Wednesday 30 October
Returned from lunchtime trip to Tiso’s where I had bought new breeches and a body-warmer for the winter walking season, to find a note to phone Mel in Bolton. Joked that he would be wanting System 4 support again. So he was. For New Zealand Post Office. Should he mention my name to the interested parties? Yes!!
Wednesday 6 November
Got a message from Steve Cunningham that Mel had tried to phone from New Zealand but seemed to have got a duff number. I phoned Mel. More info on the job, 2966 DME/S4 for a year for NZ Post Office in Auckland. This is a slight disappointment as I had been hoping for Wellington. Could I start at the beginning of December? No, the end of January. How about January 13th? That might be managed. Had I any preference for employer? Who would pay most I said.
Friday 8 November?
Ian Doney of ICL New Zealand phoned to discuss the job. The key dates in the project are 5 February 1986 to move from the existing System 4 kit (which is in Wellington) to two 2966’s in Auckland running under DME, followed by a switch to a new system running on 3980 in March 1987. The support role is unlikely to be full time, so I would be expected to get involved in other things too.
Tuesday 12 November
Posted CV to ICL New Zealand.
Wednesday 13 November
Ian Doney phoned again, this time to discuss terms. It looks like there should be no problem in principle, just a matter of working out the details in line with ICL’s standard policies.
Friday 15 November
Ian phoned again with details of the offer. Less money than I had indicated but an accomodation allowance makes up the difference and I get a car on top. He suggested that I should start proceedings to obtain a work permit and start thinking about my preferred flight plans. After two unsuccessful attempts to get through by phone (the line for that section is engaged and two/one calls holding) posted letter to New Zealand High Commission asking for an application form for a temporary work permit.
Thursday 22 November
A letter from the NZHC containing, not an application form for a work permit, but an application form for an application form for a work permit. I will need to check the actual period in the job offer before I fill this in - I hope someone phones soon.
Tuesday 26 November
I suppose I will have to make the call myself, from Richard’s phone. Spoke to Judy Brady of personnel, the offer is for one year, and is in the post.
Wednesday 27 November
Posted application form for an application form for a work permit.
Thursday 28 November
Job offer arrives.
Tuesday 3 December
Sent off a signed copy of the job offer to New Zealand, together with details of my prefered travel arrangements.
Wednesday 4 December
Ian Doney phoned and seemed a bit concerned abut the delay in getting the work permit. Would he ask Putney if they could do something to help? Not yet, I would try phoning the HC myself first. So I did, and got through at the second attempt. I was told (I swear) that it could take up to six weeks to consider the application form for the application form. On the basis of name, address, age, sex, nationality, occupation and reason for visit. These Kiwis must be slow readers or something. I got a bit stroppy and the lass promised to send out the proper application form at once.
Thursday 5 December
The application form for the work permit arrived first post. It was postmarked last Monday! Filled it in and sent it off recorded delivery at lunchtime.
Friday 6 December
Another application form arrived. Posted Wednesday. Anyone want to apply for a work permit for New Zealand?
Wednesday 11 December
An acknowledgement from the New Zealand High Commission that they have received my application and that it might take some time to give me a considered reply. Any queries about progress should preferable be made by letter rather than by phone. How long will I give them before I start phoning?
Thursday 12 December
Air New Zealand phoned to confirm proposed flight dates and times in line with my request to ICL, apart from the starting time which is the ungodly 0715 BCal flight. I had been hoping for the later shuttle but it seems ANZ fly from Gatwick, not Heathrow.
Monday 16 December
My birthday arrives early. A work permit from the NZHC by recorded delivery (the postman did not time his arrival too well) and flight tickets from ANZ, posted on Thursday and Friday respectively. These latter are worse than I expected - the check-in at Glasgow is an hour before flight time. However, no doubt I will manage somehow. In the evening, phoned Judy Brady’s office to say that all was now in order. The lass at the other end
1986
Thursday 9 January
It was not what you might call a good night’s sleep. The clock moved extremely slowly, every time I looked it was only a few minutes since the last time. However, I must have dozed off at least once because when I got up at 0430, Daddy was already up and the tea made. I phoned Paul to bring the transport round, and off we went to Glasgow Airport for the 0645 BCAL flight to Gatwick.
