Halloween Fun

Halloween brings all sorts of strange characters out during the night. It's surprising how into it the people in New York are. We went to a night club, and practically 95% of the people there were dressed up, even though it was not mandatory. I saw Where's Wally, a banana, Sccoby Doo, Cleopatra (hot!), and a whole lot of short-skirted and busty women :)

As Bec and I walked to the night club, I was thinking this would be what frat or sorority dress up parties would be like. I thought that I would be too old for this, but it was actually a lot of fun, especially since everyone else was so enthusiastic.

And in case you were wondering....

Grandma

I visited my grandma again last weekend. It was her 86th birthday.

It's a strange thing to see someone who is still alive, but fails to respond to any outside stimulus. The Alzheimer's has definitely taken its toll, with Grandma asleep most of the time. She woke up for about 10min, and then went back to sleep again. And by "awake" I mean she opened her eyes, but did not say anything, did not move, do not live.

Realistically, I know that she does not hear me, doesn't feel me holding her hand. But then we have to be positive, and think that each visit registers somehow in her brain, and that she still feels the love. Perhaps if she still had the power of speech she might convey what we are trying to convey to her.

The one thing I did come away with was that she looked at peace. Maybe she's soaring through the skies, wandering the galaxy, and got annoyed that she had to come back to see her grandson :)

I hope that's the case.

The Shame

I wrote about being a gentleman a while back, and how I thought I would step up to the plate when there was a need to stand by my girlfriend.

I failed.

It's shameful to admit, but it happened. Whilst (thank goodness) there was no violence, the potential for it was enough. Looking back on it, I remember thinking should I say something, but it seemed to go very fast, and nothing came out.
I am a naturally non-confrontational guy, but this is too much.

So going forward, it's definitely moved up in the "areas to improve on". Bec's right, all the inbox clearing abilities matters not if I don't have the courage to stand up for the things that are important in life.

Strangely enough, when I have confronted people, I seem to be quite eloquent in my manner and my speech. It's just a matter of utilising this skill, and making myself apply it when I should! At least I passed a test yesterday :)

The first step is to acknowledge, and sometimes that's the hardest bit of all.

HDMI Anyone?

Ikea sometimes sucks, or maybe I'm just bad at reading instructions.

Sunday was a day of frantic activity to build all the furniture, all in time for Monday's big arrival. I had a budget for my LCD coming over here, but lucky for me I only had to use half of it to get myself a Sharp Aquos 42in bad boy. Having played my Xbox on a normal TV, I'll be the first to say that High Definition makes a massive difference to the visual splendour, especially on a game such as Gears of War.





We are now all set, pictures of the apartment to come real soon!
Plus I am hooking up XBox Live. Does anyone else play, and if so, what's your profile name?

Reducing Email Usage

*Bonus post*

I've had a bit more time to review my inbox processing since I'm just starting work. Saw a video about it the other day, with the majority of the information at a website http://www.inboxzero.com/.

A few points that I thought were worth remebering:

1. Processing email doesn't mean just reading and not doing anything. It means making a decision on the email (should I reply, should I bin, should I delegate? The actions are Delete, Delegate, Respond, Defer, Do)
2. Don't live in the inbox. Try not to define your job as what comes into the email inbox
3. Have a system, but if the system is too fun to use, you'll end up fiddling and not doing enough work
4. Knowledge workers have a finite amount of attention and time, so distractions are a killer for productivity.
5. There are just some emails that you won't reply to, even if you want to. Just be done with it and delete it, instead of leaving it in the inbox.

With these, I'm doing email less, ie check only once per hour. Will see how this goes !

A New Home

It took about 2 weeks of taxi rides from the serviced apartment to the new place, but we've finally checked out of 777 Sixth Ave, and moved to our new building, called the Biltmore (yes, the views are great. No, we don't have those views from our apartment). After the Bed Bath and Beyond adventure, we embarked on an Ikea one to get the furniture pieces such as the bookshelves and tables. Side note: Ikea has the cheapest food I've seen for a long time. $1.95 for a full plate of breakfast!

So the weekend was spent unpacking goodies and allocating areas to put it into. Ah the joys of moving around. I don't understand how some people can do this on a regular basis. It's just too annoying.

We've got a guest arriving next Friday, so there's still a few days to get everything sorted out. As part of the rent of staying here, people are going to have to help out with the construction of our furniture!

Photos to come soon. Of course, since I haven't even done my London pictures yet, it could be a while :)

EDIT: Just put up the London photos. Enjoy!

