howard bound

Due to my Cousin soon to deliver her first baby (all bets are its a boy) her younger sister Nicole is flying back into NZ today in stead for the birth. Exciting news, hope to catch up with her as she's been in the UK for the past several years making it somewhat difficult to just pop over in the weekend to see her.

The whole family is in wait now for the kid to pop out into the world and officially become the newest and latest All Black and Team New Zealand Supporter.

maks Update 29th Jan 08

6pm I finished work and dragged myself home to change and then down the road to organise myself some dinner. Once I returned home it was about 10 minutes before the door opened and I rose to my feet and turned around to have this big smile charge me down and BANG straight into me with arms gripping me tightly. Love being welcomed like that from my darling tiny tot. Then it was off to play with her toys and begin the mess up dads place.

Gave her a bath and later that night she fell asleep in my arms so I put her down in her bed until fireworks went off (for Auckland Anniversary celebrations) and woke her up. She hates fireworks and scared, she curled herself up in my arms and refused to sleep anywhere else but in my bed. So I put her down until she fell asleep and transferred her back to her bed later in the early morning.
She woke me up which was good as had to drag myself back to work while she and Poh Poh went out to enjoy there day.
Saturday night there were more fireworks and she stirred once again but not as bad as the previous night and ended up in my bed again! until she fell asleep and I put her back to hers :-)
Sunday morning she went with Poh Poh to church and mom tell s me she's fully aware of where the lolly machine is located. On return I let her sleep for just over an hour before we went to the AKLD Fish markets and then to Simon and Yoni's so she could see her friend Choco (kitten) and the new addition Channel. So she enjoyed her time playing with the two kittens and ate Yoni's lovely salad while simon and I cooked the fresh Snapper I purchased earlier. We sat back and watched the simpson's movie and had the song "Spider Pig" ringing in my head all day.
Maks started to get a cough so we went back home and chilled, and this night there were again fireworks but she slept thru them.
Monday it was back to work (on AKLD anni day) so Maks spent the day with Poh Poh and her cousin, and crikey those two have an absolute ball together.

Heath Ledger Sadly Passes

Heath ledger(28) was found on Wednesday morning dead in his Manahattan apartment in New York. The Australian actor was living in the SoHo apartments in New York City when his main found his found lain at the foot of his bed with sleeping pills aparrant along with other medication. An autopsy is still to be released in the next fortnight as to the cause of his death but the tragety befalls his family, fans, a fleet of hollywood a-listers and autralians.

Heath's most notable accolade was his performance in the 2005 movie Brokeback mountain not to mention credit for the famous Australian Ned Kelly, working with Mel Gibson in The Patriot and his most recent performance against the Dark Knight as The Joker in the upcoming Batman movie to be released later this year.

Mel Gibson has spoken that his thoughts and prayers are with the Ledger family and that he had great hopes for him as was just truly taking off.

Heath Ledger leaves behind a 2 year old daughter Matilda.

First Home Buyers

Fairfax Media reviewed the finances on had for a family to purchase a median priced home in November 2007 and found that they required at least $1,396.86 of after tax house-hold income to make a home loan affordable. This in relation to normal living costs to be 40% of the families take home weekly pay which is a significant increase that that required only a year ago with an 18% rise and more to that note is the 121% rise from just over 5 years ago.

The housing market in NZ has been reasonably stable by statistical standards betwen April and November of 2007 but even that has changed after this past month becoming one of the most expensive cities to purchase a home. While we all hope to win big in the weekly lotto we must settle into a focussed point of reviewing our finances now, make a plan and execute to it's full efficiency. Planning will undoubtedly guide us towards that first home or investment property and get a foothold into the market before the prices rise even further out of range like shooting a .22 rilfe at a target 5kms away.

To review current rates in the NZ market, click here href="www.interest.co.nz">www.interest.co.nz

Way to kick off 2008

I can't think of any better way to start the new year than to experience a Hole in One on a championship course but that's exactly what happend to Doug Walker of the Waimari Beach Club in Christchurch.
At approximately 1430hrs January first 2008 Mr Walker tee'd up at the 10th Hole and struck his 5 wood in front of a gallery of lunchtime diners at Tilley's Bar & brasserie where it travelled the 177 meters from tee to cup for a magical hole in one.
I've played this hole on several occassions and can appreciate the significance of such an achievement as it is a tricky hole from the elevated tee box with a bunker protecting the green leff and water behind and to the right of the green. To fall short of the green is safe, anything else is a problem.

Weldone Doug.

