The Pigalina’s Progress

Having achieved one goal in my life – moving from South Dunedin I am now embarking on fulfilling another – having my own library! Being a nerd child (who me?) I used to play libraries with a springy coat-hanger acting as the stamp. I think I played it by myself… (Someone at work used to play it way more professionally though with tickets and actual lending. Maybe I’m not that geeky after all).
So, here I am procrastinating in a tiny space on the floor in the room that has been designated “The Library”. I unpacked all of the books about two weeks ago and shoved them willy-nilly onto the shelves. I soon discovered that I had outgrown the three bookcases that we had. Today we bought a new bookcase which will house all of the childrens book that I have hoarded since my childhood and others that I have aquired along the way. They will go into another room for when children come to stay. (They never have yet but it sounds good doesn’t it?)
I placed my “Complete Works” books onto the top shelf of one book case, then my boxed set of Lord of The Rings books with my Aragon and Bilbo figurines (I already said I was a nerd). Then I paused. There is a big gap in the middle but what should go there? I also have the complete set of the Harry Potter Books, The Twilight Series and the Adrian Mole books but all of then don’t fit and my Adrian Mole books are unfortunately all different shapes and sizes. Plus, if I dared to put Twilight in a hallowed top shelf spot next to Lord of the Rings I know some people (who haven’t even read it) would be very scathing in their criticism.
So here I sit, wasting time to avoid the rest of my job. I still have to decide how to arrange the rest, Fiction and Non-Fiction obviously but then we must worry about height, hard back or paper back, biography, manual…

No Doubt Another Bad Licence Photo Is On Its Way

I got my full Drivers Licence back in 1999. Gaining your full licence should mean that you have it forever but no, every ten years you have to renew your physical plastic licence and pay $44.30 for the priviledge.
When I got married I still had 6 1/2 years left before my licence expired and there was no way I was forking out money unnecessarily when I had a perfectly good drivers licence.
Finally my expiration date has come around. Mr Pigalina had been asked to put a reminder in his phone – I am not as attached to my phone so didn’t bother putting one in mine. He forgot to (on the same occasion he was asked to put William (our cat)’s birthday into his phone which resulted in William not getting any birthday cards or a party hat as he forgot to put that reminder in too) and it was only when the admin lady at work reminded me that I remembered it was due.
I was apparently supposed to get a reminder and a renewal form in the mail but we have moved from South D (I know!! Hooray!!!) and it did not get sent to my new house (despite having a mail redirection which makes me think it was never sent). As I did not get my renewal form I was not exactly sure what to take with me. I tried to find the Pigalina Marriage Certificate in vain so rang Land Transport to ask them if I needed it seeing as I have a passport in my new name. They told me I did and that if I could not find it I would have to send for a new one and would not be allowed to drive as of Wednesday! So after a much better hunt I found it in a stack of old mortgage papers. (I know, it should be in a frame but considering one of us tested a pen out on the back of the certificate…). Right, finally all good to go, so off I trotted to the Licence place at lunch time. Now, at my work my manager gets anxious if people have been standing in line for about 2 minutes (seriously). I waited for about 15 mins while the people ahead of me booked driving tests, got eye exams and their photos taken etc. When it was my turn I handed the lady my THREE forms of ID only to have a form thrust at me and to be told I needed something with my current address on it. Did I not say previously that I have updated my address with these people?! Yes I did, did I say also that they had failed to send me a form that would have told me what I needed to take? Yes. How about having a board up somewhere that I could have read while waiting in the line? I could have then saved myself 15 minutes. I scurried back to my car in a rage muttering under my breath. There I found a letter from the organisation that I sponsor a child through (Moustapha – cool eh?). I hurried back inside and whizzed through my form. I then went and stood in the line again for another 15 mins hoping that my letter was an acceptable form of ID as it wasn’t a bank statement or bill. People use mailing addresses all of the time so why something showing your address is so important is just annoying.
I thought the lady was rather terse to me because she saw the angry way I had left the building but I think everyone got the same treatment. My letter was deemed OK thank goodness. Then after my eye test I had my photo taken. The lady helpfully did not tell me that the camera would flash 1000 times for red eye reduction before taking it. So after the strobe light had finished I stopped smiling and made a thinking face. Then the stupid camera took the photo. I said “Oh! I thought it had taken it”. The lady looked at the screen and said emotionlessly “No. It’s fine.” Yeah right! My last drivers licence had a scowly faced 17 year old on it who only seconds before had been doing a big cheesy grin. They took it as I composed myself to do a decent one and then they made me keep it. I dread to think what I will have to be flashing about for the next 10 years.

