Sense and Sensibility-ness-ing-ly

(This post was requested, and who am I to deny my people what they want?!?!)

I have to admit that I was pretty hesitant to get back on a motorcycle after the accident. Stupid questions like "would I still remember how to ride" and better ones like "what if someone hits me harder next time" were racing through my head. Given that I was on the premises of Brisbane's Harley Davidson dealer, it may not have been the best place to have this crisis of confidence, but here I was anyway ready to test ride a new bike.

The recovery had taken some time - about 3 months all up - and it was painful in parts and annoying mostly. My leg is pretty much 100%, my knee about 90% and my shoulder about the same. I have some physio exercises that I should continue doing, however I haven't been the best patient in that regard. Additionally, with the injury severely limiting my mobility, I've put on a bunch of weight that I'd lost (e.g. this time last year I was 134kg - this morning I was 148kg). I've got some serious work to do to get rid of that weight, but I'm confident I can get back into it and lose it all (and hopefully more) again. I find it really noticeable, and it's easy for me to lose hope and not even try, but I am applying myself and I know that I can do it - I just have to do it.

 I must offer that I am completely blessed to have a wife as understanding as mine. Sure, there's the practicality of me having a bike that allows me to get to work independently and leave her with the car for the kids, but then there's also the fact that she even allowed me to look at another bike. Perhaps she was still dazzled by my brief TV appearance from the initial accident (OK, you didn't see me, but my accident made it onto the morning traffic report for Channel 7 the day it happened!). She is extremely trusting and I will not violate that. Ever.

Getting back on a bike was a pretty good feeling - until I let the clutch out to start moving the for first time. It was like I didn't trust myself... or anyone else on the road for that matter. The test ride was relatively short, but I did get to open up the bike pretty quickly and was amazed that at one point I was doing 90 km/hr and didn't even realise. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I know this: once we got back from the test ride, I was hooked again. The freedom, the feeling, the wind on my gut - it was all there.

Importantly, since I've taken delivery of my new bike I've been really cautious of being aware of my surroundings, especially the other idiots in the four-wheeled tin cans. I haven't really opened the new bike up, but I look forward to it the first chance I get to go for a ride for the sake of going for a ride. Might get a chance when my mate Waz gets back from the UK if we can get him a bike soon enough. Here's hoping, anyway.

Actually really looking forward to Waz coming back as he and I have plans for my sled already, not least of which are some new and completely offensive pipes for it... just to hear the burble a couple of suburbs away!

Just to assure my Beloved and TJ - both who I know are concerned that I'm gonne get hurt - I'm being really, REALLY careful...

Ok, I know I've been the worst blogger in the blogoverse of late - so little time to blog is only part of the problem.

I won't bore you with all the details now, but I've spent the past 5 days (except for the 12 hours I slept in those 5 days total) working on a dying server that is uber-critical to my current employer. Critical like it could lose them a multi-million dollar contract if I don't get it running stably again.

Me and my team did, at about 4am this morning (Friday 02/01/09). Yay us.

I will blog more in 2009 - starting with our overdue letter/video/thingy which will be just as enjoyable as last years (which, if you missed it, can be seen, heard and awed over here) but probably less technical - our video camera has died. BUT THAT WILL NOT STOP themolk - OH NO!  :)  Be prepared to be *dazzled*

Until then, "Happy new year, everyone" will have to suffice...

I appreciate it's overdue, but here are some shots of the bike in the shop after the accident.

I'm of the opinion I did pretty well to get through this without the same damage,dints and scrapes. Farewell, my purple sporty...

So, it took some negotiating, but it finally made it... my new bike...

Mmm... tasty Harley Davidson goodness...

For the purists, it's a 2009 Harley Davidson Dyna SuperGlide, and it goes like an awesome piece of American engineering! These photos were taken before I even sat on the bike when taking delivery of it a week ago.

This article is just plain wrong on so many levels I can barely conceive of it - like it's an online myth waiting to be busted. Except that it's not.

How poor has the generic online community become that someone 'threatens' suicide and the other people in the forum chastise/egg the person on. Where were the moderators? Where was this guys family and friends? It's haunting if for no other reason that the police after being called had to cover up the webcam once they discovered the body. Ew.

RIP Abraham Biggs. I pray you found your peace.

It's really hard to discipline a child when something they've done or said has your partner in stitches, and you're struggling to keep your "angry" face on...

I managed to score a few hours working from home this afternoon, and was greeted with a great deal of joy and glee by the kidlets. After Daddy managed to get some time to take his shoes off and sit down and speak with Mummy (approx 15 minutes after arriving - lots of cuddles to be had, cricket to be played), I settled down next to Michelle to catch up on something. Lily came over and was entranced at identifying where our belly buttons were - her's is easy to find! She went over to Luke to find his, however as he was busy watching one of his favourite shows (The Adventures of Bottle Top Bill and his best friend Corky) he was not in a mood to be distracted. She leaned over him to try to find his belly button and he, using his feet, pushed her away quite forcefully.

I will pause at this point and mention that Lily is in no way defenceless - now that she has a serious set of teeth in her head, all is fair game and up for a bite if she's upset or angry. Be warned, all of you.

