Sunday, August 17, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Scrapbooking
Just a short grumble - Gary very helpfully suggested that I email my mate Becky (Higgins) before I left NZ. (For those of you who haven't heard the story - Gary thought Becky was a new friend of mine because for a while Jo and I were totally into her pages and he heard us talking on the phone a couple of times and her name was mentioned a lot) So I emailed her before we left but she still hasn’t contacted me about doing lunch or maybe us dropping by for dinner. I am planning to get her address (you can pay to get that kind of information here) and just pop in – I’m sure she’ll be thrilled!
Following Jo's suggestion,and after much thought and discussion with Gary (I couldn't quite understand why he didn't get that this was a BIG decision), I have decided to digitally scrapbook our trip – mainly because I still have years and years to complete using the traditional method. Also I can do it as I go along and hey presto it's done!
The other night when I was chatting to my mate Mr Google he led me to a website where you can digitally scrapbook your blog. It all looks very straightforward so I'll let you know how it goes.
Following Jo's suggestion,and after much thought and discussion with Gary (I couldn't quite understand why he didn't get that this was a BIG decision), I have decided to digitally scrapbook our trip – mainly because I still have years and years to complete using the traditional method. Also I can do it as I go along and hey presto it's done!
The other night when I was chatting to my mate Mr Google he led me to a website where you can digitally scrapbook your blog. It all looks very straightforward so I'll let you know how it goes.
Scrapbooking is huge here. There is scrapbooking stuff everywhere which is making my decsion to go digital very difficult to stick to. To tempt me even more they even had a Creative Memorie's Workshop at one of the campsites we stayed at. For the sake of family harmony I didn't go to it and we went to Tampa for the day instead - it was a very tough decision. The worst bit was when we drove past the activities centre and I caught a glimpse of all the lovely products laid out ready for the class.
I am now repeating 20 times in the morning and 20 times at night "Digital is the way to go for this trip" to help me through those moments when my resolve weakens.
I had a good idea the other night. When we get back to NZ in October the 5th wheeler will be parked up at home until we tour the South Island after Christmas. It’s got heating, air con, a kitchen with microwave, dvd player, cd player, bathroom, shower, lots of storage – perfect for scrapbooking! So I shall be moving all my scrapbooking stuff in. It sleeps 6 so I am thinking scrapbooking sleepovers…the possibilities are endless. Just one small hitch – I haven’t mentioned this to Gary yet - I just need to find the right moment.
Total Number of Photos Taken on this trip as at 3rd August: 1044
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Tampa, Florida
Lauren had been sick so we just took a drive round and a gentle walk in a park by the river.
There was a wedding taking place in the park and it was just the most perfect place to have a wedding. The flowers in the park were just beautiful and provided the perfect back drop for a wedding.
Many of the publlic buildings and houses in Tampa are castle like -Lauren thought many of them looked like places where princesses would live.
Our favourite street was one that backed onto a river. It was obviously a very affluent area – the houses were just amazing with the most beautiful gardens. It almost looked like all the neighbours had got together and planned their front gardens to work in harmony. Each house appeared to have a long back garden sloping down to the river with private boat jetties.
15th - 21st July Seffner, Florida
We kitted out the 5th Wheeler at Walmart. Bit like Kmart in NZ. It was heaps of fun – even Gary enjoyed himself- we needed to buy everything from teaspoons to bed linen. We made four trips to Walmart over three days. We got very friendly with the cashiers who were great.
Each time we came out of Walmart it was raining (it rains most afternoons). And it isn’t just a light shower it tips down for about 20 minutes and then it stops and it’s hot and sunny again. The first time we went back into Walmart and purchased an umbrella and ponchos. These proved to be very useful for Disney. Walmart was also good about returns as long as you had your receipt. The other thing that was great was each assistant on each section had a handheld device. So if you wanted to check a price they could just scan it for you. They could also check stock levels at their store and other local stores all at the touch of a button.
We were able to use our visa cards quite easily, although instead of putting a pin in we had to sign an electronic screen. At other places we haven’t had to sign or put a pin number in which is a bit worrying.
Each time we came out of Walmart it was raining (it rains most afternoons). And it isn’t just a light shower it tips down for about 20 minutes and then it stops and it’s hot and sunny again. The first time we went back into Walmart and purchased an umbrella and ponchos. These proved to be very useful for Disney. Walmart was also good about returns as long as you had your receipt. The other thing that was great was each assistant on each section had a handheld device. So if you wanted to check a price they could just scan it for you. They could also check stock levels at their store and other local stores all at the touch of a button.
