pregnant with Harrison. "They" said she would have three to five years after the treatment - she had three before it came back, and then the end came quite quickly. It is very sad, though Ian seems pretty stoic about it. Hopefully Harrison will remember his mum.

Sunrise from Roses Road last week:

Hoepfully we will all stay healthy, eh. And be kind to each other, and remember that we are a long time gone, so make the most of it while we are here. And remember we don't get points for it.

Right - that's all I have time for. Just a quick update :-)

Jan & Sam