tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-110074102011-12-27T21:52:57.021+13:00The story of a boy, a girl, and a cat moving around the world...King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.comBlogger2291100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-988422630733203462010-01-06T12:33:00.004+13:002010-01-06T12:55:29.938+13:00

I had the opportunity to spend a day at Omarama gliding while on a a tour of the south island over New Years. It was about half-way through our trip and the weather had been mixed but mainly good up to that point. We showed up in Omarama the night before at about 9:00PM to see a couple gliders landing so that was a good sign. They were just starting to pack up shop at Southern Soaring but Chris

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-20410490520522912132009-09-10T01:24:00.015+12:002009-09-14T01:37:57.226+12:00

We arrived into Tokyo after a twelve hour flight from Frankfurt feeling fairly refreshed after an evening of doing nothing in the hotel. No walking around checking out old buildings. No expeditions to discover new evening eating establishments. It was nothing but room service and German TV. That was all to change, oh yes.We arrived into Tokyo with enough information to get us from the airport to

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-34266526813383199712009-09-07T07:00:00.004+12:002009-09-15T18:58:56.363+12:00

After 35+ hours in transit we are finally into our hotel room in Vienna. As crappy as 35 hours on airplanes and in airports sounds it really wasn't that bad. As long as you have sleeping pills and a bit of entertainment you are ok. We are going to read this post in 30 years and laugh about having to travel like this since we will just be teleporting everywhere.Some thoughts on Vienna- Definitely

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-60286595026991913232009-09-07T06:18:00.004+12:002009-09-07T06:58:57.789+12:00

About 9 months ago I went to Europe for a business trip and Roberta stayed at home. When the plan started to formulate to send me back to Europe for work it wasn't even discussed. Roberta was coming along as well. There is something amazing about the history in places like London and Vienna that the locals take for granted. Sometimes it takes a tourist to remind them of how stunning their home

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-61771038343197200762009-04-26T06:27:00.002+12:002009-04-26T06:51:16.463+12:00

It was my last couple days in the UK and I was staying with Jarlath. They gave me a great place to sleep and cooked some awesome food. They also enjoyed playing the train game and stomping me at it. It looks like they play trains often by their knowledge of the routes. A gracious host would have let the guest win at least on game.The final day in London went well. As I was heading to the airport

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-59355906783684362722009-04-22T18:33:00.003+12:002009-04-22T18:47:33.829+12:00

The third day in London consisted of lots more walking which is the way to see the city. I left the hotel without any particular plan except I had to be to the Globe Theater at around noon to meet Jarlath and the Family to go to the open day.Walking down random streets you will see a sign on the side of a building that says "Thomas Edison lived here". Huh, now that is history. Its nice that it is

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-42885558257415453992009-04-19T10:04:00.005+12:002009-04-19T10:35:57.774+12:00

Today it was off to the Camden Markets and then my first shot at the British Museum.Bradley mentioned that I should go to the Camden Markets. I had no idea what they were about, I didn't read anything, I just went. Off to the tube...The underground system here is amazing. It seems like a model of how mass transportation should work. Also, when they say "Underground" they really mean it. When I

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-88958689300487502702009-04-18T17:03:00.005+12:002009-04-19T10:36:20.998+12:00

The First Day:My trip to London is starting off great. The flights from New Zealand involved a 3 hour flight to Sydney, then an 8 hour flight to Singapore, then finally the long haul of 13 hours to London. Luckily I magically got upgrade to Business class on the flight from Singapore to London. Business class is much nicer than premium economy since the seats fold almost flat and I got to live

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-50927786783662132592009-04-15T07:55:00.003+12:002009-04-15T08:05:03.457+12:00

This weekend I'm heading down to the X-Terra Triathlon in Rotorua. I'm doing the swim (1000m) and the run (11k trail run). I don't have a mountain bike so a friend is going to do that bit. I'm easily in shape for both legs. I'm just a little bit nervous about riding my motorbike down to Rotorua as I haven't done a distance ride in sometime. I should be fine. So for now I've banned myself from (

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-29288689372275197142009-04-07T21:37:00.004+12:002009-04-07T22:00:03.510+12:00

My Bianchi Volpe is still holding up quite well on month 9 of my one year bicycle challenge. Last month I had an accident and landed on the hood of a car and luckily did not get hurt. Landing on the hood of a car is a lot softer than landing on concrete. The Volpe took some damage to the head gear and that had to be replaced for $90 but had it been in a car the damage would have been a lot more

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-27892601446021014592009-04-06T19:22:00.015+12:002009-04-06T23:02:32.037+12:00

I went up north with a friend who was determined to go to the tip of New Zealand. So we did just that this last 'extended' weekend. Here are the six highlights and all of the pictures:1. Paihia (Bay of Islands)- nice little town with ferry access to Russel and is where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed aka birthplace of New Zealand. Would recommend the Pickled Parrot hostel. I could easily spend

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-16643091161428115152009-03-26T22:09:00.003+13:002009-03-26T22:46:37.852+13:00

Did you mark my words..?... oh wait I did...where I posted here about how National Party was doing OK but needed to do something more with sustainable transport. Well they messed up by reallocating all of the money set aside for public transport to more state highways. They divert your attention away from where the money came from by saying it was through administration costs. This doesn't stack

