So, I finally made it to New Zealand a week ago.  On my way from Thailand I spent five days in Australia visiting friends and scuba diving before heading off.  The first few days were really productive.  I found a short term apartment, signed a lease on a studio apartment, and got all my scuba gear taken by customs.  Ok, not all of it, just the pieces that were wet.  They will dry them out then give them back, how nice!

Other than that I have just been job searching.  I am figuring out how the CVs in New Zealand differ from Australia and the USA so I am rewriting my CV to meet local expectations.  I think it is harder to read but it is what they want.  Well, my laptop is out of power so I have to cut this short.

Ok, I have been play with setting up a new mobile album so I can upload straight from my phone.  I think I have it worked out but it will be from a different album than before.  I create a new Flickr account and have it setup so I will be uploading pictures from my phone, hopefully often.  The link is off on the right side of my page.  And for those of you that only read RSS you can click here.
Something else I noticed is that my phone isn’t charging me for data.¬† Nothing. 0. Zilch.¬† Of course, calling to the US costs about $1.75 AUD a minute but since I rarely call but chat, use maps, check email, upload pictures, etc, it turns out to be pretty much free.¬† I still am using one of my Australian numbers (I never gave it to anyone, sorry). For those of you back in the States just use my local number.

So today was a hot day.  It had a high of 39.8 C (103 F) at about 2pm then cooled off 11 degrees in 15 minutes as a front came through.  Amazing how it can drop that much so quickly.  It turned out to be a beautiful day and I am sad to be stuck inside.

Well, at lunch during the hot part of the day I ran a few errands.  Somehow in my trip to the states I forgot my PIN so I went and reset that.  Then I went and bought an unlocked iPhone.  Bout time they had them in stock.  Expensive but this phone will follow me around for a while.  My last one lasted 4 years so I think it  was time for me.

Ok, I know I haven’t updated this in a long time.¬† I should have wrote a little message saying I was coming to the states so i would know who the three people are that still check it after I haven’t posted for months.¬† But, the good news is that now that I will be traveling again I will post more.¬† I may not travel for long but the next couple months should see more posts.

Anyway, over christmas and New Years I flew back the the good Ol’ U.S. of A. to visit family and friends.¬† I showed up at my brothers’ houses and I would like to think I suprised them.¬† They can say there were expecting me and I hate to disapoint…¬† It was nice to see all the little ones running around and see my new nephew Ben.

I ended up hermiting away and relaxing for most of the trip which is just what I needed.¬† I was able to go¬† back to work with a smile on my face which was great.¬† My office thinks I am a bit too happy right now but I hope I don’t loose it over the next two weeks.¬† I doubt I will because I know what Feburary is.