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.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Coming Next Issue - News - www.GameInformer.com

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Coming Next Issue - News - www.GameInformer.com

Afternoon entertainment

Some idiot's just put a digger through a water main at the roadworks on Manners Street. The plume was higher than the 10-storey building across the road from my office.

Edit: Nearly an hour later, and it's still going, though not as forcefully.

Edit: Found on Youtube:

That made my day

I'm working away like a good little boy, and I hear a light aircraft approaching. I think to myself, "He sounds a little low" and look out the window.

Buzzing across Wellington just above the roof tops is a Spitfire.

I don't think I'll be able to get this grin off my face for a while :-) Such a beautiful machine, such a wonderful noise!

>:-)

Mafia II demo has been released on Xbox Live.... I know what I'm doing after I've put Logan to bed tonight.

Want a reason to play Warhammer?

I'll give you 143 reasons not to. That's how much the 8th edition rule book costs. Sure, it's a hardcover, full colour 500+ page book, but it's only been four years since 7th edition, and from my (admittedly brief) flip-through of the new rule book at lunchtime today, not much has changed.

So, sorry Game$ Work$hop, but here's where we part company. I'll paint the figures I've got, but I'm not going to get any more.

One less hobby to occupy my time...

Indie space battle game

Stumbled across a really neat space-battle game, Gratuitous Space Battles. Lots a fun!

Don't you just love cyclists?

So I've dropped Logan off at daycare this morning, about 8am, and I've gotten back in the car to head off to work.

The carparks are right outside the daycare building, meaning cars have to drive over the footpath to get to and out of them. So while I'm reversing out the angle park, I'm conscious of the fact that there's cyclists and pedestrians travelling along the footpath in both directions. So I pull out carefully, and fortunately there's no cyclists or pedestrians in sight.

So there I am sitting on the footpath, dutifully indicating that I'm intending to pull onto Hutt Road when there's a gap in the traffic. It being rush hour, I've got to wait a bit.

I'm sitting there about thirty seconds when a cyclist arrives behind me. Remember, I'm stationary (with my brake lights on and have been for half a minute) and indicating that I'm trying to get onto a very busy road. But that's not enough for this character: he gesticulates at me to get out of the way.

Where? Where the heck am I going to go? On to Hutt Road? No thanks: the traffic's not stopping and I have no desire to be the road accident for the morning. Back into the carpark? Along the footpath?

Finally, the cyclist decides to go around me. Through the one-metre-wide gap between me and all the parked cars (so I'm between him and the busy street). The gap that no-one else is using. The gap that was there all along.

As he passes the front of the car, he gives me a dirty look.

So to sum up: I manoeuvred my car carefully (because I don't want some lycra-clad idiot splattered across my bonnet), I kept a gap so pedestrians and cylists can keep moving along the footpath (emphasis on foot), and I'm indicating so everyone can clearly see what I'm doing. But it wasn't enough for some holier-than-thou wheel-wiener who obviously decided that I was a massive obstacle that he'd have to alter course for.

I should also point out that I've almost been knocked down five times while dropping Logan off or picking him up from daycare. All five incidents involved a cyclist. Two of those times I was holding Logan.

So that's why I hate cyclists.

Update: And on the way home along the Hutt Road, in the 80 km/h stretch, I had to swerve to avoid hitting an idiot cyclist who suddenly veered in front of me to overtake another two idiot cyclists who, despite having the whole shoulder to ride in, were riding on the lane marking. Fortunately, I was the only car for twenty metres in either direction, and having Logan in the back seat helped keep the bad language away, but I was pretty ropeable.

Damn cyclists.

Giggle...

From The Bottom Feeder:

I'll hear someone behind me shout, "Oi!" Which is British for, "Pardon me, but I am about to give your ass a truly extensive kicking."

Can you do 300 things in a minute?

Then you can become a professional StarCraft player:

Pray, a moment's silence

Mr Plecostamus -- a fish who survived the past three years with a hole in his head -- has passed away.

Journalists and research

Stuff has a news article about the Rousillon crash of an Airbus A320 in 2008, where five Kiwis and two Germans were killed.

About halfway into the article is the line, "Flight data showed that the pilots did not receive accurate angle of attack readings, meaning they did not know the angle the wings were to the ground. " It's a small thing, but angle of attack is the angle between the wing and the oncoming flow of air over the wing.

If a journalist and their editor can't get the small facts right, how can we expect them to get the big facts right?

Oh great

This is just what Wellington needs: more taxi drivers. Taking up parking spaces; stopping in the middle of the road in rush hour to drop off passengers; running orange and red lights; speeding; tail-gating; forgetting where the indicator is when changing lanes...

Back home

I'm home again after my surgery. The benefits of having health insurance: it's been less than three weeks since the diagnosis!

Only a little bit of discomfort, and Panadol takes care of that. I'm also not supposed to do any heavy lifting for the next couple of days, which makes it difficult to give Logan a cuddle. :-(