Random thoughts...

We went to KFC the other day and I noticed that there were actually all the chicken parts in the box! I know that's probably weird for you to read, but after having only seen legs and thighs for a long, long time, it's a nice change. Makes you wonder what they were doing with the rest of the bird....

The main street in Stratford is quite wide--two lanes of traffic, angle parking on either side of the street and a no-man's lane in the middle. Come to find out that it was intentionally made wide enough to turn a team of horses around anywhere on the road without a problem.

I can buy a tiny bottle (about 2 or 3 ounces) of isopropyl alcohol here for $4.00. A bit different from the huge bottles in Wally World for a buck. Some things you just have to learn to live without.

The schools here have many problems. They used to have 'subs' for the high school at a set fee, but now our local high school has changed to a new accounting system and we can't make heads or tails of it. They told Missy that there's no way they can send out 2 statements for any child--like we are the only divorced parents in the country! I'm not a computer expert, but I know it wouldn't take much to copy the one statement and address an envelope. Sheesh.

Speaking of schools, what exactly do they do with the $75 exam fee for each student that is pretty much mandatory? They can preach about costs of the test all they want, but I'm not crazy enough to think it takes that much to print and grade one stinking test.

Boy racers are a problem here in NZ. You have to have identification of the driver before you can complain and expect anything to be done. [Of course, the government can send you a bill for using the new highway in Auckland based solely on your tag number, no matter who's driving. Personally, I don't see the difference.]  I think that if these boy racers are caught driving recklessly more than once, their cars should be crushed, but that 's just me. I was happy to read that the city council of Christchurch is finally taking some responsibility and banning boy racers. Good on ya, Christchurch! You can read the article here.  I hope every city council in the country follows suit.

In an earlier post about tv ads, I tutted the ad for hydroponics, implying I'm smart enough to know it's not used for tomatoes. Well, that company was raided (duh) and you can read about it here.

Sometimes I wonder why Kiwis think they all have to be right all the time. Don't they know that they are human and we expect them to be wrong occasionally? Maybe that's why there are so many stress-related ailments that need attention. I think an 'I'm sorry, I made a mistake' is much better medicine than OTC Losec.

Somebody found an old, dusty law that prohibits helicopters from landing in urban areas. Now the emergency chopper in New Plymouth has to land 13k from the hospital and the hanger that was designed for it, be met my an ambulance and then the patient driven to the hospital. Kinda makes you want to go 'hmmmmm'.