Tigers in a Cubicle Forest

Hi!

Well. Another week..... well, yeah, another week!

Work. Yep. Still good. Pretty uneventful, which, really, is how I like work to be. Though I do recall an interesting conversation I had with my boss one morning about how horrible being a PA (Personal Assistant) is. Legalised slavery we agreed. I have to say, in all my years of suffering under a florescent sun in a cubicle forest, I have never met a senior manager who openly criticized that breed of office monkey. And I gotta say, it was pretty refreshing. I mean, sure, it came from a woman, but I don't know how much that had to do with it. We could get into the whole male female work dichotomy line of pointless discussion, but really, get it down to brass tacks and a senior manager said that kinda job shoulda gone out with the 60's and typing pools and dictation. Hooray! I'm telling you, I wish they'd keep me 'cos I'd love to stay.

And really, aside from going to work, coming home, reading, watching maybe two shows and the Simpsons once or twice on tv, it was a quiet week. Cold. The weather has decided since it's winter, it might as well act like it for a week at least. So it's been pretty chilly at night and sometimes even miserable during the day. I mean, it was the winter solstice this past Thursday. Which, means, hooray! the sun will be hanging around longer now! Not that we're crying out for sunshine. Not like in NYC. But winter is winter and the more sunshine the better.

Oh, and the weekend - pretty quiet. Ran around yesterday looking for stuff shops didn't seem to have. And, ok, I came home with this little computer game I've been wanting for a while now, I only snapped because it was majorly marked down, called Roller Coaster Tycoon. You design your own roller coasters and theme park. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks excellent for killing a little bit of time in between reading, painting, and writing. And because I'm not smart enough to have been an engineer to design the real things, this is the next best thing! And in the little game you fill your park with all kinds of people. So I've decided my goal is to build a roller coaster ride that will make my little people throw up. Hooray! Will keep you posted.

So, yeah. That's it. Gearing myself up to move around the first week of August. Yeah, I know it's a while away, but still. More than anything I'm looking forward to saving some money on rent. And hopefully someplace away from traffic noise and zooming ambulances (heroic as they are), someplace with birds and maybe the odd bit of whatever wildlife lurks in the 'burbs. Yeah.

And that's that! Dull, I know. But am happy. I like Australia and Brisbane is pretty easy to live in I have to admit. Just you wait until I start paying off the little Amex card and the little scooter and start saving some money, oooooh. I have my list of adventures just sitting there waiting!!!!!! Good things come to those who, well, pay their bills off!

BYE!

J!

Movie Quote of the Week:

"Y-you cheated!"

"Pirate."

Orlando Bloom & Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean (I)

Tee hee.

Mouth-Brain in New Boots

Hi!

Well. Excellent little week. Easy. Love this job and the lack of stress it invites on my little life, especially on the weekends. It just makes the weekends that much easier and relaxing; so that when Sunday comes, I'm not dreading work at all, just sad that the weekend was so seemingly short.

So work. Yep. Moving right along with getting this Rural Fire Brigade Manual updated, finalised and printed. I'm telling you, if you, or anyone you know, wants to start up your own fire brigade in a rural area of Australia, ask me, I can help you do everything. From telling you the measurements of the concrete floor you'll need inside the shed, to the way you have to run your annual general meetings, to how to open a bank account. Oh yeah. But otherwise, the job seems to be ticking along nicely. I'm gonna have to write myself a BIG post-it to remind myself to quit telling them how much I like the job and how much I'd like for them to keep me forever. I think I must have mentioned it to them somewhere around 3 times last week. Am such a dork. My mouth has it's own brain far separate from my big one. It just says what it wants regardless what the main brain tells it to do. It's very stubborn and plays deaf. I hear "I really love this job! Please just hire me permanently so I can get a big loan from the bank so I can buy a house and stay in Brisbane forever" and my main-brain tells the mouth-brain to stop at "I really love this job" but nothing happens. The mouth keeps going. It's terrible. I wonder if there's a name for this type of affliction (aside from tourettes)..... Hmm. Either way, they know I like it and want to stay, they can't do much for the time being, no more should be discussed. Oh please mouth-brain, keep quiet!!!!!! But ahhhh, for just a short period of time I don't have to waste my weekends looking for jobs I really don't really want. Will enjoy this temporary bliss while it lasts!

