Back to the US!?
NJ2NZ
9th July 2009, 07:08 AM
Good luck to Mr. Pony - nothing but positive thinking between now and Wednesday! (my fingers are crossed and breath held until Wednesday;)
pleccy2000
9th July 2009, 09:44 AM
Hey! Sorry to hear things aren't working - and all because of a stupid job. Me and Miss pleccy are the same age as you. I think we should arrange a Welly meet and get it all off our chests!
Parsley
9th July 2009, 10:06 AM
Fingers crossed for his interview then!!
P:)
Mrs Pony
9th July 2009, 03:52 PM
yes.... welly meet up... someone should set that up! I need to pass on the shirt!
OH's interview should be Thursday sometime... the dude said he would be in town a few weeks ago and never showed... so hopefully this time he will actually be here to interview OH!
SarahEDH
9th July 2009, 05:34 PM
Drop-kicking some interview mojo to Mr. Pony -- tell him to go long and then run like h*ll with it --
Sheldon
9th July 2009, 06:18 PM
Poor form not pitching for an interview. Better luck this time Mr Pony!
mgf
9th July 2009, 08:00 PM
HOpe today went well Mr. Pony.
Mrs Pony
9th July 2009, 08:18 PM
HOpe today went well Mr. Pony.
The interview is next Thursday;)
Sheldon
9th July 2009, 08:22 PM
Ok, I'll let go of my thumbs now....
PonyGirl
10th July 2009, 03:42 AM
Yay for an interview!!! I really hope it goes well and that he gets this job, I know that would provide much needed relief. Saying a few extras prayers for you guys! Good luck!!
Arwen
10th July 2009, 04:23 PM
Hey there Ponies. :nice1
I managed to have a chat with my mate who goes to Whitty, and he said he thought they were fairly recently after an audio person, but he wasn't sure if they had already got someone.
I figure it might be worth giving them a call. The link below has contact info:
http://www.whitireia.ac.nz/category_display.php?category_id=10
He said to ask for Kay who is the Dean of the Music Department.
The very best of luck. :nice1
Sovenok
12th July 2009, 04:31 AM
The interview is next Thursday;)
Good luck!!!
Have you sorted out medicals?
Potato
12th July 2009, 06:48 PM
Not sure if this has been posted yet, but regarding Contact Energy:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2584226/Power-firm-feels-heat-from-huge-bill
A power company has apologised to a customer after she was sent a bill nearly six times higher than normal - but she's still going to have to pay.
Karori resident Marjorie Robson was "appalled" to receive a gas and power bill from Contact Energy for $940, much higher than the $180 she had averaged for each of the past four months. "I got a huge shock when I opened the bill."
She phoned the company and was told she should be reading her own meter to ensure the figures were accurate.
"They should be paying me if I am going to read my meter, doing their job for them. I will pay the bill, but I'm not happy about it."
Contact Energy spokesman Jonathan Hill said the company had forgotten to read her gas meter, which accounted for the large bill.
"We're not sure of the exact reasons for why it wasn't read, but it's something we regret and we have apologised. It's not the way we like to do business."
Angelonthemove
12th July 2009, 07:04 PM
Re electric we had the same problem with $600 bill in our rented place. Turns out they had not read the meter in ages, apparently could not find it!!. So although it was correct we spread the payments over 12 months and had to have a direct debit out of our bank account until we were up to date.
First house we had a bill for one month $600 as the place had wooden floors that you could see the soil through so basically we were heating outside too!
Pays to get a rental with heat pumps for cheaper bills in the long run and pay a little more in rent. We learnt our lesson the hard way.
Mrs Pony
12th July 2009, 09:21 PM
yea I'm not paying a $600 bill because they hadn't checked the meter in X amount of time! We moved in here April 9th. We were also the first to live here since our landlord bought this place and fixed it up. So I'm NOT going to pay for whatever was used before we moved in! That's crap!
I have my dr appointment tomorrow so hopefully he will get everything answered correctly... hopefully it will only be a few more weeks after that.
Chaz
12th July 2009, 10:48 PM
Mmmm, good luck to both of you.
If I remember correctly you guys had started your process just as we got to NZ. Not sure if you have read any of my / our posts but we went through similar and are currently back in the UK after a failed NZ attempt.
I dont want to discourage you but times are tough at the moment. Im earning less than half of what I did 2 years ago - by no means nice.
