Saturday, September 01, 2001

Well it's taken me FOUR MONTHS of eating porridge to finally be offered a bunch of jobs in the last week. it's been frustrating and worrying and I don't quite know how my bank etc let me go this long with no money.. but.. i accepted a job offer during the week and I start to work at the Learning Curve in central Auckland on Tuesday *phew*

I'm happy and excited to have this opportunity, I'd like to thank my parents, my gerbil and the Lord Jesus for giving me the talent, the drive and the modesty to accept this glorious award

on to other news.. my car died last night.. bloody thing, i've treated it like shit for 10 years and this is how it repays me. i think it's something electrical but .. well lets face facts.. how the hell would I know. on the same theme my iBook has packed a sad and won't start. It has a happy face but it won't play ball. Speaking of balls, my satellite connections screwed up too..four unhappy faces and a failed Lock Test.. i think it's cos of the rain but once again, i have no clue. But amidst all this failure and broken technology michelle shines thru like the trooper she is and with hope in her heart and a song .. well okay I'm not singing.. but my life is pretty sweet.

Late breaking news from the "can you believe it " files.. while hurtling around the internet, not looking just not stopping for some odd reason I stumbled across a list of boat builders and to cut a "short but boring story interesting only to me" even shorter, I found Tony Gable (you can never hide for long) email and wrote to him and yah and so it was foretold it was actually him and he even remembered me and so he's gonna catch up for coffee next time he's 'round auckland way.

Monday, September 03, 2001

On a roll - my car is fixed (it was a loose wire at the back of the ignition), my satellite it fixed (it was a loose connection at the back of my computer) my iBook is still not working but no one with any real Mac knowledge has looked at it yet. So two out of three is good going.

Work tomorrow. My desk and computer have not arrived yet but I'm starting anyway. My first project is to be Flash animation, which leaves the scope wide open, I don't know whether it will be making a simple shape move from left to right or a full blown frame-by-frame cartoon, it's exciting anyway. I start and 9am my first morning, and will be travelling in on the HalfMoon Bay ferry. My perfect job.

Today I'm not doing much of anything. Chores and tidy-ups. Though, please note, my bed is still unmade.

I had a busy weekend. After Sheepys' Star Search Final on Thursday night, I went to O'Hagans with Sue on Friday for a few beers and a combination asian platter. Very nice bar snacks when they put their mind to it. Saturday saw Sonia over for lunch and a natter, then Rachelle arrived to pick me up to go scope out some Cafes at Manukau Town Centre for her breakfast meeting with a client. So we had coffee in there before coming home again. Mags picked me up and transported me to her big screen tv and lasagna and waffles for the Rugby and Dinner, which was _very_ nice right up until we lost. Sunday I was out to lunch again, chicken pie and tea this time, before going to see Jurassic Park 3. Had scary bits but I'm too old to be seeking fear. Disappointing movie, nothing new and mostly silly. So Sunday night I piked, was in bed by 6pm and woke around 11pm for a nibble then back to bed by midnight. Sleep is as good as they say it is.

Tuesday, September 04, 2001

I cannot even tell you how happy I am. I .. cannot.. even TELL you.. how HAPPY I am.. cos then, I'd have to kill you.

My job is... it's.. okay I know it's my first day and everyone's nice to you on your first day but .. I had a really good first day. I came across as a complete goober I am sure, I felt like I had goofy teeth all day, I just wanted to grin and guffaw. At the end of the day the boss asked how i was going, all i could say was "i am sooo happy".

I feel like a refugee who has survived the war ravaged land and made it to safe habour.

They even have Star Wars posters. I mean, okay, so what, star wars posters.. hell.. they have POSTERS.. and stuff to STICK THEM UP WITH.. they even gave me STATIONERY and I didn't even have to buy my own TOILET PAPER.!!

I know, I have to let the past go. It's time to 'get over' the whole Aztech thing.

I just want you to know.. I am so happy to be working where I work. It was _so_ worth the wait.

Wednesday, September 05, 2001

Another blustery day, it feels more like the middle of Winter than the beginning of Spring. Another ride into the city with Greg this morning, although I arrived a bit too early even though he dropped me up the other end of town and I walked slowly.

I just emailed Rachelle and frightened her with the mail chime, she had her headphones on doing sound capture *chuckles* Reminds me of the time I ICQ's Mike and scared the living bee-jeezus out of him as he was getting ready for a drumming session and had all the volumes of his computer way up high. My UH-OH made him jump out of his skin.

Work is moving a bit slower today but I'm progressing and still glad to be here.

I'd quite like some mail though, people, so if you're inclined and even if you're not - email me!

Friday, September 07, 2001

I have a very keen sense of smell.. moreso than most people I know, I think. This morning, walking down Queen Street, I noticed smells. Not the smells of traffic or the buildings and such, but of people. When they walk past me, or I them, I catch their smell.

