I am quite excited to be living somewhere that celebrates National Alpaca Day! I was quite disappointed that I forgot about it and went golfing that day instead. Alpaca farmers open up their farms to the public that day (if they wish) and you can go visit them. If you don't know what an alpaca is, they are related to llamas and their wool is finer than sheep's wool so as far as I know they are usually raised for wool and not meat. They are quirky things and we had a chance to get closer to them back in March 2011 while staying at a B&B that kept two as pets. With a buck-toothed grin they would greet us as we approached with food, making little curious staccato groaning noises. Meeting those two endeared us to the species and the trouble is that we didn't even take photos of them! So I was looking forward to finding new alpacas to befriend but alas, we'll have to wait until the first Sunday of May next year. We did get a visit in with a trio of alpacas at the zoo last week but they weren't too interested in us. (There were too many funny alpaca photos to link to so if you are bored of looking at cats on the internet then google funny alpacas.)
This week I put my name in with a placement agency to increase the odds of my job hunting. I had signed up with this company the last time we were here and I had one day of work with them. The lovely thing is that the woman remembered me well - from one meeting back in September 2010! So when she called me in for an interview we just caught up on how I'd been since then and what brought us back. Very relaxed and friendly. Definitely the type of thing I could get used to with smaller town living. But unfortunately she said it's been kind of slow lately so hopefully they get more contracts coming in. (Just so I am not giving the impression that it's tiny here I checked wikipedia and the population of the district is 68,901 with a population density of 30 people per square kilometre - to compare to Metro Vancouver with over 2.3 million people and over 5000 people per square kilometre.)
Since it is a smaller area, some of the national government departments don't have offices here but will have a branch that functions in most capacities. For instance, the driver licencing authority. Yes, Dustin's been working on his licence conversion again this week. He studied his little heart out and was successful with his theory test on Friday. This was after he tried to book the test and was told he would need to get a letter from passport Canada explaining why his middle name is on his licence but not on his passport. It's not as though he uses his middle name as his first name ever but this was enough to have them want confirmation. So after ringing the head office's 0800 number - who advised that they are aware Canadian passports do not require your middle name - he had to get a reference number for the local branch to be able to accept his identification. That was simpler than having to get a letter from Canada but it must have been at least the tenth call he made after receiving different information from the local branch about the process. He definitely found the material and process different to his 3 driving tests back home (car licence, motorcycle and class one) and they are odd here in that you have to purchase a study book, you have to pay to do practice tests online and then the heavy truck test included only 10 out of the 35 being specific to heavy trucks. The funny thing is when he went for the job interview the manager mentioned that it would be good if Dustin got the truck licence eventually - so if you give him a goal, he's on a mission.
Turns out that the doctor did not forward his medical results to his employer yet so he won't be starting work on Monday. Hopefully not much more of a delay but they didn't give him a definite start date yet. That's a bit frustrating because he had the exam done on Tuesday! Not sure why it was held up but it means more waiting.
We got out to walk dogs again on Thursday and Dustin went today while I was at my volunteer training. There have been 6 dogs at the SPCA so we each walked 3 on Thursday and he took 2 out today. It's been surprising to see results in their temperament even after one walk. I had a bit more luck and enjoyed myself more the second time. We reckon that when we're ready to get a dog, if we're going through a shelter, we'll try to come out and visit with/walk them a few times before deciding because a bored and restless dog comes across so differently to one that's had a little care and attention.
So this coming week we hope to see a change to our routine. I've been able to pick up some project work from a consultant I've assisted in the past so that will be great to have some more to do while not sending out applications. Plus the projects are going to be fun and interesting, sweet as! The days are much cooler lately here - highs in the mid-teens and tonight is down to 4. That gym deal was perfectly timed because we've been making good use of it and probably have been more active because of it. As Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod say, "Keep fit and have fun!"
This week I put my name in with a placement agency to increase the odds of my job hunting. I had signed up with this company the last time we were here and I had one day of work with them. The lovely thing is that the woman remembered me well - from one meeting back in September 2010! So when she called me in for an interview we just caught up on how I'd been since then and what brought us back. Very relaxed and friendly. Definitely the type of thing I could get used to with smaller town living. But unfortunately she said it's been kind of slow lately so hopefully they get more contracts coming in. (Just so I am not giving the impression that it's tiny here I checked wikipedia and the population of the district is 68,901 with a population density of 30 people per square kilometre - to compare to Metro Vancouver with over 2.3 million people and over 5000 people per square kilometre.)
Since it is a smaller area, some of the national government departments don't have offices here but will have a branch that functions in most capacities. For instance, the driver licencing authority. Yes, Dustin's been working on his licence conversion again this week. He studied his little heart out and was successful with his theory test on Friday. This was after he tried to book the test and was told he would need to get a letter from passport Canada explaining why his middle name is on his licence but not on his passport. It's not as though he uses his middle name as his first name ever but this was enough to have them want confirmation. So after ringing the head office's 0800 number - who advised that they are aware Canadian passports do not require your middle name - he had to get a reference number for the local branch to be able to accept his identification. That was simpler than having to get a letter from Canada but it must have been at least the tenth call he made after receiving different information from the local branch about the process. He definitely found the material and process different to his 3 driving tests back home (car licence, motorcycle and class one) and they are odd here in that you have to purchase a study book, you have to pay to do practice tests online and then the heavy truck test included only 10 out of the 35 being specific to heavy trucks. The funny thing is when he went for the job interview the manager mentioned that it would be good if Dustin got the truck licence eventually - so if you give him a goal, he's on a mission.
Turns out that the doctor did not forward his medical results to his employer yet so he won't be starting work on Monday. Hopefully not much more of a delay but they didn't give him a definite start date yet. That's a bit frustrating because he had the exam done on Tuesday! Not sure why it was held up but it means more waiting.
We got out to walk dogs again on Thursday and Dustin went today while I was at my volunteer training. There have been 6 dogs at the SPCA so we each walked 3 on Thursday and he took 2 out today. It's been surprising to see results in their temperament even after one walk. I had a bit more luck and enjoyed myself more the second time. We reckon that when we're ready to get a dog, if we're going through a shelter, we'll try to come out and visit with/walk them a few times before deciding because a bored and restless dog comes across so differently to one that's had a little care and attention.
So this coming week we hope to see a change to our routine. I've been able to pick up some project work from a consultant I've assisted in the past so that will be great to have some more to do while not sending out applications. Plus the projects are going to be fun and interesting, sweet as! The days are much cooler lately here - highs in the mid-teens and tonight is down to 4. That gym deal was perfectly timed because we've been making good use of it and probably have been more active because of it. As Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod say, "Keep fit and have fun!"
I was reading your last few posts and could't help but smile at all the wonderful NZ things. Alpaca day, perfect:). And the golf courses, Jesse did one out in Bell Block (I think I remember that right) and we couldn't get over the honesty box payments, sweet, $8 for a round of golf is sweet as. I think about you guys lots as you look employment and all the things that will make New Plymouth feel like home. Shannon and JEsse
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading! Glad to hear it brings back smiles for NZ! We haven't played Bell Block yet - I think Dustin's been to about 4 other courses around town, it's funny how many golf courses there are locally! Thanks for the thoughts and hopefully some things will be coming together soon! :)
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