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Browsing category: Uncategorized

  • February 9, 2010

    A little vent

    1. Heinous flatmate texted a few weeks ago to ask for my bank details so he could start paying me back what he owes. Only about three months too late! (You may or may not recall that he owes me around $900 – a combination of bills he fell behind on at our old place, plus damages and cleaning. Trust me, I knew he was a filthy pig, but he REALLY pulled out all the stops when it came time to move. I can’t even think about it – it’s too foul to recall.)

    It’s been maybe a month now. How much have I received from him? Zilch. Nada. Nothing. I was tempted to send him abusive messages on Facebook, but I refrained. Not worth my time.

    2. Shortly after we moved and I finished with uni, I decided to pick my guitar back up after three years of neglect. I bought new strings and put them on…and then I got to the high E, and guess what? I literally COULDN’T restring it, because the entire effing bridge saddle was missing. Just gone, like that. Along with the screw. Don’t ask me how he did it, but he did. (And yes, I know it was him, because he played it. Until he broke a string and never replaced it, and now I know why!)

    3. After tossing around the C word, indulging in a bout of angry crying, and some intense surfing of the net – in which I convinced myself I’d have to order parts from overseas for a small fortune – I trotted off to Musicworks, where I originally bought my amp and guitar. A dude with massive tunnels in his ears took my details and told me they would get the part shipped in. Two weeks passed, and nothing. I called them. Another guy said they’d call back. They didn’t. I physically went in to see them.

    “They’re on their way. They’ll be here soon. We’ve got your details here so we’ll give you a call.”

    All up, it’s been well over a month, so soon better mean WITHIN THE WEEK! I may not be a serious muso, and I may not even be able to play standing up, but I’m still a paying customer, dammit.

  • February 7, 2010

    Getting paid – how hard can it be?

    Ugh. For the second time in a row, the powers that be have managed to royally screw up my pay. I’m talking along the lines of halving my paycheck, missing off an entire week (I am on the fortnightly cycle), which is quite frankly, ridiculous.

    The majority of our employees are salaried. There are only a couple of us who fill out timesheets. I understand that it must be really tedious for our HR lady to input our hours on a Monday morning, and yes, I had two sick days off in the last pay cycle which could have caused a little confusion, but how difficult is it to get things right?

    What’s really frustrating is that this is an all too frequent occurrence. There’ll be months when everything goes smoothly, and then BAM! A series of pay periods where things go haywire for no rhyme or reason. At least this time I could kind of work out what went wrong; there have been times where completely random amounts of hours have been missed off.

    I’m not going to starve here; it’s just a minor annoyance. I hate having to email HR all the time to ask them to check my timesheets again (don’t get me wrong, I’m not rude or abusive – I try to strike a deferential tone because really, do you want to piss off HR?).

    I guess the good thing about being salaried is avoiding situations precisely like this. Although things like using up all your sick leave and having to take unpaid time off instead (it’s happened to people I know) can throw a spanner in the works too.

    Do you ever have problems with payroll?

  • February 6, 2010

    Let’s talk about drinking

    Here’s a question. How often do you have Friday (or any day) drinks at the office?

    Drinking is such an integral part of Kiwi culture, whether it’s beers by the barbecue or beers in the boardroom after hours. Any excuse for beer’o’clock, really. I’m constantly getting alerts notifying me to the fact that someone I know has joined the I’m not an alcoholic, I’m a New Zealander Facebook group. Sad, but telling.

    Epic drinking stories are a sign of pride, to be told and retold and elevated to legendary status. We had drinks this week for a colleague on his last day. Out came a story about literally crawling home after a particularly raucous evening at work (not long after joining the team…) I’ll admit I’ve had a few benders in my time, but not for a looong while, and me falling asleep at the end of it is about as exciting as it gets – I don’t get rowdy, I just get incredibly drowsy. I’m the most boring drinker EVER.

