A few months ago I shared five things I love (that many people find weird), which started quite an interesting discussion.  And yay, I discovered lots of other people who like sardines!  (mmmm…sardines…and cardboard crackers….) This week I thought I’d share five of my pet peeves with you: completely random things that I find inordinately annoying/cringe worthy/disgusting: 1) Orange juice. OK, not orange juice as a whole.  Orange juice is fine if A) it’s being served with breakfast, or B) you’re under 10 years old.   Even then, it’s not the best juice.  Orange juice, however, is NOT fine if you’re at a black tie event and everyone else is walking around with champagne and you ask for something non-alcoholic and they say “Oh, we have orange juice.” Seriously?  Orange juice? Is it before noon?  Am I five years old? No? Then why are you offering me orange juice? Orange juice is brightly coloured (thus making it super obvious you are not drinking, which has tons of drawbacks), has pulp, and is incredibly acidic, making …

1) IRD.   This one is first because it’s probably the most unexpected thing to like.  What is IRD?  IRD is the NZ Internal Revenue Department, i.e. the tax man. Seriously, I like the tax man.  I don’t mind paying taxes – I’m a practical person and appreciate my roads and my health care and the museums I visit and don’t mind subsidising other people’s kids going to school (well-educated kids make better citizens), or even other people’s sports arenas, ’cause, hey, I have my museums. And IRD are nice, and sensible.  I’ve never talked to an IRD representative who hasn’t been polite, well informed, and able to help me with my query in a logical, practical way.  And they get to talk like real people, not like auto-bots following some script.  And they make taxes do-able, on your own.  All of these things mean that when I talk to IRD, I actually feel happier after I do.  Yep.  IRD leaves me with that warm fuzzy feeling (the same does not apply to the US …