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Log
Date: September 4, 2007
Location: Opua Harbour, NZ
Ok so we are still in the tree house 15 feet above sea-level
otherwise known as
"on the hard" - slowly working to get our boat back in the water. Most
of our
large projects are done now it is just getting the "I don't really feel
like
working on it" projects done. Susan has done the awful job of sanding
the
bottom of the boat, painting it is next. And we've actually set a splash
date
of Sept 15th. So far so good for that timing.
Shout-out: to treat someone - pay for their beer, dinner, pick up the
bill, give
something for free...
It is a learning curve living in another country. Though this is an
English
speaking country many words and colloquialisms are different. For
example while
in New Zealand one does not boast that it is one's birthday. One keeps
their
big mouth shut and their birthday a secret. You see on ones birthday it
is the
birthday person who is responsible for treating ones friends to drinks,
meals,
etc on their special day. So when I announced to the guys in at the boat
yard
that today was my birthday
they told me I needed to "shout them out". I had heard this term before
so I
knew that it meant to treat them. You do not treat someone to dinner you
"shout
them out to dinner". You do not buy them a beer you "shout them" a beer.
So
today on my birthday I "shouted out" the guys at the boat yard (thank
goodness
we are in a small boat yard) for lunch. I asked many a kiwi and got the
same
answer each and every time that on your birthday you "shout out" your
friends.
Good on me they said...they wanted
me to by a "box of piss" yes that is what they call beer - not a case
because
mostly they sell 12 packs so they call it a "box of piss" and whilst one
is
drinking a beer it - you are now "on the piss", which if you really
think about
it is a great description for beer.
Susan got her work permit and is working as sort of IT/Office Manager
for small
company called Bay of Islands Rigging. The previous owner sold the
business but
is still working out of the Whangarei office (before you think big, we
are a
total of 7 employees, 2 of which are part time and one is a contractor).
The
new owner, Les is keen to introduce more process and financial
discipline. She
has tons of experience in these areas just with a few more zeros at the
end of
the numbers. She's fortunate
the Les is giving her some freedom to work with Paul without a lot of
interference, in fact he's almost an absentee owner! Susan and Paul, the
Opua
Manager have been working very hard to get organized and ready for the
onslaught
of yachty's coming in this year. So very different working for a small
business
compared to a large corporation but it's many ways all the same - to
paraphrase
"it's the cash flow stupid" and "plan the work and work the plan". The
whole
thing started out as a "trade for
services" for a re-rig and ended up as a job! Of course she makes about
the
same or less per hour that she used to make per minute at her previous
job in
the US! She's having a ball helping the business become profitable and
restore
it's reputation with suppliers and customers and also learning a ton of
things
along the way.
Laura is working for a small boat builder which also has a Marine supply
store
as sort of a marketing/sales manager in the Chandlery and sort of
gofer/apprentice in the boat building side. She is learning tons of
stuff about
fiberglassing, wood(didn't know there were so many different types of
wood used)
painting and boat repairs in general. We are actually going to go for
residency
because of the boat. Residency does imply that the person will go on
towards
permanent residency, however it takes
3 years before you can apply for permanent residency. We've been
"invited" to
apply so we can import the boat for free since it is our "residence",
otherwise
at the end of May, the boat either has to leave and come back or we
would need
to post a bond. Our boat is less than 10yrs old so a bond would be quite
expensive. As they would say here, Susan is "on to it" and she's sussed
it out.
No worries mate,
Laura and Susan |