Friday, May 20, 2016
The Powers That Bike
Greetings! I have directed some of you here to follow our bike ride across the country. Since then, I've invested in the domain name thepowersthatbike.com where I will be posting updates from our trip. We start pedaling June 3rd, so I recommend checking in on The Powers That Bike around then. Thanks!
Monday, June 17, 2013
Customer Service
On a day-to-day basis, the customers I interact with while waiting tables never cease to horrify me in shocking, ugly, new ways. At the end of my shift, on the drive home, I am finally able to exhale and forget about how poorly some strangers treat their restaurant servers. Many patrons seem to confuse server and servant, treating me as free labor, flexing their power where they can. Granted, for every wretched, selfish, rude person I quietly try to kill with kindness, there are ten generous, friendly, wonderful people who fall on the complete opposite end of the customer-spectrum. But we aren't talking about them right now.
The other day, the Gap I was in was in the process of closing up shop for the day. The clerks had been encouraging everyone to check out, informing us they were closed, their pained smiles suggesting they, too wanted to go home and be finished with customer service for the day. I made my way to the back of the store to pay for my wares.
"So is the designer going to come out with something new soon?" The woman at the next register over asked her exhausted-looking clerk.
"Probably," he said, "we get new things all the time."
"But Spring is going to go away, right? We have to be getting into summer soon."
"We're in summer now," he said.
"I just want all this neon, 80s to go away, I don't like it. The designer is going to do something new soon, right?"
I'll spare you the rest, but she essentially continued to sprinkle in jabs about how much she doesn't like Gap's current clothing line while asking the clerk the price of her sale items as he rang them up ("Six dollars? Put that one back, I don't want it.") and I realized that it isn't just me who has to spend my weekends dealing with rude idiots. The woman finished checking out, corralled her children from under the sale racks and went home. The clerk exhaled audibly and I exchanged a knowing glance with him and smiled.
Be good to each other, especially if the person you're interacting with is wearing a plastic name tag.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Naked Bike Ride
Every June, there's a large naked bike ride in Portland associated with Pedalpalooza (basically bike month). Naked bike ride was this last Saturday. Since the naked bikers don't typically stop for red lights/stop signs, and since everyone who isn't naked/on a bike is usually stunned on the sidewalk staring at passing genitalia, the city essentially shuts down.
I'm all for expressing yourself/furthering public education regarding how bike-friendly Portland is, but I wonder if my complete lack of desire to participate in the naked bike ride really differentiates me from the rest of the Portlandians as much as I thought it did.
I first encountered naked bike ride last year when I was trying to drive home from work and got stuck at an intersection while the flesh parade passed. I still wasn't entirely on the Portland bandwagon at that point, and wrote the bikers off with the bad drivers as yet another excuse to move back to California.
However, earlier this year, I fully converted to enjoying Portland and almost everything it has to offer. A handful of my coworkers participated in this year's NBR, and unlike last year, I knew it was coming and was able to decide whether or not I was going to participate. But naked bike riding still doesn't sound fun to me. First of all, I don't think I could do that to my poor bike (that I bought used). Second, I'm cold all the time. I don't think riding a bike around Portland at night with clothes on sounds fun, why add the coldness factor? Especially when you get to the end and you have no clothes. That's a LOT of time spent freezing. Third, the bike ride is pretty dangerous. Drunk people on bikes/skateboards/rollerblades flying down hills = can't end well.
After mulling over all the reasons not to participate in Pedalpalooza, I wondered if I was too hardened for Portland. Why don't I want to participate in the utopian summer naked bike ride? (Well, I know why. See: above) But then I realized, only 1000 people do naked bike ride. AND there are non-nude events associated with Pedalpalooza, with fewer participants and more clothing, like the never-nude ride... So, maybe next year.
I'm all for expressing yourself/furthering public education regarding how bike-friendly Portland is, but I wonder if my complete lack of desire to participate in the naked bike ride really differentiates me from the rest of the Portlandians as much as I thought it did.
I first encountered naked bike ride last year when I was trying to drive home from work and got stuck at an intersection while the flesh parade passed. I still wasn't entirely on the Portland bandwagon at that point, and wrote the bikers off with the bad drivers as yet another excuse to move back to California.
However, earlier this year, I fully converted to enjoying Portland and almost everything it has to offer. A handful of my coworkers participated in this year's NBR, and unlike last year, I knew it was coming and was able to decide whether or not I was going to participate. But naked bike riding still doesn't sound fun to me. First of all, I don't think I could do that to my poor bike (that I bought used). Second, I'm cold all the time. I don't think riding a bike around Portland at night with clothes on sounds fun, why add the coldness factor? Especially when you get to the end and you have no clothes. That's a LOT of time spent freezing. Third, the bike ride is pretty dangerous. Drunk people on bikes/skateboards/rollerblades flying down hills = can't end well.
After mulling over all the reasons not to participate in Pedalpalooza, I wondered if I was too hardened for Portland. Why don't I want to participate in the utopian summer naked bike ride? (Well, I know why. See: above) But then I realized, only 1000 people do naked bike ride. AND there are non-nude events associated with Pedalpalooza, with fewer participants and more clothing, like the never-nude ride... So, maybe next year.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Tao Lin
So, as many of you probably haven't recently noticed, since I don't post very often or have Facebook (both of these things really detract from my readership), I haven't posted anything in quite a while. I think this is partially due to the fact that, historically, my blog has fulfilled some sort of purpose. Historically, it's been a travel blog, then a means to document living with my grandmother. Now, it doesn't serve much of a purpose but I would like to keep it going.
This morning, I was researching Tao Lin, a 20-something author who just published his third novel and is en route to Portland (among other places) as part of his book tour. In this process, I realized that the predominant theme in my life right know is working on writing short fiction and reading anything I can get my hands on. I decided, for now, my blog can be used to summarize what I'm working on (reading or writing-wise) and my general thoughts on that topic.
Back to Tao Lin. Initially, I got really excited about the idea of an easily digested author who teaches short story classes to MFA students and who openly talks about drug use and growing up with exposure to multiple cultures. But the more I learn about him, the more I grew concerned that he is merely in the right place at the right time, taking advantage of our solipsistic internet culture, spending his time documenting any thought that occurs to him (usually while he's tripping on all kinds of drugs), now spreading outside of the literary world into filmmaking.
I still haven't read any of the longer pieces he's written, but stay tuned. I feel like this could be the beginning of a longer phase for me (if not a Lin-based phase, someone similar), especially after reading so many classics this year.
I could really use something fresh and unserious.
And we both like Jean Rhys.
This morning, I was researching Tao Lin, a 20-something author who just published his third novel and is en route to Portland (among other places) as part of his book tour. In this process, I realized that the predominant theme in my life right know is working on writing short fiction and reading anything I can get my hands on. I decided, for now, my blog can be used to summarize what I'm working on (reading or writing-wise) and my general thoughts on that topic.
Back to Tao Lin. Initially, I got really excited about the idea of an easily digested author who teaches short story classes to MFA students and who openly talks about drug use and growing up with exposure to multiple cultures. But the more I learn about him, the more I grew concerned that he is merely in the right place at the right time, taking advantage of our solipsistic internet culture, spending his time documenting any thought that occurs to him (usually while he's tripping on all kinds of drugs), now spreading outside of the literary world into filmmaking.
I still haven't read any of the longer pieces he's written, but stay tuned. I feel like this could be the beginning of a longer phase for me (if not a Lin-based phase, someone similar), especially after reading so many classics this year.
I could really use something fresh and unserious.
And we both like Jean Rhys.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Adventures in Food Service
Last night, I picked up a shift at a restaurant where I used to work. Little did I know that it was a half-night, where fifty percent of sales were to go to a local elementary school. This entailed small children managing to be literally everywhere while I waded through them carrying beers to their parents. At the end of the night, after miraculously surviving my shift, I was asked to fill ketchups.
Now, filling ketchups is a relatively simple task. There is a bladder of ketchup mounted to the wall above an ice cream freezer, but after filling 95% of the ketchups, the bladder ran out. I ran downstairs where backup bladders are stored, switched out the filling-valve from the empty bag, and prepared myself to fill my final two bottles. I fondly remembered my first training session at the restaurant, almost a year earlier, when I had been shown how to change the ketchup bag. My trainer had replaced the ketchup in the wall mount and accidentally triggered the valve in the process, squirting ketchup on herself and me (someone who didn't even eat ketchup because I was so disgusted by it). I silently patted myself on the back for managing to get the bag in place and all these ketchups filled without getting a drop on my clothes.
I grabbed my second to last empty bottle, and simultaneously, the ketchup bladder valve decided it was tired of existing, and spontaneously combusted, spewing ketchup literally everywhere. We're talking that scene in The Shining when the elevator doors open in the lobby and a sea of blood comes pouring out (but with ketchup). I helplessly stood there, trying to jam my hand in the ketchup bag opening to stop the flow while shouting "Help. Someone. Please," as ketchup ran down the back of the freezer below it and all over me, the floor, and anything else in a six-foot radius. Eventually someone grabbed a receptacle for the ooze and captured the rest of it, and I got to spend the following forty five minutes cleaning up the mess to the best of my ability. For minimum wage.
In conclusion, I'm living the dream.
Now, filling ketchups is a relatively simple task. There is a bladder of ketchup mounted to the wall above an ice cream freezer, but after filling 95% of the ketchups, the bladder ran out. I ran downstairs where backup bladders are stored, switched out the filling-valve from the empty bag, and prepared myself to fill my final two bottles. I fondly remembered my first training session at the restaurant, almost a year earlier, when I had been shown how to change the ketchup bag. My trainer had replaced the ketchup in the wall mount and accidentally triggered the valve in the process, squirting ketchup on herself and me (someone who didn't even eat ketchup because I was so disgusted by it). I silently patted myself on the back for managing to get the bag in place and all these ketchups filled without getting a drop on my clothes.
I grabbed my second to last empty bottle, and simultaneously, the ketchup bladder valve decided it was tired of existing, and spontaneously combusted, spewing ketchup literally everywhere. We're talking that scene in The Shining when the elevator doors open in the lobby and a sea of blood comes pouring out (but with ketchup). I helplessly stood there, trying to jam my hand in the ketchup bag opening to stop the flow while shouting "Help. Someone. Please," as ketchup ran down the back of the freezer below it and all over me, the floor, and anything else in a six-foot radius. Eventually someone grabbed a receptacle for the ooze and captured the rest of it, and I got to spend the following forty five minutes cleaning up the mess to the best of my ability. For minimum wage.
