“Management 101 : How to make a bloody decision….”

January 30^th 2006, 1845B

As is perhaps evident from the title, I have once again met with disappointment & frustration when it comes to feedback about when I’ll be given chance to go home. That I’ll be staying for up to another 6 months is 99.99% certain, but until such time as we actually receive written confirmation from Pretoria that the extension has been approved and granting permission to take 2-3 weeks leave, those of us who’ve asked to stay longer are stuck in fucking limbo. Apparently the problem is a case of one hand not knowing what the other is doing in a certain office in Pretoria, with one person saying “by all means, the guys can stay if they want to, and can take a few weeks’ leave”, but another going “Huh? First I’m hearing about it. Send me a fax with the details & I’ll get back to you”. And this is what I’m hearing damn near 3½ months after I submitted the initial statement, after repeated requests for feedback & clarity…. and people wonder why I’m frequently a cynical & disenchanted grumpy old bastard.

Anyway, said written authority could arrive as soon as tomorrow afternoon, and in which case I may make it home this week even, but I guess we all know just how likely that particular circumstance is.

Enough of the bitching though, even if I feel it’s justified for once. So far as the rest of the day goes, it’s been quite pleasant. I spent most of the morning at the net café checking prices and reviews on the lens(s) & laptop I want to buy. I think I’m going to try save a little money when it comes to the lenses though, as the 80-400 is a bit more expensive than I thought it would be, at R13k as opposed to the roughly R10k I remember it having been. I had been going to get a 28-300 and 2 x converter at the same time as the big zoom, but I think I’ll be better off by buying a 28-110 that I saw instead & saving up for the converter rather than buying it now. I’ll still be within budget if I get the converter & more expensive 28-300 lens now, but there’s no sense spending money I don’t have to. And besides, I’m going to need cash in the bank for when I get home lol

Actually, I think the 28-110 may even work out a better idea than the 28-300 would have, as not only is it about R1.5k cheaper, but it’s also an ultrasonic lens – makes for faster auto-focus – and to an extent the 28-300 is something of a waste. I mean, it makes for a very convenient carry lens with a nice wide focal range, so you don’t end up swapping lenses every 5 minutes – the bane of SLR type photography – but there are often distortion issues at the far ends of the scale with a lens like that, and it also strikes me as rather a waste to duplicate so much of the range of the 80-400 that’s the priority purchase. Better by far, I think, to get the 28-110 which is a: cheaper, b: faster focussing, and c: likely to provide better image quality. And the last is the most important, ‘cause there’s no point spending any amount of money on cameras & lenses if the photographs you take turn out crap.

So far as the notebook goes, I see that Acer have just released a new range, the 8200 series, which is very tasty, & has my name written all over it – providing it’s within my budget, that is lol I’ve asked Rob to find prices for me, & I’ll call him tomorrow to see what he’s been able to find out & let him know which one he should order. I think I’ll spend a little time at the net café before I call him though, to see if I can’t find few more comparative reviews & so on, just to make sure of the specs & features.

Something I did spend a little money on today was one of those little tablet & stylus combos’ for image editing, the same model I got Shirlz for her birthday. I’m quite keen to get my hands on it so I can start playing, & I have a feeling that it’ll really help so far as developing my Photoshop skills. Generally I only apply global adjustments to the photos I edit, because fine editing is a severe pain in the ass when using a mouse, so mostly I don’t even bother trying. The stylus should make that significantly easier, particularly when it comes to finicky selection tasks, and can only help me produce better results. Or at least I hope so, but if it turns out I’m wrong then I’m only out of pocket a few hundred rand, which I can live with.

Speaking of Shirley, we had brief chance for a chat on MSN earlier, & it was great to hear from her, but when I say “brief” I mean really brief. I think we managed about 3 sentences each before her MSN fell down & went splat, which was really frustrating. I managed to get hold of her on the phone a few minutes ago at least, & while that was also a frustrating experience given the shitty line quality, it went a lot better than the IM did this morning. Until the line went dead & I couldn’t get through again, that is. It seems she’s having serious hassles with her hay fever again, & I really hope that clears up soon.

Anyway, that’s about it for now. I’ll catch up again as soon as I have more to add to this, but for now I’m going to buy some beers & then go blow off a little steam. Chances are I’ll be giving myself a hangover to add to the frustration in the morning, but that’s the price you pay for the fun you have I guess :p

For now though, ¡Hasta luego! ;)