Quite a short work week but it did is now the weekend and it is most welcome. We have now had a few days of the new routine which is quite a tight schedule with staggered drop off and pick up at Kindercare and relatively long working day (including the commute) we are rather tired now. The week at Southern Cross has been a lesson in acclimatising to the difference in scale between NZ and the UK. Things are a little different down here in many ways but like most things those differences are for a reason. I was surprised earlier in the week at the scale of the operation compared to the environment I have been working in and to be honest I was slightly disappointed at the time. I have since had time to look at how the available infrastructure is used and it all makes sense in an efficient sort of way. They tend to use things for the purpose they are intended rather than over engineering everything for the sake of it. I like that! I am feeling much better about things from this perspective than I may have been when I first saw the server room yesterday! The commute was even better than yesterday and I think things may balance out with this - some good days and some not so good days - and flexibility in job looks like this will work out OK. Our decision to look at automatic transmission cars because of the traffic conditions here was I think a wise one (though Gail is beginning to get bored with unexciting cars already) as sitting on the clutch for as long as you would need to could turn out rather expensive in clutch replacement costs never mind the frustration factor. I have found an Apple store fairly close to the office and I managed to get a NZ spec power connector for our USB charger. I was very impressed with the service and knowledge of the guys so may take a trip back for some other gadget purchase. I have been interested in a media server particularly since Kyle can be a little harsh on DVDs and we have also been a little spoiled by using iPods for music recently. The idea of an iPod style TV does have an appeal and the fact that someone at Apple thinks it was a good idea as well and actually produced one means I will be giving it serious consideration. There is always a catch with these solutions and I need to weigh up the pros and cons of each option.