What was it one of my old coaches used to say? Oh yes, “I ain’t superstitious. I’m just not taking any chances.”

So each week on gameday we were all required to repeat various random things from the previous week, provided our team had won. One year, I accidentally wore the other team’s colors on game day. We won, so I went and bought sports jerseys for each of the other teams we would play during the year. Thank goodness the other teams were not purple … at least none of the teams we faced in our district.

Anywho …

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NZ Wiz

I had a good chat with a travel writer on Facebook the other day, and she commented that I must meet some interesting people. Well yes I do … but I should point out that she covers all of the backroads of The Texas Plains Trail … I bet she has some keepers too. Anywho …

During recent travel in New Zealand, i did a non-touristy thing and attended a town hall meeting with thousands of people from Christchurch. They were coming together to hear the city’s ideas for rebuilding after their most recent earthquake. What better place to meet authentic, everyday Kiwis … I thought.

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Ah Sydney …

As much as I love New Zealand, it seems the Aussies may have a leg up when it comes to Wi-Fi.

Not only did the Australians greet us at the gate with duty-free, free shots of delicious Bailey’s cream (if you are into that sort of thing), there were about a half dozen Wi-Fi hotspots ready for a test drive in the Sydney airport. Most importantly, the airport itself, SYD, provided a free, hassle-free hotspot from the get go — none of that “crack dealer” marketing where you get 30 minutes free and then pay through the nose if you want to get down to business on the network.

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Now this is weird.

First, let me say that I like little strange coincidences, that I am often accused of near superstition. Here’s a great example.

The other day I blogged about nothing … and it turned into a long drawn out tale, culminating with namedropping “Gulliver’s Travels.”

Ha! A few days later, I boarded a jet bound for Australia — the Auckland to Sydney precursor to my flight back to the States — and there he was.

Gulliver. That’s who.

If you know me and you know this blog, you know I checked for Wi-Fi first on Quantas … and you know I was quite disappointed to find zilch.

So I turned on the movie player built into the back of the seats. You also must know I would definitely pass over the film “Country Strong.”

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So few, give up so much, for so many.  Here’s to the heroes who fought to build and continue to fight to secure this country … this great, free way of life!  Have a great Memorial Day Weekend.  And here is to my nephew, who recently became a United States Marine!  Semper Fi!

I won’t lie, in college there were a few days when i walked out of my dorm room, apartment, house, whatever and had no clue about the whereabouts of my car. Those days are gone. These days, as I mature, it is more like I notice any strange vehicles parked near the place where I stay.

So, when I opened the shades of my hotel bathroom in Christchurch New Zealand and saw a pink and blue tractor parked outside … it caught my eye. Also, there was some tiny vintage car, a predecessor of a Mini Cooper or Honda or whatever. In fact it was a dark green 1940-something Morris. Obviously, I snapped a few photos and I wondered what in the world they were doing on the back side of the hotel and more specifically just outside my room.

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I don’t know if I will ever get this metric system here in New Zealand.

I mean some things are pretty easy, like a 13mm wrench is darn near a half-inch wrench as we use in the U.S. Of course we use metric wrenches too … But it is the whole kilometers per hour thing that messes with me most. I wish I had paid more attention in math class back in school.

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After additional research, it has come to my attention that I may have heaped undeserved praise on a New Zealand coffee shop in a recent blog, or even worse, judged some of the competition unfairly. Muh bad!

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This blog has detailed some pretty uncomfortable situations and nasty assignments in the ongoing stories about “The Dirty Gig” — my side job in the disaster recovery industry.

Today was different.

But first yesterday … It was somewhat like a throwback to my roots. I was operating a fairly large piece of equipment, called a lull. The lull is smaller than the tractors and combines I drove on the farm as a kid. However, my combines and tractors didn’t have the ability to extend their business end 3-4 stories up in the air. Pretty cool if you haven’t driven one before.

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It’s been said when you’re #2 you try harder. Perhaps the rest of that thought is that if you are #1, you do whatever you darn well please.

That’s the way it seems at my new favorite coffee shop — Addington Coffee Co-op in Christchurch on Lincoln. It seems like they are only open when they bloody well please, but when I finally caught them open … it was special. Yes they be numero uno.
First off, as the manager pointed out to me, it is housed in one of the only brick buildings left standing unscathed in this great, wounded city. The structure was the back shop of a petrol station back in the day. There is more rustic than you can shake a stick at. Distressed rafters, brick walls, eclectic furniture and a huge dining area, with little conversation areas and couches mixed about.

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