UPDATE August 26, 2012

Not much going on here, these days. I’m happy to report that my friend James has finished his masters at Oxford. We hung out on Thursday and Friday as he came into London to visit before leaving on Monday, the 27^th of August. I also got to see my friend Belinda visiting from Bosnia. That was a real treat. We’d only met at a wedding and lunch later about 3 years and some months ago and have been e-buddies since. So it was good to see each other in person again. Hopefully I’ll be able to visit Bosnia at some time in the future. I actually won vouchers for free housing in Bosnia at a Bosnian night that she hosted when I lived in Cape Town.

I am happy to report that a week ago I had my first ukulele lesson. And it was a blast. It was a group lesson, and the woman was really sweet. My company pays for discounts for these lessons, so I think I may continue and do a few more. Ukuleles are only £20-30 and it’s a great way to keep making music. Of course, my company has a music recording studio; the only issue is being able to book it since it’s free and the instruments in there are pretty amazing.

The other surprising thing that happened this week is that I was awarded a peer bonus at work. It’s ridiculously surprising because normally I feel (I don’t believe but I feel) like I do a horrible job. Anyway, a peer bonus is when a peer recommends you for a bonus for going above and beyond your duties; you can’t do it for your boss, but your boss or manager must approve of it. You get a certificate and some money. I’m not sure I went above and beyond normal duty, but I was quite appreciative of the bonus. Here are the words:

"I'd like to thank Victor for his support in reviewing the training materials and certification exam questions for the Academy. I know it can be a bit of a tedious job especially with the amount of documents we have, but Victor goes above and beyond by providing excellent comments, clear and concise when necessary, and other times with longer clarifying notes. Much appreciated!"