Day 321: Friday Arvo Drinks

My work is one of the few left that still has regular Friday afternoon drinks, we normally have them onsite in the office but this afternoon we moved drinks to the Holy Grail in Kingston. The boss put some money on the bar and we had a couple of platters of delicious canapés as well. It's a nice way to wind down after a busy week and is one of the reasons I've been where I am for as long as I have.

Day 289: The View From Here

I'm off in Sydney again for work, this time it's a two day training exercise which I'm hoping will be worth the two days away from actually doing my job. I guess the next two days will tell.

I arrived to the hotel at a reasonable hour so this time I could get setup in my room and make my way down stairs for dinner in the restaurant. I hadn't eaten at the Sebel's restaurant before and tonight I was impressed, the food was fantastic. The weather was fairly mild tonight so I had my meal in the outdoor dining area which produced the view you see in my photo for today. I do really like this hotel and that's certainly making the need to travel for work a little easier to bear.

Day 270: Incentives

A little bundle of goodies landed on my desk this afternoon, they're essentially a reminder that this year our big incentive trip is to Hawaii and that the end of the qualification period is getting closer. 

We have a couple of these types of incentives each year and the good thing about this one is your partner is invited as well, kids are also welcome but we'd have to pay for their airfares ourselves... which would make for a fairly cheap family holiday. I'm hoping to make it this year and I'm pretty close to hitting the targets for qualification too but I still have some work to do.

As far as the 'goodies' go: The Hula Girl is kinda cheesy and the cheapo plastic Lei is really scratchy, but the bamboo bookmark with the Ukulele shape carved out of it is pretty cool.

Day 257: Big Buddha

After a full day cooped up in a conference with about 40 colleagues from all over the country, one of the guys from Melbourne suggested the few of us staying at the same hotel should head out for some dinner. The night started out at Chinta Ria for an impressive feed for relatively little money, a good sign.

From there a group decision was made to head off to some trendy bar called Ivy for a quick cleansing ale before retiring to the hotel. This plan was fine for a while and it was just as well we'd all had a cheap dinner because the drinks at Ivy weren't, the roof top pool bar was pretty spectacular though. Before leaving Ivy a few of our group headed back to the hotel, the rest of us stayed for one more round before walking back.

Along the way we thought it was a good move to stop in at another trendy bar called Establishment, it was on the way after all and the walking we were doing was thirsty work. Some time around 2am the few of us who remained decided that considering we had the start of another full day of conference to contend with in around 6 hours, we should probably call it the last round and head back to the hotel. Not such a good sign.

Day 256: Not So Local Landmark 2

Last time I was in Sydney for work I forgot my camera and ended up posting a crappy photo of Luna Park taken with my iPhone. I hated not having my camera and swore I wouldn't leave it behind the next time I was away with work. I'm back in Sydney with work for the next two days and this time I came prepared.

My flight was a little late this afternoon and I didn't get off the plane until just after 8pm. I ended up catching a cab straight to a little restaurant with a couple of colleagues for dinner, If you're out around the Rocks I can recommend both the food and the service at Sailors Thai. After dinner the decision was made to walk from Sailors Thai to the hotel we were staying in and along the way we passed this little scene.

I really like this photo, there's so much going on in it: The bridge looks great from this angle, there's a cool starburst from the lamp on the left, the crushed car in the centre of the roundabout is different and the Australia Day flag on the right was being blown by a bit of a gust of wind which blurred its edge in the long exposure photo. Have I mentioned that I love my Nikon? So glad I didn't leave it at home this time.

Day 223: Views of Manly

I don't get a weekend this week, the boss has arranged for us to spend tomorrow and Sunday in Manly for a branch planning session. We had the choice of flying up or driving in a hire car, I chose the latter with one of my colleagues and we left late morning.

At least the boss is making it worth while, we arrived at the Novotel Sydney Manly Pacific hotel in time to check in and head to the bar for a quiet beverage before being taken to Le Kiosk for dinner. The food was very good, so was the service and the wine. I'd happily dine here again if I'm out this way again.

I did have full intentions of bringing my camera with me for the weekend workfest but I realised about an hour out of canberra that I'd left it in the boot of my car at work. This means I've had to resort to the iPhone for my photo today and I'll have to do the same tomorrow. Tonights photo is the lovely view I have from my room, pretty hey? I seem to do these types of photos when I'm away for a night or two with work, I tend to forget about the photo until I'm heading to bed. I'll be away for a few days again early in September, although this time should present more opportunities for photos. Stay tuned.

Day 80: Tall Mushies

After all the rain we've had lately I've noticed some strange looking 'shrooms growing along the path that leads from the car park to the office. I took this photo on my way back from grabbing an afternoon coffee using my cup to give some perspective on how tall these Mushie's have grown.

It's a very strange formation on this one, I've not seen this before and all the other equally tall Mushrooms nearby have narrow, elongated bell shaped heads on their long stalks so this one's quite unique. I have no idea what species these things are, but I am sure that none of them look particularly appetising.

Day 68: Last to Leave

I don't really like blogging about my job because I don't think anyone would find it very interesting. So far I've managed to avoid it, but tonight was an unusual event for me in that I was the last to leave the office.

It's rare that I feel the need to work back late, so I tend not to. It's not that I have anything in particular against it, it's just not usually required. However tonight, I stayed back to work on a proposal that if successful will generate substantial revenue for the business and in turn a tidy commission for me. So the Commodore was the last car in the car park, apart from the two courier vans that stay in the car park overnight.

Staying back meant I didn't get home until close to 7pm. Just before I made it home Belinda rang to ask where I was. In hindsight I probably should have called to let her know as Belinda had assumed that I'd been at the pub. I guess it is a fair assumption to make on a Thursday evening and it really is a far more likely reason for me being home late than what was actually the case tonight.

Day 7: How do you spend your Saturday night?

I spent mine ironing... yep, that's right, I'm a serious party animal. Not only did I iron my shirts for next week back at work, but I also got through a few casual shirts that have been waiting for their next outing since being washed, at least now they'll be ready to roll.

This lot took me most of 'Little Fockers' with a Mojito break in between... the whole ironing caper is pretty time consuming and not something I particularly enjoy, the Mojito helped a little in that department but still not quite enough to make it 'fun'.

While I was ironing I had time to reflect that taking a photo per day for the whole year might end up being a little more difficult than I thought... I'm back at work on Monday and I think it's going to get harder to find time to take photos. While trying to come up with ideas for what I'll do on a slow news day or a particularly busy day at work (yeah yeah, I can hear the chuckles already) I started imagining blog entries about putting fuel in the car, or finding a park for a customer meeting or maybe even more ironing photos.

I guess time will tell.