Baby, it's cold outside.

July 25

I haven’t had much to report the past couple of days. Life hasn’t been very exciting in this dismal weather. Wellington is going through a wet, chilly spell lately. Meaning the temperature is dipping below 50, with the persistent winds making it feel a lot more like the kind of winter I’m used to. My toes are currently nearly numb. But it’s still not cold enough to snow – just almost cold enough to snow, but plenty warm enough to rain. All I have to say is that I’m impressed by my little lime green North Face – it’s performing admirably well here, keeping me nice and toasty (not to mention dry) while outdoors.

Today at least has been a brief respite from the rain. It’s cooler and windier today than it has been so far this week, but I’ll gladly take that over cold rain any day. The sun is even shining right now, peeping through the clouds.

I spent most of my waking hours today in the library, reading about early journalism and printing off various things. I also was finally able to buy my travel writing books today. Two 300-page books set me back $44, which I wasn’t really too happy about. But I suppose it can’t be avoided. Now I need to get to reading one of them.

With random expenses like that cropping up, I’m forcing myself to implement a measure of frugality now. Which is a really ugly word, now that I think about it. Regardless, however, I need to save money. My shopping trip with Ash yesterday set me back a bit when I bought a NZ hoodie. Although, in my defense, it was practically necessary in this weather. It’s very toasty and warm, and I certainly don’t regret it. But I do need to start being more careful.

I’ve taken to writing down my daily expenses, along with estimating what I’ll need to set aside while I’m here. I’m doing alright so far, am I’m pretty confident I’ll be okay. I’ve discovered I can refill my water bottles on campus for free (there are swivel faucets on every water fountain specifically for this purpose), and a liter bottle of Coke ($3.20 at the convenience store) can be stretched to last at least half a week, if not more. So that’s good news, at least.

But I’m just rambling now. I know no one cares how much a liter of Coke costs.

I don’t have much else to go on about, however. Tonight, Andrea and I watched a couple of episodes of Grey’s Anatomy (she’s got seasons 1 and 3 on DVD), and then we finished off the night with “We Are Marshall.” Hopefully tomorrow we’ll think up something else fun to do. Though, at this point, it’s really just about getting through this next week before we have our adventure in Auckland!

Lastly, I will leave you with this: Last night on the news, there was a story about a judge who ruled that parents should be penalized for “giving their kids silly names.” It made me think of Ernie Brown at the Vindy, and all the stupid names I’ve heard recently. It made me very happy.