Did you know? (Plus a summer update)

California redwood trees have been imported to Aotearoa. I took this picture at the One Tree Hill Domain in central Auckland:




Rest assured, California readers, that you will not get homesick here.

On another note, summer is treating us well. I sort of feel like we've just arrived here in New Zealand. Despite many of the disparaging things we've heard from many kiwis about Auckland, I have to confess that I'm really liking it here. In retrospect, moving down in time for a second winter was ill-advised and probably soured us on Wellington. Fortunately, summer erases all problems.

Yeah, traffic's bad, but it could be a lot worse. Yeah, public transit could be better, but I can mostly get where I want to get on it. Yeah, finding real chiles and tomatillos is nearly impossible. But all of this has the spectacular backdrop of beaches, ferns, grass-covered volcanic cones, shimmering water, and impossibly blue skies.

The only thing I can really complain about these days is that I'm getting a touch bored staying home while Roni goes to work. (What a problem to have!)

So, I've officially started looking for a new job. Words cannot express how much more relaxed I am about finding a job this time. Roni's job pretty much pays our bills, so I feel like I've got some more leeway to do fun stuff. I'm going to look into doing some contract work. It's less stable than a "real" job, but it's potentially more lucrative and would give me opportunities to take time off if and when I have a project that I want to chase after.

Right now I'm sitting in a coffee shop blogging, brushing up on my programming skills, and studying for the Russian conversation class I'm taking on Tuesday evenings.

Yup, life is good. I could get used to this.