Guess where I am blogging from.. guess.. go on guess. No, not home. No, not work. YES, I am Blogging from the local McDonalds! A few weeks ago they installed four internet connected computers here, they call it CyberConnect. Mostly, only kids use them to play games online or to surf their fav. sites or to MSN. The adults 'round here don't seem to have any inclination to log on or maybe they don't know how. But, its kinda cool - they have these in Aussie too but from what I've heard the USA seem to be dragging the fast food internet connectivity chain. Its a beautiful sunny day today - one could quite confidently say "summer is here" for the whole day. Girls have sleeveless tops on and Boys are out skating. Cars and clean and polished for the weekend and there is colour in the world again. I have to work this afternoon, but Simon has connected our computers so at least I'll have company. We really are such geeks. Happy as Larry networked together and surfing and he's fiddling round in my directories. Hopefully I can reformat tomorrow if I get all my backing up done. --------

I pulled up at the Beaumont Street parking place and the barrier arm was down. It didn't raise as I inched forward, and the Parking Guy didn't hear my car as he was walking up the driveway. I tooted my horn a little. He turned and came back. "why you not come when I in the booth?" he asked in his broken but clear English. "cos I wait until you've locked the booth and are walking away before I come in!" I said and he laughed. "where you been? you not been here long time" he said, I told him how my car had died in Rotorua and that I'd been getting a lift in to the City with someone but now my car was fixed and back and I would be parking in his place more often "good" he said "you park over there" and pointed. "the Reserved for ACP Media parking?" i asked " the, near-the-gate parking??" "yes," He said "you park there, I take good care of your car."

Eight weeks and he still remembers me. Jonathan says it's because of my long rambly answers to his questions - and he's probably right. It was a weird day in that I had a few people at a Client's site who said things like "yes, you're michelle? I've seen you round" or "yes, I know who you are, you're michelle" when i don't know them at all. I can mostly remember people I've met - usually not their names but definately their faces - but I didn't know the people who said these things to me today. weirdness. When I worked at Aztech, some of the guys down at Huntly used to call me Ms Aztech. "how're you today, Ms Aztech" "want to share lunch with us, Ms Aztech" that kinda thing.

Maybe I have a sticky aura.

A year ago today I started working for this Company. We had muffins for afternoon tea to celebrate the occasion, and they gave me a beautiful bunch of flowers. All I can say, besides thankyou, is to give you all a tip.. and it goes something like "oil the squeaky wheel" cos I've been whinging about it being a whole year since I started for so long they had to muffinise and flowerise me to shut me up ! thanks guys.

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You know how Homer Simpson sometimes gets confused about what he thinks and what he says out loud? I did that today. When the cute guy at the curry place gave me my curry-to-go, I meant to say "thankyou" but instead I said "oh god, you're so cute". When I first starting working for my first job in multimedia (and I've probably told this story before, I have a habit of holding on to moments and torturing those around me by retelling them over and over) we had to deliver part of a CBT to a client. I had only been working there for about 8 weeks as an assistant, doing this thing and that thing as required. We delivered the product - me along for the ride to "experience" this phase of the development. The client ran the program on site, with their production team and my boss all puffed-out-chest-proud. And the errors started.. and the files didn't run.. and there were spelling errors, and then it stopped working all together. I looked up and my boss who had been snuffling and edging towards the door had suddenly found somewhere he needed to be and there was I, his assistant, alone with the unhappy client and a very broken program. It was horrible. I vowed that would *never* happen ever again if I could help it and there would be more control about testing before a product left our office and I also realised, I wasn't the assistant if anything was going to get done to any degree I would just have to try really hard to make it happen. Today, it sort of happened again - but not to the same degree - but not far off it. And for all the same reasons - tight deadline, rushing, not enough checking, the team not all on the same page. This time, some of the blame can lie on Macromedia's woeful documentation but only a little bit because we should have tested on a client similar machine before we even got to site. Understandably, the client isn't very happy. We have a "plan of attack" to sort out the problems, but it's a real shame they exist at all, and hopefully I'll remember not to let them happen again. Often, when budgets and timelines are tight, testing is the first area to be cut back but it is *always* false economy to do so. You lose time and face and neither can be regained. I am very busy at work. We're all very busy - staff numbers are low due to a couple of different reasons. I've hired a person for a week to do my job because I just don't have the time to do it myself. It's going to be nice having another designer in the house. For a little while, at least: I will be a department. And Rosie? (the project I'm talking about in the paragraph above isn't your big one, its my little one) and James too for that matter... I've been meaning to write and I will I truly will. I miss you both and hope you're having a wonderful time. --------