    I actually kind of dread work drinks, because after a couple I’m hammered enough to call it a night. That’s why I generally stick to juice or something similar…because it’s REALLY obvious once the alcohol takes effect.

    But sometimes it makes me feel slightly uncomfortable being the odd one out, you know? Sometimes people think you’re uptight or boring, and it’s ten times worse if you’re already feeling awkward. I tell myself that choosing not to drink really doesn’t affect how others perceive me, or my career, but it feels like sometimes being a team player means being a drinker.

     

  • February 5, 2010

    Insurance – the necessary evil

    It’s official: I’ve decided to stay with AMI for both our car and contents insurance. I could save a very small amount by changing providers for our contents (T doesn’t have the best of driving records, so we don’t have much choice for the latter), but I’ve decided it’s easier to stay with one company. I initially got all excited because an online quote suggested I could save almost $100 a year on our policy, but when I actually called their line? Not so much.

    And of the three or four companies who promised to respond to my request for a quote? ZERO replies in a week. Huh. Not impressed.

    Once our car insurance rolls over in a few months, we should qualify for a no claims bonus for the first time (huzzah!) as well as our discount for having two policies with them  – something like a measly $20 off each. Insurance is one of those things that is a pain to pay for, but it’s worth it for peace of mind. We pay less than $1000 a year for both policies, which I can live with.

    In other news, we made a whopping $19 for T’s inherited coin collection (going straight to savings) and I got $50 phone credit for taking part in a research group after work one evening (not bad for less than an hour. It was really interesting to see how precisely they tried to hit a range of different ages, genders and races). That should cover my costs for two months; it’s true, Prepay customers are the least lucrative of all. Telecomms companies spend a fair bit on these sessions, but I guess it’s cheaper than taking a punt on a new initiative and bombing!

  • February 4, 2010

    January roundup

    Clothes and grooming: $12 of this was for a new bottle of face wash, and the rest got me two jackets and a pair of shoes! Bless you, Trademe (it seriously is the best place to score quality shoes in mint condition. As long as you know your size and stick to known brands). More below.

    Debt: Slowly knocking down T’s car loan, with nearly an extra $100 more than usual going towards it.

    Dining: Still way too many fast food purchases, mostly of T’s doing. (His penchant for Wendy’s is second to none). Includes just over $60 of reimbursable meals. With that taken into account, we’re spending just over $50 a week on eating out. And considering that’s our main entertainment spending, I don’t think it’s too bad – but again, I’m trying to go for QUALITY here, and we kind of failed this month. BUT, we did discover the gem that is Jai Jalaram Khaman on Sandringham Rd – affordable, tasty Indian food. Aside from that, we had Chinese on New Year’s, and again a couple of weeks ago, but nothing memorable.

    Entertainment: Snorkelling, our monthly Fatso subscription, and stuff associated with T’s weekend away this week (including buying a fishing rod. Slightly costly, but healthier than hanging out with our loser flatmates who have nothing in their lives except smoking and drinking, at least. Hey, I live with them, but I don’t have to like em!)

    Holidays: From New Year’s. T was meant to pay for this out of the money he made on New Year’s…only he STILL hasn’t been paid. Instead, I took it out of my travel/holiday fund. I’m about to book our Waiheke getaway package that I’ve been looking forward to for months before summer ends, so hoping that comes through ASAP! If not, we should be okay, as my side job is due to pay me before then anyway.

    Groceries: is really high, there’s no getting around it. I did cheat a bit and count our post-New Year’s picnic food as groceries rather than eating out, but still. Ideally this should be more like $500, or $550 max.

    Savings: doesn’t take into account approximately $300 towards LT savings, but mostly consists of my extra payment towards Kiwisaver (because I was a dumbass and messed up).

    Vehicle and transport: is lower than I thought. Just over $135 of that is for my bus passes! So our gas expenditure is pretty low. I did have a $50 petrol voucher which we used, however.

    Utilities: is a little higher than usual, because our quarterly water bill was due. I’m also continuing to classify our cellphone costs here, because that makes a hell of a lot more sense than under entertainment.