That said, and here is the clincher, times will improve and things will get better. Its up to you guys and your support (whatever you have) to ride through this as best you can.
In terms of power - we also had an issue with contact in Auckland which was a power bill going from $100 to $550 one month. That said, the power was high as we had a house with heated pool etc - the first error was that it hadnt been read and they then started to lump on the costs. Fight them on this - if they dont read your meter then they are guessing and its not your fault - at the time they offered a payment plan to us to pay the higher amounts.
Hang in there.
petri
13th July 2009, 04:54 AM
When I moved to Amsterdam many, many years ago I rent a reasonable large house (just for myself) and I used the heating (gas) just like I'd do back at home. If it's +5C outside, it should be +20..25C inside, 24x7.
Back at home the outside temperature varies from below -30C during the winter to above +30C in the summer, or anything in between. In 24..48 hours the temperature can change over 20 degrees C. That's outside, inside it's never below the 20+C and there's the special feeling when you stand naked by the window, in total warmness when it's freezing -30C just behind the window.. (the other special feeling is going from hot sauna to the -30C outside all naked with just your bathrobe..)
Anyway, in Holland I got ridiculous gas bills, a major portion of my salary and learnt from the dutch colleagues that the heating should be turned off when I'm not there. I should arrive to a cold house every day, how stupid, I thought..
Do people moving to NZ have this problem often, they live like they'd do at home and end up with a huge electricy / gas / ... bill?
Mrs Pony
13th July 2009, 08:22 AM
see we didn't even have the heaters on when we were gone... we DO come home to a cold house!! UGH!
Parsley
13th July 2009, 12:00 PM
Has Mr Pony tried looking for opportunities via this website?
http://www.thebigidea.co.nz/
I just found it and thought he might want to look at the work section or get some contacts from it.
P:)
Mrs Pony
13th July 2009, 07:19 PM
So I just got back from the dr... and it seems VERY promising!!!! WOO!
I have to get blood work done, which I'll try to get up early tomorrow and do.
The DR said that it looks like I have a VERY mild case of Lupus and that he doesn't think that it will be considered a "burden". He didn't give me any prescriptions... just said that I might want to get some Voltaren and keep it around if I need it. He said that once he gets the blood work back he'll send us the letter we need for NZIS... and that he might want to see me again in about 6 months.
HOPEFULLY this will be it! I think NZIS has everything else and this is the last hump that we will have! Praying that we will only have another month or two and we can have some dancing blue naners!
Familyofmonkeys
13th July 2009, 10:51 PM
When I moved to Amsterdam many, many years ago I rent a reasonable large house (just for myself) and I used the heating (gas) just like I'd do back at home. If it's +5C outside, it should be +20..25C inside, 24x7.
Back at home the outside temperature varies from below -30C during the winter to above +30C in the summer, or anything in between. In 24..48 hours the temperature can change over 20 degrees C. That's outside, inside it's never below the 20+C and there's the special feeling when you stand naked by the window, in total warmness when it's freezing -30C just behind the window.. (the other special feeling is going from hot sauna to the -30C outside all naked with just your bathrobe..)
Anyway, in Holland I got ridiculous gas bills, a major portion of my salary and learnt from the dutch colleagues that the heating should be turned off when I'm not there. I should arrive to a cold house every day, how stupid, I thought..
Do people moving to NZ have this problem often, they live like they'd do at home and end up with a huge electricy / gas / ... bill?
No I don't think this is the issue in NZ at all. The main problem is that the vast majority of houses are nowhere near as well insulated as most European/North American homes, so you lose heat rapidly. Double glazing is a relatively new thing here......and most of the time when it is fitted in homes, the aluminium frames do not have thermal buffers, and the better quality uPVC is only just appearing in NZ in the major cities and hasn't really caught on yet. House designs here also favour large windows, and lots of them to get solar gain.....of course you lose all that heat through the mainly single glazed windows as soon as the sun goes down, and on dull days you just don't get any sun. The other issue is that without relatively efficient central heating systems we are used to, people often rely on electric forms of heating such as heat pumps, and space heaters for keeping bedrooms etc warm.......which can cost a lot of money to run considering the small areas they heat.
Arwen
16th July 2009, 07:20 PM
How did said interview go for Mr Pony????? (everything crossed that it's good news)!!!:yes
PonyGirl
17th July 2009, 01:49 AM
Yes, how was the interview?? I hope all went well, I was sending positive vibes. Glad to hear your doctor appointment went well, hope that works out too.