In conclusion, I'm living the dream.
Monday, January 28, 2013
Portland
I haven't blogged recently, but after deleting my Facebook and trying to back myself into a corner of productivity (it isn't working), I decided I should start blogging again so any worried parties could be assured that I am safe and sound.
I just hit my one year anniversary mark of living in Portland, Oregon. The city is definitely starting to grow on me: I'm appreciating the delicious food and endless parking spots. The coldest phase of winter seems to have passed and things are looking up. I'm still searching for a wine-related job, and am waitressing in the interim (which included cleaning up human feces and vomit this most recent Sunday), but I'm telling myself the waitressing will push me to a. write a bestselling novel, or b. get a grown-up job.
More blogs to come, I have plenty of procrastinating to do regarding laundry and dishes.
I just hit my one year anniversary mark of living in Portland, Oregon. The city is definitely starting to grow on me: I'm appreciating the delicious food and endless parking spots. The coldest phase of winter seems to have passed and things are looking up. I'm still searching for a wine-related job, and am waitressing in the interim (which included cleaning up human feces and vomit this most recent Sunday), but I'm telling myself the waitressing will push me to a. write a bestselling novel, or b. get a grown-up job.
More blogs to come, I have plenty of procrastinating to do regarding laundry and dishes.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Long time, no see
I've been MIA for a little while now, but nothing too interesting has been going on. I've just been working a ton but harvest is finally winding down and I'm getting a little more time to myself. This last weekend was my birthday so I went to Bridge School Benefit at Shoreline with Courtney, here's a picture of Mumford & Sons (who were amazing):
Now I have a week day off (always a bad sign for employment, that means things are REALLY winding down), and I'm getting some much-needed down time in. Took Daisy to the park today:
A Sunmaid Daisin, if you will.
Lately, I've been working constantly and Grammy gets really worried if I go get beers after work or something and calls me and leaves these inane messages. Here a transcription of a message I got last night:
"Hillary, if you get this message tonight, it's almost 9 o'clock now. Um. If you get it tonight, give me a call. Sometime. 'Cause I'm kinda worried... where you are. Or if you got kidnapped. I'll talk to you later."
That's pretty much everything going on over on this end. Hope you all are well and in case you were concerned, I have not been kidnapped.
Now I have a week day off (always a bad sign for employment, that means things are REALLY winding down), and I'm getting some much-needed down time in. Took Daisy to the park today:
A Sunmaid Daisin, if you will.
Lately, I've been working constantly and Grammy gets really worried if I go get beers after work or something and calls me and leaves these inane messages. Here a transcription of a message I got last night:
"Hillary, if you get this message tonight, it's almost 9 o'clock now. Um. If you get it tonight, give me a call. Sometime. 'Cause I'm kinda worried... where you are. Or if you got kidnapped. I'll talk to you later."
That's pretty much everything going on over on this end. Hope you all are well and in case you were concerned, I have not been kidnapped.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Keys
Grammy lost her keys while I was abroad and had to have my 10 lb bike lock cut from my bike (she had my key in case anything went awry and she needed to move the bike). She has called me multiple times to tell me that she now has found the keys, months after replacing them.
I'm sitting in the living room because my deadbeat brother is crashing in my room, and Grammy just came in to tell me, "Hey Hillary, I found my keys!" I'm starting to think a full time job and my own place wouldn't be the worst thing. It would make evicting my brother much easier. Every time I mention his going back to Chico, Grammy just stares off into space and says "Oh, I liiiiike him."
I'm sitting in the living room because my deadbeat brother is crashing in my room, and Grammy just came in to tell me, "Hey Hillary, I found my keys!" I'm starting to think a full time job and my own place wouldn't be the worst thing. It would make evicting my brother much easier. Every time I mention his going back to Chico, Grammy just stares off into space and says "Oh, I liiiiike him."
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Grammy
I'm back in Petaluma for the first day and I already have some awesome Grammy quotes for you:
Grammy: "Well, yesterday I ran down to Grocery Outlet, and then ran all the way back. Well, walked and ran."
Me: "Wait, you actually RAN, like on a run?"
Grammy: "Yeah, I bought ice cream and it would have melted if I walked all the way back."
Me: "Sorry, I'm just trying to wrap my head around this visual of you and Daisy carrying a bunch of ice cream and running back from Grocery Outlet."
Grammy: "And today this homeless man was walking by and he was admiring Daisy and I ended up talking to him for like thirty minutes about his life and what he does"
Me: "And how was that? Boring?"
Grammy: "No, he's homeless. Like, he doesn't have a home. Well, he has a home down in San Jose, but he's homeless up here. He's like homeless here, and he really liked Daisy. And I, just, I found it interesting that he was hoooomeless, he looked homeless, he had this big dangling earring, and scraggly hair and a plastic bag on his back, and he was obviously homeless. (Laughs) Yeah, and he admired my buddha that I had out front. The homeless always admire my buddha. The one someone tried to steal and dropped and the head fell off?"
(long pause)
Grammy: "I'm gonna go in my room and pray, so she can't come in either." (points at Daisy, closes door)
Stay tuned.
