As Fi Bows to Peer Pressure

Modem has died

No proper emails until I have a new modem.

No blog until I have a new modem.

No modem until I have a job.

[Update] - I’ve borrowed mother’s puter to type this quickly, could you each email me your address, phone number, cell number, email, and birthday? I’m updating my proper proper address book and it would help if I had your correct details so I can send you a Christmas card.

I am having a particularly exciting week. Two reasons for this are blog-tellable, however the last I’m leaving to comment publicly on until I’ve emailed friends and family.

1) On Sunday I had the fantastic honour of baptising Lisa and it was really awesome! Baptisms are such great moments to be a part of, and just soo special to see such a wonderful friend taking that next step with their relationship with God, fully all good!!

2) Today was my 6 month anniversary with Dave, and he was at SLC so naturally I went to SLC for the day :o) We had a great time (I thoroughly enjoyed the Palm Grove pool and got a little burnt again) and although seemingly a small feat, it meant a lot to both of us and was just generally lovely and happy and really fun! Dave won’t read this until Sunday or Monday when he finally gets back from SLC, but I think he’s a fantastic man :o)

3) You’ll have to get an email from me about this, but Thursday night/Friday day were very overwhelming and I’m really excited about the future now. YAY!!!

I have recieved a variety of exciting letters this year, mostly from Parliament and people writing to me about their problems in Wellington Central. The Parliament ones, unsurprisingly, mostly came from Peter Dunne’s office and came with such regularity (invitations to events were forwarded to me via post) that it became somewhat less exciting. The most exciting letter for the year was receiving a letter sent to me at Parliament (c/o Peter Dunne) . . . however this has all been topped by my letter this morning which was titled:

On Her Majestys Service

Oh the excitement, I thought! It was from the DPMC (Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet) about a job I’ve applied for there. To be honest, I was more excited that the letter had the title than reading what was inside. This was good, caus the inside was a lot less exciting than I thought. They wanted to let me know they’d received my application and were considering it. How lovely of them to send a letter ‘on her majestys service’ just for that :oP

I am *patiently* waiting for some people to get back to me about jobs I applied for.

I am *patiently* waiting for my Honours results to come out.

I am *patiently* waiting to see if I have got any scholarships to study for Masters next year.

I have discovered that being patient is hard sometimes :oP

Today a great New Zealander died. I didn’t agree with his politics all the time, but he was an incredible leader and a principled man who commanded a lot of respect. Tomorrow our new Parliament will be sworn in, minus Rod Donald, and this makes it all that much harder.  MPs all play a hugely important role as representatives, and the loss of one so good at his job is a loss for all New Zealand.

A reminder that everyone is human and that death comes to all, even those we chose a few weeks ago to represent us. I wish I could say that I knew he’d gone to a better place . . . but I don’t know. It’s this that makes it harder . . .

Despite the heading, I do really mean this:

I am incredibly sorry to all those who I haven’t kept in touch with in the last 2-6 months.

So I’ve been busy, insanely busy, but really that’s not an excuse where I’m concerned because friends like you (and I do mean you) mean a lot to me and I should have tried harder to keep up.

This year has taught me an awful lot and at some stage I might tell you about some of the rest of it, but one of the biggest things has been realising my own limitations. I’m not superwoman, no matter how much sleep I miss. I can’t do everything at once and expect it all to work out. I especially can not neglect my friends for any reason. I feel like I’ve done that and I’m sorry. Funnily enough, this past 6 months have been when friends like you have been particularly supportive. From the quick txts and emails from all over the place, to those that I saw in class or at 1st years cell group every week . . . everyone has been so lovely to me so I want to take this time to thank you for this too.

While I’m being entirely public about this (view it as a bulk email) I really want to thank Dave (now it sounds like an Oscar acceptance speech) who put up with not really having a girlfriend for the first four months . . . maybe even five counting exam time. Not only did he put up with it, but when it all got too much sometimes he was so willing to be there for me. I know I’ve already said this a million times Dave, but thanks for everything! You are amazing!

And . . . while I’m waiting to hear back from jobs . . . I promise to get in contact with you all properly soon soon.  I’m sorry for being such a lacking friend this year . . . but thanks so much for all your support that you gave me anyway, it all meant a lot!

I’m not  a big fan of Wellington bus drivers, many of whom are rude, obnoxious, and unable to drive. There are the odd nice one, particularly on the morning #18, and the 30.

However, I have seen far too many bus drivers do silly things particularly with ticketing  and those with disabilities. It’s getting beyond a joke! I was hoping to find mention of it on a news website but no one else seems to think it’s important . . .

the story goes like this, a visually impaired teenager gets on an Island Bay bus and shows his ‘blind person’ pass. The bus driver doesn’t believe it is his, and then another passenger intervenes and assaults the poor kid and once this kid is off the bus, the bus driver goes merrily on his way.

Now I’ve found it pretty hard to flash my disability card when I’ve needed to use it, people look at you weirdly and wonder what’s wrong with you. I’ve had people think it’s not mine because I’m not clearly disabled, and in some ways it’s a terrible reminder of being a little bit different. Luckily it’s something I’ve just learned to live with.

This teenager faces a much worse time, and without showing the special pass it’s going to be difficult. I’ve seen bus drivers throw other people off for having ’someone elses bus pass’ (or so the bus driver believes) but my question is much deeper than that: what right does a bus driver have to declare that someone does not have an impairment if they have the pass for it?

It’s really annoying me, and what annoys me even more right now is the fact that I can’t even find the story on the net at the moment. It IS a big deal, and should be treated accordingly. When I’m feeling less empassioned and more factual about it I will be writing to Stagecoach to ensure that they reprimand, and possibly dismiss, the driver.