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Month: June 2011

  • June 15, 2011

    Your credit is like your virginity

    Logo of the band Rejected

    Image via Wikipedia

    …easier to preserve than to rebuild.

    Kids, we all know you should never cosign on anything. You do not want your name on any account that you are not personally paying for.

    Well, some people learn lessons the hard way. Like when they finally talk their fiancee into letting them get an iPhone. And then get turned down for an unexplained mark on your credit record. Huh? Well, it could only be that internet account you put your name on at the request of your sister (remembering folks, that if such people had decent credit themselves, they wouldn’t need to ask such a thing of you).

    I just knew when he came home last year and told me what he’d done that it wouldn’t end well. But by then the decision had been made and I couldn’t do anything about it, and soon I had other things to worry about. I hope now that he’s made pretty much every mistake in the book, that the shame of that denial under the harsh fluoro store lights will be enough to make him remember to never never take responsibility for anyone else’s accounts in future. It baffles me how someone who has no problems putting his interests first in the business world cannot say no to his family. (Or that they don’t turn more often instead to his brother who has more cash, yet blows it all on cars.)

    Have you ever made the mistake of letting someone else use your good name? How did it work out?

  • June 14, 2011

    How not to roll out an integrated ticketing bus system

    Thought Hop was going to be the saviour of Auckland’s abysmal public transport? Yeah, I’d hoped so too. But it has proved in my experience an undeniable failure.

    First, Snapper came to Auckland. (I’m still not quite sure what the point of it is. I get that it powers the Hop bus card system, but as for using Snapper at shops? Don’t we already have eftpos and credit cards?) Then right on its heels, there came murmurs of something called Hop. Nobody knew what on earth it was. As posters went up,a vague YouTube video emerged and an almost equally vague news story was printed, we came to learn that it was the start of an integrated public transport system.

    Pity about the communication. What we really needed were some short, clear FAQs, not teasers. I believe their Comms person was quoted as saying there had been plenty of confusion on “message boards” and the team needed to clear it up. No shit. Pity, again, that it took them weeks to get on social media and rectify the damage that had already been done.

    Okay, so the launch was a disaster. What about the execution?

    Last weekend I went down to Britomart on my lunch break to do three things. A) Get my Hop card. B) Transfer my balance from my Go Rider card onto it. C) Top up my new Hop card at the same time.

    (Hint – I did not accomplish all of the above.)

    As soon as I reached the front of the line, their systems went down. Okay, I can kind of sympathise; I know what it’s like to work with slow, unreliable and outdated technology on a daily basis. But they have no idea when it’s going to be back? And there is NOWHERE ELSE in the CBD where we can get a balance transfer?

    Okay, fine. I only have one ride left to transfer anyway; I’ll eat the $1.50 cost. Just put my 10 new rides on and let me be done with it.

    What’s that? You don’t take Visa? What is this, 1911? I have always used my credit card to top up my bus card- this better not be a sign of things to come (suppose I’ll find out when I next top up my card). Off I trot to the ATM, where I have to withdraw $20 as I can’t take out $15.

    I march back up to the front of the line approximately three minutes later. She doesn’t give me my change. Turns out she put on $20 credit, instead of 10 rides at $15. Cue more delays as she sorts out the mess.

    I get back to the office and decide to check online where my nearest Hop retailer is so I can top up the following week. I am even more enraged, if possible, to read this:

    Note: Britomart, Newmarket and New Lynn Transport Centres now accept credit card payments.

    No, it effing well did not. DON’T LIE TO ME.

    And I’m pretty close to full on meltdown to find there is only one Hop agent anywhere near my house and it’s the opposite direction from my bus stop/new office.

    Later on it turns out it’s fine; there are plenty of Snapper retailers around that just aren’t listed on the Hop site yet.

    But that’s not the end of it. I went back to Britomart this weekend to top up. I did so using my Visa. But by today, that balance was still “pending”, leaving me with no choice but to pay cash to get to work. Also, when I attempted to put more rides on my card at St Lukes Lotto, I was told that rides can no longer be purchased at all, only e-money. Obviously Hop is not only failing to communicate with customers, but with retailers – but when you’re a monopoly, who cares about either? I’ve tried to communicate with Hop a few times on Twitter to clarify certain issues but have not found them particularly helpful or forthcoming. (As for why I’m sticking with rides, not e-money, it’s because all factors being equal, why would I use the method which charges me 25c for every topup?)