Check-in time was supposed to be 0615 but no-one had appeared at the desk by then, so Mummy, Daddy and Paul departed, back to bed. Someone finally arrived just before half past and I booked the rucksack through to Auckland. Bought the Scotsman and the Glasgow Herald and proceeded to the departure lounge.
There was a machine dispensing free tea and coffee so I tried a cup of tea - revolting stuff. The next chap along almost wrecked the machine trying to get a coffee. Apparently the first cup tasted like tea, which is more than can be said for the tea, so he pushed every button in sight and blocked most of the dispenser chutes.
The plane left on time, a light breakfast was served and we touched down a couple of minutes early at Gatwick. Then followed a tedious wait till I could book in for the real flight. In the duty free, I bought my ration of whisky (The Macallan), Condor, Channel No 5 (on the grounds that any woman will be happy to accept it) and a personal stereo radio/cassette player.
Air New Zealand flight TE001 for Los Angeles, Honolulu and Auckland took off 60 minutes late due to the incoming flight being 70 minutes late. The aircraft was a Boeing 747, apparently Air New Zealand got rid of their remaining DC10 after the Erebus crash. Owing to total cloud cover, I could see nothing when the pilot announced that we were flying over North West Scotland.
It quickly got dark as we headed north-west on the great circle route and then got light again as we headed south-west. But it wasn’t tomorrow, we were just catching up with the sun, having taken a short-cut. At one point, I decided that I could see the Hudson Bay - a large expanse of flat white with occasional irregular black leads meandering across it.
We reached Los Angeles at what should have been 0200 on Friday but it was only 1800 on Tuesday, having consumed two meals and numerous small cans of beer (which were free) and having ignored two films, one of which was James Bond "A View to a Kill" and the other was totally forgettable! Two boring hours in the transit lounge before carrying on to Honolulu, where it should have been 0930 on Friday but was only 2330 on Thursday. The transit lounge there is even more boring than in Los Angeles.
Friday 10 January
We left Honolulu at 0115 local time. The couple who had been sitting beside me all the way from London had got off and I had three seats to myself for the rest of the flight, except when the lassie across the passage went to sleep on two of them. (I don’t sleep on planes and she was sitting beside a small child who kept jumping up and down.) After a couple of hours we crossed the International Date Line and the rest of Friday was cancelled.
Saturday 11 January
When we landed at Auckland at 0830 local time, ten minutes early, it was only 1930 on Friday in the UK. I knew that because I’d left the digital display on my watch on GMT, just changing the hands as we went along. The flight from London had taken about 26 hours including the two short stopovers.
The Men from the Ministry (of Agriculture) came aboard and sprayed the cabin with an odourless insecticide to kill any stowaways. This was an improvement on my previous visit in 1979 when the insecticide had a distinctly unpleasant smell. No problem with immigration or customs. They had a look at my tent, as expected, but it was a cursory inspection and they seemed quite happy with my assurance that the tent had been cleaned since last it was used. No-one was the least bit interested in anything else that I might be bringing in with me. I wish I had really stocked up with tobacco.
As I emerged from the customs hall, I had my photo taken. I didn’t see who took it, just a flash and I thought "What berk did that?". But, it wasn’t a berk, it was Dirk, who had come to meet me. Apparently, there was some discussion with Mel about whether I would arrive wearing the kilt (I didn’t) and evidence was required. However, it was good to see him again. He looks like an Australian now after four years in Canberra. (The fact that he is an Australian is neither here nor there.)
The weather was sunny and very close. Apparently December was very wet, twice the average rainfall, but a dry spell is now expected. We went to the Grafton Oaks Motel, about two hundred yards from the office, to drop my luggage. Dirk said that I had been booked in for next Monday, until, about four o’clock yesterday, someone spotted a note lying about with the correct arrival time. That caused a small panic, but they were able to get booking changed. A room was already prepared, although it was not yet ten, so I had a quick wash but didn’t bother unpacking.
We went downtown (Dirk had some shopping to do) and wandered about a bit. We had a couple of beers and a bite to eat in the cafe which Whitbread have set up on Princes Wharf, where the competitors in the "Round the World Yacht Race" are based. Several nice boats there.
