Power Tools Get the Chores Done!

Hi!

Well. That was a nice weekend, got much accomplished. And a pretty speedy week on top of it all too. Of course it helps when the week is only 4 work-days long, but eh, at least it went fast!

So work. Yep. Is pretty good. Even though it went pretty fast, the week, I feel like it was one of those weeks where I didn't get a lot of workwork done. Meetings. I don't really like meetings. They're full of good intentions but it seems that 9 times outta 10 not much really comes of them. Weird. Otherwise, all's well on the work front. Just trying to keep my chin up and my projects speeding along to keep me in the good books come June 30th when my contract expires. Because of our new Premier(Governor)/change of Government, things always get a bit dicey with regards to us little folks - especially contractors like me. And the end of June is the end of the financial year, so there's another tenterhook. So oh yeah, come the end of June I'll be a right ball of worry! But, I can only dust off and fluff up my resume and hope for the best!

And then the weekend. Yes, I had Monday off to go have my Will drawn up and didn't I call it - I was outta there in half an hour, and that was with me asking questions! It was easy and pretty interesting. In the end I don't have much to worry about (stuff-wise or impending death-wise, as far as I know), so it's all pretty straightforward. Hard to nominate an Enduring Power of Attorney tho. What a thing to lump on someone. The vacancy still exists if anyone would like to apply!? And no, to answer your only question, I don't own a thing of value or have bank accounts hiding in Switzerland. If I did I wouldn't shop at Ikea.

So the weekend. Started off nice and a little early with motoring from work at 2pm. Turned out it was probably the most productive day of the whole weekend! Just got a lot of little things/chores done around the place. Cool. And Saturday was nice and quiet owing to Anzac Day. So I had a glass of wine to my Grandad!

And today. Eh, quiet too, got some chores done. Was hot. Thankfully the humidity is down so it's easier to get stuff done. Did the usual chores and small home repairs - patched some little holes in the walls (not my fault, but will be blamed if the real estate agent notices, unlikely, but possible), moved the toilet roll holder from up by my head to near the toilet (I rock with my little Black & Decker cordless drill - never get a chance to use it!) and I finally started work on the travel brochure for me and the gals for our Big Trip. Looking pretty good - all one page of it! I hope to have something that not only has dates, hotels and stuff like rental car pick-ups, but helpful info for the gals to peruse about the different places we'll be going. Cool!

And that's about that! Again, another dull weekend, but welcome to my world of saving to go on a 4 week vacation in like 4 months (gasp!money!). So dull is the word until launch time! Hooray! So there you are - you have 4 months to get in while the weather's nice and, well, I can take like a few days off!

BYE!
J!

Wireless Berets in Clean Apartments

Hi!

Well. Short weeks are happy things. And the best part is am taking tomorrow off (cos I can) so that'll make it 3 weeks of 4-day weeks. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. See, I still think the French had something with taking to the streets to demand a 4-day work week. I'd be in the crowd with my beret waving my banner!!!!!! Vive la France!

So work. Yep. Is pretty good. I have to say, it's reallyreally nice having the new gal in the office (taking the place of my former nemis- uhhhhh... politically correct must be politically correct............. co-worker) working with us. She's really cool. She's friendly, got a personality, has traveled, has a brain, is nice, personable, yeah. Sooo refreshing to have her in our department. Otherwise, work is good. Ticking along smoothly. Especially when the work week is four days long. Ahhhhh!

And then the weekend. Can I just take this opportunity to mention how absolutely fantastic it is to have this broadband wireless Internet technology stuff. Man. It's so cool that I can get on to the 'net like that and find what I'm looking for like that - speedy! Not that I ever dreaded checking in with all two of you out there on Sunday afternoons, but with dial-up, well, I'll just say it was at least a 3 hour event. At least. Nowadays, thanks to modern technology - an hour at the most!

Anyways, the weekend. Quiet. I have this new habit where come Saturday, I don't do a thing. I relax. I read, nap, snack, read, veg, it's lovely. Sunday is different, up early, chores, no napping, no veging, and errands. Yeah. And so this weekend followed suit. Yeahyeah, I hear you. Saving money is my only response to your protests of utter dullness streaming from Brisbane! You wanna send me $1,000 to go towards my trip back to the States, be my guest! Then I'll go out and have Adventures! So yes, weekend has been quiet with a clean, dumpy, aired-out apartment. Laundry is out swinging on the line, the paint has finally dried after all the rain we had last weekend and into the week, I took glamor shots of my car to get an ad ready to sell..... Yes, the weekend has been a success, complete with bonus day!

