I was up at 7:30 this morning after only 2 hours sleep. I had to finish the Helpdesk system for testing today, and because of my involvement with the Ethekwini rollout the last 2 days had no time to finish off the last bits and pieces. I am satisfied with the end result, a simple yet powerful ASP.Net 2.0 web applications using AJAX. I am really impressed by the power AJAX provides and slightly disappointed I couldn't use more of it's functionality for this project, but there is no doubt that I will not be doing projects without it again soon. I finally uploaded Beta 2 at around 15:30 this afternoon and now wait for the testing team to get back to me with feedback.

As I wandered into the kitchen to make coffee this morning, Josephine came in to greet me and share some nightly gossip. Conversations with cats can be very entertaining and interesting especially with this 1 and a half year old tabby, who is extremely talkative. The rest of the animals where all stretched out on the bed with Michelle who slept in this morning. We finally after a long time had an opportunity to talk last night, since our schedules leave little time for ourselves. We have a very strong relationship built on love and trust and last night we discussed where we are going, our friends and our relationships with them, and how we want to manage things in the next few weeks to come. We are both emotionally drained by the roller coaster of the last 6 months but hopefully soon we will have some solid stability again.

I received a collection slip in the mail this morning, and headed off to Musgrave Post Office, barefoot thanks to Xena deciding that my slops are nice chew toys. I was surprised to find that my copy of Total Commander I purchased about a week and a half ago arrived so quickly from Switzerland. While I was there I headed to Pick 'n Pay to get some eggs for Michelle, and was amazed at the stares I received for not wearing shoes. I find it hilarious how people can snub you for not meeting a certain requirement, as I couldn't see any reason why me being barefoot could be such a head turner.

We are having a braai with the neighbours tonight, and I am hoping to get around to playing some ROSE Online, which I have been seriously neglecting. Both Michelle and I are avid players but time again has not been on our side. Luckily the new client for ROSE also works on Vista, and I am surprised by the stability it has shown over the previous XP version. On the subject, I need to mention the first truly objective Vista review I read in this month's Computer Active magazine. I strongly suggest getting a hold of a copy and reading it, as it's jam packed with some very good information.

I've added 2 new links to the Blogroll. The first is for Tutorial Centre, the new blog I started at DotNet.org.za which is focused on providing beginner and intermediate level tutorials for people learning ASP.Net 2.0 and AJAX. The second is for WindowsClient.Net, a new Microsoft initiative focused on Windows Form and WPF development. The site replaces WindowsForms.Net and joins ASP.Net as the official Microsoft resources outside of MSDN.