Grammy: "Well, yesterday I ran down to Grocery Outlet, and then ran all the way back. Well, walked and ran."
Me: "Wait, you actually RAN, like on a run?"
Grammy: "Yeah, I bought ice cream and it would have melted if I walked all the way back."
Me: "Sorry, I'm just trying to wrap my head around this visual of you and Daisy carrying a bunch of ice cream and running back from Grocery Outlet."
Grammy: "And today this homeless man was walking by and he was admiring Daisy and I ended up talking to him for like thirty minutes about his life and what he does"
Me: "And how was that? Boring?"
Grammy: "No, he's homeless. Like, he doesn't have a home. Well, he has a home down in San Jose, but he's homeless up here. He's like homeless here, and he really liked Daisy. And I, just, I found it interesting that he was hoooomeless, he looked homeless, he had this big dangling earring, and scraggly hair and a plastic bag on his back, and he was obviously homeless. (Laughs) Yeah, and he admired my buddha that I had out front. The homeless always admire my buddha. The one someone tried to steal and dropped and the head fell off?"
(long pause)
Grammy: "I'm gonna go in my room and pray, so she can't come in either." (points at Daisy, closes door)
Stay tuned.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Even more video magic!!
Because Courtney and I are super generous bloggers, here is yet another video we edited today of our time in Bangkok and on the islands in Thailand. Note how smart we are about IDing Kimodo Dragons (they're actually Monitor Lizards and are harmless, but we were terrified). Yep, we both went to college.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
The end of Bali
Some things I forgot to mention in my previous Bali blog about why I like it so much:
- Instead of believing that gods are simply good, they have good and evil gods and strive to achieve a level of harmony. They accept that you cannot have joy without sorrow and acknowledge that many things in life aren't black and white but a balance between the two. It seems so optimistic to me to embrace even the negative aspects of your day-to-day life.
- The bike ride I went on was ALL downhill. I literally just sat on a bike for an afternoon and rode downhill. Maybe it doesn't qualify as exercise, but it definitely qualifies as awesome.
- Our cab drivers were consistently super nice and interesting and remarkably well self-educated (except for the guy who asked us if black people's hair grew in dreadlocks).
So, now that I'm back at my grandpa's house in Chiang Mai and reunited with my laptop, I was able to upload the video I took on our trip. Here are some Balinese highlights:
- Instead of believing that gods are simply good, they have good and evil gods and strive to achieve a level of harmony. They accept that you cannot have joy without sorrow and acknowledge that many things in life aren't black and white but a balance between the two. It seems so optimistic to me to embrace even the negative aspects of your day-to-day life.
- The bike ride I went on was ALL downhill. I literally just sat on a bike for an afternoon and rode downhill. Maybe it doesn't qualify as exercise, but it definitely qualifies as awesome.
- Our cab drivers were consistently super nice and interesting and remarkably well self-educated (except for the guy who asked us if black people's hair grew in dreadlocks).
So, now that I'm back at my grandpa's house in Chiang Mai and reunited with my laptop, I was able to upload the video I took on our trip. Here are some Balinese highlights:
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
More Travels
Courtney and I went out to Koh Phi Phi from Phuket (where they filmed "The Beach"), in search of semi-deserted beaches. Unfortunately, Phi Phi was completely overrun with filthy backpackers, but it ended up working out in our favor because we were there for Canada Day and spent most of the evening drinking with really excited Canadians. Then, we wandered over to a beach-front bar where we met some boys from South Carolina, played pool with them, and danced on the beach at this really fun bar. One of them was a Cotillian (sp?) dancer and knew how to do all these crazy spins and dips. Lots of fun.
A few days ago, we left Thailand and are now in Bali, which is AMAZING. Arguably my favorite vacation spot ever. The food is amazing and the people are so adorable. Today, we went on a bike ride through the country-side and all these small children ran into the street to say Hello and high-five us as we rode by. It's currently a festival week here ("good-beats-evil day"), and people are making these giant bamboo poles with flowers and leaves all over them and it's beautiful. Two nights ago we went and saw a Kechak dance (featured in "Baraka"), which was unreal. I'm doing a terrible job of describing all things Balinese, so I'm going to stop there. We have tons of photos and videos, which I'll post once we get back to Thailand to my computer. I miss all you Americans and hope you had a wonderful 4th of July.
A few days ago, we left Thailand and are now in Bali, which is AMAZING. Arguably my favorite vacation spot ever. The food is amazing and the people are so adorable. Today, we went on a bike ride through the country-side and all these small children ran into the street to say Hello and high-five us as we rode by. It's currently a festival week here ("good-beats-evil day"), and people are making these giant bamboo poles with flowers and leaves all over them and it's beautiful. Two nights ago we went and saw a Kechak dance (featured in "Baraka"), which was unreal. I'm doing a terrible job of describing all things Balinese, so I'm going to stop there. We have tons of photos and videos, which I'll post once we get back to Thailand to my computer. I miss all you Americans and hope you had a wonderful 4th of July.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Some Island Action
Courtney and I spent three days in Bangkok, saw lots of temples (I got yelled at for showing my calves while a bunch of girls in miniskirts pranced by the guards sans problem), ate lots of street food, met some drunk Brits, and then hopped on a plane down to southern Thailand to enjoy beaches.
We spent a night in Koh Samui, then took the ferry to Koh Pha-ngan to make the half moon party: a huge rave scene with lots of people on ecstasy (undoubtedly my least favorite demographic). Watching ravers I feel like the world is DEFINITELY going to end in 2012, I can't believe that music has devolved to just basic repetitive sounds and beats and that members of our generation spend as much money as they do getting to these places to see these mediocre DJs "spin." Anyway, it was interesting to see - not what I would have predicted on a remote island in the gulf of Thailand.
Before the half moon party, we met a couple kiwis at a free pool bar (from Blenheim - small world) which was lots of fun. One of them gave us a ride on his Vespa to the half moon party, which entailed lots of taxi chasing to figure out where this party even was. The Vespa ride was fun, though, and inspired us to rent our own Vespa the following day. The Thai man in charge of "mortorbike" rentals seemed concerned with our driving skills but we figured it out quickly enough (after failing to turn a few times an ending up briefly off-roading through the jungle). We spent the next couple days exploring beaches, snorkling (lots of disgusting sea cucumbers and some really pretty fish), and eating more Thai food.
Yesterday, we took a fishing boat to a more private part of the island (saw lots of honeymooners) to read and nap in hammocks on the beach. It rained for about 30 seconds at one point but we were protected enough by our tree from which our hammocks were hanging to stay completely dry. It's been incredibly relaxing all-around.
Today we're headed back to Koh Samui to meet up with Courtney's parents who are also vacationing in Thailand. Hopefully, updates to come soon, photos to come in a few weeks (no means of uploading at the moment). I'm definitely enjoying vacation and still can't believe that I'm going to be back in the states within the month...
We spent a night in Koh Samui, then took the ferry to Koh Pha-ngan to make the half moon party: a huge rave scene with lots of people on ecstasy (undoubtedly my least favorite demographic). Watching ravers I feel like the world is DEFINITELY going to end in 2012, I can't believe that music has devolved to just basic repetitive sounds and beats and that members of our generation spend as much money as they do getting to these places to see these mediocre DJs "spin." Anyway, it was interesting to see - not what I would have predicted on a remote island in the gulf of Thailand.
Before the half moon party, we met a couple kiwis at a free pool bar (from Blenheim - small world) which was lots of fun. One of them gave us a ride on his Vespa to the half moon party, which entailed lots of taxi chasing to figure out where this party even was. The Vespa ride was fun, though, and inspired us to rent our own Vespa the following day. The Thai man in charge of "mortorbike" rentals seemed concerned with our driving skills but we figured it out quickly enough (after failing to turn a few times an ending up briefly off-roading through the jungle). We spent the next couple days exploring beaches, snorkling (lots of disgusting sea cucumbers and some really pretty fish), and eating more Thai food.
Yesterday, we took a fishing boat to a more private part of the island (saw lots of honeymooners) to read and nap in hammocks on the beach. It rained for about 30 seconds at one point but we were protected enough by our tree from which our hammocks were hanging to stay completely dry. It's been incredibly relaxing all-around.
Today we're headed back to Koh Samui to meet up with Courtney's parents who are also vacationing in Thailand. Hopefully, updates to come soon, photos to come in a few weeks (no means of uploading at the moment). I'm definitely enjoying vacation and still can't believe that I'm going to be back in the states within the month...
Friday, June 17, 2011
Successful Escape
I managed to sell the car, meet the buyers at the airport, get my luggage on the plane (after buying another bag to distribute the weight and still paying a TON for going over 25kg total), and make it to Kuala Lampur for my layover before heading up to Thailand.
The guy sitting next to me wanted an aisle instead of a window (we were in a pair of seats where one was an aisle and one was a window) and I was assigned the aisle seat. Instead of asking me to swap, he spoke with the flight attendants and sat somewhere else all together so I got my own little two seats to curl up in and sleep. It was awesome. Then the in-flight meals were things I had never heard of before and were super spicy and tasted awesome. So far, the trip is going great. I'm so happy to be back in the northern hemisphere.
What I've seen of southeast Asia so far (from the plane window) is SO pretty and it isn't raining right now even though it's supposedly going to be raining off and on the entire time we're here. Another added bonus: FREE INTERNET at the airport. It's nice to be out of New Zealand where you are nickel and dimed for every little thing, I'm definitely happy about starting my vacation.
The guy sitting next to me wanted an aisle instead of a window (we were in a pair of seats where one was an aisle and one was a window) and I was assigned the aisle seat. Instead of asking me to swap, he spoke with the flight attendants and sat somewhere else all together so I got my own little two seats to curl up in and sleep. It was awesome. Then the in-flight meals were things I had never heard of before and were super spicy and tasted awesome. So far, the trip is going great. I'm so happy to be back in the northern hemisphere.
What I've seen of southeast Asia so far (from the plane window) is SO pretty and it isn't raining right now even though it's supposedly going to be raining off and on the entire time we're here. Another added bonus: FREE INTERNET at the airport. It's nice to be out of New Zealand where you are nickel and dimed for every little thing, I'm definitely happy about starting my vacation.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Turanga Wines
Ryan and I are still at our final WWOOF stop. Today, we actually got to apply some of our Davis education to our WWOOFing by helping to prune the organic and biodynamic vineyard and Tauranga Wines.
