I received this tweet a couple of days ago in responce to a tweet I wrote about Geek Bait. I must say it made my heart race momentarilly ... Was I being a Dork, I like being a Geek but am I a Nerd? OMG Who am I? So lets start by saying I am a Geek ... no question about that, but I don't think I am a nerd. Since then it's been the topic of some office discussion ... I work in an office surrounded by software developers so there have been a few varying thoughts on the topic. Anyway, as any good Geek would do I went to Google ... Ok that's not true, I went to WolframAlpha but when their definition To View More >>

A few years ago while attending a Leadership course in San Diego I saw a presentation by Gary King. It was incredible, not only did he talk from the heart, but what he said was profound in it's simplicity and as he touched my soul he changed my life. At that event he issued, and I accepted, a challenge ... that challenge was called the "The 24 Hour Truth Challenge" It was hard, especially as 24 hours turned into a week, then a month and now a couple of years. I have learnt a lot about myself during that time as I did find I told some little white lies, as I think we all do. More importantly however To View More >>

On Wednesday night we had a fantastic night out with Johannes and Jo and a few other friends which included seeing The Eastern play at the Wonder Bar in Lyttleton, Christchurch. They were pure magic. Anyway long story short The Eastern and some of their friends from Oregan played a John Prine song called "In Spite of Ourselves". I really do love this song. It' funny, it's a great piece of music but most importantly I love the underlying message. "In-spite of ourselves, we'll end up sitting on a rainbow , against all odds honey, we're the big door prize" Isn't that so true, that the best relationships To View More >>

Earlier this week I was looking for space on my Laptop, and came across a very bloated Photobooth folder. When I reviewed the images contained I realized it's not safe to leave your laptop unattended. My daughters forever the techno geek actors left my laptop full of images and movies like these ... LOL they made me laugh out loud. Thanks Girls To View More >>

I'm very proud tonight of my daughter Alex and her friend Elisha who have just finished a short film for a school project. Alex is 11, and they have made the whole movie below themselves. The challenge was to do an "Olympic Bid" on behalf of their chosen city Japan, and as part of that they did a news item. Unfortunately this movie doesn't do them justice. They were working with a poor green screen (for a start it was blue), poor lighting, and of course all the iterations of change to file format from opiginal capture with Videocue Pro, to iMovie and then moving to youtube means they have lost To View More >>

What a cool weekend. I spent yesterday helping Sonya and Lorraine prepare for last night's Fire Brigade Christmas party. That in itself was lots of fun, but the party was even better. It's always great getting together with this group, but last night was particularly special as it was held at our house. The food was amazing, a few people drank a little to much, but that was harmless, and we sat outside around the fire until the wee hours of the morning talking. Very nice. At 9 am however it was back into professional mode, as we had the important task of transporting Santa around the neighborhood To View More >>

On Thursday I called our Prime Minister, Helen Clark a mad cow, and I want to say sorry. LOL Ok I was going to say that's not fair on real cows and their unfortunate condition, but that would just be another cheap joke at someone else's expense. Funny thing about my blog is not many people leave comments, in fact almost never, but I get quite a number of emails directly and comments from friends and family. On Friday at a party Dad told me I was being a "tough customer" and my Sister said that it "wasn't my style, and would come back to bite me when I was Prime Minister." Something about Karma? To View More >>

Well I am sitting at the airport in Melbourne, waiting for a plane home to New Zealand after an amazing week at an event more like a rock concert than your usual financial course. This morning I feel a weird mix of tired but buzzy from attending another Tony Robbins event, this one called Wealth Mastery. What an incredible week. It's always nice to escape for a while with your wife, but to attend a life changing event like this with her was pure magic. We signed up a few years ago to Tony's Mastery University, and this week graduated having completed the three events "Life Mastery", "Date with To View More >>

If you are in or running a disfunctional team, maybe it is a simple as people do not know who is the boss? Not an unusual situation but one that needs to be quickly and consciously resolved. Here I share my experience with this in the fire service and what can be learnt from it. One of the things the Fire Service does exceptionally well is make it clear not only that there must be a boss but also who that person is. In an emergency situation, control needs to be quickly put in place and priority given to the tasks needing to be completed. Your OIC (officer in charge) might be your best friend at To View More >>

Does marriage have a lot to answer for? Hmm, good question. Personally I don't think so, but it does bring its own set of challenges. My belief is that relationships, whether with family, friends or lovers, "ebb and flow", a bit like the tide, and this means they need constant attention and will change over time. Like everyone, Sonya and my relationship has had its high points, but also some low ones. Currently things are absolutely wonderful and the low points long forgotten. The interesting thing, however, is, at their 'worst' relationships have the opportunity to become their 'best'. Why? Well, To View More >>