Rootbeer Floats on Brush Fires

Hi!

Well, it's Sunday afternoon..... House is clean.... Groceries are in the fridge (I found A&W Rootbeer in, of all places, Chinatown - bought some vanilla ice cream - life is very good)... Messed around on the computer and got myself wired up with Skype - (thanks Glen!) and it's great - free to download the program, dirt cheap phone calls just using an internet connection and free if you talk to people who have Skype on their computers too. So played with that for a while. Excellent. Shame after all this travelling I've only just discovered it now. http://www.skype.com/helloagain.html

Hothothot today, so best thing to do is, well, not much. Ran around yesterday, so today I can hang around and do nothing. Have even splurged and put the air-conditioning on. Bad brush fires (or "bush" fires as the locals call it. Makes sense.) out west, or south, or both, of Brisbane, so the sky is a funny hazy blur and not much of a breeze. But with a rootbeer float and a/c, the world is an even happier place. I can think to write now!

The week was fine. Busy. Went by fast though and no dramas. At work it feels kinda like the quiet before the storm. Either that or I just keep expecting something to happen. We had our "xmas party" dinner Friday night. Cost $25 bucks. At work no less, because they were too cheap and unimaginative to spring for a decent venue. At the training restaurant the hospitality/restaurant the kids train and study at. What a stinker that turned out to be. Not many people and the food was pretty average. I mean, I know the kids are learning, but c'mon, they're due to graduate in like 2 weeks, let loose on the public. I'd say a little further education wouldn't go amiss. But who am I. So yeah, work. I applied for my job, again. Am waiting to hear back. Did I mention that if I don't get it I'll be unemployed Dec. 22nd? Nice. I've been looking and applying for other jobs but nothing's come through yet. Geez, am even considering becoming a flight attendant. Considering. Jan, the gal who brings Kona his bales of hay and logs, she was a flight attendant for 20+ years. So she puts ideas in my head. 5-star hotels, perks galore, those kind of ideas. So we'll see.

What else.... The first major series of cricket is going on here in town between the English and the Aussies. The Ashes series (I guess it would be kind of like the baseball world series, only, well, not. Very hard to explain and I still don't understand any of it). It's a bigbig deal. The Brits won it last year so the Aussies are keen to kick their butts. And last I heard today, the Aussies were sweeping the floor with them (if anyone can make sense of this, well, here you go - England require another 544 runs with 7 wickets remaining. Australia 602/9d and 202/1d; England 157 and 104/3). Which is kind of a shame because a good, close game is always more fun, especially for allllll the Brits who've flown here for it. Oh well.

And they've dressed up the Queen Street mall and surrounds a bit for Xmas. It's kind of interesting not having Thanksgiving, because there's no barrage of SALE tv ads and crap in my mailbox going on about the day after Thanksgiving sales. As soon as Oct. 31st hit, that's when it all started here; only, like NZ, it's not nearly as in-your-face and crammed down your throat. Oh, they're excited about spending money for Xmas, they're just not going to get up at 4 in the morning for any sale. Hell, you'd be hard-pressed to find people to jockey a register in a shop that early! They'd tell you to "get stuffed" (a personal favorite of their expressions). So yeah, Xmas here is bearable thus far. I really missed Thanksgiving, but a good one was had last year, so I'll be ok for a couple years yet. Job-stability willing, I'm hoping to swing around up there this time next year, maybe a little earlier, around Aug. or Sept. But we'll see what happens on the job-front. Same old story, isn't it?

Oh yeah, here's a mini movie review... Last night I rented "Must Love Dogs" - rom-com with John Cusack (reason #1 why I rented it), Diane Lane, Christopher Plummer, Stockard Channing, Elizabeth Perkins and the threat of a "sparkling and witty script". Well. It sucked (I knew it would, type of movie it is, but I didn’t count on it being that bad). That was 2 hours of my life I'll never get back. Who knew with a cast like that? It's a wonder how the producers shanghaied those actors. I call it a "car payment" movie for those actors. One of those movies they have to make to either honor contractual obligations and/or they simply have car payments to make. Ohhhh, it was terrible. So there. That's my two-cent movie review. Just in case anyone asked. If any of you saw it and liked it, well, ok. What can I say, I majored in film & tv at University.

So there it is! Oh, and a quick note to Sheldon and Scarlett - have a safe trip and don't forget the earplugs! They're jetting their way down here for a couple of weeks for their delayed honeymoon. They'll be staying with me their last two days before heading home. See? Someone's coming to visit! So c'mon down!!!!

