No Spend Days

Sorry for the lack of posting, but I'm swamped at work. Plus, I haven't been spending much moneyy--The past three days have been Zero Dollar Days.

I'm sad that interest rates in NZ are going down--this means my savings accounts will be accruing interest at a lower rate. 6.6% at kiwibank, in fact--a whole 1% drop!

In life news, BF and I are gearing up to move--we're checking out an apartment during this long weekend (monday is Labour Day in NZ!). I have gathered or requested all of the paperwork I need for my PR application, now it's just about waiting. Sis has asked me not to call her; she's in one of her 'I hate you' phases that she goes through every year when she's ill. I hate not being able to talk to my best friend...

The Status of My Accounts

I have so many bank accounts right now I can't name them all. Ok, I CAN but it takes more than a minute, and I'm uncomfortable with that! I'm not sure what to do about it, though.

So, without further ado, behold the mess:

US BANK ACCOUNTS:
BoA checking: $3943.16
BoA savings (some rediculously low interest rate, just keep it around for free checking--I transfer the same $25 back and forth every month): $25

ING savings (2.75%; transfer the same $ back and forth to my BoA checking account to satisfy 'direct deposit' for free checking): $1.01
HSBC savings (3.25%): $4970.97

T. Rowe Price Roth IRA: $3079.98
Vanguard Traditional IRA: $4352.57

NZ BANK ACCOUNTS:
Westpac checking: $0

Kiwibank checking: $569.28
Kiwibank savings (7.60%): $5005.70

Raboplus savings (7.75%): $2500 or so


Not even going there with the net worth calculations, it will just freak me out. I AM excited that my NZ emergency savings has grown to $7500 so far. That's about 4 months worth of expenses. It's been growing so fast 'cause I've been paying my cc bills with my US $avings--I'm stopping that now, and I'm gonna figure out how to turn my NZ $ to USD to pay for my monthly NZ bills. I want to keep my US savings at about $5K for some odd reason. Just picked that number at random...

So, the growth in the NZ account will decrease dramatically in the next few months; I'll grow the NZ EF to about $12K and then figure out what to save up for.

More and more spending

Oh, emotions. They make me so carefree and footloose with my wallet.

Thursday: no spend day (i think...)

Friday: 11 $2 stamps $22
10 $1.50 stamps $15
Thai food $44

I found out today from my Mom that my sister has been released from the hospital, and is staying at a group home. [I should interject here and say that this has happened every other time she's been sick; her illness isn't severe enough at first to justify her staying in the hospital to the insurance companies, so the hospitals release her. She then gets worse, and the cycle repeats itself a few times til she's admitted to the hospital and stays there continuously for a few months. so this is nothing new.] Since her disability $ pays for the group home (medicaid insurance pays for the hospital), that money is not available to pay her rent on her apartment. My mom and dad now have to clean out her (very messy, very cluttered) place. I'm so frustrated I could scream--the whole point of getting an apartment through the State was that she didn't lose it when she was sick (supposedly).

Also, it IS NOT my mom and dad's responsibility to move her furniture out, etc. My dad is ill and there's no way that my little, 5 foot 2, 59-year old mom is going too be able to move everything herself. What if someone doesn't have family around? Who would clean out the apartment in that case?

The situation is kind of similar to throwing good money after bad. In my sister's case, helping her start her life over and over and over again is completely fruitless. I'm turning over her care to the state. If I were my mom, i'd tell the case manager to deal with it. It sucks, but I can't help her fix her life. Nothing I can do or say would help (but I'd totally do it if it would). I officially give up trying to control the outcome of her life.

Not only that stuff, but I'm annoyed because my mom had been planning a beach trip for the last few months. Most of her 'vacation' time is used to shuttle my dad to and from doctor's appointments, or, in the past few years, attend the funerals of her parents and other beloved relatives. She totally deserved a break.

My sister was originally supposed to go with her--she got sick a few weeks ago. My dad then decided he would go--a rare treat. They made all the plans, got a boarding kennel for the dogs, and made all the arrangements. My mom says that my dad pulled out of the trip about a half hour before they were supposed to leave, him citing that 'all his stuff' was at home. I'm mad at my father for letting my mom go on a 6 day trip all by herself. He pulls this all the time, but this was pretty important to my mom.

I know that being alone is sometimes a good thing, but my poor mom doesn't have anyone anymore. My dad's mom, my grandma, was her best friend. She also had her parents to talk to on the phone every week. But now they are all gone. I call every week, but I can't replace the caring and love that comes from parents and best friends. My mom is stuck working her butt off so my dad can have health insurance (disability/medicaid DOES NOT cover a tenth of his monthly and outstanding medical bills), and fixing my sister's messes. She loves reading, and escapes into books every night, while my dad sleeps for 3 days straight sometimes. I'm so sad for her. and I feel really guilty that I'm not there helping.

Another reason her life scares me is because I can totally see my life turning out that way--with no one around that understands me.

Lucky Lucky Spending

Spending today:

$310 NZD for immigration physical + blood test + X-ray. Cheapest out there after calling around. Went to CityMed at 8 Albert St. if you happen to be googling this.

On the way home TWO notable things happened, and both were fortunate (in their own ways):

I happened to walk past the Auckland police station on my way to work from my physical, and went in to check on fingerprinting for my FBI background check. Not only was it FREE!, but there is a 6 week waiting list, and their 12:30 pm appointment happened to cancel while I was there. It was 12:29 when I walked in. How lucky am I??

I was waiting at a corner waiting for the little woodpecker to start chirping (this is for the blind people, obvi) so I could cross the street, and as soon as it did, this guy started to speed walk past me across the intersection. I, VERY UNCHARACTERISTICALLY, was paying attention and noticed that a huge SUV was still barreling towards the intersection, and grabbed the guy before he got smushed. The drivers of the SUV, traveling at a high rate of speed, just ran the red light without even realizing that they were supposed to stop!! Wow, that was WAY too close! And, what's up with me? I never pay attention! It was so knee-jerk, and the strength with which I pulled the guy back surprised even me. How lucky is that guy??

EDITED TO ADD: and I happened upon this post at Fabulously Broke and ended up donating $25. So, more spending...but it's worth it to me.

Guess what? I'm famous!

Thanks go to Single Ma for featuring one of my comments in her article on small luxuries. Check it out!

For Cupcake's Sake

OK, not that I make a secret of it on here or anything, but I'm going to show my hand a little bit and promote what I think is a good cause. Not all agree with me on this, I know, but well...it's my blog, right?

Two of my very closest friends in the entire world are gay men, and one is from California. He sent me an email today about Prop 8, the gay marriage ban proposition. If it were enacted, his hedgehog Cupcake (name changed to protect the innocent) would then belong to a broken family, his two daddies torn apart. This is an actual REAL photo of Cupcake:




Isn't he a cutie??

Today I donated $50 (my charity budget for this month) to Love, Honor, Cherish, a non-profit organization formed against Prop 8 in California. Gays and lesbians JUST got the right to marry in CA, and now the vote is up again to ban it. It's very sad that our country hasn't caught up to the times. The thought that keeps popping up in my head is that one day, this frenzy against gay/lesbian marriage will be similar to how we view the time when women weren't allowed to vote--just ludicrous.

I wish I could go to their fundraiser in WeHo. Also, I LOVE LOVE LOVE that the gay'borhood in LA is called 'WeHo.' It's the best thing ever.

Anyway, I find it ridiculous that it's even an issue in this day and age. Though I make jokes about hedgehogs in this post, I feel VERY strongly about this. If I were allowed to vote in CA, obviously I'd vote against it (I feel that my Presidential vote is more aptly used in my home state on the East Coast, which is teetering on the edge of being a swing state). Since I can't do that, I CAN get the word out there to my homies in CA through my blog.

Nothing Weekend

BF is always too busy to do anything on the weekends, and I'm always too tired from the workweek. That means that I usually feel like I've wasted two days of the week...and these are adding up, so I'm starting to feel like I'm wasting my life. What good is it to be in a foreign country if I'm too ill to experience it?? I might as well be at home in VA!

Anyway, more updates: I went back to the student health clinic and asked for yet ANOTHER appointment. This time I wasn't taking no for an answer. The doc agreed to let me take the thyroid test, plus some followup thyroid blood tests, in a few weeks instead of in 3 months. This means that the second blood test is being taking only one month after the first one.

Geez. I'm at the point where I HOPE the tests are way off, just so I can try some treatment for it!!

At least the doc visits (and probably the blood tests) are free. I'm STILL getting bills for the blood drawn back in May for my work permit physical. Another $84.94 is due. Sheesh.

As part of my PR application, I have to go through the physical ALL OVER AGAIN. I'm really hoping that it is much cheaper in NZ.

I've been spending money like crazy lately...at least, it feels that way. $1700 for rent (BF was behind), $80 for work clothes, $282 for Christmas presents, and another $25 today for stocking stuffers--fun NZ eats like scroggin, musk sticks, lamb-and-mint flavored potato chips, bacon and cheese balls, honey soy chicken flavored chips, and burger rings! :) My little cousins will get a KICK out of those things.

Oh, and in the coming months, I will be spending approx. $3K on a plane ticket back to NZ from my Christmas break. Part of my vacation will be unpaid, since I haven't worked at my company for a year. Oy. Also, I will be spending $1400 NZD on my Permanent Resident application. Wow!

It feels like I'm working SO HARD to minimize my day-to-day expenses, but it's hard to save with so many large bills coming at me at once. they aren't even super-duper fun expenses like vacations--i don't consider going home a vacation, believe me, my family is WORK. and I hate airplanes and long flights, so I know I'm screwing myself over by living in NZ. Ah well. Hopefully one day I'll look back and it'll all be worth it.

September Budget Roundup

I spent about $75 on groceries tonight. I'm hoping they lasts me a little while...but i've already spent almost half of my monthly budgeted amount. :(

In September, I budgeted $250 and spent $286 on groceries. Not bad considering that I spent almost $500 in August. (!)

I spent almost $80 on eating out, $155 on misc. stuff, $20 on medical, $70 on my cell phone/calls to the US, and only $10 on charity in September. I mostly stayed within my budget. The misc. spending was comprised of a $50 fee for joining Air NZ's miles program, $24 on renting videos, about $35 on laundry, a flashlight, and household cleaning supplies, and nearly $40 on postcards, postage, and stuff that BF wanted while out shopping (but he pays for stuff for me all the time too, we sort of take turns).

The $70 on cell phones/phone cards/Skype isn't actually as bad as it sounds, 'cause alot of that will carry over into this month (so spending should be less in October).

I opened up a Raboplus bank account thanks to Tasha. I didn't end up using her code for a free $30 to open up the account because I found one for $50 if you opened it up with an initial $2500 deposit! $50 should be credited to my account on October 10, we'll see if it worked. I was thinking of opening up an account with them anyway--they consistently have the highest interest rate.

So anyway, I saved around $2500 in September. I only made $2900 or so, but the trick is that I'm spending down my US dollars by putting everything on my credit card and paying it with my USD Emergency Fund. It's probably not the smartest way to do things, but it works til I can think of a better method.

Eventually I'll have to start converting NZD to USD to keep up...here's hoping the NZD gets stronger! (because I really don't want the USD to get any weaker...)

In the meantime, I'm building a pretty good NZD emergency fund. I have $4500 (plus some random interest) already!

Work Trip

My trip to Taupo yesterday went well, but meant that I put in nearly a 16 hour workday. Needless to say, I took the morning off today (because I feel really tired when I work an 8 hour day).

Anyway, the meeting lasted all day long and was very productive. My part only lasted about 15 minutes, so I was sitting in a room watching 3 other people talk for the rest of the time...they were mostly going over budgets--even for ME, who can spend 3 hours poring over my own budget with glee, it was not so fun. But I guess it's good to see what goes on behind science projects.

So the place the meeting was held was actually one of the headquarters for one of the agencies I applied to work for when I got to NZ. It was very interesting to see what Could Have Been (and may still be, in the future!). I met a lot of important people that I will work with in the future (hopefully closely if my plan goes well).

One in particular is one of the Greats in my field, and has received MANY achievement awards. He was a guest for a few days; he didn't actually work there, and people were bending over backwards to cater to him and make sure he had a good time while visiting. He pioneered several breakthrough methods that have saved alot of lives and that people use today as a basis for new models predicting hazards. Anyway, it was very very nice to meet him--despite what happened later, he is definitely a nice guy, and I'd love to work with him.

But of course, because I'm uber-sensitive lately, I'm a little upset because something bad happened.

