Oh yeah, and I turned 25 last Thursday!

My presents on my 25th bday were

Cigar
Vivid snowboard dvd
Chillout sessions 5 cd
Cowboy pack
sky blue silk tie
paul frank beanie

I'm going to Hong Kong in June for 3 months on a new project. I look at it as 3 months in Hong Kong, but in reality it is
week and a half in Hong Kong.
~
followed by 1 week in Boston
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then back for 6 weeks in Hong Kong
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then I come back for a weekend snow trip
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then back to HK for another 4 weeks to finish off the project - hopefully.

I'm starting to get a little excited about this trip now..because I'll get an opportunity to 'live' on this trip away because its long enough for me to settle in to Hong Kong and really experience it. My short work trips I hate because I don't really have a life - I live my life by a tight work schedule.

My goals for this trip are:
- work smart and do a good job in this project - I can see it may get difficult on a very tight deadline so I want to make sure I plan and manage properly so that we can deliver a good solution in the end
- get out there and socialise. I may be thwarted at this goal in the first instance depending on the people I end up working with. Will we get along - will they like me, and will I like them? But I really need to do this for myself and for my friends. I'm normally quiet, but the last year and a half I've become quite solitary even when I'm with friends, and in truth quite boring. My social skills have fallen to bits, just bcoz I don't practice them often enough.

A very relevant and true article

http://radar.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/11/1084041400761.html

I have been going through a 'discontented' period recently.

Unhappy with my work because I'm becoming a bit disillusioned with all the politics, and feeling a bit disconnected and unsettled because I've been living out of a suitcase.

Starting to 'feel' the lack of a personal life.

I'm not appreciating the small things and the present - focusing too much on big picture and planning for future.

Same old same old basically - whenever I go through a down period I always think too much, and always with a bit of a pessimistic outlook.