BYE!
J!

Wireless Schoolies

Hi!

Well, I'll start right off and say no. Nothing was done this weekend. Nothing at all. Well, ok, I did little things, like repaired my wireless internet connection (hooray for unsecured connections!!!!), repaired my DVD burning program, took some naps, went to the grocery store (I tell ya, bleach, Ajax, dish soap, bar soap, toothpaste, hand soap, it all weighs a bloody ton carrying it up a mean hill, then 3 flights of stairs, after which, of course, I needed a nap)... Yeah. It was a veryvery dull, yet quietly productive, weekend. Lovely weather. Although, at one point last week it got a bit gross - mid-90's with what felt like 100% humidity. Eeewww. Hint of what's to come in summer...... And then the next day it was cool and dry. Ahhhhh, spring. The day it was murderously hot and gross here, they had snow down in Tasmania. And the day after, they apparently had snow in the southwest of Queensland; it's a massive state. So that's like saying it was hot and gross in Tucson with snow up in Flagstaff. But otherwise the weather's been perfect here. So nice that the pool's been packed out. I haven't been back in it yet this season, but lots of other folks have. Gotta get in early or late I've noticed. Pretty busy during the weekends. Lots of folks doing dive bombs. It's pretty funny to hear, actually.

Otherwise, work is fine. Amazingly enough, we actually did not lose anyone this past week (though I stayed home with a rotten tension headache Thursday and considered not going back, but the bank told me I kinda had to if I wanted to stay in my apartment and not a bridge underpass). But, the people who've left have yet to be replaced, so we're still insanely over-worked and understaffed. Status quo. Yet, the call centre has so many new people they can't find enough seats for them..... Hmm. But then, all they do in the call centre is talk to people about what classes they can do. They don’t need to be trained up in all the things we do. Sigh. That’s less than 12 hours away….. I’ve actually spent a tiny part of my weekend brushing the dust off my previous application for the same job I’m doing now… Long story short – if I want a shot at staying past Dec. 31st. (when my little "contract" expires) I have to apply for my job, again, so I can stay until June – if I get it. Good chance I may not, and will be unemployed come Jan 1st. Sigh. Government.

So yes, sadly, another very dull little blog entry. Am sorry. I really did consider renting a car and taking myself out of town on an adventure. I even had my credit card out to book the car (online). But two things stopped me – 1) it’s "schoolies week". Which means all the kids who’ve just graduated 12th grade/high school all go down to the Gold Coast and get rip roarin’ drunk for the entire week, starting this past Friday (drinking age here is 18). And get this – the parents actually buy their kids all the booze and whatnot that they need; they pack bags of food and coolers of beer for these kids to take with them to go party down at the Gold Coast. Their parents actually help. So it’s like Ft. Lauderdale only crawling with drunken 18 year-olds. I can’t think of a worse place to be, well, next to Ft. Lauderdale. So heading south was definitely out of the question. So then I thought of Rockhampton, the "Beef Capital of Queensland". It’s where my Grandad was based out of WWII and I just wanted to go have a look. And to try the steaks too, I suppose, when in Rome. So I had a look at the map and it really only looks about 4 hours north of Brisbane. Well. Reason #2) why I didn’t leave town – It takes 7-8 hours on a two-lane road (one coming, one going). Eeek. So that was duly ruled out. And then I ran out of ideas and time. I’ll figure it all out. Promise.

And that’s about it. Time for bed. Hope you’re all well up there!

BYE!
J!

BlogGone Minute.....

Hi!

Well, nothing like having my little blog vanish to start the day! It turns out this little blogger system is being upgraded to a 'newer, faster, better system' and if you wanted to keep posting you have to go with the flow. So I hit the button that said upgrade or whatever, and for about, oh 5 hours, it was gone. I mean, it was there, but I couldn't get to it. Oh this modern technology will kill me. So I went to the help area and that didn't do much good. Ha. First thing they suggested in the 'help, my blog is gone' section was not to panic. But after nearly 2 hours of following their instructions, panic I certainly did. I mean, really, it's not the end of the world. I'm not curing cancer here. But I have put a lot of work and effort into this little thing, and to have it vanish with a click of a dumb button, well, I guess that's just a little technological warning that even little blogs are impermanent. So to help with the mini-panic, I went to dinner with Mave and after a glass of wine, I'm back to try it again, and you know what? Here it is. What they should say in the help section is 'yes, we know it's gone, but go to dinner, have a glass of wine, and it'll be back online by the time you get home.' Maybe I'll write to them and tell them just that.

