Category: the daily column

Three weeks and I’m off to London. For 6 whole months. I’m still not sure I’m ready… I’m still not sure I know what I’m getting myself into.

Yikes.

I’m flying business class, by the way.

Just thought I’d toss that in.

After a year and more working, I finally got that little ticket to true professionalism – the business card!

(strategically edited)
A whole lot of them actually!

So many I don’t know what to do with them. Hmmm.

Twisted ankle, again. Playing basketball, again. First game of the day, again. D’oh.

Not my fault this time! At least the other guy felt my whole weight coming down on his foot. Take that, bastard! Serves you right for sticking your foot under mine. *grumbles*

Tumblr is like the good old days of blogs: designed to be short, simple and to the point. And yes, I have one (it’s a cut above twitter or whatever, dammit)

It’s funny, in Internet 1.0, there was ‘e’ everywhere, usually before any applicable noun. Web 2.0 is adjectives (or verb-ish nouns?) without ‘e’s…. =)

What is happening? Stuffs. (I.e. not much to report)

A couple of stories on the boil. I have no idea how to bring them to any semblence of conclusion, but the core of the ideas are there. If anyone would care to suggest a theme to write on, some distracted rambling would perhaps spark some creativity.

Um.

Man, I wish I’d taken time off after the Singapore trip and travelled.

Addicted in a sense to Facebook now – check it daily.

How dull is politics these days? Wow, so bored with that too.

Youtubin’: Pretty Intense Japanese Lesson has got me hankering for some Japanese conversation/lessons… I miss uni, sometimes. Not the lack of money though :)

How are you though? I don’t hear from you much these days. Maybe I just need to post some more random stuff.

Woo 4 day weekend! =)

Singapore is one of those places that hits a sweet spot: urban, cosmopolitan, inexpensive, and all year round great weather. That is, as long as you come from a location which is none of these things, and you don’t mind the fact that 10 minutes outside at midday will have roughly the same effect as a Swedish sauna.  And inside the building is roughly the same as going outside in a Swedish winter.

Hmm, funny that.

No, seriously, Singapore was good fun. So much fun I didn’t even think to blog about it,  and indeed still am very much in that kind of chill mood. I love the place and could very well move there with little qualms, what with it being pretty much in the centre of Asia, and English speaking to boot with a sensible currency (AU$ 1 = SG$1.20ish so it’s not like things are too different). The people are warm and friendly and taxis to get anywhere in the city centre cost about $4, which is entirely reasonable and ultraconvenient.

Somewhere between the 4 days of training, of which only two and a half were truly useful, we managed to get in a lot of food, drinking and partying, so I’d have to say it was the most fun I’ve had since my London trip last year =) I only wish we had more time!

Photos, or at least those that survived a mysterious and unexplained formatting, are on PicasaWeb or Facebook.

Quick work related updates:

• Going to Singapore next week for graduate program training, so updates might be thin on the ground, time and internet access permitting.
• Second rotation is 95% set for London, leaving around May as work projects permit. Will be there roughly till the end of the year.
• If you want to apply for the Deutsche Bank graduate program and are graduating next year, get in quick: applications for Australia close next week, Wednesday 28th. I highly encourage anyone to do so: we take grads from all types of course, from the obvious Finance/Accounting/Economics majors, to the support service oriented IT and Law course, to the less obvious Engineering grads – it’s all about finding solutions. And you may have heard my stories of the London training, so I don’t think I need to encourage you more =) Either way, the application process is good practise.

