New mobile...

has arrived - just in time for christmas! :)

Thanks baby - you rock.

http://www.motorola.com/motoinfo/product/details/0,,71,00.html

Training training..

Yay - i'm doing training on support for a new product - that's just super - super boring! :) It's just funny because I actually was on the team that built the thing in the first place.

Other than that, I'm sitting next to a guy who always grinds his teeth! joy.

Another company...

is tempting me with a 'Technology Manager' role. I'm also pretty much in there. It's just frustrating that the contract signed with my current employer states that i cant work for any clients for 6 months! that's a bit of a shite, seeing as how broad our customer base is (not that i get to work at any of them!).

I'm going to have to knock it all back, and just bide my time.. unfortunately, they are offering me another 20k a year to come across - not to be sneezed at.

On a brighter note, I got myself a laptop, which is nice and quick - Now i can be a mega nerd and program on the train on the way to work! :)

Rach had to go away to her great uncles funeral, so i'm missing her and the little man like crazy.. even though he was a naughty baby last night, not sleeping! :(

bugzilla...

And I forgot to mention, that I've finally cracked it with the way that work handles (and i use the term loosely) bugs with the application I work on.

It's just a whole bunch of bullshit emails, with everyone adding their $0.02 worth - and then I have to manually transfer them across to a spreadsheet - which can be deleted by anyone who has access to our network - i.e anyone. grrr...

We are still waiting for the 'be all and end all' application to come out which is aparently going to 'revolutionise' the way we deal with clients. NOT.

Trains.. :)

I'm not too sure if I've mentioned it - but I applied for a job as a Train driver - Unfortunately I got cut in the first round, which is a bit of a bummer - Although I do hear they are going to be interviewing early next year. I decided that I'd apply on a whim, rather than thinking through it all and having good responses to (fairly) obvious questions they were going to ask. Oh well, better luck next time - I probably wouldnt have passed the physical anyway (due to my dodgey eyesight!). Just another thing to 'thank' my parents for.

So instead, I've been building up my model train set - HO scale, and it's coming along a treat - Whenever Mike comes over, we scurry out into the garage and 'play trains' - that pretty much involves ripping the shit out of all the work I've done, and doing it better! :) I've got a whole bunch of new trains since I last mentioned it - probably another 3/4 locos, and built a Z guards van, and a flat wagon. Now onto painting them.

Anyway, I'm supposed to be building a new release of the applicaiton that i'm work on, so i should get my arse in gear and do that, so I can go home at a reasonable hour. Unfortunately the trains a running about 30 minutes late, due to a control box in Caulfield being struck by lightning last night! :)

Christmas Party..

at Burns Manor..

We had the work christmas party yesterday, and it was out at the big bosses 80 acre property at Portarlington. Only 2 hours drive each way - Joy.

It turned out to be quite good - Jude was naughty and bashed up another little boy! :P So, as a reward, Santa gave him a toy! :P I get the sense that he was a bit bewildered by Santa - He wasnt that into it when Santa turned up on the fire truck. We ended up with a picnic basket, which is a fair way short of the expectations set from last year (Digital Cameras!). Maybe we will take the NAB approach, cut staff, don't give bonuses and announce even bigger profits than last year. Am I too cynical!? :P

I'm looking forward to this christmas, finally not having to deal with my relations will be a load off - and it means that I can focus on my family, and Jude's first Christmas. It does take you back a little, thinking about his first things - I've got a book full of all the milestones for him - because it all goes so quickly, and with another on the way, it's going to be a bit of a shock to the system - and make it all a bit blurry!

Anyway, that is all for now. better get back to work, after slacking and taking off Friday with a dicky back (again!), i've got to get my shit together! :P

Career...

I feel like i'm at a crossroads at the moment. I've been fighting for so long to get training and certification for the applications that I've been using for the last 2 years - but nothing. Which puts me in a difficult position - I want the training, and certification, so that I can go to another employer and say 'here, i've got the certificates, and 2 years of experience'.. - then, bam - i'm hired!

Without the certificates, it's a lot harder to justify my knowledge. I'd need referees - from the company that I want to leave. Talk about caught between a rock and a hard place.

I've decided to take on more responsibility for this training thing myself - so rather than bitch and moan about it (except here in my blog!), I've got 1/2 of the J2EE book in my bag, and spend the time on the train reading it. This is turning out quite good, I thought it would probably be a bit crapola, but it's working well.

