Rumours a rife I hear back in the old country about the imminent arrival of the great white hunter Mississauga Juju [aka Jersey Ju] (after 6 hard years of hunting for kin here in North America and beyond) her trusty side-kick Montreal McGregor [aka Manhattan Mac-the-knife] and of course the ever present GBoA Pip Global Bloke of Ambiguity [aka NY Pip] as always is not too far behind, (only in his homework and looking at them)??
Well to put these rumours to rest once and for all “IT’S TRUE”... Not only is it all true but Montreal McGregor arrived in Auckalofa on Tuesday morning at 5.30am courtesy of Air NZ direct from Vancouver. We trekked out to Toronto Airport on Thursday (last week) to hand over Mac to Air Canada Cargo, he was left staring out of his prison cell with a look that will haunt me till we meet again, he then spent 3 nights in Vancouver where they had more snow on Friday night than the whole of last winter...!
Montreal McGregor as he has the ability to do, is now resting up at Château Quarantine in the sunny region of Pokeno’s just south of the Bombay Hills??? It’s a lovely resort with rural vista’s. His 28 day package includes, indoor outdoor living with sun shade, dog spa, as much food and water that he can tuck away, a one-on-one fitness trainer, and a weekly visit from MAF just to make sure that he hasn’t come down with a case of foot in mouth [his fathers specialty], or god forbid rabies in between Vancouver & NZ??? What puzzles me is that the palaver that we (well mainly Julie) went through before he even left (it will be in an upcoming book) was just plain weird, why is it that Mac who has to be clear of everything before he can even fly or leave Canada has to then in Vancouver be cleared again by a Canadian Customs Vet then is plunged into quarantine for a month in NZ. Yet no one wants to test me, I could have been bitten by a rabbid racoon, or scratched by a sick squirrel, or even conked by a canadian goose and no tests for me... Maybe my concern is because Manukau McGregor has cost more than me, Juju and a container combined in getting home... I digress.
So that leaves Mississauga Juju and Toronto Pip, well.... I resigned as GM of PRF Group on 11/11/2010 (Armistice Day) after 15 years with PRF it has been a hard decision but one that needed to be made, both Julie & I after 6 years in North America have known for a while that it had to end. It’s appropriate to point out that 11/11/2010 would have been Dad’s birthday and as he was the one who started me on the Pirelli path I subconsciously decided that I should honour him in resigning on that very day. For those of you who are not aware we suddenly lost Dad on September 18th.
So as of Dec 10th (my final day) I am officially unemployed for the first time in 18 years, scares the be-jesus out of us but am sure once back into NZ it will all sort itself out.
Meanwhile back in Toronto, Juju is starting to pack up the apartment so that we can load a 20’ container and send back to “The Land of the Long White Cloud”. I have to point out and thank Juju here for her determination and effort in both organising McGregor (with nearly a month of solid paper work, fileing, vet trips, calls to MAF and rush test’s to Kansas), add to this quotes & visits from shipping agents and of course starting to pack everything.
Juju asked me a few weeks back what I percieved my involvement will be in all of this, and somewhere along the way asked how old I was, the answer was quite simple “You tell me when to turn up at the airport, and 7", this as per usual went down like the proverbial lead balloon, however after explaining that after 15 years with one company and 6 years as GM it was not going to be a simple "switch off"?? Ironically it appears that this may not be the case as the handover has gone smoothly and I have quietly backed off my duties etc (it's just a shame that it is early winter and to cold to play golf).
So there you have it, Mac is back... Ju & Pip are due (with an eta of Dec 19th) after a few days on a deserted island in the pacific, to recharge the batteries, to reflect on the 6 years of adventure we have just had, then it’s Ho Ho Ho and Merry Christmas (although I’ll be dreaming of a lovely mistress)
Cheers to All and see you soon,
Pip
Global Bloke of Ambiguity
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