Hi everyone,

I just went on camp with my class out to Totaranui in the Abel Tasman park. We had been preparing in our camp books for month. We wrote about 50 pages and hap to put titles an borders in every single one. The camp was really fun, but every day was packed to the brim. We started our trip on boat from Kaiteri beach.

Then we tramped to our homestead through the avenue and set up our bunks.

That night we slept in tents though, which wasn't that fun because I was in a tent with 3 other boys that had just eaten beans.

Th rest of the time it was a lot of activities and tramping. Our main walk was to separation point which is what these pictures are of.

The funnest thing about camp was that Friday night there was a camp concert and everyone had to participate. All the boys in my bunk didn't know what to do so we all joined together and a kid in my class called Mainaia made a spoof of the Miley Cyrus Hoedown Throwdown. We all spent ages learning it. It starts out with Manaia saying that this is an Usi-Baa Production, the MCC Hocolate Hoedown. Then we start dancing and singing the words and at the end when we've finished we go "What team?" "Usi-Baa Productions!".

I had a really fun time at camp!

Next week was when Chch South Intermediate came over for an exchange that has been going on for 35 years. I got a billet and it was really fun. These where our costumes to the 80's, Thriller themed disco. My friend Finn is the one with loads of eyeliner and the other is my billet Jak. I am the joker.

Here'a a geeky sort of post. But it is something I discovered today and, yeah, I find it sort of cool. Geek!

See, it used to be that the way MS Windows sorted numeric filenames was the order 1...11...12...2...3... You see the potential problem. I was copying a bunch of stuff between directories and trying to make sure I had everything, you know, eyeballing the two for differences, and I happened upon some 701's listed down past the 9's. Now how could that be?

OK, this has been going on for some time now, all by design. Cool. It is again safe to go outside.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/319827

I love music. It breaks my heart that I can neither play an instrument nor carry a tune. Just the same when alone, I sing along loudly and dance without reservation.

Of all art forms, I find it the most evocative. Nothing stirs my memory like a song. Joni Mitchell will always remind of my youth, of Darlene and especially Linda Carvette. How often Linda would strum her guitar and we'd all sing along to "The Circle Game." ( ......this song is not meant for one lonely voice and "the more out of tune voices (that's me) the better." ) I can't listen to "What a Wonderful World" and not think about dancing with my father at my wedding. Steve Forbert's "You Cannot Win them All" - my anthem as a new mother juggling work, family, friends.

A favorite game of mine is the desert island disc challenge. You know, where you can only take 10 songs with you. (The BBC version only 8 songs (yikes), one book and one luxury item , plus complete works of Shakespeare and Bible). I'd actually thought it was albums, but learned, no, just songs. Anyway, my brother Mike sent me a contest link http://www.xpn.org/music-artist/885-countdown and I've finally decided to get these fuzzy thoughts down on paper.

First of all, the song exercise is much more challenging then the entire disc. Suspending all logic, I must ask myself how many times could I listen to this, which songs am I least likely to get sick of ? Should I add some classical music (even though I have limited knowledge)? Stefan Grappelli? Do I include a song because it's special to me like the "Franklet Family Theme Song" even though it's simple and repetitive (i.e Grandaddy's "Nature Anthem" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSer4wdHvm8 ). Do I choose a song from one of my desert island cds (Citizen Cope/ Citizen Cope) even though I don't have a particular favorite. And, then there are my favorite bands/musicians - Elvis Costello, Joan Armatrading, REM, Bowie, Lyle, Cat Power. The choices, 10 is just not enough!!!!!!


