Around Northland

Apologies that I haven't posted in absolutely ages. Convention would probably lead you to believe I've been too busy enjoying life to post but sadly, I've just been too lazy. With the new job sat in front of the laptop for eight hours a day the last thing I feel like doing in the evening is sitting in front of the laptop. I actually do sit in front of the laptop, but watching dvds.

Everyone from work is currently off galavanting around the tongariro national park. I am not invited due to the pretense that I am a contractor, but more probably because I bit the hand that feeds me in my last post (I'm sorry NZ Web Design - you aren't that out of date).

I settle into work pretty easily I think. It's good to be around code again after 6 months on the road. After losing touch with them Intellisense and Auto Event wireup are my two best friends again. I have some other friends too. They are work colleagues, but they still count. We go to pub quizzes together, play golf and meet for brunch occasionally.

I break the routine up by going to Paihia on saturday. It's in the Bay of Islands, about four hours north of Auckland. It's a beautiful part of the world and the weather finally is kind. I'm in a rugby obsessed nation and England win, the All Blacks lose and I suddenly want to go home so I can celebrate properly.

And I persuade work to let me take a morning off on Thursday for Expression, Around the Clock; a Microsoft event showcasing their latest bit of software. It's quite a promising bit of kit, but the presentations sadly don't do it justice. For a company with a lot invested in a piece of software targeted primarily at designers (there's even a Mac version) they consider it appropriate to show how it can add rounded corners and a reflection to video. Cue the stunned silence from the audience... or is that them just waiting for something good? I won't be giving up on it though, I spent half an hour working on it and made something much more exciting than a video player.

So with no work colleagues and, thus, no friends around for the next few days I am back in solitary. I have plenty of work to keep me busy so I can keep insanity from the door.

I may buy a cat.