Hi Vic and Bruce,
Just having difficulty at present in figuring out how to post and reply in this Google newsgroups system. I was reasonbly adept wth Free Agent as a newsreader but I guess that it will just require a little time.

Yes Vic, good coffee is still my drug of choice but until recently things have been usually too hectic to take the time to be an afficcianado (sp?).

And yes Bruce, I too delight in the sachets of "Kopi-O". When I fly back to Sydney after my visits to Malaysia, my bags have several large packets of these sachets.
Whilst going through the tediously lengthy divorce, getting my son back on track into university and refurbushing ths boat of mine, I took a contract project managing a new project with Optus, a major telco here. Apart from having a great project - brand new technology to implement and figure out, it was a great place to work. Most of the people, several of whom I had worked with before in the industry, were really pleasureable to work with; the technology was fascinating and the problems that arose were extremely challenging to say the least. I've performed many roles in IT over the years but Project Management, especally in difficult and technically challenging projects is my favourite (please note the correct, non-American spelling of 'favourite'). Apart from that, the work site consisted of 5 three and four storey office buildings surrounding a large 4 acre odd park-like campus with a long pond and trees in the centre. The 8,000 employees on site had no need to go off-site during the day as there were six lunch shops, a sit down restaurant cum bar and 4 coffee shops with several seating areas with sun umbrellas. There were even special buses chartered to drive there the 20 minutes or so from the centre of Sydney. Our group had BBQ breakfasts cooked according to a roster system each Friday morning.

One of the proprietors of a coffee and lunch bar was Greek and would often brew up Turksh coffee traditionally in the afternoons for he and I. You know the type Vic; a heaped teaspoon of finely ground coffee for each person with cold water added. Then heated up slowly until it almost reached the boil and was about to overflow the small copper pot with a long handle and a top narrower than the heavy base. Taken off the heat until it subsided, then back on the heat again - repeated three times, taken off the heat and given time for the grounds to settle to the bottom then poured into the small cups. Certainly opened your eyes. However back upstairs at my desk, coffee time was usually a rushed Nescafe type grabbed before a meeting.

Of course back home in Malaysia, it was down to the kampong coffee place on the motorbike for the fantastic but not at all healthy kopi panas - kau (coffee hot - strong) with its' inch of condensed milk sweetener in the bottom to be stirred. The bloody stuff is addictive and bad for the teeth and the waist-line. It's also great on a hot day with ice, sucked up through a straw. It has been one of my long standing simple pleasures.

Anyway, I think I got carried away and off track here. It's so very nice to come back again after a lengthy absence and meet with you both again. I have derived a great deal of value and information from this group over the years. For this I am grateful. Just gave to figure out how to use it.

Ciao
Peter.