30October2007
Posted by Christopher under: Travel & Leisure.
I’m ill. A nasty bout of food poisoning from some dodgy eggs benedict (I think). Up most of the night but now starting to feel much better. I have two jobs - to make sure Rob buys beer and shoes…
30October2007
Posted by Christopher under: Travel & Leisure.
Coffs Harbour has a harbour but I’ve yet to see it. Nice beaches though. Plenty of surfer dudes eschewing the hustle and bustle of Syndey and hitting the beach before heading in to work including the groom who was up at ridiculous-co’clock this morning to ride the waves with sister and wife-to-be. We have managed to get a bike ride in and had a breakfast of the best pancakes in recent memory (sorry Katie, yours are great but these were huge and served with blueberries).
The flight up to Coffs yesterday was delayed due to a dodgy toilet. It must have been bad as it forced us to switch planes. Folks have started arriving, Rob and Karen are in top form and its just great to be eating outside again. Rob and Karen’s house is a typical Aussie pad - just imagine the Kennedy’s house from Neighbours and you’re there. Thanks to Matty for his usual humorous comment and to CLifton for his usual abusive email - your comments will not be approved!
29October2007
Posted by Christopher under: Travel & Leisure.
Second leg of the journey complete, I’ve done a quick dash round the old haunts and now end up typing this latest post next door to Blinky’s Photographics, my old employer. This place used to trade in stolen goods from crack addicts so I suppose an internet cafe is a step up.
Sydney is pretty much as I left it except hotter and with more flies. Someone has painted my old Prospect Street flat (or at least the outside of it) and it would seem all the places I used to live have gone a little bit upmarket. My reputation, clearly.
The jetlag has not yet kicked in but the Abu Dhabi - Sydney leg was pretty horrific. I was sat between babies, one of whom had a mother who informed me that “She’s running a high fever so might complain a bit”. Attempts to relocate to a better seat were thwarted by a fat man who complained of a “bad leg” so had to have the back row to himself. The entertainment system then decided to crash on several occasions so am deciding whether my next line of work should be Ethiad Chief Entertainment Systems Engineer. Yeah, I like the sound of that. Suffice to say on reboot you get an “Insh Allah” (presumably because it thinks you’re starting the journey) and if you enter the audio player you get The Holy Quran full bore until after frantic screen tapping some Alisha Keys kicks in which provides some decompression before the real music is located.
Its 28 already and I have to start thinking about heading out to the airport to get my final flight to Coffs. I’ll be glad of it as the brief tour of Sydney has left me a little melancholy - I just pressed my face to the door of Blinky’s and caught a lungful of photochemicals, even after a couple of years closed. Andrew (my old boss) didn’t even take his old cameras he was so proud of. Made me all a bit sad so looking forward to seeing Karen and Rob and getting this holiday really kicked off.
28October2007
Posted by Christopher under: Travel & Leisure.
Abu Dhabi is quite a sight. A city rising out of the desert and then pushing out to see. Dumper trucks pushing more and more land into the sea and sand everywhere. The Emirate’s largest ever mosque is about to open its doors to those who prostrate themselves towards Mecca and if you’re wondering how they do this on a plane then the in-flight entertainment system always displays the direction. Which changed pretty quickly as we flew over Saudi Arabia. So you might have to do a prayer mat shuffle halfway through or something.
There’s no pork here so breakfast at the stopover hotel was chicken sausage and beef bacon - interesting stuff. Flight was great thanks to aforementioned entertainment system - 100-odd movies to choose from starting when you want plus games, music and belly and nose cameras if you want to check that Captain Ahmed hasn’t fallen asleep on the job.
Next stop Sydney. My flight has just been called and its time to start convincing my body its actually the evening. Look into my eyes, not around the eyes….
25October2007
Posted by Christopher under: Family & Friends; Linux & Open Source; Travel & Leisure; White Noise.
So I just handed in my notice. Two years of working as a geek in a distinctly non-geeky field is fine. I’m happy with the choice and now I’ve got a couple of weeks to think about what to do next. Its time to throw the dice and see what lands…
8October2007
Posted by Christopher under: White Noise.
That’s just what I need.
8October2007
Posted by Christopher under: Linux & Open Source; White Noise.
“Chris, think of the first things that come into your mind.”
“Well okay Doc, here goes. Headaches, sweat, insomnia, snot (the nose stuff - not my old car), blah, blah, yuck, yuck, yuck.”
“Sounds like you’ve been ill Chris!”
“Well done Einstein, now heal me dammit!”
Its getting to the point now where sitting down in front of a Windows box requires a step-change in my thought process. I’m at work, burning DVD’s in one drive and the latest rawhide cd in the other (at the same time) whilst listening to music streaming from my mythtv box at home, umpteen different tabs open in firefox, thunderbird checking for mail, xchat idling away in the background, ssh’d into aforementioned mythtv box with torrent running remotely and it all just works. Amen to that.
4October2007
Posted by Christopher under: White Noise.
No I am not on Facebook.
No I will never have a myspace page.
I do have a single line profile on Friends Re-united which I think is succinct and to the point.
This blog is under my complete control, hosted on my own server with access to all the code from the web server and database, through the pre-processor, all the way up to the words I write. I don’t like talking to people I went to school with because, with the exception of those I’m still in contact with, I never did in the first place. I certainly don’t want my content being overseen by someone with questionable ethical guidelines.
