themolk and Michelle's blog
To all my American friends and readers, happy 4th of July!
May your fireworks not explode prematurely, may your bbq's be enjoyable and not burned, and may you truly enjoy the freedom which your forefathers fought so tirelessly and bravely for... from all us convicts over here Down Under.
I'm sure nothing says 'Independence Day' to all you U-S-of-A-ians like a large sculpture of the founding fathers in Wisconsin cheese... I just don't get it.
I've been avoiding blogging because I didn't want to dump out how depressed I am that I'm yet to secure a job (although lots of interview processes are coming to the pointy bit at the moment), and I also didn't want to share just how soul-less it is at Centrelink (where I've spent a couple of hours the past few days signing up for the benefits I can have... eventually... if we need them).
Friday is the last appointment for my weight loss program, but I will bless you with another blog specifically about that then. If we're all really lucky, I may even do a vlog about it.
Been keeping busy with lots of interviews, phone interviews, job applications, chasing up recruiters who never return phone calls - doing the whole job hunting thing. Patience is the biggest thing I think I am learning from all of this, but I'm crap at being patient... so you can imagine how well I'm faring!
The most difficult thing is not to fall into the "woe is me" trap. I don't want to be like that at all, and I know that people are simply caring when they ask how the job hunt is going and "have I got a job yet" but I can be through gritted teeth sometimes that I reply "fine". The scarce few that ask really want to hear the truthful answer... the rest have already moved on to some other conversation point, or some other conversation with other people altogether.
The most important thing I am trying to remember is that now that we are in a new financial year (Australia runs a July-June fin year for our overseas readers) business that were holding off looking for someone for budgetary reasons are starting to drop out their job ads now... and the quality of some of the jobs is showing.
So... I will persevere. It's game 3 of the Rugby League annual State of Origin clash and it's well interesting as both Qld and NSW have one a game each. This one will be a cracker of a decider, so I'm looking forward to watching that with mates. I've a recruiter interview tomorrow for what would be the ideal job... and I am jumping through all the hoops with them to stay on side. As I mentioned I've my final appointment for the Wesley Weight Management Clinic, so hopefully that'll be a high point to end that on - but that won't stop my weight loss - still have at least 20-30kg to lose I think (and the dieticians agree). So I will soldier on there. Michelle and I have a friend's wedding to attend to on Saturday afternoon, I'm leading worship Sunday morning and then it's a new week again... with an interview on Tuesday for a contract with a company (to be revealed later) that would be spectacular. But it's only a contract. But maybe that's what I need right now. I don't know.
One thing I do know is before I start whatever job I will get, I need to play some more Halo with my mates... but for now, I am being paged to come and play "fast cars" (Burnout Revenge) with my 3 year old boy, and spending time with him will well hit the spot.
I got up early to ride in for my appointment, and it was pretty foggy outside (thinking back now, I should have taken a shot!). After my appointment I rode up Mt Coot-tha to have a look, and was greeted with a Brisbane covered in cloud... even the city couldn't be seen, except for the spire on top of Brisbane's current tallest building.
An interesting start to the morning for this sub-tropical state capital!
Seeing as I have so much free time on my hands, Michelle though it pertinent that I update our gallery with some more photos of the kids from the past months.
Done - view it here.
As you can see, Luke and Lily are both growing well, and enjoying playing with each other. Lily has inherited her parent's love for reading, although has a little way to go in understanding how fragile books can sometimes be. Luke still loves building, and they both really love riding their bikes (and each other's!) around chasing each other. They've also both become fashion plates, of sorts - Lily in a style to be expected, and Luke... well, let's just say his sense of style is modelled on his Dad's.
As you'll see from the photos, both Luke & Lily have taken to technology far sooner and far better than I even would have guessed... although it should have been expected. There's even a lovely shot of Michelle and I at a work do earlier this year - Michelle looks stunning, and I kinda look like I've lost some weight.
There's also a couple of lovely landscape shots Michelle took in our yard... she really does have a good eye.
Luke started Day Care this morning, just one day a week for now. He has been talking about it for ages – what he will do, what he will say, and what he will play with. The first thing he said today was “Yining (his carer) will love to see me!” which is just lovely. I am glad he was/is so excited and happy about it, but I miss him already… He was so busy when we left he barely had time to say goodbye. Ah well, at least I will have some one-on-one time with Lily.
It's finally announced that it's coming... and it's still not quite there (however uber geek and cool pics here)...
When I geeked about the lauch of the first model of the iPhone here, there were a few things the device was missing. Apple (to their credit) have fixed a couple of these, added a couple of other good things and still not caught up on the whole package. There's then also a few more things that they haven't altered or updated that I would have thought are a "must do" in a version 2.0 release.
Let's face it - the release of the iPhone was a breath of fresh air in an increasingly stale mobile phone market. No one had really done anything special with the technology, and handsets weren't in themselves any cheaper. The iPhone v1.0 on release was a tad expensive however Apple shortly rectified that (much to the chagrin of the early adopters). The v2.0 release has been announced at a global price point - $US199 ($209.32) for the 8GB model to $US299 ($314.50) for 16GB (info courtesy news.com.au). The two Aussie telcos who have announced they'll sell the iPhone (Optus and Vodaphone) now have just over a month (device releases July 11) to annouce their plans and THE plans they'll bundle the phone with - and be prepared to hang onto your wallets.
One of the coolest things about the v2.0 device is the introduction of 3G speeds (one of the downsides I reported in my original article about v1.0 device). The integration of the phone with its applications, and GPS and the data requirements for mapping, etc, will make this a data hungry beast. The data speed will make it practical to purchase and download songs from iTunes while you're out and about... cool for purchasing the latest song you just heard somewhere, but bad when you get your bill at the end of the month and your data bill is more than your phone cost in the first place! Additional to this, currently only Telstra have national 3G coverage and they are yet to show their hand if they'll be selling the iPhone v2.0. Vodafone and Optus may flog it but it will only work really nicely in the capital cities of Oz, and then somewhat selectively.
The most interesting aspect of the new features of the iPhone v2.0 is the Microsoft Exchange push mail integration (ActiveSync) and full support for the Microsoft Office Word/Excel/etc formats, taking a MASSIVE swing at the market dominance BlackBerry has had in this arena for some time (although Microsoft's own offering in Windows Mobile 5.0 and 6.0 has been chipping away at it). This will allow you to get your iPhone to sync your work e-mail wirelessly, and read/reply as well as getting your calendar and contacts synced on-the-go. A great integration, but I am yet to be convinced I'll want to tap away with the iPhone's on-screen keyboard to reply to e-mails, write new ones, etc. It just seems a little clumsy, but with the iPhone's excellent user interface (UI) it's all you have business world. To be fair the device is Bluetooth 2.0 enabled, so an external keyboard could be purchased and paired if you were that concerned. I'm guessing it will be more business chic than business practical that drives this baby into the corporate environment. In an age where more and more companys are looking at ways to recruit and keep Generation Y happy, the iPhone will become the tool du jour. There is also some cool integration with Cisco IPSEC VPN support, and the ability for company administrator's to "lockdown" settings within the iPhone.
One thing really surprised me - the released specs of the phone have a 2.0 megapixel camera in it. Still. I would have thought we should have been dragged into 2008 with at least a 5.0 MP camera... but then, I guess we must save something for the release of the iPhone v2.5 or v3.0!
The long and the short of the iPhone v2.0:
+ 3G connectivity is finally here
+ Apple's App Store, allowing you to buy and download everything you weren't sure you needed but have to have on your cool new toy
+ Let's face it, it just looks cool, has has a spectacular UI (and you can now get it in white!)
+ Quad-band unit (GPRS/EDGE), Tri-band unit (3G/HSDPA), should allow the phone to globally roam without issue
+ Exchange integration - nice work!
+ The incredibly long list of cool and eminently useable features in the damn thing
? Why would you buy a 8GB iPhone, when the 16GB isn't that much more expensive
? Still no user replaceable battery
? Still no additional memory expansion slot
? Exchange integration - tappy, tappy, tappy with your fingers
I want one... OH, I WANT ONE... but I'll wait until I get offered one by my next job... they can pay the data bill. ;)
What do you think? Will the iPhone being released in Australia make you want to change your phone?
iPhone v2.0 - http://www.apple.com/au/iphone/
12/06/08 UPDATE:: Both Vodafone and Optus have announced they will be selling the iPhone under a 'prepaid' plan as well, allowing people to purchase the unit and not be locked to their network... methinks because Apple wouldn't let them... ;)
14/06/08 UPDATE:: Telstra has a swing at Optus over its '3G' coverage of Oz, stating that Optus's network will be a mix of two frequencies, only one of which the iPhone supports for 3G connectivity. Buyer beware!
Just an amazing experience...
I'd heard about the 'Ride for Daniel' from a mate who went on it last year and raved about it, and he convinced me to come - thanks Foxy.
So I don't bore you, here's the Brisbane 7 news story on the ride (sorry for the quality, but you get the idea)...
An amazing day, that started with us turning up to register about 8:30am and we found at least 4,000 bikes already there. We had a look around, saw some nice bikes, Foxy ran into some people he knew(!) and then there was the formalities before the ride (safety, etc). Then, just before we left, they got all the bikes to start and rev before we went... WOW! It was loud, and just such an adrenalin rush.
Once the front pack started leaving it took us nearly 20 minutes to get out (and were in the middle towards the front!). As we went to leave, Foxy's bike wouldn't start so we basically had to leave him on the spot and go with the pack - but it turns out he was able to start his bike in the end and we found each other at the end at the Ettamogah Pub.
