Catching up on the Blog Posts

Last Wednesday Anisha and I went to one of the shows that is part of the NZ International Comedy Festival 2008. We watched the "Big Show" at 8.45pm in the Auckland Town Hall. The tickets cost NZ$42.50 each and the show was 2 hours in length. The three comedians were; Neil Delamere, John Fothergill, and Eddie Lfft, with a special guest appearance by Jason Cook.

Neither Anisha or I had a lot of knowledge about the different comedians so we selected a show which had a variety of comedians rather then some of the others which were presented by one comedian, or a group performing together.

Last Friday was Sam Look's last day contracting for ANZ National. He is flying out to Japan with his girlfriend. I was discussing some ideas for a parting gift with Anupam and I believe Aaron came up with the idea for a USB Missile launcher. He didn't know where we could get one. This is where I sprung into action and went with Anupam to JayCar where I knew they normally stocked them. Unfortunately, they were out of stock.

I looked around JayCar and suggested that Anupam get the Mosquito Radio Control Helicopter. Sam loved it!

Below is some video I took of Sam testing out the Mosquito. The guy at JayCar told us that we would need to charge it for 30 minutes first but this was obviously not the case!


Video: Sam learns to fly the Mosquito!

Over the weekend on Saturday we went to The Coffee Club at the Botany Junction for breakfast. We used a coupon from the Entertainment guide to get a discount.

On Monday Anisha and I went to the Brooklyn Restaurant on Queen Street. I used the entertainment guide coupon we had and got a significant discount! With the discount coupon it turned out to be as cheap as McDonald's!

After dinner I helped out Anisha by picking up her brother from Auckland Airport. He is staying in Auckland for a week or so, in particular to watch a concert (Foo Fighters) that is coming up. His flight landed about 10.15pm and after dropping him off I got home about 11.15pm and went straight to bed! I saw him on Queen street today when I went to the ANZ centre to upgrade two printers.

I also got more details today about the "Breakout" event I will be attending on Monday and Tuesday. I will be staying overnight at the Waiheke Resort while doing this compulsory course. I also began preparations for a flight to Wellington to attend ITIL training in order to complete the Foundation Certificate in ITIL.

In other news, due to a limited audience for online photo gallery I have decided to abandon this project. I will no longer be posting my photos on my website. This should give me more time to focus on my technical blog and website which is doing outstandingly well!

I saw Mark McEntee on TVNZ 7 news at 8 tonight. The news article was about our aging workforce. I met Mark at tech and later worked with him in Microsoft Services.

Additional Information: The major sponsor for the 2008 Comedy Festival is Cadbury Crunchie!

Actions Paintball

Anupam from work organised an outing today for a game of Paintball. The event was not an official event sanctioned by the bank.

I invited Nigel along to play with all the others that came. We went to Actions Paintball which is based in Swanson. This is the first time I have ever played Paintball. Due to not playing before I was not completely sure how many paintballs to purchase at the beginning. I started with a Starter kit which included 100 paintballs and cost me $40.

I also purchased an extra 100 paintballs at the start for $18. After a break in the game I ended up purchasing a second "reload pack" to keep me going. I purchased 300 paintballs in total. At the end I had used approximately 250, so I did not order too much.

We split into two teams. Overalls were provided for $4 each. Andrew Kyle's overalls had a big whole in its bum. In my Team we had myself, Sam Look, Andrew Kyle and two of his friends, Sam Look, and Chris Hacking.

We played a series of scenarios which included 'capture the flag' games. Of particular note in our team was the excellent efforts of Sam Look and Chris Hacking. They were excellent at pushing forward and were the key to winning many of the games.

After Paintball Anisha and I went to Kim and Nigels place for lunch.

Additional Information: Paintball is a high adrenalin action-packed team sport. Actions Paintball offers to both the social & tournament player excellence in competitive Paintball.