News from Nelson - September 2019

Hello everyone,

The days are getting longer and warmer and it is time to recap September. 

This month I have spent time with Sharon & Ian, Warren, Tracey, Erica, and Jenny.

I went to Sharon & Ian's for lunch, and found that Sharon had rather a lot of teaspoons for me to pass on to my jeweller friend:

Warren came out and we spent a morning putting together the frame of the little (!) tunnel house that Jan bought when he was here last, and we even read the instructions:

We have put the frame of the tunnel house together so that when Jan gets home, we can prepare the site (that is the clay patch you can see behind Warren reading the instructions), then cover it and move it into position together. It will save half a day of Jan's time home, in which there is plenty of other stuff to be done. Warren also helpfully put up the bike racks which I bought from Torpedo 7 on special a few years ago, so at last I can get into the space under the stairs in the garage. There are lots of boxes under the stairs which have not been touched since we moved in. Now that I can get to them easily, I can sort them out, and decide what needs to go, and what I want to keep.

I got another partial truckload of kiln dried timber ends from Kev, and stacked it in the shed:

And the sunrises still don't fail to impress:

There were lots of birthdays in September, including Jan's (which he was away for, but I sent him some new Sennhauser earphones from Amazon). Max & Karen, their Woofer, Erica and I helped Warren celebrate his 50th by having fish and chips at Tahunanui beach, followed by a dog walk. Warren has now bought a new house in Enner Glynn. I helped him a tiny bit with a couple of loads, and took a couple of photos. He has lovely views to the West and to the North... and a swimming pool:

Finn thinks he is a people and has taken to sitting on the outdoor furniture. I am amazed he can fit himself in, because he has turned out to be quite a big dog:

Erica came to stay for the weekend with Jade and Ollie, and four dogs had a LOVELY time with a long walk each day and much playing. Even Jade managed the 4k round-trip down to the second ford each day without running out of steam (big walks for a little dog):

Boo and Finn ate the side off one of the rubber mats on the deck. While the mats might have prevented me slipping, they also prevented Boo from digesting. Sigh. More trips to the vet, but thankfully no surgery yet. We are hoping that "this too shall pass"!

The washing machine has been at the repair shop for six weeks, waiting for a part to come: it arrived and was ready for pick up just as Warren moved into his house and needed his washing machine back! Spectacular timing. 

The ford by the winery has been concreted in, to the tune of two concrete trucks full of concrete. Simon did all the boxing and prep, and he and Cie did the screeding while I was out teaching for the day. All I had to do was to leave one car on the 'inside' of the ford and the other on the 'outside' for a couple of days while it cured. It is fabulous now:

My undergraduate research students are mostly on track, and I have another couple of post-grad students doing Master's projects. My teaching workload at present is steady, which is good, and this month I delivered my last research lectures for year. However, I still have orals to organise, and my Sport & Rec paper lectures finish at the beginning of November. Then it is only marking and getting results into the system to be finished with the undergrad work. I will have three Master's supervisees who will still be going until late November, with one not finishing until January.

While I am still saying no to additional teaching projects this year, I am in talks about mentoring a new undergraduate research paper co-ordinator and moving into teaching post-graduate papers in the business school next year. I am still a bit hesitant about this, but have said yes to teaching a first post-graduate paper in semester 1 2020. I am also doing some Sport & Rec planning for semester 2 2020, as two of my AUT papers are being rolled into one, and I am working through what needs to be kept out of the two originals, and from two previous papers I have taught. I have been thinking about this for some time, and have a meeting next month where I need to formalise my proposal... and the write up of those thoughts will need to be tackled in the study break.

Additionally, I have hired some cleaners, so on the weekends I am no longer spending half a day cleaning. With the spare time I have created, I have been enjoying the books of Rhys Bowen, the "Her Royal Spyness" series. They are quite fun, and the library has a few of the talking books. I went to the movies for a charity fundraiser for the Motueka swimming pool, and saw the Downton Abbey film. It was quite good, but not as taut as Gosford Park had been. 

At the end of the month, daylight saving started. This is a horrible time of the year for me, as I am now effectively getting up at 4.30am, and really struggle with an hour's less sleep each day. It usually takes met two weeks to adjust, and luckily this year, the study break gives me that two weeks to adjust my sleep pattern.

