New Gigs, Shrimp & Buddha in a Motorcycle Jacket

Hi!

Well. Nice week. What a difference a decent job makes. And the addition of another 3 day weekend (Labor Day) just made the week even better. So it's been a day off with no pay, I don't mind. Was a busy weekend, which is why I'm checking in on Monday instead of yesterday.

So yeah, decent gig made for a really easy week. I ended up at the Department of Emergency Services, in the Rural Operations branch, which deals with rural fire brigades. And my job is to help proof-read, edit, format, etcetcetc the newly-updated rural fire brigade manual to get it ready to be printed and distributed. So I just sit in a nice, quiet corner with my headphones and stare at this massive document all day and make sure it looks pretty. And keep track of everything on a massive spreadsheet. I love this gig so much I could marry it. It sounds dull I know, but I really like it. I don't have to do anything else, my hours are fairly flexible, no one asks me to do anything, I don't have to babysit anyone... This gig is bliss (compared to the last few). It's only supposed to go until the end of June or whenever the project (manual) is completed. But am hoping they'll find something else (similar) for me to keep doing. Fingers crossed! Maybe they'll even bring me onto their books permanently! Ahhhhhhhh a decent, steady job....... I wouldn't know what to do with myself! Save and plan adventures!!!!!!! Hooray!

So that nice, easy week lead to a nice weekend. Saturday I ran errands, the usual cat food, me food, etc and then decided I'd had enough of being paranoid about riding the little scooter in my little sorry girly pink work jacket and scooted myself over to the Yamaha dealer to buy a proper little scooter/motorcycle jacket. It's awesome! It's light grey with a reflector stripe across the back (but it's not obnoxiously big), it's rain-proof, lots of pockets and zippered vents and it's got removable body armour on the shoulders and elbows! Cooooool. And, bonus, it's not girly or macho and it fits perfectly! And even more bonus, the gal gave me $10 bucks off! Hooray! Then the guy wanted to sell me boots. I laughed and said I would when I bought a big-daddy motorcycle. Which he tried to sell me too. Am not that gung-ho, yet! So am now that much safer! I know, sometimes I feel a little overboard when it takes me longer to put all this gear on just to go not that far. But then I think of the time and money I'd have to spend in the hospital on broken bones and skin grafts and I decide that the 5 minutes it takes to suit up is actually fine.

But Saturday night was excellent - Went through Southbank where they're in the middle of the Buddha Birthday Festival; so went and had a good look around, ate some interesting food, watched a dragon dance and then went to go see Dylan Moran. He's an Irish actor/stand-up comdian. I first saw him on this BBC tv show called "Black Books" where he wrote and acted in it. Man. It was reallyreallyreally funny. Basically it was about this perpetually hung-over guy who ran, but didn't really want to, his own little bookshop. He had a kinda wierd, burned-out hippy named Manny (Bill Bailey, also a really funny guy) help him run the shop and a gal named Fran ran the little gift shop next door. It was excellent, but only ran for about 3 seasons. So then he ended up going into stand-up and he's hilarious. He came and did something like 4 sold-out shows here in town and my friend Linus and I got tickets for the Saturday night. Ahhhhh, man he's so funny. Good show.

And then Sunday I met Natasha and Samantha at the Caxton Street Seafood & Wine Festival. They have this every year. Bands and food and stuff. Russell Crowe and his little band played last year but I missed it. So went this year because Natasha lives down the road and they give residents 4 free tickets (otherwise it's $10 bucks to get in). It was good, but bloody hot and no chairs (I guess so they don't become airborne by the end of the night). But I gotta say, the food & wine were quite expensive for what it was - little tiny plastic glasses, grilled shrimp skewers and an awful lot of fried stuff. Sam had some food and had to throw it out it was so bad. Oh dear. We stuck to the cheapest beer we could find ($5) and wandered around checking things out and listening to the bands. A lot of girl bands which I thought was pretty cool and they weren't half bad. But the funny thing is, for such a big-deal festival, it's only a block long and on for one day! We got there around noon and by 2pm you couldn't move for the crowds. It was crazy crowded. So we left there and headed to the Normanby Hotel, just up the road. That was fine for about an hour and then it got packed-out. So I gave up around 5pm and came home, because I've learned in my old age that I don't do large, crowded, noisy bars anymore. Hate it. So I rented some movies and fell asleep on the couch! Ahhhhhhhh!

And then today is a lovely extra day off, to ponder our labor I guess. The weather isn't as hot, the clouds are out floating around....... The laundry has been done, tho there's vacuuming to do......... Maybe a root beer float can inspire me......So there you are! Hooray for a decent gig! I'm sure you'll all be pleased to hear it and no more whining about rotten gigs! Hooray!

BYE!
J!