Pics from the Office

Here are some pictures from my office window. The office (and the notorious hill--which looks smaller in the picture, therefore making me seem more wimpy than I already am) is on the hill in the top picture of the previous post. (I've discovered that if you click on the pictures, you'll get a better version.)

Hopefully these pictures will post okay

Here are two pictures of the view from my deck at home. You're looking at a good chunk of downtown.

Words I Like

I'm digging the Kiwi accent and vocabulary. I'm trying to work it into my linguistic arsenal, though it's taking some time. But here are some things I'm enjoying saying.

1) No worries. I already said that in the States, but I'm particularly liking it now that it's common.

2) Bloke. How can you not like it if everyone's a bloke?

3) Bugger. My absolute favorite. (Pronounce it with enthusiasm--"Ah, tha's a real bugga!")

Three observations, two I didn't believe 'til I saw

1) It's really windy here. People told me that, and I believed it. It's like any other windy city, more or less. The difference is that the winds are cold. That's what I didn't believe. Here it matters whether it's a Northerly or a Southerly. If it's a Northerly, it's a tropical wind that warms the air. If it's a Southerly, it comes direct from Antarctica, non-stop. And it's cold. It turns a 53-degree day into the feeling that you're on a chair lift at the top of a mountain in the middle of winter on a stormy day. Actually, it really reminds me of the wind on a run at Mt. Hood Meadows, which I can't remember the name of--the one at the top of the mountain that was only sometimes open (on clear days). Something like "Texas" sounds right, but I dunno. (If anyone out there remembers, drop a comment.) Anyway, the wind here is like that--pushing you around, penetrating your clothes, going horizontal, and taking the tempurature waaaayyyyy down.

2) The nightlife in Welly doesn't really get going until Midnight. For real--I didn't believe it either, but it's true. Went out last Saturday around 10, had a good time, but then left a bar at about 12:15am and the place was just going off. Incredibly crowded streets and bars, and that lasted until about 5am. I lasted until 7am, when I was glad that my new apartment (which is working out great--and will be better once the remodel of the loo is over) is a 10 min. walk from all the bars.

3) I forgot what commuting was like. If there's one thing in favor of Bakersfield, it's that you don't have to go far to get anywhere. So in Bako, Memphis, Kentucky, and--yes--even LA, I had very short commutes. No longer than 12 min. to walk or drive in any one of those places. The last commute I had was really in Portland in 1996. But now the walk to the bus (roughly 4 NYC blocks-between-the-avenues) and the bus ride take about 25-40 min. depending on whether I can catch a bus right away. It really takes something out of your day. Gotta figure out how to make that more productive. Thank goodness for ipods.

Correction

I knew something was funny about that post. I miswrote: the altitude is 119m for the entire length of the cable car, so probably 80 meters, or "metres", which is 262 feet. Still, that's a 17% grade!
Also, I'll post pics of the hill and the Uni soon--when my computer arrives, hopefully next week.

The Hill

So the University (or Uni, or Varsity) is up at the top of a big hill. There are many options for getting there, once you're downtown:

1) Take a bus.
2) Take a bus to the bottom of the hill, then just walk the hill.
3) Take a bus to a cable car, take the cable car up most of the hill, then walk the rest of the way.
4) Take a bus to a hotel elevator, which takes up you up the hill about halfway.
5) Walk.
6) Drive.

I've done everything except (4). But I pretty much have avoided (2) and (5). People here give me a hard time for that. So here's my justification: If I walk the hill, I get sweaty; I don't like being sweaty at work; so I don't like walking the hill. (That is, I don't walk up--I go down it very often.)

For the record, the hill is very steep. You don't actually climb the hill--you climb the stairs, hundreds of stairs. How steep is the hill? Well, the cable car tracks are 609 meters long, of which I probably go 450 meters, or 1,476 feet. Not that far, right? Yes, but it gains 119 meters in altitude in that span! That's 390 feet. The cable car has a 19.8% grade at it's steepest.

The closest analogy to this that I can think of is hiking Angels Landing Trail, for those of you who have been to Zion. It's great, but you don't really want to show up at work at the end of it.

Burden or benefit?

I have to admit that I'm having two major issues about living here. (Well, there are many, I guess, but here are two salient ones.) As most anyone who's reading this knows, I'm addicted to many things. But I'm especially addicted to TV and various forms of chips. And both are pretty shabby here.

First the chips. Absolutely awful. Surprisingly, they do a couple of good tortilla chips, but no potato chips at all worth eating. Just awful. Oh, what I would give for a good Ruffle or Kettle here and there.

Then there's the TV. Thankfully, they import a lot of good US shows, including most of the HBO series (Sopranos, Deadwood, Six Feet Under--all on broadcast TV, right after Will and Grace, weirdly), Lost, etc. And I get a lot of American sports. Thank goodness. But very few channels. And not much good homegrown stuff, which is especially odd given the boom of the Kiwi presence in film.

Doings around town

My stuff arrives soon. Living out of a suitcase is one thing. Living out of a suitcase for a month while trying to get settled at work and establish a new residence is another thing entirely.

Got an apartment! Great, two bedroom, with views of the city. Combine that with the ocean views from the office, and I'm living a very view-friendly life. I'll post some pictures when my computer gets here. The apartment is in Mt. Victoria, which is a great neighborhood, very cool, 3 blocks from downtown and an endless supply of bars and restaurants.

Getting into rugby. The NZ All-Blacks just trounced the British&Irish Lions 3 games to 0, absolutely crushing them each time. I think rugby's a good sport, but I also think it's easier getting into rugby when your adopted team is the coolest, most dominant team in the world. And they have the baddest jerseys on the planet.