Back on the horse

I'd not actually realised quite how long it's been since my last post. It's been a little strange, but I've been trying to get started again for a week or so, but for some reason haven't been able to crack it. I think it's got something to do with the volume of stuff that's going on at the moment; it's having a sort of 3 Stooges effect, where everything tries to get through the door at once but nothing can.

In a nutshell, since the last post, the following things have occurred, which most of you following Twitter and/or Facebook will already know, but here we go, in no particular order:

1. The Kiwi's got better
2. We've found a flat
3. We've bought a sofa, a fridge, a washing machine, a bed and a TV, along with a whole load of much less interesting stuff
4. The Kiwi's bought a car
5. We've each met with numerous recruiters, with varying degrees of success
6. We've planted some spinach and some spring onions - I'm drying some chillies to plant the seeds too
7. We've had another engagement party (any excuse)
8. We've eaten pies (multiple)
9. We've been to the beach (frequently)
10. I've got a New Zealand driver's license (looks a lot like the EU one)
    
11. I've been blogging a bit at http://www.eatingauckland.com
12. Our shipping arrived, with the only thing broken being a salad server, not bad out of 48 boxes
13. We've unpacked most of it
14. I've got back into Mario Kart and Guitar Hero
15. I've got hold of some English Marmite, but I'm not entirely sure it's quite the same...

You may notice the omission of the crucial 'we've found jobs' point, which is because we haven't yet, something that's soon to move from frustrating into problematic. The economic situation over here is pretty awful, it's true, but mostly due to lack of confidence and a bit of scaremongering. The exchange rate's not great (for New Zealanders), but realistically it's not as bad as the media would have you believe. Nonetheless, business in general is declining to commit to much expenditure, and some organisations are using the situation as an excuse for 'pro-active cost cutting', ie restructuring. The employment laws here are notoriously strict, so much like in the UK, it's hard to get rid of someone useless once you've employed them. The opportunity to make people redundant is apparently too much to resist for some.

So on the whole it's been very quiet on that front. At the moment I'm having a positive-looking conversation with a business that I'm quite keen to be involved with, so we'll see how that goes. More news as we get it.