And then there's the little weekend. Went by pretty fast for not doing much. I was a good girl with crazy energy Friday night and did most of my chores just home from work. Wierd. Saturday, well, started to make a new bracelet; sewing it together in a native-american kinda style. Very time- and patience-consuming. But I'm sure it will be very cool once it's finished. In about a month. Finished the 6th Harry Potter book (!!!?). So now it's just a waiting game until July 21st and the last book ever! And then..... gotta find a new series to read! And today, Sunday, get this - I went shopping. With Cindy and Natasha. In a big Outlet Mall. Man. We weren't messing around. We even did two laps of the place, doubling-back for stuff. That was dangerous but successful. I spent my sort-of hard-earned birthday savings. Ahh well, if you'd seen the state of the one and only belt I own, you'd excuse my splurge. But I couldn't stop there, am ashamed to admit. Got two belts because I liked one a lot (dark red) and really needed the other (boring tan) (hey, they were $10 bucks each. Leather. Enough said.), then I bought a black "work shirt" because I don't have one and I know it's a wardrobe staple; and then I finally got a pair of genuine Aussie boots. I've been wanting a pair of these for yeeeeaarss. I don't know why, but I really like them for some reason. I waited all this time because the ones I want are around $450 and these, even tho they're not The Big Name Brand, they're made in Australia by Australians (so the gal told me), lifetime guarantee, all leather, even the soles. Coooool. And they were on sale from $230 to $99. So I snapped and bought them. I love them. So I've got blisters already (yes I was a geek and wore them outta the shop, so what?!), and I've been told to stand in a muddy puddle so that they soften and form to my feet, am so happy. Will keep an eye out for muddy puddles. And I also managed to find a decent pair of khaki pants. Had to take them back to Cindy's house to use her sewing machine skills to hem them. Curse being short! So yeah. Was an expensive day, but very much needed. It's amazing how one stupid pair of pants can open up an entire world of wardrobe possibilities! Excellent!

And here I am, after that kinda day, with the energy and enthusiasm left over to check in! Yeah! Was a very good weekend, in a chilled-out, expensive kinda way. Ahhhhh!

Oh yeah, one thing last week, ran into my Building Manager and, long story short, my rent will be jacked in August (when my lease is up) so I'll be needing to move. I kinda knew it was going to happen as when I look online for apartments, places here seem to be going for around $360 - 370 a week. And that's just silly money. I mean, what I'm paying now is silly money, but that's even sillier. So yeah. Sigh. The hunt is on. Am torn between getting a nice, unfurnished place in a decent neighborhood (not on a busy, main road with ambulances zooming up and down it at all hours) or a basic unfurnished place to bust out the bills that I still owe on (little scooter, little American Express card). Basically, it's going to have to be unfurnished, that takes at least 50 bucks off the rent. So yeah. Stay tuned.....

And that's that! Dull, as usual, but there it is. For now. The weather is absolutely perfect at the moment - lovely during the day and chilly at night -ahhhhh, winter in the Southern Hemisphere in a sub-tropical climate - excellent!!! C'mon down!

BYE!
J!












Movie Quote of the Week -

"I'm a stalker in a Taurus."

Bill Murray, Broken Flowers

Champagne & Scones for the Queen!

Hi!

Well. What can I say? Same week, different, uh, week........ Nice, long weekend though - which is why, again, I'm a day late (fell asleep last night & when I woke up it was far too late to make coherent sense)... This extra day off was to celebrate the Queen's Birthday... even though they don't actually celebrate it in England even. But hey! I'm not complaining - it was a day off! 4-day week ahead - waahhoooo!