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-59922715240389988682009-03-26T21:44:00.003+13:002009-03-26T21:57:15.661+13:00

We're taking a jewelry making class at workshop 6 in Kingsland here's a picture of our first silver rings, pendants (with brown stone), engagement mock ring (copper silver) and the beginnings of our wedding bands. For our engagement rings we are essentially piecing together three different bands trying to keep it simple yet interesting. The gold came from these mini 'bars' of gold that we

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-22594303623227504422009-03-02T20:59:00.003+13:002009-03-02T21:40:01.249+13:00

I'll just say it right now I did not vote for the National Party (it's the republican equivalent). I was very excited to vote at a poll in NZ, as I have always done mail ballots in Oregon. So here are 4 things the National Party is doing right.1. They didn't mess it up with a bad copyright law and made it onto boingboing.2. They are reviewing the Resource Management Act. It's their version of

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-63764966437372370482008-12-13T22:28:00.001+13:002008-12-13T22:29:55.891+13:00

 Thanksgiving bbq at the beach in Muriwai

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-24856299078936419182008-11-26T23:22:00.002+13:002008-11-26T23:27:45.721+13:00

You may have missed it but some folks in Wellington posted a comment requesting to plug a new dvd about moving to New Zealand. They are from the east coast US and are now living in Wellington. Anything that helps skilled labour move to NZ is OK by me. Granted I've never seen this video so can't vouch for it. But if they wanted to send me a free dvd, and I'll check weather its good, and later post

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-62115292655428059302008-11-26T23:03:00.002+13:002008-11-26T23:20:55.050+13:00

I did a Stroke and Stride event at St. Heliers. 750m swim, 3 k run and I am pooped. I was really nervous about it, mostly about the transition and not having the flash gear, and having my blabs hanging out everywhere. When I arrived at the race there were some real pros (totally buff hot people) walking around. Crap-oh-crap I thought. Well I walked around and eyed some ladies that looked more my

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-66240412933043260022008-11-17T18:21:00.003+13:002008-11-17T18:56:42.827+13:00

For all the parents out there, I came across a really cool seminar for parents:Participants learn effective ways to encourage religious literacy without indoctrination; help kids interact productively with a religious world; help kids develop active moral reasoning; weigh church-state issues in the public sphere; address sensitive issues with religious relatives using the principles of nonviolent

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-27375969536329022282008-11-16T17:44:00.003+13:002008-11-16T17:58:32.983+13:00

Yay, I swam across the Auckland Harbour today in the organized sea swim. I could have swam a lot farther. I think I'll try to do another ocean swim for a farther distance. They do a swim around Rangitoto that is about 4.8kms. I think the only thing holding me back is the chafing around my neck from my wetsuit. I used some anti-chafing stuff (comes in a deodorant type dispenser), which helped, but

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-58161060529452038092008-11-10T18:17:00.003+13:002008-11-10T18:41:07.326+13:00

It's time for me to do something crazy. I've been training for the Auckland Harbour Swim. I think I'm prepared. Yesterday I swam 3000 metres at the Parnell baths (cold saltwater pool), and I have been doing some open water swims with a local group at Kohimarama so feel fairly prepared, but it will still be a challenge. I'm looking forward to it. Wish me luck!I hope my teeth don't get too cold

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-19833139444992093252008-11-10T17:59:00.003+13:002008-11-10T18:17:03.225+13:00

As some of you may know, I've had some dental problems stemming from an accident as a little girl. My two front teeth, literally, where knocked dead and I have been very careful with a second set of crowns on them. They finally both came loose at the same time, and I had both of the entire tooth pulled and two titanium implant posts as replacements. Titanium apparently does a really good job of '

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-90332173233816211402008-09-09T07:54:00.002+12:002008-09-09T08:04:38.975+12:00

I've been riding to work everyday rain or shine. Yay, it's been fun and I've lost a little weight, fortunately no close encounters with cars since day 1.Yesterday I opted not to ride my bike because of a dentist appointment, then I was going to take a taxi to work. For various reasons I ended up riding the bus to work during rush hour and it was soooo painfully slow. Urgh, I'd rather ride my bike

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-71409325089411045192008-08-15T19:47:00.002+12:002008-08-15T19:51:38.774+12:00

So it's been about four weeks since I've been commuting to work by bike. I'm much more savvy in traffic than my first day when I got hit by a car. Except now I completely take over a lane when I need to and don't give a fuck sake whether they start honking their horn. At least they see me. The days are getting longer so I'm mostly riding during the day. Still having fun on it, got all the traffic

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-22870629006037491272008-07-29T19:38:00.002+12:002008-07-29T21:02:12.003+12:00

We've been out of the country for just over 3 years, having lived in Costa Rica and now New Zealand for the last two years. I certainly do miss the conveniences of living in the states. There's a lot of things that are just faster (internet), cheaper and easier in the US vs. living in NZ. I won't go into those details. However, the one thing that disturbed me the most was the high level of

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-76393275178534922962008-07-23T20:42:00.002+12:002008-07-23T21:07:50.435+12:00

