Shadow Footprints

Do you know why you will be voting?

• Will your Party vote to put/keep a party in government, or will you vote to put/keep a party out of government?
• Will you be voting on an issue or policy?
• Will your Electorate vote be for a person or a party?
• Have you met the person?
• Does news about your MP encourage you to vote for or against them?
• Have you met your local MP?
• Have you met a neighbouring MP?
• Have you met any list MP local to you?

If you don't vote you deserve the government you get. Don't complain about it.

It's been a while since I properly posted. At the time it seemed like I hadn't be doing much worth writing about, or it was things I don't talk about here, such as work or off-line people.

Gaming

I'm enjoying playing the Paizo Pathfinder Rise of the Runelord adventures. I play most Sundays. My character is Terrick, a rogish conjurer from Korvosa. I'm not too impressed with 4th edition D&D, it seems too mechanical and limiting. I've had a couple of sessions. I should have played more but I've missed the last two.

Waikanae

The PeteNic's work on the beach house is coming along. Had a hassle about getting the right taps to match the other fittings, and the supposedly reconditioned ones leaked. On Saturday the plan was for me to get to the station and take the train to there. A flat battery caused by leaving the interior light on prevented that. AA responded quickly and I drove over, listening the Fortress Draconis on my way. Torrential rain on the way; I thought I would have to pull over for a while. I tried doing some study (see below) but wasn't able to focus too well.

Study

I'm trying to study the Business Analyst Body of Knowledge (BABOK). I'm not ready to sit the exam for certification, and understanding the formalised aspects of Business Analysis will help me. I've also recently got some books to help me. The books were recommended on some Business Analysis sites.

Recent Books

The recent Business Analyst additions to my library from Amazon are:

• The Software Requirements Memory Jogger: A Pocket Guide to Help Software And Business Teams Develop And Manage Requirements
• Writing Effective Use Cases (The Agile Software Development Series)
• More About Software Requirements: Thorny Issues and Practical Advice

The only thing gaming related I've bought is the 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons Core Rulebook Gift Set. I will be getting Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beta when it's available.

I also got The Non-Designer's Design Book: Design and Typographic Principles for the Visual Novice via Bookmooch. It may be 14 years old but it all applies today.

Web 2.0

Twitter remains my preferred microblogging tool. I've signed up to nearly all I find.

Last.fm now shows what I've been listening to, which if you're into music won't be of interest. Most of my listening time is with podcasts. There's only so many hours I can listen. I generally don't have headphones on at work; I want to know what's going on around me.

I try to share articles I find interesting in Google Reader.

FriendFeed is a useful way of summarising what I've been doing online.

The cat

Jack is healthy. His insulin is costing nearly $75 for a bottle lasting two months. An expensive kitty. He's in the dog-box for jumping onto the coffee table and spilling a glass of red wine onto the cream carpet. The stain is almost unnoticeable after using a couple of carpet cleaners.

Yesterday from my office I saw the following about some unknown called Henry.

It's been up there for a couple of weeks. It changed today. I guess Henry is not so exclusive now.

The first Gay Geek Dinner was held last night. I had an enjoyable time and got to meet new people. After a few late cancels and several no-shows we ended up with eight people in the end, which worked well for chatting together.

We met up at Mighty Mighty, with it's great ambience. Something I hadn't thought about was how strangers could meet each other in what eventually was a busy bar, but we managed. (Maybe that's what happened to the no-shows?)

The Google t-shirts, discounts cards for Moo, and Armageddon swag was well received.

When time came for dinner, i.e. a few people asked when were we eating, we moved on to Southern Cross. Food geeks would love the way steaks are served, on a sizzling hot stone.

One has to slice the steak up into small pieces to cook.

As we finished eating the live music that started playing wasn't to our tastes so wandered back to Mighty Mighty for an after dinner drink, losing three diners in the process.

The evening finished with hot chocolate at Ernesto, being waved at by friendly cops stopped at a red light.

All-in-all an enjoyable evening for the first Gay Geek Dinner, meeting people with similar interests.

At Silver Stream Railway

Have you ever read the back of your shampoo bottle? Mine says:

Be Luscious!

I'll help you find the strength against damage with my formula fused with pearls & coco mango. My formula, with an anti-breakage potion, strengthens to help prevent any more breaks. Leaving your hair luscious and lovable. Get over your broken hair with my strong-willed conditioner.

use me: love that lather, rinse and repeat.
revenge is sweet and sudsy.

Get a rebound from a bad hair break-up.

With daylight saving coming to a close I was up early enough to take these photos on Tuesday.

I don't like getting up in the dark but scenes like this are almost worth it.