Next stop, the office, otherwise the New Zealand Post Office Savings Bank Computer Centre. Dirk showed me round and introduced me to the few staff who were around, people I would soon get to know quite well. Without formality, I was issued with a key card to operate all the security doors.
After a couple of hours, we returned to the hotel. Dirk went off for a swim, I unpacked and had a shower. Ian phoned from Wellington to check that I had arrived safely. Dirk returned and we went out for another walk downtown, having a hamburger for tea before returning to the hotel for a few beers. Considering it’s high summer here, it seems to get dark very early, about nine o’clock, and very quickly too with little more than half an hour between day and night. I suppose this is the tropics effect.
Sunday 12 January
When I woke about quarter to eight, I turned on the radio and soon discovered one of the more important thing about life in New Zealand - British football results at 0755. The pronunciations of some Scottish team names, notably Allo-ah and Arbro-ath, will provide me with a little gentle amusement for some time to come.
At breakfast, the price differential between the continental and the full breakfast was quite small so I felt compelled to take the latter to get value for money. However, I couldn’t quite face up to steak or fish and chips and settled for an omelette.
We went into work about ten and I started the awesome task of sorting out several large piles of assorted listings accumulated by the variety of persons who have been working here for the last two months and who have left no record of what’s been done. I’ll just have to work it out as best I can.
In mid-afternoon, we went for a late lunch of hamburger and chips in Svensens at the bottom of the Khyber Pass. Finished about six and returned to the hotel for a few beers and the evening meal. This was a serve-yourself buffet. I wasn’t too hungry so I just had the roast beef, potatoes and salad, followed by more salad, three assorted sweets, including Pavlova, and a bowl of fresh fruit salad.
Friday 17 January
Things are already set in a rut. In to work before nine, rarely leaving before seven at night. Breakfasts are substantial, I’ve tried steak and chips, steak sandwich, and decided to settle for ham, sausage and tomato on a regular basis. The canteen at work is limited to sandwiches, filled rolls, cake and buns, usually ordered in advance. Meat pasties are also available but as I cannot predict when I will have lunch, a filled roll is safer. And they are well filled.
I’m still spending most of my time trying to find out what has been done by those who went before. There is no record of what amendments have been applied by whom and when. There seem to be lots of things missing from libraries, mismatches between source and object, and no control over who does what and where.
My personal affairs are in slightly better order. I’ve arranged a bank account, got some ICL money into it and got a cheque book, the first use of which was to extract some spending money. I had been living from hand to mouth at first, borrowing from Dirk and Ian to avoid changing more sterling. Now I’m a fat cat and no longer have to check my wallet before going into a bar.
Not that I’ve been in many bars, usually it’s just in the hotel. I’ve been out walking some evenings but I’m definitely tired by the time I finish work. Had a chinese meal on Monday night nice enough but not up to Edinburgh standards. The rest of the week was hamburgers with or without chips.
This evening, there was a "shout" at work, about a dozen people celebrating promotions laid on beer, wine, crisps and nuts for a social gathering in the canteen. I was introduced to the local PO EDP boss who turns out to be a longstanding friend of Ian’s.
Back at the hotel there was me, Ian, Dirk and Celia (who came over on Wednesday for a weeks holiday, mostly at ICL’s expense), Gary (the PO boss) and his wife Heather (whose parents surnames were Mackay and Mathieson) and a trainee programmer called Sharon who is on a course here at the moment and staying at the hotel. A merry evening was had by all, especially Sharon. She spent much time extracting the Michael by imitating my accent - do I really sound like that?
The bill for the meal was distributed between my room, Dirk’s and Sharon’s, all to be recovered in due course as expenses. Apparently, a senior Post Office manager, a senior ICL manager and two technical experts, one of whom actually works for the Department of Industry and Commerce in Canberra, constitutes a business meeting, to the benefit of all present.
I’m not sure the staff were too pleased with us since we didn’t go into the dining room until just before it was due to close. Heather sent back a hard avocado and we put away a fair bit of wine. We had tea/coffee in the lounge (the bar was long shut) and Gary kept feeding the juke box. I left them to it at about one in the morning.
