Well. Here it is. Sunday evening. The weekend, honestly, where did it go? This time it went waaaay too fast for not having got up to much. Sad. I mean on one hand, you wouldn’t want the weekend to drag, resulting in you looking forward to Monday, but then you certainly don’t want it to be as speedy as this one was. Ahhhhhh well, happy to have had one at all and a job to go to tomorrow!
So work. Yep. Enjoying my shortening time while frantically looking for something else. Nail biting time. Sigh. Otherwise all is well. My big RoboHelp project is nearing the end, which is good in a way, means I can focus on all the other semi-neglected projects, well, in the 8 weeks I have left…… Sigh. Gonna miss this gig. But, change, like death, is inevitable! So, for what it’s worth, work is good, for the time being.
And then the weekend. The speedy blur that it was. Started off in the usual fashion – Friday evening, drinks after work with the nice work folks, which lead us to a very nice Indian Restaurant in the ‘hood of Albion. Excellent service, lovely food. Am slowly but surely getting into this Indian food thing. It’s good, different spices, flavors, breads etc. It’s good. Still tho, nothing beats a table-full of Mexican food! Jalapenos any day!
And Saturday……………Did some laundry and a bit of trip planning (still straightening out that Trip spreadsheet, nearly there), but not nearly as much planning as I wish I had. That’s ok tho, time enough…. Kind of. Geez, it’s coming up isn’t it? Eeeeek! Must find job! Otherwise Saturday had skates on it and it simply flew by.
And today, well, kind of productive and kind of relaxing at the same time. Did the chores first up and then went to the Pineapple Hotel in the ‘hood of Kangaroo Point, with Sarah and some more nice folks from work, and even met a few new folks, which is always good! It was a neat pub, very modern (recently done up), very big, and lovely wood-fired pizza, and any place that does wood-fired pizza is top in my books! It was a very nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon, even if everybody was a bit flat for it being, well, Sunday, and before work. Nevertheless, it’s always nice to catch up outside of work like normal people.
And that was pretty much that. Really, after last weekend’s excitement, what did you expect? From now until The Trip, it’s gonna have to be head down and wallet locked away. No adventures except free adventures will be had. So there. Hope you’re all well up there! Sorry if I haven’t dropped a line. Been worried silly about finding a new job. Will email this week. Promise. Otherwise, time for you to plan your visit here for after I return in October! Hooray!
Well. Yes, am late, but this time, you knew ahead of time! But here I am, amidst drying laundry, simmering spaghetti sauce, a sleepy & somewhat traumatized cat, classical tunes and rainrainrain. Funny, you can go away for just a couple days and no matter how much "prep" work you did before you left (laundry, cleaning, groceries, etc) when you get back it seems like there's a week's worth of stuff to be done. Hmmm. But, nevermind, here we are! So work. Yep. Was good to have a little teeny break. Otherwise, all's well. Ticking along nicely. It's funny how the government works, in that you can take a break from the job you "own" and go away and do another person's job for a wee while, then come back to yours.... confusing I know. Anyways, in our department there're all these different faces sitting in other regular people's chairs, and it's kind of nice in a weird way. I mean, it's different for everyone around them, which kind of shakes things up and stops everything from feeling too much like "Groundhog Day", if you know how I mean. Anyways.... work is good. Weird being away for 2 work-days, hope all was ok...... I just have a couple of projects very nearly finished....... I didn't get any frantic phone calls.... Gosh, hopefully no news is good news? Ha! Who am I kidding? Am not that important!!!!!
And then the weekend! Hooray! An Adventure was had! Finally got outta Dodge and saw how the folk live in Townsville. What a nice enough little town. Lovely, warm weather (I brought jeans thinking, well, it is the middle of winter after all, then promptly off the plane regretted the jeans choice), walked a lot, collected sea shells from Magnetic Island, even got a little sunburn! So yes, Townsville was nice. Met lots of new people including Hasse's family - all very nice and veryvery funny, excellent sense of humor runs in that family. It was just an excellent way to spend 3 & 1/2 days.
So Adventure. Started early Friday morning, and after arriving at TownsvilleInternational Airport (tee hee, "International", it is, but it's so small), we dumped our stuff at the hotel and went for a bit of an orienteering walk around the main bits of town (there isn't much so it was pretty easy). Got the lay of the land then visited the Reef HQ Aquarium which was lovely but kinda coulda had more effort put into it (being at the southernmost end of the Great Barrier Reef I kind of expected a bit more). Regardless, it was excellent, highly informative and educational; I was 2 minutes in the door and I learned all about the different shapes and sizes of coral and how they get the way they look. Education on vacation - what could be better!? Suitably tired and hungry, we went back to Hasse's brother's (Casper & girlfriend Leanne) house where we and his parents piled into a bit of a convoy and headed to Frank's Italian Restaurant, which was pretty good and very Italian kitsch. Then it was to gelato at Juliette's in The Strand and then to home for bedtime. What a busy and exciting day for 2 boring government office workers!
