..boring unless you like PS3 and VPNs and networks...

So I am upstairs typing.  And "they" are cuddled up downstairs playing Tomb Raider (quite benign) on the brand new PlayStation 3 (PS3).  Why on earth am I not cuddling up too?  I do not, in the slightest, at all, in any possible way, enjoy "gaming".  Of course, though, it was my idea to get the PS3, the side benefit for "them" and "their" agreeability ,as I trawled for the best price and appropriate networking material, were the games that, surely, they both wondered, I would possibly, might, must, absolutely must buy to accompany the said machine.  So I am not cuddled up as I need to put on paper my steps to create the ultimate media machine to tidy up my absolute mess of a media station that I had previously.

What is a media station?  For us, it is access to 'catch-up tv', games, home movies, blue-ray DVD, standard DVD, and digital media files.  Up until today, I had my old laptop, a video recorder, a DVD machine and a TV with no cable viewing at all, hooked up via complex cabling.  Whilst it was sort of neat, it really was a mass of "nobody but I" knowledge.  Hence our nearly one-size-fits all solution with a eu.PS3.

So I connected the darstardly thing.  I won't admit that it took hours and hours as I am no networker or computer officiando.  I will just say that it was simple to set-up once you know how and give up on the IT speak and just get on with it.  The job now is to type up for future reference on how I did it.

(1) Got my Asus EEE Netbook beside my TV and PS3.
(2)  Got myself my ethernet cable that had metal in all of the slots (not the less ones): the packet from Dick Smith says Category 6 ethernet cable 'network'.
(3)  Made sure I had my VPN suppliers network address thingie (like a web address) and my passwords etc.  I did not use their downloadable application.
(4)  Put the ethernet between my PS3 and EEE (into the slots of course).
(5)  I set up a new VPN connection within my EEE (running XP) by going to network connections and selecting to set up a new connection.  Then going to a workplace connection and then onto VPN.  I made sure this was PPTP and then went on to select that all network computers (on my LAN the thingie that poped up when I connected the ethernet cable) traffic should go through the VPN.
(6)  I then selected within the PS3 network and internet settings that I should set up a wired internet connection.  And voila, via the easy-setup screen the dang thing worked!

So I do I like the PS3?  Kind of!  I enjoyed the set-up.  And surprise surprise, I love the "move" stuff.  With the eye and the wand it operates like a Wii - the party games are good fun stuck inside on these endless hot weekend days.

... got me to thinking about our household costs...

Reading an update by Teagan's school (Sherborne Qatar) on its plans into the future...well very near future surprised me significantly and got me thinking.  Within the update there is the proposal to have all meals provided by a "rather nice" hotel and another (what appears to be) logistics company.  Averaged, the food cost for one child would be QAR150 per week or around USD41.  This got me to thinking about our household costs!

Our grocery bill?  Yes, it seems to settle on QAR400 per week with minimal variation.  For all of you Kiwi's reading, this will mean little to you so in perspective it is around NZD150 per week.  Now, again, to give a reality check, in NZ prior to our departure we were probably spending the same amount on food including cleaning products etc, which was on the "budget" side of life.  In casual conversation, I pick that we are spending between half and two-thirds of what other families in similar circumstances are spending here in Qatar.  So am I cheap?  Obviously yes!  Do I try to be cheap?  I don't think I try super hard.  So what does it mean?

It means that I have been through all of our financial targets since we have been married and tried to recheck our forward looking ones.  What I have found is that our "realistic" targets have all been met and exceeded.  I think this is possibly because when we were first married we did not have enough money to really get by on.  Coffee, and instant at that, was not affordable, Christmas was set at $20 each for a gift (for Ross and me), and driving the car anywhere would nearly break the bank.....heck I wanted us to get out of that rut.  I had a fabulous job and Ross delivered pizzas and over the next five years we clawed our way upwards considerably.  We upgraded our diet and instant coffee was purchased, a bread-maker graced our benches and we even took a budget holiday to Fiji between job upgrades but that was about all we upgraded; our costs overall did not upgrade significantly.

Of course, we spent time on an Asian international assignment with my company.  That was fortuitous. Infertility reared its head and began to suck tens of thousands of dollars out of the pay packet (not that I am counting, but specifically, NZD56,500 as of 2005) and Ross worked on investing.  The sharemarket and that time was turmultuous but excellent for someone who had the time and intelligence to make some well analyzed choices.  We left Asia, still childless and entered the Auckland housing market at the early stages of the boom.

From then on, we continued to rejig and revise our financial targets.  As interest rates rose to over 9% on the mortgage, we behaved like we were avoiding the poorhouse.  With the addition of our exceptionally expensive human creation and the new costs that came once she graced us with her noisy presence we searched for cost efficiencies.  The vegetable garden treated us well and the local discount food stores and coupons were my friend, major revisions of insurance and motorised travel helped us avoid the ever increasing costs.  Meanwhile, I would be tripping away business class for work accumulating miles that I never spent and enjoying mid-range hotels hating every moment of being away from home.  Needless to say, somehow the mortgage continued to plummet and the other investments grew.

Then the ultimate date hit with the ultimate target; Kirsty capable of retiring at 40 years old.  My method involved a high (well extreme) level of downsizing: home and city.  Ross's target was a tad more extreme and that was a Middle Eastern assignment possibly a good choice but I still would have liked my method but methinks Ross would not have a bar-of-it!

Now we have rechecked the targets again and I can barely believe that we are looking down the barrel of a free-hold, Auckland home and potential financial independence in advance of retirement age.  So what does this have to do with school lunches?  Absolutely everything (1)  as it all means that Ross should not tease me for being a stinge  (2) and when we drive around in a cheap car we are NOT keeping up with the Joneses, (3)  when the kid breaks your bank to create she will continue to break your bank to survive and (4) have limited taste and be happy with it!

P.S  You do need to develop a affinity with instant coffee

P.P.S  Jamie Oliver's meals are expensive (generally) and in the cases of my choices, extremely fatty....just enjoy them and plan for a cardboard coffin.