So work. Yep. It's good. I asked The Boss when they thought they might cut me loose.... She gave a really vague answer along the lines of because I'm there to just do "projects" and I've been given two more little "projects" to do, her answer was "Well, it all depends on how long you think it will take you to finish those two little projects". Ummmmmmm. Ok. Sooooo it could be a month more, it could be 2 months... I don't really know. So for now, I'll keep showing up and do what I do until they pull me into a "meeting" and cut me loose. I'd love for them to keep me forever, and I've told them, but it's looking kinda doubtful at this point..... Ahhhh, the peril of project work I guess!

Otherwise, the week was the same as all the others. Nice, quiet, little dull, etcetcetc but I don't mind. Am trying to save for my birthday. I want to live large on the day and that's gonna take dough. Want to spend half the day in a day spa, go to a movie, eat some lunch and meet the girls for a fancy pants dinner. So yeah, gotta saaaaaaave!

And then we come to the weekend! Was the usual with the errands, cleaning and wandering around. But today, today I made an effort. I got up with the sun (right now, around 6-6.30am), got myself together, and I and the little scooter had a little adventure up to Mt. Coot-tha to take in the views. Well. Long story short, I ended up on the freeway, where things move at a minimum speed of 90kmh - me, I can only go 65 flat tack. So yeah. I was pretty terrified. How was I to know that "Scenic Drive to Mt. Coot-tha" meant freeway????? In my world it means lovely meandering cruise through twisty forest roads along cliffs! So yeah, wrong turn and there I was on the Western Freeway headed to Ipswich (37 km). Thank goodness there was barely any traffic to speak of or I'da been dead. But never mind, I made it up there without becoming roadkill. Pretty. Nice view. All the tv stations live up there right underneath their towers. Kinda weird but neat up close. Tho I must admit that first thing in the morning can't be the best time for photographs - the light is going the wrong way. So all apologies for the photos. Will plan better next time. And hey, coming back down and into town the trip was 10 billion times easier and shorter - whooooole different set of roads! So will definitely head up there again. But I gotta say it was pretty exciting getting up there! Won't go that way ever again (unless in a car)!

And then came home (had a little glass of champagne to settle the nerves and to celebrate not becoming roadkill), wandered into town to pick up one of those groovy silicone baking muffin trays so I could come home and make scones! This time they came out really good! Bacon, cheddar & chives - mmmmMMM! I know, kinda sad to be that excited about baking, but they're really good and now I don't have to buy them from the bakery anymore!

And really, that's it. Gotta save some dough. So yeah, hope you're all well up there!!!!!! C'mon down and have a scone!!!!

BYE!
J!










Movie Quote of the Week...

"What do you mean "they" cut the power?! They're animals, man!"

Bill Paxton, Aliens


Tee hee

Scones in Malls

Hi!

Well. That week was good. Fast. That's how they should be! Uneventful, as usual, but good.

So yeah. Work. Good. Little busier now. I've inherited two more little manuals to format and stuff........... And the big momma manual is getting closer to going to the printers.... The Project Manager got a new job somewhere else, so the Director (my boss) and I are going to figure out how to get it printed and stuff. So hopefully I can help as much as I can with never having really worked on something like this. But hey, it ain't rocket science and it's not like I have someones brain or heart to work on! But otherwise, all's well! Still no word yet if they'll keep me past the end of the month.... May ask in the next week or so.....

The little scooter still scoots pretty well. Was only really able to ride it into work once last week - rain. I know they need it desperately here, but hey, I'm not making monthly payments on my own wheels to spend more money on public transport! But I don't mind really. Saves me getting wet and dirty or dying on a slippery corner. Call me a wuss.