Mrs Pony
17th July 2009, 06:41 PM
Welp... The interview was on Thursday ...I think the interview went well... OH said it was good but after felt it was a bit rushed. It was only about 20 minutes long. They did email OH today(Friday) and asked for references... so we should hear something by next week. (keep those fingers crossed we're broke!!)
I got a call yesterday from my GP about my blood work (low white blood count), so I'm assuming that my bones DR has them too. He said that he's going to write the letter and send it to us so we can mail that out to London. Getting that tomorrow would be awesome... so we can get that sent to London first thing next week!
Sheldon
20th July 2009, 11:05 PM
Still holding thumbs for monsieur Pony! Any news?
M-Squared
20th July 2009, 11:17 PM
Asking for references is always a good sign. I know it's only Monday, but any news yet? :)
Mrs Pony
21st July 2009, 05:46 PM
No nothing yet... hopefully soon! OH needs to find something soon if he doesn't get this one... Going to start looking for a cheaper flat if he doesn't get it... His birthday is next month and I'm afraid we won't have the money for me to buy him something :(
On a kinda good note... we got a scratch off in the mail and one of them says we won US$120,000... so if it's real someone will have to be near to restart my heart! However, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a scam... we don't have such luck!
JandM
21st July 2009, 09:33 PM
Nobody ever really wins thousands of dollars when they haven't entered for something. When you hear 'good news' like this out of the blue, it's always going to be somebody trying to get your bank a/c details, or a 'processing fee' before they can free the money, or you to phone them to find out about it on a $30-a-minute phone line... something of that kind. I wouldn't waste any enthusiasm.:no
Sheldon
21st July 2009, 09:45 PM
On the off chance that you do win remember your friends here at emigratenz! Donations always welcome!
snowy_apple
23rd July 2009, 03:40 AM
Please...never ever believe in such mail. And please don't reply and give your detail. Just delete it right away.
Mgee
23rd July 2009, 09:19 AM
A very good site about lottery and other scams::
http://www.fraudaid.com/index.htm
Sorry to say this, but if it sounds too good to be true, then it is too good to be true.:no
IanW99
23rd July 2009, 09:26 AM
A very good site about lottery and other scams::
http://www.fraudaid.com/index.htm
Sorry to say this, but if it sounds too good to be true, then it is too good to be true.:no
There is also the NZ based SCAMWatch (http://consumeraffairs.govt.nz/scamwatch/)
Ian
Sheldon
23rd July 2009, 07:51 PM
Any news on the job front for Mr Pony?
ellenmelon
23rd July 2009, 08:27 PM
Any news on the job front for Mr Pony?
Yeah, we're all waiting to hear the result of the job interview!
Susan2502
23rd July 2009, 08:28 PM
Me too, always waiting for an update :)
SarahEDH
24th July 2009, 01:00 PM
Um, might be good to wait quietly rather than press for info?
ellenmelon
24th July 2009, 02:08 PM
Um, might be good to wait quietly rather than press for info?
I don't do waiting quietly :) But I do get your point, I won't be nagging about it :)
Mrs Pony
24th July 2009, 05:50 PM
Welp... OH didn't get the job :( Though they did say they might have something coming up outside of Welly and they asked him if he would be interested... OH told them that he would be but that he would have to talk it over with me... He also applied for another AV job today...
I'm still waiting for a letter from the DR that I saw here... I've called twice this week and haven't heard anything... the deadline is the 31st!! Once we get the letter we have to send it out to London...
UGH! :( :( :(
Sheldon
24th July 2009, 07:08 PM
Sorry to hear about the job. You guys have been through a lot. Praying for you!
M-Squared
24th July 2009, 08:08 PM
Dang it!!! :mad: SO sorry to hear that Renee! :( Upwards and onwards...
Arwen
24th July 2009, 08:11 PM
Oh that's such a shame, I'm so sorry to hear that. :(
It might still be worth giving Whiteria a try????
Toonster
24th July 2009, 08:35 PM
So sorry to hear that :-(
JandM
24th July 2009, 10:08 PM
they did say they might have something coming up outside of Welly and they asked him if he would be interested...
That sounds very positive, when they've taken the trouble already to check him out.
Arwen
25th July 2009, 09:26 AM
Yes I agree JandM. Sounds like they are interested in Mr Pony's skills if they are thinking of placing him somewhere else should the opportunity arise (fingers tightly crossed xxxxxxxxxx or +++++++++)!!