Jan is still in Rock Hill SC, but has done some travelling at last, having gone to Chimney Rock with some of his colleagues:

  

He met up with an old school friend, Claudia, and her partner, in Durham, NC. This was midway between where Claudia lives and where Jan is staying:

Aside from a few hours at the beach one Sunday, the rest of his time has been working, having evening bbqs (as they are not supposed to cook in their rooms) and following his workmates on shopping trips locally in Rock Hill or further afield to Charlotte:

  

Jan is back in NZ on 19 October for a nine days, then off again. He will next be back in NZ next on 23 December. We meet in November in Munich, visit Ulm, then head off on the Danube river cruise meeting Justine in Prague,  then onto Stuttgart for Jan to do a week-long Siemen's course where we will meet Simone and Andreas. I will potter about Stuttgart and sightsee while Jan is on the course each day, and continue to supervise my Master's supervisees. We return to NZ together. 

Talk to you all again in a month or so.


Sam (& Jan in the US).

News from Nelson - September 2018

Hi everyone,
Sorry for the long hiatus since updating you all: but I will go through and post the news month by month, despite the fact that the date is now January 2019.

At the beginning of September we got the terrible news that Jan's cousin Simone had been widowed. Her husband had been unwell for some time, but the news that Michael was gone was a terrible shock. Andreas and Simone are raw, but coping. We hope to see them in December when we are thinking we will go to Germany.

My work continued to be busy with this semester's students getting their projects underway: thought I would have to say that I had higher numbers of students at risk this semester than ever before. The supervisory team has been working really well, however, and are all doing a great job to lift the student game in double-quick time. We had one supervisor pull out, and the rest of us redistributed that supervisor's workload, but that seemed to work out OK.

Jan is still not enjoying his work, so has started firming up a commissioning job for German company, Dieffenbacher (which builds particle board, MDF and LVL plants and equipment). We don't know much yet about how long he is going to be away for, but he is thinking that he is likely to be away for two months at a time in the Americas, nor do we know a start date yet. Sometime in the New Year. I am not at all happy about it, but Jan is keen.

Argentina - the Pumas - played the All Blacks at Trafalgar Park here in Nelson. The Port Company had tickets which staff went into the draw for: Jan got two tickets. It was a great game. The weather was cold, but we were all dressed for it, and the crowd was partisan, but fair. We had left my little nana car over at the Port offices, so we walked to the park, then were able to simply walk back and drive home without the traffic over over 21,000 people all heading home at the same time affecting us too much. I almost lost my voice from shouting :-)

I am still working on the one year wardrobe challenge, and have rediscovered the outfit I wore to Lara's naming ceremony, which must be nearly sixteen years ago!

 Finn is growing like a weed, but still remains full of the joys of the world. He is a very happy dog to own (mind you, he has yet to hit those canine teenager times). Aunty Boo is keeping an eye on him, and keeping him in line. She runs a very good line in distraction tactics when he is misbehaving.

Jan & I had to clear out the ford closest to us a couple of times from the winter storms. Of course, all the working photos are of Jan, as someone had to take the photos...! From water level quite high with crap all over the fence...

To unblocking the drain under the ford...

To unblocking the drain on the uphill side...

To the ford going back to normal level and tidying up the last of the clumps of debris.

We got invited to a dinner at Shelley & Kevin's place, which was total foodie heaven. Shelley took on my dietary restrictions with gusto, and cooked things which I could eat, which was just bliss. A great night, with ex-Sealord colleagues Dawn (and Neil), Shelley (and Kevin), Karen & Tom, with much wine drunk! Even better, my old canteen of silver cutlery got a new home, as I realised that Shelley had the same service. My cutlery has been sitting in a carton in the back of the laundry for ages, and seeing the joy she got from using hers, it was an easy donation to make :-)

Jan went to Australia this month to attend a seminar run by his safety guru, Sidney Dekker. He said that the seminar was great, and he learned a lot. Interestingly enough he had a burst blood vessel in his eye while he was in a lecture session, seated between two paramedics who then checked him for all sorts before saying it was just one of those things. Couldn't have been in a better place for that kind of thing to have happened! He stayed with Tanja while he was there, which was nice for them both. He is currently working on his final essay for his Health & Safety course.

I have started a Maori cultural familiarisation course through CDANZ, which has been good, and have done a couple of Institute of Directors courses as well. I have been too busy at work to finalise my AJCD article changes, and realistically won't get to that until January now.

This month Jan also had an NSO concert, Opera Mania, which was be the last concert that the NSO will have at Old St John's. At long, long last the Nelson School of Music will be reopening next month. Opera Mania went well, with the Anvil chorus being repeated as an encore at the end. It was very, very good, despite a small dollop of Wagner!

My wee nana car crapped out this month: the first time it has ever broken down. The alternator died on us, on the way home (right outside the Richmond branch of the garage I use). Jan got in touch with a former colleague and he rescued us, gave us a loaner car, and we were off. However, this is making me think that it is time to start thinking about a replacement: it was first registered in 2006, now being a venerable 12 years old. I would really like an electric car, but I don't think they have the range yet for our driving requirements of up to 130km a day without a recharge. I will have to buy a second-hand electric car, which will have already lost some of its range. Also, Nelson has very few charging places - all of which you have to pay for. While I may be able to recharge, it will require an extension cord and a 'willing' power socket. Something to think about, anyway.

