upgrades

You know how things can lay dormant for ages and then all spark at once? The past couple of weeks have been a case in point, particularly in the hardware realm. My laptop went kaput (again... because I maxed out its hard drive again). Then my external hard drive clapped out (a stupid lightweight mobile one - grrr! Never again!). Luckily I have most of my photos on disc, though I've been too afraid to check them for fear they have somehow lost their contents (this seemed to happen a bit when I've tried to play them on my jury-rigged-for-far-too-long computer). So in the past week, to the exuberant joy and relief of the in-house helpdesk, I've replaced both laptop and hard drive. The new laptop should arrive this week. Maybe I'm living in some sort of naive utopia, but I'm hoping this will be the end of the line for the techno problems which have been sapping my living spirit for some months.


Before my entire world-on-computer unravelled I had decided to treat myself to, and ordered a new lens for my camera. Yesterday I picked it up. It's the second lens I've ever owned and I love it. It's a fixed focal length with a really large aperture and gives wonderfully dreamy shots. Kind of what the world looks like to early morning eyes when you're still waking up! Though I'm not usually eyeballing an empty Green and Black's chocolate wrapper (above) before breakfast. Anyway. I love it. And can't wait to play with it more.


All the helpdesk has to complain about now is my mobile phone from 1983...

i made it

Last month I made it to inner circle of recipients who receive a 'pinch and a punch' text message from K's Mum. (I think I also scored points for being the only sibling or partner of sibling to reply... but I digress.) This month, her phone was broken. So the first of the month kind of passed without me really realising it... or its significance. It took me until this morning, on the walk to work, to realise that I'd made it to my goal. 'The' goal. The one that I returned to Brisbane for... long service leave! My leave balance now stands at 64 days... or about three months leave on full pay, or six months on half pay. 

Wooooo! I made it!

Now we just have to work out how to use it! Of course there's no shortage of ideas... road trips through Central Australia and Western Australia, reconaissance to Tassie and central coast New South Wales... and a further school of thought (that I'd rather not hear), that says 'save it'. Still, plenty of time to decide... and it's a rather happy decision to be charged with, kind of like the 'how I'd spend a windfall' daydream.