Hey all,

What a week this has been and it has flown by! I've been all over the
North Island and I have met some really neat little ferrets. And neat
owners as well! It has been a somewhat trying week, but as things go,
it could have been a LOT worse!

The good news was I got my new machine to replace the one that was
broken. I'll test it tomorrow, and not a day too soon! I have stuff
piled up waiting for it. I also got a few other things I needed...do
you how hard it is to find ziplock bag in New Zealand? Not easy! And
I can't find sunflower seeds anywhere. How can I live?

There were a few glitches. While in Taupo, I forgot the driver's seat
was on the wrong side of the car and whacked myself on the nose,
breaking the nose pads off my favorite glasses. I have news one being
sent and stole the pair from my backup glasses. I discovered that for
NZ$55, all you can rent is a cabin without a bathroom or running water.
The TV was so tiny all the voices sounded like Mickey Mouse. The worst
part is what I lovingly call, "Computer Woes, Part Two."

You might recall that just before I left for New Zealand, I was having
troubles with my media drive. They tried several times to fix it, but
finally had to replace the motherboard. The total cost was roughly the
same as the MacBook originally cost. I got the beast back the week
before I left, well assured that nothing would go wrong.

Sure, sure, sure. On Saturday, I was listening to iTunes and entering
measurement data when everything stopped working. Nothing would give a
restart and I was forced to pull the plug and remove the battery just
to get out of the problem. You guessed it; the hard drive had a sudden
catastrophic failure. Not only that, but the two thumb drives and the
external drive I had plugged in and using for backup were zapped. I
lost days of work, had a non-functioning MacBook, and I am not sure
if I can ever forgive Apple. I've had more trouble with this single
computer than all my other Apples combined.

Did you know that in New Zealand, Apple is closed for the weekend?
Also, there was no way I was going to wait for the "week to diagnose
and week to repair" quote to occur, so I went to an independent Mac
Tech (MacFinger in Auckland) who did a bang up job AND reinstalled
some of my software to boot. Another unexpected expense, but at least
things are running again.

However, I did make a goof because of the heavy work load, lack of
sleep, and stress. I confused a person I was going to visit in Wanganui
with someone from Whangarei (they are on opposite sides of the island).
So, I drove to Whangarei and called the person from Wanganui and told
them I was there. I drove around for an hour before I realized the
directions where trying to put me in the bay. But, on the cool side
was I got to see giant hedgehogs the side of footballs roll across the
highway. I got pictures. And I photographed the notorious introduced
possum, which I usually see as squashums. AND, very briefly, I saw a
feral ferret chowing down on a squashum, but the guy bolted before I
could stop and get a photo.

Everything is now fixed and working, but I'e had to extend my stay on
the North Island a few days to make up the lost work. South Island
people should know I will not report to Christchurch until April 10,
rather than April 5.

Bob C [log in to unmask]

[Posted in FML 5933]