So, new system to carry the little blog further into the 21st century. I never even came close to figuring out half of what the last system could do. Now I have more stuff to figure out. Oh dear. So, while I figure this out, please bear with me!!!!!

So..... Well, busy week at work. Again. Lost another 2 folks. Mmmmmmm, the work just piles up like dog poo in the yard. I wonder who's walking the plank this week? Tune in for our next episode......

Tuesday was the Melbourne Cup (like the Kentucky Derby). It really did stop everything for the 3 minutes the big race was on. I threw a buck into the pool at work to bet on whatever horse, even tho that morning I heard on the news the names of the horses favored to win. I was particularly partial to the horse named Pop Rock, simply for its name. And I was honestly all set to put $20 on him/her, but the betting offices didn't open until after I was at work. Oh well. So I thought I'd try the pool at work. Only, in this pool, your horse is picked for you. Well, that's kind of ok, I guess. I mean, how bad can these horses be? They have to be good to get in the race to begin with, right? And I am only throwing in a buck, how rich do I think I'll get off my (few) co-workers? And of course I get the horse named Ice Pick or Ice Cube or something like that. I just knew it'd come in last. So the race is on and they're off! Long story short - the work-pool horse picked for me came in 2nd to last and Pop Rock came in 2nd to first. A guy I work with was smart and put his money in the day before on Pop Rock and he came out with something like $550. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't do any gambling because this is a perfect example of my luck (which is why I don't in the first place). But, when it's all that easy with people telling you who's going to win..... Well. I'm just saying. So that was a bit of mid-week excitement in the office.

And, well, sadly, no adventures were had. Not even a whisper of an adventure. But, I have discovered a Thrifty Car Rental at the bottom of the hill, right across the street from the grocery store. How I never noticed it before is a small mystery (could be the massive tree that blocks it from view). But it's there and I had a look online and it's pretty cheap, with cars that look like they'll make it there and back, safely. So the bee is in the bonnet and the maps are open.....!!!!

But it's past my bedtime on a school night. Thanks to the blogger machine, this is running a bit later than I intended. Which will explain the lack of creativity and photos. Am sorry. But it's supposed to make things better!!! If only it could get me a newer, better job....!?

So there it is. I hope you're all well up there!

BYE!
J!

Vegemite & Cheesegraters

Hello!

Well, another weekend sets with the sun...... Ahhhhh, was a nice weekend, overall. Rained cats and dogs (must look up what that really means. Probably something sinister from the Dark Ages) all day Saturday, but I braved it to hunt down cat food. Actually ran quite a few errands in the rain. Am well-trained after New Zealand. Umbrellas help.

And today, was really lovely, warm and beautiful outside. So everyone's happy - from the drought-stricken farmers to, well, me. So, today, ran around a little bit spending money I should be spending on others (thinking of Xmas... hint hint). Bought much-needed speakers for the little laptop (Mozart's Requiem sounds really good through them, much to the neighbors chagrin I'm sure. Ahhhh, I see your loud tv and I raise you!!!!!!), plus it's provided hours of entertainment for the cat - just like kids, they have more fun with the box (and bag) it came in. Excellent.

The week was fine. Fast. Soooo busy at work. Status quo, really. Everyday the management does something new to make our jaws drop. For example, they introduced a new phone system that has it's own button for "bathroom break", and if you're away longer than the time allocated (2.5 minutes or something highly scientific like that), a flashing red button appears on the supervisors' computer screens telling them you've been in the toilet too long, and they come running to wait for you to ask you what took so long. Yeah. It's all part of the comedy it's become. Hey, at least it's funny. For now. My job contract comes to an end at the end of December (like I said, rocket scientists for management; 'merry xmas - you're unemployed!' Ho ho ho!), but in saying that, they've advertised my job, again, which, if I get it, will last until June next year (clever scientists again. It takes them 2 months to train a newbie, 4 months to get any miles out of them and by June, it'll be getting into peak enrollment time, just in time to let the new staff go!). So I have to put together, well, basically the same application I did for it last time, if I want to extend the fun. Only this time I need to be "coached" on my governmental interviewing skills. Apparently private sector and government sector interviews are as different as night and day. Uh, ok. So, yeah. Work. Can't say it's dull! But on the brighter side, I have 3 applications out there for jobs in my degree/interest field that I hope to hear back from, well, hopefully before this gig ends. They take a long time to do anything here I've learned. So fingers are crossed for at least one of these.

Hey, here's a little fact for you - did you know that Vegemite is now banned (apparently) from being sold in the US (much to the horror of expat Aussies)? http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/vegemite.asp It's got folate in it, which is apparently a bad thing. I thought we needed folate, but then, I don't work for the FDA, I got my degree in film production. http://www.vegemite.com.au/index.cfm?fuseaction=FolateForMums.welcome
I heard that last week and everyone gave me a hard time. Kraft makes it. Gee, they don't make things that are bad for you.

And, sadly, that's as exciting as it got this weekend. No adventures had, other than learning the nuances of the bus system and how to creatively get from point a to b. Oh yeah, for fun, I took some photos today of this new building that's finally finished, here in town. It's ugly as all get-out. Everyone, except maybe the architects, hates it. We all thought the colored blocks were just some sort of weather stripping/cladding that they'd cover when they finished. Nope. Them's the colors and they're here to blemish the skyline forever. Apparently those ugly colors are the theme colors of the architecture firm that built the monstrosity. Eeessshh. And I won't mention the giant silver soccer balls covered in cheese graters.

Maybe the management at my work is doing some consulting work on the side..... Well, it's just a bit of a shame as it's across the street from the beautiful Treasury building (which now houses the casino - fitting, I suppose).

So, well, there you have it. I know, I keep messing with the little blog settings, and I still haven't figured out how to display certain selected links where I'm supposed to, in addition to other things; will send the Blog Gods an email and ask for help. So in the meantime, have a look at what I've been meaning for you all to have a look at. Not that I'm hinting or anything, but it's an Aussie travel site/tv series with lots of good ideas about travel down here and further afield..... Bee, meet bonnet!!!! http://getaway.ninemsn.com.au/

Hope you're all well!

Bye!

J!

Dracula Near The Sea

Hi!

Well, have survived yet another busybusy week - whew! Was pretty tired Saturday (went out for work-drinks after work on Friday until way past my bedtime) so didn't do much more than the usual chores. Well, didn't have any energy to do much at all actually, was pretty hot out, nearly 90 degrees, which made doing anything pretty hard. Ugh. Not humid, which was great, but hot.

But today, you all will be pleased to know - I took myself on a little adventure. A couple of friends from New Zealand (Rebecca and Pete and Bex's Mom) are here vacationing for the week down on the Gold Coast (just a quick summary of the Gold Coast - it's about 45mins south of Brisbane on a very pretty stretch of ocean. It's where all the theme parks are, including Warner Brothers Studios (like Universial studios in L.A.), and Sea World, and lots of cabaret-type dinner shows like Dracula's and Outback Spectacular, etc; it's also the place where big sporting events happen, like their Grand Prix motor racing, numerous surfing competitions (the Surf Lifesavers are a pretty proud group in Australia and for good reason, in fact, their surf clubs often have little restaurants (basic diner-type food with beer) and all the money you spend there goes to support them, because the Government sure doesn't), and triathlons; and it's also the home of more apartment buildings and hotels in one small space than I've ever seen outside of Aneheim. It's a busy, fun-oriented place). So I took myself down there to meet them, for the day, on the train. Pretty easy when the train goes direct, I imagine. I picked this weekend when Queensland Rail decided to do track maintenance on about 1/3 of that particular line between here and the Gold Coast. So, it's usually supposed to take just under an hour to get there from here, but with the track fun, it took an hour & 45. It also involved buses. But in saying how much of a pain it seemed, all in all, for a Sunday, it went reallyreally smoothly. The buses were there when we showed up, we didn't sit around, we left right away and when we got to the next train station (about half an hour away), we didn't wait more than 5-10 minutes for the train to appear. So, pain as it was, it was pretty efficient for a Sunday. So that in itself was it's own little adventure.

And once there, well, it was like we'd seen each other last week, not almost 2 years ago. It was really nice. The weather was a little overcast and cool, but lovely compared to Saturday here in Brissy. We had a wander through this little market (Sunday is usually market day for most towns), then some lunch, went for a windy walk along the beach, walked to this massive mall, walked back to their rental car and drove back to their little apartment (nice view of the sea and surrounding apartment buildings, which makes up most of the ocean-front Gold Coast) and had a glass of wine, chatted and basically spaced-out in front of the tv for a little bit while we recharged our batteries. They only arrived Saturday and are still on NZ time (3 hours ahead). Then, it was time for me to start my 2 hour trip home.... Went so quick! But was so great to see them. Now I have to really plan to go visit NZ at some point in the new year.....

And that was that! Am home now, obviously, just in time for the ARIA Awards - the Aussie version of the Grammy's. It's interesting because these bands are huge in many parts of the world, and I hear these songs on the radio all the time here, and here's this nice ceremony for it, that's not nearly as garish as the Grammy's. It's a bigbig deal here. I tell ya, Australia is happily doing their own thing down here and every now and then they pop up on the radar in the US, but really, it's pretty cool what they're up to and they seem pretty content, more or less, to keep it here, they don't seem to care if the rest of the world takes notice or not. But they sure like it when the world does notice!

Ok, now I'm rambling. Means I'm tired. So off I go to space out and watch the ARIA's, and man, compared to the Grammy's, it moves pretty fast - no long-winded, fake speeches, no hosts who think they're stand-up comedians, no goofy performance/dance/video interludes, or cheesy historical moments or silly interviews. It hits the ground running and doesn't mess around along the way. And the best part of it is - I don't know any of these bands (they have rap!)! Am learning new things!!!! Hooray! Right, rambling again.

Hope you all have a good week and here's to more adventures!!!?

BYE!
J!

Geckos n' Pillows

Hi!

Well, quiet weekend this weekend. I gave myself the weekend off from the stress and panic of looking for a new job. I've had a tension headache for the last 5 days so I decided to take this weekend to do nothing, except for buy a new pillow. I like to hope it's my old pillow giving me headaches and not work. I mean, I'd like a new job, but honestly, things aren't that bad. Not bad enough to have a tension headache for 5 days. And of course, once I sat around doing nothing but the usual (cleaning, groceries, etc) over the weekend, headache gone. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

Otherwise, busy week at work. We're down another person. I'm not kidding when I say it's one a week. And they're not being replaced. Yet. Not sure what they're waiting for. No staff, maybe.

Adventures? Weeeeell, don't think this really qualifies, but I took myself to see that "Amazing Human Body" exhibit. That's the one with the real bodies, preserved through a plastination process and opened up so you could see inside. It sounds really gross and most people that I asked if they wanted to come along all squished up their faces and said "Oh yeah, that's the exhibit with the real dead people, only preserved, right? Oh, maybe another time.". So I went on my onesies. Well. It was very........... Interesting, in a plastic-beef jerky-smelling kinda way. They were real. And sliced and diced almost a hundred different ways. Not for those with weak stomachs, I'll say that. All in all it was extremely interesting. Basically showed what we look like with no skin and sliced up like sandwich meat (still on the bone). And let me just tell you, the place was crowded. It was the next-to-last day of the exhibit, Saturday, at around 11am, and there were people everywhere. And all kinds of people, including kids. Like, I expected it to be full of weirdos and teenagers screaming "Gross!" the whole time, but no. There were more families there than anything. Lots of students and doctor-types. Interesting. And educational! So yeah, kind of an adventure. Definitely out of the normal clean the house and laundry type of a weekend.

Ummmmm what else.....? Oh, heehee, along the riverside they have a big-ish section of freeway and overpasses and all that. Well. They found a hairline crack in one of the fly-overs so they had to shut the entire thing down for 3 days (Wed, Thurs, and Fri - of course). And wouldn't you know it, the city center became a parking lot from 4-7pm (that first night anyways). News helicopters all over the place. I spoke to one gal in a coffee shop and she said her friend, who lives in Paddington (where cat food and rugby comes from), she drives to work in Spring Hill (where I and the pub come from), and normally it takes her five minutes to drive (why would you, I ask myself), but nooooo, the first night that freeway was closed, it took her, ohmygawd, over an hour to get home! I tried not to laugh and tell her her friend was an idiot in the first place. C'mon, I can walk to Paddington in like twenty minutes. Driving it? So they're pretty lazy here (for the most part). In fact, a story on the news last night talked all about how the Queen Street Mall shops lost millions in revenue because of the freeway closure. Simply because people would rather have their hands and feet cut off than be without their cars and have to take -gasp- public transportation. All I'll say is, buses drop off directly underneath the Queen Street Mall and people still couldn't be bothered. I think it's funny. Most of the freeway is open now. Sorry, MOTORway! So that's my little tirade. Vive le pedestrians and foot commuting!!!

And that's really about all I have this week. Bo-ring, I know. But rest assured, the weather is turning nicer (if not hotter and more humid - ugh), it's light for longer, therefore I've cracked open the Lonely Planet and I'm plotting my own little mini-adventures. The trick is saving the few pennies (i.e. less time in pub) and getting a willing cat-sitter (no suggestions from the peanut gallery, thankyouverymuch). So hopefully, a mini-adventure coming up soon!?

BYE!
Jennifer!

Homework

Hi!

Well, unfortunately, I have to say up front that no adventures were had this week. Not unless you count going out to dinner, discussing how best to write a very lengthy job application, until past bedtime on a school night, an adventure, then maybe a little one was had. Otherwise, nothing. Nada. Nyet.

Here's the thing, I have to get a new job. And in order to do that, I have to look in my spare time, as I can't at work. And the only time I can really look and write applications is on the weekends. Yes, I know you've heard all this before, but let me explain. If it's a government job worth applying for, then you have to answer selection criteria statements. It's crazy. You absolutely cannot apply for a government gig (which includes everything from the health sector, to Parliament, to the police, to education) without answering this stuff. Some can be 1 or 2, or in the case of the one I've been writing all week, 8 statements long. And you can't just state the obvious, like cutting and pasting from your resume and repeating yourself or answer it nicely in one sentence. No. They want at least 1/2 a page for each one. Put it this way, the application I was finally able to put together came to a total of twelve pages. Twelve. That's cover letter, selection criteria and resume.

It sucks.

And it's incredibly stressful. Which is the number one reason most people in government jobs never leave, because they can't bear the thought of answering selection criterias. Some questions look innocent enough - "Highly developed administrative and project coordination skills", and some don't - "Ability to undertake cost benefit analyses in relation to to proposals to enhance registry wedding services and to provide reports to senior management about proposals" (that was one I had to answer, somehow, and I was just applying to be a monkey marrying people at City Hall!). Yeah. Each one has to be broken down by word, and each word answered with an example of how you did whatever. It's worse than writing an essay or report for school. Much worse. I've not been able to apply for jobs that not only do I have a degree in, but practical experience in, because I couldn't answer their selection criteria. And if you try to apply without it (I've tried), they throw your application away without batting an eyelash. You could be Bill Gates applying for an IT helpdesk gig for the government and if he didn't answer the selection criteria, he wouldn't even get a phone call to tell him his "...application was unsuccessful at this time...". He'd get a form-rejection email. They miss out on a lot of good people because of this stuff. And, it's really only Queensland and some tiny pockets of Australia, nowhere else in the world (my luck). But, I've recently noticed that more and more government jobs are doing away with it because they've finally noticed that people have other people write their selection criteria for them and when it comes to interview time, the people can't answer the questions because they don't know what they said on paper. Dur. So the govt has finally seen the light that, gee, maybe if we just went by people's resumes and interviews, we might get decent people after all. It's so dumb. But, right now, if you want a decent job, that pays pretty good, you have to put in the hard yards (as the locals say).

So. Like I said last time, until I get a job, no adventures. Well, no really exciting ones anyways.

I know, I know. This isn't what I came all this way to do. But without money in the bank, adventures will be thin on the ground. Veryvery sad but true. Like I asked before, if there's anyone trying to get ahold of me about a lottery payout or an inheritance, I'm right here!!!!!!



Sorry about the tirade. But that's what I've been up to this week.

Otherwise, all is well. The weather is starting to warm up (I'll say!). It's supposed to get up to the mid-80's today. Eeeeek. Such a good thing I'm on the top floor - get great breezes all day! Kona is fine, tho he did knock another one of his ping pong balls off the balcony onto the bottom floor patio, next door to the other patio with the previous wayward ball. Hee hee. I'd take a picture if I thought the neighbors wouldn't have me arrested.

And that's about it! Hope you guys are all well up there! And if anyone wants to come visit, better do it before it gets hot and gross down here!!!!

Bye! J!

P.S. The eggs here come with smiley faces. I have no idea why.

Fe Fi Fo Geese!

Hi!

Well, that was a busy week. Busy at work as we're losing a person a week, so that leaves very few of us to do twice the work. Nice. (Oh dear, Kona just kicked one of his ping pong balls right off the balcony..... Oooh the neighbors below will be so pleased to discover a multi-colored ping pong ball on their patio). So yeah. Work. Busy. New subject!