Kiwi's Beat the Aussies

But not in a good way, NZ housing prices have just gotten out of hand and reading the article in the NZ herald property section yesturday we have surpassed the Australians as being one of the more expenses places to purhcase a housing property. The average in Auckland is now out of the reach of many house holds especially to those single's out there whom would require a staggering income accompanied with a strong credit rating.
I'm still up n arms about the design's going up in auckland and as far as a skyline goes, we're a long long way from that impressionable snap shot to put us on the major international market.

Maks update 22nd Jan 08

Seemed like forever and a day since I'd last seen her and it very much felt like that after two weeks without seeing her. Back to the normal routine where I'd pick her up at kindy around 4pm and said hello and happy new year to the staff before Makayla came running up to me covered in sweat and covered in suntan lotion. I could tell she was exhausted so into the car she climbed and off home we went. We stopped off on the way at Aunty Karyn's house so she could see Danika as hot and tired myself I fell onto the couch as the kids played their games.
Only stayed an hour or so before we jumped back in the car and headed up home to get dinner ready. As soon as we were through the door I ran a luke warm bath to help cool her down but warm enough to give her a good wash. Then she played with Pohpoh while I cooked dinner for us all before her bed time.
Put her to bed just after 8pm but she some how still found my bed sometime early in the morning hours. When we woke up we had breakfast together watching the kids channel and then got dressed and jumped back in the car and off we went for the day. We went to Albany where I got her some more summer clothes and then before coming back to the city we stopped in to see friends Lana, Steve and Jade. Jade is now 4 months old and has more than doubled in size and she's a happy wee thing as she played with her toys that hung over her as her eyes showed sheer delight it their movements. After we sat down to enjoy a coffee I had a phone call from my soon to be 4 year old niece saying "Mike, your taking a long time !!! are you coming to visit?!! Hurry up, I want to see woawoa" So we said our goodbyes and drove to Karyn's where the two went about their usual bike rides around the open courtyard and painted pictures. Around 1-2pm we left and stopped by the Auckland Fish markets so I could get some Snapper for dinner and she likes to look at the fish too.
She basically went fast to sleep when I got her home so I put her down for just over an hour for fear I'd have a massive effort to get her into bed later that night.
The rest of the afternoon/evening is a little blurred but we both went to bed relatively early.
Sunday morning, Hmmm now what can I recall? Oh yes, we met up with Kylie and Robin with their two children Khan and Daria. It wasn't as hot this time so the animals were a little more active and did she see alot of animals but demanded I carry her from A to B. The zoo is a great place and think I'll start taking her there on a more regular basis as its a great educational experience for her and she does love it. On leaving around 1pm she was basically fast asleep before we left the car park so when we got home I put her down and then took a quick cat nap myself as a curled up on the couch. When we woke we went for a short walk for some fresh air before the rain came and then I took her back to Donne.
She screamed all the way, It's rediculous, I asked if she wanted to take her brand new hat in the car and she said "NO!" but JUST as soon as we got on the motorway, she wanted her hat, go figure :-)

Quite and evening

6pm Thursday January 2008 and it was time to finish up for the day and I would've have been out the door if not for the fact I was enjoying make my final sale account for the day and closed the deal 6 minutes following shut down my terminal grab my belongings and headed out the door. On exciting the office entrance I noticed parked outside were two former colleagues so I went over to say hi. As I knelt down at the car window it wan't much time allowed to exchange welcomes before I heard crashing noises coming down Federal Street (a single tight one way street) as a townace truck came hurdling down and past us. I stood up to see that at that speed he was doing some seriously dangerous driving and at the pace he was going even at my best ability in a sports car couldn't make a 90 degree turn and he didn't as I heard the loud crash as he smashed the truck into another car and spun the truck around. He'd his a small silver/grey car where as I ran towards the scene I saw that the driver was female as visible unsure of what had just happened. My attention was the directed to the driver of the truck where I had expected him to come and check on the driver of the car he'd just smashed recklessly into but he put his foot on the gas and drove off. The thing is that after the crash his truck had spun so he was covering both lanes and he thought he could get away by driving into St. Patricks square where I had a small grin come to my face as I knew I had him. Where he'd gone is a no-way out and dead end, to which he soon realised, and as I ran across the road i was yelling at bystanders doing nothing to ensure he doesn't come back that way as it was a deadend. When I found the truck it had been parked and I caught the driver trying to scale a tall concrete wall. He was somewhat shorter than I and given an extra boost may have got over in time if I hadn't intervened.
When he came down I advised him to stay put, and then short questioned him if he had any idea of what he'd done and the situation he now faced. He only shouted profanity and answered his cell phone which by this time I was joined by the female drivers partner and we kept an eye on him as I phoned my friend Simon for a VIR on the vehicle only after being advised another witnessed was on the phone to the police.
During the phone call the driver lets call him the Perp got back into the truck where he was pulling things out like a cheque book or other items. I told the partner (who i'll call John for security purposes) to get perp's keys or get him out of the car but as I said it the perp had started up the truck and put it in gear. John and I quickly sprung into action and pulled him out of the truck while in reverse pulling clear of the truck and ducking away from the open door as the truck kept reversing about 5 meteres before backing into a large tree. We wrestled him to the ground and pinned him where once secured I ran to the truck to kill the engine and secure it before returning to assist john who had things well in control.
At this time we had nothing more to do than for John to apply his weight on perp while I covered him and hailed the police who arrived a few minutes later.
They took perp into custody and we spent the next 10-15 minutes giving statements and I stayed around to make sure that both john and his partner were ok offering transportation or something to relax then as Johns partner had gone thru quite an unexpected ordeal. All's well that ends well, apart from perp's employer (truck owner) and the Nissan Pulsar but they are only items and no lives were lost although My suit did suffer some injuries in the fight but easily replaceable. Just wish it wasn't my new suit but both John and partner are ok which is more than we can ask for. Thinking back now, it was lucky that perp's truck was pointed in the direction of what he most likely saw as an escape route thru st. patricks square rather than the alternative where he could've escape down the main road with high potential to cause further accidents or one that could have had an unhappy ending. Fortunate enough for us he took the drove into the dead end and we could apprehend him before any life became at risk.