Margie, the vineyard manager, has been explaining biodynamics to us by pointing out various cover crops she has planted, showing us cow dung that has been treated and buried in a cow horn to be used to treat the vineyard, and explaining how biodynamics is very similar to homeopathy for the vineyard.
Additionally, the vineyard where we are working owns the only Soulo (www.soulo.co.nz) packaging machine in the southern hemisphere. Soulo cups are individually packaged and sealed glasses of wine that can be used for concerts, sporting events, night clubs, etc. It seems like a pretty cool idea, they also have recently patented a new cup design that actually looks like a wine glass and the plastic packaging is durable and clean, very similar to glass but much safer. Here's a picture of a Soulo bottled/packaged today for a Japanese company:
It’s been cool to actually do something that relates to winemaking while we’re here and very interesting to learn about biodynamics and how much work really goes into them. We’re still slightly skeptical: when asked about how to prevent oxidation in the bottle with sulfur add limitations in organics and biodynamics we never really got a direct answer. There seems to be a lot of faith and not a lot of chemistry behind biodynamics and I just don’t think we’re the kind of people who can do that much work just based on what seems to be a religion. I definitely respect it though and acknowledge that there are probably tons of things that are out there that are beyond human comprehension and biodynamics may very well tap into one of them and ultimately work better than other viticultural practices.
Margie, the vineyard manager, has been explaining biodynamics to us by pointing out various cover crops she has planted, showing us cow dung that has been treated and buried in a cow horn to be used to treat the vineyard, and explaining how biodynamics is very similar to homeopathy for the vineyard.
Additionally, the vineyard where we are working owns the only Soulo (www.soulo.co.nz) packaging machine in the southern hemisphere. Soulo cups are individually packaged and sealed glasses of wine that can be used for concerts, sporting events, night clubs, etc. It seems like a pretty cool idea, they also have recently patented a new cup design that actually looks like a wine glass and the plastic packaging is durable and clean, very similar to glass but much safer. Here's a picture of a Soulo bottled/packaged today for a Japanese company:
It’s been cool to actually do something that relates to winemaking while we’re here and very interesting to learn about biodynamics and how much work really goes into them. We’re still slightly skeptical: when asked about how to prevent oxidation in the bottle with sulfur add limitations in organics and biodynamics we never really got a direct answer. There seems to be a lot of faith and not a lot of chemistry behind biodynamics and I just don’t think we’re the kind of people who can do that much work just based on what seems to be a religion. I definitely respect it though and acknowledge that there are probably tons of things that are out there that are beyond human comprehension and biodynamics may very well tap into one of them and ultimately work better than other viticultural practices.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Ryan
"God, why isn't this more popular?" - Ryan, frustrated at being unable to find "Dancing on Ice" streaming online
Sunday, June 12, 2011
WWOOFtastic
Ryan and my first successful WWOOF stop was with Deb in Masterton (not Mastadon, I learned), a small town on the outskirts of Martinborough, a renowned Pinot noir region on the north island. It was awesome - she fed us home-cooked meals, introduced us to all of her favorite TV shows (including Dancing on Ice, which Ryan is now OBSESSED with), and let us play with her adorable chocolate lab.
After a week with Deb, we drove up to Napier which was devastated by an earthquake in the 1930s and was rebuilt using only Art Deco architecture. It was really pretty and a nice little town but there wasn't a whole lot going on, and Ryan and I are starting to get burnt out on traveling and paying a ton for hostels and food and gas. Not to mention, the car still is finicky when it comes to starting, so we get stranded in random places for hours at a time, which is arguably sub-ideal to say the least. So, we left Napier, did some wine tasting in Hawkes Bay, which was really nice, and started to make our way toward a lake on the way to Rotorua to do part of a Great Walk. New Zealand has ten massive hikes (each takes around five days) called the Great Walks. It would have been nice to do part of one since we still haven't gotten around to it, but we had a difficult time finding accommodation on the way to the lake and ended up detouring all the way over to Gisbourne, the easternmost city in NZ. We figured we could at least get some tastings in since Gisbourne is known for their Chardonnay.
False.
We spent an entire morning driving around looking for wineries and could not find ONE that was open. On top of that, they were incredibly hard to find. We left Gisbourne for Rotorua, which was actually a pretty nice city and our hostel was great. The next morning, completely broke, we got in the car to head to our second and final WWOOF stop in Auckland. In the car, I phone our hostess to learn that I had e-mailed her a month ago and requested dates in July instead of June (eff). She had no availability for WWOOFers so we went to an internet cafe and called a couple people in the Auckland area and ended up finding a place to stay.
So, yesterday we arrived at Mandy and Terry's. They grow organic and biodynamic grapes and have them sent down to Hawkes Bay to a custom crush facility. Right now, there are two other WWOOFers staying here: Billy from Maryland and Paul from New Caledonia. They're 23 and 24 and didn't know each other before coming here. We're going to be helping out in the vineyard during the week which should be tons of fun. Last night, Mandy made us tacos and we all ended up drinking a lot with dinner, then after dinner, then after Mandy's son John (who is 16) got home from prom. We start work tomorrow mid-day and it looks like we might get some hiking in tomorrow morning (if the car starts). So, it all worked out in the end. Ryan leaves in 3 days, then I leave in 5 for my trip to Thailand and Bali!
