The week so far

After complaining about boredom at work for some time (about 18 months), it reached (another) breaking point for me on Monday. From the moment I woke up, I was resigned to writing code, and throughout the day I hardly spoke to anyone. I became more frustrated as the day went on, and by 3.30 decided I was wasting my time even being at work. So I packed up my laptop and headed home early, immediately heading out to the gym to do weights. Thankfully, exercise did the trick, and all the stress I had allowed to build up dissipated, allowing me an enjoyable evening of TV watching (including an excellent episode of Mythbusters) and 2 hours of refactoring the crap code I'd written during the day, ending up with something I was much happier with. So I went to bed feeling pretty good, discarding my sulky work day as an anomaly and ready to throw myself at more tasks the next day.

I awoke refreshed and positive, and that better attitude was reflected in a much improved work day. At least some of my time was spent away from my computer, discussing things with people and having another tunnel light shone in my direction, with the promise of a real team leader role again. Basically, since I moved to my current section I've felt that it's 1 or 2 managers "heavy" and I've been in a position on the outside, not wanting to steal work/opportunities from anyone else while remaining dissatisfied with my day to day job (I love to play the martyr :). Now 3 of the 5 managers in our section are moving to other areas, giving me more room to create the role I want without stepping on toes. (Tentative) yay!

In X-Files news, I'm now 2 episodes into Season 7, with the promise of the comedic gold of X-Cops, First Person Shooter and Hollywood A.D. The arrival of three seasons of The Micallef Program has slowed down my X-watching, but not by much.

New DVDs on the way

For those "friends" who've already established they only like me for my DVDs :) , no wait |:( ,here's an update on additions to my collection:

Arrived this week: The Micallef P(r)ogram(me) Series 1-3
Will arrive end of July: Newsradio - Season 4, The Pretender - Season 4, The Breakfast Club
Will arrive end of August: Veronica Mars - Season 2, (the new) Doctor Who - Season 1, Threshold - The Complete Series

Still waiting on a release date for Arrested Sevelopment - Season 3...

[Movie] Mission: Impossible III

Lots of big explosions, cool stunts, some funny lines and great gadgets. These all added up to a very entertaining ride for a committed Impossibleite like myself.

This was only the second movie I've seen at the cinema this year, and after 4 ads vs 1 movie trailer, I was wondering why I forked out over $15 to be force-fed crap. Luckily they threw in a few more trailers, including X3 (yeah, baby!), and my ad-rage was narrowly averted...

Veronica Mars picked up for 3rd season

More detail here but basically it means there'll be at least 13 more episodes. Yay! Since I've still only seen the first 4 eps of season 2, that means there's plenty more VM goodness for me to enjoy.

Sadly, Arrested Development's 3rd season will be its last, although all accounts have it going out still on a high.

Hahahahaha!!!

Oh my God! I can't stop laughing! I just got home to 21, that's right 21, "hello... hello..." calls on my answering machine! Major, all time record, and freaking hilarious! And I didn't call screen a single one. 15 of them were while I was at work anyway, and not one even mentioned my name or left a meaningful message. That has totally made my day!

The buck stops ... over there

The second of 3 rants, written on the same night in an attempt to get some sleep. Imagine what I'd be like if I actually watched/read/listened to any news!

There are continuing displays of a shameful lack of personal accountability in a number of our most senior public officials, the AWB scandal just being the latest of these. This affair alone shows that our "leaders" are either:

(a) utterly incompetent, remaining intentionally unaware of matters within their scope of responsibility, or
(b) unapologetically dishonest, uttering lies with arrogance and impunity.

Certainly scapegoats will be found, individuals who may be partly to blame or may just be victims of attempting to manoeuvre the webs of deceit which continue to grow outwards from the Prime Minister and his Cabinet.

Poor leadership

A rant I vented into my notebook a fortnight ago, typed up verbatim here. Don't expect anything well researched, or balanced, it's purely an unleashing of bile on Howard and cronies.

Personal freedoms continue to be eroded, the media sustains a feeding frenzy of stereotypes and irrational fears, and individuals poorly suited to managing a small team of people on a low priority project continue to run rampant, turning the forces at their disposal into nothing more than tools of self-aggrandisement.

The dictatorial mindset so clear in our current government is reinforced by targeted removal of avenues for dissent. Attempts to marginalise employee co-operatives (e.g. unions), "anti-terror" laws stifling free speech, reduced availability of education to the financially disadvantaged (strengthening support for the status quo, limiting diversity in positions of power which are almost universally education based).

X-tremely distracted

Watching seasons 2-4 of The X-Files in 3 weeks will mess with your perception of time, thus the long gap between postings. I've been reminded just what an awesome show X-Files remains, even 13 years after it first aired. I also discovered just how often Scully says "Oh my God!" (every time anything freaky happens, which is almost every episode) and "Mulder, where are you going?" (every time Mulder ditches her, which is almost every episode). While not particularly reusable as catchphrases, they certainly add to my enjoyment, as a pay off for watching every show. Plus it makes me glad I don't work with anyone nearly as flaky as Mulder :) Quality guest appearances by actors like Brad Dourif, Giovanni Ribisi and Jack Black, Terry O'Quinn (Lost), Tony Shalhoub (Monk), and Peter Boyle (all within the first 50 episodes) plus two different characters played by the cranky old guy Relic from The Beachcombers! Roll on the final 5 seasons, and I'll see you all in a month or so!

Baldies of the world unite!

As if the below result would surprise anyone that knows me...

---

Always in control, you are a great leader, delegator, and diplomat. These qualities attract people to you, and this sometimes annoys you.

Aloof, introspective, and philosophical; you enjoy quiet time in solitude.

[TV] Deep Space Nine

This morning I finished watching the seventh (and final) season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, my favourite of all the Trek installments. I enjoyed it even more than when I originally watched all the episodes either on TV or on VHS tapes my sister bought, when it looked like WIN would never get through the whole lot. The fact that DS9 was always darker in tone (about half of it had a quadrant-wide war going on) and had so many diverse, fully fleshed-out characters made it seem more real a future than the other "boldly going" flavours. It was about imperfect people working together to better themselves and their world, rather than an already perfect civilisation encountering others who weren't quite so civilised. Each season better than the previous one, I'm glad this is the one Star Trek series I own on DVD.

I'm cured!

Well, not quite. There's apparently no cure for what ails me and my stomach, but there is the next best thing - a magic purple pill! After only two days of taking it I've felt markedly better, not needing my dose of Mylanta every few hours to take the edge off the pain. Apparently, I can even drink caffeine and alcohol while using it, without slowing my recovery. In a couple of months all the damage done by years of my "itis" remaining untreated will be healed, and I'll only need a maintenance dose of medication (for the rest of my life) after that. Yippee!