South D’s Ice-Cream Man

Go to the beach in South Dunedin (sorry, St Kilda) on a hot day – do you see the Ice-Cream man?
Sitting in your garden on a hot day do you hear the Ice-Cream man?
No.
Sitting by the fire at 7.30pm on a cold rainy day in winter do you hear the Ice-Cream man?
Yes, he just went past.

How the Ice-Cream man expects to make any money is beyond me. I am yet to see him and only ever hear him on days or at times in the evening when Ice-Cream is the last thing on my mind. No children rush for monkey blood on a hot summer’s day in my ‘hood. They don’t get a chance.

Was Pak n Save trying to tell me something?

(I have a feeling this will be long. I haven’t blogged in a while, the urge to write is strong in this one).

Last week, at least one month overdue, I decided it was time for new boots, I could wait no longer. I had been walking around on shiny plastic nubs of heels that were dangerously slippery surrounded in ragged pleather as the real heels had worn down long ago. Also, all the rain we have been having lately had started to seep in through the ripped soles (I get good wear out of things you have to agree).
Usually I will buy all of my shoes from Number 1 Shoe Warehouse for $40 or less. However as I seem to get through pairs quickly I asked the ladies at work how much “real” boots cost. They all said over $100 with one having spent around $300! Good gracious, I certainly wouldn’t be spending that much.
Off I trotted to town and as I passed EB Games the siren call of cheap Xbox goodness lured me in. I left with Lego Indiana Jones. That’s fine, I told myself – Mr Pigalina will play it too and it was second-hand.
Off to the shoe shop – boots on sale – hurrah! I bought a pair that made my size 10-11 feet look tiny and they had $220 off. Great bargain hunting said I. Heading back to the carpark I passed a shop and a necklace caught my eye. I carried on only to turn back and buy not only that one but another too (total was $27.50 – pretty good price eh?)
Anyway, back at home despite getting some bargains, I felt a little bad for my spree and told Mr Pigalina I would not buy my lunch for a week to make up for some of my impulse buys. Mr Pigalina was handed my cards to take care of so that I wouldn’t sneakily buy any. I lasted 2 days on soup and could take it no more.
Today I went to Pak n Save hallowed supermarket of South D to buy my lunch. I also had a few other bits for home so I had a trolley. I had less than 12 items so I headed for the self checkout however the EFTPOS was down on them so it was cash only. I felt too cheeky standing in the express lane with a trolley as I usually complain about the old ladies who do just that and I would have been blocking the main thoroughfare. Every checkout had at least two trolleys queing up. I joined one que and the lady operating the till was slow and gossipy and there were three people ahead of me. I went right down to the other end of the shop and found a better que. The lady in front of me went to pay and was told “Oh sorry, EFTPOS isn’t working” Nooooooo, I thought, I have just spent 10 minutes in ques. Luckily we were all able to put our items through, suspend the sale and then go to the Customer Services booth to join another que and then pay. 20 minutes after getting all of my purchases together I left to walk in the pouring rain back to work to eat my sandwich.
I think Pak n Save was trying to tell me that I should have stuck to my self-imposed food-from-home diet. I only had two days left.

