Goodbye, laptop "Corse"

I mentioned that my laptop was broken. Now it's gone. And it's all my fault.

Although I figured that it would cost more to repair than to replace, I figured I'd get a quote on it anyway. I just needed to get the address of some local repair guys so I could get them to take a look at it. (Apparently LaptopTec are pretty good at repairing individual components rather than swapping out entire boards like most folks do.)

I put the laptop in a bag, got the address from the local cybercafé, then got distracted looking for a place to stay. By the time I was done, I'd organised a viewing at a nice place in Bondi Junction -- and left without my bag. The place had signs up saying "thieves are about" and "watch your stuff" so I kept checking it every so often, making sure it was still on the floor under my desk.

I obviously had some kind of brain failure, because I utterly forgot about it until I'd been gone for about ten minutes. Unsuprisingly, it was gone when I got back. I left my details at the desk in case it shows up, but I'd be foolish to expect it back now.

It wasn't much of a computer -- it was three years old, and about the cheapest that was going at the time -- so I'm not as fazed as you might expect. Heck, I'd seen enough posters up saying things like "help I've lost my laptop and my thesis/novel/music collection that I've been working on for years please return the laptop I'll give you money" so I was pretty big on keeping anything important in at least two places.

There's an old saying in IT: No backup, no sympathy.

Daily updates

Since my last post, I've left the UK and gone travelling again. I've passed through Japan and Australia on my way to a wedding in New Zealand, and I've been visiting friends and family around the country while I'm here.

Right now* I'm in Christchurch. It's my home town, and the final stop on my New Zealand tour. It's been very weird being back. I'll shortly be heading to Sydney, Australia. I haven't had such great Internet access on the road, so I'm updating Twitter (and Facebook) from my mobile phone.

You can follow me on Twitter and receive all my updates.

* At the time I wrote this story, I was in Christchurch. By the time I was able to post it, I was actually in Sydney.

Missing person

I received a worried phone call yesterday. It was my father, who had been desperately trying to get hold of me for some time. Apparently he'd even looked on "the Internet", so things must have been pretty bad. I've still got the same phone number as I've had for about a year, so I'm not sure how that particular confusion occurred.

Anyway, I thought I should probably let the world know that I still alive, still employed, still housed and still a master of uselessness.

Sorted

London's a big place, but somebody's got to live all over it.

When I arrived, I lived in an ex-council estate in the East (with its mini-gangsters), an actual house with a fake room up North (in the middle of the Jewish community), in a fancy pad with en-suite and clothes dryer out West (where posh people are) and now I've finally taken up residence in the South London.

I've been accused of North-bank centric attitudes in the past, and I've Before this year, I'd been over the river to the South bank only a handful of times (and yes, most of those were so that I could walk along the River Thames looking at the North bank).

Specifically, I've taken up residence above a disused Mexican pizza restaurant in Wandsworth, the brighter borough (although at least two cranky old ladies would disagree).

It's got a good selection of dodgy take-away joints, nearby green parkland and easy bus access to places like Hammersmith and Clapham Common.

Speaking of Clapham Common, the Chinese State Circus have a show this afternoon. I'd quite like to see some Wu-shu Warriors slicing up junk and flying acrobatics.

Homeless again

I've come to the end of my temporary one-month tenancy at Gunnersbury, and still haven't found anything. Alex and I were looking to find a place together for a while, but that's harder than we thought.

That means that from about 6pm this evening, I'm once again homeless.

It seems to be a common theme...

At least I'm probably going to get paid in a couple of weeks. That'll be well good.

And for those of you keeping track

Thursday's date went terribly. And fantastically. I see complication in the future...

Post now or forever hold your peace

I am alive, I've just been absolutely terrible at posting. I have a job and a home, although both are short-term affairs.

Living near work hasn't helped my arrival time. I'm actually weirdly pleased to have the pressure of work back again.

I've seen a lot of Kiwis lately. I may even live with one soon. Half of Canterbury appears to have moved into south-west London. I've had a few big phone catch-ups with old friends, but even when the connection is OK, timezone differences get in the way.

Not everyone will understand

The curse of Cozzie's cohorts continues. Drinking with her is a risky business, it seems!

Three in a row for Australia. Misunderstandings from the past, sorted. An armless knock-down fight, then only minds.

The case of the very close bus stops and the nocturnal detour to The Mall.

And finally

Happy birthday, Izzy!

What have I done?

The job in Amsterdam looked pretty good, although I had a few concerns. I would have liked to have a few offers on the table before making a decision, but they wanted an answer sharpish. I figured it would be an interesting experience either way, and as an added bonus I'd be able to squeeze in a trip home before I started work.

