One of Rod’s (final?!?) posts caught my eye today.

It was an article about the new Startup-Magazine edition which has just been released, with a cover that features “Just about everyone” Rod knows.

The reason it caught my eye was for the same reason. It’s the same old group of tech startups - some of whom, I don’t even think classify as startups anymore?

There are so many new players out there who are making waves on the international scene. It’s a shame that they are flying so far under the radar, I’m not even sure if the old boys know they exist.

I assume the new wave of startups are too busy making a fortune overseas to be blowing their trumpets locally, but it does seem a shame that we don’t hear more about them.

Post the scandal over child abuse in New Zealand, I was absolutely STUNNED to hear about this ‘celebrity’ who pushed his ex-girlfriend down the stairs and kicked her repeatedly in the head until she was bound to a wheelchair to recover. This man, ADMITTED doing it to the entire country and the discussion focused around if he should stay in his job, not on whether he should be in jail. In a country where violence is running rampant, this story send out the strong message that:

• Violence is only a criminal offense if you are poor and in a minority.
• Violence is OK if you are ‘tired, working seven days a week and frustrated by your ex girlfriend’
• Kicking someone repeatedly in the head is not that big a deal - especially if your new wife is fine with it.
• If you pay someone $100,000 to stay quiet (and to cover the councilling costs, loss of job etc etc that is the result of having your head and confidence pummeled), people should feel sorry for you when it comes out in the open anyway

Another knock for NZ women who live in violent relationships. And we wonder why they don’t come forward.

I am one of those people who happened to meet some of the best people I will ever know at school. We have grown up together and despite the range of things we do (from web geek to environmental geek to Psychology geek, to hydrology geek and legal geek… You get the idea), we have all reached this age with a couple of things in common. We are uber driven and we have spent the last few years working ourselves to the bone: completing degrees while working full time, starting businesses etc etc.

And now we all find ourselves 24-25 and pretty successful.

Claire and I were laughing the other day at how many people meet us now and think we are watched over by some wonderful guardian angel who has blessed us since birth with presents delivered to our laps. Because, while we have been through the tough times together, people we’ve just met have only seen us getting scholarships, government funding, recognition and to the point we don’t have to work 24 hours a day.

Some times people say ‘Man you are so lucky to be able to take all these trips away’ or ‘wow you’re so lucky to get that funding’

And I find it a little offensive. I WISH it were luck, but unfortunately its purely long hours, a lot of stress, an ocean of tears and finally, after a good few years, some significant breaks. The upside being that all those people who despair at their bad luck can simply get off their butts, take the knocks and find themselves in the same situation we are.

The 10 hour trip home from Tauranga this weekend (using a multitude of backroads, about turns and 4 wheel driving along the ice) gave me time to ponder our roading system.

It, at one stage appeared that EVERY road in the country was closed. Which, if you are in a developed country, seems just a little ummm, un-developed.

First I was wondering if maybe Mother Nature decided that after all the grumbling from Truck Drivers about increased road charges, she would show us that she controls the roads anyhow, and too much grumbling and she’ll snow them over until no one gets to use them.

That only took about 5 minutes.

The other 9 hours and 55 minutes was spent wondering how, in this day and age, an entire country’s roads can possibly ALL be closed. AND that no one in the country seems to have any knowledge of when and how they will open.

That, to me, seems a little scary.

This was the best part of the Small Business Expo this year (in fact the ONLY memorable part). KiwiSelect helps you get off the default KiwiSaver plan that you got stuck on because you didn’t have time to figure out all the options… And onto the best plan for you.

It also helps you manage your KiwiSaver options as the years roll by so you can always ensure you are with the right plan.

Its a super slick website with a swish calculator right on the front page that shows you just how much money you expect to have by retirement if you keep saving. (You will be pleasantly surprised!)

It’s FREE to use, and nice to look at… Brilliant!

Yes, our indoor netball peaked at EXACTLY the right point in the tournament. Losing every game apart from the last two, which happened to be the losers semi final and the losers final. Which means we are the best team out of the four losing teams. Quite an honor. We even got matching little photo frames.

Cam from WooWho (who just happens to be a customer) was the winner of the winners final. Yes, that’s what happens to your sporting career when you become a customer of ours - Their site is currently in development, but looking slick!

1. Optional (for those angry people): Open a browser that doesn’t have a massive number of tabs open
2. Browse to 1227.com
3. Try to get rid of the website

Verity and I were the first viewers to make it the entire way and get ourselves out of the website again.

This is important because:

• She is like our Decisive Flow Mascot and currently ‘works’ here (even if she spends most of her time asleep on our couch while we are super busy)
• I used to be jealous of how young she is but now she is old like me (well almost old like me, she is catching up)
• We think she is super!

Happy bday Vestity! Looking forward to a great 22nd (or is it 23rd?!?) year!

I just wonder why parking attendants don’t realise this.

Like the guy last night who was ALREADY writing us a ticket when we arrived back at our car 4 MINUTES too late and who, when we explained we were sorry and on our way, said ’sorry guys, I’ve still gotta do it.’

The ability for humans to think for ourselves and apply our judgement to overarching rules is vital to making us who we are. I can’t understand anyone who actively chooses to give up this fundamental part of themselves.

Organisations who expect employees to follow the rulebook to the word and NOT apply their own thoughts to decision making processes are both fairly corrupt and severely disadvantaging themselves.

The amount of money the parking warden organisation has to spend on ‘educating’ the public about how nice they really are after making us all hate them by doing stupid things like the above, far outweighs the money they would lose for NOT ticketing people who are under ten minutes late.

My sister is in Vietnam, but it feels like she is right here: