I’m curious how long it will be until every minimum wage job is hiring “contractors” as standard, so they don’t have to give them annual leave or sick pay or KiwiSaver.

NZ Post are in court every few years about the status of delivery drivers as contractors. For a while they lose a case and they have to treat them as employees, then it gets overturned and they can be contractors again. The current government is planning on introducing a law that means if your contract says you’re a contractor then you are, which is going to be ripe for abuse I’m expecting.

Yeah that’s why I called it out. It seemed like it was an important part.

There probably isn’t an actual reason why you couldn’t connect it to a wall plug in a way that replicates this setup even if a bit hacky. E.g. short cable then attach the unit to the top of the plug. It’s not that heavy and may attach fine without coming out of the wall.

How far away is the Home Assistant Voice Preview from what you’re looking for?

It doesn’t plug directly into the wall but instead uses a USB C cable (that you provide). Other than this, mine can answer questions, search the internet, turn things on and off, play music via Spotify, Jellyfin, etc. Tell me about the state of stuff in Home Assistant (temps in rooms, how the solar is doing, what’s on my shopping list and can add things, etc).

It requires you already have Home Assistant set up but it is a pretty good experience so long as you’re willing to do some amount of tinkering to make it your own.

Like other comments say it’s not general public ready but it’s pretty close and costs $69.

To be fair, in NZ I believe delivery drivers for NZ Post are contractors. So other than healthcare and unemployment, I think the rest would also apply here (including the chance of a crappy manager).

But it’s something in the media from time to time, how it’s pretty crappy to be a delivery driver.

Can we get a meme about calling it main, effectively master but not granting it the title of master? That’s where I thought this one was going.

Didn’t they campaign on this? I thought they had said a long time ago they would do this.

People voted for it.

Why? The hot dogs didn’t become a taco until it was sliced. Before that it was toast.

It clearly does. I point you to number 3, tacos, in the original link. Where it classifies “Slice if pie” as a taco. Clearly being sliced gives it it’s class.

This is also true of hot dogs, where if you didn’t slice the bun it would be class 1.

That’s really cool! A few years back my Dad mentioned seeing kōkako fly over (in New Plymouth). Turns out there were some released up that way a couple of years prior to that.

How do siblings argue over TV channels if you can’t put your hand over the IR receiver to stop your sibling (who was quickest to get the remote) from changing the channel?

I guess they all have their own screens now.

From what I understand if the new laws, you have to ask permission to have pets, your landlord can’t say no without reasonable grounds, and they are allowed to hold a pet bond.

Landlords (as you say, especially property managers) definitely put in clauses they know are unenforceable. I believe there was a different law change that meant if you won at the tribunal you don’t get your name published, because in the past landlords would refuse to rent to people seen as trouble makers even if they were in the right. With all the complaints about lack of action, Labour did manage some strides for the working class.

I’ve just had a browse through this PDF explaining the process.

I actually thought the quarantine was much longer than 10 days, but it seems there’s a huge amount of work prior to this in getting vaccinations and tests at the right time and get a rabies antibody test at the right time, among other things but it seems rabies is the biggest concern. I’m assuming you’re not coming from Hawaii, the only part of the US that’s on the category 2 (rabies free) list.

It mentions that some airlines won’t even let you fly your pet unless done through a pet travel service, so it seems like a no brainer to let them work it out if you have to pay them anyway 😅

Upcoming law change:

Landlords will only be able to refuse a tenant’s request to keep a pet in the property on reasonable grounds

The current page also says it’s pretty dubious as to whether a landlord is actually allowed to ban pets, but I guess the new law coming into effect makes it clearer that pets are allowed unless the landlord has reasonable ground to deny it.

The plug won’t be, you could get a universal plug converter or if it charges through USB C or is internationally common (e.g. Mac) then you can just buy a charger in NZ.

For voltage differences, I’d expect more issues in hair dryers or toasters or that sort of thing. Many these days support both so they can be sold in different markets, I’m not sure how much of an issue it is these daysbut it’s worth checking. They normally have it printed/engraved on them.

