I am loving Wednesday without work.

Today I asked a barman to 'surprise me' and he coped very badly with the concept. Eventually I got a nice french lager... and that's all I know about it.

Then I had a good steak upstairs. Good but not awesome. The wine was a nice cab merlot. The Mitre fills up with wankers real quick at lunch time, which was annoying.  read more »

Unfinished Business is a surprisingly good read. I forget who the author is, and can't be arsed finding the book, but it was about Paul Keating and things like the SGC.

Read a story, in TIME I think, where someone made an offhand comment about how Adam Smith's "invisible hand" has been slapped with the GFC and all. My thought is that perhaps the invisible hand is the one doing the slapping.

Dad complained about how schwelmer (my current beer of choice) was stacked as a dutch beer, not german. The theory that then came out was that shelf stackers are idiots. Likely, but I have a new preferred theory. What if the shelf stackers have a really advanced sense of humour, and we just don't get the joke?

But quite happy about it. I'm still thinking it's better to wait for the right job - and the last job is good evidence.

Had a couple of chats with a 'top shelf' kind of agency. More specialised than the regular specialists. So they have not blinked at the rate I am asking. Today they coped very well with a list of what I want and don't want. I guess one hiccup is that one of my dislikes wiped out a possible immediate job.

But this means I get to sleep in a little longer for a while, and maybe get through some more books. Except... I keep buying books whenever I get in to the CBD for an interview. Today I had an extra, EXTRA helpful guy. Turns out one of the books I found was by an author he is thinking of trying, so we had a good chat about hard SF. To the world in general - I recommend Alistair Reynolds there.

Not having to go to work is awesome. But it's better when you still have money, so the plan is to get another job.

I did explain to CD store guy that, if I get another job at the last rate, I would be happy to work three or four days a week. Then I bought a stack of CDs and a Skinny Puppy t-shirt.

Then I went and bought some books. And some expensive chocolate.  read more »

A short while ago, there was much parental shouting. Then Mum knocked just to let me know - she is going to buy rice.

I'm enjoying being unemployed so far, and today I feel like my brain is starting to spin up. I've also had this awesome realisation... with multiple desktops and imitation post-it-notes, I have a cool magnetic poetry equivalent.  read more »

Really, I just went a bought some books. In hindsight I realised that I can justify this by saying it's my patriotic duty, because I haven't worked right through my stimulus yet.

I got:
Endless Universe. I think it would count as 'popular physics'?
Toll The Hounds. Fantasy, very excited it is out, but won't read it for a while yet as I want to do all the series once it's out. Big long books, they are awesomely good.
The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao. Just fiction. Sounds interesting.
Little Brother. Also a novel.  read more »

I have been multiple kinds of sick. I think the oncoming 'flu is the absolute limit

I'll go work work early Tuesday, make sure basic training is clear. Then comes the stress test. That's the bit where I leave early, and people can work through the things usually left to me.

I just need to sleep until next week.

Got my cat a toy which she likes. !  read more »