Blocked in by XT8941

This evening I was in for my second car park hell experience. After work I got back to my car after a hard days work and what did I find? I found that someone had decided to block me in! I tried for several minutes to get out of this car park but unfortunately I was just too big to get out. On about my third attempt I noticed a lady standing there who was trying to guide me out. I couldn't get out.

After giving up I realised that this lady was from First Recovery. We agreed that this vehicle had blocked me in sufficiently and was not parked correctly. The First Recovery lady then began initiatives to have the vehicle towed away. Straight after the tow truck was dispatched the owners of the car returned.

The First Recovery lady did an excellent job of giving them a telling off which is unfortunately all she can do really at this stage. No apology received from the driver but two thumbs up to the lady from First Recovery!


Video: Blocked in at the car park

Additional Information: Tournament Parking is New Zealand's largest privately-owned carparking company, offering carpark facilities throughout Auckland and Wellington, at over 50 conveniently-located sites.

Torment Parking

This weekend was really a bit of a mixed bag when it comes to adventures. On Friday night, Anisha and I went and saw the movie "Meet the Spartans" after work. I can only describe the movie as being 84 minutes of hilarious garbage. It's full of slapstick and completely unintelligent humour. You won't be expending too much brain power if you watch this movie.

My night was to get worse. I went to return to my car which was parked in my new secure parking to find that my access card wasn't working. I called the company up and a guy arrived in about 5 minutes. He was far from helpful, with a grasp of english which failed to communicate the problem correctly to his boss. These guys don't even have access cards to their own car parks!

He called in his boss (Tony) for assistance who didn't have access to the building either. During the debacle, another customer came into the building and lifted the door. I went and retrieved my bag and they had me move my car to another secure car park around the corner. Tony advised me that they won't be able to fix my access card until Monday. I pay for convenience, not these problems!

Over the weekend I also looked at the Acer Slimline Aspire L3600 PC, which I considered purchasing as a media centre PC. I also bought a DVD from Harvey Norman Botany with part of a gift voucher Charlene and Nick gave me previously. I couldn't believe the fact that Harvey Norman wants your contact name and phone number when you redeem a voucher. This is disgusting!

I also picked up Die Hard 4.0 from Dick Smith Electronics in Silvia Park. I ordered an additional 512mb RAM for my laptop from Ascent Technologies and Anisha ordered a Cooler Master Notepal just like mine. See here.

Anisha and I (Along with Kim and Nigel) planned to do the Cossey/Massey Loop (195 minutes / 5km) in the Hunua Ranges on Sunday, but I made an executive decision not to go as it was raining in the morning. The day actually turned out okay, so we really could have still gone, but thems the breaks.

Also, I can't forget to mention all the lovely dinners and breakfasts that Anisha made for me over the weekend. Isn't she lovely!

Additional Information: At the Festival of the Cleaver, the Spartans used to nail sausages to the wall for the older men to gnaw on... (Athenaeus 138e)

Iguacu Resturant and Bar

This evening was dads retirement party, which was at the Iguacu Restaurant & Bar in Parnell (269 Parnell Road, Parnell). I managed to leave work early so that I could make it on time. When I arrived, I parked in a tournament car park facility at a cost of $NZ21.00. It was prepaid car parking, and I paid enough until midnight.

There was a significant turn-out including dad's colleagues and clients over the years. One of the people that is going to take-over dad's job (they need two people to take over his work) knows Steven Leong from Datacom. His name is Victor Tang.

There was finger-food thoughout the night, and plenty of alcohol available. Various people gave speeches, including dad.

My replacement ADSL modem arrived from Dove Electronics today.

Useless Information: In 1969, the first Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers restaurant opened in downtown Columbus, Ohio.