Letter to coworkers:
Dear Friends, Family and Colleagues,
It is with great sadness that I tender my resignation, effective immediately. I will miss all the strange and wonderful peole I have met in this strange and wonderful land. However, a business opportunity on Kiritimati has presented itself, and I am unable to pass it up. Also, when we moved to Hawke's Bay, I had been expecting an exotic island lifestyle...but New Zealand is just too big; one can only tell he/she is on an island from an aeroplane...and the only exotic thing we have encounered has been beetroot burgers.
Wind in your sails,
Michael B. Lasko
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Is it just me, or did this blog used to be funnier? http://takealotofdrugs.blogspot.com/2008/04/questions-most-commonly-asked-of-laskos.html
I'm just saying...
In other news, my father has successfully made it to Napier.
Here are Ruth and my father at the beach (on Marine Parade).
Here are Ruth and my father by a couple of MG TF roadsters.
In case anyone else was wondering about the difference between an MG TF and an MG TD:
The TF launched in 1953 was a facelifted TD, fitted with the TD Mark II engine, headlights fared into the fenders, a sloping radiator grille, and a new pressurized cooling system along with a simulated external radiator cap.
The 1954 engine, now designated XPEG, was enlarged to 1466 cc by increasing the bore to 72 mm (2.8 in), giving 63 bhp (47 kW) at 5,000 rpm; the car was designated the "TF1500".
Production ended on 4 April 1955 after 9,602 TFs had been manufactured, including two prototypes and 3,400 TF1500s. The TF was superseded by the MGA.
The TF name was reused in 2002 on the mid-engined MG TF sports car.
I'm just saying...
In other news, my father has successfully made it to Napier.
Here are Ruth and my father at the beach (on Marine Parade).
Here are Ruth and my father by a couple of MG TF roadsters.
In case anyone else was wondering about the difference between an MG TF and an MG TD:
The TF launched in 1953 was a facelifted TD, fitted with the TD Mark II engine, headlights fared into the fenders, a sloping radiator grille, and a new pressurized cooling system along with a simulated external radiator cap.
The 1954 engine, now designated XPEG, was enlarged to 1466 cc by increasing the bore to 72 mm (2.8 in), giving 63 bhp (47 kW) at 5,000 rpm; the car was designated the "TF1500".
Production ended on 4 April 1955 after 9,602 TFs had been manufactured, including two prototypes and 3,400 TF1500s. The TF was superseded by the MGA.
The TF name was reused in 2002 on the mid-engined MG TF sports car.
Saturday, March 05, 2011
2 more days in the City
We seem to be getting pulled over to Auckland more often than I would prefer...but as long as we were there, we decided to do some exploring of the perimeter.
Rangitoto Island is Auckland's newest volcano.
Much of it is now green, but there is plenty of bare lava left. (In New Zealand, they have 100 words for lava...)
There are some lava tubes that make Hawaii's look safe. I thought I had a blog entry about Hawaii's lava tubes, and how we were trapped with a dead torch [flashlight for you Yanks] in a completely dark cave, but I can find no such entry. Anyway, the same sort of thing happened on Rangitoto, except we had no torch at the start, and didn't realize we were in total darkness until we were halfway through. I also didn't start thinking "I really hope there's not an earthquake" until we were halfway through.
The pictures from the little Sony do not do the view justice.
Not having had enough of islands, we took a little drive and then a little walk to Motukaraka Island.
Note: Only attempt walking to Motukaraka at low tide.
Note 2: Only attempt walking to Motukaraka from the Beachlands Marina (and not the boating club). Nicole will be unhappy if you make her walk through the mud rather than the sandbar (on the marina side).
A little later in the day, and it's a real island.
A stop off in Taupo on the way home (where I was supposed to pick up a sail boat) finds a former intern making her first takealotofdrugs appearance. Thanks for the coffee, Cloudy.
PS: Does anyone know the difference between a loo and Superloo?
We seem to be getting pulled over to Auckland more often than I would prefer...but as long as we were there, we decided to do some exploring of the perimeter.
Rangitoto Island is Auckland's newest volcano.
Much of it is now green, but there is plenty of bare lava left. (In New Zealand, they have 100 words for lava...)
There are some lava tubes that make Hawaii's look safe. I thought I had a blog entry about Hawaii's lava tubes, and how we were trapped with a dead torch [flashlight for you Yanks] in a completely dark cave, but I can find no such entry. Anyway, the same sort of thing happened on Rangitoto, except we had no torch at the start, and didn't realize we were in total darkness until we were halfway through. I also didn't start thinking "I really hope there's not an earthquake" until we were halfway through.
The pictures from the little Sony do not do the view justice.
Not having had enough of islands, we took a little drive and then a little walk to Motukaraka Island.
Note: Only attempt walking to Motukaraka at low tide.
Note 2: Only attempt walking to Motukaraka from the Beachlands Marina (and not the boating club). Nicole will be unhappy if you make her walk through the mud rather than the sandbar (on the marina side).
A little later in the day, and it's a real island.
A stop off in Taupo on the way home (where I was supposed to pick up a sail boat) finds a former intern making her first takealotofdrugs appearance. Thanks for the coffee, Cloudy.
PS: Does anyone know the difference between a loo and Superloo?
Poor Kiwi Folk
When Nico and I moved to New Zealand, we knew we would be giving up European travel and expensive tandem vacations. This weekend however, an expensive tandem vacation came to us.
We joined the tour for a ride through Rotorua. Here are Bill and Jan McCready slowing down enough to have their picture taken.