Then Saturday. No time to be a tourist, had to be up early to be a contributing member in helping out Casper (and his parents) andLeanne cook, clean, decorate and get their house and yard ready for their annual 'Solstice Party' (see photo, left), which was due to start at 1pm. But with the success the party has had in previous years, folks started arriving at noon! But we were well prepared, and I'd say the party was a fantastic success. I completely forgot to take pictures, so will post some from Hasse's camera as soon as I get them, the place looked great and crowded (note: picture on the right is not from their house. Don't we wish. Is from Jamaica Joe's pub where we'd stopped for, well, drinks, the day before). I think I remember leaving at the 'reasonable" hour of 10.30something...... I ate herring with onion on rye bread (most excellent, highly recommend it), drank homemade schnapps (ditto) and much Danish beer, feasted on potatoes, stew, bread..... when in Rome! Or in this case, Denmark-away-from-Denmark......... Met some really interesting people, had a good laugh, aahhhh, it was an excellent evening. I don't do it very often, but every now and then, a good party like that can be a fantastic evening out.
Then Sunday. Up early-ish and out the door to explore Magnetic Island. Upon waking I sadly realized I'd left my camera at Casper and Leanne's house, so I had to rely on Hasse's (brand spankin' new, $700) camera........., so watch this space for photos to appear later in the show..... What a lovely island Magnetic Island is. And pretty good size I thought, for an island that's 70% protected land. Beautiful little coves and beaches, most of which we couldn't see as we didn't do any of the hiking trails. But we rented a "topless" teeeeeeeeny little car and zipped around every paved road we could find and explored whatever we could without needing a rescue party. Started off at Horseshoe Bay and had a glass of wine before we walked the entire beach and back - well over 2 & 1/2 miles.... whew! But man did I collect some beautiful shells and bits of coral (I'm a tourist, it's what you do). The we paused for fish and chips before exploring every other paved road and suburban island life when we came upon Picnic Bay. My favorite by far, even tho it was towards the end of the day and everything, except the pub, was closed. It was smaller than Horseshoe Bay but far lovlier. Little more artsy compared to Horseshoe Bay's razzmatazz of "jet ski hire here!" "all-day kayak rental" and drunk backpacker sort of vibe.... Guess am getting old. Sigh. Then it was back on the ferry and a lovely meal of leftover stew and and apple crumble. Excellent!
And today. Was up early, breakfast, and to the airport, headed back to rainy and cool Brisbane. Ehh, that's ok tho cos the sunburn could do with a bit of cooling off and the calves a good rest from the walk along the beach, so sitting is a fine thing to do on a rainy day!
So there you have it. All in all, a fantastic and adventurous weekend was had! Hooray! Back to reality tomorrow tho, as it always happens..... So as soon as I get the pictures, will send them up! Hope you're all well up there and add Magnetic Island and Townsville to your list of places to go see when you get here!
Well. Yep. Am late again. This is becoming a bad habit. And just think, am going to be late again this coming weekend..... Hmmmm. Apologies. I really do like checking in Sunday afternoon, it's become a nice weekend-closing ritual of sorts. Now, if I always had 3-day weekends, this late business probably wouldn't happen because I would have the Monday to run around...... Hmmm. Never mind - here I am! So work. Yep. Is pretty good, more or less. Thing is, all good things must eventually come to an end, no matter how groovy the gig. Yes, my contract has been renewed for the last time, due to expire on Sept. 30th, which, in light of the fact am headed away on vacation on Aug. 30th, that makes my last day the 28th of Aug. So yes, applied for one job already (outside of my whole company, yet still within the clutches of the Queensland Government - hey, they have decent enough perks) and have put the word out all over the street for folks to keep their eyes and ears peeled. Sigh. It's pretty much way out of my hands, stupid government stuff that I won't sully the waters with here. Suffice to say it's not me, it's them, it's nothing I've done (or not done), it's just stuff, contracts against permanent jobs that are nothing like what the job really is - it's all really confusing and incredibly frustrating. I asked my boss to think of options for me as I put a lot of work into, well, my work, and he sort of wrinkled his nose. Like I said it's beyond my control. Shame, I quite dug this gig. But, chin up, will look forward and who knows, with the great experience and mad skillz I now have, I could end up with something even better!? Here's hoping with fingers and toes crossed! Otherwise work is good, as always.......