We were able to use our visa cards quite easily, although instead of putting a pin in we had to sign an electronic screen. At other places we haven’t had to sign or put a pin number in which is a bit worrying.
14th - 15th July Los Angeles to Orlando
After a 6 hour flight with Delta from Los Angeles we arrived at Orlando Airport at 6am on 15th July local time (we have now been travelling for 32 hours). Orlando airport is huge and to get to baggage claim you have to catch a mono rail to the main terminal building. We collected our luggage - thankfully the red case was still in its plastic bag. Paid $3 to hire a trolley(Gary reckoned that we weren't just hiring it we had actually purchaed it !) and headed for the car hire desks. I don't know whether it was the jet lag but I couldn't for the life of me remember which car hire company Raquel at Lazy Days had booked our car with. Never mind we'll just go to each desk and ask - there can't be that many. Well there were heaps and some weren't even open. We eliminated those with names I'd never heard of and came to the conclusion that we needed Hertz. Well as luck would have it they were the only one that didn't have an actual desk in the terminal we had to get a shuttle bus to to check in. Then Gary spotted a courtesey phone so we called them but no answer. Oh well we'll just go outside and wait for the shuttle bus. We walked out of the airport the sliding doors slid open and I am not kidding when I say it was like walking into a sauna! We located the bus stop. After a couple of minutes the bus arrived. Our bus driver was not keen to help with bags or to telephone the Hertz office to check we had a booking with them. Apparently he was not allowed to. The bus was air conditioned so we figured we'd just hop on and have a tour round the airport. After a couple of minutes of chatting he redeemed himself and decided that because we were the only passengers maybe he could ring through BUT he "really wasn't allowed to". YES we did have a booking. The Hertz office was huge (and also air conditioned) and we were glad we had arrived at a quiet time. The car was great, although it was a bit of a squeeze getting all our luggage in the trunk (American for the boot), and off we headed, a bit nervously, to Seffner near Tampa to Lazy Days where we were hoping the 5th Wheel would be waiting for us.
14th July Auckland - Los Angeles
We arrived at Los Angeles at 2pm on 14th July. We went to collect our baggage. It was all there but one case was badly damaged. As we had 8 hours to wait for our next flight to Orlando I decided to go and see the baggage handling section to get a form for an insurance claim.
I met Jason (pictured here) at the baggage handling desk he was very helpful. Completed all the paper work and packaged the case in a large plastic bag so that all our clothes would not end up spread over the tarmac on our next flight!!
He also gave me a telephone number to call. When we arrived in Seffner I called the number and they gave me an email address to contact.
They have agreed to pay me US$100 compensation which I can collect on our return journey.
We all then made our way to the terminal for internal flights, checked in dropped off our suitcases and then went to find some food.
Our first meal in USA was passable - Ceasar Salad and Pizza. Cocktails for Kim and I and beer for Gary and Rob. Lauren had a juice.
Rob and Kim headed off to get their flight and we made our way to the departure lounge for a 5 hour wait for our flight to Orlando.
Gary was shattered as we had decided he would stay awake with Lauren on the flight from Auckland and then I would stay awake on the flight to Orlando.
What's happenning with the business whilst we are away..
I don't think either of us really had any idea what a rollercoaster getting ready to go was going to be.
We have a laptop with us which means, with a bit of organising before we went away, I can do all the GST, wages, PAYE, invoicing etc.from USA.
It has been a huge learning curve but more information on laptops, mobile phones, skype, digital cameras etc later.
The time difference is working as well. I have left the clock on the laptop on New Zealand time so at a glance I can tell whether it's a good time to phone. When it's 8pm here it's 1pm in New Zealand.
So, back in New Zealand it's business as usual - Dan & Tony are doing a great job taking care of stuff.
If you need any earth moving then please call Tony on 027 2787 025.
- Plan A Ideally we hoped sell our business before we went. We had an interested party but it didn't work out. So after three nail biting weeks we went back to the drawing board.
- Plan B Dan (who works for us) then mentioned that he would like to move up North. So we moved to Plan B - shut up shop, put all the diggers in the shed and pick up where we left off upon our return in October. Not ideal, but we were going to the USA no matter what!
- Plan C Dan's circumstances changed and he decided to stay. We moved to Plan C - get a manager. A friend of ours, Tony Cossey, had expressed an interest in working for us. He turned out to more than capable and is now managing the business for us whilst we are away. Good on ya Tony!