Yes, sadly, Auckland drivers are totally dildos. It was a pathetic wet rainy morning and some douchenozzlette on her way to work drove by me and clipped me with her mirror. The best part was she didn't stop.I bitched her out at the next intersection, scaring the living shit out of her. I forgot to get her plate numbers. Here's what Cycle Action Auckland say to do about reporting incidences. It

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-50080078449363586292008-07-21T23:01:00.002+12:002008-07-21T23:13:30.818+12:00

They were so sure of the Bianchi Volpe as a steel tough commuting bike at the shop they humourously challenged me to test it. The smirky smile on Adam's face acknowledged that if there was something to break I would find it. I fully admit I'm the asshat twit who doesn't know how to shift gears. It's an honest mistake, I haven't been on a bike in years. You just have to pedal when your shifting,

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-47646259033592885022008-07-18T16:09:00.004+12:002008-12-14T11:57:53.353+13:00

Yay, I'm so excited about my new bike, a Bianchi Volpe! We are like one now that I have the clipless peddles. I can power up our steep bumpy driveway. I was really hesitant to get a new bike for fear I wouldn't ride it. That is definitely not going to be the case with this bike. It's such a pleasure to ride. I just went out and rode about 40ks and this is the first time I've been on a bike in

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-89887931816329798552008-07-16T20:37:00.006+12:002008-07-17T08:24:44.351+12:00

After High Sierra we spent 3 days recovering in San Francisco at Adam's sister's and her b.f. Kevin's place. We were pretty burnt and spent practically the entire time taking naps on the floor in their tiny apartment. Kevin took the time to explain the strategy of the Tour de France, or just road bicycle racing in general. And we basically tried to stay out of June's way cuz she works (a lot)

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-10442482079683816432008-07-16T12:17:00.002+12:002008-07-16T12:50:34.056+12:00

By far the highlight of our trip to the states was High Sierra Music Festival. We've been to High Sierra about 4 or 5 times now and we both always have an incredibly good time.We usually camp in the same spot with generally the same people - friends from Klamath Falls and Portland. Here's some photo albums:Dr Dan's Photo AlbumDan the Man's PhotosAdam's and my photos including other vacation

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-84877214234267491942008-06-29T08:49:00.003+12:002008-07-16T12:09:37.195+12:00

Originally uploaded by KingnerdWe have been on our stateside vacation for a number of days now. When we left NZ it was cold and rainy and the fireplace was in operation whenever we were at home. Now we are in Marion Oregon where it is about 100 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. Roberta is out at a camp with her sister and kids but will be coming to the goat farm party tomorrow. It should be a

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-75121895012122655182008-06-28T10:02:00.000+12:002008-07-16T12:10:47.208+12:00

As most of you know we spent the last three weeks in the States. Here's were we went and did.Darren and Kristen graciously hosted us, again, in their large beautiful home in northwest. I really connect with Kristen, and Darren is always so sweet (even though he looks like a bad-ass). That night their band The Chapman Swift played, where Kristen turned into a rock-n-roll diva, Darren a killer

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-51450650515343378292008-06-16T10:55:00.000+12:002008-07-16T12:05:33.068+12:00

Adam had a conference in Australia so we decided to spend some time in Melbourne. We've been hearing a lot of good things about Melbourne. Everything we had heard was true. Melbourne is a spectacularly cool city. I don' really know how it ranked lower than Auckland. Melbourne was much nicer than Auckland, except maybe because it was a lot colder than expected. Here's some pictures of the trip.

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-53985749260990140592008-05-03T10:45:00.003+12:002008-12-14T11:57:53.580+13:00

Two weekends ago I went to the Pukekohe racetrack for the Advanced Rider Training. I've been meaning to get to the race track. I've always figured that it would be good to test my bike in a safe(r) environment. What I didn't think/realize was that I would have a farkin blast! It was so fun. And so dangerous at the same time.Here's a video of me passing on the inside, bout three people. Though I

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-78344476981792410932008-05-01T19:36:00.002+12:002008-12-14T11:57:54.056+13:00

Adam had a couple of gigs in his band so I took off for a motorcycle ride around the East Cape of New Zealand. I didn't know anybody who was into distance riding. View Larger MapANZAC stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps, and ANZAC day is a public holiday (yay!). It's the last three day weekend at the end of summer. Adam and I were going to go to the Great Barrier Island but the music

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-42134291396479901252008-04-30T20:34:00.005+12:002008-12-14T11:57:54.315+13:00

Margaret you've won this round but revenge is imminent.Click for more fail dog pictures

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-87449499419177996592008-04-27T08:49:00.002+12:002008-12-14T11:57:54.497+13:00

Adam must have logged in to blogger when he was over last night, and he's still signed in. Hey the door was open, I just walked in. By using the word "hijacking", you will be monitored by a secret government agency, but I suspect they are already watching. Roberta is on a motorcycle trip to the East Cape, and I'm not envying her today because rain is pissing down. It's not too cold though, so

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-1514181638298413902008-03-31T17:39:00.003+13:002008-12-14T11:57:54.704+13:00

My first ever day on a race track on my motorbike. I was scared shitless the whole time! It was an open track day, which means that anybody can show up and ride some loops for $90 bucks, everybody together. I was invited by James who gave me a pre lesson on the track and curves. I didn't remember a bit of it. One guy on the track told me to think about gearing but I couldn't remember even that.

