mykrocosm

Large organisations tend to project this aura of capability. You want to feel that once you give them a paper or a payment, it will be filed away safely in their systems.

Well, last month Workcover lost the record of a payment I’d made in person at their city office by EFTPOS. The lady at the counter remembered me making the payment, yet I still had to go home and post them a copy of the receipt I’d received at the time.

Yesterday, I found out by accident that the Australian Tax Office had lost a form I’d sent to them in January. Fortunately for me, they’d sent me a letter at the time confirming they received the form. I guess they don’t file their outgoing letters too well either. So I had to post them back a copy of this letter they’d sent me to confirm that I’d actually submitted the form.

A friend made a payment of a fine to the SA Police using their credit card facility. Credit card, right? Multiple records and audit trails, right - in his accounts, their accounts, and the credit card company’s accounts. Well the record got lost going from their billing system to their accounting system, and they were giving him a truly nasty time, threating court, and demanding copious stat decs and documents from his employer and bank, when a simple call to the credit card company or their own database manager would have solved the issue.

Spot the common thread yet? All three bunglers are Australian government organisations.

The moral of the story is, document your documents. When they come in, when they go out. I now endeavour to scan copies of all my outgoing mail, and a good chunk of my incoming mail. Finding yourself on the wrong side of the red tape really sucks.

We went to a Belgium-slash-Australia party this weekend. Flea came straight off the set of McLeod’s Daughters and I think she has plans for this block of finest quality Belgian chocolate!

Been playing a few games of Scorched Earth 3D online with friends. It’s a really neat open-source game that throws you onto a random landscape with a bunch of computer bots, and you all get to lob weapons at each other. Winners get more cash to spend on new weapons in the next round. There’s a nice variety of bombs, guns and even nuclear weapons. The graphics are really impressive. Only a couple of drawbacks - the camera controls take some getting used to, and setting up the server side of things can get really fiddly, but it’s worth the effort.

There’s nothing like taking out an entire island with a Strangelove bomb

Ever wondered … what if Dr Seuss and Edgar Alan Poe had got together to sink a few ales?

Horton Hears a Heart

Just found out that the newly opened Adelaide Airport terminal has free wireless internet coverage, provided by my ISP. Not only that, but most of the terminal is powered by 1000 square metres of solar panels, apparently visible fom the air. These and other initiatives make it, for now, the most modern airport in Australia, turning it from an embarassment to a source of pride.

It’s about time!

You’re a bike rider. Every day you venture on to the road aboard your steel contraption. You’re ridiculed, threatened and endangered by other road users. But you plod steadfastedly onwards, your spinning wheels marking your contribution to the worthy causes of saving money, saving the environment, saving your health. You take care not to offend anybody - indicating with your arms where appropriate, not pushing through the lights before they change, and locking up your bike out of the way.

Then why, by all the gods that are holy, would you cycle on the road down West Terrace during peak hour, blocking a whole lane of traffic that doesn’t have room to go around you, when there is a beautiful bike track just for YOU paid for with OUR tax dollars only two metres off the road to your left????

Was home sick again yesterday - I didn’t even go near the computer, believe it or not.

You know, it’s a bit suss. Last year, hardly anyone in our little office got the company flu injection, and we seemed to enjoy great health while the rest of the company was laid low. This year, nearly everyone in our room got the flu injection, and we’ve had multiple waves of sickness.

It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

I’m playing Homeworld at the moment - for a six year old game, it runs and looks great on my computer! In 1999, a six year old game tended to look a bit crap, what with the 16 colour graphics and all. But in 2005, a six year old game can be run at maximum detail and maximum resolution, without a single hiccup, and look very very nice.

Ground Control (funnily enough, also by Sierra) is another one from that period which also runs beautifully on today’s hardware.

So keep an eye on those bargain bins. There are awesome games in there.

My brother Adrian got married to Fi, his girlfriend of nine and a half years this weekend. Everyone I spoke to said it was by far the best wedding they’d ever been to. I must say (even with the obvious bias) that I agree with that.

Why was it so good? Well, they’d put a LOT of thought and planning into it. Most wedding couples do, don’t they? But unusually for a wedding couple, their thoughts were for the guests, not themselves. First of all, guests arriving at the hall were treated to a quick fortifying glass of champagne or beer. During the ceremony Adrian and Fi faced the audience, which made it so much more personal than staring at the back of a suit and a dress. The ceremony itself was short and sweet, devoid of all the long-winded religious stuff, and consisting of simple, heartfelt vows. More champagne and nibbles and mingling, and then the couple was whisked off (by me!) and guests made their way a few blocks to the reception.

The reception was a little more conventional as receptions go, with the one notable exception - there were very few wedding gifts on the table because they had instead asked for donations. They’d arranged through a small, dedicated charity to build a school room in Africa. Amazingly, this one wedding was able to raise the entire sum needed. There were also lots of lovely little touches, such as the personally handwritten note for each and every guest on the inside of their name card.

Where the ceremony was made special by the happy couple, it was the reception that the guests imbued with the love and joy they felt for Adrian and Fi. The room seemed so alive. It really was the most incredible wedding I’d ever seen, and I’m honoured to have been a part of it.

I was best man, and I became SO anxious about giving my speech that I started feeling a bit unwell. I’m sure a few people thought I looked a bit green. But my speech went well in the end, so I probably needn’t have worried. In the end, I was thrilled to see the day unfold, and thrilled that it went perfectly for my brother and his beautiful bride.