Well, my first day at the new job went well enough. There are going to be a few challenges, I can tell already, and definitely a fairly steep learning curve, though there was also much that was familiar. Tiring though! My direct boss (also restructured and new to the area) seems nice, and was nervous about starting in this area as well.

It's tricky trying to remember the names of so many people, when you're meeting them all at once. Remembering the names of the nine people I'll be directly supervising was most important.

I don't have my own office, but I did point out that I really do need my own phone at least, given that my job will involve making a lot of phone calls. They have two phones for the whole office, and one is directed only from the switchboard! Evidently, there has been a very controlled, conservative atmosphere here for a long time. The staff have a repressed air, so I hope I can manage them kindly, but also efficiently. Doing staff appraisals doesn't thrill me, but it is all part of developing my managerial skills, I suppose.

On a creative note, I finished scripting the third episode of Children of the Moon, over the weekend.

Also, I scripted a third one page that I might draw up for OzComics Magazine. Apparently, issues #3 and #4 are at the printers now. All my reviews are in #4, as #3 is an issue purely about the business of creating and publishing comics in Australia. I'm not sure if having all my reviews together will work, as some of them are now quite dated, and also my persistently positive assessments might grate in too larger dose. Oh well, I tend to address my criticisms directly to the artists, as it's a fledgling industry, and we could all use some encouragement of our strong points!

There's so much to do, I haven't had time to scratch, let alone Blog! Today is my last day in this job, so I'm rushing through work that needs doing trying to tidy up the paperwork, which is everywhere!

I've worked further on my Oztaku submission, but they don't seem to know if #2 will be offset or digitally printed, and it makes a big difference to how I'll finish the artwork!

Dave Kerr's latest Worlds Away #5 is a treat as usual! He's in Oztaku already, so I'd be in good company.

I'm cutting out foam ducks for a possible game for J.'s upcoming birthday party. I can't quite get it to work. The idea is for the ducks to be in a line all around the house, deck and garden, each with instructions on them, such as, "Move forward five ducks, move back three ducks, go to the bridge," etc. The logistics of starting the game aren't quite figured out. Maybe I should stick with something simpler :).

At the moment I'm trying to finish off most of my remaining work before I go on secondment for seven months to a different employer. It's exhausting! Maybe it's the stress of knowing I'm out of there from the end of next week.

The Easter break is almost here, so I might try to do some drawing again, though it'd be good to spend some time with the family.