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-85795284121407567092008-03-24T11:32:00.002+13:002008-03-24T11:36:13.675+13:00

Easter... when Jesus rose from the dead... and we all know what a person is when he rises from the dead...Next year we are having a zombie themed party on Easter. Maybe we will make some brain shaped easter eggs and have a "Zombie Jesus Day Brains Hunt".

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-79055263224359043752008-03-24T10:11:00.001+13:002008-03-24T11:17:32.183+13:00

Last Friday as the sun started to fade I had to kick start my lazy, pms bitchin', cranky ass and go for a bloody run in the Auckland Domain. I did a couple of rounds around the domain before it started to get too dark (map). I usually run up and down the grass hills to save my knees from pavement poundingThere were numerous 'unofficial' games of soccer and rugby going on. As I was running up

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-88389025026268460622008-03-22T06:57:00.003+13:002008-12-14T11:57:55.101+13:00

At the Kumeu A and P show I noticed one table of crappy handiwork had the silliest sign on it. "No photography permitted.". Hmmm... So I am going to photograph these little New Zealand flax wallets with stones on them and then I am going to go home and spend the time to figure out how to reproduce them and then come back to the Kumeu A and P show next year and sell them and put her out of

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-71383841209111339702008-03-18T08:17:00.003+13:002008-03-18T08:42:16.553+13:00

We met Margaret and Darren via the blog, they moved to NZ just after us, and we've been hanging out since. We went to the cheesefest together and they've blogged about it as well. There's something about hanging out with americans that is comforting. Out and about in Auckland on a day to day basis its a myriad of internationals; south africans, pommies, irish, asians, indians, eastern europeans,

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-6283522577078417752008-03-15T12:16:00.000+13:002008-12-14T11:57:55.327+13:00

 Adam took this picture at the fair. It was so funny and terrible at the same time. The evil carnie just kept the ride going and going and everybody was watching and laughing. Luckily she caught on stopped crying and the carnie let her off.

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-67964347023747950692008-03-15T12:01:00.002+13:002008-12-14T11:57:55.564+13:00

I'm nursing a hangover this morning. Although I shouldn't talk about drinking too much, cause then my mom sends me a stink eye, yet nicely worded e-mail. Went to see Iron and Wine last night and it totally sucked, which totally sucks cause I really like all of their albums (except for the opera one). Adam aptly described it - they usually travel with an eight piece band, came to NZ with six piece

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-20775933151872371352008-03-06T09:26:00.003+13:002008-03-06T10:17:06.618+13:00

I need to say that I really enjoy most kinds of cheese. Soft cheese, hard cheese, mold ripened, flavored cheese, blue cheese, pump cheese for nachos at Circle-K. You name it, I will eat it so when I heard that there was an Auckland Cheese Festival where you pay $35 and eat as much cheese as you want I got fairly excited.The doors opened at 5:00 and we thought that we would get there early to beat

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-29936859120087897272008-03-04T20:00:00.003+13:002008-03-04T21:32:54.733+13:00

I took an onliine personality test online. I got it from linkfilter but I lost the link (first i've taken since college). Anyway, it said I was a strategist. We've been having thursday night strategy board games, with some competive types. We've been playing all those games that are based on city building: Carcasone, Settlers of Cattan, El Grande (one of Adam's new favorites). Sometimes work

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-37154099065618918012008-03-03T19:19:00.003+13:002008-03-03T20:01:36.959+13:00

I love the Ted Talks series. Adam and I don't have TV so if I get bored I'll go to Ted Talks for something interesting to watch.This latest one is about an archealogist in Africa who found one the oldest human species in the Badlands in Africa. What makes it interesting is that he draws parallels with what Africa is going through now. good stuff...though it is twenty minutes..

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-76974613708806370012008-03-01T18:20:00.004+13:002008-03-04T20:31:50.073+13:00

We went on a sail trip and we got to go sailing on the boats that won the America's cup. I had a good time practicing pirate speak when the let me steer! Of note, the family of Sir Edmond Hillary were spreading his ashes in the Auckland Harbour while we were out on the Spirit of New Zealand training boat. I feel like a local now.From the AP:In his book "View From the Summit," Hillary wrote that

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-3746452809821148232008-02-24T15:33:00.004+13:002008-12-14T11:57:55.803+13:00

Roberta and I left one morning for an exploratory drive south of Auckland. We had a general goal to head out to a beach but nothing more than that. While heading south on the motorway we saw a sign for the Auckland Botanic Garden and decided to stop.Auckland Botanic GardenThe buildings were very modern and it was a surprise that entry was free. The grounds are huge with many different areas of

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-11091106989853889722008-02-23T17:43:00.002+13:002008-12-14T11:57:56.075+13:00

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-28778853998068566582008-02-23T17:36:00.002+13:002008-12-14T11:57:56.909+13:00

Back in December that post about my first outlanding in Matamata was picked up by Soaring NZ via an e-mail list. It was pretty cool. On the opposite page there was an article about Richie McCaw (All-Blacks captin NZ rugby team that just lost to France). I was feeling pretty 'world-famous' in that not-so-famous NZ saying kind of way.Unfortunately a month or so later, the same instructor that I

