Mark Thomson

So I had to work New Years Eve, but the family came into the city and we met up to go to the fireworks on the river. I don't know what had changed this year, but there seemed to be less of a focus on family activities. More stuff catering to the young and single.

Now I'm not that ancient, but I'm not that interested in DJ's playing the same sampled beats over and over, or rave dance parties. Actually the dance party was pretty pathetic - not a very large group of people for the space it was held in, and mostly a few adults trying to get their children to gyrate, with little success. I can't understand why they only elected to show one movie this year. Usually they'll have a bunch, and the one they did show, Princess Bride, seemed to have a reasonable turnout. Whoever's idea it was to have a Guitar Hero/Mario Kart tournament should probably be given a sharp smack across the forehead. How many people can play the games at once? Not many - leaving the rest of us to watch?? Ooh exciting stuff!

We filled in some of the time with a swim in the lagoon (with about 2000 other people), and waited for the fireworks. Fortunately they were still having the early showing, followed by the midnight bang up. We decided to stay for the early one, and took off for home about 9. The fireworks were as usual pretty good, although I had a feeling they'd been scaled down from previous years. I guess they hadn't escaped the economic downturn - perhaps that explained the lack of interesting activities this year also - all done on a shoestring. The only thing that kinda rankled me about the fireworks - they intercut the music with clips from the news during the year. Why the hell do we want to be reminded of all the horrible things that happened? Heath Ledgers death, skyrocketing petrol prices, wars, and then the final WTF - Obama being elected to president. Hey i agree it's great he's in, and the shaven monkey is finally on the way out, but what's it got to do with Australia? Last time I checked, Oz isn't a State of America yet. The whole thing was strange and surreal.

So yeah, home and tucked up in bed before midnight. Some strange movie playing on SBS, and the wife and children passed out. The dogs snoring on my pillow, behind my head. That was New Years... Not the worst I've ever had, but it's not such a big deal in my mind. We're still here, and life goes on. Here's hoping good things happen for everyone in 2009.

I got the 6 month contract extension. Hopefully the economy will pick up in that time and I'll be able to pick up something permanent here. I really love my job, so I'd really like to stay here. Fortunately the extension also gets me over the Xmas hump - it's becoming nigh-on impossible to find something at the moment. I'll probably look at doing some courses in the New Year. I'd been wanting to do some project management for awhile, so I might look at just paying for that myself and getting it done.

Much to my disappointment I didn't get my contract extended at work, so I'm looking for a new position. It's quite difficult to find anything at the moment, with the global economy being in the toilet, employers are reluctant to take on new staff. I've got a glimmer of hope, in that there is a single extension available for another 6 months. I've applied and I'm hoping to find out soon. I had an interview yesterday for a job in the government, so I'm waiting to find out about that. So hopefully, I've got a couple of options available.

Rob had an accident on Saturday and possibly wrote-off the car. She hit a parked car that was parked over a rise. She was following a truck, which had to swerve to avoid the car as it came over the rise, and she clipped it as she went to swerve. Bay got thrown against the roof, Micky had some bruising from the seat-belt, and Rob banged up her knee, got some bruising, and some burst blood vessels across her chest. Thankfully they are all okay. What really annoyed me though, was the owner of the car said it was the 4th time in 5 months that this had happened! I mean, if you parked a car there, and it got hit, wouldn't you think that maybe it would be an idea to do something differently. Unfortunately it's going to bugger up our insurance now, and Rob's driving record. I really think the owner of the car should accept some culpability for it.

On a happier note, we got word from Maureen that our new puggy baby will be coming a couple of days before Xmas. She'd have been out on the weekend, but she still needs to get her vaccinations done. We're still trying to decide what to name her, but hopefully Olive will take to the new addition, and it will help settle her down a bit.

I haven't written anything personal in a long time, mostly because I've just been too busy, but also because things have been in a lot of turmoil and it's been difficult to articulate everything. I'll have a go now.

We've finally moved into our new home, and it's wonderful finally having a space to call your own again, not living in each others pockets or other peoples. We've been working hard finishing things, setting things back up again, and getting things just right. The property has been particularly hard to tame, but with the right tools and some time I think we'll be able to make it manageable. The ride-on mower has been a huge help, and takes a lot of the drudge out of maintaining the property - sure you still have to get the slasher out sometimes, but at least it's not slashing away at the entire 4 acres anymore.

I am still pursuing my previous employer for my outstanding superannuation, leave entitlements, and final pay. It still really angers me the way the dismissed me for asking for my pay, and the way they still refuse to pay me what is rightfully mine. I'm not asking for anything that I'm not entitled too - just the $11,500 they owe. It's also disappointing that the Government aren't really interested in pursuing these people, so I'm waiting while the liquidator goes through the legal process. So far they've gone out of their way to be as difficult as possible, conveniently 'losing' their financial records etc. I have faith the liquidator will pursue them to the end though, so I'll just have to be patient.

I love my new job though. It's safe to say it's the best place I've ever worked so far - I really enjoy the people, the work, and being in the city. I'm a little sad at the moment, because nobody had their contracts renewed. But there is a little glimmer of hope, so it's not over yet. I've started working on Plan B anyway, and hopefully I'll be able to find something else I'll love just as much. At any rate, I've made some good friends, and hopefully I'll be able to keep in touch with them.

Rob's gotten a great new opportunity, and has been working more hands-on with the construction sector. I know she's really enjoying the new challenges, and I'm really proud of her. The kids are still a bit of a mixed bag, but you just take each day as it comes. Doesn't seem like you can ever have them both behave at the same time, they seem to operate as a tag-team. Micky's growing up and doing the typical moody teenager thing. Beeb's still off in fantasy land, and seems to be more easily distracted lately - perhaps its just the age. He's getting better at baseball, and it's nice to see him involved in a group that treats him well.