It seems now is a great time to work overseas (or at least somewhere other than oz, we have a great dollar at the moment, but that also means the cost of living here is relatively high). This article that my friend Catherine shared has some interesting ideas of where the work opportunities are around the world right now.

best places to live for IT work

What struck me most is the IT work situation in the US. Even with 8.5% unemployment, there are a million vacant IT jobs. A MILLION! Wow. With 2 million more jobs to be created in the next few years. I find that difficult to comprehend. With wages high and the cost of living relatively low in the US, sounds like there are endless opportunities to work with technology. Sounds like there has never been a better time.

So I often use the WordPress app on my iPad to write posts, but I have difficulty in uploading pics from there. Pics have to be saved in my photos folder before I begin the post, and usually these are on my mac and I have to email them to myself and save them on the iPad. This is also a pain.

I’m working through the suffering (tech pain!), any suggestions/hints welcome!

I’m excited that christmas has come a little early with a much-anticipated gift…my computer engineer Barbie! Thanks to my wonderful friends from Victoria, Julie Fisher, Annemieke Craig and Catherine Lang, who ordered and had delivered the fabulous dolls to their hotel room in Portland, Oregan while attending the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women conference. I hinted that I wanted one, and they were unavailable to buy in Australia, so now I’m happy to now have it in my hands!

I was always a big fan of Barbie, having a wide collection when I was a child. I admit I am surprised how taken I am with this new addition to barbie’s careers, and happy that I played a part in her being a role model for tech careers to young girls (I voted!). You might scoff at Barbie being a role model, but I know she was an important tool for communication and socialization in my youth. I’m also happy to report that Barbie’s body shape has changed significantly since I inspected her last. Her breasts are much smaller, and she has impressive hips!! her waist is still small, but she is now much better proportioned. I love her outfit, the binary code and circuitry on her shirt is impressive (where can I buy one?)

Maybe I now need to go and dig out the old Ken doll to see if he is up to scratch?
Happy holidays x

I remember the kind words you said about my pink book, recommending me to present on your behalf at a school in Tambourine Mtn where I took your faith in me to some fabulous young girls to spread the good word that we need more women in our industry. I took that role very seriously.

I also remember your kindness at offering to help me out in processing some sales of the pink book because I didn’t have the resources. You didn’t even seem to think twice to offer your help, even though you didn’t have too. But again, I recognized your compassion and was inspired at your helpfulness.

The last time I saw you was at a geek girl dinner where you popped in to show your support of the cause, and then ran off to be part of a panel discussing the Qld software industry, of which you are a pioneer and a role model for all women. Again I was inspired.

In the last few months I saw your fb posts and pics about travelling to Europe with your dear aunt, your new found love, the joy of seeing your son become a man, and the excitement of your new hobby, luge. I admit each time I saw pics of you suiting up and screaming down a hill, I did think you were a little mad, but you looked so happy. I was happy for you.

Then you recommended your yoga hangout to me recently and after seeing you in their advertisement looking more fab than I had ever seen you, I knew I wanted some of that. So again I was inspired. For weeks I have been looking around the yoga room hoping to see you, but not to be. I’m sure I will keep looking for your beautiful face, and I will try to smile to thank you for being part of my life. I will never forget you xx

All the way from the Grace Hopper Celebration of Computing conference in Portland, Oregon. Thanks to my awesome friend Annemieke for posting it to me!

PS. I am anxiously waiting to get my first barbie doll in many years! I was a big barbie doll fan when I was a little girl, so imagine my excitement when last year barbie’s latest career as a computer engineer was announced! Problem is, you cannot buy them in oz! So some of my Victorian friends are currently in the US for a conference, and they agreed to track some down while there. And they did! I have seen the pics and they are now in transit back to oz. I will get my computer engineer barbie in January when I see my Victorian friends again!  Can’t wait

The nice part about it also is that I can catch up on my cooking, and also hang out with my cat. He also likes being inside on the rainy days as you can see from this pic:

Just a pity he won’t help me do the marking! But he is veeeery cute!

We worked long days intensely, but had lots of laughs & got to watch the amazing sunset from the spa on the deck. The only downside was the chilly spring weather, which I have to admit my Qld acclimatized body didn’t cope too well with in the following week – I got sick

The resident cat Hemmingway tried to keep me warm, and a walk in the sunshine to see the beautiful flowers brightened up each day.

We did get a lot of work done (as you can see by the pics), and this was a really fun way to work. We had 6 laptops for 4 people

I love my job because every week is different.  I love that my work comes in many guises.

On Friday night we visited some other colleagues / friends in Melbourne for an amazing home cooked dinner and by the end of the night it was hilarious as all 4 of us were sitting with our iPads playing words with friends against each other. I was introduced to this game during the week and now I’m hooked! So we got another recruit that night too. I guess it was similar to what I would have done as a youngster playing scrabble as a board game, but we have moved into a new era fun, fun, fun, if not a little bit silly!

It was a really great week…