International babysitter and dogwalker extraordinaire
Again I'm at the Buchstaller's computer so no pictures for you! Yesterday afternoon, we took a drive up into the mountains only to find the observing platform closed, so we had to turn around and come back. You'd think they'd have had a sign down below at the last junction, but no. We went to a different lookout instead, but things were pretty hazy. Then, we went to a German restaurant (The Cuckoo) where Barb used to be the head baker. They had a whole spread laid out buffet style for "afternoon tea", and were swarming with people. They also had live music and entertainment, and although it's the type of place I generally like to avoid(!), it had a very European Sales Conference feel to it! Barb even got some business out of it, since the people there who run the place whom she knows from working there have now ordered 12 gluten-free cakes.
After "tea", we went to a clearing which is part of a wildlife refuge, and fed the cockatoos, rosellas, gulahs, and king parrots. Well, Barb and Peter fed them; I took pictures! The parrots and rosellas in particular are gorgeous.
At 6:30, we met Sonje, Justyn, and baby Jake for dinner at "Captain America's", an "American" burger place, plastered with U.S. license plates, and large cartoons of Captain America. I had a BBQ burger, "chips" (that would be fries), and a vanilla milkshake. Jake had "chippies" which he smushed all over, and yogurt which mostly went in his mouth although frequently ended up on his cheeks and nose.
We got home around 8, and Barb sent Peter to bed at 9, since he had to get up at 2 AM to start his 3 AM shift work - he delivers milk for a dairy. I went to bed around 10:30, after watching the finals of Australian Idol with Barb, and was again asleep almost instantly. I woke up to cockatoos making an outrageous racket around 8:30, but dozed for another hour.
Showered and had breakfast, then took Bernie for a walk. He was skittish to begin with, kept looking for Barb, but eventually settled down. He is a nervous thing, by virtue of his first years in the lab. Even calm, he's on alert. So I took him on a half hour walk, and by the time we got back, it was time for Barb to leave for the doctor. She's had a terrible cough that has gotten much worse since I've been here, and now she's coughing up stuff, and not sleeping because of it. I'm glad I'm sleeping in a separate bungalow. And I'm praying that I don't get whatever she has.
Allergies are hitting me really hard today. There are four cats (Bronson, Ziggy, Amy, and Connie) and although I've been careful not to touch my eyes, my nose is all tickly. I took a single Benadryl, and that seems to have half worked because I'm better now, but I'm not terribly upset to be going somewhere cat-free tomorrow.
Okay; I should sign off and get to work on my presentation and panel preparation. I have found out that my paper is first up after the keynotes on Thursday, and our panel is right after lunch on Thursday afternoon. It's so weird to think about presenting on Thanksgiving!
Oh, also - I got my B&Bs rearranged for NZ (I've "got them sorted", as they'd say here), so I'll be two nights in Wellington, three in Nelson, and then one in Wellington, so to make my trip back to Boston a bit more sane. Had I stayed in Nelson on the last night, I would have had to catch a 90 minute shuttle to a 90 minute ferry (or 3 hours depending on which one I took) to Wellington, then a taxi to the airport, then a quick flight to Auckland, then a long flight to LA, then a six hour flight to Boston, all in one day. At least this way, I'm already in Wellington, can fly right to Auckland and then everything else as above.
After "tea", we went to a clearing which is part of a wildlife refuge, and fed the cockatoos, rosellas, gulahs, and king parrots. Well, Barb and Peter fed them; I took pictures! The parrots and rosellas in particular are gorgeous.
At 6:30, we met Sonje, Justyn, and baby Jake for dinner at "Captain America's", an "American" burger place, plastered with U.S. license plates, and large cartoons of Captain America. I had a BBQ burger, "chips" (that would be fries), and a vanilla milkshake. Jake had "chippies" which he smushed all over, and yogurt which mostly went in his mouth although frequently ended up on his cheeks and nose.
We got home around 8, and Barb sent Peter to bed at 9, since he had to get up at 2 AM to start his 3 AM shift work - he delivers milk for a dairy. I went to bed around 10:30, after watching the finals of Australian Idol with Barb, and was again asleep almost instantly. I woke up to cockatoos making an outrageous racket around 8:30, but dozed for another hour.
Showered and had breakfast, then took Bernie for a walk. He was skittish to begin with, kept looking for Barb, but eventually settled down. He is a nervous thing, by virtue of his first years in the lab. Even calm, he's on alert. So I took him on a half hour walk, and by the time we got back, it was time for Barb to leave for the doctor. She's had a terrible cough that has gotten much worse since I've been here, and now she's coughing up stuff, and not sleeping because of it. I'm glad I'm sleeping in a separate bungalow. And I'm praying that I don't get whatever she has.
Allergies are hitting me really hard today. There are four cats (Bronson, Ziggy, Amy, and Connie) and although I've been careful not to touch my eyes, my nose is all tickly. I took a single Benadryl, and that seems to have half worked because I'm better now, but I'm not terribly upset to be going somewhere cat-free tomorrow.
Okay; I should sign off and get to work on my presentation and panel preparation. I have found out that my paper is first up after the keynotes on Thursday, and our panel is right after lunch on Thursday afternoon. It's so weird to think about presenting on Thanksgiving!
Oh, also - I got my B&Bs rearranged for NZ (I've "got them sorted", as they'd say here), so I'll be two nights in Wellington, three in Nelson, and then one in Wellington, so to make my trip back to Boston a bit more sane. Had I stayed in Nelson on the last night, I would have had to catch a 90 minute shuttle to a 90 minute ferry (or 3 hours depending on which one I took) to Wellington, then a taxi to the airport, then a quick flight to Auckland, then a long flight to LA, then a six hour flight to Boston, all in one day. At least this way, I'm already in Wellington, can fly right to Auckland and then everything else as above.
posted by Jen at 1:48 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home