diy catch up

During the long Christmas break I had time to work on a few projects:

The shelves in the garage are finished, and are already overflowing! They worked very nicely, even though on the opposite side of the garage, there was no continuous joist line to screw the brackets into. A bit of creative spacing helped that, and they are screwed solidly into studs instead.

The bathroom is now so close to being finished - there's only the basin left to hang on the wall. I'm procrastinating a bit on that one, as I'm a bit worried that I'll hang it in the wrong position and the waste won't fit. The shower walls were a little harder than I anticipated, mainly due to the walls not being plumb or in fact straight (not my fault!). But they're up and sealed and look pretty damn professional. I sealed the grout in the shower with some hugely expensive stuff from the Tile Depot. We'll see if it works.

I've begun looking at the front door hinges too. There's something seriously wrong here - with only two hinges, the door works beautifully, but when the third hinge is added, the door jams. And even though the top hinge has been butchered, and is now set about 5 mm further into the door than the bottom hinge, the door still lines up. Somethin' jes' ain't right thur.

frustration

I'm getting really frustrated at work. I thought that I'd come back after a nice long break envigorated, but nothing has changed.

I have zero motivation, and I feel as though there is nothing for me there. The management have made it clear that there is no chance of a pay increase, which is one thing, but there also appears to be no chance of progression within the company, which is just unspeakably depressing. I feel that if I stay, I'll be there eternally churning through the same old stuff ad nauseam. The very worst thing is that it seems as though I've learned all I can from them, or perhaps more accurately, all they are willing to teach me. I just can't do that, I have to keep learning, changing, moving, growing. I have to get out.

I've started on my CV, but I don't have a clear picture of what it should be like, so I've hit a wall. In some ways it's too short, in others, too long. I've promised myself that I will get it finished this week, and Vic has said she'll help me with it.

and a happy new year!

Sayonara 2008, we will nae miss you.

This year we spent New Year's Eve at Mel and Dayne's place in Waiau Beach, as we have done for the last two years. Our hosts put on a really nice night for us with a great barbeque and plenty of snacks to keep us going 'til midnight. Mark, a friend of Mel and Dayne's was the only other guest, so it was a pretty quiet night. We passed the time talking crap, eating strawberries, and playing Rummikub, a strange Israeli number-matching game... do we know how to party or what? :)

The heavens opened at about 11pm, but luckily it was fine enough by midnight for us to stand out on the balcony in the cool air and welcome in the new year with good friends. May the coming year be bigger, better, brighter and bolder than the last one. It sure is going to be a big one for us!