So I think there are about three or four people who still read this blog, and the three or four people happen to not be on facebook. So let me offer my sincerest apologies to the three or four people who have patiently been waiting nearly six months for an update. First let me offer an excuse: Jancie took over my office, which forced me to move the desktop computer downstairs...it's a long walk. And call me old fashioned, but I find it uncomfortable to blog from a tablet.

And now an update: Some of you have been wondering what country we're living in these days. We are still in New Zealand. We spent last winter (summer in the northern hemisphere) in the US, but now we are back in New Zealand. I had to quit my job to get three months off, but ended up getting rehired 9with a promotion) when we returned. And another excuse: We've kind of fallen into a routine...not necessarily a boring routine, but a routine that doesn't lend itself to particularly blogging. I remember when I was ten I started keeping a journal. All my entries were like: "Went to school. Went over to my friend's house. Had dinner." I'd say my life has gotten a little less dull, but not enough to write a book about.

Anyway, I'll try to start posting weekly updates, and I'll try to make them interesting. The cruise ship is the most recent photo from the Pentax. It was taken from Bluff Hill, when the largest cruise ship to ever visit Napier was on its way out. A remarkably large crowd (for Napier) showed up to watch. And this must be what Janice looked like at the end of November.

Cousins

It is rare that anyone argues with me when I hand out pharmaceutical advice; I'm guessing this is because 1) Most people do not have any background knowledge of drugs and 2) If I don't know something, I'll look it up [Read: I am never rarely wrong]. But the one useful thing I learned while working on my first degree (in a genetics class) causes so much discussion (often heated), that I have been wondering if I should just keep it to myself. [Actually, I learned two useful things during undergrad, but the other one rarely comes up in conversation since I'm no longer in college.]
Everybody has an opinion about the definition of a second cousin. I suppose the area is a little gray because the term "cousin" is used so loosely (especially in New Zealand, where everyone is a "cous"). And I also suppose this shouldn't really bother me...but I like I said: 4 years of college, and this was the only useful thing I learned. So anyway, here's a cousin chart I found on the web. Genealogy.com has some relatively easy to follow info if you would like to do a little more reading.

On that subject, we ran into a whole bunch of long lost cousins while in the United States. [If anyone wants his/her likeness removed, you should of thought of that before looking at the camera*]. For the first time ever on takealotofdrugs.com: Jancie's second cousin!!! Born 2 weeks ahead of Jancie and 8200 miles away (as the crow flies). Also pictured: My first cousins (or my first cousin and his wife, in case anyone is pickier about this cousin thing than me).

Browsing through my photos, I have very few pictures of all of Jancie's other cousins (first, first once removed, second, second once removed...that might be it). Maybe Nico would like to add on some pictures of the non-Lasko side. If only she knew how to upload pictures to a blog...Here's one more of Jancie's first cousin once removed, and a rare sighting of his girlfriend. Sorry the picture is blurry, Steven. Come on out to NZ and we can do better. *That was a joke. Just shoot me a note if there are any objections. PS: Nobody reads my blog.

So it's still raining. Which means instead of gardening, I have time for another entry. I thought I would post something about "Places we have not been before". I suppose "we" should mean Nico and I...if we include Jancie, then that's just about everywhere. Anyway, here we are in Alaska. Okay, I lied...that's the San Diego Zoo.






We only made it as far north as Victoria. (I had been to Victoria as a teenager, but remarkably Nicole had not.) Here is a picture from the Butchart Gardens. It defies all earthly descriptions...and I think I should be trying for something like this in our backyard.

If I am not mistaken, Canada is the fifth country where I have run into Captain Cook. Unfortunately, my Captain Cook photos did not come out very well. Instead, here are Nicole and Jancie standing next to the statue, but the picture is of the Government House.

My mother's favourite thing to do on any vacation was to have afternoon tea at an expensive hotel. I'm actually not sure if the expensive hotel part was a requirement, but when you're in Victoria, the place to go is the Empress.

And I'm pretty sure it was less expensive 25 years ago than it is now, or I have no doubt that my parents would not have taken the kids. Speaking of which, I would not recommend attempting tea at the Empress with an eight month old.

Canada has taken too long. More on where else we haven't been later.

No posts since July; and even then I had not yet finished writing up our (then recent) trip to Sydney. It's raining today, and I don't start work for another month...so maybe I will be able to catch up. Biggest problem: Where does one start when trying to condense a three month holiday (and 800 pictures) into a few paragraphs? How about: Things to do in Red Bluff? If you had bothered to click that link, you would see that Red Bluff's motto is "A Great Place to Live". Having never lived there, I shall refrain from commenting...but if you are just visiting, there is not a whole lot to do. And it's really, really hot all the time. [Note, anything within an hour drive of Red Bluff will be considered as a thing to do in Red Bluff for the purposes of this post.]

1) Abbey of New Clairvaux--So there are these monks...and they make wine. It's not great wine, but it's wine, and it's not expensive. In addition to making wine, they are also (re)building an 800 year old monastery from stones that William Randolph Hearst brought to California from Spain.

2) Sierra Nevada Brewery--A fantastic tour; it's free, and they let you stick your hands in the hops. Warning: Most Sierra Nevada beers are very high in alcohol, and they make you taste like 10 of them...and they pour each one in a different glass so they can pour them really quickly to make room for the next tour.


3) Try to take a portrait of Jancie. Jancie does not like cameras...and I am not a very good photographer. Here is my best effort.

Note: I have since decided that my favourite Jancie photo was taken outside the Bahai'i Temple (which is nowhere near Red Bluff).

BART, BART

Since I seem to have a very long commute for the near future, I thought I would figure out how to blog on the phone. Don't expect a lot of pictures. And sorry for the typos: I don't see a spell check option.

So we've been Stateside for about 5 weeks. The first month was spent in a tiny studio in Sunset Beach. If you can't afford Newport (and we couldn't), Sunset is not a bad place to be.

I bought a really cheap car...which has become a more expensive car over the last few weeks, but it's running pretty well now.

I worked a little bit at a long term care pharmacy in the OC, and a couple of days at a very busy independant in LA. Long term care is kind of dull. Next door to said busy pharmacy was a kosher falafel restaurant. The things you won't see in New Zealand. Other independant pharmacy highlights: I counselled a star from a popular nineties sitcom...except I didn't know who he was until he had left and one of the other pharmacists pointed him out.

So now we're in San Francisco. The temp agency promised more work up here, and we almost have a free place to stay in Berkeley. The hospital is due to be torn down; the pharmacy is by far the smallest I've ever worked in, and some of the outpatient clinics look like something from a horror movie. But it's been a good experience. If nothing else, it has reminded me why I stopped working in hospitals...and to a lesser extent, why we moved to New Zealand.

A couple of more notes: BART has gone down hill in the last 5 years. I can't believe this many people are on the train at midnight.

Laughing at the sunrise like he's been up all night In case you missed it, the family and I are spending the Summer in the States. Yes, the whole Summer. We're trying to Avoid winter this year...yes, it's winter in the Southern Hemisphere right now (at least it is in New Zealand, other countries might start winter at some other time). So far, this has not felt like a vacation. We've been here one week, and fortunately have found a place to live (it's tiny, but it's across the street from the beach); a car (it's old, and not terribly attractive, and I'm hoping it will last the Summer); and a job (for me, Nicole gets to baby sit--sadly, there is not currently a huge demand for pharmacists). I'm starting work on Monday, so it will probably feel even less like a vacation after that. Here are a couple photos of the sun going down across the street.

The Blue Mountains