Xbox Live is Cheeky

Mr Pigalina and I got Xbox Live Gold subscriptions so we could play Guitar Hero with Mr Pigalina’s cousins. (Yes, they live only about 1km away). Anyway, it was easier to get online with complete strangers all over the world than those guys and as a result we never played online with them once. Plus I had somehow become bamboozled while signing up and missed out on the one month for $1 deal and paid over $10.
To sign up you just hop online. To cancel my subscription I had to google the phone number (only after Mr Pigalina tried and failed to cancel his subscription online) and phone (toll free) America. So today we rang and the call lasted for 20 minutes – though this is pretty good as I have been on hold longer for places such as Inland Revenue.
I had to tell the man my Xbox Gamertag (Pigalina – could you guess?). I had to tell him the last 4 numbers of the credit card I used to sign up – Mr Pigalina then had to give permission to speak to me again as he was the card holder. The man then asked for the full name I used to sign up “Pigalina .” I replied. “No, your full name” “Yeah, I think I actually signed up as Pigalina Dot – Pigalina Fullstop.” Turns out I had – I never expected to have to be telling anyone though. What was my phone number, my full address, my reason for cancelling? Mr Pigalina – whose Gamertag is sillier than mine – coz mine’s not silly – then had to go through the same questions.
Far out! I thought I had only signed up for a month but I had signed up for an ongoing monthly subscription. PLUS I had to do the mess around in order to cancel it. I wonder what else I have signed up to that will be as hard to get out of.

Sha(no)more

I remember where I was when I heard Princess Diana died, I remember my 9/11 moment – hell I even have a Freddie Mercury moment (I cried when the radio played “The Show Must Go On” – I was 9!).
Now there’s a Michael Jackson moment to add to the list
I went into the staff room for morning tea yesterday which was doubling as a farewell for a guy leaving work. A soon as I opened the door someone announced that M.J was dead and this continued as each new person entered the room. The leaving celebrations were swiftly over-shadowed (not to mention Farrah).
My manager was straight online to check if it was true, another lady rang her husband who, she reported, sounded quite distraught. Another’s husband could not be reached. I rang Mr Pigalina who didn’t seem to care and already knew! I asked him why he had not been on the phone straight away to deliver the news – he said that he hadn’t wanted to deliver the bad news over the phone.
It appears that his whole office didn’t give two hoots while half of my office was in a frenzy. There is even a tribute party being planned for next Friday (dress code – one glove).

OK so MJ had a lot of controversy in the last few years but there is no denying that his music is fantastic. Mr Pigalina’s Dad apparently sounded rather upset on the phone when Mr Pigalina called him about an unrelated matter. He said “These people, you don’t know them, but they are always a part of your life.” It’s so true. I had a Moonwalker sweatshirt which I wish I still had – I would have made a cushion cover out of it. It is imortalised on Mum’s wall in a photo where I am wearing it complete with triangular pants, a bum bag a bob hairdo. I had the Thriller album on tape and Vincent Price’s voiceover would creep me out, I used to have to fast-forward through his cackle. When I was about 6 I went to a friend’s house and we put on her Dad’s Thriller video and then swiftly hid behind the sofa in terror. I remember watching in awe as the faces morphed into each other in the “Black or White” video. Let’s not forget the fabulous Jackson 5 which is my good mood music if I ever need a boost. My sister and I have had many a sing-along. A guy at high school could Moonwalk and I remember him once Moonwalking across a rown of desks at lunchtime. And who hasn’t spent time trying to perfect the Moonwalk themselves? (Don’t lie).

We all have our Michael Jackson memories and while his descent into scandal and ridicule over-shadowed his past achievements I am going to remember the fun that he has brought me over the years. Now, back to the video hits marathon on C4.

Just Had to Report a Copyright Infringement

Someone had taken a post, one about a bad day I had, and posted it on their own site. Whhhhy? It’s not as if anyone cared about my bad day in the first place so why replicate it?

