If you can't stand the heat .....

For me, every New Year starts with a New Year's Resolution (or more than one usually) and this year is the same. Once again I find myself promising that I will eat better, exercise more, focus on work / life balance and spend more time with friends and family. I have to balance these with the demands of a business which keeps getting busier and busier and the demands of living in a modern city (anyone else notice just how long it takes to get stuff done in Sydney?), but I am getting to an age now when these things have more meaning than they used to and maybe this year I will actually mean it .....

The New Year has certainly started with a BANG here in Australia and we celebrated(?) the start of the year with the HOTTEST January 1st on record for Sydney. The official temperature (recorded at Observatory Hill) was apparently 43.4 degrees celcius, but this only tells part of the story.

To the right I have included two photos (taken with my Sony Ericsson K750i - a generally average phone but with a pretty good camera) taken on the two occasions I bothered to venture out of the house. As you can see from the outside thermometer of the trusty low-speed cruise banana, not only was it HOT, but it was HOT ALL DAY. I can't remember a time when it was over 40 degrees at almost eight o'clock at night!

Thankfully, the weather returned to more sane levels today, following a very strong southerly which brought a dump of rain and took the sting out of the heat - today was 24 degrees - abnormally low for this time of the year. Pretty unusual weather patterns, and having seen that scientific masterpiece, The Day After Tomorrow, maybe it is time to pack my mukluks and suntan lotion and move to a cave somewhere........

So enough of the holiday banter .... after a very busy run up to the end of 2005, and an outstanding two day planning session with our Executive Management Team (what an impressive group of professionals they are!) we are ready to leap into 2006 and the exciting times ahead. I have high hopes for this year as the momentum in Online Services continues. Stay tuned for exciting activities from the Hyro team!

Happy New Year to all of our friends, their families and may your 2006 be marked with health, happiness and prosperity!