I stand there and gossip and tittle-tattle pass by. Who went outside to the beach again and took on 2,5 grams of weight? WHo is cheating on their dog, petting another one in public? How do you lose 4 kilograms in 3 hours?

Those are things you get confronted with at the trash avalanche.
It doesn’t bother me to the very least, as I only need to throw every thing NOT paper into the duct next to me.
Yes, I took another job offer at the recycling plant. But this time at the biggest in all the South Island, if that’s not a sight to see! You can’t miss out on this, right?

But the only good thing about this job is that you get payed. It is only two days, then I return to the carwash. Then I can listen to music on my headphones all day and the work mates are all amazing. Besides, it is a lot more satisfying to wash cars all day than going through the trash without end. AND I get money for it on top! 😀

That’s about the current situation. 🙂 The flat is all sweet and filled with lovely people. We are a Kiwi in his 30s in his own room alongside the own bathroom and I share the other wing with 3 students. A Slovak boy, a tiny Malaysian girl (she also knows the car make Proton) and another Malaysian dude who is staying short term only.

But all that is little consolation for the fact that dear Tina has left Dunedin… Another work opportunity made for this horrific disaster.
Once again saying goodbye and only memories remain… Well, it is not all that tragic, for we are to see each other again in out time here. Though not spontaneous anymore, which is a shame. Soon I will post about our last great doing together. 😉

Without context a fat and a thin bird from the botanic garden in Dunedin:

I now have to tell you the saraband of the other Monday. It went down like this:

A rose from the bed, gapped the shower (I would stink of all the garbage anyway), prepared some tea and went to the recycling plant. Having arrived, there were discrepancies: No new people were planned that day. Well, you can always call the agency…
I went outside, looked through my wallet for the business card, asked them and it came to light that they mistakenly thought I had been there already and could work without initial instructions. That was not the case. As the boss of the plant wasn’t in place, I had to go on my way back… Only that a day there means 100 dollars in your pocket.

On my way home you find The Warehouse, a bargain paradise. So that this day would be of any value, I threw some different things in the basket: Some cans of baked beans for a sixpence and a knife of the brand ‘Wiltshire’ with a sharpening sheath. One of those I had to my disposal at the host family’s and I soon came to miss a truly sharp knife several times.
Also some milk and bread, all cheap and at a discount and proceeded to the checkout.
You might have come to notice my small squared way of telling and that it might lead to some point of unexpectedness: You’re right, the left pocket of my jacket was empty…
In the place where I ALWAYS find my wallet, I found nothing. The cashier acted all laid back and I spurted to the car. Normally I always know where I put my stuff, but this morning didn’t go as planned already and thus, I just looked everywhere for my wallet. On my way back I looked around the parking lot, whether I had it fall out of my trusty jacket. Nothing. Great!
The purchases-to-be where put aside and I calmly thought about the time I held it for the last time.
That’s why I went back to the recycling plant and had to be disappointed there. No trace of the guardian of the credit cards. I wrote my number down and went back to the Warehouse. The whole road I kept my eyes everywhere, though I doubted I had put it on the roof of the car AND forgot it there. No sign of it…
In the Warehouse I also left my number and followed the friendly instructions of the Warehouse staff to retrace my shopping route… They told my they had found many valuable items in between the crates and cases, sometimes days after.
I also gave my number to the next door supermarket, in case anyone picked it up from the parking lot… Then I called the police by advice of the Warehouse staff, for they get a lot of lost things, too. They had no clue yet either, but would call me in case…
There I was now. My phone battery was almost spent from all the calls, my gas tank faced the same problem and without cash or cash cards, there was not much hope to get a refill on gas.

Resignedly I leaned on my car. Going anywhere without my wallet would be pointless and it was not in any place I was this morning. I thought about all the things replaceable and all the ones non-replaceable: Countless business cards, receipts, all credit cards, my EC card, 9 dollars in cash, the PIN code for my New Zealand bank account (kiddiiing, that one is only inside my head)…

During all this, I never fell into despair. That is a crucial fact. I sweat profusely, my heart went bonkers and the engine smells funny after a trip to 7th section on the rev counter, but I handled the situation with pragmatism. When it is not in one place, it is in another. Simple. Also the plan of organisational steps, in case it stays missing, took shape in my head. There would always be a way. It is not all lost as most things are replaceable and in New Zealand is hardly as criminally active to disable all cards first thing. It is not a nice story, but what are you going to do? Cry and sob, rolling on the floor? No, you live with this situation and try your best to restore normality again soon. All that doesn’t rely on emotion driven actions…
Well, I still trusted it to come to an honest citizen, who would give it to a place that had my number.

And thank god, he was! As I leaned on my car just there, stripped of one of the most valuable possessions of mine, my phone rang and I got the glad tidings of joy: A driver of the recycling plant has found the wallet and it ready for collection!
When I stood in the yard, infinitely relieved, for the 3rd time that morning I asked WHERE the wallet had been lying. I wanted to understand the own malfunction, so it could never happen again. But the secretary couldn’t tell me that…
And now I have become a tad more paranoid.