After a week with Deb, we drove up to Napier which was devastated by an earthquake in the 1930s and was rebuilt using only Art Deco architecture. It was really pretty and a nice little town but there wasn't a whole lot going on, and Ryan and I are starting to get burnt out on traveling and paying a ton for hostels and food and gas. Not to mention, the car still is finicky when it comes to starting, so we get stranded in random places for hours at a time, which is arguably sub-ideal to say the least. So, we left Napier, did some wine tasting in Hawkes Bay, which was really nice, and started to make our way toward a lake on the way to Rotorua to do part of a Great Walk. New Zealand has ten massive hikes (each takes around five days) called the Great Walks. It would have been nice to do part of one since we still haven't gotten around to it, but we had a difficult time finding accommodation on the way to the lake and ended up detouring all the way over to Gisbourne, the easternmost city in NZ. We figured we could at least get some tastings in since Gisbourne is known for their Chardonnay.
False.
We spent an entire morning driving around looking for wineries and could not find ONE that was open. On top of that, they were incredibly hard to find. We left Gisbourne for Rotorua, which was actually a pretty nice city and our hostel was great. The next morning, completely broke, we got in the car to head to our second and final WWOOF stop in Auckland. In the car, I phone our hostess to learn that I had e-mailed her a month ago and requested dates in July instead of June (eff). She had no availability for WWOOFers so we went to an internet cafe and called a couple people in the Auckland area and ended up finding a place to stay.
So, yesterday we arrived at Mandy and Terry's. They grow organic and biodynamic grapes and have them sent down to Hawkes Bay to a custom crush facility. Right now, there are two other WWOOFers staying here: Billy from Maryland and Paul from New Caledonia. They're 23 and 24 and didn't know each other before coming here. We're going to be helping out in the vineyard during the week which should be tons of fun. Last night, Mandy made us tacos and we all ended up drinking a lot with dinner, then after dinner, then after Mandy's son John (who is 16) got home from prom. We start work tomorrow mid-day and it looks like we might get some hiking in tomorrow morning (if the car starts). So, it all worked out in the end. Ryan leaves in 3 days, then I leave in 5 for my trip to Thailand and Bali!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
I'm a Criminal
Today, Ryan and I went to Pak 'n Save - New Zealand's version of Costco - to buy some beer. While we were using the self-checkout, a security guard came up to us and held up a picture of us from a few days earlier. "Is this you?" he said, pointing to a picture of me standing next to Ryan with a circle around my face and some notes in the margin.
"I think so," I said, sure that someone who resembled me had held up the store days earlier. He asked us to come with him and led us to a back room where he showed us a video of days earlier when I had purchased beer in the self-checkout. I scan the beer, wait around for a while to be carded, show my passport to an agent, start talking to Ryan, then pick up the beer and walk away - without paying for it. This is the first time I have ever stolen anything in my life and I had no idea I had even done it. And I got caught.
Next to my picture in the security room at Pak 'n Save it said "Shoplifting - no malice intended." I apologized profusely and paid for the beer from a few days ago and they sent us on our way. Lucky for them the security guard recognized us because we're moving on tomorrow to re-start our vacation and take a few days off WWOOFing.
"I think so," I said, sure that someone who resembled me had held up the store days earlier. He asked us to come with him and led us to a back room where he showed us a video of days earlier when I had purchased beer in the self-checkout. I scan the beer, wait around for a while to be carded, show my passport to an agent, start talking to Ryan, then pick up the beer and walk away - without paying for it. This is the first time I have ever stolen anything in my life and I had no idea I had even done it. And I got caught.
Next to my picture in the security room at Pak 'n Save it said "Shoplifting - no malice intended." I apologized profusely and paid for the beer from a few days ago and they sent us on our way. Lucky for them the security guard recognized us because we're moving on tomorrow to re-start our vacation and take a few days off WWOOFing.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Breaking In
We last left our heroes stranded in Queenstown...
Ryan and I are out of Queenstown! After 10 days, several visits back to the mechanic (who we are pretty sure doesn't understand how cars work), a car swap with the mechanic, a visit to the Citizen's Advice Bureau, a FOURTH car, and a partridge in a pear tree, we are freeeeeee.
But back to where we left off last time - the part arrived, the mechanic supposedly put said part in Barney (our car), and we hit the road and 10km later Barney overheated. We drove back to the mechanic, he said that the first mechanic to had told us our car was f***ed was probably correct and that it needed a new engine. We got the mechanic texting our Brazilian cleaning lady in Portuguese trying to explain that she needed to pay us back. Unfortunately, she and her boyfriend do not have the money and told the mechanic to put a new engine in the car and they would pay him back down the line.
The next day, the mechanic told us he had recently purchased a car for $1000 and would give us this "new" car in exchange for ours, since it might be a while before our new (used) engine arrived. We decided to take the opportunity to get out of Queenstown as quickly as humanly possible, and went on a little vacation.
Rules about the new car:
1. No naming. So far, naming my cars has resulted in their imminent death and destruction.
2. No talking about the car breaking. Bad luck. Duh.
3. Be nice to it. Check oil, feed it gas, etc. (rule 3 is newer, see below)
Day 1 with new car: new car won't start first thing in the morning. Eventually, she starts and we head out to go check out some glaciers on the west coast. A little disconcerting but we decide to obey rule 2 and push on.
