The long weekend ends

The long weekend is over and I'm back at the airport (sorry I missed your birthday party Mandy).

We had a pretty good weekend with not a lot happening but some relaxing. We saw "I Am Legend" in gold class, which wasn't the best experience. Was a bit more of a horror movie than most of us were planning (some people didn't make it through the whole thing) and the service was terrible. We order some food with the idea that it would come out 1 hour before the end... They took so long that it came out 10 mins before the end.

I also picked up Ghost Squad on the Wii, which has been great fun. It's just like an arcade light gun shooter should be, although with lots of unlockables.

Well my flight is boarding... more from Sydney

Tragedy!

On the flight home last night I slipped into my normal flight home routine.

• Magazine during take off (I did find the exact hifi cabinet in a copy of POL Oxygen Magazine that someone kindly left in my seat pocket)
• Switched to What Hifi Magazine (after I flicked through POL)
• Seat Belt light off and out comes the DS

This is where it starts to be a bit odd. I only had Ultimate Mortal Kombat with me because I left the rest of the games in my checked in baggaged. I seemed to be losing an unusually large number of times. (Not that MK was ever my best fighting game). I figured I was just tired and my reactions for blocking were a bit slow.... No turns out the right sholder button on my DS (the block button as it happens) doesn't work any more. Not sure what the exact cause is, athough there is a chance that there was a beer realated incident in it's past that may have contributed.

Clearly I need to get another DS although it's hard to justify on the grounds that only one button is faulty... I might have to find someone who only wants to use it for brain training etc and give it to a new home

Back at my third home...

A day earlier than normal I'm back in the Virgin Blue lounge waiting for my flight home. I tried to get an earlier one but it was not to be.

It's a long weekend this weekend so I'll have 4 days at home before heading back to my second home (Sydney via my 3rd home the Virgin Blue lounge).

Unfortunately it's not home for a holiday tomorrow, but being in Brisbane is a good start. Not too much planned for the weekend but as it's Australia Day there will definately be some attempts to catch up with people.

Crawling through the back catalogue

I haven't blogged for a while (as with Ben and Mick) one of the problems is working what to blog about (other than the fact that I'm travelling... it's hardly news any more). The other problem is trying to find time to do it. I've been clocking in a lot of over time so sitting in front of my PC to blog hasn't been high on my list. But here we are... so... the blogging...

With all the travel I've got in the coming months I've been working on some gaming to do to fill in the hours away from home. I considered taking the new console to the family (the Xbox 360) with me but it's weight and bulk are too much to carry back and forth on a plane every week. I have the DS with me obviously but was looking for some gaming not just on the small screen. Due to it's small form factor I packed the PS2 with me. I haven't played much on the PS2 , I bit of God of War 2 for a review and some (PSOne) NFL Blitz with Tom. So there is plenty of PS2 gaming out there to be had.

Playing through the back catalog of games certainly has it's merits. First of all I looked up all the titles with reviews of 8/10 or more and started working down the list. As a result I've picked up Grand Theft Auto III and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time for the princely (pun intended) sum of $20 (combined). Both are great games and have clocked a few hours in both. As far as the graphics are concerned they certainly fall short of the 360 but on a 34cm TV it's hardly a concern. I'd never played any of the GTA series, my closest exposure was it's poorer cousin True Crime: Streets of LA. GTAIII is quite addictive, my driving skills need some improvement but it's a lot of fun. There are plenty more in the series (still at cheap prices) to go and that's even before the new GTAIV is released (something I wouldn't have considered on the 360 until now).

On the home gaming front I've been quite addicted to Oblivion on the 360. It's a great implementation of a Traditional RPG on a console, it's a pity the prequel Morrowind wasn't a PS2 game otherwise it would have been one of the first titles I picked up. I was tempted by Everquest on the PS2 (along with WoW on my Laptop, but I'm not crazy) for some RPG love but the ongoing subscription and net usages have put me off so far.

The DS won't be left out though. One of my favourite titles from the GBA and the initial DS (PHAT) was the Advance Wars Series. The latest incarnation Advance Wars: Days of Ruin has just popped up on Play Asia and straight to my order's list. The thing I'm most looking forward to is the Online Battles (with voice chat) a disappointing omission from the first title.

Other than that I almost dipped into the HD Format with a combined player but managed to talk myself out of it (Thanks Ness)

Well that's enough procrastination for one night... back to the overtime

It's almost confirmed.

So after a series of interviews today I'm all but confirmed for a huge stint in Sydney. The work starts Monday and will be pretty much through until March at this stage... so about the only question left is do I or don't I start a WoW campaign while I'm away.

I was planning on having a get together for the 1st 20/20 cricket match they were broadcasting in HD but it looks like I won't be Brisbane now so I might have to give it a miss.

In other (unsurprising) news I'm delayed in the airport.... again. There are a few thunderstorms around in Sydney and as a result I've been moved on to the 6:30pm flight to Brisbane, but it's not leaving until 7:30pm.

The other big news of the day is the new Apple Macbook Air. This is my first must have gear for 2008. The laptop sports an amazingly thin .75" profile and 5 hours of battery life.

Gate 47...

As you can probably guess I'm back at the Airport again today. I'm not really sure why, hopefully it all becomes clear at some point. I hasn't been the best start to the day... My cab was 20 minutes late (after 2 phone calls confirming it was coming). When it did eventually get to my street it drove straight past (yet another phone call). I was only the Cabbie's first day so it's not entirely unexpected although I was a little concerned when he asked if I wanted to take Corination Drive to the airport. I'm also leaving from my (and Vanessa's) favourite gate this morning... 47, possibly the furthest gate from the lounge. What's wrong with gate 40 I ask you? There is even a plane there ready?

As far as work today, it's one of a stranger reasons I've been on a plane at 6am. I'm subcontracting to another partner who needs a consultant (nothing too unusual) but I have to fly to Sydney to be interviewed by their customer? WTF? The worst part is that I know it results in 7 weeks of more trips to Sydney starting next week!

7 weeks away does make for a large opportunity for gaming. I have started Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (which I picked up for an obscene $25 on Sunday) and it has been suggested that 7 weeks in Sydney would be a great time to get it (and the expansion) finished. Logistically though the 360 is just not a portable machine... 7 weeks though is almost enough for me to consider starting a charater in WoW though.

I am starting to get (or have got) a cold so I am feeling a little sorry for myself, It's getting closer to the weekend though so I'm holding out for that!

New game time!

So one of my New Year's resolutions was not to buy a new game until
I'd finished one. The rule also went further to say it also has to be
for the same console. (there is a addition to the rule that i can sell
2 games instead of finishing one). We had a pretty quiet weekend at
home and as a result finished a few games. First of the list was Gears
of War which has pleased Vanessa no end, initially I thought it was
because of the violence but I think in reality it's so she can play
more Lumines. Next to go was CoD4 and Orcs and elves on the DS. So
I've been out in search of a new game or two. First port of call will
be a new DS game as i'm off to Sydney tomorrow and them Elder Scrolls
for the 360 when I get back.

--
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Can't blog... Achievements to be had...

I've been very slack on the blogging front but the unforeseen side effect of the 360 is the evil achievement points...

In fact I've had a Christmas/New year wrap up post to send but I haven't got around to finishing it. I managed to complete the final chapter of Gears of War on the weekend so I might be able to slot in some time shortly... Also it's about time for another poll...

How much should sausages cost?

$5/kg?
$10/kg?

Well for a couple in our unit block the 4-8 sausages were about $770.... after the firebrigade came and turned off the alarm.

Worlds most expensive sausages! I bet they won't do that again.