Just wanted to say...

Happy Birthday Dayna!

We hope you have a great day :)

Simpsonize me

http://www.simpsonizeme.com/

This is so cool. That's me as a Simpsons character :)

Here's Cheryl


Feel free to edit this post to add yourself :)

New flat, new hair

Now that I've finally got internet access at home again, it's time to fill you lot in on what I've been up to.

As you can see in this photo, I've decided to try the summer colour.. I wanted it natural, they took out most of the black and it went coppery-red. Not exactly what I was after, but it will do for now.. it's certainly MUCH lighter than it used to be. And I still don't recognise myself in shiny surfaces!

My new place is a studio flat, so one room for living, a bathroom and a kitchen. Really, it's all that I need. Most of the flat was furnished, which is good - Jon (my 25 yr old landlord) bought a new mattress for the bed and everything, so it's pretty good. I bought some drawers and little tables from Ikea (and even managed to put most of them together.. the small desk drawers have nails when I think glue will be most effective (after bending 5 or 6 nails trying to hammer them in to the layered board the drawers are made of).. anyway..).

This picture and the next are from different points but are the same room - my living area. In the first you can see the corner of my bed (and the corner of the window opposite). In the second you can see my desk and computer (which also serves as my entertainment unit - my dvds are on the shelf at the top. *grin*). I even managed to take those pictures when it was kinda sunny - it's been raining for the last 5 weeks or so..

The final picture is my kitchen. It's not very big, but I don't have to share, so it doesn't need to be big. The oven and microwave work (bonus). The fridge is bar-fridge sized (and in one of the cupboards under the bench). The washing machine works (no dryer, but I'm sure I can deal with that). And there's even a tiny freezer in the storage room, so I can have frozen meals for when I can't be bothered cooking. All in all - functional and all that I need. :)

So, I'll be here for at least 3 months, and it's my intention to be here until my contract at work runs out (which could be end of October or end of April - it's unofficially been extended till end April). However, Jon's trying to sell the flat, so it could all go sour if someone buys for living in, not buys for investment. But until I get notice, I'm happy to stay here. And there's plenty of space for visitors - provided they bring an airbed and don't mind sleeping on the floor in the same room as me. :)

That will do from me for now. Anyone else??

We're in London Still

Hey Guys,
We only have 2 weeks of work left in Edinburgh weeeee! cant wait. I have had my resume put forth for a role at Goldman Sachs and I haven't even started looking yet! so hopefully all goes well, there are heaps of job spots in London...

Glenn and I flew down Friday night for house hunting on Saturday, start off as a bit of a nightmare, we booked on the last flight from Edinburgh which is 21:45. so we got there early to have some dinner and a few "mood enhancers" (wine) for me. The flight was then delayed for an hour and a half... when we got to Gatwick we took the express train into london which took 40 minutes then had to line up for an hour for a taxi because the tube we need was closed for rail works (happens quite a bit in London), we ended up getting to our hotel at 2am, then had to get up at 6:30am for our first viewing at 8:30am. Needless to say we were a little bit silly Saturday.

But it ended up really well. The first place we had lined up was for a private place i has seen on the internet Friday, as soon as I saw it I thought perfect. great location exactly what we wanted... and it was! We finished that viewing and thought we should see the others, we saw 2 after that than rang the guy back and took it. The second one we saw was a joke! seriously a matchbox and the third was a converted warehouse so okay but no balcony. So after we viewed the third we went to the nearest pub to celebrate and to ring the guy of course.

Here are some pics (one thing to keep in mind apartments in London are much smaller, this one is half the size of our current place but as a great long balcony along the outside) oh and it also has a view of the Gherkin!

It´s a converted school house, top floor so it is going to be great for my very absent fitness level!

We are also going to get bikes so we can cycle to work..

Mum, Dad, Nana and the Wii

Mum, Dad and Nana arrived in Adelaide yesterday. We headed around to their hotel for dinner, fish and chips whose delivery took about an hour longer than it was supposed to, but it was tasty when it got to us. Maybe it was all planned, so we'd be really hungry and enjoy it more :)

Today we had lunch at a little bakery near out house and then headed into the city. We drove around for a look, and had a wander through the mall but it was pretty rainy so we headed home after an hour or so. Then we loaded up the wii with Wario: Smooth Moves. It's a game in which the wiimote is used in a wide variety of ways such as the example above (called "the mohawk") and it's a fun game to watch as well as play. I've posted some videos we took in a zip file here.

Oh, and as far as sports goes Dad is a master bowler, but Mum is a master golfer. And Nana is a master spectator ;)

Good News

Long time to talk. So everyone remebers my french assignment well it was a compition.....................I got 229 points....................which means I won.

No more late nights, let's move!

It's been a while, I know, so how about an update?

