A quick update - work and cars
Tuesday February 19, 2008

I had my performance review today at work. It went quite well. It was definitely the best review (in terms of the way it was run and what was discussed) I’ve had since I’ve started.

I talked to my manager about not liking programming and about how I feel a little vulnerable in the industry because my skills aren’t as good as what I believe the industry is asking right now, and I think that I got my point across well.

Next week I will be meeting with my manager to talk about my “other” roles (senior dev and dev team leader) to really try and pin down what we should be trying to achieve with them.

I’m relieved.

It also helps that I got a way decent pay rise.

What doesn’t help though is the fact that the pay rise puts me into the next tax bracket. I need to start investing my money and getting some other tax offsets. Just donating to charity isn’t really going to tide me over when it comes to the end of the next financial year…

But hey, it shouldn’t be too bad this year. I hope.

But I don’t really know that I can afford to spare a few thousand dollars to even invest in shares right now, because I need to pay for the wedding AND… (drum roll)… on the weekend we bought a car. Sigh. I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to go and “look”. It’s like taking a shop-a-holic window shopping.

What did we buy? We got a Honda Civic Sport.

It was a toss up between that and the Honda Euro Accord, and well, we ended up getting the better deal with it.

The down side is that because a certain somebody only wanted black, we have to wait a month for the car to be delivered. The upside is that the month will be enough for us to get our finances and insurance together.

Anyhoo, I’m off to go and clean up after dinner. Take care!

Comment [4]

Wedding plans
Saturday December 8, 2007

I’m trying to work out venues for the wedding ceremony.

I’m tossing up between a public park/garden and a private hired venue. The price difference is obscene though. The public venues range from $150 – $400 and I have quotes from $700 (without catering) to $2800 (with catering) for the private venues.

At the moment I’m tossing up between the Chinese Gardens and another couple of private venues. I’m waiting to hear back from one on prices and availability though.

Who knows? All I know is that I want to book the venue by the end of next week. Eeps! Then at least I can breathe (sort of) easy.

Wish me luck!

I’ve left the reception venue in Vincent and his parents most capable hands. They’ll be better at picking a place for a Chinese Banquet instead of me.

***

Oh shit. Vincent left the table for a sec to go and get a drink, came back and caught the cat eating from his plate. Now I’m in trouble for not watching the food… day is off to a great start =(

Sigh. How am I going to make up for this?

Comment [6]

Cooking skills? What cooking skills?
Friday August 10, 2007

I need to be doing work right now, but I’m so over it. Meh. The cats and blogging are more interesting anyway =)

Let’s see… it’s 9.55 (PM) and Vincent is still at work. It has to be the one night where I don’t screw up dinner. Lol. At least it’s food I can save. I made a garlic and white wine sauce (currently in the saucepan, about to be stashed away in the fridge) to go with his fish (which is currently in the fridge uncooked because he’s not here to eat it) and potato pancakes (the batter is still in the bowl).

I ate pasta because I’m not a fan of fish.

It’s strange. I used to love cooking when I was younger, and surprisingly, I was good at it. But as I got older my cooking skills declined. Shouldn’t it be the other way? Maybe it’s stage fright. I guess I’ll have to live with the fact that I can only cook when nobody is here to eat it. Sigh.

Comment [9]