2008-04-06 No Cake?

New Zealand government decided it would be a good idea if children ate healthier. They've had this campaign going on for quite some time now. I remember seeing billboards saying things like "wouldn't it be nice if kids brought vegetables to school, instead of chocolate?", even when I first came here in October. Apparently the message wasn't taken to heart, so they took it to the next level. Check this out: Birthday cakes have been banned from kiwi schools! The article doesn't state the punishment for disobeying the new order, but I suspect it might be caning, or even an intravenous injection of spinach. I say they should implement an early warning system by installing surveillance cameras in the kitchen of every mother with children of school-age.
(This is dedicated to Gray and Simon, who said Germans don't know sarcasm.)

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Check out dateDiff on my other blog. (Cross promotion again...) It's not so spectacular what the program (/script) does, but that it's GPLed, has a man page, a makefile and comes in a tarball. A couple of weeks ago I didn't know how to do any of these things. I'm so proud of myself!
"Is that what you do in your precious spare time in New Zealand?", you might ask. Yes, it is. And I like it that way. Get over it. There's a time for traveling, going out, making friends, getting drunk, learning how to dance and getting lost on the way home. And there's a time for sitting at home and writing software just for the fun of it. I happen to enjoy that as well. It's all a question of proper balance, you know...
(Nevertheless, I spent half an hour in the Botanic Gardens, just to catch some air.)

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It's daylight saving time! Today all kiwi were given one extra hour. It's a strange feeling that last week Germany adjusted their clocks forwards, while this week we adjust ours backwards. Luckily, since I heard the mnemonic "spring forward, fall back", I have no trouble at all remembering which direction to go. And best of all, it also works here on the southern hemisphere!