On request: Veronica's ordinary day

My brother asked me to tell him more of my ordinary life: not just "the adventures" I go on as he put it, the hills I climb or the parties I have been to. Fair enough, although I see those as big parts of my ordinary life.

Where shall I start? In bed I guess...
A typical day starts off at 6.45 when the alarm on my beloved cheap-arse Nokia cellphone rings. I get up, have a shower if I can be bothered to get wet and I have breakfast with Nina and Phil. It is one of my highlights to spend the morning together, eating toast and complaining about how bad The Press, Christchurch's own newspaper is. The world section usually consists of Hugh Grant's recent shags, Mr Pitt and Big lip Jolie or something of high importance for the scene of world politics. The local news is mostly about some boy racer who has died in a car accident and about how "lovely and true christian" he had been throughout his life.

I take off to work in my 87 Honda Accord with a white bonnet and rust stains on the grey roof. I happen to be working far far away in the wops (tjottaheiti pa svanska) in Lincoln. I have the pleasure to share the ride with a Chinese girl, Li Yuan. We have really got to know eachother really well over the last two years when we have shared my "Joy ride Honda". Li (Jessie is her kiwisised verion) is actually "lovely and true christian"....no joking.

At work I say hallo to my colleague Sue, who sit in her office smelling really good as always since she is a hygiene freak. She says: How are you doing today VV? In my office I meet the herb queen Bonnie who has the desk next to me. She talks about her yoga or about the veggies she has in the garden. We all make a great team and Sue is always popping in her head at 10 o'clock sharp to remind us "Are we not going for moring tea?". Bonnie has more stories to tell about her Hare Krishna flat mate who wants to wlak around the country with a bull. Why didn't I think of that brilliant idea?

The work is OK. I talk a lot on the phone, but not as much as Bonnie. I have to deal more with reporting and other not so pleasent things. I think I send about 30-50 emails per day, and that is only work related. "Same shit, different name" I think suits it.

I often have lunch down the road with my Swedish friend Sofia. It is great to get away from work for a while, get some air and gossip. I also have very good conversations with Tanja, who works in the library. We have come very close over the years at Landcare.

The standard working day is only 7.5 hrs since it is a crown entity. Good for me....I can leave work usually at 4.30 but I hardly ever go straight home. When I haven't sprained my ankle, I play touch, go running in the hills or as a less intuitive option, around the park, swimming, playing squash or simply go grocery shopping. How exciting.


Nina, Phil and I cook together a few times per week, but I mostly come home pretty late after excersising and have tea after 8. I must admit that I often "use" my friends. I like showing up with food and let them cook it for me or I might help out if they are lucky :-)...Warwick is one of my most frequent victims since he lives so close to me in the Arts Centre. It's a good deal. He likes cooking, I like eating!!

I hardly ever watch television although we have heaps of channels thanks to Phil's big satelite dish. We can watch Russion TV, German Deutche Welle, Al-Jazeera etc. Dave suggested that since I hardly use the TV, we should flip the dish and start a compost in it. I don't know how much Phil would like that. When it comes to Kiwi TV channels, there are way too many ads where they scream at the audience and hope you will buy their shit. The news sessions are too long and contains a bit too much rugby and cricket. I don't know what's hip at the moment and I often miss out on big news from the other side. I try to catch up by reading the morning news paper...but since The press has not the most sharp journalism, I end up missing out on a bit. What would I do without Internet?? Nina, Phil and I often sit lined up with our three mac computers. Phil is the Mac guru and he is always on the hunt to convert Windows users from the dark side to Mac.

I go hard out til about 11pm when I turn into "shut down mode" and start freezing unless I go to bed. I try to read a bit but I often only manage to read 2 or at the most 4 pages before my eye lids become too heavy. Game over and Good night!