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End of year reflections
Dec. 31st, 2020 09:54 amI had a pretty good 2020 overall.
It's something I'm afraid to say too loudly in front of more public spaces, because everyone else had a really crappy 2020, and I don't want to make them all feel bad. But over here with a readership in the single digits (if that), and since this IS supposed to be my space to talk about myself, I'm going to talk about my 2020 honestly and thoroughly.
First, I must say, I made an excellent choice back in late 2017 when I decided I wanted to move to New Zealand. We had six weeks of hardcore lockdown from late March to mid-May or so. During that time, not only did all the work-at-home people stay home, so did all the restaurant/retail/hospitality staff, and the people behind delivering things that get ordered online. We had no such thing as ordering anything online. We could not buy anything that did not get sold in a supermarket or pharmacy. So when I see other people sing their own virtues about staying home, washing hands, using masks, etc. - and then mention ordering from Amazon or getting takeaways ... that's not a lockdown. It won't work that way because all the people who cause things to "magically" appear on your doorstep are still mixing with each other.
Overall I was impressed with how well informed and rational the people here are, along with how organized and clear the government was to inform the people on not just what they were going to do and what they wanted everyone to do, but also why and how and wherefore.
We did have conservative people here whining about how the lockdown would tank the economy, and of course it was massively inconvenient to a great many small business owners. But the government made sure there was lots of aid money to go around. I didn't receive any since I was getting paid the scholarship money anyway, and Brett didn't receive any because he was an "essential worker" in a supermarket and continued getting paid as normal, so I don't know how well it went. But I haven't heard any major complaints about it not being enough, so it was probably fine.
So, that's pretty much all there is to say about the pandemic experience in New Zealand. Things were inconvenient for a couple months, and then everything pretty much went back to normal. Next year everyone will get vaccinated for free, and I assume it will be efficient and organized.
Meanwhile, right before lockdown started, Brett and I moved into a very nice house together. It's an old house with quirks, but it has really big rooms including one with built in bookshelves, and lots of built in storage. In summary: plenty of places to put all of Brett's board games and books. I also really like sitting around in the main lounge with all the board games. The front yard is full of trees that make it seem like we live in the middle of a jungle. The backyard has a big patio, a small patch of lawn, and places to plant veggies. And it's right next to the middle of town - I can walk to my gym in about 8 minutes. But at the same time generally quiet and feels secluded (most of the time).
We also got a flatmate a few weeks into lockdown. We don't charge him much to live in a side room off the garage that isn't supposed to be a bedroom. He's been an excellent flatmate - quiet, tidy, considerate, does a great job helping with household cleaning and yardwork, and he also waters my veggies.
So overall my housing situation has greatly improved. Brett started out somewhat skittish and paranoid that somehow things would go wrong and we'd lose the house, but settled in after a while.
The PhD situation is somewhat less good. I'm not working as fast as I really ought to be, and it's not clear I'll manage to get everything done in the remaining time. The general plan at the moment is to write three papers, and then turn that into the dissertation. We basically didn't get anywhere near completing all of the original goals, as it's going to take the entire time just to make the model in the first place, never mind try to use it for anything.
On the other hand, since I'm with Brett and we've been living together, at the one year mark (next April) I'll be able to apply for a residency visa and then (hopefully) stay in New Zealand permanently after that. This is a step up from the original plan of getting a work visa (and a job) first. So, in theory anyway, even if the PhD situation crashes and burns (which I'm certainly going to work hard to make sure it doesn't), I'll (probably) still be able to stay here.
So I guess as 2020 winds down and 2021 shows up, I mostly need to get cracking on the PhD papers, and figure out how to stop eating carbs. Everything else about life is pretty good.
It's something I'm afraid to say too loudly in front of more public spaces, because everyone else had a really crappy 2020, and I don't want to make them all feel bad. But over here with a readership in the single digits (if that), and since this IS supposed to be my space to talk about myself, I'm going to talk about my 2020 honestly and thoroughly.
First, I must say, I made an excellent choice back in late 2017 when I decided I wanted to move to New Zealand. We had six weeks of hardcore lockdown from late March to mid-May or so. During that time, not only did all the work-at-home people stay home, so did all the restaurant/retail/hospitality staff, and the people behind delivering things that get ordered online. We had no such thing as ordering anything online. We could not buy anything that did not get sold in a supermarket or pharmacy. So when I see other people sing their own virtues about staying home, washing hands, using masks, etc. - and then mention ordering from Amazon or getting takeaways ... that's not a lockdown. It won't work that way because all the people who cause things to "magically" appear on your doorstep are still mixing with each other.
Overall I was impressed with how well informed and rational the people here are, along with how organized and clear the government was to inform the people on not just what they were going to do and what they wanted everyone to do, but also why and how and wherefore.
We did have conservative people here whining about how the lockdown would tank the economy, and of course it was massively inconvenient to a great many small business owners. But the government made sure there was lots of aid money to go around. I didn't receive any since I was getting paid the scholarship money anyway, and Brett didn't receive any because he was an "essential worker" in a supermarket and continued getting paid as normal, so I don't know how well it went. But I haven't heard any major complaints about it not being enough, so it was probably fine.
So, that's pretty much all there is to say about the pandemic experience in New Zealand. Things were inconvenient for a couple months, and then everything pretty much went back to normal. Next year everyone will get vaccinated for free, and I assume it will be efficient and organized.
Meanwhile, right before lockdown started, Brett and I moved into a very nice house together. It's an old house with quirks, but it has really big rooms including one with built in bookshelves, and lots of built in storage. In summary: plenty of places to put all of Brett's board games and books. I also really like sitting around in the main lounge with all the board games. The front yard is full of trees that make it seem like we live in the middle of a jungle. The backyard has a big patio, a small patch of lawn, and places to plant veggies. And it's right next to the middle of town - I can walk to my gym in about 8 minutes. But at the same time generally quiet and feels secluded (most of the time).
We also got a flatmate a few weeks into lockdown. We don't charge him much to live in a side room off the garage that isn't supposed to be a bedroom. He's been an excellent flatmate - quiet, tidy, considerate, does a great job helping with household cleaning and yardwork, and he also waters my veggies.
So overall my housing situation has greatly improved. Brett started out somewhat skittish and paranoid that somehow things would go wrong and we'd lose the house, but settled in after a while.
The PhD situation is somewhat less good. I'm not working as fast as I really ought to be, and it's not clear I'll manage to get everything done in the remaining time. The general plan at the moment is to write three papers, and then turn that into the dissertation. We basically didn't get anywhere near completing all of the original goals, as it's going to take the entire time just to make the model in the first place, never mind try to use it for anything.
On the other hand, since I'm with Brett and we've been living together, at the one year mark (next April) I'll be able to apply for a residency visa and then (hopefully) stay in New Zealand permanently after that. This is a step up from the original plan of getting a work visa (and a job) first. So, in theory anyway, even if the PhD situation crashes and burns (which I'm certainly going to work hard to make sure it doesn't), I'll (probably) still be able to stay here.
So I guess as 2020 winds down and 2021 shows up, I mostly need to get cracking on the PhD papers, and figure out how to stop eating carbs. Everything else about life is pretty good.
