Why does Rich complain about the furniture?

We spent this weekend coughing and resting; but we should be well by Thursday, when we're off to the South Island to take the TranzAlpine train.  Blog posts next week should have good pictures.  We tried a recipe for tofu meatballs which we are about to have for dinner.  I bought 2 local cookbooks;  don't have to convert grams, oven settings, etc.  (I bought the books for the interesting vegetarian recipes, not because I'm too lazy to make conversions).  Two months into my sabbatical, I received an e-mail informing me obtusely that I lost my job at the Wyoming clinic; so I am spending time figuring out where to work when I get back to Albuquerque.  Not something I thought I'd have to deal with during my New Zealand adventure, but c'est la vie.  The docs I worked with didn't have the decency to talk to me about what they were thinking and planning, in spite of the 505 phone number to reach us here.  Magic Jack is much better than Skype!