October

The month of October has been a very busy one for me, especially at work. I've been involved in a project to bring in a new Incident Management System and this went live at the beginning of October. It has kept me very busy testing and training and integrating the new system. I've been to just about all of our North Island sites over the last month to train users. It's always great to get out of the office and to go where the real work is done, but there's always so much work to do when I get back. Although I'm glad to say things are finally starting to settle down now. I only have four weeks left at work and my replacement has been selected which is a great relief.

As well as all the travelling with work, Peter and I managed to fit in a weekend in Sydney as well at the beginning of October. Probably the last overseas trip we're going to have for a while. Not that it was a holiday or anything - we attended the final Australasian X-ball paintball tournament for the year. The less said about that the better I reckon. The timing was really bad what with everything going on at work, and it would have been better to finish off the paintball year with a win, but it was still nice to get away and go somewhere new (it wasn't actually in Sydney but near Gosford an hours drive north of the city centre).

Labour Weekend was the first time in probably five years that we haven't gone to Rotorua for a paintball tournament, as the regular tournament was cancelled this year. It was a shame as (from a spectator's perspective) it's been the best tournament event in the country. So instead we stayed home and enjoyed a long weekend relaxing and doing work around the house. Went to the Armageddon pulp culture expo at the Aotea Centre. Once known as a geeky sci-fi convention it seems to have gone really mainstream and was full of computer/console gaming as well as the more traditional gaming. I got to meet Lex and Big-Tom from Survivor Africa and Survivor All-Stars and learn a bit about what you *don't* see on tv. And Peter got to meet Dr Beverly Crusher from Star Trek (sorry can't remember her real name now or which show, Next Gen maybe?). And as an example of how mainstream it has become you could also meet the people behind current NZ shows Bro Town and Outrageous Fortune.

Nooboo continues to grow and grow. We have reached the 30 week mark so 3/4 of the way there now. Attached is a pic at 28 weeks. All is going well and things are happening as they should. We finished our ante natal class this week. It has been a very informative course and has allayed a few fears. The best bit in my opinion was the tour of North Shore Hospital maternity unit. It was good to see where it is and what it looks like and just what facilities are available.

We still want to be in Wellington by the end of the year and Peter has another job interview this week. However even if he gets the job it will be very close to Christmas by the time we move. And if he doesn't get it then it's not looking very likely that we will move this year at all. We are both happy to just go with the flow and see how things work out. Whatever happens I'm sure it will be for the best.