Terminator Salvation

All I can say is thank goodness it wasn’t a repeat of Terminator 3.*
Terminator Salvation is set in the future – Judgement Day has not been stopped and those who are left are trying to survive either by just hiding out or fighting back in the resistance. John Connor (Christian Bale *yay*) is now an adult and though he is not the leader he is highly respected by those that believe he is their saviour. Also in this film is the teenage Kyle Reece (who is also Chekov from the new Star Trek movie) – John’s father. He is joined by Star a mute child, and a man named Marcus who I will not say much more about though if you are like me you probably ruined his secret for yourself months before the movie came out.
Skynet has gone crazy and now has, among other things, eel-like terminators in the water, planes and huge robots who collect humans. At the point of time in the movie they are working on mass producing the Arnold-era T800s.
The action and effects were great and they really tried to keep the fans happy – look out for an “I’ll be back”, an Arnold (CGI) cameo and the 80s Sarah Connor photo that Kyle Reece clings to in The Terminator. The whole movie just felt like a proper Terminator, the kind we were all hoping for after T2. It was well acted, the storyline was fab and the sets and action kicked arse.
My only complaint was the very end – why did John agree to Marcus’ proposal so quickly? My fingers are crossed that he will return in the mooted next episode seeing as he managed to have his heart restarted in this one – (sorry if I spoiled).
All in all one great movie and I hope that this is the shape of Terminator’s to come.

*The lady Terminator can grow bigger boobs, has to analyze blood by licking it to determine she has killed the correct person – what’s wrong with facial recognition? There are too many jokey bits, John Connor is suddenly sandy blonde. That was only the first 20 minutes of straight to video style that I could bear watching again, I will try to give it another go when I have perhaps forgotten the awesomeness that was Salvation.

Flickchart is Rocking My World and Wasting My Time

Oh my goodness, thanks Robert for giving me the best place ever to waste my time!
On Flickchart you are shown two movies and you vote which for the one that you think is best. It then complies a list of you favourite movies – the more you rate the more acurate it becomes. Sooo much fun (for nerds). I have had a few tough choices though such as having to choose between The Terminator and Fight Club.
The view my awesome taste in movies click here.
To start your own list click here (you may regret it, but what’s 10 hours of your life?)

New Zealand’s Next Top Model – THE FINAL!

Well, here we are. Now what will I watch of an evening?
My friends G-Dogg and E-Boo (we all have interesting names here in Dunedin) told me to look out for Colin throwing lamingtons at the girls in this episode. (For those who aren’t up with the play lamingtons are cream filled squares of cake covered in coconut and an unknown substance that comes in both red and brown.)

So it’s down to the final 3. I know who I want to win (H) and I think I know who will win (C) – though having said let’s not forget that Adam didn’t win Idol and that Whitney won the last ANTM – both suprises. (In case you are wondering why my tenses tend to change from past to present and future throughout the post it is not because I am an ignoramus, it is because I blog as I watch. So, I’ll press play and begin). In the recap at the start I noticed that the girl I mentioned that cried in the first episode was poor old Hosanna and who was it picking on her? Teryl-Leigh of course! From right back then!

The girls all headed to the photo studio to shoot their 8 page editorial spreads for Cleo magazine. However, only the winner would get to see her full results – in the mag. I must mention Colin’s hair at this shoot, it looked fab and I might go and get it done for myself this week – finally the insipration I needed – and from a man! Chrisobelle was first wearing an 80s gold skirt, a see-through top, and chunky gold jewelery. She had to just walk around while the photographer took photos. She needed to open her eyes a bit. Laura wore a metallic sheet with belts tossed loosely round her shoulders like a seamstress would wear tapemeasures. She later used the belts as belts to belt in her sheet. Colin said that she looked like a supermodel, and I’ll have to admit that she did look the part. Hosanna wore a black dress and a fur jacket (which I hope was faux). The dress had tassles on the front of the top and on the bottom of the skirt which made her look like a bogan on a night out.
Christobelle then had a go with the sheet. She said that she knew the pose that she wanted to do but the photographer told her it was too complicated. Colin mentioned that it took a true model to work such an outfit and make it look like fashion. Laura then wore a gold tassled top that matched her hair and some gold undies. Hosanna wore a plum dress and Colin said she looked “magnificent”. Chris said that he isn’t even sure if Hosanna is aware that she is doing it but she has moments of “pure beauty” in between her poses.
Colin was very impressed with them all, not bitching, focussed on their work and he mentioned that Laura has grown into her makeover and it is almost as it that is how she always looked. Christobelle wore the gold tassled thing next, the gold skirt outfit looked terrible on Laura too. Only Hosanna got outfits all of her own.