The first I noticed was the smell of warm instant coffee breath with a hint of cigarette, on looking up I saw a tall, thin blonde stubbing out her cigarette butt on the top of a trash can. No so bad, I thought. A man bustled past me in a cloud of aftershave and soap, his hair was still a bit damp at his collar. The woman standing in next to and a bit in front of me at the crossing had stale breath already, even though it was still before 8am.. maybe she hadn't bothered to brush her teeth this morning or had been up all night or something.

Once, during 1999, I had the misfortune of going to the Court House in Otahuhu. Foul, stale, old cigarette breath of the man across the foyer made my stomach turn. How can my nose smell that far?

Saturday, September 08, 2001

Last night, after work, Rachelle and I went to hear a free lecture by Sarah Flannery, an Irish mathematician. It was held in one of Auckland's more beautiful churches, St Matthews-in-the-City. The pews were packed, people standing around the back of the church. Ra and I managed to find a gap and get a seat. It's not the best, in fact it has to be one of the worst places for a lecture. We couldn't see the projections or see Sarah. She seemed to feel nervous about being in a church. She came across as a lovely girl. I had the impression she didn't really understand what all the fuss was about, the solving of puzzles came naturally to her (with a lifetime of hard work to, but there is a talant there) so maybe what I was hearing from her was that if you just think about things a little bit you'd find them solvible too. She presented a series of three puzzles - two numerical, one pictorial.

Her thought processes were completely logical, sequential and obvious - once she mentioned them. I know for a fact I wouldn't have even started on such puzzles before listening to her because I wouldn't even know where to start. But what it boils down to is being observant, being logical, thinking sequentially, eliminating possiblities until there is only one that you can prove by your previous process. Simple really. When you hear someone solve a puzzle out loud.

The last puzzle she gave us I will share with you.. mostly because I was unhappy with the solution she gave us (I think she missed out a sentence or something cos it, in my opinion, was not the solution). email me, and tell me your idea of the answer to this Russian's problem:

The Russian Postal Service was well known for being corrupt. Any package or letter that was easily opened was and would be by the people sorting the mail. Their corruption was so lucritive they didn't even bother with anything that was difficult to open even though they realised something truly valuable must be in the packages, if the package was securely locked it would reach it's destination intact.

And so we come to our problem. Uri loved Natasha. He loved her so much he saved all his money and bought her a beautiful, expensive, precious stone. Unfortunately, Uri lived in Moscow while Natasha lived in Vladisvostoc and the only way Uri could get this precious stone to Natasha was to used the Russian Postal Service, which, everyone knew, was so corrupt, nothing so precious would ever get through to it's destination unless it was secured in a locked box. But if Uri sent his gift in a locked box, how was Natasha to open the box without the key?

Solve Uri's puzzle.
Email me at jamjar(at)thejamjar.com with your solution.

oh.. and if you're so inclined.. two more puzzles if you'd like:

An insurance man came visit a woman.. he wanted to know the ages of her three children, but she wouldn't tell him. He asked if he might have a clue to their ages. She said the ages of her children when mulitplied together equaled 38. He thought about this for a while then said he'd need another clue, so she told him the ages of her children when added together equaled the number of the house next door. He thought about this for a wee bit before asking for one last clue, to which she replied, the oldest child plays the piano. The Insurance man had solved the ages of the woman's children. Have you?

Make a three by three square using the natural numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9, where each row, column and diagonal result in the same sum, and the numbers 1 through to 9 are used once and once only.

I hate puzzles, I wouldn't even attempt these if I hadn't heard Sarah step through them in a logical way. I'm not sure if it's because I lack patience or I'm just not smart enough - no.. the former I think, because as she was stepping through the problems, esp. with the magic 3 x 3 square above, I was able to see the consequences of her conclusions therefore able to see a contradiction coming.

Tuesday, September 11, 2001

What was wrong with this weekend that two men thought it wasn't worth going on. One young and in New Zealand; the other a little older and in Australia. Both had recently suffered a break in their relationships but that was their only common thread. I didn't know either directly, but indirectly on the outter circles of my 'known persons'. Just makes me shake my head.

On a lighter note - literally - the days are stretching out to great the summer. Spring's weather has settled down for the moment and the cool but bright days are a welcome relief. Lovely boating weather, for those inclined to potter. I heard of people going swimming in the sea over the weekend, the first dip for a while. I spent the weekend leisurely and happily working on a short presentation for Mags. I made it on her iBook (she has the keylime) so she is good to go. It turned out rather nicely. Nothing flash as far as animation goes, just a simple linear presentation with a mouse click to each new point and screan. Amazingly enough, three colours I 'threw' into the background really pulled it together - a reddy orange, a ducky blue and an olivey lime. Very nice 'left of centre' colours.

Funny though, cos after using the Mac all weekend, I keep looking for the Apple key on my PC.

Wednesday, September 12, 2001

Monday, September 17, 2001

As life goes on. The events of last week have dominated conversations online and off. I have nothing of value to add except worry about what the next week or two might bring. So I busy myself with my life, and hope the United States doesn't decide to be the stupid Giant it can sometimes be and the idiotic rantings of her general public [observed in The Articulate] are not an indication of the levels of intelligence further up the system.