Boy, have I been lazy around here… was in Melbourne over the weekend for Nathan’s wedding, but before that, a few growls:

• Argh, Qantas is supposed to be a full-service airline right? So why do I not get a choice of meal, or some other snack, if the only meal offered contains something I’m alergic to? I can understand them not having alternative meals unless specifically requested – though I’ve never had a problem before – so I asked for a snack, some pretzels maybe, instead, they said “Ok we’ll get it for you from the back.” No acknowledgement later that any such request was made. Even Jetstar gives you better service than that.
• Melbourne’s looking a lot… browner than I remember. It’s been raining fairly steadily up here, and the lawns are green, so maybe that’s a factor, but it was the other way around just 6 months ago.
• Melbourne also feels more… European, especially around the new Southern Cross station (I like it; it’s fresh and open). Pleasant surprise that makes me a little bit more favourably disposed to it =) Pity about the weather.
• Melbourne drivers…! Gah! Give way fercryin’outloud! Sydney’s roads may suck, but at least people know how to behave on the road.

On a more pleasant note! Nathan’s wedding was excellent. Scary to think of friends getting married, but it was a great evening that wasn’t bogged down in any major formalities (yay!). The location was perfect (apart from being an hour and a half away from the city), the dinner excellent, the bride beautiful (it’s like weddings have this special halo that makes the bride & groom look especially flash). Nathan should put up photos at some point, so I’ll link to it, but y’all really did miss out =P

Nathan did however point out that we were coming up to 5 years out of school. Did not want to dwell on that. (Did you ever make goals to tick off? I’ve got through half of my 5-years-out-of-school goals – a job and to have travelled – but a new car and girlfriend, sadly, remain unticked. Halfway to the new car though!)

And then afterwards – making it back to the city in doublequick time! – went to a long-delayed 21st and caught up with a bunch of people from CompSci/SoftEng. Everyone’s in jobs, which is cool because there’s no awkwardness, and we were able to pick up nearly where we left off.

All in all, a good trip that was much too short for the fact that I missed out on meeting so many other people =/ Will try to come down one more time before heading off to London, if possible – an excuse would be great ;)

There is a snake in the house. It’s just come in through either the garage or the front door, and it’s just sitting by the wall in the entryway. We have people over and they (my parents and these people) were just planning to go for an evening stroll.

Mum starts to get a little flustered, as might be expected. She refuses to live in this house anymore until we get pest control – the cockroaches were bad enough, but this is Sydney, so you expect them a bit. Dad joked that this meant it was a place where things liked to live. I think the snake probably crosses a mental line, though.

I google for the snake’s description – stark black-and-white stripes – and from what I find, I think it’s a relatively harmless little thing called a “bandy-bandy”. Dad ponders if it’s a baby, given how small it is. Mum eases up not one whit. She tells me to find out who to call for getting it removed. It’s 9:45 on Sunday night.

I google around. I’m getting nothing – Google is no longer my friend, it is deliberately obfuscating anything to do with what I actually want to do. I find a likely number, eventually, approaching the problem sideways.

I go towards the front of the house,  and note the lack of any other sounds – the radio’s on, and it’s blasting 40 year old hindi songs I want nothing to do with.

There’s no-one there. It’s dark. The old music is now just plain creepy. I retreat to the comfort of the TV, and my computer.

I have no idea what happened. Live blogging in the finest tradition.

I’m bored. Nothing’s happening.

No, that’s a lie, actually. I’m not. And stuff is happening. I just haven’t got the writing impulse flowing.

Reading Max Barry‘s Company, which is all kinds of awesome, awesome fun. Good Australian writer with a penchant for corporate satire like you wouldn’t believe ($29.95 at good bookstores).

Angry with Apple for running out of MacBook battery stock just as I need to get mine “serviced” (read: replaced). Oh Apple, how I loathe your service department. And your occasional unreliablity.

Finding work interesting and challenging these days as I get more responsibility and confidence.

Looking forward to the (quick) trip to Melbourne, for a certain wedding. Don’t think I’ll have much time to do much else though, such being the slings-and-arrows of the “free” frequent-flyer point tickets.

Looking extremely forward to the week-long trip to Singapore! much frivolity planned (though we really shouldn’t :D)

Have been going to gym! Yet to get visible results, but I feel more… fit. Good Thing.

And that just about wraps it up for today! See ya.