Anyway, I've worked on this about two days and imagine it may need some revision before it's just right. I picked songs that I have on occasion listened to over and over again on a sitting - particularly "The Bike" and "The Little Acorn." Louis Armstrong had to stay because the song's just too beautiful to exclude (even though it makes me cry) And, I decided, yes, must include Cope and definitely a Paul Simon song because I think he's a genius.

in no particular order
1.Fruit Bats - The Little Acorn
2. Amy Correia - The Bike
3. Louis Armstrong - Wonderful World
4. Little Feat - Dixie Chicken
5. John Gorka - I'm from New Jersey
6.Paul Simon - I can't decide Julio, America, American Tune, Homeward Bound?????
7.Beth Orton - Pass in Time
8. Joni Mitchell - You Turn Me On (I'm a Radio)
9. Citizen Cope - Mandy
10. Stefan Grappelli - Making Whoppee

honorable mentions - "Willow" Joan Armatrading, "If I had a Boat "Lyle Lovett, "I believe" REM (my personal anthem), "Teach your Children" CSNY, "Rebel, Rebel" Bowie, "Hallelujah" Jeff Buckley, "My OLd School " Steely Dan, "Watching the Detectives" Elvis, "These are the Days" 10,00 maniacs, "Bohemian Rhapsody" Queen, "Three Little Birds" Bob Marley

Living in the bubble.

I tend to think of myself as living "outside" the bubble. I don't get 24/7 cable tv any more. The community here is much smaller and much less virtual. I don't for example follow all the slings and arrows of the US healthcare struggle, though it certainly does and will affect me. Heck I don't even get to watch American Idol in realtime any more, though it is just as entertaining on delayed broadcast (almost).

But the other day a friend told me I was the one living in the bubble. That's exactly what he said. "You're living in a bubble." Which gave me pause to consider. I mean, I'm sure there are places in the USA that are not permeated by the celebrity culture, by nonstop Fox/CNN, pockets where the jargon of the "death panels" and the "birthers" doesn't even register (yes, my bubble is permeable).

I suppose it is fair to say I have swapped one bubble for another. That's the way it is, no? You're in one wherever you go. Now to important things . . .

Last night was Saturday movie night, and Andrew and I went to suss out a rental. I tried a different video store but it's always the same. I can walk the aisles of the drama, comedy, thriller sections and not spy a single appropriate thing. I often spiral my way into the classics - amongst a certain age set, have they made a better family movie since Swiss Family Robinson? We eventually settled on the original Hercules, and we wound up having a double feature of the old and the new. As it turned out, the most recent Indiana Jones offering was being broadcast by NZ TV, and we had not seen it.

It's the one with the bizarre crystal alien heads, the roomful of space creatures that eventually blasts off in a mind-numbing swirl of special effects gone mad. Even Andrew - who is 8 years old and ought to be a part of the demographic for this - asked what all that alien stuff was about. That's crazy, he says (shakes head). That's not gonna happen.

I guess you could say the same thing about the reunification of old Henry Jones with the Karen Allen character at curtain close, and the jovial walking down the aisle into happily ever after. A celebration of the enduring bonds of love and family? Nah, I'm thinking if you suddenly "discover" that you have a son aged twenty or so, what that's called is kind of the opposite.

Better I think the battle with the flesh and blood minotaur. And that funky dinosaur thing that pops up under the golden fleece. For all its funkiness the hideous beast can still be slayed by Jason with the chuck of a single spear.

Wellington Zoo

These dogs are very ferocious little noobs. My dad thought they were hyenas but they weren't. I didn't cause I'm smart. I knew they weren't hyenas cause hyenas are only yellow and black. But these were yellow WHITE and black.

We got to see them eat a goat. It was a dead goat.
They eat everything in a goat except for the bones, which they probably chew on. Once they are finished eating they are little lumps in the grass until they get wild again.

But they let the alpha dog eat first, then if there's any pups they get to eat, then the adults eat. I think the pups should get to eat first, even before the alpha dog. The alpha dog should have to eat last.

- Andrew

You can take the boy out of the city...




Last weekend we did make it back to the hustle and bustle. What, ten people on the street corner waiting to cross? It's a mob I tell you.

Barbara drove with her artwork and the boys all flew over after school on Friday. That's the boat's eye view of Wellington. The rest are the boys clowning around by the beehive. B has some more pics on her facebook.

We did a day of mountain biking on the Queen Charlotte track. This is something I have really been wanting to do. The weather cooperated, we met our friendly biking drop off helpers from Sea Kayak and hit the trail. That's Matt and Alex -- still not knowing what they are in for -- at drop off at the Torea Saddle.