We have a laptop with us which means, with a bit of organising before we went away, I can do all the GST, wages, PAYE, invoicing etc.from USA.
It has been a huge learning curve but more information on laptops, mobile phones, skype, digital cameras etc later.
The time difference is working as well. I have left the clock on the laptop on New Zealand time so at a glance I can tell whether it's a good time to phone. When it's 8pm here it's 1pm in New Zealand.
So, back in New Zealand it's business as usual - Dan & Tony are doing a great job taking care of stuff.
If you need any earth moving then please call Tony on 027 2787 025.
Why did we decide to go away for 3 months
A number of people have asked why we suddenly decided to go away for 3 months. Well it wasn't a sudden decisiion we started talking about our trip about 7 months ago.
During the Christmas holidays I really began to question what was important to me. Maybe it was the feeling that 50 was just around the corner or maybe the fact that so many people we know, or know of, have had life snatched away with very little warning. Or just, perhaps, a feeling that if we carried on doing what we were doing we'd carry on getting what we were getting?
Something had happenned shortly before Christmas that really knocked me for six and I was feeling depressed. My confidence was at an all time low (the reasons for which I won't go into here) so I decided to get some professional help. I had a number of counselling sessions with Jill Diamond at the Pinnacle Community Centre in Cambridge. Jill helped me work through a number of issues and basically helped me get my life back on track and give me the confidence to believe in me and the things that were important to me rather than trying to be what other people appeared to want me to be.
This led to Gary, my husband, and I really talking about what we both wanted out of life - as individuals, as a husband and wife, as a family and as directors of our business. The conclusion we eventually came to after many evenings in our spa pool was that we wanted to travel but not just for 2 weeks. We wanted to be away long enough to really experience a different way of life. Three months seemed ideal.
Why July and Why three months? Well, the main reason was it would mean we would be away all winter and it was one whole school term - Lauren, our daughter, is 7 years old and attends Goodwood School in Cambridge. We also knew that there would be a lot to organise before we went so we wanted to be away long enough to make it worthwhile. We didn't want to do what we normally do before a holiday - rush around like mad things getting organised and then spend half of the holiday de-stressing and only really enjoying the last few days. By going away for 3 months we would have time to get away from it all and reflect on life. Lauren also wanted to be back in New Zealand for her birthday on 7th October.
Why USA? Gary's brother Rob and his wife Kim live in Oregon in the USA and we had planned to visit them sometime soon. We had also promised Lauren we would take her to Disney World and we wanted to do that before she got too old to be thrilled by the magic of Disney.
So the "easier" bit was done i.e. the decision to go! We were going no matter what so now we had to make it happen!
During the Christmas holidays I really began to question what was important to me. Maybe it was the feeling that 50 was just around the corner or maybe the fact that so many people we know, or know of, have had life snatched away with very little warning. Or just, perhaps, a feeling that if we carried on doing what we were doing we'd carry on getting what we were getting?
Something had happenned shortly before Christmas that really knocked me for six and I was feeling depressed. My confidence was at an all time low (the reasons for which I won't go into here) so I decided to get some professional help. I had a number of counselling sessions with Jill Diamond at the Pinnacle Community Centre in Cambridge. Jill helped me work through a number of issues and basically helped me get my life back on track and give me the confidence to believe in me and the things that were important to me rather than trying to be what other people appeared to want me to be.
This led to Gary, my husband, and I really talking about what we both wanted out of life - as individuals, as a husband and wife, as a family and as directors of our business. The conclusion we eventually came to after many evenings in our spa pool was that we wanted to travel but not just for 2 weeks. We wanted to be away long enough to really experience a different way of life. Three months seemed ideal.
Why July and Why three months? Well, the main reason was it would mean we would be away all winter and it was one whole school term - Lauren, our daughter, is 7 years old and attends Goodwood School in Cambridge. We also knew that there would be a lot to organise before we went so we wanted to be away long enough to make it worthwhile. We didn't want to do what we normally do before a holiday - rush around like mad things getting organised and then spend half of the holiday de-stressing and only really enjoying the last few days. By going away for 3 months we would have time to get away from it all and reflect on life. Lauren also wanted to be back in New Zealand for her birthday on 7th October.
Why USA? Gary's brother Rob and his wife Kim live in Oregon in the USA and we had planned to visit them sometime soon. We had also promised Lauren we would take her to Disney World and we wanted to do that before she got too old to be thrilled by the magic of Disney.
So the "easier" bit was done i.e. the decision to go! We were going no matter what so now we had to make it happen!
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