3 pleasures; 3 puzzles

Summation at 3 weeks:

3 pleasures

1. Landscape: mountains, rolling hills of green, shores/beaches magnificently carved

2. Food a pleasant surprise, an opportunity for fine dining that we shall learn more of

3. Gardens everywhere, several in every town, welcoming

3 puzzlements

1. The weather - unprepared tomorrow night 35 degrees F.

2. New Zealand a mostly European country. I was expecting more Pacific islandish, more exotic. The House Officers write, in history and physicals, where in the U.S. we would say, "25 yr old white male" they write "25 yr old European male" and that is the dominant group, style and accent. The Commonwealth Games were a major local event. I'm not sure really why this surprises me - my Ojibwa or Chippewa ancestors have so little influence in the U. S.. Aboriginals are marginalized.

3. Strikes / work stoppages. I expected in a "nationalized" system there would be more national agreement - oneness. Xray techs are on strike: Mon through Fri I can get more or less all standard xrays; but after hrs all CT's must be for "life or limb threatening"; in smaller communities even standard xrays are restriced to life or limb threatening. Recently I saw a preschooler who had a presumed splint applied but had waited for 4 days for his first xray showing a spiral fracture mid tibia (main low leg bone). And now 9th grade school teachers are on strike. Puzzlements - nationalized, democratic, republic - folks seem to be folks.

We will write mostly of the pleasures, but occasionally there are puzzlements that bind the mind and beg for a measure of expression.