The ride was amazing... riding along the old and new Bruce Highways with thousands of other bikes of all sorts - Suzukis, Kawasakis, Ducattis, Beulls, Triumphs, GoldWings, and of course thousands of Harley Davidsons (of which I was but one small one). There was also thousands of people lining the road waving flags and wearing red and clapping and cheering us on. Just incredible. If nothing else, it was a powerful statement proving that bikers will not accept violence against children and hopefully highlights the continued seach for Daniel Morcombe.
Once I made it to the Pub I got off and got a couple of video grabs of the bikes as they arrived - what you see is two grabs of what went on for nearly an hour. Check them out here...
Just a spectacular day - I'm hooked, and will be back next year. Such a broad sense of camaraderie - all sorts of dudes on bikes (and lots of girls too), many with their partners/wives on the back and heaps of kids also. A unique event that will not only continue to raise money for the Daniel Morcombe Foundation and their work, but also add to the publicity surrounding Daniel's disappearance and will hopefully help Daniel be found and laid to rest.
If you ride and you read this, you MUST be involved next year. You won't regret it. If you want to do it and you don't ride, there's always the chance to pillion. Lots of waving to be done. Now, if only I can convince Michelle to come with me on the ride next year...
Daniel Morcombe Foundation - http://www.danielmorcombe.com.au/
Ride for Daniel - http://www.ridefordaniel.com.au/
My picture gallery from the ride - http://themolks.com/template_gallery_detail.asp?fldGalleryID=49
I'd forgotten how disheartening it can be to remember you don't have a job to go back to after a day off... which is what my time feels like at the moment. Just a day off here and there that somehow has lasted a month.
When you have a job, life can be crazy busy. Stuff happening here and there, this pressure, that trip, this deadline, that staff/interpersonal issue - it all adds up to waiting to get out of there and home, away from it all. Then you go home and try to unwind and forget about work (that's if you're not working that night, or have a report to do, or some article to read or write). Then it's back to work tomorrow.
I find that at the moment I have too much free space in my head. It's now being used to over-analyse what went wrong in my last job that my boss so unceremoniously dumped me like yesterday's hero. That's a bad thing, because I know I was doing a good job and doing the right thing... he just didn't like me and is so emotionally disconnected he wouldn't know how to communicate if someone wrote him a letter and stuffed it down his throat.
That's all I'll say on that.
I'm working hard on looking. I've called in my network of vendors, friends, fellow geeks, people I know in recruitment, and checking places like it.seek.com.au far more frequently that I need to - it's not like the first person to apply gets the job(!). I'm just paranoid, and feeling pretty worthless to my family by knowing that, while we're not on the ropes financially yet, if I don't get a job at the end of the next 6 weeks we could be. Please understand that is not a grab for sympathy or a call for donations - that's just how it is. I'm confident I'll find a job by then, I'm just not sure it will be the right one. I'm working hard in trusting God and being patient (which is always a hard thing for little old me)... I know I am a competent, strategic, hard-working, strong technical leader and manager. I am working so hard to convince anyone who'll sit down long enough that I am the person they need to revolutionise their IT department. Soon... someone will believe me, and they won't regret it.
Until then, I continue to battle my demons... the ones that whisper in my ear that I'm not good enough to be employed, that I have no idea what I am doing, and have no business managing a team of IT professionals. The ones that tell me that even though I've lost over 40kg I'm still fat and no one likes a fat person. The ones that tell me that I'm a crap father/husband/provider because I can't even keep a job. The ones that play on my personal fears and vulnerabilities and enhance and rub at them with their irritating sandpaper. It's a daily struggle to rise above all that. So far - I know I am good enough. So far...
...I can't be stuffed.
...I'm sooooo not motivated to do anything really... reviewing my life at the moment will only depress me more.
...if I do it will turn into a rant against IT recruiters and the shoddy disregard they show to job seekers who put actual effort into their resume and application, and then ignore them and refuse to return their phone calls.
...I'll only end up telling you how I put weight on when I went on my trip to Perth/Darwin where I worked my butt off for, it seems now, no real reason. I am struggling to lose this weight I have put back on, but am actually managing to get rid of a little.
..."My Kid's A Star" got shafted 30 min shows on Saturday at midday, and I only realised last Saturday and saw the second last one. At least I know for this Saturday to watch the final episode. I also remembered to tape the first "Flight of the Conchords" too - so at least now I have something to watch - thanks Channel 10 for FINALLY picking up something worthwhile to watch and subsequently burying it straight away. Could be worse... I could have become a fan of "Canal Road" which Channel 9 gave 2 weeks and then buried it so deep it's not even on the program. Ew.
...that's about all I can offer that is sensical and worth giving public voice to. Such is life...
(* = Valuable Geek Tools)