Mark Thomson

We enjoyed the Boondall track so much, we went back and did the Boondall to Sandgate ride today. The kids did really well to ride the 16.5 kms, although they're a bit slow moving for my taste. Nice gentle, mostly flat ride out along the railway tracks, through the outskirts of the suburbs, through some parks (Curlew Park was full of bats along the mangroves), and back out along the seaside to Sandgate. Really nice area, very reminiscent of Mission Bay in Auckland. I'd like to go back and do the ride without the kids next time so we can go a bit further along Sandgate, because you can ride right along the beachfront.

After we got back we had a picnic which was good, until squadrons of giant mosquitos started attacking us. I've never seen something leave so much blood on your skin when you swat it. That's one thing about Australia, everything's bloody big and bloody hungry. NZ doesn't have snakes, crocs, sharks, giant insects, lizards, dingos, and assorted other animals that're all out to eat you. They eventually drove us out of the park, furiously biting at us, and a few weren't giving up without a fight, pursuing us back to the car.

We went out to the Boondall Wetlands today. I thought it would be easy for Beeb to ride since it's mostly flat. It was a really nice ride with lots of little bridges, and some gentle slopes. He did really well, and although it didn't really challenge us, it was still a nice bit of gentle exercise. There were a lot of cyclists down there, so it's obviously quite popular.

We spotted our first snake. Rob let out a scream in the carpark, and I thought she had some giant spider crawling over her body. I didn't realise that there was a snake crawling along the ground. It was a small grass snake - about 20cms long and about as thick as a pencil. Surprisingly enough I didn't freak out about it like I expected I would. It didn't seem to be very interested in us, and just slithered away into the bushes.

Before we went out we finally sorted out the garage, and have achieved some kind of order at last. We've got a little bit more room to move around now which is good, but we're going to have quite a bit of stuff packed in boxes for the moment. That's one of the worst things about moving - having to pack up your life and unpack it again. I was really disappointed to find my file server wasn't working this morning. I'm going to have to take it apart later and have a look at what's wrong. Hopefully it's just something cheap and simple to replace like the power supply - I really don't want the drives to be damaged.

We're going out to celebrate our achievements and hard work on our latest project today. It's really nice to finally work for someone that appreciates your efforts. I've never had a company treat me so well, even down to little things like checking that I'm doing okay. So I'm really looking forward to going out and socializing with my workmates (something pretty much unheard of in NZ), and then tomorrow is a long weekend for Easter. I'm hoping to squeeze in some mountain biking finally.

Rob finally got a job - she is now working with finding people apprenticeship's. She's very excited about the job, and I'm hoping that this will provide some challenge and room to grow in her life, instead of just dealing with daily stupidity like, who likes what boy at school, or who was playing with dog poo at lunchtime. I can understand why she goes a bit nuts at home with the kids sometimes, I had the same thing when she was away overseas last. Sometimes you just need to have some adult conversation.

Micky's triathlon is coming up soon. I took her down to the orientation for it the other day. It's going to be absolutely insane driving to the city, so we've decided we're going to take the train in instead. Shouldn't be a problem taking the bike on it since it's the weekend. Although lately people don't seem to be worrying about it much, and we're getting morons jamming their bikes into the carriages with the commuters during peak time. It's ridiculously cozy in there most of the time - people packed in tightly like sardines in a can.

Beeb is lacking focus at school, and the teacher is having a lot of trouble getting him to stay on task. Apparently he just wanders off and does his own thing. I wondered if he's bored, and they're not challenging him enough, since he comes home everyday with new facts that he's learned, so he's obviously taking things in. We're going to try to incentivize his performance now - Rob's holding a Lego Star Wars game that he wants, but he won't get it until he's earned enough stars on his chart at school.

The latest season of Doctor Who has started back on the BBC. I can't wait for it to come on over here. The episodes are as follows:

3.1 Smith and Jones
The Doctor faces the dreaded Judoon, intergalactic alien stormtroopers who have transported a hospital to the moon... including the young Martha Jones.

3.2 The Shakespeare Code
Shakespeare gives the performance of his life to save the Earth from destruction at the hands of fearsome flying witches.

3.3 Gridlock
The Doctor returns to New Earth, and encounters the Face of Boe again.

3.4 Daleks in Manhattan
(Two-Part Story)
The Doctor and Martha visit New York in the 1930s... and run into an experiment by the Daleks to disrupt the fabric of time!

3.5 Evolution of the Daleks

3.6 The Lazarus Experiment
The famed scientist Dr. Lazarus may have developed the fountain of youth!

3.7 42
The Doctor and Martha visit a spaceship in a distant part of the galaxy.

3.8 Human Nature
(Two-Part Story)
The Doctor settles down to lead a normal life in a boarding school, in an adaptation of Cornell's novel "Human Nature".

3.9 Family of Blood

3.10 Blink
A Doctor Who horror story!

3.11 Utopia
The Tardis goes to the planet Malcassairo... where a lonely and patient professor is giving his all to save his people from extinction.

3.12 The Sound of Drums
(Two-Part Story)
The last of the Time Lords? Maybe. Then again, maybe not...

3.13 Last of the Time Lords