Eek the Cat it was then time for panel – already! Only two would get to face off in the final runway. Colin wore an Indian prince gold hat and big earrings at panel. Trelise Cooper, NZ designer and one of the people the girls had to impress on their go-sees, was the guest judge.
(Bah! Just nipped to the shop and a stupid newspaper had the winner on the front. Not all of us watch it on the day you know!)
The girls then got questioned – Who most deserves to be Next Top Model and who has the least potential (harsh!). Hosanna said she should win and Laura should go, Christobelle said Hosanna should go and Laura said she should win and Hosanna should be sent home. Then they were shown a couple of their photos from the Cleo shoot. The judges all loved Christobelle’s photos, Colin told Hosanna that she looked like a supermodel, Laura’s first photo – in the gold outfit, was great – Trelise Cooper said it was the kind of photo that she would be looking for. Unfortunately that shot out shone her next. At deliberation they said Christobelle had a unique look, Laura probably wouldn’t have got as far without her makeover and Hosanna was the strongest commercial girl with a great personality. Hosanna and Laura were bottom two – Hosanna was sent home in tears. Nooooooooo Double-You Tee Eff! Why, after they had said Laura only got so far because they chopped her hair off and Trelise Cooper had said her white blotchy legs (like mine – that’s why they never see daylight) ruined her photo? Hosanna deserves it more! Boo.

Laura and Christobelle went home and were celebrating when Colin arrived with a large platter of lamingtons. He threw the lamingtons at them as they had started dinner without him, how they shrieked. Christobelle must be related to the princess from princess and the pea as she said “It actually really hurt, they were like hard lamingtons.” He then revealed the real reason he was there – runway practise. The next day the girls went on a boat ride to The Wharf which was the location for the final fashion show. All of the other girls were inside to walk in the show too – even Sarah “I don’t want to be a model”. New Zealand’s A-List (Petra Bagust was the only one I actually spotted) were there along with designers to watch. Christobelle strutted round the runway – like a panther stalking prey said Colin, Sarah said that C constantly amazes her. Laura said that she thought about how amazing she is as mental preparation, Colin said her eyes were piercing and that she had fantastic focus. T-L charged down the runway like she was in a hurry to get to an appointment with both arms swinging, not that it mattered what she did in that particular show. The girls had never had to change quickly for a show before so the pressure was on. On her second walk Laura slipped but carried on walking as if nothing had happened, Colin commented that her recovery was fantastic and Chris said a tiny slip wouldn’t mean she would lose.
Sarah and Colin said it was going to be hard to choose a winner, Colin said he was looking forward to getting into a fist fight over who should win. So, final deliberation time – They showed a series of photos to see how the girls have progressed from week one. They both had their good and bad shots but their last few weeks have both been high quality. Both girls were told that they had walked well in the final show and were then sent away while to judges discussed their decision. Chris said Christobelle is his favourite from a photographer’s point of view – more alluring and more compelling. Colin prefers Laura – “she is amazing”. Sarah asked them both about personalities, the only difference they could decide on was Christobelle is super determined for a 16 year old. When the girls were in LA Alexis Borges said he would sign Laura out of them all. The girls were then called back in and Christobelle’s photo popped up on the screen to announce her win. So for once I actually got it right!
(Daddy Pigalina thinks it was fixed, but that’s not for here).

Tiffany, Victoria, Christobelle, Ajoh, Rebecca Rose, Sarah, Rhiannon, Teryl-Leigh, Ruby, Olivia, Laura, Lucy and Hosanna
You can watch the episodes online (NZ only) and see the final photos by visiting here.