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This Newsletter is best viewed using an HTML compatible e-mail program New Zealand
Chat - Newsletter
Index
Here we are with our 10th issue and we've come a long way since the first! It's nice to see people interested in the newsletter and waiting for it to arrive in their mailbox. Don't forget our Home page. This month we have a brand new competition and a little change from chat dates to chat parties. Please feel free to enter our Chat Animals Competition. You'll find all the details in the newsletter. The My Home Town column this month makes great reading and is from one of our newest members, Jain. If you'd like to contribute to the newsletter please send an email to nzchat@hotmail.com For the last 6 weeks or so Maggie has been keeping Club House statistics on numbers logging in and messages left etc. During the month this will be published to the Home page and you'll be able to look there to work out the most popular days in the clubhouse. Those days when you'll be more than likely to catch up with somebody there. Don't forget Valentines day coming up this month here is a selection of E-Card sites so you can send a Valentine card to your Sweetie. Until next month take care, and happy reading. The News Letter Team 
Only True Rumours with the Gossip Fairy Well, what a gossipy old month we've had darhlings! I've been so busy catching up on all the delicious tid bits of gossip I've hardly had time to catch my breath, it's all so terribly exciting! Now let me tell you it's very difficult maintaining one's demeanor whilst keeping up appearances as Mistress of Rumour... but I've managed it! *smile* and that's a lucky thing because I know how you all looooove to hear what everybody else has been up to. You will have heard about NZ Chat's Millennium baby and I know many of you have taken guesses at who the lucky couple are.... What?! ... you haven't heard?... Oh yess darhlings! it's simply the most wonderful news!!... somebody in our little chat family is about to (or maybe has already) have a baby!!! But before we get on to that, you settle down with a nice cup of tea while I tell you about all the wonderful juicy gossip I've heard this month... Our resident trainee doctor Logie schmogie has just made the second major purchase of his life and he's got himself all excited about it! His first purchase was a colour TV (all 14 inches of it) and now he as a brand spanking new double bed! Now he has everything a young doctor needs to make his bachelor pad complete! (oh just wait 'til you get a mortgage!) Whiffle knows all about mortgages, she is buying a house!!! Congratulations Deb!!! we're all so looking forward to seeing pictures and hearing about your new home! Les And went horse riding in the snow and ice with a companion and I have it on very good authority that the horse felt it needed to teach Les yet another lesson. Both Les and the Horse ended up sliding on their butts for quite a distance looking like a crazy snow plow before landing face first in a bank of snow!!..*LOL* I heard that the most serious injury occurred to the witness who suffered a serious strain the laughter glands... Wiki's lovely daughter, currently resident in NZ has just had a fabulous job offer from Australia. Isn't that terrific!! we hope she does really well there! Wiki also tells us she's on her way to free womanhood! Congratulations Jill, and take care. Now this my dears, is a true story from Hippie.. he says "... I was out in the swamp deer hunting, while sitting on a fallen tree, I heard movement behind me. Turning around expecting to see a huge buck coming straight at me but to my amazement was a 6 week old german shepherd puppy. Now the nearest dwelling besides mine was about 3/4 of a mile away. To make a long story short, I found the people that owned her and they had 7 others. He told me that if I wanted her that I could have her. So, now we have another addition to our household." ...ohhh I just love puppies don't you darhlings?!?.. they're so soft and cuddly...yummmy! On the subject of puppies my Aussie spies tell me that a certain Pooch of our acquaintance has a newly acquired hobby. He's making an in-depth study of the southern end of various Apes, and he already has an amazing photo collection! When last seen he was traipsing through the dense and dripping jungle clutching a bunch of bananas and a camera while cooing softly "Heeeeere munkee munkee munkee..." I don't know what those guys in white coats were doing following him. ....And darhlings what about the wedding of the year? Well.... it's all go for Angel and Roger! Angel is