Talking, walking and thoughts

Thank you to my friend for taking me for a walk today. The talk was much needed and very appreciated!
It's often the small things that mean a lot.  

My day started with a meeting (- oh the nerves! - meeting strangers) in a coffee shop to meet and discuss a neighbourhood meetup for the Wellington Host Lions. They set up a meeting, which is happening in a little over a week to get neighbours to meet up and help prepare in case of an emergency, or in case the "big one" hits *. The idea is to get to know our neighbours within our building, so we can help each other out. Even if it's like a Fire Drill - to know that the lady in 10B** has a small child is a good piece of information to have. That way - if we evacuate and see her without said child, we can respond appropriately. (IE By telling emergency services etc). Or if there's an elderly couple or someone with a disability...

Next up I guess would be setting up a Neighbourhood Watch/ Neighbourhood Support group within our building. We used to get newsletters of things happening - but we haven't had any in quite a while.
I wonder if I should / could write a new one, or if it is out of place for me to do so? I don't know who the Body Corp. of the building is for a start, and I don't want to step on their toes too much. Just hoping this initial meeting neighbours thing goes down well. At least I'll know who (from our building) is on board soon enough.

There are a lot of apartment buildings in Wellington's CBD I noticed today on my travels (both alone when I was going to and from the coffee shop, but also when walking with my friend)... a lot of new buildings being built too. I hope the market drops soon. If we want to buy an apartment it looks like we need to wait until the prices drop and they won't do that until some sell, or more are on the market!

It was crazy to think, today, that our apartment building with 60 apartments is considered "small" compared to most. I know it's only 5 stories worth, each with 12 apartments... but it's not that small, surely? SOHO just down the road has 350, it may be closer to 400. Insane! There's a new building going up that is rumoured to have close to 500 apartments. Each of those are also 1-2 bedrooms. (Which means 1-4 tenants... the same as we have here).

Dan is still away for another 8 days. Missing him lots. But can't do much about that.




NOTES:
* I live in the Capital city of New Zealand and we're right on top of a fault line, earthquakes are common here. Hence we're waiting for the 'big one'.
This of course has been the status quo for years, if it happens this year or next, who knows. Best to Be Prepared and have our things ready to Get Thru.
Get Ready & Get Thru
**10B is just an example, there is no 10B in our building.

A little history lesson

So in 2005 this guy named Tom wrote a blog Here called Wellurban which he based a blog post on the location of my current apartment.

The address has changed slightly, we've officially moved "next door". It's not 140 or 144 but 142. Weirdly mail addressed as 140 or 142 gets through. I haven't tested to see if mail addressed as 144 gets to us.


A picture of old Liks now Ilbordello, which is again changing it's name again this year.

Chrissy was the woman who set up the place that was the loser to arson, now the location of my apartment building which ironically is filled with a rainbow assortment of people. Last year Dan and I flatted with a lesbian woman. This year, not such a rainbow flat.

Building rumours...  It's interesting to read back on what Tom and others thought a few years before the current building was actually built in 2009.

23rd of January 2013.

Today was all about catching up on errands.
I went to the bank and luckily (for me) going at 2:30 pm meant there were few people so the lines were short and I could get going a lot faster.
I then grabbed a gelato from one of my favourite cafes, Kaffee Eis. They have 4 stores here in Wellington. One on Courtenay Place, one down on Oriental Parade by the beach and one under the park near the harbour (Frank Kitts Lagoon) and another in Cable Car Lane. All their stores rock.

Their website is here: http://www.kaffeeeis.co.nz/

 I love gelato, they make it on site and you can buy it by the scoop... 1 flavour is $4.50... and you can even buy a litre tub fill! (I can't remember their other prices).

This one is the cafe latte flavour (that is if I remember the name, it's definitely the coffee one).

Oh and they're currently looking for a Full Time barista for their Courtenay Place store. 

As well as a Part Time Sandwich Hand, so if you know of anyone looking tell them to give Hugh a call on 021 1555 766. They can also bring their CV into any of the stores and apply that way. 

When I returned from my errands, it was close to ten past four and I was getting  hungry and tired. Anyway, I get back and the fire alarm starts going off. So I grab my stuff and run down stairs. (Thinking I needed to evacuate). I then text the Building Manager, as I didn't hear the usual Voice-Over saying to Evacuate... Just the sirens... The B.M. text back saying, "Oh, sorry, the alarms company is currently doing noise testing". Great, so I just ran down 4 flights of stairs for nothing! 

Oh, well! Great practise in case it's real. :) 

Got the washing on and enjoying the breezy weather. 

Have to plan dinner soon, maybe not the same as this, which is what we devoured last night:

The Famous Lamb Salad:

Boiled eggs, lettuce, grated cheese, pan fried lamb pieces, 

Mine had added tomato and cucumber... Dan's had grated carrot. 

 The dinner being made:

Small kitchen in use:

Today during my walk I came across this amazing building at Tory Street.

 It's an old building facade which has been left standing for the building work going on around it. I can't remember what the building project is going to be in the end. Wouldn't be a surprise if it becomes another apartment complex. Sadly they are popping up everywhere here and yet they're so expensive to buy. There was an article on the local news recently about housing prices and how few people can afford to buy them now. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/business/residential-property/8207909/Wellington-homes-severely-unaffordable Sadly I think owning my own house is out of the question in the long term - unless I can drastically save a lot of money - and even then I doubt that I'd be able to get a mortgage from the bank easily. I'm not being negative about it, just facing the harsh true reality that money is my friend but at present I do not know how to look after it very well. It's a lesson I'm learning but it all takes time.