Oh yeah, Glen came down from Cairns for a quick night on Tuesday; on his way up to Hervey Bay to spend some time at his Aunt and Uncle's while his Uncle is visiting in Scotland (Glen & family are Scottish)..... Was a nice, quick visit. Nice to catch up and gossip. Last time I saw him was about a year ago. We met in Auckland working at a dive shop and at one point I needed a roommate, but unfortunately that was when I realised I can't actually live with people besides family really. No regular people, boyfriends maybe........ Sad, tough lesson, but now I know. We're pretty good friends now though, just can't ever live together!

And then there's the weekend! It's been pretty quiet. Saturday went to the (expansively carpeted) Carindale mall to look at furniture I can't afford (because there's a good chance I'll have to move in August when my lease runs out - rent might go up) and picked up a new cat toy for the spoiled fat cat, and to just wander. I hate malls, I've realised. More so on the weekends. I guess you just have to get in early before the strollers and screaming babies. Urgh.

And today, Pam from my old work came over and we went to lunch at the pub down the road and wandered around town for a little bit. Gossipped, etc. Was nice to see her. She was the only one to help me keep my sanity when I was working at "that school" back in March. Sounds like things haven't really changed - hooray for escape!

And really, aside from a quick visit to the grocery store to procure the ingredients to make your basic scones (from a recipe I got out of some magazine, which have just come out of the oven and they're bland as all get out. Tastes like eating a paper towel. Not that I eat paper towels. So now I have 12 scones that taste like paper towels that I have no idea what to do with) bought some cat litter, did the usual chores, man, it was a really quiet weekend. Nice, but quiet. Oh yeah, I know one thing I did last night, ugh, I colored my hair. It came out really dark. Am almost embarrassed to go to work tomorrow. I've done this before tho, always with a new brand of color. It was supposed to be pretty, light copper red. Maybe it'll be that color after about 20 washes. Maybe that's what they mean on the box - color will come right after 20 washes..... 'Cos the color my hair turned isn't even an option in those little 'before' 'after' photos on the box!!!!!! Hmmmm. Bumm-er man.

So am afraid it's got to be one of the dullest little blurbs I've written, well, for a couple weeks! Sorry. Must be the weather. It's been really warm for what they call winter, yet it's dark when I wake up and dark not long after I get home, and it's been trying to rain for the last 2 or so weeks....... seems like it wants to be spring!!!!! So my mood and sleep patterns are fuzzy at best. But, hey, silver lining - the shortest day is the 21st! And then bring on more daylight hours! That's probably when it'll get really cold!

Ahhhh well, I hope you're all well up there! I often look into coming up there for a visit and a dose of Mexican food, but until tickets come down below AU$2,500, I'm not going anywhere. You guys come down here! Don't make me come up there to get you!

BYE!
J!









Movie Quote of the Week...

"We're gonna need a bigger boat."
Roy Scheider, Jaws

Ex-cellent!

Cat-Shaped Starfish & Champagne

Hi!

Well. Whew. What a week that was. Busy. Quiet. Stressful, in an I-put-myself-in-this-mess kinda way. But otherwise, another fine week for the history books!

Work. Yeah. It's still good. Perhaps the less said (good or bad), the better for my work karma....... Suffice to say I still like it (bonus!), the people are all still really nice, I'm finished proof-reading the entire manual and highlighting key words for the digital search engine, and next week is compiling said keywords into a massive list, meetings with the Project Manager (also very nice) and additional assorted managers, wow, I'll feel somewhat important, for a few minutes anyways!

So the week, tee hee. Monday, fine, innocent enough. Didn't scoot in because "they" threatened rain (yeah, I know the new groovy scooter jacket is waterproof, but think of all that gunk that splashes onto your windshield while following cars in the rain, now picture all that gunk on you and your little scooter with no windshield, on a busy road.... yeah, on second thought, you wouldn't be so hot to try out that waterproof jacket either).