While I was being introduced around to these people I really wanted to make a good impression upon, and work with later, my supervisor said where I went to grad school and who I worked with (one of my grad school profs is from NZ, so he knows all these people). Somehow when getting introduced to the Great, award winning guy, she didn't mention the school/NZ prof connection. Later, in front of the entire group of people I wanted to impress, the conversation naturally turns to my grad school and NZ prof. The Great guy immediately starts talking about how my grad school and the grad program that I went through didn't attract good or exceptional students, or turn out solid people. He went on to specify the students that worked with this NZ professor.

Oh. Crap.

I am one of those students, as are my highly intelligent, wonderful best friends.

My face turned bright red, and no one dared to look at me. I couldn't embarrass this Great guy in front of his colleagues, and what would I say, anyway? "Oh, well, when I went there and worked with this guy, the students were good!" Right. Meanwhile everyone I wanted to impress now thinks that I went to a sh1tty school.

Oy. All I can do is hope that everyone temporarily forgot that I went there and worked with this guy...kind of unlikely as I talked to each of them for several minutes about it. Hopefully my work performance was good enough to dissuade them from making the sweeping generalization that all students going through that program working with that prof are horrible.

!

So this was pretty embarrassing, right? I mean, I'm not over-reacting here?

They Just Don't Understand

Why don't doctors treat patients and not numbers? I'm telling her that I FEEL LIKE CRAP and HAVE ALL THE SYMPTOMS and she says, Well, your blah blah blah TSH number is high but still in the normal range (the very upper limit, as in if it were 0.00001 higher, it would be out of range). So we're going to do nothing.

It's like, until I'm bedridden and dying, they aren't going to do anything. and even then, if my numbers are in range, they'll just give me an anti-depressant and tell me to walk it off. Hrmph.

Yeah, so I went to the doctor today, and she basically told me to exercise more. WHEN I DO I FEEL WORSE. Now what? She just says that is how it is. I have to live with it.

Oh, and she said that I'm only 30 and shouldn't feel so tired. DUH. THAT IS WHY I'M HERE.

I just kept asking her over and over, what are you going to do about my symptoms? and she just kept saying, nothing. over and over.

I printed out a bunch of research from the Internets (God knows how reliable it is, but it validates my feeling that there is something wrong), and she didn't even LOOK at it. I had a checklist with all the symptoms of Hypo and filled it out so she could see what I was dealing with, and nothing. All the research, just brushed aside. I know I'm not a doctor, but hello? at least look like you are taking me seriously!

Oh, and I was prescribed some iron pills last time, because my ferritin was low (but i was still in the normal range)--I said I wasn't feeling much better and this doctor said that it was a low dosage and that therefore, i shouldn't feel better. I gave her a 'WTF?' look and asked her why I was taking them, then? She just said that they had a placebo effect for some people and it did work sometimes. Not for all, and she wouldn't expect them to work in MY case, but for some people, it helped. Wow. So I'm taking a pill that I don't really have to, that shouldn't work in theory. Great.

OK rant over. But really. I'm almost to the point where I'm thinking I'm really crazy for feeling this way. and totally lazy. I'm actually going to try to do what she suggests, and work out harder. I'm desperate. I don't know what else to do. I am scared to try holistic methods, 'cause they just seem like bunk to me, and scams, and I'm afraid that trying some non-tested alternative medicine or pill will make me worse somehow.

I've made another appointment, to see another doctor at Student Health, to see if anyone actually will try to help what I think are my symptoms. What do I have to lose? It's free.

I have to go back for blood tests in December for the whole iron-thyroid monitoring thing, as part of the results from the first tests, but I was really hoping that I could get a doctor to look more closely at my situation and DO something before then. Every time I think of making it through another 3 months feeling this way, I cry. And even after 3 months, there's no guarantee that the results will be bad enough for them to treat me.

So what do I do in the meantime? Cry. Whine. Get in the best shape I possibly can. Eat better. Learn what my triggers are. Research more. Keep complaining to doctors. Visit a mental health counselor to make REALLY SURE it's not in my head. Make my life's focus on my health. Those are the only things I can think of--some more constructive than others.

On a Jet Plane...

Tomorrow I will be waking up at the ungodly hour of 5:30 am to catch a flight to another city in NZ with my supervisor. We're meeting some other women that are the heads of this project I'm working on, to talk about progress and where we want to see the project go next. I'm kind of nervous actually, because the people I'm meeting tomorrow play key roles in the next phase of my career plan (insert evil laugh). Plus, if I stay in my industry, they are major players--not just in NZ, but worldwide. I NEED them to like me.

