Punch in the guts...

...then kicked in the teeth.

Paid extra tax this year and tightened up the belt so that we could get a refund this year, or at least break even.

Nope, got another tax bill. Greaaat. Just what we needed. :(

Twenty years

Went ice skating with the family today.

Seems kind of odd to go ice skating in a desert town like Darwin, but they set up a temporary rink for the school holidays.

First time ice skating since the 90's, almost exactly twenty years since I last donned the skates. Made an okay showing of myself, was a little wobbly but didn't stack it. I enjoyed myself - despite having just gotten back to the heat from the frozen bottom half of the country, and having been looking forward to not wearing boots on my feet.

Was a good time, glad I went. Doubly so that it was a chance to spend time with the family.

Journey home

End of another major outing for work, now driving north up the middle of the country and heading home.

Good thing my last course was on at the same time as part of this outing, means less time away from the family.

Was only away from them for about two months this time, bit less actually. And this should be the last major outing for this year. Maybe. So yay, more time at home with the family! :D

Bookmarks

I love reading. I know some people aren't big fans of it, but spending hours reading a book sounds like a good time to me.

A couple of years ago I bought myself an eBook reader. I prefer real books but this gave me the option to carry lots of books in a small amount of space when I travelled (I like to pack lite). And the e-ink screen is not back lit so it is easy on the eyes, I can read for hours.

For the first time since I got it, I found a problem with it. There was a power issue and it dropped the bookmark on the book I was reading. I was up to around page 350 on a 1100+ page book. :|

The pain with this particular book reader is that it doesn't have a "go to page x" function. So in order to keep reading I have to start at page one and press forward three hundred plus times. :(

But there is a solution! One of the later versions of the software added the 'go to page x' option (someone was smart!) so all I have to do is update the firmware.

Shame I won't be able to do that until I get home. In August. *sigh*