Dude, where's my bank?

So the guv'ment came and repossessed my bank yesterday; isn't that an odd turn on the standard line? Now, I am no money man, but I had no idea things were this bad back in the ol' US of A - that something you read about in the news would actually directly impact me. My primary savings and checking accounts are at WaMu and my good friend Agra works for WaMu corporate. My accounts are no where near the FDIC limit so I am pretty safe, but I am not sure I can say the same for Agra, who will need to change her business cards to Chase, at the very least!

That's not to say that everything is peachy Down Under - we have been in a technical recession for at least 6 months, I believe, and a pile of finance companies, from petty to major, here have failed. There is also no FDIC in New Zealand, so if your bank goes under, you have no recourse. In addition, there is really little oversight of business here so some pretty shifty stuff goes on and if a financial institution goes under, the management can walk away without much consequence. Housing prices have peaked and started going down too, and the engineering market is a little quieter than any of us would like.

However, in spite of all this, I have managed to steer clear of any messy situations here, until WaMu went and got itself stuck in a sub-prime mess. Well, that too will pass, but it does drive home the seriousness of the economic situation in the States. The economists I follow here seem to think we'll be getting out of our current economic slump within the year (or sooner) and Oz is still going gangbusters across the Tasman Sea (I've had two calls from recruiters this week alone, if anyone is looking for an international job!). But it does not seem to be the case in the US, where I think we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg.

Due to a number of issues that I have come across in the last six months (which I shall detail in a later posting), I am now leaning towards re-emigrating back to the States at my earliest opportunity - 1.5 years from now - instead of waiting longer for my citizenship. Of course, a lot can change in 1.5 years (and I hope the US economy does!) so this is by no means any kind of final decision, but it does mean I am watching all the US economic news very closely.

Suckers!

Today marks an important anniversary - 6 months since I first landed in Christchurch. No deportation, no jail time, no enraged mobs of locals with torches and pitchforks. I believe this is the longest a Binder has ever inhabited any South Pacific island starting with the letter 'N'.

To celebrate my accomplishment, the New Zealand government saw fit to award me with a driver license - that's right, I am now legitimate. No more trouble from bar bouncers! And in the spirit of celebration, no comments from the peanut gallery on the photo either!

Just a heads-up: daylight savings time begins on Sunday (that's Saturday for you kids) which means I will be one hour even more in the future than you (i.e. 20 hours ahead of Seattle, 17 hours ahead of the East Coast).

In which Shane visits The Big City

I’ve been up in Auckland since Monday morning on business – I am here to meet-n-greet all the key players on my team in the company HQ here. So, this is going to sound pretty negative on Auckland, but keep in mind that I am here on business and don’t really have time to explore the town (kinda like my experiences in Vancouver!). Suffice it to say that Auckland has underwhelmed me. I would describe it thus: it’s a city about a third Seattle’s size with similar weather (I have a minor issue with that) and geography (lots of old volcanic hills and waterways about), and all of the character of central Vancouver (and anyone who knows my thoughts on Vancouver knows that is not meant as a compliment) without the modernity or proximity to Whistler that Vancouver has. The architecture is a little dated, I think, without the gleaming new condo skyscrapers of Seattle and Vancouver, although there are a few iconic structures – the Ferry Building, Sky Tower, and Britomart come to mind. Walking around on Monday and Tuesday night, the city was sadly very quiet; not many people about in the CBD after 8pm. Even at lunch hour, there wasn’t quite the hustle I found in Seattle. The food has been a bit uninspiring, although I cannot weigh in on the local microbrews as I have yet to try any.

Now, there was a positive note to my visit here – last night I went out to the suburb of Newmarket for my first foray outside the CBD to find the Adidas store for their weekly run. Newmarket seems like a nice area, maybe along the lines of Cherry Creek in Denver (I can’t think of a similar area in Seattle). Lots of spendy boutique shops and entertainment, you know the type. So I was a block from the store when the runners got past me – I know, shocking that I would be late, eh? I followed them around on neighbourhood streets around Newmarket and Mount Eden, but I haven’t a clue where we went. There were a lot of runners – probably 30-40 I would hazard – although I didn’t get a chance to chat anyone up since I missed the beginning and was rather breathless along the run on account of the hills and length (12k) and my poor shape. Still, it was the high point of my trip.

On an unrelated note, did anyone watch CNN this morning (sorry, have to have something on when I am getting ready in the morning!)? Granted, it was CNN Europe, but they spent a good 6-8 minutes talking about the new format of Facebook and the controversy that it has caused – looking at some poor cub reporter’s new Facebook page and interviewing some Facebook users who don’t like the changes. Talk about 8 minutes of my life that I will never get back!