Don't give up hope just yet hun. ;)
Mrs Pony
25th July 2009, 09:45 AM
Welp for some good news... we got a new Contact bill and it wasn't $600! Not even $200!
OH needs to find something soon because we can't afford what we have just on my salary. We've started looking on Trademe for some cheaper places but not having much luck...
I'm STILL waiting for the letter from the DR... He's going to be in the Clinic that I went to on Monday, so if I dont get it today i'm calling first thing and OH will go pick up the letter himself.
Trying to stay positive but it's getting harder everyday:wah
Suniel
25th July 2009, 10:29 AM
All the best for medicals and sounds good news to save some money....indeed thats a huge saving at this state when even a single penny sounds like a million dollar..
magcats
26th July 2009, 06:10 PM
WOW, Ponies! You have been going through quite a bit lately. I am glad the heating bill improved! I lost my job in NC at the end of the school year due to budget cuts, only to be rehired a week ago. I somehow was able to remain positive and have faith. I know that isn't always easy to do.
I believe all of us on this thread are sending positive thoughts your way. Please do not give up hope.
Mrs Pony
27th July 2009, 06:36 PM
Thanks everyone! OH is working on another screenplay since he's not working... which keeps his mind going.
It's month end, yet again, at work so I'm sure this week will be hell...but I'll try not to let it get to me!:uhoh
We got the letter from the DR today (after calling 2x about it last week) and OH ran it to the post office and got it out today... it should be there by Thursday or Friday. We've emailed our CO the tracking number so he knows that it's been sent out. I'm not sure how much longer it will be after they receive the letter that we know if we have PR or not. With all the crap that's been going on, I'm afraid that they wont approve us, since that seems our luck!! I also think that once we do have PR, OH would have an easier time getting work...hopefully.
Keep those prayers, thoughts and vibes coming! What a glorious day it will be when i can use those little blue nanners in my own post! :laugh
dilanium
27th July 2009, 06:39 PM
My thoughts are with you guys!
newarrival
27th July 2009, 07:39 PM
I am sure everything will turn out o.k. in the end..., you so deserve it and usually perseverance pays off:clap
All the best!:)
Susan2502
27th July 2009, 08:25 PM
Good Luck with the PR, hopefully it will be soon!!!
Shones
28th July 2009, 12:43 PM
I think it'll be easier too once you have PR
Don't give up hope! You've come so far already. :nice1
Mrs Pony
5th August 2009, 06:45 PM
Just a fast update... Our CO has sent my DR's letter to the MA... and said that he (CO) will get back to us in a few weeks...
OH is still looking for work and applied for about 9 retail jobs today...
:-/
Sheldon
5th August 2009, 07:05 PM
Thanks for the update! There is light at the end of the tunnel. Any news on finding a new apartment?
Mrs Pony
6th August 2009, 05:48 PM
nothing on the apartment front... we're waiting to see if we get PR or not... If we do get PR then we want to find a place where we can have a pet. If we don't get PR then we're just going to find a really cheap place to hold us over until it's time to go.
Suniel
6th August 2009, 11:03 PM
fingers crossed. All the best, just a matter of time and it will all be fine.
Sovenok
7th August 2009, 02:31 AM
Toes crossed for you ;)
dianney
11th August 2009, 06:10 AM
Best of luck with the PR and job hunt.
Dianne and familyx:)
Mrs Pony
11th August 2009, 07:38 PM
thanks! Still no word on either...
Oh called one of the temp agencies today and should have an interview lined up next week. I told him to start hounding them for work. Come to find out the girl that he spoke to is from the US...went to the same UNI as I did and her OH went to the Uni that I worked at!!!! What a small world!! We're hoping that she will hook him up with lots of good gigs!...and it also took them a little over a year to get PR...
Haven't heard anything from NZIS yet... but I just checked the site and it still says 'Pending' so I'll take that as a good sign.
Mamee & Co
11th August 2009, 09:07 PM
Keeping my fingers crossed for you Mrs Pony. Waiting is the name of the game for so many of us at the moment.
Mamee
Sovenok
12th August 2009, 06:37 AM
the same boring signature Pending/ tired of being in limbo
Although my medicals are cleared, the interview has not been arranged yet, they are doing so-called further checks :confused: that's an undecidable puzzle for me, I mean what they are looking for, I don't know
Good luck :)
© emigratenz.org. All Rights Reserved
vBulletin®
Copyright © Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.