Just as a warning, I have heard there are hideous costs to bringing a pet. NZ has very strict biosecurity requirements, our ecosystem is quite fragile due to being completely separated from another other land mass. So you’ll be paying for weeks of quarantine, plus travel costs to fly them here. Thousands of dollars. So waiting to see if you’ll stay long term seems like a good move!

Well being an adult is taking a giant bite through a bunch of giant kitkats, then putting the rest away for another day.

Right, good point! For the most part, the expensive electronics will be compatible with both as they will be sold internationally. But definitely a good idea to check!

I am LGBTQ, so it seems like Auckland or Wellington will be my best bet.

Yes, good call. You’ll be welcomed, but just remember everywhere has bigots.

If I’m in a big city, I would prefer not to have a car.

I know many people in Wellington (where I live) who have no car. Public transport is pretty good, and for day to day life you don’t need a car so long as you’re somewhere serviced by public transport (preferably with a direct route between you and where you work). As I understand it, Auckland public transport has taken great strides in the last decade or two and so should be similarly easy to get around - but the city is spread over a huge area so consider where you are working and make sure there’s a transport route that doesn’t take two hours and three bus changes to get there! If you have work lined up then when looking for housing just throw it into Google Maps and see what the available routes look like.

I’m a nurse, and it looks like salaries are good but not great (between 70-90k/year is what I seem to be finding).

I believe there’s a lot of available movement from that - for example, as a Nurse Practitioner with a lot of experience you may be able to double that range. That range might be appropriate for you now, but the top range for experienced nurses will certainly be a lot more than that, it’s not that nurse salaries cap out at $90k.

Is NZ easy to settle into?

As NZ born I can’t answer that, but know that over 25% of NZ’s population was not born here. You’ll be surrounded by other immigrants, which is especially true in larger cities.

I have a nurse cousin who said the US doctors struggle with the autonomy of NZ nurses. Apparently in the US if the doctor prescribes a patient some paracetamol (you might also have to learn new names for the same drugs), then the nurses will make sure they give it to them. In NZ, the nurse might ask the patient how they are doing, and give them all, some, or none of the paracetamol (or whichever drug) based on how well their pain is being managed. It’s apparently quite a change for US doctors to understand that in NZ nurses can use their own judgement.

In terms of settling in, I have heard it can also be hard to form new social circles. Other parts of Lemmy have posts on this from time to time, I think the general consensus is to join clubs to meet people with common interests. Often immigrants will form social circles with other immigrants due to the shared experience.

Am I going to be broke all the time (I also have a cat I am bringing unless I am physically unable to)?

Realistically that salary should be enough, even for Auckland/Wellington, but the biggest single expense is likely to be housing and how much you spend there is likely to determine the outcome to this question. Also be aware that housing can be cold and damp in NZ, so it might be worth feeling poor to have a warmer house. I would expect that in Auckland or Wellington, $70k-$90k is not going to make you feel rich but should be enough to live comfortably if you have no debt.

I’d also suggest buying electronics or other big purchases before you come (or at least researching what they cost to buy locally). Imported goods can be quite expensive here.

I did some research prior to applying, but I find more and more opposing views on where the country is headed. I guess I am just looking for some folks that had a similar situation to see how it worked out for them.

NZ is not immune to the same things that are affecting other developed countries. However, I think we are a long way from the government kidnapping people off the street and sending them to prisons in El Salvador without trial, so I think you’ll find it a nice place to live if you can build up your social circle. You can also stick it out to get citizenship then jump to Australia if you find the salaries not enticing enough in NZ.

Just as a final comment, I’d make sure you actually have a job lined up if at all possible. I have read recently that the NZ heath department used to hire 90% or more of all new grad nurses in NZ, and that has dropped in the past couple of years to more like 50%. To me that sounds like it’s getting hard to find a nursing job, though you might not struggle if you have enough experience. Best to actually line something up though if you can.

You’ll probably need to find a flat.

Just to be clear here, I think @deadbeef79000 is meaning sharing a house with other people. In NZ the term “flat” can mean either a group of friends/strangers sharing a house together, or it can mean a small housing unit often attached to 2 or 3 others in a block. I believe the former is what’s being referred to here, while the latter may be more common for the term internationally.