A Luce Affiliation

Things I would have paid more for recently: 1. A second hand copy of Maggie Alderson's book, 'Mad about the Boy'. Bought from the second hand bookshop in Porirua, a small town in NZ. It was well written chic lit, perfect reading for our disastrous weekend away. Actual price: $2 (NZD) I would have paid: $5 (AUD) 2. A glass of lemonade. Bought from a stand two kids had set up outside Jason's parents' house this afternoon. It was proper homemade lemonade with zingy bits of real lemon. Actual price: 20c I would have paid: 50c (I actually tried to give the kid a 59c piece but he insisted on giving me the correct change). 3. A sausage in bread with onion and tomato sauce. At the operating theatre sausage sizzle; I hoovered it down during a short break in an all-day neuro list. Actual price: $1.50 I would have paid: Up to $6, given location and convenience. 4. Navy Kate Sylvester trousers (second hand). Bought from Industria. Actual price: $50 I would have paid: $70

This weekend Jason and I flew to Wellington, NZ, for dinner. An absurd extravagance! In our defence, this was not the original plan. We were going to fly from Wellington to a wedding in the Queen Charlotte Sound. Jason was determined to attend his good friends Bryce and Lucy's wedding, despite the fact that it was only accessible by boat or plane and we didn't have any leave from work. He planned a convoluted weekend trip involving a chartered seaplane: allowing us 23 hours (!!) to spend at our final destination on the Queen Charlotte sound, before returning to Melbourne in time for work on Monday. I was actually pretty excited about the whole ridiculous palava. Jason had visions of jumping from the seaplane in his dinner suit, Jason Bond-style. I was excited about seeing the Queen Charlotte sound, seeing our friends and drinking some good wine. Unfortunately, things didn't quite work out. Saturday morning was overcast with a persistent drizzle. At breakfast in the mot