Lily went to bite Luke in retaliation (in some place boys never want bitten - that was his most exposed part at that point!), and he got mad and went to kick her again - we intervened. I called Luke over and spoke with him about his behaviour and how in no way was it acceptable to kick anyone, especially his sister. Then, as a part of apologising to his sister and is de rigeur in our household, he was instructed to give Lily a kiss and a cuddle and say sorry. Lily leaned straight in, all puckered up for her apology kiss. Luke was not having any part in it.

"Put your mouth away, Lily", he demands.

Michelle looses it. I'm there trying to keep my disciplinarian face on, instructing my son to continue with the apology ritual - give your sister a kiss and a cuddle and say sorry. Lily leans in all puckered up again, and Luke says no and tells her to put her mouth away again. Michelle's a giggling mess, I'm starting to laugh, by this time Luke has given Lily a token kiss and cuddle and squeezed out a 'sorry Lily' and both kids have come over and started cuddling and laughing with/at us.

That's it... my job as a disciplining ogre has been entirely white-anted by the raucous laughter filling the room. I'm done.

Recently I have been privileged to be asked to share some parenting experiences and have been following the stories of some parents from around the globe. Be warned, the first two may just break your heart, but on a lighter note, reading Bel's experience of impending motherhood is an absolute delight.

http://kyahsjourney.livejournal.com/

http://goodtimesdelgadostyle.blogspot.com/

http://memoirsfromhell.wordpress.com/

I'm feeling very 'Groundhog Day' right now.

Due to some PR issues requiring my attention, I'm back in Perth to help smooth things over. The trip for the migration went well, but some things didn't quite get finished and in dribs and drabs the team went back east. We should have stayed until all was well with the western world - so I've spent most of the weekend trying to sort as much out remotely as I could, and then hopped on a plane this afternoon to get back here to ensure the staff in Perth felt the love.

So... time to finish the clean up, and get to bed so that I'm up bright and cheery at work tomorrow 6am Perth time. Yay!

VMware Virtualisation Forum 2008 - 15 October, Sydney.

Well... what a day! Learnt heaps, made some good contacts, and got some good gear from the vendor booths.

Rather than just blog about it (alone), I thought I'd take some pics on my phone and add some colour to the process...

Maybe I'm too cynical for my own good, but as one of the biggest advantages of virtualisation is the immediate reduction of physical servers in an environment thus reducing power usage and improving your carbon footprint, VMware like to shout about the 'green' benefits. Boy did they shout about it today - recycled this, green that, carbon footprint small something else. Valid, but it just felt a little over the top. Eh, it's their show.

Paul Maritz, VMware President and CEO (yes, that's his title), delivered a good short and long term future view of how VMware are developing their footprint and products. It was during his presentation that my whole understanding of what VMware could do for my new company changed. No longer just server virtualisation, but now true virtualisation to the desktop (using the power of the local machine or able to be cached on a laptop for travellers or use a thin client) - VMware View. They've even managed to remove the requirement for an OS on the hardware and just use their desktop hypervisor to connect to their virtualised desktop. I'm sold... good BYE Citrix.

The Solutions Centre is always an interesting place to walk around. Lots to see, do, take and 'acquire'. Usually simple, boring geek toys like USB keys, USB hubs, badged stress toys, etc. The food offered was pretty good (although I only had morning tea, and was very good) - I arrived to breakfast partially upset with myself I'd already had toast at the hotel, and when I appeared there was ham and cheese croisants everywhere. I didn't have one... but I really wanted to.

There were lots of good things to look at, lots of things to learn. There were some 'interesting' things to look at too...

Some geek events have LOTS of these kinds of things (although this is the first time I've seen a male booth bitch at a geek event - the few women there really liked it). The woman wasn't that surprising but that there was only one was surprising. It's very un-PC, but it happens. Personally, she's pretty but not that attractive. I really don't get why people sign up for this... I guess it's the ca$h.

I planned to catch up with our local VMware rep, and after some discussions with our DiData account manager he put me onto someone from the Brisbane office that was also there (thanks for your time, Adele!) and we enjoyed lunch with Mark and Eli at Jordon's Seafood Restaurant. The conversation was good, the food was delicious (although Mark's soft shell crab was pretty bland and over cooked), and the opportunities that presented will prove interesting. Don't know what the others had for lunch, but mine was pretty awesome...

Two of the presentations I was at were interesting enough to note - the new VMware Stage Manager will help in managing virtual machine bloat, and getting the inside line on virtualising Exchange and SQL was always going to be helpful.

My score was OK - not the biggest I've had, and certainly not the best, but interesting enough. The stuff shown here is the useable stuff I've kept. Lots of promo paperwork 'recycled' not shown here. It was a bigger pile that I expected to have to pack into my bag, but managed to. As you can see there are some multiples because of the kids - both at home and at work. I try to spread the love...

It's moot, I appreciate, but I'm going to use the upcoming time away from the family to catch up on some overdue blogging - answering all the hard and not so hard questions.

Your involvement will be key. Be prepared.