Cherie has her game face on. And that's still on pavement.

Yup, it was beautiful. So walking your bike uphill ;-) is not nearly so bad as you might think. That's me on the trail down, during a nice safe bit.

OK we're done. Or at least this is as far as we made it. We bailed at Te Mahia bay, after we all came of our bikes at least once, and our trek was taking about twice the optimistic predictions we started out with. At least we're all smiles and no broken bones, no? It's not that visible but there are toothmarks in my left shin from the sprocket, the pedal, lord knows what, when I hit a patch of mud and flew off into the bush.

We took two bike repair kits but what we will take next time is a people repair kit. And there will be a next time.

Scrabble and a pint of Black Mac, that's about as good as a pub outing gets. This was pre-flight speed Scrabble with our favorite tasty wedges from the Honest Lawyer. Erin, Tom and Liam touched down after island-hopping across the Pacific - great to see friends from the old world. Dean and Liam are hanging on the challenge course.

OK we've got a lot to blog about. Two sets of visitors and a trip to Wellington. So in order to get caught up I am going to try for a post a day for the next week. Nothing glamorous just the facts. First off, chopping wood with the Klinkes. Much fun was had by all, and we put my new log splitter to good use. And no one chopped off a foot. That wood stacked on the ground below our chopping stump? Yeah, that's so when the axe head deflects toward your leg you hit something else instead. And we got nice firewood.

I try not to blog too much about about NZ-this or USA-that. It's just not productive to be measuring one country against the other, ya know? Be where you're at. But I filed my NZ taxes today and because taxes have been such an annual ordeal in my life, this year was a revelation.

My first introduction was talking to an employee at the bank/post office about how I probably needed to sort this out (the tax year ended March 31) and I asked him what he did each year. He gave me a funny look. I don't have to file anything, he said. It's already calculated and there's no reason to file anything.

Not file taxes?!? Not sweat over the freaking schedule ABCDE, SE, and myriad other forms that made my 1040 into a small book?




I hit the IRD New Zealand website and there it is, that beautiful statement: "Most people who earn salary or wages pay the correct amount of tax and don't need to do anything at the end of the tax year."


Can you imagine such a thing? I used to start preparing my US taxes in early March, because I knew it would take several weekend sessions to get the thing done. The idea that you might not even need to send in a form struck me initially as fantasy-land stuff.


But you know when you look over the personal tax form, called the IR3, it is so simple - 3 tax brackets, few deductions and special cases, that it begins to make sense. Here it is, if you want to have a look.

http://www.ird.govt.nz/resources/c/2/c26b87004dbf7347bf6abf90ad5f3a80/ir3-2009.pdf

I guess what happened to me during this process, is I moved beyond the sorts of statements often made under and about US taxes, e.g. "The tax system is broken," to actually seeing what it could be like, and how it could function. So much of that stuff - from capital gains and losses to the byzantine way self-employment taxes are calculated, simply doesn't have to be done that way, or done at all.






Nonetheless, as I decided whether I needed to file at all, I had a question... about interest on a bank account. So I called the 800 number for the IRD and I was placed into a hold queue. Usually this would be cause for despair, but here's the way the system works, I got a message telling me how long the wait would be (within a 10 min window) and would I like a callback? Yes, I would, I decided. I entered my phone number, and after that amount of time, I received the help call.


The person walked me through what I needed to do and - are you ready for another shocker? - took down my interest information and entered it into the system right at that time. As it turned out, I had over-withheld taxes via the bank, and I would in fact be due a refund. They also took my bank details and it will be transferred to my account within a few days. All that on the first phone call! I have now effectively filed my taxes, along with submitting one revision handled by phone.

Now I understand the tax system has been called largely voluntary, meaning much of the information will never be checked by anyone, and it is in some doubt exactly what numbers the goverment possesses anyhow, but to take the interest paid and amounts withheld off me in a phone call, imagine that! It begins to feel like I am actually trusted to report the right thing, and that feels pretty good. And I hadn't thought about it till now, but I reckon that means that the IRD places some trust and responsibility with the person on the other end of that phone call, too.

