Life does present me with challenges......
 

....and Ill keep confronting em of course !!!!! ;)

Its been a busy few months which is why I havent had time to come on here recently.

As you may remember my mum,dad,sister,niece and a couple of family friends came over from Manchester in mid-March. Its been a busy time with 2 x Paddys day parties, trips to beaches and places various in Auckland, trips to Napier/Rotorua/Tauranga and then sydney.melbourne and the GOR thrown in.

All Didnt go according to plan though............................ :thumbdown:

Zara had had some overnight high temperatures towards the end of my folks NZ stint - we took her to hospital and when we got to North Shore her right eye had completely closed. We found out she had Celulitis and she was transferred to Starship - where we spent the next 4 nights and Zara had a CT scan (incl general anaesethic) a subsequent diagnosis of Sinusitis, a cocktail of anti-biotics (3) pumped into her via IV - it just dragged and thank god her eye has recovered. Shes back at creche now and is as happy as a pig in muck.

As a result it kicked into touch our planned trip to Oz for the 3rd week to meet up with the folks before they headed home. After much discussion and deliberation with my wife, I went over there for 4 days so I could say goodbye to my folks (and show them around otherwise theydve only seen the local bar(s):beer:

so........................that was enough to contend with..................................not !!!


I have been offered a place on the Air Traffic Controller course on May 26th in Christchurch !!!:thumbsup:
After trying and trying since I came over here - I managed to get through !!
It means -
Obtaining a medical (which Ive done - $350) plus the usual security checks etc
a 6 month course in christchurch
coughing up $12,000 for course fee:curse:
Not being paid:thumbdown:
If I get through it then they would send me to a control tower somewhere in NZ (hopefully not Invercargill) for 6-9 months where I would get paid a wage once Ive obtained a license.

A gamble of the highest proportions one would say..............

as Jimmy cricket says - "theres more"....




The Mrs told me a couple of weeks ago (just after the ATC news) that shes pregnant !!!!!!!!!!! :ohmy:

So, She'll be 3 months gone (touch wood) once i leave for christchurch, she'll be the sole-earner until she goes on maternity leave and my course finishes around the due date - is someone messing with me !!!!!!

Ive applied for a studylink loan to cover the course fee and am aware of the $391 (before tax) maternity pay for 14 weeks - is there anything else i could investigate as things will be extremely tight post birth (and post maternity pay running out) ?

So to put it in a nutshell - life is challenging...................................it'l l keep me busy.


Hope its a boy :eek:

Re: Life does present me with challenges......
 

Wow! All at once eh?

Glad Zara's okay. Scary stuff :(
Congratulations!
And good luck with everything! :thumbsup:

Re: Life does present me with challenges......
 

Cor ! :eek: 'Nothing by halves' should be in your signature.

Lovely to read your update.

Re: Life does present me with challenges......
 

You never know what`s going to happen on a day to day basis !
You seem to have had a run of good and bad things happening though.

Congratulations! :thumbsup:

Good Luck with the Future

as the saying goes

Yesterday`s History
Tomorrow`s a mystery
Today is a gift
Thats why they call it the present.

Ju

Re: Life does present me with challenges......
 

Commiserations. Congratulations/Commiserations. Congratulations. :rofl: Haha - I felt I was on a roller coaster there!

On the finance front - if you don't ask you don't get. So, first port of call - WINZ. You may be entitled to all sorts that you're not aware of. I'd imagine working for families would be one. Maybe, depending on what your wife is earning, accommodation assistance - there are emergency payments too that you can look for. Just go for it and see what happens. I hope your wife has an easy pregnancy and wish you all well.

Re: Life does present me with challenges......
 

Wow Ian, what a rollercoaster the last few months have been. Things always happen at the same time to challenge us but I'm sure that you will get through this. You coped with Crab Air, this should be a doddle!!!!

Glad Zara is better and congrats on the pregnancy and getting selcted for ATC.

Re: Life does present me with challenges......
 

Yeh congrats on the baby and ATC selection and pleased to hear Zara is better now.

Wouldn't life be boring if there were no ups and downs, eh? You have faced so many challenges in the last couple of years and its probably made you stronger so face all the new challenges head on, you know it will all turn out ok. Good luck :)

Re: Life does present me with challenges......
 

Just found out the course finish date is Dec 12th and the baby is due at ..................the end of November !:curse:

Gonna have to try and get the sister-in-law to be around as it looks like id miss the birth (unless it happens on the weekend and i havent lost all my hair as it would be full on in christchurch for the most crucial part of the course)

Ive thought about it and would rather get the course out of the way sooner rather than later - despite the potential for upset etc etc

:ohmy: