An old one from the archives courtesy of Grandma. Both Tony and Tyler are a little older!
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Stranger in a Strange Land
It comes as no surprise to any of you that I have never supported the Bush cabal and their hubristic invasion of Iraq. I join many of us in the expat community in denouncing most American foreign policy whenever the topic arises. After all, the US has severed relations with New Zealand because this country has declared itself a nuclear-free zone, yet condemns Iran for continuing to develop it's nuclear program (or is that nuke-yoo-lar?) Go figure.
However, something happened the other day that really shook me to the core. There was another demonstration down Queen Street over the Israel-Lebanon situation. The crowd of 300 (that's pretty big by NZ standards) marched from Aotea Square to the American consulate. All in all, a pretty peaceful but powerful statement. Then someone climbed the building and brought down the American flag to set it on fire. I can't describe the emotions - I felt so personally wounded by the idea that all our country stands for could be dismissed and diminished by such an act, with a crowd cheering in approval. People in other parts of the world savor the American dream, but they judge us by the actions of a few people. It's one thing to see the American flag burned by American students in the US (something I remember from the Vietnam era), but it's quite another thing to see it happen in another country. Here's the story:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3741353a10,00.html
However, something happened the other day that really shook me to the core. There was another demonstration down Queen Street over the Israel-Lebanon situation. The crowd of 300 (that's pretty big by NZ standards) marched from Aotea Square to the American consulate. All in all, a pretty peaceful but powerful statement. Then someone climbed the building and brought down the American flag to set it on fire. I can't describe the emotions - I felt so personally wounded by the idea that all our country stands for could be dismissed and diminished by such an act, with a crowd cheering in approval. People in other parts of the world savor the American dream, but they judge us by the actions of a few people. It's one thing to see the American flag burned by American students in the US (something I remember from the Vietnam era), but it's quite another thing to see it happen in another country. Here's the story:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3741353a10,00.html
Sunday, July 16, 2006
The Times They Are a Changing
Yes, we are still alive and well here in Kiwi-land. Things have been so hectic that I haven't had a spare minute to update this blog. JB and I are taking a little down time today to play golf - first time in months. Between the weather, the new project, and fine-tuning our operations we are all in hyper-drive 24/7.
After 25 years, we have sold the Mexicali Rose property at the corner of 3rd & Franklin to a couple from Hawaii. They will be opening a Hawaiian plate lunch restaurant similar to one they had in Kailua-Kona for several years. Their new life in Oregon was marred by tragedy last week when a family member drowned while they were rafting on the Deschutes in downtown Bend. Our hearts go out to them.
Conor has been in the States for the past couple of weeks on a much-needed holiday. He spent a wonderful 4th of July weekend with his University of Oregon mates and is now in Bend enjoying the good life at Casa de Buell. He'll be returning on Wednesday in time to supervise the final signage and design details for Newmarket.
Ashley left at the beginning of July to take her dream job - head coach for her high school volleyball team. She will be returning after the season is over. We all wish her well and are so proud of her for taking this big step. Before she left, she and Tyler took JB and me to their favorite restaurant in Auckland - Gina's. Wow. A restaurant full of Italians and wonderful food. They were insane with the World Cup. Our waiter was on the news three nights running waving the Italian flag and screaming Viva Italia in his very expressive style.
Tyler has carefully filled two of our key positions for expansion - another Kitchen Manager and another Duty Manager. Both are excellent choices and will help us hit the ground running in mid-August. Once Conor returns, it's Tyler's time to take a break. He plans to fly to Queenstown and do a little skiing, then go on to Christchurch to visit childhood friend Brett Miller who is living there with his Kiwi wife. His plans are pretty fluid right now, but will include some backpacking and exploring as he makes his was back up to the North Island and Auckland.
We are having some setbacks with our fitout as the Auckland City Council has been holding Westfield's feet to the fire over a flood plain issue. The street in front of our building has been torn up for a week so our workers are not able to access the site with equipment and materials. We should still be on track for a mid-August opening, but it has caused considerable stress for JB and Brett (our contractor, the amazing Kiwi Rennaissance Man).
It's tough to get good photos inside the new store since we still just have big spotlights and the place is so big, but I have posted a few so you can get a sense of our progress.
After 25 years, we have sold the Mexicali Rose property at the corner of 3rd & Franklin to a couple from Hawaii. They will be opening a Hawaiian plate lunch restaurant similar to one they had in Kailua-Kona for several years. Their new life in Oregon was marred by tragedy last week when a family member drowned while they were rafting on the Deschutes in downtown Bend. Our hearts go out to them.
Conor has been in the States for the past couple of weeks on a much-needed holiday. He spent a wonderful 4th of July weekend with his University of Oregon mates and is now in Bend enjoying the good life at Casa de Buell. He'll be returning on Wednesday in time to supervise the final signage and design details for Newmarket.
Ashley left at the beginning of July to take her dream job - head coach for her high school volleyball team. She will be returning after the season is over. We all wish her well and are so proud of her for taking this big step. Before she left, she and Tyler took JB and me to their favorite restaurant in Auckland - Gina's. Wow. A restaurant full of Italians and wonderful food. They were insane with the World Cup. Our waiter was on the news three nights running waving the Italian flag and screaming Viva Italia in his very expressive style.
Tyler has carefully filled two of our key positions for expansion - another Kitchen Manager and another Duty Manager. Both are excellent choices and will help us hit the ground running in mid-August. Once Conor returns, it's Tyler's time to take a break. He plans to fly to Queenstown and do a little skiing, then go on to Christchurch to visit childhood friend Brett Miller who is living there with his Kiwi wife. His plans are pretty fluid right now, but will include some backpacking and exploring as he makes his was back up to the North Island and Auckland.
We are having some setbacks with our fitout as the Auckland City Council has been holding Westfield's feet to the fire over a flood plain issue. The street in front of our building has been torn up for a week so our workers are not able to access the site with equipment and materials. We should still be on track for a mid-August opening, but it has caused considerable stress for JB and Brett (our contractor, the amazing Kiwi Rennaissance Man).
It's tough to get good photos inside the new store since we still just have big spotlights and the place is so big, but I have posted a few so you can get a sense of our progress.
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