I tell you... working at Saint's and Sinners just gets better and better. Well I guess only better if I'm a total groupie, which I'm not, but it still is exciting. Why you ask? Well last night the Cantebury rugby team (Air New Zealand Cup) came into the bar.

This is where it's funny tho... These 2 guys come stumbling up to the bar - one of whom was wearing a Dallas Cowboys t-shirt. So I asked him if he was a Cowboys fan. I had no clue who he was and he couldn't speak so I told him that I couldn't serve him. I got the bouncer to escort him out. Effie then tells me that the 2 are All Blacks. Yep, the NZ national team - basically gods in this country - and they got kicked out of a backpackers bar. Oh well. I don't care who you are if you're wasted you're out.

Turns out Effie's (the bouncer) cousin is Tone Kopelani, a player on the Crusaders and Canterbury team. Very cool.

Well most of the boys left but by closing time Cory Flynn and Tone were still hanging out - trying to avoid the town bike to be honest - and just having a great time. Very nice boys. I'll tell you what, my faith in the NZ professional sports guys is being redeemed slowly but surely.

It was just such a fun night. It was my first night in charge and it went quite smoothly. I'm quite looking forward to this new job. I was exhausted this morning tho when I woke up after only 3 hours of sleep. And I get to do it all again tonight. This temping during the day and slinging piss at night is gonna do me in I tell you!! At least I have the next 2 days off...

There were heaps of cool people in the bar last night, not just the rugby guys. People definitely on a mission to drink. Hell, monday night i saw enough boobies to last me a life time... Brent was offering shooters for hooters. I asked if i could offer drinks for cocks but I was quickly shut down. It wouldn't have been a pretty sight anyways!

So anyways, as usual life in the backpackers world is exciting and fun and exhausting. From the band, to the street performers to the backpackers themselves, there is always something exciting going on at Base and Saints and Sinners....

Well until next time...

when it rains it pours... so i've just gotten back from my holiday in the us and come back to unemployment. the job that i was at just wasn't working out and unemployment is better than that slave driver.

so anyways, i'm still bartending 2 nights a week at base backpackers bar saints and sinners. any i'm very happy to announce that they have just offered me the position of bar manager. quite exciting. it's just i'm not sure that i want to take the job. i'm not sure i want to go back to working nights again. it's fun but it can be a bit much. and of course the same day that i was offered the bar job i was offered a part time job back at the ministry for the environment. why does it all come at the same time?

so about this bar job. not quite sure to take it or not. i'll tell you this tho, i had a friggin blast at work on tuesday night. now while we are a backpackers bar, we do get a lot of locals that come in. maybe it is for the easy backpackers or maybe just for the cheap drinks who knows. anyways, the Blackcaps, the New Zealand Cricket team, came into the bar. they are the nicest guys! esp. compared to the rugby boys. i was well impressed with the blackcaps.

the whole team was there but most left early. 4 of them (taylor, sinclair, how and mason) ended up hanging out at the bar and i spent several hours talking to them. they're on their way to india for the championship trophy or something. neato.

so do i take the bar job or not? it still gives me time to manage LLT and build other websites. i just don't know. any suggestions??

well it's official... i don't like vindaloo. i've tried it 3 times now and none have them have been good. it's not the spice. i like fire, it's the flavor of it all that i don't get. i do like butter chicken tho.

the sun has been shining lately which is quite nice. it's been warm and i can walk without a jacket and not freeze my balls off. which is a good thing as i don't have balls to freeze off in the first place.

i've been busy interviewing all week for jobs. hopefully by friday i will have word back and have a permanent job here in christchurch. that would be nice. especially because other than the website which does consume a lot of my time, i haven't had a real paycheck since feb. well that's not true. i haven't worked since february 15. i haven't had a paycheck in much longer than that considering i worked at corner bar and never got a paycheck but the very first one i got over a year ago. gotta love taxes!

i've been temping at the ministry for the environment here in chch which has been actually a lot of fun. it's easy work and they think that i'm just fabulous. which of course is true.
so i'm heading back to dallas in september for whitney's wedding and that should be fabulous. especially because i have a wonderful date for the wedding! ;-) with over 500 people invited, how can it not be an absolute blast?? talk about a party!

i'm bummed as i'm not sure i'll get to spend that much time back stateside if i score one of these jobs. i guess that's what happens in the real world tho. time to grow up.

so i met these 3 aussie boys a few months back when i went to a Crusaders Rugby game right? well it turns out that they had lived in bunbury with this dude that i had met in broome. talk about a small world!! well the boys are in dallas now and i've totally hooked them up. gotta show them what dallas is all about! i've got one of my sister's friends taking them out on the town and showing them all that there is to offer. i think they are in austin at the moment. regardless, i love it. it just goes to show how small the world really is today.

i've run into way too many people again in random places to believe that the world is small. especially with the internet these days. there are just too many occurrences for me to mention... running into a boy i went to college with in an apartment lobby in nyc; a girl i went to summer camp with in line at the uffizi in florence; a boy from high school in the bay of islands new zealand; the list goes on and on.

and now so do i. alright, i've rambled and now and i'm becoming redundant and pointless. i guess it's time to sign off.

so what's the point of this blog? i dunno... but hey, at least i've posted a new one this month! i've been slack lately, i know it.

Snow in june... supposedly it hasn't happened this bad in over a decade.

So, needless to say its a bit cold out. So cold I don't want to leave the house. But at least I don't have it as bad as some of the others here in the south island. some people have been without power for 3 days now.

we went to queenstown and wanaka this weekend and had an absolutely fabulous time. the weather, surprisingly, was quite warm. jamie was able to walk around queenie in a tshirt.
caught up with some mates i hadn't seen since i left nz a year ago. its good to know that you can pick up where you left off even if you haven't spoken in a long time. that's the sign of a true friend i believe.

so queenie was cool. we were only there for 5 hours but it was fun. stopped in at fergburger - a must when there. it was good but i rate burger wisconsin better. didn't get to do a bungy but did stop in at the aj hackett shop and picked up a tshirt. it touristy but i wanted one.

wanaka was an absolute blast. jamie had met a boy named mike when he was working in canada. well mike is back now and is running a bar in wanaka called woody's. it is awesome. the coolest thing is that mike's best friend is running the bar next door, barluga. two buddies running bars next to eachother? how much fun!!! they are both different from eachother but really classy and neat places. wanaka is an expensive tourist town but these places aren't that bad. then again it helps when you know people in high places!!

so didn't see much of wanaka other than the bars and morning breakfasts. it is beautiful though. and a gorgeous drive from christchurch. i'd never seen any of the south island and this was definitely the way to do it.

we got to see it without the snow. i'd like to go back but i'd need some thermals that's for sure!!

until next time...