This looks familiar...

2011 Wishlist

Video Games

• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Xbox 360, release scheduled for 11 November 2011)
• L.A. Noire (Xbox 360, release scheduled for 20 May 2011)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360, released 10 November 2009)

DVDs

• Castle, Season 1
• Castle, Season 2
• Castle, Season 3
• Battle of Britain
  

Other

• Microsoft Xbox Live Points
• iPad 2 (black)

Oh no

I've just spotted the new Tomb Kings figures from Games Workshop. I'm beginning to regret giving up the hobby.

A fantastic weekend

Spent the weekend (since Friday afternoon) at the Tarureka Estate (formerly the Loft) in Featherston for the wedding of our good friends James and Sarah (who are also Logan's godparents). Since we were spending two nights at the Estate (in the Cottage), Summer went to spend the weekend at her breeder's just outside Levin. We took the opportunity to take a bit of a road trip, and headed for the Manawatu Gorge. Unfortunately, due a small navigational error on my part, we turned off SH57 before we got the SH3 and went across the Pahiatua Track instead. Wasn't that terrible, though: we got to drive through some beautiful New Zealand countryside (although I was the only one awake to enjoy most of it!). We got to Featherston just after 3pm, with time to get settled in and go to the rehearsal. Juliette was the groom's "Best Woman", so she was quite involved with everything, leaving me and Logan to our own devices. Fortunately, there were several other children around Logan's age staying for the wedding as well, so Logan got to make friends. Saturday was the day of the wedding, so Logan and I were again left to our own devices while Juliette was occupied with wedding stuff. About 2, we started getting ready. Logan looked great in his mini-tux, while Juliette looked fantastic in her dress. The wedding was perfect, with even the mosquitoes leaving everyone alone (they had mauled us savagely on Friday). After the wedding, we had a couple of hours before the reception. Logan got admired by all and sundry (some saying he outshone the girls!). A baby sitter had been booked and turned up laden down with toys. The kids seemed to like her, and we were quite happy to leave Logan with her. The reception was brilliant, and the bride & groom allowed me to sit next to Juliette at the head table, which was very gracious of them. The meal was fantastic, and accompanied by some really nice wines (not that I'm a wine connoiseur). Unfortunately, before Juliette's speech, I got a text from the babysitter saying that Logan had woken up and was upset, so I had to shoot over to the homestead to calm him down. Afterwards, I brought Logan back to the reception, but he really needed to go to sleep so we only stayed for about 10 minutes before I took him back to the cottage. Juliette stayed at the reception, performing her best-womanly duties. On Sunday, we prepared to leave. A barbecue was planned for that afternoon, but we needed to leave by 2pm to get to Summer by 5pm if we were going to go through the Manawatu Gorge (I had figured out where I went wrong, and knew where I was going this time!). In the end, we left at 2:30, so I decided we'd forego the gorge and head for Levin via the Rimutaka Hill Road-Haywards Hill-SH 1. Juliette, however, insisted that we go the long way because I really wanted to go through the Gorge. After a bit of ... discussion ... we agreed we'd go through the Gorge. I'm really glad I listened to Juliette. Not only was the Gorge a really beautiful peace of scenery and a nice road to drive, but just north of Carterton, five aircraft -- two biplanes (possibly Sopwith Camels) in Royal Flying Corps colours and three triplanes (possibly Fokker Dr.Is) in Luftstreitkraefte colours -- flew overhead. Thank goodness the roads in the Wairarapa tend to be straight, because I wasn't really watching the road! After a brief fuel stop in Pahiatua (where we met one of the other wedding guests), we went through the Gorge and headed for Levin, where we got in at 5:30. Summer had managed to hurt herself leaping up at guests the day before and had a severe limp, but she was happy to see us. We were happy to see her, but Logan was really happy to see her. We had a quick chat with the breeder, before getting back on the road and heading home down SH1.

Unfortunate...

Spotted on Stuff just now:

Our English is the goodest

From the IRD's page on spotting phishing scams:

Warning signs to watch for

If you receive an email asking for your tax information including your IRD number, password or user ID you should always check:

- is the sender's email address "@ird.govt.nz"?
- does the login page start with "https://"?
- does the website have "govt.nz/" in the address?
- does the text use poor spelling or grammar?

If you answered "No" to any of these question, delete the email permanently and also delete it from your trash

So in other words, if the text does use poor spelling or grammar then it must be from the IRD...

Happy New Year!

2011 is upon us, and here's hoping this year's better than the last three months have been.

As most of you will know, 2010 saw the loss of Merlin, one of our beloved golden retrievers. A semi-routine trip to the vet ended with a diagnosis of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. We tried chemo -- which only had a 20% remission rate -- but it only worked for a little bit, and Merlin was eventually sent to sleep on December 5, with me, Juliette and Summer with him at the last.

Of course, there have been happier moments this year. Logan turned one, and is almost walking. He got thoroughly spoiled on his birthday and Christmas, and had the undivided attention of his grandparents as his cousin Connor spent Christmas in Rotorua. This year, there should be four grandkids at the family Christmas: Connor, Logan, Hugo from Japan and Connor's brother or sister (who's due April/May).

New Year's resolutions include the perennial favourite, lose weight. I also want to spend some time getting a programming portfolio together, something I can point potential employers to. And I just want to be the best husband and father I can be.

Things to look forward to:

• Logan turning two
• Possibly trying for chickling #2
• Buying our first house
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in November (theoretically -- it's almost a given that it will be delated)

I'm sure there'll also be the usual ups and downs (that's called "life", folks) -- that's half the fun of a new year.