Thursday 17 May 2012
Wednesday 16 May 2012
I have just got my computer back from Yoobee in Hamilton (NZ) after it was repaired. Below is a post I made on the Apple Support Forums that acknowledges Apple & Yoobee. There's a lot of negativity in the world these days, so I thought I would try to add some positivity:)
Cheers
TONY
I've been having issues with the screen on my MacBook. I took it the shop I bought it from (Yoobee in NZ) and got them to look at it. They got back to me and said the display unit needed to be replaced and it would cost around NZ$800. This represents half of what I paid for the machine in the first place, so I was less than impressed.
I sat it on it for a while and then decided that, as there was no good reason for this to happen, I shouldn't have to pay even though the computer was out of warranty. I went back to Yoobee and spoke to them. They put me on to the Apple Customer Service people in Australia. After explaining the issue I was referred to an Apple Customer Relations guy called Steven in Singapore.
We had some back and forth. Basically he said the machine was out of warranty, therefore I would have to pay. I said that wasn't really good enough. He came back to me and offered to pay the labour costs. While that was nice, again I said it wasn't satisfactory and pointed out that in NZ the Consumer Guarantees Act states that customers can expect a "reasonable amount of service" from appliances & electrical goods. I also pointed out that Ministry of Education in NZ has a laptop scheme for teachers and they replace the computers every three years. The last thing I said to Steven was that I understood that the warranty had lapsed but the issues wasn't caused by anything I had done, and that I felt strongly that Apple should bear the cost of repairs.
The next day, Steven called and told me that Apple had decided to provide an exemption and would carry the cost of the repairs. I was stoked and am typing this on my computer having got it back from Yoobee this morning. I was expecting the turn around to be in the order of 7-10 working day, so I am really impressed that the turn around was only 5 days. Yay! Thanks Apple & Yoobee. Much appreciated:)
Tony
Cheers
TONY
I've been having issues with the screen on my MacBook. I took it the shop I bought it from (Yoobee in NZ) and got them to look at it. They got back to me and said the display unit needed to be replaced and it would cost around NZ$800. This represents half of what I paid for the machine in the first place, so I was less than impressed.
I sat it on it for a while and then decided that, as there was no good reason for this to happen, I shouldn't have to pay even though the computer was out of warranty. I went back to Yoobee and spoke to them. They put me on to the Apple Customer Service people in Australia. After explaining the issue I was referred to an Apple Customer Relations guy called Steven in Singapore.
We had some back and forth. Basically he said the machine was out of warranty, therefore I would have to pay. I said that wasn't really good enough. He came back to me and offered to pay the labour costs. While that was nice, again I said it wasn't satisfactory and pointed out that in NZ the Consumer Guarantees Act states that customers can expect a "reasonable amount of service" from appliances & electrical goods. I also pointed out that Ministry of Education in NZ has a laptop scheme for teachers and they replace the computers every three years. The last thing I said to Steven was that I understood that the warranty had lapsed but the issues wasn't caused by anything I had done, and that I felt strongly that Apple should bear the cost of repairs.
The next day, Steven called and told me that Apple had decided to provide an exemption and would carry the cost of the repairs. I was stoked and am typing this on my computer having got it back from Yoobee this morning. I was expecting the turn around to be in the order of 7-10 working day, so I am really impressed that the turn around was only 5 days. Yay! Thanks Apple & Yoobee. Much appreciated:)
Tony
Tuesday 15 May 2012
Wednesday 9 May 2012
Feeling kind of bummed out today. I was all set to go to Rotorua for a Geography field trip today - grandma set to babysit, bus snacks bought, camera battery all charged - but unfortunately a severe weather warning for the Bay of Plenty put paid to that. Rainfall of 80-120mm and thunderstorms were forecast for today. As most of our work was to be done outside, we didn't fancy dealing with sixty-odd wet, cold & grumpy Year 11's, so we postponed the trip until another time.
Instead of going to Rotorua and having a go on the Luge, I got to go to the dentist. Yay! No major problems, which is good but the I'm looking at a couple of crowns in the next year or two. The dentist was really nice and explained everything very clearly. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'm moving to Singapore soon and I'll be able to get top quality dental work done for much cheaper than here in NZ.
