Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Never thought I'd say this, but....

.....thank you to young and knowledgeable sales assistant in Dick Smith. Someone slap me. Did I dream it or did the young guy actually know what he was talking about. I'm not exactly a techie but I know bits and pieces and my general tactic is to appear ignorant and assess the quality of the sales advice. If I'm being scammed, I walk out claiming a silent moral victory.

Today I wanted a wireless router to replace my crappy old D-Link 302G freebie that I'd been using since Telecom dumped it on me a few years back and which survived the switch to iHug. I'd never got round to changing it and I know it has loads of faults, least of all it's inability to cope with any torrent and web connection at the same time; it is dated mind you and I wanted an excuse to have a wireless network for my iPhone.

Well I knew what I wanted, at least 2 wired connections and an ability to connect a couple of wireless devices. There are a few options, all very similar (and probably the same under the skin), so I asked a few questions and got intelligent answers. $129 later and a LinkSys ADSL Home Gateway (4 ports and up to 32 wireless devices) is mine. Cheap as.

Took all of 2 minutes to configure, and now I'm running a torrent at over 280Kb/s which is better than the sub 50Kb/s from before, and I have my iPhone motoring and surfing. All together. Damn, the only bandwidth restriction is only having ten fingers.....

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Zoo Food

When I heard the news about the Eve Dixon cafe closing at the Zoo, due to some ridiculous decision about revenue and blah blah Spotless Catering blah blah, Mrs R and I agreed that we would not step foot in there again in silent protest. We used to enjoy a good coffee and a brunch prior to taking the kids around the zoo and would plan the trip that way.

Well, it looks like we're not alone. We were at the zoo today; went in at 10:30am and the cafe was pretty empty. Left the zoo at 12:15pm and there were empty tables everywhere. I expect at some point, a bean counter will suggest that the zoo just doesn't need a cafe as clearly people are not eating there. At some point in the future they'll work out that the old cafe was a meeting place and that most parents with young kids were looking for 45 minutes of peace prior to heading into the day and that the Zoo benefited as a result. I suspect that those people have found another spot now and they have taken their cash with them.

At least the lioness was hungry.
Lioness - Wellington Zoo 12th April 2008

Saturday, April 05, 2008

They Don't Like It Up 'Em

Had a bit of a party this week. First off was the appointment of two new oncologists to Wellingtons Hospital which has been a personal crusade; second up was the announcement that the Children's Hospital would be moving into better premises which will give the kids a much better environment and provide the staff with better working conditions.

And the cherry on the cake?

A bitter sweet victory as a lot of people will lose money but the failure of these utter shits (in my personal opinion) after playing with other peoples money for far too long. May the earth swallow them whole. Sadly, I'm sure they'll have money spirited in cross-company loans to keep them fat and in good wine for a while but hopefully any future enterprises can be shunned when they are exposed as the backers or shareholders. It took a few years, but I knew they'd get it in the end and revenge is a dish best served cold.

Workin' too hard

Friday night. Arrived home and it was still light and the girls were still up. Kinda rare over the last few weeks with travel and work and other commitments.

Little Miss R "I know who YOU are!". Such a small statement and very innocent, yet I'm saddened to hear it. Time to reassess what I'm doing I think.