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-7524091323350351412008-01-20T07:44:00.000+13:002008-01-20T08:05:53.310+13:00

We got a letter today from immigration and they accepted us as residents in NZ. This has been an interesting process that wasn't too difficult at any one point. It was just a lot of small hoops.Here is what we had to do to get residency here:Fill out the online Expression of Interest form to get scored to be able to apply for residency.WaitGet accepted to apply for residency. They then send you a

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-9423606685013519602007-12-10T18:46:00.000+13:002008-12-14T11:57:57.497+13:00

Recently I got the opportunity to fly with an experienced pilot in the North Island Regional gliding competition. The concept is that there is a week of flying and there are a few classes based on the type of glider you are flying and your skill level. You obviously don't want someone spending $250k on a glider duking it out with a $20k glider. We flew our Twin Astir in the Club Class which has a

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-25811617325886051172007-11-12T20:16:00.000+13:002007-11-26T22:19:34.183+13:00

Napier is about 5 hours southeast of Auckland on the east coast in Hawkes Bay. I attended a conference on push biking in New Zealand. Luckily I had a free ride via my employer, though now I'm going to have to produce some work out if it... blah blah work blah.I can split the ride into two parts, there and back. Easy enough.Getting there entailed packing up and getting the appropriate gear

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-90855644013572427362007-11-09T19:37:00.000+13:002008-02-06T20:46:35.275+13:00

Dennis Kucinich brought HR 799 to the house two days ago. This calls for the impeachment of Dick Cheney on three counts. It looks like the Democrats tried to table it which would have killed it. The Republicans turned around and voted for it to open a discussion about the Democrats' record towards the war. Nancy Peloci has said that she will not consider a move for impeachment because it would

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-7672294930498755232007-10-22T21:09:00.000+13:002007-10-28T21:01:46.387+13:00

Last weekend we went to Matamata for the extended labour day weekend. Thanks unions!The Piako gliding club flys out of an airstrip just north of Matamata. Saturday the first day was packed, there were a lot of gliders on the field and there were some vintage aircraft pilots that were showing off. For most of the day I was duty pilot, which means I write down the names and times of everybody else

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-3387314574378634392007-10-06T16:32:00.000+13:002007-11-04T21:16:12.613+13:00

I took a motorcycle safety class for intermediates last weekend and somebody was taking a few pictures. Here are a few of mine.A few differences between US style classes and Kiwi classesa) You can have a drink if you know what your tolerance limit is vs. the US where they taught no drinking and motorcycling. Not that I would ever drink and ride, cause I'm a little paranoid about these things.b)

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-73696988368607781022007-10-04T20:16:00.000+13:002007-10-04T20:21:21.797+13:00

I was walking home from the pool and the garbage truck pulls up and out from the back jumps this hot shirtless crew of garbage men. They were wearing their high impact running shoes and running shorts. It's like they were running a marathon behind the garbage truck and just happen to be throwing the recycling in the back.This country is so fit. Everybody works out a lot it seems.Other things of

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-6875715051704695342007-09-24T19:10:00.000+12:002008-12-14T11:57:57.952+13:00

Yesterday I went out to the glider field for a flight and the conditions weren't the greatest. The cloud base was at about 800 feet which was easily the lowest that I have ever flow in. We basically towed off the end of the field and were looking for a hole in the clouds to climb into. We got up to 1500 feet and thats about as high as we could get safely. Oh, did I forget to mention that it was

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-71934120375698024462007-08-26T19:10:00.000+12:002007-09-03T09:30:39.574+12:00

We went home to Portland earlier this month for a week and a half as our yearly check-in. It was really nice to be home. I think I was a little home sick and missed some stuff about the US but I'm still glad we moved to New Zealand. The family and friends would be the reason we would move back to the states.We started off with a couple nights in Portland which were much enjoyed. Portland is such

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-55183063353125260742007-07-31T21:03:00.000+12:002007-07-31T22:02:16.201+12:00

Last weekend we went snowboarding at Mt. Ruapehu which is the tallest mountain on the north island at 2797 meters. This year has been a crap year for snow but we decided to go down with some friends to make it fun. We actually went down to procrastinate packing for our trip back to the states on Thursday.Our friends' mom has a bach(vacation home) at the base of the mountain with 4 bedrooms so we

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-74153259448011509702007-07-15T21:05:00.000+12:002007-07-31T22:03:22.137+12:00

Christ! It's been a long time since we posted. Going back to work kind of sucks all of my blogging energy right out of me. But, work did pay for a trip down to Welly (short for Wellington) so we decided to make an extended weekend out of it. So here's the blog posty to go with it.Wellington is a pretty cool city. It's situated on the south of the the north island and is New Zealand's capital. God

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-79600751407724885292007-06-11T17:12:00.000+12:002007-07-31T22:00:13.586+12:00

This is going to be an ongoing series of pictures of our cats stuck to things. Enjoy.

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-51637302332400397032007-06-08T21:01:00.001+12:002007-06-08T21:11:28.411+12:00

Two weekends ago I went back to the Poor Knight's Island for a dive weekend. It's was really fun. If you want to see some pictures of the underwater wild life we say go to Margaret's posting.

