Two Christmas Photos

After the festivities over the past couple of days here are two photos from the Donaldson household. Firstly is Mrs Claus or should that be White Witch with that wig on. Big Guy who was the infamous H and J Smith Santa Claus (the other two got into the Southland Times), was testing out some wigs for his job. This one was a beaut, but very magical looking.

I am wearing all my gifts. My main present is a puffer jacket which can only be worn in moderation at the moment. Draped over my shoulder is a t shirt from my sister. Believe it or not the yellow item in my hand is probably my favourite gift and it is a Banana Case (I knew you would've guessed that). Being a lover of such a versatile fruit this stops bruising. The banana and myself are like Bubba on Forrest Gump and Shrimps. Banana cakes, sandwiches, smoothies, ice cream, milkshakes, muffins, on toast, battered, grilled...... I am also sporting the latest Marc Ellis book as like his cook book, people buy it for their student/son because of Marc Ellis. I am hoping it is a better read than his Cook Book. I am wearing an All Blacks supporter top. Because of our $100 limit with gifts between children in our family this was more of an option than a legitimate actual rugby top, but more practical. When thinking about why less people wear All Blacks gear in New Zealand than say wear the England football top in England, it is simple, price. Lillywhites in London sell legitimate England football tops for 12 pounds. They actually sell All Black tops for 35 pounds. This is cheaper than in New Zealand where you pay $159 or $139 for All Black replica tops. Finally in my other hand I am holding a bag of male toiletries to use to impress the ladies. What is my Dad saying when giving me such a gift. Do I stink?

We actually thought we were stuffed with our secret Santa in my house because two of the Santas, my brother and sister were away in Tahiti and Switzerland and Big Guy who scrutinised and made the draw forgot who was buying for whom. So I knew I was buying for my sister, but we didn't know who the unlabelled gifts left by my sister under the tree were for. Problem was solved at night when my other brother gave me my gift. He will have to wait until his twin brother gets back from Tahiti.

Anyway remember it is about giving not receiving.

TV Sitcoms

Why are there so many American sitcoms on television? The ones on at the moment have a slightly overweight middle aged father who obviously relates to the target audience. They are usually the funny guy on the show. They are married to beautiful women usually out of their league and have three kids. One is smart but nerdy, one beautiful but dumb and a cute younger sibling. Surely these shows being almost identical can not survive? I notice New Zealand doesn't really have a sitcom. Probably just as well.

A great story for Christmas.

My Dad being Santa Claus at the main department store shares his duties with two others. The funny thing is one of the other guys is a family friend Peter Kennett. The Kennetts are known for being lively characters who while they aren't the sharpest knives in the draw, they provide some amusement. After being told off two days into his job for handing out too many lollipops to H and J Smith workers rather than the children, Pete got himself into more trouble. He snuck out during the time on duty to get a cup of coffee. Unfortunately he had difficulty drinking it and spilt it all down the front of his Santa suit and the beard. He had to then go to the Men's and scrub the beard using soap and a nail scrub. This wasn't all though. My Dad and him share the same suit and it looked dirty in some photos. Pete then admitted he didn't hink his beard had a mouth cut. So he had been wearing it as an armish style under beard.

Merry Christmas

Although Christmas is quieter than usual this year, I would like to wish you a merry christmas and a Happy New Year!

Number Six
Reflection

At the end of the year it is traditionally a time of reflection. Hence I have formed a list of Top 10 activities which provided highlights for the past 365 days. The list is not exhaustive, but since I have seen so many attractions in so many countries, I thought it would be interesting. It is also the people that you are with that help create the ultimate experience.

1) Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen with my brothers family. This place in magic, despite feeling queasy after riding The Demon.

2) Redemption FC travelling down to Invers and winning the qualifying match to make the First Round of the Chatham Cup. Great times with great mates.

3) Two inseparable weddings I attended for different reasons. Darren and Lizzi in the unique Swiss backdrop and Sam and Rach where I had the priviledge of sharing the ocassion with so many cool people I know. So I cheated with this one.

4) Attending the Sri Lanka/ Blackcaps cricket in Queenstown last New Years Eve. You take deck chairs and sit on the boundary at long on. One of the most picturesque grounds anywhere.

5) All Souls Touch Rugby Tournament where we finished second losing the final to a team with five England Internationals.

6) Madame Tussauds with Boss. It was great rubbing shoulders with the celebrities.