I just have to get my hands on some other books so that I can study them also (Oracle, Documentum?).

Unfortunately I dont think i'll be able to get work to cough up for the Oracle DBA course, and they certainly wont for Documentum, which is frustrating. They sent 3 former colleagues on the DM training, and they have all left. Suffer.

Work...

is ok at the moment - I'm having a bit of a crisis though - I cant be stuffed ironing my shirts, which makes it hard to wear suits! :)

What is the deal with that? I think it took me 2 weeks to fold the washing - I'm a pretty bad bloke all in all!

I'm also studying hard for my J2EE certification - I'm printing out chapters left right and centre, so that I can do some reading on my 45 minute each way train ride to work - it's a really good way to study, a chapter at a time - and on the train - no interruptions, no people coming up to you asking to help out with work stuff.. great! :) I dont think i'm winning any friends with my hogging of the printer though!

I had a good chat with the new boss - it turns out that he lives just down the road from me (a couple of suburbs further away from melbourne), which is cool - he's a kiwi, so I give him shit about their crap cricket team, and he gives me shit about our rugby union team! :)

As for my review, that's still to be discussed, but I'm about 3 months overdue now..

ADSL...

Seems like 600Mb is just not enough! :)

We chewed through it in 7 days, thanks to good old WinMx! :) I showed Rach this little gem, and bang - there goes the limit! The worst this is that even if we upgrade the plan now, it's going to be another 3 weeks (end of the billing cycle) to get the new limit! And until the end of the billing cycle, we are limited to 28k! That's unbelieveable!

We just bit the bullet and upgraded to 20Gb - that should tide us over!! hahhhahaha...

Yeah baby!

here we come! :)

Rach (bless her soul) decided to get broadband for home - hallelujah! The modem should arrive soon, and then it's surfing glaore! :)

It's a pretty good deal with optus - free modem, 100 free local calls, all for about $45 per month - i think the old telstra phone line rental alone was $30 per month! Is that the biggest rip off ever?! Telstra have the hide to charge us line rental, on lines that cant even support proper broadband - due to the thickness (or lack thereof) of the copper in the lines. Cheap bastards.

Oh well, we will see how it all goes..!

1 Year Wedding Anniversary

Yay us! :)

I love you baby! :)

Employment is a funny thing..

Dame left Kaz today - after the company was bought out by Telstra. Interesting. He's got some gig with a mob in Heidelberg - not sure who though, but it sounds pretty sweet.

My company has been bought out by another company too - I'm not going to mention any names here, to protect the innocent (me!). The company I was working for was primary a software development house for J2EE stuff - the new mob has a bit of .Net and is mostly a hardware shop - interesting mix of companies. I've always found though that there are cultural issues when 2 companies come together, we will see how that all pans out. I've got to say, I've been very slack in my role as Social Club President - having not had any events for at least 6 months!

It's a real bugger that Ruby missed out on being with this new company - but unfortunately he just got too sick of my favourite project manager (not!). Oh well, i'm sure he will be floating around.. :)

Birthday Time! :)

It's Rach's birthday tomorrow - I'm looking forward to it! Turning the big 25 :)

She's such a special person to me, with everything that has happened to us... she's given me a beautiful son, which she pretty much raises on her own (due to me being at work all the time), she's driven, knows what she wants (me! ;) )... I'm so indebted to her, for everything she's done for me and our family.

Rach, I love you.

Your a winner! :)

I just won a cruise for 2 people to Vanuatu! :)

Aparently, when I put a notice in the Herald-Sun for mothers day, I entered a competition. :) and I won it! :) So we leave on the 6th of Feb next year, for 11 nights of boating fun! :)

Is that the coolest thing ever?!?!

argh..

How can i describe how frustrated i feel with my job at the moment!? :)

It's all i can do to just turn up to work every day. How does this happen? Is it me? Or am i just being beaten down by the everything that i hear from other people?

I am more and more amazed each day at the injustices that i see here.. but you get that, i guess.

Anyway, i'm looking at doing a Professional Writing and Editing course.. by correspondence. Hopefully that will be something that i can focus on while work is going so shithouse.. I would really like to be a film critic.. that's where i'd be happy to end up.. Work from home, spend time with the family... Go to movie premieres.. :) Groovy!

I might even start up a site myself with my review online.. :) i'd thought about doing it a while ago, but just never got around to doing it!

