Made it to that beach.

Something for nothing

After another bad night, went back to the doctor. Diagnosed with a respiratory infection; got a prescription for a week’s worth of roxithromycin. Took the first two pills yesterday, and actually got an uninterrupted night’s sleep. Good sign.

—

Heard a radio commentator the other day talking about how Māori affirmative-action-type programs were about getting “something for nothing” or getting something “just because of their race.” He then compared it to the situation of black people in the US.

Okay, I don’t know much about race relations in NZ. (Here’s some background as written by a white local.) But in the US? Black people get shadowed in stores, pulled over, turned down for jobs. One study found that, at job interviews, white men who claim to be fresh out of prison are as likely to be called back as black men with no criminal history.

The ability to commit a crime, spend time in jail, and still get hired at the same rate as non-criminals is something that white people get “just because of their race.” It’s the very definition of “something for nothing.”

The guy on the NZ radio went on to say that, if he were a member of a minority, affirmative action laws would make him feel like he couldn’t compete with white people on his own merits, and this would leave him feeling bitter. Perhaps.

But if he were told that the natural texture of his hair was “unprofessional”, or got held up by the police while trying to open a bank account, or had his spouse and nine-year-old daughter murdered by anti-immigration activists, that might spark a little bitterness too.

The flight home

Scenes from the way home from Wellington.

The Canterbury Plains: Christchurch, the universtiy, and the surrounding towns and suburbs are all on this vast flatness, ringed by mountains.

—

Dropped by the health office the day before yesterday, asking about that cough.

Wellington, day 2

Wellington officially has the world’s ugliest capitol building.

It’s called the Beehive. The Cabinet meets in the upper levels; at the very top is the Prime Minister’s office. There are some decent-looking buildings attached, fortunately: the places where Parliament meets.

Oh, and the whole thing is only 400 meters from the major earthquake fault line.

(It was also two streets over from our hotel. If not for the giant building in between, we could have seen it from our window.)

Wellington, day 1

Air travel in this country is spoiling me. On the flight up to Wellington for the weekend, there was no security. None. We literally walked from the bag check across the room to the gate, and sat down.

There was only one PA announcement during the wait. Instead of “do not leave your bags unattended” or “please report suspicious behavior”, all it said was “please do not let children play on the escalators.”

At last we walked right across the tarmac to the aircraft. It was all very VIP. And look at this adorable tiny plane.

That’s from when we were disembarking. It was too late to do anything interesting, so Sam and I caught a taxi to the hotel and spent the rest of the evening flailing over the room. (Gorgeous decorations! Complimentary lavender pillows! Dozens of breakfast options! Classiest Holiday Inn I’ve ever been in.)

The next morning we picked up a map at the front desk. The museum was in walking distance, so we set out on foot. The streets of Wellington are just slightly different than Christchurch. See if you can spot the change.

Donnnnnnnnne.

Sleep!

(I would say “party!”, only I am still coughing on a regular basis, and quite definitely in need of a nap. So…yeah.)

Actually only made it to 527 words. But I was hungry.

If you’ve written six hundred impossible words this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Subway! The restaurant at the end of the street!

(This box of cough drops says [in large, friendly letters], “Strepsils Lozenges contain an effective combination of two antibacterial agents to help kill the bacteria which can cause sore throats and mouth infections.” A few lines down, it adds, “The efficacy of an antibacterial agent in lozenges in reducing the severity or duration of throat infections has not been clinically established.” Someone ought to sic the [local equivalent of the] FDA on them.)

I am a master procrastinator. Master.

So far today, I have…

…moved my books, notes, laptop, and power cord to the living room
…typed up several pages of notes
…stared blankly at an empty Word document
…checked my friendslist
…coughed a lot (although significantly less than yesterday, and I can drink again without choking, which is one of those skills that really goes underappreciated until you lose it)
…walked to the corner dairy for cough drops
…moved my books, notes, laptop, and power cord back to my bedroom
…checked my Livejournal inbox
…checked to see of the latest Daily Show and Colbert Report were available for download
…grated cheese over chips, stuck them in the microwave, and eaten them
…watched an episode of Boston Legal
…checked my email
…poured water over frozen vegetables, stuck them in the microwave, and eaten them
…watched an episode of 30 Rock
…while waiting for the end of the Daily Show and Colbert Report downloads
…stared blankly at a Word document with 400 words in it, including bibliography
…checked my DeviantArt inbox
…watched an episode of The Daily Show
…and The Colbert Report
…twice
…checked my email again
…walked to the new village pizza place for pizza and garlic bread
…walked to the store for an energy drink (consisting of, I believe, about 50% caffeine)
…discovered that the pizza was decidedly underwhelming, and eaten it anyway
…checked the And Shine Heaven Now forum
…written a blog post

To sum: I am very, very good at this procrastinating thing.

This is the essay I only started researching a week and a half ago, so it isn’t coming nearly as easily as the last one. But I’ve ground out 1000 words in the last twelve hours, and by golly I will crunch through 1500 more in the next eighteen.

(Besides, WordPress tells me this post is just over 300 words long, and it’s only taken twenty minutes. See? I can totally do this.)

(*cough*)

Hacks

I’m becoming a connoisseur of coughs.

The first day or two, they came one at a time, incredibly loud and hacking, diaphragm spasming so hard that my abdomen still feels like I pulled something after too many sit-ups. Then they shifted into deep, hoarse pairs, not as loud but coming in bunches, and accompanied in the later stages by a persistent tickle at the back of the throat. Now, after downing nearly a whole box of cough drops over the past two days, they’re starting to sound like normal everyday coughs, though with an extra undertone of low scratchiness from the rawness that the earlier ones left.

On the plus side: 2500 words down, only 2500 to go.

In brief

1) Wellington: awesome. Pictures forthcoming.

2) Two tests and a presentation, all in a row: survived!

3) Sleeping: returned to more or less normal. Though now I have a truly magnificent hacking cough.

4) 5000 words to go.