rachel.blog

insignificant ramblings of a 50-something woman

  • Meet fluffy

    Elizabeth has acquired a pet. She’s called him fluffy and given him some food and a blanket. She tried to give him some toys as well but fortunately I managed to talk her out of that. Fluffy is a cockroach. Here he is, in his home:

  • A four-year-old on climate change

    Elizabeth’s kindy teacher said she heard Elizabeth mention the words “climate change” earlier this week. She thought this was an odd thing for a four-year-old to be talking about so she asked her what it was. Elizabeth said, “It’s when the Earth gets very hot and all the animals die”. Haha. If I’ve been brainwashing…

  • Flossing a four-year-old’s teeth

    Elizabeth went to see the dental nurse recently who told us she needed a filling. I decided to take her to the dentist to have the work done because of a bad experience with my own teeth and the dental nurse when I was a child. We went today and the dentist says she needs…

  • Auckland WordCamp and “The Smell”

    I went to my very first WordCamp yesterday at Auckland’s AUT and it was fabulous. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire day: all the speakers were terrific, the people were incredibly friendly, and I learnt lots. It was a great turn-out with around 130 people all up. I think my talk went reasonably well. The only…

  • Hot Air: New Zealand climate change documentary

    Another day, another climate change documentary. This one follows the story of New Zealand’s climate change negotiations which were first born back in 1989. Since then, like in most other places, New Zealand’s emissions have grown. However the challenges here are slightly different to those in other nations as renewable power already makes up more than half of the domestic…

  • When the moderator gets moderated

    Recently a new moderator starting helping out at the blog I moderate. On his very first day, he moderated me. ME!!!!!!!!! How dare he! I was so furious that I emailed the blog owner and told him I was taking a break from moderating his blog and then I turned off all comment notifications from…

  • WordCamp Auckland 2014

    I’m giving a talk at Auckland WordCamp later this month. Matt Mullenweg volunteered me for this when he was in Auckland recently. We were talking with the Auckland WordPress group and they expressed interest in having someone talk to them about Jetpack. So Matt said I would do it. To which I replied, “Yes, of…

  • The world needs all kinds of minds

    Temple Grandin is an American autistic woman who, through her work as a consultant for the meat industry, has made significant improvements to conditions for animals at abattoirs. According to PETA,”Dr. Grandin’s improvements to animal-handling systems found in slaughterhouses have decreased the amount of fear and pain that animals experience in their final hours, and…

  • God loves carparks

    A church on the North Shore of Auckland is building a sparkling new church hall with a cafe. The new building is coming along nicely and will provide services for both English- and Mandarin-speaking congregations as well as hosting large funerals and weddings. You’d think the church and its community would be very excited about…

  • Auckland, Minecraft, and dolphins

    Auckland, Minecraft, and dolphins

    I never thought I’d be so pleased to see Auckland but I was very happy when my plane landed here yesterday. I had a really great time in Hawaii but Elizabeth struggled while I was away and so I struggled as a result. Daniel was fine though. He thinks my new job is wonderful because…

  • Diamond Head and more

    I’m day four in Hawaii and I’m having a really nice time. There have been no earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or tsunamis so far and Ben and the children seem to be managing well without me. A bit too well in fact 🙂 Yesterday we hired cars and drove around part of the island. There was…

  • Honolulu, earthquakes, and films

    Remember how I said in my intro video that I’m no longer the crazy traumatised earthquake woman? How I’d moved on from that and no longer felt anxious about earthquakes? Well, I lied. I’m currently staying in a high-rise hotel in Hawaii that has a bit of a CTV-building look to it. At least, it…

  • Hawaii

    I’m going to Hawaii this week and I have to say I’m not looking forward to it at all. The reason being that I don’t want to leave my kids. I know I’m going to bawl my eyes out the whole way there so I pity the poor soul who ends up sitting next to…

  • Who’s in charge?

    A conversation Ben had with our 7-year-old son, Daniel, today: Daniel: Is mummy older than you? Ben: No, she’s younger. Daniel: Then how come she’s in charge?  

  • French Lentil Soup with Tarragon and Thyme

    Now that winter has arrived, I’ve been enjoy making and consuming soup again. There’s something comforting about a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter’s night. This recipe is the best lentil soup recipe ever. I’ve adapted it from one in Veganomicon, a brilliant vegan cookbook written by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero both of whom…

  • 2 Degrees

    There’s a new climate movie out called 2 Degrees which follows the failure of the UN climate negotiations while finding hope in the communities at the bottom (h/t HotTopic). You can watch the film online. Here’s an excerpt from their About page: The war on climate change has two major fronts: the fight against global deforestation and…

  • My intro video

    Part of being a distributed workforce means that I don’t get to see my colleagues face-to-face very often if at all. Something they do at Automattic is to encourage all new employees to create a short intro video. Here’s mine:

  • Matt Mullenweg in Auckland!

    Matt Mullenweg was in Auckland last night to give a talk to all the local WordPress fans. I went along to get this photo. ——————————–> Ok, so I also went to hear him talk and he was great: inspiring, funny, warm, friendly, and very down to earth. He spoke about the history of WordPress and how it started,…

  • The stay-at-home parent and the working parent

    I love my job. It’s so fulfilling being able to help people with their websites and most users are profoundly grateful for the support. I also feel privileged to have this little window into their lives: to see what they’re writing about and what their interests are. I feel extraordinarily lucky to have this job.…

  • The things my children say

    I have never spent a night away from my children. Not a single one. Now that I’ve got this flashy new job I will occasionally take trips away and the first one is next month. I’m going to Hawaii! We told the children over dinner that I will be going to Hawaii for a week…