7) Attending a Premiership Football Game - Fulham vs Bolton at Craven Cottage. Such a unique crowd experience.

8) Watching the play A Comedy of Errors at Shakespeare's Globe in London.

9) Touring Twickenham and going behind the scenes to the changing rooms, tunnell and corporate boxes.

10) Touring Lords the traditional home of cricket. We went into the pavillion and the media centre which resembled something out of Star Trek.

Commuting

Living in London for a while brought new perspective on commuting time. Most people take several trains or a combination of buses, tube and trains to get to work and back every day. Even just going to the movies or play touch can take an hour. This makes you appreciative of life in New Zealand. I am thinking about travelling between Wellington and Dunners/Invers and how it costs more and takes as long as flying from London to Denmark/Sweden or Switzerland. It is a crazy scenario.

Another crazy scenario comes from this guy I know Marty Shelton. He became a legend for being at University for three Rugby World Cups. He started in 1991 and finished in 1999. The worst part of it is that we didn't win any of them. He actually told me of a guy who wanted to finish his University degree off quicker than usual, so actually registered at two Universities at once, Otago and Wellington. He would be at one of them for Monday and Tuesday and do all his classes and then fly to the other for Wednesday- Friday classes. This mean't he was doing something horrific like 92 points in a year. The thing is with University it is probably possible. The hours a scarce especially compared to the real working world and if you are department like arts, commerce and certain Physical education papers, the classes aren't too long and intense.

Needless to say, he was eventually sprung and had to withdraw from one of them.

My point is that while I am going to Wellington, I will still be able to return to Dunedin or Invers for ocassional weekend trips. This will be made possible thanks to Air New Zealand and their Grab A Seat promotion which can throw some real cheap fares at us consumers to tempt us.
There is no way I would consider commuting like this University student though!

Time Warp

My life appears to be going like a time warp at the moment. I say this because when I was away in Europe I left people and expected to just walk back into life five months later as if nothing has happened. My relationships lost some of their spice as two way forms of feelings. It is as if I still expect to be best buddies with the same people even though they have had to move on and find new best mates in my absence.

The same can be said with people. It is like I was expecting life to have stood still in places like Dunedin, but in many instances places have changed and I have been living as if they should be the same. It is like a time warp.

Invers is actually busy. It is strange because nobody here is used to it, yet if this was London it would be tame. Because people aren't used to it then accidents happen. People in Invers expect to be able to change lanes without looking or stop in the middle of the footpath when walking, or the aisle in the supermarket. This causes problems for everyone. Maybe London has given me some benefits afterall. It encourages decisiveness in everyday shopping!

This is a picture of the Santhi Soundarajan from India who won a silver medal in the Womens 800m at the Asian Games and was disgraced as she failed a gender test. Despite not having a sex change it appears according to an official, that this athlete has "abnormal chromosomes" and too many Y chromosomes.

It seems like a bizarre situation. Apparently gender tests aren't that common as drug tests often take place instead. This must raise all sorts of social issues for this athlete. If she wants to continue running competitively which category does she enter? Men's 800m?

I think there was a competitor at the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament who had actually had a sex change and then won the Lasies Singles only to be disqualified.

Rounding

Only using the new currency system in New Zealand for a month, I have become increasingly confused by the rounding systems used at different stores if your final total ends in a 5. The Supermarkets round down while a Post Office round up. Wouldn't it be easier to use the same system.

Quiet Christmas

This year Christmas will be so quiet. Last year my entire close family were present, including my Swedish sister in law, nephew and niece and we all had lunch at my brother who lives just outside Invers. My brother had come over from Sweden with his family, while my French teaching brother in Napier also was down. The folks were around as usual and my sister who lives in Invers was around.

Fast forward 12 months and my Swedish family is in their home country, my French teaching brother is tanning himself as the head teacher in Tahiti, while my sister is skiing in Switzerland. I guess they were expecting me to be over in Europe too, but since I am not, it will be a quiet lunch followed by dinner at my brother's house with his four kids and wife. It means that our present system of Secret Santa is screwed up as people won't necessarily receive gifts on the right day. It also means that this week before Christmas is quiet and since most others are with family at this time of year then I have a pretty quiet week in store.

The height of painfulness is having $207 in airpoints with a trip back from Wellington to Invercargill likely to give you enough points to travel down for the wedding of a great mate costing $212. Because of technical problems with the planes your seat numbers and bookings are not being credited to your airpoints account. I decided to write to Air NZ and query, but hopefully I am credited the money into my account before the flights are taken!

