Christchurch...

I made it safe and sound- thanks to the wonder of a slightly buggy automated checkin i managed to end up sitting in business class on the flight- Leather recliner chair and lots of legroom. If a computer asks me if I want to choose my seat, well of COURSE I'm going to go for the seat at the front that looks like it has the most space :-) I still only got a cup of dodgy-as-hell coffee and a small oat cake (they called it an anzac biscuit but Biscuit, Anzac it was NOT) but then again it was a 70 minute flight...

Richard was waiting at the airport to take me home- we stopped off to feed the pussy cats at a place he's house-sitting, had a good snog, and then back to his place where Jay squealed like a girl and gave me a big bearhug. After he'd closed all the porn he was looking at and pulled his pants up, of course. ;-)

Ensued much talking, catching up, McDonalds, coffee and quiet snoring from Richard on the couch. Oops, its nearly 1am and everyone's off to bed.

Summery goodness

Richard's house is a giant sprawling '20s home- dadoes, high ceilings, picture rails, wood panelling everywhere. Its led an interesting life from the looks of it- at one stage it was split into two flats and later recombined, meaning that half the rooms are decorated in the '30s style, the other half paint and wallpaper '50s. We're trying to figure out how to network this giant and bizarre thing- all the bedrooms are down one side, the office with its cable modem will be moved sometime soon, making network deployment a tricky prospect.

I've just about convinced Richard to use the brute force method- Buy a couple thousand metres of cat5 cable and a crimping tool, and run long patch cables down the skirting boards. A 10-BaseT hub next to the main PC, running Windows Internet Connection Sharing. Eventually he can add a wireless access point/underfloor cabling/print and internet server/100-BaseT hub but for now its best to go for the cheapest solution.

We're off to a Christchurch Bears' barbecue later tonight. Im a bit apprehensive about crowds where I dont know anyone, but im sure it'll work out just fine. heh heh....

WOOF

They do things differently down here. A typical Auckland bear's barbecue involves sausages, steak, slices of buttered bread, and beer. Everyone huddling in their cliqey little groups of 5 or so, darting suspicious looks at the other cliquey groups and not talking.

Southern men are different. Here its like a regular barbecue- everyone mingles, chatting to everyone else and catching up. The hosts get trolleyed and seduce the guests. The guests get trolleyed and seduce the other guests. Before you know it there's Jimmy Somerville on the stereo and a naked 6-man bear sandwich in the basement with Growler wondering how he ended up in the middle...

Im assured that this was a special occurrence in my honour but it all seemed a bit too rehearsed...

Richie and I made it home at 4am, we lost Jay somewhere along the way (he came in at 9am and is asleep in the lounge right now)

The SMS messages started at 8.30. R and mr S had a bit of an argument last night but thats all gone out the window since Growler's scandalous second night in Christchurch. M had to phone and confirm that what R was telling him was true- he couldnt believe it. :-) Poor M, so sweet and innocent. Not...