An update is long overdue. But this week has been busy. I learned late last week that one of our experts at work is headed for greener pastures, meaning that his work will now spill over onto the rest of us. Not that this is good or bad but really marks the end of era. So for me the last week has been series days of long hours and spending my down time plotting new stuff for the near future. The learning curve is steep, but I think I’m getting there.

Anyway last weekend I spent the day meeting up with the housemate’s uncle, who was a pretty cool guy with a keen sense of taste for beer, wine and fucking excellent food. The housemate, Phil and his uncle, Paul , share an obsession: cooking. And they are both brilliant at it. I ate Sardines stuffed with parsley and roasted pine nuts, steamed pipis in red bean paste sauce, marinated ling and, the coup de grace, Sri Lankan snake bean curry. Seriously, I felt overwhelmed eating this entire meal, but in a really good way, so much flavour and so little time to really, heavily, appreciate it. I managed to impress people with my choice in expensive imported beers from Flying Dog, Innis & Gunn and the Orkney Island Breweries.

That was Saturday. On Sunday, I met up with Jo from work and while catching up, spent the day taking photos through the remaining moments of Floriade, the spring festival that graces this city every year. After Jo had to split, I spent sometime in a café, just chilling, drinking caps and drawing. This I have not done in more than a year. And in the moments after, I felt that I was in control of my life for the first time in ages. I came home and the Phil and Paul, drummed up a pile of spring roll of pork mince, carrot, vermicelli and created a dish of fish sauce, curry leaves and chilli flakes.

Monday, I just chilled and recovered, but on Tuesday, I unleashed a monster. Several in fact. I wear headphones at work. I play music loud. When I am in the zone, no one and no thing – short of a total catastrophe – can reach me while I have the headphones on. One person at my job, Luke, would throw stuff at my desk to get my attention. I then exclaimed last week that I would buy a couple of Nerf weapons just so he could shoot at me to get my attention. Only cause it would be safer than the things he was throwing around.

So I bought a couple of midrange items along with some extra bullets and snuck them into work. I did this because the security guards are bored and want to hang shit on you at every available opportunity.

Of course I successfully snuck them by the front door and unpacked the toys upstairs, leaving one on Luke’s desk. Of course, after about 3 days of bullets being passed between desks, has resulted in an escalating arms race that will not only consume our team, but the entire section. Maybe in a month the entire floor will be at war, disparate factions eager to resolve age-old bureaucratic disputes and rivalries. But this is how IT proles duke it out, with foam weapons and vinyl trophies. It’s like Valhalla played out in that pool of coloured balls at a MacDonalds.

So nowadays, I spend half my day learning difficult things, normally beyond my immediate understanding and dodging fire. Those sucker darts really pinch when they hit you between the eyes. Too many people around looking for headshots as opposed to just shooting at the general body mass. I think we need to set up some kind of firing range.

Anyway, I gotta get back to things. Probably sleep. More photos to come too soon. And more news so stay tuned.