Just Nicky

So Farking Tired! November 30, 2007

I don’t know how much sleep I got last night but it wasn’t much. And I am comprehensively knackered today. Finn will be spending a lot of time on the computer and watching telly today because I just don’t have the energy for anything else.

Leila was up twice, coughing. The first time I tried to give her some Panadol and she threw up on me, the couch and some of Finn’s clean washing that was waiting to be put away. She needed a clean sleeping bag and I needed clean pjs. The second time she got up was after she’d vomitted in bed. That time we needed clean pjs and sleeping bag for Leila and a clean sheet on the bed.

In between those times I was up on my own because I couldn’t stop coughing in bed. It particularly sucks when Leila & I have a cold at the same time.

Tonight will be an early night for sure.

Things that make me laugh November 29, 2007

Telstra bid to beat Labor IR law deadline

For my Management subject I had write a report on how an organisation would deal with a current issue. I chose to write about how an unnamed telecommunications company would deal with the removal of AWAs.

They’re so damned predictable it’s comical.

Man of the Hour

Man of the Hour by Nicky P

Last night Mark went to the Year 10 ‘formal’ at his school. This is an end of year celebration for the kids which seems to merge elements of the old fashioned speech/awards night with a deb/prom night.

Each year the kids vote for their favourite/most inspirational/best teacher. Mark won.

For a first year teacher this is a fantastic affirmation. It validates all the work Mark has done to provide engaging and interesting work for the kids (I suspect doing XMen 3 as their film text didn’t hurt).

And I am very, very proud of him and pleased for him. nx

Weatherwatch November 28, 2007

Emmylou has been quiet and well behaved all day. A couple of minutes ago she came and wuffed at the door to be let in.

On a hunch I checked the Bureau’s radar online. Sure enough, the storm is not far away.

Em and Indi are now safely ensconced in their beds.

Who needs radar when you have a scaredy dog?

Hail to the Chief November 27, 2007

I am the President …

… no, I haven’t finally lost my marbles …

… well, maybe a little bit …

I am the President of the Kindergarten for 2008.

I went to the AGM for the Kinder tonight because I thought I had to to find out about stuff like when Finn should start and so on. As part of the meeting they ask people to nominate to fill the Committee positions.

I had been sitting there thinking that it would be A Good Thing to join the committee and be involved with the kinder, especially since we’ll be sending 2 kids through there. There were general committee positions but most of them were already filled and it seemed like they were the only ones people were going to be interested in.

So I started to think about the office holders. God forbid the world’s worst bank teller ever should be the Treasurer! And Secretary really doesn’t sound like me. And the Assistant office holders just sound lame. So that really just left President and I figured Why Not? If I can run a test team I can run a kinder committee! And my grammar is soooo much better than the outgoing President’s. (edited on the advise of counsel)

I stood up and said “My name is Nicky Pelletier and I’m insane.”

P is for Pedant November 26, 2007

I went to buy some books for Uni from Angus & Robertson via their online store. I chose them because the books were cheaper than anywhere else and they’re offering free shipping at the moment.

They have this cute feature where you select which State you’re in and then as you type in your suburb a drop down list appears from which you can select the suburb and postcode. Very smart, ‘cept it doesn’t work. When I hit the Save button a message is displayed saying that all mandatory fields need to be completed and the Suburb is empty. Being a conscientious customer (and really wanting these books cheaply) I emailed them to notify them of the fault.

They responded promptly as follows:

Thank you for contacting us about the Angus & Robertson website and alerting us to the issues you are experiencing.

We are currently in the process of changing and upgrading our website. You may have some difficulty accessing the site during this time.

Previously www.angusrobertson.com.au was managed by a third party. We have made the decision to bring the website back under direct control of Angus & Robertson with the aim of providing better service to our customers. Hence, in setting up the new website we have had some initial issues, such as the ones you mentioned. We will be modifying the site continually, with the aim of providing you with a much better online experience than you had with the old website.

The new website is being updated to incorporate over 2 million titles -making it the largest online book store in Australia. New elements and features will be incorporated over the coming months which will make the new site much easier to navigate, and provide more information on titles than previously.

We do appreciate your patience on this matter and hope that you will check back regularly to see the new site evolve.

Kind Regards,

Sadly, not good enough for this little old ex-Test Manager, so I replied thus:

Thanks for your response.

I used to work as Test Manager so I am aware of the types of pressures you’re facing. At the risk of being both boring and annoying I would make the following points:

The inability to capture the customer’s suburb is, by any measure, a critical defect as it renders Angus & Robertson’s online store useless to a new customer. It doesn’t matter how many titles you have if people can’t buy them! I am surprised that you have gone into production with something this serious in place.

While your response is very polite and friendly - and I thank you for that - it doesn’t tell me when the defect will be rectified. Telling me that the site will be changed in the coming months doesn’t give me any sense of confidence that this issue is going to be fixed. And, given that I’m looking to purchase particular books within a certain time frame, my interest is in knowing when it’s going to work not that it’s going to ‘evolve’. Evolution is of no use if it doesn’t work.

Thanks again, but I won’t be ‘checking back’.

That was fun! Maybe I could go back to testing afterall.

On Sunday November 25, 2007

Liberal Party Flyer by ambrett

There’s a new government

I Own a Dog (or 2) and I Vote November 24, 2007

I haven’t cast my vote yet today. I figure I’ll mosey on down to the local school and put the numbers in the boxes soon, but I’m not feeling overly enthused.

It’s not that I’m not confident that we’ll have a change of government. If any Opposition team can win 16 seats to take power than this one is it.

It’s not that I’m underwhelmed by what the major parties have to offer. I gave up expecting much from either of them elections ago.

It’s that I live in a safe seat. Julia Gillard’s seat to be specific. And I feel a bit neglected by all the parties.

Apart from a couple of leaflets from Julia, we’ve had nothing in the way of campaign material from anyone. Last time we heard quite a bit from the local Greens candidate. This time nothing. And the Liberal candidate is such a nonentity that I’m not sure why they bothered at all. It’s all very disappointing.

Even though I know it’s not possible, I sometimes wonder why they don’t let us off voting for the lower house in the safe seats. It just seems like a waste of everyone’s time. The people counting the votes must get very bored…

Of course there is still the upper house and I’m taking my vote there pretty seriously. I’m going to vote for the Greens as I think a minor party with the balance of power is the best way of keeping the major parties in line. For a long time the Democrats did a pretty good job of ‘keeping the bastards honest’, but they’ve all but died and it’s time for someone else to take up the baton. The Greens are a better option than the Raving Loony Right Wing Christian parties that seem to be proliferating around the place.

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it’s off to vote I go…

On Saturday

On Saturday by Nicky P

Mark, Finn and Leila set off on their Excellent Adventure.

On Friday November 23, 2007

On Friday by Nicky P

There’s a Huntsman in the bathroom.
Eviction will have to wait until he’s somewhere more accessible.