Oh, yes, I picked up my unaccompanied baggage on Tuesday. No problems with customs. He just asked what was in it, took a cursory look inside and that was that. I have extracted the couple of technical manuals which I brought out and shouldn’t need to unpack the rest till I get a flat (of which there is as yet no sign).
Saturday 18 January
Well, it’s time I did some shopping so I walked downtown and looked into a few shops. My main objective was to buy two pairs of "dress" shorts for wearing to work. Given the warm and humid climate here, it is quite normal for office workers, particularly the older ones, to wear neat shorts and long socks from Labour Day (in October) till Easter.
I had great difficulty finding something suitable, given that I don’t want too dark a material (it would clash with my peelywally legs) and I seem to be fatter than the average Kiwi. Finally settled for a rather expensive pair that fit me now but could be an embarrassment when I start to lose weight. Also three pairs of suitable long socks and a pair of flip-flops which seem to be the standard casual footwear here.
Next, I went into the tobacconist’s in the Queen’s Arcade. His daughter was minding the shop. As there was no Condor, I asked for the thickest, blackest tobacco they had and, as she had no idea herself, she phoned her father. It seems that tobacco in black packets is likely to be the strongest, but there’s not much apart from aromatics. I settled for a packet of Black Ambrosia made by Mac Baren in Denmark. At $3.35 for 50 gms it’s not much more than half the price of tobacco in the UK. However, it’s not even half as good, very dry and fast burning.
On the way back to the hotel, I stopped off in a tavern, the Queen’s Head, more or less opposite the Town Hall, and had my first "jug", of Lion Brown. Not as good as Dominion Bitter (hereinafter referred to as DB) which they sell in the hotel (but I knew that anyway from my last visit), but at least it comes in reasonable quantities. The jug holds a litre and you drink it via a seven ounce glass.
Back at the hotel, I changed into the shorts and the flip-flops, called "jandals" in New Zealand and "thongs" in Australia, and went into work for a couple of hours.
Dirk and Celia went off to see Rotorua this morning so with a free choice of Auckland activities, I wandered down to the docks in the evening. Most of the commercial traffic goes through the container terminal so the old wharves are open and shelter a mixture of tourist launches and yachts.
The Rainbow Warrior is tied up at the Western Viaduct, looking very dejected. Still a few sightseers gawping at it. It seems they haven’t yet decided what to do with the boat - whether to tow her out to sea and sink her or to use her in some way to further irritate the French.
During my wandering, I came across the definitive proof that I am in New Zealand, I could hear a pipe band playing in the distance.
A few more beers before bed.
Sunday 19 January
After breakfast, I paid my hotel bill to date - $705 for eight days. Accommodation is $65 per night with breakfast at $9.75 or $10.75 depending on whether you have ham and eggs or steak and chips. A continental breakfast costs $7.50 which seems a lot to pay for fruit juice, tinned fruit, tea and toast. Evening meals are quite expensive too, but I haven’t had any except for last Sunday. The phone call home was $9.50, most of which is probably a handling charge for connecting the call.
Another working day. I begin to feel we are making progress, but there is still a long way to go. In the evening, I dined in the hotel again, with Dirk and Celia, much the same as last week.
I’ll have to lay off the jandals for a few days. They are chaffing between my toes (which is hardly surprising). My right foot is coping quite well, but the wee toe on my left foot hasn’t a clue what to do. It keeps trying to go off on its own.
Monday 20 January
Dirk and Celia went up to the Bay of Islands today, an area much extolled by the tourist industry here. They were not impressed. Beaches were grey and dusty and things seemed geared to parting the visitor from his/her cash. No doubt I’ll see for myself sometime.
I went to look at a couple of flats. Imagine, if you will, a shoe box. Turn it on its side. Insert one horizontal and four vertical partitions, enlarge the whole thing a bit (but not too much), glass over the whole front and that’s a block of "mod flats". The bedroom, kitchenette, toilet etc are partitioned off at the back. Access to the upstairs flats is via a verandah with steps at the end. The rent for such a flat is $110 per week. I’m not impressed.
Wednesday 22 January
It rained this morning. Frequent, quite heavy showers. I attempted to get to work in a dry spell but only got half-way before it started again. I put on the light rain jacket I’ve got and I think I got damper inside with condensation than if I’d left it off.