I'm really enjoying being at home with my girl. Tilda's so funny at times. It's really cool to be able to watch her develop. She's taken a few uncertain steps on her own and is really, really chatty. I don't understand most of what she says but it obviously means something to her. She is able to say some words like daddy, mama, dolly and is also able to make little sentences. Whenever we get her up or take her outside she points and says "wosset?" (what's that?), "lookit det" (look at that) and "whoset?" (who's that?). Note the Kiwi accent:)
The packing and sorting continues, albeit quite slowly. I took two bags of clothes and two bags of books and magazines to the Salvation Army on Monday, which was cool. We've got a bunch of boxes and we're sorting out our books. I have four boxes - books to keep and take to Singapore, books to keep at Mel's parents place (x2) and books to sell or give away. I feel gutted about giving books away! I've also put a bunch of clothes I won't need until we arrive in Singapore in a box and was quite chuffed about how empty the wardrobe looked. Then Mel said, "ooh! I can put my clothes in your wardrobe". All good though because it means she won't have to go into Tilda's room to get her clothes.
I'm sure there was something else I was going to write but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. Can't have been too important. So I'll be off now.
Later:)
Instead of going to Rotorua and having a go on the Luge, I got to go to the dentist. Yay! No major problems, which is good but the I'm looking at a couple of crowns in the next year or two. The dentist was really nice and explained everything very clearly. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'm moving to Singapore soon and I'll be able to get top quality dental work done for much cheaper than here in NZ.
I'm really enjoying being at home with my girl. Tilda's so funny at times. It's really cool to be able to watch her develop. She's taken a few uncertain steps on her own and is really, really chatty. I don't understand most of what she says but it obviously means something to her. She is able to say some words like daddy, mama, dolly and is also able to make little sentences. Whenever we get her up or take her outside she points and says "wosset?" (what's that?), "lookit det" (look at that) and "whoset?" (who's that?). Note the Kiwi accent:)
The packing and sorting continues, albeit quite slowly. I took two bags of clothes and two bags of books and magazines to the Salvation Army on Monday, which was cool. We've got a bunch of boxes and we're sorting out our books. I have four boxes - books to keep and take to Singapore, books to keep at Mel's parents place (x2) and books to sell or give away. I feel gutted about giving books away! I've also put a bunch of clothes I won't need until we arrive in Singapore in a box and was quite chuffed about how empty the wardrobe looked. Then Mel said, "ooh! I can put my clothes in your wardrobe". All good though because it means she won't have to go into Tilda's room to get her clothes.
I'm sure there was something else I was going to write but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. Can't have been too important. So I'll be off now.
Later:)
Tuesday 1 May 2012
News #2
So, no posts for ages and then two in one day! On a roll I guess:)
Since being offered the job in Singapore, which is at a school called Nexus International School Singapore, a few more things have happened. Firstly, Mel has returned to work after a year off on maternity leave. I think she was mostly happy to go back to work to see (most of) her colleagues, as well as having the opportunity to let her brain get back into work mode. Obviously she misses being home with Matilda, but due to various goings on before leaving last year, I think Mel needed to find some sort of closure at work. Also, she makes more than I do:)
Since Mel has gone back to work, I have taken Term 2 off as unpaid leave to look after Matilda. I am really grateful for this opportunity and so thankful that my principal acquiesced to my request. I'm fairly sure that it was done reluctantly, which I think is a compliment as it means I'm valued and it's always nice to know you're valued by the people in charge:) And while I am officially on leave, I will still be doing a bit of work at school to help out around our faculty. I thought this was important as 2 other people were going on leave as well. Also, I could do with the money from doing a little bit relief here and there as I didn't really save enough before I finished. Oops!
On the new job side of things a lot has been going on. Contracts to peruse & sign; forms to fill out; documents to scan and send to HR etc. etc.. It's all good though, as my work permit has been approved "in principle", which means I have more paperwork to do once we get to Singapore. It also means we've been able to book our flights to Singapore. We're leaving NZ on 3 July for Melbourne. We're spending a week in Australia so Matilda can meet her cousins, aunts, uncles and grand-nana. Hopefully we can catch up with some friends as well.
We arrive in Singapore on 10 July and have a week or so in hotel while we look for an apartment. Hopefully this won't be too traumatic as we have friends in Singapore to help us out. Because we're arriving in Singapore a bit earlier than we need to we're going to head up to Thailand for a week on the beach after we have found an apartment and before I have to start work in August. This is one of the main reasons we wanted to go to Singapore. It's such a good place to travel from. Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are all less than 2 hours away and it's close to Japan and Hong Kong where we have friends to visit. Mel and I have talked a lot about how much we want to go back to Japan for a visit. I can't believe it's almost 10 years since we left!