Sometimes it's not about the money.. it's advice i hand out all the time, but i'm staying in this job just for the money at the moment.. that's the only reason that i can see right now...

Sunday Roast...

Rach and I have decided to start a tradition of having a Sunday Roast. :) I have to say, I think it's a great idea..

We are inviting people around every few weeks to, so that we have a chance to catch up with everyone - as you may or may not be able to appreciate, going anywhere with a small child, and no car, is not an easy task.

Mike and Kylie were the first people we invited to lunch, which was fantastic. Mike was more than happy to give me a hand with setting up some more of my train layout. We ended up re-working a whole lot of it, and pulled up pretty much everything except for the outer loop! :) It's going to be a hell of a lot better now, seeing as i can actually store a bunch of carriages together, instead of just 2 carriages per siding! :)

Now I just have to go and get some insulated fish plates, a few hobby boxes, and switches so that we can power everything from each of the two controllers! :)

I also have to go and get some more points, cause I really want to put a long long siding on the other side of the layout! :) Enough about the trains hey.. :P

Lunch was a roaring success, with Mike and I polishing off our (large!) plates of roast chicken and vegies, and then starting on the 'extras' plate, and polishing that off too! :) Also disapearing were 2 bottles of wine.. :)

Anyway, next one is going to be on Mothers day, and with Rach's mum working all day, and me not talking to mine, it's going to be a bit of fun... We have invited a couple of friends who's parents are interstate/overseas.. :)

Until next time...

Trains...

Took the little guy and gorgeous wife down to the ARHS museum down in Williamstown. For anyone who doesnt know what that is, it's the Australian Railways Historical Society (Victorian Branch). They have pretty much managed to get 1 of every locomotive that has run and been retired from victorian service. They also have a few carriages down there too! :)

Anyway, Geoff and John were heading down there, and asked if we would like to come. We were only too happy to travel down there, although the day was nice and cold! :)

It was pretty fantastic, I'd been down there about 2 months ago, and before that, when I was in primary school! We took our digital camera down this time, and managed to get a whole bunch of great photos. They should be up on the site some time reasonably soon too! :)

I am currently watching Brisbane thrash my beloved Hawks.. Oh well, there is always next year hey!? :P

frustration sets in...

How do you keep going to work every day, when you know that you dont want to?

I'm working on a new project at the moment, but it's turing out to be just like every other project i've worked on here - long and arduous! Maybe i make it long and arduous? Maybe i just get stuck with the crap jobs that run for years and years.

The HR manager left today too.. and I heard that my old Project Manager is leaving to go and sail around the world! How crazy is that? Now that is my idea of moving on from a job.. :)

I would give anything to leave work and look after my little son (and wife!), but unfortunately i dont think i'm going to get paid to stay at home...

Maybe i should go on the dole? I've paid taxes for 10 years now, i think that i'm owed something! ;) hahahhahaa..

Back to the daily grind...

After a 4 day weekend, we are back to the 'same old same old' again.. :/

Lets run through the weekend shall we?

Friday: Didnt to terribly much in the way of anything really? Watched the good friday appeal all day, except to have a nap in the afternoon. Got to love the afternoon nap.. :)

Saturday: Went to a party called Magnitude that night, Rach and I went into the city and wandered around crown casino for a while, but i couldnt decide what i wanted to eat! Ended up seeing the footy on the _BIG_ screens, which was good - because both sat night games were nice and close! :)

I think we both missed the little guy (who was staying with nan-nan) on Saturday night, but it was good to have time to us, just the two of us. We have hardly had any time to spend together by ourselves since we were married, really..

Sunday: BBQ Lunch at nanna's place. This was good, we got cuddles from the little man, who pretty much didnt notice we werent there! :( But that's good, because he wont be worried if we need to have nan-nan or someone else look after him.. :) Watched the Hawks get hammered by more than 10 goals, which was just .. SUPER!

Monday: Another relaxing day, doing not a lot, and thinking about what i had to do at work this week! :/... ergh... Not helped by the fact that i couldnt sleep last night either.. :(

Anyway, back to the weekend..

Rach and I spent pretty much the whole weekend over at R & P's place, which is great, cause they have a spa... :)

which I ended up pretty much living in all night, with my bottle of Cab Sav.. I managed to fall into bed at about 6am, and then was up at 8:30 to hear that pretty much I was the only one to get any sleep! :)

We choofed off home then, and relaxed, even though it was bloody hot! :(

Anyways, it ended up as a good weekend, Had a nice relaxing time, and bought some more train stuff! :P

Huuuuge! :)

We had a huge weekend! :)

Friday night was pretty cruisy, but then...

I called Ruby on Saturday morning, to see if he would mind if i brought little Jude up to visit his 'auntie and uncle' Paula and Ruby. They were home, and then Mikey called to tell me that branchline had 6 GY wagons. :) luckily, branchline is right down the road from ruby and paula's place, so off we went! :)

more later, i'm a bit flat out right now! :/

Court and all matters legal...

What a drama.

We went and had our 'round table conference' today, to try and save on legal fees - what a joke.

The house sold for $261k, and after speaking to the bank, there is going to be around $5k left. Once rates and water is taken from that, you are looking at $3k. That is just enough (maybe) to cover the cost of the alarm which is in the house, financed under both of our names.

Then there is the 122cm tv that she has, which she's going to refinance, as soon as she gets the money (which will probably end up being about nothing).

Anyway, no one is happy with the outcome, neither me, nor the wife, or the ex.. but what can you do huh? My lawyer is good, having not billed us for anything yet, but that will soon change.

So i'm in the dog house, everyone is upset, and that's just my side! :)

Trains.. :)

My tax cheque came back yesterday, which was a real bonus! :)

My gorgeous wife let me have half of it, to spend on 'whatever i want'! :) So I wandered down to the local (30 minutes drive!) train shop, and spent $850! :) hahahahaha...

I got some awesome stuff, including:- 10 meters of flex track- 4 sets of points- 1 double slip! Cool as!- 6 v-line carriages (4 tangerine and 2 blue)- 1 G loco in vline tangerine- 1 power pack with 2 separate controllers- 2 packs of Kadee couplers

I had a huge list, and truth be told, i could have spent thousands (aparently one of the trains i had on my list retails for about $2000, if you can find it.

Anyway, I spent a couple of hours last night out in the shed, and put a bunch of stuff together, and it looks great - I think i might have to move my siding around a bit though, because the new sidings will only hold what i just bought yesterday, let alone anything else! :)

I just remembered that i've got to get my hawthorn membership, so that is going to take up pretty much the rest of my fundage.. :) Oh well...

more...

I am going crazy working with this dill... :)

I dont know if i have mentioned him before, but he just seems incapable of independant thought. If he didnt work for a massive company with a public service mentality, i'm sure the his performance would warrant dismissal... but you get that.. :)

My project manager knows, as does his project manager, and i'm sure his direct reports have had enough 'feedback' about his performance, but it still doesnt help...

Anyway, enough venting.. :)

but on a brighter note..!

I had a great weekend.. :) spending time at home is really my priority at the moment.. it's funny how something like having a child can change everything you thought about the world....

I really used to think that i was defined by what I did.. you know, i 'work with computers'.. and that allows people to put me in a box with other 'comptuer people' that they know....

It was my brother in law's birthday last week, so we had a pissup on saturday night.. :) it was good that Rach managed to have a few drinks.. :)

And we had a great lunch with Mike and Kylie on saturday down at the local pub.. of course, we couldnt sit in the smoky public bar (where exactly the same meals are half the price), so we had to eat in the bistro... what a rort! :) I really like having the locals sitting around yelling at the horse races, and swearing like wharfies.. :)

Looks like we have moved Jude's christening back to April, easter saturday as it turns out..! :)

Jobs! :)

Looks like there are jobs working for Connex trains - how cool would that be?

The only problem is that I already have a full time job, which pays quite well. This is only a part time position too, which is 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. Great for spending time with my new son, but not great for the cash flow situation! :)

oh well, these things happen... maybe full time positions will come up...

Trains..! :)

I spent most of yesterday putting together a model train layout with Mikey! :) So funky, we ended up finishing one loop, which measures about 3600mm x 1200mm.. :)

Anyway, i also bought a shitload of carriages (something like 10!), and some points to join the other loops into it too! :) cool as!

Jude decided that he would play up the night before i have to go back to work, but that is to be expected! :)

Small Man

This is one of my faves of me and Jude. I guess he would have been about a week old or so.

My Son was born...

Jude Keat was born at Monash Medical Centre on 25th February 2004 at 8:41pm.

Weighing a healthy 8 pounds 1 oz, and measuring in at 52 cms long.

Obviosuly I didnt write this at the time he was born, but both mother and baby are doing fine.

Waiting...

Rach and I are still waiting for our son to be born... :)

We were due to go and see an obstetrician tomorrow (Wednesday), but Rach didnt feel well on Monday morning, and had been a bit off colour all weekend.They asked us to come in, and it turns out that Rach has Pre-Eclampsia.

Bummer. I thought that we were past the time when this would be an issue. So, they had to admit her straight away, and they stretched her cervix to try and get the labour going.

That was Monday, lots of monitoring, and me flapping around... but i ended up getting home about 11pm, and up again this morning to go into hospital.

The doctors are keen to get the baby out (due to the PE), so they have started with the prostoglandin gel on the cervix. :) Now just another 6 hours to wait to see how that goes!! :)

can't wait for...

my gorgeous wife to give birth to our first child! :)

This may seem a bit strange that I'm happy one minute, and pissed the next, but at the end of the day, this is the only thing that keeps me going at the moment...

Midwife last night just told us that all we can do is wait, I imagine that he wont be far away, because he is due to arrive tomorrow! :) It looks like he's going to disregard the dates indicated :)

Anyway, as long as he is healthy, I don't really care when he comes along! :)

Chaos...

Good ole Ruby.. he sure knows how to stir up a hornets nest! :)

After spending pretty much the whole weekend at Rube's house relaxing and sitting in the spa, i've come to a few conclusions:

1. No one values your work here.2. No one gives a shit.3. Where is the money? does anyone get paid properly here?

Anyway, I'm now considering what i'm going to do with my future.. i'll take my 2 weeks leave and look after Jude, and then see how it all goes..

Baby time! :)

On a much nicer note, Rach and I managed to go and see Mal and Kristen who had their baby a couple of weeks ago.. :)

Olivia Mae is just the most gorgeous thing! :) So tiny, but so bright and inquisitive! :)

Not Happy Jan...

Looks like I'm back doing the same old job again...

back to supporting an application which doesnt hold any suprises for me, back to the same old, same old.. i'm a bit dirty...

The promises last year were 'dont worry, you wont be on this forever'... what a load of shit...

I think i might have to negotiate to get cerfitied in J2EE while I'm doing this support job - at least if i decide to leave, then i've got some sort of paper to prove what I was doing...

I also heard on the grapevine that poor Ruby had a run in with our favourite PM. That doesnt suprise me in the slightest, i was truly waiting for it.. and a little dissapointed that i missed out on hearing the commotion! :)

Anyway, I think I might take a career change as stay-at-home dad.. :) luckily my gorgeous fantastic wife is more than happy to go back to work (truth be known, she could probably earn more than me anyway!)...

Baby soon..! :)

The time for the child to come forth is close at hand! :)

It is looking like he might wait until his due date, the 19th Feb! :) That would be nice, cause I'd love a couple more weeks of good sleep!

I am also looking for a digital camera, because we have to take photos of the little man for the world to see! :) p.s - Happy Birthday Guyman.

Metallica...

I went to the Metallica Concert on the 28th of Jan, with 3 great mates.

This has to be one of the best concerts i've been to my entire life (although that being said, 2 of the 4 have been Metallica concerts!) :)

They went off, 3 hours of hard core fucking LOUD music that just rocked.. :)

I'm still smiling thinking about it! :)

Parenting classes...

... are interesting to say the least! :)

After deciding to take a 'one day intensive' parenting class, instead of the 2 hours a week for 6 weeks approach, it was a hard day's work! :)

Watching a woman give birth turned out the be a bit more that I had bargained for, althought I wasnt phased by the bloody sight of a new born child, I was suprised at the way I was effected emotionally! Tears started welling up, which was a bit of a shock, to tell you the truth.

Other than that, we had a bit of fun, talking about how to sit on the toilet to go for a poo, how to exercise the pelvic floor and how to breastfeed! :)

We did have fun, although anyone who is wondering, I would personally recommend that you take the longer easier approach to the timing! :)

jeez you remember some crazy stuff....

...while travelling an hour on the train to work and back.

I was thinking about my (soon to be born) son, and looking forward to a whole bunch of stuff that I never really did with my father.... which is a little bit sad...

Things like:- teaching him to shave (yes, it's a long way off!)- teaching him to ride a bike- going to the footy

it's funny (sad) that the thing I remember about spending time with dad was going to his work on the weekends and playing in a factory with my little sister...