Growing up is optional

Christchurch quake person finder

I strongly oppose oppressive laws. No New Zealander should be held guilty until proven in court. Repeal section 92a!

From Michael Brooke

A middle-aged businessman decided he needed some rest and relaxation. He was stressed over work, his family and life in general. He wound up visiting a small coastal village in Mexico. After a turbulent night’s sleep, he woke up and decided to take a stroll through the main street. As he was walking, his eyes spotted a craftsman at work in his woodshop. The man was making beautiful skateboard decks.

“How long does it take you to make one of your decks?” inquired the businessman.

“Not that long; I can usually make two or three a day,” replied the craftsman.

“Why don’t you make more?” asked the businessman.

“I make enough to support my family and give a few to friends,” said the craftsman as he carefully sanded the wood.

“But…What do you do with the rest of your time?”

The craftsman looked up and smiled. “I sleep late, skate, play with my children, take an afternoon siesta with my wife and stroll in the village each evening, where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, señor.”

The businessman laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “Sir, I graduated from Harvard with an M.B.A., and I can help you. You should spend more time working on these beautiful skateboards, and with the proceeds, hire more people. In no time, you could buy some serious equipment and fully automate your production. Eventually, you would be able to produce thousands of boards a month.”

The businessman continued, “Instead of selling only a few boards, you would set up a distribution center and ship all over the world. You would control the product and processing. You would need to leave this village, of course, and move to Mexico City, then to Los Angeles, and eventually New York City, where you would run your thriving business with proper management.

The Mexican craftsman asked, “But, señor, how long will all this take?”

The businessman replied, “Oh, probably 15 to 20 years, maybe – 25 tops.”

“But then what, señor?”

The businessman laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would then make millions!”

“Millions, señor? Then what?”

“Then you would retire and move to a small coastal village where you sleep late, skate, play with your children, take an afternoon siesta with your wife and stroll in the village each evening, sip wine and play guitar with your amigos.”

…than something you didn’t do.

The greatest band in the world (perhaps greater than The Beetles, but can we compare across generations?) are in New Zealand this weekend.

I missed them in the 90s and regretted it. I didn’t get tickets this time and regret it too. At the time I didn’t think I could afford tickets and travel, but I think I’d rather regret spending the money.

from Gaping Void

June 21 2006 is Go Skateboarding Day. Get out and do it! There doesn’t appear to be anything happening here in Wellington, but if you’re in Auckland join AltTV on Queen Street. Anywhere else, search for event on the GSD website.

A 1989 Ford Telstar can travel 357800km before it becomes uneconomical to repair. My car of the last 7 year has died. It’s soul has gone. It’s body is on the organ donor list.

There is more value in its parts than as a whole. Unfortunately that means I give it away for nearly nothing, or have a immovable steel lump parked on my lawn while vultures scavenge. I could probably sell it for $50 as it is. If I took the mags of I could probably get $150-$200 for them, but have the problem of disposing of a car.

Now I’m shopping around. I’m traditionally a Holden guy, but I’ve whittled down the list of cars in my price range with the specs I want (Station wagon, European or Australian, bigger than 2.0L) and it’s come to a decision between 2 Fords: An AUIII Falcon (4L Straight 6) or a MkII Mondeo (2.5L V6).

There are advantages and disadvantages to both: The Falcon is newer (2002) and bigger, but will be quite thirsty, which is why they are considerably cheaper at the moment given the current price of fuel. Also it’s the base model: it only has a single CD and electric front windows. The Mondeo is older (1997) and smaller, but will use less petrol. It is the Ghia, which is fully electric, even the seat adjustments and has a 6 disk CD player and full leather upholstry.

Given that the price of each is similar, what would you choose? Why?

Long time since I posted; been too busy

• Going to Webstock, met some people I’ve chatted with online for a while. Putting faces to names. Heard some legends. The heads of the two biggest browsers are speaking tomorrow. (IE, firefox)
• My new board arrived (very late)
• Been cited in an academic paper for the presentation I gave on Semantic HTML, and it’s on page 1 of Google
• Soccer season is up and down