Between now and when we leave, we have a fair bit of stuff to do. We've decided to rent our house for the time being so we need to clean it out. And we have a lot of stuff, although Mel has been able to get rid of quite a bit already. I think our biggest thing is books. We have lots of books. Lots and lots of books. A lot we will put in boxes and leave with Mel's mum & dad (thanks Jill & Warren!). Some we'll get rid of but it's so hard to get rid of books! We'll take a few with us - mainly ones we've bought at Browsers on Victoria St and haven't read yet. I found 2 yesterday that were bought at least a year ago, and probably more like 2 years ago!
I went through my wardrobe last week and filled a garbage bag with clothes. I was feeling proud of my ruthlessness before I realised there was a whole bunch more clothes in the back of the wardrobe. I must remember to maintain the ruthlessness:)
I guess that's it for the moment. I'm not sure when I'll be motivated enough to write again but I'm hoping this will a regular happening. Well, semi-regular. Maybe:)
Since being offered the job in Singapore, which is at a school called Nexus International School Singapore, a few more things have happened. Firstly, Mel has returned to work after a year off on maternity leave. I think she was mostly happy to go back to work to see (most of) her colleagues, as well as having the opportunity to let her brain get back into work mode. Obviously she misses being home with Matilda, but due to various goings on before leaving last year, I think Mel needed to find some sort of closure at work. Also, she makes more than I do:)
Since Mel has gone back to work, I have taken Term 2 off as unpaid leave to look after Matilda. I am really grateful for this opportunity and so thankful that my principal acquiesced to my request. I'm fairly sure that it was done reluctantly, which I think is a compliment as it means I'm valued and it's always nice to know you're valued by the people in charge:) And while I am officially on leave, I will still be doing a bit of work at school to help out around our faculty. I thought this was important as 2 other people were going on leave as well. Also, I could do with the money from doing a little bit relief here and there as I didn't really save enough before I finished. Oops!
On the new job side of things a lot has been going on. Contracts to peruse & sign; forms to fill out; documents to scan and send to HR etc. etc.. It's all good though, as my work permit has been approved "in principle", which means I have more paperwork to do once we get to Singapore. It also means we've been able to book our flights to Singapore. We're leaving NZ on 3 July for Melbourne. We're spending a week in Australia so Matilda can meet her cousins, aunts, uncles and grand-nana. Hopefully we can catch up with some friends as well.
We arrive in Singapore on 10 July and have a week or so in hotel while we look for an apartment. Hopefully this won't be too traumatic as we have friends in Singapore to help us out. Because we're arriving in Singapore a bit earlier than we need to we're going to head up to Thailand for a week on the beach after we have found an apartment and before I have to start work in August. This is one of the main reasons we wanted to go to Singapore. It's such a good place to travel from. Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam are all less than 2 hours away and it's close to Japan and Hong Kong where we have friends to visit. Mel and I have talked a lot about how much we want to go back to Japan for a visit. I can't believe it's almost 10 years since we left!
Between now and when we leave, we have a fair bit of stuff to do. We've decided to rent our house for the time being so we need to clean it out. And we have a lot of stuff, although Mel has been able to get rid of quite a bit already. I think our biggest thing is books. We have lots of books. Lots and lots of books. A lot we will put in boxes and leave with Mel's mum & dad (thanks Jill & Warren!). Some we'll get rid of but it's so hard to get rid of books! We'll take a few with us - mainly ones we've bought at Browsers on Victoria St and haven't read yet. I found 2 yesterday that were bought at least a year ago, and probably more like 2 years ago!
I went through my wardrobe last week and filled a garbage bag with clothes. I was feeling proud of my ruthlessness before I realised there was a whole bunch more clothes in the back of the wardrobe. I must remember to maintain the ruthlessness:)
I guess that's it for the moment. I'm not sure when I'll be motivated enough to write again but I'm hoping this will a regular happening. Well, semi-regular. Maybe:)
News!
Hullo Blogosphere. Long time no see:)
Anyhoo, a fair bit's been going on since the last proper post. Mel & I always planned on going back overseas from NZ. We only planned on being in NZ for around 3-4 years before getting back into the international scene, with somewhere in Asia being our preferred destination.
