Thanks for the article Russell. "Rediscovered" Hard News as I was cleaning up an old domain I no longer will use - well, I'm finding it hard to let go. I'm also usually not someone who posts, but I wanted to say it's great to see you haven't lost anything.

2020 was a shite year in many respects, but then had it's upsides as well (for me). After managing to score a redundancy in 2019, paid off the mortgage and decided on 12 months of travelling. I would have done that quite differently had I known we'd all run into a pandemic. Luckily I was home for Xmas 2019 so got "stuck" at my parents farm and got to spend more time with them that I intended, which was nice. Was a perfect place to spend lock down. Had to reluctantly head back to Sydney where I've found it extremely difficult to get work. Apparently 26 years experience in the IT industry might be offset by ageism - people tell me that's what it is, but I'm not sure I want to believe it. 2020 ended with a bang - hospital for an appendix that turned gangrenous and infected my lower bowel, so that turned into a major op. Nice way to spend Xmas. But hey, I'm alive, recovering, starting a business. Onwards and sideways... keep up the good work!

I don't agree with the covid-19 approach here in Sydney after living through the NZ response, but they've managed to dodge enough bullets that it's manageable. Would have been nice to stand at the bar in pubs though. It's also depressing listening to the Liberal govt spout on about economy (business) vs lives when there's no economy without people... but that's not a conversation I want to rehash. Australia can be a funny place

Congratulations from an old time lurker who signed up to say "Thanks!!"... and obviously congratulations...