Hold your fucking horses people! The lovely Gina from AirNZ just called, and she has managed to get us on a flight on the 27th - 3 days EARLIER than the flight we got bumped from!
Legend!
2020 has still been a bitch, but I'm gonna celebrate one of the small wins tonight
Firstly thanks to everyone who has shared on this thread. Absolute legends all. I certainly have benefitted from reading your stories.
Thought I'd add a little colour to what prompted me to start this thread.
A little over a year ago I was in a strange space. Not depressed, but bored and stale. Same job for 14yrs, stuck in the crazy hectic Sydney life of work, traffic and running around after 3 kids. Doing OK financially, but locked in a high-opex Sydney life meaning both of us were working pretty hard. Mum back in NZ with terminal lung cancer, time remaining unknown.
Decided to take a year off and reset, managed to secure a sabbatical from work, and moved the whole family to Bali. Thought by not working I'd be able to get back to NZ fairly easily to see Mum as needed.
Obviously 2020 got in the way of most of that, and we find ourselves back in Sydney again, back into the hectic lives we left behind - just without the cultural experience we had hoped for and with a big hole in our savings!
Had started back at work early given we were back in Sydney, and although some of the staleness remained, I had a new found appreciation for the stability of a job I still liked. Until a week ago that is, when I found out my company is exiting the country in a few months 
. It was announced to the market just last night, whic is why I haven't posted until now. Looks like I have a role until April, after which I'll be job hunting (haven't had a job interview since March 2005...eeek!).
I certainly don't write this to complain, I am very conscious that many folk on here have had extraordinary events happen in their lives, and 2020 has totally destroyed some peoples lives around the world - like many others have said, that has made me very thankful for all I have.
But its been quite interesting to find out a bit about myself this year. Before 2020 nothing really bothered me. Never really got anxious about much, was always pretty confident. That definitely got shaken up this year. Even the minor task of getting the family back to Sydney from NZ caused me an inordinate amount of anxiety at the time, and now I find myself pretty stressed again at the thought of seeking and (hopefully) starting a new role.
Turns out I really do value stability in my life. Routine. A sense of control, whether its real or not. I am looking forward to getting that back, the volatility of 2020 has really not been enjoyable.
Thanks again to all those who have shared, and to the wider Fern community. 2020 would have been a whole lot worse without you horrible cnts to "talk" to.
So in all this chaos, here is a great kiwiana story for youse all.
I'm in Day 2 of iso, and have a Countdown delivery order coming today. I tried to change the address online yesterday because we changed our accommodation after I placed the order, but couldn't do it. I spoke to the local store, and they said to call back this morning.
So I grab the phone this morning and hit the most recently called number. But I'd forgotten that we ordered fish'n'chip delivery for dinner last night, so Anna, the owner of the chippy picks up instead.
At 7am.
Oops
Anyway, I apologise, she asks who I was trying to call, we get chatting. Less than 45 minutes later she has dropped off eggs, bread, butter and
crackers to our driveway for brekkie.
What a fucking legend.
It's good to be home.
Clarke is 23, he's been playing rugby for 18 years. Presumably in competitive games for 10 of those.
We shouldn't be having to teach him how to look for support players when he gets to the ABs
It's one thing to try to link and mis-time a pass, or to have a mix-up with someone. But watching him you sometimes wonder if he's ever made a pass in his life.
That one (fantastic) break last night where he called Ioane early to run a line, then when Rieko did exactly that at speed, and he didn't even look at him.
Just odd
Mods, feel free to delete if innapropriate or unnecessary, but I wondered if it might be worthwhile having somewhere for our little community to ask for or offer help to each other.
People could post requests (advice, favours, whatever) or offer assistance in some way.
For example, it sounds like many people could be becoming unemployed in the near future. Maybe Ferners can assist with CV reviews, job market advice, financial modelling for home budgets etc.
Obviously physical movements are limited so don't any of youse hit me up to help weed your garden...
Mate, I certainly admire your energy and passion on this. And a genuine thanks for bringing stuff to mind that most of us probably wouldn't have seen otherwise.
I probably won't engage too much in this thread, and thought I'd explain why, given you've gone to the effort of setting the forum.
Truth be told, I'm just tired. Tired of talking about it, tired of reading about it, tired of it dominating our lives.
I feel like we have pegged our sails to the vaccine rollout now, and I just want to hit that full steam. I want us to get to 75% or whatever the nunber is, and then I want us to just stop talking about it altogether. Singapore style. No more updates on numbers, no more pressers. No more restrictions on movement. Just life as normal, with 1 more virus out there to live with.
Am I asking too much?
I'm aliiiiive!!!!!!!
All went pretty smooth in the end. Up at 4am, easy drive to Akl, 5mins wait with the police at the border.
All the airline staff were awesome, plane totally empty, and the pokice and army at the Sydney end were all great.
Ended up at the Meriton Suites in the CBD - 2 bed, 2 bath, 3 tv apartment on the 29th floor, ocean glimpses west and north, city views south,and a balcony with real fresh air. Really cant complain!
Aside from the fucken NBA being cancelled of course!!!
@gt12 said in NBA Season - now 22/23:
@voodoo said in NBA Season - now 22/23:
@gt12 said in NBA Season - now 22/23:
Motherfucker!!!
Goddamn being in the West right now.
I bet we lose Luka.
Lose Luka??? Whaddya mean?
No way in hell he gets traded, you mean when he’s a FA in 26-27???
Suns look seriously scary to me. Lakers got better, but damn the Suns man.
Would love to see a Boston v Bucks and Suns v Dallas CFs
Luka now unhappy…
I reckon Cuban would be the worst person to ask for a trade from too…
@nostrildamus said in Movie review thread...:
@voodoo said in Movie review thread...:
@dogmeat Yep. I didn’t hate it. But I didn’t love it either, I guess as evidenced by the fact that I still haven’t finished it in 2 sittings. Will watch the rest tonight I imagine.
Best superhero movie ever is a huge call. Can’t say I’m with you. In fact, it’s not even my favourite multi-dimensional movie.
That would be Dr Strange, which I have an inexplicable fondness for. I reckon I’ve seen it 5 times at least. And yet I don’t think it deserved an Oscar either.
Do you mean the first or the second Dr Strange? I think I prefer the second one!
I haven't seen the 2nd one!
This is staggering:
“ “I was confronted by a representative from the far-right and conspiracy theory website Counterspin who was filming me walking down the road before accosting me with inflammatory questions,” she said in a statement.”
Does she realise the fucking video is on the internet and we have all seen it?
Accosted???
Inflammatory questions???
She was loving every single second of her little rant, the journo barely got a word in
Fucking unbelievable
@nzzp said in Blackcaps v Sri Lanka:
Weather in CHC looking ugly today. Any Ferners able to give a prediction on whether play might actually happen? Or is it a total wash?
Sure mate.
I predict a frustrating day, pretty stop-start for a while, ultimately ending in the game being abandoned.
Of course I'm in Sydney, so you should probably take that prediction with a grain of salt.
Regards
Embiid resting today v Jokic, WTF? That calf better be properly sore, that’s a punk move otherwise
@dogmeat Yep. I didn’t hate it. But I didn’t love it either, I guess as evidenced by the fact that I still haven’t finished it in 2 sittings. Will watch the rest tonight I imagine.
Best superhero movie ever is a huge call. Can’t say I’m with you. In fact, it’s not even my favourite multi-dimensional movie.
That would be Dr Strange, which I have an inexplicable fondness for. I reckon I’ve seen it 5 times at least. And yet I don’t think it deserved an Oscar either.
I’m halfway through Everything Everywhere.
Is it fun? I guess. Is it interesting? I s’pose. Would I watch it again? You’re fucking kidding me.
How the hell this is the best movie made in a year? Guys getting superpowers by shoving objects up their asses? Hotdog finger fights?
I’m very confused.
@mariner4life said in NBA Season - now 22/23:
> Lakers are better without LeBron James. Fact.
The West is that fucking tight that every win and loss counts now. 3 win difference between finishing top 4 and missing the play-in.
The lakers and the Thunder will be happy that Dallas have completely imploded.
Even I'm not going to touch that pathetically rancid bait
@booboo Free speech is alive and well - provided you’re on the left of centre.
The western world is sleepwalking into a nightmare.
