I won a laptop at work this week! However, let me clarify . . .
. . . like all new starters in the company, I got issued a 'hand me down' laptop, an old IBM Thinkpad T42 notebook. Nothing flash, it allows me to get on with business. Since I've joined CSC, we've taken on one more PM, with another PM starting next Monday. Somehow, CSC bought him a brand new IBM Thinkpad T60 notebook to use! My manager came to quick decision that there was no way we could give the 'new guy' a brand new laptop, so decided to 'raffle' it off by putting everyone's name into a hat (except the contractors of course) to see who would 'win' the new laptop. The first 2 names which were drawn from the hat were not present, so when he drew the 3rd name, it was me!
So I was now in charge of organising my old laptop to be reimaged for the new guy, getting the new laptop reimaged for me, and contacting records to inform them of the 'asset reallocation'. My lucky day :)
Friday, April 27, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
. . . steam boat . . .
considering that I am yet to actually plan one single weekend with things to do, a lot of things seem to happen on their own accord.
I got invited out to have all-you-can-eat steamboat at the Dragon Seafood Chinese Restaurant (yes, once again in Northbridge . . . ) on Friday night which turned out to be a lot of fun. Trying to find parking of course is never fun in this area. Dinner was great, scallops, prawns, crabs and various mushrooms along with the usual meat and vegies were all included, as well as some really cheap nasty WA Emu beer which I highly recommend not to ever drink again. Dessert included tou fu fa, red bean soup, grass jelly and the very non-asian dessert of sponge cake. All for $32, we were one of the last to leave.
Had Yum Cha for lunch on Saturday at 'Good Fortune' at the first non-Northbridge restaurant I have dined in since arriving in Perth. The food was nothing spectacular, and came out rather slowly, but still filled the niche of not having Yum Cha since leaving Adelaide. Visited 2 more bike stores in the quest for the best value road bike in Perth, will have to buy one soon, so many places to ride.
The fund raising quiz night at the Subiaco Church of Christ was very well organised and a lot of fun. Our table finished in the top 10 (out of 23) but unfortunately no prizes for us. The evening was won by a 'professional' group of quiz goers. The group of elderly people apparently attend quiz nights every weekend all over town, so blitzed the field by quite a margin. Kind of spoilt the fun as they didn't really into the swing of things as they just answered the questions but didn't get 'involved'.
Played badminton on Saturday and Sunday with different groups of people. Will have to bring my racquet over from Adelaide, my exercise for the week. Had dinner at a New Orleans restaurant in Northbridge on Sunday night with a friend from the UK. Great place, live music and an interesting menu, I had a crabmeat cheesecake concoction which was apparently the house specialty. Not particularly big, but very filling. Something a little different.
Another weekend gone.
I got invited out to have all-you-can-eat steamboat at the Dragon Seafood Chinese Restaurant (yes, once again in Northbridge . . . ) on Friday night which turned out to be a lot of fun. Trying to find parking of course is never fun in this area. Dinner was great, scallops, prawns, crabs and various mushrooms along with the usual meat and vegies were all included, as well as some really cheap nasty WA Emu beer which I highly recommend not to ever drink again. Dessert included tou fu fa, red bean soup, grass jelly and the very non-asian dessert of sponge cake. All for $32, we were one of the last to leave.
Had Yum Cha for lunch on Saturday at 'Good Fortune' at the first non-Northbridge restaurant I have dined in since arriving in Perth. The food was nothing spectacular, and came out rather slowly, but still filled the niche of not having Yum Cha since leaving Adelaide. Visited 2 more bike stores in the quest for the best value road bike in Perth, will have to buy one soon, so many places to ride.
The fund raising quiz night at the Subiaco Church of Christ was very well organised and a lot of fun. Our table finished in the top 10 (out of 23) but unfortunately no prizes for us. The evening was won by a 'professional' group of quiz goers. The group of elderly people apparently attend quiz nights every weekend all over town, so blitzed the field by quite a margin. Kind of spoilt the fun as they didn't really into the swing of things as they just answered the questions but didn't get 'involved'.
Played badminton on Saturday and Sunday with different groups of people. Will have to bring my racquet over from Adelaide, my exercise for the week. Had dinner at a New Orleans restaurant in Northbridge on Sunday night with a friend from the UK. Great place, live music and an interesting menu, I had a crabmeat cheesecake concoction which was apparently the house specialty. Not particularly big, but very filling. Something a little different.
Another weekend gone.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
go-karting
0830 Received a phonecall from Jeremy to see if I might be interested in coming along go-karting after church. Absolutely! I know how much trouble it is to organise a group, so if somebody else has organised it, I'm happy to come along for the ride . . .