moving to Seattle USA at the beginning of April to marry Roger, oh how delicious!!!! I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing Angel and Roger all the very best of luck! Stay in touch Angel! we need to see wedding pictures!!! *s* Sean and Maggie have launched a new business with the purchase of a lovely new boat. From this summer they'll be running Fishing, Dive and sightseeing Charters from Waiheke Island... and you should see the new boat!! oh my it's so masculine!!!..lovely! Oh.......I almost forgot to tell you about the baby... Congratulations Torrid and Kalohe! we wish you all the best and send lots of love for you and your new arrival. We're sooooooo happy for you!! Well that's it for this month my dears, take care and don't forget, in every rumour is a little bit of truth... ta taa dahlings. I've organised Les and SB to meet everybody at the door dressed in matching tartan kilts and playing banjos! C'mon along and join the party. Please send you pet pictures along with their name and maybe a few details about your pet(s) to nzchat@hotmail.com by February 10th. As soon as our entrants have been sorted we'll open the competition and you can guess which pet belongs to which chatter. Get sending!! Well, I see we all made it passed the turning of the millennium. I hope y'all rang in the new year, century, millennium in a special way. With the age that we are living in with telecommunications and the internet, peoples of all corners of the world are in constant contact. As seen by various television networks that broadcast the ringing in the New Year around the world. Also, if you were like many, you watched not only to see the fireworks and the celebrations but see .... If you hadn't heard and who hasn't that the biggest concern was the Y2K virus that would at the stroke of midnight New Years shut down computers that our societies have come to rely on from airlines to ATM machines. As you know our club, New Zealand Friends is made up of people from both sides of the world, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, US and Isreal.New Zealand and Australia would be one of the firsts to herald in the New Year and it would be interesting to see how if they had any Y2K problems down there! With the aid of the good ole Club message board, chatters were asked to leave messages about there Y2K experiences. However, because this is the internet and we do have real time chat, some were online to tell about their experiences. So, haha, yes it was Maggie and myself chatting away...a little after midnight NZ time and little after 6am EST(Friday). She reported that she was still alive! Of course, ABC Network had a live broadcast from Auckland and everything looked ok...despite one problem...rain! Also, Keith reported in and Wenz let us know the electricity was still on and daggydog, let it be known Australia was safe. Others left messages such Oldhippie Chatalaine,sb,whiffle,deb,canuck,esa and tenor Even though with television coverage, I think we had the most unique idea of coming online (no matter what time or how hungover) to chat with our internet "buds" Oh, by the way,,,,a reporter of the ABC Network was in Wellington, NZ to try out the ATM machine....it worked..he got his money.. printed 1 January, 2000! Hope you all had a great Xmas and New Years. In my part of the world, the summer festivities seem to continue as we are still in the middle of summer and the restaurant continues to be busy. I have a week off so it will be doing lots of family things i.e. camping, fishing, Australia Day Sky show, ten-pin bowling and lotsa swimming down the many beaches we have here in the West! OK, The BIG one....this is a restaurant recipe and a huge hit for anyone who loves Mexican food (I know Tania will be bookmarking this one....I'll wavier the $100,000 fee....millenium present)
1 onion .....MINCED or chopped
VERY finely
In a large saucepan, sauté onions for 2 mins on a medium heat with a little bit of butter, add garlic for another minute then add the milk. On a low heat, bring the milk to a very warm temperature, stirring constantly. DO NOT BOIL!!! Add the cheese and stir for around 5 mins or till the cheese has ALMOST melted properly. Done! Serve in small bowls and corn chips as a dip NOTE: it can be reheated in a microwave and will last for a week in the fridge....it can also be used as a versatile creamy sauce by adding some white wine and spices to make more runny!! Also...evaporative milk and processed Cheddar cheese are important in the recipe.....do not substitute. REMEMBER......All the
recipes in Quatons "CUAS" have been THOROUGHLY TRIED AND TESTED!!!