Plans are firming up for our German trip. It looks like it will be December. We will update everyone as we know.


Sam (& Jan)

The One Year Wardrobe Challenge

I am doing a "wear everything in your wardrobe challenge", where you have one year to wear everything in your wardrobe, dresser drawers etc. The idea is that anything that I don't wear, I get rid of. After a year, often if I am not wearing things, I probably won't go back and wear them. Clothes get out of date, out of shape, fade, or get holes, so this regime is helping me find out what is dated, and helping me to take action about them. It also helped me understand what it is that I really wear most often. 

I have given things away, sold items, and donated things to charity. I have made a few small bag drops to the Sallies as I have found things that don't fit, that I don't like wearing, or that I can't mend or repurpose. It has made more room in my wardrobe for more Fluevogs ;-D 

And because we are doing this at the office, it has become really fun. We have had some really cool and off-piste outfits that have really entertained both lecturers and students alike. 

As the year has gone on, I have found it more challenging to wear particular pieces. Most stuff is mix and match, but there are a few things that need a whole outfit designed around them. I had one burgundy shirt in my drawers that I hadn't worn, so worked up a green and burgundy ensemble from all sorts of bits and pieces I have lurking in the wardrobe, and tied that to a pair Fluevog Hopefuls Esperanzas: the grape colour (photo above).

I was wracking my brains for what to wear with a silver lame T-shirt and a gorgeous grey, multi-coloured flower-embroidered jacket (they won't go with each other, and I have no grey vogs), but I found that some Fluevog Hopefuls Rosys, a black velvet bolero jacket and a black patchwork skirt that I have only just realised actually had silvery stripes in it to at long last co-ordinate with the silver t-shirt (photo above too). I like the creativity in having to use everything.

... but that doesn't stop me shopping for vogs, scarves, gloves, tights and earrings :-)


Sam

News from Nelson - September 2017

Hi everyone,
More sad news for 2017. My Uncle Norman passed away on the first of September at 5.45pm. Both Jan and I were with him at the end. My Mother had gone away for a few days to Auckland at Izzy’s 2nd birthday (Tessa's little boy), and the day she left he started to slip away. My brother came down, and together we saw him off on his last journey. He, like my parents, donated his body to the Otago Medical School, so the undertakers will do a special medical embalming and get him transported to Otago.

We held a memorial at the village he lived at for a decade, for his friends and neighbours to remember him. A lot of them had been visiting them, including a couple of them who can no longer drive, but happily biked the ten kilometre round trip to see him. That's dedication. My sister came up for the memorial, which was nice.

I am now winding up his affairs. His will has to go through probate, and apparently there is quite a queue in the High Court at present, so this is going to take a while. And, in going through this process again, I learned something new: if you are in a long term relationship, you need to have your bank account in joint names, not simply have signing authority. This is because at death, signing authority ceases but having a joint account means that the funds are free straight away for the surviving account holder. I hadn't realised the difference: and that is much easier than waiting for probate.

Jan's birthday was a fairly quiet affair at Poppy Thai, a Thai restaurant in Richmond. The food was good, and we had quite a range of people there - including Karen and Max whom we haven't seen in quite a while, despite them living out in Cotterel Road now.

Jan's boss at the DHB resigned this month, so they asked Jan if he would take on more hours. Of course he said yes! <sigh> He has gone up to 36 hours, but, instead of doing five days, he has packed the extra hour into four days of nine hours. That means he can keep playing in the quartet on Mondays, which is nice. What is really funny though is that Jan's boss was gone for a bit over a week, then was suddenly back as a contractor. It is also really murky about whether she is still the manager or not, and no one really seems to have any oversight of the actual practices going on there. The more I hear about this organisation, the more of a management debacle it appears to be.

Jenny L came to Nelson and we caught up with her for lunch at Karanga and dropped her off at the airport (which was lovely). She had been up for a couple of family birthdays. After that we went around to Glenys and Kevin's for Kev's birthday.

We know it is cold when Bonnie and Boo curl up together... and our spring has been cold and wet this year. Though, in saying that, we think Boo likes Bonnie more than Bonnie likes Boo. When Bonnie went to the vet for the day, Boo was totally at a loose end. Quite surprising.