Monday night I get home from work to find a note slipped under my door from the building manager, Geoff (also a very nice guy) that it's that time of year - time to physically inspect and test allllllll the fire/heat/smoke alarms in every apartment. Oooooh, I've been waiting for this day for a year. Ever since adopting Kona, the illegal cat-roommate. Oh dear. So had to tidy and de-cat the house. Tuesday morning, hung around to wait for the inspector guys to show up... stuffed Kona in his box, into the closet (kicking and scratching the whole time)..... So the inspector-guy is standing in my bedroom explaining to me how, because I'm an odd-numbered apartment, on an odd-numbered year, (meanwhile I can hear Kona scratching at his box. I cough to try to hide it and steer the guy to the living room) I get the dubious honor of having them return later that day to physically test the actual heat and smoke sensors/alarms in my apartment. Oh dear. I'd already taken the morning off of work to keep an eye on the events, now I'd have to hang around all day. Maaaan. So fine. I hang around and wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. Finally, it happens all at once, I hear the guy coming up the stairs, I grab Kona to stuff him into his box, well, that cat is now wise to this and refuses by becoming a starfish. The guy has the key to my place and I can hear it in the lock. My cell phone rings, it's Glen, and I really need to talk to him but I can't answer it because I have to catch the cat to stuff him back in his box. The door opens just as Kona shoots under the bed. I say "hello!" to the inspector guy, as cool as I thought I sounded as I ducked into my room to throw the cat carrier into the closet and quickly shut the closet door as he comes in. Meanwhile, I'm looking around the apt for a streak of grey. Finally, the guy is finished, but what's this - the loud speaker in my living room doesn't work (what I hear the alarm bells from, just in case I can't hear the deafening ones outside)..... Oh dear, a return visit at a later date....???? Noooo, "That's it!" the guy says happily. "Really?" I ask, totally not believing him. "Yep! See you next year! Thanks!" and poof! - he's gone. So I don't get the deafening alarm bells blaring into my apartment every time some moron leaves toast in their toaster too long, that's perfect by me as they unnecessarily scare the hell out of me anyways. Yeah, I know it's their job, but they all wake me up perfectly sufficiently from outside. And trust me when I say that damn fire alarm goes off at least twice a month. It works fine and I know exactly how it sounds. In fact, just this afternoon it went off. Turns out some guys stove really did catch fire and the fire department actually had to put it out - with a little extinguisher. Smoke and everything. That happened a couple weeks ago too in another apartment near mine - stove on fire. Note to self - make sure stove is off at all times, may even flip the main power if it's that's prone to spontaneous combustion...........

Geez Louise.

So that was Tuesday. Wednesday, well, had to meet Natasha and some friends of hers over at a pub on Caxton Street.... her friends were going to the big rugby game - Queensland vs. New South Wales. Happens every year. It's a big deal apparently. Kinda like when the Mets play the Yankees I guess. So, 50,000 people and only 7 arrests that night. I find that really hard to believe, but that's what they said. Caxton Street and all it's pubs, is only a block long. Teeny tiny. So you can imagine the amount of people. It was crazy. And Caxton St. is only like 2 blocks from the stadium I might add. Crazy crowds. But once the game got under way, it was a ghost town. We hung out for a little bit at the pub, got something to eat, watched a little of the game on the big screen tvs and then I had to call it a night. School night after all.

Thursday, scooted into work. On my way in that a.m., well, long story short - the Merc that decided I wasn't going fast enough for him, passed me and missed me by that much.... the Porsche that decided no one was going fast enough for him yet nearly caused us all to crash, well, the Porsche hit the Merc. I laughed for days after scooting past that. There is justice in the karma world after all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And then the rest of the week was fine and quiet and uneventful.Saturday I got shanghaied into going to (don't laugh) a Tupperware party. I only went because Cindy begged me to. That, and the usual suspects were shanghaied too. Aside from the Tupperware thing (didn't buy a single thing! Am very proud), the rest of the night was lovely. Chance to catch up with the gals, gossip, drink champagne and eat pate, ahhhhh it was nice. Cindy, Patricia and I have half-drunkenly threatened to go on a mini-road trip together down to Byron Bay one of these weekends. It's only like 2 hours away. Me and my not-so-good Australian geography and travel times, I thought it was like 8 hours away....... I hope we go, would be a good time.

And today, groceries, organizing the beads, fire alarm, and that was about it.

WHEW!

Next week "they've" threatened rain, so stories to come, I'm sure, from commuting on public transport......!

So I hope you're all well up there, happy with no fire alarms or gunk! C'mon down! You can stay with me! My place is certified fire alarm compliant and functional!!!!!!!!!

BYE!
J!









(New!) Weekly Movie Quote.....

"I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request."
"What?"
"Means no!"

Geoffrey Rush, Pirates of the Caribbean (1)

Ex-cellent!

Passing... People, Sunsets & Traffic

Hi!

Well. Boy, is it hard to work 5 days in a row after the luxury of only working 4 days..... What a work wuss I am. I love not being at work. I love not having to do anything if I don't want to. Ahhhhhh, but, to have such a nice, harmless, cruisy gig, bliss. Admittedly, it is about as exciting as watching paint dry, but I still love it. I tried my best to win the $30mil lottery last Thursday.... That's ten bucks I won't get back. Other than little hiccup, the week was fine.

But, some sad news to mention, my Uncle Doug passed away last Friday. Complications of a multitude of aliments, mainly after-effects of 2 strokes, diabetes..... Sad. He was young (57) but man, he put up a reallyreally tough fight. The stuff he lived through would've killed most people. But finally, he'd had enough. I mean really, how much more can you and your body take? I like the thought that ultimately, (in some cases) we have control over these things, where we can just take stock and decide, yep, enough, I'm outta here. So, hat's off to you Uncle Doug - you've proved the family come from tough stock! Via con dios (as my Grandad would have me say)!

So yeah. Work was nice, dull, lovely and easy. They're nice people, they all seem to get along quite well, no one is a drama queen/king, they laugh a lot (and no one tells them to stop), they play a lot of solitaire on their computers (and no one yells at them to get back to work or you'll be fired), they talk in quite voices, no one has to holler or talk excitedly, it's probably one of the most chilled-out places I've ever worked. Which is really ironic considering I work at the headquarters for the Queensland Department of Emergency Services. Excellent. I really hope they keep me and doing what I'm doing now. Ahhhhhh, I know good gigs never last, but I hope this one has a few miles left on it yet........!?

And the rest of the week was good. Lovely weather still, which is crazy because winter is due in like a week or two and it's still pool weather! So last week I put on my brave boots (as Jan says) and I rode the little scooter into work 3 days that week. Didn't ride it on Monday because I had to find out where I could park it without it getting towed so an ambulance or fire truck could park there instead. And didn't ride it Friday because the weather folks threatened rain (it didn't, but those clouds sure looked like they weren't messing around). It's excellent getting to work in 10-15 minutes under my own steam rather than the 45 it takes under, well, public transports steam. It's a pretty busy road though, with 3 lanes in either direction, but so far so good! The traffic is really hard to predict here. Some mornings/evenings it's absolute mayhem, and then others it's easyeasy. Weird. And never on the days you expect it. Tee hee, poor little scooter, it's only meant to go at a top speed of like 45mph (70kmh for those of you savvy with the metric system), so for me to be able to keep up with traffic, the poor thing is at top tilt. I get to work and shut it off and the little thing practically hisses with steam. But it goes and it goes well. So if anyone is looking into start in the little scooter market, I can highly recommend this little Yamaha Vino 50cc to start with. It rocks! Or, in the spirit of Ol' Steve Irwin - Scooters Rule!


