Call me the Grinch if you like, but this is ridiculous. I saw some trees and decorations on sale earlier this month. OK - so you have to plan ahead sometimes - this can maybe be overlooked.

But today Coles gave us a green & red bag with "Merry Christmas" written on the side. Erm... they know it's not for two months, right?

What with the economic tough times coming you can imagine how bad the season is going to be for retailers but please people - if you want this holiday to continue to mean something (if indeed, the whole meaning hasn't already been beaten out of it in previous years commercialisation) you really can't abuse it like this by bringing the dates further and further forward.

Humf!

As I may have mentioned earlier, this site has been running on pretty much the same software (a home grown PHP templating system) for over 10 years now. Strange but true though - it might be time to move on, and as Drupal sites are kindof my thing (well sometimes) the front page and stories at least, are now driven by this CMS.

So does this mean we're about to revert to a more 'blog' like site? Not sure, because the rest of it (travels for example) is still running from the old code. Ah you see - the wonders a modern nerd can achieve... ten year old code and a shiny new CMS mixed in perfect harmony!

Anyhow - hope things might get updated a little more frequently now. Plus, there's that feeds pane up top now that might give you an idea of what I'm doing and interested in right now even if I can't be bothered to log in and write something once in a while.

Hey, so guess what? I'm now a real Aussie. Well, half of one - I'm keeping the pommie passport too. Of course, who wouldn't? No pictures or anything (well, the ceremony was, afraid to say, not that riveting).

When thinking about what this actually means only two things spring to mind... I can now vote (which although is often a futile experience, at least gives one a minuscule hope of influencing what goes) and can come and go as I please.

It has crossed my mind to go back to Europe to work for another year or so, but just mulling that over conjures up thoughts of crowded commuter trains, the cold, filthy and dingy streets on dark mornings and the like. Hmmm... to visit a different country & culture on the weekend is fun, but is it worth the other associated pain? Sorry, but I'm really not convinced!

Plus - life is all good here, so why change?

Wow! Is it, 2008 already. Yeah, yeah, I'm slow, huh?

A very good time was had by all over the new year, which was spent down in the snowy mountains riding bikes (what else?!). There are pictures of that and more over at NoBMoB.

A few other interesting things have been going on too. Not public knowledge... you'll have to ask if you want to know!

People have been prodding me for not updating this much, so have added a link to my MTB Blog which has been getting more attention lately. Maybe if I was a super geek then it's contents would appear here in a block? Maybe if my home grown page generator is replaced by a more modern CMS (which would no doubt be Drupal. In the mean time, well, you know the story - all is good and as it should be There are new pictures from a recent trip to Barrington Tops around somewhere - will endevour to get them online soon.