January 18, 2005 10:15

So I'm currently waiting on things to process on this data model I am running. Which means I can do some testing on my website. The very next entry I add may lead to some, um, interesting behaviour. Let's see what happens...

January 18, 2005 09:42

Damn it's cold. Winter has assaulted us again after a couple of absolutely splendid (in terms of temperature) weeks. Climbing out of bed was awfully difficult today, particularly since my heat did not work very well overnight - it dried the air but didn't really heat it.

That's really all I have to say right now, but I did want to get that off my chest.

January 14, 2005 13:29

Good news! Christmas is going to come to NZ after all! I just got a text message from my mum saying that the box arrived at 7am this (ie tomorrow) morning. About bloody time. Okay, back to work.

January 13, 2005 13:10

Fucking Jesus I hate the USPS. If I can help it, I will never use their services again.

What is required to file an insurance claim (cut and pasted):

1. Evidence of Insurance: The original mailing or sales receipt from the Postal Service™ showing the insurance amount. Reproduced copies are not acceptable. Note: Mailing receipts for Insured Mail, Registered Mail, and COD articles must contain a Postal Service postmark.
2. Evidence of Value: At least one of the following: a sales receipt, an invoice or bill of sale, a cost statement for replacing Express Mail Service documents, a copy of the front and back of the canceled check, a copy of the money order receipt, a copy of the credit card billing statement, or a final or complete transaction sheet indicating the amount deducted from an Internet account.
3. Proof of Damage and/or Partial or Complete Loss of Contents: The article and mailing container. Include the wrapping, packaging, and any contents that were received. For damage, provide an estimate of repair.
4. Proof of Complete Loss of Article (for Unnumbered Insured Mail Only): A document bearing the addressee's signature and stating that the addressee did not receive the article. The document must be dated and filed in accordance with the chart on page 1.

I don't keep receipts after they appear on my credit card. So I have to dig through my credit card statements and highlight all of the purchases made that I sent to NZ, and submit all of this to the Post Office. I have a form that needs to be filled out by the addressee - yes, I have to send it to NZ to get filled out by my mother. This is fucking ludicrous. I am, all of a sudden, in a very foul mood.

January 13, 2005 10:30

Thursday morning. Still no information from the client, so there's no good reason to go in to work. I can be otherwise productive here. I've got some reading to finish (The Mathematical Experience), and a few chores to sort out. Besides, when I get the answers I need from the client, I'll be working late to get all the bits I'm working on finished.

I was contemplating writing a thought-provoking entry, but that's not going to happen after all. Maybe later on. This is just a boring update, simply because I can.

January 13, 2005 01:30

Right now, I'm in a mix of emotions. There's ths girl I like (granted there's always someone), but then again, "girl" may not be the best description. I like this very attractive and fun woman who I've been hanging out with a lot recently.

Tonight, at her request, I have left my door open for her. I had planned on having four or five drinks and then coming home. I let her convince me to have more. Sure, peer pressure. Sure, pretty face.. Sure, she was buying. Not big deals really.

Really, what does one say in this situation. What does one do?

January 12, 2005 18:30

Wednesday. Hump Day. Trivia Night. Whatever else it may be.

Work was not very productive today. I did get some information which meant I was able to generate more questions, but I was also able to confirm a couple of other things, so it wasn't a total loss. It just felt non-productive.

I did some more work on the new web site. I'm very pleased with the progress. The navigation controls don't do a lot yet, but when the number of journal entries starts to grow, they will be of use. I need to add some more controls to allow you, my reader, to jump to specific days or entries. We shall see how that comes along. In the meantime, I am quite pleased. One other thing that I will need to think about how to address is the fact that the time is Pacific time zone, since that is where the servers that host my web site are location. Not a big deal, but annoying, nonetheless.

I will be heading up to Trivia tonight. I'm in the mood for it, although I'm not really in the mood to drink. I'm trying to cut down on drinking during the week, and I've been moderately successful thus far. Yesterday being an exception for the soccer, of course. I am making some food at home so I can save a little cash at the bar. It's not much food, but hopefully it'll be enough to get me by.

Soon I will start using my journal for commentary, I think. I have wanted to for a while, but haven't had the impetus due to the limitations imposed by my previous architecture. Now that I've changed it quite significantly, I have a lot more flexibility on when and how I write. It should be interesting.

January 11, 2005 18:28

So another Liverpool victory. The first half they weren't looking so good, but when Baros came on in the second half, a new life seemed to be found. The quality of the game did not inspire me qith confidence for Saturday's game against Man U, but Baros' fitness seems to be back, which is a great thing.

I caught up with the other Liverpool fans at the Brewhouse, along with Sharron, and Mark, the owner of the Aussie Bakery and president of the Australia/New Zealand US Chamber of Commerce. As a result of being there, I am a little light headed. I am inclined to drink some more (hence the open bottle of beer in front of me), but I really should try to avoid going out to the Local. I think I will fail in that mission, however, as I really do not feel like making dinner and another beer seems like a splendid idea.

I've uploaded the rest of the snaps for the variation picture at the bottom of the menu. There are some good pictures there; the full sized versions are all available from the old web site.

Okay, time for a break. Have a good evening, and I'll catch up with stuff soon.

January 11, 2005 14:11

Welcome to 2005. This is my first real entry of the year. I have completely rewritten the engine that builds my web pages. I'm currently quite pleased with the results. You may have noticed the picture at the bottom left of the page that changes every time you click to a new page. It's completely random as to what picture comes up. At the moment there are only 69 pictures available, but I intend to convert more later.

This is going to be a brief entry, as I will be heading off to The Brewhouse in a little while to watch the Carling Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Watford. I have today off work because of the time I worked during the holidays. The week between Christmas and New Years was designated a company holiday, but I had to work a few days on the relocation of our office to a new building and on the project I am curerntly assigned. Hence I could take the days I worked at another time during January, and since I am waiting on information from the client, today seems a pretty good day to take off.

As for my web site, there are a couple of things I need to add sooner rather than later: naviagation controls for the journal (since it's no longer broken down into months), and some error checking. And pictures. In the meantime, enjoy.

Catch you later!

January 11, 2005 10:30

This is the new journal. I'm not sure yet how this is going to work out, but we shall see. I'm trying to make it simpler for me to post updates. This means I will not have all the formating that I used to. At least I think that's what's going to happen.