As good as a holiday

The good thing about dealing with a number of suppliers (printers, photographers, etc) is that occasionally they do something nice for you, like give you a small gift, or a Xmas pudding, or take you out for lunch. Which is exactly where I've just been. A photographer who does most of our portrait photography took my immediate boss and me to Chianti on Hutt St. It was an excellent couple of hours just sitting outside, eating good food, drinking good wine and having a great chat about anything but work. The experience has been a great contrast to the past few weeks, which has involved mostly fried rice or tuna sandwiches eaten at my desk. Speaking of which, the other great thing happening is the removal of my desk. The management have decided to spring for a new office setup. So out with the grey malamine and way ugly salmon partitions, and in with something a bit more streamlined and infinitely less oppressive. This picture was, until recently, the wallpaper on my Mac. It blended in perfectly with the partition behind it. It was my ironic way of highlighting the sheer ugliness of the accommodations here. At last, my cries have been heard, my requests have been heeded and my environment will be significantly improved because I and my colleagues have been bold enough to say "This really sucks".