My sister Jo comes up to Auckland once a year to attend a church seminar - woman's - thing and it is hard to believe that has rolled around again. I met up with Jo at the Atomic Cafe for brunch on Sunday morning. She's looking good and was in fine fettle. Her stories have me in stitches, she can make everyday events turn into hilarious tales that have me snorting loudly in public places. I can't even repeat them, you really have to hear them from the horse's mouth (not to suggest for one instant my sister is horselike).

After a very filling brunch I avoided a midday nap by visiting Mags and finishing off her multimedia tasks. I helped her make the multimedia part of her presentation last weekend, and this weekend took screen shots of the presentation so she could print them off once she got to work. I also exported the movie so the person who needed the file to embed into a webpage could do so - but in my dreamy state forgot the images in the presentation are huge and scaled down, so the file is also large for a Flash movie. I suppose I should go 'round and fix that *thinking out loud more than anything*.

On today's menu we have.. white bread and butter sandwiches with ham, egg and salad. Yes folks, the moon was blue and I got up and made lunch. I've been meaning to do this for mmm about, two years, and I finally managed to get my act together long enough to pull it off this morning.

Tuesday, September 18, 2001

[regarding Fatso's contribution to Michelle's career]
Gave you your first chance to bite the big one, face the music have burden of responsibility. Nothing like being left in the dark, alone and facing the client with something that is either broken or late.

Friday, September 21, 2001

I was gonna write something, but I ran out of lunchtime.

Monday, September 24, 2001

Movies were the name of the game this weekend. First attempt at going to see Tomb Raider on Friday night failed due to demand and Rachelle and I defaulted to AI. It looked so good in the trailers (the website is beautiful but the section I was most interested in, the sketches and storyboards, doesn't seem to want to give up it's booty) and was so bad in actual fact. Sure, it started off okay; the promise of William Hurt and the knowledge of Haley Joel Osment to come, the feeling of a thriller from the colours to the cinematography through to the decor, but it quickly failed to deliver. It was choppy and compartmental and didn't flow well enough to build any suspense before collapsing into a crazy Pinochio stolen story complete with the bizarro Fair and whales underwater with the drowned Coney Island. Enter Spielberg (I assume) and a bunch of left over aliens from Encounters of a Third Kind and then the movie just turned silly in the extreme. I came out of AI with the feeling that was 2.5 hours I'd never get back, and no where even close to worth missing the last Ferry for.

Saturday night I made it to Tomb Raider. (I'll find the link later *famous last words*) Not great but okay, action and nice toys, but no real Indianna Jones replacement. Though, the males who accompanied me to the movie wouldn't agree. Her slow motion escape from the Ice Cave near the end of the movie was a highlight, apparently. Anything after AI was gonna have a distinct advantage, and apart from the distressing moment when Lady Lara Croft's mini was flattened, it was entertaining enough for an early evening flick.

Also had a quick look at the first part of Jay and Silent Bob's latest. It seemed to be all fart jokes and smoking weed. I dunno, it was late, I was tired, it's on my harddrive so I might revisit it later in the week - I mean to say, Ben Affleck's in it, it can't be that bad - can it?

Wednesday, September 26, 2001

Last night was Quiz Night at O'Hagans. It's amazing how much a) I/We don't know and b) how misinformed and easily we can mix up our facts. Okay, so we're not the brightest sparks with the quickest brain function, but we had a few laughs and apart from the cost of beer, the night is free and fun. I did have my *one* sports answer covered, unfortunately they didn't ask the right question. My answer is "ockie" do you know what the question might be?

Work is busy but good, a couple of projects 'on the go' and lots to do and think about and design and make.

This lovely Spring day: slightly chilly but warm in the sunshine - clear blue sky and a skip in peoples' steps. I have noticed patches of skin appearing - sleeves shortening, legs becoming more flesh coloured foresaking the opacity of hose [mostly women, thank goodness]. People seem generally perky and glad to be getting some of that beloved sunshine in their weekends.

Thursday, September 27, 2001

Stephen sent me a funny mail today, and as it applies to 'kiwi speak' I've added it to the Glossary for your education and research.

I'm waiting for Greg to call me when he's close to picking me up from work. I'm meeting Rachelle at Sheepys tonight for our (rapidly becoming) fortnightly Switch meeting. We have smatterings of work and should really be putting all our efforts behind that and the web site and the portfolio but.. well... you know how things are. Hunger drives a lot, but I have a job now and I'm pouring all my energy into that, as I should, to begin with.

I wasn't going to tell you this, but I think I might. I had the good fortune to go out with a man on Sunday night. I didn't even meet him on the 'Net first *picks up your jaw* yes. I met him in the Buzz Bar last week when Karen and Sue were late arriving. After a while he just turned to me and asked me out. The first two nights he suggested I was busy but the third, Sunday, I was free. We went bowling and then dinner. It was a very nice evening and I enjoyed his company.

I was trying to think of the last time I had a real date. And I think it was when Greg and I first went out. 18 years between dates - you'd think I'dve been a tad more nervous. But I was barely nervous at all.