I received news that my former boss at UWA Arts, Mike Neville, passed away sometime last night.

There’s so much that could be said. I know he pretty seriously pissed off some people doing his job at UWA, but in the end he was a force for doing things right, and he was still there after they left. He was also a geek at heart, and we often chatted about the esoterics of computer and electronics hardware.

On a more personal level, I thought he was a great guy, both in and out of work. My heart goes out thinking of his wife, delightfully nutty daughter and son. He was also a great friend and mentor to so many of us, but I think none more so than my former co-worker Dan.

I’ll really miss the guy when I am next in Perth.

Don’t the hours grow shorter as the days go by? It’s starting to be dark when I wake up, and when I leave for work. But the colours are pretty.

Oh for a camera with the dynamic range of the human eye.

We had a fun roadtrip down to Seattle and Portland last weekend. About 1200kms round trip. No tickets, but we did have something fall off a truck and scratch our car. Will wait to see if Avis wants my kidneys for that.

US Customs were nice and quick. Seattle was great, but a short visit (but it’s a quick drive, so maybe we’ll head down another weekend). We arrived late, had breakfast at Pike Place markets. Lots of character. Went to the Museum of Flight and saw the first 727, 737, 747 and 757, as well as a Concorde. Very nice.

Portland was also great. Caught up with Perth-friend Jen S-B, and long time online friend Kristal. Had many yummy foods, before doing the drive back to Vancouver directly in one afternoon. All good.

Work has been fun. Really getting my teeth into it.