I bought new clothes to look nice at work (kind of a change of subject). They're nice, but boring. Corporate gear. Just what I wanted. I look nice though. Everyone thought I had a job interview to go to. Not any time soon, sadly. Just got sick of the same 4 outfits that came with the suitcase I brought. Always nice to have new clothes. Reminds me of the first day/week of school. So after work on Tuesday Jan was kind enough to take me to this outlet mall (out by the airport) where the clothes are the same fancy-pants stuff in the shops and boutiques in town, just 50% off. Cool. She's so nice. She's the one that brought a little bit of her farm (barley hay and little logs) for Kona to get in touch with his inner farm cat.

Friday night I met Mave and Roger (and some of the people he works with) for dinner/drinks after work at Zen Bar (in the middle of town). Corporate hang-out only with bamboo trees (I guess that's what makes it Zen - bamboo trees). He's doing this really big triathlon up in Noosa at the end of this month with a couple of these guys from his work (they're old pros at this stuff, this is Roger's first bigbig one). So they spent half the evening talking about their previous times, workout hints and tips and how old songs from the 60's and 70's have been remixed to sound new (like Elvis' "Little Less Conversation", etc). I was so damn tired I had to be rude and stumble home at the dark hour of 9pm.

What else... See? I'm trying to think of interesting things, but I'm afraid you're bored stupid..... I'll keep going.....

Saturday, Mave, her neighbor Angela (works with Roger, up from Melbourne temporarily to work on a project), and I went to go see "The Devil Wears Prada". Excellent! Well, if you've ever worked in an office for dragons. I have. Mave suffered through pretty much the same thing (as in the movie) only for a majorly self-important hairdresser (picture Jose Eber, only Lebanese with a big thing for rainbows and pink speedboats). So she really loved and identified with it. Meryl Streep was amazing. The gal who played 'Emily' the first assistant was hilarious. Great lines. Really good little movie. Then we wandered back to the pub to wish Daryl, the Manager, bon voyage as he leaves the pub to move down to Coffs Harbour (about 6 hours or so south of Brisbane, right on the coast. Nice spot. Very pretty bay. Or so the guidebooks make it out to look). We'll miss Daryl as he was a font of interesting and funny stories. Good luck to him down there!

And today - mini-adventure! The usual suspects and I went up to the Glasshouse Mountains for a little nature walk. Very nice. Hell, always nice to get out of town, even if for just a couple of hours. The GHM's are just over an hour north from Brisbane, in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, about 10km (miles?? Math??!) from the Australia Zoo (crikey!). In fact, the main road to get to the GHM's, Glass House Mountains Road (pretty creative), is going to be officially renamed the Steve Irwin Way. That's nice of ol Peter Beattie (Queensland Premier, like our governor), considering Steve Irwin singlehandedly put this nice little corner of Queensland on the map. Lovely little drive. Anyways, so after our walk, we stopped in at this cute little cafe with a lovely view of the mountains. Get this - they had guard geese under the stairs. Hilarious. Big suckers too. Loud. Had to be quick up the stairs if you wanted all your toes and ankles.

Heehee, every time we go on these little mini-adventures, as we go down the freeway (sorry, motorway) I spend most of the ride staring out the window looking for koalas in the eucalyptus trees, because, well, that's where they live. I haven't seen one yet (Mave spotted one tho, well done, it's hard to do). I'm always afraid that seeing as some of these trees hang over the road a bit, am terrified one will drop out and land on/in the windshield. Hey, sometimes it happens, the little critters fall out of their trees. Not often, but it happens. And I'm just afraid it'll happen while we're rocketing down the motorway doing 85mph. Eeek. I look out for kangaroos too. Same worry, minus the trees. They like to bounce out in front of speeding cars at dusk. So the general rule is you shouldn't drive after 4pm until dark. Most of the trucks (big and little) have "'roo bars" in the front to prevent the ugly event killing anyone else besides the poor little (well, not some of them) 'roos. I have yet to see any kangaroos either. Maybe they're smart about the motorway. Or maybe I need to get out of town more. Or maybe they really do like country living as opposed to living in the suburbs. I'd love to see a koala in a tree outside my office in town, or a kangaroo hopping down the Queen Street Mall.