BBQ Hangover

Today it was my big sister's birthday. She has reached the ripe old age of 32 and because she is leaving tomorrow for Europe and some Swiss Alps and Sweden snow, we celebrated her birthday a week early. While she will no doubt get better sausages than the staple double cheese Sizzler over there it was still a satisfying session of saussies, steaks and salad. For dessert we indulged in mousse, ice cream and strawberries. It is a blatant reminder that summer is here as to is Christmas. BBQs are usually undertaken in hot weather, but since we are living in Invers then we had to make do with an average day.

What do you buy someone that has everything for such an ocassion? A triangle travel pillow courtesy of Kathmandu sale. She is going on an Oakhall Tour by coach and since I also went on one, then I realise the necessity of some padding otherwise it is sore neck time. After 24 hours in a coach, it isn't what the doctor ordered, but great for the Swedish masseuse Sven!

I got the job in Wellington and move up there to start on January 8th. It is amazing how I applied for heaps of jobs in Dunedin, but the one Wellington position came up trumps. The Interview was a beast as I sweated it out under the microscope. It will be an interesting environment at NZ Consumers Institute and in Wellington in general. Despite obviously missing my mates, it will provide me with more opportunities than are available down here. IT is only for 30 hours a week, but I have been assured that it will be a viable financial option. The job is as a Research Assistant for Consumer Magazine. I have read several issues and it is actually a really handy magazine, especially if you are thinking of buying an appliance or changing services like banks. The position is more going around the Internet (which I am good at) getting the latest product attributes and keeping them up to date. Who knows where it will lead.




HOWZAT!

New Zealand wrapped up the the First cricket test against Sri Lanka with a five wicket win, but the result seems irrelevant compared with the means of getting there.In a bizarre dismissal Sri Lanka's spin chucker Muralitharan was given out when congratulating batsman Kumar Sangakkara on a century.It happened as the pair completed their single to give him a century. They dawdled through for a single and he raised his bat and took his helmet off at the non strikers end to celebrate scoring a century. Murali completed the single and strangely left his crease to congratulate his team mate before the ball had been returned to New Zealand keeper McCullum by fieldsman Martin.There was never any doubt that Murali was not going for a second, but New Zealand quite within their rights broke the stumps with Murali with his mind on his team mate's celebration was dismissed. This wicket finished the innings and who knows could've handed New Zealand the game.It was within the rules because the ball wasn't dead, but it was unethical.

My opinion is that despite it not being in the spirit of the game "It's just not cricket" I believe that in this day and age it is all about results. What would've happened if Murali was not given and went onto make a handsome lead with Sangakarra, before bowling us out for a victory? We would be fired up at us for not taking the out. Also if the return from Martin went for overthrows, I am sure Sri Lanka would've taken them.

Interesting Times

Life has gained momentum with a trip to Wellington on this Tuesday as a step in the right direction for gaining a job at The NZ Consumer Institute.

Saturday saw me help out with the Scripture Union outdoor camps gear packing for the different camps. The shed we went to was in all sorts of shambles but a random bunch of people organised the stuff. It was quite fun with the exploits of Ben Febery never far away.

I went and saw the latest Bond, which was actually the best out of the recent ones. Instead of putting a picture of one of the Bond girls or Bond in Budgie Smugglers, I went for a more sophisticated picture. At the movies were some Eastern Southland crowd. It was great to realise that I actually know some people in Southland. I actually saw some of them in London, so it was bizarre seeing them in Invers. Worlds apart!

Today I went to Dunners as my folks had lunch with their relatives. I used it as an excuse to catch up with some Dunedin peeps. It seemed strange slipping back into town. Most of the students are gone. Boss one of my top chums or should that be chumps was there. He represents the last bastien of singledom and is getting hitched in January. It is funny seeing one of the most unsettled types like myself, preparing to settle down. At least there is still the humour of Jon and Dom in the single mates club. These guys seem to have in recent years joined me as life members. Still we have great fun!

Finally in cricket, is anyone keen to go to the One Day International on New Years Eve in Queenstown. You usually know heaps of people. It is a relaxed atmosphere and you can take your own deck chair into the ground. We loved it last year and since we are playing Sri Lanka again it should be a home win again. We usually sit near Sonny Shaw (the media hound who attends cricket matches around the world and carries a flag, but also hassles the players off the field). It costs $25. Is anyone keen?

