Blogger has ... changed

Well, I'm sure they said it would but I am always slightly startled when the page looks different.

It's a bit of a pea-souper on the way to work today. I try to take a photo but I'm either getting no red lights or they change before I get the camera aimed. Why does that always happen? And how come it never looks as foggy in photos as it does in real life? Oh, my life's conundrums!

An invitation arrives in my inbox last week. To a cocktail evening at one of the hotel chains. I don't normally accept but this time I think I might. It has come from handing over my contact details while attending the travel expo last month. Was it last month? Or is the passage of time fogging my sense of life's direction? Ah well, no matter. I don't want to go by myself though. I've dismissed the idea of inviting Admin2. She wouldn't accept anyway. My supervisor, C has been ultra stressed lately so in the interests of self preservation I have asked her. It's on this week and I'm looking forward to it.

A taxi into the city and after waiting for C, we're away. As soon as we hit the venue door we are greeted by a very chirpy gentleman who escorts us inside to the sign in table. By the time I chat to the lass there, sort out my name badge and things, C has disappeared. I'm not worried 'cause I know exactly where she will be - at the drinks table. I find her there, we vote on bubbly, and meet some more very friendly Rendezvous staff. C and I stand together and are soon joined by other staff. They are all circulating and so very very friendly. C and I grab some nibblies from the circulating plates and gravitate to the outdoor area to admire the cityscape. We chat for a while then notice there seems to be a speech going on. The speech and prize draws over *i didn't win anything. hardly a surprise there* and everyone is directed outdoors. They have a surprise for us...

Everyone goes back inside for more food and drinks but C and I stay outside. It's a beautiful night. Soon we are joined by Roger, the bloke who greeted us at the door. He is from Christchurch and is very, very chatty. We sit and talk for ages. Something comes up about anniversaries and I mention I am looking for ideas for MOTH and I. *it's not till august but i want to begin examining my options* Soon C has to leave for another engagement and Stefan has joined us at table. Roger mentions to him about anniversary plans and Stefan offers some suggestions.

I think I've had about 4 glasses of bubbly by now. Roger asks if I want another, and talks me into trying a white wine. He leaves to get it and is gone for some little while. Stefan and I chat some more, with the occasion passerby stopping to chat to him. Roger returns - with a coffee. Gosh it's a great coffee. Not too hot. The crema is perfect and two sugars is just right. And absolutely no bitterness in the coffee at all, only flavour. PERFECT!

It's nearly 8pm and everyone has left *i'm still outside and didn't notice* and now the Rendezvous staff are all heading down to dinner. Roger, Stefan and I say our goodbyes and perhaps the bubbly has affected me more than I thought. I allow myself to be hugged and kissed before I head out to catch a taxi home.

A couple blocks walk and as I get to the rank I'm hoping that the lead is a silver service. Nope. Just an ordinary one. I get in and am very pleasantly surprised. It's a little worn but CLEAN! Very, very clean. Seat covers and all. I tell him when he drops me off that it was a pleasure to ride in such a clean cab. He seems pleased.

I have caught the bus directly to the office this morning, rather than to campus. I'll catch the shuttle over so I don't have to take extra stuff with me. I have arranged to collect something from another ITS staff member while I am there. I do my usual task then pop over to her office to collect the CD. We have a little time so we go to have a cup of tea and stand out on the balcony. Relaxing. I check the time; it's 11.26. Time to head for the shuttle. I get there and the driver is ready to depart and isn't looking he begins to close the door in my face. I knock, he opens it and says something cheeky. I look at the clock at the front of the shuttle. It says 11.30. Seems my time is a couple minutes slower than his!

The trip back is slow; there seems to be a car full of tourists out for a Sunday drive on a Thursday. They are doing 40km in a 60km zone and no passing opportunity. Up to a corner then suddenly decide which way to go. Swing really wide on the wide sections of the road but don't pull over. The shuttle driver is frustrated and shaking his head. There are a couple of comments from other passengers. But we get there.

Usually MOTH drops the scripts off at the chemist before joining the lads while he waits for it to be filled. I'm with him today and we've settled in the corner before he's gone by the chemist. After everyone has gone their separate ways we head to the chemist only to find there is a 25 minute wait. We're standing outside and for something different I decide to look in the bottle shop. I talk MOTH into coming with me. We're walking through and I see 3 bottles of wine I like. I ask MOTH if I can get one. He's feeling generous and tells me he hasn't quite blown the budget so yes, get one. I can't decide which one I want. Get two he says. REALLY? Yeah, why not. So despite the fact they are about $17 a bottle, I buy two.

One is cold so I put that one in the fridge and the other in the cupboard for another day.

I don't do much else on the weekend. I see in my email that Blizzard have offered me a spot as a beta tester for their new expansion pack. I'm excited because I think it will be a while before I can afford the expansion pack once it's released. I look at the specs. Ok, I need 10GB of free space. No problem there. I set to download and see that it is telling me I'm actually downloading 18GB of stuff. Whew. That's going to take ages! *maybe we are spoiled and think that ADSL is too slow? i'm not sure but ADSL+2 isn't available in our area so mighty downloads just seem to creep. glad we don't do dial up anymore!* I let it install overnight.

Alright! Ready to check this out. Everything is going fine until everyone else arrives to do the same quest at the same time. And people aren't waiting their turn and blocking the quest objective, a small brazier required to light a torch. Because you can see everyone else's character, imagine them all crowded around the brazier, six or seven deep and you can't click on the brazier because you can't see it. There are other questors trying to get people to back away so we can all have a turn in a multitude of languages *and being completely ignored*, people who are lining up to wait their turn, people who are completely disregarding the line and pushing around the brazier, and people spamming the chat trying to get a macro to work which clearly isn't. There are people complaining they've been at this for hours *it took me a couple* and the situation hasn't changed for them. The first time, I got to within a couple of the head of the line and everyone abandoned the line. I guess the line was rather futile since everyone was pushing in anyway. I tried again later but it was just the same. Eventually I got it completed using a mild 'cheat' from the first time I was there. I'd tried it then but couldn't get it to work because I wasn't fast enough. This time I must have been because I got the torch lit and I was away!

MOTH talked about purchasing some necessaries. I mentioned that I would like to purchase an ebook. Or a set of 4 novels for $27, otherwise it was $10 each. Volume 5, I said, was $14. Just do it, he says. Later that afternoon, I had forgotten and MOTH reminded me. Later again he came to me and said I may as well purchase Volume 5 as well. *falls off chair*

I shut the computer down and realised I hadn't made the purchase. I boot up again and do it. Oh my!

I have the iPad with me today - so much reading to catch up on!