So there you go! A little bit of adventure was had. A nice little colorful week. Am tired tonight though. We felt the temperature creeping into summer during our walk. Hot and humid. Ugh. Still nice at night though. The bats have come back again (seasonal I guess). These guys are massive. I'll try to get or find a photo of one. But they're really neat. The geckos have come back too, chattering and clicking during the night. The crows have shut up for the time being while they build their nests. The trees are blooming and turning greener. It really is a lovely city. Come visit!!!!!

Bye!

J!

BBQ's & Housewarmings

Hi!

Well, here I am. Survived another ______-filled week. Whew! And yet, magically, there's another week waiting in the wings. Ahhh, gotta love Sundays in my house. The whirr of the vacuum, the splash of cleaning in the bathroom, the shudder of the washing machine, and the bliss of knowing I have a cat who can clean while I type..... Just another Sunday, trying to liven it all up.

So, for starters, we had forced fun at work Wednesday morning in the shape of a barbeque. Yeah, I was a little horrified too at the thought of bbq'd anything at 8 in the morning. But no, it was bacon, eggs, sausages, tomatoes (shudder), bread rolls, fruit (well, not bbq'd), etc. It was all actually really good. There are free gas bbq's in all the parks around Brisbane. They're reallyreally cool and people are really nice to them, meaning they tidy up when they're finished, there aren't wierd things left behind and the parks service actually keep them in normal working order. And they're usually situated in a nice spot under a tree with a nice little view of the park. So ours was in the Southbank Parklands (not far from work, of course) with a view of the river. It was pretty nice and people came and had a decent time and got to chat, something we rarely get to do during a working day as we're all too busy to have a normal conversation. It's wierd and a shame, but that's our work.

So some of the pictures are of the nice folks I suffer through the day with. Really nice people who help immensely with the retention of sanity and sense of humor. So hats off to Ella (r) and Denise (l) and Jan (r, blue top)!




What else did I accomplish...... oh, last night Mave and Roger and I were invited to a little (literally) house warming party for this nice couple Ed (blue tshirt) and Moricha (pink sweater; she's from Portugal and he's from NZ) over in Paddington (where the cat food comes from). Cute little worker's cottage (another term for 'lovely old Queenslander' style of house, only pint-sized) spitting distance from the Suncorp Stadium (where the rugby games and bigbig concerts come from). It was a very cute little place and we all had a moment of envy at their proximity to the stadium. As residents of the immediate area, they get first dibs on tickets to major concerts at said stadium because when it was originally built (2003), they weren't supposed to have concerts, but seeing as it seats 52,500, they thought they'd be crazy not to let the Rolling Stones ever come play. So to appease the locals they give them first crack at cheap to free tickets. So anyways, there's this singer guy who's MASSIVE down in this part of the world, Robbie Williams, and people will sell body parts and family members to get tickets to his gigs. Well, wouldn't you know it, Ed and Moricha were offered FREE tickets to his upcoming gig in December and they turned them down because they're going out of town the day before the show. Once word got out to their friends, a small riot was held and houses were threatened to be broken into just to look at the outer walls of the stadium and hear the show. I'm not sure the verdict of the decision to let folks stand on their verandah while they're out of town, but it was pretty funny to watch these people get so bent out of shape about some concert. But like I said, Robbie Williams is bigger than sliced bread in these parts.

Anyways, the evening was nice. Met some nice people that Roger and Ed play football (soccer) with and Moricha and I had an interesting discussion about the woeful state of early childhood education in Australia (she educates childcare centers how to educate the teachers and the kids. Did you know, you don't even have to be a qualified teacher to teach 0-5 year olds in Australia? Scary). And that was it. Oh, hee hee, in the cab on our way back to our 'hood, we watched a gal outside a pub not quite, but very nearly, throw up on herself and her friends while she held on for dear life to the lamp post. Ha, it was funny. Poor thing can't be feeling so hot this morning. Anyways, turned out our cab driver was from just outside Colorado Springs! He told me "there're lots of us around the place", so that's interesting to know. Did I ever mention there's a barman at the pub next door who's from Boston? Andrew. Young guy. First time away from home (how cute). Studying IT. Nice guy. So yeah, I guess there are a few of us hiding in the corners.

Otherwise, I'm afraid I didn't quite achieve my adventure quotient for the week like I promised I would. Let's face it - I need to find a new job and until I do, like I said last week, the fun will have to suffer. Sorry, hard fact of life. Still, I'll keep trying in whatever small way I can!

BYE!
J!