I'd probably be home right now, in fact, were it not for one or two words.

I verbally accepted the offer, mentioning that the salary was a bit lower than I'd like (despite the wonderful benefits). The recruitment agent, bless him, came back with their answer: (emphasis mine)

Based on his age and experience, we think the offer is reasonable.

That threw me. Blatant age discrimination? It sure sounded like it. I tried to think of alternative explanations: maybe they meant to type based on his range of experience but made a couple of typos? Nothing seemed plausible, except that someone was actually considering my age to be a significant factor for pay.

The recruiter didn't understand, and thought I was being unreasonable. He claimed that if I was really interested in the job, I wouldn't let something as silly as unfair discrimination get in my way. I know my morals have taken a beating from life in the big city, but I hope that I'd do the same thing if an otherwise perfect job came with a 2% bonus for white employees.

The short of it is, I'm not taking the job.

Homelessness update

The last couple of weeks has seen me bounce from hostel to dusty hostel, so I was overjoyed at the chance to stay at Chez Skarnz while he was out of town visiting the missus. I slept in an actual bed, and I was the only person in the room! It was brilliant!

Massive props to that fellow.

Take the "Whether?" with you

The Dutch folks must have liked me, because they've made me a job offer. The big question now is whether to take it.

It looks great

The company culture seeemed pretty fantastic — the phrase like one, big happy family came to my mind just after a couple of minutes waiting in the kitchen.

The salary could be better, but the benefits are the best I've seen. Seriously. They have allowances that cover language lessons, sport, travelling to work, buying a computer at home, and even rent. There's plenty of holiday time.

It's for a new project, so I'd be responsible for choosing the technology as well as making it useful for people. The direction they'd like to go is Plone and Python, with which I've had great experience.

But is it for me?

Actually, the role has a certain element of déjà vu. It's more management than development, and there's more than a touch of system administration. Development is a core activity, but it just may not be room to write software every day. In other words, it's just like my last role in New Zealand.

I don't mind a little bit of management, and I certainly don't mind system administration. But I learn the most with development, and I like learning. I even wrote software developer on my immigration card.

Overall opinion

I think I'll have a great time with the organisation, if I take the job. It'll be relaxed, and fun. If I was settling down, it would be close to perfect.

I don't know about challenge or career direction, though.

Welcome to London (Population 7)

That's right, folks, I'm back in London (at least for this week). But where is everybody else? I've caught up with a few of Londonites, but I've had a hard time getting in touch with some people. It seems half the city is on holiday!

Carly, Jack, Giulia, Kellie... where are you?

The interview in Amsterdam went well so stay tuned for my musings on that subject. (Apparently it's really quite difficult to check references in New Zealand.)

Goodbye Berlin

I've got a flight in the morning to Amsterdam for a job interview. This Easter weekend, I might be somewhere a bit more familiar...

Good old Blighty.

Is anyone going to be in the London area this weekend?

Homeless

Without address. No fixed abode. As of midday today, I am officially homeless.

I'm going to find a hostel to check into for a week or so, and see what happens on the job front. I had a bunch of interest from various recruiters on Friday, so that's encouraging. Two roles in particular stand out, but neither one is in Berlin.

Pondering my next move, I realised that I'm actually homeless in a way that I never really appreciated before now. If I ever did need a break, I can't really go home and get back on my feet. I don't even know where I would call home at this stage. London? Auckland? Christchurch?

I'm starting to think that home is more of a state of mind than a place. Like always, it's not where you are, it's who you're with.

The clock keeps ticking

Living in the student residence has made all the difference. I've had a constant expectation of social interaction, which means that I've spent very little time on personal pursuits like reading or software projects. I've had no convenient Internet or phone access, which means that I've had relatively little contact with the world outside Berlin. It also means that job-seeking is a major chore. To top it all off, the sheer cost of this room has put a big dent in my savings.

My original plan included looking into the work situation here, finding nothing, and returning to London. That might still happen, but it's a bit more complex now.

I've enjoyed learning the language, and going back to an English-speaking country to work seems too comfortable. On the other hand, my German is still at a relatively basic level: it's entirely possible that working in a German office will push straight through enjoyably challenging and right into frustratingly difficult.

To top it off, I'm starting to feel what could be described as homesickness. I'd like to visit good old New Zealand, eat some tasty food and catch up with friends and family. At the same time, I don't think I'm ready to come home for good. If living in an English-speaking country is too comfortable, I think I need a new category for living in the country I grew up in. Then again, challenges come from all kinds of sources – not just work or language.—

The Clash understand

My return flight is scheduled for this Sunday, but I've got to decide whether to take it. I'm currently unemployed, and after school finishes next week I'll be homeless. The choice should be easy, right?