ENJOY!! The Quaton We use it everyday or so...we have grown to depend on it as a tool of communication, research, entertainment etc....it has made us happy and at times can bring a grown man to tears. What am I talking about, well ....the Internet. That's right the Internet...did you ever wonder how did the internet come to be? It all started..... http://www0.delphi.com/navnet/faq/history.html now you know about the history of the Internet wouldn't hurt to learn some PC and Internet terminology http://homepages.enterprise.net/jenko/Glossary/Index.htm Hmmm with this little knowledge you might be the hit of your next party...hmm it depends on what kind of party! My Home" Town is Hollister California and its 28 miles from my home! Hubby and I live wayyyy out in the country and really enjoy the peace, quiet and scenery. Nature is our "neighbor" here. Hollister is the county seat of San Benito County with a whopping population of around 50,000 people. Not a big town for California, but it's the country atmosphere that has been drawing people to move here from Silicon Valley (of computer fame) which is just 40 miles to the north. San Benito County is mainly agriculture based. Up until a few years ago apricots, cherries and walnuts were major tree crops and tomato fields kept the canneries running all summer long. Wine grape growing played a minor part in the area until lately when the number of acres planted skyrocketed to more than 4 times what it was 5 years ago. The main agri-business that has remained is beef cattle raising. 95%+ of the population here lives in Hollister on less than 5% of the land area of San Benito County. The annual County Fair remains very rural in theme and a locals only rodeo happens once a year to keep the local cowboys in shape and showing their skills to each other. Hollister is also known as the place where the original "Wild Ones" left their mark one May Day and the Marlen Brando film of the same name (circa 1950's) is based on that occurrence. For many years Hollister did its best to down play that past, but as the 50th anniversary of the event came near there was such a demand to re-visit that it was turned into a "date" that now is one of the motorcycle meets of each season. Last year almost 50,000 motorcycles came to town for the day. Its quite a party (or so I'm told). Another "Claim to Fame" of Hollister is as "The Earthquake Capital" of the world. Indeed the San Andreas Fault does run thru the entire county and is continually being monitored for activity. In the little town of San Juan Bautista 7 miles west of Hollister, the 200+ year old Franciscian Mission there sits right at the edge of a hill which IS the San Andreas fault. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake shook the roof of the Mission loose but the 4 foot thick adobe walls remained intact. In 1987 when the Loma Preita quake tumbled the Bay Bridge in San Francisco Bay, the Mission was mainly untouched again. In Hollister where another fault line (the Calaveras Fault) passes thru town, one street had nearly every house thrown off of its foundations. After jacking them up and replacing them on new foundations, modern bolts were added to replace the nails that didn't hold before. Good for another 100 years?!? The area where I live is mainly multi-thousand acres ranches (not mine!) of open rolling hills with scattered native oaks and a few pines. We share this area with an abundance of wildlife - coyote, bobcats, hawks, eagles, road runners, wild pigs and lowly ground squirrels too (rats with PR!) to name a few. We are the only folks out this way without at least A horse. In fact horses out number people here. Hiking is possible right out our door or just "over the hill" at the Pinnacles National Monument where rock formations have trails, climbs and caves to keep one busy for a day. And although its not in a "straight line", its a good and very slight detour if you go to San Francisco (flower in hair or not) and then head for either Yosemite, Las Vegas or Grand Canyon. Give me some warning and I'll prepare some home made tortillas for a taco dinner. Jain (AKA - Katcha) If you think playing and having a good time all day, every day is easy, just ask Les. Skiing, hiking, snowshoeing and all those daily good times are getting him down. He hasn't been able to sleep in for the past three weeks now. “Gee, this fall I could get up at 9:00A if I wanted but now they expect me to get up at 8:30 or even 8:00A on some days. Why, this week I had to going skiing in the brilliant sunshine for three days in a row. That is hard on the TV time and wears out one's sunglasses". All that socializing and partying is also taking its toll on poor old Les. To add insult to injury, the ski lodge even offered him a job of tour guide on one of the powder snow mountain slopes. "What do they expect of a retired guy?" 
This is Les' backyard Grateful
thanks to this month's newsletter crew
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CCQ aka Chilli-con-Queso