Last week was my last week in Support, and I'm very happy about that! No more late nights, no more midnight phone-calls where I'm expected to a) know what is going on, and b) actually care. My ex-team, not the most public of folk, decided to do away with the customary goodbye presentation and instead slinked over at around 5pm with a bottle of 15yo scotch whiskey and the whispered caveat: "we're not doing speeches, the office is too quiet. Bye."

Fine by me! I turned up on Monday to the new office, new team, with nary a backwards-glance. I'm a developer now. In the bank, that's like being a real person -- rather than the burakumin status that Support seems to foster. I've thus far achieved nothing of note, trying to get access to everything I might need ... and I've already done more interesting work that anything I did in Support. (In this case, "interesting" means I've written a little application for tracking what I spend my time on. It consists of a little floating "task" or "context" bar which sits above everything else and has buttons for "meeting", "phone", "coding" ... the idea is you can quickly record what you're doing, and the application records how much time you spend on each thing. Perfect for contracting, or even just for the weekly report that we're expected to produce every week. I might even let Dee use it in whatever contract she starts.)

On that, Dee has started looking for new work. It's looking pretty good thus far -- the rate she's asking for seems quite a lot to us, but is fairly tame compared to the market-rate. Even better, as I've not left the company our income continues across the move i.e. we don't have the extra pressure of trying to find both a job and an apartment. Which is good, since finding a flat is a little bit harder than previously expected.

It's not that there are flats available -- more that they move so quickly that we need to just turn up, pick one, sign the lease and come back up north to pack. I flew down to London last weekend -- and boy are my arms tired *badaboom!*. Anyway, it was a 6am flight down to London from Edinburgh and I met a friend (Mark) I went to Uni with who is currently staying near Paddington. The day was long, we saw a few apartments, but nothing was really ideal. Sigh.

I came back to Edinburgh the same day -- it was cheaper that way -- so as you can imagine I was a little shattered the next day. (If unsure, try a sixteen hour day *wink*.) I was, however, conscious enough to go through the photos of the places I saw and discuss them with Dee. No good, time for a change of gameplan -- let's keep the same budget, but start looking for one bedroom places north of the financial district .

Don't worry Mum, we're looking at places close enough to my work (and Dee's projected work) that we can walk in each day, or at least ride bicycles. No "tube" (the London Underground) for us! Not if I can help it, anyway.

Anyway, we haven't found a place yet but will keep you posted. We're planning on both going down next week, so fingers crossed!

Video chat

Speaking of Mum and Dad (and Nana) visiting, it would be good to set up a video chat while they're here. We're heading out Saturday evening, but apart from that I think we're free, so what time would you guys (Dayna, Glenn and Dee) want to get online to chat? Probably best if you're on at different times of course :)

Dayna HAS three posts in a row

So better stop anyone else from doing the same thing LOL.

Now, blog-worthy news...

well, I've been trying to put up more photos of the kids on koffeekat, at least you've all registered, now - Mum and Dad, have you had a look yet? Damien, thanks for the comments!

Oh, we have a new webcam and it works, we've talked to Dayna and Glenn on MSN. Since it is almost the school holidays again we will have to try to catch up.

Dayna, sounds like you've been having fun weekends... just remember, if you are getting unexplained bruises don't borrow someone else's clothes to wear - A friend's son borrowed his dad's good ($300 Hugo Boss) suit and went out on the weekend... he got so drunk he can't remember how he got home... but that is beside the point. He not only left the jacket at the venue (and can't find anyone who knows what happened to it) but he must have fallen over at some point and there is a gaping hole in the knee of the pants. When I last spoke to her she was going to give him a talking to after he got home from work. I suggested he replace the suit, but she'd found it at an oppy for $30 - almost new - great bargain!

Anyway... a teacher at Comet Hill is retiring after 34 years teaching there. Very sad, she is the best teacher they had there! Jared typed a letter for her which I got him to sign this morning and I gave him a card to give her as well, since she teaches his class on Wednesday's (today) only he has left it behind... just like the camera I especially bought for his trip to the zoo a couple of weeks ago. I gave it to him in the morning and said "Put it in your bag". When I got home, there was the camera on the couch :S

So this week has been a bit busy - we put on a retirement afternoon tea. Yesterday was Connections, Trinity was a bit grumpy. It's probably her teeth, but chicken pox is going around at the moment so I will keep an eye on her. Oh, and there she is now - she's been sleeping in and not wanting to sleep until late in the day then staying up at night :S Might be her teeth upsetting her sleeping pattern as well.

We have a birthday meet at Macca's today, and our last playgroup tomorrow followed by a lunch out, and Friday is the last day of term 2... halfway through the school year!

I'm posting this so Dayna doesn't have three posts in a row

Worked today, then went home. It's cold or summat.

I have a new address

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you know that I've got a new address - I'll move in next weekend (think i get the keys during the week).

So, address will be:
Flat 7 Tatton Court
Egerton Road
Fallowfield M14 6XH

I'll let you know the phone number once I get it put on.

