Squeal Piggy Squeal

Oh you poor thing, have you been waiting long?

mrpjb — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 23:06:11 +0000

Ok, I’ll come clean, I’ve been insanely bad at updating this. Not just naughty bad, or tut-tut bad. Not even slap-on-the-wrist bad. We are talking mega, ultra bad, or as the natives would say “heaps bad”. Yes, the new adjective to slip into the household vocabulary is ‘heaps’. Sigh.

Five lines in and I’m already digressing…

Now where do I start? Traditionally it’s at the beginning, but I say meh, pish and twiddle at tradition. I’ll start somewhere towards the end and alternatively work forward and backward. That should mix things up a bit.

Currently residing in the ‘burbs, specifically the Brisbane bayside, one wakes each morning to the light rumble of the train line running by our rental. Now we knew the train line was here before we moved, it’s a trade off for proximity to school (just around the corner) and train station (again with the corner), and also, it’s got a pool! Yes, the English fixation with pools is as engrained as eating pancakes and drinking … well drinking anything. It’s not Olympic size, but it’s big enough for us and of course we would use it everyday. Or so we thought. As it turns out being a pool owner isn’t all skinny dipping and splashy splashy. in reality it’s about 5 percent splashy and 95 percent cleaning filters, adding treatments, testing pH and free chlorine levels. No-one mentioned my A level in Chemistry would be needed for a dip! Also they never tell you that ‘pool weather’ is actually only 3-4 months. For the rest of the time there is 0 percent splashy splashy!

2 months in.. and still no time for a proper post!

mrpjb — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 01:27:04 +0000

Patience, patience… I’ll to sit down and have a proper think and review my first 2 months here.. “Stuff” has been happening at a frantic pace so I need to slow things down a little…

Rain check…?

Here, safe, sound, but no bloody internet

mrpjb — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:27:54 +0000

Frantically eating burgers so I can use the WIFI… Grr, I want my broadband!

The Last Post

mrpjb — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 10:48:34 +0000

Nope, not the bugle music, but my last post from the UK. Sat in my office on the last day of work trying to measure up exactly whats happened in the nearly 9 years I’ve been here. Lots of change, not all of it for the better, but you live and learn (at least thats the theory). Met some really great people, some really clever people and one or two that are both! I must admit a twinge of sadness at leaving, however I think that it’s just fact I’m stepping out of my comfort zone that is really the issue. I tend to worry about the big things and my wife the day-to-day stuff. So when all the big things in life change all at once, location, job, house, school etc. that can give you the willies. So now I have the willies in spades! (I don’t think I’ll ever use that sentance again..)

But anyway I’m rambling now. Good luck to Sophos and to all my friends and family in the UK!!

Lets see if I can remember to post next with with an update.

1 More sleeps

mrpjb — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:37:33 +0000

Just one more sleeps in my comfy bed before it gets packed away with all my other worldly posessions into a huge tin can and sealed like the Ark. It will then wing it’s way to the docks and get hoisted onto a giant floating tank and dumped in the ocean with the dolphins and the last remaining tuna fish. With a good wind and no Somalian pirates we should be reunited in about 12 weeks.

I already miss my playstation…

Contracts exchanged, disbelief is overwhelming

mrpjb — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:09:13 +0000

So a couple of months ago we had a bite, a minor one, way below the asking price. They were in a good situation, big deposit, renting with friends so no chain, but their offer was way to low. Some time passed and they came back with an offer we couldn’t realistically turn down. So we didn’t.

Usual solicitor gaff ensues, building regs for that, chatel ridiculousless etc. and after an incredibily stressful two weeks we have a completion date. Problem is, it’s only two weeks away.

Sweet zombie Jesus and his pastafarian cousins, when will things ever be normal again?

Confused

mrpjb — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:40:07 +0000

Now, when anything interesting happens, I don’t know if I should twit, facebook, blog, mail, spam or whatnot. Lucky nothing interesting happens. Or does it? Hmm, hmm

Apple says “Activate”

mrpjb — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:45:56 +0000

Some excitement that was completely overshadowed by the excitement of year-end needs to be addressed. I’m now in the Apple Developer Program Portal Hole List Subscription Team Agent System. Upshot of this is that once a week Steve Jobs pops round with a few of his mates. We have a game of poker and he tells me what a wonderful person I am.

What actually happens is I shell out 59 freshly earnt pounds to get access to latest SDK’s/ OS editions and also gain the ability to sell stuff on the App store to potentially squillions of people. I hear some people complain about the amount, but realistically. How much would you spend on a windows app to a) get a compiler/instrumentation/debugger which is on a par with XCode and b) have a sales channel of that magnitude for anything less than 59 pounds?? Hmm? Free GCC? C# Express? No.. Fail.. Lose.. Do not pass go.. Do not have ability to sell to anyone but your family..

Anyway, must go. Steve’s at the door and he’s got beers.

Happy New Financial Year 2009/2010!!

mrpjb — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:34:18 +0000

Yeah, I’m early, I know.. Just wanted to get in there. I am THAT excited.

Or…

That is the most exciting thing to happen recently..

Think it’s the latter… Although we have had more interest in the house recently. Either Mr Banker has started lending again or we have reduced the price to a suitably attractive price point. Who knows, and unless it actually sells, who cares?

Finally, I caved.

mrpjb — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:23:15 +0000

For too many months I have sat back and watched the multitudes wander aimlessly with their iPhones. The he-chavs and the she-chavs using a beautiful piece of modern, well put together hardware, and concentrating all of it’s efforts into a single task. Texting.

I shit you not.

“U gng out 2nite?”

Quality, even twitter gives you 140 characters to work with. Perhaps there should be a chitter, shitter, twatter or somesuch with a limit of 20 that these people can haunt.

Sorry about that, got a little carried away. Anyway, to sum it up. I have one too. Baa.