Inside that box is our Thanksgiving turkey, shipped from the South Island at a rather ridiculous cost.

We’ll have dinner for 6 on Saturday.

The swimming weather has been really good over the past few weeks and now that we’re on Summer Time it’s possible to get in an ocean swim before work sometimes.

Here’s a few pre-swim shots from the last several weeks… all pretty much the same, but all beautiful. I suppose it’s possible that I will get desensitized and stop noticing sunrises like this. But not yet.

Thanks!

My work falls into the category of “hard to explain succinctly”. If you’ve got a few minutes and a bit of background in logic or healthcare delivery, I can usually describe what I do well enough for you to nod your head and say how much you love hockey, or remark on the great weather we’ve had recently.

But this banner outside the local pharmacy is about as close as I’ve ever gotten to building something that gets used in the real world. I’m part of the team that recently released an app for pharmacies to more easily document and get paid for the vaccines they deliver. It’s a good source of revenue for the pharmacies and takes a bit of burden away from overworked GPS.

Or rather, keeping the poo out of the pool.

I slept in the other day and barely left enough time for a dip before work. I’d been in the water all of about 3 minutes when the lifeguards stopped me and said I had to get out. They’d somehow managed to put too much chemicals in the water. So, I took an extra-long shower and got a coffee on the way home. That’s almost like a workout. Not!

I gave up my membership at the Olympic Pool earlier this year because I’m not working or living near enough to it anymore. And the Birkenhead Pool is so close by, just a 10 minute walk. But they’ve been plagued by staff shortages and other problems like this chemical incident, so the convenient location does come at a cost.

Yesterday I saw two sure fire signs that spring is upon us…

First, the fern tree is unrolling its new leaves. I think the whole fiddlehead shape is very beautiful, although these aren’t so pretty up close, all covered with fuzzy hairs that sort of look like an infestation of creepy-crawlies. I really am happy we have this tree… they’re not rare or anything but they’re definitely one of the things that reminds me we’re not in Kansas anymore.

And second, up go the town’s Christmas decorations. Another thing I find beautiful but is a bit grubby up close. Without the bulwark of Thanksgiving, there’s nothing but Halloween to stop the spread of Christmas. And so, while the kids were still suffering their post-trick-or-treat tummy aches, the downtown committee hauled out the garlands and the ladders and got to work.

This drilling rig has been making its way around the neighborhood for the last few weeks. Now it’s on our street.

The water company sent us a notice of upcoming exploratory works, and so I suppose this is that. They seem to work in one spot for a day or two and then move a few hundred meters and start over. Probably they’re sending cameras into the pipes as well as looking at soil structures so they know what needs replacing and how tricky it will be to make everything solid. As the recent sewer line failure across town reminded everyone, the ground moves!

It seems to take 3-4 people to do the actual drilling work and a whole bunch more to (rather languidly) manage the traffic. And also a couple guys to just sit in trucks with the engine running. And supervisors visit sometimes. And the orange cones, Auckland’s official flower, have to be set up and put back each day by a subcontractor.

This is the stump of a big ficus tree that was just up the road from us. It dominated, even overpowered, the front yard of its house. Those impressive roots must surely have played havoc with the drainage system.

The arborists work fast! By lunchtime this big old tree, including lots of its tentacular roots, was reduced to a pile of mulch. Sorta sad, but I bet the homeowner is relieved on some levels.

Never the kind of people to pass up free stuff, we grabbed various big bags and helped ourselves. We used the mulch in a bed by the side of the house that needed sprucing up. (Sorry about the weird angle on that photo… it’s taken from the balcony looking down and sideways.)

My third time fishing with ex-colleague Clifford, some other HealthLink staff, and Clifford’s preferred charter captain Nik.

The first time, we had rough weather and a particularly hard-riding boat. The second time was better. But this time, even though it was Friday the 13th, was best of all.

We set out from Gulf Harbour, 45 minutes north of Auckland, and motored north from there for less than an hour before dropping our lines. We caught a couple of small fish but decided to try another spot anyway. As we were getting ready to move, we saw the signs of a workup off in the distance … mainly a crowd of birds, including some gannets doing their amazing plunge dives.

As we got closer we could see it was a big one… a whole ball of little fish near the surface, being preyed on by birds from above, dolphins near the surface, and — we hoped — snapper from below.

Sure enough, we no sooner dropped our lines than the snapper started biting.

And there were some big ones this time. I ended up with two of the biggest, 67 and 68 cm, approximately 13-14 pounds.

We caught our limit of seven fish each in under an hour. Which was great… but also a bit anti-climactic. I mean, you pay for an all-day charter, and then you’re done by 9:00 am? We drove around for a bit, half-heartedly trawling for kingfish, but apparently it’s not the right time of year. No nibbles, so we shrugged, took the win, and headed in.

I learned my lesson the first time… don’t fillet these guys yourself. I went to my local fish shop, where they had told me last time that they would do it. But they said no, too busy. So I drove into town and got the nice chaps at Kai Ika to take care of me. Well worth it. I ended up with about 12 pounds of fish, at a cost roughly twice retail.

They say a bad day fishing beats a good day working, “they” in this case probably meaning people who I don’t normally hang around with. But in the afterglow of a trip like this, I definitely get what they mean.

Fran and I were unstoppable at the 2023 Northcote Pétanque Club Doubles Championship on Sunday. It was a small field as several members are traveling, but even so we surprised ourselves by beating some people we usually don’t.

Our names will be engraved onto a little plaque which will be added to the 25 or so previous winners already on the trophy… good company to be in!

I’m really quite proud of winning this little contest, and that feeling of pride (given the exceptionally low stakes) makes me feel a bit silly. It makes me wonder: if I’d played more organized sports as a kid, maybe I would have worked all that out of my system. Or maybe not 🤷🏼‍♂️