I was generally a bit under the weather with a flu-ish ache over most of my body, and feeling tired. Ian suggested that it might be a delayed reaction to the journey. I could do with soaking in a bath but the hotel only has showers. An early night is the next best thing.
Friday 24 January
Flat-hunting has not gone well so I decided to go a bit up-market in my search. There’s one advertised in Remuera at $600 per month. I phoned the number and found myself talking to Mrs Biss, who came from Glasgow, albeit a good few years ago. She gave me the address. It’s being painted at the moment so I phoned the painter - Daryll - then went over to see it.
The flat is on the top floor of what looks like a three storey building from the road but is five storeys at the back with car parking at the bottom and fourteen flats on the other four floors. There is a lift serving all levels, the hall is carpeted, the mailboxes are in the street-level lobby.
There is a verandah across the front of the living room and bedroom, both of which are glass-fronted with ranch-slider doors and lots of curtain. The flat is twice the size of the other flats I’ve seen and quite well furnished with cooker, fridge, washing machine, tumble dryer, bath and shower, and a Crown Derby dinner set amongst other things.
Back at the office, I phoned Mrs Biss and said I’d take it from Sunday. Phoned Wellington and asked them to set up the financial details. They’ll pay the rent and deduct the difference (between what they said they’d pay and the actual cost) from my wages.
Celia went back to Australia today. On Monday, when she and Dirk went into QUANTAS to book seats, the earliest flight they were offered was two club seats for next Monday, which is OK for Dirk but not for Celia. Ian phoned the travel agent that ICL use in Wellington but the best he could do was two seats in tourist class on the same flight.
So Celia tried standby yesterday. The arrangement was that if she didn’t get on the plane she would phone the office else Dirk would go out to the airport to pick up the car. Well, she didn’t get on the plane, but when she phoned, she could not remember the appropriate extension and whoever answered the phone had never heard of Dirk and couldn’t care less. She phoned again when she got back to the hotel but by that time Dirk was already on his way with Ian out to the airport. Today, things went better. She got on the plane, I drove Dirk out to the airport in Ian’s car, we found the other car and all is well.
It’s my car now, for the time being. It’s a (General Motors) Holden Commodore, made in Australia and more or less the same as whatever Vauxhall sell above the Cavalier. Unfortunately it is an automatic which makes for very boring driving except when I try to change gear. My foot hits the brake pedal, hard, when I try to put the clutch down. I really should have a smaller car this one is only here because the guy who was using it has got a new car and the lease on this one hasn’t expired yet. I’m told to expect a change in March so I’ve asked for a manual whatever it is (a small Mazda is most likely) but it may not be an option.
Saturday 25 January
Today it rained. And how! When it was bad (which was most of the time), it was torrential and when it was good, it was just heavy. There was half a gale blowing too. Definitely interesting.
Mike Booth, a manager from Wellington, came up. They’ve had a letter from the Post Office expressing concern about the apparent lack of progress and he wants to get our side of the story before replying. His fact-finding technique consisted of spending the evening in the bar with Dirk and myself and putting all the food and drink on his bill. Outside, the weather continued wild.
Sunday 26 January
A working breakfast with Dirk and Mike, reviewing what we could remember of the discussion of the previous evening, and, since it was my last breakfast in the hotel, I had steak and chips. Mike went off back to Wellington and I went to pay my bill, at which point I discovered that I had left my cheque book in the office, so I had to go over there and fetch it.
When I got back, the receptionist, who had seen me going in and out almost every day for the last two weeks, still wanted the number off my bank card, which I haven’t got yet, to support the cheque so I offered her my driving licence and she copied down the postcode, getting it wrong in the process. I told her what she was doing and she copied the right number at last.
I put the rest of my bags in the car and drove downtown with Dirk who wanted to look for souvenirs. The "Downtown Terminal" at the bottom of the Air New Zealand building is open on Sundays with a few souvenir shops, a tearoom and several travel agents and tour operators. Dirk browsed through the available selection of Tshirts without finding any that took his fancy.
We headed out to Remuera to get the keys to the flat and sign the lease. Mrs Biss was not terribly keen to go over the inventory in person and in detail, so I said I’d check it and let her know if there was any serious discrepancy. And so I moved in.
