Happy Wellington Anniversary.

My injuries have been healing well and the swelling and bruising in my right eye has greatly decreased. The ophthamologist said I didn't have to take so many eye drops as well, and that's awesome because eye drops cause me so much agony. I got my replacement glasses from OPSM too so I'm pretty much back on track with my life.

Work has been going well. Last Friday, we farewelled our iPhone producer and bid him the best for architecture school. We shared our "last" drinks with him at Southern Cross, which was unfortunately right across the road from that incident, so I was extra careful when heading home. Fortunately, I made it back without any problems, this time.

Saturday was pretty uneventful, save for some badminton in the morning. Jono (Dall) and Dave came over to watch a movie with Charlotte in the evening, but we played Dominion while waiting for the DVD to burn. Sunday was just pouring with rain so I tried to stay indoors as much as possible. We did go for Laser Strike for Jono's (Dixon) birthday then to Cha for dinner afterwards, and finally back to their flat for some board games including Sunni's newest acquisition, Carcassonne. Those Germans really know how to make board games, huh?

Today, Jono, Char, Dave, Beth and I bundled into my car and we roadtripped up to Lindale Park on the Kapiti Coast. There's a cafe there and some specialty shops for Kapiti-branded cheese, ice cream, wine and honey, as well as a farm with lots of adorable animals like bunnies, chickens, calves, goats, donkeys, alpacas, guinea pigs and several ducks and geese on site. We drove a bit further north and lazed about on Waikanae beach for a while before heading back to Wellington.

I'm tired.

Edit: I've just received a text from my brother-in-law and I am an uncle to a baby boy, weighing 8 pounds, 12 ounces! Mother (my sister) is exhausted but doing well. Squee!!

So I moved into my new place last Saturday, and while the moving was all pretty smooth and everything get shifted okay, I found out late at night that I hadn't had any gas connected and so I didn't have hot water. This would have been close to midnight, so I was tired and frustrated and in my haste to go to Jono's house for a shower, I backed the car into a fence. Fortunately it looks like it's just superficial scratches and nothing serious, so that's that.

Of course, on Sunday, the power company still isn't working, so I didn't have hot water on Sunday either. That's alright, I was at Jono's house for a shower then as well. On the bright side, though, Tom was down from Auckland so we went to Strawberry Fare for some excellent desserts.

On Monday, the phone contractor arrived and told me I needed to be at home to sort out the bloody phone line, so I ran home and sorted all that out. The gas company had also apparently made everything work, so at least I have hot water now. Later that night, I met up with Mel at Estadio for her farewell dinner. And that was really good, I became a lot more social after a glass of Montieth's Crushed Apple Cider.

In any case, we went to the Library for more socialising and then I walked with Roman up Cuba Street on my way home, and we parted ways at Abel Smith Street. As I walked down, I became aware of two people following me. In the next instant, they had caught up and at that point in time, I thought about running but they struck me from behind and knocked me to the ground. I could hear them say something like "grab his stuff" but I struggled and they ran off without any reason, and also without any of my possessions. The only thing I had lost were my glasses, but I managed to pick them up, although they were pretty busted.

¯\(º_o)/¯

I phoned the police shortly after and they arrived on the scene very quickly. We did a few laps around the block to see if we could catch anyone, and we returned to the crime scene where I showed them what had happened and managed to spot some blood splotches. We returned to the station where an ambulance was waiting. I heard they managed to apprehend someone, so I'm thankful for their quick action and vigilance. They took some DNA swabs and some photographs for evidence, and then I was taken to the hospital for an examination.

I must have spent around three hours at Wellington hospital, just having my facial injuries checked, and the extent of damage to my eye. I also visited the ophthamologist yesterday to have a proper check over my eyes. It looks like everything is pretty superficial and that there's nothing permanent, so I'm thankful for that as well. They'll continue to monitor me over the next few weeks, and they'll also be taking an x-ray to make sure there's no fractures that they have missed.

Apart from that, I've been in to see the optometrist for new glasses, the dentist to fix some chips in my teeth, the insurance company to pay for my glasses and the police to finish off some paper work. It's been just a huge inconvenience and I'm quite annoyed that this happened like this. Physically and mentally, I'm fine and there's nothing serious, so I appreciate all the messages of support I've been getting. I don't know how long I'll be off work for, but I said I would try to come back on Friday.

I guess I'll see how I feel over the next few weeks, huh?

Okay well, firstly I got my new glasses today for 50% off the normal price because OPSM are awesome.

Secondly, I was walking out of my building when I saw the bus drive by, so I hurried to the bus stop and managed to catch it in time. As I stepped on the bus...I saw three very familiar faces walk down the footpath.

Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Ali Williams.

WWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

It was indeed a fantastic time catching up with friends and family as I travelled back to Auckland for Easter. I left for Wellington Airport at around 10.45am to catch the bus from Wellington Hospital at 11.15am. I arrived at the airport with about an hour to spare so I just lazed about and walked around. The flight left early and only took 45 minutes, so I was out of Auckland's domestic terminal by 2.15pm. Shereen picked me up and we headed to the Hunua Falls.

We didn't do much on Friday. It was basically unpacking, team and cabin allocations, team building exercises including a blind obstacle course, some brain teasers and a team chant. I was the leader of my team: the Bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S! Raymond and Quan were our guest speakers.

Saturday was a rotation of four activities: kayaking, raft building, high ropes course and random games. I was stupid enough to wear my glasses while kayaking and as a result, they're sitting somewhere at the bottom of the crater lake where the waterfall spills into. Sigh. But anyway, I did have fun the rest of the day, despite the fact it was the second time I've lost my glasses in two months. We also had a guys' discussion and had some "manly" games. I can't believe how stubbornly competitive I am.

On Sunday we had a treasure hunt, a Burma trail, a barn dance, theatre sports and epic Mafia. My apologies to the committee for being so cynical during the Burma trail, haha. But yeah, it was a good night, I got to roleplay Phoenix Wright (to a certain extent) and of course, the other activities brought a smile to my face.

Yesterday we cleaned up the site and Debs and I left early to go to Burgerfuel for lunch (despite the 10% surcharge, it was so worth it), and then I dropped by home to see Dad and my sister.

So today I stumbled to work; tired from four days of fun, blind from no glasses and limping thanks to..um... certain manly games. It was a really nice surprise to see an Easter goodies box sitting on my desk: two Moro bars and two Cadbury Easter eggs. I shall add this to my collection.

Wishing you all a safe, prosperous and peaceful year of the Rat in 2008!

Anyway, I finally got my new pair of glasses today from OPSM. They feel very light and...omg I can totally see everything now -.- So for future reference, in case I forget, my powers are 150 left and 100 right.

Also, I walked home today. Health++;
In jeans. Comfort--;
Via a scenic route. Health++;
With lots of hills. Comfort--;
But it was nice and sunny (a huge change from the last few days) so overall, it was a good walk. I doubt I will be doing that again, at least not in jeans.

Anyway, it's nearing the end of my first week at work. I'm still training - I've just been programming a competency test and revising/refactoring my code so it conforms with company standards, and also learning how to make it well structured and extensible and all that jazz. Got to meet a few new faces today (because I have to report to the HR Manager tomorrow with their names).