Knight Rider Returns

When I was just a young boy I loved watching Knight Rider for it was every boy's dream to have a computerised car that could not only talk back and understand you better than voice controls in a merc but could crash thru concrete walls and turbo boost itself out of any situation.

This year Knight Rider returns to the small screen with a face lift and yet another weak story line. But it was never the story line we were interested in only the situation the car would be placed in and the fun ways it would escape, evade or catch the bad guys. When I was young I had the fortunate opportunity to sit inside and have my picture taken and boy did I have a big happy grin, thank's mom.
The car was on a tour and mom found it was at Glenfield Mall (the old mall) so we jumped in the car and raced on down and I was able to see upfront and personal all the buttons and dials. First thing I looked for was where the turbo boost button was located and after watching the show over the years knew exactly where to look.

The new show is a continuation (to my understanding) not a total remake which gives them a the ability to project a fresh attitude to the show but that remains to be seen. Make up your own minds but for me it's always been about the car, never the story.

New Year

Well didn't make to well on the 07 resolutions so not setting any this year.
Brought the new year in standing outside my apartment holding Makayla in my arms as we waited for the fireworks to start off the sky tower.
Makayala didn't much like the fireworks mostly due to the loud banging noices so we promptly had to head back upstairs where I put her to bed and followed suit 5 minutes later.

Recap.

On December 27th Makayla and I flew down to Christchurch with Mom and Danika to meet Dad where we'd spend a few days at Terrace Downs. Seemed a short flight with Maks peeking out the window to see everything, pointing at this n that and seeking my attention, All before we left the boarding gate.
Once the plane reved up she got a little startled so I just held her tight but as soon as we were in the air she was fine.
The sun set's wel after 9pm in the south island so it was very much still light when we arrived and remained so for a while and once the sun went down (loosing track of time) we put Danika and Maks to bed and for the first time we thought we'd try putting them in the same room. Takes a while to get them rested as they run on two seperate time frames. Maks fell asleep first and danika followed about an hour later. Then I put my head down after reading one page of a book Simon got me about golf LOL. Woke up around 1-2am when maks stirred and ended up crawling into my bed where I think I fell asleep again before her by a micro second.
Dad and I played a few rounds of golf while there and Maks and Danika had their usual fun play time together and boy it's an effort to keep a track of them both.
They both had a real good time together like a 24 hour kindy for two as they danced, draw pictures, laughed, ran around, fought, hugged, laughed some more.... Bedtime for me became a relief as a solid rest period.
We flew back on the 31st after finding out what airline Mom had booked us on and this time maks wasn't at all worried about the noise of the engine roaring down the tarmac. We arrived and were picked up by Donne and took the tiki tour back to my place. Maks went back with Donne so she could spend some time with her before dropping her back later, and meant i could un-pack and get some rest before doing some grocery shopping. I met up with Donne and the Moult's down at the ferry terminal as they were taking the new years cruise. After hiking back up the road we went to Simon and Yoni where Maks loved to play with Choco (kitten) for hours n hours. Apart from Choco, she was the other star attraction.
That almost brings us up to date apart from the leave of absence for the past few months of updates.

take care and enjoy the new year