Rang my provider’s support number yesterday to see about getting my port turned up to ADSL2/2+ speeds. Last night Optus turned the port up to max ADSL1 (8M down, 384k up) claiming that my modem (Open Networks 624W) was incapable of ADSL2 without locking up the DSLAM port.I know that’s bogus since when we were in Sydney we had ADSL2+ active with it on internode for a month.Anyway… Michael on the support line got back in touch with them to let them know that they were mistaken, and very shortly thereafter my line re-synced at 13M down 800k up. Yay!Very happy now .. image:: /images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

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This morning I awoke to the beautiful news that SUNW had swung back to profit, even beating The Street’s EPS estimates by 5c!Despite that, storage was down, general US weakness affected the results…. and as we’ve all gotten used to over the last 5 years, there is a sting in the tail:

On a conference call to discuss the results, Schwartz said that with regards to cutting spending and other costs, “We are by no means done. We view our progress as a streamline step.”

(from www.marketwatch.com)Sigh. More RIFs to come – I guess they’re a fact of life. I just wish that they weren’t. I’m hopeful that Sun won’t need to have such massive retrenchments as they did last year — they suck the morale out of everybody.`Technorati`_ tags: topic:{Technorati}[SUNW], topic:{Technorati}[Sun Microsystems], topic:{Technorati}[earnings]

There was some more kerfuffle this morning about settlement, but it’s all worked out in the end.We’ve been very fortunate to have the assistance of Margaret Kelly, from John P. Kelly & Co, in dealing with all the legal aspects of this purchase.Now we are asset rich and cash poor (thankyou purserj for reminding me of that phrase), and can think seriously about painting and a pool fence and a pool cover and all sorts of other things too.Joy.Guess I’ll have to try to be a grown-up now, too!

When J and I were walking back from our Christmas Day lunch in NYC last year, we came along Lexington Avenue after a brief look inside Grand Central Station. At the intersection of East 41st and Lexington, we saw this really eery scene: .. image:: http://www.jmcpdotcom.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=11661&g2_serialNumber=2

Just got a quick call from our solicitor – Settlement on our home is now scheduled for Monday 24th.

Yesterday we wandered off to UQ (both J’s and my alma mater) to watch Spoonboy get covered in lines.Ok, so he graduated.Finally!Spoonboy: well done, we’re all proud of you.

Dr Mohamed Haneef has been held for two weeks without charge while a cast of several hundred AFP officers tried their best to find some actual evidence of his involvement in the recent UK bombings at Glasgow airport.Dr Haneef was charged only late last week, with the truly desperate “crime” of “recklessly” providing “material support for terrorism” by giving his UK simcard to a cousin just before he left the UK last year.I just saw this article which reports that Dr Haneef’s visa has been cancelled by the Minister for Immigration after he was granted bail of $10,000 by a magistrate. This means that despite the flimsiness of the charge against him, he is now a continued “guest” of the federal government with his career in this country just about destroted and virtually no possibility of appeal against his predicament. While others in this position would no doubt be deported, he is almost certainly going to remain detained until some politically convenient time for the Howard government.The letters in today’s Sydney Morning Herald and Courier Mail show just how much contempt the public has for the Howard Government and the Australian Federal Police in this matter.Not only is this “reckless” charge tantamount to a thought crime, but the actions of the Minister for Immigration show just how far the Howard Government is prepared to go in order to prevent any possibility of a fair trial — let alone the presumption of innocence. Come to think of it, under Mr Howard’s 2004 anti-terror laws I don’t recall that there is a presumption of innocence. What a great way to get rid of your enemies, or to use for scapegoats.If I was still a resident of NSW then I’d be voting for James Purser in the Senate at the forthcoming Federal election. Assuming that it will still be held, of course.`Technorati`_ tags: topic:{Technorati}[James Purser], topic:{Technorati}[Dr Mohamed Haneef], topic:{Technorati}[Detention without trial], topic:{Technorati}[Illegal], topic:{Technorati}[Minister for Immigration]

Today J and I wandered in to town for the markets at South Bank picking up a Satellite of Love twirly thing for the verandah and having a great brunch down near the river.When we got back home we took great delight in hanging most of our pictures – putting them damned well where we wanted them to be and not just anywhere that a previous occupant had decided to leave a hook.I also ran some cat-5 through the ceiling between my study and J’s, then corralled the visible bits using cable clips along the skirting boards. All of these are things that we’ve not been able to do before now, since we’ve always rented. It’s quite insignificant, but made us feel a lot happier – this place is ours (ok, The Bank’s) and We Have The Power(tm).All in all, a good way to spend a Sunday.

As the subject says, our adsl is now turned on. We’re back!Next step – getting the adsl2/2+ that I requested…..In the meantime, this means I can now work from home like I planned. Much joy is now appropriate .. image:: /images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

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We’re all installed in our new home, and the phone line is turned on. Yay! Unfortunately the ADSL isn’t but of course by the time you get to read this it will be.The removalists were fantastic – door to door service, very well packed… We managed to more than double our amount of junk from 15cu.m in 1998 when we moved down to Sin City, to 34cu.m with this move back to Brisbane. Last time all our belongings went via a small truck, this time they went into a 20″ shipping container and then via train which seems to me to be much more environmentally friendly and truckie-safe. They even provide a pet transport service, which we were really happy to make use of for codercat.Until we get ADSL turned on I’m either working offline at home or from Sun’s Brisbane office in town. I don’t mind the commute to and from the office (bus works better for me than the train) since it gives me an opportunity to zone out to some Bach or Jamiroquai, but I’m really keen to get properly setup for working from home – I’ve now got a spacious study with a windowand even though the commute is pleasant enough it still takes a 2 hour chunk out of my day.With any luck we should be able to complete settlement on the property next week… then we’ll be well and truly poor!