It's such a nice turn of events that WOMEN are 100% in control of my project...in science, that is an extremely rare occurrence. I wonder how much it would differ if men were in the mix?

Like Water

Its like the floodgates have opened! I spent $80 on clothes today, and last night I bought my Christmas presents for my family-- it came to about $300. My limit is $100 for each person (mom, dad, sis) so I didn't go over too badly, but it's a little crazy to spend that much in one fell swoop. And my dad doesn't really play games, so...the spending on him is not equal to what my mom and sis will get.

My mom bought the Wii for us for Xmas, and here's what I got:

Dance Dance Revolution Party Bundle for Wii $48.99 w/ shipping
Wii Fit w/ board $142.47
Fishing Master for Wii $32.48
Zack & Wiki Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure for Wii $21.97
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Wii $35.99

They all have rave reviews on Amazon (well, not DDR but I desperately wanted to try it). My mom will love the Wii Fit for her daily workouts, and will also probably like Zack and Wiki since it has a lot of puzzles in it. My dad will love the fishing game (hopefully!), and my sis will fall in love with Zelda games b/c it's an adventure-Dungeons and Dragons type game. Hopefully she'll also love the DDR game and it will make it easier for her to work out more.

anyway, I will probably pick up smaller items for each of them at some point, and my Dad will probably go in on the Wii Fit for my mom, keeping me in my Christmas budget nicely.

As far as other spending goes, I was part of a class-action lawsuit against Creative Technologies (I bought one of their MP3 players back in '05), and they gave me a 20% coupon as part of my settlement. It seems to work out quite nicely for Creative--either they give me 20% and gain 80% of my money for the item, or I don't use the coupon at all and it costs them nothing. I'm thinking of buying a new MP3 player with more memory (my 30 GB is almost full, thanks to having a DJ roommate for a year) and with a screen to watch movies and pictures! So exciting...

Oh, and it was my turn to pay rent, but BF somehow became behind on the rent (in NZ, they charge by the week--$300 every Monday to be exact--instead of monthly like in the US), so I ended up paying $1700 instead of $1200 for the absolute pleasure (NOT) of renting this craphole until November 4.

All that means is that October's budget is COMPLETELY BLOWN OUT OF THE WATER. I just can't seem to stop myself...

Exclamation Points!

My supervisor, who I have a total girl crush on, uses exclamation points like crazy in her emails. I find it fun and brings an energy to writing, but I also find it concerning that I seem to have adopted the habit...

Have you noticed my writing getting more exclamation-y? If so, that's why...keep on the lookout for it and let me know if the pattern increases (!).

(oh crap now I CAN'T use exclamation points for fear that I'm overusing them.)

No Energy to Price Compare!

Well, I've been feeling like crap lately, even with the iron pills the doc prescribed to me a couple of weeks ago. I do feel a little stronger, but I'm still really tired, cranky, moody, etc. And now my wrist randomly gets shooting pains--my carpal tunnel is getting worse, which apparently is another sign of hypothyroidism. I made another doc appointment for Tuesday. Here's hoping I can actually muster up the courage, without crying, for the doctor to do some more tests and actually care that my symptoms don't match my 'normal' blood tests!

(Sorry to focus so much on my illness lately, but it's really getting out of control...I can't live like this! to make it finance-related, my doc appts are free so that is a huge blessing, and I don't have any excuses NOT to go to the doc anymore. The insurance co. has already refunded the costs of my first round of blood tests, too!)

The downside to this is that I don't have any energy to keep shopping to get a better deal on the clothes I need for work. I went ahead today and bought the black blazer for $37.49 and two white collared shirts for $22.49 and $18.74 from Farmer's! I also bought a white tank top to wear underneath 'cause white button downs are terribly see-through.

Luckily I already have two pair of black pants to wear at the conference. Thank God, I don't know if I had the ambition to look for black pants as well!

All in all, I spent much less than my goal of $50 for each piece, $88.71 in total. Not horrible considering, but I am the girl who shops twice a year and gets an entire 6 month wardrobe for $150 or under! i usuallly get many more pieces of clothing for 90 bucks...

The whole thing really annoys me because I know EXACTLY where my black jacket is...on the East Coast. At home. across the world. And shipping it here would cost the same or more than the $40 I spent on the black jacket today. Argh.