And this weekend was lovely. I did nothing. Well, I cleaned, read Harry Potter, and then went over to Natasha's for dinner. She can cook. Sent me home with 4 containers of food!

But, sadly, no adventures. Not unless you count standing at the bus stop near Natasha's house for an hour at 11.30 at night waiting for the bus to not arrive, watching drunk teenagers at the house party next door pass out in the middle of a fairly busy sidewalk, and then me getting fed up and hailing a cab home, as an adventure, then yes, a little one was had. It was certainly entertaining. And, there were police cars everywhere and none of them stopped to pick the little teenagers up and put them back in their house! Crazy! But then, these kids can legally drink at 18 here. Hmmmmmm.

So there you go. A nice, quiet week with a hint of sadness. Ahhhhhh, well, none of us lives forever! Might as well see it all while you're here! So hurry up and get down here and see it!

BYE!
J!

Dull Boas (on Scooters)

Hi!

Well. That's that for short weeks for the time being. I guess we don't get another holiday until June 11th, that's the Queen's Birthday (well, not really, I guess they thought it just sounded like a good day to honor it), so that's something to look forward to. Otherwise, the week was nice and short and hassle-free, just the way a week should be!

So, work, yeah, it's good. The project manager was down from Gladstone (somewhere up north a ways) to help get me on the right track and to help with little bits I didn't know how to do. Since it's the government, they love their acronyms (initials for everything under the s.u.n.) and they refer to a lot of them, so he helped me decipher them all. Boy, only two weeks into this gig and if any of you ever need to know how to set up and run a volunteer rural fire brigade - I'm the gal to ask! And, next week, I get to read the entire volunteer manual (the thing I'm editing & etc) to highlight relevant words and phrases so they can go into a digital search engine. Yawn, I know, but hey - I like it! It's not babysitting!!!!!!!!! Hooray!

So what else...... Kinda dull week otherwise. Quiet weekend. The last couple of weekends I ran around so it was nice to just hang around in my clean little apartment and throw crumpled up bus tickets at the cat (it's his favorite thing next to shredding anything with feathers, hence the blue feather boa - cat toy). I'm a dork, but the new/last Harry Potter book is coming out at the end of July (have reserved mine already!) so I've been getting all the others out of the library so that I'm up to speed when the new one comes out. Tee hee. I really like them. Good, fun and easy to read. So spent a bit of the weekend reading those. All I can say is she sure hit gold with that series. Good for her. Pretty clever stuff really.

And what else..... cleaned, grocery store visit, etc. Today it's been raining off and on but I managed to make it down to the Riverside Markets to meet Natasha for her fresh veggie fix. Then we had a wander around Queen Street Mall and that was enough. I got home and decided that I'd take the little scooter out to figure out how to get to work. It's along a pretty busy main road, but man, it only took 10 minutes! What takes me about 45 every morning to walk to the train station, ride the train, then walk from there to work - hell, it only takes 10 minutes on the little scooter! But far more exciting in a busy traffic kinda way. So we'll see how brave I'm feeling this week. That and the weather. I know I got all the cool waterproof gear now (with body armour!), but rain is rain and people are idiots in it no matter what. Maybe once the weather clears up.......

So yeah! That's that! Quiet, dull, no adventures (unless you count figuring out how to scoot to work, which is kind of an adventure), well, like I say, until the job thing.......... blahblahblah..... But I did just realize the other day that I haven't had a vacation in a really long time. I mean vacation vacation, where you sit around drinking fancy drinks with umbrellas in them on a sunny beach and do nothing more strenuous than go for a swim kinda vacation. Hang on, I don't think I've ever been on one of those come to think of it! Oh sure, some of you would say "but being in Australia is a vacation in itself!" Wrong. It's the same grind, just different real estate. So yeah, I'm really hoping the job thing settles down so I can go away and chill out and not worry! Someday!

So there it is! Hope you're all well up there! Let me know if anyone needs a boomerang or a cork hat!

