Heather & Rod's Amazing (& Not So Amazing) New Zealand Adventures

When Rod took this picture this week, I had a premonition of how my life might end and a scenario has been floating arond in my brain ever since. This will only happen if Rod goes first, as with him around I'll maintain my sanity, but if he kicks it, here's how I predict things may ensue: A woman's body was found today at the bottom of a heap of sleeping cats. The scene of the smothering was the victim's home, an apparent feline haven. Reporter, Joe Smith, was first on the scene with this report: "The woman - once a noted professional in the local community - was found wearing her housecoat, lying on the couch. There were cats sitting on her head, lying on her lap and reposing on every limb. It is thought she may have inadvertantly fallen asleep, when the legion of cats lept upon her and smothered her to death." It was noted by police that the cats were apparently "quite large," the result of what could only be chronic over-feeding. The commissioner ...

It's Friday, and as is tradition in the Claycomb household, we will be 'going out' for the night. Nothing fancy, people, just a bite to eat and a movie (Matt Damon if I'm lucky!). As Rod reads the evening paper, he gets to the last page - - the TV listings and says, "Don't forget to tape Project Runway." I am still finishing off some work bits and not quite listening 100%, but this stopped me in my tracks. I look up at him and say, "Do you realise what you've just said? We are actually going to TAPE Project Runway!" Rod's disclaimer, which he is forcing me to type at gunpoint (okay, more like wineglass-point), is that this will be taped for MY enjoyment not his (uh, huh). But, this is just an illustration of what our TV viewing has been reduced to after 8 years in NZ. It's like we're living in a bubble where we don't actually remember anymore what good TV actually is. Here's the typical viewing schedule: Mondays: Desp...

Picture this . . . . . a late winter evening and my cell phone rings at about 10pm. Being that my phone is primarily a work phone and my profession is PR, a late evening or early morning call can never be a good thing. One of my clients is an airline pilot training organisation . . . . eek, late night cell phone calls get the adrenalin pumping, visions of planes crashing! The phone is in the office, so I jump out of bed, race down the hall and grab my phone on the last ring.... A shy-sounding, soft spoken man is on the line and uncomfortably says: "Um, yeah, ah, I saw your ad and just like wondered, like, where you are located and what your rates are?" Hmmmm.... I was niave and confused. Had I inadvertantly placed an ad for my communications services and couldn't remember? My fees are $135 and hour, but I don't usually start out my sales process by talking money (learned that in some sales training class years ago). So, I say in a very business-like, rather stern ...

I was searching on the web for something and found this link: http://www.nwm.co.nz/download/North%20&%20South%20Article%20on%20Hamilton%202006.pdf . It is an article on the town we live in - Hamilton. Rod and I were interviewed in it, if you're interested! Heather

Rod and I took a hiatus from our New Zealand Adventures to visit our families back home in Pennsylvania. We had a terrific holiday and spent the last day in Washington DC with Rod’s parents, Bud and Eileen. We toured the sites and ended our day in the Quality Inn near the Dulles airport. We booked the hotel earlier in the week. We had intended on getting two rooms – one for us and one for Rod’s folks, but the cheapest place we could find near the airport was $160. I suggested that was a bit much to pay for two rooms, so why didn’t we just share one? Eileen warned us she had a tendency to get up a few times a night and wouldn’t want to bother us, but we quickly dismissed this as something that wouldn’t be a problem. There was no mention of any nighttime idiosyncrosies Bud may have that might impinge on our slumber, so we assumed all would be fine. We booked the one room. As we settled in for the evening, there was a brief conversation about Bud’s sleep apnea machine. We quickly became t...

Okay, since I'm on about my dreams . . . . I'm having some really freaky ones. Too many to write out in full. Plus, if I told you them all you would know how truly demented I am. The fat lady from the Poltergeist movies featured in one the other night - - - you know, the 'go into the liiiiight' woman. . . . oh my. But this one takes the cake... The world has ended and only a few people have survived. I'm holed up in this old, old house with a few other people. The house is falling down, the roof has holes in it, we are all cold and miserable. And there is this monster out to get us... Turns out it's one of those creatures from Greek mythology (yeah, I told you this is normal content) that is half bull, half man. When we see him, he's HUGE and he is trailed by this black cloud (kinda like the monsters in Lost - the TV show). Anyway, it's terribly evil and so scary. He's out to get all of us and kill us. All of my friends there are trying to...

Am I stressed? You be the judge! In one evening, I had the following nightmares.... Dream #1: I'm sitting down to take a test on something like the History of Ancient Indian Religious Ceremonies (yes, if you aren't familiar with my dreams, this is normal content). Some guy in a turban hands me a test and I sit down and realise . . . I KNOW NOTHING! Nothing! I have this papyrus with outlines of ancient drawings on them. I'm supposed to take some coloured power and, using a brush, brush the powder over the drawings. This is going to reveal some answers.... But, it doesn't work. I realise that I have been studying all semester for this final exam but I know nothing and I am pissed! I signal for the test monitor to come over and I begin yelling that I know nothing . . .this isn 't fair. . . . I've studied, but nothing I've studied is on this test! I get so frustrated I begin just uncontrollably crying and crying. I leave my desk and walk outside and the...