Auckland Shopping

Thanks to my fellow NZ-ers Muirie and Tasha, I was able to have some idea where to go near my apartment for that blasted black blazer and the white collared shirts I need for work in November. Otherwise, I would have had NO clue where to start. I wandered in and out of shops in the mall today, and on Queen St.--black jackets were almost always $200 to $350!!! FOR JUST THE JACKET. THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS! It blew my mind.

After the 'mall' on Queen St didn't serve up any options, I checked out Glassons, couldn't find Shanton, and ended up at Farmers. While they were all cheaper than $200, most of the jackets I saw were at least $80. Still out of my budget. I was, however, able to find a black blazer for $50, with 25% off at Farmer's. That is in my budget, however, they don't allow refunds, so I'm going to continue to look. If I don't find anything by the time the sale ends on the 12th, I'll go back to Farmer's and purchase that jacket (they had plenty in my size).

It was also a blow to suddenly go from size 2 in the US to size 8 or 10 in NZ!! I mean, it's all relative, but my mind doesn't like to think that I'm now a size 10 after always being a 2 or 4 my whole adult life. Ah well.

I still want to check out some of the thrift shops in case they have anything, but I honestly don't think I'm going to find anything decent that's cheaper than $38.50 at Farmers. (Thanks for the rec, Tasha!)

I also stumbled upon the Number 1 Shoe Warehouse on Elliot St. in Auckland. Note to myself: it's through the Strand Arcade from 233-237 Queen St. Cute shoes, cheap prices, lots to choose from...good stuff.

Off to Shop!

The moment I've been dreading is here...I should shop today for a blazer and white shirts I mentioned a few days ago. Thanks for all the suggestions! I will try each one of them (unless i find what I need at the first few shops, of course!).

I took BF to dinner last night to celebrate his scholarship...$48.50 for both of us! That was pretty great, but it helped that all I wanted was their yummy Thai soup, a great yellow curry puff appetizer, and water to drink. I wasn't trying to be frugal, but I find myself migrating to more and more frugal choices naturally, like I've trained my brain to WANT frugal things. That's pretty awesome...

Anyway, that gives me more $$ to spend on his present (a jade necklace). he still has to pick out which jade figurine he wants as a charm on the necklace (he's picking based on the meanings and 'manliness' of the charm).

Oh, and I found out where my sister was and was allowed to talk with her this morning. She hung up on me, which is par for the course, but at least she's safe in a hospital. Small blessings, sometimes.

Interim Report

At first glance, I didn't do too badly this past month (September), budget-wise. I'm starting to get a handle on my groceries.

(but i have a secret, i went to a dinner tonight that was over $200 for 4 people! BF paid and it was yummy--we picked our own hand-crafted French cheeses, wines, breads, ciders, etc. to include in our dinner menu--but still... Shhhh!)


Other news, bad first: My sister is suffering a mental breakdown. Again. She was fine over the weekend, and then WHAM two nights ago she called me, crying, and drove to the hospital--she knew what was coming. They didn't have a bed for her that night, so last night my Mom drove her back and we still don't know what happened or where she is right now. The hospital told my mom she had to leave around midnight last night, and my sister would go whereever there was a bed available next. Sigh. She was doing so well, mentally (but making really bad decisions and letting people take advantage of her, mostly guys, ISH). It always breaks my heart, and throws my life and mood out of whack when she's sick like this. No matter how many times it happens. and I just don't know how to HELP.

--I bought $2,000 worth of my two index funds during the crash yesterday for my Roth. That brings my contributions this year up to about $2900. We won't talk about how much they are actually worth...

--BF found out today he got an amazing scholarship, tax free--so he can stop working so darn much and actually hang out! For me, this means: 1) he won't be in as bad a mood he's been in (for a few days) 2) I need to spring for an amazing dinner out and gift I promised him if he got it. I'll spend no more than $250 total on this present + dinner. (the dinner tonight was a pre-planned dinner with some people, and I HAD NO IDEA it was so expensive, otherwise I may not have gone.)

--I received my invitation to apply packet in the mail from Immigration. My life in the next few months will be TAKEN OVER with chasing paper. UGH. Not looking forward to it. However, free healthcare! and the opportunity to live in such a well-balanced, REASONABLE society is an incentive that I just can't argue with. The more I compare the NZ govt w/ US's, the more I heart New Zealand. I'm all for American pride--I really am, but people, we have Problems. Capital P. and I don't see anyone fixing it anytime soon.