Back in 2008 we visited friends in Singapore on the way to and from Siem Reap in Cambodia. After spending some time in Singapore we felt that it was a place we could definitely live in. It had the organisation of Japan with the weather of Thailand. I started to look at job sites like the TES to see what Geography teaching jobs were available in international schools. I didn't apply for any as we were going through a round of IVF, which would ultimately be unsuccessful.
After dealing with the unsuccessful attempt Mel & I decided we would try again in 2009 as the NZ government will fund 2 attempts at IVF and we thought we may as well take advantage of that. Due to some miscommunication with the fertility clinic they booked us in after we had planned and booked a holiday to Tonga. After much discussion we decided that we would try again (this time with definite dates!) in 2010. This gave us time to prepare properly, as well as have a holiday in Samoa in July before we tried again. The second time around was successful and our lives have been totally enriched with arrival of Matilda in May last year.This experience added a couple of extra years to our stay in NZ, but it was totally worth it!
Once Matilda arrived I could start looking for a job overseas in earnest. I had an interview with the Ministry of Education in Singapore in 2011. This was successful and I was offered a position to start in March of 2012 with details of the package to follow soon. Two months, several emails and 3 or 4 phone calls later, I still hadn't heard anything definitive from the ministry. Eventually they come up with an offer that was mediocre at best. While I was dealing with the Ministry, I was actively looking elsewhere.
International schools usually begin advertising jobs for the coming academic year in October/November, so as 2011 wound down I was eagerly checking TES and a couple of other websites for jobs. Lots were appearing - Hong Kong, Thailand, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Qatar, the UAE, Oman, China, Singapore and even the Seychelles! I guess I applied for about 30 or more jobs. I was quite discouraging not to hear from a lot of places (I actually think it's really rude!) and by the time school finished I was feeling pretty down about my chances of finding a job for the 2012/13 academic year. It got to the point where I was happy to receive rejection emails just because they were acknowledging me!
Mel & I took Matilda to Perth for Christmas. Mel's sister and her family had moved to WA in 2011 for work so we were going to catch up with them. Mel's mum & dad were also coming over and my mum and dad were going to be there as this would be Matilda's first Christmas. During the three weeks we were there, I continued searching for jobs and applying for the ones I felt I had a good chance of getting. We arrived back in NZ in early January with what I thought were some some good prospects.
The first week or so of January involved more applications for jobs in Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia and Qatar. Qatar & Hong Kong said "thanks but no thanks" (nice of them to reply though!); Thailand said "jobs already filled"; Vietnam was silent. Malaysia however, was different. I had actually scored an interview! This was exciting and plans were made for an interview via Skype in the afternoon of our first day back at school. Although I was excited, I was also a little worried as I expected I would be pretty knackered after the first day and I was concerned that I may not be at my sharpest.
The interview went really well and I thought I was in with a good show of getting this job as I had been in touch with a former colleague of Mel's who worked there. The principal is a Kiwi and he was keen to hire people with NZ experience. Alas, I missed out on the job. This was pretty depressing. Especially as I had just missed out on another job in the Seychelles which would have been really cool.
About a week later a received an email from the principal of the school in Malaysia. He had recently been appointed principal of a sister school in Singapore. The Head of Humanities had passed my name on to him as she knew the Singapore school was looking for new teachers. "Would I be interested in a job in Singapore?" Hell yes! was my reply. Another Skype interview was quickly organized and I was starting to get nervous. The interview was the most intense I have ever had! It went for fully one and half hours and the guy hammered me. I was absolutely knackered when we finished. I had no idea how I'd done. I would have to wait.
Meanwhile life was still going on. We had an overnight field trip to Taupo and Whakapapa for Year 12 Geography to run. It was a good trip, although the weather was a bit rubbish on the second day and we had bus troubles which complicated things a little. The kids were great (as usual) and as we ate lunch at Burger King in Turangi I was feeling tired but happy. As we were going to be running a bit late on the way home, I was texting school and Mel to let them know. While I was at it, I thought I'd check my email. There was one from the principal who had interviewed me. I clicked on it with a sense of trepidation - was it going to be positive or negative? The message was short but to the point "I have now received references and they confirm my opinion. I'd love to have you on our team." I was relieved to say the least. And then excited! We were going to Singapore!
I think that'll do for now. I will have more to say next time.
Anyhoo, a fair bit's been going on since the last proper post. Mel & I always planned on going back overseas from NZ. We only planned on being in NZ for around 3-4 years before getting back into the international scene, with somewhere in Asia being our preferred destination.