And, speaking of couches - well, pictures of a couch, anyway - we have finally got around to ordering two new couches for our living area. We had meant to do this the year we moved in, but not only was money tight, but we just didn't quite get around to it. The intervening eight years didn't really get us any closer, either. However, two things came together this month: I was washing the upholstery and realised that it is getting VERY thin in places, and the burgundy has gone grey where the sun has bleached it; and we got invited to a 'cost plus 10%' evening for Farmside account holders at a local furniture shop. We went in, and found a lovely L-shaped leather couch to replace two of our old ones... which then left us with needing another two seater to replace the remaining two seater, and we found that at another store. Both are on order, in chocolate brown. The two seater should be with us in 6 weeks, and the L-shaped one in 16 weeks. No rush - the old ones were 23 years old, after all :-)

The rubbish weather has brought some lovely sunrises with it, which is nice. Always a two way thing!

The NSO had a pretty ambitious programme for the spring concert, including Pictures at an Exhibition, which I managed to find illustrations for, and popped on a PowerPoint for Jan to change as the movements progressed. This concert was in the Nelson College Hall.

I got an interesting surprise at the concert's after-match function: Jan has decided to step back onto the committee as the Chair - in the same month that he has gone back up to almost full time. That will also be interesting. He is also currently in rehearsals for the Cantata Memoria in conjunction with the Nelson Civic Choir, which will be performed at Labour Weekend.
 
Again, to polish my writing I have been undertaking another MOOC over four weeks, the University of Leicester's course, Discovering Your PhD Potential. This is proving very interesting. I have got quite a few tips already. I am still plodding away on getting my academic articles written: up to draft #8 on one of them now. By crikey, I am sick of the sight of it! The other one is languishing in "not enough data collected yet" land. I am trying to get more students to answer the survey, but there is only so much I can do without creating unacceptable amounts of bias <sigh>

I am looking to the study break and spending some time with Lara, who is coming down to stay next month. It should be great fun. 

That will do us for this month: back to you in another four weeks... and hopefully everyone is well next time.


Sam (& Jan)

News from Nelson - September 2016

Hello all,
We have had yet another busy month. Jan has been studying flat out, and I have been trying to find time to get my PhD application prepared and into Griffith University. It is now submitted, and I only need to wait to hear whether I will be accepted, or what changes need to be made.

Jan and I went to the Gecko Theatre for a movie a few weeks ago, and watched "A Month of Sundays", which was a really nice movie. OK, it was largely focused on death, but it had dignity and gentle humour. I liked it. And we had a nice view of the moon, Mars and - I think - Jupiter on the way:

 
We went to Jellyfish at Mapua for lunch on Jan's birthday, which was really nice. Max and Karen, Erica and Tracey, Mike and Donna, my folks, Dawn, Kathleen, Frits and Amy all came. We had a very good time.

One Friday night we caught up with the Cools's for dinner - easy-care fish and chips from the Upper Moutere Takeaway straight over the road. Fabulous. But Renate still made a fantastically delicious birthday cake for Jan that we all ate far too much of.

Getting some nice sunrises now:

The Subaru has been in and out of the garage with a steering pump issue... which turned out to be a blocked hose, in the end. That was after a reconditioned pump had been fitted. Ouch.

Jan has been down to Christchurch for the first half of a health and safety certification course, and has caught up with quite a few of the Cantabrians. He has been staying with Jenny, and goes back down in a couple of weeks for the next half, followed by an exam the day after Labour Day. 

I go down to Christchurch next week for a conference (I am presenting on some research that myself and a colleague have been doing on employer use of cybervetting), and I too am staying at 'Hotel Ladley' :-)

Speaking of Jenny, she, Tracey & Erica have done the Abel Tasman track. Jan & I picked them up at Marahau, after they had walked down from Wainui Inlet. They had had a great - and, despite the rain over Nelson-way this week, a dry - time. Well: maybe from Jen's point of view, an "OK" time!

Luckily, in the last week of the month, I had study break, which has enabled me to do some of that research for the CDANZ conference (to be delivered next week), and get on top of the administration tasks. Both my research and Sports PR students are now mostly well on the way with their projects, and I have finished with lectures on those papers, so now only student mentoring and marking remains. While lectures still continue for my Leadership paper, the load-lightening on the other papers helps to gain a bit of free (well... free-er!) time.

Our road has been graded, and, although the weather has not been that dry, our driveway is now looking pretty good.
  

Jan, my Mum and I went to the Nelson Symphony Orchestra's "Solo Spotlight" concert, where eight very talented young performers entertained us. It reinforces that here are some very committed young musicians and singers out there, and it was a privilege to be able to listen.

Happy birthday to Bertie, Robert, Becks, Jenny, Uta, KT, Ana Silvia, Guy, Barb, Kelly, Erica, Julie, Tracey, and Hartmut. 

We are really looking forward in November to seeing Holger, Dieter and Gudrun: can't wait!

More next month :-)


Sam (& Jan)