Day 2 with the car: new car won't start while in the glacier parking lot. We end up hitching a ride back to the hostel with a tour bus. Later in the day we walk out to the car and it magically starts. We take it to a mechanic who plays with it for a long time, points out we are missing some essential parts under the hood, but overall cannot figure out what is wrong. He charges us $150 and sends us on our way. The car still isn't being awesome. We decide to head back to Queenstown.
Day 4 with the car: after giving it a day off, the car dies en route to Queenstown. A stranger stops for us (of course - it still is New Zealand, after all) and gives us a ride back to town. The car has to be towed over 40km. The mechanic is enchanted by cars, teaches us some interesting things about cars in general: "Cars run on a series of explosions. It really is a miracle they run at all!" He charges us $425 for the tow, labor, and a jug of oil. Apparently our car loves oil and gas and goes through lots of those things. We may have been out of both of them.
We get back to Queenstown, and eventually find out that no one has money for a new engine. The mechanic spent "all" of his money on this new car for us and the Brazilians still don't have any money. We leave Queenstown and decide to push North to try to make it to at least ONE of our WWOOFing stops. A woman at the Citizen's Advice Bureau tells me to put all this car stuff behind me and leave the car on the side of the road if it breaks again. We are almost back to the North end of the South Island when we stop for lunch in the middle of nowhere.
Ryan locks the keys in the car.
We call AA (much like AAA in the states) and it will be $195 for them to register us and get out to help us today. Luckily, the chef where we have stopped for lunch is very good at getting into his car when he locks his keys in the car - something he has done five or six times (I interpret this as he has stolen five or six cars). Using a coat hanger and having Ryan hold the door slightly open with pliers, he catches the hanger on the lock and manually unlocks the door.
We have now safely arrived in Picton and will be taking the Ferry to the North Island tomorrow (if the car starts in the morning).
Ryan and I are out of Queenstown! After 10 days, several visits back to the mechanic (who we are pretty sure doesn't understand how cars work), a car swap with the mechanic, a visit to the Citizen's Advice Bureau, a FOURTH car, and a partridge in a pear tree, we are freeeeeee.
But back to where we left off last time - the part arrived, the mechanic supposedly put said part in Barney (our car), and we hit the road and 10km later Barney overheated. We drove back to the mechanic, he said that the first mechanic to had told us our car was f***ed was probably correct and that it needed a new engine. We got the mechanic texting our Brazilian cleaning lady in Portuguese trying to explain that she needed to pay us back. Unfortunately, she and her boyfriend do not have the money and told the mechanic to put a new engine in the car and they would pay him back down the line.
The next day, the mechanic told us he had recently purchased a car for $1000 and would give us this "new" car in exchange for ours, since it might be a while before our new (used) engine arrived. We decided to take the opportunity to get out of Queenstown as quickly as humanly possible, and went on a little vacation.
Rules about the new car:
1. No naming. So far, naming my cars has resulted in their imminent death and destruction.
2. No talking about the car breaking. Bad luck. Duh.
3. Be nice to it. Check oil, feed it gas, etc. (rule 3 is newer, see below)
Day 1 with new car: new car won't start first thing in the morning. Eventually, she starts and we head out to go check out some glaciers on the west coast. A little disconcerting but we decide to obey rule 2 and push on.
Day 2 with the car: new car won't start while in the glacier parking lot. We end up hitching a ride back to the hostel with a tour bus. Later in the day we walk out to the car and it magically starts. We take it to a mechanic who plays with it for a long time, points out we are missing some essential parts under the hood, but overall cannot figure out what is wrong. He charges us $150 and sends us on our way. The car still isn't being awesome. We decide to head back to Queenstown.
Day 4 with the car: after giving it a day off, the car dies en route to Queenstown. A stranger stops for us (of course - it still is New Zealand, after all) and gives us a ride back to town. The car has to be towed over 40km. The mechanic is enchanted by cars, teaches us some interesting things about cars in general: "Cars run on a series of explosions. It really is a miracle they run at all!" He charges us $425 for the tow, labor, and a jug of oil. Apparently our car loves oil and gas and goes through lots of those things. We may have been out of both of them.
We get back to Queenstown, and eventually find out that no one has money for a new engine. The mechanic spent "all" of his money on this new car for us and the Brazilians still don't have any money. We leave Queenstown and decide to push North to try to make it to at least ONE of our WWOOFing stops. A woman at the Citizen's Advice Bureau tells me to put all this car stuff behind me and leave the car on the side of the road if it breaks again. We are almost back to the North end of the South Island when we stop for lunch in the middle of nowhere.
Ryan locks the keys in the car.
We call AA (much like AAA in the states) and it will be $195 for them to register us and get out to help us today. Luckily, the chef where we have stopped for lunch is very good at getting into his car when he locks his keys in the car - something he has done five or six times (I interpret this as he has stolen five or six cars). Using a coat hanger and having Ryan hold the door slightly open with pliers, he catches the hanger on the lock and manually unlocks the door.
We have now safely arrived in Picton and will be taking the Ferry to the North Island tomorrow (if the car starts in the morning).
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