And here are a bunch of tandems riding through some geothermal death spas. Sorry, I have no photos of the descent (on an MTB) track through the Redwood Forest.
A ride up some hills took us to the Buried Village of Te Wairoa.
I seem to have not taken many photographs...probably because it spent a fair amount of time raining; but I did finally get the opportunity to use my new flash.
The next day, we took an opportunity to climb Mt. Maunganui...
...and were rewarded with a world class view.
Onward to the Coromandel, where we stayed in an authentic Kiwi bach in Tairua. With a couple of days of cleaning and a few bug bombs, it would have been a nice play to stay...we'll just leave it at that, as the owner has been rather nice in addressing my complaints.
Though we have not been on a Santana tour in close to three years (except for New Zealand, which nobody was ready to repeat yet), we were happy to see some familiar faces.
And I just can't get enough of that Kiwi Dundee.
When Nico and I moved to New Zealand, we knew we would be giving up European travel and expensive tandem vacations. This weekend however, an expensive tandem vacation came to us.
We joined the tour for a ride through Rotorua. Here are Bill and Jan McCready slowing down enough to have their picture taken.
And here are a bunch of tandems riding through some geothermal death spas. Sorry, I have no photos of the descent (on an MTB) track through the Redwood Forest.
A ride up some hills took us to the Buried Village of Te Wairoa.
I seem to have not taken many photographs...probably because it spent a fair amount of time raining; but I did finally get the opportunity to use my new flash.
The next day, we took an opportunity to climb Mt. Maunganui...
...and were rewarded with a world class view.
Onward to the Coromandel, where we stayed in an authentic Kiwi bach in Tairua. With a couple of days of cleaning and a few bug bombs, it would have been a nice play to stay...we'll just leave it at that, as the owner has been rather nice in addressing my complaints.
Though we have not been on a Santana tour in close to three years (except for New Zealand, which nobody was ready to repeat yet), we were happy to see some familiar faces.
And I just can't get enough of that Kiwi Dundee.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Deco Weekend
Napier in the 30s
People kept asking Nico if they could take her photo. It's kind of going to her head.
Nicole prepared the best picnic ever.
But we were hopelessly outdone by the Buchanans.
Napier in the 30s
People kept asking Nico if they could take her photo. It's kind of going to her head.
Nicole prepared the best picnic ever.
But we were hopelessly outdone by the Buchanans.
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Bicycling and becoming Kiwi
It's been a while since I've posted, so I thought I would run through the camera's memory card to see what we've been doing lately.
It looks like we've been cycling a bit; which is good, as we have less than a month to get ready for NZ Tandem Tour II.
This is what I look like eating gelato.
This is what we look like after winning the Rugby World Cup [Attention Americans: In case you were wondering, the Rugby World Cup is given to the best dressed cyclist.]
This is what Nicole looks like in 33 degree heat.
This is where we stopped to stretch our legs (or rather, it's one of about 13 such spots).
This is as far from civilization as I ever want to be when we're out of water.
This is what Nicole looks like in 33 degree heat when the cows won't share their water.
In other news, I'd like to say this is the before photo, but unfortunately it is the (yet to be improved) small upstairs deck.
This is the big deck. Yes, I spent the day washing my deck, and then rubbing oil on my deck. (This is funny only if read with a Kiwi accent...but not to Kiwis, who think it's funny when I say "deck".)
It's been a while since I've posted, so I thought I would run through the camera's memory card to see what we've been doing lately.
It looks like we've been cycling a bit; which is good, as we have less than a month to get ready for NZ Tandem Tour II.
This is what I look like eating gelato.
This is what we look like after winning the Rugby World Cup [Attention Americans: In case you were wondering, the Rugby World Cup is given to the best dressed cyclist.]
This is what Nicole looks like in 33 degree heat.
This is where we stopped to stretch our legs (or rather, it's one of about 13 such spots).
This is as far from civilization as I ever want to be when we're out of water.
This is what Nicole looks like in 33 degree heat when the cows won't share their water.
In other news, I'd like to say this is the before photo, but unfortunately it is the (yet to be improved) small upstairs deck.
This is the big deck. Yes, I spent the day washing my deck, and then rubbing oil on my deck. (This is funny only if read with a Kiwi accent...but not to Kiwis, who think it's funny when I say "deck".)
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Did I mention I've had no formal training?
Actually, I guess that's not true. I took a photography class in high school...
But I digress. I am taking a much needed brake from hours of boring paperwork. I do not recollect seeing this photo until shortly before we moved to New Zealand. My mother had a 5 x 7 copy in her china cabinet with a bunch of old family photos. "I used to be pretty." she said when I commented on it.
I scanned this one from a wallet sized photo I found with some high school stuff. Her hair looks a little grainy; otherwise, not a bad enlargement.
A quick tree update. Thank you to everyone who has contributed. (I promise to get real thank you letters out eventually.)
Actually, I guess that's not true. I took a photography class in high school...
But I digress. I am taking a much needed brake from hours of boring paperwork. I do not recollect seeing this photo until shortly before we moved to New Zealand. My mother had a 5 x 7 copy in her china cabinet with a bunch of old family photos. "I used to be pretty." she said when I commented on it.
I scanned this one from a wallet sized photo I found with some high school stuff. Her hair looks a little grainy; otherwise, not a bad enlargement.
A quick tree update. Thank you to everyone who has contributed. (I promise to get real thank you letters out eventually.)
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