    What a clusterf***. Typical Auckland.

    UPDATE: Apparently only a certain booth at Britomart accepts CC payments. Oh, and you can’t have more than 20 rides on your Hop card at the time. More WTF-ery.

  • June 13, 2011

    May goal checkin

    A goal

    Image via Wikipedia

    • Save 40 per cent of income. Including the extra $530 I made ($20 for essay editing, the rest from my freelance-gig-turned-new-fulltime-gig), I saved 46 per cent last month. Whether this goal can remain realistic with my new slightly reduced income remains to be seen.
    • Keep eating out to $160 a month. Yes! $102 – possibly a new low. I can’t remember the last time T and I went out to eat together – any food purchases have been done separately. That’s what working all the time does to you. I have a feeling this will change – ie, go WAY up – now that we have the same days off.
    • Donate to charity every month. Yes!
    • Text one friend a week. Done, albeit mainly to organise meetups!
    • Learn to confidently use full manual settings on my dSLR. I did shoot some photos this month actually, but haven’t reviewed them properly.
    • Read 100 books. 5 books in May – the Master and Margarita in particular kept me going for quite a while.
    • Continue running at least once a week. I missed one or two weeks (definitely not in the week where I had no days off), but at least I went out twice last week.

    How did your goals go last month?

  • June 12, 2011

    Link love (Powered by fresh faces and leisurely lunches)

    This week, I really needed a dishwasher. And a dryer. After a brief welcome-to-winter heat spell, we reclaimed the title of rainiest city. (Perhaps it’s foolhardy not to fork out for a dryer, but it’s such a big expense and environmentally unfriendly.)

    And for those who asked, I was previously working at a news website (hence the shift work; although I will miss that buzz and the feeling of being part of something larger and more important than myself – the news waits for no one) and am now at a magazine publisher.

    FOOD

    An easy-peasy butter chicken recipe courtesy of Fru-girl.

    Mmmm. Vegetable deep dish pizza, at Lisa’s Foods on the Move.

    Wandering Food Lover presents a refreshing summer chicken salad.

    Someone please try Poor Girl Eat Well’s fruity ice cream and report back!

    Peanut butter and chocolate is one of my favourite combinations ever (think PB cups and buckeyes). And now, Iowa Girl’s crispy choc/PB cups.

    WORK/MONEY

    Some interesting thoughts on interviewing and how to get people to talk to you, at Business Journalism.

    We all have those moments of financial panic, writes After Graduation.

    Should Funny About Money buy a new car?

    Pretty Young Professional’s sage advice on choosing between job offers.

    LIFE

    Cordelia outlines her plan for her summer of “free Fridays”.

    Geek in Heels wonders if perhaps she peaked too early (I can certainly relate).

    Drug tests for beneficiaries – are you for or against? Via Serendipity Smalls.

    Pushing Thirtyy talks reunions and the roles we play in each other’s lives.

    Trashy family with hearts of gold, vs snobbish to-be-in-laws? Who is this doppelganger of mine? I knew I had to read this week’s APW Ask Team Practical.

  • June 11, 2011

    When tossed in the deep end, will you sink or swim?

    View from the diving board at Rippon Lea in Vi...

    Image via Wikipedia

    I vividly remember the one and only time that I was assigned to a striker position. (Once upon a time, yes, I played soccer, but only as a social thing. With a few of my friends, we hung around at the back, chased the ball occasionally, got a bit of a workout and got an extra team photo in the yearbook.) And one day when we were short of players, two of us were moved up to the front.

    I recall not knowing what the hell I was doing. Floundering. Tapping the ball and running forward, because it was what I’d always seen them do. Faking it, in short.

    Recently, I have been feeling this way a fair bit. I’ve started a new job, and the last couple of months in my old position were rather full-on. When you get tossed in the deep end… Run with it.

    So far, it’s been rad, thanks for asking.

    The biggest change for me has been the hours. No more evenings, weekends, public holidays. (It’s AMAZING. My schedule was increasingly a source of stress for me and T – resentment at never seeing him and various shifts doing away with all other aspirations of living a balanced life.) I’m not commuting into the CBD anymore. Oh, and I’m going to be paid monthly…

    It also means a lot is riding on me. For the first time, I’m going to have a work phone. I’m going to have more riding on my little shoulders, rather than being part of an entire team. In short, it’s gonna be intensely challenging but also more rewarding.