Yay!

Added: New phone number will be +44 161 2484282
I move on the 1st July (or thereabouts)..
internet may take a little longer to sort out.. hmmm.. :)
*hugz*

Busy week or two...

It's almost the weekend and I'm looking forward to it. The last two weeks have been very busy.

It all started Friday 1st June with the combined do for Stef's birthday and Lapo's leaving. A bunch of us from the Lab went to an Irish pub in Didsbury. Vicki and I (in the picture) had a couple of bottles of wine between us and had a very merry night. Both of us ended up with bruises we couldn't explain... hmmmm...

Saturday Vicki, Angelika and I finished putting together a French labcoat (take labcoat, cut into three, dye one piece blue and one red - making sure the white one is in the middle, sew back together). The labcoat was made as a joke for the French post-doc, Laurent. He'd gone away to a conference and told Vicki not to do anything to his fume hood.. that'll teach him for not saying anything about his labcoat. :)

After that we went to Platt Fields park for a picnic by the lake - there was a Festival on so we took our crunchy bread, dips, cheese and juice and went to see what was going on. We got to watch a really cool shadow show - instead of just a light behind a screen, the show used projected pictures, mirrors and all kinds of cool effects. It was a beautiful warm evening and there were lots of people out. They even put lights on the lake (although if you looked at them closely they were just plastic blow-up things..).

Sunday afternoon I met the girls in town and went in search of an iced coffee - you'd be surprised at how many strange looks I got, you'd think that they didn't drink iced coffee here in England! After traipsing around 5 or 6 places we ended up having chocolate pudding instead (it was very tasty). That evening we watched the first Pirates movie at Vicki's.

Monday I went to Cafe Scientifique with Vicki, Tuesday to a talk at the museum about Caves with Vicki, Laurent and James (Angelika's man), Wednesday we met at Vicki's again to watch the second Pirates installment and Thursday a bunch of us went to the movies to watch Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End (a very good movie!). After work drinks on Friday went until after 11pm, Saturday I went to Angelika's to put some things together for Vicki's hen nights (she's off to Canada next week and will get married in early July - yes, it's all been a bit interesting for me.. but Vicki is one of only a few people I've told about my past). Sunday I looked at flats and in the evening we went to see Ocean's 13 (another very good movie!), Monday night was back at Angelika's to finish things off for Tuesday night - a Cocktail night at Bex's place and then out to Fab Cafe in town.
Here's a picture of some of the girls - me, Babs, Vicki and Angelika. We'd made the veil and a matching garter, and had cut up red and black shiny material for everyone else (and even made garters for some of the girls). The busy week finished with going to see the Rocky Horror show (live) on Wednesday. It was a very good show - and many many people dressed up (even though it was FREEZING.. lots of cold people in little more than their underwear methinks).

So, I'm having a fairly quiet one this weekend (I was going to go to Oxford, but I'll go next weekend instead). I've found a new place to live - a studio flat so I don't have to share and I move in at the start of July. I'll let you know the address when I find it out (I think it's Flat 7, but that's all I know).

I think I'd better finish now - this is one VERY LONG post.. I didn't mean it to be - it's just my very busy couple of weeks!

*big hugz* to all

Happy Birthday Nana

Just wanted to pass on a HUGE HUG and a BIG KISS to Nana for her birthday - can someone do that for me? It's okay if more than one person passes it on too. ;)

I'm currently busy trying to find a new house - I'll let you all know when I find one..

Free International Calls

For those of us without broadband (that's you Mum and Dad) my boss has recommended www.jajah.com

Apparently if you all sign up you can make free calls between Australia and the UK via the landline, as opposed to Skype which uses the internet. Both people have to be members, and then you hop online, select who you want to call and it calls your phone. You get a 150 minutes a week, 500 minutes a month apparently. So yeah, it's completely free, and via landline. Should save everyone some money.

If you sign up let me know. I've just signed us up with the username "damienmason"

Chezzy's Specs

I finally decided to get some reading glasses after months of tired eyes, the occasional headache, and not being able to see my cross-stitching. They look dark in this poorly-lit photo, but they're actually a maroon kind of colour. Because they're for reading, I don't wear them all the time, but I have tested them out and I didn't realise I had so many tiny wrinkles on the palm of my hand! :D
As well as looking smarter, I think they do make me more intelligent! Friday night Damien, some of the Good Dog gang & I went to a quiz night and we won! Damien actually did really well and answered a lot of questions (correctly!). Our prize was a giant hamper filled with 10 mini Body Shop hampers, one for each person on the table. Henry also won the raffle which was a wine hamper. It only cost us $12 a seat (the money goes to help bears in China), so I think we did well :)
We have both been taking pilates classes on Sundays. I'm finding it to be very relaxing... until we have to do hamstring stretches. It has been a while since I last did classes and I think I have lost some of my flexibility :)