Year of paper

Alison and I have never been ones to pass on an opportunity to celebrate a special occasion. We've copped more than a few knowing looks and sceptical eyebrow gymnastics when confessing our tradition of monthly "going out anniversaries", yearly "going out anniversaries" and engagement "anniversaries" (which coincidentally happens to be Alison's birthday). So far we've been keeping up with all of this (56 months thank you very much), but this weekend we managed to celebrate the real deal. Seems like it wasn't that long ago that we made an appointment to meet at the end of the aisle, but the calendar is quite unambiguous about how much time has passed.

We marked our first wedding anniversary at the Byron at Byron resort... err... at Byron. Our accommodation during our last stay in the area was somewhat secluded and minimal so we thought this trip would be a perfect chance to luxuriate.

The rooms were more than comfortable with plenty of creature comforts, certainly more than enough for the two of us. One shouldn't be surprised by the excess of electronics available given that the owner of the resort is none other than Gerry Harvey of Harvey Norman fame.



Dinner on Saturday was a lovely affair which began with half a dozen oysters accompanied by a particularly potent batch of pickled ginger slices. I then dug into a two succulent fillets of beef over a mozzella and potato cake, while Alison was satiated by an impressive cut of Bangalow pork. Alison was wearing the blue ring I gave her at Tin Dog which was for our third "Get Together" anniversary. I figured a wedding anniversary really needed something new to commemorate, which I just so happen to have in my camera bag under the table. I think she likes it. It's the last thing I'll ever get to buy from Michael Hill Jeweller at an attractive price.



We skipped dessert at the restaurant in favour of a special bit of cake that's been saved for the past twelve months. The alcohol was a little stronger but the taste certainly had not suffered in cold storage. The cake was so indulgent that we only managed to choke down a few slices, but every bite reminded us of a rolling fun day we had last June.



Sunday morning was kicked off at a languid pace when we eventually emerged to enjoy our buffet breakfast. The rest of the day was spent lazing around the infinity pool and sweating it out in the sauna. In a solitary spurt of adventurism, we trekked our way to Tallow Beach to observe the waves. It didn't take long for us to then retreat back to the resort and continue our course of relaxation together.



Paper down, on to Cotton next year.

First week

Whoa, that was a busy week. I'd forgotten how tiring it can be to have to actively listen and learn all day rather than switching on cruise control at work. So far I'm really enjoying the work and meeting people, though I must say that I'm glad I have a long weekend to recuperate before starting again on Tuesday.

Highlights of the week:

• All developers have dual monitors and desktops
• Being able to head out into the city to pick up some sushi and a chocolate eclair at lunch
• Weekly discussions on development practices with the team; kicking off with a forum on Test Driven Development and Object Oriented class design
• Actually having a wiki filled with documentation to read and contribute to
• Friday drinks followed by table tennis

The team was pretty busy most of the week so I haven't had a chance to really get my hands dirty, though I've poked around in the code where I could. If anything it seems to be the anti Michael Hill as the main container is based in COM but all new modules are written in dotNet and interopped.

At least I've managed to memorise all the members in the MAD team (Maintenance and Development). There are ten of us in total which makes us one of the biggest in a group of four development teams (most of the others have about 8 developers each). Typically, just as I'm finding my feet we get hit with the announcement at the end of the week that our team is about to be split into two smaller teams. Sheesh.

Still early days yet but I'm certainly enjoying the new challenge. I feel like I have quite a bit to learn from the people here.

Temporarily unemployed

After a month of handover and arthritic thumb twiddling, my three year long period of employment at Michael Hill Jeweller finally came to a bittersweet end on Friday. A large proportion of the saccharine contribution would most definitely have been due to the fresh brownies baked by Felicity as my parting gift. It fills me with great sadness to think that I'll never be able to sample these chewy morsels again.



The rest of the day was filled with glorious gastronomic celebration, as is befitting the farewell of the Glutton of IT. An extended lunch at Liquorish, an unapologetic-ally upmarket restaurant and tapas bar in Bulimba, soon crippled the entertainment budget to feed a ravenous horde of merry-makers. While it was difficult to choose from the luxurious menu, I soon settled on the roast duck, accompanied by creamy mash potatoes atop a black truffle jus, braised cabbage and courted by a pert slice of shiraz baked pear. Suffice to say I was certainly not disappointed.

To round up a beautiful mains, we were left with little choice but to order dessert. I indulged in lemon creme brulee with black glutinous rice and roasted coconut ice-cream. Oh the extravagance!



As if this feast weren't thanks enough for my service with the company, I was eventually presented with a lovely dress watch. I haven't had much Michael Hill branded bling to wear so this was a lovely memento.



By the time I managed to saunter back into the office, I barely had enough time to surrender my security pass indefinitely and say my goodbyes before rushing off to the pub for drinks. I shared a brew or two with close friends that I'll likely not see for a fair while before departing once more for the Norman Hotel to meet the Warehouse staff. A juicy steak and a few more nips and too soon it was time to call it a night.



Wish it could have lasted longer, but I guess I'll need to rejoin the workforce when I report for my first day with Flight Centre tomorrow. Mortgages don't tend to pay themselves after all...