And that's about it. Tomorrow am taking off because I can, and also cos I have an appointment to have my will made. Cool. Been meaning to have it done since I left for NZ how many years ago. No I don't have anything to tell you, no I don't have any plans to cut out early (that I know of), it just occurred to me the pain in the butt it will be if something does happen (knockonwood), being a foreigner, how much trouble some stuff might be to sort out, and quickly. So I thought I'd get a head start. Am not gonna go so far as to pre-pay for any festivities or anything like that, but just get it down in writing (for what it's worth) that no, the landlord doesn't get my stuff just cos I rent his crappy apartment, yes family can have all $200 or so in my bank account, etc. It'll be such a short session for these lawyers (or whoever works for the Public Trustees office for the Queensland Government) cos I don't have any kids (whew!) or investments or property etc.... Put it this way, my appointment is for 3.30pm - I bet I'll be out by 4pm. I hope they don't get mad at me for not having any real stuff to bother about........ Hmmm. Guess I'll find out!

So there you are. Hey, you should really think about taking advantage of the cheap ticket prices and the fantastic weather and get yer butt down here even if for just a short visit (I say short visit cos I can't take any more than 4 days off of work to show you around - gotta save my time for the 4 & 1/2 weeks I'll need in Sept!) C'mon, it'll be fun! You can hop over to NZ if you feel the urge!

BYE!
J!

Four Days of Weekend.......!

Hi!

Well. Sunday evening. The sun is just starting to set, the lorikeets are warming up for their evening chat session, the neighbors have finally quit arguing, there're cool blues tunes on the little community radio station, got mah glass o' wine........ ahhhh! The best part about this whole weekend, and checking in this evening, is that there's one more bonus day to go! HOOOORAY! So it's not quite the end yet!

So work. Yep. Is really good. The thing about knowing I'm not worth the lofty job description (and subsequent money) that I envisioned my job to grow to be in the now to near future, is the fact that I can say no to annoying little projects or even to stuff I just don't wanna do. I felt bad the first time I said no to to helping out on what has potential to be a huge project and a big help to the HR department (helping the IT guy help them with an online application system), and I even got to the point were I almost went back and said "Aww shucks, I'll help ya pardner", but I stopped myself in time. Because no, if I'm not worthy of the pay, I'm not worthy of taking huge stuff on, in addition to my usual stuff. Simple and as selfish as that. I'll basically take on the project if, well, if it looks good on my resume and I learn new software and I don't stress out to get it done! How about them apples?? So yes, so far work is good.

And then the lovely, long drawn-out weekend. Ahhhhhhhhhh. Have been busy! Well, around the house busy anyways. Friday started bright and way early to take Lauren to the airport (I get lost coming home every time. Going there I'm ok because they can direct me. Coming home is a whole different kettle of fish.) And then started in on the second coat of paint on the kitchen cabinets. Don't they look a lot nicer than scuffed-up lime green. Followed by a 2 & 1/2 hour nap. Guess I was tired.

Saturday was the bathroom's day for paint. A chore I've really been meaning to do every weekend since I moved in here. It just needed a second coat (curse you dusty purple color!) and all the edges done. Whew! Man, it looks fantastic! Maybe this is what I could do for a living - live in dumpy apartments and fix them up as I go! With money from the landlord of course. This will be my first and last freebie. And will only work on the apartment if it's not summer or if it comes with air-conditioning. Followed by no nap (gasp!), dinner and "Scrooged" - seasonally a little late I realize, but still bloody funny. But it was a bit of a struggle to hear my movie as the Indian couple next door, well, it must've been an Indian movie that they REALLYreally liked cos the volume was up so damn loud. It got to the point where'd I'd pause my movie to listen to theirs as it sounded so, well, lively. Didn't understand a word of it, but the musical numbers sounded fabulous (as Bollywood films always are)! And it was long too. Sigh. Communal living. It's for the birds. If I ever buy an apartment the first thing I'm doing is putting in soundproofing on the walls cos I don't want to hear what my neighbors get up to (or fight about). That and because I too would love to have a bitchin' tv and surround-sound system. Cos Monster Boy next door has an awesome system too, action films with long, screechy car chases sound amazing on his tv - I hear it allllllll night long cos he's an insomniac. Yeah, am so putting in soundproofing. And some sort of air-handling system where when the neighbors below me smoke, their smoke doesn't drift up into my apartment making it smell like, well, like an ashtray. Oh yeah.

