Random Notes from a Small Island

There's been so much going on recently so rather than concentrate on one topic, something that I find increasingly difficult anyway, I thought I'd write up a smorgasbord of events in this blog. And apologies for any Norwegian readers if I mispronounced that. Not that you could have heard it of course. But in my defence, in my head it sounds right. Any-road-up lets get on with the roundup;


Running is Not Supposed to be a Contact Sport
It seems strange that I should even have to write that - surely it is obvious to everyone - but judging by an experience this week seemingly not.

After a particularly heavy bout of man flu, complete with snotty nose and everything, I decided that I was well enough to restart my running schedule. Not that it is much of a schedule in the winter - I just sort of run whenever the weather permits. Which in Auckland means when its not raining. After a particularly hilly 8km I passed the local superette and picked up some bacon and eggs for dinner. Admittedly it was not a particularly adventurous menu but after a weekend of fairly heavy and fancy food it was time to get back to basics. And what better way than with a simple serving of British breakfast food. Only in the evening. Nevertheless it was going to be lovely and I happened to know that there was a fresh bottle of HP Sauce to compliment the offerings. Smashing.

I was still in the middle of these culinary thoughts when I started down the hill towards home, grocery bag gently swaying with the now lopsided rhythm of my running. I was about to cross a side street when an ex-NZ Post van swung into the road in front of me and promptly stopped, blocking the whole of the dropped-kerb crossing.

"How unthoughtful!" I muttered to myself, "or maybe they will realise and move"

Just as those thoughts left my consciousness, the driver extinguished his headlights. He was there to stay. Not wanting to run behind the vehicle - this would have put me in the running lane of the main road - I started around the front of the van.....just as the driver realised that he probably wasn't in the best spot after all and decided to set off again down the street. Forwards.

The van hit my right shoulder with enough force to knock me off my feet and onto the deck.

It's assuring to know that even in the midst of an unexpected encounter with a old postal van my first thoughts were not of self preservation but instead whether I had landed on the eggs. I'm not sure who was more shocked, me or the driver. I'd like to think that it was me but I rather expect that after unleashing a fair barrage of anglo-saxon phrases it'll be the driver who needs comforting.

Although I'd rather avoid being hit by motorised vehicles in the future, it was a useful encounter. Not only did it remind me to be more careful around drivers in New Zealand whilst running, but I now know that if I'm ever in another life threatening event it won't be my life that will pass before my eyes but the ingredients of my next meal!


You Just Gotta Love this Place
Earlier this year I became yet anther person to succumb to wearing wearable tech. Yup, I bought an Apple Watch. I can't excuse it and it just sort of happened. I did think that by now, six months later, the novelty would have worn off. But not a bit and it's usually the first thing I reach for when I wake up. I won't go into details but is there nothing that this watch can't do?

We actually there is......stay on your wrist! For those who aren't familiar with that particular piece of equipment, the strap doesn't clasp shut but instead has a press-to-close fastening. This is great and a very neat way to close the strap but it did lead me to wonder what will happen when the strap is unfastened and fastened hundreds of times?

All was well with the strap until a recent visit to the pizza parlour. I guess it could've been any establishment and what followed had nothing to do with mozzarella and tomato, but just in case it's worth a mention. I was just heading back home with two steaming pizza pies when I noticed that my wrist was a little lighter.

"Shite! My watch", I exclaimed whilst desperately patting my pockets in hope.

But it was in vain - my watch has somehow disappeared from its resting place. With panic setting in at the thought of having lost a valuable piece of technology, I quickly made a mental map of my steps. Had I checked the time in the pizza place? I think I had. I must have. I was going to have to retrace my steps and it was the last place I'd been in - I just hoped that it hadn't disappeared between there and where I now stood, slightly nauseous at the thought of the expense that might now be lying somewhere in a gutter.

Just as I was half way across the pedestrian crossing, two teenagers looked at me. I guess it was the sight of me rushing back to the pizza place with pizzas in my arms that lead them to ask if I had just lost a watch.

I admitted that yes I had and yes I was an idiot

"No problem bro - we gave it to the woman in the pizza place"

And indeed they had. As soon as I walked back through the doors the woman at the counter held out her hand and hanging there was my watch. In one piece. Including the useless strap. Sometimes its easy to forget that New Zealand does things a little differently. Elsewhere I'm sure the watch wouldn't have made it back to me and I'd been left with the decision whether to fork out for a replacement.

Since that incident I'm much more careful and regularly check my wrist for my watch. And every time I do I'm met with the mental image of the disapproving look the woman behind the counter in the pizza place gave me at being so careless with an expensive piece of equipment. And for letting the pizzas go cold!


