I forgot to mention in my previous message what my new job is. It's with a ferry company. I'll be working on the ferries between Auckland and the islands around here, initially doing service-type stuff like selling drinks and clipping tickets, and suchlike things, but with the opportunity to move up later to more career-oriented training that can get me a job as a mate or captain. I think it'll work pretty well and it's exactly what I was looking for.

It'll be a bit of a shock having to adjust to earning a fifth of my previous income, but the future possibilities compensate for that.

The hours are variable, with each week containing some normal days, some 5 a.m. starts, some 11.30 p.m. finishes -- still, I've worked weird hours most of my life and it won't take long to adjust to that. I won't be around Rinkworks nearly as much, of course, now that I'm not working online any more. I'll still be around a few times a week, though, and I hope you all know I'll be missing you whenever I'm not around.

Brunnen-"and I'm STILL annoyed about missing the RinkUnion"G