And today. While I still have the kitchen to finish with painting the edges and the front door, I decided I could have the day off from painting. So I did some laundry and surfed a bit of the 'net until I managed to download a Trojan virus of some kind (that's the last time I try to download a song from that website). Well, it took that long to scan the poor little laptop and get the thing deleted..... So while that was happening I chatted on the phone to David. Man, sometimes I wish I could be home to take my friends out for a beer and a meal.

And now here we are! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. One more day of freedom to go! Hooray for religious holidays and Australians for going along with them!!! Will finish the painting tomorrow, hopefully. And then I think it could be time for a crap clean-out - gotta keep this teeny apartment streamlined and because I've discovered myself starting to store stuff under the bed and couch. That's bad.

So there you have it. Kinda dull, yet productive. I know you must ask yourself why I bother putting this kind of effort into such a dumpy apartment. Well, two reasons - one - I have to live in it and dusty purple walls in an already dark, tiny and pokey bathroom offend me, but not nearly as much as the filthy, baby pee yellow walls with bits torn off it did, oh and the scratched-up lime green kitchen cabinets were pretty unbearable too. Now I can live here with a minimum of offense. The second reason is I have to make it somewhat attractive to someone to house sit for me while I'm away for 4 weeks! I will never be Martha Stewart, so rest easy. But am not 20 years old either and can't abide lime green or dusty purple. Sad, but true.

So I hope you're all well up there! You can come on down and visit and be minimally offended by my little apartment! But you still can't stay here - I just painted, didn't add another wing.

BYE!
J!

Dull + Uneventful + Nap = Not an Entirely Bad Weekend

Hi!

Well. That week went by pretty fast. But in a good way instead of the usual so busy one minute it's Monday and the next it's Sunday evening. No, this was a perfectly civilized, yet speedy, week. And to think, this coming week and the following week is short because of Easter! We get the Friday and the Monday off - 4 days! Waaahhoooo! So I just might splurge and take this Thursday off, cos I can. Hooray!

So work. Yep. Is good. Nearly finished with my Big Project. Man, have I learned a lot doing it or what. I'll have to think of another cool project to do for someone just so I can learn more new software! I already have the Adobe Creative Suite (at work, can't afford it at home..... sigh), so maybe the next project can be in Illustrator as haven't used that one yet! Hooray for learning! Otherwise work is quite good. Still like it lots. Well, as far as work goes. Still would rather be independently wealthy.

And then the weekend. Friday started off very lovely and relaxed. Went over to Jason's house (the guy I work with who's been helping me a lot with this Big Project) and had some fantastic homemade pizza with his cool wife Claire and Hasse (another guy I work with who's appeared in previous episodes here on J's Verandah). Ahhhh, was a very lovely evening, tho I think we stayed past their "we have young children" bedtime. It was just nice to be able to talk like normal people outside of work.

And Saturday. Not a lot. In fact, I kinda can't remember what I really did. I know there was a nap in there. It's been raining most of the week so that's kinda put the brakes on really wanting to do much. Hey, at least the weather is finally cooling down to manageable levels!

And today. Yep. Pretty much like yesterday minus the nap and adding 3 loads of laundry washed and dried. Actually, spent a lot of today planning The Trip - nailing down dates, researching hotels, flights, rental cars, etc. I mean, don't get me wrong, am not planning the trip down to the minute, but with as much stuff as we're packing in, things do have to be planned at least by the day. I hate planning like that but in this case we have to. So much hinges on what happens one day to the next. I have tried to schedule a couple days to mess with, but we'll just have to get there and see! Oh I can't wait. And it's coming up faster than we think. Yikes I have to save $$$$.

Otherwise, yes, the weekend was a bit dull, pretty uneventful, and yet slightly productive. I think am saving chores and the rest of the painting until my Easter break. 4+ days and am not going anywhere, I know how I'll get by the 4th day, so best to save myself some stuff to do!

And that's about that. I hope you're all well up there. I can't wait to see everyone, pet my dog and cat and to eat Mexican food. I promise after this trip to come visit once a year (that's if ticket prices can stay normal). I don't much like this coming around to visit every few years. I never meant to be away for such long stretches. I mean, it's been fun and way interesting, but not swinging by home and checking in, while it's not nearly as bad as it was when I was in NZ, it's still not good. Tho am not ready to move back just yet (haven't done much on my List - yet!), I still would like to check in at least once a year! So, I will work on that! Meanwhile, same goes for you guys up there - get yer butts down here! Or as the ad said, "Where the bloody hell are ya?!"

BYE!
J!