Over the past few weeks, I’ve been adjusting to the new training schedule for Richter City Roller Derby. The new venue is nowhere close to home and I can no longer count on getting there quickly and easily. We’ve adopted a car-pool scheme that has me grabbing a bit to eat after work in Petone before being picked up. Unfortunately, Petone seems to roll up and go to sleep after 5pm and restaurants are slow to open for dinner. This leaves me hunting for good, light food on a time constraint.

I’ve tried Lone Star and I don’t want to repeat the experience. Overpriced and overly rich food, accompanied by horrible music – no thanks. For round 2, I went to the cafe at Lighthouse Cinema. It wasn’t bad, but I got zero 3G coverage inside the building, which cuts my options for futzing around. It’s not the end of the world, but I’ll keep searching anyway. I may try one of the pubs next week.

The wind woke me up last night – that never happens. I had to get up and shut the window because the wind was knocking the blinds against the window frame. Winter has blown in with all its turbulence. As a tribute to the coming storm, I offer this photo. It was taken on a rainy night last week, the poor umbrella having been sacrificed to the season.

If you look closely, there is a bit of an ugly smudgy thing in the shadow on the footpath. I have no idea where that blemish comes from, but 3 of the pictures on that roll have similar problems in different locations on the photo. It’s a bit bummy, but there is nothing I can do about it.

I booked my flights last night for my next vacation. I will be spending several weeks in Eastern Europe later this year. Having been reading through the travel guides for a few weeks, the excitement levels are building. International flight prices are fairly low right now, so my budget will be used more as being-there money rather than getting-there money, which I am thrilled about.

There is a ton of stuff to do before I go—travel insurance, rail passes, itinerary, and so on—but I still have a few months to get it all going. Not long, but a long time to wait.