Yum!

A couple of hours today were spent wandering round the Food Show. We didn't need any lunch. From Turkish bread to Cadbury's chocolate, from biltong to gingerbread icecream, from beetroot chutney to raspberry and apple juice, there was a very wide range of foods and drinks to try. So we did. Just sampling a bit of New Zealand culture and heritage, I reckon. It was all in the name of assimilation and no gluttony or self-indulgence at all, oh no.

Another couple of hours were spent trying to get to the bottom of quite what bank accounts and credit cards we're going to sort out for ourselves. It's a right con here, you know. The banks charge you for having accounts and credit cards with them. As if they don't make enough off you by earning interest off the cash they hold for you or by charging you interest on money they lend you, they then charge you for the priviledge. How does that make sense, eh?

Emma-Jane, Val's eldest daughter and Joanne's step-sister, nipped round to see us this afternoon, which was nice. She's hopefully going to come round on Sunday for dinner with her sister Becky to give them and Joanne a better chance to catch up. It's weird to think of Joanne having all this family (four sisters and one brother if you count the three step-sisters and one step-brother). For most of the time I've known her it's just been easy to forget that she has all this family back here. Does that make sense?

And speaking of family, Joanne phoned her sister, Rissy, on the Gold Coast, yesterday evening, but she was out. She still managed to chat to all of her nieces and nephews though, from Leon on to Xavier to Renee to Sarah to Koby (who's only two and a bit, I think). Not sure when we're going to head over to Oz to see them all, but hopefully sometime before Christmas, although that of course depends on work.

And speaking of work, there's some news regarding the job hunt for me. The employment agent dealing with the Ravensdown analyst role got back in touch with me and we've arranged an initial phone call for Monday morning at 9:15. Ravensdown is the largest supplier of fertiliser in Nuzziland.

Also I noticed a role on the Seek website for a data analyst last night tha I seemed to have the skills for. I got in touch today with the recruitment agent dealing with the role and found that it's with Meridian Energy who are the largest state-owned electricity generator in New Zealand. Interestingly, they operate nine hydro-electrical power stations and a wind turbine and wind farms too. They only generate using renewable sources and are the only energy provider with certified carbon neutral electricity, which is nice. And they're a shareholder in Whisper Tech, the company Joanne's going to be working for. Small world, eh? I'm in the process of arranging a meeting with the recruitment consultant. She wants to see me next week so hopefully we can sort something out for Thursday morning, once we're down in Christchurch. Fingers crossed, eh? It'd be nice to get something sorted. Everyone keeps telling me not to stress and to enjoy the time off, but I don't like the idea of Joanne going out to work and me sitting at home. I'd rather be working too, I think. I'd kind of feel guilty otherwise.