Bed Bath and Beyond

Even fitting out the basics of an apartment costs quite a bit of money. I am now a lot more appreciative of hand-me-downs when I first moved out a few years ago.

Bed Bath and Beyond is a quality place for both kinck knacks and decent furniture items. Bec and I spent a solid 4 hours there to get our stuff. It was good to know that our tastes are relatively similiar, with minimal arguments over the fitout of the apartment (although there was a substantial amount of indecision over a cooking pot). The great thing is they package it all up for you and deliver it on the same or next day, depending on the time you purchase, for a relatively cheap amount.

So whilst Saturday was the purchasing, Sunday was the unwrapping and the beginning of the actual settling down into New York. The serviced apartment has always been temporary. Now that there's furniture and other things like toilet brushes in our new apartment, it's feeling a lot more like home. The more I see this apartment, the more I realise that of the ones that we were deciding upon, it was the best choice.

So for all those coming to visit, we'll look after you :)

And I'm down for watching the Yankees live, especiallly beating the Toronto Blue Jays 7-5 today. I have my own hat!

Summer Fun

Since coming to New York, we've been trying to make the most out of the summer days we have left. This includes walking around Central Park, going to rooftop bars, eating at outdoor cafes etc. Joining this list of summer activities this Saturday was skirmish.

It's been a while since I've played and a few things are the same as remembered them:

1. I am still terribly unfit
   
2. I cannot aim for crap
3. The face masks are still as stinky

People here seem to take the game a bit more seriously. Whilst you have to use the paint balls they provide, people can bring their own guns, gas cannisters and camouflage gear. I saw one guy with the gas cannister on his back (so his gun was lighter), a sniper gun (the barrel was much longer than the standard issue), a pistol and a least 4 tubes of paint balls. It was quite a sight!

Of course, this means that certain gunfights are terribly one sided. You can't shoot as far or as fast as these kitted out guys, so you just have to be a bit more sneaky. Crawling through trenches and bushes has never been as much fun. :) The courses they have here as quite good.

Overall it was very enjoyable, I've been missing my male bonding sessions. Met some new friends, so that's always a plus. I'm looking forward to skirmish in the winter (you can play in the snow!!)

Technology Heroes

Picked up a new mag the other day (yes, we've already started hanging out at the Barnes & Noble to read mags for free!) and read about the TR35, MIT Technology Review's perspective of the most promising technology people under 35.

I was thoroughly impressed by what some of these people are doing, from making bacteria that eats specifically at cancer cells, to the guy who invented those verifcation word images when you sign on to new website. The scope of science and where it's going is amazing to read about, and they are all under 35!

There was one guy who was developing ways to use mobile phones to manage business and documentation, in conjunction with the phone camera. It's really taken off in developing countries, especially assisting with the microfinance industry.

I think we're living in an age where the advances in technology are getting bigger and bigger. All these things will further other advances, building upon itself. And it's the practicality of some of these inventions that will benefit us greatly.

I made a promise to start focussing on one of the world's problems and getting the most knowledge I can about it. This article has given me that necessary boost.

New York Week #2

There is a strange transition period when moving to a new city / country, where one feels like a local and a tourist at the same time. Things that have been achieved this week:

• [Local] Found an apartment to live in, in Midtown West. After much deliberation, Bec and I felt that convenience was key to our enjoyment here in New York.
• [Local] Walked around with no backpack and no map, meeting friends at the Sunburnt Cow (of course, it was an Aussie bar)
• [Local] Reading mags and books at the Barnes and Noble store at Union Square
• [Local] Eating at a dumpling place just down the road from home
• [Tourist] Waiting an hour in line to go up the Empire State Building and see the city skyline at sunset and at night. Well worth the trip, I'll have to sort out the photos
• [Tourist] Visiting Central Park and Metropolitan Museum of Art and taking pictures (and yes, I had the backpack and with me)
• [Tourist] Pulling out the DK New York Top Ten book in the middle of Soho to find out directions.
• [Tourist] Still in awe of the lights when I walk down Times Square at night.

I think once I start work things will tilt in favour of feeling like a local. But for the moment, it's all good!

By the way, I've posted some pictures from the Europe trip:

1. If you want to see a selection of Prague or Barcelona pics, they are linked.
2. If you can't be bothered with 30 odd pics, go to this Redbubble link for an even smaller selection.

The RedBubble link will have more pics that I think are half decent added on a random basis.