Dear all.
Been a busy couple of months with work and whatnot so have been unable to post an update so here is my attempt at letting you all know what we have been upto in the since June.
I started working at my new job doing the same sort of thing but with better conditions, better money and people that actually know what they are doing and how to teach me unlike the last place I was at.
I have been jumping around construction sites doing the fire alarm wiring and installing alarms, just finished a stint installing a new system in 2 old schools which wasn’t all that fun since the attic we were crawling around in got up to 60 degrees Celsius (140 F)
Last week I had 2 days working in the same site as Jess which is the hospital they are building and have yet to finish; the supposed finish date is October 2007 but I think they are way off that date, Jessica’s Electrical company ran out of hours for the job in march which means they are paying out of their pockets wages for about 100 electricians and extra materials they might be needing.
I had my birthday on the 21st July; the big 23, thank you for the well wishes for those that did and for those that didnt, I know you ment to and so thank you too 
I received a fly fishing package for my birthday which included rod and reel, flys and lessons when ever I want; I have been to several lessons so far and been on the lake and river, haven’t caught anything yet as the water levels are quite low and the fishing isnt that great this year in general.
Jess had her birthday last weekend, we had a nice dinner with her family on sunday night which was nice.
Jess wanted a new freezer for her birthday since the one we currently had was way too small, so we now have a new freezer in our kitchen which is nice.
I also treated her to a day where she could choose what we did all day; so we did that last saturday before we brought the freezer.
Jess starts back at school on the 6th oe f September, so we have to buy all her books next week some time, this year they are only costing $150 which is alot better than last years $400.
I am supposed to be starting school around the same time as her BUT the school director has not prioritized the sound and communications classes and so he has not scheduled a start date for us yet.
My green card expires on the 21st of October and so we have been busy filing out the forms to send into the immigration department, the forms are all filled out and we have all the evidence we need to extend the green card for 10 years but we hit a few problems with the paperwork and the American consulate in Auckland is trying to work out the problems for us so that the paperwork goes through smoothly and I don’t get deported back home.
Even if the paperwork goes through successfully we wont find out till mid next year as it is taking around 6-8 months to process them; so if there is a problem I wont be finding out till then either.
I have been finding out over the last couple of weeks that this country is based entirely on red tape and it takes forever to get things processed by the government here unlike back home where things are much more nicer and simplified.
My drivers licence expires at the same time my green card expires and so I am not sure at the moment how to get a new drivers licence with out a new greencard as I need to show evidence to the Department of Motor Vehicles that I am able to stay here which I wont have in October.
The weather here is still hot and has not rained in months, in fact I cant remember any cloudy days for about 2 months but the mornings are getting cooler and daylight savings is just around the corner which is lovely, we need alot of rain and snow this winter or the rivers and lakes are going to be even lower come summer than this summer.
The animals are doing good, Emma the cat is still getting her self in trouble and sparky the quaker parrot is learning more words and sentences every day which is good.
September 15th Jessica and I will be going to a a town in the Bay Area near San Fransisco called Half Moon Bay for a traditional Maori Hangi; it is with the San Fransisco Kiwi club who we met last time we were in the bay area; im not sure about Jess but I cant wait to have Hangi cooked Lamb, kumera, pork and other goodies cooked in the ground; as well as meeting with more Kiwis from around here.
Well I think that I have summed up almost 3 months pretty good and will leave you to the rest of your day; hope you have a good one.
Love Scott & Jessica
