I have left work - not to go to another job but to take some time off! John and I are planning to go on our big OE sometime this year, until then I am a kept woman 
It has been funny people’s reactions to me not working.
Dad: “I am sure if you go back to Provoke and ask nicely, they will take you back until you leave”
Grandad: “…. and you don’t even know when your leaving date is yet?!?!”
Mother in law: “do you have a date yet, do you have a date yet…..”
Jeff: “YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”
John and Doug: “We are so jealous” as they walk out in the morning and I am still in bed
At the end of the day I have worked super hard for the last couple of years and have decided I have earned a break. Once we have kids I wont have the luxury
Filed under: Adventure> Life by Louie Date 21 July, 2008
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This is one of Steve Job’s most famous speeches - it is one of my favourites of all time.
“Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle”
Filed under: This is cool> Life by Louie Date 3 July, 2008
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I have been converted.
Online supermarket shopping. I tried it, I love it! I am so much more disciplined when I shop online. There are not the chocolates screaming out to me that I must have them, I do not buy yet another bottle of tomato sauce because I am not sure whether we have any at home, and I think about the meals that I might want during the week and make sure that I get all the necessary ingredients!
Great news for Woolworths - I never shopped with them before, but now, because they provide online shopping, I spend over three quarters of my grocery budget with them.
I do suggest that there could be improvements made to the user experience though. The “aisle” shopping no longer makes much sense. I have no control over the way I see foods (have a look and you will see what I mean, if I want avocado is it under “green vegies” or just “vegies”). And when I do a search for something, it comes up with multiple lists that it could be under and I have to guess the appropriate one.
Other than that though, the benefits I am getting out of it are great! And, I no longer buy less heavy items because I don’t want to carry them, because nice big delivery men carry them to the bench for me Overall I rate the process 7/10 - worthwhile but improvements could be made
Filed under: This is cool> Ramblings> Life by Louie Date 20 May, 2008
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Yesterday I had to fly to Hamilton for a presentation. Because there were very few flights back to Wellington, I ended up spending a couple of hours at the airport waiting to fly back home. Over all my experience there was pleasant enough (for an airport) but….
…to leave the airport you must pay departure tax! Ok, it was only $5, it is not the cost that concerned me. In no way was this communicated to me when I booked the tickets. I have checked the website and can not find anything obvious there. As far as I know Hamilton is in the same country as Wellington and I have never had to pay departure tax flying around this country. It seems completely ridiculous to me!
Update: Found it on the website: “This levy will be used to help fund the interest costs associated with the $15.5 million capital expenditure on the new terminal.“
Filed under: Ramblings by Louie Date 20 May, 2008
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A couple of weeks ago I took part in Webstocks “Halfbaked.com Challange.” The fun and games really started the day before, when emails started and the Webstock organisers posted the following on their blog:
“And in one of those “battles within the game” scenarios, Sarah and John Lewis are married. But as always, these relationships take a back seat when the whistle blows.”
That’s right - John was on the other team! Now anyone who knows me knows that I am not an overly competitive person, but this I had to win. My team was by far the most enthusiastic but we were up against some of Wellingtons most well known names in the IT Start Up scene. So, we decided to enjoy the open bar, and leave the rest to the audience.
The Silicon-Welly team went first, and their pitch (although amusing) made no sense at all. We were up next, and to be honest, by that point, with the amount of wine the team had consumed, our pitch wasn’t what I would call cohesive. But, at the end of the day the audience voted for the underdog and we won!
After dinner, Jeff and I walked down Courtenay Place singing “We are the Champions,” with John trailing at a respectable distance behind us.
Filed under: Ramblings> Life by Louie Date 5 May, 2008
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Last week I got my GHD’s back (hair straightener’s). I had lent them out to a friend for her wedding, so went back to my old straightener’s for a couple of weeks. Within a day of having them back, I had two comments on my hair. One of them was that my hair looked “bigger” (thanks Mase!). I made a point of mentioning this to John (primarily to justify my purchase of expensive hair straighteners) and he said, “I noticed that too, although I didn’t associate it with your hair - I just thought your head had shrunk” !!!!
