Three thoughts for Thursday:
(Seriously interested to know what you think about the recipe blog idea).
Irony: To hope that a day’s air travel will produce a good story. When it does, it turns out that you’re the butt of the joke.
True, I turned up to the airport yesterday secretly hoping for a cool story to tell at the end of the day (yes, us sanguines do things like that. Or at least eccentric old men like myself).
First thing that happened was finding out that the flight we were not on the passenger list. Yes, we had a printout confirming our booking. No, that didn’t make it to the airline computer.
Secondly, our flight was had been canceled. Yes, the airline called people to tell them this. No, they didn’t call us! (We took a later flight in the end).
Thirdly, I forgot to take the pocket-knife off of my keys. This wasn’t a problem at this end of the flight; the knife was small enough that security didn’t seem to mind. Returning however, I was advised that security was strict at the Wellington terminal (point of departure), and advised to check in my bag, which I could then put my keys into. I should have just put the knife portion in; when I tried to collect my bag upon arrival home, I discovered that the airline had “forgotten” to put my bag on the plane! They didn’t forget anyone else’s…
That’ll teach me to go looking for a story to at every opportunity!
Today was the first time I paid for parking while living here in Auckland. I feel dirty inside.
It’s official; I’m an old man. And you know what? I’m not afraid of it!
I love to tell stories. I’ve thought a lot about when I’m actually old, how I’ll be one of those guys who tells stories all the time, capturing everyone’s attention with tales that no one’s quite sure if they’re true. One of my favourite photos of myself is me telling a story.
In my church home group, there are two of us with the name Joseph. I’m the oldest, so my nickname is “Old Man Joe”.
The other day was my birthday. I received a card from a friend with a picture of an old man on the front. It made me smile. “Happy Birthday! I saw this card and thought it looked like a picture of you when you’re old.”
There are many fun things about the bus system in Auckland. This week:
I guess that getting used to Auckland may be a little more difficult than I thought…
Jeff Childers:
“Your inner life is like a banana tree filled with monkeys jumping up and down.”
Describes me perfectly!
Some friends and I went to Denny’s restaurant late last night. As in many restaurants, Denny’s has an area where you wait to be seated. The four of us waited 10 minutes, without anyone coming to give us a table. After 10 minutes, a party of three arrived, and were seated almost straight away! (Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode). It took one of us to ask to be seated, before they paid any attention to us!
Karin: “I love the fact that you can go to Denny’s at 3am in the morning, and the food sucks and they’re mean to you, but you can count on it!”
Things I’ve spent way too long on this week:
On the upside, I’m slowly getting settled in to Auckland (bus-related incidents included). More to come on that front.
Yesterday I got called a Woman Driver… by a woman!
The Story: I was pulling out of the driveway so I could back my car in (to hook up a trailer). As I backed out, I checked to make sure nothing was coming either way (we live on a narrow street). After I had pulled out, and was preparing to back in, a lady drove down the road, not bothering to slow down as she approached me. The only reason she didn’t hit me was because I quickly backed into the driveway.
Was she talking to herself?! Perhaps it’s just an Auckland thing?
McDonald’s here in NZ recently came out with a new burger called “Name It Burger”, with which they held a competition to name the burger, funnily enough. I think they need to work on the titles of their existing burgers before worrying about new ones…
The picture you see is a standard cheeseburger; whoever made it decided that onion goes best on the outside of the bun. Eh?