. . .the weather was looking a little cloudy, but none of us expected the torrential downpour we received, an entire month's worth of rain on one day, over 40mm! Fortunately, it didn't start raining immediately, so our warm up and qualifying laps were in the dry. After our first race, it really started to bucket down, so the owners asked if we'd like to stop and get refunded for the remaining laps, or continue on. Since we were already all wet, the majority voted to continue, the girls however decided to stay inside. We were drifting around corners, and unfortunately (or otherwise) the karts differed ever so slighlty in both their speed and handling, so how one performed from one race to the next would not necessarily be the same. The whole idea of reversing the direction of the steering while fish tailing around the corner to control the kart worked part of the time, as the outside edge of the track had a lot more grip than the inside, it sometimes caused the karts to spin out in the most spectacular fashion :)
It was a great day, apart from getting saturated and covered in mud, I think anyone who's ever been karting knows not to wear good clothes. But hey, the rain made it all that much more fun! A view from above :D
. . .the weather was looking a little cloudy, but none of us expected the torrential downpour we received, an entire month's worth of rain on one day, over 40mm! Fortunately, it didn't start raining immediately, so our warm up and qualifying laps were in the dry. After our first race, it really started to bucket down, so the owners asked if we'd like to stop and get refunded for the remaining laps, or continue on. Since we were already all wet, the majority voted to continue, the girls however decided to stay inside. We were drifting around corners, and unfortunately (or otherwise) the karts differed ever so slighlty in both their speed and handling, so how one performed from one race to the next would not necessarily be the same. The whole idea of reversing the direction of the steering while fish tailing around the corner to control the kart worked part of the time, as the outside edge of the track had a lot more grip than the inside, it sometimes caused the karts to spin out in the most spectacular fashion :)
It was a great day, apart from getting saturated and covered in mud, I think anyone who's ever been karting knows not to wear good clothes. But hey, the rain made it all that much more fun! A view from above :D
Monday, April 9, 2007
Easter
Easter was awesome. From having absolutely no plans, to fishing at Freemantle, dinner in Northbridge at HK BBQ with a new group of friends, then cycling around south Perth and having morning tea at Raffles in Applecross on Easter Monday!
I didn't expect us to catch anything, but within seconds, literally of casting the line into the water off the rocks, Jeremy had a garfish on his line! Followed by another, and another and another. There were quite a few people fishing in the same area, but no one seem to be having the same luck Jeremy was. I however wasn't catching anything. So we decided to swap rods to see if it was a lucky rod, or if Jeremy indeed had the magic touch. It was the rod! No sooner had I cast the line, I immediately had a bite! Followed by another, and another . . . Jeremy ended up catching a few more with the rod I was using, as it turns out the rod just wasn't quite as sensitive. We managed to catch 19 garfish and herring (Tommy's for us Adeladians) within 2 hours, not a bad effort eh?
I borrowed Jeremy's bike to ride with my new friends from Sunday night's dinner. The weather was fantastic, riding on bike paths all along the river's edge. I now have a renewed desire to get my own bike so I can ride around and explore Perth from 2 wheels. Morning tea at Raffles was delightful, I had a glass of freshly squeezed watermelon & passionfruit juice (for $7.50, I had to try it at least once!) with a white chocolate and raspberry muffin. We were debating sharing a few items from the delectable breakfast menu, but they only serve it on the weekends. We thought they might make an exception since it was Easter Monday, but alas that was not to be the case.
I didn't expect us to catch anything, but within seconds, literally of casting the line into the water off the rocks, Jeremy had a garfish on his line! Followed by another, and another and another. There were quite a few people fishing in the same area, but no one seem to be having the same luck Jeremy was. I however wasn't catching anything. So we decided to swap rods to see if it was a lucky rod, or if Jeremy indeed had the magic touch. It was the rod! No sooner had I cast the line, I immediately had a bite! Followed by another, and another . . . Jeremy ended up catching a few more with the rod I was using, as it turns out the rod just wasn't quite as sensitive. We managed to catch 19 garfish and herring (Tommy's for us Adeladians) within 2 hours, not a bad effort eh?
I borrowed Jeremy's bike to ride with my new friends from Sunday night's dinner. The weather was fantastic, riding on bike paths all along the river's edge. I now have a renewed desire to get my own bike so I can ride around and explore Perth from 2 wheels. Morning tea at Raffles was delightful, I had a glass of freshly squeezed watermelon & passionfruit juice (for $7.50, I had to try it at least once!) with a white chocolate and raspberry muffin. We were debating sharing a few items from the delectable breakfast menu, but they only serve it on the weekends. We thought they might make an exception since it was Easter Monday, but alas that was not to be the case.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
hair bands
Hair bands. Doesn't that generally conjure up images of girls attending junior primary school or perhaps ladies in the gym doing a body attack class? Catching public transport to work each day has given me the chance to observe a whole assortment of different people, including at least 3 guys last week who were all wearing hair bands! Since when has it been fashionable for guys to be wearing them, and I'm not talking bandanas! Did I miss the memo? Can someone enlighten me to this new phenomena?
moved in
Had to take Friday off because the removalists wouldn't come on the weekend to deliver my belongings from Adelaide. Spent the majority of the weekend unpacking and sorting through things, thankfully everything turned up and damage has been minimal. Co-ordinated the phone line to be activated the day I took they keys and applied for DSL the same day which has been successfully activated today! Nice to finally be in my own place, at least for the next 12 months.
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