There was still a strong smell of paint and a slightly foosty smell in the bedroom, which I suspect might originate in some sheets and blankets in a cupboard. We’ll see how some open windows improve things.
The inventory checked out, though some items were a little the worse for wear. Everything seemed to be serviceable except for the mattress on the sun lounger on the verandah. Since I’m not likely to do much lounging in the sun, that won’t make much difference. The cups and saucers of the Crown Derby dinner set were a bit stained.
However, time was passing so we headed back to the office and put in a couple of hours preparing for Dirk’s departure tomorrow before I left him at the hotel just before five and returned to the flat.
Well, I cleaned up a bit, unpacked a bit and ventured forth to the dairy for my first New Zealand experience of buying the essentials of life - milk, tea, sugar, bread, butter and cheese. All the corner shops here are referred to as dairies and are usually open from seven till seven, seven days a week.
I had to explain that I was a foreigner, newly arrived, to account for my difficulty knowing what it was I wanted. A pint of milk (actually 600 millilitres) is either ordinary or blue top (which is homogenised), and there is often a deposit on the bottle (a fact I had been warned about). Tea comes in 500 gram packs, either Bells or Choysa or occasionally UK brand names. Everything else is metric too and cheese comes in Colby, mild or tasty versions. I played safe and took mild for the time being. (I later found that even the tasty is mild by UK standards.)
Back to the hotel to dine with Dirk.
Monday 27 January
Today is the Auckland Anniversary holiday, being the Monday nearest the last weekend in January and it’s time Dirk went back to Canberra. When he phoned QUANTAS early this morning, he was told that they didn’t have any reservation in his name at all, which is a bit much when last week he had four seats on the plane. However in the end they did find a booking and I drove him out to the airport. Just as well as he’s due back at work tomorrow.
Tuesday 28 January
Went shopping this morning before work. Not very successful. No dustbags for the Hoover, nor any drawer lining paper of any sort and no suggestion of where I might try. However I did get lightbulbs and dusters and a mug to drink my tea out of, and the local stationery shop did have writing paper and envelopes.
From work I tried to phone the telephone service people but was unable to get through. Someone in the office said I could get the appropriate forms from the Post Office so I wandered round there. No forms, it is necessary to phone the telephone service people at the permanently engaged number.
While I was in the area, I tried several shops for dust bags and drawer lining paper, without success. Everyone was very helpful but useless. Dust bags are known to be in short supply. Two shops suggested trying a shop called Fisher and Paykell out at Mount Wellington, which is some distance out of town, one even looked up the phone number for me. Everyone knows what drawer lining paper is, they admit that it is not uncommon for people to ask for it but they have no idea who sells it. I was recommended to bookshops, office stationery, fancy goods etc but no success.
Back at the office I finally get through to Telephone Services. They had just received the instruction from the previous tenant to cut off the phone. They will cancel that and send me the appropriate forms to take over the rental. Local calls here are free, there is now subscriber trunk dialling to most places in New Zealand and direct dialling to most of the world. It’s greatly advanced over what the system was like in 1979.
Wednesday 29 January
I phoned Fisher and Paykell at Mt Wellington and yes, they do have the appropriate dust bags at $5.30 for five. I drove out at lunchtime, it took about 20 minutes via the Southern Motorway. Turns out to be a very big place, main New Zealand agent for several domestic appliance manufacturers and they even manufacture whiteware themselves, or at least assemble it.
The motorway driving was interesting. Most of the traffic was observing the 100 kph speed limit. The nearside lane seemed to be permanently designated as the exit lane for whatever junction came next. The middle lane was travelling steadily below the speed limit and the outside lane went a bit faster. Traffic was fairly heavy as this road is part of State Highway 1, the main north-south artery, as well as being an urban motorway.
Friday 31 January
A bit of a disaster today. During the morning, while we were having a telephone conference with Mel, Peter and Ian left for the airport. They returned a few minutes later saying their taxi had not arrived, and took the spare keys for the Commodore which they will leave in the car in the airport carpark.
