Misc moments from the past 2 days

Stopping for petrol ($75! for a tank) on highway 2
The first randomn moment is dedicated to Aiden.... this is what the commute looks like between the bottom of Lower Hutt (i.e., Petone) and Wellington.   This is about 10:30 am this morning after the daily traffic jam resolved.  On the train it is about a 15 minute ride.

towards Petone


looking across towards Eastbourne

towards Wellington


The fire alarm at work
These photos are dedicated to Jacob.  This was the 4th or 5th drill we have had so far, but this one may have involved actually smoke somewhere given the numbers of firemen that visited and entered the building. Couldn't have been too severe as no one made the  mobs of office people move away from the building.







The telecast symphone concert....
Tonight we stumbled on the coolest thing.  In civic square they had speakers and a projection screen set up.  People were gathering so we joined them and had a picnic.  Suddenly the sound of an orchestra tuning poured from the speakers.  20 minutes later we heard applause over the loud speakers, with a pause for a single violin A, another round of tuning, and then a pause for the conductor to appear to be greet with another round of applause.  The screen was in full sunlight, and more or less useless, but the music was amazing with people hanging out on lawn chairs, on the lawn, and just chilling on the concret.  It was so lovely to just be with people, wind in your hair and a hint of the sea on the air, while live music was played. Yes it was over a loudspeaker, but it have a live feel to it. As the sun set behind the buildings, corners of the screen began to reveal the visual portion of the live feed.  We had to leave before the entire screen was visible, but it was fun to see the live camera angles zooming in and out and cutting to different angles. It was like watching a sporting event with all the camera angles, but it was the NZ symphony and this was all just a free public event.  It was so much more comfortable being able to move, lay down, or pace - the sitting bit always got to me when I went to the symphony hall in Oregon and distracted me from the music.  I also couldn't see well in the real halls, about here the zoomed in projection was much easier for blind shannon-girl...


And now for moments dedicated to my mother:)

this is my office



and this is an example of me trying to be more organized... look I even laid out clothes for the next day. If you look closely you can see the violin a very wonderful person lent me in anticipation of the upcoming fiddle camp I signed up for.


and these are limes... they are cheap limes as far as I can tell, but the thought of spending nearly $4 on limes and being thrilled at the price does seem odd. More impressive still is the color and shape and for the most part the flavor. As I write I am enjoying one of my favorite odd ball snacks - white cheddar cheese with lime juice sprinkled on top with crackers or chips.  It is an amazing combo  - honest!


and no, most things arenot this packaged here, this is from the downtown suppermarket that caters to office workers picking up a few things on the way home from work.  One day I should take a photo of the 30 person line for check out. They pass out candies and have TV to keep you calm, even though it actually is one of the fastest queues ever - typically less than 5 mintues.