BYE!
J!

(P.S. No, I'm not pulling a Muriel. I just thought this display was way wierd with the skinny, mini-bride. It's kinda creepy, in a Tim Burton kinda way.)

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!

Will Bowl for Work

Hi!

Well. That was a week. Excellent weekend though! Which is why am a little late with the update here....!

So yeah, the week. Not bad, shortish. We had Wednesday off for Anzac Day (Veterans Day). I gotta say, they really respect and honor their vets a lot more than we do. And the little kids really get into it as well. It's really kinda cool. I went to the parade last year, it was packed full of all kinds of people and kids. Long. There was even an American Legion represented by a handful of Vets. Pretty neat. So that was a nice little break in the week. Felt like we'd had a weekend and then it was back to it - only to a shorter week!

Work. Ummmmm. Yeah. I guess all I can say is I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Film & TV production, with lots of experience in theatre production, a bit in TV, and then lots of other weird and random work experiences and skills. Some quite good and others, eh, not so much. But I'm learning that there are certain jobs I'm not cut out to do. Like reception, dictation, dish-washing, and just general personal/executive assistant (what I've realized is actually just babysitting grown-ups in suits). These jobs, I can no longer do. My bank is not at all happy about this. Maybe I should get a job in a bank......... Anyways. So yeah. I had to pull out of that University gig after all. Thursday, the guy who demanded I do their dishes (see previous little blog entry), well, guess he's not used to people saying 'no' to him so he took it as a personal attack and came up with a few very bitter and snide comments about America being a thoroughly "horrible country" and Americans thoroughly "awful people". I was sitting 2 feet away facing him as he said this to a gal standing next to him. Hey, I'm all for freedom of speech and opinions, heaven knows I heard four years of similar opinions in NZ. Nevertheless, I reminded the agency that my last day with that gig would be Friday. And Friday it was. So here I am now, no gig yet (which explains why I'm writing this on Monday afternoon - and it's not a holiday today!), but something will come up, am not too worried. Yet. I'm just hoping that the something doesn't involve babysitting.....!? Fingers crossed!

And then the weekend! Whew! Was good! Ran the usual errands on Saturday with Natasha and her friend Samantha. And then Sunday I met the girls (Cindy, Jan and Patricia) out in Patricia's 'burb of Banyo (a bit of a ways out, right near the Golden Circle cannery - it's where they can all the fruit and stuff) and we went and played lawn bowls! It's a very Australian pastime. You catch it on TV or in movies now and then, a bunch of guys standing around in all white rolling balls around a perfect lawn. And it's an apparently male-dominated pastime too. Which I don't get because it's very chilled-out, slow and kinda girly, I thought. They apparently, in some clubs, didn't allow women to join and play until the 60's! And even now they have strict rules about what the players wear, women's skirt-lengths and all that. Sooo funny. But it was a lot of fun! Hee hee, we walked into the club, which was mainly empty, and the gal standing at the bar looked at us (pretty surprised to see us) and announced "You won't find anyone else here - they're either all in bed or dead!" Hee, I muttered "Or both" just to the girls, we giggled. And yeah, we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. We were the entertainment to the 4 resident drunks (including one really tough-looking biker dude). It's hard to explain the place, and pictures wouldn't have done it justice. You have to go find a little Australian movie called "Cracker Jack" and that'll give you the best idea of what it's like. But man, we had a great time. No idea who won or how to keep score for that matter! And then we went out for Indian food, took it to Patricia's and gossipped until it was time to call it a night (school night, so we were all home by 7 or so); too late for me to write, but hey, here's one benefit to being unemployed!

So yeah, was a bit of a rough week, but an excellent weekend! And that's about it! So we'll see what this week brings..... !? Hope you're all well up there! If anyone wants to come for a visit, better do it quick while I have the time off, before I get a job!!!!!!

BYE!
J!