  • June 5, 2011

    Link love (Powered by truffles and mad rushes)

    Hello Sunday. I’ve got nothing left, guys. Here it is!

    WORK

    Me in Millions is doing a 30 Days on the Job series – here’s the first installment. Join in!

    Pretty Young Professional explains exactly how to ask contacts to help with job searching.

    Via Business for Good, not Evil: Should salaries be public?

    LIFE

    FrGal has tips on where to spend and where to splurge on skincare.

    A little hate is healthy, writes LivItLuvIt.

    Laura ponders getting a PhD in the current state of academia.

    FOOD

    Mexican black bean pizza, courtesy of Cate.

    It’s the wrong season for me, but perhaps you could try this berry cheesecake tart?

    This is more like it for winter. Potato and cauliflower curry

    I love salmon, but T finds it tasteless…I should probably make Iowa Girl’s recipe sometime when it’s just me.


  • June 3, 2011

    100 in ’11: Lee, Fitzgerald and Bulgakov

    To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

    Summary: Precocious child and her brother learn some ugly truths about human nature and the world they live in, in a tender coming-of-age tale.

    I was not expecting narrator Scout to be a six-year-old girl. Luckily, she’s incredibly intelligent (too much to be believed?) and being introduced to a colourful cast of neighbours through her lens is a delight. Life isn’t easy for her – fierce, proud and too clever for school, she lives for the freedom of summers. She’s forced to grow up quickly, however, when her father is tasked with defending a black man accused of raping a white woman. A sobering look at morality, justice and how reasonable people can lose all reason under certain circumstances.

    Tender Is The Night – F. Scott Fitzgerald

    Summary: Rich people flitting around Europe; the disintegration of the marriage between an accomplished doctor and a mental patient.

    Meh. That’s really all I can say. I understand this novel is somewhat autobiographical, which probably explains why it wasn’t all that…interesting. Neither the characters nor the plot were in the least engaging. I expected a dramatic tale of creeping insanity; instead there was the slow and depressing deterioration of a relationship, which might have triggered a small twinge – if I had actually cared about either Diver or Nicole.

    The Master and Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov

    Summary: The devil comes to Moscow, mayhem ensues.

    There are many levels on which you can read this book, considered a modern Russian classic. And I felt I was only reading at quite an elementary level. Those with more knowledge of the Russian Revolution will no doubt get more out of The Master and Margarita, but it certainly highlighted my ignorance of world/religious/political history. It is nutty, weird and wonderful, and I hope to reread it one day with less of it going over my head. My main issue with it was one of confusion: I felt there were too many characters, and Bulgakov’s habit of referring to them by different parts of their (very Russian) names at times only bamboozled me even more. I would love to hear from anyone who’s read this!

  • June 2, 2011

    Mission: Making life easier for myself

    Oats, barley, and some food products made from...

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    I used to be the kinda girl who could wear the same outfit over and over (heck, I still am) and the girl who could eat the same thing over and over). But not anymore. I’ve lost my food mojo. I’m feeling so uninspired, and super picky. Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Seven days a week. Two people. It all seems too overwhelming!

    While we’ve been really good this month, last month we ate out more often than I’d like. I know this sounds spoiled, but so often I’m hungry but it’s the end of the week, the pantry’s thin on options and I just don’t want to eat anything that is in the house. Or quite simply, I manage to forget to make/bring lunch on my “Friday” (aka, Sunday).

    It may be time to return to a semblance of meal planning. Much as I strive to streamline and simplify, quite often I make things difficult for myself and end up doing things the hardest way possible. (Not on purpose. That’s just how it works out.) I spend far too much time cooking. Lunches, especially. Lunches for me. Lunches for him. Several different kinds of lunches over the week.

    I’m not good with super anal shopping lists – I like to get creative on the day of cooking, I like to make things up as I go along. Also, you never know what will be on special, let alone what will actually be fresh (our location is awesome for everything except grocery shopping – that’s just so-so). My basic technique basically involves making a shortlist of staples that need replenishing (flour, oils, rice etc), and buying meat and produce according to price and choice on the day – now the trick is sticking to it.

    What’s your recipe for grocery success?

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