    You know what’s frustrating! As I’m going back through transactions, I ALWAYS find mistakes. Always. It’s way too easy to miscategorise something, and then that screws up my whole graph. I’ll get better at this…maybe.

    For February, getting back on an even keel after New Year’s, I really want to track everything by hand. It’ll give me a more realistic picture, and I’ll be able to decide if our categories are on the right track proportionally. Gotta watch the food spending, and aim to save $100 a week into the bills account (so we’re not scrambling come time to pay the car insurance). I doubt that will happen, but even if we can regularly do $80 or $90, that would be awesome.

    NEW WARDROBE PURCHASES

    Blazer: $5 plus $4 postage. Basically wanted to replace my brown military jacket, because the colour is horrendous on me – not to mention a couple of the buttons have gone AWOL.

    Shoes: $10 plus $6 shipping. Score! They’re real leather, are virtually pristine and would retail at Hannahs for $80-100. (Why are expensive shoes always so narrow?) Compare with my old flats, which are literally RAVAGED.

    Jacket: $15 (plus, I think, $6 for postage?) Am not thrilled about this. It’s real leather, and a great colour. BUT, the fit and sizing leaves something to be desired. Compare with the photo from the listing, on the bottom – we are obviously not quite the same size. It’s my fault for leaping at the bargain without checking the measurements.

  • February 4, 2010

    I need inspiration

    Among the list of bloggers I love is Chelsea. Read any one of her entries and you’ll understand why. Is it any surprise that she was voted most distinctive voice on 20SB?

    But I digress. Her latest entry nearly made me cry. We were right there with her, on the edge of our seats, we could nearly taste Japan and Ireland and hear that heinous ‘ra ra ooh la la’ refrain as she was literally thisclose to booking a gig with Lady Gaga.

    I am so in awe of her talent, of her drive and of her determination. I wish that I was a tenth as motivated. I wish I knew what I was going after, and was going after it with all of my heart.

    I need to work out what the hell I want, and I need to go get it. I need to live life, REALLY live it to the fullest, because I feel like I’m drifting with the current, waiting for something to happen, waiting for life to kick me in the butt, for something big to start. And I just can’t do that, because I don’t want to wake up and find ten years gone by and nothing changed.

  • February 3, 2010

    Movie roundup

    Serendipity asked me what I was gonna do on my long weekend without the boy around. The answer? Not a hell of a lot. The weather was awful, and I didn’t end up going to the seafood festival – which apparently, wasn’t all that great. The most exciting it got was going down to the pub with a couple of friends to watch the Aussie Open final (and we didn’t get to see the men’s final, as the weather meant it kept getting pushed back). And all that freaking about my imminent death didn’t help.

    What I DID do: I watched a hell of a lot of movies and more TV than I can ever remember!

    Jersey Girl – possibly Ben Affleck’s best movie ever.

    Shopgirl – a bittersweet, too-true slice of life and love. Could have done without the voiceover, though.

    The Graduate – ugh. Ugh. UGH.

    Cider House Rules – a touching story, but man, that ‘princes of Maine’ line was SO overdone.

    The Notebook – bawlworthy. I think the version I watched had a different ending than the one you saw, Red…

    Anacondas: Hunt for the Blood Orchid – I thought it would be terrible, but it wasn’t too bad. I didn’t see the end, though, so I can’t say for sure. A not half-bad blockbuster.

    Gone with the Wind – well, I watched about half of it before falling asleep, seeing as it came on sometime after midnight. You know what? I thought I’d hate it. Scarlett was a spoilt, selfish little brat, and yet I was hooked. The skirts! The hair! (And the butt-ugly hats!) I fell asleep sometime after she decided to stay and help Melanie give birth; the next day I went on Wiki and found out exactly what happened after. Which didn’t sound all that great, but I’m sorry to have missed “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”. Also, that moustache did Clark Gable NO favours. And I was slightly perturbed by the portrayal of the war, and of the slaves. But let’s not get started on that.