And then the weekend. Friday was actually quite a quiet and dull evening in. For once I didn't fall asleep on the couch in front of a good DVD and wake up at 2am only to be awake the rest of the night thus throwing my internal clock out the window for the rest of the weekend. Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Hooray for a normal, quiet Friday evening!
Then Saturday. I had every intention under the sun of job-hunting and applying...... Didn't even turn on the computer. Instead I cleaned and washed just about everything I could think of. By the time I was done with that, well, it was time to relax, have a beer, read, and then whoops! look at the time - dinner time! Sad when chores are more fun than job hunting.
And then Sunday. What an absolutely fantastic day that was. I met my friend Kim, who I used to work with in New Zealand. She had a good christmas with her parents (in NZ), applied for a job here, came over for the interview and an Andre Rieu concert, got the job, packed her stuff, left her boyfriend of like 100 years, and here she is! So yesterday was our first time seeing each other since I left NZ, what, 4, 5 years ago. We had an absolutely fantastic day and it just shot past. She's been to Brissy before, but usually only quickly seeing stuff as a tourist. So Sunday we took our time and walked all over the show, rode the commuter ferry (part of the nickel and dime tour, plan on it when you get down here), had a lovely lunch at the pub, walked and talked some more, next thing I was waving her goodbye to her train (she lives in a 'burb, Strathpine, about 1/2 an hour north of me). It was wonderful to see her. One of the few Kiwi's that was kind to me during my whole time in NZ. Sad, but true. So that is why am late, again, in checking in. Because by the time I got home, a mean and nasty headache had set up shop in the right side of my head, so drugs were had and headache successfully banished. By that time tho, it was past dinner and time for reading and bed. But never mind - here I am! And a good weekend was had by all!
So yes. There you are. It was a really nice weekend after such a sadly stressful week. Always a bit dismayed to hear when my good gig comes to an end. I hope I can stay with where I'm at, tho perhaps a different department for necessity and variety's sake. Ahhh well.
And oh yeah! This coming weekend, hold yer horses and have a seat - am going on An Adventure! And I have to get on a plane to get there! Gasp! Shame I organized it before finding out about my gig, but there it is..... Anyways, am off to Townsville with Hasse (guy from work)! His brother, and, well, his whole family, are Danish (but moved here in the mid-80's) and every year his brother, who lives in Townsville, throws a "traditional" Danish Solstice/birthday party - marking what would be the height of lovely weather and the longest day in Denmark, so for here he throws a Solstice party marking the shortest day (us here in the Southern Hemisphere, being in the middle of winter and all) and seeing as his birthday is the 17th, well, it's just an even better excuse to have a par-tay. And I remember Hasse coming back from it last year going on and on and on about what a fantastic weekend it is, so nice to catch up with the family, eat traditional food, drink traditional schnapps, etc, so this year, as soon as he started to talk about it, I invited myself along. Happily he thought that would be fine - the more the merrier, cross-cultural education and all that. Hooray! So I leave first thing Friday morning and return mid-day Monday. I can't say Townsville was on my List of Places to Scope Out while am here, but hey, neither was Coffs Harbour at Christmas a couple years ago and that was a lovely place! But I hear Townsville is really quite nice and hopefully one of the days we can get the ferry over to Magnetic Island (called so because back in the day of Captain Cook, when he sailed past the island, he thought his compasses all behaved strangely) and have a look around - it's meant to be beautiful - 70% is national park! So will take lots of -new- photos and check in hopefully Monday evening.....?
So there you have it. The good news and the bad news. Ehhh, what can I do but start looking for a new gig and make sure my camera has batteries and enough space on its memory card! And who knows, if Townsville knocks my socks off, we'll head up there when you get down here! Hooray for New Adventures! BYE! J!
Well. Am late. Again. We have today off in honor of The Queen’sBirthday, even though her birthday is somewhere around the end of the month, never mind, it’s a 3-day weekend! Hooray! Which kind of explains why I’m late checking in – went out yesterday to run errands and well, didn’t get home until way late. But here I am!
