School concert and dress-up

Dress-up a few weeks ago.

Last night's school concert. Katja is on the left.

Model development

After a long hiatus Excel VBA and I have met again. Not to mention meeting thermodynamics and balancing chemical equations! I thought I knew most things about hot metal pre-treatment, but after extensive research and coding it myself, I now know more. It has been revealing.

Another project I am working on involves a concept design of a steel plant, and this body of work has refined my views on how things should be done.

So how do you perform dephosphorisation, vanadium recovery, desulphurisation and silicon removal in the most profitable way? I think I am beginning to understand.

Perth Zoo friends

During the last school holidays we became Perth Zoo Friends, meaning that for a small fee we can visit an unlimited amount of times in the next year. The children love it, and I wish I had done it sooner.

This pelican was almost touchable, and leter on there were three pelicans for everyone's enjoyment.


Could have been taken in Vietnam. Truly a magnificent effort to recreate all these habitats.
By the way, this was our second visit already. One more to go, and we break even. Perhaps this afternoon?...

Everyone enjoys holding Sonja

A high res pic for grand parents to download and print (2Mb):


First up, the de Klerk family: Glou, Pieter, Glou's mom, and Marno.










The Berends











The Hanrettys

The family grows

Sonja was born on 4 August 2008, 19h59 Perth time, weighing 2.498kg (5 lbs 8 oz), 47cm. Both mother and daughter are well.

Here is a picture of all my children together: Katja (Pure), Arnold (Strong as an eagle), and Sonja (Wise).

TV Dinner

With a cat. Very well captured.



Via

Bad day at the bank drive through...

http://view.break.com/534959 - Watch more free videos

Via

Arnold Climbing at Katja's school

Talking cat

This cat was talking to three Willy Wagtails on the lawn. Sound at end is more clear.

Katja Fitness Dancing

Out for the count

What happens in 60 days?

Quite a lot, it seems. It has been two months since my last post, and I have been busy. I have started taking formal music classes, and a little bit of theory goes a long way. Our third child's birth is nearing, and we have started discussing names. We have decided on "wise", making the meaning of the three childrens' names then pure, strong and wise.

Work is pretty intense, with lots of travel (again), international customers, and thoroughly enjoyable. One New Zealand based project in particular occupies a lot of my time, and I even get to use some of my aeronautical knowledge in the old-fashioned nautical sense.

Ships are slightly different than planes (VFR), because once you can no longer see the shore, what do you use to navigate with? Same as planes, of course - you plot your progress based on speed, known currents, etc. I have learned that the ocean is a huge place, and like the sky, it has gained my respect.

Cornstarch, water and Ellen

Woolworths Australia introduces self-serve checkouts

Way cool. Leave more work for the shopper, at the expense of labour costs. Pity, though, as interacting with sales staff is something I enjoy a lot. Trying to bring a smile to their face at the end of a long shift is a nice game to play. The service industry should never be the means to the end, interacting with people should be the end, and the purchase incidental, in my opinion.

Humans are social beings - something I am acutely aware of this week. My family is on holiday, and I am alone at home. Difficult to work, concentrate, and sometimes just plain lonely.

Don't get me wrong, I sometimes struggle to remember the above. But I will keep on trying.

My son walks

And so the journey continues...

Climbing the corporate ladder to the top

I like to move it

Archery skills

Archery skills - Metacafe is a click away
Apologies for the ads at the end. But I agree with the judge, I have never seen anything like this before. Very impressive.

Tree felling gone wrong

Ouch. Trigonometry refresher required, I think...

Resources for small businesses

Blog entries have been sparce, mostly because I have been working my proverbial off. And moved house.

Back to the topic. I have found frequently since November 2007 that when I was sitting at a client's site, I could receive email via Microsoft Outlook, but I was unable to send any email. To do that I had to wait until returning home the evening - very unproductive.

This, together with the need for centralised data, email, and a higher capacity backup system led me to take the plunge earlier the week - I purchased a Dell server, with Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 R2 and Symantec Backup Exec pre-installed.

What will this do for me?
Make available remote access via VPN.
Data storage
Data backups.
Set up the IT side of Vulcan Technologies Pty Ltd for further growth.

Whilst waiting for the box of goodies to arrive, I have been doing reserach on many things server-related. This site is quite useful.