I will close by saying that when thinking about systems, such as tax in NZ, I can find myself making arguments for the USA (or NZ) because of relative size. Oh no that only works in NZ because it's so small. That kind of thing. But I'm not going to accept that. In fact, a huge country with a huge base of taxpayers could arguably have many more resources and wherewithal to craft solutions for a problem. Isn't it the same sort of reasoning - the whole economies of scale thing - that makes us imagine Home Depot is more "efficient" than a small corner hardware store? And just so, couldn't the US run the exact same call handling software that enables polite, scheduled callbacks at an agreed upon number and future time? Couldn't we find a way to get the job done without TurboTax, a personal tax accountant, or a month of weekends stolen away to get intimate with the tax code?

Me and Andrew were messing around and taking pictures of ourselves jumping. Here are the best ones.




My biggest jump.

Andrew while jumping.

I thought I would chronicle my Wednesday bike ride to pick up Andrew. So, I'm taking the camera along in my pocket and we'll see what we see along the way.

First off, helmets are required, so I've got my trusty Sorelli one from the Warehouse. Also my magnificent reflective pants cuff holders. Don't leave home without 'em. And, a backpack, because we need cream and spaghetti sauce. I'll take a stop by the grocery before school lets out.






Guaranteed to get you heart beating is the hill right out of the driveway. Yes, I ride the brakes down, and I usually walk up unless I am feel like some kind of iron man.






The stretch you see below is the only time I am on the main road. I have a pretty good shoulder to the left of the white stripe, but it's still exciting when a logging truck comes by. That's a traffic circle up ahead. Not much fun for bikes but fear not I will take you up and over the bike bridge that skirts around the circle. That brown sign pointing into the bushes is where the bikes bail out.





There go the cars into the circle, but we are safely up and away on bridge #1. You can see the cycleway as it wraps around the other side of the circle.





Down the series of bridges and onto the railway reserve path, which I guess used to be a railway. It is nice and straight and on most streets bikes have the right of way. It helps to know which streets you don't.





I have figured out that if the cars have a bump, I have priority. If no bump, bikes stop. As I tell the boys, ("it's best to slow down and have a look regardless").

The railway reserve runs me all the way into the town square. This is not Nelson but an outlying village named Stoke. It's a small shopping square, but if you consider what is there, it pretty much covers all the essentials of what people want. There is a library and a fire station. A grocery. A veggie stand. A barber. Eyeglasses. Video rental. Bank. Drugstore. Hair salon. A couple of small eateries featuring hamburgers, pizza, turkish kebabs, and chinese. And most importantly there is a pub. Also a bike shop, as you will see on the sidewalk.

Here is the view from the New World, the older grocery in town. A new one has sprung up nearby that is more "big box." We go to both. Today I will be quick in and out at the New World. The school bell is ringing about now.

Riding back I cut up a side street to get onto the railway reserve and there is Andrew and Cameron. I will share with them some gummy worms.

It is getting into winter now. Temps are going into the single digits at night, but during the day it is the teens, which is the 60's, and when the sun is out it's really quite nice. Today it's a nice day. Here's a look off the path to a bike ramp and the mountains beyond.

Below is the hill where we lived for a few weeks right after we moved here.

Here is the entrance to the bike ramp up over the main road on the return trip. I think about the biking infrastructure here as I am cruising along. They have made it so easy. I know it would be hard to go back and retrofit a city like Houston, but shouldn't we be thinking about this kind of planning going forward? When the Katy Freeway was being expanded, couldn't we find room for ten feet off to the side as a dedicated cycleway? Or how about as rail expands around the city? Couldn't part of rail down Richmond include a cycle/pedestrian track? I know it is a big ask.

These bike rides are one of the small quality of life things I know I will miss just about anywhere else.

There goes Andrew down into the bush. He is scootering today.

And here comes Barbara home from the studio. She is the most consistent biker of us all, and looks keen in her fluorescent jacket. And she also brings in firewood!