So work. Yep. Is good. It’s kinda funny that I’ve managed to get quite a few little projects to the printing house, yet I still feel like the only project am working on is still The Big Project, my RoboHelp cd-rom thingy. Which, it turns out, not as many people are going to actually use it as I thought I understood. Sigh. Modern technology wins in the end, with perhaps a teeny bit of help from me. Eh, it’s been great to learn a new program, even if I can’t really use it for much. The IT guys at work told me not to worry, that our department had to spend the money (on the computer program) regardless, just to spend the money in order to get it back for the budget next financial year. So here was me worrying that we spent $1,400 on a computer program that turns out we use it for one project and it’s just ok. Well, goes to show worrying gets you nowhere! But speaking of worrying about going somewhere, my little contract is due to end at the end of this month, so I guess it’s time to start rattling boss’s cage and worrying maybe just a little…. Sad news, employee with nose out of joint is due to return, well, tomorrow (it’s been away doing another job for these last few blissful months). Sigh. Otherwise, work is good! Always happy to have a good and interesting gig! Fingers crossed!
And then the weekend. Started off lovely Friday evening with some of the folks from work and I going to the pub near work for a glass of wine or two, then we headed into my old ‘hood of Spring Hill to go to dinner at the St. Paul’s Tavern and to see some sort of comedy show. After two bottles of wine, we all decided we were having such a good time that we decided to give the comedy a miss (good thing we hadn’t bought tickets ahead of time!). Then we headed directly across the street to my old pub to see what’s happened since it’s finally been sold, refurbished and re-opened – it was nice! Kinda the same, but downstairs, in the basement, they set it up to be, well, another sort of club, except cool, laid-back and jazzy! Shame the guy who owned the place couldn’t be bothered before, cos how cool it would’ve been if I lived next door to that all this time! Neat! But we didn’t stay long, in fact we looked around, I marveled at how fantastic it looked and then we piled into a cab and made our ways home. Ahhhh, was a lovely evening.
Then Saturday. Was very good for once, and did alll the chores in one fell swoop. Lately I haven’t been bothered (I mean, the place is teeny and it’s not like Kona is the size and filth of a Saint Bernard, but at 15+ pounds, he's getting close). But busted them all out and now it’s happy and clean. Plus, the rain seems to have headed to New Zealand (where it rightfully belongs) and the weather has turned lovely and cool and DRY. Ahhhh, I can think when the humidity drops. Could be why I can get so much done. Weird. But good weird. And then the rest of the evening was quiet as I took 4 attempts to watch one movie (kept falling asleep), “Perfume: Story of a Murderer”. In the end the movie wasn’t all that great and it had a super weird ending. So if you’re into strange-ish, pseudo-European films, this one could be for you. Really good story, interesting idea. Way wacky ending. Like, way wacky. Way. I’m either getting old or my wacky sensibilities point in a different direction, but I just didn’t dig this one. Hmmm. And why yes, I did just so happen to go to film school!
And then yesterday, Sunday, was errands galore, including getting mah hair cut shortshortshort, not that it was all that long, but it sure felt that way. So yes, I buckled; I couldn’t grow my hair out. Not at this point in time anyways. I can’t help it, for some reason I just really love having my hair shortshortshort. Ahhhhhh! Tho, as punishment for snapping and not planning the cut ahead of time, I ended up going to one of those chop-shops in the mall, ehh, I kinda came away with a bit of a jail haircut, but eh, enough wax and goop and stuff, no one will ever be able to tell. And give it a week it’ll look fantastic! Hooray! And then met Hasse for a wander to South Bank to a reallyreally nice restaurant that I’ve been wanting to try out for a while called River Canteen (if you come down here on your visit, we’re so going). It wasreally good, if not slightly sparse yet artsy in the food-on-plate department, the food was fantastic and the views of the river just lovely, and the staff were in no means in a rush to get us in and out, there were tables there long before us who left minutes before we did, and we were there a fair while – so it was a most lovely, relaxed and lazy afternoon. Then we headed over to the Convention Center as Lifeline (charity organization) was having their yearly, massive book sale – where they literally fill half the convention center with used books, most of which are under a dollar, and the money goes to a good cause! I found manymany books I could’ve taken home, but too hard to carry that many books around on the bus! So I just settled for 2. Then we wandered into West End to see what interesting bars might be open on the Sunday before the Queen’s Birthday holiday (cos lots of places close) and come to discover the place was really buzzy busy! I don’t ever go down into West End, even tho it’s spitting distance to South Bank and crammed full of fantastic, little cafes and restaurants, I just never really get the urge to go down there for what ever reason . So we walked for a bit and settled on this cute little pokey bar called Sling that had a cocktail menu something along the lines of 70 pages…… I just stuck with good ol red wine. After a few glasses of that, we realized the place had really started to get bloody busy (our clue was that the bar-back kept smashing glasses the faster he tried to work, poor guy, and his boss (French guy) kept sighing and giving him looks), so we moseyed from there back into town where we had one last glass of cognac at the casino and watched the strange desperation of too many young college students try their luck. Where the hell they get that kind of money to just gamble away, I’ll never know. And that was the evening! Lovely!