  • February 2, 2010

    February challenge

    I’m liking this monthly challenge idea, so I’m carrying on with this month’s goal: take more photos! We’ll have a Wordless Wednesday every week; some will be (hopefully) pictureque, others not so much. But that’s not the point. The point is simply to make more use of my camera and hone my eye.

    In terms of my 2010 goals, they’re chugging along.

    I did save around 20%, although part of that was my first Kiwisaver contributions ($53.79 for a fortnight, matched by my employer’s 26.90, PLUS a flat $100 I added manually to make up for last month.) Otherwise, I fell a little short due to our shortfall earlier this month.

    I didn’t manage to make one new dinner every week. Sigh. I did manage to meal plan last week, and STILL ran out of food. Can you say fail? This week was a little out of whack with the long weekend and T going away. Back on the horse next week.

    I ran once each week and am quite proud! I can feel myself slowly clawing my way out of my total slobby funk and feel healthier and less hayfeverish (or perhaps it’s all the positive thinking I’m trying, after giving in and reading The Secret. It may all sound really BS, but we can all learn from the ‘thinking positive’ message, feeling happy and blessed, and visualising what we want.)

    I donated to charity – towards the Kiwi family who lost their husband and daughters in the quake, and can’t wait to do it again! The plan is to donate to another Haiti cause, and perhaps towards the foodbank next time we shop at Countdown.

    As for an upwards career move – still on the lookout for jobs. I’m working on a big thing right now; it’s a story that’s going to take time to get right, and will be great for my portfolio. Speed is of the essence though, and I already lost three days (two sick, one public holiday) since starting.

  • February 2, 2010

    Catching up

    So yeah. I’ve been sick. I barely managed to text ’sick’ to my boss on Thursday, and on Friday I got up and got dressed for work before collapsing back into bed. I managed at least call in that day, though. It sucked, because I’ve been working on a story and making lots of overseas calls, but I’m a strong believer that health is paramount.

    See, I came down with a weird flu-type thing, without the cold. I was pained, sore, exhausted and generally felt shitty. I pride myself on being very in touch with my body (read: HYPOCHONDRIAC) and a combination of factors had me all panicked thinking OH MY GOD I HAVE TOXIC SHOCK SYNDROME. But I worked out that I’d been feeling sick before my ‘lady time’, as Ray Romano says, kicked in. And after that passed, more things happened that freaked me the hell out (trust me, you don’t want details), and there I was convinced I was on death’s bed, and all by myself with T five hours away (he deserves his fun, but on this weekend of ALL weekends?!)

    Oh, and how hard is it to get to see a doctor on a weekend, let alone a public holiday? Impossible. But good for my wallet – I managed to get an appointment today with the doctor on campus. Still, like T says, I need to get a real GP, especially now that I’m no longer a student and there’s not much point continuing to use the clinic at uni. He couldn’t believe that we never really had a family doctor growing up, and is all set on enrolling me with his GP for the future. Which seems like a very grown up thing to do.

    Finally, here’s the last photo for January’s challenge. Stay tuned to find out what February’s will be. (Borderline bag lady? Trampy? Yes? I don’t care – nobody important saw me in this.)

  • January 28, 2010

    Around my ‘hood

    I’ve been fighting off what feels kind of like the flu all week. Today I caved. It’s my first sick day in probably six months (I might start keeping a log – I’m not one to cry wolf at the first sign of the sniffles, but if there’s a bug going around, odds are I’ll catch it sooner rather than later. I wonder if I actually use up all the sick days I accrue – do you?)

    Anyway. Here’s yesterday’s outfit – I’ve been lying comatose most of today in my robe, something I have neither the energy nor desire to document.

    And for your viewing pleasure, some photos of the beach down the end of my street. It’s not clear, blue and sandy like the ones out east or north, or wild and surfy like the ones way out west, but it’s my beach 😛

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