Josh Campbell

2 July, 2010

Sometimes the automated, randomised playlist just plain knows what is needed on Friday at the end of "one of those" weeks. Fast, angry, and super fast.

After my Facebook thing got taken over by teenagers and people I don't know I've moved back to my own site to post rants, raves and the odd bit in between. Facebook is now relegated to telling me my emotional age and reminding me to keep in touch with Friends^TM. I like my site better anyway and I like writing what I want without the limit of the naff TwitterBooking and FaceBlogging thing.

Three people tried to run me over on the way home. It not really all that unusual for at least one person to have a go but three! Come on. I spent the rest of the ride home thinking about how you go about totally destroying someone's life without actually doing physical harm. It got quite imaginative there towards the end ... but I won't share.

I was informed this afternoon it is not a criminal offence to kill your boss if he makes last minute changes on a Friday afternoon just before Beer o'clock. I like it. On a related note we have formed an informal union at work for employees with fortnightly meetings to discuss the state of the company. Also known as a great chance to head to the pub in the middle of the week, bitch and moan for a bit and then talk about what we could do to make things better. It's somewhere between negative and positive and it has beer (and sometime a bowl of chips).

Have discovered my graphic design work improves the more shitty I am. Obviously those skills are linked to the dark side of my brain. I am particularly pleased with my move back to a grunge style and hiding it in pretty conservative-business-friendly layouts. When Punks rule the Earth indeed!

29 June, 2010

I always seem to start a post by apologising for not posting. It's weird and will now stop. It's my ranting, raving, whisky infused, anger-zone and apologies are not pending.

Winter needs to settle down real soon or there'll be revolution. The flooding on the backyard is less noticeable this year which I am claiming as a personal victory. I leveled the ground, reduced the dips, fill, cut, thumped, reseeded and generally pretended to know what I was doing ... and there is less flooding. All me thank you very much.

I have a new Triton Mach 3 workbench that I got cheap off TradeMe. As soon as it stops raining I will be out there setting it up and chancing personal injury as I set up the circular saw in it. Looking forward to it ... so settle down winter.

The kitchen floor is done so presumably builders are turning up one day soon. Not holding my breath. Also assuming someone will drop a chisel or something on the floor and cover it up wih chewing gum. Special. (I might be getting cynical about this renovation crap).

A new wash for whisky is on the go. Really looking forward to that. Haven't distilled anything in ages. Beer to follow.

 Nothing else to comment on (have given up on politics and general social bollocks).

10 May, 2010

Time flies when you're having fun.

The kitchen is almost finished. A few custom units to fill the gaps, a final coat on the floor and the last appliances go back in. My weekends revolve around picking white crap out from between floor boards before the final coat. It is amazing how much warmer this whole area is now. The sun gets in all day, the walls are insulated and the few times we've put the fire on it's heated up the lounge/kitchen quickly. I like it when a plan comes together. Looking forward to it being finished.

I've had the opportunity to present to teachers recently which has been great. I have to say I am enjoying working with the good ones without the pressure and frustration of having to live in the school system. There is something refreshing about being in that support role and interesting to be able to observe it all from a slightly outside position. I head down to Dunedin in a few weeks to do a workshop there which I am really looking forward to.

Training at work has taken a step forward as well. More customers are taking us up on the training option so I am putting together training material around our Drupal install. A bit of a challenge to create resources without focusing on the parts that are prone to change. So far it's working out and it is nice that many of our customers are genuiinely interested in learning. A very enjoyable part of the job.

I have no news on the garden. Apart from pulling the odd apple off the tree I have hardly been out there this year. The grape vine was perfect this year, we got an average amount of potatoes but a lot of tomatoes. Things are slowly winding down as we are getting our first frosts so hopefully things have calmed down by Spring so we can get some of the next steps set up out there. It feels like chooks are the next move so a chook house is in order and a clean up of the compost.

5 February, 2010

"It's always the good ones that go crazy the fastest".

A recent Simpsons epsiode, Bart gets a Z, struck a chord with me, in particular the last part when the young teacher gets drunk, notifies the students that they are wasting their time at school, and rants about the school being a "glorified hamster wheel run by incompetent bureaucrats". I laughed, I cried. It was pointed out that the young teacher had spiky hair, a red tie and left under duress. I still found it funny ... 'cos I'm not a teacher at the moment and don't have to care about the sorry state of our education system. If I ever come back though, oh boy, there will be hell to pay ... in a good way.

The kitchen renovation is imminent. We have a plan, we have the appliances, we have a BBQ. We are both looking forward to this particular project being over. Not long now until we have the house finished and we can sit back for a bit.

This weekend the South Island Tattoo Expo is on. Some friends have offered to put my camo shorts on sale there. It's a bit nerve racking waiting to see if anyone wants them but hey, if they don't sell there I guess I'll try another approach ... or have 10 pairs of camo shorts in various sizes. Either way I guess I win, although I would like to get another style running and that is a bit reliant on clearing the cost with some sales.

The web design job is still fun and a lot of challenges still to be had. The coffee is still better than in the staffroom, the pay is better and I am enjoying working with customers again. So far, so good.

8 January, 2010

It's early ... and very quiet. My brain is in that very gentle state between sleep and wakefulness and feels like it's wrapped in cotton wool. Spelling mistakes abound. It's 2010. How cool is that? I feel like I'm part of an Arthur C. Clarke sequel and for some reason looking forward to 10/10/10 which occurs to me is binary for '42'. A quick search reveals that Douglas Adams did not intend this but subsequently that date just got more interesting.

We are starting to feel the benefits of all this house destruction/rebuilding/renovation. The lounge is now completely opened up and the living spaces make more sense. The kitchen is next and there is a lot of finishing work to do but it is feeling good. On mornings like this those new french doors are paying for themselves. The garden is looking very tidy this year and very green. Our compost 'system' sort of fell apart when the plastic compost bins ended up being overtaken by a large heap that became higher than our fence. I have a plan to deal with that which involves removing the plastic as well.

The new year resolution is simple this year - "Carry on". No big plans beyond those already in place. Work on the house, garden, and web design. Keep it simple.

Now, I feel the need for a morning coffee in the sun.