Just after lunchtime, Phil was going to the airport and I decided to go in his taxi and pick up the car. I wandered round the airport carpark looking for the car, hoping I would recognise it. I thought it was grey, Phil had said it was green, either way I saw no sign of it. A second, more thorough, walk through the car park was no more successful.
A third round, carefully scanning number plates, which are smaller than UK plates, saw me beginning to get worried. A fourth round and panic began to set in. I asked the carpark attendant whether there was anywhere else the car might be but no, it was hardly likely to be at the International Terminal.
A suspicion was beginning to grow that I was on a wild goose chase. I decided to phone the office but I didn’t have the office phone number with me. A search in the directory proved fruitless so I phoned directory enquiries, but they couldn’t find it in any of their listings. Finally a supervisor came on, explained that it must be a confidential number and suggested that the best thing to do was to phone POHQ and ask them to pass on a message. I decided a better idea would be to phone ICL and get the number from them.
So, at last, I got through to Ian, he looked out of the office window and lo, there was the car, sitting where I had left it earlier in the day. I decided not to take a taxi back but to get the bus and see where that went. As I walked out of the terminal door, the bus pulled away from the bus stop. There was only one thing to do. I went for a beer.
Half an hour later I caught the next bus and got off at the Sheraton Hotel, the nearest point to the office, about half a mile away. In all, I had wasted three and a half hours and six dollars, all for the want of a bit of common sense.
In the evening I decided to try out the washing machine. To my considerable surprise, it all worked well. There was no flood, I didn’t use too much powder and nothing got torn. After spinning, shirts were just about right for ironing but the iron wouldn’t heat. It was described as "faulty" on the inventory and I had a quick look inside. All of the connections looked OK if a bit petrified so I put it back together and was about to give up when, while twiddling the thermostat control, the light came on. It seems it only works, if at all, when turned up to maximum and even then doesn’t get very hot.
The tumble drier didn’t do much for the other things; first I tried fifteen minutes then half an hour, so I draped odd clothes on every available protrusion as there isn’t a pulley or clothes horse. Still, it was all a reasonable success. I might try it again next week when I will go on to bigger things like sheets.
Saturday 1 February
Saturday in name only. In to work for nine o’clock, spent most of the day poring over a dump, back to the flat for a fairly numb evening and so to bed.
Sunday 2 February
It’s time I had a day off. This day is not really suitable it’s a bit grey and damp outside, but I’m fed up working and will take a break. Phoned home to communicate my address and phone number and to find out how things are. Everyone well, no-one seems to be missing me. SSHA are trying to get an extra month’s rent and the Bank Of Scotland haven’t communicated about any problems transferring my money so perhaps I’d better write to them.
Spent the rest of the day spring cleaning. The Hoover is not very efficient. The "beats as it sweeps" effect is achieved by a belt drive and the belt has a tendency to jump off the drive pulley. When using the attachments, the suction is little better than I could achieve using my lungs.
It dried up a bit in the evening and I went out for a drive, not far, just over to Kohimarama Beach and back by Mission Bay and Okahu Bay. Moderate sunset over the city. Could be worth photographing sometime when it’s a bit better.
Somehow I find it difficult to accept which way is east and which is west (not to mention north and south). I suppose my built-in compass is confused by the sun being a bit north of overhead rather than south. Returned to the flat and wrote home and to the Bank of Scotland.
Monday 3 February
Went in to the bank to inform them of my new address, extract some money and pick up a new cheque book at the same time. Back at the office, I looked more closely at the cheque book and discovered that the name on it was not J Reynolds but R C Filmer. This seems strange. Returned to the bank and all was made clear.
When I opened the account, I was allocated the next number off a computer printout. When my information was fed into the machine that evening, it got thrown out again. That account number had already been allocated to someone else but a human had failed to mark up the listing. The bank sent me a letter at Nugent Street but it was returned "not known"!! Now the bank will have to reverse out my transactions and re-apply them to another account which is allocated to me alone.
When I got back to the office, I made sure I was known to the receptionist. They obviously have no system for registering who is working in the building so I’ll have to chase such things myself.
End of May
My career as a diarist didn’t last long. It was too much hassle coming back after a hard day’s work and feeling obliged to set down the day’s events or, more often, the last few day’s events. ("Few" was on occasion a euphemism.) So I stopped.