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-87572992023419316192007-06-07T19:44:00.000+12:002007-06-07T19:52:04.382+12:00

First lesson, do not do taxes after a few...Morning review of previous nights tax adventure - ? How can you get an $15,000 refund if you only paid $12,000 in taxes?phew! Glad I caught that one...better use the online calculators.All in all it took about 20 minutes to do my New Zealand taxes online and I ended up owing a little more. bye-bye beer glasses :(All I can say is that New Zealand taxes

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-37939727224755344722007-06-07T15:53:00.000+12:002007-06-07T16:20:51.578+12:00

Last night I went to parachute training at the Whenuapai air base. The whole concept is that if something were to go seriously wrong in the glider then we would have a chance of getting out and living to tell about it. With that said, mechanical failures are rare with gliders. If I crash it will most likely be because I did something stupid on landing.The training was at the air force base where

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-65514376233267543622007-06-03T07:27:00.000+12:002007-06-03T08:27:19.963+12:00

Roberta and I are now back in NZ and are already planning our next next vacation. Hmmm.... We are dreaming about Japan, or Thailand, or maybe Vanuatu or Fiji. In the short term we will be coming back to the states in August to visit friends, go to a wedding, and be there for my dad's 60th birthday and retirement party.Our trip to Australia was great. The security conference was a real eye opener

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-45329680216414761972007-05-26T09:32:00.000+12:002007-06-03T22:17:17.322+12:00

Currently Roberta and I are in Australia at a little beach town called Byron Bay. If you were to take downtown Ashland and move it to southern California and put it on the beach then that would be Byron Bay. There are almost more crystal shops here than people. It has a good vibe.Here are some maps to get your orientation on places in Oz.Byron Bay MapI originally came to Oz last week for a

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-38307434795011735972007-05-19T08:40:00.000+12:002008-12-14T11:57:58.421+13:00

We recently got a cat door installed so the little terrors(cats) can practice their interrogation techniques on birds when they choose. It is one of the cat doors that has the magnetic lock so that only our cats can get in(or any other cat with a magnet) but we haven't been using it yet.About a week ago I was walking upstairs in the morning and saw this big black cat in our house. Needless to say

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-37004395191947062482007-05-05T09:33:00.000+12:002007-05-05T09:56:15.679+12:00

Last night I went out with some co-workers after work. We ended up in the Viaduct. I had not been to the Viaduct yet, been meaning to do so. Quite the happening place. The Viaduct is this mini-harbour place where fancy boats are parked and there's this walkway around it with lots of bars and restaurants. We came around the corner and there was this girl giving a blow job in front of all the

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-12658185399275484622007-04-28T21:45:00.000+12:002007-04-28T21:49:31.707+12:00

I'm very proud of my little sister. She aced a test to get into a nursing program. She's always wanted to be a nurse. She got a little distracted by a cute little boy named Andre (my nephew), but now she's on a mission. Good on ya!*Big thanks to Kurt for reformatting my old hard drive and cleaning up my old college computer for Andrea. May she suffer as I did with late night studying! The rewards

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-16354089393771993062007-04-28T21:34:00.000+12:002007-04-28T21:37:56.452+12:00

Here's a link to my favorite radio station here in NZ. If you want to hear what all the cool kids in Auckland are listening to, this is it. I recommend listening to it at 7 am our time or 1 pm Portland OR time for the morning show. Then you'll get the title.Radio 95bfm

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-69664728491851612822007-04-25T00:07:00.000+12:002007-04-25T05:19:26.960+12:00

When I was living in the States I couldn't care less about exchange rates. Now I'm a little obsessed. The kiwi dollar has risen against the US dollar to the highest it has been in 23 years. This means that in the last six months our kiwi dollar is worth about 15% more against the US dollar. It was .60 kiwi cents to the dollar and now it's about at .75.The US dollar has also been dropping against

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-30484728726837464632007-04-22T07:59:00.000+12:002007-04-22T08:56:42.887+12:00

Roberta and I had the opportunity to take a week off from work and have a nice vacation. We started if off by heading down to Taupo which is about 4 hours south of Auckland. There is a "World Famous in NZ" glider field there that does week long training courses. Roberta was interested in going solo so this was perfect. When we got there the weather couldn't have been any better for gliding

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-78920979071681550252007-03-28T19:10:00.000+12:002007-03-28T19:21:50.434+12:00

Sunday was a grueling day of trying on six different wetsuits in two stores. The same brand, same size, two different wetsuits would fit totally different.Triathlon wetsuits are skin 'freakin' tight! It's like putting on a small pair of nylons over your entire body that is 3-5 mm thick. I have little bruises all over my body were I was trying to grip the wetsuit to pull up but instead was

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-74618501887546607012007-03-28T18:47:00.000+12:002007-03-28T19:10:16.374+12:00

OK, if I haven't already said this before I will say it again. Battlestar is the best show of the decade. Yes... it is 2007 and I can't think of a better show, we don't even watch TV, we have to schedule it to download and watch later.Anyway here's a great article on Battlestar. I hope Starbuck comes back...