And today, well, it’s been an easy, quiet day so far. Will get my stuff ready for tomorrow, maybe run up to the store, maybe a nap…. Ahhhh! Hooray for long weekends!
And that’s about that. Hope you’re all well up there… drop a line sometime… come down for a visit, the weather’s fine!
Well. Yes, am late, I spotted that too. But that's ok, here I am and it's not even noon yet! Weekend was nice, even if it ran a little late for a Sunday, a nice weekend was had by all. Well, I had a nice weekend anyways….. Sorry for being late!
So work. Yep. Is good. Fine. Now that it's June we're in the home-stretch to the end of the financial year. Which means a few things - 1) My contract is up for hopeful extension (fingers crossed it's for 6 months and not the usual 3), 2) Tax return time - refund (uh, hopefully....?)! and 3) Everyone will be too stressed out fighting with budgets and stuff to notice that they've let a couple projects slip, but that's ok by me, I have plenty to keep me occupied. So there. Should be an interesting next few weeks! Otherwise, work is fine. I still quite like it regardless!
And then the weekend. Started off most excellently (is that a real word, or a word that "Bill & Ted" made up?). Had a lovely "party" at work of wine and cheese and nibbles put on by the Director of our department. Then Dom and I headed over to the Victoria Park Golf Course to meet his friend Shawn for a round of (drinks)mini-golf (tee hee, the locals call it "putt-putt"). Man that was fun! Rain and all! Ha, the rain made it even more of a challenge just to walk from one hole to the next, carrying a cheap, little, plastic cup full of wine, on fake plastic grass, in shoes with positively no traction, in the rain! Points for not slipping over or spilling too much wine! And I have to say, that mini-golf course has to be one of the best I've ever seen. Really clever, tidy, and creatively laid-out. So if you come down here for a visit, whether you like mini-golf or not, we're going! Mini-golf and barefoot lawn bowls - my 2 new favorite past-times! And Saturday. Yes, was a bit of a slow start, but still managed to get some chores done. I can’t say what else I did with the day besides laundry and chatting to my neighbour Daryl……. No naps were involved I am proud to report…….. Nope, can’t remember anything more exciting happening Saturday than laundry. Sadsadsad.
And then Sunday. Was up and out bright and early to meet The Usual Suspects (minus a couple) in town for breakfast. Always nice. Then 3 of us headed to the movies to go see the new “Star Trek” movie. Pretty good. Interesting take on the ‘beginning’ of the whole thing. I kinda liked it. It was quite good to see on the big screen that’s for sure. So if you like that kinda thing I highly recommend it! Then we wandered over to a pub for a couple glasses of wine when it all became too much excitement for Hasse and he headed home, whereas Sarah and I went for a wander around the Queen Street Mall and ended up in a little café for a late lunch/early dinner and more wine. Lovely. Then she left to catch her train and I had a walk around my old ‘hood of Spring Hill. Man, I really miss my old apartment – tho not the rent!
And then by the time I got home it was dark! Silly winter. Hooray that the solstice is the 21st – longer days again! ‘Course, every year I complain about the sun going down too early and waking up in the dark to go to work, but I haven’t forgotten it could be far worse!And that was pretty much the weekend! Hey, at least it wasn’t as dull as the last few weekends. But see what I mean about leaving the house costing money?! That’s ok tho, we’re on track for our trip savings and paying things off. Nearly there now, couple months to go! Yippie!
And that’s that. Hope you’re all well up there. Drop a line and let me know if anyone actually reads this thing!
fashion – Friday evening, drinks after work with the nice work folks, which lead us to a very nice Indian Restaurant in the ‘hood of 
then went to the Pineapple Hotel in the ‘hood
of Kangaroo Point, with Sarah and some more nice folks from work, and even met a few new folks, which is always good! It was a neat pub, very modern (recently done up), very big, and lovely wood-fired pizza, and any place that does wood-fired pizza is top in my books! It was a very nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon, even if everybody was a bit flat for it being, well, Sunday, and before work. Nevertheless, it’s always nice to catch up outside of work like normal people.