Personality Goes a Long Way...if You've Got One!
A few weeks ago my manager decided that the whole team needed to take a personality test. I'm not sure why - as far as I was concerned I was certain that I had one. A personality that is. Sure it may not be perfect but show me some who's is.

He was not be to deterred, so last Tuesday we took the Myers-Briggs test and had a career coach help us interpret the results. It took just half an hour to answer the ninety-or-so questions and generate my Myers-Briggs profile of istj. I'll let you go look that up if you're that interested. I'd like to say that it was money well spent but I rather suspect that the organisation wasted their money, well with mine anyway. It really wasn't necessary for a test to tell me that I am prone to organisation, prefer planned events rather than those that are spontaneous and enjoy detail rather than abstract thought.

What was surprise is that the test revealed that I'm the only one in the team with tendancy towards introversion. Given that they're all engineers I find that hard to believe and it leads me to wonder if the test really is all it's cracked up to be.

Either way at least I have hard documentation to prove that I'm in the perfect job, a Project Manager in an engineering organisation. Phew!


So there you have it, a few random thoughts from a fairly eventful week. It was certainly busy but thankfully we're now on holiday for a few weeks. As I sit here and type this we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of family from the UK. It's going to be a blast and whilst I hope not as eventful as getting hit by a van I'm sure there will be lots to write about!

A Night of Two Halves

I’m struggling to remember the last time I voluntarily got up at 2am. I know I have done it because I recognised the feeling straight away; slightly fuzzy head, sore eyes and a general air of bewilderment. It must have been to catch a flight but not for a while and certainly not recently as most of flights from New Zealand leave at more civilised times. Well they might as well because wherever they’re going they’ve got a hell of a long way to go and therefore a lot of time to fill. 

Anyway, this time it wasn’t for a holiday that we set the alarm clock for 01:50am. We may have had bags under our eyes, but there were no bags packed and the only flight we were using was the flight of stairs to the living room (no that wasn’t a stretch of a metephor because our living room really is upstairs!). The World Cup was on and England were playing in their first quarter final in decades. We had a date with destiny....and of course the sofa and a cup of tea.

It’s quite easy to say now that it was all worth it, with England having dispatched Sweden by a comfortable two goals, but it didn’t feel that way as the pre-match analysis segued into the match coverage, streamed courtesy of the BBC. I can now confirm, with first hand experience, that sleep deprivation and in-game punditry don’t go hand in hand, especially as all you really want is soothing music to help you get back to the land of nod. Yet, a large proportion of Auckland slept on, we settled down, tried to clear our heads with a cup of tea and hoped that the football would be worth the effort.

At this point I’d like to go on record and say that had we been living in the UK and a similar situation had presented itself, I very much doubt that we would have risen from our slumber. Not because we appreciate the spectacle any less but because being 12,000km from home gives it a certain amount of focus. It’s almost as if a badge of honour is gained by tuning in at some ungodly hour. After all, when you’re living in a country that obsesses over another form of team game, it’s not a bad thing to remind others that the ‘proper’ World Cup is playing out in a part of the world that isn’t New Zealand and doesn’t involve the All Blacks. I challenge even the most ardent unsupporter of football to do anything less under those circumstances!

As a former colleague of mine was happy to note “hindsight’s and exact science” and I’m writing this from a comfortable position of knowing the game was won and England will be appearing in a World Cup semi final for the first time in 28 years. A time when most of the players hadn’t even been born. Now that’s a sobering thought. Not that any alcohol was drank last night. Well, it was but not since the first half of sleep had taken place. Being drunk in the morning is not a good look whoever you are!

So with the first half of sleep safely under my belt, and I must say it was a commanding performance, and the half time entertainment out of the way, I settled down for the second half. Obviously I was hoping to build on the solid first but as they quite often say (although I’ve never actually heard this) it’s a game of two halves. The second half didn’t start as well as the first. I was restless, slightly cold and didn’t have the same urgency that I greeted the start of the first half with. After ten minutes it was clear that I was going to have to change my tactics....

Time then for the hot water bottle. You can call me a pampered Prima Donna all you like, and there maybe some truth in that, but it did the trick. Now I was properly warmed up I was on a roll and soon drifted into sleep. With added stoppage time at the end of the second half I awoke refreshed and ready to face the challenges of the day. 

Overall, I was pretty happy with my performance over the course of two halves. Maybe I gained too much energy from the first half to have a really successful second? After all, who could keep that level of inactivity up for the whole period? Maybe my choice of halftime refreshments could also do with some analysis - perhaps two cups of tea was just too much? Well there would be time to take a look at that and maybe even another chance to put it into practice....the World Cup Final was just around the corner....and it could be a dream come true!