I roll toward Wellington this morning with Kapiti Island visible for the first time in an age. Winter just will not give over, being more belligerent than petulant, as I have described it recently. Our long weekend was a sodden, no, flooded affair. Overcast on Saturday morning with the rain holding off just long enough for the College cricket side to wrap up a win. By evening the rain had blown in and it bucketed. Sunday and the wind had departed leaving 24 hours of continuous, monsoon like rain. Monday was more of the same, giving way to increasing winds in the evening, followed overnight and all day Tuesday by gale force southerlies, bringing driving rain and cold well into the night.
I hope, nay pray, that summer will pluck up the courage to give winter a good spanking and take charge. Talk is this is the first of a three year El Ninho cycle………???
As for the College cricket, the boys did well on a damp track with oodles of grass. The boys put on 100 all out in 38 overs. (Travis 11 from 8 balls, 1 x 4 and 1 x 6 batting at 11) A competitive total on that track if they bowled good lines. They triumphed dismissing St Bernards for 73. (Travis 6 overs, no maidens, 1 for 24) The boys fielded well, taking all the catches on offer and creating breakthroughs at important times. Travis’ bowling was indifferent, impatient almost. His stock delivery is away swing, meaning that most of the time the batsmen aren’t good enough to get an edge, playing and missing, playing and missing. He then reverts to trying to take the batsmans head off, which most often slides down leg side for the wide. Problem is when he gets it right, he is dangerous and he gets the ball to zip around the rib cage and ears. It is a good attacking weapon, so I am not discouraging him too much, though I would prefer to see the yorker, given his ability to swing it, as an attacking weapon. I try not to interfere too much, he needs to experiment and figure out what works for him….. I also need to work on his action just a little, noticed a few bad habits creeping in.
The big news is the end result of my exploring a few contract opportunities, which I have written about recently. I have been offered a role in a consulting firm! A fantastic opportunity which I am about to accept. A salary which equals my current package, plus a percentage of revenue, incentive rewards and career development. I will get to put my knowledge and experience to good use in some of New Zealand’s biggest Corporate Companies.
The opportunity is exciting and I cannot wait to get my teeth into it.
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That was yesterday and I did not get to post the update to the blog, so time for more news and developments. Not a quiet life we lead…….
Tendered my resignation to EDS yesterday and signed the new employment agreement with Starfish Consulting. The new boss was beaming and immediately took me on a tour of the office, announcing my arrival in 4 weeks time and introducing me to team. I had assessed the bosses as dynamic and vibrant, but I was not prepared for the vibe and smiles that awaited me around the offices of Starfish!
I look forward to working with these folks and adding value. They will genuinely appreciate the experiences and knowledge I bring to the organisation. Of particular interest to them, it appears, is my knowledge of high maturity project processes. Not just the theory, but implementation and use in a “living” world. How to apply the theory to derive better project practice. I suspect I will be doing a fair amount of coaching and mentoring, which I do so enjoy!
Meghan turned all of 13 yesterday and I left the office early so that Des and I could take her shopping for her gift. Met the farrier (spelling? The guy that does the horses hooves and shoes) at the pony club when we collected Megs, so arranged to have Melba’s hooves trimmed. She is unshod, so needs her nails clipped and filed about six weekly. That done, we were off to the Saddlery Warehouse in Kapiti road, to pick out a saddle. A daunting task with our limited knowledge but knowing that the young lady down there is very knowledgeable and if we got it wrong, we would be able to exchange the goods.
Saddles come in different sizes and have things called gullets and girths, are mounted or mounted and all sorts of other stuff. Mostly we just nod and say yes, with a smile, but the blank eyes are a sure sign.
Saddle, stirrups, girth and saddle cloth in hand, Meghan is gifted and all that remains is cake, candles and our traditionally out of tune “Happy Birthday”. Megs is stoked, so the money is well spent. I just hope it fits, which Ms Olley will help her with this afternoon.
Meghan sorted it was time to fetch Travis from cricket practice and get him down to athletics training at the Paraparaumu Domain. I had some time ago offered to teach Travis the basics of hurdling and had suggested he find out if the club have hurdles and whether we could get access to them. The end result is that I am now committed to sharing whatever knowledge I have about hurdling with a bunch of kids at the club and will be “coaching” them.
It all stems from the very poor quality of hurdling I witnessed at the Wellington Champs at the end of the last athletics season. One could liken it to kangaroos hopping fences! And we are not Aussies, we are Kiwis……
I was extremely fortunate to have had some really good technique coaching in primary school. Mr Alan Hartley was his name, so I will pass some of that on to these kids if they are interested. Could probably teach them a little about high jump too.
We are having so much fun and Ma and Pa are coming to visit, so life is good!