Handlebars

Okay, the first point has to be the sheer joy at the way the US elections are panning out at present with the people obviously waking up to how useless Obama is. Shame it is not a presidential and we have to suffer three more years of the fool. Interesting to see a fair number of 'Conservatives', a new party, unfortunately the US, like Britain, has a non-democratic voting system - hence how William Blythe (Bill Clinton to most) got elected when 60% of the country voted against him; had the US used any sort of actual democratic voting system, Australian, French, or Russian, then George Bush senior would have been re-elected.

My contract got extended, again. This week and then two weeks to backfill someone. The Monday after that is when the Health contract starts if we win it, and it is looking very good at this point. On that subject, turns out the RFP (Request for Proposals) was worded incorrectly and the workload will be twice the initial estimate. We did ask them to clarify the "three month project for each of two years, 130 person days total" and they said it was for the two years, but now they are saying it was meant to be for each year. Which means that it will be a full time job for both of us, and a good thing that we arranged the option to bring in a third as well.

Looking good. Yesterday I was getting very despondent, today it looks like one contract will slide into another, and then that could well slide straight into the next. I may not suffer from this GFC thing after all, well that is except for the bit about wasting most of a year trying to fit into Singapore's economy.

So far, so good.

Hmm, I am playing East India Company at the moment. Kind of boring, I got to locking the rest of Europe into the North Sea, cut off from their colonies in Africa and India, and I should have been winning, but instead I was going broke. So this time I am trying a bit more of a balancing act with the marine corps and actually taking and developing colonies.

I pretty well have given up on AI Wars, it was not as good as Sins of a Solar Empire. Even on the low settings I start with one star, the two AIs start with fleets in every star in the damned galaxy. With the medium settings on top of that they start invading my system before I have even had time to locate my damned ships! That has got to be a load of crap.

So mostly I haven't actually been playing much at all. Certainly not in the evenings during the week, as I normally would. Been working a bit later, and that has an impact as well.

I did some card readings at the end of the weekend. Something about the immediate future will be tough, beware of untrustworthy people, the medium term future will be tough, beware of untrustworthy people, but the long term outcome will be complete and fulfilling in a spiritual way. It didn't specifically say that I would marry six (or at least three) gorgeous teenagers and finally discover what sex can really be. Also didn't seem to be encouraging about the becoming-incredibly-rich plan. Just that I would be successful in mastering contrary energies. Or whatever, I can't recall it perfectly.

I got a call yesterday from AIM(SA) that the project management intensive for next week was cancelled due to too many withdrawals. Then a call today that it was back on and a promise of an email, which never came. I am not being very impressed.

Did my tax. Finally! I know, but when I phoned to get my NOA number the voice menu said that the personal returns window had been extended by a week, so I didn't fret. I had to call because the online package would not give it to me, so I had to call a person to answer the same questions but the person gave me my damned NOA. I should get over five thousand back. That was the first step in my stress load reducing - worst case; that could pay my rent over the December / January period, getting me through to the magical February where everyone predicts that the market will pick up. Now, of course, things a looking even a bit better than that and so I am putting on hold any plans to do a hard reset.

The warmer weather has good points and bad points.
The major good point is, of course, that the girlies are looking better as they dress less, and with so many Asians here now the skin content is greatly increased from what it was a few years ago.
The main bad point that is annoying me is that it means more people out partying Friday and Saturday nights, making noise to way after midnight and keeping me awake. Grouch that I am, this bothers me. If I can't be having fun then why should anyone else be allowed to?

Oh yeah, 'Handlebars'; I am growing a moustache for November - the raise awareness, and hopefully money, for men's health. As you know more men in Australia die from prostrate cancer than women die from breast cancer, and yet breast cancer research gets forty times more funding; more men die from testicular cancer than women die from cervical cancer, and yet cervical cancer gets more funding; more men die from either gender related illness or from preventable illnesses of any sort than do women, and yet women have their own health department, as do children, youths, aboriginals, and ethnics, but not men, not white, adult men. We do the majority of the work, we pay the majority of the taxes, and yet we are paying for everyone else's benefit. I think better than growing a moustache would be to be allowed to kill a few feminists, but we have to start somewhere.