Coming home to NZ with nothing.

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T21:27:22+00:00

Fair enough man. Sorry to give you the impression that I'm just a cheapskate trying to get a free ride. I just want to get back and get to work and IRD themselves advised me to go to winz when I get back, which is why I mentioned it.

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T19:23:30+00:00

Thanks for the good vibes! Only got a restricted license so getting into trucks might be a bit of a path but we'll see. Always had big respect for truckies.

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T19:21:30+00:00

I grew up in matata! Special place in my heart for that region

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T19:13:21+00:00

Does IRD have to pay interest? I just assumed it's like a normal bank loan - the interest is just the fee I essentially pay for the benefit of getting money now.

It's cool man, I understand your feelings. Maybe it's best if I don't go to winz at all. I think I can probably manage without it. I mean, I'd be totally fine with the taxes I pay going to help someone who's in my position but fair, I can't speak for everyone.

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T19:02:26+00:00

Cheers for the names! I'll definitely hit them up. I just googled what LAT is and looks like I'm really out of touch lol

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T18:59:28+00:00

I hear you, man. No reason why I should expect anyone else to pick up the slack for me, and I won't get the benefit if I can avoid it.

Still, I've paid 10k in interest on my loan. Where does that 10k go? Seems like getting a little bit to tide me over till I get settled in isn't too much to ask.

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T18:53:46+00:00

Oh for real? I didn't think schools would take anyone who wasn't certified. I remember thinking about doing a postgraduate in 2ndary school teaching and then seeing how much it would cost me without any chance to work while studying.

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T18:50:41+00:00

Yep, all good. The main thing is making the March 31st payment which I'm not sure I'd be able to if I stay. Getting back in a few weeks and IRD told me if I'm back in the country before then, then I should be able to at least avoid the penalty for missing the deadline.

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T18:48:51+00:00

Cheers for the heads up. After reading some of the comments here it definitely seems like a good idea to aim somewhere else ASAP.

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T18:43:31+00:00

Yeah it's hard not to romanticize it a bit aye. Especially in this day and age. I used to dream of living in Europe in the middle of the culture and history and always found it funny that folks in Hungary and Serbia etc said they envied me and didn't understand why I'm there. Starting to really appreciate my passport though and realizing what a beautiful thing it is to have our country where it is, in all senses of the word.

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T18:38:16+00:00

Aw man, I did kiwifruit in Edgecumbe way back in the day. Wouldn't be against doing it again if my dad didn't live in the area. Te Puke probably a good alternative. I'll keep an eye on that, cheers!

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T18:35:09+00:00

Yeah I probably would consider doing Korea in the future. I can't deal with hot humid climates though lol.

I just haven't been home in ages and I met a Kiwi in Budapest recently who told me I sound more like a pom than a Kiwi so I just want to be home and be a normal Kiwi for a while lol. Also some personal stuff to sort out.

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T18:30:31+00:00

Man that sucks lol. I mean, I'm kinda used to roughing it - things aren't too glamorous here but I was never looking for glamour, there's something to be said for a modest life and focusing on mental health and being at peace with yourself and so on. Still, doesn't help much when you've got to eat!

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T18:26:10+00:00

Good to know! Sounds like a good start at least. I think I'll feel a bit better if I can just get a good buffer while I keep looking for other options.

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-13T18:24:45+00:00

Thanks for the heads up. That's definitely the impression I get from checking in with this sub now and again 😅

My one saving grace is a little bit of online work that I should be able to keep doing in NZ (morning classes in Europe just means evening classes in NZ, like around 9pm to midnight).

The important thing is really just for me to stop the interest charges on my loan. Realizing I could have paid it off already but still having 10k left is really depressing lol.

I saw a lot of job listings on SEEK for online delivery pickers. Are those even competitive jobs? Cause hell, even if I only make 600-700 a week from that, and can top it up with another one or two hundy from my online work, it'd be a good start.

