FMC Scores for 23 October 2008

6 / 105 (5.7%)

0 / 105 (0.0%)

Some messages sent, none received. I decided to be totally fair and message people by who appears in my "My Friends" block. But I didn't like the first group, so I hit refresh...

Messages in a Bottle

It's time for another random challenge for myself that I'll probably forget about by the end of the week! This time, I'm going to send a message to every Friend I have listed on Facebook!

Why? Well, a few reasons. Firstly, they're my friends (right? Why else would they be on my Facebook friends list), so surely they'll appreciate a hello or a quick update or something. But I'm also curious about how many will reply. So I'll track both numbers!

Messages Sent 0 / 105 (0.0%)

Replies Recieved 0 / 105 (0.0%)

Space Marine Chapters Poster

I got Assault on Black Reach box set for my birthday (the new starter set for Warhammer 40k), mostly as a painting exercise. Which lead to the next question of what colours do I paint my space marines. I've been looking at the chapter gallery Games Workshop has online, but because it's split into 9 different pages, it's hard to compare paint schemes. So I did up this

Then I decided that actually it looked kind of cool, and someone else might find it useful. So I turned it into a pdf and put it here.

Anyone got any suggestions on what looks the prettiest?

Automatic Stupids

Windows decided to install some updates for me today. It's one of those things that happens from time to time. When it finished, it popped up that helpful message saying "I've finished, but now I've got to restart your computer. Is that convenient now, or would you like to do it later?"

That's a pretty cool message. If you're like me and typically have 10 different applications open at once, each with something unsaved, having your computer randomly decide to restart right now sucks.

Of course, this being Windows, there has to be some element of suck involved. First off, this message box has a timer. If you don't click "Later" within 5 minutes, it will restart anyway. At first glace, this seems like a great idea - you're not around, so your computer will just sort itself out. Except if I'm not around, it's probably because I'm in the middle of something and got called away. Or went to the toilet. Or I'm on the phone. Or even I'm looking at the wrong monitor.

The other, much more annoying part is that clicking "Later" isn't enough. Oh no, every 15 minutes for the rest of the day I get the same message box. Which basically means that if I'm away from my desk for more than 5 minutes at any point today, I can pretty much guarantee what I'm working on will be lost.

Sure, I could just restart my machine, but right now I'm in the middle of doing 5 things at once, all of which need to be done right now, as well as manning the phones and answering the door and convincing the printer to not stuff up. So I don't really have time to restart now. That's why I hit the "Later" button in the first place.

Random Fiction

I wrote this on the tram going into work. It's pretty rough, but I enjoyed writing it.

I came to moments later. I was sprawled on the cold stone floor, my mouth full of blood and I was struggling to get up. The best I could manage was rolling myself into a less painful position. White-hot pain flared from my shoulder and I nearly passed out again. I struggled to remember where I was and what had happened, until I saw the priest.

I'd missed the stone pillar as I'd flown through the air, but Fr. Macay had not been so lucky. He lay in a twisted mess at the base. I thought of Carla and Weaton in the twisted wreck outside the church came back. And then I remembered Johnathon Marlow.

I pulled myself up on a pew. The old church was large, cold and empty. The candles that filled the various alcoves and the electric lights overhead struggled to keep at bay the darkness that shone through the stain-glass windows.

Standing in the centre isle was Marlow. Tall and brutal, he seemed uninjured despite our best efforts. His gaze flickered between his prize behind the alter, and the only obstacle still in his path. He held himself like some big cat ready to pounce, and a wicked grin spread across his face.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, Marlow!" snapped Sister Emily. The tiny, ancient nun, was the only one of us still standing. "This is the house of the Lord, and you will show respect!".

Marlow, still the small boy in a convent school inside, responded automatically. The smile vanished, and he became less a jaguar and more a timid dog. It was only a moment, then he caught himself. His face flashed with rage, but the nun did not let up.

"You always were a slow boy Marlow, but I never imagined you were that stupid. Are you so small minded that you can't get past what happened during school? You weren't special, but so what? Most people aren't. Do you really think the others will notice you now? Do you think this will earn their respect?
"You sicken me. The others thought you were some terrifying, unstoppable monster. But I see you. You're no threat. You're just a small, scared boy who's desperate for someone to take him seriously.
"Go now. I've wasted enough time with you". She turned away as she spoke, dismissing Marlow with a wave of her hand.

Enraged, Marlow charge down the isle. His scream was horrifyingly inhuman. Then suddenly he was flying through the air, but with none of the grace and control that implies. His arms and legs flailed wildly, and his body tipped forward before he crashed into the stone floor. He came to rest in a crumpled heap at Sister Emily's feet.

She smiled sadly at the unconscious, broken Marlow. Then she walked away from the altar, carefully stepping over the wire that was stretched across the isle.

Sunset

Sunset
Originally uploaded by simon.dugard

Another great thing about living in Melbourne is that we're close enough to take advantage of family beach houses. This was taken from the balcony at our last trip.

General Life Update

While there has certainly been stuff happening, nothing lately has been exciting enough to warrant a blog post. But I figured I'd just do a general update anyway.

Ben continues to make it all pretty easy on us. We like to joke that it's just because we're such awesome parents, but we're very much aware that it's just the luck of the draw.

Last Sunday was beautiful weather, so I took Ben to Carlton Gardens. It was our first real "outing" with just the two of us. We packed up the nappy bag, loaded up the pram and jumped on the tram.

I had been meaning to check out the gardens for a while, so pushing a pram around was a great excuse. After we got bored with that, we set up the picnic rug and Ben got to check out the trees, and the grass and the sticks. Then he fell asleep and I lay in the shade and read my book.

Of course, he's not perfect. Apparently he has a "moderately server" flattening of the back of his head. At the maternal health nurse's suggestion, we took Ben to see the flat headed baby doctor. She said that it looks like it's starting to fix itself (which is what usually happens), and to come back in 6 weeks. But it's not a huge deal - the worst that will happen is that he might have to wear a helmet for 3-6 months.

I'm still enjoying working at Kapish. I work with some great people, and I get to do all sorts of different stuff. Plus, of the three proposals I've written, 2 have been accepted and the third one probably will be. I've been doing a lot of ICE work lately, which has been good, but it will be nice to get onto something else.

I'm still loving living in Melbourne. So many great cafes and food places. Such a good public transport network (compared to Canberra at least). As the weather gets nicer and the days get longer, I'm guessing we'll be out and about in the evenings a lot more. I'm really looking forward to it!