an analogy for my life: you should defragment this volume. 

omgwtfbbq!?#@!? EJB 1.1

Here I am, about to jump into something that I hoped was left behind everywhere in the world; EJB 1.1 (not to mention JDK 1.3, WebSphere 4.x and Struts 1.1). Stuff that I decided it was safe to forget.. people had loooong been afraid of the early ejb implementations in the _wicked container_, at the same time as being enlightened by the alternatives; JDO, Hibernate and straight up JDBC DAOs with C3P0 pooling. Only apparently not this particular insurance group.

I can't complain, I was aware, sort of, but I hadn't appreciated until reality landed today.

I believe it will all change, by that time however we can more or less skip EJB 2.x/JDK 1.4.x and zip straight to 3/5. ;)

The only thing that I am truly unhappy about is WebSphere studio and what a sloppy, slow-ass bitch it is - even with a zippy workstation, stuffed with 1Gb of memory.

Regardless of the technology drawbacks, the team seems good, the business requirements challenging and the implementation varied. And they're taking me out for a "syber joined the team" lunch and bowling tomorrow!

creepy close up eye of bela 

english-australian bacon rashers

the english and the australians may not be known in the wider world for their cuisine, (which i dispute, but in this journal incarnation i am attempting to keep ranting to a minimum), however, there is one item that kicks the world's collective ass... bacon.

many canadians love their bacon. it is part of the stereotype they truly identify with; beer, bacon, tim hortons and the occasional doughnut, eh?

i can't help but wonder what would happen if they started eating meaty, but thin sliced "rasher bacon" more often. productivity would soar! moaning about the weather would fall!

he he.. maybe not, nothing can stop canadians complaining about weather :)

btw. of all the guys i miss right now, i miss the crazy ones the most - see 'close up eye of bela' taken in a wing joint a couple of weeks before i left T.O.
should you ever meet someone who reminds you of that eye - beware!

avocado, ash brie and quince paste on an english muffin

Who knows really why I moved back to Australia? I've told people so many reasons. Yes, it was because of my family, particularly my brother, the weather and the coffee are factors, and truly, I was sick of working alone in the states, away from friends/boyfriend.. Everytime I got *into* a project/business I would be reassigned. No project closure kind of sucks. Great that I was working for Oracle and being charged out at near to 2k/day... that impressed me no end, but it didn't satisfy.

I don't know exactly what job would satisfy me, but I know it's not the money that matters. It's people, it's ideas, and being able to effect change :)

I don't think it matters why I moved back, or even how temporary it might be: I'm happy. I'm living life without rules, without anyone looking over my shoulder and deciding what should be.

"When everyone is against you, it means that you are absolutely wrong-- or absolutely right."

34C - why I moved from toronto to melbourne 

new coffee machine - my first espresso!