Back in 2008 we visited friends in Singapore on the way to and from Siem Reap in Cambodia. After spending some time in Singapore we felt that it was a place we could definitely live in. It had the organisation of Japan with the weather of Thailand. I started to look at job sites like the TES to see what Geography teaching jobs were available in international schools. I didn't apply for any as we were going through a round of IVF, which would ultimately be unsuccessful.
After dealing with the unsuccessful attempt Mel & I decided we would try again in 2009 as the NZ government will fund 2 attempts at IVF and we thought we may as well take advantage of that. Due to some miscommunication with the fertility clinic they booked us in after we had planned and booked a holiday to Tonga. After much discussion we decided that we would try again (this time with definite dates!) in 2010. This gave us time to prepare properly, as well as have a holiday in Samoa in July before we tried again. The second time around was successful and our lives have been totally enriched with arrival of Matilda in May last year.This experience added a couple of extra years to our stay in NZ, but it was totally worth it!
Once Matilda arrived I could start looking for a job overseas in earnest. I had an interview with the Ministry of Education in Singapore in 2011. This was successful and I was offered a position to start in March of 2012 with details of the package to follow soon. Two months, several emails and 3 or 4 phone calls later, I still hadn't heard anything definitive from the ministry. Eventually they come up with an offer that was mediocre at best. While I was dealing with the Ministry, I was actively looking elsewhere.
International schools usually begin advertising jobs for the coming academic year in October/November, so as 2011 wound down I was eagerly checking TES and a couple of other websites for jobs. Lots were appearing - Hong Kong, Thailand, Viet Nam, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Qatar, the UAE, Oman, China, Singapore and even the Seychelles! I guess I applied for about 30 or more jobs. I was quite discouraging not to hear from a lot of places (I actually think it's really rude!) and by the time school finished I was feeling pretty down about my chances of finding a job for the 2012/13 academic year. It got to the point where I was happy to receive rejection emails just because they were acknowledging me!
Mel & I took Matilda to Perth for Christmas. Mel's sister and her family had moved to WA in 2011 for work so we were going to catch up with them. Mel's mum & dad were also coming over and my mum and dad were going to be there as this would be Matilda's first Christmas. During the three weeks we were there, I continued searching for jobs and applying for the ones I felt I had a good chance of getting. We arrived back in NZ in early January with what I thought were some some good prospects.
The first week or so of January involved more applications for jobs in Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia and Qatar. Qatar & Hong Kong said "thanks but no thanks" (nice of them to reply though!); Thailand said "jobs already filled"; Vietnam was silent. Malaysia however, was different. I had actually scored an interview! This was exciting and plans were made for an interview via Skype in the afternoon of our first day back at school. Although I was excited, I was also a little worried as I expected I would be pretty knackered after the first day and I was concerned that I may not be at my sharpest.
The interview went really well and I thought I was in with a good show of getting this job as I had been in touch with a former colleague of Mel's who worked there. The principal is a Kiwi and he was keen to hire people with NZ experience. Alas, I missed out on the job. This was pretty depressing. Especially as I had just missed out on another job in the Seychelles which would have been really cool.
About a week later a received an email from the principal of the school in Malaysia. He had recently been appointed principal of a sister school in Singapore. The Head of Humanities had passed my name on to him as she knew the Singapore school was looking for new teachers. "Would I be interested in a job in Singapore?" Hell yes! was my reply. Another Skype interview was quickly organized and I was starting to get nervous. The interview was the most intense I have ever had! It went for fully one and half hours and the guy hammered me. I was absolutely knackered when we finished. I had no idea how I'd done. I would have to wait.
Meanwhile life was still going on. We had an overnight field trip to Taupo and Whakapapa for Year 12 Geography to run. It was a good trip, although the weather was a bit rubbish on the second day and we had bus troubles which complicated things a little. The kids were great (as usual) and as we ate lunch at Burger King in Turangi I was feeling tired but happy. As we were going to be running a bit late on the way home, I was texting school and Mel to let them know. While I was at it, I thought I'd check my email. There was one from the principal who had interviewed me. I clicked on it with a sense of trepidation - was it going to be positive or negative? The message was short but to the point "I have now received references and they confirm my opinion. I'd love to have you on our team." I was relieved to say the least. And then excited! We were going to Singapore!
I think that'll do for now. I will have more to say next time.
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