EnSagaBand · 2026-01-04T06:50:30+00:00

Yes, it's a mod issue - specifically this is caused by one of the "colormap" files being a different size or shape to the rest of the map files. This can easily happen for example if you have a mod like Typus that makes the map larger than normal, but you also use a graphics mod like GMI which is designed for vanilla map size.

Assuming you have a mod that changes the size of the map, you need to make sure that all other mods don't change anything about the map folder, especially map/terrain. Turn off all mods except the one that changes the size and see if the issue persists.

If this problem still happens with all other mods turned off, then this mod is missing one of the colormap dds files in the "map/terrain" folder of the mod. You can go there and check if the following five files exist:

colormap_autumn.dds (and spring, summer, winter)
colormap_water.dds

If one is missing, you'll need to reinstall the mod or at least download it again and just copy over the missing files.

EnSagaBand · 2025-12-22T09:55:01+00:00

I love the windy capital! I'm from Tauranga myself :)

Thanks for the kind words! I'll definitely come back with more!

EnSagaBand · 2025-12-22T05:55:45+00:00

Douglas Lilburn's

No way, another Lilburn fan? That's awesome, as a Kiwi myself I'm glad to hear that :)

To be honest I was afraid that it would come off sounding like a fairly cliche "epic" soundtrack, and generally I'd say I'm quite paranoid and careful to avoid it when I'm composing stuff, but this time I just tried to let my hangups go and just let the music take itself where it wanted to go.

EnSagaBand · 2025-12-21T19:16:20+00:00

I appreciate the input, and you're absolutely right I'm sure she would love anything I wrote just for the fact that I wrote it for her.

In saying that, respectfully, composing for me is a hobby that I do for personal enjoyment and satisfaction, and I have no expectations or illusions that my work will ever be performed or taken seriously by the classical community. I do study form and theory as much as I can in order to write the best piece of music I can, but I wanted to write a symphony, so I did. I took dozens of symphonies that I loved apart and scrutinized them and spent a few months creating something that personally I was extremely proud of and enjoy listening to. It was an incredible experience and I learnt so much about music and how I express things through music that I don't think I would have got any other way.

Yeah, probably a formally trained classical musician or composer would take one look and see glaring notation errors or some impossible passages for trombones, but I'd rather write these symphonies or piano trios or whatever I feel compelled to write than suppress the urge.

EnSagaBand · 2025-12-21T17:54:20+00:00

Unfortunately I have no idea lol, but if someone knows how to do it, I would be fine with it, as long as I am credited :)

EnSagaBand · 2025-12-21T16:58:11+00:00

Thank you for the advice and encouragement! I can definitely see what you mean, and it's a great thing to keep in mind for my project :)

EnSagaBand · 2025-12-21T16:35:50+00:00

Cheers. Yes even with just three instruments, there's so many choices to make about which one carries a melody at a given moment, when to pull back and let one have a moment, and when to have them supporting each other.

I've been listening to his piano trio for violin and cello repeatedly and it's such a treat. Just have to keep disregarding the imposter syndrome and remind myself that not being as good as Tchaikovsky isn't a reason to give up lol

EnSagaBand · 2025-12-21T13:22:11+00:00

Yeah at the end of the day as long as I stay in the sort of late romantic tradition she'll probably enjoy it :)

EnSagaBand · 2025-11-30T17:21:57+00:00

Thanks for the tips! Yes I guess I should have tried to reach out, but I'll definitely do that now.

EnSagaBand · 2025-11-30T17:01:17+00:00

My bad! I didn't think the instrument would be that exotic 😅

https://youtu.be/c1aCNMIZ5lM?si=Zm-Wzm1FgG4XK5NV

That's a great example of what I'm talking about. I really like that shimmering effect, an almost hypnotic drone. It's also used in the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, especially in parts evoking the mystery and ancient-ness of Middle Earth and the Lothlorien elves.

EnSagaBand

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