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-69074813575688903792007-03-25T20:25:00.000+12:002007-03-25T09:56:20.602+12:00

A while back I went to the Chinese Lantern Festival. I can't believe how crowded it was it was so hard to move we left early. But here are a few pictures of the display. Also you can click here for some pictures of a little trip we took to Sheepworld, which was essentially, a nice petting zoo.I went with Margaret and Darren

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-39003178184310370702007-03-19T22:16:00.000+12:002007-03-25T09:02:05.077+12:00

Roberta has been getting on my case about posting to the blog so here it goes. I actually haven't been posting much because I have just been gliding on the weekends and not much else.Gliding has been progressing nicely and last weekend I had my first solo flight in a single seat glider. On Saturday there was a national gliding awareness day called "The Big Day Up" where the public is encouraged

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-68958771102732057372007-03-19T22:15:00.000+12:002008-12-14T11:57:58.739+13:00

OK, you know how I was talking about training for the Xterra, Blue Lake swim portion of a triathlon? Well, I signed up for lessons with Future Dreams. I tried all last week to get a wetsuit rental lined up. I couldn't get that to happen, but the coach said to just show up. I was going to wimp out and not go, but Adam wouldn't let me. Great, it will be like the polar bear club, but I will have to

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-54333887045635641462007-03-16T16:07:00.000+13:002007-03-25T18:12:40.583+12:00

It started to get cold here again. Bummer. Summer was fun and not to hot, which was nice.I`ve been swimming pretty hard training for the Xterra. I'm up to about 1500-1700 meters three times a week, which is pretty good.The cats still have poopy butts so we took them for a couple of overnights at the vet so they can figure out what's wrong with their tummies. Tough shit is better than soft shit

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-23158648532811787822007-03-04T20:05:00.000+13:002007-03-25T09:02:05.082+12:00

Last weekend we took a trip up to the Poor Knights Island and went diving with Daren, Margaret, Steve and Holly. The first day was really great, saw lots of sting rays, big slugs, fish, eels, kelp. Obviously I'm not a biologist, or I'd be giving you all of the 'official' regional names. Basically lots of fishes.We went with the Poor Knight Divers and I would recommend them to others. Their boat

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-10232593418662751852007-03-04T19:53:00.001+13:002007-03-04T20:04:51.708+13:00

Crap! It's been a whole month since the last post. I blame it on Adam.Anyway, I'm getting nervous. I was asked to join a team to compete in the XTerra triathlon in Rotorua. I'll be doing the swimming portion. Basically I've been going to the pool about twice per week but I need to up that to at least 3 or 4 for the month of March so I won't drown or get kicked in the head.Wish me luck. I've

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-64711362568087986972007-02-05T21:41:00.000+13:002008-12-14T11:57:59.029+13:00

OK, I don't want to turn into those crazy people who blog about their cats, but check out what Haka did to my hand! BRUTAL!!

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-21822236345226271872007-02-05T20:45:00.000+13:002008-12-14T11:57:59.342+13:00

Adam and I went to Raglan, which is about 3 hours southwest on the west side of the North Island. We stayed at Wild Coast which was totally cool. We had isolated cabins overlooking oceans and hills. Kind of like what the Oregon Coast looked like in the 50's. They had horse expeditions, and it was definitely one of the most challenging rides I had been on in a while. There were very steep hills

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-47065902143905050372007-01-29T17:53:00.000+13:002007-01-29T18:00:05.235+13:00

Well, better late than sorry....I went to Portland this last Christmas to take care of the house AND to see my family. I really had a good time and it was nice seeing my family and friends. Big thanks to Shar for putting me up and thanks to everybody else who helped me take care of the house.Here's some pictures.

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-25265350477450870462007-01-22T07:06:00.000+13:002007-03-25T09:03:33.929+12:00

We did it. This weekend we acquired two cute kittens from the pound.This is Tica:Initially we thought that it might be interesting to get a pure bred cat of some exotic breed. We went to a couple cat breeders and were thoroughly disgusted by the treatment of the cats. I just don't think that you can humanely raise a large number of cats. And as soon as they are bred for money it looks like they

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-4424241959035346342007-01-14T20:11:00.000+13:002007-03-25T08:59:45.808+12:00

For the past 7 months I have been flying at the Auckland Aviation Sports Club which flies out of Whenuapai (Pronounced Fen-ew-uh-pie). Today I took my first solo flight which is a major achievement in my gliding career. Prior to 7 months ago I had no real concept of how to fly an airplane.Today the instructor took me up for a check flight to make sure that I was ready to go up on my own. He

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-10784981718096657312007-01-12T20:18:00.000+13:002007-03-25T09:02:05.085+12:00

I have yet to experience any earthquakes or volcanos in New Zealand, I can't wait. In Portland we had Mt. St. Helens, which blew big time when I was in the first grade. I can remember ashes everywhere. We had some small tremors in Southern Oregon.And of course, there were lots of tremors in Costa Rica, not to mention the lava flowing at Arenal. You could watch it flow sitting in hotsprings

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-61478734878270237632007-01-09T07:14:00.000+13:002007-03-25T18:12:40.584+12:00

When we were living in Costa Rica we had all of our mail sent to a private post office box in Texas. The mail system in CR was sketchy regardless, and we weren't full citizens anyway.Now that we are in New Zealand we are trying to have all of our bills in the US be permanently changed to NZ. Well, rarely any of the billing systems have the capacity for foreign addresses. Urgh!When we try to buy