Yeah, it should be. But it isn't.

It's been a fantastic couple of months. Let me tell you, though, it feels like much more. They say time goes faster as we get older; I reckon it's more to do with how we spend our time. Working long hours was certainly rewarding in its own way, but I sometimes found the months flitting by as though they were cars passing on the street.

My life has changed again, pretty drastically, which is always a bit un-nerving. At the same time, I know that I've changed before and I'll change again. In some respects I feel like I'm living life backwards: I've gone from running my own business, to consulting, to working for a big company to working for a small company. Now I'm a poor student, living a relatively care-free life. What comes next? I don't know.

Minor progress

I'm into my second week in Berlin and I think I'm settling in OK. My German is definitely improving: I can usually understand my flatmates when they speak German amongst themselves, although when I talk it's usually pretty simple stuff. I still get completely lost when a real German speaks, though; too many words, way too fast. I think it'll be a while before I understand television.

Berlin is an interesting city with some amazing buildings, old and new. Actually, the contrasts are evident everywhere, especially between the former East and West sides — even though the Berlin Wall fell some 15 years ago. Looking over the city from the roof of the Reichstag was a memorable experience — I'll post pictures if I can.

I still have only limited Internet access, so my e-mail backlog is growing (along with the number of photos I have yet to share).

I wouldn't want to leave you with nothing to read, though, so I might start posting from my secret archives.

Tchüss!

Prosit Neujahr! Happy New Year!

Warning: very long post ahead.

Wahey! It's 2007 already. We all live in The Future now.

I remember thinking about the future. I remember realising that we couldn't just keep using years beginning with 19; we had to run out sometime. I worked out how old I would be when the time came, and thought to myself: I can't imagine being that old. I'll almost be a proper adult!

These days, it's those 19— years that seem so far away.

What does 2007 hold for me?

I proclaim this year to be The Year Of Doing Stuff Properly, No Seriously For Real. I've done a lot of things in my life; I've seen what's out there. I don't think I'll stop Exploring and Discovering, but it might be time to ramp up the Building side.

I won't go listing my whole goal catalogue (especially with so many of them being technical or geeky), but in 2007 I expect to achieve goals like:

• Learn a language well enough to chat at the bar (or the bus stop)
• Cook decent meals on a regular basis (groceries not restaurants)
• Learn some kind of structured dance (more than adlib monkey-flapping)
• Live somewhere long enough to really talk about it
• Work as a contractor or freelance
• Develop software in a truly agile team

I'd still like to fit some poetry, acting or a musical instrument in there somewhere, but that's not really going to be in-theme.

Romance

No full-time relationships for me, hopefully. Like sushi from the sushi-man, I've had enough of that to do me for a good while to come.

Of course, I suppose the dancing and the cooking would work much better with company. I'll probably wind up accidentally falling into another relationship. Gah.

Work

I expect to spend a good chunk of the year out of the workforce. Study will be a big change for me, but it'll be a refreshing experience.

I expect work to be challenging when I am gainfully employed, and I'll love almost every minute of it because it'll the good kind of challenging.

Travel

Quiet and solid, compared with the whirlwind of 2005 and the lightning storm of 2006.

I think I'll appreciate my own back-yard, and see more of Britain. (I'd like to say the same about Germany while I'm there, but I think time and money will keep that on a leash).

Friends

I've been running low on super-close mega-friends. That's mostly my fault for keeping myself to myself (and for being in a different country).

I'm not going to deliberately work on this, but I wouldn't be suprised if taking classes gives me good opportunities to bond with my fellows. Theatre and film was brilliant for that.

Sports

As if.

Life management

I'll put a bunch of techniques to use in the hopes of improving my personal productivity. Some will work for a while, some will keep working, and one will radically change my life.

---

Wow, I just spent several hours trying to respond to GodAwfulPoet's wonderful greeting. I might split up this post into a series when I wake up.

Update: I did actually split the posts but never published them like that.

Update March 2007: Almost a quarter through the year and the predictions are going all right. Now they're serving as excellent encouragement.

Sick reunion

Filthy London has disgusting diseases, and I've caught one. I've been battling this one for about four or five days now, but it's almost gone. Thank you, Lemsip—you tasty medicated beverage, you. And of course, a huge shout-out to the Monkey for looking after the snivelling wretch on her doorstep and feeding it chicken soup and Advil.

My boss reckons that it's worth stocking up on food, water and guns for the impending virus outbreak. He also stabbed himself in the face with a baguette so hard that it made enough bloody marks to scare a gas station attendant into stunned silence.

Holidays are very soon! I may have a white Christmas after all—it snows in Sweden, right?