Copyright ©
Carey Evans.
Last modified: Wed, 11 February 2004.
It’s about time for another page in my journal. For an explanation of that title, see the first entry below. (I’m surprised it passes the spell check, though.)
Well, as of about 4:30 pm today, I can officially be called a yuppie: I bought myself a mobile phone, which definitely counts when combined with an inner-city apartment. Of course, I’m combining dislike of Telecom and inclination towards neat technology so I bought a GSM phone, although I didn’t splash out and get one that’s capable of GSM 1800, or one that’s a serious contender in cellphone anti-DSW’s.
The actual phone I got was a Motorola D368 ‘Platinum’, which a little smaller and a little cooler looking than the Alcatel that I was looking at, for the same price. It doesn’t have the same selection of music for the ringing, although if I ever get that, I want one I can program myself.
Further news since the last time I wrote here: Tasha’s going-away cocktail party last Friday got changed because getting all the ingredients for cocktails was too much trouble, so instead there were 12 bottles of Lindauer and the dregs of a few liqueurs. In the latter category there was a very nice pear liqueur from Germany, with what looked like a Polish name that I can’t remember.
The company I work for has another new director, in time most of the company moving to Auckland, but very few of the staff. Apparently the difference is supposed to be made up by improvements in the computer system. At least they’re giving us (the programmers) some more space (in a windowless room) to wrte these programs. We should be shifting sometime this week! Isn’t it exciting!
I don’t know if it’ll make rewriting inetd in ILE RPG any easier, though.
I could write about what’s been going on in my life, but the fact is that nothing much is happening. Hmm...
Well, I went shopping yesterday and bought a couple more CDs for myself. The first was ‘Equally Cursed and Blessed’ by Catatonia. I’m not sure if it’s actually better than the last one, International Velvet, but that’s probably just because I haven’t heard any of the tracks before.
The second CD was ‘The Ego Has Landed’ by Robbie Williams. This is something like a best-of compilation, so I can listen to a whole lot of songs I’ve heard in the radio without too many that I don’t know. It’s also another of those CD’s that has a ‘hidden’ piece of music bit near the end, except that this is actually a spoken poem to someone from his childhood he didn’t really like much.
That leaves just two CDs more for me to get; I should be able to find ‘Gran Turismo’ by the Cardigans on sale somewhere, and I might just have to resign myself to paying full price for ‘Momentary Lapse of Reason’.
I’ve started listening to a different radio station, Channel Z, since it seems to match the music I like more closely than C93. For example, it plays more of Garbage’s recent stuff, and I’ve also heard the Cardigans played and other music I wouldn’t buy, but like to listen too. Unfortunately, I’ve a heard some music that I’ve heard on More FM at work that I don’t like, and I don’t think they play Pink Floyd or Queen. The latter isn’t a problem since all they play is on the Greatest Hits/Greatest Hits II collection I bought for $40 last year.
And talking of work, nothing much seems to have changed. Some things haven’t been done that should have been (like moving the programmers into the new room, because it hasn’t been finished) and other things are moving ahead quickly and with a lot of urgency (like working out how Lotus Notes is actually going to be transferred from one machine to two machines).
Hopefully the air conditioner will be working this Monday and I won’t start making stupid mistakes because of lack of oxygen.
Well, I’ve had a very full weekend, although I haven’t gotten a lot done. Today I was basically in “should not operate heavy machinery” mode, while I recovered from the preceding days. Perhaps this is why I managed to lock myself out with only my mobile phone, which I used to call my parents for their spare key.
The immediate cause of this was the Doomsday Bash for work last night, as the last social club do before half the staff get made redundant when half the office shifts to Auckland. It might not just have been the beer, but also spending a few hours dancing there before going on. I could have gone to watch the rugby, but with half the guys there disappearing, I think I preferred the company that was left....
It was also an accumulation of effects from the previous two nights. Friday was pretty quiet, from having to get up that morning for work after only a few hours sleep.
And that was because of the do that Leah had at the Vic and Whale on Thursday, for her leaving work. There was a very good turnout, and it went on very late for a few people, including me. John had given us two dollars to put on the roulette wheel at the casino; I added three dollars to bring it up to the minimum bet, and it turned into $195.
Fortunately, the rest of the week was pretty quiet, and this did mean I haven’t had to do much cooking lately. Earlier in the week, I bought the Cardigans’ CD, which I really like, maybe as much as the two Garbage CDs I’ve got. I expect things to get a bit hectic at work over the next few weeks, even or especially on weekends, so things might be a bit more subdued for a while.