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-83804414024526048242007-01-08T16:08:00.000+13:002007-03-25T18:12:40.585+12:00

So I went away for a while Portland and got really sick. Fever, coughs, shivers, achy bones. I was in a rough state. I came back and Adam got me THE BEST COUGH DROPS EVER. They were anti-inflammatory, cough suppressants, antibacterial AND it had codeine in it.Best invention ever. It didn't knock me out or anything, just made my tongue and throat numb, just enough to let me sleep. They were way

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-15805825447578038032007-01-08T07:51:00.000+13:002007-01-08T07:55:14.508+13:00

Well I thought I was just talking to myself, keeping a little diary for later in life, because nobody was saying anything. Nobody was posting comments. I thought I was talking to a wall. The stat counter was showing lots of hits. It did seem strange to me that nobody was leaving comments.Well, I guess there was a glitch and just the other day about 50 or so comments got posted. I'm going to go

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-72547944737103052812007-01-06T10:54:00.000+13:002007-03-25T09:02:05.094+12:00

Adam's sister, June, just posted some more pictures on her flicker account . They hit some different spots than Adam and I did.

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-73942811621914160252006-12-25T11:48:00.000+13:002007-03-25T09:02:05.095+12:00

We recently got back from a two week adventure to the south island here in New Zealand. We heard that the south island was beyond description and that it was something that had to be seen to believed. I would completely agree.For the next sections you can scroll around google maps to see where we went.Click for Google MapsMy parents and sister flew into Auckland and we started our journeys. We

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-1163793443778316202006-11-18T08:52:00.000+13:002007-03-25T09:02:05.097+12:00

I took my first scuba diving class at the Orakei Dive Shop. The next weekend we went to the Poor Knights and it was fabulous. The fish and the rock formations were incredible. I was really nervous about diving. It's actually really scary breathing under water for the first time. But, I highly recommend it. It's definitely a mental and physical exercise. Poor Knight Pictures Here

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-1162578610789517252006-11-04T07:14:00.000+13:002007-03-25T08:59:45.843+12:00

As you all know Roberta and I have been learning to glide and were invited to take a trip to Matamata for Labour Day weekend to glide away from home our home field of Whenuapai.The weather forecast was looking bad but everyone decided to go anyway. To transport the gliders you have to derig them by pulling the wings off and putting them on trailers. It is actually easier than it seems to pull

King Nerdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13837825440058017673noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-1162099606250110462006-10-29T17:56:00.000+13:002007-03-25T09:02:05.098+12:00

This is Part III of what I learned at a two day Maori training at a real marae from a real Maori...see previous posts for background.The British Empire sent a man by the name of Hobson to wheel and deal with the Maori. In six days he had the treaty signed. Hobson relied on two missionaries to translate the treaty. Obviously, the Maori who weren't getting any obvious benefit declined to sign the

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-1161331556412031742006-10-20T20:54:00.000+13:002007-03-25T18:12:40.585+12:00

I'll get to the Treaty of Waitangi after this three day weekend. But, here's some pictures I took of Auckland. There are some more pictures located here. Please excuse the rants I have about Auckland city urban design and this city that favors drivers and cars over pedestrians and cyclists. They have a long way to go before becoming a truly livable city. I got honked at twice today for crossing a

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-1161160635520960412006-10-19T20:54:00.000+13:002007-03-25T09:02:05.099+12:00

Since I work for a crown entity (the government) everybody is sent to a Maori Bi-Culture training. I was really looking forward to it. The training was at a local Marae (Maori lodge). Very Cool! The workshop focused on the Treaty of Waitangi, the Resource Management Act 1991, consultation (or participation) and Teo Ao Maori (A Maori Worldview). The Marae (lodge) where we were staying had a good

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-1161161657983854862006-10-18T21:37:00.000+13:002007-03-25T09:02:05.100+12:00

I'm putting together a few posts to describe the two day Maori training I went to and some of the things I learned.There was a special ceremony that the Maori performed before they could let us on the marae. We had to be asked via a song to enter the Marae, we (one Maori lady in our group) had to sing back to request entry and then we walked in a group towards the lodge. We stopped halfway to the

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-1159768764024385982006-10-02T18:59:00.000+13:002006-10-29T22:24:58.366+13:00

I am beginning to realize that religions are dangerous. Check out this video interview of Richard Dawkins author of The God Delusion:In the An Atheist Manifesto, Sam Harris argues persuasively why religions are dangerous and thus religious tolerance is dangerous. Adam and I had a very interesting conversation. Adam is initially opposed to organized religions, the ones that are organized enough to

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11007410.post-1159350904929103902006-09-27T21:38:00.000+12:002006-09-30T17:36:52.413+12:00

One of my first jobs out of undergraduate was in Wasco County, The Dalles Oregon. I didn't have very many friends there, so I hung out with Bob and Todd, two city planners in the area. They were literally two of a very few handful of cool people to hang out with in The Dalles (re: redneckville).Bob was in the Army Reserve. He was eventually deployed to Iraq in the Civil Affairs Brigade and I

Roberta Robleshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06953475533243325350noreply@blogger.com0