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One year ago today I was woken by the incoming text message sound on my cell phone. I didn’t have to look at it to know who it was from or what it meant: the results of my mother’s brain scan were not good. The next few days were quite a daze, I don’t think there was a single minute where it wasn’t on my mind, trying to rationalise it or make sense of it. And so began the most awful 7 months of our lives. I can’t believe the time has passed so fast but she is still in my thoughts every day. She is missed by all of us.

Its been a typically frustrating process, the IT market is full of annoying recruiters and companies advertising but not hiring. But I think I have a new employer. I won’t get a formal offer until I have completed a background check but the intention is there so I think I can stop the daily resume posting.

Not sure if I should jinx things by saying who I will be working for, so lets just say I’ll be writing web applications for use on that Company’s games console and their hand-held game player. And I might get to travel to Japan.

Will probably be a couple of weeks before things are sorted but in the meantime I’m going to do some relaxing and some flying. And maybe a little trip somewhere….

With the rush of Christmas away, and the theft and house break-in on our return, I’d not checked up on my brain-tumour blogger in England for some time. I was sad to read last night that he lost his fight on Boxing Day. That makes both of ‘my’ tumour sufferers taken to this curse of a disease. Although they both lived with the cancer for longer than my mother, it is proof again that it is a diagnosis of death.

Just today my wife got news of two people well known to her dieing very recently from a cancer of some kind or other. And just as with my mother, these are all good people who did not deserve to be taken from us so soon, and so unkindly.

As I already mentioned some of Brawley’s finest young adults decided to use our house as their playground whilst we were away in England over Christmas. They first broke in when my in-laws were here feeding our dogs, the two girls said they had permission from Erin to use the hot tub. First clue that things were amiss was that they didn’t know how to get to the hot tub. Later during the week my mother-in-law noticed doors open, lights on or off that she hadn’t set and so was certain people had been in the house.

Before we left I had set two cameras – one on top of the fridge downstairs which would show activity in the living room, and the other looking out from the computer, the idea being to capture an image of the computer being stolen but it also looked out to Erin’s bedroom.
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…. I won $9 on the lottery last night and….. Popeyes chicken is coming to El Centro!!!! A couple of blocks from El Pollo Loco….

Went to the mail box today and in the post is an envelope for my wife that contains something the shape and feel of a UK passport. She’s in San Diego so I call her up and tell her what I think, I open it and – voila! my passport has been returned. No clues as to who its from, no note telling me how I can get the bear back, or thanking me for my gift. Maybe the thief has a (small) conscience after all?

I’ve decided not to replace the iPod for a while (my old 20Gb one will suffice) and I replaced my iPaq with a Dell Axim for $300. That plus not having to apply for a new passport makes the damage a little better.

Dear reader, please let me be the umpteenth person to wish you an online Happy New Year. Had a great trip home for Christmas, barring the last day yesterday which has left 2005 ending pretty much in the same crap fashion it went all year. 2006 must be better.

I have thousand things I want to blog but that will come later. But as a teaser, you can look forward to some pictures of teenage girls in bikinis caught on my home security camera whilst we were away. Cute they might be, intelligent they are clearly not.

So, anyway – onwards into 2006!

I don’t often go to the Company all-hands meetings but yesterday’s fell before the Xmas party tonight and there were strong rumours that there would be “holiday cheer”. Last year we got a nice digital camera so I was definitely going.

Its been a great year for the Company and it turned out to be a great meeting! They tried to trick us by giving us all cheap toys (I got a yo-yo) but later they followed that with a Sirius car radio kit, and then a home install kit too. Finally the founder said “and I hear these iPod things are neat” and gave everybody a 60Gb video iPod! Hot dangity! There is a Santa and this year he came early.

Managed to celebrate my big 4-0 yesterday with some style, started Tuesday afternoon by flying myself and a friend to Laughlin, NV for a night’s gambling and drinking. Mark taught me how to play craps and I think we must have been at the tables for several hours and, best of all, I came out ahead $60 and a bellyful of free beer. A couple of drinks at midnight to celebrate my birthday’s arrival and then we hit the Pai Gow Poker table as Mark said it was an easy game with a lot of free drinks available. Well, it is easy because you can just put your cards on the table face-up and let the dealer make your move for you and, because you tend to push quite often, you do spend a lot of time at the table quaffing the free beverages.

Had some fun getting out of Laughlin the following morning thanks to 30mph winds but once above the valley floor it was smooth all the way back to San Diego. Came to work for a couple of hours to tell our tales and then I left for home and a little birthday celebration with the US side of the family.

My father-in-law barbecues the most delicious ribs on the planet (the secret is the salt!) and they certainly were A+ last night. Some champagne, ice cream and a few gifts rounded out the night before crashing into bed.

All in all, a pretty good two day celebration. And to my readers: I understand the mail is slow this time of year so I’m not bothered that I haven’t received your cards and gifts yet.

I’ve upgraded WordPress to v1.5.2 – if you find anything that doesn’t work, please leave me a comment or send me an email. Ta muchly.