Filed under: Ramblings> Life by Louie Date 15 April, 2008
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Hi Mum,
Sorry I haven’t updated my blog for such a long time! It has been a long time. Things have been crazy busy here. Work is flat out, everyone is super busy. Which is great, but it means the last thing I want to do when I get home is sit in front of the computer and write something.
John and I have just returned home from a month house sitting in Haitaitai - readjusting to being back in Mt Vic now. The view we had was amazing.
Anyway, let me know if there is anything you specifically would like me to cover. Otherwise I promise I will be updating a bit more in April.
Filed under: Ramblings> Life by Louie Date 2 April, 2008
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I know this is super geeky, and I am meant to be on holiday and not thinking about work but….
Provoke have been working on the Fly Buys website for the last wee while and it has finally gone live! Check it out - look at what some of the smart cookies that work at Provoke have done
What is super cool about this site is that it is build on SharePoint and is part of the launch of Fly Buys new brand.
Ok - that’s the last work related post for the next two weeks - I promise!
Filed under: This is cool> Work by Louie Date 18 November, 2007
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Hello from America! I bet you are all wondering about the hair straighteners so I will start with that. I did bring them (much to John and Jeff’s disgust) but they don’t even work over here! Turns out that the electricity over here is a lot less powerful, so they get mildly warm but no straightening action….
Not sure how to post photos, so will post a link to Johns blog if he puts them up, or will figure it out when we get home.
So about the journey so far… San Fransisco is amazing! So far it is by far my favourite place (off to New York tomorrow so might change my mind…) We got to Megan’s (Jeff’s friend) at about 12pm and hit the pavement. Found coffee, which was very average and then headed to see the sites. It was raining and wet so mostly discovered the bars and a great Mexican place to eat. We got soaking wet but it was a lot of fun. Day two was lovely and sunny, so we went out to see the sites. Saw the bridge, Muir woods, the Presidio, and downtown including the Apple store. We ate at a great cafe for breakfast, and an ‘in and out’ burger bar for dinner. Oh, and I got my first American pretzel.
First things that I noticed here, the light switches are around the wrong way (up is on) and the toilets flush in a very unusual way - hard to explain but it is a truly unusual experience.
Day three we hopped onto a plane at some way to early hour in the morning - it was just like those terrible tv programs but we made it on the plane (and our bags made it to Chicago) so at the end of the day we got the result we wanted. Jeff’s Dad picked us up at the airport which was lovely, and we traveled for almost an hour to get to Jeff’s place. It was lovely! We had a bucket of KFC for dinner that night (just like the tv). Over here they call scones biscuits - very unusual. That night we also had our first experience at a Mall - it was great! Stuff over here is so cheap (especially with our exchange rate the way that it is).
Well, that’s enough excitement for one post - will try and make it to a computer again when we get back to Chicago
Filed under: Adventure> Ramblings> Life by Louie Date 18 November, 2007
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That’s right, in four more sleeps I am jumping on a jet-plane with John and Jeff and we are heading over to the USA! We have an action packed trip planned including visits to San Fransisco, Ohio, DC, NY, and Chicago - where we will be spending Thanksgiving with Jeff’s family! All in all I am pretty excited. About a month ago I bought a pack (a red one), which means I am now officially a traveller. Now I am deciding what necessities I can fit into the pack without it becoming too heavy… To take the hair straighteners or to not take the hair straighteners, that is the question. They seem like a luxury I can afford to live without for three weeks, but this will be the most photographed three weeks of the year….
The aim will be to update my blog while I am over there, so keep checking back. If I figure out how to upload photos, you will be able to tell fairly quickly whether the straighteners made it on the trip with me or not
Filed under: Ramblings> Life by Louie Date 6 November, 2007
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