Firstly my Dad (Big Guy) is Santa Claus and despite not being able to fit a white wig (he has dark hair) under his Santa hat, the problem has been solved. Two questions remain. Because he is Father Christmas does this make me Son Christmas? Secondly what do you buy Santa Claus, because he usually only gives presents to people? Do I just leave him some food to help him get through his journey at Christmas?

I had my first hit of tennis in about ten months. It was a mixed bag. I am sore today after hitting against two people. It was like getting back to my glory days of winning the school champs and playing for Southland. Still consistency is an important part of the game that you lose with time.

The Santa Claus World Championships was recently hosted in Switzerland. I can imagine that Christmas would be brilliant there because with the snow it would be a magical white Christmas.

Finally, I watched the final four C4 Top 40 Worst Music Videos. I loved them, and in going with the Retro theme, there are plenty of terrible 80s Videos.

1- David Hasslehoff- Jump in my Car - He is a huge hit in Germany. This one had a flash looking Kit.
2- Mick Jagger/David Bowie- Dancing in the Streets- Low budget video with bad eighties dance moves and some really close no personal space singing with each other.

3- Aqua- Barbie Girl- This was always destined for such bad press.

4- In the Navy- Village People- Indian, Builder, Biker, Cop, Sailor. These guys were gold and so very gay. But it made for a great video.

I wish I had turned over earlier and seen numbers 5-40 although it may have been difficult viewing.

Final thought: It is amazing how everyone looks back on the eighties appreciating it and giving it far more kudos than things actually got in the eighties!

The Employment Gulf

In recent times since ditching my previous job to go travelling around Europe I have discovered that there is an employment gulf for educated graduates with limited work experience. I have only worked for a couple of years, but find myself struggling to find work both in New Zealand and when I was in London.People say get any job to gain experience and money, but many employers like supermarkets, fast food outlets and chain stores often overlook well educated people because they assume that they will be quickly snapped up by other employers. Those with higher scale jobs to offer think that this person doesn't have the runs on the board to be employed.It creates a gulf between a rock and a hard place, where many graduates with standard degrees like BA, BCom find themselves. I am not alone with this. I know many other graduates who despite working manual jobs during their University holidays, struggle to get a foot in the door of a noral graduate job.This creates a new class of unemployed person with better education than their Case Managers as they claim the benefit and definitely higher prospects than their dole colleagues who they must do seminars and courses with.This begs the question, is it worth going to University to study without having set vocation in mind. I studied Human Geography because it was interesting, but this along with marketing didn't lead to anything specialised. This took six years, yet nurses who couldn't get into University but instead went to Polytech walk into employent in three years. Another example of a strange situation was when I was working on the front counter at the Dunedin City Council, taking plans of proposed building work to be done for a Building Consent. People with very little education would come in and be unable to fill out the form, yet they were the one in the money, undertaking hundreds of thousands of dollars in building work for mega profit. So manual type jobs are not as frowned upon as I always was told growing up. In fact quite the contrary. There is a huge demand for development and this begs the question. Is tertiary study in generic degrees really worthwhile?


I saw an ad on www.seek.com for getting paid to blog. So I signed up but am unsure how or if they pay you. Anyway the dream job doesn't really exist, but I have another blog which I post (or used to). www.strangesituations.com

Fan Burnout

I am a huge rugby fan and as a New Zealander I am stoked with the way that we are finally playing to our potential and tormenting everyone. There is a constant calling for a shorter season and more time off for players as the season runs from February to November. It is no longer a winter sport and players struggle with burnout.With an extented Tri Nations and Super 14, fan numbers have also started dwindling at games as the public only has so much money and with the ease of watching the game at home, the couch is a more attractive and cost effective option. The fans are now also burned out and can't wait for the decreasing cricket season to crank into gear. My five months in Europe saw me miss most of the Tri Nations games and all of the Air New Zealand Cup which is New Zealand's domestic showpiece. Only viewing snippets at Walkabout Taverns andpubs in London was only enough to moisten the taste buds. It has given me a hunger to watch rugby again as the way the "Gentlemen play the rough game in England" just isn't the same. Everyone should take several months off, as absence makes the heart grow fonder. Rugby is no exception, and I can't wait for the Super 14 to start.